News Story not available

This story has been published on: 2022-10-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

This story is no longer available on our site.
UK Press Pool/Getty Images(AGRA, India) -- Prince William and Kate visited the Taj Mahal Saturday, completing one of the most anticipated stops of their week-long trip to India and Bhutan on behalf of Her Majesty's Government.



William, 33, and Kate, 34, toured the majestic landmark and posed for photos. She wore a gold and diamond necklace gifted to her from the Queen of Bhutan and a dress by Naeem Khan, an Indian-American fashion designer.



The duke and duchess' pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal evoked memories of William's late mother, Princess Diana, who visited the same spot in 1992. In what has become one of the most iconic photographs of her life, Diana sat alone at the monument of love, as the Taj Mahal is known, while the Prince of Wales attended an event elsewhere in India.



That image, etched in the public's mind, represented the collapse of the Wales' marriage. Within the year, Prince William's parents, Princess Diana and Prince Charles, announced their separation.



The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge created "new memories" on their trip to India and Bhutan, their first royal trip to the countries. Unlike William's parents, whose itineraries were largely separate, William and Kate are a couple very much in love who saw the two countries together.



The significance of William and Kate's visit to the Taj Mahal was acknowledged in a statement on the royals' website prior to their departure.



The Duke of Cambridge is "of course aware of the huge esteem his mother, the late Princess of Wales, is held in India, and he appreciates the iconic status of the images that exist of The Princess at the Taj," the statement read. "He feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mothers memory is kept alive by so many who travel there."



The statement continued, "24 years on from her visit to the Taj, The Duke and The Duchess are looking forward to seeing this beautiful place for themselves and creating some new memories as they say thank you to the people of India at the conclusion of this tour."



After their visit to the Taj Mahal, William and Kate will fly back to the United Kingdom to be reunited with their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Prince William said he and his wife missed them.



"Massively, of course," he said. "We're looking forward to seeing them."



The royals spent the past days in Bhutan, where they completed an hours-long hike to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, met with the country's king and queen, and tried their hand at Bhutan's national sport, archery.



The couple started their tour in India, where they spent time meeting with local villagers, going on a safari, attending a gala, visiting national landmarks, and raising awareness around the plight of endangered animals.



Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Shanghai welcomes new pandas

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-04-16 01:06

TWO giant pandas, two-and-a-half-year-old males named Yaer and Xinger, will make Shanghai Zoo their new home today after travelling all the way from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwest Chinas Sichuan Province.

Yaer is curious and active, while Xinger loves climbing trees, playing with other pandas and bathing, said Pan Xiuwen, a park official in Shanghai.

Yaer is a naughty boy and he liked romping with his mother in childhood, while Xinger loves rolling around and playing in water, Pan said.

They will be put on a flight to Shanghai today and are scheduled to arrive at the zoo at dusk. They will say hello to zoo visitors before May 1.

Shuangxin and Shuangxi, their female twin predecessors, left Shanghai Zoo yesterday morning after a two-year stay. Giant pandas reaching breeding age must return to the Chengdu center for mating to help enlarge the population.

Shuangxin and Shuangxi were born in August 2011, and they arrived at Shanghai Zoo in 2014.

Captive female giant pandas become sexually mature at age 4, and the Chengdu center will find suitable mates for them.

After eating their favorite meal of apples and undergoing health checks, Shuangxin and Shuangxi were ushered into cages and taken to Chengdu. But not without making a fuss first.

Shuangxin is a good girl and always listen to us, but she did not cooperate this time. She probably knew it was her last day here, said zookeeper Tang Pinggui.

Panda lover Momo, who has visited Shuangxin and Shuangxi regularly, said: It is difficult to say goodbye, but I will visit them in Chengdu.
Passenger spat on cabin crew

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-04-16 01:06

A female passenger on an Air New Zealand flight to Shanghai was held by police after she allegedly scratched and spat on members of the cabin crew because she was not served her choice of meal, the airline said yesterday.

Police boarded Flight NZ289 from Auckland to Shanghai to remove the woman after it landed at Pudong International Airport on Thursday morning. The airline did not give more details about the passenger.

Chinas civil aviation authorities are cracking down on unruly behaviour following a string of air-rage incidents.
Xi: Respect each other's core interests

2016-04-16 10:39

President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

President urges Turnbull to link Australia's strategies for development with China's

Beijing and Canberra have to respect each other's core interests to ensure stable development of the relationship, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

Xi made the remark when he met Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, before he hosted a banquet for the distinguished guest.

Turnbull's visit follows immediately after his calling China's military deployments in the South China Sea "counterproductive".

Beijing has said the United States is militarizing the region with frequent patrols and that China has every right to construction on its own territory.

Earlier this month, Australia for the first time joined a US-Philippines joint drill in the South China Sea, an exercise seen as apparently targeting China.

However, Turnbull made no mention of concerns over the South China Sea in his speech on Thursday in Shanghai, the first stop of his China visit.

On Friday, Xi told Turnbull, "Both sides should grasp the correct direction of developing bilateral relations, respect each other's core interests and major concerns and ensure the continuous, healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations."

Dong Manyuan, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said after Xi's visit to Australia in 2014, "Australian politicians and citizens realized that China is the best partner for the country to realize its vision of revitalizing economy.

"Turnbull chose to play down the South China Sea issue during the visit - and that is no surprise.

"Deepening trade cooperation with China is his priority here, and he will not let incautious remarks ruin the visit."

Xi said both sides should link their own development strategies, implement the free trade negotiations, and push forward cooperation in areas including defense.

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement took effect in December 2015. Under the agreement, more than 86 percent of Australian goods exports can enter China duty free, and that will rise to 94 percent in 2019 and 96 percent in 2029.

Xi also encouraged both sides take more measures to facilitate issuing visas to promote civilian exchanges.

Turnbull announced in Shanghai that Australia will grant 10-year visas to Chinese for the first time and allow online applications.

China is Australia's most important tourism market, with more than 1 million visitors last year.

Turnbull was leading a 1,000-company delegation, Australia's largest ever trade mission, to tap into the country's biggest export market.

Vice-Premier Wang Yang told CEOs from both countries at a round-table meeting on Friday morning - which Turnbull also attended - that the visit of more than 1,000 Australian entrepreneurs reflects a new high point for bilateral trade.

"It is a public opinion poll on the prospects of bilateral trade cooperation," he said in a speech.

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn
Talk show brings arts into the living room

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-04-16 04:20

FOR pianist Feng Ying, arts are a way of helping people better understand life. Playing the piano, she said, isnt just about mastering the techniques, but about exposing oneself and ones audiences to the great minds who composed the music.

Fengs mother was the first driving force behind her career and made her practice since she was a little girl.

But, as she grew older, she developed her own curiosity, and expanded her interests. She was selected as seeded ping pong player in primary school, sang Peking Opera songs, read all 10 volumes of the Jean Christophe novels before she was 18 years old and she developed a love for museum visits.

By her 30s, the young pianist had made a great number of friends in different art fields and frequently met them to exchange views at private gatherings.

It is interesting that you can always find connections among different art works even though they were presented by different artists in different art forms, Feng said. Through her own talk show program Innovative Arts+ broadcast weekly on TV189.COM, the pianist recently started sharing her experience and points of view with a larger group of people.

The talk show feels like a casual meeting where Feng and her friends advocate classic arts in an easily accessible way. Masters in Western and Chinese music, literature, architecture, and even game designers are invited to discuss different themes.

Feng, who graduated from Conservatoires Nationaux Superieurs de Paris, believes that her foundation in China and her studies with masters have turned her into the artists she is today.

The masters can often broaden your mind and view based on their rich experience in arts, which may take you great effort to gain all by yourself, Feng said. Though an increasing number of master classes are available in the city each year, they are still limited to a small number of people. She hopes her talk show can help fill in the gap  at least to a certain extent.

All the guests I invited so far are masters in their field. I hope the talk show can become a platform where different arts can communicate and clash, Feng said. According to her plan, though the first few talk shows may focus on some traditional topics like literature, Western classics and composers, the following shows will leave more room for cross-over creations.

It will not just be the common cross-over creations between classic and pop music, but involve artists of more fields in one theme, such as letting musicians, ink-and-wash painters, and game designers improvise one particular theme, Feng said. It will be fun, and I hope this will help attract more ordinary people to the arts.

Feng and her guests will stage about 25 concerts at Ke Center for Contemporary Arts within the next year, with tickets starting at 200 yuan (US$30).

Though most of the guests at the talk show are friends of Feng, she keeps getting surprised by some of their opinions, like the one of 78-year-old guqin (a traditional Chinese instrument) master Gong Yi, who said that the guqin was one of the easiest instruments to learn how to play.

But then he elaborated his view that playing the guqin is technically easy, but it requires much more for one to interpret the artistic conception in guqin pieces as they are often closely connected with history, literature and traditional Chinese philosophy, which I cannot agree with more, Feng said. None of the great arts are isolated. Often, the creator or interpreter is required to have a rich, comprehensive understanding of arts to make his/her own work great.

Fengs talk show is gaining popularity, but she is concerned about the future of classic arts. Young people, she said, are more interested in K-pop.

I think it is still a problem of insufficient exposure to serious art. It has to be around the public to get their interests, just like the Korean stars are on advertisement posters on almost every street, Feng said. I am trying my best to make that happen, and I hope there will be more passionate artists who do their part.
Russian duo is taking the world by storm

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-04-16 04:20

A proverbial Russian bear has long alarmed Westerners as the symbol of Moscows might and purported ferocity. But the Russian who has taken the world by storm is a sweet goof who hasnt 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, and producer Animaccord is seeing 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 sprites pranks. The cartoon is set in an idealized countryside, loaded with traditional bric-a-brac.

Their real home is a former Soviet kindergarten in Moscows northern outskirts. There, more than 70 animators each produce 2 to 4 seconds of screen time a day.

Its slow work due to the highly detailed images, unusual for television series. The images have a convincing 3D effect, move fluidly and are so precise that viewers can count Mashas tiny teeth. That costs money as well as time  up to US$250,000 per six-minute episode.

Senior animator Andrei Belyayev can spend hours trying on a myriad of expressions for Mashas face as she bursts into the bears house to announce an unexpected guest.

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 industrys creativity, its cartoons remained largely unknown outside the Russian-speaking world until Masha and the Bear broke through.

Masha and the Bears 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, Mashas 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 said . When they see something unique and unusual, something they dont 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 Mashas creators still want to steer away from government money.

They have their own hierarchy there, he said. Im not part of it and I didnt want to waste time elbowing for a place at the feeder.

The cartoon has gone on from critical acclaim to a commercial success, bringing the company 292 million rubles (US$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 US where Masha is dubbed by Elsie Fisher, who spoke for the character 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 deals with global consumer brands  Mashas face is glowing from childrens 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 cartoons 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.

Its a Muslim country, so we thought were lucky she wears a headscarf and her legs are covered! Loveyko said.

Mashas 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, its all from (my) childhood. This world is native to me  for them its a new style.
The minister said the order was an attempt to create stagnation in the higher education sector and that it was definitely a setback for the sector's progress.
#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....
Charlie Cox says his return as Daredevil "still feels too good to be true"
Yes, you read that headline correctly.

A software design company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and London, England, is giving its workers the morning off after each airing Game of Thrones so they can watch each episode without fear of spoilers. The not-at-all bizarre holiday perk will allow its workers to understand the finer intricacies of Westerosi politics whilst, we're guessing, code software and compiling stuff.

What's more, the directive also notes that its US offices must not post or discuss spoilers on the company intranet for 24 hours after its release. That's actually written into their company bye-laws and we're not even joking.

Take a look at this.

See, that's smarter thinking right there. Our plan was to book out holidays for the first Monday it's on and then figure out some way of avoiding spoilers through some kind of AdBlocker thing. Instead, this company's actually gone on and just given everyone the Monday morning off.

IF ONLY MIKE SHERIDAN, OUR SENIOR EDITOR, WAS READING THIS ARTICLE AND TOOK THE HINT COUGH COUGH.

Via Facebook
China's finance minister addresses ratings downgrade Updated: 2016-04-16 11:58 By CAI CHUNYING in Washington(China Daily USA)

Chinese Financial Minister Lou Jiwei said on Friday that the downgrading of China's economic outlook "doesn't reflect the reality" of the Chinese economy.

Lou made his comment at a press conference in Washington where he led a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors including US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, and where he is also attending the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. China will host the G20 summit in September in Hangzhou.

Before taking questions at a news conference, Lou first shared key points of a communique reached by his G20 colleagues on issues including infrastructure, the international monetary system, terrorist financing, green investment and climate change.

When asked for his reaction to Standard & Poor's and Moody's downgrade of China's credit outlook rating to "negative" in March, Lou said, "I do not think it reflected the reality of Chinese economy. We just released the GDP growth rate of the first quarter at 6.7 percent, still within our expectation."

"I do not blame them though because they do not know the specifics of Chinese economic situation," he said. "I hope they can have more communication with the countries that they rated, which will help them come to a more comprehensive conclusion."

Lou also commented on the IMF's decision to set the projection of China's 2016 GDP at 6.5 percent in its newly released World Economic Outlook, which is lower than the first quarter's actual number.

"IMF has their own way of reasoning. They might have seen some of the measures we introduced on the demand side. But we are also making great stride on the supply side structural reform, which over the long term will help to sharpen the path of growth," Lou said.

Lou said China has taken two important steps to rebalance its economy: deregulation and market-oriented price correction.

"Others may not see the benefits of these two reform areas, but I know it's going to have very crucial and positive impact. It just speaks to the fundamental laws of economics," said Lou.

Calling the Washington meeting a great success, Lou said he is looking forward to the G20 in China, the first for the country.

"How to evaluate the outcome of China's economic reform is indeed a big issue," he said, "I, however, have confidence."

charlenecai@chinadailyusa.com
Some believers in Buddhism released about 300 arctic foxes and minks in the mountains north of Beijing late last month. Soon a farmer reported to local officials that foxes had killed three of his chickens, and local forestry police started a hunt for the animals. By April 13, police had found about 100 foxes, of which more than 40 had starved to death.

The practice of setting animals free is not new. Buddhists have been releasing animals in the wild for ages, apparently to save them from slaughter or being "exploited" by their human masters. But even if police found the people who set the animals free, there is no law to hold them accountable for the troubles they have caused, albeit wittingly, to the local residents.

For Buddhists, setting animals free is regarded as a means of salvation (or an act of penance). If it is done on an auspicious day according to the Buddhist calendar, the deed becomes more virtuous, which in their belief can strengthen a person's chances of going to heaven after death, or help cleanse his/her sins. Although there are many schools in Buddhism, releasing animals from bondage or captivity is a common practice among all.

Fish, turtles, birds, snakes and foxes are the most popular choice of animals for the purpose, as they are easily available in captivity, or as pets. But the people who release such animals are usually not bothered about whether they can survive in the wild. Unfortunately, most animals raised on farms, or in homes, cannot adapt to the harsh conditions in the wild. They cannot hunt or protect themselves against their natural predators. If that is the case, don't Buddhists, by releasing such animals in the wild, push them closer to death?

Worse, such people sometimes introduce invasive species into the wild. And as is their wont, invasive species pose a threat to indigenous species. For example, snapping turtles and red-eared sliders, turtles found in the natural state only in North and Central America and which have no natural predators in China, have broken the ecological balance in some parts of China after being released in the wild by people seeking salvation.
The Jinghong Hydropower Station will increase water discharges to ease effects of a regional drought. [Photo by Yang Zheng/China Daily]

The water discharged by China from its dam in the upper reaches of Lancang-Mekong River in its southwestern part has reached the drought-hit countries downstream, including Vietnam. China's decision to release water from the dam is a perfect example of international cooperation.

China and Southeast Asian countries in the middle and lower reaches of the Mekong River aim to deepen their cooperation under the framework of Lancang-Mekong River Cooperation. But some Southeast Asian countries have voiced their opposition to China's projects in the upper reaches of the river. Studies conducted over the past few years, however, suggest the receding water levels in the river have nothing to do with China's hydropower projects, rather they are the result of the El Ni?o phenomenon which affects China as well.

That China has agreed to Vietnam's request and released as much water as possible from its dam has evoked a positive reaction from Vietnam.

China and Vietnam have tried to strengthen cooperation in this regard. In fact, there is enough scope for cooperation between China and the countries in the middle and lower reaches of the river, because their demand for water has been rising, especially to meet the needs of agriculture.

Vietnam, too, is considering building reservoirs on the Mekong River, and China is promoting its Belt and Road Initiative for common prosperity along the ancient Silk Road. They will offer a good opportunity to help build the needed infrastructure facilities.

Vietnamese people believe it is important to improve the flow of water in its rivers to help the agriculture sector, as well as to boost electricity generation. In this regard, the Vietnamese government has realized the importance of cooperation with China. But the Vietnamese people and government should also realize it is not up to China to provide enough water to meet their demands.

Therefore, it is important that the Vietnamese government should improve the country's water infrastructure facilities and optimize its agricultural use of water.

China has taken practical measures to fulfill its international obligations. It will also help launch a number of cooperation projects, when needed, to strengthen cooperation with the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations because the Lancang-Mekong River is as much a part of China as it is of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Both the hydropower projects in the upper reaches of the Mekong River and the cooperation mechanism Beijing intends to launch are for the common good of China and the countries in its middle and lower reaches, because all the countries that the river flows through share the same development destiny.

Pan Jin'e is an expert on Vietnamese studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article is an excerpt from her interview with China Daily's Zhang Yuchen.
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 15 (Reuters) - Brazil's Vale SA reiterated on Friday it is looking for a partner in the fertilizer sector, responding to a Reuters report that the miner is preparing a joint bid with U.S. private equity firm Apollo for Anglo American's niobium and phosphates business in Brazil.

The world's largest producer of iron ore said in a securities filing it "continues to work to form a strategic partnership in fertilizers, with the aim of divesting and raising cash." It did not give further details.

Vale has previously said it is seeking partners for its fertilizer business, but has not stated this could involve purchasing new assets as part of that strategy.

The company has said it is seeking to sell about $10 billion of assets to help insulate against further falls in iron ore and nickel prices, after it announced its biggest loss in decades in February.

(Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Andrew Hay)
NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - April 15, 2016) - Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until May 31, 2016 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Brixmor Property Group Inc. (BRX), if they purchased the Company's securities between October 27, 2014 and February 5, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

What You May Do

If you purchased shares of Brixmor and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com). If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by May 31, 2016.

About the Lawsuit

Brixmor and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On February 8, 2016, Brixmor announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, and an unnamed accounting employee had resigned after an internal accounting review by the Company's Audit Committee showed discrepancies in the Company's financial statements. The Company stated that "specific company accounting and financial reporting personnel, in certain instances, were smoothing income items, both up and down, between reporting periods in an effort to achieve consistent" net operating income results.

On this news, the price of Brixmor's shares plummeted by over 20% and it was downgraded by multiple analysts.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Saturday expressed optimism that a deal to make more loans available to Greece would be forthcoming in a few weeks.

"We are aiming to have things arranged at our meeting on Friday/Saturday in Amsterdam in a way that we will then get things to an end in the week after," Schaeuble told reporters on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings held in Washington this week.

"That is our common goal," he said with respect to the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank.

European finance ministers will meet on April 22.

"If Greece is fulfilling all its commitments than the debt sustainable analysis will come to the conclusion that debt is sustainable."

Schaeuble also said participation of the IMF in the bailout program for Greece was necessary.

"The participation of the IMF in the bailout program is part of the agreement," he said. Asked, it that means a financial participation of the IMF, he said "yes."

(Reporting by Gernot Heller; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
All eyes are currently on the oil producers meeting to be held in Doha, Qatar, on April 17 that could stabilize the oil market. Investors are waiting with bated breath to see whether the first deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers in 15 years is struck.



The talks surfaced in mid February to freeze oil output at January levels and have been driving the price of the commodity since then. In fact, oil price bounced back strongly gaining over 53% from its 12-year low and is currently showing strength at around $40 per barrel (read: Crude Back to $40: Can Energy ETFs Sustain Their Rally?).



Mixed Market Reactions



The market has mixed reactions regarding the deal. Some analysts expect freezing production to help in regaining some balance in the oil market while others believe that it will not be strong enough to alleviate the global glut. This is because since most of the producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia produced oil at record levels in January, the output halt at that level will still leave the world with about 300 million excess barrels of oil per year than needed.



Additionally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report said that a deal will have a limited impact on the global supply and that the markets are unlikely to rebalance before 2017.



Further, the prospect of the deal seems less likely as the top producers, especially Saudi Arabia, will only agree to freeze oil output when the other countries join the initiative. In this respect, Iran is the only obstacle as it is ramping up production after the international sanctions on it were lifted in January. However, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak stated that an agreement on freezing oil production could be reached between oil-producing countries without the participation of Iran (see: all the energy ETFs here).



Given the doubts over the agreement and its impact on the global supply glut, oil and energy ETFs are in focus. Below, we highlight some of the funds that look to be big movers following the meeting:



Oil ETFs



United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO): This fund provides direct exposure to the spot price of Brent crude oil on a daily basis through future contracts. It has amassed $121.3 million in its asset base and trades in a good volume of roughly 268,000 shares a day. The ETF charges 75 bps in annual fees and expenses. BNO surged 33.5% over the past 13 weeks.



United States Oil Fund (USO): This is the most popular and liquid ETF in the oil space with AUM of $3.8 billion and average daily volume of more than 41.5 million shares. The fund seeks to match the performance of the spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI or U.S. crude). The ETF has 0.45% in expense ratio and gained 15.6% in the same time period (read: Are These ETFs Making You An April Fool?).



iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Index ETN (OIL): This is an ETN option for oil investors and delivers returns through an unleveraged investment in the WTI crude oil futures contract. The product follows the S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index, a subset of the S&P GSCI Commodity Index. The note has amassed $770.4 million in AUM and trades in solid volume of roughly 4 million shares a day. Expense ratio came in at 0.75% and the note is up 5.8% in the past 13 weeks.



Energy ETFs



PowerShares S&P SmallCap Energy Fund (PSCE): This fund provides exposure to the energy sector of the U.S. small cap segment by tracking the S&P Small Cap 600 Capped Energy Index. Holding 33 securities in its basket, it is highly concentrated on the top two firms that make up for a combined 26.1% share. Other firms hold no more than 8.31% of total assets. The fund is less popular and less liquid with AUM of $48.5 million and average daily volume of about 34,000 shares. Expense ratio came in at 0.29%. PSCE gained 21.7% over the last 13 weeks.



SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP): This fund provides an equal weight exposure to 60 firms by tracking the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index. Each holding makes up for less than 2.8% of the total assets. XOP is one of the largest and popular funds in the energy space with AUM of over $2 billion and expense ratio of 0.35%. It trades in heavy volume of around 19.2 million shares a day on average and gained 31.6% in the same time frame (read: 4 Energy ETFs Outperforming on Oil Rebound).



First Trust Energy AlphaDEX (FXN): This follows an AlphaDEX methodology and ranks stocks in the broad energy space by various growth and value factors, eliminating the bottom ranked 25% of the stocks. This approach results in a basket of 60 stocks each holding less than 2.9% of assets. It has managed $1.4 billion in its asset base and trades in volume of 1.2 million shares per day on average. It charges a higher 64 bps in annual fees and gained over 29% in the same time period.



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



US BRENT OIL FD (BNO): ETF Research Reports



US-OIL FUND LP (USO): ETF Research Reports



IPATH-GS CRUDE (OIL): ETF Research Reports



PWRSH-SP SC EGY (PSCE): ETF Research Reports



SPDR-SP O&G EXP (XOP): ETF Research Reports



FT-ENERGY ALPH (FXN): ETF Research Reports



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Can PepsiCo's New Tactics Win the 1Q16 Currency Headwind Battle?

(Continued from Prior Part)

PepsiCos productivity plan

PepsiCos (PEP) performance in recent quarters has been impacted by currency headwinds and softness in beverage volumes. The company is trying to offset the impact of these unfavorable factors by enhancing its margins. In fiscal 2016, PepsiCo expects to deliver productivity savings of ~$1 billion. The companys planned productivity savings for fiscal 2016 are in line with its objective of generating $5 billion from productivity in the 20152019 period.

Previous quarters margins

In 4Q15, PepsiCos gross margin expanded to 54.9% from 53.1% in 4Q14. The companys operating margin increased to 12.1% in 4Q15up from 10.2% in the comparable quarter of the previous fiscal year. This margin expansion in 4Q15 was a result of the companys productivity initiatives and revenue management strategies.

Overall, PepsiCos fiscal 2015 gross margin increased to 55%up from 53.7% in the previous fiscal year. However, the companys operating margin declined to 13.2% in fiscal 2015, which was down from 14.4% in fiscal 2014, mainly due to the impairment charges related to the companys Venezuela operations.

The fiscal 2015 operating margins of peers Coca-Cola (KO), Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS), and Monster Beverage (MNST) came in at 19.7%, 20.7%, and 32.8%, respectively. The iShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF (IWY) has a 2% exposure to PepsiCo.

Productivity initiatives

PepsiCo plans to enhance its margins through a continued reductions in corporate expenses. The company is also accelerating investments in manufacturing automation and is further optimizing its global manufacturing footprint. Additionally, the company is re-engineering its go-to-market systems in developed markets, expanding shared services, and simplifying its organization structures to drive efficiency.

PepsiCos margins in 1Q16 are likely to benefit from such productivity initiatives. However, currency headwinds might continue to be a drag on the companys profitability.

Story continues

Now lets discuss the actual earnings expectations for PepsiCo in 1Q16.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
On Friday, President Obama announced he would sign an executive order directing 12 agencies of the federal government to spur more competition and innovation. His first initiative: calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open up the set-top box business to competition.



The intent is for American families to have options to own -- not lease -- a less costly device that would integrate their cable content and streaming apps in an easier, streamlined piece of hardware.



Yahoo Finances Nicole Sinclair spoke with the President exclusively on the topic, and its clear that this initiative wont be embraced by all.



The number one detractor? The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA).



We are disappointed that White House political advisers are choosing to inject politics and inflammatory rhetoric into a regulatory proceeding by what is supposed to be an independent agency, NCTA CEO Michael Powell said in a statement this morning.



The NCTA is a trade association that represents more than 90% of the U.S. cable market and more than 200 cable program networks. An ad hoc group called The Future of TV Coalition, whose members include the NCTA, AT&T (T), Comcast (CMCSA) Dish Network (DISH) and Verizon (VZ), opposes unnecessary technology mandates that threatens innovation in television.



The Future of TV Coalition, in a statement, said Obamas intention to spur more innovation is misguided. A FCC technology mandate will decimate the creative industry, rip up licensing protections, tear down the value of content, and strip away consumer privacy protections. The market is already moving toward a boxless future powered by apps. The Google proposal the White House endorsed today will box consumers into yesterdays technology and impede the innovation consumers so desperately want.



Powell highlighted that the White Houses intervention is actually undermining the independence of the FCC and shattering any faith in impartiality and fundamental fairness.



In February the FCC voted to begin the process of creating rules that could give consumers new devices and apps. The White House initiative is essentially piggybacking and giving additional weight to the plan.



The FCC is looking, independently of anything we do here at the White House, at whether it makes sense to open that up to competition, Obama told Yahoo Finance.



Set-top box rental fees can cost over $200 annually and there are 95 million paid TV subscribers. S&P Global intelligence analyst Tuna Amobi says though this initiative wont happen overnight, once the framework is there, people are going to drop set-top boxes right away to create their own customized experience.



Amobi says this move will mean losses of billions of dollars for the entire cable industry. Most of the cable companies capital expenditure is spent on boxes, the physical equipment for consumers. He notes that power players like Comcast will hit the hardest because of vertical integration.



Comcast already dominates the market since they acquired NBC Universal, Amobi said. But Time Warner Cable (TWC), Cablevision (CVC), and even privately traded companies like MediaCom are not exempt.



With the surge of over-the-top experiences like Google (GOOG) Chromecast, AppleTV (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) FireTV, and Roku, consumers are finding ways to cut the cord and handpick their content.



Powell says the issue with Obamas order is that by trying to spur innovation, its giving the tech behemoths an upper hand.



By reading the White House blog, you have to wonder how they could ignore that the worlds largest tech companies  which are often touted in other Administration initiatives  including Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix (NFLX) and many others are providing exactly the choice in video services and devices that they claim to want, Powell said.



Currently, the executive order is still a proposed rule in public comment period, which means that the administration is required to respond to issues and comments that the public is submitting. This period could last up to 180 days.

Watch our full interview with President Obama here.
MOSCOW, April 16 (Reuters) - Russia could raise debt domestically if it is not able to sell Eurobonds to foreign investors, news agencies quoted Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying on Saturday.

Russia has pencilled in up to $3 billion in foreign borrowing in its 2016 budget, which would be the country's first tapping of foreign debt markets since sanctions were imposed on Moscow two years ago over the Ukraine crisis.

But most of the 25 foreign banks invited to participate in arranging the Eurobonds have refused, warned by the United States and the European Union that proceeds from the issues could be used to finance sanctions-hit Russian entities.

"We wanted to test the market, participate in the market, so investors could see our presence," Interfax news agency quoted Siluanov as saying.

"Yes, there is some intrigue about the issue now, many banks have refused. However, we are not closing this window of possibility."

Siluanov added that if Russia sold foreign debt this year, it would be issued either in dollars or in euros and the sale would happen only if the "quality of investors" was the same as in Russia's previous bonds placements.

Russia raised $6 billion and 750 million euros via Eurobonds in 2013, its last tapping of foreign debt markets, before annexing the Crimea region from Ukraine in early 2014.

Siluanov said there was no budgetary need to enter foreign markets again, as its current balance of payments was in a good position.

"Additional capital inflow from the Eurobonds will only add to the rouble's strengthening. Do we really need that? I don't believe that is especially needed," Siluanov was quoted as saying.

But the ministry needs funds to help fill a budget deficit, envisaged at 3 percent of gross domestic product this year.

Siluanov said foreign debt could be replaced with borrowing on the domestic market, by issuing treasury bonds.

"We are more than able to (raise the debt domestically)," he reportedly said.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Mark Potter)
oil

Saudi Arabia says it can flood the market with a lot more oil.

Immediately.

Deputy Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman said The Kingdom could increase output to 11.5 million barrels a day right away, and up to 12.5 million within six to nine months "if we wanted to."

"I dont suggest that we should produce more, but we can produce more, he said.

We can produce 20 million barrels of oil per day if we invested in production capacity, but we cant produce beyond 20 million," he added.

Data compiled by Bloomberg indicates the Saudis produced about 10.2 million barrels a day in March.

Screen Shot 2016 04 14 at 11.18.19 AM

Mohammed bin Salman's

comments come ahead of Sunday's meeting among oil producers in Doha, Qatar to discuss a potential production freeze.

It is not clear to wha extent his comments reflect the thinking of the Saudi leadership and king, but they could raise tensions ahead of the meeting after several weeks of mostly conciliatory statements from market players.

Notably, most analysts aren't getting their hopes up ahead of the talks  especially since the Saudis keep reiterating that they won't cut production unless others (read: Iran) do, too. However, Iran isn't even going to the meeting.

"As it stands now, we believe that the most likely outcome is that producers fail to close the deal and announce a freeze on Sunday, but that they instead pledge to continue to conversation and even possibly put an additional OPEC/non-OPEC meeting on the calendar for later in the year," Helima Croft, the head of commodities research at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.

"Saudi Arabia and Iran do not appear ready to give sufficient ground to get a comprehensive freeze agreement done by Sunday, given current information," she explained.

Screen Shot 2016 04 13 at 1.08.05 PM

Producers have struggled for nearly two years with low oil prices and an over-supplied market but have been loath to cut output as that would cede market share to rivals.

Story continues

Sanctions imposed by the United States and other world powers were lifted in January in return for Tehran agreeing to long-term curbs on its nuclear program.

Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia would cap its market share at about 10.3 million to 10.4 million barrels a day (bpd), if producers agree to the freeze.

But in defiant comments ahead of the talks, Prince Mohammed added: "If all major producers dont freeze production, we will not freeze production ... If we dont freeze, then we will sell at any opportunity we get."

Tehran's stance has not torpedoed the convening of the meeting, something that suggests many fellow producers may be prepared to tolerate a rise in Iranian output temporarily, provided there is no new price rout.

Iran's production has already surpassed 3.5 million bpd and exports are set to reach 2 million bpd next month, Iran's deputy oil minister was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Saturday.

Countries are discussing a number of reference points at which to freeze output - January levels, February levels or an average - and have floated the idea of setting up a committee to monitor compliance.

NOW WATCH: A psychologist reveals a trick to stop being lazy





More From Business Insider


Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud

Saudi Arabia threatened to sell up to $750 billion worth of US assets held by the Kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be sued over 9/11, reports The New York Times' Mark Mazzetti.

Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, personally passed on the message last month during a trip to Washington, according to The Times.

The foreign minister was referring to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, (JASTA) which would let victims of 9/11 and other terrorist acts sue foreign sponsors of terrorism.

As Vice News noted when it was reintroduced in September, the Senate bill would pave the way for a lawsuit to proceed over Saudi Arabia's alleged role in the 9/11 terror attacks.

Saudi Arabia has been arguing that it's immune from liability over 9/11 under a 1976 law that makes it difficult to sue foreign countries in US courts. However, the JASTA legislation would allow victims of terrorism on US soil to sue foreign sponsors of terrorism.

The Obama administration has been lobbying Congress to block the bill's passage, administration officials and congressional aides from both parties told The Times. The administration argues that the legislation would put Americans at legal risk overseas.

Meanwhile, "the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon," writes Mazzetti. "The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation."

The Saudi government has routinely denied any involved in 9/11. Additionally, the 9/11 Commission found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization."

However, Mazzetti writes that suspicions about Saudi involvement have lingered because a 2002 inquiry from Congress cited evidence that Saudi officials living in the US were part of the 9/11 terror plot.

Story continues

Notably, the Saudis' statement comes at time when US-Saudi relations are not as great as they once were following attempts to (kind of) patch things up with Iran, the Saudis' regional rival, and ongoing questions about the roles both countries should play in the Middle East.

Check out the full story at the New York Times.

NOW WATCH: The science behind why you shouldn't pop your pimples





More From Business Insider


Woman reacts in front of collapsed house caused by an earthquake in Mashiki town A woman reacts in front of collapsed house caused by an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo

By Makiko Yamazaki and Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) - Electronics giant Sony Corp said a factory producing image sensors for smartphone makers will remain closed while it assesses the damage from two deadly earthquakes which hit southern Japan. One of its major customers is Apple, which uses the sensors in its iPhones.

Sony said it will extend the closure of its image sensor plant in Kumamoto, which is in the southern island of Kyushu, after major tremblors on Thursday and Saturday rocked the key manufacturing region.

The PlayStation maker said operations at its image sensor plant in Nagasaki, also in Kyushu, will be partially suspended and it does not yet have a timeline for full resumption of operations.

Sony controls about 40 percent of the market for complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, a type of integrated circuit that converts light into electrical signals. In smartphones they are used to convert images into digital data.

We are not expecting any immediate supply disruption as we have some inventories right now," a Sony spokesman told Reuters on Saturday. "We will make an announcement promptly if any supply issues emerge.

He said the company was hoping to resume operations as soon as aftershocks end, and would probably provide an update on late Monday afternoon. "We are still checking for potential damage to the plants, which usually operate on a 24-hour basis," he said.

Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sony has two other CMOS image sensor plants in Japan.

Samsung Electronics says it has diversified its sources for image sensors used in its smartphones and the quakes will have no impact on its flagship products.

A devastating earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan in March 2011 temporarily knocked out part of Japan's auto supply chain. Some companies have since adjusted the industry's "Just in Time" production philosophy to limit any repeat of that costly disruption.

Other electronics makers were also forced to stop production in Kyushu, which has grown as a manufacturing hub over the past two decades. Kyushu accounts for roughly 25 percent of semiconductor output in Japan by some estimates.

Story continues

Renesas Electronics Corp closed its Kumamoto plant, which produces microcontroller chips for automobiles. It will not resume production until it completes its damage assessment.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp halted production at its two Kumamoto plants which produce liquid crystal display modules used in display panels for car navigation systems and semiconductor chips used in power inverters for various electrical products, including air conditioners and hybrid or electric vehicles. It uses some of the products itself and provides others to customers.

We are still assessing the situation as we continue to have aftershocks," said a Mitsubishi spokesman.

AUTOMAKERS HALT PRODUCTION

Saturday's natural disaster also impacted major automakers, which had just stopped their production lines to inspect for any damage from Thursday's earthquake.

Honda Motor Co Ltd halted production at its Kumamoto motorcycle plant, which has annual production capacity of 250,000. It said it will keep production on hold through Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp halted production at three plants producing vehicles, engines and trans axles in Fukuoka. Toyota said there was no damage at its plants, but it was checking the status of its suppliers. It will decide on Sunday whether to resume production.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd stopped production at its Fukuoka plant which produces vehicles including the Serena, Teana, Murano and Note.

Kumamoto prefecture accounts for about 1.1 percent of Japanese GDP, compared to the combined 6.2 percent of the four prefectures which suffered the heaviest damage from the 2011 natural disaster, according to strategists at Barclays.

"A relatively higher proportion of Kyushu's economic activity takes place within the region itself. Therefore economic impact on the rest of Japan stemming from any damages to Kyushu's manufacturing activity will be limited," Barclays wrote in a note to clients.

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu, Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada in Tokyo; Writing by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Martin Howell)
Nothing is certain except death and taxes  and Americans complaining about how much they pay in taxes.

Despite Americans seemingly endless laundry list of criticism about the U.S. tax system and how much money theyre forced to fork over to Uncle Sam, U.S. citizens tax bills are, in fact, below average compared with the taxes paid by residents of other developed countries.

In a comparison of the worlds developed nations, Americans are taxed on the lower end of the scale, according to Pew Research, which analyzed data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments database of taxes and benefits. In terms of the tax burden  which Pew defines as national-level income taxes plus mandatory social-insurance contributions as a percentage of gross income  the United States ranks 25 out of the 39 nations.

So, consider the tax burden for two different family types in the United States and in another developed nation:

A single, childless American making the average wage in 2014 ($50,099) paid 24.8 percent of gross income in federal income tax and payroll taxes. The 39-country average tax burden for a taxpayer with that profile was 27.3 percent. In Belgium, a person with that profile paid 42.3 percent.

A married American couple, both working  one at the average wage, one at two-thirds of it  and with two kids, paid 19.4 percent of their gross income in taxes. In Belgium, a similar family would have paid nearly double that rate  38.3 percent.

Pew crunched the numbers for two other family structures and its conclusion remained the same.

In all cases, the U.S. was below the 39-nation average  in some cases, well below, Pew noted.

Pierre LeBlanc of the OECDs Center for Tax Policy and Administration told PBS Newshour that its important to consider whats included and whats not when looking at Pews tax comparisons.

Watch the video of Think Youre Paying a Lot of Taxes? Heres How the US Compares With Other Rich Countries on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Story continues

Taxes and social security contributions are paying for different bundles of services in different countries. In the U.S., take health care for example. The payroll tax for Medicare would be covered, LeBlanc said. But any premiums that people have to pay through their workplace for health care coverage arent, because thats in the private sector. In most, not all, but most other OECD countries, thats covered through the public sector.

Theres those sorts of decisions, theres positives but those taxes are buying services that people value. So its about trade-offs. Each country will decide how to make those trade-offs.

For example, Belgium has the OECDs highest average tax rate at about 56 percent. But thats not the whole picture.

Social security contributions, in Europe in particular, are very important, LeBlanc explains. In Belgium youll see a clear example of that. Thats how they finance all of their pensions, all of their health care, and more generous unemployment insurance, and that shows up in substantially higher tax rates.

Perhaps E. Jones, who posted a comment on the Pew website, sums up the tax discrepancy best:

Yes, American tax rates are below average among developed nations  but those developed nations often offer universal health care, university opportunities, paid maternity leave, child care, etc.  I guess we get what we pay for.

Check out One-Fifth of Profitable Large Corporations Escape Taxes.

How do you think Americans fare in terms of what they pay in taxes, considering what they receive in services and government programs? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.

This article was originally published on MoneyTalksNews.com as 'Think Youre Paying a Lot of Taxes? Heres How the US Compares With Other Rich Countries'.

More from Money Talks News
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (pictured) stepped down as ruling party chief and premier following rumoured divisions with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AFP Photo/Adem Altan) (AFP/File)

Ankara (AFP) - Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on two opposition parties Friday to back his push to alter Turkey's constitution, to allow prosecutions of pro-Kurdish lawmakers accused of "terrorist propaganda".

Lawmakers will decide whether to allow the change before the end of the month, according to a parliamentary source.

Since violence re-erupted last summer in the decades-long Kurdish conflict, Turkey's government has stepped up action against individuals it accuses of being "accomplices" of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

These include elected officials of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP).

But to prosecute lawmakers including the principle target of the move, HDP party chief Selahattin Demirtas, their parliamentary immunity must first be lifted by their fellow parliamentarians.

To accelerate the process, the ruling AKP party wants to amend article 83 of the country's constitution which currently states that no parliamentarian suspected of a crime can be questioned, tried or detained without a parliamentary vote.

"The opposition should support the proposal to reform the constitution to authorise legal proceedings against several deputies of pro-Kurdish parties accused of "terrorist propaganda"," Davutoglu said Friday in Kocaeli, in northwest Turkey.

As many as 129 deputies could be subject to legal proceedings if the amendment is adopted by parliament.

Turkey's main opposition parties, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have both said that they will not object to the government's plan.

With the votes of AKP, CHP and MHP members, the government looks likely to win the two-thirds majority of the parliament's 550 representatives needed to pass the change.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously promised to "eradicate" the PKK and its "accomplices", throwing his weight behind the constitutional changes.

Story continues

"We must hold responsible those who harm the unity of the people," he said recently.

Clashes between the Turkish state and the PKK, which resumed in late July, have upended a 2013 ceasefire that had nurtured hopes of an end to the PKK's three-decade insurgency, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of establishing an independent state for Turkey's Kurdish minority, although in recent years its demands have focused on greater autonomy and cultural rights.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has officially confirmed that the Zika virus can cause microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads, and other severe birth defects. The finding is "unprecedented," says Tom Frieden, M.D., director of the CDC. Never before in history has there been a situation where a bite from a mosquito can result in a devastating malformation.

The link between the Zika virus and this birth defect has been suspected since October, when Brazilian doctors reported a spike in microcephaly cases that coincided with a growing incidence of Zika infections. Researchers have made several key discoveries in the intervening months about Zika and pregnancy, including that the virus can cross the placenta and attack fetal brain cells, and that the virus can cause birth defects even when it doesn't cause microcephaly. In addition, they warn that men need to worry about the virus, too, since they can transmit the disease to pregnant women through sex.

Not Just Microcephaly

The most well-publicized concern about Zika and pregnancy is microcephaly, defined as an abnormally small head. That birth defect, which can be caused not just by Zika but other infections as well as exposure to certain drugs or toxic chemicals, includes a wide spectrum of problems that can range from no deficits (in 15 percent of cases) to severe disability, including constant seizures and developmental delays.

But in Zika-related cases, the disorder takes an exceptionally severe form called fetal brain disruption sequence. The measurements of babies heads with this type of microcephaly are much smallerthree times smaller by some estimatesthan in other types of microcephaly. And it can cause other problems, including extreme difficulty bending limbs and swallowing.



Brain scans of Brazilian infants with Zika-related microcephaly have shown serious widespread damage, including brain swelling, underdeveloped brain structures, and abnormal myelination, which is essential for proper functioning of the nervous system.

Story continues

The virus seems to kill off tissue in whole regions of the brain, says Dr. Kristina Adams-Waldorf, M.D., an obstetrician-gynecologist who studies pre-term births at the University of Washington in Seattle, and who is currently researching the Zika virus. Such extensive damage suggests that the virus is acting through multiple pathways in multiple cell-types, she says.

In addition, it now seems that Zika can cause birth defects even when it doesn't cause microcephaly. So far, the virus has been associated with pre-term birth, miscarriage, and a range of abnormalities including hearing and vision loss.

Still Many Unknowns

While scientists are beginning to better understand Zika and pregnancy, there are still many unanswered questions. Here are some of the most pressing ones:

What percentage of infants born to women infected with Zika develop microcephaly? There have been a number of estimates on this, but until ongoing studies are completed, the CDC says there are still no reliable figures.

Does it matter when a pregnant mother is infected? While it now looks like infection during any trimester can pose a risk to the fetus, it remains unclear whether being infected during different trimesters leads to different outcomes.

What is the long-term effect of Zika infection on babies born without microcephaly? It's too early to tell whether babies without microcephaly will go on to display developmental deficits or mental disorders later in life. We know were dealing with something very frightening, says Adams-Waldorf. But the extent to which its going to impact populations that have already been affected, we dont yet know.

Why do some mothers infected with Zika give birth to babies with serious birth defects but others don't? It remains to be seen what other forces may be at work in cases of Zika-related birth defects. We dont know, are there other factors involved? says Sonja Rasmussen, M.D., the CDC researcher who authored the New England Journal of Medicine paper confirming the causal relationship between Zika and brain damage. Has another infection occurred at same time as Zika infection that might affect the risk?

Will Zika pose a risk to pregnant women in the U.S. mainland? Zika is already a serious problem in Puerto Rico. And while the CDC expects that as the spring and summer progresses there will be some cases caused by mosquito bites received on the U.S. mainland, it is unclear how widespread those cases will be.

Protect Yourself

There's also still a lot unknown about what women should do to protect themselves. But if you're pregnant or a woman of child-bearing age, here is what the CDC and other experts advise now about Zika and pregnancy:



 Exercise caution when traveling. Zika is currently spreading in more than 30 countries, most of them in Latin America and the Caribbean; the CDC urges people who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant to avoid traveling to those countries. Before you travel, check the CDC's list, which is updated regularly. And make sure, using Consumer Reports' exclusive Ratings, to bring effective insect repellents.



 Consider abstaining from sex with partners who have traveled to Zika-ravaged areas. While the vast majority of Zika infections have been through mosquito bites, sexual transmission has also been reported, including seven cases in the U.S. among people who recently returned from travel in Zika-prone areas. So pregnant women who want to eliminate the risk of Zika should abstain from sex with partners who have traveled to those countries, or use condoms every time for all forms of sex.

 Get tested for the virus if you're pregnant or considering pregnancy and have visited or live in an area where Zika is spreading. Talk with your doctor about having regular blood tests to check for the infection. If you're not yet pregnant and test positive for the virus or have symptoms of the disease, wait at least eight weeks after symptoms appeared before trying to get pregnant. If you are already pregnant, consider getting at least one ultrasound near the end of your second trimester or beginning of your third to check for brain calcifications, a sign that the fetal skull is hardening too quickly and a possible sign of microcephaly. Note that ultrasounds cant reliably detect microcephaly before the end of the second trimester. While there is no way to cure microcephaly, if the ultrasound detects the birth defect you can use the information to prepare yourself.

 For men: Wait to have sex or use condoms if you've traveled to Zika-prone areas and have had symptoms of the disease. The virus can linger in men longer than in women. So wait six months before having unprotected sex with a woman who is pregnant or could become pregnant.

One reassuring piece of news about Zika and pregnancy: A previous infection will not threaten a future pregnancy. As long as conception occurs after the virus clears your system, the risk to your baby is nil. What's more, once you have had the infection, researchers believe you will be immune to the disease in the future.



More on Pregnancy and Childbirth

Childbirth: What to Reject When You're Expecting

Your Biggest C-Section Risk May Be Your Hospital

Preparing for Pregnancy: What to Do Right Now







More from Consumer Reports:

8 Ways to Boost Your Home Value

Why your cable TV bill is going up

Get the Best Cell Phone Plan for Your Familyand Save up to $1,000 a Year





Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S.
2000 - 2022   24 .-   .       focus-news.net,                 () .                  24 .                 24      .       .       24 .
We value your privacy.

Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy.
Boris Johnson has accused US President Barack Obama of "hypocrisy" over his support for the UK remaining in the EU.



The London mayor, who backs EU exit, told the BBC the Americans "wouldn't dream of sharing [their] sovereignty" as the UK had done.



The US president is expected to repeat his support for Britain's EU membership when he visits the UK next week.



Asked about the US president, the London mayor said everything about the history of the US suggested they would never share sovereignty.



"I don't know what he is going to say but, if that is the American argument, then it is nakedly hypocritical. The Americans would never dream of it.



"I think that President Obama has got a perfect right to make any intervention that he wants. Indeed I welcome the views of everybody in this debate.



"I just find it absolutely bizarre that we are being lectured by the Americans about giving up our sovereignty and giving up control when the Americans won't even sign up to the international convention on the law of the seas, let alone the International Criminal Court."



Mr Johnson also reiterated his view that Mr Cameron should stay on as prime minister even if voters backed leaving.



On Friday evening at a rally in Manchester, Mr Johnson said leaving the EU would be a "glorious alternative" to a current system based on "the whims of unelected bureaucrats".



EU referendum: Boris Johnson accuses Barack Obama of 'hypocrisy'

Analysis









By Laura Kuenssberg, BBC political editor



Boris Johnson could hardly be more dismissive of the arguments being put forward by the prime minister, the IMF, the Bank of England, Nato and the White House.



The mayor of London said economic concerns about leaving the EU were fundamentally wrong and he claimed the union was corrupt.



And he said that President Obama's likely warnings about departure would be nakedly hypocritical.



Remain campaign sources say those arguing to leave can't answer basic questions about the economic risks and can't attract the backing of any third parties of any stature.



When pressed for endorsements to rival the In camp, the mayor of London stumbled.



Yet Mr Johnson described his colleagues who want to stay in the union of being the Gerald Ratners of British politics. They believe the EU is "crap" - his word - but say there is no alternative.



Maybe his plain speaking is the passion of the newly converted.



But with Boris Johnson as one of the Leave campaign's biggest voices, if they lose, it won't be for fear of being bold. Boris Johnson could hardly be more dismissive of the arguments being put forward by the prime minister, the IMF, the Bank of England, Nato and the White House.The mayor of London said economic concerns about leaving the EU were fundamentally wrong and he claimed the union was corrupt.And he said that President Obama's likely warnings about departure would be nakedly hypocritical.Remain campaign sources say those arguing to leave can't answer basic questions about the economic risks and can't attract the backing of any third parties of any stature.When pressed for endorsements to rival the In camp, the mayor of London stumbled.Yet Mr Johnson described his colleagues who want to stay in the union of being the Gerald Ratners of British politics. They believe the EU is "crap" - his word - but say there is no alternative.Maybe his plain speaking is the passion of the newly converted.But with Boris Johnson as one of the Leave campaign's biggest voices, if they lose, it won't be for fear of being bold.



Speaking in Washington, Chancellor George Osborne said it was the "overwhelming view" of foreign governments and international institutions such as the IMF and Nato that the UK should remain.

BBC News16 April 2016Boris Johnson has accused US President Barack Obama of "hypocrisy" over his support for the UK remaining in the EU.The London mayor, who backs EU exit, told the BBC the Americans "wouldn't dream of sharing [their] sovereignty" as the UK had done.The US president is expected to repeat his support for Britain's EU membership when he visits the UK next week.The White House has indicated Mr Obama is ready to offer his view but will stress the decision is for UK voters.Speaking in Washington, Chancellor George Osborne said it was the "overwhelming view" of foreign governments and international institutions such as the IMF and Nato that the UK should remain.Backing from Mr Obama could boost Prime Minister David Cameron's efforts to persuade the country to vote to remain in the EU in the 23 June referendum.Asked about the US president, the London mayor said everything about the history of the US suggested they would never share sovereignty."I don't know what he is going to say but, if that is the American argument, then it is nakedly hypocritical. The Americans would never dream of it."I think that President Obama has got a perfect right to make any intervention that he wants. Indeed I welcome the views of everybody in this debate."I just find it absolutely bizarre that we are being lectured by the Americans about giving up our sovereignty and giving up control when the Americans won't even sign up to the international convention on the law of the seas, let alone the International Criminal Court."Mr Johnson also reiterated his view that Mr Cameron should stay on as prime minister even if voters backed leaving.On Friday evening at a rally in Manchester, Mr Johnson said leaving the EU would be a "glorious alternative" to a current system based on "the whims of unelected bureaucrats".On Friday, Vote Leave kicked off the first day of official campaigning on the referendum by claiming that millions saved in subscription fees to the 28-nation bloc by an exit could be spent on public services such as the NHS.However, Labour MP and Remain campaigner Chuka Umunna accused Mr Johnson of posing as a "champion of the NHS" while supporting spending cuts.Mr Umunna said: "If we vote to leave the EU, the prime minister will almost certainly be forced out of office and most likely replaced by Boris Johnson - someone who has no love for public services and would happily watch the workers' rights people get from the EU eroded."Pro-European Conservative MP Ken Clarke has, meanwhile, predicted Mr Cameron "wouldn't last 30 seconds" as prime minister if the public votes to leave the EU.He told BBC Radio 4's The Week in Westminster: "We'd be plunged into a Conservative leadership crisis which is never a very edifying sight."Mr Cameron "would be in a farcical position having campaigned for a position that's been rejected."He'd be a prime minister facing a Parliament in which the majority of the MPs wanted to remain in the EU."BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said Mr Clarke was speaking a truth that many Tory MPs privately acknowledge.But Mr Johnson said Mr Clarke's comments were "uncommonly pessimistic".He said Mr Cameron would be in a "strong position" to lead post-referendum negotiations and there were no previous examples of European leaders who had been forced to step down after suffering "adverse referendum results"."Obviously David Cameron should remain in place," he said.
captain morgan said: Most countries hold lots of value in bonds and currency of other foreign nations, it's not just the USD that is held outside America



Do the opposite... If they are willing to give it away, buy it up on the cheap and hold your own reserves for later when the freebies are done and the price rises. Click to expand...

Somehow I don't think Easterners freezing to death is going to sway Saudi much if this is a blackmail/extortion attempt.We could switch to Iranian/ South American oil if they have any surplus until we install the needed lines. Do that right and we maybe able to sell the blueprints for construction guidelines include 3D printing for the inner core and a mesh steel outer covering that would expand a lot before bursting and it would be more flexible than the lines in place. If the Mid-east is about to be networked with oil lines and hydro lines and roads then our experiences would be valuable to them in the 'safety' aspect and reliability, etc. (rather than go back to 1960 guidelines because they don't know any better and it is $2/km cheaper)Do a tight wrap of hemp, raw fabric or resin reinforced so it is blast resistant and moisture proof and now you have some material that might also have a market that is not just local.Canada should publish the projected gold recovery in all the kms of tailing piles from the dredges as a recoverable resource that is almost as valuable as refined gold with minimal recovery effort required. The Gov has the titles as the companies that did have the claims failed to do the proper restoration so they get a share based on material moved rather than riches recovered. That being said the value of the land when reclamation is complete is taken into consideration as some areas could be turned into a tourist attraction geared towards wilderness camping based on the visitors experience as the wildlife is bigger than the visitor.How much for the ride in an acrylic ball covered in salmon chum and dropped off in bear country for the afternoon?
not very sunnyways news ladies and gentlemen.A video has emerged of two Canadians who are being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the Philippines, appealing to the Canadian government to pay their ransom.Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall warn they will be beheaded if their ransom is not paid within the next 10 days.The two men are among four hostages who speak directly to the camera in the troubling video.This is a final, urgent appeal to governments -- Philippine, Canadian  and families, Ridsdel says in the video. If $300 million (Philippine pesos) is not paid for me by 3 p.m. on April 25, they will behead me.In the video, Hull said he is appealing specifically to the Canadian government, who I know has the capacity to get us out of here. Im wondering what theyre waiting for.In September, gunmen abducted Ridsdel and Hall, along with Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipino Marites Flor, at an upscale resort complex on a southern Philippine island.In a video released late last year, the militants demanded more than $60 million for the release of the four hostages.'This is a final, urgent appeal': Canadian hostages in Philippines plead for their lives http://ow.ly/4mK1V5
A train pulls into a station in Luoyang city, Henan province, June 30, 2015. [Photo/IC]

A Chinese high-speed train is a thing of beauty, and the ride is very smooth.

While traveling from Beijing to Shanghai, I recalled a 10-minute video clip that went viral online last year that showed a foreigner balancing a coin on its edge on the window sill of a high-speed train doing the opposite journey from Shanghai to Beijing.

So I tried the same stunt. It worked easily, although, since I was using a dime which is not the best choice for such a show, it balanced for only 20 seconds before it toppled onto its side.

Compared with the Amtrak trains I frequently take between Washington and New York, China's high-speed train is much smoother and several times faster. Running at 300 km per hour, the ride from Washington to the Big Apple would take only one hour and 20 minutes, less than half of the time by Acela, the express train now running between the two major US cities.

Former US Ambassador to China Stapleton Roy, who was born in Nanjing, praised China's high-speed train "as smooth as silk" in a congressional hearing two years ago. He complained that he could not even walk steadily on the Amtrak.

However, although the Amtrak rumbles along with a squeaking noise produced between the wheels and the rails, it has a Quiet Car that prohibits cellphone use and loud talking. Like a cocoon of silence, it is a great place for a read or to take a nap.

There is no such sanctuary on one of China's high-speed trains and having a good nap is almost impossible, as I found this week.

Two minutes after I closed my eyes I was awakened by a deafening woman's cry approaching from behind: "Any trash?" It was a crew member collecting garbage. Just as I was falling asleep, another female voice came from the front, shouting: "Anyone want ice cream?"

Then came another crew member peddling fresh roasted coffee and hot tea, then another hawking snacks, and another selling fruits, and another lunch boxes and yet another with roasted chestnuts and Fuling cake, a special poria cocos pie from Beijing, all loudly shouting the wares they were trying to entice you with.

And as the train passed through Shandong province, the train loudspeaker started to promote its popular Dezhou-style braised chicken.

And the cellphones! They never stopped with some passengers yelling on the phone as they were on a soapbox making a speech.

I could tell the discomfort of some passengers harassed by such incessant human noise, although sadly, they did not speak up.

It is said the Quiet Car in Amtrak was the idea of some regular passengers. In the early 2000s, some of the commuters on the Philadelphia to Washington leg of train 151 - an early morning Northeast Corridor train that travels southbound from Boston to Washington - had become fed up with the cellphone chatter. They pleaded with the conductor until he decided to informally set aside a single car as a noise-free zone.

It caught on, and soon Amtrak expanded the quiet zone to several trains. Such Quiet Cars can now be found not just in Northeast Corridor, but also the Chicago-to-Milwaukee Hiawatha service and the Capitol Corridor running between Sacramento and San Jose in California.

There is no doubt in my mind that China's high-speed trains should have such Quiet Cars.

It should start with the Shanghai-Beijing route, the busiest artery, and spread nationally. Only then will the high-speed train deserve its brand name Harmony.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com
FOREST CITY  A Garner man was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison Thursday in connection with a shooting at a rural Forest City residence last February.

Norris Odell Hughes Jr., 30, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on charges of possession of a firearm and ammunition as a prohibited person and possession of a stolen firearm after he allegedly shot a woman in the leg on Feb. 24, 2015.

The 26-year-old victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to authorities.

Hughes pleaded guilty last year to possession of a firearm and ammunition as a prohibited person.

Court records state Hughes was in possession of a handgun while being an unlawful user of marijuana and methamphetamine. He also was convicted of a felony, third-degree burglary, in 2011 in Cerro Gordo County.

He was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and is to be under three years of supervised release after his release.

Hughes also must pay a $100 special assessment.

The possession of a stolen firearm charge was dismissed.

Hancock County charges filed against Hughes in the case, including reckless use of a firearm and child endangerment, were dismissed due to the federal indictment.

 Mary Pieper
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.
Re: Taking the GMAT at age 43...help?!? [ #permalink

1 Kudos

I would say that you definitely should be able to raise your score quite a bit. At almost 35 I was able to score a 700 on my first attempt after about 4 months of preparation. I will add that I received very average scores on both the SAT (1070?) and the GRE (990?). It should be noted that I mostly used to "wing it" when taking standardized tests and figured that some people were just better test takers than others. In college I never even took anything higher than the one required math course for liberal arts majors. My BA and MA were both in Spanish, so this did not make me hopeful. Needless to say, when I first started studying I was getting Quan percentile scores in the 20s and 30s. The verbal on the other hand seemed to be easier after years of reading, writing and continuing to use these skills once out of school. In any case, I was able to bring my Quan percentile score up to 63rd and together with a score at 95th percentile in verbal this somehow combined to be 90th percentile overall?! I agree with the previous poster suggesting that you focus on refreshing your math skills and more than that becoming familiar with the math the GMAT tests. Also, TAKE A LOT OF PRACTICE TESTS. When I saw I was strong in verbal I just focused on math and took about 7 tests for the math (while only taking 2 for verbal). One thing you will quickly notice is how getting just a few more questions correct raises your score and your percentile immensely. Also, I took a course, but I attribute my improvement mainly to the practice tests. Next, if you use Kaplan materials you can safely add about 100-150 points to the scores you receive on their practice tests. Lastly, at 43 I would check any meds you might be on to see if they cause sedation or anything else that might impair your thinking even slightly. You might also notice a positive difference when taking certain vitamins and/or supplements, exercising, etc. Hope this helps.
Hamilton is a musical tour-de-force, a smash hit, and a major moneymaker, with people spending as much as $549-a-seat on premium (non-scalped) tickets. Recently, it was revealed that the original cast members weren't getting any of the show's profits, with cash flow primarily going to investors and producers. This week, though, the performers and producers reached a deal, and it looks like the former are getting a slice of the pie.

Hamilton's making more than $500,000-a-week, and once the show heads to Chicago (and then on a national tour) in September, that profit's expect to skyrocket all the more. Earlier this month the Hollywood Reporter broke down the cash flowthe Public Theater, creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, producers Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs and Jill Furman, director Thomas Kail, and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler all get weekly royalties, and that crew, along with the investors, divvy up the net profits.

But now, the original dancers and performers who helped shape Hamilton into the hit it is today will get a cut, which is unusual for the industry. It's unclear how much the actors will earn, but as the Times pointed out today, the average Broadway performer starts out making about $1,900 a week, and considering how hard it is to land a role, the well can dry up fast between shows. "This should be a real moment of celebration for any actor who feels powerless, Kate Shindle, the president of the Actors Equity union, told the paper.




We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today
When Senator Ted Cruz isn't busy dodging the California Department of Justice, he is running for president, blessing the rest of us with revealing tweets from his college roommate, impossible rumors about his sexual exploits, and debate snacks. Cruz has turned his attention to New York, indubitably his favorite city on Earth, and he just released this stellar TV spot attacking...Mayor de Blasio?

Zodiac Ted does not seem to be a fan of de Blasio. He thinks the Mayor's too soft when it comes to violating Muslim-Americans' constitutional rights; he launched a radio ad this week claiming that "De Blasios socialist policies are tearing this city apart," and he famously announced, "If Mayor de Blasio ever holds a press conference and says 'I agree with Ted,' that will be the instant I hang it all up and realize I've gone terribly, terribly wrong,'" so if we ever tire of Ted, we know how to take him down.

Zodiac Ted's assault against Bill's probably not going to win him points with New Yorkersit's one thing for us to be critical about the mayor, but it's a whole other story when some yahoo from Texas throws shade at our town. But Ted's probably not trying all that hard to win New York, because he really can'tas a commenter once pointed out, Donald Trump might be a fascist buffoon, but he's our fascist buffoon, and he's tearing Ted a new one in the statewide polls right now.

What Cruz is still doing, of course, is trying to position himself as the anti-New York candidate, and to appeal to all the voters out there who hate Wall Street, liberalism, and good bagels. Still, the scaremongering here seems misplaced, and it certainly didn't work for Joe Llhota when he ran against de Blasio in 2013. Then again, we do have another mayoral election coming up next year, so perhaps Cruz hopes to bring his brand of financial pragmatism to Gracie Mansion if the White House dreams don't work out. Wouldn't that be fun!
Seasonal bests abounded for the Portland State track & field team Friday, as the Vikings set six seasonal bests between the 200 and 5,000 meters while kicking things off at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field.Juniorled a group of four Vikings in the women's 200 meters, three of which set seasonal bests in the event. Settle placed second in the 200 in 24.14 seconds, .14 seconds better than her previous best this season, set at 24.28 at the Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge.Fellow junioralso shaved nearly four-tenths of a second off her seasonal best in the 200 Friday, as she finished in 24.65 seconds, moving her up to seventh in the Big Sky this season. Additionally freshmanfinished the 200 in a seasonal-best 25.28 seconds, a tenth of a second better than her time of 25.38 seconds at the Aztec Invitational.Senior, meanwhile, posted his own seasonal best in the men's 200 meters, as he ducked under 22 seconds for the first time this season while finishing in 21.97 seconds. Prince's time moves him into a tie for 15th in the Big Sky this season.Redshirt freshmanand junioralso set seasonal bests in the 5,000 meters, with Medved leading the pair with a personal-best time of 17:23.95. Trapp nearly matched her personal best with her finish in 17:42.78, but still shaved more than 30 seconds off her seasonal best in the event.Outside of the team's new seasonal bests,cracked 23 feet again in the long jump, as he finished second in the event in 23-02.00 (7.06m). Only three athletes in the Big Sky have cracked 23 feet this season, and Schmidt has done it at every meet he's competed at so far this season. Schmidt had led the Big Sky in the long jump for the first month of the outdoor season, but recently lost his conference lead to Idaho's Arphaxad Carroll earlier this weekend. Schmidt still owns three of the four best marks in the long jump within the Big Sky this season, however.Senioralso cracked 140 feet in the discus for the third straight meet, as she finished with a mark of 142-02 (43.34m).The Vikings continue at the Oregon Relays Saturday, with events starting at 12:30 p.m. (PT). 100m Hurdles  13.98  Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16) 5,000m  17:08.25  Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)* 10,000m  34:40.09  Mt. SAC Relays (4/14/16)* Triple Jump  40-03.25 (12.27m)  Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16) 400m  55.17  Aztec Invitational (3/26/16) 10,000m  36:13.69  San Francisco State Distance Carnival (4/1/16)* Long Jump  19-02.50 (5.85m)  Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16) 100m  11.86  Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16) 200m  24.14  Oregon Relays (4/15/16) 10,000m  37:08.87  San Francisco State Distance Carnival (4/1/16)* 400m  48.05  Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16) 400m  48.90  Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16) 800m  1:52.29  Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16) Decathlon  6,274 points  Pacific Combined Events (3/22/16) 800m  1:52.88  San Francisco State Distance Carnival (4/1/16) Long Jump  24-03.50 (7.40m)  Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16) Triple Jump  47-07.25 (14.51m)  Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16) High Jump  6-08.75 (2.05m)  Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16)*Time cross-qualifies athlete for the 5,000 and 10,000 meters2., 24.14; 7., 24.65; 9., 25.28; 10., 25.55.4., 4:45.74.15., 17:23.95; 17., 17:42.78.5., 18-07.75 (5.68m).8., 142-02 (43.34m).11., 128-08 (39.21m).11., 21.97.8., 4:02.13.6., 14:54.98.9., 6-07.00 (2.01m); 11., 6-03.25 (1.91m); 13., 6-01.25 (1.86m); Donte Robinson, NH.2., 23-02.00 (7.06m).12., 137-04 (41.85m).
Culture

Salman Rushdie loses eye, use of hand in attack: Agent

The British writer Salman Rushdie, who was attacked in the United States in August, lost sight in one of his eyes and paralyzed his hand, as well as other injuries, according to what his agent indicated in a statement released to the media.


New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Higher wind gusts possible.
The Artsakh Defense Army retaliated to pre-offensive measure taken by Azerbaijani last night along the Line of Contact by suppressing them, this according to the Artsakh Ministry of Defense.

The ministry reports that Azerbaijan violated the cessation of hostilities declaration more than seventy times along the entire length of the Line of Contact.

Gagik Khourshoudyan, an Artsakh soldier, was wounded in an exchange of fire in the northern Talish region, the ministry reports.
Freedom for Levon Hayrapetyan, a civic group supporting the Armenian businessman sentenced yesterday to four years for embezzling $700,000 from the mother of Igor Izmestyev (a former senator from the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan serving a life sentence on terrorism and other charges), reports that the gravely ill Hayrapetyan has been transferred to a jail cell so small that the inmates have to sleep in shifts.

The court found that Hayrapetyan, a native of Karabakh, had tricked the mother of Izmestyev to pay him the money in return for a promise to wrangle a more lenient sentence for her son.

The civic group says that Hayrapetyans lawyer has already appealed the court decision to transfer Hayrapetyan to another cell in Moscows Butyrskaya Prison.

The group says given Hayrapetyans health, hes suffered several strokes and is said to have cancer, transferring him to a smaller cell puts Hayrapetyans life in danger.

The group also lambasts the Armenia community in Russia for remaining silent on the matter.
By Markar Melkonian

One of the greatest men of the twentieth century was a woman, and her name was Rosa Luxemburg.

An economist and a freedom fighter, her voice one hundred years ago reverberates for us todayif only we could hear it. Cities become piles of ruins; villages become cemeteries; countries, deserts; populations are beggared; churches, horse stalls, she wrote, the most sacred words and the highest authority have been torn in shreds. These words were smuggled out of a German prison in April 1915. The war in Europe had been raging for less than a year, and in Turkey the Three Pashas had just set the wheels of genocide into motion. From her prison cell, Luxemburg was able somehow to scan the horizon of smoke and rubble. (Read Luxemburgs Junius Pamphlet at https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1915/junius/ch03.htm. The discussion of mass slaughter of Armenians and others in Turkey appears in Chapter IV.)

Mass slaughter has become the tiresome and monotonous business of the day, she wrote, and the world war is a turning point. Even if the Central Powers were to win, Germany would lay in ruins by the end of the war. And if, on the other hand, the Allied Powers were to win the war, their victory would lead to a new feverish armaments race among all the states  with defeated Germany obviously in the forefront. An era of unalloyed militarism and reaction would dominate all Europe with a new world war as its ultimate goal.

On all sides, scholars, diplomats, and journalists ridiculed such predictions: the fighting in Europe, they said, was the War to End All Wars.

The war set the stage for the October Revolution in Russia, and revolutions in Germany, Hungary, and Italy, too. But the rifles and bayonets of the old order drowned most of these revolutions in blood. Luxemburgs comrade V.I. Lenin understood that the defeat of the revolutions in the West did not bode well for the future of the Russian revolution. He understood that socialism, workers power, could only sustain itself in an industrialized country with a large working class. Czarist Russia had been the weak link of imperialism, but Soviet Russia could not survive alone. The defeats in the West set the stage for the military and economic isolation of revolutionary Russiaand, as Luxemburg foretold, they also set the stage for the next world war.

Two decades after Luxemburgs murder, events would confirm her forecasts--and Lenins fears, too. At the beginning of the War to End All Wars, Luxemburg raised her sight even beyond WWII: Another such world war, she wrote, and the outlook for socialism will be buried beneath the rubble heaped up by imperialist barbarism.

What does this have to do with anything?

But things are much different now: we have smart phones and Facebook, and growing middle classes in China and India are buying cars. What does any of this have to do with us?

A lot. Notably, barbarism. We are today paying the price for the defeat of the revolutions one hundred years ago, and also for the destruction of the last remnants of soviet socialism.

Twenty-five years ago, an American president announced a New World Order of peace, freedom, justice, security, stability, and cooperation. America had vanquished that uniquely Evil Empire and led the Captive Nations into the warm light of Free Enterprise. Speechmakers in cities like Baku and Yerevan welcomed a glorious new millennium of prosperity and happiness. What took place instead was the frenzied theft of public property, rampant unemployment, ruinous currency devaluations, recession, and an exodus from the newly independent states. Instead of the promised peace dividend, Uncle Sams military budgets soared, his secret prisons swelled, and his warplanes darkened the skies. Two, three, or four wars raged at the same time, and one followed another: Serbia, Iraq, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq again; Waziristan, Libya, Syria, Yemen. From Srebrenica to Bangui, hundreds of thousands died and tens of millions were beggared. Cities like Fallujah, Qandahar, Mosul, and Aleppo became piles of ruins, and hundreds of villages became cemeteries.

On and on it goes. Neocon planners have fomented murderous hatreds throughout the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. That hatred is now threatening to spread to western China, Central Africa, and beyond. On one side, prisons and black sites, enhanced interrogation, carpet-bombing, and cities reduced to collateral damage. On the other side, massacre and counter-massacre, ethnic cleansing, forced religious conversions, the televised beheading of captives, and a free market for sexual slavery.

The same technologies that brought us iPhones and Snapchat brought us unmanned drones and pervasive NSA spying. The market-driven exploitation of technologies like shale oil extraction has spurred overproduction and the reckless consumption of fossil fuels, even as we face the snowballing effects of global warming. From Mauritania to the Arabian Peninsula, countries become deserts. We have already taken a step beyond the threshold of a dystopian future in which poverty and climate change combine to produce wave after wave of climate refugees and even worse regional conflicts.

Luxemburgs question

One hundred years ago, Rosa Luxemburg posed the question: socialism or barbarism? As the Berlin Wall fell, her question embarrassed even socialists: the late political thinker Norman Geras was typical: Luxemburgs slogan, he said, was an example of a dangerous black-and-white view of things; it was the sort of extremist rhetoric that had discredited the cause of socialism.

But Luxemburg has had the last word. It is now clear that what took place in 1989 or 1991 was not the victory of pretty words, but of imperialism. (See: Imperialists, Not Ideas, Won the Cold War, Hetq Online, Dec. 20, 2010: http://hetq.am/en/society/not-ideas-won-the-cold-war.) In this war imperialism has won, Luxemburg wrote in April 1915: Its bloody sword of genocide has brutally tilted the scale toward the abyss of misery. In the first months of a war that would eventually claim 17 million dead and 20 million wounded, she drew the consequences:

The triumph of imperialism leads to the annihilation of civilization. At first, this happens sporadically for the duration of a modern war, but then when the period of unlimited wars begins it progresses toward its inevitable consequences.

Imperialism and its servant, militarism, will calculate their profits from every victory and every defeat in this war, she wrote,  except in one case: if the international proletariat intervenes in a revolutionary way and puts an end to such calculations.

And what are the chances of that?

But small countries like Armenia cannot continue indefinitely to tread water in this maelstrom of barbarism.

In the past two weeks we have witnessed savage attempts at ethnic cleansing in Northern Nigeria and Nagorno Karabakh. Without a strong, organized working class opposition, desperation will provoke foredoomed upheaval in the streets, and might invite further foreign aggression.

If Armenia is to survive this barbarism, then workers--and indeed the entire population of the country, minus the plutocrats--need to start building strong, militant unions and a well organized, far-sighted movement for socialism, by that or any other name.

Markar Melkonian is a teacher and an author. His books include Richard Rortys Politics: Liberalism at the End of the American Century (1999), Marxism: A Post-Cold War Primer (Westview Press, 1996), and My Brothers Road (2005).

photo: Reuters/Handout
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-04-15 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. 70/16 15.04.2016 [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Akinci called on the OIC countries to play an important role in lifting the "embargoes" [02] Erdogan called on the OIC member countries "to break the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots" [03] Akinci participated in the family picture of the OIC Summit [04] Elcil criticized Akinci's latest statements in Berlin [05] A survey shows Ozersay's party in the lead [06] Colak briefed the Somali FM on the Cyprus problem [07] Talat argues that the five-year Eroglu term was a lost period for the negotiations recalling that Ozersay was "chief negotiator" [08] Eroglu: "The 'special status regions" issue is dangerous and inconvenient" [09] Bozkir: "Turkey considers the EP report null and void" [10] Bozkir blackmails the EU: "No visa-free travel, no migrant deal" [11] Turkey and Saudi Arabia to enhance trade ties [12] The occupation regime's "assembly" approved the "water agreement" [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Akinci called on the OIC countries to play an important role in lifting the "embargoes" Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper (15.04.16) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, speaking at the 13th Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit Conference, which is taking place in Istanbul, called the OIC member countries to play an important role for the lifting of the "embargoes" faced by the Turkish Cypriots, during a time that the efforts for solving the Cyprus problem are intensified, so that the Turkish Cypriots can interact with the world. He went on and added that the biggest wish of the Turkish Cypriots is that in 2016 a solution can be reached adding that this development will also bring peace and stability in the region. Akinci also stated that both he and President Nicos Anastasiades are two leaders of the same generation who try to find a solution in the Cyprus problem. "We know that that this is the last effort for re-unify our island. Our biggest wish and our main goal are to reach a solution in 2016", he stated. Akinci also said that the Turkish Cypriots are looking for a solution that will safeguard the freedom, the equality and the security of the Turkish Cypriots who are one of the two partners in the island and added that the support of sister countries in this effort will carry great importance on their road towards a solution. Akinci also voiced his pleasure at the decision given by the OIC that calls on all member countries to show solidarity with the Turkish Cypriots who are Muslims, to develop relations and by providing all kinds of support in a variety of fields to assist them in their integration with the world. Touching upon the importance of implementing these decisions he stated: "The time has come for Muslim countries to take concrete steps that will make the Turkish Cypriots a part of the global network and thus pioneering the international community towards this end". Akinci also said that the next months will be crucial for the negotiation process and stated that the Turkish Cypriot side does not want the natural resources of the island to become a reason for tension in the island but to become a facilitator that will safeguard peace and stability. He also said that the one-sided efforts towards this direction, that can harm the negotiations, are wrong. (CS) [02] Erdogan called on the OIC member countries "to break the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots" Turkish daily Sabah newspaper (15.04.16) reports that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in his opening speech at the 13th Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit Conference, which is taking place in Istanbul, called on all the countries which are members of OIC "to break the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots". Stating that the OIC must act for the future and the rights of all Muslims, even for Muslims who live in other geographical regions, Erdogan stated: "All together we must break the isolation that our brothers who live in the TRNC face for years now". "Who other than us, the Islamic world, will give to our brothers who live in Cyprus the message that they are not alone?", Erdogan stated adding that it is a basic responsibility of all Muslims to help towards the reaching of a permanent and just solution in the island where, as he said, the balances have been violated unjustly in the past. (CS) [03] Akinci participated in the family picture of the OIC Summit Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (15.04.16) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci participated in the "family picture" taken in the framework of the 13th Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit Conference, which is taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. The "flag" of the breakaway regime can be seen in the back of the photo. (CS) [04] Elcil criticized Akinci's latest statements in Berlin Turkish Cypriot daily Ortam newspaper (15.04.16) reports that Senel Elcil, general secretary of the Turkish Cypriot primary school teachers' trade union (KTOS), in a written statement yesterday, stated, inter alia, that although there are positive statements regarding the ongoing Cyprus negotiation process, the fact that no concrete steps are taken, reduces the expectations of the "people" towards the solution. Underlining that they followed with astonishment the latest statements made by Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci during his contacts in Berlin, who has said that "the "walls which exist in the heads" should be demolished, in order for a solution to be achieved in Cyprus, Elcil said that such statements caused them distress and worries. "The removal of physical barriers which hold our island divided since 1974 and the demolition of the walls existing in the heads of the people since 1950 because of the intensified efforts being exerted for the separation of the two communities constitutes our basic expectations", Elcil said, pointing out that the walls in the people's heads can be demolished via education and the development of economic and social ties between the two communities. Underlining the fact that no concrete steps are taken in the field of education, Elcil added that no efforts were exerted also, for the lifting of the physical obstacles. Elcil also accused Turkish Cypriot leader Akinci for not making any attempts for the opening of "Maras" and added that the opening of the Apliki and Deryneia crossing points seems to be forgotten. Elcil went on and accused Akinci of hiding behind the excuse that he has done all necessary for the opening of the Apliki crossing point and that the issue has stuck on "government" and the economic resources needed by the EU. (AK) [05] A survey shows Ozersay's party in the lead Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Bakis newspaper (15.04.16) reports that a survey conducted by the Gezici Research Company between 26 and 27 March, 2016 with the participation of 2,057 persons living in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus showed that the People's Party (HP) headed by Kudret Ozersay would receive the most votes if "elections" were held next Sunday. According to the results of the survey announced yesterday in the occupied part of Nicosia, asked "how would you vote if general parliamentary elections were held", the responds were the following: With distribution of the undecided "voters" (%) With distribution of the combined "votes" (%) People's Party (HP) 33,1 37,6 National Unity Party (UBP) 19,0 21,6 Republican Turkish Party (CTP) 16,8 19,0 Democratic Party (DP) 11,6 13,2 Social Democracy Party (TDP) 5,1 5,7 United Cyprus Party (BKP) 2,6 2,9 Combined 11,8 Asked which party they voted during the "parliamentary elections" in 2013, the participants in the survey replied: UBP 23%, CTP 31%, DP 18%, TDP 4,5%, BKP 2,6%, combined 20,1% and other 0,4%. Asked which candidate they voted during the first round of the "presidential elections" in 2015, they replied: Dervis Eroglu 28,3%, Mustafa Akinci 27,9%, Sibel Siber 21,8%, Kudret Ozersay 20,9%, other 1,1%. (I/Ts.) [06] Colak briefed the Somali FM on the Cyprus problem Turkish Cypriot daily Ortam newspaper (15.04.16) reports that so-called foreign minister Emine Colak, within the framework of her "participation" to the Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Turkey, met with the Somali Foreign Minister Abdulsalam H.Omer. According to the paper, Colak briefed the Somali Foreign Minister on the on the Cyprus problem and the latest developments on the negotiation process. (AK) [07] Talat argues that the five-year Eroglu term was a lost period for the negotiations recalling that Ozersay was "chief negotiator" Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (15.04.16) reports that Mehmet Ali Talat, the leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), has argued that negotiations for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem had been conducted only for 2,5 years since 2005. In statements on a television program, Talat recalled that he had been elected as "president" in 2005 and claimed that the negotiations started only after the election of President Christofias in 2008 and lasted for 1,5 year. "The general tendency of the Greek Cypriot side is continuously delaying and putting obstacles", he alleged claiming that the Greek Cypriots "are afraid" of a rejection. He argued: "Real negotiations were held 1,5 years during my term and one year during Mr Akinci's term. The real negotiation in Cyprus is continuing for 2,5 years. Eroglu's term was a lost period. We have produced 30 papers. Today these are being developed. These were done within 2,5 years". Referring to Kudret Ozersay, current leader of the People's Party (HP), Talat recalled that Ozersay had been a "technical expert" during his term and was appointed as "chief negotiator" during Eroglu's term, but "five years passed with academic discussions". "Study the newspapers of that period and you will see that the statements by Ozersay are much more than Eroglu's statements", argued Talat expressing the view that "this mentality has been turned into a party now". Noting that the extent to which Ozersay wants a solution in Cyprus should be taken into consideration, Talat drew attention to the fact that HP is a right-wing party and wondered "how far can you go only be criticizing and by not putting forward any solutions". Noting that the solution of the Cyprus problem is very important and this is why his party supports Akinci, Talat argued: "Our wish is to reach a solution the soonest. In case we do not reach a solution, the future of this country is very difficult. This month the payment of the salaries will again be difficult. It is difficult even to make the payments by borrowing money. There will be a deficit of 50-60 millions. Why? Because the economic protocol with Turkey has not been signed yet. After the signing of the protocol we will weather this a little, but only a little. That is, we will actually be running an enterprise with inadequate means. Only with the solution we could develop our economy and compete with the world". Referring to Akinci's recent visit to Germany, Talat said that the important thing is to hold meetings and not whether these meetings are official or unofficial or whether are held in an office or in a restaurant. He recalled that when he was the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community he had held some official and unofficial meetings and even during President Erdogan's visit to the United States he had asked a meeting with President Obama. Thus a meeting was held, he said, adding that the result should be taken into consideration. (I/Ts.) [08] Eroglu: "The 'special status regions" issue is dangerous and inconvenient" Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan newspaper (15.04.16) reports that the former Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, in statements yesterday during a meeting he held with the "Besparmak" (Pentadaktylos) Group, stated, inter alia, that the disappointment among the "people" towards the non-solution of the Cyprus problem continues. Stating that the Cyprus problem was always included into the agenda of his political life, Eroglu reiterated his belief that the Greek Cypriots do not have the willpower for the solution. Referring to the ongoing Cyprus negotiation process, Eroglu described as dangerous and inconvenient the issue that came into the agenda recently concerning the "special status regions". (AK) [09] Bozkir: "Turkey considers the EP report null and void" Turkish daily Sabah (15.04.16) reports that "while relations with the European Union gained new momentum after the signing of the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan in 2015, the European Parliament's (EP) 2015 Turkey progress report released on Thursday is expected to overshadow the closer relations due to its persistent aim to recognize the 1915 Armenian incidents as genocide". Commenting on the report, Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozk?r said on Thursday that the report is unacceptable and will be returned unopened and described it as "null and void". The EP approved Turkey's 2015 progress report for the EU membership process on Thursday, passing the report with 375 votes in favor to 133 opposed and 87 abstentions. The report praises Turkey's efforts to address the refugee crisis and for "hosting the biggest refugee population in the world". Last year's EP progress report on Turkey was also declared null and void by the government due to its inclusion of the historic 1915 events, which it referred to as the Armenian genocide. Bozk?r told the press on Wednesday that Turkey previously warned that the new report would be returned if statements from the previous year were repeated. Regardless of Bozk?r's remarks and Ministers of Parliament expressing their disapproval of the draft, the final progress report "calls on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide." (?) Commenting on the report prepared by EP Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri, Bozk?r said: "The EP report reflects the EP's views regarding EU Commission progress reports about EU member countries and Turkey. Last year, we said we would reject the report if it included elements that are not acceptable for us." Bozk?r also pointed to three key sticking points for Turkey that would result in the report being declared null and void, including reference to any expression referring to the Armenian genocide as well as any request that the PKK terrorist organization be removed from the EU's list of terrorist organizations. "The final matter is the inclusion of statements that aim to slow down or suspend Turkey's EU accession process or cut off funds provided for Turkey's EU accession process", Bozk?r said. Furthermore, the report praised Turkey for hosting the largest refugee population in the world, noting that it remains a "key strategic partner for the EU." The report states that "the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan on refugees and migration management should be implemented immediately, but only as "part of a comprehensive cooperation agenda based on shared responsibility, mutual commitments and delivery". On the paragraph about Cyprus, the report welcomes progress made in the Cyprus reunification talks and it urges both parties to implement all agreed upon measures without further delay, noting that the non-settlement of the Cyprus issue affects the development of the EU-Turkey relations. Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaper (15.04.16) under the front-page title: "We do not recognize it", refers to the EP's 2015 Turkey progress report and writes that the references on it both on the "Armenian genocide" and the Cyprus problem are unacceptable. According to the paper, the approval of the allegations that the 1915 Armenian incidents constitute a genocide and the calling made to Turkey to withdraw its troops from Cyprus, return the Maras [Translator's note: occupied fenced off city of Varosha] to the Greek Cypriots and open its ports to the Greek Cypriot's vessels, are unacceptable. (AK) [10] Bozkir blackmails the EU: "No visa-free travel, no migrant deal" Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (14.04.16) reported that Turkey's Minister for European Union Affairs and Chief negotiator with the bloc, Volkan Bozk?r, said that if the EU does not grant Turkish citizens visa-free travel, Turkey could stop accepting migrants sent from Greece. "If the EU does not grant visa-free travel [to Turkish citizens] then we can suspend the readmission agreement. This is a bargain. If there is no visa [liberty] then there is no readmission," said Bozk?r on April 13 during his visit to the Austrian capital Vienna. Bozk?r was referring to the deal signed between the EU and Turkey on March 18, when the sides agreed on a scheme to curb the flow of migrants into the bloc. Turkey agreed to take back all migrants landing on Greece as of March 20, while the EU would take back the same amount of Syrian refugees from Turkey. In exchange for the migrants returned to Turkey, the EU agreed to grant Turkish citizens visa-free travel in EU's Schengen area and pledged to give a total of 6 billion euros until the end of 2018 to be used to fund better living conditions for Syrians in Turkey. Meanwhile, Bozk?r said on April 12 that Turkish nationals could expect vise-free travel to the EU by June. "We expect that the decision for the citizens of the Republic of Turkey to enter the Schengen zone without visa requirement will be made before the end of June", said Bozkir. [11] Turkey and Saudi Arabia to enhance trade ties Ankara Anatolia news agency (14.04.16) reported that the Minister of Trade and Industry of Saudi Arabia Tawfiq bin Fawzan al-Rabiah announced in Istanbul on Thursday that Saudi Arabia and Turkey have agreed to set up a team to strengthen bilateral trade ties. Addressing the opening of the Turkey-Saudi Arabia Business Forum, Al-Rabiah said: "We have agreed on establishing a working team between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. "The team, which will consist of high-level officials, will discuss all cooperation opportunities between the two countries and negotiate to increase the trade volume between the two countries." Al-Rabiah and Turkish Economy Minister Mustafa Elitas jointly opened the forum, which will focus on trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. At the forum, business people from both countries will explore investment opportunities in renewable energy, electricity, mining, petrochemicals, finance and banking sectors. Also, investments in contracting, construction, housing and real-estate projects will be discussed. "We see that the official visits between two countries have increased. This is significant evidence that shows development of the relations between the two countries is highly valued," the Saudi Minister said. Al-Rabiah also spoke about opportunities in the tourism sector between the two countries. "Especially, the number of tourists coming to Turkey from Saudi Arabia has shown a dramatic increase; 16 flights daily are being carried out between the two countries and this is a very significant number. Formerly, it was not possible even to imagine these numbers," he said. Elitas said that Turkey sees Saudi Arabia as one of the largest trade partners in the Gulf region and the world. He noted that the bilateral trade volume with Saudi Arabia in 2015 was far from the desired levels and called for a free-trade agreement between Gulf countries and Turkey, which he said would boost investments and trade among Gulf countries, especially with Saudi Arabia. Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries was around $6.5 billion, including $3.5 billion imports from Turkey, according to the Turkish Economy Ministry. Turkey mainly exports electrical machinery and equipment, carpets, mats, mineral fuels and oils, while imports from Saudi Arabia include plastic and products made from it, organic chemicals, aluminum and products made from it, mineral fuels and oils. (?) [12] The occupation regime's "assembly" approved the "water agreement" Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (15.04.16) reports that the occupation regime's "assembly" approved yesterday the "agreement" regarding the "supply and distribution" of the water carried from Turkey to the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus. The "agreement" was approved with majority of 35 votes in favor, 3 against and 12 abstentions. The paper writes that 12 of the Republican Turkish Party's (CTP) "deputies" abstained and the three "deputies" coming from the Social Democracy Party (TDP) voted against the "agreement". (I/Ts.) 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, 16-04-16 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] 'You are not alone,' Pope tells refugees in Moria camp [01] 'You are not alone,' Pope tells refugees in Moria camp ANA-MPA -- In a gesture brimming with symbolism, Pope Francis on Saturday joined Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, on the Aegean island of Lesvos in order to make an appeal on behalf of the refugees that have fled to Europe and to bring attention to their plight. Together with Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece, the Pope and Patriarch issued a call of love, peace and solidarity toward the refugees while visiting the Moria hotspot on Lesvos, the island that has been at the centre of a refugee crisis that reached epic proportions since early 2015. "You are not alone," was Pope Francis' message to the refugees that he met in the courtyard in the Moria refugee centre. He also praised the generosity of the Greek people in their handling of the refugee crisis, noting that they had responded to the needs even though Greece was going through a difficult time of economic crisis. "I came here with my brothers, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos simply to stand beside you, to hear your stories. We came to again bring to the world's attention this serious humanitarian crisis and to appeal for a solution to be found. We want to join our voices with yours and speak in your name as people of faith," the Pope said. "We travelled here to hear your voices and look you in the eyes. Those that fear you have not looked you in the eyes. Those that fear you do not see your faces, they do not see your children," said Patriarch Bartholomew, while noting that the Mediterranean should not be allowed to become a graveyard and should be a sea of peace. "Only those that see the eyes of these little children can at once understand the full extent of the bankruptcy of humanity and solidarity that Europe has displayed in recent years toward these people," said Archbishop Ieronymos. After concluding their speeches, the three religious leaders signed a joint declaration appealing to the international community to respond with courage to the immense humanitarian crisis and "the tragedy of forced migration and displacement," as well as the deeper causes of this situation. They called for action through diplomatic, political and charitable initiatives, and through collective efforts, both in the Middle East and in Europe. They urged "solidarity, compassion, generosity and immediate, practical commitment of resources," in response to a humanitarian crisis caused by the "spread of violence and armed conflict, persecution and the displacement of religious and ethnic minorities, the uprooting of families from their homes, in violation of human dignity and of fundamental human rights and freedoms." Pope Francis arrived on the island by plane on Saturday morning and was met at Mytilene airport by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Lang says it will raise a badly-needed $1.9 billion for a badly-unbalanced state budget and 99 percent of the state's tax filers will get a cut - that's anyone in Illinois that makes under $413,000 annually.

State Rep. Lou Lang (D-Chicago) is calling his proposal the "Fair Tax." We don't know how much Lang wants to raise taxes for the state's richest - we just know they're who will get hit the hardest.

SPRINGFIELD - He stands in for House Speaker Mike Madigan often as one of Madigan's top lieutenants, and it's pretty clear he has the Speaker's nod to push forward legislation that would tax the state's richest 1 percent.

Now, we can only take Rep. Lang's word for all this, as he has yet to file the actual bill for Illinoisans to review, but it's up for a hearing next Tuesday in the Executive Committee, where it will pass along party lines. The it will go to the floor, where Speaker Madigan holds a super-majority. Then it will go to the Illinois Senate, where the Democrats hold a super-majority.

Then it will go to Governor Rauner, who will veto it because the Democrats have not and will not consider any of the items on Rauner's Turnaround Agenda, which the governor says must be included before he considers signing such a dramatic tax hike.

Human services agencies such as Voices for Illinois Children support Lang's HB 689, and put together this meme to answer lawmakers' questions, including saying a "Fair Tax" has lower rates for lower incomes and higher rates for higher incomes.

Certainly Rep. Lang read this week's IR piece reporting over 3000 millionaires left Chicago last year. Perhaps he's shooting at doubling that number in 2016?
It's because those political sayings anonymously placed on the school's walkways could endanger the 501(c)3 tax status of the school, a memo sent out by DePaul's vice president for student affairs said this week.

CHICAGO - Sure, chalk was used to write evil sayings on DePaul University's sidewalks, such as "Make DePaul great again, Blue Lives Matter, and Trump Train 2016, but that's not why chalk messages are no longer going to be tolerated at the Chicago campus.

While these chalk messages are part of national agendas in a heated political battle, they appeared on campus at a time of significant racial tension in our country and on college campuses. DePaul is no exception, Eugene Zdziarski wrote in a campus-wide email obtained by Campus Reform.

And those messages were determined to be "hurtful" and "divisive."

The university has been addressing campus climate issues in an effort to provide an inclusive and supportive educational environment. In this context, many students, faculty and staff found the chalk messages offensive, hurtful and divisive, the memo went on to say.

It's all about a federal prohibition that restricts students from participating in any political activity that could be interpreted as a reflection of the universitys views or opinions. Political chalking on Depauls grounds, Zdziarski argued, fits this description.

However, as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization, the university is significantly limited in the types of political activities it can promote or support, he wrote. In accordance with federal regulations, DePaul may not engage in any activity in support of or opposition to any candidate for public office, federal, state or local. In practice, this means no partisan political advertising may be conducted on campus that could in any way be attributed to DePaul University.

What does DePaul University College Republicans President Nicole Been - whose group was accused of hate crimes for the sidewalk chalkings last week - think about the DePaul vice-president's memo?

We've asked her, and will report as soon as she responds to our query.
Foreign universities in India might finally become a reality as Niti Aayog has submitted a report to the PMO and the HRD calling for the invitation of foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

By India Today Web Desk: Foreign universities in India might finally become a reality as Niti Aayog has submitted a report to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) calling for the invitation of foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

What has Niti Aayog asked for?

NITI Aayog has suggested that foreign education providers be allowed entry into the country via three ways:

Operation of foreign universities in the country should be regulated by law

The UGC Act of 1956 should be amended along with the university regulations, to let the foreign universities enter as deemed universities

To facilitate joint ventures between Indian and foreign institutions, UGC and AICTE regulations should be modified to add viable co-beneficial arrangements and twinning programmes

advertisement

How can the setting up of foreign universities help us?

According to the report submitted, these are the ways in which the entry of foreign universities can help us:



Foreign universities with high standards will increase competition and result in the bettering of the higher educational standards in India

There would also be gains "in terms of availability of resources both human and financial, state-of-the-art teaching methodology, research and innovation"

"Capital expenditure in the cost of setting up an institution is high and land and buildings are also a major issue. Entry of foreign universities and leveraging FDI will offset some of these costs," the report states, according to Indian Express.

Prime Minister's stance:

NITI Aayog had been asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last year, to study reports on foreign university establishments and the possible ensuing problems

He wanted to know the feasibility of going ahead with top foreign education providers and had called a meeting of senior bureaucrats in June 2015 to this end

The new education policy to be launched this year addresses this issue as a key component

State governments' support:

Ten state governments including Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir supported this proposal, states where the BJP is in power.

Past attempts towards entry of foreign universities:

Several attempts have been made by past governments to establish proper regulations to facilitate the entry and operation of foreign institutes in India:

A Bill was introduced in 1995 for this purpose but it could not move forward

The drafted law's second attempt in 2005-06 failed again at the Cabinet stage

The third and last attempt was made by UPA-II, which failed due to opposition from the BJP, Left and Samajwadi Party. The proposed Foreign Educational Institutions Bill didn't stand in Parliament and lapsed in 2014

Reason for opposition to entry of foreign universities:

One of the main problems with the entry of foreign institutes was the fear that the cost of education would become very high and it would get even more out of reach of a large section of the Indian population.

To tackle this issue, Niti Aayog suggested that "financial assistance in the form of loans and scholarships should be made available to deserving students irrespective of their ability to pay based on merit-cum-means".

As many as 651 foreign education providers are already working in India. They offer distance education, faculty-sharing between partnering institutions or are part of a collaborative programme.

advertisement



Check: JNU to again revise amended sexual harassment policy



Click here to get more education news.

Get latest updates on exam notifications and scholarships across India and abroad here.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Countries in the Asia Pacific region, including India, today pledged to collaborate to combat the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and strengthen regulation of production and sale of antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines.

Health ministers of various countries, including Indian Minister J P Nadda, who met in Tokyo today to take part in health ministers meet on AMR also agreed to improve the way information is collected on AMR, which endangers global health by making life-saving antibiotics ineffective.

advertisement

"Countries in the Asia Pacific region today pledged to collaborate to combat the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance which transcends borders and endangers global health by making life-saving antibiotics ineffective," a WHO South East Asian Regional Office statement quoting a communique issued on the Tokyo Meeting of Health Ministers said.

"Health ministers from 12 countries of the region agreed to improve the way information on antimicrobial resistance is collected and shared to guide effective policies and actions, to strengthen and harmonise how they regulate the production, sale and use of antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines and to take innovative approaches to stimulate research and development of new antibiotics, diagnostic tests, vaccines and other technologies," the statement said.

Nadda, who also delivered his ministerial speech, said AMR is not only a health issue but a challenge which also has "serious" economic consequences as he underlined the need to regulate the availability of drugs to tackle it.

Antibiotics resistance and failure to tackle infections "undermine" advancements that have been made in surgery and medicine, said Nadda.

"AMR is a threat to global security and economic stability. It is a looming health and economic crisis that requires both global and local solutions.

"Since drug resistant genes can travel, countries with higher levels of economic and social organisation have a stake in the success of measures taken by less developed countries. In the fight against antimicrobial resistance, we are only as strong as the weakest link," Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, told ministers at the meeting. (MORE) PTI TDS AAR SK AAR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Fakir Hassen

Johannesburg, Apr 15 (PTI) A non-academic book on the work of the father of the Indian Constitution B R Ambedkar is being planned after a conference to mark the 125th birth anniversary of the Dalit icon generated huge interest in South Africa.

Academics from India, the US and South Africa participated in the two-day event here organised by the Consulate General of India in collaboration with the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa (CISA) at the Witwatersrand University.

advertisement

Prof Dilip Menon, Director of CISA, who called for greater scholarly attention worldwide to studying the prolific writings of Indias first Law Minister, said the participants had been invited to comment on selected works of Ambedkar.

"The idea is to actually produce a book, which introduces to the average reader some of the major texts of Ambedkar and ways to read them," said Menon.

"Once that first book has been done, we hope to move on to the next set of works, with these then possibly used for teaching and generate a larger interest in Ambedkars thinking which is quite complex," Menon added.

Opening the conference, Indian Consul-General Randhir Jaiswal recalled the immense contribution of Ambedkar to fighting for the rights of Dalits and downtrodden in India and his seminal role in shaping the Constitution of India as the chairman of its drafting Committee.

"This birth anniversary is being celebrated in every nook and corner of the world by our Government, something which has happened for the first time. To us this global celebration is, indeed, a befitting tribute to a person who had global aspirations and achievements: In spite of all the insurmountable social and economic odds," Jaiswal added.

"This special honouring of Dr Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary underscores the resolve of our Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the mantra of Sabka Saath, Sakba Vikas (inclusive development)."

South African participants in the conference highlighted the relevance of Ambedkars ideas and politics to South African social realities, and called for a closer study looking at the two political experiences, particularly in the areas of social exclusion and injustice for long periods.

Gopal Guru from Jawaharlal University, New Delhi, dwelt on the notion of kaivari (the one who stands up for you) in his analysis of Ambedkars writings, while Prof Aishwary Kumar from Stanford University, USA, looked at Ambedkars faith in equality which the protagonist formulated around the Mahad Satyagraha of 1927.

Prof Ajay Skaria, University of Minnesota, USA, talked on Ambedkars engagement with Buddhism and Valerian Rodrigues, Mangalore University, India, spoke on the radical democratic imagination of Ambedkar and his engagement with the caste system.

advertisement

Prof Kalyan Kumar Das from Presidency College in Kolkata presented his paper on Ambedkars seminal writings, highlighting the different strands in the political narrative in India of his time. PTI FH ABH AKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Delhi's serial dog killer, identified as a Nakul Mishra, a 28-year-old engineer, was nabbed from his home in Lucknow and brought to Delhi on transit remand. Mishra is said to be suffering from prolonged depression due to failed love affair.

By India Today Web Desk: Delhi's serial dog killer, who was caught on camera killing stray dogs outside a metro station in south Delhi last month, was arrested in Lucknow today.

The man identified as a Nakul Mishra, a 28-year-old engineer, was nabbed from his home in Lucknow and brought to Delhi on transit remand.

Mishra has been booked on charges of mischief by killing or maiming animal or cattle and relevant provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

advertisement

According to the police, Mishra was suffering from prolonged depression owing to failed love affair and recent death of his pet dog. He was also sacked from his job.

On March 15, locals in Green Park area found three injured dogs and a dead puppy near the metro station and called police. Later, a video clip surfaced in which a man wearing a jacket and shorts could be seen attacking the dogs and a police team was formed to crack the case.

Mishra's identity was ascertained after local police conducted door-to-door search in all localities under the jurisdiction of Hauz Khas sub-division of Delhi Police and scanned through thousands of tenant verification forms, the official said.

Once police zeroed in on Mishra, it emerged that he left his rented room at south Delhi's Yusuf Sarai area after the incident and shifted to his maternal aunt's residence in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar where he stayed for around three days before leaving for his home in Lucknow.

In the full video grab, he can be seen first feeding the dogs and then attacking them brutally in the staircase near one of the exits of Green Park metro station, the official added.

Meanwhile, an animal rights body said Mishra should be awarded jail term at the earliest and psychiatric treatment should be provided to him.

"Humane Society International (HSI) India had announced a reward for information leading to identification of the perpetrator. The organisation had received a call and worked with Delhi Police to track down the accused in Lucknow? HSI, India has demanded jail time and psychiatric intervention for the alleged dog killer," it said in a statement.

"We hope that there will be a speedy trial and he will be convicted soon," said NG Jayasimha, managing director of HSI, India.





--- ENDS ---
Dr Jalil Parkar of Lilavati Hospital who is treating the 93-year-old said, "I got a call that he was unwell. He had fever and had vomited a few times. He was suffering from pneumonia as well. His white blood cells had shot up. We thought it would be better to admit him to hospital."

By India Today Web Desk: Veteran actor Dilip Kumar was late last night admitted to Lilavati hospital in Mumbai after he complained of respiratory problems. According to reports, Dilip Kumar was admitted at around 1 am, hospital sources said.

Dr Jalil Parkar of Lilavati Hospital who is treating the 93-year-old said, "I got a call that he was unwell. He had fever and had vomited a few times. He was suffering from pneumonia as well. His white blood cells had shot up. We thought it would be better to admit him to hospital."

advertisement

As of now he has been shifted to geberal ward, He is having his food and also talking. However, doctors say that next 72 hours crucial for the actor. Doctors also said that considering his age if require will be admitted to ICU.



Earlier, family sources had said that there is nothing to worry.

In a career spanning over six decades, the actor who is also called the 'Tragedy King' of Bollywood gave hits like "Madhumati", "Devdas", "Mughal-e-Azam", "Ganga Jamuna", "Ram Aur Shyam", "Karma" and others.

He was crowned as the 'Tragedy King' for playing a doomed lover in films like "Andaz", "Baabul", "Mela", "Deedar", "Jogan" and others. He was last seen in the film "Qila" in 1998.

Kumar was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2015 . Earlier, he was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

The legendary actor was born as Mohammad Yusuf Khan but adopted the screen name of Dilip Kumar.

--- ENDS ---
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart are in early talks to star in Jumanji, a new adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's original 1981 adventure book.

By India Today Web Desk: There is no denying that Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart's chemistry is unparalleled. Recently the two actors co-hosted MTV Movie Awards and enthralled fans with outrageous rap lines such as "Leo got f**ked by a bear." The two will be appearing together in a new project, Jumanji.

ALSO READ: Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart to act in Hollywood remake of The Intouchables

advertisement

ALSO READ: Central Intelligence trailer out - Watch Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart trying to save the world



According to the news reports, both the actors are in early talks to star in Jumanji, a new adaptation of illustrator and writer Chris Van Allsburg's original 1981 adventure book.

Schedules are still being worked out, as both Johnson and Hart have heavy production loads ahead, but according to a source things are moving toward a deal, reports variety.com.

The producers are planning to shoot Jumanji before the third season of Johnson's series Ballers. He will also shoot Fast 8 this summer, reprising his role of Agent Hobbs.

Meanwhile, Hart is expected to shoot The Intouchables this summer.

Jumanji will be directed by Jake Kasdan.

The film is slated to release on July 28, 2017.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, Apr 16 (PTI) An 81-year-old well-known pro- opposition magazine editor in Bangladesh was today arrested for sedition and his alleged involvement in an abduction plot of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas son in the US last year, police said.

Shafik Rehman, the editor of popular Bengali monthly magazine Mouchake Dhil and also a British citizen, had worked as a speech-writer for former prime minister Khaleda Zia and his arrest is the latest in a series of cases that have sparked concern over freedom of speech.

advertisement

Rehman was approached by three men in plain clothes who identified themselves as reporters and asked him to accompany them, said his wife Taleya Rehman, a former BBC journalist.

Police later said Rehman, who has also worked with the BBC, was arrested in connection with a sedition case lodged with the Paltan police station in Dhaka last year.

"He (Rehman) has been brought to our Detective Branch... he has been arrested in connection with a case pending with the (Dhakas) Paltan police station," a police official said.

The official added that Rehman was arrested as he was found involved in a plot to abduct Prime Minister Hasinas son and Information and Communications Technology advisor Sajib Wajed Joy last year from the US.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), meanwhile, condemned the arrest and demanded Rehmans immediate release.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the government arrested him to divert peoples attention from its numerous failures.

"The incident proves that there is no democracy in the country and nobody has the right to express his free opinion," Alamgir said.

He is the third pro-opposition journalist to have been arrested by the government. Two other journalists associated with Bangladeshs leading Bengali and English newspapers have also been booked for defamation and sedition.

Rehman has formerly served as a speech-writer for two-time former prime minister and opposition leader Zia who is also the chief of BNP.

He shot to fame for his criticism of the government during General H M Ershads dictatorship through in his weekly column after becoming editor of Jaijaidin weekly in the 1980s. Rehman had to leave Bangladesh facing the wrath of Ershad but returned after he was dethroned. PTI AR CPS SAI CPS

--- ENDS ---
With Shah Rukh Khan's Fan making history in theatres, his co-star from the film, Sayani Gupta, opens up about Khan, how she might have missed the role in Fan, and why Shah Rukh still hasn't received his due as an actor, in this exclusive interview to IndiaToday.in.

By Charu Thakur : In the scorching heat of July last year, the country woke up to the news of walls of Shah Rukh Khan's bungalow being defaced with graffiti by a mysterious fan named 'Gaurav'. The 'love you SRK' and 'cu on 15th' messages on the walls of Mannat sent social media into a tizzy. Though the news shook his fans, nothing seemed too out of place owing to Shah Rukh's crazy fan following. In fact, the graffiti was just an ode to his stardom and showed how a Shah Rukh lover was ready to travel to all extents in order to capture the actor's attention.

advertisement

ALSO READ: Fan movie review - Gaurav beats superstar Shah Rukh Khan in this play of obsession



ALSO READ: Fan Interview of the Year - Jabra Shah Rukh interviews the superstar Shah Rukh



But before things could get out of hand, it was revealed that the message from an obsessed fan was nothing but a promotional strategy for King Khan's upcoming film Fan. And nine months down the line, Fan still continues to be the most-talked-about film, courtesy Shah Rukh Khan. More so, now that the film is creating history in theatres.

Be it the aam-janta or film stars, everyone is in awe of Khan. And if his Fan co-star Sayani Gupta is to be believed, there couldn't have been a better actor to play the lead role in Maneesh Sharma's film. Sayani, who made heads turn with her stellar performance in 2015 film Margarita With A Straw, plays SRK's manager in Fan, and the actor believes that no one could have pulled off the lead role better than the Happy New Year actor as he enjoys that kind of stardom.

"I don't think worldwide anyone has the kind of fan following that Shah Rukh has. It is unbelievable. And we actually met some people when we were shooting in London. Every day we would see these three women waiting at the hotel lobby or standing in a corner during the outdoor shooting. After 4-5 days, we begin to ask as to who were these women. Of course, they were not a part of the crew but they were always there. Then we got to know that they were Shah Rukh's fans who had come from different parts of the world. Interestingly, these three women travel to every place where Shah Rukh shoots his films. Somehow they get to know about his shooting schedule and follow him. They are school teachers, they save money and this is their obsession. And surprisingly, they don't even go and talk to him or click pictures with him. Nothing. They are just lurking around in the corner. We have met such crazy fans of him," says Gupta.

Gupta, who has recently won the best actress award for the short film Leeches at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, is herself a fan of Shah Rukh and says that working with the Dilwale actor was a great learning experience for her.

advertisement

"Shah Rukh is by far the most technically-sound actor in the country. He is outstanding. And I have heard this from many people in the industry that Shah Rukh is a dream to work with, and the technicians love him. He understands the craft so well, and it all comes through experience. And what I realised is that whatever kind of films he does and the acting, it's the choice that he has made. But he is really capable of doing anything."

She adds, "In Fan, he is playing these two roles- Aryan Khanna and Gaurav. It is incredible how this man is coming out of one scene as this guy and going into the other scene as the other character. The kind of calibre he has, I don't think he has got his due as an actor. He is the biggest superstar but more than that he is an incredible actor."

It is for the first time that Sayani has shared screen space with the 50-year-old actor and the Margarita With A Straw actor reveals that SRK is quite fun on the film sets and doesn't make you feel like he is a superstar. "He is like a magnet. Everywhere he goes, people hover around him. If I can call myself anybody's fan, it has to be Shah Rukh. I just realised that God has his hand on him. He is really the chosen one. You rarely come across people who have that kind of a fan following. No matter where he goes, he gets that kind of love from men and women. And he also gives back so much of love," adds the Call Waiting actor.

advertisement

Though Sayani had a great time working with King Khan, little did she know that Shah Rukh was a part of Fan when she auditioned for the film. In fact, the Leeches actor would have missed the bus had she not accidentally chanced upon an unread Facebook message from YRF.

"One day, accidentally, while going through my Facebook messages, I stumbled upon this unread message from Shanoo's (Shanoo Sharma, the casting director at YRF) office saying 'Can you come to our office and meet us?'. I saw the message quite late and had already crossed the deadline. So, I sort of ignored it. And then again, I received a message on Facebook saying 'You there? If you see this, come and meet us'. It was then that I went and met them in the office. And then the audition process sort of started. But throughout the time that I was auditioning, I didn't know what the film was about, what was the plot. I just knew that it was a Yash Raj film. I didn't know that Shah Rukh was a part of the film that I was auditioning for," reveals Gupta.

advertisement

Fan is Sayani's second feature film and the actor says that there is no comparison between Shonali Bose's Margarita With A Straw and her recently-released film. "Maragarita With A Straw is a film that has a different scope of performance, Fan is not even close to that. Honestly, I have no expectations from the film for myself. But I can say that it is an interesting role."

"In fact, when I met Maneesh for the first time, he had already finalised me and he said that you are the only actor I have finalised without meeting him or her. He said that he had watched the trailer of Margarita With A Straw and said that he has a feeling that my calibre as an actor is much more than what will be required of me in Fan. You can't compare films as all of them give you different scope of performance. And I can see what I can bring to the table as an actor. Aditya Chopra, Maneesh Sharma and Shanoo Sharma thought I was the best person to play this role. I hope I have done best in the bracket of that character," signs off Gupta.

--- ENDS ---
By Neetu Chandra Sharma: Confusion continues between states and Centre over budgetary allocation for Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Gramin), Prime Minister Narendra Modi's signature sanitation scheme launched in 2014. Last year, government revised the funding pattern of the scheme for states and Centre.

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, anchoring ministry for the programme has found some gaps in the expenditure while allocating funds under SBM (Gramin) to states and union territories for the financial year 2016-17 "The funding pattern under SBM (Gramin) has been revised to 60:40 and 90:10 for Northeastern states and Jammu & Kashmir for Centre and state share, respectively, from the financial year 2015-16 which was already communicated to the states by the ministry.

advertisement

Earlier the funding pattern was 75:25 for Centre and states," said Saraswati Prasad, additional secretary, SBM (Gramin) Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

However, during the financial year 2015-16 expenditure in Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) by the ministry has been captured as per earlier funding pattern i.e. 75:25, leading to excess reporting of expenditure under the central share.

According to ministry officials, it has also been observed that the opening balance for the financial year 2015-16 reflected in IMIS differs from the closing balance reported in the unit closing for the year 2014-15.

"As this difference may affect the correct calculation of opening balance of 2016-17, we have requested the states to provide the actual expenditure for 2015-16 as per the revised funding pattern and opening balance for 2016-17 as on April 1, 2016 with respect to Centre and state shares separately, immediately, so that the allocation to states for 2016-17 under the programme can be finalised and intimated at the earliest," said Prasad.

"We have also said that the funds spent by the state on account of central share in excess of central share released, if any, should also be included in the expenditure. This is simply a confusion which will be sorted out shortly without affecting the performance of the program. The scheme is doing well in all states and we will achieve our desired targets," he said.

Sources say that performance of the scheme is certainly good in many states, however, the fund allocation by the Centre is said to be unsatisfactory over the last year.

According to the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), in the first 11 months of 2015-16, out of the total sanctioned budget of `9,000 crore, only 49 per cent was released to the state governments.

In 2014-15, up to February 2015, only 33 per cent of the total allocations had been sanctioned by the centre.

There has been a variation in usage of funds in certain states such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal where over 100 per cent was spent (since inception of the scheme) and some states like Bihar, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where less than 50 per cent of the total available funds were spent. In the past year, expenditure on IEC (Information, Education and Communication) fell from four per cent of total expenditure in 2014-15 to only one per cent in 2015-2016.

advertisement

The Swachh Bharat Mission is Narendra Modi's flagship programme which aims to make India 'open defecation free' by 2019.

Also read:

Swachh Sauchalay: Delhi gets 20 new modern, user friendly public toilets

Over half of rural people go for open defecation: Survey



--- ENDS ---
Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti, state Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, Chief Secretary BR Sharma and Director General of Police (DGP) K. Rajendra Kumar visted the town at time when restrictions and shutdown continued in certain parts of the Valley.

By India Today Web Desk: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today visited curfew-bound Handwara and met the families of those killed in the clashes between security forces and locals.



Mufti, state Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, Chief Secretary BR Sharma and Director General of Police (DGP) K Rajendra Kumar visited the town at time when restrictions and shutdown continued in certain parts of the Valley.

advertisement

During her visit, Mufti assured the families of killed youths of justice and promised ex-gratia relief.

"I had wanted to visit Kupwara with a special economic package, but it is unfortunate that I had to come to console the bereaved families," Mufti said.

Five civilians have been killed in a five-day long violence in north's Kashmir Kupwara district since Tuesday in security force firing.

Meanwhile, the mother of the young girl, allegedly molested by an Indian Army soldier, today approached the state high court maintaining that her daughter was being held in "unlawful confinement" by the state police.

She has also alleged that the statement attributed to her daughter in which she said there had been no molestation attempt on her had been obtained by police 'under coercion'.

The state high court has directed the state police to come up with its reply quoting the provisions of law under which they were holding the girl in custody.

The high court also ordered that the police will not record any statement of the young girl till April 20 and she be produced before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Kupwara on that day where her statement will be recorded by the CJM on camera.

In New Delhi, union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in a meeting of senior officials from the Intelligence Bureau, ministry of defence, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the ministry of home affairs reviewed the situation in the Valley and assessed the requirements of the Jammu and Kashmir government to bring the situation under control without any more loss of life.

"The central government is concerned over the loss of human lives in J&K during the last four days. It was decided to send additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to strengthen the security grid in the Kashmir Valley," a home ministry statement said.

The statement said the ministry has assured "full cooperation and support to the government of J&K to ensure that there is no further loss of lives".

The statement also said the development package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kashmir in November last year "is being expeditiously implemented for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir, which will generate employment for the local youth and bring overall prosperity in the State".

advertisement

On Friday, protesters attacked the Natnusa camp of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) in Kupwara.

Soldiers at the camp fired at the protesters who army said had tried to enter the camp.

One teenager was killed in the Natnusa firing incident while three others were injured.

Police said 60 people were injured in violence in the Valley on Friday of whom 40 were security personnel while 20 were stone pelting protesters.

Fearing escalation of violence, authorities imposed restrictions in Handwara, Kupwara, Baramulla and Pulwama towns in addition to areas falling under the jurisdiction of seven police station areas in Srinagar on Saturday.

In Srinagar city, some skeletal private transport and three-wheelers were seen moving in the civil lines and outskirts areas.

While restrictions imposed by the authorities and the protest shutdown called by the separatists continued in Srinagar on Saturday, some shops also opened in civil lines and outskirts areas of Srinagar city where locals were seen buying essentials.

Train services between the Valley and Banihal town also remained suspended for the fourth day while board of school education and the University of Kashmir postponed all exams scheduled for the day.

advertisement

(With agency input)



ALSO READ:

JNU students protest Handwara killings, demand repeal of AFSPA

Handwara firing: Fresh clashes in Valley, Centre promises full co-operation

--- ENDS ---
By Naseer Ganai: The mother of the girl, whose alleged molestation triggered protests in Handwara today said that her minor daughter was forced by Jammu and Kashmir Police to give false statement to deny molestation by a army jawan. The mother has sought release of her daughter and her own husband from police custody.



"After school, she came out with other girls and went to the bathroom in the market at about 3:30 pm. A army jawan followed her to the bathroom. On seeing him, my daughter screamed for attention. The shopkeepers and boys heard her cry and gathered together. She was then taken to nearby police station, but the jawan fled.

advertisement

Meanwhile, people started pelting stones. Why did they throw stones? They did it for their Muslim sister as they couldn't tolerate what just happened. Police and army opened fire leading to death of few civilians," she said in her video, released by a human rights group, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), after she was not allowed to address press conference in Srinagar.



Protests erupted on Tuesday in the Valley after the news of a jawan molesting a schoolgirl spread in Handwara town, about 75 kilometres from Srinagar. Security forces fired at the protestors which led to death of two youngsters and a 56-year-old woman.

Later on April 13, another demonstrator was killed after being hit by a teargas shell fired by the police.

On Friday afternoon, the army opened fire on protesters in Kupwara, killing another youth and raising the death toll to five.



The army on Wednesday released a video, in which the girl said a local boy grabbed her bag and slapped her when she came out of the washroom. In that video, the girl is seen denying allegations of molestation at the hands of army jawan.



The mother said the police took her daughter to the police station where she was forced to give the above statement.

"They took statement of my daughter under pressure and they didn't even cover her face. Police had called my husband to police station and then detained him as well," she said.



The office of JKCCS, located at Lal Chowk, was sealed ahead of the press conference which was scheduled to be held at 11 am today. The police and the paramilitary CRPF cordoned the area and didn't allow reporters to enter the office.



The JKCCS in its statement said that they had organized the press conference so that the girl's family could interact with the media.



"But at 10.30 am a police team laid siege around the JKCCS office and banned the press conference. The police barred the journalists from entering the office and interacting with the family of the girl. They informed the staff that Sec 144 has been imposed and no movement of people will be allowed," the JKCCS said.

Police told the spokesperson of JKCCS Khurram Parvez that the press conference needs to be cancelled as it would lead to law and order issues and further escalate violence in the valley. Parvez was not allowed to move out of his office.



Later, lawyers associated with JKCCS, Parvez Imroz and Kartik Murukutla, approached the High Court and filed a petition on behalf of the mother of the girl seeking her release.



The High court asked police to cite the law under which they have detained the girl and asked them to bring the daughter-father duo before the nearest Chief Judicial Magistrate.



"The court issued notice to SHO and SP Handwara to declare law and authority under which have been kept the girl and her father in police custody," a court official said.



The court ordered the police not to produce the girl before media.

advertisement

Also Read

Class 11 student dies, 5 others injured in fresh firing in Handwara

Handwara firing: Fresh clashes in Valley, Centre promises full co-operation



--- ENDS ---
Popular funnyman Kapil Sharma returns with a new bag of jokes, and the challenge is to reinvent within his tested image.

By Vinayak Chakravorty: Kapil Sharma and his merry bandwagon return with a new bag of jokes later this month, and the buzz among small screen buffs is palpable.

For Kapil, the challenge right now is to reinvent his tricks without losing the essence of the image that made him a star. The humour, after all, cannot dry up. "A comedian has to be funny all the time and constant reinvention is the biggest challenge. Even during Comedy Nights With Kapil (CNWK), coming up with fresh ideas for each episode was the demanding deal," says the funnyman, whose latest gig, The Kapil Sharma Show, premieres on Sony on April 23.

advertisement

"CNWK was about a funny family. The new show narrates the crazy stories of an entire society. There are many more people involved in this show," says Kapil, who shot the first episode in Delhi recently, with Shah Rukh Khan as his special guest.

A still from The Kapil Sharma Show

SRK and Kapil shoot for the first episode of The Kapil Sharma Show

He has not fiddled much with the familiar banter text that made him a sensation on CNWK. "Jo dukaan chal raha hai, usey bandh karke naya showroom kyon kholoon (why would I open a showroom of new ware when I my current shop is doing great business)?" he laughs.

So, The Kapil Sharma Show will see him return with familiar collaborators Ali Asgar, Kiku Sharda, Sunil Grover, Sumona Chakravarti and Chandan Prabhakar, and also bring back Navjot Singh Sidhu as the permanent studio guest.

Rumours suggest Sony laid out a lavish Rs 50-lakh spread just for the promos, though the series only have 26 episodes.

"One shouldn't push a good joke for long," says Kapil, on why he opted to go for a finite series this time. He also has his reasons for bringing back familiar faces. "Comedy is all about timing. That's the reason I repeat people I have already worked with. My co-stars on the show are people I have been working with for a while now. We know our strengths so we act and react accordingly."

He takes criticism over all the biwi jokes chin up. "I will always retain the biwi jokes on my shows. As long as they are not disrespectful towards women, who's to complain?" he says, adding low humour is never his intention.

The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 3 (2007) Winning the stand-up reality contest made Kapil a household name.

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6 (2013) Kapil became hugely popular hosting the reality dance show.

Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (2015) The Abbas-Mustan slapstick marked Kapil's debut in Bollywood.

"Humour has to be healthy. A certain amount of political incorrectness cannot be avoided while creating comedy, but I make sure there are no below-the-belt vibes."

advertisement

For Kapil, comedy is a random thing. "Comedy can never be written. It emerges as a though process," he says. "Funny lines and scenes come to me when I am alone, as well as when we brainstorm as a team. Comedy is serious business that needs constant thinking. Yet a gem of a joke may come to you as an instant reaction. One needs to be observant of all that goes on around."

Kapil would tell you he likes the fact that there are so many comedy shows across channels right now. "We need more humour. Although I hardly get time to watch television, I feel the more comedy shows we have to address problems in a funny way, the better. I am doing my job in my way. There are many other talented comedians in this country with distinct styles. They should all find room," he points out.

Return to TV, of course, slows down his Bollywood trek, which started with Abbas-Mustan's Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon. He is shooting for ABCD 3 right now, but will be careful signing films.

"I am happy with the way my debut film shaped up. I will do more films in the future, but only the ones that interest me. I want to balance my career as a stand-up comedian, sitcom artist and a filmstar," he says.

advertisement

So, which of these avatars does he relish the most? "Stand-up," the excited reply is an instant one. "The reaction of a live audience is a rush like no other. That is also the reason I tend to pack in a huge studio audience in the episodes of my show," he says.

Kapil's slant at live reaction may be a reason why he does not think highly of the kind of anonymity cyber space allows to netizens to spew reactions. Twitter abuse, particularly, irks him.

"They should issue a licence for holding twitter accounts, just as they do for driving. It is a mad weekend house in there. Too many stupid people have infested social media," says Kapil, adding that he tweets only to communicate with fans about his work.

Being a comic has not exactly been funny business in India lately. Several of his lot have been at the wrong end of the stick over several issues. Kapil,

though, refuses to stamp India as an intolerant nation. "I feel intolerance is a word that sprung casually. Then, they started marketing it as a brand.

advertisement

True, we are a bit touchy. Unlike in the West, we are not okay with jokes about god or the president. My effort all the time is to ensure I don't get personal while taking jibes at issues or celebrities. Overall, however, my experience tells me public reaction to humour is positive in our country."

Public reaction, for any comedian, is the ultimate score. "The biggest challenge for a comedian lies in popular connect. In any other genre of art there is the scope of time, for the audience to form a reaction. You could watch a great piece of tragedy, for instance, and it could seep in over the next few



--- ENDS ---
In less than 24 hours of India Today's special investigation Chhattisgarh's Dirty Secret Revealed being broadcast, the founders of the vigilante outfit the Samajik Ekta Manch announced that the outfit was being dissolved with immediate effect.

By Rahul Kanwal: In less than 24 hours of India Today's special investigation Chhattisgarh's Dirty Secret Revealed being broadcast, the founders of the vigilante outfit the Samajik Ekta Manch announced that the outfit was being dissolved with immediate effect. The India Today investigation had exposed the deep rooted nexus between the vigilante outfit and the state police.

At a hurriedly convened press conference in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur, the Samajik Ekta Manch said that it would henceforth cease to exist.

advertisement

The Manch put out a press release in which it said, "The Samajik Ekta Manch was set up with the intent of helping the central government, state government, district administration and the local police in the battle against Naxalism.

It is with the intention of pushing this agenda that the Samajik Ekta Manch organised a series of nonviolent and democratic protests. However, some people used the activities of the Samajik Ekta Manch to demonise the local police and state administration. It is keeping these circumstances in mind that the members of the outfit have unanimously decided to dissolve the Samajik Ekta Manch with immediate effect."

The expose by India Today had led to a massive clamour being built against the Chhattisgarh government for using extra-constitutional methods to deal with voices of dissent. Over the past three months over a dozen lawyers, social activists and journalists have been forced out of Chhattisgarh after being hounded by members of the Samajik Ekta Manch.

Under pressure, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has announced the setting up of a high powered committee which will include the Secretary incharge of General administration in the state and also the Inspector General of Police of the Bastar region and two senior journalists. This committee has been mandated by the CM to look at all complaints about journalists and activists being hounded out of the state.

Former information and broadcasting minister and Congress leader Manish Tewari said, "Encouraging such vigilante groups like the Samajik Ekta Manch is against the Supreme Court ruling in the Salwa Judum case. Activists and journalists are there to tell the other side of the story and they can't be targeted. After India Today's sting the Supreme Court should take suo moto cognisance and hold the Chhattisgarh government in contempt. What is being done in Chhattisgarh is completely unconstitutional.

The CM should resign as he is in contempt and the government should be dismissed."

In Delhi, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan announced that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court demanding that action be initiated against the Raman Singh government for disobeying the Supreme Court's verdict and allowing vigilante groups to flourish.

In the India Today investigation, senior police officers had been shown on camera admitting that they were facilitating the activities of the Samajik Ekta Manch and that they were very happy that troublesome activists had been chased away from Chhattisgarh.

advertisement

The founders of the Samajik Ekta Manch had been shown saying that they were trying to fill the void left after the Supreme Court banned the notorious Salwa Judum in 2011.

While it is significant that the vigilante outfit has been forced to shut shop after the hard hitting India Today expose, however, caution needs to be exercised. The dramatic winding down of the Samajik Ekta Manch could well be a ruse to deflect the massive pressure that was building up against the Chhattisgarh police.

During the India Today investigation the founders of the Manch had admitted that they had already put in place contingency measures in case the Samajik Ekta Manch gets banned. Sampath and Subbarao had told India Today that they had already set up organisations like the Vikas Sangharsh Samiti, Adivasi Ekta Manch and the Mahila Ekta Manch to carry on their avowed mission in case action was initiated against the Samajik Ekta Manch.

Also read:



Chhattisgarh vigilante outfit Samajik Ekta Manch dissolved, CM Raman Singh orders probe

advertisement

--- ENDS ---
The captives are believed to be held in the jungle on Jolo island, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, which is known for bombings, beheadings and kidnappings.

Abu Sayyaf rebels are seen in the Philippines in this video grab. (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: Islamist militants in the Philippines on Friday announced a new deadline of April 25 for the execution of three foreign captives and a Filipino, but scaled back their ransom demand in a video posted on social media.

The captives - two Canadian men, a Norwegian man and a Filipino woman - were kidnapped from a beach resort on a southern island last September.

advertisement

They are believed to be held in the jungle on Jolo island, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group, which is known for bombings, beheadings and kidnappings.

In the video, the captives, with machetes held to their necks, asked their families and governments to pay a ransom of 300 million pesos ($6.51 million) each, down from the figure of a billion pesos each that the militants demanded last year.

"This is already an ultimatum," the masked militant leader said. "We will certainly behead one of these four," he added, setting the execution for 3 p.m. on April 25.

There was no explanation why the ransom was reduced or a new deadline set.

A spokesman for the Philippine military declined to comment, saying he had not seen the video.

In Ottawa, a spokeswoman for the Canadian foreign ministry said the government was aware of the video.

"(We) will not comment or release any information which may compromise ongoing efforts or endanger the safety of Canadian citizens," Rachna Mishra said in an emailed statement.

In the nearly two-minute clip posted on YouTube, the foreigners appealed for the militants' demands to be met.

"I am told to tell you that my ransom is 300 million," said one man, who identified himself as Robert Hall.

"My specific appeal is to the Canadian government, who, I know, have the capacity to get us out of here. I'm wondering what they're waiting for."

The other Canadian and the Norwegian also made appeals, but the Filipino woman was not allowed to speak.

The video was the fourth such appeal released by the militants. In their third clip last month, they set an April 8 deadline but no ransom was specified.

Security is precarious in the resource-rich south of the largely Christian Philippines, despite a 2014 peace pact between the government and the largest Muslim rebel group that ended 45 years of conflict.

Abu Sayyaf militants are holding other foreigners, including one from the Netherlands, one from Japan, four Malaysians and 10 Indonesian tugboat crew.

--- ENDS ---
The police mentioned in the charge-sheet that Iqbal had raped a 32-year-old woman in Belthangady after forcibly entering her home under the pretext of getting a glass of water . The woman knew the accused and filed a police complaint. The police arrested Iqbal and conducted a probe

By Mail Today: A local court in Mangaluru has sentenced a 26-year-old man to 7 years of imprisonment for raping a married woman in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.



The police mentioned in the charge-sheet that Iqbal had raped a 32-year-old woman in Belthangady after forcibly entering her home under the pretext of getting a glass of water . The woman knew the accused and filed a police complaint. The police arrested Iqbal and conducted a probe.

advertisement

Judge D T Puttarangaswamy of the 6th Additional District & Sessions Court in Mangaluru sentenced Iqbal to 7 years of imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. The court also directed the District Legal Services Authority to pay compensation to the rape victim.

Also Read: Bikaner Dalit girls rape: Cong demands CBI probe



--- ENDS ---
The Congress launched a scathing attack on the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming it has no control over the trouble brewing in the Valley.

Activists of Kashmir Tahreek Khawateen shout slogans during a protest against the killing of civilians at Handwara on Friday.

By Amit Agnihotri: The Congress launched a scathing attack on the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming it has no control over the trouble brewing in the Valley. The party has also urged governor NN Vohra to keep an eye on the border state.

The Congress attack came in the wake of the crisis in NIT Srinagar and the widespread public outrage over Army firing in Handwara, in which many civilians lost their lives. Both the incidents have given rise to tension within in the new coalition government with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti having conveyed her concern over the incidents to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

advertisement

"Ever since the PDP-BJP government has taken over, incidents are taking place, which clearly demonstrate that the government is not in control of the situation," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

"As Jammu and Kashmir is a frontline border state, it is imperative that the governor keeps a close watch on the situation," he said.

Tewari explained the Congress was urging the governor to keep a watch as he is the only one who holds a constitutional post and is the first one to be alerted.

Noting that around 1,500 students of the NIT have left the institute, the Congress leader said the state government and the Centre seem least bothered about the fates of these students.

"The first achievement of the PDP-BJP government was to beat up those students who chanted pro-India slogans and force them to flee," said Tewari.

Expressing concern over the growing protests in the Valley, he said, keeping in view totality of the situation, there should be caution and circumspection and a very close watch on the situation.

The setting in Handwara is grave, he said adding that curfew had been imposed as people were protesting on the streets and Internet had been blocked by the state government.

Protests rocked many places in Kupwara and its nearby areas after the death of three persons, who were killed in firing by security forces in Handwara, following allegations of molestation of a girl. "The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is volatile though not anarchic," he said.

Questioning the Pakistan policy at the Centre, Tewari further targeted the BJP saying that if reports about Pakistan NSA sharing info with his Indian counterpart about 10 terrorists infiltrating India were true, then the nation has every right to know the details.

"The question is who were they, where did they come from and where are they now. If three of them have been ostensibly neutralised by security forces, where are the rest? Where did the encounter happen," said Tewari.

"These very questions are completely germane to the lack of the policy that the government of India has towards Pakistan and if this actionable intelligence was indeed provided and Government of India did indeed act upon them, the people of the country should be told who these terrorists were; what were their intentions; what were their identities and where did this neutralisation happen," he said.

advertisement

Also read:

Mehbooba seeks inclusion of Srinagar, Jammu as smart cities

Kashmiri girl, father in protective custody after army releases video denying molestation



--- ENDS ---
Massive fire at Deonar dumping ground in January this year had created a thick blanket of smog over neighbouring areas causing serious health issues to residents, while a fresh fire broke out there last month.

By India Today Web Desk: The Deonar police has arrested nine scrap dealers on Friday in connection with the January 28 and March 20 blazes at Deoanar dumping ground in Mumbai.

Massive fire at Deonar dumping ground in January this year had created a thick blanket of smog over neighbouring areas causing serious health issues to residents, while a fresh fire broke out there last month.

advertisement

The first fire, on January 28 at 3 am, forced the schools to remain shut and was extinguished on February 5.

The second fire broke out on March 20 in which the smoke spread to the adjoining suburbs and fire fighters were deployed at the spot till April 2.

A probe headed by additional Commissioner of Police (East region) Manoj Lohia found that fire was not by accident but rather the handiwork of the scrap dealers.

These dealers have their shops and godowns adjoining the dumping ground compound wall. which are being illegally operated in that area.

They used to send minor children to collect scrap material which have resale value like metal and these scrap deals are also accused of illegally processing of the waste at the dumping ground itself.

They have been booked under various sections of negligence, causing damage to public property, mischief by and act to hurt somebody under the Indian Penal Code.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visiting Deonar dumping ground in Mumbai on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)

The scrape dealers will be produced in a court on Saturday.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered a probe into the incident after the January fire.

Following repeated fires -- the pictures of which were captured from satellites a few months ago, the local people have been demanding remedial measures, including shifting the dumping ground elsewhere.

A resident affected by the fire incidents at the Deonar dumping ground has started an online petition seeking the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court to uphold the rights of citizens to clean air.

She alleged that the civic body BMC is "endangering lives" of people of the city and surrounding areas and infringing the "fundamental right to clean air".

A six-month old boy had died in a locality near Deonar dumping ground in March, with the parents saying the baby died of suffocation due to toxic gases emitted from the blaze, a charge refuted by officials.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on April 12 visited the garbage dumping ground and took the opportunity to blast Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Campaign.

advertisement

"The PM speaks about Swachh Bharat, his (party) government is in power in Maharashtra and they must cooperate. Either the PM or the chief minister must take some action," he said.

Maharashtra Environment Minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam said it is suspected that the fire at Deonar dumping ground in suburban Mumbai was deliberately started to defame the party.

"We strongly suspect that the fire at Deonar dumping ground was started to defame Shiv Sena," Kadam said.



--- ENDS ---
Controversy over Priyanka Gandhi loomed when a report accused her of bargaining with the Vajpayee government in 2002 to reduce the rent of her house from Rs 53,421 to Rs 8,888.

By India Today Web Desk: Breaking her silence on the rent row, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today said that she has paid all her dues as per the rules.



According to a statement issued by Gandhi's office, Priyanka in December 1996 had rented a private accommodation for her residence but was directed to occupy a government accommodation on security grounds.

advertisement

Commenting over the reports of Gandhi negotiating the rent, BJP's National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said it might not be illegal but she sought "concessions" despite being capable of paying the rent.

Gandhi also said that a 90 per cent increase from one month to the next, in the year 2002 from "Market Rate/Special License Fee" to "Damages Rate" was "contrary to prevailing rules and regulations" and that was brought to notice of the then BJP Government.

Controversy over Priyanka Gandhi loomed when a report from Times of India accused her of bargaining with the Vajpayee government in 2002 to reduce the rent of her house from Rs 53,421 to Rs 8,888.

According to the report, 14 years ago Gandhi wrote a letter to the then government on 7 May 2002 to waive off the rent of her 2,765.18 sqm bungalow in Lutyen's

Delhi as she was incapable of paying the rent of Rs 53,421.

In the same letter, she claimed that she was only occupying the bungalow because of the request made by the Special Protection Group (SPG) and a large part of it was occupied by SPG itself.

Apart from Gandhi three other "private citizens", including former Punjab DGP KPS Gill, All India Anti-Terrorist Front chief MS Bitta and Punjab Kesari editor Ashwani Kumar were provided accommodation by the government on security grounds.

The rent of all the protectees were brought down, with from Rs 60,741 to 10,715 for Gill, from Rs 55,536 to Rs 10,203 for Bitta and from Rs 50,311 to Rs 8,555 for Kumar.

While Gandhi, Bitta and Gill at present pay Rs 31,300 for their type VI government accommodation at Lodhi Estate, Kumar is said to have vacated the house in 2012.

Meanwhile, the BJP took a jibe at Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra by saying that while latter turned land into gold, the former found the official rent of her house beyond her paying capacity.

"It says a lot about Priyanka Gandhi. She wants all government facilities but she won't pay the rent she should be. She can build a bungalow in Himachal and travel abroad. The land which her husband turns into gold but they cannot pay the rent. It is ridiculous," the party spokesperson said.

advertisement

--- ENDS ---
In a much conservative and controversial move, the University of Swat banned all the opposite gender students to sit or walk together within the campus limits.

According a notice pasted on the notice board of the university, the students are warned that a fine ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 5,000 will be imposed in case of violation. (Photo: dailypakistan.com.pk)

By India Today Web Desk: University of Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan on Friday issued a notification banning its male students and female students from mingling together.

In a much conservative and controversial move, the University of Swat banned all the opposite gender students to sit or walk together within the campus limits, reported Daily Pakistan.

According a notice pasted on the notice board of the university, the students are warned that a fine ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 5,000 will be imposed in case of violation.

(Photo: dailypakistan.com.pk)

advertisement

Moreover, the parents will also be called for an emergency meeting by the university administration, according to the document signed by Chief Proctor Hazrat Bilal.

The University of Swat is a public sector university. The main campus of the university is situated in Saidu Sharif, 2 km away from main city Mingora, Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan.

According to the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, the university was ranked at 124 in 2012.

In a much similar move in past, Pakistan's top university National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) had made it mandatory for female students to wear 'dupatta' and put a ban on wearing 'jeans' in the premises of the university which is located in the heart of capital city Islamabad.

In September 2013, nearly a dozen students in NUST were also fined because of different reasons, including smoking and eating in labs.

Despite several challenges, Swat has remained a centre of education since long and even during the days when militants dominated the valley students both boys and girls managed to continue their education.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate, also hails from Swat Valley, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her family runs a chain of schools in the region.

Read full report on dailypakistan.com.pk

--- ENDS ---
Dr. Yathindra is a director of Matrix Imaging Solutions Ltd, which won a bid to set up clinical laboratory and radio diagnosis and imaging services at the government-run Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).

By India Today Web Desk: With political pressure mounting on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his son Dr. Yathindra S whose company won a government tender has quit the private company to end the controversy.

Dr. Yathindra is a director of Matrix Imaging Solutions Ltd, which won a bid to set up clinical laboratory and radio diagnosis and imaging services at the government-run Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI). The firm won the contract by placing the lowest bid, but the fate of the project is not known.

advertisement

On Friday, Dr. Yathindra informed that he would quit the company, but sources indicated that he was yet to complete the formalities. It is said that Siddaramaiah has asked his son to quit the company on Monday and announce it to the media.

Ambedkar Yuva Sene, a NGO, has filed a complaint with the newly-created Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to probe the alleged preferential allotment of the land , in which Dr Rajesh Gowda, friend and business associate of Yathindra, is a partner. He has contended that the allotment of land has caused a loss of crores to the government.

The land (2.19 acres) was allotted near the Hebbal flyover this January to Messrs Shanta Industrial Enterprises, in which Rajesh Gowda is a partner, according to the NGO.



--- ENDS ---
Delhi police have given a clean chit to an officer, who led the team in the alleged encounter of businessman Manoj Vashisht at Sagar Ratna restaurant last year, even as the investigation into it is still on.

A CBI inquiry is on against the team which carried out businessman Manoj Vashisht's encounter in May last year.

By Mail Today: Delhi police have given a clean chit to an officer, who led the team in the alleged encounter of businessman Manoj Vashisht at Sagar Ratna restaurant last year, even as the investigation into it is still on.

While, CBI is probing the case, inspector Dharmendra Kumar has been asked to rejoin Delhi Police's Special Cell from the IGI Airport. According to sources, other team members who are facing charges in the case, may join elite units of the Delhi Police.

advertisement

"His transfer was decided by the top brass of Delhi police during former commissioner BS Bassi's regime but officially he was transferred after an order was issued on April 11. He is facing allegations and the MHA also took up the matter but he has been asked to join Special Cell," a senior police officer said.

Inspector Dharmender Kumar was transferred to IGI Airport just after the incident. At IGI Airport he was handling a team of Delhi Police responsible to counter any attack at the establishment.

"Recently, Special Cell has seen various transfers as the unit was facing multiple allegations. It was found top officials of the Special Cell were not aware about this operation. This case had various flaws in the way the Special Cell handled the case," a senior police officer added.

Manoj Vashisht

Last year in May, a team headed by Inspector Dharmendra Kumar and other junior staff allegedly encountered Manoj Vashisht.

CCTV footage of the encounter released by police shows two officers - Inspector Dharmendra Kumar and Constable Jitendra - getting into a scuffle with Vashisht before the businessman slumps after being shot. He died after a bullet hit him during an alleged exchange of fire with an eight member team of the Special Cell, which planned the operation.

Later, the top brass of Delhi Police immediately constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident. The case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the MHA.

According to the police, Vashisht was wanted in several cases of fraud and other crimes. His family had alleged that it was a fake encounter and had demanded a CBI probe. Vashisht's family had also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking the transfer of the probe to the CBI. Later, case was given to CBI.

The agency registered a case under IPC Sections of obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions, assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty, attempted murder as well as Sections of the Arms Act.

advertisement

Also read:

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Tehran, Apr 16 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Iran today on a two-day visit to boost ties with a focus on raising Indias oil imports and enhancing trade with the powerful Persian Gulf nation which has opened several lucrative sectors after sanctions against it were lifted under a historic nuclear deal.

The visit by Swaraj to the oil-rich country comes amid a rush for investment in the resource-rich nation by global economic powers including Japan, China, the US and several European countries after Iran invited foreign companies for joint ventures in many of its crucial sectors including oil and gas.

advertisement

India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up USD 20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.

Swarajs visit is seen as a balancing act by India as it came nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Saudi Arabia, another West Asian power which considers Iran its rival.

Iran is an important country for India for its energy security as well as to get access to oil and gas-rich Central Asian nations.

India imports close to 12 million tonnes of crude from Iran and it is looking at increasing the oil import from the country.

Swaraj will hold extensive talks with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif tomorrow during which entire gamut of bilateral relations will be reviewed with a major focus on ramping up ties in energy, trade and banking sectors.

The External Affairs Minister will also call on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Iran has ended free shipping of crude oil to India and terminated a three-year-old system of getting paid for half of the oil dues in rupees and the issue is likely to figure in talks between Swaraj and Zarif.

Iran is now insisting on being paid in Euros for the oil it sells to Indian refiners. It also wants refiners like Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MPRL) to clear nearly USD 6.5 billion of past dues in Euros, according to officials.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had paid a two-day visit to Tehran from April 9 during which he discussed with his Iranian counterpart the repayment of nearly USD 6.5 billion that Indian refiners owe to Iran.

This was the first visit by an Indian minister since the US and other western powers lifted sanctions against Iran in January. MORE PTI MPB NSA

--- ENDS ---
The Taj Mahal is being given a makeover for the royal rendezvous, the much touted Diana seat by the central pool has been repaired, and the staircase has got a fresh coat of paint.

William and Kate are following in the stead of Princess Diana, William's mother who visited the symbol of love 24 years ago. (Photo: Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: The Taj Mahal is ready to host the British royal couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton, on Saturday.

According to the schedule released, the royal couple will be having lunch and dinner at hotel Amar Vilas in Agra. Subsequently, they will visit the Taj Mahal around 4.00 pm. After the visit, the couple will leave for Delhi late in the evening by a special chartered aircraft.

advertisement

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will not be a part of the band of dignitaries set to welcome the Royal duo, as reported by media and hoardings put up earlier.

The Taj Mahal is being given a makeover for the royal rendezvous, the much touted Diana seat by the central pool has been repaired, and the staircase was given a fresh coat of paint.

On Friday, municipal workers were seen breaking a sweat, cleaning the whole area in and around Taj Ganj.

The almost 10 km long stretch of road from Kheria airport to Amar Vilas has been spruced up and barricades are ready to be placed to cordon off traffic when the dignitaries pass the heavily guarded Mall road.

"Clearly there is no excitement among the people here, for whom they remain symbols of imperialism that subjugated India for over two centuries. Although the media is trying hard to hype the visit of the royal couple. For us it is like any other VIP visit," commented social activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

William and Kate are following in the stead of Princess Diana, William's mother who visited the symbol of love 24 years ago.

The Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan in 1631 is regarded as an epitome of love and is one of the seven wonders of the world.

The visit to the Taj will culminate Prince William and Kate's seven-day tour to India and Bhutan.

ALSO READ: As Prince William, Kate visit Assam's Kaziranga National Park, rhino killed



--- ENDS ---
In a lawsuit filed by Epic Systems in October, 2014, the company had accused TCS and Tata America International Corp of brazenly stealing its trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data".

A US grand jury has slapped two companies, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata America International Corp - with a $940 million fine in connection with alleged stealing of software information from Epic Systems.

By India Today Web Desk: India's leading IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today denied the charges of Intellectual Property infringement and asserted that it will appeal against the US Federal Court's verdict that slapped the company with 940-million.

A US grand jury has slapped two companies, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata America International Corp - with a $940 million fine in connection with alleged stealing of software information from Epic Systems. While $240 million has to be paid for IP infringement, $700 million for punitive damages.

advertisement

In a lawsuit filed by Epic Systems in October, 2014, the company had accused TCS and Tata America International Corp of brazenly stealing its trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data".

Epic said that it "recently learned from an informant" that TCS employees have been "fraudulently accessing" Epic's software beyond what the consulting contract required - and using Epic's software to improve their own competing product.

A TCS employee's account, which was used in India and several US locations, downloaded 6,477 documents, according to Epic.

"Rather than compete lawfully with Epic, TCS has engaged in an apparently elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data from Epic, for the purpose of realising technical expertise developed by Epic over years of hard work and investment," the lawsuit said.

TCS said it intended to appeal against the verdict in higher courts.

"While TCS respects the legal process, the jury's verdict on liability and damages was unexpected as the company believes they are unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial," the company said in a statement mailed to IANS.

"TCS plans to defend its position vigorously in appeals to higher courts. TCS appreciates the trial judge's announcement from the bench that he is almost certain he will reduce the damages award."

--- ENDS ---
While Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung is involved in a bitter turf tussle with the city's AAP administration, his cook has alleged medical negligence by a Delhi government-run hospital led to his unborn child's death.

By Astha Saxena: While Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung is involved in a bitter turf tussle with the city's AAP administration, his cook has alleged medical negligence by a Delhi government-run hospital led to his unborn child's death.

The Aruna Asaf Ali hospital, which is adjacent to the L-G's residence and the Delhi assembly, came under scanner after Mohammed Nadeem's wife delivered a stillborn baby on Thursday. "This is a complaint by an individual and has nothing to do with the LG or L-G House," said Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North).

advertisement

Saba Bano, 24, was brought to the institute on Thursday night. The weight of the baby was 4.5kg and, according to the family, doctors performed a vaginal delivery.

"The condition of the mother and child was serious. Though the mother survived, the baby could not be saved," a senior doctor from the hospital told Mail Today.

Sources at the institute confirmed that Nadeem works at the L-G House. "He has been here several times for regular medical check-ups," another senior doctor said.

Late-night drama followed as members of Jung's family visited the hospital and intervened in the matter. According to sources, Bano's relatives have alleged medical negligence on part of the institute.

The L-G House did not respond to calls and messages from Mail Today.

"The hospital administration has been pulled up by the L-G. Several machines were not working," a doctor from the institute said.

The battle between Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stems from Delhi's unique position as a union territory doubling as the Capital where both the L-G and police department report to the central home ministry and the local government has no say over several important departments.

Loggerheads

The AAP, which romped to power winning 67 of the Capital's 70 assembly seats in last year's polls, has been at loggerheads with Jung after he appointed several senior bureaucrats against the wishes of the chief minister and overruled many Delhi government picks.

Bano's family too alleged that some equipment at the hospital were out of order. Doctors could not perform a fetoscopy- an endoscopic procedure during pregnancy to allow access to the foetus, the amniotic cavity, the umbilical cord, and the foetal side of the placenta.

"One can get a close detail before the delivery through fetoscopy. Any abnormalities in foetus, placenta cord and umbilical cord can be diagnosed through the machine. Sometimes, it can also help to identify, if there are any, internal complications," a senior gynaecologist said.

Located in north Delhi, the hospital caters to around 1,000-1,200 patients every day. Its administration also manages a mortuary at Subzi Mandi, the oldest and biggest facility of its kind in the Capital. The institute is also among the 10 government hospitals that issue disability certificates to people. "We are aware of the matter.

advertisement

But the reason of death cannot be determined until the postmortem report comes out," Dr Kulbhushan Goyal, deputy medical superintendent of the hospital told Mail Today. "We did our best to save the baby."

While Bano is still receiving treatment at the institute, the baby's body has been sent to Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) for post-mortem. Experts said in most cases with a baby weighing over 3.5 kg, a caesarean delivery is the preferred option.

"It depends on many factors. One has to perform a proper internal check-up and a pelvis access to decide on the mode of delivery. In many countries, even a baby weighing around 4.5 kg has been operated through vaginal delivery," said Dr Neeta Singh from AIIMS.

"If the weight of the baby is more than 4 kg then doctors have to be more careful for a vaginal surgery," said Dr Suneeta Mittal, director and of obstetrics at Gurgaon's Fortis Memorial Research Institute. "The weight, height and previous health record of the mother should be considered carefully."

advertisement





--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Bhubaneswar, Apr 14 (PTI) Breaking his silence over the opposition demand for his resignation for allegedly receiving a car from a Ponzi firm, Odishas food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Dasburma today said he will quit politics if the allegations were proved.

"I will retire from politics if the CBI finds slightest evidence against me," Dasburma said while addressing a meeting held on the occasion of launching of the cheap meal "Aahar" programme in Puri.

advertisement

Accusing the opposition parties of adopting "dirty politics", Dasburma said, "The opposition parties are conspiring against me. They link my association with Artha Tatwa (AT) Group. After allegations that I own a Pajero SUV gifted by the AT Group managing director, I have submitted all relevant documents to the CBI for investigation."

The minister also challenged the opposition to submit documents in their possession to the CBI to prove their allegations against him.

Earlier, both Congress and BJP had demanded Dasburmas resignation after the CBI issued a notice to the minister seeking his clarification on the alleged receipt of a vehicle from AT Group chief Pradip Sethi.

Ridiculing Dasburmas statement, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan said the BJD minister knows very well whether the opposition parties were conspiring against him or he himself was a party to the conspiracy.

"Some senior BJP leaders are of the opinion that the CBI is not probing the mega chit fund scam cases with sincerity and is trying to shield BJD leaders who are involved in the scam. Even the people of Odisha have realised it of late. The Naveen Patnaik-led government in the state has managed to stay in power by the grace of the BJP government at the Centre which has influenced the CBI probe," he alleged.

"Let Dasburma first clarify whether he has been a victim of conspiracy by his own party colleagues," said BJP leader Samir Mohanty.

Meanwhile, ruling BJD leader and Sambalpur MP Nagendra Pradhan today launched a veiled attack on Dasburma.

"Lord Ram had to desert Devi Sita over the suspicion of a common man though he was sure that she is pure. Dasburma claims to be innocent but the Chief Minister will take a final call," said Pradhan. PTI AAM DKB SMN PS

--- ENDS ---
Trinamool Congress Vice President Abdul Mannan advised people to go in pairs to cast their votes so that he knows who voted for whom.

By Manogya Loiwal : The Trinamool Congress (TMC) landed itself in a soup once again today when party Vice President Abdul Mannan gave a 'threatening' speech while campaigning for Monirul Islam in Birbhum's Labpur constituency.

In the public meeting, he said that if the polls are not in favour of the TMC, the party would deprive the ones going against it of all facilities. Mannan also threatened to strip off benefits availed by Below Poverty Line (BPL), Above Poverty Line (APL) or even handicapped voters.

advertisement

"I am warning everyone that they must cast their votes in our favor. We have 1032 voters and if 900 people cast their votes, we don't expect more than 40-50 people go against us. If our party doesn't receive enough votes then I would know that people have betrayed us," Abdul Mannan said.

The TMC leader advised people to go in pairs to cast their votes so that he knows who voted for whom. However, he was hopeful that the elections will proceed peacefully.

"For the entire year we looked after the welfare of the people. If they do not give sufficient votes to our party then there will be adverse effects," Mannan added.

Earlier this week, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a showcause notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for violating the poll code.

The poll panel has placed Birbhum District President Anubrata Mondal under close watch.

Opposition parties have claimed that Mondal had allegedly threatened voters and openly warned of 'vanishing them' if they do not vote for the TMC. Political parties also said that the Birbhum district has become a hotbed of violence with reports of clashes every now and then.

ALSO READ

Defiant Mamata slams EC over poll code notice



Mamata, PM Modi two sides of the same coin, says Sonia Gandhi

Mamata apologises for her partymen's deeds



--- ENDS ---
Last year, Sakshi Maharaj had issued a clarion call to Hindus to produce at least four children to protect Hinduism.

By India Today Web Desk: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sakshi Maharaj ignited a controversy today by saying women in Islam are "no better than footwear".

"Women in Islam are no better than footwear," Sakshi Maharaj said.

Known for his controversial remarks, the firebrand BJP MP demanded the right to offer Namaz for women and sought judiciary intervention to get them entry into mosques.

advertisement

"The country should be run by the constitution and not Fatwas," the BJP MP from Unnao said.

Last year, Sakshi Maharaj had issued a clarion call to Hindus to produce at least four children to protect Hinduism. He sought to justify his theory of four children by raising the popular stereotype about Muslim community.

Without naming the minority community, Sakshi Maharaj had said: "The concept of four wives and forty children just won't work in India but it is high time that every Hindu woman must produce at least four children to protect the Hindu religion".

Sakshi Maharaj has repeatedly been in controversies because of his statements. He had created a furore when he termed the religious madarsas a source of terrorism in India.

ALSO READ

Azam Khan helps Al Qaeda prepare its hit list, says Sakshi Maharaj



5 times BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj made controversial statements

--- ENDS ---
Augustine, who bought the domain and essentially sat on it so that no one else could buy it.

By Sahil Mohan Gupta : A boy from Kochi sold a web domain owned by him to ICONIQCAPITAL which is a company that manages the fortune of Facebook, founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Kochi based Amal Augustine sold 'maxchanzuckerberg.org' to ICONIQCAPITAL for $700 which converts to be a little over Rs 46,000.

Interestingly, the domain name is the same as the name of Mark Zuckerberg's daughter.

advertisement

Augustine, who bought the domain and essentially sat on it so that no one else could buy it. When an offer came along during negotiations he realised that he was in fact dealing with representatives who handled Zuckerberg's finances.

"Finally I've sold my first domain to ICONIQCAPITAL which manages the fortune of Zuckerberg. Good start !! Could have got a much higher amount. But sold for 700$. Waiting for more," he wrote in a Facebook post.

Augustine basically buys web domains and sits on them till the time he gets a higher price for them. According to a report on the Hindustan Times , Augustine often asks for unreasonable amounts for web domains he owns. In the case of the Facebook, deal he didn't get to know that he was dealing people who were representing Mark Zuckerberg till the later stages of the deal.

Essentially, this is known as Cyber Squatting. Often people invest in domains that they think will of be a much higher value in the future and they make a huge profit on the initial investment by selling.

Often people will buy domain names that are similar to the names of famous people or companies and then the names are sold at an unreasonable amount later on.

This is not too dissimilar from how patent trolls operate. Patent trolls often get a trademark on things their company doesn't have any relation to knowing full well that there will be a company somewhere willing to pay a high price to leverage the patent in its product.

--- ENDS ---
Iranian state media reported that the Islamic Republics latest unmanned aerial vehicle, called Hamaseh, or Epic in Farsi, was introduced and utilized in war games conducted by the IRGC Ground Forces between Tuesday and Thursday. The reports also claimed that the Hamaseh drone qualified as a particular type of vehicle known as a high-altitude long-endurance platform, but independent military analysts have disputed this and have suggested that the drone is not as advanced as the IRGC claims, but is probably only capable of medium-altitude operations.

The Iranian military and the paramilitary IRGC have a long history of making bold statements about the countrys military capabilities, only for those statements to be called into question by foreign experts. Many of these claims in recent years have focused on drone technology, especially since the 2011 crash of a US drone on Iranian territory, where it was recovered by the Iranian military, which later claimed to have cloned its technology.

The unveiling of that supposed clone did not show it in operation, and this fact contributed to some foreign analysts conclusion that the drone featured by Iranian state media was only a non-functional mock-up. Nevertheless, claims about this and other advancements have been used by Iranian officers to buttress other bold claims about its overall military capability and even its readiness for war with the US.

In May 2014, for instance, IRGC Naval commander Admiral Ali Fadavi famously remarked that the countrys naval forces would be capable of sinking an American aircraft carrier in less than a minute. This claim was demonstrated on a model of an American warship, albeit on one that had no defenses and was incapable of maneuvering.

These sorts of claims have continued to the present date, and appear to have accelerated in the run-up to Armed Forces Day. Earlier this month, IRGC Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari told a gathering of fellow officers, For years, we have been building power on the presumption of a widespread war with the US and its allies, and have developed all our capacities and capabilities for decisive victories over such enemies.

It may be difficult to regard this as anything other than bluster, considering the USs status as a global superpower. However, such statements by Jafari and others may reflect not only a boastful attitude about Iranian military development, but also about their expectation of support from powerful allies. Some Western policy analysts have long been warning about the possible emergence of an eastern bloc led by Russia, China, and Iran. And indeed there have been a number of indicators of growing cooperation and closer alliance among these parties, especially between Russia and Iran.

One of the International Business Times reports points out that Irans Great Prophet military drills this week coincided with a new trip to Russia by Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the IRGCs foreign expeditionary Quds Force. He is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss cooperation on global security policy, especially concerning the two countries mutual interventions in the Syrian Civil War on behalf of embattled dictator Bashar al-Assad.

A trip to Moscow by Suleimani last year was credited with convincing the Putin government to begin direct military involvement in Syria, bombing rebel targets in coordination with Iranian-led efforts on the ground. Those joint operations have reportedly continued even in the wake of a recent international agreement establishing a tentative ceasefire among factions not affiliated with the Islamic State or the Al Nusra Front.

Critics of Western policy in the region suggest that this situation is indicative of Iranian and Russian confidence about the absence of serious consequences for their continued, and uncompromising, interventions. The Iranians have repeatedly made it clear that they will not entertain the possibility of Assads removal from power ahead of any international solution to the six-year conflict.

The supposed lack of consequences was further highlighted by a Reuters report on Suleimanis trip, which pointed out that the Quds Force commander is blacklisted from international travel due to the organizations terrorist designation. UN member states including Russia are ostensibly required to obstruct such travel or arrest blacklisted individuals, but Russia has now hosted Suleimani at least twice, with no apparent punishment or threat of punishment from the rest of the international community.

Such casual exchanges between Russia and Iran may point to further expansion of relations between the two, including the sale of advanced weapons. Russia recently delivered the first shipment of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to the Islamic Republic, and previous Iranian visitors to Moscow have certainly discussed following up that exchange with the purchase of tanks, jet fighters, and more.

On the other hand, the White House has recently indicated that it would use its position on the UN Security Council to obstruct any such sales by Russia. However, some critics of current Western policy regard this as being too little, too late, and are already concerned by the possible implications of Irans acquisition of the S-300 system, as well as its probable improvements to domestic weapons production in the wake of relief from nuclear-related sanctions under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The report also notes that the reestablishment of high-value trade ties between Iran and Italy had been encouraged by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has nonetheless struck an aggressive tone regarding the nuclear agreement that enabled such state visits and agreements.

Khameneis interest in the Italian market no doubt stems from the fact that Italy had once been Irans largest trading partner in Western Europe. Prior to the implementation of economic sanctions related to Irans nuclear program, trade between the two countries had peaked at approximately eight billion dollars, and now Khamenei and Rouhani are reportedly encouraging the Italian government to speed the return to this situation.

Khameneis comparatively permissive attitude toward Italy may have also been encouraged by the eagerness with which Italy sought to resume bilateral ties in the wake of the July 14 nuclear agreement. It was among the first countries to send a trade delegation to the Islamic Republic, and when Rouhani visited in January, Italian officials came under fire from some critics for arguably going too far in accommodating the visitors, as by covering up classical nude statues in a Roman museum.

By contrast, Rouhanis visit to France just days earlier was fraught with some degree of tension. A planned dinner meeting between Rouhani and French President Francois Hollande had been cancelled after the Elyse Palace refused to acquiesce to Iranian demands that the French hosts not consume alcohol or allow it to be placed on the table. And last month, a planned visit by Rouhani to the Austrian capital of Vienna was called off because Austria authorities refused to cancel or obstruct a protest that was set to be led by the exiled Iranian dissident group the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran.

Although it was not immediately clear what Supreme Leader Khameneis particular views were with regard to restoring trade relations with France and Austria, he did make a clear distinction between Italy and some other European countries, since they act as the United States dictates.

But whether or not France is considered to be among these countries, it is clear that leading French authorities and businesses mean to continue their push to expand access to the Iranian market. For instance, Economic Calendar reported on Thursday that the French oil and gas company total  one of the worlds six industry leaders  had confirmed its plans to return to Iran.

Already, French commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus has signed a deal with the Islamic Republic estimated at 25 billion dollars. That arrangement apparently helped to prompt American competitor Boeing to visit Iran early this week and discuss the possible sale of three categories of its aircraft to the countrys aging commercial fleet. This has led to increased anxiety from American critics of the nuclear deal, who fear that such outreach threatens to go beyond the provisions of that deal and unnecessarily enrich the worlds leading state sponsor of terror.

Effectively as a form of compensation for this push toward increased engagement, the Republican leadership of the US Congress, along with some Democratic allies on this issue, have been pushing for an increase in sanctions related to Irans ongoing illicit and provocative behavior. One issue that is a focus of particular attention at the moment is Irans test last month of three ballistic missiles in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution that calls upon the country to avoid work on weapons that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

The Obama administration imposed new sanctions related to one such test that occurred in October, approximately three months before implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But it declined to do the same for a similar test in November, and does not appear to be moving to do so for the three March launches, in spite of considerable congressional urging.

In fact, Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Adam Szubin, the Treasury Departments acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, had pushed back against legislation introduced by Republican senators that would impose new sanctions and formally bar Iran from access to the US financial system. Szubin warned that American sanctions tools could lose effectiveness if they were overused.

New mandatory non-nuclear sanctions legislation would needlessly risk undermining our unity with international partners, Szubin said in an apparent reference to the European rush to invest in the Islamic Republic  a rush that has been said to be held back somewhat by the apparently linger risk of sanctions enforcement and new punitive measures.

It was recently reported that the White House had assigned diplomats to discuss the nuclear deal with US businesses in order to alleviate concerns about some of these risk factors. These and similar efforts have arguably contributed to the decisions by Boeing, European companies, and European heads of state to visit Iran and openly pursue the rapid expansion of trade ties.
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, reported that Ali Tayyebnia, Irans Minister of Economic Affairs, referred to aspects of the current crisis engulfing the countrys banking system and President Hassan Rouhanis inability in resolving the crises saying that the banks cannot be the necessary source for production.

The $30 billion debt of Rouhanis government to the countrys banking system is so large that it eclipses the total income envisioned from the sale of oil in the current Persian years governmental budget.

In this budget the income from oil is calculated at $25 billion and premised on the idea that the government can raise its daily oil export to around 1.74 million barrels and that the average price for each barrel does not drop below $40. Both hypotheses are optimistic.

The Iranian Parliaments own research center announced in a separate report that the income predicted from the sale of oil is doubtful as $40 a barrel price would most likely be unreachable.

Thus, Rouhanis government is facing a truly daunting economic crisis, which even in the best scenario will result in debts equal to Irans total oil sales for the present Persian year, which began on March 20.
The Monitor quoted several experts to support the notion that this was a natural development in the Iran-Turkey relations, given that they have a long history of coexistence and cooperation, and arguably more reasons to work together than to remain at odds. Nonetheless, their backing for opposing factions in the Syrian Civil War is a serious cause for discord. And whereas the Monitor may be correct that Turkey and Iran are working their way past it, other reports concerning the OIC gathering show that the issue is only contributing to the degradation of Irans relations with its key regional adversaries.

Trend News Agency reports, for instance, that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif declined to participate in the events closing meeting. Their early departure apparently served as a protest against anti-Iranian statements in earlier sessions. Even before the summit began, Zarif publicly objected to efforts by Saudi Arabia to reference Irans intrusive regional policies in the OIC draft declaration  references that apparently made their way into the summits final announcement.

This situation has apparently undermined prospects for broad-based Middle Eastern cooperation in numerous areas. Following the OIC summit, Iran and Saudi Arabia are both scheduled to participate in a meeting of OPEC and several non-OPEC oil-producing countries, where a possible freeze on global production will be discussed. But the prospects for such a freeze now appear quite slim, since the Saudis have demanded full participation, while Iran has refused to participate as it works to regain market share lost under economic sanctions.Saudi Arabia and Iran, always adversaries, have been more sharply at odds in the wake of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the West, and the outbreak of an Iran-backed rebellion in Yemen, which threatens to give the Shiite Islamic Republic a permanent foothold on the Arabian Peninsula. Diplomatic ties between the two regional powerhouses were cut off altogether in January after Iranian mobs attacked the Saudi embassy and consulate in retaliation for the execution of a Saudi dissident cleric.

The OIC summit may or may not indicate that Turkey is insulated from the broader effects of the Iran-Saudi Arabia conflict. But other reports seem to make it clear that the Saudis have it in their power to undermine Iranian attempts to reconcile with other countries in the Middle East and beyond. World Politics Review highlighted a series of examples on Friday, focusing on Africa.

The article points out that several Muslim-majority African countries joined the Saudis in breaking off ties with Iran early this year, not just in solidarity with their Saudi partners but also out of a genuine fear of the political brand of Shiite Islam that has been fueling Irans expansion of power around the Persian Gulf and beyond.

Irans apparent imperial ambitions can be expected to remain a cause for concern among OIC countries at least for as long as Western policy favors rapprochement instead of its traditional course of sanctions and containment. Thus an editorial that appeared in the Post and Courier on Friday emphasized that the US government has a responsibility to respond to Gulf Arab nations concerns regarding Iran.

The article gives US Secretary of State John Kerry credit for acknowledging the validity of at least some of these concerns, especially in light of the seizure of at least three arms shipments apparently in transit from Iran to Yemen. But the same article criticizes Kerry for refusing to clarify the USs actual security policies during his recent visit with ministers from the countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council.

President Barack Obama will have the opportunity to provide this clarity in the coming week when he visits the GCC himself. But if he does not do so to the satisfaction of those governments, he will likely remain under fire for maintaining a policy that is more akin to Turkeys efforts to privilege trade and bilateral cooperation ahead of those issues that would otherwise undermine relations with Iran.
[April 15, 2016] Fitch Rates Denver School Dist. No. 1, CO's GO Bonds 'AA+'; Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'AA+' rating to the following Denver School District No.1, CO bonds: --$142.3 million general obligation (GO) refunding bonds, series 2016. The bonds are scheduled to price via negotiation during the week of April 25. Bond proceeds will be used to refund outstanding debt for interest savings. In addition, Fitch has affirmed the following GO bonds and certificates of participation (COPs): --$1.2 billion GO bonds at 'AA+'; --$1.03 billion COPs at 'AA'. SECURITY The GO bonds are payable from an annual unlimited property tax levy. The COPs are secured by base rental payments made by the district to the Denver School Facilities Leasing Corporation for use of school facilities, subject to annual appropriation. KEY RATING DRIVERS LARGE, GROWING ECONOMIC BASE: Denver's economy is fundamentally sound and diverse, serving as the hub of commerce for a large 10-county metropolitan area and as the seat of state government. Steady annual gains in jobs, personal income, and home values, point to positive economic conditions. GROWTH PRESSURES REMAIN: Recessionary state aid cuts have yet to be restored and continue to pressure the district's budget although revenue enhancements are expected to assist in maintaining adequate operating reserves. Expenditure flexibility is a key consideration given the strong growth in enrollment in recent years. Enrollment growth pressures are easing slightly but are expected to persist, requiring continued attention to additional cost efficiencies amidst new school openings and expansions. OVERALL DEBT SHOULD REMAIN AFFORDABLE: Overall debt levels have moderated materially due to the recent assessed value (AV) surge, creating capacity for future bond propositions needed for the district's facility improvement needs. Fitch expects carrying costs for long term liabilities to remain an affordable part of the budget, partly due to slow debt amortization and reduced pension funding resulting from statutory changes in contribution levels. PENSION METRICS SOUND BUT UNFUNDED LIABILITY POISED TO GROW: The district pension's asset to liability ratio is sound but expected to decline over the medium term due to statutory changes to its contribution levels. APPROPRIATION RISK; SOUND LEGALS: The one notch rating distinction on the COPs reflects appropriation risk. Legal provisions for the COPs are sound and include a mortgage interest in essential assets of the district. FAVORABLE OPEB FUNDING: The district's OPEB obligations have been funded on an actuarial basis since 2005, well ahead of most school districts and municipalities. RATING SENSITIVITIES ADEQUATE CUSHION: The rating is sensitive to maintenance of a solid financial cushion in light of unrestored state aid cuts and growth in related debt needs. CREDIT PROFILE FAVORABLE LONG-TERM ECONOMIC PROSPECTS The district is coterminous with the city and county of Denver (unlimited tax GOs rated 'AAA' by Fitch), a diverse economic hub of a 10-county MSA and the capital of Colorado. After posting recessionary job losses in 2009-2010, the district has averaged solid employment gains annually. Coupled with modest labor force gains, the unemployment rate has declined annually and averaged 3.1% in January 2016, below both the state (3.2%) and nation (5.3%). New construction activity is robust. Ongoing redevelopment throughout the city and substantial public and private investment in the downtown area, including the massive Denver Union Station project, are expected to benefit the district's medium-term economic prospects. Homebuilding at the expansive Stapleton redevelopment area is fueling the majority of the district's recent enrollment growth. ENROLLMENT PRESSURES EASED BY CHARTER SCHOOLS Denver School District No. 1 is the fastest growing large district in Colorado. At a funded pupil count (FPC) of 85,600 in fiscal 2016, the district's FPC has grown by a compound annual average of 3.3% over the last five years. Charter school enrollment represents nearly 20% of the total funded pupil count. Fitch does not consider this a financial pressure for the district based on the collaborative relationships that promote the use of shared campuses to facilitate enrollment growth, and the sharing of facility operating costs. SURGE IN TAX BASE REFLECTS REASSESSMENT GAINS Reappraisals on the district's diverse property base fueled a very large 25.8% AV gain in fiscal 2016, increasing AV per capita to a robust $143,000. District home sale prices averaged $317,000 in February 2016, a nearly 8% gain from the year prior, suggesting additional strong reappraisal gains will occur in fiscal 2018. The district projection of a 4% gain is considered conservative by Fitch given recent performance and investment activity. The district's revenue base benefits from voter support for permanent fixed dollar mill levy overrides approved in 1988, 1998, 2003 and 2005. Voters went one step further in 2012 approving by a 68% margin a fixed millage override which has both upside and downside revenue potential as AV fluctuates. The permanent 4.86 mill levy override will raise $69.9 million in property taxes in fiscal 2016, a $15 million increase from fiscal 2015 due to the surge in AV. HIGH COMMUNITY SUPPORT; ELEVATED OVERALL DEBT LEVELS The district does not have approval for future debt issuance, having exhausted the $466 million GO bond authorization approved by a high 64% of voters in November 2012 for district-wide improvements, renovations, new construction, and technology updates. The current overall debt burden, inclusive of $1.03 billion in outstanding COPs, has declined from over 5% to a moderate 3.8% of full value due to the surge in AV. The overall debt burden remains elevated on a per capita basis at $5,444. The district's GO principal pay-out rate is average with 55% maturing in 10 years. The pay-out rate for the COPs is very slow at 27% in 10 years, resulting in a combined pay-out rate of 42% in 10 years. A citizens' advisory bond council is currently reviewing the district's facility needs which may serve as the basis for a GO bond proposition this fall. It is management's goal to fund the net authorization within the current mill levy, potentially leading to a bond proposition of $470 million to $570 million.



STABILIZED FINANCES; GROWTH PRESSURES REMAIN The district's general fund, which is comprised of an operating fund, a preschool fund, various O&M levy override funds, and a general projects fund, accumulated solid balances post-recession through prudent budgeting despite state aid cuts and AV declines. The accumulation of such reserves is intended to fund short-term costs for both operations and one-time expenditures for curriculum adoption and assumes state aid cuts will not be restored. Fitch expects reserves to be reduced to a lower but steady state by fiscal 2017. Upon the spend down of accumulated reserves, the maintenance of a solid financial cushion will be key as the district faces growth related debt needs and rising carrying costs.

The fiscal 2015 audit posted balanced results despite a budgeted draw down of $16 million (2% of spending), half of which was for one-time expenditures for curriculum adoption. The financial cushion, comprised of the unrestricted fund balance and the 3% emergency reserve, totaled $105.7 million or a solid 12.8% of spending. The fiscal 2016 budget was adopted with a general fund drawdown of $9.5 million (1.1% of spending) due to $8.5 million in additional curriculum adoption outlays. Due to lower than budgeted FPC growth (1.8% actual vs 2.9% budgeted), the budget was amended to reflect a higher draw down of $14.7 million (1.7% of spending) as less state aid will be received. In this worst case scenario, the projected financial cushion totals $91 million or 10.8% of spending but is likely to be higher due to $21 million in appropriated site-based reserves (20%-30% of which are typically not expended). The district foresees continued operating pressure and projects additional, albeit declining, fund balance draw-downs through fiscal 2017 due to state aid appropriations that remain below formula. State aid for the district is $94 million (a large 12% of fiscal 2016 general fund spending) below the amount prescribed by the funding formula. Management's preliminary projections for the fiscal 2017 budget includes a draw-down of up to $7 million (0.9% of spending) mostly due to expenditures for curriculum adoption. Such expenditures are projected at the same level ($6 million) through fiscal 2019. Along with the GO bond proposition, the district is also considering a ballot proposition for an O&M levy override in November 2016 to enhance its revenue base. The district adopted a formal 15% unassigned fund balance policy in fiscal 2012 although district management does not expect to reach this target in the near term. However, the district does maintain a near-term minimum fund balance goal of 10%. Fitch believes the effective financial cushion (which includes the restricted 3% emergency reserve) at 12.8% of spending is currently at an adequate level. PENSION FUNDING DECLINE On Jan. 1, 2010 all employees of the district became members of the Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA) as a result of its merger with the Denver Public Schools Retirement System (DPSRS). PERA is a cost-sharing multiple employer defined benefit plan but it administers DPSRS as a single-employer plan with its assets, liabilities, and obligations separate and distinct from the other schools within PERA. The district has $939 million in outstanding COPs that were issued to fund its unfunded actuarially accrued liability (UAAL). Under GASB 67 and 68, DPSRS's assets cover 83.9% of its liabilities as of Dec. 31, 2014, a ratio that falls to 79.6% using Fitch's more conservative 7% rate of return assumption. Contributions are determined by state statute, rather than actuarially and historically have fallen short of the actuarially-recommended level. Per statute, a five-year true-up calculation lowered DPSRS' contribution rate from 13.75% of payroll to 10.15% as of Jan. 1, 2015. The true-up is designed to assure that both plans' UAAL to payroll ratios are equal by Dec. 31, 2039. The UAAL to payroll ratio of PERA's school division equaled 351% as of Dec. 31, 2014, compared to DPSRS' ratio of 114%. PERA's school division's assets cover its liabilities by a low 58% using Fitch's 7% rate of return assumption. The deliberate ramp up of DPSRS' UAAL to payroll ratio (and the resulting decline in assets to UAAL) is viewed negatively by Fitch. However, PERA's school division's assets to UAAL ratio is expected to improve over the long-term due to a revised benefit structure imposed for employees hired after Dec. 31, 2006. Fitch expects this may allow future five-year true-ups to stabilize or improve DPSRS' assets to liability ratio. OPEB PROVIDED THROUGH TRUST; AFFORDABLE CARRYING COSTS The district's OPEB benefits are also provided through PERA through a trust fund initially established by the district in 2005. As of July 1, 2014, the funded ratio for the OPEB trust is low at 17%, but Fitch views positively any level of OPEB pre-funding. The district has funded between 80%-108% of the annual required contribution (ARC) in fiscal years 2013-2015. Total carrying costs for debt service, pension, and OPEB declined to a low 13.2% of fiscal 2015 governmental spending (net of refunding debt service) from 15% the year prior due to the decline in statutory pension contributions. Fitch expects carrying costs to rise, with additional debt and a below average amortization rate, but stay affordable relative to budget. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Fitch recently published exposure drafts of state and local government tax-supported criteria (Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria, dated Sept. 10, 2015 and Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into U.S. Local Tax-Supported Ratings, dated Feb. 2, 2016). The drafts include a number of proposed revisions to existing criteria. If applied in the proposed form, Fitch estimates the revised criteria would result in changes to less than 10% of existing tax-supported ratings. Fitch expects that final criteria will be approved and published in the second quarter of 2016. Once approved, the criteria will be applied immediately to any new issue and surveillance rating review. Fitch anticipates the criteria to be applied to all ratings that fall under the criteria within a 12-month period from the final approval date. In addition to the sources of information identified in the applicable criteria specified below, this action was informed by information from CreditScope and Lumesis. Applicable Criteria Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into US Local Tax-Supported Ratings (pub. 02 Feb 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=875108 Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Sep 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=869942 Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=686015 U.S. Local Government Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=685314 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1002689 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1002689 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160415005935/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The number of filibusters this session that needed a vote to stop them was record-breaking.

Twenty-four. The highest number ever.

"It has been very difficult," Speaker Galen Hadley said last week.

It was astounding, really, by any measure when compared to previous years. The next highest number was last year's 13, which was also a record-breaker, by one.

The momentous trend skyward started in 2012, coincidentally when Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers returned to the Legislature. But you can only blame it on Chambers indirectly.

"I want to make it absolutely clear that I don't blame Sen. Chambers for this increase in filibusters," Hadley said. "But as he has always said, he's a good teacher.

"Newer senators are really learning from the master."

The idea of a filibuster is to protect the minority party from the majority party running roughshod over them.

But in recent years, Hadley said, senators have gone from trying to protect the minority to just trying to stop a particular bill.

"I think we're becoming more of what I would call a 33-vote legislature," Hadley said. "If a bill has any significant opposition, that opposition is going to require the body to get 33 votes to pass the bill."

That is concerning, he said, if it becomes more and more common. "We're just going to have tougher times getting things done," he said.

Before 1992, no permanent rule existed that allowed for cloture motions, which are made to stop a filibuster and vote on a bill. But in 1991, after two sessions of long debates on abortion bills, the Rules Committee put forth a change to limit debate.

It allowed for eight hours at all three stages of debate, and 12 hours on appropriations bills before a priority cloture motion could be brought.

Then-Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln opposed the rule, saying he was proud the Nebraska Legislature had never taken the step to shut off the voice of the people. When you limit debate, he said, you limit ideas. And stretching those ideas into something workable could take hours, even days of discussion.

Then-Sen. Scott Moore said if eight hours of debate wasn't enough to form a legitimate idea, senators needed to hone their skills.

"I happen to think it's wrong when a very, very small minority of two to three people can hold this body up and keep things from happening," he said in debate on the rule change.

Lincoln Sen. Chris Beutler also favored the rule change. Without it, he said, the Legislature would be at the whim of the minority.

Previous to the rule change, senators were allowed to file a motion to suspend the rules and move to advance a bill without further debate. But it could only be addressed after all amendments that were filed were debated. And it was really no rule at all, Beutler said, in the hands of someone set on killing a bill.

Chambers opposed the rule change, saying extended debate could be used to make a bad bill better. And Sen. Brad Ashford said he was vehemently opposed.

"It's an open process, and we should talk and we should talk and we should talk, if need be, about issues that are important to the people of this state," Ashford said.

The rule change passed on a 29-12 vote, without a filibuster, although not because it wasn't suggested.

And the eight-hour requirement was removed from the rules in 2002.

For three years after the cloture rule for filibusters was instituted, their use remained low. And until last year, they averaged about four a year, with a low of one and a high of 12.

This year, 18 bills and one resolution for a constitutional amendment were filibustered, five of them twice. Nine of those bills ultimately passed, 10 failed when 33 votes could not be mustered.

The speaker announced before the session that first-round debate would be limited to six hours, rather than eight. He saved the Legislature 16 hours of debate time with the decision.

But he said he would be loathe to reduce the number of hours on second and final debates.

His goal to allow all priority bills to see debate and resolution was not successful. Four that made it to the floor didn't reach a vote. They were bills dealing with referrals to licensed acupuncturists; dental assistants and dental hygienists; car insurance; and experimental drugs.

Despite the hours of filibuster time taken, the Legislature was able to get some important things done, passing legislation that will have a long-term effect on the state, said longtime lobbyist Walt Radcliffe.

Those included Omaha area learning community funding (LB1067, Sullivan), the roads infrastructure bank (LB960, Smith), the wind energy bill (LB824, McCollister) and a less-heralded but nonetheless important Niobrara River management plan (LB1038, Davis).

Those included Omaha area learning community funding (LB1067, Sullivan), the roads infrastructure bank (LB960, Smith), the wind energy bill (LB824, McCollister) and a less-heralded but nonetheless important Niobrara River management plan (LB1038, Davis).

"That's quite a bit of stuff," he said.

And yes, some things didn't get done: Medicaid expansion, winner-take-all presidential electors.

"I think not doing Medicaid will have a lasting effect on Nebraska, I do, in a negative way," he said.

Many state legislatures have some type of rules to limit debate or limit the time each senator can speak on a bill.

Most of the 10 states surrounding Nebraska don't use the filibuster much to stall debates or block passage of a bill, according to information from the Council of State Governments.

Nebraska seems to be unique among these middle-of-the-country states.

Hadley's advice to the next speaker: Explore whether the time for each round of a filibuster is right, or even if he or she wants to have set hours, and whether 33 votes is the right number to stop debate. It takes only 30 to override a governor's veto.

Radcliffe said he remembers a telephone deregulation bill in 1986 that passed on a 25-24 vote.

"You couldn't pass anything 25-24, you couldn't pass something 29-20 today," he said.

"I don't think filibusters are a terrible thing. I just think it needs to be contained a little bit."

About eight years was spent on the dental hygiene bill, that didn't get a vote, Radcliffe said.

"That's just too bad that that much work went into something they didn't get to," he said.
Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred.

For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.
Alisha Sijapati is an arts and culture reporter at The Kathmandu Post, primarily covering human interest stories. She is intrigued by history, culture and films. Before joining the Post in 2015, she worked as a journalist for The Himalayan Times and ECS Media.
Agencies told to step up security as Morcha announces to launch Kathmandu-centric protests

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) on Friday directed its subordinate agencies to step up security in Kathmandu Valley.
Between mankind and the wild

Favreaus The Jungle Book is the rare retelling of a classic that doesnt feel like a lazy bid to hitch a ride on the shoulders of an already-successful conceptit is one of the loveliest, most enjoyable childrens films of late
Chinese minister to visit Nepal next month

Chinas Minister for State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television Cai Fuchao is set to visit Nepal next month.
Deuba to announce office bearers, central members only after India visit

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has decided against immediate appointment of three office bearers and 14 central committee members of the party.
Five Nepali students top world in the AS and A Level exams

Five Nepali students have secured the highest marks to become the world topper in different subjects in Cambridge International AS and A Level, according to British Council in Nepal.
Foreign objects

To expect our government to take care of us is like expecting a pickpocket to steal someones wallet, and stuff it with more cash than before
Migrant crisis: Pope Francis to visit Lesbos camp in Greece

Pope Francis is due to visit the Greek island of Lesbos to show support for refugees trying to reach Europe.
NGOs get $121 million US funds

The US Agency for International Development has awarded financial assistance totalling $121 million to various NGOs for five new development programmes.
Pope Francis takes 12 Syrian migrants with him to the Vatican

Pope Francis has taken 12 Syrian migrants back with him to the Vatican after visiting a camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.
Projects stuck midway due to lazy contractors

A number of large construction projects in the district have remained stuck midway due to the disinterest of the contractors handling them. Emboldened by the governments reluctance to take action for falling behind schedule, the slowpoke contractors have been showing little interest in completing the projects.
Road connectivity results in house building spree

Dhan Bahadur Batala from Malkot-6, Kalikot, built a seven-storey building, the tallest in Manma Bazaar, with an investment of Rs20 million after the region was connected with the Karnali road corridor. I could have built a house in Kathmandu with the investment, Batala said. But I decided to invest in my homeland considering the development the road brings to the area.
RPP-N tells Minister Bista to quit

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal has directed Assistant Minister for Local Development and Federal Affairs Biraj Bista to resign within 24 hours. A meeting of the RPP-Nepal Central Working Committee on Friday issued the directive assessing that Bista had acted against the partys interest.
Shipping agents waive off around Rs3 billion fees

Shipping agents who deliver goods imported from countries other than India have waived off nearly Rs3 billion in detention and demurrage charges Nepali importers were subjected to pay for the period of the Indian embargo, according to Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (Neffa).
The elephant in the room

Foreign aid has failed us by adopting development models that are largely inappropriate for our place and time
Three girls raped in a week in Dharan

Three girls were raped at various places in Dharan within a week. Police arrested three accused, who were made public on Friday.
Three killed in road accident

Three persons riding a scooter were killed after being hit by a jeep at Madhumalla in Morang on Thursday night. Sangita Limbu, Milan Rai and Sanam Ranpaheli died in the incident. The jeep driver was arrested after the incident.
UML gives olive branch to SLMM

The ruling CPN-UML has urged the Madhes-centric parties to come to the negotiation table to find agreement on demarcation in second such request from the ruling party in a week.
UNESCO Director-General arriving tomorrow

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General, Irina Bokova, is arriving on Sunday for a three-day visit to Nepal during which she will take stock of the post-quake reconstruction and rehabilitation process.
Why is the dominant ethnicity preserving the status quo?

I wish the marginalised communities started to speak about economic class in the same breath as ethnicity
No

Yes, a light case

Yes, two or more light cases

One serious case

Two or more serious bouts

Vote

View Results
MADISON  A Minnesota man who extorted $5,500 from a Whitehall man and was arrested after seeking an additional $7,500 pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to making threats with the intent to obtain money.

Gregory P. Kolk, 35, of Oakdale, Minn., faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and $5,550 in restitution at his July 12 sentencing before District Judge James Peterson.

The 24-year-old Whitehall man, identified only by the initials B.S., began an online relationship last fall with Cassandra Doerr of Woodybury, Minn. Doerr told B.S. that she was young, single and a mother. To help her, B.S. signed a $75,000 promissory note to her, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Anderson.

The note was not valid nor enforceable because it offered B.S. nothing in return, Anderson said.

It was a gratuitous promise, Anderson said.

Within two months Doerr, 22, began dating Kolk. Kolk wanted to collect on the worthless promissory note and phoned B.S. telling him that he was an attorney and to pay up or he would turn the matter over to the police to prosecute B.S. for fraud, Anderson said.

B.S. wired Doerr $500 believing the threat to prosecute would disappear. Instead, the harassing phone calls and text messages continued and B.S. paid Doerr $5,000 when he, Doerr and Kolk met in Baldwin, Anderson said.

Kolk continued to demand more money, but B.S. refused to pay. B.S. had learned that Kolk was masquerading as an attorney and when Kolk called again, B.S. confronted him about it.

Kolk retaliated and threatened to harm B.S. and his family by sending a member of a well-known motorcycle gang to collect the money, Anderson said.

B.S., who was now working with local authorities and the FBI, agreed to pay Doerr $7,500, who also threatened to send a motorcycle gang member after B.S., Anderson said.

On Dec. 1, B.S. met Kolk and Doerr at a McDonalds restaurant in Osseo, but, instead of giving them money, he identified them for law enforcement, who took the couple into custody, Anderson said.

During an interview with the FBI, Kolk admitted to making threatening phone calls to B.S. in order to extort money and that he and Doerr had received $5,500 from B.S. during the scheme.

In response to the judges questions, Kolk told Peterson that he and Doerr had threatened B.S. in order to get money from him.

Over the phone and by text messages I told him that we would harm him if he didnt pay the money he owed, Kolk said.

Peterson continued Kolks detention until sentencing.

Doerr is scheduled to plead guilty on April 26.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Finance officials on Saturday pledged a more forceful effort to stimulate a sluggish global economy.

The hope is that stronger growth can boost long-stagnant wages and combat a rising backlash against globalization.

The finance leaders said they will use all the policy tools available to them to promote strong, sustainable, inclusive, job-rich and more balanced global growth.

The commitment came in a joint statement from the policy-setting panel of the 189-nation International Monetary Fund at the end of its spring meeting in Washington.

Markets have stabilized after a chaotic start to the year, when fears were growing about a possible new global recession. But the IMFs communique cited a long list of threats, from terrorist attacks and the Syrian refugee crisis to the shock to global confidence from a potential exit by Britain from the European Union.

Against this backdrop, it is important to buttress confidence in our policies, the IMF said.

The IMF discussions followed two days of talks among finance officials of the Group of 20 major economies. Representing the United States were Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

The concern about economic growth was heightened at the beginning of this year by tumult in financial markets.

Investors feared that Chinas economy, the worlds second biggest, was slowing more than expected, raising the possibility of a global recession.

Agustin Carstens, the head of the Bank of Mexico and chairman of the IMFs policy panel, said finance leaders realized there was no room for complacency even though markets have stabilized.

New threats may imperil efforts to promote greater trade and capital flows between countries.

Many nations buffeted by the forces of globalization have lost jobs and workers wages have stagnated. In the United States, this anger has propelled the presidential candidacy of Republican front-runner Donald Trump. In Britain, voters will decide in June whether to leave the European Union.

The finance leaders said they believed their actions would help stimulate growth and boost jobs and wages. But they acknowledged there was no time to waste in producing results.

Clearly the question is how much is going to get done back home, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.


A German comedian may face up to three years in prison for insulting the president of Turkey.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that her government will accept a request for legal action against comedian Jan Bohmermann.

Bohmermann, 35, is the host of the popular German television show "Neo Magazin Royale."

During part of the March 31 episode of the show, he stood in front of a Turkish flag and a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Bohmermann then read a poem full of profanity and criticism of Erdogan.

The poem included sexual comments and suggestions that Erdogan mistreated Christian and Kurdish minorities. The comedian also called the Turkish president a "professional idiot."

Bohmermann said he was trying to be offensive.

ZDF is a government-owned public television broadcaster based in Mainz, Germany. ZDF broadcasts the show "New Magazin Royale."

A day after Bohmermann read the poem, the broadcaster took the episode offline. ZDF then brought the episode back without the poem 24 hours later.

But this did not stop the Turkish president from taking action. The Turkish embassy filed a complaint against Bohmermann a week after the original broadcast.

This complaint is based on a German law that prevents its citizens from insulting foreign leaders.

The law first appeared in the Prussian legal code of 1794. German lawyer Holger Heinin studied the law in law school. He told Radio Free Europe that the law does not fit todays society.

"Between 1997 and 2000, there were no more than two convictions annually," he said.

The United States tried to make a complaint against a shop owner in the city of Marburg in 2003. The shop owner called then-President George W. Bush, a "state terrorist." But the German government decided this did not go against the law.

Michael-Hubertus von Sprenger is the lawyer in Germany representing the Turkish president. He said he is prepared to take this complaint to the highest court.

The conflict over the insulting poem puts Merkel in a difficult position. Millions of migrants have fled from conflict in Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Merkel and Erdogan agreed in March that Turkey would stop the flow of migrants across the Aegean Sea and into Europe. The agreement also states any migrants who cross the sea and enter Greece after April 4 will be sent back.

Erdogan has a history of reacting strongly to criticism. Since April 2014, when he became president, 1,845 court cases have been made against individuals insulting him.

Two of the top journalists at the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet are on trial for espionage. Police arrested the two after they published a video in May 2015. The newspaper claimed the video was evidence of the government bringing weapons to Syrian rebels in 2014.

Also, the government took control of Turkeys biggest newspaper, Todays Zaman, in March. The government claims the newspaper might have provided money illegally to Fethullah Gulen.

Based in the United States, Gulen is an Islamic religious leader and a major critic of Erdogan. Erdogan claims Gulen is trying to bring down his government.

Bohmermann has not yet gone to trial. But von Sprenger told ZDF he does not think Bohmermann will receive a very strong punishment.

"It will be a punishment that is necessary to get him back on the right path - to produce satire, and not gross insults," he said.

Im Pete Musto.

Pete Musto wrote this story for Learning English. His report was based on reports from VOA, Radio Free Europe, Reuters and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Now its your turn. How does the government handle criticism in your country? What is the difference between comedy and an insult? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

comedian  n. a person who performs in front of a crowd and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting in a way that is funny

host  n. a person who talks to guests on a television or radio show

episode  n. a television show or radio show that is one part of a series

idiot  n. a very stupid or foolish person

offline  adj. not connected to a computer, computer network, a television network or the Internet

conviction(s)  n. the act of proving that a person is guilty of a crime in a court of law

migrant(s)  n. a person who goes from one place to another especially to find work

espionage  n. the things that are done to find out secrets from enemies or competitors

satire  n. humor that shows the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government or society

gross  adj. offensive

complaint - n. an official protest


A second powerful earthquake struck southern Japan early Saturday.

The quake caused the Japan Meteorological Agency to give and then cancel a tsunami warning for the area.

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near the city of Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu. Magnitude is a measure of the energy released during an earthquake.

Rescue workers have been searching wreckage from an earlier 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the same area Thursday.

More than 100 aftershocks have been felt since then.

An eight-month-old baby girl was trapped in a house damaged by the earlier quake. Nearly 50 rescuers were involved in the effort to pull the child from the rubble early Friday.

About 1,600 soldiers have joined nearly 2,000 police officers and 1,300 firefighters in the recovery effort.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Friday that the quake killed at least nine people and injured more than 800 others.

The quakes have destroyed houses and damaged roads. Damage was severe in the town of Mashiki. Eight of the dead lived in the town, which is about 1,300 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

Japanese officials said no damage was reported at nearby nuclear power centers.

Television reports of the first earthquake showed fires and interviews with Mashiki residents.

The whole house shook violently sideways, Takahiko Morita, a Mashiki resident, said to one broadcaster. Furniture and bookshelves fell down. Books were all over the floor.

Aftershocks have slowed the recovery efforts. Water service was stopped in some areas, forcing some people to bring water from offices to their homes.

Im Mario Ritter.

VOANews.com reported this story. Jim Dresbach adapted the report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

aftershock  n. a smaller earthquake that occurs after a larger one

interview  n. a meeting between a reporter and another person in order to get information for a news story


Four public high schools named as the best in the United States have much in common.

All four high schools have high academic requirements for students interested in admission. The four also offer a mix of challenging courses. And they all have a large percentage of Asian-American students.

The top schools were chosen by the Niche.com website. Niche.com says it examined nearly 24,000 U.S. public high schools. It rated the schools based on quality of their education programs and teachers, as well as student and parent comments.

The top four schools are: Stuyvesant High School in New York City; High Technology High School in New Jersey; Staten Island Technical High School in New York City; and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia.

The fifth best high school is Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Illinois, according to Niche.com. Stevenson is the only school among the top five that does not limit admissions. The school is open to all students in its community, near Chicago.

Enrollment of Asian-Americans at the top high schools continues to grow.

At Stuyvesant, 73 percent of students are Asian-Americans. The rate is 63 percent at Thomas Jefferson, 52 percent at High Technology, 41 percent at Staten Island Technical and 21 percent at Stevenson.

At the top four schools, officials say there is only one reason for so many students being Asian-American. They say the Asian-American students are getting much better test scores.

At Stuyvesant, Staten Island Technical and High Technology, students are chosen based on how they do in mathematics and verbal admission tests. At Jefferson, students are asked to take a test and write a paper.

Only a small percentage of the boys and girls get accepted. At Stuyvesant, 28,000 students apply for 935 openings.

Eliza Noh teaches at California State University in Fullerton. She talked about the success of Asian-American students with VOA.

If Asian-American parents emphasize education, it has more to do with their perception that education can help them overcome existing barriers in the labor market, she said.

The children who get into these top schools have many advantages. For example, classes at Stuyvesant are similar to those of a small college, according to InsideSchools.org. The website reports on New York Citys public schools.

InsideSchools says Stuyvesant offers sights of New York Harbor and has a large swimming pool.

Stuyvesant has long been known as a math-science school, but its English and social studies classes are among the schools strongest, it says.

Going to school with so many gifted students can push teenagers to do their best. But it can also put students under a lot of pressure to keep up.

Stuyvesant is a hard place for a B student, wrote InsideSchools. A is the top grade at many schools. F is the lowest.

Harvey Blumm is a guidance counselor at Stuyvesant. He says the school works directly with students to help them deal with pressure.

Sometimes, he says, school officials have to ask parents not to put too much pressure on their children.

I tell them that if their child gets a 92 (out of 100) in a test, that it is very good and they should not criticize, Blumm said. They should offer praise. Ninety-two is a very good grade.

Elise Hauptman has three children at Stevenson High School in Illinois  the number five rated public high school, according to Niche.com.

What she likes about Stevenson is that the schools counselors and teachers work hard to serve all students, not just those with the best grades.

It is not just the top students or those facing the most challenges, Hauptman tells VOA. They dont want students in the middle to get lost.

The quality education offered at Stevenson makes Hauptman question why some parents choose to spend a lot of money to send children to private schools.

I'm Bruce Alpert.

Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or share your views on our Facebook Page. For students, wed like to know how much pressure you feel to do well at your school.

__________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

challenging  adj. difficult in a way that is usually interesting or enjoyable

academic  adj. relating to schools and education

admissions  n. the act of admitting someone into a school or program

apply  v. to seek admission to a school or a job

emphasize  v. to give special attention to something

perception  n. the way you think about or understand someone or something

advantage  n. something that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than others

guidance counselor  n. a school official who offers advice to students on a range of academic and emotional issues
LEXINGTON,Neb.  Longtime Lexington Public Schools Principal Fred Evans will retire this spring after 21 years of service.

Evans moved to Lexington from Kansas in the summer of 1995 to become principal at Sandoz Elementary School. He later transferred to Pershing. Evans worked at Sandoz for 16 years and has been at Pershing for the past five years.

He is married to Sheila Evans, a music/band teacher at Bryan Elementary School. She will also retire from Lexington Public Schools this spring. The Evans have two sons, Sean and Coleman Evans. Coleman is a sophomore student at Boise State University and Sean is a Boise State graduate and works for the university. Both are LHS graduates.

Asked about the reason for retirement, Evans said he and his wife want to move to Idaho to be closer to our sons. We want to be able to see them.

As a youngster, Evans said he received private clarinet lessons when he was in fourth grade. He said he was impacted by his professional instructor, who helped him hone his skills until he got to be fairly good at playing the clarinet.

Evans said his passion for music, and appreciation for his own musical instruction, were the main reasons he decided to purse a degree in music from Washburn University in Topeka,Kan. He is from Topeka and attended school at Topeka High School.

In college, Evans gave teaching lessons and minored in math. He said learning math was similar to learning to read and play music; playing music was about making sounds and time work together, whereas doing math was about having numbers work together in a formula.

After receiving his bachelors degree in music education, Evans worked for two years as a music teacher in Topeka. He then accepted a position in a music store giving music lessons.

Evans eventually went back to school to obtain his masters degree in music education from Kansas University. He then completed six hours of work on an administration degree.

During this time, Evans would travel to different Kansas towns to serve as a conductor for league music festivals. His travels across the state would help him meet and bond with Sheila, who was a music director in Seneca,Kan., where he directed a festival.

Conducting a group of more than 200 students was a challenge in more ways than one, Evans said.

I learned about order and organizing students, he said.

This was a busy time in Evans life, not only was he conducting for music festivals, he was also a music teacher in Sabetha, Kans., and doing semi-professional music performances on weekends. Evans is the former president of the Topeka Music Association.

I played a lot of things. I played the clarinet, alto sax, flute, baritone sax and some soprano sax, Evans said.

Evans later adult life soon began to take shape, he married Sheila in Sabetha. They were then blessed with two sons, Sean and Coleman.

When the youngest son, Coleman, was just two weeks old, Evans accepted a position as the principal of Sandoz Elementary School in July of 1995.

Five years ago, when the principal hired for Pershing Elementary could not assume the position because family members of his worked at the school, an agreement was worked out, Evans said. The agreement between Evans, then Superintendent Todd Chessmore and the other principal, Jason Sullivan, allowed Evans to become the principal of Pershing and Sullivan to switch from Pershing to Sandoz.

Retired Sandoz elementary school teacher Diane Yeutter worked with Evans during his entire tenure at Sandoz. Yeutter said Evans has a generous heart, compassion and leadership, which all balanced to make school fun.

Yeutter said her experience working with Evans showed her that he had deep compassion for students who needed a friend and staff members going through illness or family hardships.

You always knew exactly what part of the building Mr. Evans was in because you would hear his laughter, the kids loved his laughter. It could literally lift up someone who was low, Yeutter said.

Other teachers enjoyed attending staff meetings with Evans at Sandoz because they always knew Evans would be organized and he would listen to their ideas, Yeutter said.

Yeutter described Evans leadership style as geared toward wanting to work together with teachers. He is a principal who formed a unified group of diverse thinkers.

As with any work relationship with a superior, disagreements would surface, she said. But Yeutter said Evans always strived to foster consensus and keep educators focused on doing whats best for the childrens education.

During Evans early years at Sandoz, the school had the highest state test scores in the school district, Yeutter said. She said the high tests scores were partly the result of Evans allowing teachers to teach to their strengths.

Another factor that contributed to high test scores at Sandoz was a group of teachers at the school who had 20 to 30 years of teaching experience each, who were able to provide repetitive teaching drills and help students obtain a mastery of learning, Yeutter said.

He said he will carry many memorable memories from his days at Lexington Public Schools after his retirement.

I think of the kids and the funny stories. Its the fun things you remember, like having a fire drill on the coldest day of the winter due to a teachers cooking, Evans said.

One lasting memory colleagues of Evans at Sandoz will carry with them is seeing Evans and his wife Sheila play music during Christmas time, Yeutter said.

Every Christmas at the Christmas program, Fred would play the sax and Sheila would play the piano, they would play Christmas carols. It is an important gift to let the kids know that music is a way to express yourself, she said.

Yeutter continued, Its important for the students to see their teachers and administrators exercise their gifts. It can inspire others to find their talents.
LEXINGTON, Neb.  All the students of Morton Elementary School gathered Friday morning in the gymnasium for an Autism Awareness Assembly.

All Morton students, more than 300, and many parents and members of the community attended the event. In total, close to 400 people filled the schools gym. The assembly was organized by Lori Pflaster, a special education teacher at Morton.

Jenny Daup, district-wide occupational therapist for LPS, made a video showing different Morton classes and students getting involved at the school for autism awareness this month.

Irma Morales, a Morton special education teacher, and Jared Ehrke, a technology specialist for LPS, dressed up in glitter masks and red caps, as the Autism Avengers for the assembly.

We want to teach kids a little bit about the senses and how some kids have senses that are out of sync. (Those with autism). Thats why we use quiet voices, dim lights and need to be aware of different smells around the school, Pflaster said at the assembly.

Morales and Ehrke led students in a jump up chant song on a few occasions to shake out some willies, according to Pflaster. The chant involved students shouting out the letters that spell AUTISM, while they made the letters shape with their arms.

The event came after a week of dress-up days meant at promoting learning and understanding about Autism at the school. One day was wear a hat day and another day was Wacky Wednesday dress up day. The hallways and walls of the school have been decorated with Autism posters and are lined with puzzle pieces of different colors.

The puzzle piece is the symbol of autism awareness and the logo of Autism Speaks, a national autism advocacy group in the United States.

Awards were given to different classrooms that participated in door decorations with an Autism theme, with Amanda Harveys Newcomer K-2 grade class winning first place.

Support staff, teachers, paraprofessionals were also given different awards in recognition for their dedicated service to helping autism staff and students flourish.

Special invited guest Aaron Ely, founder and director of the Kids and Dreams Foundation, attended the assembly. Ely gave an award and a $100 prize to Pflaster to thank her for her efforts to cater to autism students and help them succeed.

After the assembly, students were given a balloon and escorted to the front playground of the school, where they released the balloons into the sky.

Lexington residents Joe and Katie Alvarado spoke to the Lexington Clipper-Herald about their experiences raising a child, their daughter Aleyna, who has autism.

Katie said she and Joe noticed some troubling trends in Aleynas development as a toddler. At six weeks old, Aleyna slept all through the night, she said.

Also, some nights Aleyna would have trouble sleeping. As a baby, her daughter would not play with toys but instead focus and look at different mechanisms or parts of a given toy, Katie said.

There were some differences in development for her. She didnt start talking until she was 18 months. Some kids start talking at 10 months. She (Aleyna) was close to four-years-old before she talked in extended conversations, Katie said.

Katie described Autism as a complex disorder of the brain that targets verbal, non-verbal communications and repetitive behaviors.

Both Joe and Katie said were thankful that they discovered their daughter had autism within her first couple of years because this allowed them to tailor their support and care to her.

Aleyna has never been a burden to us. She has always been a blessing. We will learn more from her in our lifetime then she will learn from us, Katie said.

Joe said it was an emotional impact when he and his wife heard their daughter was diagnosed with autism. He said he remembers going to elementary school and seeing the special education students being treated differently by other students and didnt want that to happen to Aleyna.

When raising a child with autism, consistency in schedule and life situations was very important, Katie said.

Consistency is a huge thing. She (Aleyna) has to have a routine. She comes home, gets snack, plays and then its time for a bath. Its like clockwork, its the same at school. When you break that routine thats when you get behaviors, or meltdowns, Katie said.

Katie said she and Joe were very grateful for the customized support and attention LPS staff, such as Pflaster, paraprofessional Christina Ruiz, and Daup give Aleyna.

Customized support from school staff, strong family support and help from speech therapists from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and years of equestrian therapy have helped Aleyna grow into a successful first grader, Katie said.

Aleyna is reading far above her grade level, has an extraordinary memory and is considered an elephant expert, she said.

During a tough moment in Aleynas toddler years, a friend gave her an encouraging message that still resonates with her.

God made you guys her parents for a reason. Ever since I was told that I have moved forward, she said.
Mirrors are a recurring motif in Maneesh Sharma's Fan. Pay attention, and you'll be boggled by just how often you see material reflections of Gaurav (the fan) and Aryan (the star) through the film. The connection of this directorial choice with the plot may seem obvious, given that Shah Rukh Khan plays both roles.

Yet, the mirror actually finds resonance more with what lies beneath the surface of the pacy-but-average thriller that the film ends up being. For, beyond its dependence on contrived plot devices and convenient liberties, the film holds up a mirror to both, the star and the fan, and strips them bare to reveal what they are.

Fan has two big takeaways, and the relatively subtle one among them is that behind the glitz and glamour of stardom, there is an unbelievable amount of hard work. And further behind this hard work lies something supremely more difficult - the necessity and willingness to completely let go of one's dignity.

You'd think that Gaurav would be the tougher character for Shah Rukh to play, because of the obvious physical transformation. But the truth is that Aryan Khanna would have been equally challenging, if not more, because he is the most intensely personal character that Shah Rukh Khan has ever played. He gives us a glimpse of just how devoid of shame a mass entertainer like him must be. They have to swallow their egos and bow down to the rich, to the powerful, to the media, to even their fans.

In public, stars have no choice but to say that they are what they are because of their fans, no matter how fiercely they believe in private that they've achieved success only on their own steam. The star must please the fan, because if the fan is not pleased, then there is no stardom. The power of the star is only a mirage, because stardom is the most fickle concept in art and popular culture.

Then again, if stardom is fickle, so is fan-dom; and precisely this twisted relationship between the two is the crux the film.

Gaurav's obsession with Aryan borders on being a genuine mental health issue; but that's not the scary part. The truly worrying part is the fact that such star-obsession exists in real life as well. There are people who've devoted their entire lives to the worship of their favourite star, despite knowing that there's only a miniscule possibility of ever even meeting them.

In its more direct takeaway, Fan makes a commentary on this, almost appealing to the fanatics that instead of existing in the shadow of another person, one must strive to make one's own name. ("Change your display picture to show your own photo instead," the film seems to plead.)

At one point, Aryan tells Gaurav to his face that he must try to make something of himself instead of merely being a fan. The fact that Shah Rukh Khan agreed to say this in a film marketing itself as an ode to precisely that kind of fan, is as intriguing as the fact that YRF made a song-less film with SRK. (Think of how Yash Chopra's Darr would be if it had no songs, with Shah Rukh also playing the roles of Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla.)

Fan humanises Shah Rukh Khan, because it brings him on a level with his fans. It could prove to be a double-edged sword, because there will doubtlessly be a number of people whose heart will break when they watch the film. ("Does my love for him mean nothing," they'd ask themselves.)

But, even deeper than all of this, perhaps in just the twinkle in Gaurav's eye when he's literally about to hit rock-bottom, the film essentially says only one thing about fan-dom. Judge the fanatic all you want, sermonize about the ills of obsession as much as you please, it simply doesn't matter; because if you aren't a fan, then you just won't understand it.
Around this time 23 years ago, a film called Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993) was released after being in production for over half a decade. Within days of hitting the screen, it held the unique distinction of being both Indias most costly Hindi film ever made, and one of the biggest unmitigated flops of all-time.

While most professions celebrate the ambition to succeed, film-making would be the only trade in the world where an ambition designed to fail is also applauded. Besides being a great study of the sheer audacity and madness that often fuels Hindi films, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (RKRCKR) also offers insight into how the ambition to make something bigger than the biggest took a beating in popular Hindi cinema.

While the popular perception is that the failure of RKRCKR, made on a budget of Rs. 10 Cr., killed the genre of big-budget extravaganzas, the truth is that this colossal failure only confirmed a phenomenon that was first noticed a couple of years before its release.

Two years before RKRCKR released, the failure of Shashi Kapoors costume drama Ajooba (1991), which had a budget of nearly 8 Cr., had made it clear that ill-executed fantasy and the dependency on stars (the film featured Amitabh Bachchan as a masked super-hero along with Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, and Shammi Kapoor) wasnt going to work with the audience.

The 1990s had begun with the success of films such as Dil (1990), Ghayal (1990), and Aashiqui (1990) that had more than established the importance of music, new kind of stars and, at the very least, an execution that would help the narrative rise above the formulaic. RKRCKR was planned with the idea of recreating the magic of Mr. India (1987) and the presence of the same lead pair, Anil Kapoor and Sridevi, the same director, Shekhar Kapur, the same music directors, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, the same cinematographer, Baba Azmi, and the same writer, well, at least one-half as Javed Akhtar had professionally parted ways with Salim Khan  was seen as a sure shot way to rekindle the same.

The film was launched amidst great fanfare in 1988, but numerous delays saw Kapur leave the project midway. His one-time assistant, on both Masoom as well as Mr. India, Satish Kaushik, then took over the film. Even with Kaushiks previous credits, which included writing the dialogues for the cult classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (1983), theres a world of a difference between Kapur and Kaushik as options for directors. Whats interesting is that Kapurs departure didnt change anything. Although its not clear how much of the film was shot while Kapur was behind the camera, Kaushik was given the same freedom.

Even the inordinate delays  some of which were caused by producer Boney Kapoor making a concession for Sridevi, who was working on Yash Chopras Chandni (1989) at the same time  the crew re-shooting outdated scenes didnt force a re-look at the financials. By the time the film released, its budget had nearly surpassed 10 Cr. when the average cost of a film at the time was around 1-1.5 Cr.

The lavish sets stood for months, even years on a few occasions, increasing the cost of the production, but in all of this no one bothered to take a good long look at the department that housed the biggest problem. The films plot was always wafer-thin  and even though the extravagant sets, the stylized set-pieces along with some very well-executed action sequences (like the one where Anil Kapoor robs a moving train after landing on it from a helicopter) could have hidden the storys inherent flaws, Akhtars screenplay simply couldnt rise above the trappings.

At the time it was being made, the film was being seen as a hybrid of Jewel Thief (1967) and Johny Mera Naam (1970) along with some inspiration from the Goldie Hawn-George Segal starrer Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976) as well as Sidney Sheldons If Tomorrow Comes (1986). In addition, the shadow of Akhtars own Haath Ki Safai (1974) loomed large over the execution, but in the end, everything about the film seemed familiar. The films predictability factor was at an all-time high throughout the screen time and the make-changes-as-it-goes-along element didnt help.

RCRCKR's financial failure might not be comparable to Michael Cimino epic Western Heavens Gate (1980), which collected $3.5 million on a budget of $44 million and nearly bankrupted its studio, United Artists, but the changes that followed can be seen in the light as a Heavens Gate.

Would the film have met the same fate if Shekhar Kapur had been the director? Perhaps the ramifications of the failure would have been more. Intriguingly enough, Satish Kaushik directing RKRCKR would perhaps be a rare instance in the history of cinema, where one of the most expensive films was helmed by a debutant director. Kaushiks disaster resulted in Hindi cinema saying no to big budget releases for nearly a decade.

The debacle of the Ajay Devgn produced Raju Chacha (2000), which incidentally was also directed by a debutant director, Anil Devgan, at a cost Rs. 25 Cr. once again raised the question of unbridled ambition. Had Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Devdas (2002), which was made on a budget of approximately Rs. 50 Cr, not been a resounding success, epic productions would have once again taken a backseat.

Today, spending Rs. 80-100 Cr. on an A-List film isnt shocking and neither, at times, is the failure of such productions. The manner in which Bombay Velvet (2015) managed a take home return of just Rs. 10 Cr. on a rumored Rs. 120 Cr. plus budget doesnt even sound shocking anymore. Take for instance a Rockstar (2011) earning Rs. 62 cr. on an 80 Cr. budget, a Ra.One (2011) making Rs. 120 cr. on a whopping Rs. 180 cr., a Kites (2010) Rs. 50 cr. collection against a budget of Rs. 70 cr., Besharam (2013) making a lifetime collection of Rs. 59 cr., on over Rs. 80 cr. budget, Mausam (2011) collecting Rs. 70 Cr against Rs. 75 cr., are prime examples of ambition overriding everything.

One could then ask whats the difference between hits and flops like Love Story 2050 (2008) or Blue (2009) that made 12 cr. on 60 cr. plus budget and 54 cr. on a 100 cr. respectively?

The year that Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja released was also the same that saw the release of Baazigar (1993), Darr (1993), Aankhen (1993), Damini (1993), Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke (1993) and although these might be hardcore popular fare, they nonetheless managed to stand apart.

Film-making wouldnt be half as alluring a prospect as it is if the concept of succeeding against odds didnt exist. The odds against RKRCKR hitting the bulls-eye were so high that had it succeeded, it would have become a go-to formula and somewhere its success would have been far more detrimental for Hindi cinema than its failure.

For one, it would have acted like a shot in the arm for the old school that simply refused to read the writing on the wall and continued to believe that in flashy locales and costumes along with a few songs and a couple of good action sequences type nikal jayegi (itll go through) attitude.
Mumbai - The maiden Maritime Summit here has resulted in investment commitments of nearly Rs 83,000 crore (USD 13 billion) in the shipping, ports and allied sectors, Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday.

As many as 141 agreements entailing investment of Rs 82,900 crore was signed at the summit which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Gadkari also said that for a five-year term, the Shipping Ministry is targeting to get investments worth $60 billion for 240 projects for the success of the ambitious Sagarmala project of ports-led growth.

He singled out Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's announcement of entering into a pact with the Shipping Ministry as one of the biggest achievements of the summit.

The contract will ensure an order flow of nearly Rs 75,000 crore to the troubled private sector shipyards.

He said orders of Rs 50,000 crore will come on a nomination basis from the Cochin Shipyard, while another Rs 25,000 crore will come from other departments apart from the Defence Ministry orders.

"We will outsource work to private sector shipyards and help them financially. This will give them the oxygen for survival," Gadkari said.

The Sagarmala project will bring down the cost of logistics to 10 percent from the present 18 percent, thus making Indian goods competitive, Gadkari said.

Inaugurating the summit, Modi had said his government would mobilise Rs 1 trillion investment in the ports sector over the next decade and promised to personally handhold investors for a "safe, secure and satisfactory" berthing so as to transform the countrys 7,500-km-long coastline as an "engine of growth".

Modi also said the government would work towards more than doubling the port capacity to 3 billion tonnes by 2025 and "wants to mobilise an investment of Rs 1 trillion in the ports sector to enable this growth."

PTI
Chinsura: A 52-year-old man, said to be a Trinamool Congress worker, was shot dead at Julpia in Hooghly district on Saturday.

Mohammed Akhtar was shot dead allegedly by one Lakshman Chaudhuri (40) when he was going to market at about 7.30 am, SP Praveen Tripathi said.

Chaudhuri was arrested and the weapon used in the crime recovered from him, he said. "We have taken the accused in custody and murder charges have been slapped against him. We have initiated a probe into the matter," Tripathi said.

On whether the victim had links to TMC, the SP said, "We have received complaint from Akhtar's family, but not from any political party. We are investigating the matter to find out the truth."
The ever-controversial Sakshi Maharaj, Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Unnao, has appealed to the judiciary that they should intervene into the matters of the Islam  a religion, which according to him, treats its women like a footwear  unlike it does for the Hindu religious matters.

"Court ko Islam dharm ke sandarbh me bhi hakshatshep karna chahiye, jaha ek stree ko keval ek pair ki jooti samajha jaata hai. Jaisi jooti ki jarurat ho to pehen lo, aur nahi ho to bahar pekh do (The court should also intervene into the matters of Islam, where women are treated like a footwear. They use it when in need, and discard it when not)," Sakshi Maharaj said, addressing his voters at Unnao.

Justifying that since the Muslim women are treated like doormats, the BJP lawmaker-cum-Hindu priest said that they are now rising up to protest against this discrimination and are demanding their rights.

"I therefore appeal to the judiciary that they should look into these matters. They should ensure that Muslim women get the right to offer Namaaz in the mosque and should be granted equal rights like every other citizen of this country," he said.

"The country shouldn't run according to the Constitution, not fatwas," the lawmaker said.

Sakshi Maharaj has been a regular with such provocative statements. Over the Dadri mob lynching incident when the ex-gratia that was raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, Sakshi Maharaj had said, "This is done on the basis of appeasement. When a Muslim dies they will give Rs 20 lakhs and when a Hindu dies he won't even get Rs 20,000."

He had also once said that Hindu women must produce at least four children to 'protect' the religion, adding that "the concept of four wives and forty children just won't work in India".
Mohammad Shahabuddin was in the news earlier this month when Lalu Yadav, former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal president, inducted the Siwan strongman in the partys national executive. The BJP raised the issue of the criminalisation of politics  how a hardened criminal was being accorded respectability by making him a part of the highest policy-making body of the ruling party.

Shahabuddin was also in the news last month when the minority welfare minister of the Bihar government, Abdul Gafoor, accompanied by a local MLA met him in the Siwan jail, where he is lodged since 2006 (after Nitish Kumar became chief minister) as an accused in several murder cases. The photograph of Gafoor feasting with Shahabuddin in jail went viral on social media. The question was raised by the BJP as to how a minister could visit a murder convict in jail and share food with him. Lalu Yadav retorted that when he was in the jail in the fodder scam cases, many visitors came to him with a lot of food and he shared that with his guests. To treat guests well, whether in or out of jail, is part of our tradition and Shahabuddin was only upholding that tradition, he said.

This incident reminded me of the privilege I had once to become the guest of Shahabuddin in the Siwan jail. If I remember correctly, it was the year 1997. I was working with the Times of India, Patna then. I was covering a bye-election in the Ziradei assembly constituency (incidentally, this is the place from which Dr Rajendra Prasad, Indias first president, hailed) in the Siwan district, necessitated by the resignation of Shahabuddin, then sitting MLA, on his election as a Member of Parliament from Siwan in 1996 Lok Sabha election.

An interesting part of the bye-election was that in Shahabuddins place Lalu Yadav had nominated a Yadav candidate  Shiv Shankar Yadav  for the Ziradei seat and the opposition parties were harping that Shahabuddin was not backing him as the former wanted a candidate of his choice, possibly a Muslim. It was generally held that no candidate could win the Ziradei seat without the support of Shahabuddin who had represented the constituency twice. I tried to speak to Shiv Shankar Yadav but he was out campaigning in the remote areas. Then thought I would check with Shahabuddin himself about his electoral preference.

Incidentally, the Siwan strongman was in the jail then (he was in jail thanks to Justice DP Wadhwa, the then chief justice of the Patna High Court, but that is a different story). I went to the Siwan jail and met the jail superintendent with a request to arrange a meeting with Shahabuddin. It was about 4 pm. The superintendent told me that the MP Saheb was in solitary confinement and only those permitted by the court could see him. I had to take special permission from the DM if I wanted an audience with the MP Saheb next morning, he said. I went to meet the district magistrate but he flatly refused permission. The Member of Parliament is in jail because of the courts order. Only the court can grant you access to him," he said.

At about 9 pm that day, I managed to meet Yadav, the candidate, at his camp office/residence. When I broached the subject, he was emphatic that he was Shahabuddins, not Lalu Yadavs, candidate. As if to buttress his point, he told me that he could make me speak to Shahabuddin himself to clear the doubts. I jumped at the idea. Yadav dialled a number (it was the era of landlines) and said: Shahabu, here is a journalist from Patna who is saying that you are not supporting me as Laluji has foisted me on this constituency. Please tell him that I am your candidate.

Yadav handed me over the phone. The voice on the other side first greeted me: Welcome to Siwan. He rattled out the names of many journalists in Patna with whom he had friendly relations and then said: Shiv Shankarji was my choice. I persuaded Laluji to give him the ticket for this assembly seat which I vacated. But I was not very sure if I was actually talking to Shahabuddin (I had not met him before, so I did not recognise his voice) or I was being subjected to a con job. I asked him if I could meet him and speak to him face-to-face.

To my surprise, he readily agreed. And, to my greater surprise, he asked me to come over to the jail at once. With trepidation, I reached the jail premises. A young man guided me to a small jail gate and then led me to the Jail superintendents chamber where I had been in the same afternoon. I saw Shahabuddin seated in the superintendents chair and about 30-35 men squatting on the floor. Apparently, election strategy was being discussed. Shahabuddin stood up to embrace me like a long lost friend and asked someone sitting beside him to vacate the chair for me.

Lo and behold! Who was that man who left the chair and promptly sat on the floor? It was the embarrassed jail superintendent himself. He looked sheepish when I made eye contact with him. Shahabuddin spoke to me how he would ensure Yadavs victory with a thumping majority. He said he was eager to get out of the jail to do public service. People of Siwan want me in their midst to fight for their just causes, he said. He also told me how he was using his stint in the jail to improve the living conditions.

After about 30-minute interaction, it was time to bid good-bye. Shahabuddin, to my surprise, came out of the jail gate to see me off to my taxi parked outside. He told me that a journalist from Patna visiting Siwan had to be his guest. I will be out of jail soon. Next time we meet, it would be over a dawat (feast) in my house, he said as a parting remark.

The same night, I started my return journey to Patna by road. The next evening, I wrote my Siwan report. I mentioned the sequence of events and my meeting with Shahabuddin in jail. It was a story with graphic details. It made a splash. The chief justice of the Patna High Court took suo motu cognisance of the news report and issued notices to virtually everyone in the top state administration  chief secretary, home secretary, DG (Prisons), district magistrate and SP of Siwan and, of course, the concerned jail superintendent and Shahabuddin himself.

After great deliberations and legal consultations, all those who were served notice  from the chief secretary to the jail superintendent  wrote an identical two-line response: The meeting in the jail premises never took place. It was a figment of the reporters imagination.

Shahabuddin also trotted out exactly the same two-line response.

Then I was served notice to appear before the chief justices court and explain my conduct. I pleaded my own case and told Justice Wadhwa: The implication of the state administrations response is that I cooked up the story to blackmail Shahabuddin. But can anyone in his senses imagine that I, a journalist, can have the gall to blackmail Shahabuddin who is a terror even to the state authorities? And what did I blackmail him for  money, land, house or what else?

The chief justice sought an answer from the state counsel. The latter kept making vague remarks and the chief justice kept asking him for a specific answer. When the counsel persisted with his ramblings, the chief justice was visibly annoyed and ordered contempt notices against all the defendants.

There was panic in the state administration as to what would be the outcome of this face-off with the chief justice. But the distress turned out to be short-lived. About a week after the contempt notice was served, Justice Wadhwa was elevated to the Supreme Court. With him gone, the case went into cold storage. A few days later, the same Patna High Court granted Shahabuddin bail.

And everyone lived happily thereafter!
HAVANA President Raul Castro warned Cubans on Saturday that the United States was determined to end Cuba's socialist revolution despite restoring relations and a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, saying one-party Communism was essential to defend the system.

"We must be alert, today more than ever," Castro said, speaking in front of a giant portrait of his brother Fidel Castro at the inauguration of the Communist Party's first congress in five years.

He called Obama's desire to end U.S. sanctions on Cuba a change of "method", in reference to efforts by Washington to bring political change to Cuba ever since the Castro brothers toppled a pro-American government in 1959.

Obama and Castro announced in December 2014 they would end decades of enmity and normalize relations. Obama made a historic trip to the island last month but angered the government with calls for more political freedom and democracy in the one-party state.

Castro and his lieutenants, many of them in their 70s and 80s, faced some discontent ahead of the congress among younger members who are critical of their slow delivery on promised economic reforms in the past five years and a lack of transparency on discussions.

Castro said the reforms should be implemented faster, but said Cuba was not moving towards capitalism, citing China and Vietnam as models, while emphasizing that social ownership and cooperatives were mostly preferable to private property.

Castro said he remained convinced of the benefits of improved relations with the United States and said Cuba was committed to the diplomatic thaw. But he made clear he did not believe Obama's promise that the United States would not impose political or economic change on Cuba.

"The goals are the same, only the methods have changed," Castro said, adding that U.S. migration policies that encourage Cubans to defect were "a weapon against the revolution."

"These practices do not correspond to the declared change in policy towards Cuba, and cause difficulties in third countries," he said.

Migration has surged since the 2014 detente as Cubans take advantage of a U.S. policy that grants them citizenship as soon as they arrive. Bottlenecks of migrants in transit have formed in Central America.

Cuba's top leaders started their careers as young guerrilla fighters who overthrew a U.S. backed government in 1959, and a few years later repelled the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion - which the party congress is timed to commemorate.

Castro said the one-party system was the greatest defense against Washington's past attempts to dominate Cuba.

"If one day they manage to fragment us, that would be the beginning of the end of the revolution, of socialism and independence in our homeland," he told 1,000 delegates gathered for the congress.

Castro is 84 and his top lieutenant in the party, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 85.

Castro is due to retire as president in 2018 and by the end of the four-day congress it will be clear whether he remains as party leader until 2021, or whether somebody younger takes over the leadership.

Founded in 1965, the Communist Party is seen as more powerful in Cuba than the government. It was formally led by Fidel Castro until 2011, although his younger brother had effectively taken command several years earlier.

(Editing by Mary Milliken)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
MOSCOW Searches by Russian law enforcement officials in offices of Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov on Thursday were related to an investigation over a bank bailed out by one of his firms, the Federal Security Service said on Friday.

The Kremlin earlier denied the searches were retribution for revelations about people close to President Vladimir Putin that were published by a newspaper controlled by Prokhorov.

The searches of the offices of Onexim, which manages Prokhorov's assets, were conducted together with the tax service as part of a criminal investigation related to Tavrichesky Bank in St. Petersburg, the Federal Security Service said on Friday.

A year ago, the central bank selected IFC bank (International Financial Club), in which Onexim has a stake, to rescue Tavrichesky Bank and granted a 10-year loan of 28 billion roubles ($422 million) to Tavrichesky for the procedure. Tavrichesky is supposed to merge with IFC Bank in 2022, the Central bank has said.

Onexim and IFC bank, which was one of the Onexim's businesses at which searches were conducted, were not available for immediate comment on Friday evening.

The Federal Security Service said it had obtained data on tax law violations at "a number of commercial structures" after the searches and handed over the documentation to specialists for further investigation.

The Service did not say whether these unnamed commercial structures were part of Onexim and did not say how the rescue programme could be related to tax violations. It is also not clear which criminal investigation the service means.

RBK newspaper, controlled by Prokhorov, has in the past few weeks published reports about the commercial interests of Putin's son-in-law, and about associates of Putin implicated in the "Panama Papers" leaks about offshore assets.

($1 = 66.2744 roubles)

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; additional reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; editing by Dominic Evans and Mark Potter)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
MADRID Spain's acting Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria resigned on Friday following allegations of links to offshore dealings which emerged after he was named in the Panama Papers.

Soria, who denied all wrongdoing, said he was stepping down to limit any damage to the caretaker government, the conservative People's Party (PP), following reports of alleged links to an offshore company on the British island of Jersey.

Broadcaster La Sexta and news website El Confidencial said they had documents showing he headed an offshore firm with his brother.

The government said acting Economy Minister Luis de Guindos would take on the Industry Minister's brief alongside his current responsibilities.

Soria's resignation comes as Spain faces the likelihood of a second general election in June after a December ballot ended inconclusively.

Latest polls have shown the PP gaining ground, despite a string of corruption scandals involving regional politicians this year, as voters tire of left-wing parties' failure to put aside differences to form a coalition government.

Leaks from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca have embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies by revealing the financial arrangements of prominent figures.

Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson stepped down earlier this month after documents linked him to an offshore company.

(Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Sonya Dowsett and John Stonestreet)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be in Iran over the weekend on a bilateral visit, her first after lifting of crippling western sanctions on the country. Her trip is to signal Indias efforts to step up its engagements in the region with both the competing Sunni and Shia powers. She leaves for Tehran on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Saudi Arabia early this month. He had already been to the UAE last year. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan was in Iran a few days after Modis Saudi visit. Pradhan's trip was to scale up oil and gas trade and investments in Iran as well as opportunities in fertiliser and steel. Swaraj will focus on political and diplomatic ties and build on the trade and commercial interests. A visit by Prime Minister Modi later in the year is also on the cards, as an invitation of President Hassan Rouhani is pending.

No talk about Kulbhushan Yadav with Iran

Swarajs visit comes at a time when Pakistan has charged Indian national Kulbhushan Yadav of being a RAW agent and having slipped into Balochistan from the Iranian border. The story broke during the Iranian President Rouhanis visit to Pakistan. Pakistans Army Chief Raheel Sharif claimed that he had asked the President not to allow its soil to be used by Pakistans enemy. President Rouhani rejected the claim that the issue of Indian spy agencys involvement in Pakistan was discussed during his meeting with the countrys leadership, the Dawn News reported.

According to reports from Pakistan, Interior Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan, is said to have written to the Iranians saying Islamabad "expects Iran to seriously look at Islamabad's assertions and take every step to stem incursion of Indian spies into Pakistani territory." Irans reply to that is not known.

Asked if the topic of Kulbhushans arrest would be discussed during Swarajs meeting with the Iranis foreign minister Javad Zarif, MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup said, "No, certainly not. He said it was something which had to be discussed with Pakistan as India awaits counsellor access to its citizen. New Delhi has dismissed Pakistans allegations and Yadavs confessions as tutored allegations.

India looks to promote its business interests

Having hit the right button in Riyadh, India wants to make sure that its relations with Iran also receive equal importance. Since the nuclear agreement, Iran is emerging from its isolation and is looking forward to rebuilding its oil economy and its ageing infrastructure.

India has to leverage its position as a country which continued to do business with Iran even when it was under sanctions. Good quality basmati rice, other agricultural products, medicines and medical equipment were exported all through the sanction period. India had also continued to buy some amount of oil from Iran, though was forced to lower the quantity because of the difficulties in payment. Before the sanctions, Iran was the second largest supplier of oil to India. But from this month, India will be buying around 400,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil.

China first on the ground in post sanction Iran

With the lifting of sanctions in January, it is not just India but the world is looking to promote business in Iran. One of the first leaders to visit post sanction Iran was Chinese President Xi Jinping. China and Iran signed 17 agreements and promised to increase bilateral trade by $600 billion in the next 10 years. President Rouhani himself had travelled to Europe and signed deals worth $18 billion.

Compared to that, India has been lagging behind. Iranians feel that unlike other countries, India has not moved fast enough after sanctions were lifted. India should have been able to leverage its past record.

The Iranians are also tough negotiators.

But during Dharendra Pradhans visit, it was announced that India and Iran will develop Farzad B, a gas project in the Persian Gulf by a consortium of New Delhi-based explorers led by state-run ONGC Videsh.

The Chabahar port

A key project which has long been hanging fire has been the Chabahar port. The MoU for this was signed as early 2003. But the tough sanction regime made progress difficult. Delhis effort was to bypass Pakistan, which does not allow transit of Indian goods through its territory, and use the Chabahar port in Iran to forward the goods by road and rail to Afghanistan and onward to Central Asian nations. India has already built the Delaramin Zaranj Highway in Afghanistan border to facilitate movement of goods from Chabahar.

India has sanctioned around $85 million for the construction of two berths at Chabahar and the development of a container terminal. This was India and Irans answer to Pakistan Gwadar port built with Chinese assistance. There are details which still need to be worked out. India also hopes to build the Chahbahar-Zahedan-Mashhad railway line. It wants to supply rail tracks, rolling stock, signaling and other equipment.

Besides promoting Indian business, Sushma Swaraj will also discuss the situation in the region, where the Sunni-Shia conflict has led to a war in Yemen, and instability in Iraq, the civil war in Syria and the rise of the Islamic State. The problems of Sunni terror group, at one time supported by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, is now threatening not just the Persian Gulf area but Europe and the world.

The situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban appears to be going from strength to strength is again a major concern for both India and Iran. During the Taliban regime, India, Russia and Iran worked together to strengthen the Northern Alliance. India and Iran are both deeply worried about the Taliban's growing strength in Afghanistan.
LESBOS, Greece Migrants wept at his feet, kissed his hand and begged for Pope Francis's help on Saturday at a Greek refugee camp on the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis which has claimed hundreds of lives in the past year.

At a sprawling fenced complex on the Aegean island of Lesbos, adults and children broke down in tears, pleading for help after their onward journey to Europe was cut short by an EU decision to seal off a migrant route used by a million people fleeing conflict since early 2015.

Francis, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, shook hands with hundreds of people as hundreds more were penned behind metal barriers at the Moria camp, which holds some 3,000 people.

"Freedom, freedom," migrants chanted as the pope walked through the hillside facility in scorching sun. Some women ululated.

Earlier, Greek state TV reported Francis was planning to take ten refugees back with him to the Vatican, eight of them Syrians. Their names were taken from a lot this week.

"This is a gift from God," state broadcaster ERT quoted a woman called Nour as saying.

A Vatican spokesman said he had no immediate comment on the TV report, suggesting reporters "should follow the day's events as they unfold."

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

"I want to tell you, you are not alone," Francis said in a scripted speech. "... As people of faith, we wish to join our voices to speak out on your behalf. Do not lose hope!" he said, flanked by Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, and Greek Archbishop Ieronymos.

On at least three occasions, adults fell to the feet of the pontiff, weeping and begging for help. One woman wearing a crucifix broke through a police cordon and flung herself at Francis's feet.

"No camp, no camp," the woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties, sobbed. "I want to go."

In a tent where Francis met with migrants, a little girl with pigtails dressed in pink and white bowed at his feet. An adult man broke down. Migrants slipped pieces of paper into his hand as Francis passed by, which he handed to an aide.

The pope has often defended refugees and urged Catholic parishes in Europe to host them. His first trip after becoming pontiff in 2013 was to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, which, like Lesbos, has received thousands of refugees.

Hundreds of people have died making the short but precarious crossing from Turkey to the Lesbos shores in inflatable dinghies in the past year, and the island is full of unmarked graves.

"This is a trip that is a bit different than the others ... this is a trip marked by sadness," Francis told reporters on the plane taking him to Lesbos.

"We are going to encounter the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since World War Two. We will see many people who are suffering, who don't know where to go, who had to flee.

We are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people died there ... this is what is in my heart as I make this trip."

Aid organisations have described conditions at Moria, a disused army camp, as appalling.

"This is like Guantanamo. We just want to leave," said Ahmed, a 29 year old from Mosul in Iraq.

Journalists normally have no access to the facility on a hillside just outside Lesbos's main town of Mytiline, but aid workers said walls were whitewashed, a sewer system fixed and several dozen migrants at the overcrowded facility were transferred to another camp, which the pope will not visit.

(Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Mark Potter)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
GENEVA The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights launched a thinly veiled attack on U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and other presidential hopefuls on Friday, in a speech entitled "The road to violence."

"Bigotry is not proof of strong leadership. It is evidence of the lowest and most craven lack of faith in the principles that uphold a 'land of the free'," Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a speech at a university in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Less than 150 miles away from where I speak, a front-running candidate to be President of this country declared, just a few months ago, his enthusiastic support for torture,... inflicting intolerable pain on people, in order to force them to deliver or invent information that they may not have.

"We have heard hateful slander of foreigners, and multiple candidates declaring their support for extensive and intrusive surveillance of people based on their religious beliefs  vast and discriminatory systems to single out and discriminate against Muslims."

Zeid's speech, the Klatsky Lecture at Case Western Reserve University, also recalled the Nazi holocaust and the genocide of Bosnian Muslims for which former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was jailed last month.

He said the eyes of the world would be on Cleveland when it hosts the Republican National Convention in July, and it was his "deepest hope" that Americans would use it to demonstrate their profound understanding of human dignity and human rights.

"And yet, in what may be a crucial election for leadership of this country later this year, we have seen a full-frontal attack  disguised as courageous taboo-busting  on some fundamental, hard-won tenets of decency and social cohesion that have come to be accepted by American society."

He said the price for the "dangerously divisive" rhetoric would be paid by innocent people falling victim to violent acts, not by politicians.

"We have heard these calls to hatred  calls stigmatising and demonising minorities, beginning the validation of violence," he said. "Real courage would mean standing up for the great and enduring values of this society."

(Reporting by Tom Miles)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Palmer helped himself to millions from QNI but this amounts to a fraction of the profits, profits earned in Australia, which are siphoned out by multinationals. Take oil major Chevron, which borrowed money at 1.25 per cent on the money markets in the US then, after currency changes and a spot of financial engineering, lent billions to its subsidiary here at 9 per cent, delivering Chevron Australia a lavish tax deductible loss. The Australian Taxation Office took them to the Federal Court, where the judge found Chevron did not bring enough evidence to show the transaction was at arm's length. Chevron has appealed. The money lost in tax is huge, much larger than the $73 million which the government has now said it would stump up for Clive Palmer's workers. What's Shell's economic reality?

Once upon a time, multinationals had proper 'bodies corporate'. Typically, they had six or eight directors who made decisions in the interest of their Australian entities, a director's duty. Shell Australia for instance used to be called Shell Australia. It had a full board, board meetings were generally attended. After every year end, the company would produce a glossy annual report, its financials there for all to see. A press conference, though meagrely attended, would be held. Now the Anglo-Dutch giant refers to itself as "Shell in Australia". Its statutory financial statements are nowhere to be seen. If you fork out $38 a pop to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) you can find them. Net, they have paid no corporate income tax on $60 billion in revenue in three years. Shell is a big one but the pattern is clear. Thanks to tricky financial structuring, multinationals regard paying income tax as optional. "Leakage" they call it in the land of tax lawyers. ASX companies, such as Woodside, Shell's peer on the North West Shelf, are bound to file their accounts publicly, and free of charge. They are visible, and they are filed  unlike Clive Palmer's accounts of yore  on time each year.

Compliance, generally, has been in freefall over the past decade. Even the Business Council of Australia, which pontificates to government on good business practise, has only managed to get its accounts in on time in eight of the past 16 years. The question needs to be asked of multinationals: what is the economic reality? Is Shell a little piece of London, and Chevron a little piece of America, which has been given carte blanche to plunder Australia's resources, pay little (in royalties in the case of Chevron) for them and bank all the proceeds of their sale in foreign head office bank accounts? Once Chevron has paid the money it pays to real Australians (during construction Gorgon & Wheatstone), there is not much in the way of ongoing economic benefits for Australians. Are these really Australian exporters? Multinationals used to run subsidiary companies and the money earned by those companies was banked in Australia and circulated in the Australian economy while the parent waited patiently for a dividend.
There is no question the new world of the social media celebrity is a peculiar place where brigades of bloggers, from fashion to food, are revered like Hollywood film stars as they assume the mantle of style and trend arbiters, dictating what's hot and what's not to their many millions of followers around the world.

But don't be fooled, not all of them are being totally upfront about what they're doing.

Singer Beyonce is reportedly sent 15 free designer purses and a lot of other products each month by firms hoping she will mention their brand or wares. Credit:NCP/Star Max

Sydney has a staggering number of social media "influencers" who are carving up the city aboard an almighty gravy train that bears little scrutiny. They have been able to convince not just small fashion labels and local restaurants to give them free gowns or a meal in return for a Facebook post, but some now have giant corporations coughing up huge royalty cheques, sometimes worth many thousands of dollars, to present their goods and services in a glowing light in a single Instagram shot.

And yet rarely do these new generation "influencers" reveal the rather more telling details of the payments behind their glowing social media posts  whether it be in cash or kind  to their many followers, who naturally would interpret such endorsements as being based on a product or service's merit.
In 2001 the direct path to citizenship was cut off. "Then they knocked off social security access," says Gassin. "In 2005 they removed access to higher-education loans. In 2012 it was the removal of disability services." Inia arrived in March 2001, just a couple of weeks after the cut-off point of February 26. "There is not even an avenue for me to apply for residency or citizenship," she says. "I don't want it for free, I want the opportunity to be able to apply for residency. There is no option for anyone in my situation. Many others out there are in the same situation." Gassin says not a lot has changed under February's new deal between John Key and Malcolm Turnbull. New Zealanders who have earned at least $54,000 each year for five years and meet health criteria can apply for a different class of visa  one that would in turn allow them to apply for citizenship. It applies only to special category visa-holders who have arrived in Australia since 2001. In 2001 the direct path to citizenship was cut off. "Then they knocked off social security access," says Gassin. "In 2005 they removed access to higher-education loans. In 2012 it was the removal of disability services." No one who arrives after February 19, 2016, will be eligible. Those who are marginalised or struggling will remain so, as will their children. A large number will still be excluded from what Australians consider basic rights.

No one is suggesting that we go back to the 1970s, when New Zealanders could get off the plane and get on the dole. Back then Bondi was famous for "bludging" New Zealanders taking extended state-sponsored holidays  sometimes for years. But the seemingly arbitrary nature of the bureaucratic process has frustrated many. When Australian-based New Zealanders who were working overseas on the February 26, 2001, returned, they discovered the law had changed and they were no longer entitled to any benefits or citizenship. They included actor Russell Crowe, who arrived as a child and contributed millions to his adopted country. He was denied citizenship in 2006 because he had been away in 2001 working on the Oscar winning film Gladiator. "Arbitrary and ridiculous," was his curt response. Says Rose, "It's like Malcolm Turnbull inviting you for dinner then saying you needed to bring your own food, but if you get food poisoning you are on your own." "The reality... is that we will still get the same horror stories  disabled without support, single mothers struggling to support their children," Gassin says. "Homelessness is still going to be there, it won't make the slightest bit of difference."

Gassin is concerned about "the lock-in of disadvantage across two or three generations" as the children from poorer backgrounds have been unable to access Youth Allowance or HECS. "Research shows that the children of New Zealand citizens are only half as likely to go to university as their classmates." This is an issue the federal government conceded and addressed last year. A spokeswoman for the Minister of Social Services said: "The government recognises that some New Zealanders who have been long-term residents of Australia since childhood can face additional challenges in accessing higher education. On November 30, 2015, the government successfully secured passage of legislation, extending access to student loans to New Zealand Special Category Visa holders who came to Australia as children, and have resided here for at least 10 years. This change commenced on January 1, 2016." New Zealanders pay only domestic fees (not the much higher international fees) for going to university. But a more vulnerable group is still barred from access to welfare support. "We hear from a lot of women  mostly single mothers who can't get any support for their children," says Gassin. "They might have an Australian father who is not paying any child support. The children are are living in dire poverty with a Kiwi mother." To go back to New Zealand would mean abandoning their children. Though the government spokeswoman says New Zealand women can access counselling services, there are no financial pathways for them to escape violent relationships. Rose says no refuge will turn a woman away but ongoing support is nearly impossible without Centrelink. "I know of women being made destitute by their partners so they can get the kids. They can't get into government housing because they are not permanent residents; they can't get into rehab because they can't pay for it."
Sydney bars inside the lockout zone have bridled at looming licence fee hikes of up to $20,000 a year that are set to be imposed by the Baird government.

The NSW government generated $18 million last year from new annual liquor licence fees imposed on venues, which for the first time covered almost half the $51 million operating cost of its liquor watchdog, the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing.

This year, additional fees are set to be imposed on venues based on their "risk". Bars inside, or bordering, the lockout zone face the steepest fee hikes.
Will they or won't they?

On the eve of the court sequel to last year's infamous "war on terrier", the million dollar question is, will Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp with his actress wife Amber Heard travel to the Gold Coast to fight charges accusing her of being Australia's most high profile quarantine criminal?

It is now nearly a year since Australia's biosecurity overlord and now Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce declared what was quickly dubbed the war on terrier, when it was revealed the country was unwittingly hosting two tiny fugitives from quarantine justice, Pistol and Boo.

Mr Joyce came out with all guns blazing against the dogs' owners, Depp and Heard, the latter of whom is accused of smuggling the Yorkshire terriers in when they arrived at Brisbane airport by private jet in May.
The Nigerians military is continuing with the fight to combat terrorism and would not be deterred to rescue all civilians including the kidnapped Chibok School girls abducted by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, director of Defense Information, said Saturday.

Abubakar said the army has not given up efforts to find the missing girls and return them home safely to their parents. This, after dismissing the recently released video allegedly showing proof the abducted Chibok school girls were still alive.

Increased pressure



In an interview with VOA, Abubakar called the video inconclusive and a demonstration of the frustration of the militants due to the armys continued pressure on them. He said it is uncertain that the latest video released by Boko Haram is genuine, describing it as propaganda tool.



WATCH: Families Suffer Two Years After Kidnapping

He urged the media not to drag the military into a media war with Boko Haram following the release of the video. Abubakar said the military is focused on ensuring the country maintains its territorial integrity by defeating the radical Islamist group.

Abubakar declined to give details about plans to rescue the abducted Chibok girls and other kidnapped victims from the Boko Haram militants, but added the military will not be deterred in the commitment to bring back the girls home.

Our operations are on course and we have a total unified operation against the Boko Haram, which led to the total decimating and breaking their will in order to wage any reasonable attack against the armed force and other security agency locations. These are indications that they are weak However, terrorists as they are rely on information to champion their cause keep on coming up with series of purported, unconfirmedclips., said Abubakar.

So the issue of video or not video is not our concern, because that will not affect our operations towards liberating whoever are with the terrorists; either the Chibok girls or non-Chibok girls," he said.

Difficult task



Critics of the military said it appears the security agencies are not up to the task to rescue the abducted school girls. They cited instances of suicide bombings in Nigeria and the ability of the militants to launch cross-border attacks in neighboring countries including Cameroon as examples of the potency of Boko Haram, despite what they said are claims by the army and government of technically defeating the militant group.

Abubakar disagreed.

So many of them have surrendered to the armed forces and other security agencies. We have about 800 Boko Haram members who surrendered willingly. And these are some of the things which the remnants are not happy with, and they are doing all sorts of things to tell the international community and the domestic audience that they are still alive, but they are not, said Abubakar.

Local media reported that the army has opened a backdoor channel to negotiate with the militants to release the kidnapped Chibok girls.

These are some of the blackmails, which some organizations or groups are [peddling] against members of the Nigerian military and its allies. All these things are not true and are dreams of those who are saying it. The Nigerian military [is] strong enough to quash not only Boko Haram, we have done it elsewhere and we will do it in this country, and I believe we have all the capacity to do that, said Abubakar.
The U.N. special envoy for Yemen urged parties in the upcoming peace talks to overcome their differences and negotiate a real political solution to the yearlong conflict.

"Yemen is now at a critical crossroad," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told the U.N. Security Council. "One path leads to peace, while the other can only worsen the security and humanitarian situation."

He said achieving any success at the talks scheduled to begin Monday in Kuwait would require "difficult compromises from all sides, as well as determination to reach an agreement."

He urged the Security Council members and regional and international players to support the process.

The envoy has been engaged in shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East for several months, trying to persuade states with influence to help him bring the government of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and rebel Shi'ite Houthis back to the negotiating table.

Cheikh Ahmed welcomed a fragile cessation of hostilities that went into effect April 10, saying it has brought a "discernible decrease in the level of military violence." But he cautioned that there have been several serious violations and said if violence escalated, it could threaten the success of the peace talks.

Big hopes

At the upcoming talks, Cheikh Ahmed hopes to help negotiate a road map in several areas, including the withdrawal of militias and armed groups; the handover of heavy weapons to the state; and the release of prisoners and detainees.

Yemen's U.N. ambasador, Khaled Alyemany, told reporters that "we are all heading toward Kuwait with hopes  big hopes." He said if the international community is united and firm, the peace talks can yield real results. If they fail, he warned, "it will be a repetition of the cycle of violence."

The yearlong conflict has pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink. The U.N. says more than 6,400 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced from their homes. Some 21.2 million people, or 82 percent of the population, require some form of humanitarian or protection assistance.

Last month, the United Nations appealed for $1.8 billion to meet Yemen's humanitarian needs this year. That appeal is woefully underfunded, with $296 million received so far.
BURLEY  Fabri-Kal Corp. of Burley has received state funding to train 53 new employees and plans to move a research and development facility to Burley from South Dakota.

The Idaho Department of Labor awarded the company a $159,000 Workforce Development Training Fund grant to train the new employees. Fabri-Kal manufactures plant-based resin used for plastic cups, plates and silverware. The company plans to move its research and development facility for Greenware, a biodegradable product made from wheat and soybean straw, from South Dakota to Burley.

The 53 full-time positions will pay an average wage of $18.87 per hour plus employer-assisted medical benefits. The positions include managers, technicians, line operators and material handlers.

Susan Simmons, deputy director of workforce development for the Department of Labor, said the grant will be paid out as new employees are hired. Grants are usually for two years, she said.

The fund is administered and managed by the Idaho Department of Labor. In addition to issuing company grants, the Idaho Workforce Development Training Fund is designed to bring businesses and education together to work toward meeting specific industry training needs.

Since its inception in 1996, more than 362 Idaho businesses have received $89 million to train 27,000 workers at an average hourly wage of $14.

Fabri-Kal opened its Burley plant in October.
Last week, a respected Russia scholar in the U.S. speculated that the Kremlin might be behind the so-called Panama Papers, the big dump of data about offshore accounts that has implicated several countries officials in shady dealings. And on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin of Russia blamed the U.S. for the leak.

So far, the Panama Papers have caused the resignation of Icelands prime minister (whose wife owned some bank debt that the government was trying to restructure) and Spains industry minister (who had denied, falsely, that hed had any offshore dealings). There probably will be further fallout: The millions of documents havent been fully investigated. Still, its probably safe to say that there will be no resignations, firings or criminal inquiries in Russia.

The Russian portion of the Panama Papers is not actionable. It details the offshore activities of Bank Rossiya, a financial institution that belongs to Putins close friends. Companies linked to the bank, and to Putins friends, appear to have profited from spurious stock deals and huge, artificially created breach of contract fines. The companies also received inordinately big amounts of money for consulting and lobbying services. Yet the transactions appear legal, and at least in Russia, no one is going to investigate them. All Putins friends can do is roll their eyes: Most of them  and Bank Rossiya  are targeted by Western sanctions and could be subject to property seizure. And Putins name doesnt appear anywhere in the papers.

Putin, who doesnt deny the authenticity of the papers, made a point of noting the absence of names. They are not accusing anyone specifically, he said during his annual call-in show on Thursday. Thats the thing, they are just muddying the waters.

Thats exactly what makes Clifford Gaddy, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a top U.S. expert on Russia, suspicious. In an article on the Brookings site, Gaddy called the revelations about Putins friends a non-story that would, on net, benefit Putin. The geographical breadth of the revelations would allow him to claim that everybody does it, and he wouldnt be personally affected. Thus it makes sense that the Russians had some role in the leak. Gaddy wrote:

Any actual reputational damage to Putin or Russia caused by the Panama Papers is in fact pretty trivial. For that cheap price, the Russians would have 1) exposed corrupt politicians everywhere, including in model Western democracies, and 2) fomented genuine destabilization in some Western countries. What I wonder, then: Is it a set-up? The Russians threw out the bait, and the United States gobbled it down. The Panama Paper stories run off Putin like water off a ducks back. But they have a negative impact on Western stability.

Gaddy, however, doesnt see himself as spinning a conspiracy theory. As he told me in an e-mail, It was a question to those who publish this information and draw conclusions on the basis of it without, it seems to me, asking themselves: `Are we sure in publishing this information that it is reliable? That it is complete and unfalsified, and that it is not designed to serve someone elses agenda?

To Gaddy, Putins statement that the information in the Panama Papers is accurate is also suspect on these grounds: It would be fun, but Im sure unproductive, to ask him: Really? And exactly how do you know that?

The problem with this theory, however, is that its well, just a theory. Putin has as much evidence that the Panama Papers are a U.S. plot as Gaddy does that theyre a Russian one, and yet the Russian president said, We know there are employees of official U.S. agencies in this, and the story first appeared  I asked Peskov, my press secretary, yesterday  in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The Sueddeutsche Zweitung is part of a media holding, and this media holding belongs to the Goldman Sachs financial corporation, so the long ears of those who ordered this stick out everywhere, and those ears dont even blush. We shouldnt expect any remorse from them, they will keep doing it anyway, and the closer to the election, the more such leaks there will be.

On Friday, Dmitri Peskov had to apologize for the Sueddeutsche Zeitung passage  the German daily has nothing to do with Goldman Sachs. It was all his fault, Putins press secretary said. But the mistake is telling: Putin the ex-spy has been looking for clues that would link the leak to the U.S.  because who else could be interested in stirring things up ahead of the September parliamentary and 2018 presidential elections in Russia?

Gaddy dismisses Putins conspiracy theory: Of course he would say this.

Any corruption-related leak of this magnitude can hurt or benefit multiple parties. It makes sense to apply Occams razor to these considerations before coming to any conclusions about the leaks source. That can only be established if the leaker comes forward or is exposed.

But I would argue that, in the end, that the provenance isnt important  only the accuracy of the data is.

Putin has confirmed that the Russian part is accurate. The information is, of course, more damaging than Putin is willing to admit: It exposes the inner workings of Russias crony capitalism. The material also has proved accurate regarding accounts of people from Iceland, Spain, Britain and elsewhere. So why get hung up on its source? It makes much more sense to applaud the work of the investigative journalists who checked and developed the leak. Its an extraordinary collective performance by a much-maligned professional community that has proved convincingly that it has an important social role to play.
Thank You Letters

Thanks, City, for Sign Replacement

I want to thank those three employees of the city and Sean Standley for replacing the corner street sign on my property. I had received a violation notice last summer about my trees obstructing the view of the sign. The pole had been damaged and was leaning far onto my property, but I trimmed the trees to comply.

At a meeting at the Senior Center on the 13th, I had a chance to talk to Mr. Standley about the incident. Imagine my surprise and delight when the next morning the city truck was here and the pole and sign were being replaced. I want to encourage our seniors to attend the meetings at the center and talk to the city reps who are there. They try to have these meetings every two weeks to communicate with our seniors and get results to their problems. Call the center at 208-734-5084 to see when the next meeting is and enjoy a fine, inexpensive meal in the process.

Carla Graham

Twin Falls

Art for Hospice a Success

On behalf of the board of directors, staff and volunteers of Hospice Visions Inc., wed like to thank everyone who made our Art for Hospice inaugural art exhibition and fundraiser such a great success! Father Norbert, Father Ezekiel, Father Eugene, Father Kenneth, Father Andrew, Brother Sylvester, Brother Selby and the entire Monastery of the Ascension Community, thank you for all of your help, your prayers and a peaceful, serene venue in which to display this original art.

Local artists: Maria Smith with The Artists Atelier, Connie Wood, Robert Moore, Robert and Virga West, Daryl Hunt, Ron Hicks, Jason Hicks, Shena Bingham, Nicholas Maybon, Dianna Cummins, Dan Barsness, David Mensing, Jessica Larsen, Kathy Lily Field, Kathryn Affleck, thank you for your amazing talent and heart.

Patrons of art: Lowell and Emma Curtiss, Dan and Diane Schiffler, Charmy Leavell, Marge Nessa, Dennis and Lisa Burgett, Ron and Debra Miciak, Krystal Lee, Victor and Diane Cypher, Carl Spaulding and Sue Votroubek, Jerry Gunter and Tami Slatter, Bob and Lori Ward, Jackie Turner, Tom and Dana Mikesell, Henry Hafliger, Father John Koelsch, Joe and Linda Rockne, Judy Erdman, Jody Tremblay, Jim and Lynn Ponzo, First Federal Bank, Visions Home Health and other anonymous donors throughout the event.

Thank you Party Center  Darci, Ashley, Austin, Jesse, Rachel, Mike and Carlene for a delicious, elegantly decorated festive evening extravaganza.

And thank you to the art lovers who attended this best-of-the-best art exhibit from all around the state of Idaho, for supporting the arts and the Visions of Home Hospice Home. See you all next year!

Tami Slatter

Hospice Visions executive director

Performance was Fantastic

We recently had a fantastic weekend producing Disneys Beauty and the Beast, Jr., performed by Robert Stuart Middle School students at the Canyon Ridge auditorium. Many parents helped their students with their costumes, volunteered for set painting, working tickets and back stage. However, without the help of some exceptional parents, this show never would have looked as fantastic as it did.

Thank you to Jennifer Brownlee, who sewed and repaired many costumes; to Cindy Brown, who sewed accessories and created our programs; to Mindy Hahn and Constance Mayner, who found and created many props; to Arlindo Gomes, who built our booksellers cart in one day; to Diane Cannon, who after helping create costumes kept adding the perfect finishing touches; to Myr Fischer, who created Belles golden gown in a matter of days. Finally, thank you to the whole Geiger family  Victor, our castle was wonderful, we will have the DVD to prove ! it. Liz, I cant believe how much I asked you to do, after sewing four corsets, making you wait too long for the formal jacket, and then stepping up and creating Belles entire blue dress costume the night before when I was in a pinch  wow. And Lindsey, thank you for giving so much time to your role, to the tech, and to sharing your parents.

For me (Samantha), being new to a school and a community and being supported so completely by these people has shown me that Twin Falls truly cares about their kids, and that Robert Stuart is capable of so many great things, both now and in years to come. Thank you to these parents for starting this program off the right way!

Samantha Simmons, RSMS drama director

Amy McBride, RSMS principal

Ace Marcellus, RSMS vice principal

Thanks for Making Red Apple Gala a Success

Many thanks go out to those who helped make the 3rd Annual TFSD Education Foundation Red Apple Gala a huge success! This is the culmination of our Teacher of the Month program, and an opportunity to thank our many donors. Thanks to our Platinum level sponsors: ESI, Hummel Architects, LCA, Starr Corporation, Anderson Construction; our Gold level: Hub International Mountain States Limited, HUB International-Pete Cavendar, Rhonda Bartholomew, Tara Tandrow; Silver Level-First Federal, Paridigm of Idaho, and an anonymous donor; Red level-Rich and Kathy Stivers, Kiwanis and Mike and Jan McBride. Our in kind donors: Rock Creek, Buffalo Grill, KBs, Tonys 2T Auto, Aamco, Main Avenue 360 Event Center, Java, Perkins Family Restaurant and Bakery, Mason Trophies and Gifts, Brass Monkey, CSI Arts on Tour-Camille Barigar, KMVT-Scott Pierce, Tom Frank and Zack Ault, Times News-Travis Quast and Riana Cummings, Beams Flooring of America-Mark Beams, Jensen Jewelers- Allen Easterling, Watkins Distributing-Stephanie, VLCM and Marjorie McBride Writing and Photography for documenting our special event. A lovely venue and meal was provided by Acy and her team at the Brick House/Main Event 360, along with fantastic music from Mr. Howard and his Red Apple Orchestra, Ms. Karen Sweet and the Sawtooth 4th grade drummers, and Ms. Lodie Steen and our Newcomer Center vocal entertainers, the Lupumba Family. Mary Barron and Barb Hardy arranged beautiful mugs filled with coupons and gift certificates for each of our Teachers of the Month! JJ McBride did a fantastic job as our event MC, and Eva Craner and Brett Keller made sure our video productions played smoothly.

In addition, thank you to all of the TFSDEF Board Members. We would like to congratulate Donnelley Sports as our Business PIE (Partner in Education), Mr. Richard Smack-2016 Jerry Kleinkopf Heritage Award recipient and our 2016 TFSD Education Foundation Teacher of the Year, Dr. Candace Wright-TFHS Science Teacher! See you in April 2017 for more Red Apple Gala fun!

Linda Watkins, executive director

Twin Falls School District Education Foundation

Grieving Family Says Thanks

Our families would like to thank all of you who have been there for us in the last two months since Loyd and Nolans deaths. During this time of sorrow, we realize how much our friends mean to us. Your kindness in bringing in food, all the cards we received and the flowers sent to Loyds memorial service.

What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose, all that we love deeply becomes a part of us forever. Loyds children are planning to put together a small book of his inspirational writings this year, that a lot of you have said you enjoyed so much reading them in the Times-News.

Our special thanks to Rosenau Funeral Home and Reynolds Funeral Home for their kind service and helpfulness. Loyd will be laid to rest at the Idaho Veterans Cemetery later this summer.

Ruth Bakewell and family, Kathleen Bakewell and family

The Letters of Thanks column will publish letters of up to 200 words from:

Organizations thanking contributors or supporters.

Individuals thanking public agencies and businesses for extraordinaryservice.

Send letters to letters@magicvalley.com. If you would like to purchase a classified ad to express gratitude of a personal rather than public nature, call The Times-News Customer Service department.
Thousands of Zimbabwes opposition supporters on Thursday marched in the capital Harare demanding an end to Robert Mugabes misrule.

The protesters were dressed in the red colors of the main opposition party  Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)  and chanting songs to denounce the 92-year-old president, who recently said he had no plans to step down.

Some marchers carried banners reading Old clueless Mugabe must go.

Where are our 2.2m jobs? read one placard, in reference to Mugabes 2013 election pledge to create jobs.

We are not demanding an overthrow of the government, we are demanding a dignified exit for a tired Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.

Zimbabwe is battling a worsening economic decline, highlighted by company closures and growing unemployment.

Mugabe has no solution to the crisis. We are here to tell Mugabe and his regime that you have failed, Tsvangirai told reporters.

This is about jobs and improving the economy, which is in dire straits, he said.

Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since the country was formed in 1980 from the ashes of white-ruled Rhodesia, has previously said he had no plans to hand over power and ruled out grooming his politically ambitious wife, Grace, as his chosen successor.

The Thursday march was peaceful and countrywide demonstrations are planned in the coming weeks.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was quoted as saying that it was just the beginning of a wave of protests geared towards forcing Mugabe to resign.
A team of UK and Swedish researchers has released the findings of a new study which assessed the hip fracture risk of farmers in Sweden.

Sweden is one of the few countries which tracks hip fractures through a national registry. It is therefore possible to assess how hip fracture risk across the country varies according to occupation, economic status, level of education, latitude, and urban versus rural residence. Although hip fracture risk is known to be correlated to physical activity, that's one of the variables, among others, which the registries can't track.

The researchers therefore focused on farming, an occupation which is characterized by regular, long-term outdoor physical activity. Looking at the hip fracture incidence of all men and women aged 40 years or more in Sweden between 1987-2002, they found that there were 100,083 individuals who sustained a hip fracture. Of these, 4, 175 were farmers.

For both men and women, the hip fracture risk rose with age, low income, low education, higher latitude, and urban location. For women, being a farmer was not associated with a significant difference in hip fracture risk.

For male farmers the risk of a hip fracture was 14% lower compared to other occupations, adjusted for age. When also adjusted for rural status of residence, the risk reduction was still 15% lower. However, when also adjusted for income, education and latitude the effect was even more markedat 39% lower risk.

Lead author, Dr. Helena Johansson of the Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases, University of Sheffield Medical School, UK, stated, "We need to be concerned about hip fractures as they are the most serious and disabling osteoporosis-related fractures. Given the many, complex factors that affect fracture risk, it is not possible to pinpoint a single variable that is associated with lower hip fracture risk. However, these findings are interesting in that they suggest that a lifetime of outdoor, physical activity may be a positive factor when it comes to hip fracture risk. "

Explore further Study shows hip fracture risk rises in the 10 years after total knee replacement

More information: OC 31 Swedish Farmers Have Lower Risk for Hip Fracture Than Expected From Economic Status, Education and Location Abstract book: WCO-IOF-ESCEO World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, 14 -17 April 2016, Malaga, Spain Osteoporosis International, Volume 27/ Suppl 1/ 2016
@PatriciaMazzei

Annette Taddeo raised about $220,000 last quarter in her bid for Florida's southernmost congressional seat, putting her behind Democratic rival Joe Garcia in the first fundraising period pitting the two candidates against each other.

The two Miami Democrats are vying to challenge Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who outraised them both with what a $362,000 haul. Garcia collected $325,000 since declaring his candidacy in February. The quarter lasted from Jan. 1-March 31.

Taddeo has been running for a year and has more cash in the bank than Garcia: about $496,000, compared to Garcia's about $316,000.
@ByKristenMClark

Thanks to flexible transfer policies that already exist within Miami-Dade and Broward counties, superintendents in South Florida say they dont anticipate drastic shifts in enrollment under a new law Gov. Rick Scott approved Thursday.

As part of a wide-ranging school choice measure, any child in Florida  starting in 2017-18  will be able to attend any public school in the state that has space available.

The new policy breaks down barriers that previously prohibited students from crossing county lines to attend school, except where local agreements existed.

Superintendents in Miami-Dade and Broward counties said they expect the new freedom will most likely be taken advantage of by high school athletes or by parents who commute in South Florida and would find it easier to enroll their students in schools closer to work.

I dont foresee this being a very problematic experience because of the choice programs we have and the transfer policies we already have, Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.
@JeremySWallace

Former Florida House Speaker Allan Bense, who voted for a tuition increase at the school 3 years ago against Gov. Rick Scott's wishes, is out as a member of Florida State Universitys Board of Trustees.

Scott, a Republican, announced in a press release late Friday that Bense, a Panama City Republican, will be replaced on the board by Maximo Alvarez, of Doral, who is president of Sunshine Gasoline Distributors Inc. Alvarez, a longtime political ally and support of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, owns nearly 400 gas stations in South Florida.

Bense re-applied for the position he held since 2011 with two other board members, Emily June Duda of Oviedo and Joe Gruters of Sarasota. Duda and Gruters both were reappointed but Bense was passed over.

I dont know why, Bense said after learning he was not reappointed.

Scott did not say why Bense was rejected, but his office issued a statement praising his service.

Governor Scott appreciates Speaker Bense for his five years of service to Florida State University and his commitment to Florida students throughout his career, John Tupps, Deputy Communications Director for Scott. Governor Scott is confident that Maximo Alvarez will continue to build on Florida State Universitys Board of Trustees focus of providing students with an affordable education that allows them to find a job when they graduate.

Bense, who holds a pair of degrees from FSU, may have been done in by a 2013 tuition increase vote. In June 2013, Bense voted for a 1.7 percent increase in tuition that was called a cost of living increase. Bense advocated for the increase while both board members Duda and Gruters voted against that proposal.

Tuition increases have been a big issue for Scott during his tenure as governor. Scott has consistently opposed tuition increases at Florida universities and colleges, and vetoed a 3 percent tuition hike state lawmakers had approved early in 2013 before the FSU trustees voted for the 1.7 percent increase.

Alvarez, Duda and Gruters all will have terms on FSUs board that runs through Jan. 6, 2021.

FSU has a 13-member board of trustees. Scott gets to appoint six members. The state board of governors appoints five. The faculty senate and student body president fill out the remaining two seats.
Can an economys gross domestic product (GDP) per person continue to grow forever? Or does there come a time when growth dissipates and the economy converges to a constant level of income per person, so that living standards no longer progress from generation to generation?

These are at present but academic questions in fast-growing emerging economies such as India, which is expected to grow anywhere between 7% and 8% during the current and coming fiscal years. But it is fast becoming an existential debate in advanced economies such as the US, Canada and countries in western Europe. These economies were growing on average at about 2% before the great financial crisis of 2008-10, and have barely grown since then.

One set of theories, those associated with the secular stagnation" hypothesis that I explored in an earlier column, are relatively optimistic. According to this view, whose chief proponent is Harvard economist Lawrence Summers, the growth slowdown is principally due to insufficient aggregate demand. The correct remedy, therefore, is a return to Keynesian-style fiscal policy of a type that was largely abandoned during the so-called Great Moderation which preceded the crisis, when the consensus emerged that monetary policy alone could fine-tune the macroeconomy.

The much more pessimistic view, as articulated by Northwestern University economist Robert Gordon in a recent much-discussed and controversial book, The Rise and Fall of American Growth, is that the principal cause of the recent growth slowdown in the US emanates from the supply side, and is likely to be persistent. In other words, the US and other advanced economies should get used to slow or no growth in per capita income as being the new normal.

Before probing the arguments that Gordon offers, let us first establish that this is no mere arcane academic debate. In the long run, rising living standards are driven, as a matter both of economics and basic statistics, by sustained growth in per capita income, not by periodic bursts of growth that quickly fizzle out. There is a mathematical formula, the rule of 72, which tells us that the number of years it takes for something to double is approximately 72 divided by the growth rate expressed as a percentage.

Thus, an economy growing at a steady 2% income per capita per year will double income per person in about 35 or 36 years, or a little more than a generation. That was the experience of the advanced economies, in particular the US, for a century or so starting in the late 19th century. Roughly speaking, it means that, each generation, the average American was about twice as well off as their parents during this golden century of growth.

Compare that to the red-hot 10% growth rate that fast-growing economies in East Asia and then China experienced for a generation or more. In such an economy, income per person doubles not every generation, but about every seven or eight years. Thus, income would double, quadruple or grow even more within a given individuals working lifetime. This has been the lived experience of recent generations in China and, to a lesser extent, in India.

But now imagine that the annual growth rate of per capita income is only 0.5% on average per year, as has been the case in the US and other advanced economies in recent years. In such a situation, it will take close to a century and a half for the average persons income to double; in other words, all except the very long-lived will not see a doubling of living standards in their lifetime.

Finally, if the growth rate of per capita income is zero, then income per person will be constantprogress, at least as measured by growth in income per person, will have ceased. In the language of classical economists such as David Ricardo, we would then be in a stationary state".

Indeed, for much of history, as Gordon himself observes, economies were essentially stationary, and most people, therefore, would have expected a steady income level, rather than growing income, to be the norm.

It is only in the past century and a half or so that it came to be believed that steady growth was the norm, in the advanced economies at least. It is telling that a no-growth stationary state would be routinely described in this more recent period as stagnation" of income, implying, therefore, that growth was the norm and stagnation was not.

As a matter of economics, and this is the key to understanding Gordons analysis, sustained growth in income per person must necessarily be driven by growth in productivity: roughly, how much output a given quantum of inputscapital, land, labour and so forthcan generate. In the long run, output per person will grow approximately at the rate of growth of productivity.

In the absence of productivity growth, the existence of diminishing returns to capital will ensure that economic growth will necessarily dissipate over time, until an economy converges to a stable level of income per person. In jargon, this is a steady state" in which all inputs along with output grow at the same rate, so that the proportion between any two inputs remains the same, and that output grows at the same rate as the inputs. For instance, if population is growing at 2%, then capital and output will also grow at 2%, and output per person will be constant.

For the wonkish: these are standard implications of textbook growth theory, both the so-called optimal growth theory of mathematician Frank Ramsey, in which households optimally choose the path of consumption over time, as well as the more Keynesian-style model of Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow, in which, following Keynes, it is assumed that households save a constant and fixed share of income every period.

The essence of Gordons claim is that the century from 1870 to 1970, which he calls a golden century", was special and unrepeatable, especially for the US.

This is so, he argues, because of the many one-time-only inventions of the period, which dramatically boosted productivity, and allowed a century of unbroken growth. The epochal technological revolutions of this period included electricity, telephone, radio, television, automobile, aeroplane, modern plumbing and on and on, right up to the modern computer.

An average persons life in the US in 1970 was unrecognizably different for the better than his or her great-grandparents life in 1870.

Gordons further claim is that the innovations that have followed in the 40-odd years since then have not been as dramatic, or as important in terms of productivity, as those that preceded them. He has in mind, in particular, the array of innovations that together constitute information technology and communications, which relate to the Internet, modern computers, smartphones, cloud computing and the like.

Thus, for example, the Gordon thesis suggests that the impact of the mobile phone on productivity is much lower than that of the landline phone that preceded it.

Naturally, Gordons thesis has aroused much controversy. Other well-known economists have entered the fray and pushed back against his claims, as is well summarized by economist Tyler Cowen reviewing the book in the influential journal Foreign Affairs. Cowen himself is one of the critics and the piece well assembles the major criticisms.

Most of the criticisms rely on two basic counterarguments. First, some scholars argue that the current downturn in productivity, on which Gordon is correct, is temporary. Thus, potentially game-changing new technologies currently in the works, such as artificial intelligence, three-dimensional printing, driverless cars and so forth, once their potential is fully realized, would lead to another sustained spurt or two of productivity growth, which if properly harnessed could potentially power US economic growth well into the current century.

The second counterargument is that an era of rapid technological progress is never foreseen. Thus, an observer making a linear extrapolation of future productivity growth in the US in the 1860s, before the spate of new innovations burst on to the scene, could credibly have predicted that the 20th century would be one of zero or slow economic growth. Yet, the reality completely upended such a reasonable and sober forecast.

Gordon dismisses such critics as techno-optimists". And they, in turn, could dismiss him as a techno-pessimist". While Gordons view would have been the mainstream position up until the middle of the 19th century, a century and a half of very rapid growth in the advanced economies has schooled many folk into believing that technological innovation, and the economic growth that comes with it, should be the norm, not the exception.

The reason that economics cannot settle the debate is that, despite its own many innovations, neither economics nor the social sciences more generally have any real theory of the ultimate source of technological innovation. Indeed, in neoclassical growth theory, productivity growth was simply assumed to occur at some exogenously given rate, like manna dropping from heaven.

The so-called endogenous growth theories that emerged in the 1990s, pioneered by economists such as Paul Romer and Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Lucas, attempted to drill down into the sources of productivity growth, and gave us a better grasp on how productivity is shaped by incentives, government policy and so forth. But even the most sophisticated theory of economic growth is ultimately forced to leave as a black box the wellsprings of human creativity that generate technological innovations in the first place.

That is why, ultimately, economics cannot tell you whether you ought to be on the side of Gordon or his critics, for it depends on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

The good news also is that India and other emerging economies have a long time to go before they need to worry about these advanced economy problems. Even with the best of enabling economic policies in place, India has many more decades of rapid growth ahead of us before we get anywhere close to the technological frontier and confront the spectre of no growth.

Unless, of course, something unexpectedly stops us in our tracks. But, on this score, I for one am an optimist.

Economics Express runs weekly, and features interesting reads from the world of economics and finance.

Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com

Topics
Join members of Holy Spirit Episcopal Church at 130 S. Sixth St. E., for a poetry reading scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Using poems by Mary Oliver, Wendell Barry, Gerald Manley Hopkins and others, spend an hour exploring the role of "this fragile earth, our island home" in how we define lives.
Some residents of the Flathead Valley want to get bachelor's degrees but can't leave their jobs or families.

Jane Karas, president and CEO of Flathead Valley Community College, wonders if they might be able to get four-year degrees at her two-year institution in the future.

"There may be some very specialized degrees that, working with the university system, we may be able to offer," Karas said in a recent interview.

Earlier this month, presidents of Montana's community colleges gave an update to members of the Interim Education and Local Government Committee in Helena. At the meeting, college leaders and lawmakers discussed how the schools were being responsive to workforce and business needs.

In her remarks, Karas briefly mentioned that some other states allow community colleges to confer baccalaureate degrees.

"Maybe, at some point, that's something Montana will consider," Karas said.

At a subsequent interview, she said she doesn't want to compete with the four-year schools, but she does want to serve the Flathead community.

According to the American Association of Community Colleges, an increasing number of states are freeing community colleges to grant baccalaureate degrees, although the change isn't always welcomed by legislators.

At the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, though, the Montana University System already has many ways to help students across the state get the degrees they want, including options for four-year programs.

And officials said a change would be costly.

"We feel like we're already doing the equivalent of what two-year community colleges issuing four-year degrees would be," said Kevin McRae, deputy commissioner for communications for the Commissioner of Higher Education.

***

Karas said the idea is still in exploratory stages, and it would require action by the Montana Legislature. Currently, she said, state statute prohibits community colleges from offering four-year degrees.

She isn't interested in duplicating programs offered at the universities or transforming Flathead Valley Community College into a four-year institution.

"I do know that other states have provided the opportunity for their community colleges to offer limited  very limited  specialized four-year degrees, which is all I think we would be interested in exploring with the university system," Karas said.

Martha Parham, senior vice president of public relations at the American Association of Community Colleges, said some schools usher in the change because enrollment at the four-year institutions is full  not the case at the University of Montana, which has been facing a decline since 2009.

However, she said some schools in rural areas want to eliminate the barrier for students who would otherwise have to travel far.

According to 2015 data from the AACC, 23 states currently allow community colleges to award bachelor's degrees, but with the exception of Florida and Washington, fewer than four institutions in each state do so. In 2014, some 65 community colleges out of 1,123 in the country offered baccalaureate programs.

"State higher education policies generally limit to the types of bachelor's degrees community colleges can offer," according to data provided by the AACC.

In other states, Parham said, one concern legislators have raised as they've debated the issue is they don't want to take students away from the four-year universities.

"Certainly, I don't think anyone's intention is to take students away from other institutions, but to provide even more opportunities and more access for students," Parham said.

By design, she said, community colleges are built to respond to local needs, and sometimes, that means keeping people in the regional economy: "I think sometimes that means a bachelor's degree."

She said a four-year degree from a community college is in no way diluted because the programs go through the same accreditation.

***

Shannon O'Brien, dean of Missoula College, said her institution and Bitterroot College are fully embedded with UM. As such, they differ from the two-year community colleges in Dawson, Miles City and Flathead Valley, which each have their own boards and constituencies, albeit with similar oversight by the Montana Board of Regents.

She said students at Missoula College know that their education will be seamless if they want to get a bachelor's degree from UM. The schools offer "two plus two" programs, which allow students to do a couple years at the college and finish after a couple years at UM.

Peggy Kuhr, integrated vice president for communications at UM, directed questions about letting the community colleges grant bachelor's degrees to the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

There, McRae and John Cech, deputy commissioner for academic and student affairs, said the system already offers an abundance of options for students to acquire four-year degrees without having to travel, including e-learning partnerships.

In Helena, for instance, Helena College UM is partnering with Montana Tech in Butte to provide baccalaureate options for citizens in Helena, Cech said: "So those citizens don't have to drive to Butte."

In the Flathead Valley, residents can get four-year degrees, too, although only in nursing or education, McRae said: "We acknowledge that it is limited, but it's limited because of what is sustainable and viable."

And to date, bachelor's degrees in Montana still come from four-year institutions, a feature he believes students still prefer.

A change would be costly in terms of planning and accreditation, McRae said. For instance, he said local taxpayers might have to foot the bill for more labs or facility upgrades.

Qualifications for faculty also are different, he said.

On the other hand, McRae said, if a community or college believes a need exists, the university system is willing to craft a way to address it. Currently, though, Cech said the state has many options to meet higher education needs with its existing approach.

"I think the structure that we have in Montana is very good," Cech said.
A proposed 30 percent reduction in Forest Service trail maintenance budgets in Montana has been rescinded, according to U.S. senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester.

Both senators said on Friday that the agency had decided to restore about $1 million in Region 1 trails funding for next fiscal year. The cut was to be followed by additional 10 percent budget reductions in 2017 and 2018.

The Forest Service had proposed transferring Region 1 funds to other regions with higher populations and more visitor days. Region 1, headquartered in Missoula, has mostly remote backcountry and wilderness trail networks.

The senators questioned Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell earlier this month when the agency was presenting its $4.8 billion budget proposal. Tidwell told the Senate committee that the costs of fighting fires was forcing sacrifices in other parts of the Forest Services activity.

In the past two years, more than $237 million of the Forest Services budget was diverted from work such as forest restoration projects that would help reduces the risk of future fires and recreation operations in order to cover fire suppression costs, according to Region 1 spokeswoman Elizabeth Sloan. In fiscal year 2016, the agency provided additional funds to mitigate the decreases in the recreation budget.

Rising firefighting expenditures accounted for 52 percent of the Forest Services budget last year, compared with just 16 percent in 1995, according to Sloan. This has shifted funds from forest management and restoration, research, recreation and other efforts. Those funds are used for firefighting and other related expenses, she said.

Montanas national forests and public lands are a treasured part of our state and todays news ensures that Montanans will continue to enjoy our great outdoors, Daines wrote in an email Friday. This is a welcome step to see the Forest Service value Montanans' feedback and I will continue to press the Forest Service for strong trail budgets for Montana each and every year.

Montanans use public trails to hike, hunt, and experience our great outdoors, Tester wrote in a separate email. These trails are critically important to our outdoor economy, and restoring these damaging cuts will allow folks to continue to explore Big Sky Country. I appreciate the Forest Service taking another look at how important this is to Montana.
Copyright  2022 HT Digital Streams Ltd All Right Reserved
At a moment of growing resistance to state violence and injustice the world over, a delegation of nineteen anti-prison, labor and scholar-activists from the United States traveled to Palestine in March 2016. Our delegation included former U.S.-held political prisoners and social prisoners, former Black Panther Party members, prison abolitionists, trade unionists and university professors. We are the first U.S. delegation to Palestine to focus specifically on political imprisonment and solidarity between Palestinian and U.S. prisoners. Our delegation also focused on recent labor struggles in Palestine for bread and dignity, and on the struggles of Palestinian intellectuals to assert the rightful claims of Indigenous Palestinians to their land, culture and history.

On this April 17, the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners, we demand freedom for the 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently held in Israeli jails and all those fighting for justice everywhere, including political prisoners in U.S. prisons.

During our ten-day trip, we heard from diverse groups of Palestinians who daily resist summary executions, mass imprisonment, land confiscation, house demolitions, restrictions to water access and restriction of movement. In the face of Israels system of racialized terror, Palestinians uphold their commitment to sumud. This Arabic word has historical ties to the Palestinian anti-colonial liberation movement and is defined as steadfastness, or standing ones ground with dignity  a form of resistance. We saw this resistance, and were inspired by it, over and over during our visit.

Having witnessed sumud firsthand, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle and with the liberation of Palestine, including the right to return, the rights of self-determination, justice and peace. We condemn the shocking and continuing human rights violations carried out with impunity by Israel with the full strategic support of the U.S. government. We stand with the growing worldwide movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid. We learned from the Palestinian movement that steadfastness is not only possible but necessary, especially under the most oppressive conditions.

Our travels took us to lands colonized by Israel in 1948 and occupied in 1967: from Jericho and the Jordan Valley to the Naqab, Haifa, Yafa, Jerusalem and Nablus; from Ramallah and Bethlehem to Lydd and Nazareth; and from Dheisheh to Ayn Hawd. We met with dozens of former political prisoners, prisoner support organizations and human rights advocates, professors and public intellectuals, political leaders, members of Bedouin and peasant communities threatened with displacement, women leaders, organizers for gender and sexual justice, cultural workers, and trade unionists struggling for dignified work conditions.

Our hosts insisted that we examine the harrowing conditions of Palestinian life not just in the context of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza since 1967, but as the consequence of the Zionist invasion and seizure of 1948. The 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, displaced 85% of Palestinians from their lands to the West Bank, Gaza and nearby Arab countries of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Subjected to Israeli military rule from 1948 to 1966, Palestinians who remained were internally displaced in their own country, confined to its poorest regions, forbidden from moving freely, stripped of land rights and subjected to a brutal system of racial apartheid.

Palestinian residents in territories colonized by Israel in 1948 continue to live with many of the same forms of state terrorism that are commonly associated with the military occupation of the 1967 Palestinian territories  an Orwellian system of laws and regulations including racialized arrest, segregation, settler violence, land confiscation, forced relocation, home demolitions and civil rights violations of all kinds. We witnessed the wholesale project of Zionist colonization  the greatest threat to the life, security and human rights of the Palestinian people.

The aim of the Zionist project was  and remains  the creation of an exclusively Jewish state through the violent displacement of Palestinians and their replacement by Jewish immigrants. After 1948, Jews who had been a numeric minority became the majority through the calculated process of massacres, forced expulsion, Jewish immigration from Europe and land confiscations by Zionist settlers. For these reasons, Palestinians we spoke to insisted on framing the roots of current-day problems in the historical context of Israels settler-colonial apartheid regime.

Time and again, Palestinians made clear the distinction between Zionism as a racist and colonial movement and Jewish people. They emphasized that a free Palestine will be a land of religious pluralism and respect of diverse spiritualities, according to the Palestinian National Charter of 1969 and the 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence. Palestinians also stressed that historically and contemporarily there has not been a homogenous stand of Jews on Israel or Zionism. In fact, the intensification of Israeli violence and racism is leading a growing number of Holocaust survivors as well as younger Jews to invoke never again for anyone and not in my name to dissociate themselves from the Zionist state and its racist and genocidal policies.

As strongly as we were compelled to examine the shameful and brutal history of Zionist colonialism in Palestine and the harrowing conditions of Palestinian life, we were in turn compelled to learn about the continuous resistance of the Palestinian people. Time and again, people expressed their commitment to ensuring that Palestine will be free.

Israel: A Colonial Carceral State

Aware that Israel is the only country in the world that prosecutes children in military courts, our delegation observed the proceedings of three Israeli military tribunals against Palestinian youth. We witnessed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy tried as an adult and accused of running an Israeli over in a vehicle. The boy faced two life sentences in an Israeli adult prison, and was being tried with evidence presented in the form of a video reenactment, constructed from the prosecutions theory of the act and with details likely coerced through torture, a routine practice of Israeli military prison administrators. More than 99 percent of all cases tried in the military courts end in conviction.

Legalized since 1987 by the Israeli Supreme Court as moderate physical pressure, Israeli torture tactics can include lengthy interrogation sessions, beatings, the tying of prisoners in stress positions, sleep deprivation, and psychological abuse such as threats to harm or kill prisoners family members. Former prisoners with whom we met recounted mock execution, torture lasting up to three months, subsequent sexual abuse, medical neglect and solitary confinement

The case of child prisoners is particularly harrowing. Human rights lawyers with whom we spoke shared the findings of international reports on the treatment by Israeli courts of Palestinian children, compared to the treatment of Israeli children. Israels racist double standard exempts Israeli children from prosecution as adults until the age of 18, while Palestinian children as young as 12 are tried as adults. Often charged with stone throwing, Palestinian children are subjected to lengthy sentences in adult prisons. Legal aid organizations Addameer and Defense for Children International (DCI) informed us that children are often taken from their families in the middle of the night, then handcuffed and blindfolded during their transport to torture sites, where they are denied legal representation or access to their parents for months. A former political prisoner told us that his own experience of torture behind bars was amplified when he heard, in a nearby cell, the voice of a child crying out for his mother.

For Palestinians of any age, the price of resisting the colonial apartheid order is often death. Between October 2015 and March 2016, approximately 200 Palestinians, including 41 children, have been extra-judicially murdered at the hands of Israeli military forces. We met Palestinian parents whose homes were demolished and who were levied heavy fines for their childrens alleged actions. In blatant violation of international law and human decency, the Israeli military has refused to release their childrens bodies, which they continue to hold in a state of suspension  literally frozen  for over 6 months.

A Palestinian adult we met in the old city of Hebron witnessed and video-recorded, in late March, the execution, by an Israeli military officer, of a wounded and incapacitated youth. This witness was subsequently harassed by settlers and investigated by the Israeli military while we were still in Palestine, a chilling reminder of the repeated arrests in the United States of Ramsey Orta after he recorded the 2014 strangulation of Eric Garner at the hands of the police in Staten Island, New York.

Our visit to Palestine made clear that incarceration is a central feature of the ongoing Zionist settler-colonial project. In meetings with former prisoners and legal aid organizations including Adalah, Addameer and the Arab Association for Human Rights, we learned that Palestinians face one of the highest per capita incarceration rates in the world: one in five Palestinians has been imprisoned at some point in his or her life, including 40 percent of the Palestinian male population. Since 1967, Israel has imprisoned approximately 800,000 Palestinian political prisoners.

As in the United States, incarceration imposes collective punishment on communities. The families of the incarcerated in Palestine are forced to travel long journeys of up to 15 hours to visit their loved ones. At the prisons, visitors are routinely subjected to humiliating, full-body searches and sexual harassment by Israeli prison guards, a humiliation that has led some women to discontinue their visits. Once inside, relatives are allowed only a 30- to 45-minute visit: no contact, separated from the prisoner by Plexiglas walls.

In the face of repression, Palestinian prisoners have successfully employed hunger strikes to improve prison conditions and win the release of prisoners, including those held under administrative detentionprisoners held without charges, trial, or conviction.

Inspired by the Palestinian peoples respect for their political prisoners and fallen martyrs  reflected in images on public walls, in moments of silence, in daily conversations  our delegation is even more committed to making known the existence of dozens of U.S. political prisoners. Many U.S. political prisoners were given draconian sentences for their political activism in the anti-imperialist struggles and liberation movements of racially oppressed groups during the 1960s and 1970s. Dispensing with them as criminals, the U.S. government refuses to acknowledge the political nature of their incarceration.

Our delegation builds on the long history of solidarity between anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements in the United States and Palestine, expressed most recently in 2013 when thousands of prisoners in Pelican Bay, Guantanamo and Palestine, all on hunger strike at the time, issued solidarity statements with one another. The presence and the histories of two former Black Panther Party members on our delegation served as a constant reminder of the years of solidarity between the Black liberation movement and Palestine.

Colonial Violence and Indigenous Resistance

Israel, which presents itself to the world as a nation of laws, views civil society organizers who bring attention to its crimes as a threat. We were reminded during our visit to the offices of DCI that one of the organizations lead coordinators was shot and killed, execution-style, by an Israeli military sniper, as he observed a Palestinian protest against the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza. We witnessed firsthand the escalating Israeli terror against the Palestinian people when we heard on the news  and discussed with the Boycott National Committee  the calls by Israeli Ministers for the civic assassination of BDS leaders. This is an escalation of state-sanctioned terror that includes the 2014 assault on Gaza; the burning alive of Palestinian youth Mohammad Abu Khdair at the hands of settlers; the burning alive of the Dawabsheh family in Duma Village by settlers; and the intensification of detentions, land confiscation, displacement and deportations. These conditions have driven Palestinian youth to take matters into their own hands and engage in acts of resistance, which many call a third intifada. Reacting to this resistance, Israel has used the uprisings as pretext for intensifying violence against Palestinian youth.

During our visit, we heard the same message from a cross section of organized forces: that the 1993 Oslo Accords have 1) legitimized continued state violence and re-created a colonial structure  camouflaged as a model of Palestinian autonomy; and 2) weakened the Palestinian anti-colonial liberation movement. Twenty-three years after the failure of Oslo, social, cultural and grassroots organizations, as well as representatives of a wide array of Palestinian political parties, including those of the mass institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, emphasized the need to end political divisions in order to rebuild the movement to free Palestine.

While we focused primarily on the experiences of those held in official prisons, our visits to cities in lands taken by the Zionists in both 1967 and 1948 made clear that  as in the Gaza Strip, where nearly two million people are currently held under siege  much of post-Nakba Palestine is tantamount to an open-air prison. In cities like Jerusalem (Al-Quds), Lydd and Hebron (Al-Khalil), Palestinians encounter checkpoints, omnipresent surveillance, with watchtowers on virtually every corner, a wall choking off the daily life of Palestinians, racial apartheid and vulnerability to extrajudicial execution on a daily basis. The old city of Al-Khalil is the epitome of an open-air prison. How else can one describe a situation in which children must walk through barbed wire-lined streets with soldiers training machine guns on them from watchtowers  or in which the Indigenous residents of that city have been forced to erect mesh screens over their marketplace to protect themselves from the trash, urine and feces that Zionist settlers throw at them from the windows of their stolen apartments above? We were equally mortified to see that a section of the Israeli apartheid wall has literally cut this historic Palestinian neighborhood in half. Consequently, family members in Al-Khalil are now unable to see one another without going through a military checkpoint. Severe travel restrictions and street closures have turned the formerly vibrant marketplace into a ghost town, as people are unable to travel to the market or even have access to their own homes.

Poverty, Economy and Palestinian Workers Rights

Settler colonialism in Palestine aims at the destruction of Palestinian life through a complex colonial network that includes refugee camps, the siege and blockade of Gaza, imprisonment and exile, and the caging of communities on all sides by the Israeli West Bank barrier  more realistically, the apartheid wall  that snakes 280 miles through the occupied West Bank and confiscates Palestinian residential and agricultural lands in its path. This attempt at destroying the social and economic fabric of the Indigenous population is the modus operandi of a Zionist state whose goal is to maintain a demographic Jewish majority.

The exploitation of Palestinian labor is part and parcel of the ongoing colonization project. Palestinian trade unionists detailed this exploitation to our delegation historically and contemporarily. They explained that the Histadrut  the Israeli labor federation that enjoys a fraternal relationship with the AFL-CIO  has been an integral part of the Zionist movement and the colonization of Palestine even before the creation of the state of Israel. The Histadrut exploits Palestinian workers in Israel by deducting a portion of their salaries for benefits they never receive.

Palestinian labor leaders also shared the findings of a draft report on the horrifying conditions of Palestinian women workers, including those who are employed in Israeli settlements on the West Bank and are subjected to long work hours, reduced pay, and sexual harassment at checkpoints. None of the Palestinian workers employed by Israeli businesses enjoy the protection of the Israeli labor federation or Israeli labor laws. Palestinian trade unionists called on us to wage a campaign among U.S. trade unionists to divest U.S. workers pension funds from Israeli bonds.

Palestinian trade unionists also told us about the devastating socio-economic conditions that have been steadily worsening since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords. Oslo legislated and legitimized the increasing dependency of the Palestinian colonized economy on the Israeli colonizing power, and has threatened any potential for the emergence of an independent Palestinian economy. The continuing blockade of Gaza and the restrictions placed on Palestinian farmers and small industries have strangled the Palestinian economy and led to the degradation of living conditions, leading to alarming levels of poverty in the 1967 occupied Palestinian areas, as well as among Palestinians in the areas seized by Israel in 1948.

Palestinian labor organizers told us about the crisis in Palestinian refugee camps produced by cuts in the services of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Cuts in UNRWA services in education and health, combined with institutionalized discrimination in healthcare, education and employment, have created shocking disparities. Life expectancy for Palestinians is, on average, 10 years lower than the Israeli rate; infant deaths are 18.8 compared to 3.7 per 1000 births; and the death of Palestinian mothers due to complications of pregnancy or labor is 28 per 100,000 births compared to 7 for Israelis. These conditions have led to widespread strikes by Palestinian employees who demand equitable pay scale and the restoration of health and education services.

Palestinian trade union leaders also expressed grave concerns over the diminishing conditions of public education in Palestinian Authority areas. They echoed the sentiments of Palestinian teachers, administrators and parents who protested the worsening work conditions for Palestinian teachers and insisted on joining local and national marches for a whole month, despite attempts by Palestinian security forces to suppress their rallies.

Trade union leaders also highlighted the apartheid conditions in Israel, where schools are segregated. The ratio of spending on education in these schools is 1:9, and Palestinian students living in Israel are forced to learn a curriculum that denies their own history and exalts the misleading history of the colonizers.

We join hands with our comrades in the Palestinian labor movement and salute the struggle of striking teachers, labor organizers and workers demanding economic justice, independence and national self-determination from colonial structures. We further pledge to campaign in the ranks of U.S. labor to divest from Israeli bonds and sever ties between the AFL-CIO and the Histadrut.

Dispossession and Struggle for Land and Return

A university professor with whom we met explained how the system of Zionist colonization is one of the most intensely territorialized systems of spatial control the world has seen. In 1948, Israel destroyed at least 531 Palestinian towns and villages, and within five years, established 370 new Jewish settlement towns, 95% of which were built on seized Palestinian land. The state of Israel now controls 93% of the land captured in 1948.

Today, eight million Palestinian refugees are forbidden from returning to their homeland. Those in the West Bank are subject to the ubiquitous system of checkpoints that severely restrict their ability to travel to work, school, mosques and churches, and to hospitals for medical treatment. Under the Absentee Property Law, Palestinians can lose their rights as homeowners for any number of reasons, including renovating or expanding their homes to accommodate a growing family. The Israeli state rarely grants Palestinians permission to build or expand homes, forcing them into illegal construction of houses, which are then subject to demolition orders.

In the village of Ayn Hawd, near Haifa, an elder explained how Israel confiscated the homes of the Palestinians and turned the village into a park and an artists colony, replaced the mosque with a restaurant, and protected the settlement of Zionists living in stolen Palestinian homes. We saw how those settlers have repeatedly trashed and destroyed the old Palestinian cemetery. There, as elsewhere, we witnessed the central role of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in the ongoing destruction of Palestine.

The sight of bulldozers on top of a hill signaled the looming destruction of the village of Um El Heran in the Al-Naqab desert, a territory colonized in 1948. Um El Heran is one of 46 unrecognized villages that do not exist on Israeli official government maps and are therefore denied electricity, water, roads, schools and all essential services extended by the state to nearby recognized Israeli towns of Jewish settlers. Throughout Palestine, we observed water tanks and solar panels fastened to rooftops to compensate for Israeli restriction of water and electricity, while the homes of Jewish settlers enjoy full state-sponsored services including swimming pools.

Public Intellectuals and Anti-Colonial Cultures of Resistance

Everywhere we went in Palestine we witnessed signs of a culture of resistance. Youth activists in the Naqab told us about their use of poetry to resist Zionist attempts to uproot them from their lands. In the 1948 urban areas of Yafa, Lydd, Haifa and Nazareth we heard about oral history projects to counter the systematic program of cultural and historical erasure deployed by Israel through the outright destruction of sites and signs of Palestinian life, their replacement with invented maps and road signs, and the elimination of the word Palestinian from school textbooks and curricula. We also heard from grassroots organizations and activists about campaigns to defy Israels ban on the commemoration of the Nakba, about projects, that bring Palestinian children to the sites of their families destroyed villages, and about others that use oral history to pass on the collective memories of a people who refuse to submit to a settler-colonial project aimed at negating their existence on their land.

We visited the Ibdaa Arts Center in the Dheisheh refugee camp and the Popular Arts Center in El Bireh and saw, painted on interior walls, murals that defied the Israeli occupation ban on resistance art on public walls. Palestinian cultural figures told us that Israel continues to shut down theater, dance and music performances that challenge its colonial rule. We learned that, in an attempt to end the wave of protests currently engulfing Palestine, the Israeli Prime Minister demanded that the Palestinian Authority prohibit taxi drivers from playing Palestinian music on their radios.



US Prisoner, Labor and Academic Delegation with colleagues from the Institute for Womens Studies at Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine, March 29, 2016



US Prisoner, Labor and Academic Delegation with colleagues from An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine, March 31, 2016

We participated in two conferences hosted by the Institute for Womens Studies at Birzeit University and the An-Najah National University, both co-sponsored with the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies at San Francisco State University. We shared the platform with Palestinian academics who are engaged in the daily struggles of their people and who insisted on defining the academy as a site of struggle for the dignity of all Palestinians. We compared our respective analysis of the United States and Israel as settler-colonial regimes intent on destroying Indigenous life and the Third World movements that have arisen to challenge colonialism and imperialism.

Solidarity was forged as former political prisoners in Palestine and former US-held political prisoners in our delegation discussed parallel experiences. Palestinian audiences at both conferences were moved by the messages we brought with us in a collection of letters from currently incarcerated U.S. political prisoners  some of whom have already served 40 years and more  to their Palestinian sisters and brothers. Our colleagues at Birzeit Universitys Institute for Womens Studies translated the letters into Arabic. The solidarity was palpable during the final plenary of Birzeits conference, when the phone rang and we heard the voice of U.S. political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. Mumia was calling from State Correctional Institution Mahanoy in Pennsylvania to express solidarity with and love for the people of Palestine.

We learned that Palestinian universities offer free tuition to former Palestinian prisoners and that every graduation ceremony honors Palestinian students, faculty and staff martyred or imprisoned by Israel during the academic year. In contrast, Israel has banned access to education for Palestinian prisoners, even denying some the possession of a pencil and paper.

Speaking alongside members of both campus communities who were imprisoned by the Israeli colonial state, and witnessing how Palestinian universities honor those who sacrificed their lives for their people heightened our commitment to insist that our own academic institutions resist the neoliberal university, reclaim the mission of public education, and restore the gains for which earlier generations of students  including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Black Student Unions; the Third World Liberation Front at San Francisco State University; Ocean Hill-Brownsville; the Open Admission Strike of 1969 at the City University of New York  fought. This struggle continues today on our campuses and community spaces. We also reject Israels and the Zionist movements attempts to employ McCarthyite tactics to intimidate, harass and silence advocates for justice in and outside Palestine, and activists and scholars who stand for justice on university campuses, public schools and in public life the world over.

Conclusion

We were asked repeatedly to bring these Palestinian stories of dispossession and steadfast resistance back to the United States. Much of what we saw in Palestine called up images of life in the United States. Like Israel, the United States is a settler colony  built on the genocide and denial of Indigenous peoples rights; the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans; the colonization of Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii and Guam; the exclusion of Chinese people; the incarceration of Japanese people in concentration camps; and the rising vilification and criminalization of immigrants from Latin America and of Arabs, Muslims and Mediterranean and South and Central Asian people. Like Israel, the United States suppresses resistance using the cover of law. The United States continues to engage in imperialist wars and interventions in the Third World, while 2.3 million people are incarcerated in U.S. prisons, young Black, Latina/o, and Indigenous people are executed and targeted while educational institutions become increasingly privatized and corporatized. The 99% are getting more impoverished while the 1% is getting richer. Significantly, the United States funds Israel to the tune of $4 billion annually and supports the distorted ideology of Zionism.

We therefore feel an urgent sense of responsibility to pressure the United States to stop funding Israeli crimes against humanity. We express our support for the struggle for a free Palestine as a central struggle in the worldwide movement against U.S. imperialism. We are committed to employing a variety of tactics in solidarity with Palestine, including Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and we condemn Israeli and Zionist attacks against advocates for justice for/in Palestine in our communities and on our campuses. We connect prisoner and labor movements across the borders; and apply the spirit of sumud to all our struggles for liberation within the United States.

Support Palestinian peoples just struggle for self-determination, return and sovereignty, and the struggle against settler colonialism in the United States, Israel and elsewhere

Release Palestinian and all political prisoners, including those in the United States

End all U.S. military and financial support of Israel

Support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel

Reject the new Israeli and Zionist McCarthyism that seeks to intimidate, harass and silence advocacy for justice in Palestine

In Joint Struggle,

Rabab Abdulhadi , author and professor, San Francisco State University*, California

, author and professor, San Francisco State University*, California Diana Block , author and activist, California Coalition for Women Prisoners*, San Francisco, California

, author and activist, California Coalition for Women Prisoners*, San Francisco, California Susan Chen , counselor faculty, member California Faculty Association  SFSU chapter Affirmative Action Rep, San Francisco State University*, California

, counselor faculty, member California Faculty Association  SFSU chapter Affirmative Action Rep, San Francisco State University*, California Dennis Childs , author and professor, University of California*, San Diego

, author and professor, University of California*, San Diego Susie Day , writer, Monthly Review Press*, New York City, New York

, writer, Monthly Review Press*, New York City, New York Emory Douglas , Revolutionary Artist and Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party, 1967-1982

, Revolutionary Artist and Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party, 1967-1982 Johanna Fernandez , author and professor, City University of New York-Baruch College*; Organizer, Campaign to Bring Mumia Home

, author and professor, City University of New York-Baruch College*; Organizer, Campaign to Bring Mumia Home Diane Fujino , author and professor, University of California*, Santa Barbara

, author and professor, University of California*, Santa Barbara Alborz Ghandehari , member of BDS Caucus of UAW 2865, University of California Student-Workers Union*

, member of BDS Caucus of UAW 2865, University of California Student-Workers Union* Anna Henry , activist and member, California Coalition for Women Prisoners*, San Francisco

, activist and member, California Coalition for Women Prisoners*, San Francisco Rachel Herzing , independent scholar and co-founder, Critical Resistance*, Oakland, California

, independent scholar and co-founder, Critical Resistance*, Oakland, California Hank Jones , activist, former US-Held political prisoner and member, Black Panther Party, Los Angeles, California

, activist, former US-Held political prisoner and member, Black Panther Party, Los Angeles, California manuel la fontaine , former US-held prisoner and member, All of Us or None*, San Francisco, California

, former US-held prisoner and member, All of Us or None*, San Francisco, California Claude Marks , Former US-held political prisoner, Freedom Archives*, San Francisco, California

, Former US-held political prisoner, Freedom Archives*, San Francisco, California Nathaniel Moore , archivist, Freedom Archives*, San Francisco, California

, archivist, Freedom Archives*, San Francisco, California Isaac Ontiveros , member, Critical Resistance*, Oakland, California

, member, Critical Resistance*, Oakland, California Michael Ritter , counselor faculty; member CSU Academic Senate & CFA Board of Directors, San Francisco State University*, California

, counselor faculty; member CSU Academic Senate & CFA Board of Directors, San Francisco State University*, California Jaime Veve , Co-Convener, Labor for Palestine*, New York City, New York

, Co-Convener, Labor for Palestine*, New York City, New York Laura Whitehorn, Former US-held political prisoner, New York City, New York

* All institutional and organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only

In PDF:

www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.pdf

In Arabic:

www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.ARABIC.doc

In Spanish:

www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.SPANISH.docx




Mary was born in St. Vincent, Minnesota on May 18, 1934 to Lawrence and Lorraine Gooselaw. She was Lawrence and Lorraines second eldest child; sister to Frances, Lois, Connie, and Doug. Following her years in St. Vincent, Mary attended and graduated from high school in Pembina, ND. She waited for her sister Lois to graduate from high school, and together they joined the United States Air Force, via the Buddy Program in 1955. Mary and Lois served in Washington, DC at the Pentagon, working in crypto for three years. After her service in the Air Force, Mary attended airline stewardess school and worked a short while for the airlines before coming to Montana to be with her sister Frances in Three Forks. Mary took a job waitressing at The Grill Cafe, where she met the love of her life Don Stockburger. She and Don married in April of 1959 and had their son Greg in November of 1960. When Greg was young, Mary waitressed at the Headwaters Cafe for a number of years before attending and graduating from Mr. Macks Beauty School in Bozeman. Mary loved doing hair and there was never a day that her hair wasnt at its finest. When she finished beauty school she went to work for Bonnie at The Charm Beauty Shop in Three Forks. Mary, Don and Greg spent summers at Harrison Lake enjoying time on the pontoon boat and camping with family and friends. Mary fiercely loved her family and friends. She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her; especially by her dog Buffy, who was her faithful companion. She will also be missed by her Whitehall and Manhattan dancing friends, with whom she and Don danced every Sunday for a decade. Mary had a special knack to make friends with everyone she metfrom temporary caregivers, to longtime neighbors. Her ability to connect was an amazing gift and she instantly made everyone around her feel comfortable and loved from the minute they knew her. It was a joy to be in her presence and it was a gift to be loved by her. She was so very special.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Muscatine Community Colleges next theater production is intended to make you laugh hard and think deep.

The college will present Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire on April 22-24 and April 29-May 1. The play is about a woman who finds a shocking, hidden fact about her husband so she leaves him. In her journey searching for new purpose in life she meets a suicidal alcoholic.

Im fan of David Lindsay-Abaire, and I knew it would be a good challenge for the actors, said David Lane, the show's director.

He described it as an absurd comedy.

A lot of what happens in the plot is kind of absurd, but they have to play it still real, Lane, MCC theater professor, said.

He said despite the hilarity of characters and situations, it provokes some moments of deep thinking for the actors and audience.

The show is about relationship and fate  predestination versus freewill, Lane explained.

Sarah Pfeiffer, a second-year student at MCC, portrays the main character Cass.

Cass is kind of easy because I feel like shes a lot like me, Pfeiffer said. Shes kind of free-spirited, willing to do anything and kind of ditsy, in a way. She tries not to get really mad at things and not have a scene. She runs away from her problems.

Audiences may remember Pfeiffer from Little Women and All in the Timing.

In contrast to Pfeiffer, first-year student Kendall McKasson is finding her character a struggle. McKasson plays a character named Karla, who is always on edge and nagging at her husband.

Its very hard for me because that character is not at all who I am, so I really have enjoyed getting into this character because its challenged me to get out of my comfort zone, McKasson said. Im not a loud person, Im not a mean person. This character has caused me to have to be a lot of those things that Im not.

She said she feels like shes been type-cast in the past, so this gives her a chance to challenge herself. Audiences may remember her from Sleepy Hollow and Little Women. She was also stage manager for Ivy and the Bean and had directorial debut with The Nerd last month.

She said being behind the scenes of past shows has helped her play a bigger role on stage.

Im not nervous because I feel like Ive done my job and have prepared to the best of my ability, McKasson said.

Lane did warn that the show is for mature audiences and discouraged bringing children.

He said MCC shows are not intended to compete with the high school or other community production.

I do shows that they wouldnt be able to do, Lane said. When Im picking shows its partly due to the student experience.

MCC produced a childrens musical last fall. He tries to find different styles to give students an array of experiences and hadn't done an absurd comedy in a while.
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 []
Death by a thousand cuts. Will this be the fate of Napas watershed? A project that degrades our watershed wounds this valley, killing it slowly. The Walt Ranch is more than a mere cut. It is a devastating gash, ambushing our watershed. We live on the valley floor, and are acutely aware that the proposed Walt Ranch vineyard project will have an egregious effect on the viability of this valley.

Like many others, we wonder why such salient breaches to the watershed are explained away in the environmental impact report? It explains that with mitigation, this projects effects would be less than significant.

Cutting 26,000 trees is less than significant? Visualize just one acre with 50 tree carcasses, their stumps unearthed. It will resemble a war zone with the myriad ecosystems created by indigenous flora and fauna destroyed. What is the mitigation? Planting vineyards where the managers job is to eliminate competing foliage around the vines, and keep out everything else from suspicious insects to wild turkeys?

It will take years for these hillsides to reach their new normal. Meanwhile, erosion will send silt downward to its gravitational destiny, and vineyard chemicals will percolate down to our ground water. Napa Water General Manager Joy Eldredge has said the Milliken Water Treatment Plant cannot remove the fertilizers that can run off vineyards. Further, to the heart of the matter, she said, Lets face it. Were still going to be drinking this water hundreds of years from now.

Less than significant. Enough of this environmental impact report legalese word play. When you poke too many straws in the groundwater, it depletes the source. In that instance, does mitigation mean trucking water in where groundwater has been depleted? Carneros Inn trucks in water, for instance. Despite the nearly seven year struggle with Carneros farmers and residents who objected to the development of the resort for fear of losing groundwater, the developers prevailed. In practical everyday language, trucking in water is very significant. Coincidentally, the same firm who created the environmental impact report for the Carneros Inn also created the Walt Ranch environmental impact report.

The Register recently described the Hall familys 10 years of work on this project. In addition, the article went on to describe the lengthy and expensive environmental impact report as perhaps the most comprehensive report of its kind ever in Napa. Speaking to the investment of time, consider the time invested by residents in those hills. Circle Oaks, for instance, was created in 1964.

The residents of those 180 homes have spent 52 years on that community, developing their own water district and their own fire prevention district, not to mention paying their mortgages, insurance and property taxes for five decades.

As for the comprehensive environmental impact report, neither length nor expense guarantees that its conclusions protect the watershed and groundwater. Remember the euphemistic environmental impact report terminology discussed above: with mitigation and less than significant? Someone has to say that the emperor has no clothes.

We certainly would be remiss if we failed to mention the Halls generosity to the valley in their numerous charitable endeavors. Many organizations have benefited from their contributions to the community. We recognize and appreciate their largess. However, philanthropy is not a quid pro quo for the Walt Ranch projects assault on the valleys watershed. Looking back, many of Americas iconic philanthropists made their fortunes by exploiting natural resources, exploiting their workers, and exploiting their political connections, assuaging the citizens by creating an alternative legacy through philanthropy.

Many other concerns about the Walt Ranch project have been written about over the past months, including the impact of heavy equipment on the roads and increased traffic. We particularly admired one letter many months ago that was a scholarly and exhaustive list of all species, flora and fauna, that will be impacted. That letter was really the beginning of our education about the devastating impact of this project.

Keep writing. Perhaps your letters will educate our supervisors and help them in their very difficult task, namely, balancing development without killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

Above all, we treasure this most beautiful and unique valley. Compromising its watershed and contaminating groundwater will lead to its demise. Sadly, we can feel each of those thousand cuts.

Karen and Charley Pettigrew

Napa
After news broke yesterday that Zac Brown Band lead singer Zac Brown was involved in a drug bust at a Florida hotel last week, many people were doubtful that the story was true since it was TMZ who first reported on it. Turns out, however, the story is true and Brown himself decided to address it by releasing a heartfelt apology on his bands website.

My dad always said nothing good ever happens when you stay out late. Its a lesson I learned the hard way last week, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I attended a private gathering at a Miami-area hotel and had only been there for a short time when police officers arrived and arrested two people in the room who had just showed up a few minutes before. I did not know these people and had no idea that there were drugs in their possession. I cooperated fully with the authorities and am not part of any ongoing police investigation. Everyone is responsible for their actions, and I regret using poor judgment and putting myself in that position. I am focused on continuing to make great music for my fans, and on representing my family and community well with our philanthropic work. And next time Ill make sure to remember what my dad taught me.  Zac

I guess we all have to be caught in a hotel room with blow-packing strippers at some point in our lives to grow as human beings. :0)

On a side note, TMZ reported earlier that there was a bit of a coverup by the police in this case. Reportedly, several of the officers were starstruck by Brown and asked for autographs. When Brown asked the police to keep his presence hush hush because of his wife and kids, they tried hard to make that happen. They obviously failed, but they worked hard at keeping Zacs name out of it.

One bit of good news out of all of this is that Zac was eventually able to give police the prescription info for the pills he had on him when the room was searched and hes now good to go.

Whew.
Internationally renowned vocalist/composeris joined by pianists Jed Wilson and, oud player Kenan Adnawi and setar playerin a faculty recital melding Eades original music with songs by Hoagy Carmichael, Bob Dylan and more. The concert takes place at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 24 at NECs Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston and is free and open to the public. For more information, go to: necmusic or call 617-585-1122.Dominique Eade has been on the faculty of New England Conservatory since 1984, where she teaches voice, composition and improvisation. The list of Eades accomplished students is impressive and continues to grow. In the 1994 Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition, three of the eleven finalists, including the winner,, were Eades students. The 1998 third-place winner, also studied with Eade. In the 2004 competition, Eades students(Lake Street Dive) and(Sting) were both finalists. In the 2010 Thelonious Monk Competition, Richard Saunders placed as a finalist. Other outstanding students include Grammy-nominated artists Luciana Souza and Sarah Jarosz; Berklee faculty members Lisa Thorson, Patrice Williamson, Kris Adams and Aubrey Johnson; Julie Hardy, Kristin Slipp, Aoife ODonovan (Crooked Still, Goat Rodeo, Dave Douglas), Heather Masse (Prairie Home Companion and Wailin Jennies),, Sara Leib, Sunny Kim, Rebecca Shrimpton (Jazz Composers Allliance), classical soprano Elizabeth Keusch, Sofia Rei Koutsovitis and Michael Mayo (The Monk Institute). She is the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Alumni Award.An impossibly versatile vocalist, composer, lyricist and instrumental arranger" (David Hajdu, The New York Times Magazine), Eade has recorded six CDs as a leader (two of them for RCA Victor) featuring such notable musicians as, Ran Blake, Donald Brown andNECs Jazz Studies Department was the first fully accredited jazz studies program at a music conservatory. The brainchild of Gunther Schuller, who moved quickly to incorporate jazz into the curriculum when he became President of the Conservatory in 1967, the Jazz Studies faculty has included six MacArthur genius" grant recipients (three currently teaching) and four NEA Jazz Masters, and alumni that reads like a whos who of jazz.The program has spawned numerous Grammy winning composers and performers. As Mike West writes in JazzTimes: NECs jazz studies department is among the most acclaimed and successful in the world; so says the roster of visionary artists that have comprised both its faculty and alumni. The program currently has 95 students; 48 undergraduate and 47 graduate students from 13 countries.Founded in 1972 by musical visionaries Gunther Schuller and Ran Blake, New England Conservatory's Contemporary Improvisation program is one of the most versatile in all of music education (JazzEd). Now in its 43rd year, the program trains composer/performer/ improvisers to broaden their musical palettes and develop unique voices. It is unparalleled in its structured approach to ear training and its emphasis on singing, memorization, harmonic sophistication, aesthetic integrity, and stylistic openness. Under Blake's inspired guidance for its first twenty-six years, the program grew considerably and has expanded its offerings under current chair Hankus Netsky and assistant chair Eden MacAdam-Somer. Alumni include Don Byron, John Medeski, Jacqueline Schwab, Aoife O'Donovan and Sarah Jarosz; faculty include Carla Kihlstedt, Blake, Dominique Eade, and Anthony Coleman. A thriving hub of musical exploration, (Jeremy Goodwin, Boston Globe), the program currently has over 50 undergrad and graduate students from 17 countries.
YEREVAN.  Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has three fears: loss of power, loss of territory, and criminal accountability.

Founder and Director of the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs, political analyst Styopa Safaryan, told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am, as he commented on the present-day situation following the four-day Karabakh-Azerbaijan war in early April.

Now, Baku is at a phase of reviews, he said. And much here depends on us [i.e. the Armenian side].

In his words, Azerbaijan has begun fearing Armenias petition to the UN, in connection with Bakus flagrant violation of international and European law and the law of war.

If we take such a step, this will deprive Baku of the chance to take future actions, the analyst added.

Safaryan noted that Azerbaijan has launched three models of attack over the course of these years, all of these models have failed.

Ilham Aliyev understands very well that, during such great casualties and such large-scale [military] actions, it earned only one hill, without a major change in the [Karabakh-Azerbaijan] Line of Contact, he said. Therefore it is not that Aliyev is excited by his successes. Now, he is at the phase of drawing lessons from all previous attempts, and they need to be very watchful to what decisions Baku is making.

The analyst noted that the motives behind Azerbaijans most recent aggression are the result of a very dirty game.

This was everyones game against everyone; this was Russias game against everyone; this was Turkeys game against everyone, Styopa Safaryan noted. Everyone had very dirty, far-reaching objectives here. The objectives which the foreign playersRussia and Turkeypursued were very indirect, [whereas] Azerbaijans [objective] was territorial advance.
Syunik governor in Frances Vienne, sister city of Armenias Goris, discusses implemented projects, future cooperation

Climate protesters throw mashed potatoes at Monet painting in Germany museum

There is chance for peace in Ukraine, Macron says

US, Russia defense chiefs discuss Ukraine situation for 2nd time in last few days

Salman Rushdie becomes partially blind after New York attack in August

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

Saudi Arabia forum set to draw American business leaders despite existing tensions

Iran plans to increase natural gas exports to Turkey

Iran army ground forces holding exercise in West Azarbaijan Province

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

How AI offers dating based on a person's preferences: Igor Khalatyan talks about his project

Kanye West hires Johnny Depp's attorney to save his business

Fighter jet crashes into house in Russias Irkutsk

150 residents of 3 Karabakh settlements handed over to Azerbaijan get compensation certificates

Rishi Sunak confirms UK premier bid

Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson hold talks

Biden slammed for 'scary' long pause during interview

John Lennons final letter sells for nearly $64K

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

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz dies aged 78

Hungary to approve by years end Sweden, Finland petitions to join NATO

US researchers debunk main theory for origin of life

Alexis Ohanian: We will never stop thriving, it will be a daily reminder that you failed

Iranian MP: Iran will conduct military exercises wherever it deems necessary

Finnish delegation to visit Ankara to discuss NATO membership

Jurgen Klopp: The performance I can explain, the result not

Social media giants are likely to oppose Turkey's new law

Pastor steals $900,000 to buy stocks and car in U.S.

Lithuanian President Nauseda is named most popular politician in country

Charles III will embark on longest tour of world in history of royal family

Deputy Director of Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS: Baku's goal is that Karabakh has no Armenian population

Hurricane Roslyn in Pacific Ocean intensifies to third category

Study: We need to eat according to circadian rhythms

Italy's new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, begins forming government

U.S. Treasury Department records budget deficit of over $429 billion in September

Why does Baku need aggravation on border with Armenia? Skakov assesses likelihood of new aggression

Iranian Foreign Minister: I had important meeting with Pashinyan in Armenia

Johnson spotted in economy class on flight from Dominican Republic to Britain

Armenian PM and European Parliament Resident Rapporteur for Armenia discuss Karabakh situation

Authorities in Kherson urge residents to immediately leave city

Russian expert: Baku's attempts to open corridor by force will cause negative response not only from IRI or Russian

Telegraph: Britain to send about 60 old tanks to NATO base in Germany for exercises

Blood tests can help treat childhood cancer

Artak Beglaryan: You will see me in new position

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds pick name for their fourth child already?

Netanyahu: Iran nuclear deal could bring Russia 'hundreds of billions'

Russia and Turkey begin to develop gas hub project

PM Pashinyan discusses agenda of bilateral relations with Iranian FM

Sensational defeat for Liverpool (video)

Anna Hakobyan meets Armenians in Paris

Sargsyan: Recognition of Artsakh people's right for self-determination must be reflected in legal documents

Italy's first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, sworn in

'A Walk to Remember' star Mandy Moore becomes mother for second time

Private jet goes missing off coast of Costa Rica

Benzema will not help Real Madrid in match against Sevilla

Times of India: India tests nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile

Spiegel: German Foreign Minister and Defense Minister ask to allocate 2.2 billion for military aid to Kiev

Gas stoves can be hazardous to health

World Championship U-23: Impressive start by Arsen Harutyunyan, Arman Avagyan will fight for bronze

Deputy PM of Armenia and Head of Sharjah Heritage Institute discuss strengthening of Armenian-Emirati relations

Biden allows participation in U.S. presidential election in 2024

Angelina Jolie will play in biopic about opera singer Maria Callas

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia and representatives of AIISA discuss security issues

Kakhovka reservoir increases water discharges in case of possible destruction of HPP

Pashinian's spouse: Yesterday at Elysee Palace I was received by dear Brigitte Macron

At least 15 people killed in bus-truck collision in India

Explosion at Uzbek Defense Ministry depot injures 16 people

Keto diet and interval fasting: What are their benefits or harms?

Armenian NA Speaker receives Iranian FM: Tehran opposes obstacles on border with friendly Armenia

President Harutyunyan receives group of members of Union of Artsakh Reserve Officers NGO

Newspaper: Armenia restores diplomatic ties with Hungary?

WTA: All participants of final championship of the year

Life on Mars: Could it still be there today? Or will there be in the future?

China hit by 5.5 magnitude earthquake

Armenian Defense Ministry denies Azerbaijani report on shelling, calling it disinformation

Blinken: Moscow is not interested in stopping aggression against Ukraine

Netflix to film series based on novel 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'

PSG win thanks to goals by Messi and Mbappe (video)

Big win for Juventus (video)

Japan and U.S. will hold joint military exercises

France withdraws from Energy Charter Treaty

Levon Aronian becomes father

Data scientist: the profession of the 21st century

Manchester United to fine Ronaldo 720,000

CNN: White House is in talks with Elon Musk to create satellite Internet service Starlink in Iran

Radioactive gel for spot therapy of tumors is created

Baku outraged by Iran's statements and frightened by IRGC military exercises

Who are main beneficiaries of 'Zangezur' corridor?: Another anonymous article by 'Haykakan Zhamanak' newspaper

Pyunik beat Shirak

Ankara decides to stand up for Riyadh amid deteriorating relations between Saudi Arabia and U.S.
Syunik governor in Frances Vienne, sister city of Armenias Goris, discusses implemented projects, future cooperation

Climate protesters throw mashed potatoes at Monet painting in Germany museum

There is chance for peace in Ukraine, Macron says

US, Russia defense chiefs discuss Ukraine situation for 2nd time in last few days

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

Saudi Arabia forum set to draw American business leaders despite existing tensions

Iran plans to increase natural gas exports to Turkey

Iran army ground forces holding exercise in West Azarbaijan Province

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

Rishi Sunak confirms UK premier bid

Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson hold talks

Biden slammed for 'scary' long pause during interview

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

Iranian MP: Iran will conduct military exercises wherever it deems necessary

Finnish delegation to visit Ankara to discuss NATO membership

Social media giants are likely to oppose Turkey's new law

Pastor steals $900,000 to buy stocks and car in U.S.

Lithuanian President Nauseda is named most popular politician in country

Charles III will embark on longest tour of world in history of royal family

Deputy Director of Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS: Baku's goal is that Karabakh has no Armenian population

Hurricane Roslyn in Pacific Ocean intensifies to third category

Italy's new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, begins forming government

U.S. Treasury Department records budget deficit of over $429 billion in September

Why does Baku need aggravation on border with Armenia? Skakov assesses likelihood of new aggression

Iranian Foreign Minister: I had important meeting with Pashinyan in Armenia

Johnson spotted in economy class on flight from Dominican Republic to Britain

Armenian PM and European Parliament Resident Rapporteur for Armenia discuss Karabakh situation

Authorities in Kherson urge residents to immediately leave city

Russian expert: Baku's attempts to open corridor by force will cause negative response not only from IRI or Russian

Telegraph: Britain to send about 60 old tanks to NATO base in Germany for exercises

Artak Beglaryan: You will see me in new position

Netanyahu: Iran nuclear deal could bring Russia 'hundreds of billions'

Russia and Turkey begin to develop gas hub project

PM Pashinyan discusses agenda of bilateral relations with Iranian FM

Anna Hakobyan meets Armenians in Paris

Sargsyan: Recognition of Artsakh people's right for self-determination must be reflected in legal documents

Italy's first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, sworn in

Private jet goes missing off coast of Costa Rica

Times of India: India tests nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile

Spiegel: German Foreign Minister and Defense Minister ask to allocate 2.2 billion for military aid to Kiev

Deputy PM of Armenia and Head of Sharjah Heritage Institute discuss strengthening of Armenian-Emirati relations

Biden allows participation in U.S. presidential election in 2024

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia and representatives of AIISA discuss security issues

Kakhovka reservoir increases water discharges in case of possible destruction of HPP

Pashinian's spouse: Yesterday at Elysee Palace I was received by dear Brigitte Macron

At least 15 people killed in bus-truck collision in India

Explosion at Uzbek Defense Ministry depot injures 16 people

Armenian NA Speaker receives Iranian FM: Tehran opposes obstacles on border with friendly Armenia

President Harutyunyan receives group of members of Union of Artsakh Reserve Officers NGO

Newspaper: Armenia restores diplomatic ties with Hungary?

China hit by 5.5 magnitude earthquake

Armenian Defense Ministry denies Azerbaijani report on shelling, calling it disinformation

Blinken: Moscow is not interested in stopping aggression against Ukraine

Japan and U.S. will hold joint military exercises

France withdraws from Energy Charter Treaty

CNN: White House is in talks with Elon Musk to create satellite Internet service Starlink in Iran

Baku outraged by Iran's statements and frightened by IRGC military exercises

Who are main beneficiaries of 'Zangezur' corridor?: Another anonymous article by 'Haykakan Zhamanak' newspaper

Ankara decides to stand up for Riyadh amid deteriorating relations between Saudi Arabia and U.S.

French Foreign Minister considers it vital to keep lines of communication with Russia open

Pentagon refuses to give details of conversation between Austin and Shoigu

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin: Head of Caucasus Muslims Department again made slanderous and false statements

Erdogan denies using chemical weapons against Kurds and threatens those who dare to talk about it

Saudi Arabia and China will strengthen their ties in energy sector

Governor of Gegharkunik province receives representatives of OSCE fact-finding mission

Penny Mordaunt runs for Prime Minister of Great Britain

Sweden expects ratification of NATO membership application by Hungary and Turkey to be completed soon

European Union will allocate 1.5 billion euros per month to Kiev in 2023

An Israeli-built flight school opened in Greece

Russian Railways is negotiating with Azerbaijan and Iran to launch the Rasht-Astara route

Overchuk: Construction of road through Meghri, whose sovereignty is not in question, depends on Armenia's position

Armenian Defense Minister's working visit to India is over

Hungary will not agree to limit prices for imported gas

Iranian Foreign Minister: Iran considers Armenia one of most important transit countries

Naribekyan participates in meeting of secretaries general of PACE parliaments

Delegation from United Arab Emirates visits Armenia at invitation of head of MONKS: Two agreements signed

Dollar, euro drop in Armenia

Iran consul general in Armenias Kapan: We do not accept any change of borders

Baza: Mobile military registration and enlistment offices will be removed on Russian-Georgian border

Iranian Consul: Countries of region do not need presence of foreign armed forces

Armenia FM: Iran consulate general in Kapan will be important for regional security

Iranian Consul General advises Kapan residents not to worry anymore: Iran is here for Armenian people

FM reaffirms Armenia plan to open consulate general in Irans Tabriz

Turkey to open consulate in occupied Armenian Shushi city of Artsakh

Turkish Ministry of Finance: Ankara can buy Russian oil without Western funding

Armenia Security Council chief briefs European Parliament rapporteur on recent Azerbaijan military aggression
STEPANAKERT.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday visited the two Azerbaijani detaineesDilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev, and provided them with an opportunity to exchange family news.

Eteri Musayelyan, Communication Officer of the ICRC Mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, told about the aforementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to its mandate, the ICRC will continue its visits to these individuals in detention on a regular basis to monitor treatment and conditions of detention and help to ensure that the detainees are able to maintain contact with their families, Musayelyan added.

Azerbaijani diversionary and reconnaissance team member Dilham Askerov was charged with espionage; unauthorized border trespass; kidnapping and violence against a minor, committed by an organized group; murder committed by an organized group motivated by ethnic hatred; and attempt of murder of two persons, committed by an organized group, motivated by ethnic hatred. The other team member, Shahbaz Guliyev, was charged with espionage; unauthorized border trespass; kidnapping and violence against a minor, committed by an organized group; and murder committed by an organized group motivated by ethnic hatred.

In December 2014, the First Instance General Jurisdiction Court of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) sentenced Askerov and Guliyev to life and 22 years, respectively, in prison.

Subsequently, the NKR Courts of Appeal and Cassation upheld this verdict.
Christian Nagorno-Karabahk is continuing its struggle for independence from Baku, the Sky Italia story says.

First there were heavy artillery attacks and howitzers, this being followed by tanks and soldiers. I reloaded the gun. The next moment everything round me was in blood, one of the soldiers in hospital says.

The conflict started here, in the Armenian and Christian Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been struggling for independence from Baku for 25 years.

They started bombarding when we were asleep. Of course, we first of all evacuated children and women. And then we took everything possible out of our houses, one of the residents says.

First one rocket hit the roof, being followed by two others, which destroyed everything. Then we somehow managed to take the children out of the basement: they were all in plaster, another resident notes.

The Azerbaijani soldiers entered the house and took everything. The rest was destroyed, a third one says.

But the real tragedy happened here, in the house of Khalapyans. The Red Cross is investigating their brutal murder in detail.

We have evidence of Azerbaijani violence. We will use these photos to accuse the Azeris of the war crimes against humanity, war photographer Hakob Poghosyan says.

The volunteers are ready to take arms to defend the independence of the Armenian and Christian Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Turks and Azeris treat people similarly. We have come to show that we are here to defend ourselves, one of them says.
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]
"Preliminary diagnosis shows that he has developed pneumonia.maybe his chest is infected.next 72 hours are important. If he does not recover well in 48 hours, we will have to shift him to ICU," told Dr. Jalil Parkar of the Lilavati Hospital to ANI.

He earlier told ANI that the actor was admitted around 2 am but added that he was not in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

He also stated that the doctors are monitoring his closely.

The 93-year-old actor was presented the Padma Vibhushan in December last year.

The legend was presented with the Padma Vibhushan a medal, a certificate and a shawl by the Home Minister, in the presence of the actor's wife Saira Bano.

Dilip Kumar or Yusuf Khan, the tragedy king of Bollywood, and often described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray, has created an edifice for the modern day Bollywood cinema.

The legendary actor is the first recipient of the Filmfare Award for the best actor in the year 1954.

'Devdas', 'Madhumati', 'Daag', 'Ram aur Shyam', 'Mughl-e-Azam' are some of the few trendsetter films the legendary actor has done. (ANI)
The Election Commission has barred political parties and candidates in West Bengal from giving any print media advertisement on April 16 and 17 for the second phase of the assembly polls without pre-certification. The polling for the second phase of the assembly elections in the state will be held on April 17. In a letter to the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer, the EC said that instances of advertisements of offending and misleading nature published in the print media have been brought to the notice of the commission in the past. It said such advertisements in the last stage of elections vitiate the election, and the affected candidates and parties will not have opportunity of providing clarification and rebuttal in such cases. It said direction should also be issued to all news papers in the state that they will not publish any advertisement in the print media on both days, which has not been certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee. (ANI)
Wishing the Maharashtrian leader, the Prime Minister through his twitter account said, "Wishing the governor of UP, a leader who spent years in public life, Shri Ram Naik on his birthday. May he lead a long & healthy life."

Meanwhile, the Governor has no special engagement on his birthday, said a Raj Bhawan source here.

"The Governor was engaged in routine work as per the schedule," sources said.

The Governor had earlier said that he did not believe in celebrating his birthday and it is like any other day for him.

The five-time MP and three time MLA from Maharashtra, Mr Naik was born on April 16, 1934 inAtpadi village of Sangli district in Maharashtra.UNI MB SB RK1215

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-685728.Xml
Additional Police Superintendent (Naxal) Ravi Bhushan said here that the nabbed women ultras of outlawed CPI (Maoist) were allegedly involved in blowing up the house of a villager Naresh Prasad at Mohda village under Atari police station in Gaya district on March 3.

The arrested Naxalites were identified as Neetu Kumari and Kamala Devi.

An intensive interrogation of extremists is on to get vital clues from them. UNI XC-DH AKM SB PM1301

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-685817.Xml
Expressing concern over the imminent water crisis due to the construction of projects by Karnataka and Maharashtra without approvals, Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister D Umamaheshwara Rao today underlined the need of combined efforts by the two Telugu states-Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to prevent it. The Minister appealed to the Telangana state not to take up projects on river Krishna without approvals. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Rao said that Karnataka and Maharashtra were constructing projects illegally on the rivers--- Krishna and Godavari. "Karnataka is planning to construct projects across the river Krishna at various places, where the water availability and flows are nil", he said and stressed the need of joint efforts by the two telugu states to check the construction of the projects by presenting arguments effectively before the Apex court and Brijesh Kumar Tribunal. The Minister said that both the telugu states had to receive 812 TMC of water. However, it is getting only 66 TMC of water since projects were constructed without proper approvals by Karnataka and Maharashtra. Both the Telugu states were compelled to share the meager 66 TMC of water, he regretted. If the constructions were not stopped, both the states would face severe water crisis and suffer a lot in future, the Minister warned. At the same time, the Minister also asked the Telangana state how far it is justifiable for it to plan for constructing of projects on the river Krishna, when the inflows of water had come down considerably. The Irrigation Minister said the AP government had apprised the Union Water Resources Minister and Central Water Commission (CWC) about the illegal projects being constructed besides the farming community had also approached the Apex court on the issue. The Apex court issued notices to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the Centre on the issue, he said.UNI DP CS 1340 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-685945.Xml
Aswathi Dorje, who was till recently the Addl CP SB II in Mumbai city police will return to Thane where she served for some time.

It was in 2010 general transfers Chhering Dorje SP, Chandrapur, took charge of Zone 1 and his wife Aswati Dorje, SP, Vardha, took charge of Zone 5, sources said.

From the 2000 batch, Chhering was posted in J&K and Aswathi in Assam and Meghalaya, before they got Maharashtra postings, their first being Gadchiroli. Having worked in Gadchiroli, Gondhia and Vardha and Chandrapur the couple came to Mumbai and remained there since then.

Both have had a small stint with the Thane police. Aswati, was also the first woman IPS officer to be posted in Naxalite area.UNI XR NV SB PM1451

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-685986.Xml
Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is contemplating to launch mass awareness drive to protect the green cover of the Orange city. Mayor Pravin Datke said today that the NMC would protect the green cover of the Orange city for which a massive public campaign drive have been chalked out to aware the citizens against illegal tree-felling. He said the drive was planned during the recent regular meeting of the corporation. The mayor said the awareness drive is a joint programme of the NMC and the forest department. He said it was found that majority of the people were cutting trees without any strong reason. And to check such tendency the NMC came forward to push the campaign in which educational institutions like schools and colleges would be involved with the mission to reach maximum people. Cooperation of the media houses was also being sought in the mission. Sources at the NMC said advertisement hoardings , one of the major attractions for felling trees, will now be put up at public places in all ten zones of the city. To protect the green cover, an expert team was preparing a draft suggesting amendments in the existing Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, which will be submitted to state forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar at the earliest. NMC will also sensitise people about the provisions of the Act. Police personnel would also be empowered by the act to take necessary steps for the preservation and protection of trees.UNI RS NV SW VP1605 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-686143.Xml
Presiding a polling booth for all 912 voters at Srikhola is a Himalayan task for quinquagenarian Kanchan Thapa, who had to trek hostile terrains in dark defying growls of wild bears and barks of pack of wild dogs on India-Nepal border. "Exactly we reach around 2000 hrs on Friday night at the polling station after gruelling 12-hr journey on vehicles, then on pony and finally on foot," primary school teacher Thapa told UNI today. Srikhola, located above 12,000-ft from sea-level in Darjeeling bordering Nepal is the highest polling booth in West Bengal. Total number of voters is 912, all are ethnic people denied of any essential ingredients for living, forget about electricity, potable water and basic primary health facilities. Thapa, accompanied by gun trotting security personnel, is among the 56 officials reached the area on Friday and camp for next three nights before heading to Darjeeling on Monday morning. "We entered the village like king maker among the poor voters but our hearts ran faster than we expected in fear of what is stoned in our fate for the next three days where even mobile connectivity is zero for want of electricity." he maintained. Equipped with kerosene lamps, candles and of course with battery powered EVMs the polling officials wait begin for polling day between 0600 hrs to 1800 hrs on Sunday. Polling station is Shikhola primary school, a dilapidated single-story dark house with rooftop made of slabs and stone and winds from Himalayan terrain create numbness the whole body. "This is the ninth time I am as the polling official. But this time I am experiencing reality of democracy of the Himalayan people. I know people in the hills are very eager to franchise their voting rights if it even trek miles and miles," Mr Thapa said. Besides Srikhola, two other polling booths- Dara Goan and Ramman- are also under Darjeeling assembly constituency. While Ramman has 337 voters, Dara Gaon has 854 electors, also the border areas of India and Nepal, nearly 100 km southwest of Darjeeling town. The areas are heaven for the trekker but a veritable hostile for local people, whose life depended on various factors. Their basic needs come from down of 12 kms trek, almost whole day goes for up and down journey. Donkey and pony ride is luxury for them. The polling materials are ferried on the back of ponies, with locals acting as the guide on the hostile mountain trails. UNI XC-PC AKM AE CS1451 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-685992.Xml
Nagaland BJP members met Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & PublicDistribution Ram Vilas Paswan at Chumukedima near Dimapur and apprised him of the State of Affairs in the Food and Public Distribution System (PDS) sector in the state. According to a release, BJP general secretary of media Eduzu Theluo today informed that state BJP president Visasolie Lhoungu highlighted the plight of the people, especially in remote corners where accessibility is a huge problem. Electricity and road connectivity as well as poor telecommunications were the main hurdles to delivering the PDS benefits, the BJP president added. The necessity of district FCI godowns was also highlighted and a representation in this connection was submitted by the state BJP. The release also said Mr Paswan noted that while the rest of the country had effectually implemented the revamped PDS system, Nagaland was lagging behind, leading him to tour the state. He revealed that the Chief Minister has assured to bring into effect the reduced rate of rice and wheat under both the Antodhya and BPL scheme from June 1 in Dimapur and Kohima and from July 1 in the rest of the state, the release said. On the infrastructural aspect, particularly road conditions and district godowns, the Union Minister assured to look into them as well, the release added. UNI AS AKM AE CS1552 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-686019.Xml
One person was arrested today by Assam Police for allegedly instigating a mob to attack Pengeri police station in Tinsukia district, which had led to death of 11 people. Police said one Samar Das has been arrested in connection with the case. Police is keeping a close watch over the situation, which is under control now. Eleven people were killed and 20 others injured due to electrocution and police firing when a mob had attacked Pengeri police station on April 11 last. A judicial enquiry has been ordered into the incident.UNI SG AKM CJ AE SB1630 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-686217.Xml
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday embarked on a four-day visit to Iran and Russia that will see her attend a bilateral joint commission meeting in Tehran and a trilateral meeting later in Moscow with her counterparts from Russia and China. In Tehran, Sushma will hold meetings with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, and also co-chair a meeting of the India-Iran Joint Commission that will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations. Her visit follows that of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was in Iran last week. The Iran visit also comes two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia, during which both sides discussed ways to scale up their strategic ties. Besides oil, India has vital stakes in connectivity projects in Iran, like the Chabahar port, that will open up physical connectivity with Central Asia and Afghanistan. In Moscow, during the Russia-India-China (RIC) foreign ministers' meeting, on April 18, Sushma would meet her counterparts Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Wang Yi from China. She is expected to raise with Wang the issue of China blocking India's bid to ban Jaish-e-Mohamed chief Masood Azhar in the UN. Russia is likely to voice its concerns over India mulling signing a military logistics agreement with the US. India counts Russia among its trusted friends and during Modi's visit to Moscow last December for the annual summit meeting with President Vladimir Putin, both sides inked major deals in defence cooperation as well as in other spheres. Sushma, announcing her visit, tweeted that she will raise the issue of the death of two Indian girl students in a Russian medical college hostel fire and of a medical student from Srinagar in a Russian city during her Moscow trip. "I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishna Bhonsle is on my agenda," Sushma posted. Kallur, 22, from Navi Mumbai and her room-mate Bhonsle, 21, from Pune, perished in the fire which broke out in their hostel on February 14 in the Smolensk State Medical Academy, Smolensk, around 380 km southwest of Moscow. In a separate tweet, Sushma said she would also take up the issue of Yasir Javed, an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed after being attacked in the Russian city of Kazan by unknown people. A medical student, Yasir had reached Russia on February 26 on a business trip and was attacked in Kazan city in the Tatarstan republic that left him in a coma. He died on March 8. --Indo-Asian News Service ab-rn//bg ( 442 Words) 2016-04-16-16:48:04 (IANS)
Middleton was attired in a dress designed by an Indian-American fashion designer Naeem Khan.

The couple, who arrived in Mumbai on April 10 on their first visit to India, will depart for the U.K. from New Delhi tonight. They were on a seven-day tour of India and Bhutan, which was aimed at building strong bonds with both two countries.

Upon their arrival in Mumbai, Prince William and his wife paid tribute to the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks at the memorial at the Taj Palace Hotel.

In Delhi, they laid a wreath at India Gate and visited Gandhi Smriti.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a lunch for the Duke and Duchess on April 12. After their stay in Delhi, the Duke and Duchess visited the Kaziranga National in Assam Park before proceeding to their visit to Bhutan. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who today left for a two-nation tour of Tehran and Moscow, said she will take up the death of two Indians in a fire tragedy and killing of another Indian in Russia in her meetings in that country. In a series of tweets, she said, "I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishna Bhonsle is on my agenda. "Will also take up the matter of Yasir an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed in Kazan (Russia)." Ms Swaraj's first destination is Tehran. She will go to Moscow from there to attend the Russia-India-China trilateral. Her visit to Iran is taking place for the first time after the lifting of Western sanctions against the country, and her focus would be both on the regional political situation and the bilateral trade and investment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a pending invitation to visit Iran from President Hassan Rouhani, and it was expected that his visit might take place later in the year but there was so far no official word on it. UNI NAZ SW AE 1718 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-686355.Xml
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today alleged that the six-year long Assam agitation against Bangladeshi infiltrators was sponsored by the RSS. Addressing a press conference, Mr Gogoi said, "The Assam agitation was sponsored by the RSS. BJP leaders Atal Behari Vajpayee and Arun Shourie were the guides." "It is a known fact that the Assam agitation was originally against all outsiders but was later changed to oppose only Bangladeshi infiltrators to suit the RSS," he added. Mr Gogoi claimed that RSS had provided funds for the agitation. He said, "The AASU was getting funds from the RSS. All funds for the agitation were given by the RSS." He added, "The RSS had come to exploit the sentiment of the common people and the Congress will continue to fight such divisive forces, whether in power or not." The Chief Minister alleged that the RSS was trying to reopen the wounds of Assam agitation by making former Congress minister and BJP leader Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma raise the matter of pushing back year for detection of Bangladeshis from 1971 to 1951. The Assam Accord of 1985, signed at the culmination of the agitation by All Assam Students Union (AASU) that had led the movement and Congress government at the Centre, had fixed March 31, 1971, as the date for detection of Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state. Mr Gogoi said he wanted the date fixed in the Accord to be adhered to and appreciated the present AASU leadership for supporting the 1971 deadline. Referring to the reported surge in support for the BJP-led alliance in the just concluded state polls, Mr Gogoi said he was confident of the Congress winning 65 seats out of total 126 and forming the government for the fourth straight term. "However, if the people give us the responsibility to sit in the opposition, we will fulfil that responsibility with full commitment," he added. The Chief Minister said he has started review of all development activities after the lull due to the election process, adding that he will continue to work for the people with top priority. Two phased Assam state polls were held on April 4 and 11 last and counting of votes will be undertaken on May 19 next. UNI SG AKM CJ AE AN1710 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-686163.Xml
The Kohima police manning inter-state check gate at Khuzama, while conducting routine checking and frisking of vehicles have intercepted a car this morning and recovered 100 kgs of contraband ganja concealed in nine packets worth of Rs 5,00,000 in the national market. In a release by the Kohima police Atu Zumvu informed that in this connection one person, resident of village Phaibon Khullen under Maram police station in Senapati district of Manipur was taken into police custody and a regular case was registered at Khuzama P.S case under the NDPS Act is registered against him for conducting further investigation. In another incident this morning, the same team intercepted another car and during the checking, 220 kgs of contraband ganja concealed in 22 packets worth of Rs 11,00,000 in the national market was recovered. In this connection, one person, a resident of Liyai Khullen Village under Tadubi police station of Senapati district of Manipur was taken into police custody and a regular case Khuzama police station was registered against him for conducting further investigation, the release said. UNI AS AKM CJ AE AN1701 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-686244.Xml
The JD(U) leadership is all set to sack party MP Anil Sahni after Rajya Sabha Chairperson Hamid Ansari gave his nod to CBI to prosecute Sahni in the Rs 23.71 lakh leave travel concession(LTC) scam. The party leadership has issued a showcause to Mr Sahni to explain his position within seven days to Mr Sharad Yadav, party leader in the Rajya Sabha, failing which it would be left with no option and initiate disciplinary action against him.Party General Secretary K C Tyagi in a statement said that the Central leadership had taken a serious view of the issue after the Rajya Sabha Chairperson gave his assent to CBI to prosecute Mr Sahni. He also said that his party maintained zero tolerance against those involved in economic offences. On the other hand, Mr Sahni, whose Rajya Sabha term ends in 2018, claimed that he was a victim of political conspiracy and would not resign on frivolous charges. Mr Sahni, who is in the state capital to meet national party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, told newspersons that he was consulting lawyers to file a defamation suit against CBI. Despite being a whistle blower, he has been framed under a political conspiracy by the CBI, he said, adding that he was the one, who had alerted the investigating agency about fraud in LTC scams. As it is, CBI in its chargesheet against Sahni has maintained that he in cahoot with others used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to dupe the Rajya Sabha to the tune of Rs 23.71 lakh. UNI IS AKM RJ AE SB1756 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-686268.Xml
Congress today ridiculed BJP led Government at the Centre for its "failure"in achieving target in the Swachh Bharat MIssion. In a bid to expose the Government's "failure", the opposition party targeted at zero realisation oftarget of open defecation free villages under the mission in constituencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. As per the figures posted by the party on its twitter handle, 1236 villages were to be freed fromopen defecation in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Mr Modi but target achievement iszero. Likewise, target for Lucknow the constituency of Home Minister Mr Singh and Vidisha constituencyof External Affairs Minister Ms Swaraj were 806 and 158 villages respectively but again achievementis zero, the party pointed out in the tweet. "Zero achievement in Open Defecation free villages..,..this is BJP's commitment to the SwachhBharat Mission", the party taunted.UNI SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0089-686592.Xml
Refuting the reports that she asked the the then AB Vajpayee Govenrment at the Centre, in 2002 for reducing the monthly rent to her 2,765.18 sqm house in Lutyens' Delhi from Rs 53,421 to only Rs 8,888, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, today clarified that the rent paid by her was determined by the Government and was same as others in her category. In a statement issued here, Priyanka said,'the rent was determined by the Government after "Multiple protectees occupying Government accommodation on security grounds brought to the notice of the then BJP led Govenrment that a 90 per cent increase from one month to the next, in the year 2002, from the 'market rate/Special license fee' to damages rate' was contrary to prevailing rules and regulations. None of the said persons were unauthorised occupants of the premises occupied by them..,..They were, in-fact, authorised occupants, and the 'damages rate' did not apply to them"."This error was subsequently corrected by the cabinet committee on accommodation of the then BJP Government pursuant to a letter and a meeting between current BJP MP Ashwini Kumar(Minna) and the then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.''A report in a national daily today said that Priyanka managed to convince the Vajpayee Government to reduce the monthly rent of her 2,765.18 sqm house in Lutyens' Delhi from Rs 53,421 to only Rs 8,888.More UNI AR-SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-686502.Xml
Claiming that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's visit to the frontier Kashmir district of Kupwara was a classic case of too little, too late, the main opposition party National Conference (NC), alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has blamed the slain youth for their own deaths. A NC spokesperson said Ms Mufti's belated visit to Kupwara was a classic case of 'too little, too late', especially after she chose to remain in New Delhi while the youth were losing their lives in the Valley. "PDP's justification of the killings in Handwara and Kupwara is shocking to say the least. PDP has blamed the slain youth for their own deaths and have concluded the findings of the inquiry even before the inquiry has been initiated. This clearly indicates that the proposed judicial inquiry is a mere eye-wash and that PDP's political compulsions are dictating their stand on the killings in Handwara and Kupwara," he said. Upping the ante on Ms Mufti, he said, "We strongly condemn PDP blaming the slain youth and believe this has yet again exposed the party's complete political subservience to vested interests that don't value Kashmiri lives." Meanwhile, hitting out at Ms Mufti for continuing her meetings in New Delhi while the youth were being killed in Kupwara, he asked the Chief Minister to clarify what apparent sense of urgency compelled her to meet BJP president Amit Shah and General Secretary Ram Madhav in Delhi when she should have rushed back to the Valley as soon as possible. "An elected Chief Minister of a State saying that she was 'fortunate' to meet the Union Defence Minister is shocking and unbecoming of the stature and integrity of the Chief Minister's chair. All these meetings were aimed at safeguarding her own political interests and those of her party and her continued refusal to rush back to the Valley is unpardonable. Then the insensitive, ruthless act of presenting a bouquet of flowers to the Prime Minister at a time of such misery and pain in the Valley is contemptuous to the bereaved families and the people of the State in general," he said. The NC spokesperson also questioned the handling of the situation by the state administration and said new established procedures to prevent loss of lives were not followed as there was complete chaos and disarray due to the continued absence of the Chief Minister from her duties as the Head of the Unified Command and as the Home Minister of the State. UNI BAS YSS DJK AN1947 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-686680.Xml
Criminals shot dead a jawan of Bihar Military Police (BMP) at Fatehpur village under Raghopur police station area in Vaishali district today. Police said here that BMP jawan Pappu Singh (30) received serious injuries when outlaws pumped bullets into his body near his house.Villagers rushed him to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where he died during treatment. BJP jawan was posted in Muzaffarpur district, sources added. Land dispute was stated to be the reason behind the killing, police said, adding that an FIR had been lodged against four people with the police station concerned in this connection. A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits.UNI XC DH IS AD SHS SB2116 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-686895.Xml
Villagers of Caurem in South Goa, who are protesting against illegal mining in the area, today alleged that State government was refusing to register co-operative societies for doing mining. In a statement here today Ravindra Velip, who is spearheading the agitation, alleged that while on hand Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said yesterday that co-operative societies should be allowed to involve in mining-related activities, on the other hand the state government was refusing to register such cooperative societies. Stating that villagers of Caurem were stern to carry out mining activities through their proposed 'The Sadhana Multipurpose Co-operative society', he alleged that the state government had purposely kept the registration of Society on hold and was allowing private contractors to transport the e-auctioned ore. ''In the guise of e-auction ore, the contractors in connivance with mine owners are transporting the ore which was kept hidden from official records,'' he claimed. He said Caurem villagers had written more than nine letters to Director of Mines and Geology Prasanna Acharya and asked to regularise the same, but no action had been intiated. Mr Velip further said the struggle of Caurem villagers against illegal mining and to carry out sustainable mining through co-operative mining was not over yet. ''The demand of Caurem village is genuine, they do not want private contractors to transport the e-auctioned ore, they do not want the mine owners to rob the national wealth, they want to carry out sustainable mining through their multipurpose co-operative society,'' the activist added. Yesterday, Chief Minister Parsekar had said if co-operative societies came ahead with a genuine demand, government would back the demand. However, he had said that such a society should be properly registered before that was allowed to take over mining. UNI AKM SS SHS RAI2153 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-686949.Xml
Governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao today said that the Wadias have not only contributed to the economic development of the state, but through institutions like the Wadia Hospitals for Women and Children and the Wadia College at Pune had also contributed to the social development of the state. The Governor was speaking at a function to celebrate nine decades of service to society by the Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital for Women and the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for children at Nehru Centre, here yesterday. Mentioning that the Hospitals had rendered matchless contribution to society by reducing maternal and infant mortality rate, the Governor called for upgrading and strengthening the Wadia Hospitals to cater to the ever growing needs. Stating that women-centred healthcare is extremely critical to achieving the goal of Swasth Bharat, the Governor asked the state government to think of bringing a legislation that would allow women to deliver in the hospital of their choice. Minister for Education and Medical Education Vinod Tawde remarked that even though most of the public-private partnership models are favourably biased towards the private parties, it is the ordinary people who had benefited most from the Wadia Hospitals. Stating that Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai Port Trust and the ONGC had assured the government of their help in setting up medical colleges, the Minister called upon the Wadia Hospitals to extend their help to the government in starting medical colleges. Chairman of the Wadia Hospitals Nusli Wadia said that the Wadia Hospital was the first successful example of the tripartite public-private partnership between the Wadia family, the Municipal Corporation and the government which had worked successfully for nine long decades. He said the Wadia Hospitals had provided specialised healthcare to women and children from the families of mill workers and other poor and less privileged families for nine decades. He thanked the honorary doctors of the past who rendered quality service to the people. Trustee of the Hospital Ness Wadia assured that he will continue the illustrious philanthropic tradition of his family and elaborated his future plans for the expansion of the Wadia Hospitals. CEO of Wadia Hospitals Dr Minnie Bodhanwala and Medical Directors M J Jassawalla and Y K Amdekar were honoured by the Governor. Dr Ashwini Jogade, Medical Superintendent conducted the proceedings.UNI NP SS SHS RAI2141 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-686960.Xml
The arrested accused, who are the family members of a woman, had come to Diva from Ratnagiri last night to settle a personal dispute between the couple -- Gulabchand Nikam and his wife Priti.

On their arrival, they started creating a scene challenging Priti's husband.

Upon seeing this, some in the neighbourhood went to solve the dispute and rescue the mother-son duo from the clutches of the attackers, police said.

In the process, the victim and others were badly beaten up by the group, in which the victim, Sameer Mangesh Devalkar (23), while about five others were badly injured.

An offence under sections 302, 307, 143, 144, 147, 148 and 149 of Indian Penal Code has been registered against the alleged accused.

The arrested accused have been identified as Dileep Govind Uttekar (60), his elder son Akash (25), younger son Ganesh (23), Santosh Raghunath Ghatge (41), Vijay Shivaji Shinde (40), Preeti Gulabchand Nikam (28), Mahesh Dattaram Jadhav (38) and his wife Swati (26).UNI XR SS SHS RAI2209

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-686990.Xml
"His family will be extended all help and relief which had been given to another Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh," the spokesman said.

Kirpal Singh, an ex-serviceman, had been lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison since 1992.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also assured the family of another Indian prisoner, Nanak Singh, who has been convicted for life and lodged in a Pakistani jail, that efforts would be made to ensure his release.

Badal said the government was in constant touch with the external affairs ministry to prevail upon Pakistan to secure Nanak Singh's safe return to India immediately.

Kirpal Singh, 54, who was arrested in Pakistan in 1992, died in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison on Monday.

While the Pakistani authorities, who had labelled him as a spy and got him convicted for terror attacks inside Pakistan, attributed his death to heart attack, his family has alleged that he had crossed into Pakistan inadvertently and was murdered in prison.

Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner, died after a murderous attack by fellow prisoners in a Lahore jail in April 2013.

--Indo-Asian News Service js/pm/

( 228 Words)

2016-04-16-22:42:07 (IANS)
Air Force Secretary Deborah James said she was looking at ways to help Latin American partners boost the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, possibly by increasing the number of Air Force training flights to the region.James, who just returned from a tour of South America, gave examples of what the Air Force could accomplish by sending more training flights to the region to do double-duty in the drug- and crime-fighting effort.In one case in March a B-1 bomber on a training mission in the Caribbean spotted a suspicious vessel in the water and conducted a low-level pass to try to identify the boat and what it was doing, she told a briefing."Sure enough, it was drug smugglers," James said. "Upon seeing the B-1 performing this maneuver, they panicked and they threw the drugs overboard."The US Joint Interagency Task Force working on counternarcotics operations in the region estimated the smugglers dumped about 500 kg of cocaine in the sea, she said.James said a B-52 bomber participating in an air show in Chile while she was there had also conducted some of its nuclear training procedures while en route and had practiced aerial intercept missions with Colombian forces concerned about drug trafficking."I'm going to be looking for additional ways to replicate these types of examples more broadly to leverage other training missions, other aircraft, perhaps helicopter sorties and more," she said.James noted, however, that tensions and conflict in other areas of the world mean the United States has fewer resources to devote to helping neighbors in its own region."A little US goes a long way in much of Latin America," she said.James visited Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Colombia on her trip. While in Chile she also met counterparts from Honduras, Spain, Peru, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.She said the bulk of discussions with her Latin American counterparts dealt with countering narcotics trafficking and organized crime, how to speed up the approval of US military sales to other countries, increasing military-to-military engagements, air sovereignty laws and peacekeeping.REUTERS DS PR0515 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-685619.Xml
Turkey's armed forces killed 23 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the latest clashes in eastern Turkey, including three militants who died in an air strike, the general staff said today.Security sources said warplanes and attack helicopters fired on a mountainous, forested area in the eastern province of Tunceli after military drones spotted a group of about 20 PKK rebels there yesterday.The armed forces' statement said three of the militants were killed in the air strikes.Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight for Kurdish autonomy last summer, ending a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and shattering peace efforts.Turkish warplanes have frequently struck PKK targets since the conflict revived, mainly hitting the group's bases in northern Iraq.Security sources said yesterday that four Turkish soldiers were killed and two wounded when a bomb hit a military vehicle travelling in the southeastern province of Mardin.Elsewhere, in the southeast, the army killed eight PKK fighters in Silvan, six in Nusaybin and three each in the towns of Sirnak and Yuksekova on Friday, Saturday's statement said.The government has ruled out any return to the negotiating table and has said it will crush the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984. REUTERS PY BL2155 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-686995.Xml
A Maryland man believed to be the youngest person ever convicted of US terrorism charges may not be deported to Pakistan because he would likely face torture there by government officials, an American judge has ruled.Mohammed H. Khalid, who legally moved from Pakistan with his family to suburban Baltimore as a young teenager, was arrested in 2011 at age 17 as part of the failed "Jihad Jane" conspiracy to murder a Swedish artist who had blasphemed the Prophet Mohammad.Khalid pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and cooperated with the FBI more than 20 times, teaching U.S. agents how to combat online jihadists, records show. But when his five-year sentence concluded late last year, U.S. officials sought to deport him to Pakistan, a move his lawyers said would likely subject him to torture."This is a huge victory - immigration judges do this in one percent of the cases when someone argues they will be tortured if sent home," said Khalid's lawyer, Wayne Sachs of Philadelphia.In his decision, Immigration Judge Michael Straus wrote that Khalid "would more likely than not be tortured by government officials if returned to Pakistan." The ruling is dated April 8, but another lawyer for Khalid, Jeffrey Lindy, said it was not made public until late last night.A spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not immediately available for comment.The judge also cited Khalid's diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, an autism disorder that can affect focus and communication skills. The judge wrote that Khalid "fears his lack of eye contact and social cues would cause the Pakistan government to believe (he) is hiding something, leading to more torture."Khalid remains in U.S. custody, pending a hearing on whether he can live in the United States or may be deported to another country, Sachs said.Now 22 years old, Khalid was a high-achieving but socially-misfit high school junior when he met Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman known as "Jihad Jane," online. They became involved in a foiled plot to kill the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had enraged some Muslims by depicting the Prophet Mohammad's head on a dog.LaRose pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and is serving a 10-year sentence. Prosecutors say the alleged ringleader, Ali Damache, a dual Irish-Algerian national, lured LaRose to Europe with the promise of jihad and marriage. Damache was arrested in Spain in December on the U.S. charges and is fighting extradition.REUTERS PY BL2315 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-687020.Xml
Another womans body in Mitan River

Based on matching clothing, police believe the body found yesterday could be that of Felicia Persad, 29, who was last seen alive on April 2 at her workplace in Sangre Grande.

Persad of Oropouche Road, Sangre Grande was supposed to appear before a Sangre Grande Magistrate last Wednesday to obtain a restraining order against a man with whom she shared a two-year relationship that ended recently. Because of her disappearance, the matter was adjourned to a later date.

At about midday, forestry workers cleaning the river bank near the sea found the body wrapped in a plastic bag with one of her feet protruding. The workers ran to the roadside and flagged down police officers who happened to be cruising along the road on routine patrol.

The body was later fished out of the river.

Officers led by Snr Supt Trim, Supt Phillip, ASPs Robain and Joseph, Insp Ken Lutchman, Cpl Castillo and others visited the scene along with the District Medical Officer who later ordered to the body removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where an autopsy will be done next week.

SRP Constable Persad of the Sangre Grande CID, yesterday told Newsday he was almost certain the body fished out of the river was that of his sister Felicia based on the clothing matching that which was worn by her when she was last seen alive. He confirmed that his sister has ended a relationship she had with a man who had beaten her on numerous occasions. She was advised to take out a restraining order against him.

Yesterday, while PC Persad was in the Valencia area responding to a report of a mans murder (See Page 7), he received a call informing him that a womans body was found in the Mitan River in Manzanilla.

Words cannot express how I feel right now. I believe in God and I believe I will get justice for my sister, PC Persad said.

On March 15, the decapitated and dismembered body of Eden Teesdale was found in a blue barrel which was floating on the Mitan River. Had the barrel not been seen, it would have floated out to sea. To this day, Teesdales head has not yet been recovered.
Fashion Lv

The TJE begins today in Speyside.

Leve will be held on Friday from 4 pm to 7 pm at Villa Being in Arnos Vale, Tobago.

Leve is the patois word for stand up or lift up. The event is aiming to promote and feature the best that TT has to offer. Villa Being, which was hailed by Forbes as the most fabulous vacation villa in Tobago, will provide the backdrop of style, elegance, romance, nature and sensuality to display the work of Pegus, one of TT the most lauded fashion designers and that of internationally- famed artist Leroy Clarke who will put on an exclusive showing of his works.

This event will portray a cluster of exceptional brands in fine art, fashion, cuisine, culture, rum and rhythm, said a media release.

Villa Being, situated on an 11-acre organic fruit estate, would be transformed by designer Brian MacFarlane into a canvas showcasing Caribbean luxury brands and lifestyle at its best, the release said.

Chef extraordinaire Deborah Sardinah Metivier will tantalise the taste buds of guests with her version of Tobago cuisine.

Metivier brings a Caribbean flair, creativity,passion and flavour to all of her culinary creations.

The event caters to a select list of Pegus and Poons VIP clients, along with members of the diplomatic corps, local and international celebrities.

Leve is being touted as a collaborative venture that harnesses our iconic gems  products, people, brands, services and location under one roof in an effort to boost the Tobago Jazz Experience and showcase Tobago as a five-star experience.

It also hopes to create avenues for local, regional and international press coverage and awareness of Tobago culture and cuisine in a luxurious and high-end setting as well as attract trade linkages at all levels of the tourism and creative industries.
No abortion laws for microcephaly

Our position is crystal, crystal clear, Deyalsingh said.

Noting that the United States Centre for Disease Control has confirmed a link between the Zika virus and babies born with microcephaly, Deyalsingh said the World Health Organisation was also leaning to confirm that the Zika virus does in fact cause microcephaly.

A far as medical care is concerned, he said, we have already developed the protocols to treat any pregnant woman who is confirmed as having Zika. Before making the protocols available to the public, he said, a stakeholders meeting will be held on Tuesday to disseminate the policy to the hospitals and health facilities with the medical and nursing staff.

The ministry, he said, was also in the process of developing a policy on how to treat with infants who are born with microcephaly.

A doctor at the San Fernando General Hospital, he said, has been tasked with that responsibility to treat with children born with microcephaly.

He is to give a report in a week or two, he said.

Asked whether Government was going to discuss the issue of abortion given the possibility of children being born with microcephaly, Deyalsingh said, There is talk about abortion, but Governments position remains crystal clear. He said, We support the law as it stands. The Offences Against the Persons Act, Sections 56 and 57 speak to the charges that could be brought against anyone who procures an abortion, but it also speak to the cases under which abortion is permissible - that is also to save the mothers life. The code of ethics under the Medical Board of Trinidad and Tobago, he said, is crystal clear, that abortions are also permissible to protect the mothers physical, mental and psychological well being. As far as legislation was concerned, he said, the laws have been changed to increase the fines for unkept lots from $500 to $3,500. That is the only legislative measure we are going to take, he said.

Governments position, he said, was not to change the law to allow abortion on demand for Zika, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or physical deformities.

Then we start a slippery slope. If we allow it for Zika today, then do we allow it for babies in the womb who are diagnosed for cerebral palsy and down syndrome? Do we allow it for children who seem to have no arm and leg? Where does it end?, he queried.

He reiterated his advice, that women who are desirous of becoming pregnant or who are pregnant, should wear long clothing covering their skin, use insect repellant, sleep below a bed net, and to take all common sense procedures to safe guard themselves.

He pleaded with homeowners to keep their properti es free of breeding sites of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which carries the Zika virus.

Noting that the confirmed number of cases of Zika was 15, he said, his concern was the plethora of cases in San Fernando.
Odd-Even Becoming Synonymous with Kejriwal's Fanaticism: Satish Upadhyay

New Delhi, Sat, 16 Apr 2016 NI Wire

With Odd-Even Becoming Synonymous with Kejriwal's Fanaticism, Devotees Faced Problems All Day Even as Parents are worride About Tomorrow Morning when Schools Open - Satish Upadhyay

New Delhi, 15th April: Delhi BJP President Sh. Satish Upadhyay has said that the second phase of Odd-Even Vehicle Scheme has come loaded with problems for the citizens of Delhi. The first day of the scheme yesterday was Ram Navmi day on which lakhs of devotees prefer to go to temples across the city and due to restriction on plying of vehicles people had to travel in over loaded Metros or face problems at the hands of Auto Drivers fleecing the people with over charge demands.

Shri Upadhyay has said that thousands of parents are worried about tomorrow morning when schools will open. Adamant on his whims CM Kejriwal has given no relief for the thousands of parents who everyday drop & pick their wards from schools.

Shri Upadhyay has said Delhi Government has been trying to portray that people of Delhi are wilfully supporting the Odd-Even Scheme but it very well knows the truth. The need to re-impose of Rs. 2000 challan and the heavy expense of thousands of civil defence volunteers & police personnel speak volumes on the people cooperation.

Delhi BJP President has said that if Delhi Government is so confident on people co-operation then it should withdraw the threat of Rs. 2000 challan and then see the results. Shri Upadhyay has said that people somehow tolerated the problems of the first phase but the figure of around 1000 challans gives an indication of people's resentment.

Source: BJP
Reaffirms India's commitment to work with other countries in combating AMR

New Delhi, Sat, 16 Apr 2016 NI Wire

Shri J P Nadda at Asian Health Ministers meeting on AntiMicrobial Resistance, in Tokyo: AMR not only a health challenge but also a development challenge

AntiMicrobial Resistance (AMR) is not merely a health challenge or a threat to health security, but is also a development challenge with significant and serious economic consequences. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Shri J P Nadda stated this in his address at the Asian Health Ministers meet on Antimicrobial Resistance, in Tokyo today. The Health Minister reaffirmed India's commitment in the global collective efforts towards combating AMR and stated that as we look forward to the UN High Level Meeting on AMR later this year, we should reaffirm existing commitments and focus on mobilizing the necessary resources for the implementation of AMR national action plans in all countries. Also present were Health Ministers from WHO South East Asia Region and Western Pacific Region countries.

Shri J P Nadda pointed out that since different countries are at different stages of economic development, prescribing uniform achievement objectives for combating AMR must be accompanied by a sustained effort of supporting those in more need with human, technological and financial resources through domestic, bilateral and multilateral channels. Besides, we must also ensure that both existing and new antimicrobials, vaccines and diagnostics are accessible and affordable for all, he added.

Noting that the health and development challenges posed by AMR confront all countries, small or big, rich or poor, developed or developing, Shri Nadda stated that increasing resistance of pathogens to currently available antibiotics can lead to a situation where advanced techniques and procedures in the field of surgery and medicine become redundant and ineffective due to our failure to prevent the spread of infection. The Union Health Minister mentioned that the multi-sectoral nature of AMR requires that all countries promote rational use of drugs; appropriately regulate the sale of drugs; promote the concept of One Health with control of anti-microbial use in human health, animal and agriculture sectors; promote infection control practices and protocols; improve hygiene, sanitation and ensure availability of clean drinking water; encourage universal immunization for vaccine preventable diseases as appropriate in each country context; encourage research and development and discovery of new drugs and ensure equitable and affordable access; enhance capacity of health workforce and doctors; undertake campaigns for consumer awareness and to discourage self-medication of antibiotics; and above all to evolve and implement a strategy for coordinated action by all stakeholders.

In view of this, the Health Minister pointed out that the appreciable efforts have been made by India in this regard. He stated that that the roadmap identified by the Indian Government after the February Conference in India lists five priority areas for developing and implementing the National Action Plan of AMR. These are: improving awareness and understanding of AMR, strengthening surveillance in human, animal and agricultural sectors, strengthening infection prevention and control practices in health facilities, promoting rational use of antimicrobials and promoting investment in AMR and related research.

During his visit, the Health Minister also met the Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Mr. Yasuhisa Shiozaki yesterday. The two Health Ministers held a 30-minute long bilateral meeting today morning before the AMR Conference. They stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation in the health sector and recognized pharmaceuticals; medical devices; training and capacity building as potential areas of enhanced cooperation. The Japanese Health Minister acknowledged India's strength in pharmaceuticals, particularly generic medicines and referred to Japan's own efforts in enhancing use of generic medicines in its medicines mix. Shri Nadda also stressed cooperation in the area of generic medicines, as well as in area of medical devices with greater opportunities being opened up due to our Make in India programme. He emphasized sharing of rich experience of traditional medicines and naturotherapy, Ayurveda, as well as Yoga in combating non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and lifestyle diseases.

Shri J P Nadda also visited the Tamagawa hospital at Tokyo, yesterday. Tamagawa hospital has an advanced Nephrology Department with a unique dialysis technology, which can serve up to 20 patients through a central dialysis fluid system with small control units for each patient. Tamagawa hospital has had exchanges with Indian medical hospitals in the past and has organized training programmes for a few batches of Indian doctors and nurses in the area of dialysis training.

Source: PIB
Convocation Address of President of India on the Occasion of Graduation Ceremony

New Delhi, Sat, 16 Apr 2016 NI Wire

Convocation Address of President of India on the Occasion of Graduation Ceremony of 71st Staff Course At Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Nilgiris on 15th April 2016

1. It gives me immense pleasure to be here in this beautiful environment of the Nilgiris, at the Defence Services Staff College for the Convocation Ceremony of the 71st Staff Course.

2. You are all privileged to be here as students, in this exalted and most premier Joint Military Institution of the world, a microcosm of academic excellence. Only few brilliant officers are fortunate to be selected through a highly competitive examination, to qualify for the Staff College. You have the prodigious potential to be the future leadership of the armed forces and must therefore optimize the implementation of high quality professional military education in your respective military careers, imparted here in a conducive environment at the College.

3. I am quite certain that your last one year at DSSC has been a meaningful gain of rich professional experience and knowledge, imbibed from the most competent Directing Staff body. You have achieved this by synergising practical application with military academic issues, using imaginative and innovative thought process. Organisationally, the concerted endeavours of the mentors are consistently focused to nurture your multifaceted skills, enhancing intellectualism through creative and analytical thinking, to produce excellent staff officers and protean commanders. DSSC being one of the finest premier establishments accentuates well orchestrated synergised employment and integrated functioning of the three services in a multi spectrum conflict environment. It is indeed a matter of pride for the College for having been bestowed with Golden Peacock National Training Award for 2016.

4. At the College, you have also learnt broad based professional education on military concepts, doctrines, strategy and principles of war, along with related staff procedures. You have undergone an intensive training of 45 weeks, with dedicated time for military studies and research.

5. This perseverance, methodical study, intellectual application in perspective by each one of you, will benefit you substantially in the future. The contemporary subjects and salient issues discussed during the lectures of eminent Guest Speakers, should be treasured by you for posterity.

6. The training curriculum at this College is institutionalised, to empower jointness amongst our armed forces. The Army, Navy and Air Force are the military instruments of state power. The history of warfare bears testimony, that ultimate victory in war will be achieved through jointness among the three Services. The foremost example of excellent synergy and jointmanship exhibited in military history was during the 1971 War. No strategic military victory has ever been so precedented by any armed forces in the world, such as the liberation of Bangladesh, which culminated with the birth of a nation, on termination of the War.

7. It is now upon you to ensure, that you use this understanding with utmost maturity and prudence, to effectively leverage the combat power of our forces, when the country requires you, as custodians of peace and security, to preserve the sovereignty, conforming to our national interests. As your Supreme Commander, I implore you to do this with total loyalty, distinction, steadfastness and patriotic fervour.

8. The academic Degree that will be conferred upon you today, should be a catalyst in your implacable pursuit for knowledge. You should always remain well informed with the latest in military technology advancements, as well as aware of scientific developments, for their appropriate application in the armed forces. Study the numerous perceptions of various conflicts that have been chronicled and conscientiously study the evolution of potential flashpoints and their evaluated outcomes. It is only when you seek knowledge, that you gain wisdom in life, to take coherent and timely military decisions, which directly affects the lives of the forces under your command.

9. Articulate your views with clarity and conviction, in accordance with military rules and regulations to obviate ambiguity and ambivalence.

10. I am also delighted to learn that 35 officers from 25 friendly foreign countries shall be graduating from the portals of this College today. As befitting ambassadors of your respective nations during the last one year, you have received a professional insight, not only of our armed forces and our redoubtable nation, but also on subjects of international relations, military strategy, operational art, doctrines, and so on. I am sanguine that as thoroughbred officers, you shall rise to the hierarchical levels of leadership in your armed forces, similar to DSSC alumni icons in the past. I hope that the deep bonds of friendship and camaraderie that you have forged amongst you will transcribe into everlasting ties of brotherhood between our nations in an eternal dimension of time.

11. At the end, I congratulate each one of you for having successfully graduated from the Defence Services Staff College with a Masters Degree in Science from the University of Madras. My special compliments to your parents and families for having supported you in this endeavour. I also compliment the Commandant and his Directing Staff for having mentored and nurtured you in command and staff functions, to produce efficient Role Model staff officers and leaders in your professional careers. 12. With these words, I extend my good wishes to all the Staff Members & Student Officers of the 71st Staff Course and wish them continued success in all endeavours.

JAI HIND

Source: PIB
Share



The Next Generation Communications Community this past week had really covered a broad expanse of community interests. This included interesting news regarding iBeacons and a deeper dive into public policy considerations for accelerating universal deployment of broadband.





News

The first item mentioned above is fascinating. There is little doubt that close proximity interactions with customers in real-time at major venues is of interest to venue operators and service providers alike. It is why the introduction by GCell of what is billed as the worlds first indoor solar powered iBeacon, the G100 Indoor Solar Beacon, which uses a renewable energy source to enable broadcasting at the Apple iBeacon standard of 100-milliseconds advertising rate for the life of the product, is something of note.

Community host Nokia (News - Alert) was the subject of the two additional news items this week. The company revealed that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zain KSA to help make Jeddah, Saudi Arabia one of the premier smart cities not just in the Middle East but internationally.

The second item that made news was the announcement that Idea Cellular, a telecommunications company in India that operates in the areas of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Haryana, recently will partner (with Nokia) to expand its core network and radio access networks (RANs) at those three sites.

Features

As noted at the top, this was an eclectic week as can be seen below. Items included:

The release of an important study by Bell Labs Consulting of its mobility report, Who will satisfy the desire to consume? The study is a valuable guide to network planners as it models how future human behavior will drive mobile demand by 2020 and how mobile operators should respond.

As promised last week in the initial posting of what is to be a multi-part series, I took the first of what will be several deep dives into some of the granularity of the recent white paper, "Government broadband plan: 5 key policy measures that proved to make a difference, done for Nokia by Diffraction Analysis. The comparative information is again extremely valuable for service providers and policy makers alike. This week the focus is on public investment in backbone and aggregation capabilities.

My colleague, TMC (News - Alert) Executive Editor Paula Bernier, delved into the reach observations on a blog by Marc Jadoul, leader of IoT market development at Nokia who says that for IoT to reach its potential, vendors must shift focus from tech to more value-driven mindsets and business models.

Our last feature was a special guest item from frequent contributor Richard Hatheway, Director, Applications and Analytics Enterprise Product Marketing, Nokia. I wont spoil what is a really good read except to say he had me, and should have you, with the headline, What does 'Your business. Your communications. Your way.' Really mean to the Enterprise?

Weekend Reading

Now that Spring has really sprung in the Northern Hemisphere, why not take a break from weekend chores and use the community home page, with constantly updated news, whitepapers, videos, podcasts and case studies, to get caught up on industry buzz and insights?

This includes recent articles from TechZine. Ones that caught my attention are:

RAN virtualization: Real-world successes

Vplus gets more out of VDSL2 vectoring

And, if you have a little more time, links to other outstanding community resources such as the Digital Ideas section, along with links to eBooks and blogs are there for your reading pleasure.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.

Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.

A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
Not Found

The requested URL was not found on this server.

Apache Server Port 80
We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.
Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

While Pope Francis might not have personally invited Bernie Sanders to the Vatican, he did meet with the presidential candidate while he was there, Politico reports. The unannounced and un-photographed meeting only lasted five minutes, happening in a foyer Saturday morning before the pope left to check in on the migrant crisis on the Greek island of Lesbos. Sanders, who was in town to critique free-market capitalism at a conference, reportedly thanked the pope for being a leader on the moral economy and Francis thanked Sanders for stopping by the Vatican and asked him to pray for him. Politico notes that the pope sought the meeting after being unable to attend the event at which Sanders had come to speak.

However, when speaking about the brief audience to reporters afterward, Pope Francis also made sure the insert some political distance. According to the Associated Press, he commented:

When I came down, I greeted them, shook their hands and nothing more. This is good manners. Its called good manners and not getting mixed up in politics. If anyone thinks that greeting someone means getting involved in politics, they should see a psychiatrist.

This post has been updated to include Franciss remarks on the meeting.
If an agreement is reached we are likely to see a two-side reaction in the market over the short-run. Most likely, there will be a spike to the upside because of short-covering then the market will

In general, industry analysts believe that if an agreement to freeze production is reached, it will probably not include any concrete figures or obligations. Nothing will likely be at risk in the event a producer decides at some time in the future not to comply with the output cap. This being said, the agreement will probably have no lasting effect on the current situation in the oil market.

Scheduled to meet in Doha on April 17 are more than a dozen OPEC and Non-OPEC producers, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia. They are expected to discuss measures to limit production in a bid to support prices. Many analysts, however, are skeptical about the outcome of the talks and this is being reflected in the price action.

The June crude oil futures contract looked as if traders were going to go into the meeting with an upside bias, however, sellers came in, triggering more than a percentage point after a report that Irans oil minister Bijan Zanganeh wont attend the oil producers summit Sunday in Doha, Qatar.

Crude oil prices were trading weaker at weeks end with higher-than-average volatility as investors positioned themselves ahead of a meeting between major producers, who are scheduled to discuss a potential production freeze this weekend.

Crude oil prices were trading weaker at weeks end with higher-than-average volatility as investors positioned themselves ahead of a meeting between major producers, who are scheduled to discuss a potential production freeze this weekend.

The June crude oil futures contract looked as if traders were going to go into the meeting with an upside bias, however, sellers came in, triggering more than a percentage point after a report that Irans oil minister Bijan Zanganeh wont attend the oil producers summit Sunday in Doha, Qatar.

Scheduled to meet in Doha on April 17 are more than a dozen OPEC and Non-OPEC producers, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia. They are expected to discuss measures to limit production in a bid to support prices. Many analysts, however, are skeptical about the outcome of the talks and this is being reflected in the price action.

In general, industry analysts believe that if an agreement to freeze production is reached, it will probably not include any concrete figures or obligations. Nothing will likely be at risk in the event a producer decides at some time in the future not to comply with the output cap. This being said, the agreement will probably have no lasting effect on the current situation in the oil market.

If an agreement is reached we are likely to see a two-side reaction in the market over the short-run. Most likely, there will be a spike to the upside because of short-covering then the market will settle into a range before resuming the downtrend.

If an agreement is not reached, prices are likely to break almost immediately given the high expectations ahead of the talks among investors.

The International Energy Agency said in a report on Wednesday that any deal struck wont materially impact the global supply-demand balance during the first half of 2016 as both Saudi Arabia and Russia are already producing at or near record rates.

(Click to enlarge)

Technically, the June Crude Oil daily chart reflects the indecision ahead of the meeting with prices currently straddling a major 50 percent level. Basically, this price will act like a pivot. The market will show bullish tendencies if prices remain above the 50 percent level. It will show a downside bias on a sustained move below it.

The main range is $52.04 to $30.79. The high was reached the week-ending November 6, weeks before the formal OPEC production agreement meeting. The bottom was reached the week-ending January 22.

The 50 percent to 61.8 percent zone created by this trading range is $41.42 to $43.92. It helped stop a rally the week-ending March 18 at $43.17. This weeks high at $43.69 occurred inside this range.

Looking at the current chart pattern, earlier in the week, traders had a strong upside bias as the market was in a position to breakout over the 61.8 percent level at $43.92. Going into the meeting, the market is testing the lower, or 50 percent level at $41.42. This means that sentiment is shifting to down ahead of the meeting.

The key level to watch for more aggressive speculators is the 50 percent level at $41.42. A sustained move over this level will indicate the presence of buyers. A sustained move under this level will indicate the presence of sellers. We could see trading on both sides of this level so be aware that the price action could be volatile.

More conservative traders may want to wait for a breakout over this weeks high at $43.69 and the upper, or Fibonacci level at $43.92. Once again the volatility at this level will be high, but if it is overcome, the market has a clear shot at reaching the $52.04 main top.

If $41.42 fails as support, the market is likely to break back to $37.24 to $35.72. If the selling is strong enough to take out $36.57 then look for even more pronounced selling pressure if $30.79 a possible target.

If traders feel an agreement will have a neutral effect on the crude oil market then look for prices to remain range bound between $41.42 and $37.24 over the near-term.
History may finally be starting to turn in favor of oil investors. Oil has risen rapidly from lows set in February and, while there are never any guarantees, in the past that trend has on average produced future gains in subsequent months. Price momentum occurs in all asset classes, but it is particularly strong in commodities. And that could be a boon for investors.

The idea of price momentum is simple  investments that have done well in recent periods tend to do well in future periods also. The month following a substantial gain in oil prices has tended to be a positive one as well. Oil has risen roughly 13 percent versus early March levels. In the past these circumstances have coincided with an additional 1.5 percent in the month that follows  with the median move in the following month being a 3.7 percent rise. Related: Angola Could Be OPECs First Member To Fall

Many investors might dismiss the frequent profitability of momentum across asset classes as being mere luck or a technical phenomenon, but both assumptions would be incorrect. Numerous academic studies have shown that momentum-based trading models can be very lucrative IF they are calibrated correctly. Similarly, momentum is not necessarily a technical phenomenon, instead it likely is driven by behavioral biases and market microstructure explanations.

For instance, Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management commented on a recent CNBC segment for the "Trading Nation" program that the move in oil is a "short-covering rally," and "when you have these types of short-covering rallies, they can oftentimes extend more than you would anticipate, as more traders get panicked about their short trades. That type of behavioral explanation is consistent with the broader set of research studies that have examined the issue of commodity momentum.

Momentum is a major phenomenon and a driver of various institutional investing strategies which also makes it something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Since investors expect momentum to hold, they pile into sectors that are experiencing momentum, driving up prices still further. Related: Tesla And Other Tech Giants Scramble For Lithium As Prices Double

Perhaps the best-known institutional investor commodity trading strategy is a trend following one that involves trading in and out of asset classes as they move higher or lower based on data algorithms, and then profiting off of the expected momentum. Unsurprisingly given that, Reuters reported Tuesday that hedge funds have speedily increased their bullish bets on crude oil over the past three months, all the way up to a near-record net long position of 579 million barrels. As more and more funds look to take advantage of the upward increase in oils momentum in the second quarter, oil could have further room to run.

None of this changes the fundamentals underlying the oil market  there is still far more oil out there than demand currently supports. But given the lack of new investment in the sector, that situation is only temporary and could have less than a year before the situation is reversed. While supply and demand fundamentals ultimately drive prices, in the short-term it is entirely plausible that the behavioral and trading forces that underlie momentum could arrest oils long fall giving the fundamentals time to recover. Only time will tell how the situation plays itself out, but investors should not be surprised if oil prices seem more resilient than one might have expected.

By Michael McDonald of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
We spend a lot of time on Kurdistan because, while its not huge in the oil patch, where its oil ends up and how it gets there is of significant geopolitical consequence for the Middle East. And this past week has seen a lot of interesting activity in and around this venue. Most significantly, the authorities of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are believed to be fast-tracking talks with the Iranians to potentially set up an alternative route with a pipeline that would direct Kurdish oil to Iran. This idea has been bandied about rather half-heartedly over the past couple of years, but now it appears to be more serious, and the Kurds would love to have a more stable alternative to the pipeline that currently runs from Kirkuk, in Northern Iraqs disputed territories, to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. That would give the Kurds two pipelines, so when something goes wrong with the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipelineas it did in February when it was offline for a month over mysterious sabotageit will have the Iranian option. The Iranians would then process the Kurdish crude in one of two refineries: Kermanshah or Tabriz. The Kurdish oil could then be exported through Irans Persian Gulf terminals. The Kurds would also, then, get Iranian gas. Later this month, an Iranian delegation will be in Erbil to discuss this month, though were not sure exactly when. The talks are still just preliminary, but the overall

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict

We spend a lot of time on Kurdistan because, while its not huge in the oil patch, where its oil ends up and how it gets there is of significant geopolitical consequence for the Middle East. And this past week has seen a lot of interesting activity in and around this venue. Most significantly, the authorities of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are believed to be fast-tracking talks with the Iranians to potentially set up an alternative route with a pipeline that would direct Kurdish oil to Iran. This idea has been bandied about rather half-heartedly over the past couple of years, but now it appears to be more serious, and the Kurds would love to have a more stable alternative to the pipeline that currently runs from Kirkuk, in Northern Iraqs disputed territories, to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. That would give the Kurds two pipelines, so when something goes wrong with the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipelineas it did in February when it was offline for a month over mysterious sabotageit will have the Iranian option. The Iranians would then process the Kurdish crude in one of two refineries: Kermanshah or Tabriz. The Kurdish oil could then be exported through Irans Persian Gulf terminals. The Kurds would also, then, get Iranian gas. Later this month, an Iranian delegation will be in Erbil to discuss this month, though were not sure exactly when. The talks are still just preliminary, but the overall sentiment is that either they are really being taken more seriously, or they are just hanging this idea over Baghdad for more leverage over the Iraqi central government in this ongoing dispute. But the other aspect here is that such a deal with Iran, which wields substantial influence in Baghdad, might mean that Iran is taking over the mediation process in this dispute, and it would have much more success in coming up with a resolution than will Erbil and Baghdad on their own.

In the meantime, theres also been a fair amount of positive movement for the foreign producers in Kurdistan, who have been languishing under the dual discomfort of low oil prices and unpaid arrears from the KRG. Share prices have rallied nicely on the news of a new round of payments to these companies. All told, the KRG paid out $55 million last month, for March exports.

 Genel Energy, one of the largest producers and the operator of the Taq Taq field, said it and its partners have now received $19.88 million from the KRG for March oil sales. That works out to $10.93 million for Genel.

 Gulf Keystone has received $15 million from the KRG for its Shaikan field exports in March. (It wasnt, however, enough to keep Prudential (PRU) Fund management division to dump its 5% stake in Gulf Keystone. But share prices still went upsomeone was happy to scoop up this 49.2 million shares.)

 Norwegian DNO received $20.1 million for March deliveries from the Tawke field.

The Output Game

 Iran has been shipping record levels of crude to India but now its cutting India off from free shipping, putting an end to an old sanctions-era agreement that has seen Iran get paid half in Indian rupees. As of, 2013 Iran has been delivering crude oil for free to Indian refiners as sanctions crippled its exports. Iran used its shipping line for the delivery and did not charge for transportation Now Iran wants euros for the oil its sells to Indian refiners, and is seeking $6.5 billion worth of past dues in euros. Earlier this month, Indian officials said that they might invest as much as $20 billion in Irans energy industry and increase imports of crude from the if it gets favorable terms.

 Just ahead of the 17 April output freeze meeting that is more of a game for volatility trading than anything else, Kuwait Oil Company has announced it will soon offer contracts for offshore rigs and support services as it prepares to drill its first subsea wells, eyeing a boost in production that will be bigger than anything its seen in four decades. Kuwait is hoping to be producing 3.165 million barrels by 2017, or before.

 For OPEC-member Angola, low oil prices are a disaster that has forced the country for the first time to seek aid from the IMF (along with the World Bank). Angola depends on oil exports for 95% of its revenue. An Angolan delegation arrived in Washington for talks earlier this week. On Monday, Moodys said that the financial support provided by the IMF is expected to be US$500 million. That said, its not all bad. According to the latest OPEC report, Angola has overtaken Nigeria and the biggest producer in Africa.

Discovery & Development

 Premier Oil has launched production at its Solan field west of Shetland (Scotland) and is targeting 20,000 to 25,000 bpd for the second half of this year. Its been a rough ride with Solan because the North Sea is expensive to produce. Last year, Premier had to lower Solans valuation by $385 million, and re-negotiate debt. Excitingly, the Solan field will use a subsea oil storage tank, which is a first. The subsea tank can hold 10,000 tons.

 Scottish Cairn Energy and partners had discovered more reserves offshore Senegal. Were looking at three wells, which were initially estimated at 330 million barrels, and are now expected to hold 20% more. Cairn Energy holds a 40% working interest in three offshore blocks, while the partners include ConocoPhillips with, FAR Ltd and Senegal's National Oil Company Petrosen. Despite the news, shares in Cairn Energy fell as much as 4.6 per cent because some investors appear to have expected a larger increase.

Deals, Tenders, Mergers & Acquisitions

 Indonesian state-owned Pertamina has $2 billion to spend on mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas patch this year. It will be eyeing Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the South China Sea. The goal here is to boost production by 14,000 bpd for 2016 and 117,000 bpd by 2017.

 Marathon Oil will sell off its Colorado and Wyoming assets. Dallas-based Merit Energy will scoop up assets in the Big Horn and Wind River basins in Wyoming for $870 million. The deal should close this summer. Were looking about about 16,500 boe/d of production in first quarter of this year in these basins. Marathon will also sell $80 in natural gas assets in the Piceance basin in western Colorado. All told, Marathon will have sold $1.3 billion since last August once these sales go through.

 Iran has announced the launch of Iran-Shell talks on supplying oil to Shells refineries in South Africa. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said it will likely sell 100,000 bpd to Shell. NIOC says it has also had talks with BP and Petronas related to exporting oil to South Africa.

Regulations, Litigation & Bankruptcy

 Houston-based Energy XXI filed for bankruptcy protection after spending $5 billion on acquisitions in recent years. The company listed $1.8 billion in assets and $3.6 billion in debt and saying it has reached a restructuring agreement with noteholders. The company has operations in Louisiana, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.

 As low oil prices eat away at dividends and worry investors, shareholders in BP have voted in protest at the companys move to hand CEO Bob Dudley a 20 percent salary increase. The move didnt go down well with shareholders, who are befuddled at a pay raise at a time when BP is reporting record losses and making tons of job cuts.
You may not know its name, but youve seen the Town of Lake Water Tower and Municipal Building, 4001 S. 6th St.  I guarantee it. The nine-story unpainted concrete tower, with its domed top, is the most recognizable landmark on Milwaukees South Side between the airport and the dome of St. Josaphat. X

If youve never gotten up close, youll be forgiven for being unaware of the structures art deco charms. If youve never been inside, youll be in for a treat when the water tower  now owned by the City of Milwaukee  allows visitors for Doors Open in September.

Recently, I drove over there and took a look. Don Schaewe Jr., environmental code manager for Milwaukees Dept. of Neighborhood Services showed me around, pointing out that the tower was constructed on the highest point of the old Town of Lake. X X

The location was significant for a couple reasons. First, a water tower is a key part of building pressure into a municipal water system, so height is helpful. Also, the tower served as the Town of Lakes municipal building, so it was only fitting that it occupy a place of pride.

A little history on the Town of Lake. Founded in 1838, the sprawling Town of Lake was quickly diminished in size when Franklin, Greenfield and Oak Creek were carved out of it in 1840. Still, the smaller Town of Lake was pretty darn big, stretching from Greenfield Avenue to the north to College Avenue on the south, and from Lake Michigan to the east to 27th Street to the west.

Parts of the Town of Lake are now Cudahy (founded in 1895), St. Francis (1951) and Milwaukee neighborhoods like Bay View (which "seceded" in 1879) and Tippecanoe.

In the 20th century, development in the Town of Lake was booming and the municipality needed a "city hall" and a water system. Apparently, town fathers wanted the latter in part as a means for keeping out Milwaukees water system. It was feared Milwaukee pipes would not only provide water, but would also suck away the towns independence.

So, in the mid-30s Town of Lake hired West Allis engineer William D. Darby by design a combination water tower municipal building and he did so in the en vogue art deco style. X X

Erected with funds provided by the Federal Works Administration, the building was officially opened in January 1940 and cost $1.33 million.

The top and bottom of the building were key parts of the water works, while the floors in between were town offices. There was a window in the lobby where folks could pay their taxes. Also on the first floor were health department offices at which some South Side kids might remember getting vaccinations.

There was also a public library in the building for a while. X X

The third floor was long rented to the Town of Lake band, which rehearsed and stored its instruments and uniforms up there. That arrangement continued even after the building was renovated around the dawn of the 21st century, but, sadly, the band no longer exists, its instruments long since donated to Marquette University, Schaewe says.

In the end, Milwaukee didnt need pipes to grab the Town of Lake, which was annexed in 1954 becoming Brew Citys 19th Ward. In 1855 the Town had a population about 2,100. By the time of its annexation, Lake was home to 15,000 souls. Water filtration plant next door. X

These days, the water tank is empty, the water filtering beds in the basement are dormant locked away due to their perilous nature. The third floor has a conference room that is utilized by neighborhood groups and is also a polling place sometimes.

The first and second floors are occupied by the City of Milwaukees Nuisance Environmental Health and Residential Code Enforcement offices.

Before meeting Schaewe, I look around outside and in the lobby. The sleek octagonal tower has metal windows at a couple levels, and feels taller than it is thanks to the sleek vertical "empire" lines Darby utilized on the exterior. X X

On the lowest floors, a squared base with offices embraces the tower. Here, the vertical lines and metal window units are repeated, creating unity. The main entrance has ornate iron work above the doors and art deco lamps mounted on either side of the entry.

Inside there is a spacious two-story lobby with a grand staircase that splays out along the left and right walls, with an arched entry leading into the first floor offices. A similar opening, further back, at the top of the stairs offers entry to the other offices.

There is beautiful variegated terra cotta tile work in the lobby, along with terrazzo stairs and decorative iron railings. Unfortunately, remodeling removed the tile and metal work in the office spaces. X

Off to the left, on the second floor, is a staircase that leads up to the conference room, which is a large, tan, open space given color by a range of flowering plants tended by workers from the offices below.

On the fourth floor are mechanicals and windows that offer good views in all directions, including, in the northern distance, the Downtown skyline, and down below, the Howard Avenue Water Purification Plant, which rendered the water tower extinct.

Here, one can see the crossed steel beams that support the structure. And it has to be a strong one to support the gigantic water tank suspended above.

Up another flight of stairs, we walk through a door and are in a space that takes up an entire floor of the tower and is perhaps three stories high. At the top is the underside of the now-empty water tank.

Of the many "hidden" spaces Ive seen in Milwaukee, this is among the most breathtaking. There are metal ladders running up the walls that disappear between narrow space between the towers concrete walls and the water tank. Of course, were not allowed to climb them and I doubt I would even if allowed, despite the metal hoops meant to provide a measure of safety.

Like you, Ive driven past this tower, seen it from airplanes and spied it from as far away as I-94 near Marquette University and Ive never really had the slightest idea what it might look like inside.

The striking tile and metal in the lobby was the first revelation. Getting up close (well, as close as possible) to the tank itself is really fun.

When the tower opens up for Doors Open, visitors will be able to experience the lobby and this breathtaking space, too. Mark your calendar.
Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) April 16, 2016: Following his bruising debate with Hillary Clinton in Brooklyn, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont flew to Rome to speak at a Vatican conference. On Saturday morning, he had a private meeting with Pope Francis in his residence. The Jewish senator and the Roman Catholic pope excel at denouncing rich people who excel at being greedy. Birds of a feather flock together.

As progressives and liberals know, the rich people in the world today keep getting richer, but an estimated one billion people in the world today live on a dollar a day or less. See Paul Collier's book The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It (Oxford University Press, 2007).

As progressives and liberals know, the Republican Party includes economic libertarians such as the Koch brothers -- some of whom live under the influence of Ayn Rand's novels, as does Representative Paul Ryan from Wisconsin, who claims to be a Roman Catholic.

Pope Francis follows the Roman Catholic tradition of thought in emphasizing the common good. No doubt the Koch brothers and other greedy billionaires imagine that their philanthropic foundations contribute to the common good. Their philanthropies show that the common good may not be a strong enough conceptual framework for calling attention to certain problems involving greedy billionaires.

But what conceptual framework, if any, might be more adequate? In the ambitious and accessible new scholarly book Commonwealth and Covenant: Economics, Politics, and Theologies of Relationality Will B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2016), Marcia Pally creatively constructs a fresh new way of thinking about the ancient Hebrew conceptual framework of the covenant, the conceptual framework that the ancient Hebrew prophets such as Amos worked with. No doubt the ancient Hebrew prophet Amos is the example followed today by Pope Francis' inveighing about greedy rich people today and by Senator Sanders' inveighing about greedy rich people today.

I would liken Marcia Pally to both a busy bee flying from one flower to another and then another gathering food for thought from various authors, including certain secular authors, and to Anansi the clever spider as she constructs her spider's web of thought in her new book.

However, I am sorry to report that Pally does not mention the work of the American Jesuit cultural historian and theorist Walter J. Ong (1912-2003), who claimed that his work was phenomenological and personalist in cast. See the 2015 revised edition of my book Walter Ong's Contributions to Cultural Studies: The Phenomenology of the Word and I-Thou Communication.

In terms of broad categories, the personalism of the French author Emmanuel Mounier was a subset of European existentialism. In the United States, personalism found a home in theology at Boston University, where the young Martin Luther King, Jr., studied personalism -- as Pally notes in passing (page 26, esp. footnote 76). (Almost every page of the 350-page text of her book includes footnotes at the foot of the page.)

Now, in the 1966 book The Duality of Human Existence: An Essay on Psychology and Religion, David Bakan, a Jewish faculty member in psychology at the University of Chicago, works with the terms agency and communion. According to him, we can seriously over-develop either psychological tendency, in which cases we tend to serious under-develop the other psychological tendency. In his view, the optimal development of both of these tendencies would be desirable.

Vicki S. Helgeson in psychology works with Bakan's two terms in her own psychological research, which she ably sums up in her 700-page textbook The Psychology of Gender, the fifth edition of which is scheduled to come out this summer.

The spirit of communion is involved in communication when two or more persons commune with one another.

What Bakan and Helgeson refer to as agency is involved in what Pally refers to as separability and distinction. Conversely, what they refer to as communion is involved in what she refers to as situatedness and relation.

Now, the Jewish sociologist at Harvard David Riesman delineates three basic character types in American culture in his 1950 book The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character: (1) outer-directed people (also known as tradition-directed people); (2) inner-directed people; and (3) other-directed people. Because Riesman himself was a deeply inner-directed person, he was worried about the then-emerging other-directed people that he describes.

In Pally's terminology, outer-directed people (also known as tradition-directed) tend to be overly involved in their cultural situatedness -- and not sufficiently differentiated to develop their own personal separability and distinction.

In Pally's terminology, inner-directed people tend to have over-developed their sense of separability.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Bobby Ramakant, CNS (Citizen News Service)



Although the governments of UN member countries had adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, a lot more work needs to be done to deliver on these promises by 2030. Thirty-six Asia Pacific nations had met in Thailand for Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) but largely failed to agree with consensus on a regional roadmap to achieve these promises by 2030. The window of opportunity is not closed yet - Asia Pacific nations still can demonstrate leadership on implementing SDGs by agreeing on an ambitious plan to move forward.

Missed opportunity: 'Soi' map is not a Roadmap!

According to civil society representatives, the 36 governments who attended the APFSD managed to merely agree on a 'Soi' map! 'Sois' are small side-roads in Thailand, which more than often are hard to navigate and can lead to dead ends and roadblocks. "We are very disappointed that the substantive part of the APFSD's work, which is embodied in the Road Map, has been watered down, and will need further discussions and possible negotiations," said Ranja Sengupta of the Third World Network (TWN) and co-Chair of the Asia-Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (AP-RCEM). She added that while it was far from complete or perfect, the draft roadmap as it was initially presented "offered significant ideas in pursuing meaningful regional cooperation and evaluation, which would have been of great value to all countries, especially the developing and least developed countries, and countries and populations with special needs, as they set out to implement the 2030 agenda. The failure to include more substantive language into the outcome document represents a missed opportunity for our governments and our people across the region, and much of the headway made in recent years is being backpedalled."

Civil society representatives who attended the forum also noted their disappointment that the document lacks clear timeframes or details on processes that can produce a more meaningful regional blueprint for action on SDGs.

Nevertheless, civil society representatives are glad that governments have agreed on the APFSD as an annual forum and that it remains a multi-stakeholder, inclusive space for engagement, respecting the commitments made by the UN General Assembly at the Sustainable Development Summit in September last year. CSOs laud Sri Lanka, Australia and Indonesia who negotiated hard to keep the APFSD this way.

"Moving forward, as the Roadmap is finalized and decided in the coming months, civil society calls on governments to ensure this is an inclusive and transparent process and secure the involvement of the CSOs from across the region as an important step to attain broader ownership of the development agenda," said Marjorie Pamintuan of the Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) and co-Chair of AP-RCEM. Methods employed by the Open Working Group to reach consensus on the SDGs can set a valuable precedent. Civil society also called to ensure that the forum report, particularly the Chair's Summary, include the summary of demands made by civil society in their statements.

"Asia Pacific civil society commits to continue engaging substantively and constructively in the APFSD, as well as in the development, implementation and monitoring of the Regional Roadmap as part of our contributions in making the 2030 agenda relevant to the lives of peoples in Asia Pacific. We, the CSOs in Asia and the Pacific, have raised the bar high for civil society engagement and have been following the process and building movements for development justice. We will make sure the voices of grassroots and people's movements are present in the discussions," said Wardarina of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) and co-Chair of AP-RCEM.

Resolution 67/290 on the format and organisational aspects of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development clearly states the role of UN regional commissions to contribute to the work of the forum, including through annual regional meetings, with involvement of other relevant regional entities, major groups and other relevant stakeholders. The resolution also iterates on the participation of the major groups and other relevant stakeholders.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).




Conservatives love to invoke the phrase "class warfare" every time a progressive measure is proposed. Taxing the rich in order to forward programs that will help the poor and the middle class is bad--we are told--because it allegedly stokes class war. The phrase is of course tainted because it seems to have a Marxist provenience. A variant of it does indeed first appear in a dramatic way in the opening lines of the Communist Manifesto. Because Marx's stock as a thinker has fallen sharply, we no longer live in a time of reflexive fear of communism, yet conservatives cannot resist the old habit of relying on anything that smacks of Marxism to induce fear or derision.

The trouble is that class warfare has an honorable history in which Marx plays but a minor role. The following two sentences are in the much celebrated Tenth Federalist by Madison: "The most common and durable source of factions has been the unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society." "Distinct interests" means different values, perceptions, incomes, goals. It implies--whether or not Madison would agree--that patricians, unable either to understand or address the adversities facing the rest of the population, need to have their power balanced by tribunes of the people.

Conservatives are, furthermore, deviously playing word games. They parrot the word "war" because it sounds bloody, but Marx used kampf, struggle, not krieg, war. Kampf is akin to the non-violent meaning of jihad, as spiritual or political struggle . And indeed democracy is a fine way to let the differences play out in a non-violent way. "Class struggle" therefore means speeches, editorials, placards, advertisements, debates, and, climactically, a head count to settle who won the argument and will rule for a few years. All in all, it's a civilized and decorous form of warfare.

Madison even took sides in the class struggle, saying elsewhere that government should "protect the minority of the opulent against the majority." So too did Hamilton stipulate that, because of the populace's fickleness, the "first class" must be given "a distinct permanent share in the government." Both men's statements clearly show that there is indeed a class struggle and that Madison and Hamilton are unashamedly on their own side, that of the "opulent." But in

our--for better or worse--more egalitarian era, the preciousness of the patrician class is no longer self evident; its members are clearly as prone to original sin as are the rest of us; and the Founding Fathers, as the issue of slavery has shown, could be wrong on such important matters as favoring the "opulent." The great unwashed must consequently now be seen as making legitimate claims. Having the rich support the non-rich after years of the reverse is merely the swing of that pendulum in a democracy.

This acknowledgment of the role of the class struggle was hardly limited to the Founding Fathers. It was not Karl Marx who spoke of the proclivity of employers to conspire and "to deceive and even oppress the public," of "the mean rapacity, the monopolizing spirit of merchants and manufacturers," of the "monopoly of the rich," of the "bad effects of high profits," of the "natural selfishness and rapacity" the vain and insatiable desires" of the rich, who institute "civil government"against the poor." It was the godfather of laissez faire capitalism and the favorite guru of conservatives, Adam Smith, who said that. Could Smith have meant that some businessmen, when left to their own devices, are actually capable of resorting to such measures as setting up offshore company headquarters and Swiss bank accounts, of cooking the books, stacking Boards of Governers, employing sweated labor, busting unions, polluting the environment, outsourcing jobs, colluding to fix prices, bribing officials and legislators, buying judges, concocting Ponzi schemes, secretly financing phony "grass roots" and "populist" rallies, providing themselves huge bonuses regardless of performance, and depending on government bail-outs not available to others--all this among other outrageous forms of often illegal and always immoral behavior? Apparently Smith did mean just that, because he advocated that the rascality on the part of the rich could not be allowed to proceed without interference if one were to have a functioning capitalist system; hence he spoke of the need for government action to prevent the stultification of the "laboring poor." If that be class struggle, apparently he favors it. (Compare Tocqueville's similar observation: "When the rich alone govern, the interest of the poor is always in danger.") The suspicion is strong that, judging by these words of his, were Smith alive today, he would far more likely be a liberal than a conservative.

Marx, then, neither invented nor discovered "class struggle"; he merely christened it. The conservative whining about the other side starting a "class war" is on the level of the remark of the juvenile who, when the fight in which he participated was broken up, complained, "The troubles all began when he hit back!"
Articles Listed By Date List By Popularity

Search Title

Date Between Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 and Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Page 1 of 3 First Last Back Next 2 3 View All

(1 comments) SHARE

The 10th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival Comes to a Close -- Pillar Award Winners Announced It's a Wrap"the 10th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival Comes to Close. Pillar Awards and New Investigative and Original News (ION) Award Winners Announced on National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. The 10th Annual Whistleblowers Summit & Film Festival (a hybrid event) returned to Capitol Hill with Celebrity Comedian Marsha Warfield and was a rousing success. Wednesday, August 3, 2022It's a Wrap"the 10th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival Comes to Close. Pillar Awards and New Investigative and Original News (ION) Award Winners Announced on National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. The 10th Annual Whistleblowers Summit & Film Festival (a hybrid event) returned to Capitol Hill with Celebrity Comedian Marsha Warfield and was a rousing success.

(5 comments) SHARE

10th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival Celebrates Whistleblowers from Knapp to Now! Famed Whistleblowers From Frank Serpico To The Vindman Brothers To Be Honored During 10th Annual Event Featuring a Hollywood Creative Lab, Pitch Contest, Tribute to Dick Gregory and Pillar Awards Presentations with Celebrity Host Marsha Warfield Monday, July 25, 2022Famed Whistleblowers From Frank Serpico To The Vindman Brothers To Be Honored During 10th Annual Event Featuring a Hollywood Creative Lab, Pitch Contest, Tribute to Dick Gregory and Pillar Awards Presentations with Celebrity Host Marsha Warfield

SHARE

10th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival Announces Line-Up Featuring 60+ Films, Panels and Live Events At its core, the Whistleblower Summit celebrates free speech and advocacy. "Sometimes the hardest truths are a best told in jest. Thus we are pleased to announce a 'Tribute to Dick Gregory Comedy Showcase' as a capstone event for this year. The hybrid event will take place virtually and on Capitol Hill and will include panel discussions with prominent whistleblowers, distinguished authors, emerging filmmakers, and policymakers Saturday, July 2, 2022At its core, the Whistleblower Summit celebrates free speech and advocacy. "Sometimes the hardest truths are a best told in jest. Thus we are pleased to announce a 'Tribute to Dick Gregory Comedy Showcase' as a capstone event for this year. The hybrid event will take place virtually and on Capitol Hill and will include panel discussions with prominent whistleblowers, distinguished authors, emerging filmmakers, and policymakers

(2 comments) SHARE

Facebook Whistleblower Testimony Sparks Encore Presentation of the 9th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival The Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival, the world's first and only festival by whistleblowers, for whistleblowers (advocates and journalists), is happy to announce an encore presentation. Highlights include Pillar Award for Lifetime Achievement to Daniel Ellsberg, a posthumous Pillar Award to Mike Gavan for placing the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record, and the 2nd Annual Shaw-Marvin Award to Reality Winner. . Thursday, October 14, 2021The Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival, the world's first and only festival by whistleblowers, for whistleblowers (advocates and journalists), is happy to announce an encore presentation. Highlights include Pillar Award for Lifetime Achievement to Daniel Ellsberg, a posthumous Pillar Award to Mike Gavan for placing the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record, and the 2nd Annual Shaw-Marvin Award to Reality Winner. .

(1 comments) SHARE

ACORN 8 Whistleblowers Honored with Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award at the Largest Anti-Fraud Conference ACORN 8 whistleblowers addressed more than 5,000 anti-fraud professionals at the virtual 32nd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference on June 21-23. ACORN 8 remains a grassroots watchdog organization but their most enduring contribution is the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival, which is an award-winning festival and the largest gathering of whistleblowers in the county. Sunday, June 27, 2021ACORN 8 whistleblowers addressed more than 5,000 anti-fraud professionals at the virtual 32nd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference on June 21-23. ACORN 8 remains a grassroots watchdog organization but their most enduring contribution is the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival, which is an award-winning festival and the largest gathering of whistleblowers in the county.

(1 comments) SHARE

9th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival Features 40+ Films and Panels Over 4 Days: July 28th - July 31st In response to COVID concerns, the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival announces that its 9th anniversary year will be presented virtually from July 28th - July 31st. The Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival is expanding public access to the summit and festival experience nationwide through online film screenings and panel presentations. 9th Annual Whistleblower Summit Film Festival features 40+ films and panels over 4 Days. Sunday, July 26, 2020In response to COVID concerns, the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival announces that its 9th anniversary year will be presented virtually from July 28th - July 31st. The Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival is expanding public access to the summit and festival experience nationwide through online film screenings and panel presentations. 9th Annual Whistleblower Summit Film Festival features 40+ films and panels over 4 Days.

(1 comments) SHARE

The Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival Wins Best Festival Award at FestFourms 2019 The Whistleblower Summit won "Best of the Fests" for innovative in Arts, Film & Culture. The "Best of the Fests," is an award ceremony recognizing North America's leading festivals. Earlier this year the ACORN 8 hosted the 8th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival on Capitol Hill. FestForums Santa Barbara awarded lifetime achievement awards to Jon Anderson, Penelope Spheeris, and Ray Parker Jr. Monday, November 25, 2019The Whistleblower Summit won "Best of the Fests" for innovative in Arts, Film & Culture. The "Best of the Fests," is an award ceremony recognizing North America's leading festivals. Earlier this year the ACORN 8 hosted the 8th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival on Capitol Hill. FestForums Santa Barbara awarded lifetime achievement awards to Jon Anderson, Penelope Spheeris, and Ray Parker Jr.

(1 comments) SHARE

They died with a case unresolved! The Whistleblower Summit Salutes Congressman Elijah Cummings On this solemn day, we thank Elijah Cummings for his tireless support for whistleblowers, black farmers, women fire fighters in the U.S. Forest Service, and minority employees at U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Social Security Administration; and his support for civil rights and the Coalition For Change (C4C). Elijah Cumming's words ring truer now more than ever. The tragedy of a person dying with a case unresolved. Friday, October 25, 2019On this solemn day, we thank Elijah Cummings for his tireless support for whistleblowers, black farmers, women fire fighters in the U.S. Forest Service, and minority employees at U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Social Security Administration; and his support for civil rights and the Coalition For Change (C4C). Elijah Cumming's words ring truer now more than ever. The tragedy of a person dying with a case unresolved.

(1 comments) SHARE

When Courage Blows A Whistle Just as those who have shaped history have often not been revered and rewarded in their own lifetime so it is for the whistleblower. The contributions of whistleblowers occur in many dimensions and surely they are contributors to the evolution of our social society. Think of Lincoln, Mozart, Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Jesus, and many others. The true value of persons of conscience and integrity is inestimable. Tuesday, October 8, 2019Just as those who have shaped history have often not been revered and rewarded in their own lifetime so it is for the whistleblower. The contributions of whistleblowers occur in many dimensions and surely they are contributors to the evolution of our social society. Think of Lincoln, Mozart, Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Jesus, and many others. The true value of persons of conscience and integrity is inestimable.

SHARE

Hollywood Comes To Capitol Hill At The 8th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival - Pillar Award Winners Announced: 2019 Pillar Awardees: Gladys Louise Smith "Mary Pickford" Award - John Singleton Best Whistleblower Portrayal - Official Secrets Best Documentary - The Kids We Lose Best Feature - The Guardians Tank Man - Best Short Audience Choice - The Great Hack Other winners include Ralph Nader and Richard "Dick" Gregory. Historic event coincides with D.C. City Government's proclamation supporting National Whistleblowers Day Saturday, August 3, 20192019 Pillar Awardees: Gladys Louise Smith "Mary Pickford" Award - John Singleton Best Whistleblower Portrayal - Official Secrets Best Documentary - The Kids We Lose Best Feature - The Guardians Tank Man - Best Short Audience Choice - The Great Hack Other winners include Ralph Nader and Richard "Dick" Gregory. Historic event coincides with D.C. City Government's proclamation supporting National Whistleblowers Day

(2 comments) SHARE

Official Secrets Sneak Screening Debuted to Full House of Whistleblowers at the 8th Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival A pre-Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival publicity rollout began last night with an advanced screening of Gavin Hood's (Eye In The Sky) new film "Official Secrets" which opens on September 6th in D.C., at the National Press Club. Special guests included writer and director Gavin Hood and real-life inspirations, whistleblower Katharine Gun (portrayed by Keira Knightley) and journalist Martin Bright (portrayed by Matt Smith). Friday, July 19, 2019A pre-Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival publicity rollout began last night with an advanced screening of Gavin Hood's (Eye In The Sky) new film "Official Secrets" which opens on September 6th in D.C., at the National Press Club. Special guests included writer and director Gavin Hood and real-life inspirations, whistleblower Katharine Gun (portrayed by Keira Knightley) and journalist Martin Bright (portrayed by Matt Smith).

(1 comments) SHARE

2019 Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival - International Film Lineup Announced GROUNDBREAKING 179 SUBMISSIONS FROM 43 COUNTRIES The Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival announced today the showcase of new independent feature films. The Whistleblower Summit recognizes that cinema is a powerful medium for highlighting civil & human rights violations across the globe. It seeks to shine a light on stories of courage and perseverance in the face of injustice and to encourage individuals to stand together. Monday, July 8, 2019GROUNDBREAKING 179 SUBMISSIONS FROM 43 COUNTRIES The Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival announced today the showcase of new independent feature films. The Whistleblower Summit recognizes that cinema is a powerful medium for highlighting civil & human rights violations across the globe. It seeks to shine a light on stories of courage and perseverance in the face of injustice and to encourage individuals to stand together.

(5 comments) SHARE

5 Things I Learned From Blowing My TEDx Talk Many people think giving a TEDx Talk is the chance of a lifetime. You can share your message and reach a billion people over a global platform. But what happens when you fcuk up on the biggest, grandest international stage--a performance that will be relived forever because the internet does not forget? Here are five things that I wish I knew before I gave my TEDx talk... Wednesday, June 6, 2018Many people think giving a TEDx Talk is the chance of a lifetime. You can share your message and reach a billion people over a global platform. But what happens when you fcuk up on the biggest, grandest international stage--a performance that will be relived forever because the internet does not forget? Here are five things that I wish I knew before I gave my TEDx talk...

(1 comments) SHARE

ACORN and the Firestorm (Film Review) ACORN and the Firestorm, a new documentary about the rise and fall of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, recently aired on PBS. Michael McCray attended the debut of the film at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival -- in Arkansas, the birth place of ACORN. The following is a Film Review and Critique of the documentary from a former ACORN National Board Member and ACORN Whistleblower. Thursday, May 24, 2018ACORN and the Firestorm, a new documentary about the rise and fall of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, recently aired on PBS. Michael McCray attended the debut of the film at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival -- in Arkansas, the birth place of ACORN. The following is a Film Review and Critique of the documentary from a former ACORN National Board Member and ACORN Whistleblower.

(1 comments) SHARE

#MeToo Aids US Forest Service Whistleblowers and Rep Jackie Speier's Battle for Investigations into Sexual Harassment Whistleblowers Applaud Forest Service Women and call for s USDA investigation. Public Television (PBS News Hour) is running a multi-part investigative report on the brave Women in the Forest Service, and while this is the latest media exposure of this travesty-it was not the first. A quick chronology of USDA press coverage since the 2012 Whistleblower Summit--and support for Rep Jackie Speier's call for a USDA investigation. Monday, March 12, 2018Whistleblowers Applaud Forest Service Women and call for s USDA investigation. Public Television (PBS News Hour) is running a multi-part investigative report on the brave Women in the Forest Service, and while this is the latest media exposure of this travesty-it was not the first. A quick chronology of USDA press coverage since the 2012 Whistleblower Summit--and support for Rep Jackie Speier's call for a USDA investigation.

(1 comments) SHARE

Final Whistleblower TEDx Talk from Historic TEDx Willmington Salon Released on International Human Right's Day Michael McCray, who spearheaded a recent TEDx Salon on Whistleblowers and the First Amendment, discusses why whistleblowers are more important than ever in the age of Edward Snowden, the Panama Papers and Black Lives Matter. "Whistleblowers are the 'Fifth Estate' protecting freedom, liberty and Democracy," says McCray, an attorney and author of Race, Power & Politics. Tuesday, December 13, 2016Michael McCray, who spearheaded a recent TEDx Salon on Whistleblowers and the First Amendment, discusses why whistleblowers are more important than ever in the age of Edward Snowden, the Panama Papers and Black Lives Matter. "Whistleblowers are the 'Fifth Estate' protecting freedom, liberty and Democracy," says McCray, an attorney and author of Race, Power & Politics.

(5 comments) SHARE

Clinton School of Public Service Co-hosts Whistleblower Summit Lecture Series at Clinton Presidential Library The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will co-host free lectures and events open to the public that celebrate the important role of whistleblowers and their advocates. The events, which will take place at the Clinton Presidential Library and other nearby locations, are cosponsored by The Whistleblower Summit for Civil & Human Rights; a Washington, D.C.-based organization of whistleblowers and advocates. Saturday, April 16, 2016The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will co-host free lectures and events open to the public that celebrate the important role of whistleblowers and their advocates. The events, which will take place at the Clinton Presidential Library and other nearby locations, are cosponsored by The Whistleblower Summit for Civil & Human Rights; a Washington, D.C.-based organization of whistleblowers and advocates.

(5 comments) SHARE

What do Mrs. Obama, Mrs. Vilsack, Valerie Jarrett and Whistleblowers know that you don't? Full Measure, a Sunday Morning Talk Show, reveals courageous whistleblowers who reported ongoing sexual assault, harassment and misconduct at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forestry Service. Additionally, USDA racial discrimination and retaliation claims resulting in a 3,000 class action currently languishes before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Monday, November 23, 2015Full Measure, a Sunday Morning Talk Show, reveals courageous whistleblowers who reported ongoing sexual assault, harassment and misconduct at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forestry Service. Additionally, USDA racial discrimination and retaliation claims resulting in a 3,000 class action currently languishes before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

(3 comments) SHARE

Hollywood Filmmakers To Be Honored at Annual Whistle Blower Summit on Capitol Hill The Whistle Blower Summit will honor "Best Whistle Blower Film" at annual conference. The 2015 finalists are: Ian Thomas Ash for A2-B-C. (Censored Fukushima Film, 2013); Kristina Borjesson-for TWA Flight 800. (Lionsgate, 2013); Michael Cuesta for Kill the Messenger. (Focus Features, 2014); James Spione for Silenced. (Morninglight Films, 2014); and Randall Stith-for The Hidden Enemy. (Citizens Commission on Human Rights, 2013) Tuesday, June 16, 2015The Whistle Blower Summit will honor "Best Whistle Blower Film" at annual conference. The 2015 finalists are: Ian Thomas Ash for A2-B-C. (Censored Fukushima Film, 2013); Kristina Borjesson-for TWA Flight 800. (Lionsgate, 2013); Michael Cuesta for Kill the Messenger. (Focus Features, 2014); James Spione for Silenced. (Morninglight Films, 2014); and Randall Stith-for The Hidden Enemy. (Citizens Commission on Human Rights, 2013)

(1 comments) SHARE

Whistleblowers "LEAP" onto Capitol Hill to Salute Black Lives Matter at Annual Whistle Blower Summit ACORN 8--Coalition for Change (C4C), Project Censored, Justice Integrity Project and Federally Employed Women Legal Education Fund (FEW-LEF), will co-host this year's Whistle Blower Summit for Civil & Human Rights in Washington, DC on July 29-31, 2015. This year's conference theme is "Black Lives Matter--This Is The Movement!" The National Whistleblower Center will host a National Whistleblower Appreciation Day Luncheon. Saturday, June 6, 2015ACORN 8--Coalition for Change (C4C), Project Censored, Justice Integrity Project and Federally Employed Women Legal Education Fund (FEW-LEF), will co-host this year's Whistle Blower Summit for Civil & Human Rights in Washington, DC on July 29-31, 2015. This year's conference theme is "Black Lives Matter--This Is The Movement!" The National Whistleblower Center will host a National Whistleblower Appreciation Day Luncheon.

Page 1 of 3 First Last Back Next 2 3 View All
Foreign Office briefed diplomats from Arab and Asean countries

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office briefed diplomats from Arab and Asean countries on Friday and called upon New Delhi to stop interference for regional peace and stability.



The envoys of Arab countries and Asean-member states based in Islamabad were briefed today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the arrest of the RAW officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, and his confession about Indian-sponsored subversive activities and terrorist financing to destabilise Pakistan, the FO said in a statement.



Immediately after disclosure about Jadhavs arrest, the FO had briefed diplomats from European Union countries and five permanent members of the UN Security Council.



Pakistan has been drawing worlds attention to what it calls the Indian state institutions involvement in conducting and supporting terrorist and separatist activities in Pakistan. Even before Jadhavs arrest, dossiers containing evidence to back the allegations against India were presented to the United Nations and the United States last year.



While Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is Indias strategic partner, the briefing for Arab diplomats was important from the context that Delhi has begun developing closer ties with countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which are considered to be Pakistans closest allies.



During the briefing, the FO statement said, it was emphasised that in order to achieve regional peace and stability, it was imperative that India immediately stops its interference in Pakistan and resolves all contentious issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, through the process of sustained dialogue.



The diplomats were also reminded of RAW using Iranian soil for its activities in Balochistan.



At a briefing given to the Senates defence committee earlier this week, defence officials had alleged growing nexus between RAW and Afghan intelligence agency NDS for destabilising Pakistan. The committee was informed that RAW had established an office within the Afghan intelligence agencys headquarters in Kabul, in addition to seven offices and stations alongside the Pak-Afghan border.



However, a senior Afghan diplomat, in a private discussion, dismissed the Pakistani allegations as highly off the mark. He said the allegations about RAW working with NDS to destabilise Pakistan were grossly exaggerated.
Military forces resorted to shelling at Chutoo gang operation

LAHORE / D.G. KHAN: Formally launching a grand operation against hardened criminals on Friday, military forces resorted to shelling at their hideouts in the troubled riverine area of Rajanpur district.



Helicopter gunships were used to hit suspected positions and bunkers set up by the Chotoo gang criminals, a senior security official told reporters. The initial air strikes lasted about 20 minutes. The security forces taking part in the operation, codenamed Zarb-i-Aahan, also had the backup support of mortar shells fired by Rangers.



The army has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew (6pm to 6am) in some areas. The official said the Chotoo gang and its allies were putting up resistance and the area echoed with heavy gunfire, bomb explosions and shelling.



There was no immediate information about any injury or casualty in the wake of the shelling. The Inter Services Public Relations said information would be shared with the media on completion of the operation.



Witnesses said there was a heavy deployment and movement of military troops in Rojhan tehsil, adding that SSG commandoes had taken positions around the troubled island of Kacha Jamal and Moro where the Chotoo gangsters built permanent hideouts.



Some TV channels claimed that the Chotoo gang and some other notorious criminals had offered to surrender, but security forces rejected it.



Addressing officers at the Central Police Office in Lahore on Friday, Punjab Inspector General Mushtaq Sukhera said the Zarb-i-Aahan operation had been launched in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies.



He said that before launching the operation, security personnel were properly trained and equipped.



During training sessions, 50,000 rounds were fired and use of mortars and other equipment were demonstrated, the IG said, adding that two retired colonels from the Special Services Group were on board in the operation.



All personnel had been provided bulletproof jackets, helmets and five magazines of rounds, along with all essential gadgets and ammunition.



The IG claimed that during the operation police killed seven hardcore members of the Chotoo gang. He identified them as Ali Gulbazgeer, Pandi, Pehlwan alias Pallu, Bahadur, Faqeer Mohammad, Majeed Bakhrani and Aindar.



About the 24 missing policemen, a spokesperson for the Punjab police said they were in custody of the criminals.



Relatives of the captured policemen held demonstrations in Rajanpur and Layyah, asking the government to strike some sort of a deal with the Chotoo gang for their release.
Muslim countries agreed to work together to fight terrorism

ISTANBUL: Muslim countries have agreed to work together more closely to fight terrorism and other crimes.



The member states in a joint communique adopted at the end of 13th summit stressed that the fight against terrorism is a major priority for all member states, and reiterated its resolve to work together to prevent and suppress terrorism through increased international solidarity and cooperation, in full recognition of the UNs central role, and in accordance with UN Charter and obligations under international law.



The conference recalled resolution 41/42-POL on Combating Terrorism and Extremism adopted by 42nd CFM and welcomed outcome of the OIC Executive Committee at ministerial level on Combating International Terrorism and Violent Extremism in the Muslim world held in Jeddah on February 15, 2015, as well as outcome of the ministerial brainstorming session in Kuwait in May 2015.



It called upon OIC secretary general to continue efforts to fully implement the results of these conferences. The conference asked the secretary general to continue the ongoing debate on countering terrorism, cross-border crime, and modalities to address extremist and sectarian discourse by convening conferences, symposia and workshops in cooperation with OIC member states and its various institutions and partners.



This should be done with the participation of political, religious and traditional leaders, psychologists and sociologists, and to hold conferences to review educational curricula in this regard. It welcomed the holding of the UN-led forum Religions for Peace on May 06 in New York.



The conference condemned the terrorist operations which targeted Ben Guerdane city in the Republic of Tunisia and affirmed Islamic countries solidarity with and support for the Republic of Tunisia in its efforts to address this scourge. The conference welcomed the initiative of the Republic of Indonesia to establish an OIC Contact Group on Peace and Conflict Resolution and welcomed the Kingdom of Bahrains hosting, in November 2015, of a workshop on charitable donations and combating the financing of terrorism and violent extremism, as well as the findings included in the Joint Declaration on the need to undertake an objective and thorough assessment in the sector of non-profit organisations, to identify danger points such as to preempt any risks involving those organisations being used for terrorist goals, and to try and entice them towards the official financial sector in order to guard against the danger of being pushed to resorting to other non-official financial channels.



The conference appreciated the efforts of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum (GCTF) under the co-chairmanship of the Morocco and Netherlands in bringing in effective and coordinated responses to the threat of terrorism on the basis of the rule of law and human rights, and in accordance with the United Nations legal framework. The conference called on the member states to participate in the work of the GCTF. app



Meanwhile, the OIC on Friday reaffirmed support for the just struggle of people of occupied Kashmir for their right to self-determination.



The conference reaffirms its principled support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the realisation of their legitimate right to self-determination, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the communique said.



It further reaffirmed that Jammu and Kashmir is the core dispute between Pakistan and India and its resolution is indispensable for bringing peace in South Asia.



The conference called upon India to implement numerous UN resolutions on Kashmir which declare that the final disposition of the state of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
Nawaz Sharif to meet Asif Zardari in london

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to meet former president Asif Ali Zardari in London either today or tomorrow. The prime minister has reached London for medical check-up amid critical political situation back home.



His spokesperson has already denied any scheduled meeting with the former president. While Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have demanded resignation of the prime minister following Panama leaks, it is Zardari who has the final say whether PPP should join the chorus. Sources said the prime minister sent confidential messages to the former president requesting him to have a meeting somewhere away from the public or media glare.
Pakistan did not helped fund a 2009 bombing

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday dismissed as preposterous reports that its intelligence agency helped fund a 2009 suicide bombing on a CIA outpost in Afghanistan that was one of the deadliest attacks in the US spy agency's history.



A heavily redacted US government document, released under the Freedom of Information Act, said that an unidentified officer of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate allegedly paid $200,000 to the Haqqani network to facilitate the bombing.



The attack, at a site known as Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan, killed seven and wounded six.



Allegations in the media on Pakistan's involvement with HQN are preposterous, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement, using an acronym for the Haqqani network, which the United States has designated as a terrorist organisation.



In fact, we were shocked and deeply saddened when precious American lives were lost at the Chapman facility in 2009 in an unfortunate attack that was later claimed by TTP in a publicly available video, featuring the suicide bomber with the leader of the TTP, the statement said.



Pakistan is determined to eradicate the scourge of terrorism and has taken action against all terrorist elements, without discrimination, it added.



The spokesman said it would be further recalled that over the past years, Pakistan has through a series of military operations, severely damaged and weakened the TTP and other militant and terrorist organisations.



"We wish to remind that Pakistan is among the biggest victims of terrorism, having lost tens of thousands of innocent lives, including over five thousand valiant personnel of law enforcement agencies, and economic losses to the tune of a hundred billion dollars."
PTI approached international forensic companies for the Panama Papers investigation

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) on Friday approached the international forensic companies for an investigation into the offshore business of the Sharif family revealed after a recent mega leak by the Panama Papers. Sources told Daily Times that PTI Chairman Imran Khan held separate meetings with two international forensic companies.



He was flanked by Jehangir Khan Tareen and Aleem Khan. Before departing to London, the PTI chairman had tweeted that he would meet experts from two companies which specialize in forensic tax audits. Sources said the PTI chairman has tasked Tareen to finalise the terms of reference (ToRs) with those two companies. He would also finalise modalities and scope of the investigation and a final decision is likely today. Khan wants the forensic audit to complete as soon as possible since the PTI has to launch another street agitation after April 24 if the government fails to constitute an independent commission to be headed by the chief justice of Pakistan.



The PTI delegation told the forensic experts that Sharif family might own more than four offshore companies. They were asked to investigate the secret business and commercial interests of the Sharif family in all those jurisdictions which are considered tax havens for morally and financial corrupt politicians. The forensic experts, sources said, would hold more meetings with the PTI leaders as long as they are in London.



The two sides would also negotiate the financial cost of such investigation since it involves hectic travelling and rummaging through the financial and legal data. The PTI chairman has already requested other opposition parties to join his campaign to expose the alleged corruption of the ruling family. He was of the view that Sharifs had been left with no moral and political justification to hide their wealth from the nation.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser
One of the members of The Post-Star editorial board can recall hearing Bernie Sanders speak 20 or 25 years ago in Lake Placid to a crowd much smaller than the ones he is drawing these days.

At that time, Sanders was a forceful voice for the overlooked and dispossessed in American society  an outspoken advocate for the less privileged who were struggling to get by and a critic of the privileged who were doing little to help. He still is all that. Sanders message has been consistent over decades, but while he dwelled on the fringe of left-wing politics 20 years ago, he is now closer to its core.

American society has moved to the left socially, as exemplified by the acceptance of gay marriage and other LGBT rights. The country has also suffered through a financial collapse largely caused by the corporate banking interests Sanders has long criticized. We have endured an unjustified war in Iraq that sowed public skepticism about the uses of the military and trustworthiness of our political leaders. Changing with the times, the country  or at least, the Democratic Party  has moved closer to positions that Bernie Sanders has long promoted.

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile  the former senator from New York who initially supported the Iraq War and, for four years, was secretary of state under President Barack Obama  is a solid member of the U.S. political establishment. As a former first lady, she is both a symbol and an embodiment of American political tradition and power.

But Hillary Clinton deserves to be considered on her own formidable record. It is unfair to categorize her as Bill Clintons wife, or as, potentially, the first woman to receive a major partys nomination for president. Through hard work and tenacity, she has risen above pigeonholing.

In Clintons defense on the Iraq War, many Democrats supported the invasion launched by President George Bush. Clinton was a senator from New York at the time, and on Sept. 12 she had stood in the rubble at Ground Zero. After that, she worked hard  against the Bush administration  on behalf of the World Trade Centers first responders.

Clinton is a pragmatist, who was known during her time in the Senate for working with Republican senators to get things done, such as providing military health benefits to reservists and members of the National Guard. As first lady, she helped create and led the effort to push through Congress the Childrens Health Insurance Program, which provides health coverage to millions of children in low-income families. As secretary of state, she pushed for and enforced tough sanctions on Iran, which brought that country to the negotiating table. She has been a strong and consistent advocate for womens rights internationally.

Bernie Sanders, in contrast, stands for lofty principles  universal health care, free higher education  but has little to show for them. Even if we agreed that universal health care would be better than Obamacare, we do not believe Sanders or anyone else could get that legislation passed. Obamacare is a partial measure  a compromise  but it has helped millions of people and saved many lives. We endorse Hillary Clintons support for it.

Likewise, we are skeptical of Sanders ability to pay for expensive programs such as free college education. He would have to work with Congress, like any president, and would be blocked from extracting the needed billions out of, for example, the Department of Defense.

Clinton has demonstrated more of the negotiating and compromising skills a president needs than Sanders has. Clintons eight years in the Senate trenches should serve her better than, for example, Barack Obamas three years did.

Clinton also has experience as secretary of state working with both Republican and Democratic political leaders in fashioning and carrying out the countrys foreign policy. Her work in promoting the interests of the U.S. around the world will be an invaluable help as president.

Much of the country  Republican, Democratic and other  is hungering this year for a break from our recent political past. The ideal candidate might have spent much of their career outside politics, while still demonstrating the maturity and statesmanship necessary for the job. But Colin Powell isnt running.

We have to pick from the candidates we have, and weigh their merits against each other. On the Democratic side, we have Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. We respect Sanders long advocacy for the less privileged. But Clinton is the more experienced and accomplished candidate, and she will make a better president.
Yesterday we were attacked by armed robbers on our way back to the hotel from filming in Nigeria. The robbers wearing black, blocked the car we were in, got down with their guns and walked towards our car, he said.

He expressed his appreciation to God for keeping him and his friends safe saying, it was God who took over the wheel. Our driver swerved and sped off. They just stood there watching. As if to say these are not the people we have to rob.
Reports indicate that the US ambassador to Ghana Robert Jackson in a meeting with some news editors stated that the opposition leader was part of the decision process to bring the detainees into the counrty.

The transfer of the ex Gitmo prisoners generated heated arguments and opposition from both the public and opposition parties who argued that this move will only open up the country to terror attacks.

The public disagreement notwithstanding government brought the detainees in the country arguing that they are of no threat whatsoever so the people of Ghana should be compassionate.

The statements from the US ambassador seeks to portray Nana Addo as having fore knowledge before the transfer was done. But a statement signed by the largest opposition leader's press secretary has denied this saying Nana Addo was only informed of the decision to bring Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al Dhuby into Ghana.

Below is the full statement

The attention of the Office of Nana Akufo-Addo has been drawn to a news item on some online media portals and on social media to the effect that the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party was consulted before, to quote the news item, the infamous transfer of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana.

According to the story captioned Nana Addo was consulted before GITMO 2 Transfer  US, the new US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, in a meeting with some editors on Friday, April 15, is alleged to have said that the Foreign Minister and this Embassy consulted about informing other stakeholders and so we did talk to Akufo-Addo before the transfer happened.

These statements by the Ambassador, therefore, create the impression that Nana Akufo-Addo was consulted and thereby had foreknowledge of the transfer of the Gitmo-2 detainees.

For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to reiterate our earlier stated position that at no point during the transaction between the two governments was Nana Akufo-Addo consulted, and the facts of the matter speak clearly for themselves.

On January 5, 2016, the Deputy Chief of Mission/Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Ghana, then acting as Chief of Mission, Melinda Tabler-Stone, called on Nana Akufo-Addo at his Nima residence to inform him, with the consent of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, about the impending arrival into the country of two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al Dhuby, as a result of discussions between the US and Ghana governments. The day after this visit, on January 6, it was announced that these Guantanamo detainees had been admitted into Ghana upon the authority of the President of Ghana. It would appear that at the time Melinda Tabler-Stone spoke to Nana Akufo-Addo, the two Gitmo-2 detainees were either on their way to Ghana or had arrived in the country.

It would be an unusual use of English, in these circumstances, to suggest that Nana Akufo-Addo was consulted. At best, what can be said is that he was informed of the transaction as it was being implemented, in other words he was presented with afait accompli, not a consultation.

These are the bare facts of this matter.
The demand according to the Majority Chief Whip and MP for Asawase, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka has become necessary following the murder of the Abuakwa North MP, J.B. Danquah in his home a few months ago.

We believe that in this years emoluments discussion, we are going to put this on the table to insist that it should be part of our working conditions because currently, its not included in our working conditions and that is why I believe that the police have been dancing around saying that they dont have the men, but for those that have been stated in their conditions of service, they find the men for them, he said during an interview on Radio Ghana.

The Majority Chief Whip bemoaned the posturing of the security agencies who keep complaining that they do not have the personnel to provide the needed security for MPs.

When I look at Article 71, the emoluments committee, it is clearly stated that the Office of the President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Justices of the Superior Courts will be provided with security and 24/7 at their residence. This is conspicuously missing in that of the Members of Parliament and I think that that is part of the problem, he remarked.

Since the murder of J.B. Danquah, MPs have intensified calls for the state to provide them with private security.

They argue that some MPS have over the years been attacked severally in their homes and therefore, urgent steps must be taken to prevent another murder from occurring.

Interim measures

Muntaka Mubarak disclosed that the leadership of Parliament has in the interim put some measures in place to protect MPs while they demand a review in their conditions of service.

He said addresses of all MPs have been collated and given to the Police, while the phone numbers of all top Police Commanders in the Greater Accra Region and its environs have also been collated and given to MPs.
The scheme is expected to boost transparency and research as well as speed up the administration of court processes in order to spur public confidence in the country's justice system and kindle investor interest.

The announcement comes barely 15 months after President John Dramani Mahama assured the public in January last year that the government would provide additional $5 million by the close of March 2015 for roll out of e-Justice plan.

The Minister said this in a speech read on his behalf at the launch of National Communication's Authority (NCA) 20th anniversary and unveiling of its anniversary logo on Thursday.

The anniversary is on the theme: 'NCA: 20 years of progressive and dynamic regulatory achievements.'

He said the project would improve efficiency in the delivery of justice and better position the arm of government charged to interpret the law to effectively execute its mandate.

Dr Boamah said the communication sector has contributed greatly to the country's Gross Domestic Product adding that government would continue to introduce the necessary interventions and investments to grow the sector.

"The immense benefit of the communications sector today is seen not only in appreciable quality of service being enjoyed by consumers but the financial dividends that benefit the economy making the sector one of the country's biggest tax payers," he said.

Dr Boamah noted that the establishment of a Business Processing Outsourcing centre at Circle is projected to create over 10,000 direct and indirect job openings to the youth and entrepreneurs.

The government has established a data centre in Accra, with a back-up system created in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region, he said, adding that the deployment of fibre optic infrastructure and 4G LTE across the country is also expected to improve communication access and service to rural and urban populations.

"The industry is now stronger and better capitalised and grows by the day," Dr Boamah said, adding that Ghana would complete the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting by the end of June this year.

Mr William Tevie, NCA Director-General, said the Authority established in 1996 with one office in Accra could now boast of eight regional offices located in Ho, Sunyani, Koforidua, Bolgatanga, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale.

The Authority would continue to deliver services at the door-steps of communities and facilitate the monitoring of spectral resources and quality of service delivered by telecos to consumers, he said.

The NCA was established to license and regulate electronic communication activities services for the orderly development and operation of communications services.

But after 20 years of operation, Mr Tevie said: 'the [NCA] as a regulatory body, we are proud of how far the ICT industry in Ghana has evolved over the past 20 years, we as an authority will continue to implement progressive and dynamic policies and programmes to put Ghana on the map as the leading provider of ICT services within the Sub Saharan African region.'
He pointed out that anyone who will say that no development is taking place is a blatant liar.

Nobody can say that nothing is happening because a lot is happening. By the end of this year, more than a 100 schools would be added to the existing stock of SHSYou can see the general improvement in the road infrastructurenormally, by this time, there would have been pot holes everywhere he said during a panel discussion on Radio Gold.

According to Mr. Pratt Jnr, there is nothing wrong with the Presidents tour around the country to unveil development projects his government has and is undertaking.

He remarked that government has the responsibility to show what it has done in order to convince Ghanaians that the taxes we pay are being put to good use and that the loans it contracts on our behalf are not being wasted so I dont see anything wrong with what is happening.

The President has been accused of using state funds to campaign across the 10 regions of Ghana under the pretext of accounting to citizens about the achievements of his government.

Mr. Pratt Jnr however, believes that although every citizen, political party or institution has the right to criticize government, criticism which does not suggest alternative ways of doing things is nothing but empty criticism with no value.
He argued that it is hypocritical for Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom to make such false allegations against the President without addressing the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) expose on the Kufuor governments abuse of incumbency in the 2008 elections.

Contributing to a panel discussion on Radio Gold, Dr. Omane Boamah said: If Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom has any credibility left in terms of dealing with abuse of incumbency; I want him to step forward and pronounce on the IEA expose on the IEAs website about the gargantuan expenditure which the NPP engaged in in the year 2008 elections. I am yet to hear Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom on that.

On Thursday, Dr. Nduom in a post on his Facebook page accused President John Mahama of using tax payers money to tour the 10 regions, campaigning, touting his record, asking to be returned to office.

He questioned why the Electoral Commission (EC) has failed to probe the source of funds being used by the President to embark on this nationwide tour.

In response, Dr. Omane Boamah insisted that President Mahama is not campaigning.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The teacher was being secretly filmed by another student while he had sex with the female student in the school toilet.

The clip of about 2 minutes shows the teacher sitting on the toilet seat with the grade 12 student on top enjoying.

The incident allegedly occurred in the male toilets. An eye witness said : "These two have been an item for long now with the maths teacher, and she passes every test. Now we know how."

Another eye witness said: "Kodwa he is married, she is happy being side bae. Everyone knows he is promiscuous."
This is contained in a statement issued and signed by the agencys spokesperson, Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju.

The statement alleged that the 41 year old mother of three, Dorothy Onyekas, faked her pregnancy with 86 pellets of white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine.

``The drug was intercepted during the inward screening of passengers on an Emirates flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

``The substance has a total weight of 1.720 kilogrammes with an estimated street value of N20.6 million, the statement said.

The statement quoted the NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport, Ahmadu Garba, as saying that the wraps of cocaine would have been easily mistaken for pregnancy.

``It was discovered that the suspect kept 86 wraps of cocaine inside a waist bag which was tied to her stomach.

`Unfortunately, the drug was detected by NDLEA officers on her arrival from Dubai. The drug was immediately packed and weighed in her presence.

``It had a gross weight of 1.720 kilogrammes, Ahmadu stated.

The statement also quoted the chairman of the agency, Mr Muhammad Abdallah, as describing the recent drug seizures at this airport a welcome development that was capable of forcing drug cartels to a retreat.

``In the past few days, the NDLEA has recorded numerous arrests and drug seizures at the Lagos airport.

``The drug cartels have also suffered huge losses from these operations. This particular suspect feigned pregnancy with wraps of cocaine but she was caught by vigilant narcotic agents.

``Some of the suspects recently apprehended concealed drugs in their socks and luggage while others ingested wraps of cocaine in disregard of the danger to their health.
The Prosecutor, Benedict Aigbokhan, told the court that the offences were committed on April 5 at No. 21, James Okiki St., Agege, Lagos.

According to him, the teenage boys who still lived with their parents, lured the girl to the house of one of them, on the promise of helping her with her home work.

Thereafter, the accused defiled the girl, said the prosecutor.

The offences, according to him, were against Sections 137 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The boys pleaded not guilty to both of the charges.

The Chief Magistrate, Tajudeen Elias, however remanded both of them at the Correctional Centre for Boys in Isheri, a suburb of Lagos.
In a report by Channels TV, the President made this revelation after his return to Nigeria in the early hours of Saturday, April 16, 2017 after spending six days in China to strengthen bilateral and economic relations between the two countries.

In a statement by the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the several agreements concluded with the Chinese during the visit will have a huge and positive impact on key sectors of the Nigerian economy including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation.
In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja, the president made the remark at the 13th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey.

Represented by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, Buhari said government forces had taken over all the territories seized by the insurgents and destroyed their camps.

The president also said that most of the leaders of the terrorist group had been arrested, while many others had surrendered.

Buhari also commended the OIC for its efforts in ensuring peace world wide.

On the theme of the summit: ``Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace, Buhari noted that the current precarious situation in the Muslim world was a source of great concern.

``A multiplicity of crises and conflicts litter the entire landscape of the Muslim World  from West and North Africa through Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent; from Jammu and Kashmir to Jakarta.

``And from the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East to the Balkans; many member-states are embroiled in conflicts threatening their very existence and taking an unacceptable toll in human lives and destruction of critical infrastructure.

``Muslim minorities in non-member-states like Myammar, Philippines, Thailand and China; and Muslim migrants in the West are still facing serious political, cultural and economic challenges or outright persecution, he said.

The president, therefore, called on member-states of the organization to rededicate themselves to the struggle for peace and justice for Palestinians.

He said that Nigeria stood in full solidarity with the Palestinians in their legitimate quest for an independent state.

``The situation in Palestine remains bleak; the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism remains unabated.

``The drums of Islamaphobia, especially in the countries with minority or migrant Muslims, are being beaten to achieve mischievous political objectives.

``Nigeria identifies with and fully supports the just struggle of the people of Palestine against the unjust occupation of their land and the oppression of their people by Israel, he said.

Buhari urged the Muslim world to take the path of knowledge, stating that the future lay with the cultivation of knowledge as the mainstay of the economy.

``Nigeria fully supports all OIC efforts towards cooperation in education, science and technology; it also supports measures put in place to develop intra-OIC trade, socio-economic infrastructures, micro-finance sector, agriculture and health.

``Nigeria is already in the process of signing the statute of the newly created Specialized Institution for Food and Security based in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation Lawan Babachir who inaugurated the distribution said the exercise was on the platform of the Presidential Initiative for the North East.

Represented by Alhaji Ibrahim Patel, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Babachir said government would reach out to all states affected by disasters, natural or man-made.

``Today, we are launching the distribution of relief materials to over one million internally Displaced Persons who already returned to their various respective homes and villages in Adamawa and Taraba.

``Government felt it necessary to see how it palliates the suffering of the affected communities in the region and other parts of the country, Babachir said.

Earlier, Gov. Muhammadu Jirillah of Adamawa thanked the Federal Government for the support.

Jibrillah, who was also represented by the state Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ahmad Sajo, said that the state government would cooperate with the Federal Government to assist the returnees.
He made the promise on Saturday in Manor-Ikov Council Ward of Ushongo Local Government Area of the state during the inauguration of his empowerment scheme.

He stated that the decision to empower his constituents was borne out of the fact that if majority of them were empowered they would also be of tremendous assistance to others.

``I am sure this is going to have a multiplier effects in our constituency because the people that are empowered today will certainly extend this gesture to others.

``With this in mind, I pledge to continue to support my constituents in order to improve their well being, he said.

He enjoined his people to be patient with the present administration at both the state and federal levels.

The speaker said that the situation would soon improve and the dividends of democracy would trickle down to all the nooks and crannies of the country.

Ikyange also assured them of quality legislation that would trigger growth and development in the state.

Also, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman of the local government, Mr Abraham Soo, commended the speaker for initiating the scheme, stating that it was a right step in the right direction.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the speaker donated assorted items to the beneficiaries which cut across the 11 council wards of the local government.

Items donated include motorcycles, sewing machines, generators, water pumps, knapsack sprayers, clippers, vulcanizing machines, weaving machines and garri processing machines.
Impetus for the move comes in part from fears of an uncontrolled new tide of migrants into Italy from Libya unless law and order can be rebuilt soon in the North African state.

EU foreign and defence ministers will hold a special dinner in Luxembourg on Monday, when they are expected to agree to look into police and border training missions for Libya. Any such support would initially be in Tripoli, where the new government is trying to establish itself.

"The EU stands ready to offer security sector support in response to possible (U.N.) Government of National Accord requests," according to a draft statement prepared by diplomats, though the text is still under discussion.

"A possible civilian ... mission could support Libyan efforts ... through advice and capacity building in the fields of police and criminal justice," the draft said, referring to counter-terrorism, border management and the tackling of the smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government proposed a "constant European law enforcement presence in the Saharan belt" and expanding sea missions to disrupt trafficking and train the Libyan Coast Guard.

An EU security presence in Libya, which would not involve soldiers, would be Europe's biggest step in the oil-producing nation since a NATO-backed mission led to the fall of Libya's long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

"DELICATE BALANCE"

Diplomats said there had yet to be a detailed discussion with the new U.N.-brokered Libyan government in defining what kind of assistance they wanted from the EU, and that it is keen to avoid the impression of moving into the country uninvited.

"It is a delicate balance," said one senior EU official involved in the plans. "We need to prepare to help Libya, but we cannot jump the gun."

Libyan officials with the new unity government were not immediately available for comment on the specific document, but they have said that any international security cooperation must be Libyan-led and so far have made no detailed request for aid.

However, such a request would be a sensitive subject for the new government, which opponents accuse of being a foreign-imposed body with no legitimacy.

Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj will speak to ministers by video conference at the dinner on Monday.

Talks on a possible EU security mission could give momentum to discussions among Italian, French, British and U.S. military planners on whether to send troops to Libya to help to protect key installations, government buildings, ports and the airport.

The United States is eager to see Europe, not Washington, take the lead in a region on the continent's doorstep.

The separate mission, which includes France, Italy, Britain and the United States and is known as the Libya International Assistance Mission, has already briefed EU diplomats about how it could have a military role in stabilising Libya. It may set up a secretariat based in Rome.

Also under consideration is how the EU's so-called "Sophia" naval mission operating in international waters near Libya could move into Libyan waters to destroy boats used by people smugglers, catch the traffickers and head off an expected surge in migrants trying to reach Europe by sea from Libya.

While the naval mission has been operating since mid-2015 and has saved more than 8,000 lives, it is unable to move into Libyan waters without a request from the Libyan government and a U.N. Security Council resolution.

MILITIA INFIGHTING

The problem has been finding an effective governing authority in Libya to deal with. Libya has been in anarchy for years, with two competing governments based in Tripoli and the far east and a plethora of militias dominating various regions.

The new U.N.-backed unity government has yet to establish its authority in Tripoli, let alone the vast country at large.

Previous training efforts ran into difficulties in 2012 and 2013 when Italy and Turkey started training police and, along with Britain and the United States, planned to build a force of 8,000 troops. Those programmes were hampered by militia infighting and political squabbling among Libyan factions.

Renzi told reporters in Rome that the new U.N.-backed government in Tripoli would help to reduce the boatloads of migrants who dice with death to reach Europe from Africa.

"It's fundamental that Libya has a government ... Now we can work with an executive that isn't at the height of its powers, but it exists," Renzi said.

"In light of the fact that there is now a Libyan government, we will try to get the EU to invest in Africa to put a stop to the death journeys (on overcrowded boats) so we can have a decisively lower and more controlled migrant flow."

In his letter, Renzi proposed that the EU share the cost of repatriations, screening of migrants and other logistical support for countries on migration routes. He suggested member states issue common bonds and provide new funds for African and other transit countries.

He said a controversial deal whereby the EU will reward Ankara for taking back some migrants who pass through Turkey "should not remain an isolated event".
Losing power in Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, a stronghold of the ANC's fight against apartheid and named after its liberation hero, would be a symbolic blow for Zuma and his party nationally.

Zuma has faced calls to resign from within the ANC since a court ruled this month that he breached the constitution by ignoring an order to repay some of the $16 million in state funds spent renovating his private home.

Many South Africans are angry at corruption in the ANC and feel the liberation movement has not done enough to help lift people out of poverty since the late Nelson Mandela swept to power on a wave of optimism in 1994.

"If Madiba was still alive I would have been the first one in that stadium," Patricia Domons, 58, told Reuters at her simple home in Port Elizabeth, using Mandela's clan name.

"Now you find we have a president that steals, people are poor and they don't have jobs. Our country is going down and a hell of a lot needs to change."

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said ahead of the launch that he was "convinced" the ANC would win the Aug. 3 vote and brushed off recent scandals.

The ANC will be relying on loyal supporters who don't see an obvious alternative to a party they still associate with its leading role in ending apartheid.

ANC FOR LIFE

"We are ANC for life," Cumisa Msuthu told Reuters from the Nelson Mandela Stadium where tens of thousands of supporters danced and sang liberation songs.

"The ANC is not Zuma. We have and will always be ANC."

Zuma survived an impeachment vote last week thanks to the ANC's big majority in the 400-seat national assembly and hopes to now put the scandal behind him. He is required by law to step down in 2019 after two five-year terms.

An Ipsos poll late last year suggested a very tight race in Mandela Bay, with the ANC winning only 43 percent of the vote against 42 percent for the combined opposition parties and 15 percent of undecided voters.

In the 2011 local poll in Mandela Bay, where Port Elizabeth is the largest city, the ANC won 52 percent of the vote, against 40 percent for the main opposition Democratic Alliance.

The constitutional court ruling against Zuma and subsequent splits within the ANC may have eroded its support base further since the Ipsos poll was taken, analysts say.

Local governments manage large budgets and will be able to influence voters ahead of a presidential election in 2019.

"This would be an extremely symbolic victory or loss for the ANC," said Joleen Steyn-Kotze, professor at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Finding Peace of Mind: Discover These Five Places in Europe to Unwind
Cindy VanLandegen of Rock Island, who is an advocate for dogs, isnt surprised that law enforcement officials are investigating an illegal dog-fighting ring in the Quad-Cities.

If you think dog fighting doesnt happen in the Quad-Cities, think again, said VanLandegen, founder of AAVENGE  Animal Abuse and Violence Ends Now through Greater Enforcement.

I am not surprised that this happened, VanLandegen said. "I hope the dogs are OK and can one day find the loving homes they deserve. This just breaks my heart into pieces. No dog deserves this.

VanLandegen founded the nonprofit organization in April 2008. The group is committed to the education, prevention and prosecution of those involved in dog fighting.

Although VanLandegen has done rescue, foster and transport for various dogs, the organization is not a rescue  it is strictly advocacy.

We need to get the word out about dog fighting and animal abuse in general, she said.

VanLandegen has long been involved in animal welfare. She said she began her advocacy organization after she received an email eight years ago that changed her life: An animal-control officer in Bolingbrook, Ill., found a pit bull puppy after being notified that a puppy was lying in field. The little dogs femur had been cracked in half.

The puppy had been used as a bait dog, VanLandegen said. A lot of times, theyll use puppies or cats to get the dogs really riled up and get them to fight. When the fighters were done with the puppy, they just discarded him like a piece of trash, VanLandegen said.

After a fundraiser, the pup  who was named Chief  recovered after it underwent surgery and was adopted. Chiefs story inspired VanLandegen to create AAVENGE.

Whats going on here (in the Quad-Cities) is whats going on nationally, she said. Its very clandestine, very quick and usually drugs and gambling are involved.

Its just horrific. If people think it doesnt happen here, they are sadly mistaken.

Elementary-school students in the Quad-Cities are being exposed to dog fights, VanLandegen said. Not long ago, she did a presentation about dog fights at a Rock Island grade school.

'How many of you have been to a dog fight?' she asked. And all these hands went up. It just broke my heart.

During her presentations, she tells the children that whoever participates in dog fighting can be prosecuted.

Illinois has some of the best animal laws in the country, she said.

She tells the children that if they see something, they should say something.

If you see a dog with wounds or bite marks, big heavy chains around its neck, tell someone, she said of her message to students. We especially want to get that message to the young people.

She added that seeing something as vicious and bloody as dog fighting is traumatic for children.

If you own a dog, especially a bully breed, never leave your dog unattended if youre not home, VanLandegen said.

People will walk right in and steal them to fight and use as bait, she said.

During warmer weather when dogs are outside, dog-napping increases, she said.

These people have no scruples," she said. "They have no value of life, and a lot of them are part of the criminal element.

Dog fighters are to blame for the bad reputation pit bulls have, she said.

Sadistic dog fighters have helped give such dogs a bad reputation, she said.

These dogs dont choose to fight. These dogs are forced to fight, said VanLandegen, who calls dog fighting a national disgrace.

She continues to talk to various organizations and classrooms about the practice, telling the students, If your dad or uncle takes you to a dog fight, they could be arrested for that. Dont think its all that cool because somebody could get in big trouble.

She also explains to children that pets depend on them for their well-being.

If you get sick, you mom takes you to a doctor, she says. I approach it from that perspective. I always encourage them that if somebodys hurting your friend, you tell somebody. If somebodys hurting an animal, you tell somebody.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has set a plan in motion to evaluate, treat and provide continuing care for 64 pit bulls seized Thursday as part of an alleged dog fighting ring in the Quad-Cities.

Its a plan that has been months in the making, Tim Rickey, vice president of the ASPCA Field Investigations and Response, said Friday.

This was quite a large and complex operation with multiple sites and we werent really sure how many animals we were going to be dealing with, so we had to bring a lot of resources in just to be prepared for the unknown, he said.

Rickey said the ASPCA assisted law enforcement with removing the dogs from 12 locations  10 in Rock Island and two in Davenport.

He declined to comment on the conditions of the locations where the dogs were found, citing the ongoing investigation.

However, he said investigators found items that one would expect to find in a dog fighting seizure.

Rock Island Police said in a news release Thursday that investigators also found narcotics and a gun.

Few details have been released about the investigation.

Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee on Friday confirmed the arrest of two men, Ryan M. Hickman, 41, and Willie E. Jackson, 34, in Rock Island.

Hickman is charged in Rock Island County Circuit Court with possession with the intent to deliver less than a gram of cocaine and possession of less than a gram of hydrocodone, both felonies. Bond was set Friday at $75,000.

Jackson is charged with possession of between 30 and 500 grams of cannabis, a felony.

They have not been charged either locally or federally with any crimes related to the dog fighting ring.

Sharon Paul, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Springfield, declined to comment on the investigation.

On Thursday, federal and local authorities served multiple search warrants in Rock Island and Davenport as part of an investigation that began a year ago based on information developed by the Rock Island Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Quad-Cities Federal Gang Task Force.

The dozen locations where dogs were seized included Hickman's address, 514 14th Ave., and Jackson's address, 1514 9th St., both in Rock Island, according to local authorities and neighbors who watched the dogs being taken away.

Quad-City Metropolitan Enforcement Group director James Rieck said he served a search warrant at 1213 14th St., Rock Island and seized multiple dogs while no one was home.

Al Rushing, who lives on 14th Street, said he was surprised at the news.

"I had no idea there was dog fighting going on around here," Rushing said Friday while working in his yard. "I don't get into that kind of stuff. I could never watch a dog fight. I don't believe those animals should be harmed in any way."

Marty Drovesky, who lives next to Jackson on 9th Street, said authorities removed two dogs and equipment from her neighbor's house.

"I was not aware fighting was going on in the Quad-Cities," Drovesky said. "I'm shocked at the whole thing."

Drovesky added that Jackson was "good with his dogs."

Shirley Conley, who resides on 8th Street and has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, said she did not believe there was dog fighting in the area until news broke Thursday. On Friday, she was still having a hard time understanding the situation, especially since she knows many of her neighbors who own pit bulls and other dogs.

"I swear on my mother's and father's graves these dogs were not used in dog fighting," Conley said. "I know many people who don't abuse their dogs."

"Beware of dog" signs are a common sight throughout neighborhoods in the west end of Rock Island where police confiscated the animals on Thursday. Hickman has a "beware of dog" sign hanging on his fence and large cages are visible from his backyard.

Rock Island Police Deputy Chief Jason Foy said Hickman was known to local authorities prior to his arrest.

According to court records, he was arrested on Sept. 23, 2010, in Rock Island on charges of promoting dog fighting and aggravated cruelty to animals, both Class 4 felonies. He pleaded guilty to the dog fighting charge and was given a two-year probation sentence.

Rickey said the ASPCA was notified several months ago about the investigation and, once officials knew there was going to be a seizure operation, they began planning.

The ASPCA brought in about 40 staff members and responders and two animal transport units, prepared a temporary shelter to house the dogs and arranged emergency clinics to examine and treat the dogs, Rickey said.

He declined to give the location of the shelter.

The condition of the dogs varied, but the organization had to arrange medical attention for a number of the dogs. Medical care will continue for weeks, Rickey said.

Overall, these are not the most well cared for group of animals, for sure, he said.

None of the dogs were euthanized, he said.

Rickey said the ASPCA will bring in a team of behaviorists to evaluate the dogs to better understand the level of aggression and other behavioral challenges that may exist so that the dogs can one day be placed in safe and appropriate homes.

When they can be adopted out will ultimately be a decision made by the courts, he said. That process could take several weeks or months, he said.

We hope for the animals sake that that can happen sooner rather than later because its important for some of these animals to get into a home setting and really begin their road to recovery, Rickey said.

In the meantime, the ASPCA has a team to provide continuing care for the dogs.

Rickey said dog fighting has been prevalent across the U.S. for many years.

While he said he doesnt believe it is on the rise, its also not on the decline.

Rickey said between April 5 and April 14, the ASPCA has assisted in four dog fighting cases spanning five states and involving more than 150 dogs.

When you look across the country at how many of these cases are going, the numbers are actually quite staggering and its quite unfortunate that it continues to be so prevalent, he said.

Rickey said dog fighting rings exist due to several factors, such as a lack of enforcement historically and the amount of money that can be earned by hosting such fights.

Some of these fights can be tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.

Rickey said in recent years, law enforcement has taken on more of these types of cases.

On Friday, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to increase the recommended penalties for convicted dog fighters in federal court.

I think were making some real headway and tackling this issue from an investigative standpoint and appropriate sentences that will match the crime and hopefully, we can begin to see a reduction in what truly is just a brutal and barbaric form of animal cruelty, Rickey said.
JOHNSTON, Iowa  Assessing Iowans economic well-being may be as simple as looking at their addresses.

Iowas larger cities  Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Iowa City, for example  are doing mostly well, according to David Swenson, an economist who teaches at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.

But the micropolitans  communities of 10,000 to 50,000 population, such as Mason City and Clinton  collectively have not recovered to the levels of employment they had before the recession, Swenson said Friday during taping of "Iowa Press."

Overall, he said the Iowa economy looks pretty good,

However, time and again, he and Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said the strength and performance of Iowas economy depends on ones address and occupation.

Its getting a little bit better for manufacturers, Goss said. Business and professional services, very good  health care, likewise  construction, particularly in urban areas of the state, doing well. However, the ag and energy sectors as well as businesses tied to exports arent doing as well.

So it depends on which area youre in, he said, adding theres an urban-rural split in the economy because along with agriculture, manufacturing and energy are part of Iowas rural economy.

So we have two recoveries  a healthy recovery and not a very good recovery going on in Iowa, Swenson said. So its not just the industrial area youre looking at, its the geography that you're looking at as well.

Neither economist predicted gloom. In fact, they see positive signs including a low unemployment rate and an expanding workforce. MidAmerican Energys plans to invest $3.6 billion in wind energy production will create construction jobs, Swenson said, and the lower cost of energy may help Iowa attract manufacturing and other industries, Goss added.

However, Goss also warned that the higher value of the dollar makes it harder for Iowa companies to compete internationally. A greater concern, perhaps, is the attitude of presidential candidates toward trade, he said.

If theres one thing they seem to agree on, he said, is that trade is bad. We economists disagree with them, emphatically.

I hear this, well see, look, what NAFTA did to us, Goss said. No, look what NAFTA did for us. It really boosted the U.S. economy. Its perfect nonsense to listen to them.

Goss also encouraged the president and Congress to move forward on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he said would be good not just for Iowa, not just for Nebraska, not just for Kansas and South Dakota, for the nation.

Its a heck of a good thing and were hearing them, everybody is bashing it and that seems to get you votes. It should get you unelected, according to Goss.

Like NAFTA, Swenson said the TPP could result in job loss. There are trade-offs, however in jobs and job value. Many jobs that didnt pay well or werent going to pay well in a competitive market have been moved outside the United States. However, How many jobs, good jobs have we been able to maintain?

Its easy to identify the losers, Goss said, but harder to seen the gain because that is more broadly dispersed.

"Iowa Press" can be seen at noon Sunday on Iowa Public Television, at 8:30 a.m. today on IPTV World and at www.IPTV.org.
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox and child abuse survivor Tara Walker Lyons spoke at the Emmas House child abuse prevention training Thursday.

Nearly 40 people attended the dinner and presentation in Hamiltons City Hall.

We must do all we can to help child victims, Fox said. The need is real and the urgency is grave. Thats why were at Emmas House tonight.

Fox praised Emmas House Director Val Widmer for her work and the multi-disciplinary team in Ravalli County including County Attorney Bill Fulbright and Sheriff Chris Hoffman.

Child abuse and crimes against children are crimes of secrecy, Fox said. They exist in the shadows, out of sight. Places like Emmas House are shining a light on these crimes and helping their communities across Montana talk about how to keep children safe, how to prevent abuse.

Fox said the state Department of Justice, through the Childrens Justice Bureau, supports Emmas House and six other Childrens Advocacy Centers across Montana. He said these centers, plus seven developing centers and 20 communities with multidisciplinary teams, served 1,750 children in 2015.

Each of those children was met by professionals specially trained to know the childs needs, including appropriate medical care, mental health support and victim advocacy tailored to a child and their family, Fox said.

Emmas House Child Advocacy Center Prevention Coordinator Kiersten Schmitt said child abuse is an uncomfortable subject for conversation but Emmas house is, trying to expand the knowledge and the awareness to our community in Ravalli County and beyond.

Schmitt introduced child abuse survivor Tara Walker Lyons.

I was moved at her courage to speak publicly about what happened to her, Schmitt said. She is on a mission to find her voice, heal herself and to help others find hope in her story.

Lyons called herself a survivor of chronic prolonged childhood incest.

I am a speaker and advocate, Lyons said. Eight months ago, I decided I was going to make my story known and I used the gift of social media. I uploaded a video about my story and it has received a lot of publicity and Ive gotten my face out there in such a way that it is getting to the forefront of discussion and thats my goal.

Lyons said when she was 12 years old, after six years of abuse by her stepfather, she told authorities.

That night I was introduced to a number of things, she said. I found out what it was like to ride in the back of a police car. I found out what it was like to be put in a childrens shelter. I found out what it was like to fill out a police report, and ultimately, end the abuse.

Lyons said it was difficult, as she had to repeat her story seven different times to seven different agencies.

Its a big deal, Lyons said. When I took a tour of Emmas House it was very emotional for me. I thought this is amazing. They bring children in and it is all about keeping them comfortable. All the scary people in suits get to come in through the back door. The children dont even have to see them. The resource we have in Hamilton is invaluable and Im so thankful for Emmas House and their support of what Im trying to do.

Lyons is advocating for body safety education in schools and homes. She said that children are taught about being cautious of strangers, how to stay safe in a fire or if there is an earthquake and how to say no to drugs.

But not one single time are we ever told about what a mandated reporter is, she said. Were not told about safe touch and unsafe touch. Were not told any of the important things.

Lyons said she would like to see Erins Law introduced in Montana.

Erins Law is named after childhood sexual assault survivor, author, speaker and activist Erin Merryn, from Illinois. Seventeen states have passed the law that requires all public schools to implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program to teach children to tell on anyone who tries to touch their private parts. It also teaches school personnel all about child sexual abuse and parents and guardians the warning signs of child sexual abuse. Montana is one of four states that have not introduced Erins Law.

Taking this issue head-on is a big endeavor and something Im willing to do, Lyons said. I would like to see other people rise up with me and turn-up the volume on this issue.

Lyons praised young survivors across the nation and across Montana, many of whom are rising up to testify. Lyons honored two young survivors in attendance.

Schmitt said Emmas House has purchased curriculum designed for mandated reporters, parents and children. Mandated reporters are people who are legally required to report when they suspect or observe abuse.

Schmitt said Emmas House is presenting this curriculum in the area and working with childrens summer programs to ensure policies are in place to keep children safe.

Emmas House is hosting a training called Lets Keep Kids Safe on April 28. There are two different sessions planned; a full session from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a condensed session from 5:30 to 8:30, both at Hamilton City Hall.

On May 7, Emmas House will host its annual We Care About Kids Bike Parade that starts at 10:30 a.m. from Emmas House, 800 N. Second St., in Hamilton.

For more information, call Schmitt at 406-363-7216.
Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003.
I give my consent to Sakshi Post to be in touch with me via email for the purpose of event marketing and corporate communications. Privacy Policy
Here's what the new Docking State Office Building could look like


A man who goes by Bubbles, but who's also known as local artist and queer character Anthony Torres, was summarily kicked out of one his regular watering holes on Thursday morning, and told by the bartender it was because of the way he looked. This happened at Ace's in the Tenderloin, and the story broke via BrokeAss Stuart with the following audio that Bubbles recorded of the bartender telling him to leave, claiming to speak for the owner.

Bubbles is asking for another drink, and after being refused, begins recording the bartender who says, "Because of the way you look! How does that grab you? I don't know! What the hell."

Bubbles says he goes to Ace's "because its one of the only bars left that opens at 6am," and it looks like this all happened on that early early morning shift.

The owner of the bar, Scott Broccoli, quickly issued an apology and said that the bartender, Jake, had been fired, and SF Weekly followed up to confirm that.

To BrokeAss Stuart, Broccoli says, "This is tragic and I am disgusted by what happened. No owner or manager wouldve said that. Its absurd. There is no chance in hell that we would discriminate at Aces. Not only is this San Francisco, this is 2016. Its absolutely unacceptable."

To SF Weekly, he gives a bit of a more nuanced response suggesting that maybe the real reason Bubbles was being refused service was because he was being an asshole, but that what Jake said was out of line.

"There's no question, what he should have said was, 'You're being an asshole  I don't want to serve you.'" says Broccoli. "He was poked and prodded into agreeing it was [Bubbles's appearance] was why  but that's neither here nor there."

He says he's hoping to get to apologize to Bubbles himself, and says, "Shit, man, this is the Tenderloin... It's really just stupid to think that we're not going to serve someone because of the way they look."
The doomsday scenarios coming out of the 2016 presidential race are concerning, but longtime political journalist Eleanor Clift said the U.S. people will persevere, no matter the outcome in November.

Clift, currently Washington correspondent for the Daily Beast, told 150 people gathered at Morningside College in Sioux City on Wednesday night that Americans have previously weathered political and social chaos during the 1968 and 1976 elections.

Clift's "Picking a President" lecture was heavy on Donald Trump talk, who is causing a furor within Republican politics.

"The media has covered him like a continuing obituary," Clift said, in noting how Trump's political demise has been erroneously forecast many times over the last 10 months, due to inflammatory statements about women and minorities.

He keeps leading the GOP field and has the most delegates more than two months into the primary season. But the big question now is whether Trump can amass the 1,237 delegate to seize the Republican nomination.

Failing that, the Republican National Convention could see a contested election where someone other than Trump could take the nomination. Trump this week said that shows the Republican establishment has a "rigged" system.

"(Trump) has exposed the gap between the so-called elites ... and the grassroots energy that has fueled the tea party," Clift said, citing his economic populist appeals.

"Trump's base is basically white workers without college degrees," she said.

Clift said Trump seems poised to reverse the Tuesday loss in Wisconsin to Ted Cruz, one of only two other remaining Republican candidates, along with John Kasich. Clift said Trump should win the next primary in his home state of New York, along with being favored in New Jersey and Maryland events ahead, setting up the June 7 primary in California as crucial, as "the biggest prize of all, 172 delegates."

Clift's lecture came as she spends the week as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow at Morningside, a task she does a few times per year at U.S. colleges. She said polls have shown the young millennial generation has not embraced Trump, while citing that in her first three days at Morningside not one student mentioned support for Trump.

Visit siouxcityjournal.com/blogs to read all of this entry.
EASTON, Md. -- It's been a long while since South Carolina could look down upon its neighbor to the North.

Thanks to North Carolina's anti-LGBT legislation (HB2), also referred to as the "bathroom bill," the state effectively has begun redefining itself from its long-popular characterization as a "valley of humility between two mountains of conceit" (South Carolina and Virginia).

The new law, which ludicrously requires transgender people to use the restroom consistent with the sex on their birth certificates, has liberated South Carolina from its persistent place as the brunt of late-night jokes. Remarking on the law, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said her state doesn't have "that problem." Brava.

The law in question was hurriedly passed last month and signed by North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory in response to what one state official called a restroom free-for-all, referring to sudden hysteria over the possibility of transgender individuals using the "wrong" restroom. How would anyone know? Will officials now post monitors at public restrooms to check birth certificates and human bladder-evacuation portals?

This would be riotously funny if it weren't so patently discriminatory.

Many bad deeds go unpunished, but not this one. The economic fallout from the law already is being felt and the price of not doing business is about to go up. Bruce Springsteen recently canceled a concert in Greensboro and Deutsche Bank has frozen a planned 250-job expansion in the state. But the real showdown will be this weekend when not nearly as many buyers and designers as usual will attend the biannual High Point furniture market -- the largest in the nation and the state's biggest economic event.

A recent study by Duke University placed the annual economic impact of the High Point market at $5.38 billion. The furnishings industry also generates more than 600,000 visitor days to the state each year and accounts for 37,000 jobs.

If there were a Darwin Award for states, North Carolina would win hands-down. Already the High Point Market Authority reports that hundreds or thousands of the 75,000 retailers and designers who annually attend the market won't be visiting this year because of HB2, which, come to think of it, sounds appropriately like a disease.

Many of those who plan to attend have expressed deep reservations amid likely plans to go to the relatively new Las Vegas furniture market next go-round. Among these is Don Wooters, interior designer and co-owner of Easton's Dwelling and Design, who told me he feels guilt about going to North Carolina.

"I feel like a traitor going to High Point, putting capitalism before human rights," he said. "I don't feel good about that and I know it's wrong."

Wooters isn't only baffled by the bigotry of the legislation but also by whatever generates the fear behind it.

"Why do people feel they have to be afraid? It's a big sign of how uneducated America is."

Another local designer, Jamie Merida, owner of Bountiful, told me he decided to go if only to make his case to vendors that they have six months to straighten out this mess or he, too, will be off to Las Vegas next time.

Although North Carolina has been noted in recent years for its increasingly hard-right politics, it is still shocking that a state that boasts several of the nation's top colleges and universities and is home to the famed Research Triangle, could codify what is so plainly a discriminatory law. In comments Tuesday, McCrory, feeling the pressure, softened his defense of the law but stopped short of opposing the provision on bathroom use by transsexual people.

As in all other times when bigotry raises its hideous head, better angels will prevail. Either the courts will overturn the law or the state will come to its senses, if only for economic reasons.

As to that valley of humility? In 1900, when Mary Oates Spratt Van Landingham, a cultural leader and author, first conjured the image in a speech, she was bemoaning her state's then-lesser "native literature."

"Could it be that being located between Virginia and South Carolina, our people for so long have been furnished such conspicuous illustrations of self-appreciation that they have, by contrast, learned modesty and silence?" she said. "Where there are mountains of conceit, there are apt to be valleys of humility."

Today, those mountains have good reason for self-appreciation by comparison. And North Carolina has proved itself a valley of ignorance, whose legislators and governor could use a moment of silence to consider their ill-conceived conceit.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Running a business today looks much different than running a business even just a few years ago. You have new trends, new technology, and even new types of employees. To make sure youre making the most of these things, check out the tips below from this community of modern business owners.

Understand and Manage Your Freelancers

For modern businesses, putting together a team of professionals might look quite a bit different than it did in the past. Freelancers and contract workers can be very beneficial when youre growing your team. But you still need to learn to manage those workers. Karen Sergeant shares some tips for doing so in this post on the Redbooth blog.

Connect With Customers on Facebook Using These Snapchat-Like Features

Facebook has recently added some new features that might resemble those often used on Snapchat. If you want to connect with customers on Facebook, you might want to take a look at what the new features offer. Brian Solis outlines them here. And BizSugar members discussed the post further here.

Determine If You Should Spend Money on New Tech

New technology can have a big impact on your business. But not every new piece of technology is necessarily worth the investment. In this post on the CorpNet blog, Roy Rasmussen shares some tips for determining which tech gadgets are worth the investment.

Create a Unique Website

You already know that having a website is essential to any business. But you also need to find a way to make your website stand out if you really want it to be effective. Here, Carrie Cousins from Web Designer Depot shares the latest trends for creating a website that stands out from the competition.

Learn Which Social Media Platforms You Should Use

The days of signing up for every single social media platform for your business just because they exist are over. Instead, you should consider things like your objectives and target customers to pick a few platforms that are likely to be the most effective for your business. Janice Hostager shares some tips in this post. And the BizSugar community shares thoughts here.

Listen to These Marketing Podcasts to Explode Growth and ROI

Podcasts have been around for years, but they continue gaining popularity. If you want to expand your knowledge base and explode your businesss growth, consider checking out the marketing podcasts listed in this SteamFeed post by Zac Johnson.

Use These Tools for Email Marketing

With all the new technology and marketing methods available, email marketing still remains an important marketing activity for modern businesses. In this post on the Web Design Ledger blog, John Stevens shares some must use tools for email marketers.

Boost Your Presence on Google Plus

If youve written off Google Plus as a marketing platform, it might be time to reconsider. There are some strategies you can use, outlined in this Reviewz N Tips post by Erik Emanuelli, to boost your presence on Google Plus. You can also see further discussion about the post over on BizSugar.

Significantly Boost Your Blog Traffic

Blogging for business is a concept thats always changing. So if you dont know about the latest methods for driving traffic to your blog, you could really be missing out. In this Marketing Land post, John Lincoln shares some methods you can use to significantly boost your blog traffic.

Know These Social Media Buzzwords

The terminology surrounding social media marketing is constantly evolving. If you want to keep up, check out this Exit Bee post by Vanhishikha Bhargava that includes some social media buzzwords for 2016. Then check out the discussion surrounding the post on BizSugar.

If youd like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to: sbtips@gmail.com.
Finding great employees is only half the battle when it comes to building a quality team for your small business. You also have to learn how to keep good employees.

You cant just assume that the employees at your business are happy and likely to stick around no matter what. In fact, according to an infographic from HighGround, 55 percent of employees are searching for other job opportunities already. And the average company loses between 20 and 50 percent of its employee base yearly.

In order to avoid creating a revolving door at your company where the best workers leave again and again, why not learn how to keep your employees engaged. According to HighGround, companies with highly engaged employees have employee turnover rates that are 31 percent lower than average. Wouldnt it be great if one of those businesses was yours?

How To Keep Good Employees

So how do you keep those employees engaged? First of all, you need to create management and communication processes that work for your employees. Your workers need to feel like they are doing work that really matters for your organization. Employees need to have clear instruction and direction to build confidence. But they also need constructive criticism to improve their work.

Its important to constantly give your team positive feedback about their accomplishments. If you dont show your appreciation in some way, team members could begin to feel unclear about the importance of their contributions. Sure, employees may know they are doing a good job. But lack of feedback could lead to a feeling of disconnection from work if these accomplishments go unnoticed.

You also need to make your companys values and culture very clear to employees from the very start. If your website and other public information convey those values clearly, then you are more likely to attract employees who share those values in the first place. And if workers share your values, theyre more likely to stay for the long run. After all, according to HighGrounds data, 33 percent of your new hires know within the very first week whether theyll be sticking around.

Overall, you have to create an environment where employees clearly understand how essential they are to your companys success. If you can create such an environment, your employees are more likely to feel happy and engaged. And engaged employees are much more likely to remain with your company and continue providing the valuable work they do.

For more data on the connection between employee retention and engagement at work, plus some ideas on how to keep your best employees for the long haul, see the infographic below.
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
ICONIC Slovak politician Alexander Dubcek is at the heart of a feature film to be made, directed by Russian Andrei Konchalovsky.

Font size: A - | A +

Dubcek, a charismatic and internationally renowned personality who was the symbol of communism with a human face during the Prague Spring in the 1960s, inspired the film to be named The Human Face that will be screened in 2018, organisers informed.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

It was thanks to Dubcek that Konchalovsky  who has received several awards at the Venice and Cannes film festivals and who made a host of famous films  accepted the offer. Co-authors of the script are Slovaks Karol Hlavka and Andrej Antonio Leca.

Despite the fact that it will be a feature film and not a documentary, the script requires strict adherence to historical connections, using stories and accounts of witnesses, Dubceks friends, statesmen and historians. The film, a Slovak-Czech- Italian-French coproduction, aims  thanks to the name of Dubcek and also the fame of the director  to perform well internationally, and thus draw attention to Slovakia. It will be premiered in cinemas in 2018; the 50th anniversary of the Prague Spring of 1968.

The history of Prague Spring can be interpreted from various perspectives, Konchalovsky said, as quoted by the organisers, but what is interesting for me is the more intimate view of the tragedy of events in Czechoslovakia.

The director goes on to say that through Dubceks story, showing a man who crossed this line and dared to face his fears, the difference between his stances and behaviour and those of his colleagues can be seen, as well as the hopes and frustrations of the turbulent year 1968 in communist Czechoslovakia, which ended with Soviet tanks rolling in.

His greatness lies in what he managed: to keep his face, the human face, Konchalovsky summed up.
Highlights from Globsec 2016: Day 1 (April 15)

Font size: A - | A +

The German Minister of Defence, Ursula von der Leyen, this years keynote speaker, spoke about todays challenges, including Russia, ISIS, the refugee crisis and Brexit. She argued that European Union (and NATO) cannot choose between humanity and security; in order to secure lasting progress, it must combine both. To that end, we must take care of Europe, or we run the risk of losing it.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

Von der Leyen concluded by stressing that Germany is ready to take responsibility and leadership from the center. For that, however, it still needs to invest more in capabilities.

...we have a model to offer to the world; unity and diversity; respect and values

Russia is not an enemy; but currently it is not a partner either

video //www.youtube.com/embed/POG2Iil1mFw

Slovak President Andrej Kiska spoke about the need to protect our key democratic values. He emphasized the collective need to fight extremism and illiberal political elements whose sole political platform is to weaken our democratic foundations and whose aim to promote possible alternative to liberal democracy.

We cannot abandon our humanity no matter the threat.

Read also:

Read also: We cannot act as if the history has ended Read more

With Daesh migrating out of Iraq and taking advantage of the existing regional power struggles, the level of instability in the Middle East has been further increased. Gen. John Allen stated that Daesh exists in three essential components: first, there is a core geographic ISIL in Iraq and Syria (currently facing considerable pressure from the West, Russia and local forces); secondly, in the state of the caliphate against apostates and thirdly, in the form of the global ISIS network  reaching outside the region of the Middle East (Europe, Asia and Africa). The key roots of Daesh success are originating in regional state failure, poor governance and lack of education.

While Daeshs surface area is currently shrinking, countering violent extremism via conventional security means isnt enough, as the ultimate solution to counter the organization shall be a generational effort to change the fundamental conditions in the region.

If we are countering violent extremism we are already late.

...(to win over the Daesh) we need a Muslim face and a Muslim voice; the message has to be local.

Read also:

Read also: Leading experts meet at Globsec conference in Bratislava Read more

The current state of politics and the overall societal mood is a significant factor in the process of shaping the future role of NATO. Whether it is addressing the military actions of revisionist Russia or fulfilling NATOs role in defending allied members in relations to emerging terrorist threats, the internal cohesion of the Alliance is the key requisite of success. Most of the debates about the current role of NATO as a security provider accentuate the relevance of cooperation between NATO countries and NATOs non-allied partners. Russia continuously perceives the Alliance as one of main threats to its security. Within the line of this perception, the Russian military had undertaken a considerable reform - unmatched neither in scale nor complexity by any European NATO country. The upcoming Warsaw summit of the Alliance should serve as a platform for adapting the Alliance to the changing nature of current challenges by reinvigorating its traditional capabilities (nuclear forces and enhanced troop stationing) and by further enhancing new capabilities - with cyber security and anti-propaganda being in the forefront of the agenda.

Gen. Petr Pavel: We have two powerful institutions: EU and NATO  the Alliance can provide security, EU stability. Security will not exist without stability.

The text was originally published as part of the daily summaries from the GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Security Forum.
Consumer-focused grinderlords Baratza introduced their new Sette model this week at SCAA in Atlanta, adding a newupside down and sidewaystwist to grinder engineering.

The grinder boasts dramatically increased speed and efficiency through a streamlined design owed to a straight-through grinding mode wherein the outer, not inner, burrs rotate. The mechanism turning the grinding gear is moved to the rear of the burrs, rather than driven from below them, opening up space to brew directly into a device with increased speed.

When you turn the outer burrs, it breaks all these paradigms that people think theyre living with with conical burrs, Baratza co-founder Kyle Anderson told Sprudge. They turned their grinder game upside down with the help of Swiss engineer Christian Etzinger.

We reconfigured what and how the grinding mechanism even looks like, and in so doing it opened up all this real estate because were hanging it, not supporting it from underneath like before.

So, too, hangs the coffee receptaclewhether its a grounds bin or the portafilter, V60, or other dripper, adjustable arms beneath the burrs allow the user to mount the brewer of their choice to recieve a speedy, 3.5g per second dose of espresso-ground coffee or 5.5g per second dose of filter-sized grounds. (An adapter to hold an AeroPress within the Settewere guessing not invertedis also in the works.)

And with all that dangling in mid-air, you might think: but can it also weigh my coffee? Yes, as a matter of fact, the sette can. Utilizing an Acaia load cell and Bluetooth-enabled Acaia circuit board, the Sette-W model will auto-tare whatever receptacle is mounted and weigh it with precision. And if youre a user of the Acaia app, it will communicate with that, too.

While Sette doesnt replace comparable higher-end model Baratza Vario, it offers a speedy, sexy alternative with conical burrs. (Some people will always prefer flat ceramic burrs, said Baratzas Joyce Klassen of the Vario. Its a personal choice.)

The Settes burrs are forged of hardened high-carbon tool steel, from the same supplier in Liechtenstein that produces burrs for the Encore, Virtuoso, and Preciso. The crucial outer burrs are mounted in a 50% glass-reinforced plastic housing that Anderson tells us is the same material used for car intake manifolds. Hes confident their parts will back a long-lived, superior grinder.

And itll look pretty good on the kitchen counter, too.

Liz Clayton is the associate editor at Sprudge.com, based in Brooklyn. Read more Liz Clayton on Sprudge.
YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. The attack on Robert Kocharyans house is strictly condemnable. As Armenpress reports, this was stated via Facebook by Vice-President of RPA Armen Ashotyan.

Under the current military-political situation, there are those who have interests of destabilizing the internal situation of the country. I hope that everything will be clarified and the investigation will give answers, he wrote.

Police received a call about an attack on the 2nd President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyans house; this was informed by representative of the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Police of Armenia Armen Malkhasyan.

The task force is at the scene, investigation is carried out, he said.

Press Secretary of Kocharyan, Viktor Soghomonyan informed Yerkirmedia.am that Robert Kocharyan is currently abroad, he has departed for Moscow on personal affairs.

Rumors are circulating that a grenade has been thrown at the house, however the Police have not commented on this yet.
Grosscup said the alliance of policymakers and their supporters had largely focused around the political leadership of the Bush and Clinton families over the past decades in the US Republican and Democratic parties.

"Any US president heads the National Security State bureaucracy. So yes Putin is correct."

US policymakers had approved limited cooperation with Russia in fighting Islamic terrorists over the past quarter century, but that alliance had frayed in recent years, Grosscup maintained.

In counter-terrorism cooperation, Washington and Moscow have joined in battling their commonly designated terrorists since the last years of the Soviet Union, "principally the Islamic fundamentalists who in Chechnya threaten to break away from Russia and attacked the United States on September 11," he observed.

However, Russia has not cooperated in the US "regime change" policy conducted in the name of counter-terrorism, Grosscup, who is California State University Political Science Professor, continued.

"Syria is the latest example of this as Putin and the US National Security State find themselves on the opposite side on the issue of [Syrian President Bashar] Assad."

The continued power of militaristic hawks in the Obama administration had generated a dangerous level of distrust and tension between the United States and Russia driven by Washington policymakers, University of Illinois Professor of International Law Francis Boyle warned.

"The situation is still extremely dangerous. We know for a fact that the United States is still continuing its military escalation off the borders of Russia. So far I have not seen any stand down from what I deem to be very hostile aggressive maneuvers by US and NATO military forces against Russia," Boyle noted.

Boyle also claimed that the highly publicized confrontation this week between a Russian helicopter and the US guided missile destroyer Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea had been caused by the American vessels close proximity to the major Russian naval center at Kaliningrad.

"We now know that the Donald Cook was only about 70 miles away from Kaliningrad. The US government insists the Donald Cook was sailing in international waters, but they made the same claim during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident."

US claims of attacks by Vietnamese gunboats on that occasion were used by the Lyndon Johnson administration as the justification for massive US intervention into the Vietnam War.
During the rallies, protesters signed the declaration of protecting Moldovas integrity. The declaration will be followed by a mass rally calling for the countrys independence to be held in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on May 15.

The countrys several opposition forces  Socialists, Our Party and the Civic Platform Dignity and Truth (DA)  have been demanding the resignation of the Moldovan president, the prime minister and the chief prosecutor, while also calling for early parliamentary elections, a direct presidential election and prompt action to tackle corruption.

The Moldovan Parliament declared on April 1 that direct presidential elections would be held in the country on October 30. The decision was passed by a majority vote in the parliament. The term of office of the previous Moldovan president, Nicolae Timofti, elected by the parliament in 2012, expired on March 23.
Parubiy, the founder and former leader of the Social-National Party of Ukraine, an openly fascist party styled on Hitler's Nazis that eventually mutated into the Svoboda Party, is now de facto the third most powerful politician in the country. Parubiy took his former boss Volodymyr Groysman's place last week when Groysman became prime minister, following Arseniy Yatsenyuk's resignation.

On his very first day in office in his new post, Parubiy decided to reiterate that his position on relations with Russia has not changed since his stint as the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, where he served between February and August 2014.

"As the chairman of the National Security and Defense Council, I proposed the introduction of a visa regime with the Russian Federation. That was my position then, and it remains the same today. I believe that this is a path which we must take," the politician said, speaking to Ukraine's 1+1 television channel Thursday evening.
On Thursday internet users in Turkey were stopped from visiting the Sputnik News website, after Turkey's Telecommunications Authority (TIB) blocked access to it.

Turkey's Golbasi District court in the Ankara province approved the decision of the TIB to block access to a number of websites in the country, including the Sputnik News agency website, local media reported Saturday.

The Turkish court ruled that the telecom authorities' decision was appropriate and aimed at protecting the life, property and safety of citizens as well as maintaining national security, public order and crime prevention, Anadolu News Agency reported.

According to Anadolu News Agency, apart from Sputnik's website Turkey has also banned Dicle News Agency's site and several blogs on Twitter.
The US State Department said it had raised those complaints with the Emirati government, adding, "we continue to call for an expeditious resolution to this case via a fair and transparent legal process in accordance with local law."

According to Greg Craig, a defense attorney for the Eldarats, his clients were tortured and are not receiving the medical care they need.

State Department officials have said that they are closely following the trials in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and that they have raised concerns about the treatment of the Eldarats with senior Emirati officials.

Aya Hijazi, the Egyptian-American woman, has been detained in Egypt on accusations of human trafficking and sexually abusing the children. Ms. Hijazi led a nonprofit organization that she founded to care for Cairo's street children. Despite forensics showing that some children were abused, this did not happen while children were under the protection of Hijazi's organization.

Brian Shott, a spokesman for the United States Embassy in Cairo, said officials were closely following Ms. Hijazi's case and would continue to attend her court sessions.

Basel Hijazi, Ms. Hijazi's brother, said European diplomats in Cairo had shown more interest than their American counterparts, who at one point gave the Hijazis a switchboard number at the embassy to call for questions or concerns.

The two families were reluctant to take their cases to the public, afraid to inadvertently influence any negotiations in an unfavorable way. However, as time passes, the relatives became desperate and turned to media to press on the US Government.
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense posts monthly official statistics of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since October 2014. According to its latest publication, only three or four air strikes took place during last five weeks. This is less than 14 strikes that took place in January or seven in February.

This barely corresponds to British Prime Minister David Cameron's claims that UK forces would play a "vital, battle-winning" role in the conflict.

In his 2015 speech to MPs justifying British action in Syria, Cameron said: "We have the assets to do that, and we can significantly extend the capabilities of the international Coalition forces."
Now, with most of Soviet-aligned Eastern Europe, including the Baltic states, breaking off from Moscow's orbit and joining NATO, new dangers have emerged. "When did the independence of Eastern Europe become so vital an interest that we would now risk war with a nuclear-armed Russia to ensure it?"

Moreover, "under Article 5 of NATO, an attack upon any of 28 allied nations is to be regard as an attack upon all. But is this the kind of blank check we should give Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who a few months back ordered a Russian fighter plane that crossed into Turkish territory for 15 seconds to be shot down? Do we really want to leave to this erratic autocrat the ability to drag us into a war with Russia?"

Ultimately, Buchanan stresses, "since the end of the Cold War in 1991, [the US] has been steadily bled and slowly bankrupted. We are now as overextended as was the British Empire in the 1940s. And like that empire, we too are being challenged by nations that seek to enlarge their place in the sun  a resurrected Russia, China, Iran."

This, the analyst suggests, means that the time has come "for a reappraisal of all the war guarantees this nation has issued since the beginning of the Cold War, to determine which, if any, still serve US national interests in 2016. Alliances, after all, are the transmission belts of war."

"This is not isolationism," Buchanan insists. "It is putting our country first, and staying out of other people's wars. It used to be called patriotism."

A veteran political commentator, columnist and writer, Pat Buchanan served as the White House Communications Director for the Reagan administration.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 in Egypt and has earned a bad reputation for its terrorist attacks, political assassinations and regime change attempts in the Middle East.

The Brotherhood allegedly collaborated with the Nazis in the 1940s and then cooperatied with the US intelligence services in the late 1970s-1980s, when jihadists flooded Afghanistan in order to fight against Soviet military forces and the secular government in Kabul.

According to Egyptian journalist and social media expert Eman Nabih, the Muslim Brotherhood's covert activity in the Middle East and North Africa has led to a series of military coups in the Arab world in 2011-2012 and the emergence of Daesh.
What makes the situation more complicated is that Washington has focused on "downsized, easy-to-use variety" of nuclear bombs.

In 2015 the US tested its new B61 Model 12 nuclear bombs  "the small, the stealthy and the precise,"  in Nevada. The B61 tests were immediately denounced by Russia and China as "irresponsible" and "openly provocative," The New York Times wrote in January 2016.

It seems that the Cold War history lessons remain largely unlearnt. There is no Warsaw Pact or the USSR; Russia does not pose a threat to the United States. It would be ludicrous to consider North Korea or Iran an imminent menace to Washington as well.

In this light there is no reason to kick off a nuclear modernization program, the US scholar believes.

Furthermore, large amounts of nuclear weapons spread across NATO military bases may increase the risk of "nuclear war by miscalculation."

"That raises the question of whether Washington has an interest in keeping open the option of making first use of nuclear weapons against Iran or North Korea First-use  even as doctrine  also sets dangerous precedents. It weakens the nuclear taboo entrenched since 1945, and it thereby heightens anxiety in a manner that increases the risk of accidental or miscalculated use," Brenner warns.
On April 15, Lavrov arrived in Tokyo for a two-day official visit, discussing political and economic issues, as well as Prime Minister Abe's possible Russia visit, whose date is yet to be determined. Ties between the two countries deteriorated two years ago after Tokyo announced that it would support Western economic sanctions imposed on Moscow over its alleged interference in Ukraine, but the lack of stable relations actually goes back decades.

Commenting on the background to the diplomatic good will visit in an analysis for Russian business magazine Expert, Russian geopolitical analyst Gevorg Mirzayan noted that at first glance, "Russian Japanese relations are exceptional in their astonishing irrationality."

"It would seem that both countries would benefit from almost a strategic partnership level of relations. Russia can offer Japan the energy it requires, as well as resources and a market for the expansion of Japanese capital. But more importantly, the Kremlin could become a geopolitical balance, helping Tokyo to find a formula to defend against an ever-strengthening China. After all, Russia is one of the few countries in the region that does not hold animosity for Tokyo over Japan's war crimes in the first half of the 20th century."
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. The PKK attacked a police vehicle with an IED in the Savur district of Mardin Province, Turkey; Armenpress reports, citing Anadolu.

4 Turkish soldiers were killed and 2 wounded during the attack.

Turkish authorities conduct large scale operations to apprehend the Kurdish militants.
One of the Iran's goals in nuclear deal with world powers was to secure the country's access to the global financial system, and the United States must now act to remove obstacles to the banking sector, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday.

"It's essential that the other side, especially the United States, fulfill its commitments not on paper but in practice and removes the obstacles especially in banking sector," he said.

In their joint briefing with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini the sides underscored that the EU and Iran were in agreement on the expansion of economic relations, and "encouraging banking cooperation".
The idea of Russia regaining its chair in the G7 group of nations was voiced by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier ahead of two-day Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting, held April 10-11 in the city of Hiroshima. We will see in a year if Russia maintains this constructive role and then there will certainly be a debate within the G7" Mr. Steinmeier told the German Zeit newspaper.

While nothing is written in stone, the follow-up discussion, held in Hiroshima, revealed that G7 still finds itself in no position to abandon its former policy on Russia. Of course, we discussed the issue of the EU sanctions against Russia. The issue of sanctions should be studied after the progress in implementation of the Minsk Agreements. There are no grounds to say now that the sanctions should be lifted, if we see no progress,"  said Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development of France Jean-Marc Ayrault.

No surprise that this position was rebuffed by Moscow.
The new aircraft's design characteristics are owned by the Yakovlev Design Bureau. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly privatized design bureau lost government backing, and spent much of the 1990s hobbling along on the brink of survival.

The bureau had three major projects going: the Yak-130 combat training aircraft, the Yak-141 supersonic VTOL (vertical takeoff/landing) jet fighter, and groundwork studies for a short- to medium-range passenger aircraft, known as the Yak-242. The company chose the Yak-130 as its priority project, and together with Italy's Aermacchi, succeeded in bringing the plane to the production phase.

In the early 2000s, the Russian Aerospace Agency announced a competition for the development of a new aircraft to replace the Tu-154, the legendary Soviet-era workhorse which had faithfully served Aeroflot since the 1960s, and eventually came to carry nearly half of the massive airline's passengers. The Tu-154 began to be retired off in the mid-2000s, with many Russian airlines buying or leasing Boeing and Airbus planes to replace the reliable but outdated airliner.

In 2003, the Yakovlev Design Bureau was announced as the winner of the competition. The same year, the company became part of Irkut Corporation, which itself was later amalgamated into the United Aircraft Corporation. The merger was seen as mutually beneficial, with Irkut looking for a design bureau for passenger aircraft, and Yakovlev the necessary physical production capacity.

Despite its origins in the Yak-242, it would be wrong to consider the MC-21 a direct continuation of the Yak-242 project. "No one ever set the goal of just putting the finishing touches on the Yak-242, since it did not meet the requirements of the market. Therefore, the corporation carried out research and development work, out of which the completely new technical characteristics of the MC-21 were born," a source in the aircraft industry speaking to Lenta.ru explained.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the loss of human lives in this week's deadly earthquakes on Japan's Kyushu island, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

"Putin has expressed condolences to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the significant loss of human life caused by the series of destructive earthquakes on the Kyushu island. The head of the Russian state has expressed condolences and support for the families of those killed, wishing those injured in the natural disaster a speedy recovery," the Kremlin's press service said.

At least 37 people died and some 2,000 others were injured in a series of powerful earthquakes that hit Japan in past days.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency will implement all legal measures to restart the work of Sputnik news agencys website after Turkey banned its operation within the country, Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev said Saturday.

"We are employing all legal means to restore the site. The lawyers are currently considering our options," Kiselev said.

Sputnik, which is the foreign language news site in the Rossiya Segodnya media holding, was blocked in Turkey on Thursday evening.
Liberty Counsel Assists Franklin County Schools in Adopting New Club Policy

Contact: Liberty Counsel, 800-671-1776, Media@LC.org



FRANKLIN COUNTY, Tenn., April 15, 2016 /Standard Newswire/ -- Liberty Counsel advised the Franklin County School Board regarding a student club policy which was adopted on Monday, April 11. This policy requires parental permission for all school clubs, sign-in sheets for nonschool attendees, and accurate recordkeeping. If any club's content endangers students or creates a substantial risk of material disruption of the schools, then the club may be subject to sanctions, including disbandment.

The board contacted Liberty Counsel after they received pressure from homosexual activists to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) on campus without oversight. The board's then-current student club policy was inadequate to provide the necessary supervision for this group that promotes homosexuality and gender confusion. As a result, Liberty Counsel helped draft a strong policy with commonsense regulations that have been upheld by the federal courts that apply to all school clubs.

"Gay-Straight Alliance is designed to promote homosexual and gender-confusion propaganda in the guise of a children's club. Parents should exercise their rights to direct the education and to protect the well-being of their children," said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. "This policy provides that minors must receive parental consent to participate in clubs. Franklin County Schools should be commended for respecting the rights of parents to control the associations of their minor children," said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
One incumbent is running in the five-candidate race for two open seats.
hidden

The European Union's digital chief wants search engines such as Alphabet Inc's Google and Microsoft's Bing to be more transparent about advertising in web search results but ruled out a separate law for web platforms.

European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip, who is overseeing a wide-ranging inquiry into how web platforms conduct their business, said on Friday the EU executive would not take a horizontal approach to regulating online services.

"We will take a problem-driven approach," Ansip said. "It's practically impossible to regulate all the platforms with one really good single solution."

That will come as a relief to the web industry, dominated mainly by big U.S. tech firms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon, who lobbied hard against new rules for online platforms and what they saw as an anti-American protectionist backlash.

"We praise the Commission for understanding that a horizontal measure for all platforms is practically impossible," said Jakob Kucharczyk, director of the Computer & Communications Industry Association which represents the likes of Facebook, Google and Amazon.

"While a lot of online platforms enable economic growth, their business models differ widely."

However Ansip said he was worried about how transparent some search engines are when displaying ads in search results.

The Commission is also looking into the transparency of paid-for reviews as well as the conditions of use of services such as Google Maps, Apple Inc's IoS mobile operating system and Google's Android.

"Maybe it's not too much to ask for more transparency talking about search engines," Ansip said.

The former Estonian prime minister also poured cold water on the idea that the Commission would make search engines pay to display snippets of news articles, dubbed the "Google tax", as part of its EU copyright law reform due later this year.

The EU executive is looking into making rules on taking down illegal content clearer and more effective without making hosting websites such as YouTube directly liable.

"Now musicians ask, please, take it down and keep it down," Ansip said. "We want to make those rules more clear."

But the Commission will not change a provision where websites such as Amazon, eBay and Google's YouTube are not held liable for illegal content that is uploaded on to their systems. They do, however, have a responsibility to take it down once they are notified of it.

The Commission will publish a communication detailing its plans on web platforms in June.

Reuters
hidden

After taking to the air with drones to provide Internet to remote spots, Facebook on Wednesday unveiled new land-based systems to provide connectivity to people in urban settings.

We are really going at this problem from every possible angle, Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg said of efforts by the social network to make Internet connectivity more widely available around the world.

Facebook used its annual developers conference to reveal Terragraph technology that uses low-cost, off-the-shelf components to create antenna-based networks in dense city settings to improve wireless Internet availability.

The technology incorporates attributes and industrial design required for fast, attractive and affordable deployment across cityscapes, Neeraj Choubey and Ali Yazdan Panah of Facebook said in a blog post.

Its reduced interference and ability to operate in non-line-of-sight conditions increases customer reach.

Terragraph nodes can be mounted outside high-rises or other big buildings and connected to Internet connections inside.

Terragraph is being tested at the Facebook campus in Silicon Valley and will soon start a broader trial in the nearby California city of San Jose.

A Project ARIES at Facebook has a goal of building a test platform for efficient use of energy and unused radio spectrum that could provide a way to deliver Internet to communities outside of cities.

We are interested in developing this technology to harness the incredible gains in providing communications to rural communities from city centres, Choubey and Panah said.

The hope with systems such as these is that costly rural infrastructure can be avoided while still providing high-speed connectivity.

Facebook stressed that it was not interested in being an Internet service provider, but wanted to show those who do what could be possible.

Moreover, we would like to make this technology open to the wireless communications research and academic community, the blog post said.

The leading social network in coming months will launch its first satellite to provide Internet service to sub-Saharan Africa, Zuckerberg said at the conference.

Facebook's mission to connect the world has included building solar-powered Aquila drones capable of transmitting data using lasers.

If you had told me 12 years ago that we were going to be building a plane, I would have told you that you are crazy, Zuckerberg said as he showed off a lightweight piece of a drone during a keynote presentation.

Well, here we are.

Facebook estimates that more that four billion people don't have access to the Internet for reasons that include access and cost.

As part of an often-shared long-range vision of letting people anywhere share whatever they want with anyone using the Internet, Zuckerberg on Wednesday announced the creation of a Building 8 team devoted to building new hardware products for connecting the world.

Facebook hired Regina Dugan away from an Advanced Technology and Projects group at Google to head the new team, according to Zuckerberg.

Before joining Google, Dugan was director of the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency devoted to innovations for the US military.

I'm excited to have Regina apply DARPA-style breakthrough development at the intersection of science and products to our mission, Zuckerberg said.

Facebook will devote hundreds of people and invest hundreds of millions of dollars to the effort as it pursues a 10-year road map that includes virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and online connectivity, according to Zuckerberg.

AFP
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. Pope Francis is visiting a detention camp on the Greek island of Lesbos to show support for refugees who are trying to reach northern Europe, Armenpress reports citing BBC.

The Moria camp holds more than 3,000 people, some of whom may face deportation to Turkey.Francis said his Greek trip was to witness "the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War".Thousands are now stuck on Lesbos after last month's EU-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow of migrants.

The Vatican insists that the Pope's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature and should not be seen as a criticism of the deportations.

However, the Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, has said the EU-Turkey plan treats migrants as merchandise and fails to recognize their dignity as human beings.

Dozens of refugees lined up in the Moria camp to see the Pope, some holding banners asking for help.

On his plane journey to Lesbos, the Pope told reporters: "This is a voyage marked by sadness... We will witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War.

"We will see so many people who are suffering, who are fleeing and do not know where to go. And we are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived."The Pope was met at Lesbos Mytilene airport by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians, and Archbishop of Athens Ieronimos II.

At the Moria camp, the Pope will also observe a minute's silence for those who have died making dangerous sea crossings in search of a better life.Greece's ERT state television reported that Pope Francis had offered to take 10 refugees back to Italy with him. Vatican spokesman Rev Federico Lombardi said he could not comment.

On the eve of the visit, one Syrian attempted to kill himself at the camp after being told he would be deported back to Turkey but was prevented by police.

Migrants later demonstrated, demanding better treatment and to stay in Europe.This is a short, but highly symbolic visit designed to draw attention to what the Vatican has described as a difficult situation.The Pope has repeatedly called for compassion to be shown to people fleeing terror, turmoil and hardship. He will be hoping his trip to Lesbos will stir Europe's conscience.

It comes as the EU's handling of the migrant crisis faces intense criticism from aid agencies and human rights groups. The Pope will meet refugees at a camp where more than 3,000 people are now effectively incarcerated in conditions aid workers say are deplorable.

He will then hold a ceremony to remember those who have died trying to reach Europe's shores. The Pope is coming with a strong moral message - but no solutions.

Some Syrians on Lesbos say they are terrified by the thought of returning to Turkey because of reports that hundreds of Syrians have been forcibly returned from Turkey to Syria.

Turkey has denied sending back any refugees against their will.

Refugees and migrants also complain of overcrowded conditions and a lack of food.

Pope Francis visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 to show similar support for migrants after dozens died trying to reach it.
Naina Khedekar

Delhi government has kickstarted the second phase of its odd-even scheme today, which will continue until 30 April. While this may help curb the increasing effects of air pollution, it could make daily commuting a nightmare. Like most spheres of life, mobile apps could come to your rescue to ensure you have a smooth and hassle-free ride. Some taxi aggregator startups are ensuring that no stone is left unturned, by offering discount, free rides and even free petrol. Let's take a look at the several options for Delhites for a cost-effective and comfortable commute in the next 15 days.

Shuttl

For those, who take public transport and are looking for cost-effective ways to travel rather than taxis, Shuttl could be an alternative. It is a bus aggregator platform that generates an e-ticket for each user along with a reserved seat number. It has teamed up with bus drivers and runs air-conditioned buses that ply on fixed routes. The Gurgaon-based startup that recently received $20 million funding has helped build an improved tech product and in expansion by covering Delhi/NCR region with over 100 routes and more than 500 buses. The startup is expecting an increase in riders by 50 percent in this coming phase. For the second phase, they've added over 100 buses, making the new count over 500.

Amit Singh, co-founder Shuttl, said, The last phase was a great learning opportunity for all of us. It showed us the positive impact of an institution-led change and brought to light how public commute can make a difference. The expectation in second phase is much higher, because after the first phase, the major change we witnessed is people are ready to move to shared commute if they a get a comfortable ride to their work. The interesting part is around 40 percent commuters who joined Shuttl during the first phase stayed back. This has helped us grow at a higher pace. In January, during the first phase of odd-even, Shuttl was running on 50+ routes with 10,000 rides per day and now we are on 100+ routes with almost 20,000 rides per day. We are adding 30 more routes and expecting a 50 percent increase during this phase of odd-even. We are ready to make daily office commute easier for Delhities and provide them a seamless transport solution"

The Shuttl app is available to download on Apple App store, Google's Play store and Windows store.

Ola Shuttle

A similar bus-aggregator comes from the popular startup Ola. Ola Shuttle also has more than 500 buses running in Delhi NCR region with a daily ridership of about 15000. It claims to cover more than 120 routes. The air-conditioned ride also offer free Wi-Fi access to users. You can book a ride wherever you are with the hassle-free Ola Money payment option. It also allows real-time tracking of the Shuttle.

"In addition to thousands of Cabs and Autorickshaws on the Ola platform that are used by citizens of Delhi everyday; the Company has enabled multiple shared mobility options like Ola Share, Ola Shuttle and Car Pool. Ola has also rolled out an on-ground campaign to encourage and educate people on the use of Shared Mobility solutions; volunteers from Ola are stationed at key traffic junctions, around metro stations and other popular areas during the oddeven experiment to engage and guide citizens to appropriate options," Ola said in a media statement.

Ola app is available for download on Android and iOS platforms.

Odd-Even ride

While those were alternative to buses, what about people who own a car? The motive of Odd-Even is to get lesser vehicles on road and car pooling is a great way to achieve it. You can team up with people and get your vehicles out alternately by car pooling. However, your dear and ones may not be travelling in the same direction as you. Here's when Odd-Even comes to the rescue. Using this app, you need to key in details like car number, phone number and route, and a list of people travelling in the same direction will popular your screen. This app is available for Android users.

Carpool and Ride Share by Meru

For the Odd-Even phase two, Meru is gearing up with products like Carpool by Meru, Meru Ride Share and Meru Cabs with 100 percent CNG fitment and double driver model. Carpool provides a platform for individuals to share their own private cars with others and Merus Ride Share enables an individual to share his/her Meru ride with a co-passenger travelling on the similar route.

Meru is also encouraging all their driver-partners to implement double drivers on the cab in order to increase cab availability and the network size 24x7. "Meru Cabs come with 100 percent CNG fitted cab network of around 3000 cabs on the Delhi roads," Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, Meru Cabs tells us.

Meru is betting big on carpooling and ride sharing and has started an awareness campaign to change consumer behavior around these concepts and to eventually turn it into a habit. "Today, Carpool by Meru is receiving 1000+ booking requests on daily basis and same is been expected to rise in coming days by 30% increase during the second phase as well," he adds.

Talking about the Odd-Even rules, Pahwa says, "We truly believe that this rule should be implemented permanently in Delhi and even in other cities, as we believe this will help the cities to curb the pollution & more importantly the road congestion issue."

The Meru app is available for download on Android and iOS platforms.

Other popular car pooling services - Ola Share and UberPool

And, if you want to ensure that you are commuting with known brands, then there are options such as Ola Share and Uber Pool. needless to say, you just need to key in the destination and number of seats, and a nearby vehicle heading in the same direction will be routed to your location. Knowing that these are the most used vehicles, you can easily get a option to make your commute easy.

Revv to Work

Now, not many may be comfortable travelling with strangers, and here's when self-drive car rental service Revv could come to the rescue. In fact, the startup has launched a new product called Revv To Work in Delhi, wherein you can rent a car on a weekly basis - Monday to Thursday at an economical price around Rs. 450 to 500 per day with 250 free kilometers. Drive a Revv car to work every day from Monday to Thursday with no additional charges till 250 kilometers.

Talking about Odd-Even implementation, Anupam Agarwal, Co-founder & CEO, Revv tell us Firstpost, "Odd-even's positive impact on both traffic and pollution is obvious and significant, but it could be perceived as a drastic step by several car owners. Sustainability will depend upon the quality of implementation. We obviously cannot be ready for all this on Day 1, but sustained efforts during next 6 months can get us there." Revv is available to download on Android and iOS.

Jugnoo

Those who prefer the good ol autos, there's the Jugoo auto-aggregator for connecting the last mile. And, in order to Delhites to use public transport, Jugnoo is offering free first ride for users who join during the implementation period of odd even policy and 50 percent discount on first 200 rides between 1 pm to 4 pm.

"We completely believe in the merits of this campaign as we witnessed a very positive feedback from our users during the first phase of implementation of this scheme. With a three fold increase in number of users, there was also tremendous improvement in driver efficiency as the ride time got reduced by around 25% due to less congestion on roads," Samar Singla, CEO and Founder, Jugnoo tells FirstPost.

Orahi

Similar to Odd Even Ride, another car pooling app is Orahi (Android and iOS). However, Orahi is a corporate car pooling app. It is only for those car owners or people with a valid corporate id and also have to undergo a stringent verification process. It is launching a new app to handle carpooling as well as Odd-Even scheme. So, passengers will have to pay Rs 3.5 per kilometer, out of which Rs 3 goes to the driver/owner and 5o paise to Orahi. To attract users in the next 15 days, it is offering features such as second ride free for co-passengers, free 1 litre perol for car owners every two rides (max up to 10 litres) and more. In January, the startup raised 3.5 Cr from the Indian Angel Network within less than three years of its existence and in April Orahi bought odd-even.com that is built by 13-year old Akshat Mittal who is now being mentored by Orahi founders.

"Carpooling definitely plays a very significant role in reducing carbon emission. When 3 people travel together, they save 2/3 of carbon emission. Orahi have been able to save 550 tons of carbon emission using carpooling," said Arun Bhati, COO and Founder, Orahi.

Besides, there are other options such as the Delhi government's Poocho app and Zoomcar, among others.
You are not alone; Pope tells migrants

A woman kisses the hand of Pope Francis and gives him a piece of paper as he greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp, near the Port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday.

BBC Online :Pope Francis is visiting a detention camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, telling the migrants there that they "are not alone".The Moria camp holds more than 3,000 people, some of whom may face deportation to Turkey.Francis said his Greek trip was to witness "the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War".Thousands are now stuck on Lesbos after last month's EU-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow of migrants.The Vatican insists that the Pope's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature and should not be seen as a criticism of the deportations.Dozens of refugees lined up in the Moria camp to see the Pope, some holding banners asking for help.Pope Francis met a group of young boys who had made the dangerous overseas journey alone. As he toured the camp, TV pictures showed one woman kneeling at his feet, delivering an emotional appeal.A young girl handed him some artwork. The Pope said "Bravo, Bravo", before telling his staff: "Don't fold it. I want it on my desk."In his speech, the Pope acknowledged "the great sacrifice" the people in the camp had made, saying he wanted to "draw the attention of the world to this grave humanitarian crisis".Calling on the world to show "common humanity" over the crisis, he told the camp's residents: "Do not lose hope. The greatest gift we can offer to one another is love."On his plane journey to Lesbos, the Pope told reporters: "This is a voyage marked by sadness... We will witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War."We will see so many people who are suffering, who are fleeing and do not know where to go. And we are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived."The Pope was met at Lesbos Mytilene airport by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians, and Archbishop of Athens Ieronimos II.At the Moria camp, the Pope will also observe a minute's silence for those who have died making dangerous sea crossings in search of a better life.Greece's ERT state television reported that Pope Francis had offered to take 10 refugees back to Italy with him. Vatican spokesman Rev Federico Lombardi said he could not comment.In September, the Pope made space in the Vatican apartments for two refugee families, urging Catholics across Europe to play their part to resolve the crisis.On the eve of the Lesbos visit, one Syrian attempted to kill himself at the camp after being told he would be deported back to Turkey but was prevented by police.Migrants later demonstrated, demanding better treatment and to stay in Europe. They complain the camp is overcrowded and there is a lack of food.This is a short, but highly symbolic visit designed to draw attention to what the Vatican has described as a difficult situation.The Pope has repeatedly called for compassion to be shown to people fleeing terror, turmoil and hardship. He will be hoping his trip to Lesbos will stir Europe's conscience.It comes as the EU's handling of the migrant crisis faces intense criticism from aid agencies and human rights groups. The Pope will meet refugees at a camp where more than 3,000 people are now effectively incarcerated in conditions aid workers say are deplorable.
Kerry tells Russia to press Assad to comply with Syria ceasefire

US Secretary of State John Kerry talking to newsmen in Washington on Friday.

Reuters, Washington :There is an "urgent need" for the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop violating the ceasefire in Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday, and called on Russia to help, the State Department said.It said Kerry, in a telephone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said "The United States expected Russia to urge the regime to comply with the cessation and that we would work with the opposition to do the same."The United States knows that some of the Syrian government actions in and around the city of Aleppo are being backed by Russian air strikes, State Depart spokesman John Kirby said at a news briefing.He said Kerry made clear to Lavrov that the United States was concerned about credible reports of violation in and around Aleppo, "and to the degree that they are aided and abetted by Russian air strikes - yes that's a matter of concern for us."While urging Russia to press the Syrian government to stop the violations, Kerry "promised that we would do the same on our part for the opposition groups that we are supporting," the spokesman said.Meanwhile, fierce fighting raged today around Syria's Aleppo as a surge in violence forced tens of thousands more to flee their homes, overshadowing the latest round of peace talks in Geneva.The clashes on several fronts have put a strain on a fragile ceasefire in place since February 27, and left more than 200 fighters on all sides of the civil war dead in recent days.The delegation representing President Bashar al-Assad's regime arrived today in Geneva where UN-brokered indirect talks between representatives of the government and opposition were due to be held.However, the fighting around Syria's second city Aleppo cast a shadow over international efforts to end the five-year war, which has left more than 270,000 people dead and forced millions to flee their homes.Troops and militiamen loyal to Assad's regime have fought Islamic State group fighters to the southeast of Aleppo city this week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.They also battled jihadists from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front and allied rebels in the flashpoint area of Handarat north of Aleppo city, it said.
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. An investigative unit arrived at the scene upon receiving a call about a grenade being thrown at the house of the 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.

As Armenpress was informed by Press Secretary of the Investigative Committee Sona Truzyan, according to preliminary information on April 15 at 18:25, a training grenade was thrown towards Kocharyans house in the direction of the backyard entrance. The perpetrator threw the grenade from inside a vehicle.

A crime scene investigation has been carried out, witnesses were interrogated and currently search operations are underway to apprehend the person or persons involved, Truzyan said.

A criminal case has been filed in the Special Department of the Investigative Committee.
Mission impossible? International cooperation in science, technology and innovation

Andreas Stamm, Aurelia Figueroa :

Many of today's grand challenges, such as climate change or the depletion of the oceans' fish stocks, are global in scope. The character, range, magnitude and urgency of dealing with these call for a significant scaling-up of science, technology and innovation (STI) efforts since, for many of the challenges, effective technical solutions are not available off the shelf.

Social innovations, which make lifestyle changes feasible and accepted, are also needed. In addition to investing more resources in technical research and development (R&D), concerted efforts across disciplinary fields including natural and social sciences must be made. Resources must furthermore be assembled across borders in order to realise both scope and scale in addressing global challenges.

Progress in global innovation efforts is slow. On a global level, the ratio of expenditure on R&D to gross domestic product (GDP) has basically stagnated since the turn of the century, growing by only 0.1 % between 2000 and 2013. Growth in innovation activity has occurred unevenly among world regions. The ratio of R&D spending has basically been stable in the USA (2.6% in 2000; 2.8 % in 2014) and remains below 2 % in the European Union (EU). In the same time period, three Asian countries have significantly scaled-up related expenditures.

In 2000, China spent just 0.9 % of GDP on R&D. It has since more than doubled, reaching 2.1 % in 2014. In that same time period, similar developments can be observed in Korea (up from 2.1 % to 4.3 %) and Japan (from 3.0 % to 3.6 %). Regarding the application of STI to global challenges, one dilemma is that although spending on R&D has increased, this mainly occurred as part of industrial policies and post-economic crisis stimulus efforts. For instance, the EU's goal of increasing the ratio of R&D spending in GDP to 3% is embedded in the "Europe 2020" strategy, which mainly aims to boost growth and employment.

This does not imply that economic growth-oriented R&D cannot contribute to overcoming major global challenges. The promotion of renewable energy in Germany, for instance, has contributed both to economic growth and to reducing carbon emissions. However, there are global challenges, where the business case is still too risky to trigger significant innovation dynamics. Concerted cooperation is thus essential to deliver solutions in acceptable timeframes to avoid approaching environmental tipping points or severe humanitarian crises.

Some scholars have advocated for adopting the model of a new Apollo program to accelerate innovations related to grand challenges. The Apollo history - difficult to replicate - demonstrates the general utility of pooling significant financial, technical and human resources to achieve a specific objective which in the beginning may seem an impossible challenge.

Recently, a new mission orientation in the STI policies of many countries has emerged, sometimes related to grand challenges. Compared to the traditional mission orientation, the new missions have a clearer focus on the demand side and the diffusion of innovations, on coherence with other policy fields and on the acceptance of both incremental and systemic innovations. The strategic advantage of these new mission-oriented approaches lies in combining guidance of STI by public agencies with the creative potentials of existing and new companies. In the USA, significant R&D promotion by the government is reported to have triggered important breakthroughs in energy storage technologies.

Some essential and interrelated questions arise, when analysing the new mission orientation and its potential for addressing global challenges: To what degree can technological missions occur independently of national industrial policies and defence interests, on a multilateral basis and with a clear grand challenge orientation? Can financial resources be scaled up to a degree matching the importance and urgency of dealing with the grand challenges? And how can developing economies with low R&D spending be involved in the search for STI based solutions to global challenges?

It will be difficult to shift public STI resources from objectives related to the national economy and the labour markets, without jeopardising the acceptance of the general public. The task of science and technology communication, as well as of other stakeholders, will be to lobby for scaling up the resources for addressing global challenges. One example which can be used in this effort is the UN's Montreal Protocol from 1987, which was essential to avoid depletion of the atmospheric ozone layer.

Specifically related to international collaboration for grand challenges, there is a need for convincing the public that multilateral alliances must go beyond traditional models and include, for instance, the new STI powerhouses China and Korea on the one hand and developing countries on the other.



(Aurelia Figueroa is an economist and Dr. Andreas Stamm is a geographer, both at the German Development Institute (DIE). This opinion piece was first published on the institute's website).
Md Bayazid Khan :Primary education is the first and a foremost tier of overall education as it builds the basic foundation of secondary and tertiary tiers of education. So, guardians and educators are seriously concerned with attaining qualitative primary education of their children on the threshold of education journey. The discerning parents and guardians cautiously want to see their kids fit to survive in all sphere of competitiveness in daily life. But existing standard of primary education can never assure them for building kids' bright future for survival in the competitive world. Moreover, without developing desired knowledge, skills and competencies suitable for attaining higher stages of education at primary tier, children never build themselves as valuable resources of the nation. Therefore, it is vital challenge for government to ensure qualitative primary education to all of its enrolled children as the government took the responsibility of mainstreaming the primary education.Primary teachers and students inevitably need to provide continuous support towards ensuring qualitative primary education. As teachers are the key persons to provide qualitative primary education, they should be brought under the process of continuous professional development. And only academic supervision can contribute positively and significantly in the process of teachers' continuous professional development instead of inspection and surprise visit of primary schools. Academic supervision is a process of supporting teachers and students to develop their performances identifying areas of development by observing teaching-learning activities and it is a process rather than an event like surprise school visit or inspection.At present Assistant Upazila Primary Education Officers (AUEO), Upazila Resource Centre (URC) Instructors and Assistant Instructors are responsible for supporting primary school teachers as academic supervisor. They have the monthly target for visiting schools with the particular inspection form developed by the authority. Moreover, Upazila Education Officers (UEO), Assistant District Primary Education Officers (ADPEO), District Primary Education Officers (DPEO) and other concerned officers of Directorate and field level primary education offices have also to visit primary schools according to the monthly target. They also use the same inspection form to write school visit report. Uniform school inspection forms can never satisfy concerned supervisory officers and supervisee teachers for smooth implementation of academic supervision. Because of completing the whole process of academic supervision, supervisors need to use additional forms like observation and feedback forms to note down teachers and students' performances and behaviour which are identified during observing teaching-learning activities. Moreover, the process badly needs to safe preservation of documents regarding academic supervision of individual teacher in schools and education offices. At present all field level officers are performing the vital activities of supervision or school inspection with the traditional non web-based method that are facing questions for maintaining quality and authenticity of the monitoring process of primary schools', teachers' and students' performances. So, the whole process of academic supervision should be online web-based and only a few field level officers like Head Teachers, AUEOs, URC Instructors, Assistant Instructors and PTI Instructors along with the ADPEOs should be given the responsibilities of performing academic supervision. Now a days two Assistant District Primary Education Officers (ADPEO) are working at District Primary Education Offices. In addition to existing job description each ADPEO might be given the responsibilty of academic development for a specific region of the district comprising of some Upazilas. Other field level officers might be given the responsibilities of school inspection. There may be separate software-based forms for academic supervision and school inspection.Academic supervisors might be provided Tab or Laptop or Android Mobile set with sophisticated software for recording notes of observation and feedback as the way of preserving information and details regarding academic supervision. There should be the provision of online internet networking system for using the software based forms to complete the whole process of academic supervision so that every information and timing of academic supervision activities might be informed by higher authorities. There should be separate identity numbers for teachers, academic supervisors and primary schools for using the software. This will definitely ensure effective monitoring of field level academic supervisors' duties and performances.On the other hand, academic supervision process needs adequate time, frequent school visit and logistic supports. But existing nature of work, additional duties of extra department activities, lacking of logistic supports etc might be the impediment to responsible officers towards performing duties as academic supervisors. So, academic supervisors should be provided with the opportunities and supports to remove the said barriers. The most senior Assistant Upazila Education Officer might be given the responsibility of assisting Upazila Education Officer to execute administrative works smoothly so that other AUEOs can perform their duties properly as academic supervisors. This will help him/her to develop knowledge and skills for performing duties of UEO later on.Academic supervisors are the teacher of teachers. Therefore, they should have updated knowledge on curriculum, teaching-learning methods and techniques, contents of books, ICT contents for using multimedia projector in classroom teaching, contents in teachers' editions etc to support teachers for their professional development aiming to implement academic supervision. Beside teachers they should be provided training on said areas.Existing mode and nature of works of AUEOs, URC Instructors and Assistant Instructors compelled them to deviate a lot regarding attitude of academic supervisors. They feel proud of becoming an officer rather than an academic supervisor. This sort of attitude is harmful towards teachers' professional development and might be changed by arranging motivational trainings at home and abroad, ensuring adequate logistic supports and showing same sort of attitude to them.To make the process of academic supervision success, supervisory officers should have the power of giving reward and punishment to concerned supervisees. Moreover, all supervisors and supervisees should have the access of getting promotions or financial benefits timely within existing extraordinary new pay scale with justified ammendment of the old and outdated appointment rule.In the last few years the country's mainstream primary education enabled to achieve a lot of success in the areas of access, participation and completion of primary cycle addressing issues like gender, ethnic minorities etc. Bangladesh has exemplified in the field of primary education to the international community in ensuring basic education to its entire children as role model to follow. Now time has come to set a revolutionary instance to the world community ensuring qualitative primary education to its entire children by implementing academic supervision beside surprise school inspection. And the sincere and dedicated field level primary education officials must fulfill this commitment.(The writer is working for primary education in Bangladesh. [email protected]
Turkey eyes Iran deals as Rouhani meets Erdogan

AFP, Ankara :

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held talks Saturday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is hoping to boost trade with the Islamic republic following the lifting of most international sanctions on Tehran.

The meeting at Erdogan's lavish palace near Ankara comes a day after Iran came under fierce criticism from fellow heads of state from the Muslim world, who accused his country at a summit in Istanbul of supporting terrorism.

Rouhani boycotted the closing meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in protest at the rebuke.

His meeting with Erdogan, who is also at the centre of controversy, for seeking to silence critics at home and abroad, is expected to focus on the Syrian conflict and two-way trade.

Flanked by several ministers, Rouhani was due to co-chair with Erdogan a strategic cooperation council aimed at improving the two countries' relationship.

In a break with a tradition usually observed by visiting heads of state, his itinerary will not include a trip to the Ankara mausoleum of Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, symbol of secular Turkey.

After being brought in from the cold following last year's nuclear deal with world powers Iran is being courted by both Europe and Turkey as a potentially lucrative market for trade and investment.


G20 embraces crackdown on tax havens, warns over 'Brexit'

AFP, Washington :

The world's leading economies took a step Friday toward denying tax evaders and money launderers around the world the ability to hide behind anonymous shell companies.

Acting in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, finance chiefs of the Group of 20 powers meeting in Washington supported proposals requiring authorities to share the identities of the real owners of shell companies.

They also backed creating a blacklist of international tax havens which do not cooperate with information-sharing programs.

Making the beneficial owners of companies, trusts and foundations transparent "is vital to protect the integrity of the international financial system," the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement.

Doing so is important "to prevent misuse of these entities and arrangements for corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering."

The declaration came hours after the Panama Papers scandal claimed another victim. Spain's industry minister Jose Manuel Soria resigned Friday over allegations he had links to offshore companies.

Files from the leaked document trove of Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca showed Soria was an administrator of an offshore firm in 1992. He was just the latest in a number of powerful officials, including the leaders of Russia, Iceland, Britain and Argentina, linked by the Panama Papers to offshore tax havens.

The leak provided the impetus for the strong proposals to the G20 Thursday by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain.

The five said they would take the lead on creating an international database that provides tax and other authorities the identities of the owners of shell companies, trusts, foundations and other vehicles often used to hide assets.


Power plant in Banshkhali depends on public satisfaction : Ctg DC

Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Mesbahuddin handing over compensation cheques to the family members of the victims who were killed in a clash protesting coal-fired power plant at Gandamara village of Banskhali on Friday afternoon.

Chittagong Bureau :

Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Mesbahuddin said govt won't desired to build power plant by killing people in Banskhali and disclosed to establish the biggest coal-fired power plant after with due satisfacation of the locality ascertaining the environment free from any health hazards , and climate disaster. He said in modern age, coal fired power plant wont hamper climate like earlier time and the flame from such power plant is not visible. He disclosed itwhile addressing the compensation money distribution ceremony at Gandamara on Friday evening.

Deputy commissioner distributed Tk.15lakh each of four victim's family and Tk.1 lakh each of 11 injured residents .Later Deputy commissioner visits the house of the victims duly accompanied by Police super Hafiz Akhter, Addl.

Police super Habibur Rahman, Director of S.Alam Group Shahidul Alam, Head of Corporate of S.Alam Humayun Kabir, BanskhaliUNO Md. Shamsuzzaman, Officer incharge of Banskhali thana Swapan Kumar Majumder, Gandamara UP chairman Arifullah and other members of the union. DC also offered ziarat at the grave of these victims .

Healso said the people of the country wants electricity in every cornor and govt is committed to provide electricity to all.

He said govt never desire to kill the people for implementing a project and what is happened in mere misunderstandings.

He further said there isa coalfired power plant is existing in the country and one is under implementation in Khulna.

In China there are a number coal fired power plants without hampering the environment.

He said govt will arrange to visit the pukuria coal power plant and Chinese coal plants by the elites of the area and power experts of the country very shortly.

DC further said we desire to talk with the newly formed committee with their demands and successful discussions, this plant will be implemented and govt will not force anything beyond the public sentiments.

Meanwhile a meeting of views exchanging over construction of power plant was arranged at DC conference hall incity yesterday and another such meeting will be held today at Banskhali UNO office presmises.

In these meetings, Additional secretary of Power & Mineral Resources Ministry Dr. Ahmed Kaikaus and the Director General of Power Cell Md. Hossain will participate beside the members of district & Upazila power management committee, local public representatives, andthe officials of administration , high officials of PDB , district administration sources said.


BD mission in Islamabad celebrates Pahela Baishakh



Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad on Saturday celebrated Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bengali Calendar, with much enthusiasm and festivity.

According to a message received here on Saturday, the Bengali New Year 1423 was celebrated in Bangladesh mission premises amid holding of various traditional programmes. The day was celebrated on Satuday as Pahela Baisakh was a working day in Pakistan.

Family members of expatriate Bangladeshi, students and officials of the mission joined Baishakhi programme, the message said.

Acting High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Islamabad M Nazmul Huda inaugurated the Baishakhi function and delivered the welcome speech.

The celebration programmes included, traditional Bengali food festival along with cultural function and decoration with colourful banner-festoon-balloon highlighting the Bengali culture and heritage.




Mujibnagar Government: A focus on official contingent

Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder :

We have so far written much about the formation of government in exile at Mujibnagar. We seldom think who among officials were participating in liberation war as incumbents in the government in exile. At present, over forty decades of independence, it seemed difficult to identify the persons that served in the war time cabinet as officials.

The war cabinet was formed on 10 April 1971. Oath taking ceremony took place on 17 April 1971 with the portfolios assigned among the ministers on 18 April. "The incumbents of the government were:

"Mujibnagar government was divided into fifteen ministries and divisions. Besides, some divisions were placed under the Cabinet. The functions of the ministries and divisions were:

"Ministry of Defence Staff MAG Osmany, Commander-in-Chief; SA Samad, Defence Secretary; Colonel Abdur Rab, Chief of Staff. The Ministry of Defence divided the war zone into eleven sectors and appointed a sector commander for each of the sectors. But there was no sector commander for sector No 10 or naval sector. Commandos used to fight under the command of the concerned sector commander whenever and wherever they carried out the operation in a particular sector. Besides, there were three brigades called Z force, K force and S force. Major Ziaur Rahman, Major Khaled Mosharraf and Major Km Shafiullah were the commanders of the brigades respectively."

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought to obtain support of the foreign governments and people at large for the cause of liberation of Bangladesh by establishing Bangladesh mission abroad and by sending diplomatic emissaries to various countries. With this end in view diplomatic missions were established in Kolkata, Delhi, London, Washington, New York, and Stockholm. Diplomatic delegations were sent to the UNO, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Nepal, Srilanka, Burma, Thailand and Japan for gaining their support to the liberation war. Ministry of Finance, Industry and Commerce was headed by M Mansur Ali and Khondaker Asaduzzaman was its secretary".Cabinet Secretariat placed various proposals about the operation of the liberation war to the cabinet meeting, implementation of' the decisions of the meeting, and monitoring and recording these these decisions. HT Imam was the secretary of the ministry."

A confusion has arisen in recent years about the list of officials in the Mujibnagar government. As Shawkat Liton disclosed:

"Yet another historic document, which contained names of employees of the Mujibnagar government in exile during the Liberation War, is missing from the government custody.

An enquiry by the law ministry revealed this while probing authenticity of the so-called 190 strong staff of the Mujibnagar government. These officials managed to obtain the apex court's order in their favour to get last year's appointments as sub-registrars by submitting forged papers.

The number of missing historic documents increased further with the latest disclosure by the law ministry's probe body. According to a report published by The Daily Star on June 18, 2008, the original copies of the country's proclamation of independence, formation of the Mujibnagar government, and the laws' continuance enforcement order of 1971 are missing from the government custody. The Cabinet Division, which was responsible for preserving the historic documents, had photocopies of those and handed over that to the National Archives in 2008.

Recently, the law ministry's probe body came up with adequate findings proving that the document containing names of employees of historic Mujibnagar government is missing from the establishment ministry's custody. The establishment ministry in August last year could not provide the law ministry with a copy of the historic document, as the ministry did not have it in its custody. In response to an April 13, 2008 letter of the law ministry that sought the copy of the document to check authenticity of the 190 so-called staffs, the establishment ministry on August 11, 2008 expressed its inability."In the letter sent to the law ministry, the establishment ministry also cited its former secretary's confession to the High Court about missing of the historic document during hearing of contempt petitions. The probe body tagged a copy of the letter with its enquiry report. According to the letter, some so-called staffs of the Mujibnagar government filed a number of contempt petitions against the government for the delay in absorbing them in the services in line with the apex court's order delivered earlier.The HC on July 24, 2008 during hearing of the contempt petitions ordered the then establishment secretary to appoint by August 19, 2008 the Mujibnagar staffs who were enlisted among 1,632 employees but were not absorbed. In response to the HC order, the then establishment secretary told the court that the ministry did not have the document containing names of the staffs.The court asked him to collect a copy of the list from counsels of the contempt of court petitioners. A counsel of the petitioners at that time told the HC that the list he had was not authenticated.However, the establishment ministry later collected a copy of the list from the petitioners who tagged it with their petitions and sent it to the law ministry that moved to scrutinise the claims of 190 Mujibnagar staffs.During investigation, a three-member probe body sent one of its members, Abu Ahmed Majumder, who is also a deputy secretary of the law ministry, to the establishment ministry to check the documents containing names of Mujibnagar staffs.The probe report said during investigation it was learned that there was an original list of 1,632 employees in the custody of the establishment ministry. The list and other papers concerned were authenticated in 1985 and the ministry's then deputy secretary Abdul Kayum Bhuiyan signed those.But the probe body did not find the copy of the list and other papers concerned.The probe body interviewed the so-called 189 staffs and concluded that a syndicate across the country is active and providing in exchange of money fake appointment and release letters of the historic government. One of the 190 staffs died before the committee interviewed them."

We think liberating documents are sacred and national assets. Claiming freedom fighters by managing certificates is highly immoral. Any man of conscience even with little contribution to liberation war would not likely to make such claim. If any officials/staff partook in the governing process of the war cabinet may well make such claims. There is no wrong in it. If any one among public bureaucracy makes such claim knowing that he/she did not serve in the wartime cabinet he is corrupt always trying to sit on the fence. Only fake freedom fighters-officials or ordinary citizens-are prone to moral degradation. They can not be expected to do any thing well. Immoral practice on the part of the incumbents/staff cannot be encouraged. Presence of fake freedom fighters in bureaucracy is sure to spell disaster all to the disenchantment to the people. Please clean administration flushing out corrupt incumbents/staff and give due respect to the bonafide freedom fighters working in various organization public or private. It is next to impossible to recover the list of officials/staff were in the reckoning. Even it is not difficult to identify the prominent figures in bureaucracy who defected from Pakistan Government in 1971 and joined the war time cabinet contributing their part. Some among them went abroad with advocacy mission in favour of liberation war.



(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque, Professor, department of Public Administration, Chittagong University and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder, Member, PSC, Bangladesh )
Schoolgirl commits suicide after principal insults her

Staff Reporter :

A schoolgirl, whom the principal insulted in classroom, allegedly committed suicide by hanging with ceiling fan in their house at Arapara of Savar in Dhaka district on Saturday afternoon.

The deceased was identified as Sonia Akter Sonali, 16, a student of class X of Child Heaven School at Banpukur, Savar.

But the accused Principal Md Kabul Mia could not be arrested , police said.

SM Kamruzzaman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Savar Model Police Station, said, "Kabul Mia insulted Sonali and expelled her from the classroom as she did not pay her arrear tuition fees around Tk 3500 only.

Returning to her residence, she told her mother what happened and threatened of committing suicide for humiliation in public place. Finally Sonia committed suicide in her room when the family members were not present."

The neighbours found the body and transmitted the matter to the police, the police official said.

Police recovered the body and sent it to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) morgue for an autopsy, the OC said.

Hearing it, the principal fled from the school and the local people sealed the school in anger, the OC said.

"We will take legal action against the principal after fair investigation into the incident," he said.


Friend kills friend in city

Staff Reporter :

A teenager was allegedly killed by his friend with a sharp weapon in the city's Mohammadpur area on Saturday morning.

The deceased was identified as Md Akib, 17, son of Jamal Uddin Bhuiyan of Comilla.

The killer was identified as Rubel Mia, 18, police said.

Quoting the victim's family members, Jamal Uddin Mir, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Mohammadpur Police Station, said, "Akib's friend Rubel knocked at the door of their house in Pull Par Battala area on the Budhijibi Road around 1:30am and when he opened the door Rubel stabbed him with a sharp weapom in discriminately. Akib was profusely bleeding.

Family members rushed Akib to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) where he succumbed to his injuries around 4:30am."

The incident might have committed following a feud between the two families, the police official said.

A case was under processing to file with the police station in this regard while the report was writing at night on Saturday, the OC said, adding "We are trying to arrest the killer." The body was handed over to the victim's family members after the postmortem, the OC said.


Seat business at BSMMU

Patient sufferings due to irregularities of hospital staff

Staff Reporter :

Acute shortage of beds and their allotment irregularities is reportedly affecting the country's only medical university-BSMMU-causing immense suffering to the patients.

The patients and their family members alleged that the seat allotting systems are illegally controlled by officials and employees of different sections of the hospital.

"My uncle is seriously sick with brain stroke. We are seeking a seat there (BSMMU) for his better treatment. We are looking for a seat anywhere in the hospital, including cabin, for about a week we did not get," said a nephew of a patient who came from Daudkandi of Comilla.

As no seat was available at BSMMU, he said they have been compelled to take his uncle Ali Arshad to a nearby private hospital. But that private hospital's seat rent and other charges are very high. So, they are still trying their best to have a seat at BSMMU.

Another cancer patient came from Tangail has also been searching a seat for the last six days. One of his son said, every day they used to come to the BSMMU hospital for a seat but went back with deep disappointment.

"My father is fighting with cancer. It came to know just some days ago. From then we are trying to get a seat in this hospital. But the authorities did not allot us,'' he said and alleged that some of patients came after them but got seats with unethical understanding with some officials and employees.

The patients and their relatives also alleged that some of the employees of the hospital are trying to push them to other private hospitals. They (employees) told them that the private hospital is better for their proper treatment.

One patient said the date of his tumor operation is near to end but he is not getting any seat yet. He and his family members are anxious with the tumor, if it is turned into cancer. Some other patients and their relatives also alleged that a section of employees involved themselves with the process of seat allotment. They include pathologists, different kind of technicians and nurses.

During a visit to the BSMMU hospital, this correspondent found that many patients have been waiting long days to get a seat there for treatment of different types of illness such as breast tumor, kidney failures and operations for different physical disorders.

The relevant officials often gave seal "Sorry, there is no seat vacant, try later'' on their prescriptions where the doctors recommended for taking admission.

"If any patient fulfilled their demand, he gets the seat. In anyone fails, then his application for the seat allotment would be delayed day by day,'' alleged one of the patient's relative who came from Barisal.

BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Kamrul Hasan Khan told The New Nation that, "There are only 1500 seat here in the hospital. But lots of patients come here every day from different districts. We have limitation to allot seat to all."

"If any employee of the hospital is found involved in any unethical negotiation with patients about seat allotment, he must be punished,'' the VC added.

The VC said that they are planning to reduce seat crisis by taking various measures like adding general emergency unit, increasing outdoor operation theatres etc.
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini arrived in Tehran on April 16, Armenpress reports citing IRNA.

A high-ranking political and economic delegation is accompanying Mogherini during the Tehran visit.



The delegation includes seven EU commissioners in the fields of energy, scientific research, the environment, education, sports and industry.
15 security personnel killed in Benghazi clashes

Reuters :At least 15 members of the security forces were killed and 40 wounded in two days of clashes in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a hospital source said on Saturday, as they try to consolidate gains made in February against Islamist militants.On Friday, two Islamic State suicide bombers staged attacks near a cement factory in the west of the city where fighters are holding out, though only one of the bombs caused casualties, army spokesman Milad al-Zawie said.Libya has been in crisis since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with violence escalating in 2014.Islamic State posted a message on social media saying dozens of soldiers had been killed by the bombers, but Zawie said just six soldiers were killed and 25 were wounded on Friday.A Reuters reporter saw the bodies of at least five militants, including two suicide bombers, killed in the clashes.Eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar launched his Operation Dignity campaign against Islamist militants and other opponents in Benghazi in May 2014 and that fighting has caused major damage to the city.Nevertheless, the military has been unable to achieve its stated aim of securing control of Benghazi.Haftar is allied to a government that moved to eastern Libya after a rival administration was installed by its armed supporters in Tripoli in 2014.A U.N.-backed unity government arrived in the Libyan capital late last month where it is trying to establish itself. The West hopes it can end Libya's security crisis and political turmoil and unite some of its armed factions to take on Islamic State.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. MPs of the Defense and Security Committee of the Russian Federal Assembly paid homage to the victims of the Armenian Genocide at the Tsitsernakaber Memorial-Complex. As Armenpress reports, they were escorted by Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia Koryun Nahapetyan. The Russian MPs were welcomed by the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan, who presented the history of the Memorial-Complex. The MPs laid flowers at the Eternal Flame and honored the innocent victims with a moment of silence.

The Russian parliamentarians toured the museum and got acquainted with the presented facts proving the Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire against Armenian and other Christians. First deputy chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Russian Federal Assembly Alexander Chekalin made a note in the Commemoration Book of Honorable guests.

The Russian MP told reporters that he is stunned by what he saw in the museum. The committed cruelty does not fit into human consciousness, and it is unbelievable that this kind of crime happened in the recent past. The more delegations and politicians come here, the less this type of cruelty and crippled destinies will happen in the future, Chekalin said.
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.
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha departed for Tajikistan to meet the top military and political leadership of the country and participate in the first reconnaissance military drills of the CSTO member states Armed Forces, Armenpress reports, citing RIA Novosti.

During the visit, Bordyuzha will present the preparation works of the upcoming CSTO member states session of FMs, Defense Ministers and Secretaries of Security Councils, which will be held in June-July in Yerevan.
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.
MARION  This time of the year, one of the 613 commandments followed by Jewish people is observing the Passover, which marks the exodus of the enslaved Jewish people from Egypt.

It is celebrated from the 15 to the 22 of the Jewish month of Nissan, which corresponds to April this year on the Gregorian or Western calendar.

This commemorates when the Jewish people had their exodus from Egypt ... and at the last plague, God passed over the Jewish homes," said Rabbi Mendel Scheiman, who oversees the Chabad of Southern Illinois University.

The Chabad of SIU hosts its Pesach Seders  Passover dinner celebration, with a four-course meal  at 8 p.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday. That celebration is designed specifically for Jewish students and those from the Jewish community, Rabbi Scheiman said. He requests that those who plan to attend visit the organization's website and make a reservation online.

Because of dietary restrictions, Rabbi Scheiman said he will prepare the meal at the Chabad of SIU. The four-course meal will include Gefilte fish, chicken soup and a main course with some sort of holiday chicken, and dessert.

The Congregation Adat Ariel, a Messianic Jewish congregation, plans to celebrate Passover from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 22, with a potluck that is open to the public, particularly those who are non-Jewish. Rabbi Moche Laurie would like those who plan to come with several in their party bring a dish large enough for them.

"Passover is a house event  you do it at home with family," Rabbi Laurie said.

His family for one of these observances will be any and everyone who can make it to the Congregation Adat Ariel, which meets each week at the Marion Mall Center strip mall in the plaza with Rural King in Marion. The synagogue is on the lower level; next week's Passover celebration will be held on the center's second level, he said.

He said he started the congregation after moving here about seven years ago, after being told to do so by God. Here, he runs a live, radio call-in show from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Saturdays on WGGH 1150 AM and lives streams services at the same time.

Per Jewish tradition, dishes being served must be "kosher" in this instance, not be made with pork, bread or crustaceans, Rabbi Laurie said.

Guests will learn about the Jewish celebration of Passover and, more than likely, about the Messianic Jewish tradition of Congregation Adat Ariel.
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Armenia released the documents of the downed Azerbaijani helicopters crew, which proves that Azerbaijan planned large-scale military operations in advance.

As Armenpress reports, head of the Aviation department of the Ministry Avetik Muradyan informed, that the downed Azerbaijani MI 24 G helicopter is the modernized version of the Russian MI 24. It has been modernized in the South African Republic and in Ukraine. This gunship is equipped with antitank missiles as well as up to 80 unguided aviation missiles.

By presenting the helicopter crews documents, Avetik Muradyan informed that a notebook has been found among one of the pilots. Information about the flights from March 31 is written in the notebook.

According to the documents, the pilot had to fly the helicopter from the Kala airport near Baku to Kyordani military airbase. There, the preparation for the further flight began. It was scheduled to make a flight to Zhdanovsk. According to Muradyan, this means that the pilot had received instructions about the military flights 1- 2 days in advance.

The frontline and 9 targets in Nagorno Karabakh were highlighted in the pilots map. Depth from frontline is noted as 3-10km. The farthest point is noted as southeast Fizuli. As a pilot I can say that this target had to be done consecutively. The army aviation was planned to complete the instructions. The pilots cooperated with aviation targeting units, Muradyan said.

According to him, the adversary ordered the army aviation to prepare for attack operations for the night of April 1-2.

This is a proof, which any military expert will accept as reality. This proves that the adversary planned in advance its operations, instructed the pilots in advance and received precise targets, he said.

Avetik Muradyan said that they processed the black boxes of the helicopter, the pilot operated the gunship in a very tense condition, as a result of which he didnt fire the guided antitank missiles. Instead, he only used the cannon, the range of which is up to 1 km. The pilot pressed the trigger for 2 minutes, and was downed in that position.

All of this proves that the adversary planned large-scale military operations, otherwise Air Force wouldnt be involved. The adversarys actions were classically planned. We need the whole world to know this, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan said.

Regarding the second downed Azerbaijani helicopter, Hovhannisyan said that it was a MI 8 helicopter, which had to deploy paratroopers or conduct extraction. It was hit in Nagorno Karabakhs airspace, but was able to continue its flight and land in Azerbaijan. According to Hovhannisyan, it is possible that the helicopter exploded while going down.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven reacted to the anti-Armenian statements expressed at the demonstration of the Turkish-Azerbaijani diaspora in Sergels Square of Stockholm.

As Armenpress reports, the Prime Minister said: In Sweden, it is completely unacceptable to incite against other groups, be it religious, ethnic or political. Here, all political activities should be conducted democratically and with respect to the values of equality and rights. These principles are not negotiable", mentioned Lofven in his statement. The Minister for Culture and Democracy of Sweden Alice Bah Kuhnke also reacted to the incitement to violence by the former Deputy Chairman of the Turkish Association Barbaros Leylani. What happened on Saturday and the disgusting statements made are of course unacceptable. They made me feel bad, said Alice Bah Kuhnke.
/By Azernews/

By Laman Ismayilova

The Russian Information and Cultural Center starts the free screening of production "Talents and Admirers", based on a play by Alexander Ostrovsky on 17 April, Trend Life reports.

All visitors of www.aze.rs.gov.ru will enjoy the performance of the Moscow Satire Theatre.

The screening is organized jointly by Rossotrudnichestvo and OnLine?????.

The head of Rossotrudnichestvo`s Representation in Azerbaijan Valentin Denisov, addressing the event, said that the free screening is organized for the third time this year.

"During this time, the Russian information cultural centre in Baku has received many positive reviews from Azerbaijani theatre lovers," he added.

Webcast begins at 13:00.

For more information, please visit: www.aze.rs.gov.ru

Synopsis:

Negina, a popular but poor actress, receives lessons from her fiance Meluzov. Prince Dulebov, intending to take advantage of the girl's dire circumstances, suggest sponsorship, gets refused and becomes spiteful. Despite the latter's intrigues, Negina's benefice performance is triumphant and she receives a large sum of money, part of which Dulebov himself has to provide to keep his face. Still, the entrepreneur refuses to prolong her contract. One after another ecstatic admires come to her expressing their affection, among them Narokov, Naluzov and Velikatov. She leaves honest but dull Meluzov and goes away with rich Velikatov, motivated not by greed but by the desire to work on stage, the only thing she is really in love with.

Director: Boris Morozov
/By Azernews/

By Laman Ismayilova

A magnificent parade of national costumes will be staged in the center of capital Baku to show a pretty gamma of ancient garments on April 18.

Baku Children's Theatre will organize the first show celebrating National Costume Day in Azerbaijan under "Living Memorial Project" ("Canl? abid?l?r"), Trend Life reports.

The project aims to promote national heritage and a deep feeling of patriotism among youth.

A unique costume parade is expected to last from 14:00 to 16:00 at Baku Boulevard and the ancient part of the city - Icheri Sheher. National Costume Day in Azerbaijan will be celebrated on monthly basis in line with an idea of Ph.D in History of Art, Fashion designer Gulnara Khalilova.

"The promotion of national values, culture, art and ancient heritage of the Azerbaijani people is one of the priorities for today," she said.

Khalilova believes it to be another opportunity to present the beautiful country to the world.

The establishment of National Costume Day in Azerbaijan could greatly contribute to the development of the tourism industry in the country. Just Imagine how many tourists will be attract due to the various festivals, carnivals, exhibitions and fashion evenings," she exclaims.

Next celebrations of the National Costume Day in Azerbaijan are planned to feature the birthday of one one of the outstanding women from the history, such as poets Khurshidbanu Natavan, Mehseti Gencevi , Heyran Khanim, Ashug Peri and others.

"Magnificent holiday will be remembered and serve as amazing propaganda of our national heritage", Khalilova believes.




Armenian armed units desecrated the dead bodies left on the battlefield during the provocation on the frontline on Apr. 2-5, deputy prosecutor general, military prosecutor of Azerbaijan, lieutenant-general of justice, Khanlar Valiyev said.

He made the remarks Apr. 15 at a meeting with an EU delegation headed by the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, Herbert Salber.

During the meeting, Valiyev presented the facts of involvement of the Armenian high-ranking officials in the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the serious crimes committed by them.

The EU delegation was also presented the evidence of violence against the Azerbaijani civilians committed by the Armenian servicemen, who violated the law on armed conflicts, and the evidence about the desecration of the bodies left on battlefield.

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.
During a phone conversation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed determination to strengthen cessation of hostilities in Syria, as well as discussed the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reported citing the Russian foreign ministry.

The sides reaffirmed their determination to strengthening the cessation of hostilities in Syria, with the exception of fight against terrorist groups, as well as provision of access for relief supplies to the civilian population in blocked areas.

Other international issues, including the situation around Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region were discussed during the conversation, according to the Russian foreign ministry.

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.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged for resolving the issues of the Islamic world without the interfering foreigners. "The problems of the Islamic world should be settled by Islamic countries without the interfering of foreigners," IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying at a meeting with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara.

Rouhani called on Turkey and all Islamic countries to join efforts to get use of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the favor of strengthening the unity in the Islamic world. Rouhani further called for the expansion of bilateral ties with Turkey and increasing the trade turnover between the two countries to $30 billion.

The Iranian president arrived in Istanbul to attend the summit meeting of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Turkish port city on Wednesday.

President Rouhani held bilateral meetings with heads of states on the sidelines of the 2-day OIC Summit meeting.

Rouhani alongside with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other officials refrained from attending the closing session of the OIC meeting.
Iranian and Turkish officials signed several memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the sidelines of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Ankara Apr. 16, Iran's state-run IRINN TV reported.

The two sides signed documents for cooperation in various sectors, including social welfare, as well as culture, science, education and standards.

The justice ministers of Iran and Turkey also signed a joint statement on the sidelines of the meeting.

Rouhani arrived in Ankara on April 15 evening to hold bilateral talks with high-ranking Turkish officials, especially his counterpart Erdogan.

Tehran and Ankara intend to raise their bilateral trade to $30 billion per year.

Trade turnover between the two countries stood at $13.71 billion in 2014 and $9.76 billion in 2015.
Iran stands ready to ensure the energy security of Turkey, said the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

He made the statement during a joint press-conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara Apr. 16, which was aired live by Iran's state-run IRINN TV.

"We promised Turkey that Iran is able to ensure Turkey's energy security," Rouhani said, adding Tehran can fully meet Ankara's gas, oil, electricity and petrochemical needs.

Rouhani also said Iran and Turkey agreed to expand ties in various areas, adding that the two countries' economies complement each other.

He added that after the removal of international sanctions, grounds are ready for boosting cooperation in various areas.

Closer banking ties have big importance, said Rouhani, adding that Iran and Turkey need to remove obstacles to expand ties.

The two sides also decided to expand banking ties, according to the Iranian president.

He added that Turkish banks can open their branches in Iran in order to facilitate the mutual trade and economic ties.

The cooperation between the Istanbul and Tehran stock markets can also lead to a very positive upheaval in the two countries' capital markets, noted Rouhani.

He also called on the two countries' private sectors to make mutual investments to the export of joint products to third-parties.

Rouhani said Turkey can invest in the infrastructure of Iran's tourism sector.

Cultural, academic and scientific cooperation, as well as, joint researches were also discussed at the meeting, added Rouhani.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president said regional issues, including the ongoing crises in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, were also discussed at the presidents' meeting.

"We should help regional countries, such as Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan, to resolve their problems," he noted.

Iran and Turkey have no principal differences in political matters, Rouhani said, underlining that the differences in "minor issues" are natural.

Rouhani arrived in Ankara on April 15 evening to hold bilateral talks with high-ranking Turkish officials, especially his counterpart Erdogan.

Tehran and Ankara intend to raise their bilateral trade to $30 billion per year.

Trade turnover between the two countries stood at $13.71 billion in 2014 and $9.76 billion in 2015.

Although the trade turnover dropped by 29 percent in 2015 compared to the preceding year, many observers believe that the decline came amid global economic crisis ruling out the role of the political disagreements.
Lloyds, a global leader in specialist insurance and reinsurance market, has marked its first year in Dubai by signing a framework for co-operation with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).



It is aimed at promoting and enhancing effective supervision through the sharing of information between the two with respect to Lloyds business conducted by syndicate service companies and other coverholders in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), stated Lloyds chairman John Nelson after signing the framework with DFSA chief executive Ian Johnston.



In March last year, Lloyds established a specialist underwriting platform in Dubai to access business from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. There are currently 10 Lloyds syndicate service companies and two coverholders in the DIFC writing specialist reinsurance business from across the region.



The agreement recognises the common interest between the DFSA and the Society of Lloyds in seeking to ensure that Lloyds syndicate service companies and other coverholders conduct their business properly and effectively.



The DFSA is responsible for the supervision and regulation of Lloyds businesses in the DIFC, while Lloyds has statutory and supervisory powers relating to the Lloyds market participants who appoint the syndicate service companies and coverholders.



"This Framework for Co-operation recognises the responsibilities and common interests between Lloyds and the DFSA in ensuring the business of Lloyds syndicate service companies and other coverholders in the DIFC is appropriately conducted and supervised," remarked Nelson.



"The Lloyds market has evolved over 328 years and in doing so we have developed a robust and tested framework for monitoring the syndicates and business within the market and sharing our intelligence and insights with regulatory bodies," he stated.



We are delighted to mark the first anniversary of the Lloyds Dubai platform. The presence of the Lloyds underwriting community in the DIFC allows us to build stronger relationships and deeper risk insights across the region and we are seeing promising business growth as a result of this investment, he added.



Lloyds market participants provide tailored reinsurance cover for a diverse range of risks in the Middle East, including marine and energy, property, construction and engineering, terrorism, political risk and trade credit, casualty, personal accident, professional and financial risks, aviation, and contingency.-TradeArabia News Service
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck southern Japan early on Saturday, killing at least six people, injuring many more and bringing down buildings, media reported, just over a day after a quake killed nine people in the same region.



Authorities warned of damage over a wide area, as reports came in of scores of people trapped in collapsed buildings, fires and power outages.



Residents living near a dam were told to leave because of fears it might crumble, broadcaster NHK said.



Saturday's tremblor triggered a tsunami advisory, although it was later lifted and no irregularities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the area, a senior government official said.



People still reeling from Thursday's shock poured onto the streets after the Saturday quake struck at 1:25 a.m. (1625 GMT).



A fire erupted in what appeared to be an apartment building in Yatsushiro city, while some people were trapped in a nursing home in the town of Mashiki, according to NHK.



NHK reported six deaths and 760 people treated in hospitals, but that figure included "people who don't feel well", so it was not clear how many serious injuries there were.



Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said nearly 80 people were believed trapped or buried in rubble. Extra troops would be sent to help, with up to 15,000 due on Saturday, as well as more police, firefighters and medics, he said.



"We are making every effort to respond," Suga said.



Troops fanned out to search ruined houses as dawn broke.



The epicentre of the quake was near the city of Kumamoto and measured at a shallow depth of 10 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Almost 200,000 households were without power.



Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, arriving at his office, told reporters the government was making every effort to determine the extent of the damage, carry out rescue and recovery, and to get accurate information to citizens.



"It's possible that there may be damage over a wide area," Abe said.



The Japan Meteorological Agency initially said the Saturday quake was 7.1 magnitude but later revised it up to 7.3.



The region's transport network suffered considerable damage with one tunnel caved in, a highway bridge damaged, roads blocked by landslips and train services halted, media reported. Kumamoto airport was also closed.



SHOCKS AND AFTERSHOCKS



Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said it was too early to assess the economic impact and bank operations in Kumamoto were normal.



"We'll closely monitor the effect of the earthquake and take appropriate action, working closely with relevant authorities," Kuroda said in Washington after a G20 finance leaders' meeting.



Much of the area around Kumamoto and a few sizeable towns is rural. Television footage showed many frightened people wrapped in blankets sitting outside their homes while others camped out in rice fields.



The earthquake on Thursday evening in the same region was of 6.4 magnitude and experts said the tectonic events could be linked.



"Thursday's quake might have been a foreshock of this one," Shinji Toda, a professor at Tohoku University, told NHK.



Several aftershocks rattled the region later on Saturday, including two of nearly 6 magnitude, and experts warned of more.



"We would not be surprised to see more earthquakes of this size," said John Bellini, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.



A magnitude 9 quake in March 2011 north of Tokyo touched off a massive tsunami and nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima. Nearly 20,000 people were killed in the tsunami.



Japan is on the seismically active "ring of fire" around the Pacific Ocean and has building codes aimed at helping structures withstand earthquakes.



Factories in the area operated by manufacturers including Honda Motor and Sony Corp halted production after Thursday's tremor but no major damage was reported.



The 2011 quake temporarily crippled part of Japan's auto supply chain, but some companies have since adjusted the industry's "Just in Time" production philosophy in a bid to limit any repeat of the disruption.  Reuters
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. The situation in the line of contact of Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces remained the same during April 10-16. Azerbaijan continued violating the ceasefire agreement by firing various caliber weapons including 60mm and 82mm mortars and AGS-17 grenade launchers.

As Armenpress was informed by the Press Service of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Ministry, especially serious violations occurred towards Armenian positions in the northeastern and southeastern directions of the contact line, which led to casualties.

The Defense Army forces are confidently monitoring the borders and are conducting actions consistent of the situation.
Government air strikes hit rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Saturday as rockets fired by insurgents pounded neighbourhoods under state control, part of escalating violence in northern Syria that has undermined a truce agreement.



Fatalities were reported on both sides of the city, the focus of a military escalation that has underscored the bleak outlook for UN-led peace talks being convened in Geneva.



The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the five-year-long war, said air strikes had targeted at least four parts of Aleppo. Opposition sources said there had been deaths, but the number was not immediately clear.



The Observatory said three people had been killed in the rebel bombardment of government-held areas of the city. Syrian state news agency Sana put the death toll at seven, saying they had been killed by missile bombardments and sniper fire.



Fighting has intensified this month to the north and south of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city and industrial centre until the country's conflict erupted in 2011.



The fighting has stretched to breaking point a "cessation of hostilities" deal brokered by the United States and Russia with the aim of allowing peace talks to start.-Reuters
Islamist militants seized four Indonesian crew of a tugboat in the southern Philippines on Friday night, the third attack on slow moving vessels in about a month, a military spokesman said on Saturday, as troops battled Muslim rebels on a nearby island.



Major Filemon Tan said seven gunmen in a blue speed boat attacked two Indonesian flagged tugboats off the Philippines' southernmost island of Sitangkay in Tawi-tawi, near the border with Malaysia's eastern Sabah state, and took the four crew.



"We don't exactly know who took them but the only lawless group operating in that area is the Abu Sayyaf," Tan said, adding 10 Indonesians and four Malaysians were also abducted in two separate incidents early this month in the south.



The Indonesian foreign ministry issued a statement said four Indonesian crew were taken captive after gunmen attacked two tugboats, TB Henry and TB Cristy, on their way to Kalimantan from Cebu. Six other crew were left behind but one was shot.



"He is in stable condition now," the foreign ministry said, adding Malaysian water police evacuated the wounded crew to a hospital in Lahad Datu in eastern Sabah state, where the two tugboats were towed to safety.



The military said the Islamist militants have been targeting foreign crew of slow moving tugboats because they could no longer penetrate resorts and coastal towns in Sabah due to increased security.



The al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which is known for extortion, kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, is one of several brutal Muslim rebel factions, has stepped up activities on the remote islands.



Last week, the militants killed 18 soldiers and wounded more than 50 others in an ambush on Basilan island, prompting a massive army offensive with artillery and aerial bombings. The military said 28 rebels had died in the week-long fighting.



On nearby Jolo island, the militants gave a final deadline on April 25 for payment of 300 million pesos ($6.50 million) ransom for each of the two Canadians and a Norwegian captive or they will behead the three foreign captives.



Security is precarious in the resource-rich south of the largely Christian Philippines, despite a 2014 peace pact between the government and the largest Muslim rebel group that ended 45 years of conflict.



Abu Sayyaf militants are holding other foreigners, including one from the Netherlands, one from Japan, one from Norway, two from Canada, four Malaysians and 10 Indonesian tugboat crew.-Reuters
Tryp by Wyndham Abu Dhabi will be introducing its key services and hospitality products at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2016, a premium travel and tourism show in the Middle East, to be held in Dubai from April 25 to 28.



Tryp by Wyndham, conveniently located in the heart of Abu Dhabis bustling business district, next to the Sheikh Khalifa Energy Complex, is set to introduce its summer season offers and will effectively promote the services and hospitality on offer.



"We will announce the exciting offers we have introduced for our guests that will come into effect during summer season at ATM 2016," stated Milad Andraws, the general manager of Tryp by Wyndham, who will be representing the hotel at ATM.

"The Tryp by Wyndham team is also looking forward to meeting and interacting with other delegates and partners expecting to sign new partnership agreements. Moreover, it is our delight to interact and network with our peers from the travel and tourism industry who will be in attendance," he added.



During the four-day event, hoteliers will get to market a myriad of travel options, facilities and services. Tryp by Wyndham's participation at ATM will be with Gromaxx Hotels Pavilion, under the umbrella of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Cultural Authority.



"Tryp by Wyndham just completed one successful year in Abu Dhabi. Our continued celebration will extend to the ATM, where we will showcase our continued involvement in the community during the past year and will reflect on our successful performance. We expect an increase in the occupancy rates during summer season due to the competitive rates we offer and the increase of tourism in the capital. Currently we are working on providing the best experience for our guests."



The hotel boasts of a great location: walking distance to the scenic corniche and ever-popular Al Mariah Mall; close to corporations like Adnoc, Takreer and Borouge; and easy access to key transportation hubs like Abu Dhabi International Airport.-TradeArabia News Service
Page Not Found

404 Error

The page you requested could not be found. Try using the search box below or click on the homepage button to go there.
Spring Fling Ladies Night & Day Out

Grab your girl friends and join us, and 18 of our local home-based business friends for a fun night and day of shopping, fun, and friends from 5:30 to 8 p.m., on Friday, April 29, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, on Saturday, April 30, at Glitzy Chicks, 1980 E. 1st St. Door prizes, wine, and fun! Goodie bags loaded with coupons, samples, treats and fun things from local Casper businesses. You dont want to miss this fun event! Wine and shop Friday night; Soda and cookies on Saturday. For more information, call Jen at (307) 702-2866.

Independent

film series

The Natrona County Librarys Independent Film Series will feature Stations of the Cross on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Crawford Room. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Synopsis: Told in fourteen fixed-angle, single shot, individual tableaus that parallel Christs journey to his own crucifixion, Stations of the Cross is both an indictment of fundamentalist faith and the articulation of an impressionable teens struggle to find her own path in life. Though from the outside Maria lives in the modern world, her family and her heart are faithful to a Catholic radicalism that requires sacrifice and devotion at every turn. As she struggles to balance her own desires with the dictates of her familys faith, she makes ever more perilous sacrifices, attempting to please a God she worships unquestioningly in the pious hopes of curing the autistic younger brother she adores.

Book sale, Edible Book Fest

The Friends of the Library Book Sale is Saturday, April 23, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 24, 1 to 4 p.m. A Silent Auction of rare books will be conducted from 1 to 4 p.m., on Sunday, April 24.

Also on Saturday, April 23, the Edible Book Fest will be held at the library from 1 to 4 p.m. Create your favorite printed work from edible food items for display and judging.

Cappetto brings two documentaries

Larry Cappetto, independent filmmaker, author, musician, and producer of the highly acclaimed award-winning Public Broadcasting Service series Lest They Be Forgotten, will present two documentaries: The Holocaust Remembered on Tuesday and 9/11 Remembered on Wednesday for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Casper College.

The Holocaust Remembered (OLLI 7078) documents the horror of Kristallnacht. According to Vicki Pollock, lifelong learning specialist, Cappetto will share personal recollections of the survivors that he interviewed for the film.

The second film, 9/11 Remembered (OLLI 7079) features 22 survivors of 9/11 and their stories. Pollock noted that Cappetto would also share personal recollections of the survivors that he interviewed for the documentary during the class.

Each class will be held from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and a lunch break will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. To register or for more information contact Pollock at 268-2097 or vpollock@caspercollege.edu, or Karen Arnold, lifelong learning specialist, at 268-2099 or karnold@caspercollege.edu.

Audition for Marrying Walt

Casper Theater Company will hold auditions for Marrying Walt by James Danek at 7 p.m., on April 17 at 735 CY Avenue. There are parts for three females and three males of all ages. Marrying Walt is a hilarious comedy with a surprise ending. Walt and Mary have been living in sin for many years and Mary believes it is time to get married. They take off for Las Vegas for a quick wedding, and when they return, they find the children are there cleaning up the house. Oh, the things they findand dont find! The performance dates are June 2-5 and June 9-12. If you are unable to be there and want to audition, or for more information, please call Casper Theater Company at 267-7243. The show is directed by Donna Fisher.

Constitution Party meets

Constitution Party/ Natrona County meeting in the Agricultural Resource & Learning Center, next to the Fairgrounds in the Midwest Room at 7 p.m., on April 29, 2016. See us at wyocp.com

Veteran Cigar Night

Every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m., all veterans are invited to Veteran Cigar Night at the Casper Cigar Company, 4717 W. Yellowstone Highway, sponsored by Casper Cigar Company. There is no cost to attend.

This is a time and place for our communitys combat veterans to relax and share their stories with other combat veterans while enjoying a good cigar. Veterans receive 20 percent off cigars. For more information, call Josh Cruse at (307) 337-4400 or josh@caspercigar.com

Chicken collectibles on display

Its time for chicks to be hatched! Come see the display of chicken collectibles at the Casper Senior Center, 1831 E. 4th St., in Casper.

Senior enrichment

Free to men and women 60 or older. Join the tap dancing group of Joyces Senior Stompers. It is moderate, easy, balanced clogging keeping us seniors young. It is great exercise for developing flexibility, helps coordination, increases endurance and strength and helps stimulate our brain in learning different dance routines. Exercise is important to increase lung capacity, burn calories, relieve stress, and it is fun. We meet on Monday mornings at 10:50 a.m. Call Joyce Sisk, 237-4908, for more information.

Advanced Facebook for business

The Center for Training and Development at Casper College is offering a short class for owners and operators of a business Facebook page on Thursday, April 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Facebook for Your Business: Advanced (CEU 1077) will be taught by Dana Volney. Those attending the class will learn how to use Facebook to build successful and engaging campaigns for their business, she said. In addition to campaigns, students will learn Facebook marketing fundamentals including how to grow the fan base and drive topical and useful engagement with the business.

The class is designed for those who have a current Facebook page that they have used before. The cost per person is $45 and those successfully completing the class will earn .2 continuing education units. All students are asked to bring a tablet or laptop to class.

To register or for more information, contact Ann Dalton, workforce training specialist, at 268-2085 or adalton@caspercollege.edu.

Chorale Spring Gala May 3

Casper Civic Chorale presents The Great American Songbook featuring the music of George Gershwin on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at 6 p.m., at the Parkway Plaza. The evening will begin with dinner and dancing to live music followed by the concert at 7:30 p.m. Highlights of the program include Rhapsody in Blue played on piano by Susan Stubson, selections from Porgy and Bess and other Gershwin standards. Tickets are $35 each or $250 for a table of eight. Tickets must be purchased in advance at Donells, Hill Music or WY Music at Sunrise Mall by April 30. Be sure to purchase your tickets early to get preferential seating. Tickets have sold out each of the previous years to the CCC Spring Gala. Act now to ensure that you dont miss out on this unforgettable musical event. For questions, contact Jack at 235-9002.
Sunday support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 10 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 10:15 a.m., 917 N. Beech; noon, 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 1 p.m., Douglas, the Koop, North Third St., (Book Study); 2-3:30 p.m., Douglas, the Koop, North Third St., (sharing); 6:30 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 6:30 p.m., 328 E. A St.; 7 p.m., 1514 12th St., Building K; 7:30 p.m., Douglas, 628 E. Richards; 8 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 8 p.m., 328 1/2 E. A (upstairs). Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: 307-351-1688.

Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 6:30 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 15th & Melrose at the church. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org.

Nicotine Anonymous: 5 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club. Info: Pam M., 577-0518; Troy Y., 267-6326.

Elks breakfast open to public

Breakfast at the Casper Elks Lodge is every Sunday from 8 to 11 a.m. Serving pancakes, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage links, potatoes, scrambled eggs, French toast and omelets to order; new to the menu is build your own breakfast burrito. Also served is toast, juice, tea and coffee. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $3, 4 and under are free. Come down for the best breakfast in town and see the old crew again. This is open to the public. For more information, call 234-4839.

CTC performs To Kill a Mockingbird

Casper Theater Company will present To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at Charlie Ts, 112 E. Second St., Greater Wyoming Credit Union, 155 W. Collins Drive, and Casper Senior Center, 1841 E. Fourth St. The play is considered a southern Gothic with intense subject matter involving loss of innocence and racial inequality, including racial epithets.

Casper Theater Company would like to express that we are producing the literary classic because it is a classic but also as a way to spread the need for tolerance and the stand against prejudice. If you need more information, please visit our website at www.caspertheatercompany.net, email us at caspertheatercompany@gmail.com or call 267-7243.

Barrasso talks to essay finalists

One Wyoming high school student will receive a $5,000 prize for having the top entry in the American Dream Essay Contest. This state-wide competition is centered on bestselling author, Jim Owens Ten Principles to Live By, as highlighted in his book Cowboy Ethics. Every high school and homeschool student is invited to participate by asking students in grades 9-12, to reflect on the ten principles and write an essay based on their own personal beliefs or guiding forces. Local winners go on to compete on the state level with the competition culminating in the Awards Banquet to be held at 1 p.m. at the Ramkota Hotel. Senator John Barrasso will address the students as the featured guest speaker.

A total of 664 students, representing 25 schools, participated in this years contest. Monetary awards are given for first, second, and third place winners on the local level. The top essay wins $5,000 cash, second place receives $3,000 and third $1,500. A total of $35,000 will be awarded in prize money.

The American Dream Essay contest is sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, Zimmerman Family Foundation, Robert P. Schuster, Larry and Margo Bean, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming.

For more information, please contact Lou Bruggman at 235-4079.

Grace Lutheran Church celebrates tax day

Grace Lutheran Church is starting a new tradition. We will be gathering at the corner of Ash and CY at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday to celebrate tax day. Bring decadent food and fun games so that we can celebrate this dreaded day with good humor!

Symphony season finale

The Wyoming Symphony Orchestra concludes its 2015-2016 season with a matinee performance at 2:30 p.m., in the Wheeler Concert Hall on the campus of Casper College.

The Finale begins with Tchaikovskys festive Polonaise from Eugene Onegin. Next is Mozarts elegant Horn Concerto No. 3, and the lovely Villanelle by Dukas. The orchestra concludes the evening with the playful Ninth Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich.

Audition for Marrying Walt

Casper Theater Company will hold auditions for Marrying Walt by James Danek at 7 p.m., at 735 CY Avenue. There are parts for three females and three males of all ages. Marrying Walt is a hilarious comedy with a surprise ending. Walt and Mary have been living in sin for many years and Mary believes it is time to get married. They take off for Las Vegas for a quick wedding, and when they return, they find the children are there cleaning up the house. Oh, the things they findand dont find! The performance dates are June 2-5 and June 9-12. If you are unable to be there and want to audition, or for more information, please call Casper Theater Company at 267-7243. The show is directed by Donna Fisher.
Immediate cuts to education, which amount to about $1 million, can be absorbed by the Natrona County School District. The districts leadership anticipated the need to trim due to the energy sectors slump. But school officials are less optimistic about additional deficits in years to come if Wyomings economic crisis lingers.

In a matter of weeks, the district will have firm numbers on the upcoming budget. To prepare for leaner times, the administrative arm of the Natrona County School District began a line-by-line review process of its costs and revenues last year that will likely be finished by the spring of 2017, said Superintendent Steve Hopkins.

Officials have already managed to trim about $1.5 million, largely through attrition in the administrative offices, Hopkins said.

That is easy to talk about, he said. Its actually far more difficult to do. We are eliminating a position where someone provided a service.

District officials are brainstorming a number of cost-cutting strategies, and prioritizing them, with cuts directly to the classroom marked as a last resort, Hopkins said.

Cheaper gas prices in Wyoming have served as a small consolation, saving the district money in transportation and utility costs. Natrona County will carry over about $3.7 million from last years budget thanks to the reduced utility expense and the vacancies.

But despite the districts planning, the future is uncertain in many respects, Paula Reid, treasurer for the Natrona County School Board said recently. The slump could last as long as 10 years.

We are doing really well in the short term, Reid said. But our real concern is whats going to happen in the long term.

The superintendent, and a handful of board members, met with local Republican legislators, Rep. Steve Harshman and Sen. Drew Perkins, both members of the Joint Appropriations Committee.

The purpose of the meeting was more to understand what the long-term outlook is like, Hopkins said.

The prognosis was not encouraging, he said.

Reid said in the board meeting that she was worried about the ability of large energy companies to pay their taxes, which diminishes the amount of money going into the School Foundation Account. The school funding model in Wyoming guarantees that each district has enough money to operate its schools, according to the number of students enrolled. But the revenue that backs up that guarantee is dwindling.

When tax revenue dries up across Wyoming, all districts are under pressure, Hopkins said.

There is some point, if the funding started to drop so low, you get into core issues, (like increased class sizes), he said. Those would be way down at the end of the list of the things you would do. We are hoping we will never get down to those.

The Natrona County District has a decentralized budget process, which means each school looks at the amount of money they are likely to have and submits its own budgets. All of the individual budgets are brought together to create the district budget, a process that is happening throughout April.

The compensation committee will meet to discuss salaries for all employees next week. Personnel make up 80 to 85 percent of the districts budget.

On April 26 and 27, the district will hold an open meeting in which they create a complete draft of the budget. That draft will go through a number of review processes.

The final product will go before the board for approval in mid-July.
Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael filed a motion Friday asking a Cheyenne judge to dismiss a lawsuit that questions the legality of contracts in the state Capitol reconstruction and other projects.

The Legislature's role in the Wyoming Capitol project is constitutional, according to a statement released early Friday evening on behalf of Senate President Phil Nicholas and House Speaker Kermit Brown, both Republicans from Laramie.

Lawmakers created a committee overseeing construction and budgetary matters associated with the Capitol, and the brief filed Friday outlines how the committee falls within the law.

The legislative members of the Oversight Group have and continue to have a strong interest in ensuring the entire project remains within the appropriated budget and follows all state laws, the statement said.

On March 3, a day before the 2016 legislative session adjourned, Rep. Gerald Gay, R-Casper, and Uinta County resident Karl Allred sued Michael, Gov. Matt Mead and legislative leadership in district court in Laramie County. The suit alleged the leaders violated state law and the Wyoming Constitution when they handed out $500 million in contracts, including those for the Capitol.
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. MP Virendra Sharma in a statement to the UK government urges President Aliyev to stop using his armed forces to draw attention from his domestic troubles. "The conflict reigniting in the South Caucuses has the ability to risk the lives of thousands of people and it must be clear that the UK does not support or condone Azeri aggression. 1994 represented a step towards peace, but cross border attacks on Nagorno Karabakh have the capacity to force a step back in this important area. The compelling threat to civilians makes a speedy resolution more important than ever, and the death of children is a tragedy we have to avoid. As a long standing friend of Armenia I hope that President Aliyev will stop using his armed forces to draw attention from his domestic troubles",-as reports Armenpress, stated Sharma.
WASHINGTON  Lower taxes, fewer regulations and right-to-work laws helped push Arizona toward the top of a new report ranking states on their economic outlook.

The annual Rich States, Poor States study, released Tuesday by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, put Arizona in fifth place for the second year in a row in its report on economic freedom.

Utah, North Carolina, North Dakota and Wyoming ranked higher.

Arizona should be an example for other states to follow, said Jonathan Williams, co-author of the report and vice president of the ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform.

If California became more like Arizona, it would be very good for their state economy, Williams said. They would probably reverse the outbound migration of businesses and individuals.

But critics of the report challenged the notion that fewer regulations correspond to a thriving state economy.

Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the liberal think-tank the Economic Policy Institute, pointed out that California and New York  two states that finished at the bottom of the ALEC report, in 46th and 50th place, respectively  consistently rank high for their gross domestic product.

The poorer states in the country, by and large, have less regulation, Eisenbrey said. States you dont equate with regulation, like Mississippi or Louisiana, generally do poorer with productivity and income.

The study used 15 equally weighed economic variables, including tax rates, regulatory burdens and labor policies, to rank the states.

Williams said Arizona did particularly well in the area of low tax rates, and has made progress cutting down its debt.

The state has regularly been in fifth or sixth place, last finishing out of the top 10 in 2011, when it ranked 12th.

That commitment to a pro-growth economic policy is really what the staying power is in the top five, said Williams, adding that the study shows that fewer regulations means more growth.

Americans continue to vote with their feet from one state to another, and go for economic opportunity, Williams said. It is very clear why they are going to some states and leaving others.

But Eisenbrey said regulations are not only an essential part of a fair business system, thet also bring workers freedom from fear, freedom from terrible injury.

I dont think that they (ALEC) give a complete story, Eisenbrey said. Whose freedom are we talking about? The freedom to be safe from being killed in an industrial accident?

The freedom of school children not to be poisoned?

He also challenged the studys reliance on right-to-work laws as a factor in economic opportunity.

States who have right-to-work laws have much lower wages and workers are worse off, said Eisenbrey, adding that wages in those state are $1,500 less, on average. This might be good for a business owner whos paying less, but its not good for working people.

But Williams said the impact of businesses  large and small  is something that affects everyone by providing both revenue and income.

At the end of the day, where do you think these dollars are going to come from? Williams asked. They are going to come from the private sector, whether thats an individual or small business.
PHOENIX  The central Indian metropolis of Indore, where slum dwellers report incomes of about $78 per month and a carton of eggs costs 88 cents, is about to get some new jobs, thanks to outsourcing from Phoenix.

Waste Management Inc. confirms that about 120 Arizona employees are being laid off in the coming months because their billing duties are being shifted to Asia.

The move could reduce company labor costs for those positions by three-quarters.

In a written statement, Waste Management of Arizona said sending jobs offshore is about optimizing our back office processing functions such as data entry and billing.

Company spokeswoman Janette Micelli said in an email that Waste Management has 2,000 Arizona employees, so the transfer of 120 jobs amounts to about 6 percent of the labor force.

These are always difficult decisions, and were doing what we can to encourage affected employees to apply for other available positions within the company, Micelli added in her message.

Internal communications to employees at Waste Managements Consolidated Billing Center in Phoenix, obtained by The Arizona Republic, indicate the move is to begin this month. The emails stress that workers can earn retention bonuses if they remain on the job until they are laid off. The bonuses  from $2,000 to $8,000  are in addition to severance pay. One email notes that layoffs are hard for everyone, and at the Senior Leadership level we are committed to treating everyone as fairly as possible.

This type of Business Process Offshoring/Outsourcing (BPO) is common amongst S&P 500 companies, the email continues, and results in a lower cost (for labor) with demonstrably improved efficiency and better quality. The average cost of a transactional processor in the U.S. is (about) $45K, whereas the cost of that same resource in our India service center is (about) $10K.

The billing center at Interstate 17 and Bell Road was consolidated about 18 months ago for Waste Managements nationwide operations, and scores of employees were relocated to Phoenix at the time. Now, some of those workers face termination.

An economic development spokeswoman for Phoenix did not respond to a request for comment on Waste Managements employee shift, or on the impact that job offshoring has on the city.

As of 2014, U.S. companies employed an estimated 14 million workers overseas, with about 2.4 million jobs annually being transferred to India, China and other nations. A recent study by professors at MIT and Berkeley concluded that nearly one-quarter of all U.S. companies have employees overseas, especially among large business.

Economists and political activists have for years disputed the consequences of outsourcing. Proponents say the practice assists the poor in foreign nations, reduces labor costs for U.S. companies, lowers product prices for consumers and opens international markets so American businesses can expand.

Opponents say the job losses fatten corporate profits while hurting American workers and sustaining unethical, exploitative and environmentally unsafe employment practices overseas. They also say outsourcing perpetuates poverty at home and abroad while undermining the U.S. economy.

Waste Managements annual revenue in 2015 totaled $13 billion, down from $14 billion in 2013. The company, based in Houston, is the largest of its kind in North America and includes services related to landfills, environment and energy.
Dear Jeanne & Leonard:

Our daughter Jessica and her new boyfriend Austin, both in their mid-20s, flew out here to attend a friends engagement party. They stayed with us one night, and the next morning the four of us went out for breakfast. We thought Austin might pick up the check, but he made no move for his wallet, so we paid for everyones meal. A few months later, we went East to help Jessica clean out her old apartment (we stayed in a hotel). She had to work, but Austin took a couple of days off from his job so he could pick us up at the airport, drive us around and help with the apartment. However, on the day the three of us cleaned it out, we went to lunch together, and once again Austin made no offer to pay. Whats your opinion of his behavior? My husband and I are a little concerned.

 Jane, San Jose, California

Dear Jane: Your daughter is one lucky girl to have parents and a boyfriend willing to clean out her apartment. She should have figured out a way to buy lunch for you three worker bees ... and taking you to dinner that night would have been even better. Certainly Austin had no obligation to buy a meal for the people he was spending several days chauffeuring, as nice as the gesture might have been.

As for breakfast when he visited you, yes, Austin should have offered to pick up the tab (assuming he didnt bring you a house present). He was your houseguest, and breakfast was an opportunity for him to show his appreciation. Still, he seems to have been hospitable to you when you visited his city and to be devoted to your daughter as well. You cant expect the guy to be perfect.

Dear Jeanne & Leonard:

About 10 years ago my father gave our then-toddler daughter $500 for her college fund. It was a nice thing to do, and the money has doubled in value since then. But Dad has never made a comparable gift to her younger brother. So my wife wants me to talk to him and remind him that hes never given our son money for college. Im uneasy, though. Dads always given both of our children nice gifts for their birthdays and the holidays, and I dont think it matters that he didnt kick-start our sons college fund. What do you think?

 C.B., Northern California

Dear C.B.: We think your father sounds like a loving grandfather. That said, there would be nothing wrong with letting him know that the money he contributed to your daughters college fund has subsequently doubled. Perhaps doing so will remind him that he hasnt made a comparable gift to your son.
Get thee to the Temple.

You do not want to miss Arizona Theatre Companys production of Scott Carters The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, which opened at the Temple of Music and Art Friday.

The play is sort of like beef Wellington  a juicy hunk of meat wrapped up in a fluffy pastry crust.

We are lulled into thinking this will be a light comedy as, just before the actors take the stage, the cartoonish image of our title characters on the back screen tilts, shatters and then dissolves.

And it is a comedy. Carter, a one-time Tucsonan and now executive producer of HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher, has a knack for penning dialogue that dances with rich, smart humor.

But its more than that.

Part of that is due to this cast and director. Larry Cedars elegant Jefferson, Armin Shimermans angry Tolstoy, and Mark Gagliardis overly-dramatic Dickens make sure that laughs come so quickly that we do not realize that ideas are being implanted until after the curtain comes down. And director Matt August infused the word-happy piece with witty visuals, a rhythmic pace and clarity.

But Carter gets the bulk of the credit for crafting a piece that wont let us go.

He has brought togehter Jefferson, Dickens and Tolstoy in a nearly-bare room. It is painfully bright, with a metal table in the center and three metal chairs. It is a form of hell just to sit in that room, we imagine.

They are all dead, trapped in this space waiting for whatever comes next.

They decide they are together for some purpose.

Maybe its to collaborate on a bible they can all agree on.

Carter has done his research and the play is packed with fascinating tidbits, and the fact that all three wrote their own versions of the New Testament is central to the story.

They decide to each tell their perspective and perhaps a bible with common agreement will emerge.

Not a chance. These three men are arrogant, used to being in charge, and the fact that they disagree with each other about what should and shouldnt be in that bible is a given. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, Dickens writes, assuming they can at least agree with that. And Tolstoy and Jefferson object. That translation is all wrong. In the beginning was Spirit is correct, says Tolstoy. I prefer Reason, says Jefferson.

And so it goes. Though they each have a bible theyve created from the existing King James version, the end results greatly differ. Jeffersons bible, Life and Morals of Jesus Christ, cut out all the elements that reason says are impossible. So no walking on water for him.

Dickens, who penned The Life of Our Lord for his children, is a devout Christian who has no interest in questioning the tales told in the New Testament. He doesnt care that it was written centuries after the crucifixion by mere mortals. The traditional stories suit him just fine.

Tolstoy  his version was The Gospel in Brief  gave his bible an anarchist bent. Like Jefferson, he doesnt have much use for miracles. But he does have faith, even if it defies logic. ... Lifes meaning is revealed through faith if only we surrender our reason, he says.

They argue, they pout, they try to compromise (OK, these arent really compromising kind of guys).

The biblical exercise leads to some truth-telling  each has some deep shame at the hypocrisy in their lives: Jefferson owned slaves even while he feared such practice could threaten the country he helped form; Dickens, who claimed to be an ideal family man, was cruel and heartless to his wife, and Tolstoy denounced the life of a count, slept and lived with the peasants, but still had servants.

Finally, they reflect. Sure, they sinned, were dishonest, unfaithful, but, asks Jefferson, Was the world better for our having lived?

Of course, the audience tends to mull over the theological issues. But Discord prompts us to ask ourselves the same question. Thats the real meaty part.

The play is grand fun. But be careful; itll make you reflect, too. Still, isnt that what one should do at a temple?
Training for home church leaders

Pastor Alma Jones, a longtime member at Casas Church, will continue her training for Christians interested in hosting a church in their home.

The sessions for the Home Churches for Christ Outreach Ministry will equip Christians to lead Bible studies, prayer and music for a small group. For training, visit the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave, from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 16; Saturday, May 21; and Saturday, June 18, according to press materials.

For more information, visit homechurchesforchristoutreachministry.wordpress.com or contact Jones at 429-3806.

UA dance program seeks

funds for Holocaust Ctr.

To raise money for Tucsons Holocaust History Center and Jewish History Museum, the University of Arizona Dance Ensemble will present In the Shadows of the Dreamers. The performance also commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.

The piece, accompanied by music from Eric Whitacres Five Hebrew Love Songs, is part of a larger program that includes Echad by Ohad Naharin and Broadway Lights with music by George Gershwin, according to press materials.

The performance begins at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, 1713 E. University Blvd. Tickets cost $54 and are available through the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, the Tucson Jewish Community Center or at the door.

For more information, visit jewishhistorymuseum.org or call 577-9393.

Freethought Arizona

details 1st Amendment

Freethought Arizona will present Of Dogma and Desire: Saying What You Believe About the First Amendment 10 a.m. Sunday, April 17, at the DuVal Auditorium at Banner  University Medical Center Tucson, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.

Robert J. McWhirter, a certified specialist in criminal law and supervising attorney for the Arizona State University Alumni Law Group, will discuss topics such as separation of church and state and the influence of Christianity on the nations founding, according to press materials.

For more information, visit freethought-az.org.

Open house for new Jewish Montessori

Darkaynu Montessori School, a Jewish Montessori preschool, will hold an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, April 17.

The new preschool on the campus of Congregation Chofetz Chayim, 5150 E. Fifth St., is now enrolling kids through age 6, according to press materials.

For more information, visit darkaynutucson.com or call 591-7680.

Interfaith Council on education, citizenship

The Pima County Interfaith Civic Education Organization will present A Civic Academy on Arizona public education at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 1800 N. Camino Pio Decimo.

Panelists include Morgan Phillips, a president for two Pima Community College campuses; Sen. Steve Farley; and Rep. Bruce Wheeler.

PCICEO will also hold an information session about citizenship and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at Sacred Heart Parish, 601 E. Fort Lowell Road, according to press materials.

For more information, visit pimacountyinterfaith.org or call 903-2333.

Church documentary on peacemaking

Eastside Covenant Church, 551 N. Camino Seco, will host a screening of Our Land, a film about individuals of different faiths in Israel and Palestine who make peace with each other.

The free screening, followed by a Q&A, begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, according to press materials.

For more information, visit ecctucson.org or call 885-3192.

Humanistic Jews celebrate Passover

The Secular Humanist Jewish Circle will host a Passover seder at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 23, at Atria Campana del Rio, 1550 E. River Road.

Humanistic Jews celebrate the holiday for its focus on freedom from slavery and view the biblical Exodus as a myth within Jewish tradition, according to press materials.

The lunch costs $25 for members of the circle and $35 for non-members. RSVP by Tuesday, April 19.
When Bob Bailey picked out the historic mud adobe house he made his home in 1977, he had to imagine what it could be.

It hardly resembled the three-room Spanish colonial that railroad engineer Harry C. Oliver built in 1893 in Armory Park across the street from what is now Safford Middle School. Over the years, the home and its two original barns had been converted to a rooming house with nine separate rooms walled off from each other.

I loved the primitiveness of it. It was a little like living in a ruins, Bailey said of his first days in the house. I took one room and fixed it up so it was totally habitable.

Bailey said he knew it would take time, patience and money to restore the house to its former self. One of the first tasks was to reconnect all the rooms and re-install the doors that once existed.

Every door between every room they had taken the doors and filled in with adobe, Bailey said. But I could always see it. In my mind, it looked like this, he said where today he can stand in a front room that now serves as an office for himself and fellow architect Steve Grede.

The married couple has toiled together since 1988 when Grede moved in to bring the home to the point where it will be featured on the upcoming Home Tour of The Grand Adobes of the Tucson Basin, organized by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. The tour on April 23 will feature eight adobe homes in the Tucson area.

These are some of the best examples of late 19th century and early 20th century adobe in our community, said Demion Clinco, CEO of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. Together they really articulate the architectural development that occurred not just in Tucson but in the Southwest during this transformation period, before and after the arrival of the railroad.

In particular, the adobe houses that dot the Tucson area are a constant reminder of the history and the know-how that traveled from the other side of the world to this community, Clinco said.

These were based on a Spanish and even earlier Moorish architectural tradition that was brought from the Middle East to Spain then to Mexico and into the Southwest, Clinco said. So you really see this centuries-old building tradition that articulates itself in this distinctive way.

Adobe happened here because it existed here. Tucson is an adobe city because you could walk down to the Santa Cruz River and you could get water and you could get clay and you could get sand and you could mix them together and make an adobe block.

With the benefit of the expertise of two architects living in it, the Bailey/Grede home has become a walk through Tucson history. What is now the office, the dining room and the living room, was the original 750-square foot home Oliver built after he bought the entire block for $1,000, Grede said. Two separate barns were built on the property just south of the house. Around the turn of the last century, the main house was connected to one of the barns making for a longer structure along the neighborhood street. About the same time, a porch attached to the barn was enclosed as a sleeping porch.

Throughout the years, there were other changes made to the house. To replace the outhouse, a bathroom was built on what is now the side porch. A kitchen also was built on the porch next to the bathroom.

Bailey and Grede began the major restoration work in 1989.

We could see the beautiful bones of the house, Grede said.

In 1989 and 1990, the heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical wiring, gas lines and sewer lines all were replaced  starting from scratch, Grede said.

To make way for the new systems, wood floors were removed revealing dirt underneath. The few wood walls in the home are where new plumbing was installed as needed. Window swamp coolers were replaced and the home now has central air conditioning and a furnace.

Some cuts were made into the adobe walls for wiring and the adobe was patched, but it wasnt always easy making the needed comfort changes with the adobe structure.

We have a wall-mounted sink in the bathroom, Grede said. We had to drill through and put steel plates on both sides of the wall to hang that. You cant just drill or hang on adobe. Those kinds of things you really have to think about and structure appropriately.

While some of the adobe walls had absorbed the paint that covered them, there are still some areas of the home where the natural adobe is exposed and the history is on display.

As much as possible, Grede and Bailey saved original building materials and reused them. Much of the woodwork in the house  primarily floors, ceilings and door frames  is the original redwood, which Grede said was the wood of choice at the time because of its availability and cost.

A big comfort move was building a new kitchen and bathroom in the main structure, which allowed them to remove the kitchen and bath that had been built on the porch. The main house is now 1,650 square feet.

That was a lifestyle change. Now we have comfort, Grede said. We have heating and cooling. We have electricity.

That move allowed the eventual restoration of the wrap-around porch that starts at the front entry way on the north end of the home and stretches around the west side to the sleeping porch at the south end. That began in 2000, about 10 years after the completion of the kitchen and bath remodel. The 10-year gap allowed Grede and Bailey to enjoy what they had done, regroup and plan ahead for more restoration.

If youre going to live in a house during restoration, you really have to be prepared to do that, Grede said. Its very tough to be in the midst of all this dust all the time. It takes a while to say, Im really comfortable. Now were going to go outside of our comfort and live in a construction zone again. 

When the work began again, Grede and Bailey restored the wraparound porch, remodeled the second barn into a bed & breakfast that they rent and sometime use as a guest house. They also remodeled the sleeping porch and restored a water well house that was on the property.

In the style of many adobe houses  in particular barrio houses  of the era, the entire home, including the guest house, sits flush to the street on the east side. That means there is a lot of yard to the west on the one-third acre lot. Grede and Bailey built what they call a grotto to serve as a storage room on the southwest section of the lot using some of the existing building materials. They also built an L-shaped wall just off the wraparound porch to give them a courtyard feel with a fountain.

With the exception of a small detail in the kitchen, Grede and Bailey consider their work on the house done. And they now enjoy the comfort and ambience theyve built in a house that is well over a century old.

Not everybody saw what we saw, Grede said. Some people thought we were living in a slum, but we always saw the beauty of the spaces. When we started restoring it, everybody could see what it would look like.

We consider it mostly finished. We put a lot of thought into it all the way along. And were comfortable.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.  The owner of several horses on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, where tourist excursions to towering waterfalls depend on the animals, has been charged with animal cruelty and neglect.

The charges were filed against Leland Joe after FBI Special Agent James Kraus visited his property on April 5 and reported there was no visible food or vegetation for five horses, and one horse appeared extremely thin, malnourished and had open sores and wounds.

Joe, a resident of Supai, made an initial appearance Friday in federal court in Flagstaff on four felony counts including cruel neglect that resulted in physical injury of an animal and cruel mistreatment between February and early April.

He also faces charges of intentionally, knowingly and recklessly failing to provide medical attention to prevent further animal suffering.

Richard Juarez, a federal public defender representing Joe, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Most of the 600 tribal members on the reservation, known for the blue-green waterfalls that attract tourists from all over the world, work in the tourism industry. The reservation is deep in a gorge off the Grand Canyon and accessible only by horse or mule, helicopter or foot.

Bureau of Indian Affairs Lt. Scott Small said in court documents that Joe had informed him that the thin horse had been that way for at least nine months. Furthermore, Small said, he discussed the condition of all the horses with Joe on several occasions and even offered to buy them so they could go to an animal rescue group.

The animal cruelty charges come two days after a group called Stop Animal Violence called the reservation a "death camp" for pack animals and alleged the horses and mules are starved, physically abused and overworked.

The group encouraged tourists to avoid using the animals to carry their camping gear and food on the 8-mile trail that leads in and out of the tribal village of Supai until veterinary standards are met.

Susan Ash, a spokeswoman for the group, called Joe's arrest "a warning to the tribe that they need to cooperate with us on getting on top of this problem."

Tribal Chairman Don Watahomigie said the group should reach out to the Tribal Council with its intentions and any plans to contribute to veterinary care.

He said the tribe works with veterinarians off the reservation who occasionally make visits to the isolated community.

He said the group's perceptions might not be in line with those of tribal members. "Every place is different," he said.

Jennifer Johnson, a veterinarian from Washington state, said she is among a handful of vets the tribe consults about animal medical care. She has been to the reservation twice and believes most animals are treated well but some are neglected.

She said some pack animals are overworked and thin with exposed ribs and sores on their backs because of ill-fitted saddles and girths. The equipment and weight limits set for the animals are appropriate for horses that have more muscle and fat, she said.

She suggested the animals need to forage and have more rest and time to heal from wounds. But that can be hard for tribal members whose livelihoods depend on the animals, Johnson said.
But with the court turning down his latest bid to stay his warrant of arrest, how long can the cat and mouse game continue, wasting limited resources and tearing apart more state institutions, questioning and undermining their authority.

With his name on an arrest warrant and a number of successful court stay orders, Mr ONeill has been able to sidestep his appointment with detectives for some two years.

I doubt that theres a person in the history of Papua New Guinea who has been able to avoid the law with alacrity of the current Prime Minister, Peter ONeill.

Yesterdays suspension fraud directorate chief Mathew Damaru, who had been tipped as poised to arrest Mr ONeill, was just the latest move in this long-running saga.

The law is taking a long time to catch up with PNGs seventh prime minister to give him the opportunity to show he is innocent.

PNG has a robust and independent judiciary which remains one of the countrys last hopes for the dispensation of justice when corruption is rampant across all state institutions.

We are not at war. This country is not under siege. The police fraud squad is only doing its job. The judiciary is only performing its duty.

But heavily guarded by armed security forces, the prime minister seems afraid of the laws of the very country which he leads.

Papua New Guineas institutions must remain strong to hold the country together as a vibrant democracy. In the end they must prevail to fulfill this purpose. But at present they are under great pressure.

This country must be bigger than any person, tribe, province, region or group that wishes to hold her to ransom against the wishes of the people.

Police Commissioner Gary Baki is making the greatest mistake in his life trying to protect the prime minister. He wont succeed in holding out against a nation which wants nothing but for the prime minister to prove his innocence in a competent court of law. There is no other way for the prime minister to free himself of allegations.

In my view, Peter ONeill should step down now and prove his innocence in court. He has been maintaining his innocence so far, so there should be nothing for him to fear.

He has a moral and constitutional obligation to his office, to the country and to the people to lead with dignity and to do the honourable and right thing. In the current circumstances, it is to step down.
There is a good reason why potentially thousands of registered voters in Pima County cant trust the new registration card they got in the mail.

Thats because a mailing of roughly a half-million new voter registration cards last month included thousands showing out-of-date information. And they were mailed just as voters who had changed their party affiliation were also receiving their new card.

Officials concede it was poor timing to test of the countys voter database in the weeks preceding the states Presidential Preference Election. They knew several thousand local voters had changed their party affiliation to participate in the Presidential Preference Election, which was not open to voters registered as an independent.

The state requires that the county recorders officer test the database every presidential election year.

The two nearly identical cards likely crossed in the mail. Thats because the countys vendor needed several weeks to print and mail roughly 500,000 voter registration cards while simultaneously printing new cards for voters who made changes to their voter registration. The confusion could become an issue again.

With a month before the state votes on a controversial plan to fund K-12 education, Monday marks the deadline to register, or update, voter registration with the state.

Theres less to worry about in the next months special election because unlike the Presidential Preference Election, it is open to any registered voter. And those on the countys permanent early voter list dont have to worry about polling locations.

However, with three different government agencies looking into why some voters were disenfranchised in Arizonas Presidential Preference Election, and a lawsuit seeking to overturn it, the advice from elected officials is the same: every person concerned about their voter registration needs to confirm the information it contains.

To check your registration online, go to servicearizona.com and click on the Voter Registration box.

Voters also can call the County Recorders office at 724-4330.

Other options include completing forms at any of the following locations: any Pima County Recorders office; any Arizona Department of Motor Vehicle branch; all post offices and libraries; political party headquarters; and city/town hall.
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.
MIAMI  The U.S. has released nine more prisoners from its base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent them to Saudi Arabia for resettlement, officials said Saturday.

The move announced in a Pentagon statement is part of an effort by President Barack Obama's administration to release detainees considered low-risk while seeking to transfer the remainder to the U.S.

"The United States is grateful to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the Pentagon said.

With this latest release, there are now 80 prisoners at Guantanamo, including 26 cleared men expected to be sent home or to another country by the end of the summer.

Many in Congress, however, are staunchly opposed to closing Guantanamo or moving any prisoners to the U.S. and some have called for new restrictions on future releases and transfers.

All of the men whose release was announced Saturday are Yemeni but could not be sent back to their homeland because U.S. officials fear that the instability there would enable them to resume the militant activities that landed them at Guantanamo in the first place. They are expected to take part in a Saudi rehabilitation program for an undisclosed length of time.

The nine Yemenis include Tariq Ba Odah, a frequent hunger striker whose weight dropped to a dangerously low 74 pounds (34 kilograms) at one point as the military fed him with liquid nutrients to prevent him from starving to death. His lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights had urged the U.S. to free him earlier due to his health.

Eight of the prisoners, including Ba Odah, had been cleared for released from Guantanamo since at least January 2009, when an Obama administration task force evaluated all of the prisoners held at that time. The ninth, Mashur Abdullah Muqbil Ahmed Al-Sabri, was cleared by a review board last year.
Help India!

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net

Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) a political party launched few weeks ago is planning to contest at least 6 Lok Sabha seats in the state. MMK is the political wing of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK).

Support TwoCircles



MMK is eyeing six seats that have at least 20% Muslim votes. These are Cental Chennai, Vellore, Mailaduthurai, Thanjavur, Tiruchy, and Ramanathapuram.

Dr M.H. Jawahirullah, president of TMMK told TwoCircles.net that Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (Humanitarian Peoples Party) is now negotiating with the DMK the ruling party in Tamil Nadu. AIADMK has also approached MMK regarding the elections. Dr. Jawahirullah said that they will not settle for less than 3 seats and if their demands are not respected they will contest in all six seats alone.







M. Jawahirrulah surrounded by TMMK activists in 2008



Talking to TwoCircles.net Dr. Jawahirullah mentioned that their candidates list are not finalized by only candidates who are graduates and have considerable social service experience will be selected to be their nominees. MMK is confident of winning at least two seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

When asked what they intend to achieve if they are able to send their member to the Lok Sabha, Dr. Jawahirullah said that we want to be a righteous and uncompromising voice of the minorities, Dalits, adivasis and other oppressed sections of the India society. We want to focus on issues which are usually sidelined in political discourse like environmental protection, human rights, natural farming etc., We want to uphold moral and ethical values in public life. We would strive to see that every single pie of the public money allotted for various projects are spend for the purpose they are meant.







Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (Humanitarian Peoples Party)was launched in February 2009 in Chennai.

Link:

http://www.tmmk.in
Set among the red rocks of Sedona, more than 100 Jewish women from across Arizona joined together March 27 for a day dedicated to beautifying both body and soul. The event brought together women representing 12 Chabad centers across Arizona. The guest speaker was Esther Friedman, a noted public speaker and teacher. Friedmanwho has led a thriving Chabad congregation with her husband, Rabbi Benzion Friedman, for more than four decadesspoke of the power of the Jewish woman and the unique place she has at the center of Jewish life.

In addition to pampering and relaxation, the program included a scenic hike, a kosher picnic lunch, inspirational workshops and discussions, a musical performance, and even a spiritual painting session. Over lunch, many of the women shared how their respective Chabad centers had nourished them spiritually and helped them on their unique journeys of self-discovery. Before I joined Chabad, I never truly realized what a blessing it is to be Jewish, said NAU student Jessica Stott, who said that her association with Chabad Rebbetzin Chaya Shapiro has helped her learn so much about what my Judaism means to me and the importance of being a part of this amazing community and people.

Most Chabad centersincluding the chapter in Flagstaffhave active womens circles, where women from all walks of life and backgrounds can celebrate, learn, and grow in a welcoming and nurturing environment. Yet, the retreat served to highlight that they were part of something bigger. Sara Goelitz, who is currently studying for her masters degree in public administration at NAU, said that the retreat gave her a chance to connect on a deeper level with the women in my community, gain inspiration from women around the state and reflect on my own journey. In addition to laughter, tears and song, she said it served to reinforce her positive self-image as a Jewish woman.

I felt honored, valued and grateful to be part of an event focused on the respect Judaism has for women, concurred Ivy Kellogg, a registered nurse in Flagstaff. Supporting the important and positive role of women in Judaism reinforces my being inspired, encouraged and empowered to learn and grow spiritually.
In Arizona, 23.4 million acres of publicly accessible national forest and Bureau of Land Management lands provide fish and wildlife with irreplaceable habitat and offer Arizonans unmatched opportunities to hunt, fish, hike, camp, mountain bike, ski, and more. These lands also support Arizonas $10.6-billion outdoor recreation economy.

But, despite the immense value and popularity of these lands, which belong to all of us, some activists are working hard to hand them over to a select few. In 2015, the Arizona State Legislature established a committee that is actively examining processes to transfer public lands to state ownership or even sell them off completely. The American Lands Council is actively recruiting counties in Arizona and throughout the West to take up its cause: disposing of federal public lands. Congress has even joined the debate, after Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced a bill that would clear the way for the sale of our national forest lands and lock the public out indefinitely.

Whether you have confidence in federal land management or not, transferring our public lands to the state is a half-baked idea. Simply put, the public would get a raw deal, while private interests would benefit. BLM and national forest lands are managed under a multiple-use mandate, meaning federal land managers are required by law to balance the needs of wildlife, recreational users, and resource extractors. But under state management, everything would come second to generating income from these landsand that includes the needs of hunters, anglers, and American families, because Arizona is in the business of selling its lands to generate a profit. An independent body of just five people, known as the Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals, makes decisions about land sales, and numerous parcels are sold each year. The places where we hunt, fish, and spend time with friends and family would be no exception.

Watersheds and fish and wildlife habitat would also be put at risk. Currently, the state of Arizona is responsible for the cost of fighting wildfires on all state and private lands. Fire suppression for the 2011 Wallow Fire, which burned mostly on national public lands, alone cost the U.S. Forest Service $109 million. By comparison, the state of Arizona only budgeted $5 million for wildfire that year. There is little doubt that the state would come up short on wildfire costs, if it were to be handed these important lands.

Sportsmen certainly recognize that public lands are critical to our hunting and fishing traditionsin fact, 24 Arizona sportsmens groups recently went on the record to formally oppose public land transferand several Arizona counties are stepping out in front of this issue, as well. Pima County passed a resolution last December opposing any effort to transfer public land to the State. The Coconino County Board of Supervisors is currently considering the adoption of a similar resolution to recognize the value of public lands to the countys heritage, economy, and quality of life.

And there is a better way to deal with the real land management challenges that exist. We live in a democracy where Americans have been rolling up their sleeves and solving problems for more than two centuries. Coconino County has productive and effective working relationships with local, state, and federal partners that led to the development and implementation of critical habitat initiatives, such as the 2010 Shultz fire flood response, the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Program, and the Four Forest Restoration Initiative. We should rely on this kind of collaboration to improve upon our treasured public land legacy, not seize it from the American people.
Sea of apricot flowers draws tourists to Pamir Plateau Updated: 2016-04-15 13:17 (China Daily)

Local Tajik women wearing traditional embroidered cotton-padded hats covered with white scarves enjoy a leisurely moment as they sit on the ridges of the fi eld. Photos By Xinhua

Mother Nature opens up her paint box in the shadow of the second-highest peak in the world

By Xinhua and China Daily

Spring is returning to Pamir Plateau in the southwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region: apricot trees are blooming, winter crops are turning green and Tajik farmers are preparing to plow their fields.

While snow still covers the mountain tops on the plateau straddling China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, pink and white apricot flowers have turned the valleys of Datong township in Tashi Kuergan Tajik autonomous county into a sea of flowers.

Taxkorgan, the only county in China with Pakistan as neighbor, is on the highest part of the Pamir Plateau. Qogir Peak, the second-highest peak in the world at 8,611 meters above sea level, stands to the south. In the north, the snowcapped Muztagata Mountain is found at an altitude of 7,546 meters and numerous glaciers surround its base.

Enterprising Tajiks have built productive farms in the flatlands of the river valleys.

Datong township, with an average altitude of about 2,800 meters, enjoy a moderate climate throughout the year. Spring is a popular season to visit as blossoming apricots, green highland barley and tinkling rivers transform area villages into an earthly paradise.

The flowering season is a busy one for the Tajik farmers. Not only is it time to prepare their fields, they also are welcoming tourists smitten with the apricot blooms.

"The flowering season of apricots is the busy farming season for us Tajiks," said farmer Waibag Ahbag, 58, who is planning to grow highland barley and wheat in the spring and corn in the fall. In this way, he can harvest enough food for his family and feed for his cattle.

After apricot trees bloom, farmers get out in the fields. Because they often have only small plots dotted with apricot trees, they follow the traditional way of turning the earth, using two oxen pulling a plow.

More than 400 Tajik families are scattered across the township's valleys. Most of them are farmers. Because the blooming apricot flowers have become a tourist attraction over the past few years, several families have begun providing homestays for tourists. For a price of 50 yuan ($7.74) to 80 yuan, a visitor can stay overnight and receive three meals.

Since the flower season started in late March, Kukik, a Tajik homestay owner, said his family has earned more than 1,000 yuan a day for several days. Through farming and sheep herding, his family could barely earn 3,000 yuan a year.

From the city of Kashgar, a visitor needs at least a day to reach the township by car. Hidden deep in the mountains, many township herders are still living in poverty. The annual income provided by a herd is only 2,000 yuan, on average, said Meng Meng, the township's Party chief.

The country has placed poverty-alleviation on the top of its agenda, and over the next five years, the local government will enact a series of measures to improve the villagers' lives, including road and electrical projects, Meng said.

With improved infrastructure, Mamatbag Izbag, a local official, said he expects more visitors in the future.
Charity from a birds-eye perspective Updated: 2016-04-16 03:16 By ZHANG KUN in Shanghai(China Daily USA)

Wang Hanbing's photograph on show at the Sky Pixel exhibition

An exhibition and charity auction of aerial photographs took place recently in Shanghai, calling on people to look at the world from different perspectives, while offering a helping hand to those in need.

Dajiang Innovation, or DJI, is the world's leading company in consumer drones production. It runs Sky Pixel, the only platform for aerial photography where artists, photographers and film makers share images, locations and information.

Sky Pixel hosted its first aerial photography competition in 2015 and took the winning images on an exhibition tour in cities such as Los Angeles, Berlin and Hong Kong before a showcase at the Lafayette Art & Design Center in Shanghai.

In addition to the more than 200 award-winning pictures that were on show in Shanghai, the exhibition also featured images by local artists that included cityscapes as well as visuals of everyday life.

Visitors were able to purchase some of the images via an auction and the proceeds went to the Ocean Paradise project by One Foundation, a charity organization created by Chinese film star Jet Li that supports families with autistic children.

Li started the Ocean Paradise project in 2011 after he starred in the 2009 film of the same name. The project has since provided support to more than 160 non-governmental organizations, particularly those in the mid-west regions of China, that care for children with autism and those suffering from cerebral palsy and rare diseases.

According to Ye Wan, the director for branding and communications with One Foundation, the project has been organizing a series of campaigns since 2012 to eradicate discrimination toward such children and their families.

Oliver Wang, public relations director for DJI, said that the company has also been providing financial support to these children, in addition to lessons that teach flying and assembly skills.

Founded in 2006, DJI's civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) make up 70 percent of the global market share today. The company's drones are widely used for photography, filming as well as search and rescue purposes.

Although the Shenzhen-headquartered company declined to disclose its sales volume, a research by Oppenheimer & Co Inc estimated that DJI had more than a million prosumer (professional consumers such as photographers and filmmakers) drone shipments in 2015.

The Oppenheimer report also predicted that drones will have a wider range of applications and more compelling value propositions, while the industry will continuously be faced with challenges and controversies, such as those relating to public safety and privacy. To address these problems, DJI has worked closely with supervising administrations to ensure safe flight for drone-users and members of the public.

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn
Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page.

Loading...

Checking your browser before accessing the website.

This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly.

Please wait a few seconds.
During the last year, have you purchased domestic, mass-market beer to stock your own fridge? Have you patronized Applebees or Chilis? During the 2014-2015 television season, did you regularly watch Scandal, The Voice, or How To Get Away With Murder?

The answers to these questions may help determine just how shocked you are at the current state of American politics. Adapted from political scientist Charles Murrays 2012 book Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010, the questions aim to measure the thickness of the cultural bubble in which you live.

The fewer meals youve had at Applebees and the less you know about network television (those shows were among the highest rated last year apart from NFL broadcasts), the thicker your bubble, which is to say the more clueless you are about how most Americans think and feel.

Murray, a controversial figure whos known for divisive theories about the relationship between poverty and IQ, has never been popular in bubbly liberal circles. But in recent weeks his quiz has surfaced on progressive social media feeds, popping up on Facebook alongside handwringing articles about Donald Trump that ask how did we not see this coming? The implication is that we (which is to say those of us who read such articles and take such quizzes) are so caught up in NPR-listening, HBO-watching and LGBT-supporting that Trumps ascendancy was simply beyond the scope of our imagination. And shame on us.

The bubble quiz is obviously more parlor game than scientific measure, but what it tests is still revealing. (You can take it online courtesy the PBS Newshours Making Sense blog by Paul Solman.) The questions say a lot about American values and the perception that progressivism is careening toward the mainstream. The quiz suggests this perception is held chiefly by progressives themselves. (Im saying they instead of we to maintain an authorial tone, and because I ate at an Applebees a few months ago.)

It may be true that just 1 percent of Americans control most of the countrys wealth, but an almost equally small percentage of us make up the chattering classes, the folks whod like to think theyre setting the cultural pace by choosing the topics and the tone of the American conversation.

Im talking about the people who  escape the parochialism of real America and then forget that their sensibilities and worldview are not shared by the majority.

Im not just talking about the so-called media elite, which, depending upon whom you ask, is either shamelessly furthering a liberal agenda or shamelessly bending to corporate pressures. Im talking about the people who gravitate toward coastal cities in order to escape the parochialism of real America and then forget that their sensibilities and worldview are not shared by the majority.

This is more than a little ironic. After all it is very often alienation  or at least outsider status  that propels them into their hipster enclaves to begin with. From there, the rarefied magic of drinking craft beer and hanging out in groovy coffee shops engenders a certain amnesia about the cheap six-packs and chain restaurants that most of the country contends with.

Such forgetfulness may not even require inhabiting a groovy coffeeshop. Many social media communities are just hipster enclaves in digital form (in other words, a scroll of liberal outrage mixed with pit-bull rescue pleas); they can be just as effective as an Intelligentsia habit at limiting your awareness of the economic hardships and cultural disenfranchisement endemic among many Trump voters.

This amnesia isnt just a byproduct of upward mobility, it is, for some, the entire point of that mobility. Sure, its an American platitude, even in coastal diasporas to never forget where you came from. But its even more quintessentially American to brag about leaving your one-horse hometown and never looking back. Like dropping a regional accent, losing perspective on the struggles and misplaced anger of ordinary folks can be construed as the ultimate success.

But, as were seeing in this campaign season, we lose touch with a wider reality at our peril. Finding a community of likeminded, forward-thinking enlightened souls is great. Never watching shows like Scandal or The Voice is perfectly acceptable. But forgetting theres a bigger world out there  one in which people feel so forgotten by the establishment that theyd vote for someone like Trump  is the opposite of enlightened. Its utterly provincial. Its bubble-brained. Hence all the heads that are exploding.

Like dropping a regional accent, losing perspective on the struggles and misplaced anger of ordinary folks can be construed as the ultimate success.
The forum was organised by the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Vietnam Trade Office in the Republic of Korea to connect businesses in the two countries.  VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung

SEOULViet Nam News - The Viet Nam-Korea Business Forum took place in Seoul on Thursday with the focus on opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The forum was organised by the Viet Nam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Viet Nam Trade Office in the Republic of Korea to connect businesses in the two countries.

Present at the event were Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Pham Huu Chi, President of the Viet Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association (VICOFA) Luong Van Tu, Second Deputy Head of the Trade and Investment Unit of ASEAN-Korea Centre Moon Ki-bong and representatives of about 50 SMEs from both sides.

Ambassador Chi said the RoK was now Viet Nams biggest investor, with about US$45 billion pumped into Viet Nam.

The RoK is also Viet Nams third largest trading partner while Viet Nam is the fourth largest of the RoK. Last year, bilateral trade exceeded $36 billion, he noted.

Chi said that the two sides had huge potential to develop trade and production linkages.

VICOFA President Tu, who is former chief of Viet Nams WTO negotiation delegation, said that the new-generation Viet Nam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which took effect late last year, opened up opportunities for businesses in the two nations, especially SMEs.

Processing and exports of farming products are among promising sectors where Viet Nams strengths in agriculture and the RoKs advanced technologies could complement each other, he added.

CS International, a RoK-based cosmetics producer, sees Viet Nam as a promising market, director Cho Yoon told Vietnam News Agency.

He spoke highly of the countrys business climate and hoped to find a capable business partner at the forum.  VNS
A NANG  The central city of a Nang has failed to attract a significant amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) despite its top rankings in the Provincial Competitive Index (PCI) for the third consecutive year in 2015, local leaders said.

In PCI 2015 - based on responses from 11,700 enterprises comprising 10,200 domestic private firms and 1,500 foreign invested enterprises in Viet Nam - the city was applauded by surveyed firms for its efforts in administrative reforms, especially in providing transparency, reducing transaction costs and being pro-active.

Reports from the municipal Party Committee revealed that the city lured only US$44.3 million worth of FDI in 2015, ranking 33rd among 53 provinces and cities nationwide in terms of FDI.

The sluggish influx of FDI into the locality was also seen in the past three months of this year. Only nine new foreign-invested projects worth $2.53 million were granted licences, while four operating ones were allowed to raise capital by more than $400,000.

The city has a good investment environment and high competitiveness index, but investors are still not enthusiastic about investing there, online newspaper Infonet.vn quoted committee secretary Nguyen Xuan Anh as saying.

Deputy Secretary of the committee Vo Cong Tri said the citys tax and land rental incentives were not on par with other localities. For example, land rentals in the city-based Hoa Khanh Industrial Zone reached an average of $1 per metre each year, higher than $0.8 recorded in the nearby ien Nam-ien Ngoc IZ in Quang Nam Province.

A lack of cleared land has also brought the city challenges in drawing up a specific development plan for service logistics, as well as banking and finance sectors, he said, adding that ineffective investment promotion was also problematic.

Vo Minh, director of the State Bank of Viet Nams branch in a Nang, said the city had to deal with three major issues if it wanted to attract large foreign investors. Those includeed an attractive investment policy, high-skilled personnel and an adequate support industry.

Initially, the city should define the sectors that should provide more incentives, he noted.

According to Anh, top priorities should be given to improving the citys investment climate, speeding up infrastructure development of the a Nang Hi-Tech Park and facilitating the implementation of licensed projects, in addition to determining the withdrawal of investment licences for projects that failed to begin as scheduled.  VNS
According to Viettel, its US$1.5 billion project will cover 95 per cent of Myanmars population in three years.  Photo congnghe.vn

HA NOI Viet Nam News - The Government of Myanmar has granted a licence to Viet Nams military-run Telecommunications Group (Viettel) to invest in building a modern telecommunication network across the country.

According to Viettel, its US$1.5 billion project will cover 95 per cent of Myanmars population in three years.

Under the plan, Viettel will build up 3G technology in frequency bands of 900 MHz and 2100 MHz.

The firm will quickly supply the 4G service in the 1800 MHz frequency band if it receives an addition licence from the Government of Myanmar by the end of this year.

The two businesses, which were assigned to negotiate a joint venture with Viettel, are Myanmar National Holding Public Limited and Star High Public Company Limited. If the negotiations are successful, they will hold 51 per cent shares of the joint venture.

The joint venture with local companies, which have many years of experience, is expected to help Viettel gain easy access to the Myanmar market and build a telecommunication network across the country, meeting local peoples demand.

Deputy General Director of Viettel Le ang Dung said the firms long-term investment strategy would cover networks nationwide, providing advanced network quality and applying business methods suitable for each locality.

We expect we will reach success in negotiations to set up a telecommunication joint venture in Myanmar, said Dung.

In the Myanmar Governments invitation of bidders announced earlier, it shows that more than 60 per cent of the population has used smartphones. With positive growth rate of eight per cent annually, Myanmar is expected to have a correlative data development speed.

Viettel has developed its service in newly-emerging markets including Cambodia, Laos, East Timor, Mozambique and Burundi.  VNS
Flood and high tide destroy road in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Region.  VNA/VNS Photo Van Tri

HA NOI  Making every religious person aware of the importance of environmental protection and efforts to curb climate change was identified as the first priority of a programme jointly organised by 14 religions throughout the country.

The programme, which is also hosted by the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, kicked off as Viet Nam faces numerous challenges related to environment issues, including pollution and climate change.

The country is also among five countries suffering the most from climate change, with an average loss of US$1.9 billion each year, accounting for 1.3 per cent of GDP.

The programme aims for about 80 per cent of religious people in the country to actively take part in environmental protection efforts by 2020.

The meeting, held yesterday in Ha Noi, discussed ways to effectively run the five-year programme.

Pastor Nguyen Khac Que, archbishop of Ha Noi, said, The most significant thing is pointing out what to do and then set up a detailed plan for implementation.

We better target small goals that every religious person can do instead of big goals that are hard to reach," Que said.

For example, every religious person should be asked to clean up roads around their houses one hour before Mass in churches each week, he said.

It was necessary to put more trash bins and build more toilets around churches to keep the environment clean and green, he said.

I think they are small things, but make big effects on the environment, he said.

Nguyen Ngoc Trac, from the Tu An Hieu Nghia religion in the Mekong Deltas An Giang Province, said several projects to raise public awareness among religious people of environmental protection and climate change adaptation had been held at provincial levels.

The programme steering committee was advised to conduct surveys to assess the effectiveness of these trial models across the country, draw experiences and establish suitable models for each province or city nationwide going forward, he said.

Speaking at the meeting, the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee chairman Nguyen Thien Nhan, said the programme would only be successful if people realised the benefits of environmental protection. So, raising awareness of environmental protection was very significant, he said.

Nhan also said each religion should show its detailed plan to implement the programme by the end of this year.

Eivind Archer, Country Representative in Viet Nam for Norwegian Church Aid, said 2015 was a serious year for Viet Nam from an environmental perspective due to the drought and saltwater intrusion in the south. Faced with this situation, mobilising and using the strengths of religious actors was very important, Archer said.

They could mobilise a lot of people, and followers of religious groups could complement State actions in a positive way, he said.  VNS
HA NOI  More Russian tourists are heading to Viet Nam as it is a beautiful and safe destination, according to Sergey Korneev, vice director of the Russian Administration of Tourism (Rostourism).

Traditionally, Russian people often travel to Turkey and Egypt. But in recent times, they have changed the route to Asian countries because of the complicated political and social situation in the two countries.

Viet Nam is attractive to Russians thanks to its beautiful landscape, charming beaches and the stable status in society and politics, he said at the conference to promote tourism between Viet Nam and Russia.

The conference was held yesterday in the framework of Viet Nam International Travel Mart 2016 in which Russian delegates are honoured guests of the Viet Nam Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Russia opened a tourist office in Ha Noi on Thursday as part of its plans to boost ties with Southeast Asia and South Korea.

The Ha Noi-based Visit Russia office is the eighth representative office of the country around the world, and its officials said their job is to introduce Asias tourism potential to Russians and vice versa.

Opening tourist offices helps promote Russia as a travel destination in different countries. The Visit Russia Office will help present the country as an attractive destination, promote tourist products and shape a positive vision of Russia abroad.

Korneev said the offices establishment will open up opportunities to foster tourism between Russia and regional countries.

It will attract more Asian tourists to the East European nation and provide information for Russian people interested in visiting Viet Nam and other Southeast Asian destinations, he added.

Opening the Southeast Asian office in Ha Noi proved our concern and interest in promoting tourism in Viet Nam, he said.

Russia was among Viet Nams biggest tourist markets until last year when the rouble began to tumble.

Russian arrivals in 2015 were down 7 per cent from the previous year. The market has fully recovered thanks to a visa policy introduced last year that allows Russians to stay in Viet Nam for 15 days without a visa.

Our country received 108,750 Russians in the first quarter, 13.5 per cent more than in the same period last year, making Russia the European country with the highest number of visitors to Viet Nam, Nguyen Quoc Hung, vice director of the VNAT, said.

The VNAT and Rostourism yesterday signed a memorandum to co-operate on tourism promotion. Accordingly, Viet Nam will arrange tours to suit Russian visitors taste and demand and vice versa.

For example, a 15-day tour brings Russian tourists to the southern provinces of Binh inh and Phu Yen which own most the beautiful and pristine beaches in the country. Tourists also have two or three days in Ha Noi to enjoy the cultural heritage and art performances.

Now Russian tourists, especially young people, dont love beaches alone, they also want to go trekking and discover the local culture, Vu The Binh, deputy head of Viet Nam Tourism Association said.

We have worked with Russian businesses and discussed the solution to promote tourism. In the future, we will suggest new tours to Viet Nam to the Russians.  VNS
Nguyen Kim Son, Permanent Vice President of the Ha Noi National University, spoke to the newspaper Kinh te & o thi (Economic and Urban Affairs) about the close link between high quality universities and turning out of high quality human resources.

Do you think that Vietnamese tertiary education should gear towards offering high quality programmes to all students?

In my opinion, the name high quality training programme itself already contains a message about good teachers and learned students. The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has set a bench mark for high quality training programmes. This is a prerequisite condition to supplying high quality human resources for the homeland.

However, the life of that definition will be short, as when all universities have reached that goal, we wont need that definition anymore. Then each educational institution will be free to adopt the most suitable solutions for itself.

Nevertheless, in my own opinion, the MOET should introduce a set of criteria for all universities to refer to. For example, criteria on teaching staff, physical infrastructure, teaching equipment, including teaching and learning materials and so forth.

How can students and their parents know that the university they want to enroll in meets the criteria set by the MOET?

There are various ways to assess whether a universitys curricula have met the MOETs standards or not. For example, one of the criteria set by the Ministry is a foreign language subject. But, in my opinion, learning a foreign language is only a conditional subject for some universities, while at others it is the major subject. Thats why it should not be treated equally in all universities curricula.

At present, quite a few universities jointly organize training courses with foreign counterparts. During their studies, the students can choose to spend half or even three quarters of their course studying abroad. This is a good model. However, entry marks required for those universities are lower than those for Vietnamese universities. Do you have any comments on this teaching model?

In my opinion, the foreign input is important. But it is only one of the criteria contributing to quality training. We cant say that a high input or low input will affect the quality of the output. In reality, the output quality depends on various factors, particularly the quality of the foreign counterpart universities  their lecturers and learning and teaching facilities. Last but not least, how long the students study there.

For a university with poor infrastructure, they might think that a solution to elevate their teaching status is to jointly conduct training courses with a foreign counterpart. Would you support their decision?

Thats a good way to elevate their teaching status. But the point I want to emphasise here is that the foreign university must be of high and prestigious status, otherwise such co-operation may not bring about the expected results.

In other words, we cant say such a model is good or bad. - VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam attaches importance to its role as a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), stated Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at his reception for WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo in Ha Noi yesterday.

Welcoming the WTO leaders visit to Viet Nam, PM Phuc stressed that this was a good chance for the WTO leader and Vietnamese officials to discuss increasing co-operation between the two sides.

Confirming Viet Nams policy of extensive international integration, he said that Viet Nam had negotiated and signed several bilateral and regional free trade agreements and actively participated in WTO activities.

He informed the guest of the countrys ratification of a Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) as well as its preparations to ratify a protocol amending the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in October.

The Government leader expressed his hope that the WTO would continue supporting Viet Nam, particularly in the training of skilled human resources and legal experts, and in improving the capacity of Vietnamese businesses in international trade activities.

The WTO Director-General said that Viet Nam had great potential for further development as an active member of the WTO.

The Vietnamese economy was growing with an increasing level of quality through the rise of hi-tech industries, he said.

He suggested Viet Nam contribute to building the WTOs future working agenda as a way to heighten its role and position in the organisation.

The guest called for a step up in cooperation with Viet Nam, particularly in capacity building and training for personnel working for international integration.

He welcomed Viet Nams preparations for ratifying TRIPS, saying this important document was tailored to help less-developed countries access pharmaceuticals for medical treatment.

The WTO Director-General affirmed that the WTO was willing to support Viet Nam in its integration into the global multilateral trade system, as well as during its socio-economic development process.

Vietnam benefits

Viet Nam had made good use of opportunities brought about by the countrys membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said Azevedo later at a dialogue with Vietnamese businesses yesterday.

The WTO Director-General said Viet Nam was among the members having benefited the most from the WTO, earning around US$3.6 billion as a result of WTO assistance.

He underlined the remarkable changes in Viet Nam both before and after it joined the WTO, citing noteworthy trade liberalisation, lower taxes and positive reforms in the service sector. The enforcement and protection of intellectual property had also been improved clearly, he said, adding that the Vietnamese Government had taken steps to modernize the economy and create a more attractive and favourable business environment.

With all those moves, Viet Nam enhanced its prestige among the international business community, which it would not have achieved without joining the WTO, Azevedo said. He added that WTO membership also helped Viet Nam avoid trade protection measures and non-trade barriers that are on the rise.

Sharing this view, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Tran Quoc Khanh, reported that Viet Nams foreign trade value had risen threefold since its WTO accession, while substantial changes had been seen in the countrys institutional environment.

Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vu Tien Loc, affirmed that accession to the WTO forced Viet Nam to follow world standards.

According to the WTO Director General, Viet Nam is on the right track in the process of international integration and trade liberalisation. He appreciated Viet Nams efforts in joining regional and bilateral free trade agreements alongside the multilateral trade institution of the WTO.

Multilateral and bilateral mechanisms would supplement each other and assist with Viet Nams integration process, he said, adding that there is no other choice for Viet Nam than to strive to meet world trade standards.  VNS
HA NOI  Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and numerous Party and State leaders offered incense to commemorate the Hung Kings at Kinh Thien palace of the Hung Temple historical relic site in northern Phu Tho Province today, or the tenth day of the third lunar month.

They prayed for peace and prosperity for the homeland while pledging to work together to protect the country and build a thriving nation.

The Hung Kings founded the first nation in the history of Viet Nam, called Van Lang, in Phong Chau, now Phu Tho Province.

Ruling the country through 18 generations (2879258 BC), the Hung Kings taught locals how to grow wet rice. They chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities.

To honour their history, a complex of temples was built on Nghia Linh Mountain, and the tenth day of the third lunar month serves as the national anniversary for the kings.

Rituals worshipping the Hung Kings were recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity in 2012.

Later, the leaders offered incense at Gieng Temple where the nations legendary founder Lac Long Quan is worshipped.

On the same day, leaders and former leaders of Ho Chi Minh City participated in a ceremony in commemoration of the Hung Kings at a memorial to them at the Ethnic Cultural and Historical Park in District 9.

On this occasion, many tourism sites, Hung Kings temples and schools named after the Hung Kings in the locality, also organised cultural activities and art performances to commemorate the contributions of the kings to the nation.  VNS
After a multi-week investigation, FBI agents on Thursday arrested a member of the Havasupai Tribe on charges of cruel neglect, mistreatment and failure to provide necessary medical attention to one of his horses in the village of Supai in Grand Canyon.

Leland Joe, 34, had his initial appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Flagstaff. He is charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors related to treatment of the horse. Because of how animal cruelty is treated on tribal land, the charges are state violations that have been assimilated under federal law.

Joe was arrested following a joint investigation by the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Four horses, including the horse named in the federal charges, were taken into evidence.

It was repeated observations of the poor condition of Joes horses by visitors and veterinarians, as well as complaints mounted by a citizens group, that spurred the federal investigation into Joes horses, the affidavit said.

The document described one of Joes horses as thin, malnourished and with visible open and bleeding sores or wounds along the length of its spine. The affidavit states the animal had suffered cruel mistreatment, in that it has been inflicted with unnecessary serious physical injury and cruel neglect It was suffering from serious, and likely life-threatening, medical conditions, the document said. Other horses belonging to Joe were in a similar state, it said.

Joe will be held in the Coconino County Jail until a detention hearing on Tuesday.

The case is believed to be the only instance of federal agencies pursuing an animal cruelty case on tribal land, according to Patrick Schneider, assistant U.S. attorney and tribal liaison U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. He said in researching the issue his office had not found a similar action by any federal agency anywhere in the country.

Although now in the spotlight of the federal legal system, the treatment of horses and mules used for packing gear and other items to and from the village of Supai has for years been a topic of concern among visitors as well as veterinarians and nonprofit organizations working to improve conditions for the animals. They emphasize that horses like Joes that suffer serious mistreatment and abuse, while concerning, are an extreme example that doesnt represent the condition of most horses used by tribal members.

For more on the story, see Sundays Arizona Daily Sun.
NGHE AN  Seventeen children and a teacher at a pre-school in the central Nghe An Provinces Thanh Xuan Commune were hospitalised after being attacked by wild bees yesterday morning.

At 8am, Pham Thi Tuyet, a pre-school teacher, and 20 students were suddenly attacked by wild bees while studying inside a classroom.

Local residents helped to drive away the bees, and they took the teacher and students to the communal health clinic for treatment. Five students who suffered from serious injuries were later moved to Huong Son Districts General Hospital.

Nguyen Ba Thoi, head of the hospitals Intensive Care and Poison Control unit, said all patients had difficulty breathing, fevers and red spots on their skin.

The patients were later upgraded to stable condition, he said.  VNS
HCM City Police yesterday arrested four people involved in a tobacco-smuggling ring and confiscated 900 packages of contraband cigarettes. Photo congan.com.vn

HCM CITY  HCM City Police yesterday arrested four people involved in a tobacco-smuggling ring and confiscated 900 packages of contraband cigarettes.

Police said that Pham Tan at, a 33-year-old driver from Long An Province, had illegally transported 720 packages of Jet cigarettes hidden in a truck.

The police also arrested Le Van Tam, Nguyen Thi My Dung and Le Thanh Tung, who were involved in the smuggling ring.

More than 200 contraband cigarette packages were found at Dungs house in District 8 in HCM City.

This was the third cigarette-smuggling ring discovered within a month, with a total of 10,000 packages confiscated, according to the citys Department of Criminal Investigation in Economic Management and Positions.

Police are continuing their investigation.  VNS
Police checks surveilance cameras in Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1, HCM City.  Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY  Police and experts discussed measures to tackle crime in HCM City in a forum held by Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday.

Representatives from the city police, the peoples procuracy and the Department of Information and Communications joined the forum.

Senior lieutenant-colonel Vu Nhu Ha, deputy head of the Counsellor Department under the HCM City Police, said that assaults stemmed personal conflicts.

Conflict could arise when people drank alcohol and argued, he said.

Colonel Nguyen Minh Thong, director of the Investigation Police Department, said that more than 50 per cent of crimes were committed by those aged between 18 and 30.

As many as 63 per cent of criminals in HCM City did not have jobs.

Reducing the number of crimes is not the responsibility of the police only, but also the responsibility of families and schools, he said.

Ha said that the city police had employed different crime fighting techniques. Mobile police worked with traffic police on patrols. The police performed administrative checks at residential quarters and massage parlours and installed cameras at crime hot spots.

One difficult problem the police faced was taking drug addicts to rehabilitation centres.

Many crimes were committed by drug addicts, but it was difficult to make them go to rehabilitation centres, said Ha.

oan Ta Cuu Long, deputy director of the HCM City Peoples Procuracy, said that robberies happened as some shops purchased the thieved goods, but the country lacked regulations and effective measures to manage these shops.

Representatives at the conference applauded the installation of CCTV cameras.

Le Thanh Hung, director of the Police Ward 12 in Go Vap District, said that the ward had about 2,000 cameras on roads where a lot of traffic accidents and public disorder occurred. The cameras were paid for from funds contributed by local residents and brought significant results.

If any crimes occurred, local authorities would arrive after a few minutes, he said.

oan Ta Cuu Long suggested the municipal Department of Information and Communications issue regulations on storing data from cameras as the foundation of prosecuting criminals.

Bui Viet Duong, head of the Post and Telecommunication Division under the municipal Department of Information and Communication, said that the department was conducting a pilot programme of installing security cameras in District 5. The pilot programme was expected to finish in July. If successful, it would be expanded to other districts. HCM City saw more than 1,000 crimes in the first three months this year, a decrease of 377 compared with the three last months last year, according to HCM City Police. -- VNS
People living with HIV/AIDS visit hospital for ARV treatment in HCM City. VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy

HCM CITYHealth insurance is scheduled to start covering payments for HIV/AIDS patients at 18 hospitals and preventive health centres as from early 2017 as international aid for free anti-retroviral medicine and treatment will stop in 2018.

At that time, HIV/AIDS patients will have to be responsible for payments for medicine and other treatment.

The health insurance for medicine and treatment for HIV-AIDS patients will be extended at all the citys district preventive health centres, general hospitals and 23 district hospitals until July 2017.

Speaking at a conference on HIV/ AIDS treatment facilities held yesterday in HCM City, Dr Duong Minh Hai of the HIV/ AIDS Preventive Centre, said that the city now has 28,340 people with HIV/ AIDS, including 27,645 undergoing ARV treatment.

It is estimated that the number of people with HIV/AIDS will rise to 31,500 people, leading to an increase of 31,000 with ARV treatment by the end of 2016.

Since March, the centre has provided counselling for health insurance for people with HIV/AIDS at 29 health examination and treatment clinics for outpatients in city districts and four city-level hospitals.

Only 20 per cent of people with HIV/AIDS in HCM City have insurance cards.

Bui uc Du, deputy head of the Viet Nam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control, said the payments under health insurance should start now, not later.

There is no reason for delaying this, Du said.

HCM City and other provinces and cities must draw up a plan for the implementation of payments, he added.

Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy head of the citys Department of Health, said that the department would petition the Peoples Committee to direct the Insurance Social Agency to allow organisations that operate in fields related to HIV/AIDS to buy health insurance cards for disadvantaged people with HIV/AIDS.

The national health insurance law, which took effect earlier this year, requires that insurance must be bought for all members of a family. If a member fails to buy, the other family members listed in the same resident registration book are not allowed to buy insurance.

Health care representatives said this was one of the main barriers preventing HIV/AIDS patients from buying health insurance. --VNS
Zilingo, an Indian-run, Thailand-headquartered fashion e-commerce company, said it had operationally broken even and if it continued at the same rate of growth it would be cash positive by the end of 2016.

was started in November after a $1.8 million seed investment led by Sequoia Capital. Ankiti Bose, CEO of ZIlingo, attributed the five-month turnaround to high commissions and an e-commerce market that was not crowded. Our commission is 15-25 per cent and our sellers are more than happy to pay it, said Bose.

boasts over 1,300 sellers, a customer base of 150,000 and over 500 orders a day. The numbers dwarf when compared to the Indian market, but Bose insists profit margins and ticket size make for good reading.

We have an average ticket size of $40-45 (around Rs 3,000) and users are buying almost one-and-a-half products every time they shop, added Bose. The number of orders surges to 1,500 during special days. But even then we dont discount. As a rule, we dont do heavy discounts. We may offer, at best, a five per cent price reduction. Our sellers do most of the discounting for us.



The e-commerce market in Thailand consists of championing the inventory-heavy model and Zilingos marketplace allows sellers to run discount plans.

There are several long-tail sellers who want orders and they have margins to discount. Sometimes they have a new collection coming and they need to move stock but sometimes they just want to beat other sellers and be on top of the pyramid, she said.

This encourages shopping but Bose insists that she isnt trying to find the discount shopper. These shoppers will only install your app during campaign days and then uninstall it, she said.

has gamified customer experience by asking customers to rate sellers. The higher the score, the lower the commission, she said. In December, Zilingo set up shop in Singapore to target a high-spending, evolved user base. There are not enough sellers in Singapore and we can give them access to sellers in Thailand. The 18-25 age group in Singapore are big shoppers and costs are really not too much of a worry, she said. Zilingo charges a premium for opening up a new market to sellers.

Zilingo, unlike its Indian counterparts, stays out of logistics and warehousing. It has best price deals set up with an array of service providers and sellers need to choose among them.

All of this contributes to minimising the companys costs. The addition of artificial intelligence (AI) to the portal has contributed to stemming the burn. The AI, designed by Mad Street Den, works in three ways. On the seller side it auto tags the garment picture being uploaded so, say, a green dress doesnt become a black shirt. In the second, it helps users take a picture of a product they like and the tool scans the database to find its closest match and throws up results. The third is a recommendation engine, which analyses user behaviour and throws up similar products, she said.

But how does this save money? We dont have to employ an army of people to keep tabs on what the sellers are uploading, the AI does it for us, she said. Bose said the company employed just 36 people, including the sales and technology teams in three countries. I never understand why others, when they get funding, go on big hiring sprees. Solve the problem with technology.



We plan to go to another country this year, maybe Indonesia, she added. Bose said Indonesia had not been tapped yet and had a burgeoning demand for fashion and accessories.
04:34 Jim Chalmers has to start making some hard decisions Former Victorian Liberal Party President Michael Kroger says Treasurer Jim Chalmers is just like a commentator simply telling us the...

03:00 A number of issues with Victorian governments energy plan The Australians Environment Editor Graham Lloyd says there are a number of issues with the Victorian governments decision to boost the...

06:00 The game is up for despicable Lidia Thorpe Sky News host Chris Smith says he believes the game is up for the "despicable" Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe, following recent revelations....

06:06 Distinct intensification of concerns about Taiwan Former US deputy assistant secretary of defence Elbridge Colby says theres a distinct intensification" of concerns about Taiwan in the...

05:48 Entitled and small-minded: Netball Australia has cooked its greatest golden egg Netball Australia is about to learn the lesson, "go woke and you go broke" the hard way, says Sky News host Chris Smith.
past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1)
If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino

 Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first.

 Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well.

 What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that.

The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players.

 How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long!

 Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package  which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up.

 Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home.

Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice

It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices

 Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves.

 Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino.

 Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information.

 Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead.

With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks

Betway:

Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway.

Coral Casino:

Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account.

Ladbrokes Casino:

Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

Paddy Power Casino:

Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

William Hill Casino:

William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival.

Bonus: 100% Match Bonus up to 100  Register Now

Betway: 100% Match Bonus up to 100  Claim Now

Coral Casino: 25% Cash Back on Deposits  Claim Now

Ladbrokes Casino: 35% Cash Back on First 3 Deposits  Claim Now

Paddy Power Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200  Claim Now

William Hill Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200  Claim Now

If youre interested in trying out an online casino but arent quite ready to commit to one, why not try out one of the many no deposit casinos weve reviewed? You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit.
Court to decide whether retention law satisfies Constitution's definition of an election

RALEIGH Several state Supreme Court justices showed skepticism during a Wednesday hearing over the constitutionality of a recent law establishing "retention" elections for appellate court judges.While the state's solicitor general urged the justices to reverse a lower court ruling and allow the retention law to take effect, the plaintiffs' attorney told the high court that a retention vote is not an election, and does not pass constitutional muster.said attorney Michael Crowell, who represents the plaintiffs, including attorney Sabra Faires, who under the new law was denied the opportunity to file for office and challenge incumbent Justice Bob Edmunds.Second, Crowell inferred, the retention law adds a qualification to a Supreme Court office seeker by requiring a candidate to be an incumbent to be on the ballot in certain elections.Crowell said Faires is qualified to run for Supreme Court justice, notwithstanding the law, passed by the 2015 session of the General Assembly.Crowell said.John Maddrey, the state's solicitor general, disagreed.Maddrey said.Maddrey went on to say that the court shouldn't confuse the qualifications or eligibility to run for office with the "opportunity" to seek a Supreme Court justice seat.Under the judicial retention law, incumbent Supreme Court justices who have won their seats in a previous election and whose terms are ending can file with the State Board of Elections to seek another term.The filing triggers the retention process, and only the incumbent justice's name would be on the general election ballot. Voters could vote for or against the incumbent. If a majority votes for the incumbent, he or she would win an additional eight-year term. If not, the seat would be declared vacant.Incumbent Justice Bob Edmunds, whose term is up at the end of the year, filed a notice with the State Board of Elections seeking an additional term. Faires, along with two Wake County voters, filed the lawsuit challenging the new law's constitutionality.A panel of three Superior Court judges declared the law unconstitutional in February. Wednesday's Supreme Court hearing was set up in an attempt to expedite a decision in the case.Edmunds entered the Supreme Court chambers Wednesday morning, along with the other six justices. But once Chief Justice Mark Martin called the case, Edmunds exited the room, recusing himself.Justice Paul Newby asked Crowell whether a retention vote fits the N.C. Constituion's definition of an election, saying that 1868 session laws referred to a pending referendum on a new state constitution as an "election."Crowell responded that the constitution adopted that year set up an election for judicial branch officersOther justices, including Justice Barbara Jackson, asked Maddrey to distinguish between elections for justices and elections for other constitutionally mandated offices, such as governor, lieutenant governor, and General Assembly seats.Jackson asked.Maddrey said he was aware of that argument, but said that the Wednesday hearing was a review only ofJustice Sam Ervin IV followed up, asking if there was any textual basis in the Constitution for distinguishing between judicial elections and elections for other offices.Maddrey said he didn't see any textual definition in the Constitution.he said.Maddrey said the General Assembly had the prerogative to set specific election procedures for judicial elections that are not applicable to other elected offices.The court typically issues its rulings several months after it hears appeals. But since this case is on an expedited track, and a potential primary is roughly seven weeks away, a ruling could come earlier than usual.If the Supreme Court nullifies the judicial retention law, the seat would be filled during the Nov. 8 general election. Four candidates, including Edmunds and Faires, have filed for the seat. The other two are Daniel Robertson and Mike Morgan. A primary to reduce the number of candidates to two would be set for June 7, concurrent with the congressional primaries.If the justices uphold the judicial retention law, no primary will be held and a retention vote on Edmunds will be on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Frances Madeson in Ms. Magazine:

Typing the word survivance into the Ms. Blogs search bar yields no results. So perhaps there is no better way to introduce this term here, as theorized in Native American circles of academe, than via Mary Kathryn Nagles play Sliver of a Full Moon. Sliver is a dramatization of the legislative struggle to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2013, and includes powerful testimony by three Native women lucky to be alive to tell their own stories.

Survivance is Anishinaabe writer and scholar Gerald Vizenors portmanteau of survival and resistance, or survival and endurance, and offers a way to understand both Nagles work, and the reasons the formerly abused women have chosen to participate in her play: creating dramatic art as a renunciation of dominance, tragedy, victimry.

In this instance, victimry is structured by law. It arose in the wake of Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, a 1978 Supreme Court decision that stripped Indian Nations of the ability to exercise their inherent criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who come onto tribal lands and commit crimes. About 67 percent of the crimes committed against Native women on tribal lands are by non-Native menso its been open season on Native women for almost 40 years.

More here.
Nathaniel Popkin at Public Books:

Lebanese author Elias Khourys latest novel to be translated into English, Broken Mirrors, is about identity and memory, destruction and displacement, exile and its internal ruptures. The book opens with the exiled Karim Shammas having just returned to a still-dangerous Beirut in 1990, as the Lebanese civil war that began in 1975 works its way to an explosive end. Karim suffers from a homesickness for Beirut [that] had left him incapable of thought and lands him in his home city without his knowing exactly why he is there. The deep, inexplicable longing that overtakes him in middle age is accompanied by paralyzing despair over endemic violence, endless war, and pervasive corruption. The war will never end because its inside us, says a woman, Salma, to Karim, reflecting not only the accumulated anguish of war, but the deeply fractured nature of Lebanon, Christian and Muslim, born from French and English imperial maneuvering and Maronite demands for a state independent of Syria at the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Khoury, who was until recently a Global Distinguished Professor of the Middle Eastern and Arabic Studies at New York University and the editor of a top Lebanese literary magazine, Al-Mulhaq, is a stunning literary voice of Beiruts despair and resilience. He isnt alone in this project. Beirut, its sweep of sea and mountains perched on the edge of East and West, open and cosmopolitan, yet fundamentally unstable, has engendered an urban literature of resilience and memory, of voices trapped in the rubble. Its worth mentioning here the work of the young Lebanese writer Rabee Jaber, whose striking novel The Mehlis Report was published in English in 2013 (Jabers Confessions was brought out by New Directions in March).

more here.
Evan James at The Quarterly Conversation:

The first volume of Reiner Stachs monumental, three-volume biography of Kafka was published in Germany about fourteen years ago. The second came six years later, in 2008.Is that Kafka?, which isnt one of the three volumes,appeared in 2012, the same year that a decades-long legal battle finally made a trove of papers belonging to Max Brod, Kafkas friend and literary executor, available to the public. Presumably this fortuitous ruling allowed Stach to write, at last, the final volume of his big, widely praised biographyfunnily enough, the volume that addresses the first part of Kafkas life. That book, KafkaThe Early Years, was published in 2014. (An English translation is forthcoming.)Even if Is that Kafka? was a kind of stopgap that kept Stach contemplating Franz while he awaited the release of key documents, its also an unconventional work of biography-by-collage in its own right. Its subtitle, 99 Finds, points to the raw material of the project: surprising discoveries made in the course of an epic research process.

Underlying all of this biographical work is a desire to complicate received ideas about the author. In his introduction, Stach describes the enduring image of Kafka in characteristically clear-eyed terms: even though decades of international, interdisciplinary research have given scholars a more nuanced picture of Kafka and his times, he has persisted in the popular imagination as  the quintessential archetype of the writer as a sort of alien: unworldly, neurotic, introverted, sickan uncanny man bringing forth uncanny things. Stachs aim is to destabilize these images by introducing counter-images in which he emphasizes the unexpected and the overlooked to help quietly divorce us from cliches. Implied here is the conviction that cliches about an authors life obstruct appreciation of their work. Why else bother to challenge them?

more here.
Jeremy Seal in The Telegraph:

On a May morning in 1570 a papal bull, nailed to the door of the Bishop of Londons palace, sealed Protestant Englands break with Catholic Europe. But the excommunication of Elizabeth I had another consequence, one that posterity has been slow to acknowledge, and which this timely book is among the first to treat in substantial detail: the isolated English queens pursuit of ties with the sultans and shahs of Islamic Turkey, Morocco and Persia.

There is no question that Jerry Brottons exploration of a much longer connection between England and the Islamic world than is generally appreciated has currency. His canvas takes in places with tragic resonance for our age, among them Raqqa, Aleppo and Fallujah. But resisting the temptation to draw parallels between then and now, Brotton crafts a purely 16th-century narrative set on two geographical fronts. We follow pioneer embassies to Constantinople, Marrakesh and Qazvin (the former Persian capital) alongside the growing hold the Islamic world exerted on the English from the time of Henry VIII, a fascination that would find powerful expression in Elizabethan cuisine, fashion and theatre.

More here.
Vishwas R. Gaitonde in the Prague Review:

In Renaissance Italy, one of the perennial debates was whether sculpture was superior to painting, or the other way round. Many said two dimensional paintings couldnt hold up against sculpture, which was three dimensional. Michelangelo, an archrival of Leonardo and who regarded himself as a sculptor first and a painter second, used the medium to depict movement; an excellent example was his statue, David. Davids head is slightly turned so that the point he faces is different from the point in front of his body. As a result, the body seems to be in motion. This is heightened by distributing the body weight unevenly between the two legs. The positioning of the face and upper body half-way through a motion was called contrapposto.

Donald Sassoon, a professor of Comparative European History and an authority on the Mona Lisa, describes the process Leonardo went through before he created Mona Lisa. Leonardo firmly believed that contrapposto was not the sole property of sculptors, that it could be employed in two-dimensional forms as well. The trick was to capture a moment in sequence rather than paint a static pose as though one was painting still life. When the face of the person pointed to a different direction from that which the torso was facing, the body would appear to be in movement. Leonardo perfected contrapposto in painting with the Mona Lisa.

More here.
News Release:

Contact:

Daniel Keylin/Meghan Burris (Tillis)

(202) 224-6342

Earlier this month, I traveled to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt as part of a congressional delegation to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the most volatile region on the planet.I met with national leaders and visited one of the dozens of refugee camps along the Turkish-Syrian border.I came away with two inescapable conclusions: Arabs and Jews have been drawn together by a common enemy  Iran and terrorism; and we are on the cusp of a historic strategic failure because of the ineptitude of President Obama's foreign policy.Let's start with Iran. In Jerusalem and Saudi Arabia there is agreement. President Obama has turned history on its head by signing a deal that will only serve to accelerate the nuclear march of the ayatollahs.The threat of a new Persian Empire has every nation in the region in the cross hairs. When I asked a senior leader of an Arab nation what was the major problem with Iran, he sadly said,Additionally, Bibi Netanyahu could not have been clearer. Every mistake the president has made domestically and internationally pales alongside his Iranian nuclear deal. While the intent of the president's deal was to slow Iran's path to the bomb, within weeks of the ink drying, Iran was launching ballistic missiles within half a mile of an American aircraft carrier, and launching missiles with "Death to Israel" written on the nose in Hebrew, making it clear that the Supreme Leader sees that America has surrendered the field to him.While Iran's terrorist tentacles are spreading across the Middle East, the deadly toll of the Syrian civil war mounts: 500,000 deaths, nearly 5 million refugees, and a flood of the helpless storming the gates of Turkey, Jordan and Europe.The conflict has grave strategic consequences, not least of which has been the return of Russia to the region that Richard Nixon kicked it out of in the 1970s.Syrian dictator Bashir Assad's threat to use chemical weapons against his people was met by President Obama's red line. When Assad crossed that line, Obama blinked and the Middle East shook.Even Joe Biden decried the president's inaction telling him, "big nations don't bluff." Yet, Obama sees this retreat as "the defining moment of his presidency." He's probably right.Let's count the toll of Obama's vision: Iran emerges richer (the president released $140 billion in embargoed funds) and more powerful than ever and is still the leading financier of terror worldwide; Assad seems likely to survive; Russian boots are on the warm sands of the Middle East; and Obama has ceded American primacy to the Iranian fanatics and Vladimir Putin. On top of that, Israel feels abandoned and alone and our traditional allies have been cast aside by the president's desire to make history.Harvard historian Niall Ferguson says that the president likes to talk about "the arc of history" and sees himself as a grand strategist. As Ferguson notes, "grand strategies are judged by their consequences, not by their intentions, and in the Middle East  not to mention North Africa and parts of South Asia  the consequences are not looking pretty. If the arc of history is in fact bending toward Islamic extremism, sectarian conflict, networks of terrorism and regional nuclear-arms races," then the 44th president will turn out to have made even Jimmy Carter look good.
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.
Operation Homefront recognizes AF Military Child of the Year

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein presented the Operation Homefront 2016 Air Force Military Child of the Year award to Madeleine Morlino, 17, during a ceremony April 14, in Pentagon City, Virginia.



Madeleine, of Moorestown, New Jersey, is the daughter of retired Master Sgt. Leonard and Kerry Morlino. She was selected as the Air Force military child recipient along with five other children from each of the services including the National Guard. The award honors resiliency, strength of character in the face of the challenges associated with military life, and selfless service to others within their families and communities.



Operation Homefront received more than 500 nominations for this years competition.



As we celebrate our honorees tonight, we do so knowing that there are many, many more military kids making good things happen in their homes and in their communities, said retired Brig. Gen. John I. Pray Jr., the president and CEO of Operation Homefront. Tonights honorees follow 28 other military child of the year award winners since 2009, each one a shining example of promise and hope.



Madeleine said she was motivated by the challenges her family faced as her father transitioned from military to civilian life and wanted to ease the transition for other service members. She conceived, organized and led a job expo for veterans in her hometown and successfully attracted national and local businesses poised to offer veterans meaningful employment.



Before presenting Madeline with her trophy, Goldfein shared why she was receiving this award.



Madeleine maintains a 4.23 GPA while participating in cheer, cross-country and track. Her love of music has earned her the title of concertmaster for both the New Jersey Youth Symphony and the Settlement Orchestra, for which she plays the violin, he said. In Madeleines spare time, she works three jobs -- as an intern at a nonprofit organization, a server in a bistro, and an instructor at a learning institute.



Goldfein, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, said nothing could please him more than to recognize Madelines choice of college.



She currently has a full-ride ROTC scholarship to Princeton, and William and Mary  full rides from the Army, the Air Force and the Navy ROTC and she currently has an appointment to  four service academies, Goldfein said. But, she has made her decision  Im going to shed a tear here  shes going to the United States Air Force Academy.



Operation Homefront hosts the gala each April to honor the award recipients as part of Month of the Military Child.



Im truly honored and humbled to receive the award, Morlino said. A big thank you goes out to my parents over there as well as to the military for welcoming me into their family and your family.
Welsh speaks at the Chaplain Corps Summit





WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- More than 200 chaplains and chaplain assistants gathered for the U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps Summit in Alexandria, Virginia, April 12-14.



The summit marked the first time in four years that Chaplain Corps Airmen have gathered to exchange ideas, develop solutions and plan the future for the corps. Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Dondi Costin, the Air Force chief of chaplains, simply called it a family reunion.



Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III kicked off the event addressing the chaplains and sharing his gratitude for their service.



What a responsibility you share, what a burden you carry, what joy, comfort and happiness you bring, what a gift you are, Welsh said. Thank you for choosing to serve. Thank you for caring for and leading our people, and thanks for inspiring me.



The summit was the brainchild of Costin and Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Steven Schaick, the deputy chief of chaplains. They came up with the idea in one of their after-hours discussions on how to improve communications in the corps.



We both almost said it to each other at the same time, Schaick said.

Most attendees were curious to learn what was in store for the corps. Tech. Sgt. Nathanial Jones, who flew cross country to attend, said he wanted to find out what the future held for the Chaplain Corps as well as present Air Force policy.



Im trying to get more of a big picture of what big Air Force is doing and how it applies to the local level, he said.



Besides talks from Welsh, Costin, and Schaik, Chief Master Sgt. Dale McGavran, the career field manager for the Chaplain Corps, spoke about the inspiration he took from history and from other chaplain assistants. He quoted Napoleon Bonapartes definition of a leader, a dealer in hope, and a chaplain assistants summation of her job: Were the ninjas of networking.



Other Air Force leaders who addressed the summit for the next two days included Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein; Maj. Gen. Garrett Herancak, the commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service; Chaplain (Col.) Gary R. Califf, the command chaplain for the Air Force Reserve Command; Chaplain (Col.) Bill Yates, the director of the Air National Guard Chaplain Corps; and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody, who told the crowd, You go anywhere we send an Airman.



Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James addressed the audience on the last day of the summit, telling chaplains that in an Air Force always striving to improve, you never hear about a fifth-generation chaplain. Its good that some things stay the same.



While the chaplains and chaplain assistants spent their mornings hearing from Air Force leaders, they spent their afternoons working in small groups addressing current challenges and how to make the corps better.



While previous summits were cancelled due to sequestration, Costin knows the value of the event, noting that no one understands religious leaders in the Air Force as well as other religious leaders.



We found that not getting together meant that we werent able to harness all the brainpower that we needed to, Costin said. What Im hoping for here is the networking and relationship building that will have long term implications for the corps.
April 15, 2016

CAIRO  In a step aimed to promote independent cinema in Upper Egypt, members of the Cinema Everywhere Initiative have screened about 40 films in popular cafes, youth centers, neighborhoods and schools across various villages of Upper Egypt, using only display screens connected to laptop computers. This part of Egypt is known for suffering from underdevelopment and  unlike Egypts northern cities  there is a total lack of theaters. Citizens living in Upper Egypt miss out on many commercial and independent films.

Despite the lofty goals, however, it seems that the initiative's ability to bring about change and consecrate independent art culture is still limited due to lack of funding and government support.

The Cinema Everywhere Initiative, launched in 2013, began a new project in February titled Cima Masr, which aimed to screen independent films in Upper Egypt from Feb. 14-19 with support from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC). The project included four governorates and a variety of villages, such as Baarat, Qurna and Kom al-Tut, as well as the youth center of Izbat Abu al-Rish al-Bahriyah.

Wagih al-Laqani, the founder and director of Cinema Everywhere, spoke with Al-Monitor about the projects aims. Our objective is to visit different areas in Egypt, whose residents are unable to go to theaters to watch films. We want to break the rule that independent films are limited to the elites, intellectuals and festival fans. The project sought to introduce the people of Upper Egypt to other types of films that are not famous or trending, and to screen films different from the films produced by the Egyptian or US commercial cinema industry."

Laqani also indicated that one of the obstacles facing independent cinema is that these films tackle social issues that are still taboo for the average citizen.

The Egyptian independent film industry is thriving and has won several awards. The initiative does not seek to alter public taste, but only offers different choices, he said.

Gauging the success of the latest project, Laqani noted that the people of Upper Egypt welcomed the activists who helped implement the project and were eager to discuss the screened films. It allowed them a forum to talk about the various issues covered in these movies.

Laqani described the project as a journey of exploration, since it sought to screen films in places that face a desperate lack of cultural and artistic services.

So far, Laqani says there has been no cooperation with government agencies, but he does not oppose such cooperation in the future that would ensure the project's success. He explained that the project aims to discuss social daily issues from all perspectives, introduce new arts, display a fine quality of cinematic arts and disseminate art everywhere in Egypt.

Independent cinema is commonly defined as the industry of films that are produced outside the scope of studios, production companies and distribution system, and do not rely on silver screen stars and often reflect the directors personal view.

Independent films first gained prominence in Egypt with "Ithaki," directed by Ibrahim el-Batout in 2005. Independent films then succeeded in having a presence on the Egyptian cinematic scene and they were able to raise social issues that attracted the public. Many of these films received local and international awards, such as Factory Girl, which took part in seven international film festivals, and was selected as the best feature film at the Dubai Film Festival in 2013.

Film critic Mohammad Abdel-Rahman, a journalist for Sabah el-Kheir magazine, stressed to Al-Monitor the importance of independent films in Egypt. There is demand for these films, as they handle issues oriented to a specific audience that is interested in specific issues, such as the revolution and education.

Abdel-Rahman also said that it is important to use social media to attract different audiences through film festivals, online promotion activities and the establishment of mechanisms to push satellite channels to broadcast independent films, even if they are only paying low sums for the rights.

He explained that raising awareness about independent cinema is more important than viewing the films. This project allows the audience to use the Internet to see independent films, and learn different arts, such as documentary filmmaking about their lives and cities.

Abdel-Rahman emphasized the need to raise awareness on the importance of independent cinema in Upper Egypt. Public awareness must be raised about the importance of the Internet [in Upper Egypt], and the public must learn different arts. We will produce a documentary about the villages in Upper Egypt and display them later on to the residents to increase demand for independent films, he said.

Most cinema theaters in Upper Egypt have been closed. The only cinema theater in Qena governorate was at Nag Hammadi Center, which was shut down and turned into a residential tower. This was also the case for Cinema Renaissance in Asyut, which closed its doors due to material losses and was put up for sale to build a shopping center.

Ramadan Abu Ismail, the head of the local community development association in Beni Suef governorate, told Al-Monitor, The cultural scene in Upper Egypt suffers serious shortcomings as a result of the closure of theaters in most governorates.

He added, The existence of initiatives similar to Cinema Everywhere will help spread cultural awareness.

Abu Ismail noted that independent films are important because in order to get a high turnout they discuss issues specific to Upper Egypt, such as revenge and women's inheritance.

"The project needs the governments support, especially at the financial level. Yet there is a lack of trust between the street and the government. The role of civil society is important in bridging the gap," he added.

Showing and promoting independent films in Upper Egypt broadens cultural horizons in marginalized villages that are far from the vibrant cultural life in cities such as Cairo and Alexandria. Yet there is still a big challenge, namely the ability to continue without financial support.
April 15, 2016

On April 14, Israels UN envoy, Danny Danon, was preparing for a short appearance before the UN Security Council at noon. Danon had readied a brief speech describing how Hezbollah has been arming itself uninterruptedly.

In an interview with Al-Monitor conducted at UN headquarters in New York, Danon said, I am going to say something very harsh about the double standard toward Israel  that the blood of the Jews in Israel is no different than the blood of the Jews in Brussels and in France, and then Im going to ask them why they condemned the terror attacks there and not the terrorism in Jerusalem.

Danon explained, I know this is harsh, but I want to rattle them, to make them feel uncomfortable. In the past four months, the Security Council has adopted 12 anti-terrorism resolutions, and not once have they mentioned Israel.

Danon began his appointment at the United Nations last October, just as the terror wave, also known as the individual intifada, erupted back home. Like his predecessors, he is constantly busy trying to fend off UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israel and Palestinian declarations designed to embarrass Israel.

Al-Monitor: Some 40 years ago [in November 1975] the UN adopted Resolution 3379, equating Zionism with racism. Could a similar resolution be adopted today?

Danon: I dont think so, because today there are strong Western countries that understand where to draw the line. I struggle to enlist the moral majority of the big democracies so that they reject all such attempts. I do it all the time, even if it doesnt always succeed.

For example, about two weeks ago we had a debate on the status of women, and at the end, they adopted a resolution condemning Israel on the issue of gender equality. I battled against ambassadors who told me that it would go through in any case and I was wasting my time. I didnt give up, because its ludicrous to blame us for Palestinian domestic violence by claiming its linked to the occupation and the settlements. Thats absurd. The resolution went through, but at least I put up a good fight. There was also a recent attempt here to censor parts of an exhibition about Zionism showing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, claiming parts of it were inappropriate. I fought against that and managed to prevent it [the censorship]. I argued that by disqualifying exhibits about Zionism, the UN was undermining the State of Israels very existence as the home of the Jewish people.

Al-Monitor: You put a lot of effort into convincing the UN about the dangers of Hezbollahs armament. Is anyone listening to you?

Danon: Even if no one listens, I put the issue on the table. For me, its an agenda, a work plan. I am building up the public diplomacy case. I want to warn in real time that Hezbollah is growing stronger, acquiring missiles and that eventually they will instigate a conflict with us. This is sure to happen, and we will respond. When we respond, the UN will attack Israel [through declarations], but then we will be able to show that we warned in real time how Hezbollah was arming itself, and no one tried to stop them. I mention the issue at every opportunity and provide data  the names of villages where Hezbollah operates, next to schools, next to UN camps, inside homes  placing missiles in them. I tell them, eventually we will have to destroy these missiles, and there will be civilian casualties, so do something. The Security Council must wake up and take a stand on this issue.

Al-Monitor: Do the recent terror attacks in Europe help Israel make its case or do they make it harder?

Danon: Theres no doubt that public opinion is changing here [outside of Israel], too, and its easier to explain what we have to endure. Theres no doubt this is an important issue for many countries. Muslim states are afraid of it. Sadly, we have experienced much terrorism, and we know how to handle it, but some countries are truly under stress, troubled by how they can get on with life in the shadow of terrorism. I am asked about this more and more in personal conversations at the UN too. Ambassadors want to know, for example, how we maintain security at airports and how to conduct cyber warfare, in which Israel is a world leader. I take these opportunities to showcase aspects in which we excel. I have brought Israeli experts here, army people, top brass, for briefings on issues of cyber warfare and terrorism.

Al-Monitor: But what one hears are mostly condemnations of Israel on the Palestinian issue, and that reflects Israels difficult international position. Do you share this opinion?

Danon: Yes, thats true. Thats why, as far as Im concerned, the UN is like a frontline position for the State of Israel. An arena of battle. I get up in the morning and check what ambushes are planned for us. For example, there are currently three initiatives at the Security Council that we are blocking and managing at the same time.

Theres a recent Palestinian proposal calling for condemnation of Israel, and the Palestinians are revving up their engines in order to present it to the Security Council. Theres an initiative by New Zealand to renew negotiations [with the Palestinians], and theres the French initiative, which started out as a proposal to be voted on by the Security Council and has now turned into an initiative to hold an international conference [to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict]. One of the French ideas is to conduct one of the sessions of such a conference here at the UN. The French have even assigned a special representative who came here and met with various ambassadors, myself included.

Al-Monitor: Its not clear whats so bad about the French peace initiative for an international conference. It sounds like a good way to engage. Why fight it?

Danon: For now, we havent taken a stand. I met the French representative and heard him out. He explained that right now hes collecting information from all the sides, so lets wait and see what he suggests. From what I understand, the idea is to hold the two sessions  the first without the presence of the Palestinians and the Israelis  at the UN or in France, and then, in September, a meeting will be held with the representatives [of both sides].

Al-Monitor: Whats your relationship with the UN Palestinian ambassador like?

Danon: Riyadh Mansour, the Palestinians UN ambassador, attacks me all the time. Its true that these are tense times and that comes across here, too. Generally, when things are quiet in Israel, theyre calm here, too. When theres tension and terrorism and incitement in Israel, here too we clash. These are not two different worlds, and the Palestinian representative is busy criticizing us and inciting against us, and we are constantly exposing his lies. At the height of the terror wave, for example, he accused Israel of removing internal organs from the bodies of Palestinian terrorists before handing them back. I was amazed. He went around everywhere saying it, in speeches, at the Security Council, in media briefings, and he also circulated a letter to all the ambassadors.

I issued a response, saying this was blood libel, and proved to the ambassadors that it was all a crass lie. I explained that there really was a debate in Israel about whether to hand back [to the Palestinians] the bodies or not  and it was decided to hand them back  but to say that we would harvest organs is going way too far. Does anybody really imagine we would do that? And he, the Palestinian ambassador, stands here with a suit and tie and lies. I believe that people here understand that if we are to move forward a [peace] process, we need a partner.

Al-Monitor: Does your being a Likud Party man, affiliated with the hard-core right, perhaps increase the hostility?

Danon: As far as Im concerned, this no longer holds. Even if people talked about it at first, it doesnt exist any longer. Those who are against us are against all Israelis  against the right, the left, the residents of Tel Aviv and the settlers.

I try to steer a positive line alongside the battles that we wage, to present more and more aspects of Israel as a progressive state, with high technology and achievements, as many exhibits and exhibitions as possible. I plan to invite the ambassadors to visit Israel. I think this will make a difference over time.

We are getting ready for Independence Day [May 12], and weve decided to invite the ambassadors to see Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. Well invite everyone, and those who want, will come.

Al-Monitor: What has surprised you about the work here?

Danon: The off-the-record conversations with envoys. In official talks and public speeches, there are few surprises, and you hear the condemnations and attacks against us. But in many intimate conversations, I hear totally different things, sometimes from the same people [who condemn Israel publicly]. I hear respect for the State of Israel. They dont say so out loud, but in my talks with them, I hear it all the time.
April 15, 2016

Nevzat Turan, a high school vice principal from Malatya province, shared a photo of folkloric dance on social media and equated with adultery any dance where women and men hold hands. As public criticism soared, Turan deleted the April 10 post, but he also had supporters. Among these, Mirac Gocmez, from the local Justice and Development Party (AKP) establishment, wrote on Facebook, What happened to the freedom of expression that they cherish? The man [Turan] is righteous, and he is stating the truth. And most importantly, he expressed himself in the language of Islam. That is what is really bothering you.

The struggle to interpret secularism and religious freedom did not end, as many had hoped, with the conclusion of the headscarf wars. To the contrary, it has spread into other public arenas in Turkey. Tellingly, the number of employees at the Diyanet (Religious Affairs Directorate) has doubled in the last decade, and the increase has allowed the directorate to initiate programs in collaboration with other ministries to provide religious services in their domains. A case in point involves the Ministry of Family and Social Policies.

The ministry, which has been harshly criticized for its incompetence in dealing with skyrocketing cases of pedophilia, again made headlines April 9 because of its questionable policies. On Dec. 29, Veli Agbaba, a member of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, had submitted a parliamentary query asking the ministry, Why did you eliminate the positions of 37 psychologists, 37 child education experts and 12 physical therapists and hire 25 imams and other positions. Will the imams be replacing those positions dealing with children? And what kind of roles will these new hires serve at your ministry.

On March 29, the ministry provided a brief and vague response: The duties and responsibilities of imams depend upon the individual agencies they belong to under our ministry. It also claimed that it was within the bylaws of the ministry to cancel the positions it eliminated, because they were no longer needed, and create new posts.

The Ministry of Family and Social Policies is not the only institution to adopt this policy of employing imams. Diyanet has also signed protocols in the last couple of years to provide services to the Ministries of Youth and Sports, Justice, Health and Education. Although in the news, the personnel contracted out are referred to as imams, some have been scholars from subfields of theology. Al-Monitor spoke with professors and other experts on the issue.

Yusuf Nazlim, a preacher from Diyanet, provided insight into Diyanet's operation, stating, In 1995, there was an agreement between Diyanet and the Ministry of Health to provide moral motivation and religious advising services, but it was cancelled. In 2015, a new protocol was initiated to provide spiritual support services.

Under the new initiative, all Diyanet personnel assigned to serve in hospitals are to have graduate degrees in fields such as religious psychology, sociology and consultancy. They can only provide services to those who explicitly ask for their help, including patients, their relatives and hospital personnel. Their services could be viewed as one part of a holistic healing program, designed to complement modern medicine.

Indeed, in one instance, Gulay G. whose father is battling cancer at an Ankara hospital, told Al Monitor, Patients here are lonely. Imams are attentive. My dad, who did not want to continue chemotherapy, was much more willing to work with the doctors after meeting with an imam.

Despite the hard work of individual Diyanet employees, however, the imamization programs raise serious concerns. Among them, Diyanet only provides services to Sunni Muslims. By interpreting democracy as a tool to serve the majority, instead of everyone, AKP members seem annoyed when questioned about providing services for people of other faiths and beliefs, such as atheists, Shiites, Alevis, Christians and Jews. Why are government funded services only available to one group exclusively?

Also of concern is the increasing frequency of troubling reports on K-12 schools across Turkey. In 2015, the Education and Science Workers Union published a detailed report, Islamization of Education, compiling news, evaluations and numbers on grades K-12. It estimated that there are almost a million students enrolled in 2015-16 at religious secondary schools. The report indicates that the aim of the education system is to raise obedient generations of observant Sunnis through an increased focus on religious education at the expense of other fields.

Despite a European Court of Human Rights ruling against mandatory religion classes, they remain compulsory in Turkey. Indeed, even students with autism have been enrolled in such classes. Prayer and Quran-reading competitions have also increased in frequency, while co-ed education has come under close scrutiny.

Mind-boggling examples of the imamization process are plentiful. In June 2015, the Ministry of Education invited 220 imams from the 11 Kurdish-majority southeastern provinces to discuss why skipping school was prevalent. While education experts tried to comprehend why the imams were consulted, instead of teachers, principals and themselves, ministry officials concluded that imams could be effective in lessening absenteeism.

The prominent attorney Erdal Dogan told Al-Monitor, The Turkish state has never been able to achieve a proper functioning secularism, but never before has it been this far from secularism either. Jihadism has now been normalized in all of Turkeys institutions.

Dogan emphasized how government-sponsored religion can lead to discrimination and intimidation on multiple levels. Anyone who is critical of the government is immediately labeled an enemy of the state, and this one religion, one language, one nation ideology becomes particularly threatening to the most vulnerable groups  minors, prisoners and hospital patients, Dogan said. Indeed, these are the groups currently being targeted through imamization.

Hatice Altinisik, chairwoman of the Alevi Bektasi Institute, told Al Monitor, In a country where there are more mosques than schools, more imams than teachers, where science, philosophy, art, dance, theater are discouraged at the expense of religious education for minors, what should we expect? Soon, perhaps, when we need to see a doctor, we will first be required to get a permission slip from our local imam.

What is a Shiite, Alevi, or atheist to do when authorities do not acknowledge their existence? The imamization process is not hidden. To the contrary, it is front and center in Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, himself a graduate of an imam high school, has kept his promise from 2012, when he famously announced, Imam-hatips will become the apple of this nations eye.
The parent company of Winn-Dixie has pledge to only sell cage-free eggs by 2025.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers, which also owns BI-LO and Harveys stores, will switch all of its private-label eggs to cage-free producers by 2017.

The move follows an announcement by Walmart to source all of its eggs to cage-free producers by 2025.

"Sourcing our eggs from cage-free farms is a major step forward in our effort to demonstrate our leadership on animal welfare," Michael Bove, Group Vice President of Fresh at Southeastern Grocers, said in a statement.

Southeastern Grocers worked advocacy groups like The Humane League and the Humane Society on the policy.

In 2008, Southeastern Grocers pledged to give purchasing preference to cage-free produces.

Bove said he'd seen an average increase of nearly 30 percent in sales of cage-free eggs.

The term "Cage-free" doesn't mean animals weren't kept in cages, but it does mean they weren't kept in battery cages, meaning cages with an average size of 67 square inches.
burglar shot.png

A homeowner shot a suspected burglar in the 2900 block of 33rd Way North in the Collegeville community on Saturday, April 16, 2016, Birmingham police say. (Birmingham police)

A 16-year-old boy suffered non-life threatening injuries after being shot Saturday afternoon by a Collegeville homeowner, police say.

Birmingham police Sgt. Bryan Shelton said a man returned home at around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday to find a burglar at his residence.

The homeowner fired shots, hitting the burglar at least once.

The incident occurred in the 2900 block of 33rd Way North in the Collegeville community, Shelton said.

Police found property on the ground believed to have been dropped by the teenage burglar, he said.

The teen was transported to UAB Hospital for unspecified injuries.

The shooting remains under investigation.
stan_stabler_720.jpg

ALEA Secretary Stan Stabler

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Stan Stabler fired back late Friday afternoon against allegations regarding the agency made by the man who used to have his job.

At first in the statement Stabler touts the good work he says the agency and its troopers and agents have done in 2016.

"Yet the headlines, articles and blogs are littered with erroneous allegations and absolute lies from disgruntled former agency head Spencer Collier," he says.

Stabler then went on to address specific allegations.

Spencer Collier, the now former head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, speaks to reporters Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in Montgomery, Ala. Collier was fired by Gov. Robert Bentley Tuesday and then claimed he had seen evidence of an affair between Bentley and a senior adviser. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

No ongoing investigations were closed after he took over as the head of the agency, Stabler stated. "As is customary in a law enforcement agency, once investigators have exhausted the leads and completed their investigation, the file is turned over to the proper prosecutorial authority," he wrote.

Stabler also said that while he worked on the Governor's detail in August 2014, he says he did not serve as detail leader until November 2014.

Stabler, however, does not directly address the sex scandal that has embroiled his boss, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, in a scandal involving his former senior adviser Rebekah Mason.

Collier responded Friday night, saying in part, "the time will come when ALL of the Governor's actions, behavior and conduct will be exposed by daylight and transparency. "



Below is the full text of Stabler's op-ed followed by a response from Collier:

In 2016, State Troopers have investigated 8,947 traffic crashes with 3,742 injuries. One hundred fifty-nine people have lost their lives in Trooper-investigated traffic crashes this year - and 74 of those 159 people were not using their seat belts.

Our Internet Crimes Against Children Unit has worked 22 cases, executed 16 search warrants and arrested 8 child predators.

The SBI Narcotics Unit has investigated 77 cases and seized 73,294 grams of illegal drugs with a street value of $1,536,112.

SBI Major Crimes has completed 190 assist reports, arrested 19 suspects, and opened 38 cases.

Our Fusion Center has issued four alerts for missing children and seven alerts for missing seniors, while assisting state and local law enforcement agencies with 496 requests for information.

Yet the headlines, articles and blogs are littered with erroneous allegations and absolute lies from disgruntled former agency head Spencer Collier. As a seasoned law enforcement officer with 30 years' experience, I find it disheartening that Collier, a former public servant, chooses to fabricate the facts and belittle those who put their lives on the line every day to serve others.

It has been said many times over the past year, the core function of state government is public safety. As Secretary, I assure you, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is committed to providing public safety to the citizens of Alabama. Since mid-February, morale has greatly improved at our agency - State Troopers, Agents and civilian employees work hard every day to ensure our mission is fulfilled. I have had an opportunity to personally meet the majority of our staff - employees who have integrity and are dedicated to the agency's mission and are not letting the constant allegations from the former leader distract them.

These sensationalized lies from Collier - and other unnamed sources - all occurred during the timeframe of his tenure as Secretary and under his direct supervision. I encourage members of the media and political bloggers to fact-check future allegations regarding ALEA, its employees or me. Although we cannot comment on ongoing investigations or operational details of dignitary protection missions, we will be more than happy to provide factual information.

As for Collier's accusations, I want to correct the following about me:

No ongoing investigations were closed. As is customary in a law enforcement agency, once investigators have exhausted the leads and completed their investigation, the file is turned over to the proper prosecutorial authority.

Transfer of two executive staff members were made prior to Collier's departure.

Agents who were commuting to Montgomery were returned to their home base and no longer required to commute several days throughout the week.

Effective Feb. 29, two non-merit positions and two part-time

* Although I worked on the Governor's detail in August 2014, I did not serve as detail leader until November 2014.

I was appointed Chief of Protective Services in June 2015. Prior to that appointment, I did not communicate directly with Collier. ALEA is a para-military organization, and I reported and communicated through my chain of command.

My priority as ALEA's Secretary remains the same - to carry out the mission of the agency and ensure our law enforcement officers and support staff honorably provide service, protection and safety for all of our citizens.

Collier responded to Stabler's Op-ed in this email statement to AL.com Friday night:

"It was my honor to be associated with the hardworking men and women of ALEA and I am proud of the Agency that we built together. Contrary to Mr. Stabler's insinuation, ALEA was NOT built over the past few weeks of his leadership. It was created through a rigorous legislative session, an 18 month implementation period involving a dedicated transition team comprised of career state law enforcement officers and the past 15 months of operational efficiency. While Mr. Stabler traveled the state and nation with Governor Bentley and his entourage, the hardworking Troopers, Special Agents and civilian employees of 12 legacy agencies built ALEA.

I refuse to engage Mr. Stabler and his taxpayer funded PR team in back and forth bickering. Any statements that I have made are in repose to media inquiries or questions from outside law enforcement. As I stated in the beginning, anything I have said, I am willing to say under oath (I have yet to see Governor Bentley or Mr. Stabler assert the same). The time will come when ALL of the Governor's actions, behavior and conduct will be exposed by daylight and transparency. "
penguins1.jpg

Penguins' reputation that they mate for life is not full story. Image ID: corp2417, NOAA's Ark - Animals Collection Photographer: Giuseppe Zibordi Credit: Michael Van Woert, NOAA NESDIS, ORA

( )

Philandering, infidelity, fooling around, whatever you call it, has been in the news. As we have seen, it can cause chaos in otherwise happy families. Yet it seems we hear about it more and more. Where have our morals gone?

I'm talking, of course, about bluebirds.

For people who like to draw lessons from nature, birds may at first glance appear to be exemplars of family values.

Unlike most mammals in which males mate and immediately get out of town, birds typically form monogamous pairs. Both parents work hard building a nest, sharing the job of feeding and protecting their young. Some species mate for life.

Or so we thought.

The demise of this Disney-fied view of bird life began several decades ago when scientists, suspecting that there might be more to the family life of birds than meets the eye, vasectomized some male blackbirds only to discover that their supposedly monogamous mates continued to lay fertile eggs and raise perfectly normal broods of young.

Something strange was going on.

Then came the news about bluebirds.

It wasn't enough that the male's song turned out not to be not so much an expression of springtime joy but more like an bird version of look-at-me chest thumping or engine revving, it also turned out that for all their aggressive posturing, bluebird males had often been duped by their mates. Genetic testing by inquisitive biologists proved that some eggs their mates had been laying were actually fathered by other males. Sometimes the real father was a neighbor.

Sometimes, he was a complete stranger.

Oblivious to their nonpaternity, the males worked hard to feed and protect all the eggs and young anyway. Would they still do so if they knew?

Yes, mom had been caught stepping out. And because for every philanderer, there has to be a philanderee, dads had to be stepping out too. Bluebirds apparently are not the paragon of family values that we might have imagined.

Then something similar was found in swans - the supposed purest example of mate-for-life-dom. Then it was found in eagles, in herons -- in one species after another. Even beavers, one of the rare mammals that reputedly mated for life because they worked so hard together building and remodeling their living quarters, were found to have at least two fathers in half of their litters. What was the world coming to?

Bird researchers had to invent a whole new vocabulary to cover what humans might call the misdeeds that birds were found to routinely commit.

The bloodless but nonjudgmental technical term for "stepping out" became having "extra-pair copulations" or EPCs. Simple "monogamy" gave way to "social monogamy," meaning that the parents still worked together to raise a brood even if the chicks might not all be related to both of them.

Philandering turned out not to be the worst thing (from our human perspective) that birds did - not by a long shot.

Remember the movie The March of the Penguins? It was a surprise 2005 hit documentary about the incredible bond between Emperor penguin parents and physical hardship that they endured to raise their single chick during the Antarctic winter and how that bond, strengthened by adversity, survived year after year until death did them part?

That bond and hardship were very real.

After an arduous several week-long trek from the ocean over pack ice to the breeding colony, Emperors pair up, the female lays a single egg which she passes to her mate, where upon she immediately heads back to the sea to feed and restore her energy reserves. Males warm and protect that egg during the coldest and windiest season of the coldest windiest continent on earth. By the time the female returns and finds her mate again among thousands of penguins, he will not have eaten for 4 months. He may have lost more than half of his body weight.

Yet he has faithfully held on to that egg, and if it hatched, the chick. She then takes over the chick's care, allowing her mate to return to the sea to restore his own energy reserves. They alternatively care this way until the chick can eventually march to the sea and feed itself.

That's what happens if everything goes right.

But it's the Antarctic winter and things often do not go right. If the female returns and her chick is dead or missing, because her mate has accidentally dropped the egg or abandoned it rather than starve to death, she will often try to kidnap a chick from another parent. You might call this a kind of adoption rather than a kidnapping except that even if she is successful, she soon loses interest in the stolen, unrelated chick and abandons it to die on the ice.

Oh, and the "mate for life" thing of Emperor penguins turns out to most often be mate for this season, then find a new mate next year. Researchers invented the term "serial monogamy" for that. They are monogamous like Larry King or fraternity boys on a wild weekend are monogamous.

So probably the safest lesson to be learned from these sordid little tales of bird life would be not to draw moral lessons from nature in the first place.

If you insist though, there does seem to be at least one well-confirmed case of long-term monogamy you can take to heart -the pork tapeworm.

Steven Austad is Chair of the Biology Department at UAB. Before becoming a research scientist, he had various lives as an English major, a newspaper reporter, a New York City taxi driver, and a Hollywood wild animal trainer. Living now in Birmingham with his veterinarian wife, 6 dogs, 2 parrots, and a cat, he enjoys nothing more than communicating how science works to the general public.
car wash crash

Birmingham police say a woman crashed her car into this car wash in the 1000 block of 3rd Avenue West on April 15, 2016. She allegedly hit two parked cars and three pedestrians.

(Jonathan Grass/jgrass@al.com)

A suspected intoxicated driver ran into three pedestrians and a privately owned car wash Friday night. Birmingham police say she then tried to run away but was quickly caught.

The woman crashed into the car wash next to a gas station in the 1000 block of 3rd Avenue West. Witnesses said she yelled at them to not call the police then tried to run through the adjoining field.

She also hit two parked cars and three pedestrians, injuring at least one. The injured victim's cousin said his leg was broken.

Responding police quickly apprehended the suspect. Her name and charges have not been released. Police believe she was under the influence of something and will run tests to confirm.
Polls show frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will win their respective contests in the New York presidential primary set for Tuesday, April 19.

A new NBC New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll shows Trump will garner 54 percent of the Republican primary voters. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is expected to come in second, instead of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, NBC News reported.

In the second spot, Kasich may only receive 25 percent of the Republican vote, with Cruz receiving 16 percent support.

Trump could receive all of New York's 95 delegates by winning a majority of the vote statewide and in each of the state's congressional districts.

On the Democratic side, Clinton has a double-digit lead over her competitor Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to the same poll, CNN reported.

Clinton, who formerly served as a senator representing New York, will garner 57 percent of the vote to Sanders 40 percent.

Clinton beats Sanders among women, men, those 45 and older as well as those living in New York City and surrounding areas. Sanders, though, is the favorite of young voters and is in a tie with Clinton among voters in upstate New York.

There are 291 Democratic delegates up for grabs in the Empire State.

Following New York here are the remaining presidential primaries:

Tuesday, April 26

Connecticut - 28 Republican delegates, 70 Democratic, delegates awarded proportionally

Delaware - 16 Republican delegates, 31 Democratic, winner-take-all

Maryland - 38 Republican delegates, 118 Democratic, winner-take-all

Pennsylvania - 71 Republican delegates, 210 Democratic. Republican delegates are winner-take-all; Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally.

Rhode Island - 19 Republican delegates, 33 Democratic, delegates awarded proportionally

Tuesday, May 3

Indiana - 57 Republican delegates, 92 Democratic, winner-take-all

Saturday, May 7

Guam Democratic primary - 12 delegates

Tuesday, May 10

Nebraska Republican primary - 36 delegates

West Virginia - 37 Republican delegates, 34 Democratic

Tuesday, May 17

Kentucky Democratic primary - 61 delegates

Oregon primary - 28 Republican delegates, 72 Democratic, delegates awarded proportionally

Tuesday, May 24

Washington Republican primary - 44 delegates, delegates awarded proportionally

Saturday, June 4

Virgin Island Democratic caucus - 12 delegates

Sunday, June 5

Puerto Rico Democratic caucus - 67 delegates

Tuesday, June 7

California - 172 Republican delegates, 546 Democratic, delegates awarded proportionally

Montana - 27 Republican delegates, 27 Democratic, winner-take-all

New Jersey - 51 Republican delegates, 142 Democratic, winner-take-all

New Mexico - 24 Republican delegates, 43 Democratic delegates, delegates awarded proportionately

North Dakota Democratic caucus - 23 delegates

South Dakota - 29 Republican delegates, 25 Democratic, winner-take-all

Tuesday, June 14

District of Columbia Democratic caucus - 46 delegates
Saturday's events at USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park include a Yak Attack: vintage airplanes will simulate bombing raids on the USS ALABAMA - weather permitting. Art Albert, who fought aboard the USS MISSOURI and was wounded by a Japanese fighter plane, will be manning one of the guns during the mock battle. Visit https://www.facebook.com/USSALABAMABattleshipMemorialPark/ for more information.

Sharon Steinmann

Frank Radulski, 92, of Summerfield, Fla., stands in the Combat Information Center on board the USS Alabama where he worked as a radarman (RDM2C 2nd Class) from 1943 to 1946. Radulski is the last surviving radarman that worked on the USS Alabama. "I think everyone should know about WWII because it was a turning point for long-time peace," said Radulski. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Frank Radulski, 92, of Summerfield, Fla., stands in the Combat Information Center on board the USS Alabama where he worked as a radarman (RDM2C 2nd Class) from 1943 to 1946. Several crewmen arrived at the USS Alabama battleship on Friday ahead of their annual USS Alabama Crewmen's Association Reunion in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Earl Shive of Horseheads, NY stands in the boiler room on the USS Alabama where he worked from in 1942. Shive was a fireman who worked in the boiler room and the engine room until 1945. "We had a near miss with a torpedo that just cleared the rear end of our ship," recalled Shive. "I could almost see my name on the rear end of that torpedo."(Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Earl Shive of Horseheads, NY stands in the engine room on the USS Alabama where he worked from 1942 to 1945. Shive was a fireman who worked in the boiler room and the engine room. Several crewmen arrived at the USS Alabama battleship on Friday ahead of their annual USS Alabama Crewmen's Association Reunion in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. They provided oral history recordings and visited with the public. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Earl Shive of Horseheads, NY stands in the boiler room on the USS Alabama where he worked from in 1942. Shive was a fireman who worked in the boiler room and the engine room until 1945. Several crewmen arrived at the USS Alabama battleship on Friday ahead of their annual USS Alabama Crewmen's Association Reunion in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. They provided oral history recordings and visited with the public. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Jim Grupcznski, 72, of Fairhope, Ala., talks about an Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery he restored for Saturday's reenactment on board the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. Several of the ship's 20mm and 40mm guns have recently been restored for use this weekend and will be fired during a vintage aircraft simulated attack on the ship. It will be the first time since WWII that these guns have fired. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Jim Grupcznski, 72, of Fairhope, Ala., talks about an Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery he restored for Saturday's reenactment on board the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. Several of the ship's 20mm and 40mm guns have recently been restored for use this weekend and will be fired during a vintage aircraft simulated attack on the ship. It will be the first time since WWII that these guns have fired. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

James Goodwall of Owensboro, KY, a historical reenactor playing General George S. Patton, poses on deck of the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. He will greet visitors during Saturday's reenactment at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

James Goodwall of Owensboro, KY, a historical reenactor playing General George S. Patton, poses on deck of the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. He will greet visitors during Saturday's reenactment at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

James Goodwall of Owensboro, KY, a historical reenactor playing General George S. Patton, poses on deck of the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. He will greet visitors during Saturday's reenactment at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Jim Grupcznski, 72, of Fairhope, Ala., talks with Jerry Boyette of Panama City, Fla., about an Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery he restored for Saturday's reenactment on board the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. Several of the ship's 20mm and 40mm guns have recently been restored for use this weekend and will be fired during a vintage aircraft simulated attack on the ship. It will be the first time since WWII that these guns have fired. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Jim Grupcznski, 72, of Fairhope, Ala., talks about an Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery he restored for Saturday's reenactment on board the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. Several of the ship's 20mm and 40mm guns have recently been restored for use this weekend and will be fired during a vintage aircraft simulated attack on the ship. It will be the first time since WWII that these guns have fired. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Frank Radulski, 92, of Summerfield, Fla., stands in the Combat Information Center on board the USS Alabama where he worked as a radarman (RDM2C 2nd Class) from 1943 to 1946. Radulski was working on board the ship in 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, when the USS Alabama provided the first confirmed radar warning to Task Force 58 of incoming Japanese attackers. Radulski said that after over 500 Japanese planes were shot down that day, it was the end of the Japanese Airforce. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Frank Radulski, 92, of Summerfield, Fla., stands in the Combat Information Center on board the USS Alabama where he worked as a radarman (RDM2C 2nd Class) from 1943 to 1946. Several crewmen arrived at the USS Alabama battleship on Friday ahead of their annual USS Alabama Crewmen's Association Reunion in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Earl Shive of Horseheads, NY stands in the boiler room on the USS Alabama where he worked from in 1942. Shive was a fireman who worked in the boiler room and the engine room until 1945. "We did what we had to do. We did a good job and we hoped we never had to do it again," said Shive. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Earl Shive of Horseheads, NY was a fireman who worked in the boiler room and the engine room on the USS Alabama from 1942 to 1945. Several crewmen arrived at the USS Alabama battleship on Friday ahead of their annual USS Alabama Crewmen's Association Reunion in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. They provided oral history recordings and visited with the public. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

The Combat Information Center on the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

The USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

The USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

The deck at dusk on the USS Alabama which is docked in Mobile Bay in Mobile, Ala. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

The USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Don't Edit

Sharon Steinmann

Earl Shive of Horseheads, NY stands in the boiler room on the USS Alabama where he worked from in 1942. Shive was a fireman who worked in the boiler room and the engine room until 1945. Several crewmen arrived at the USS Alabama battleship on Friday ahead of their annual USS Alabama Crewmen's Association Reunion in Mobile, Ala., on Friday April 15, 2016. They provided oral history recordings and visited with the public. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)
John E. Carson writes for American Legion Post 237's Newsletter and teaches Creative Writing at the Huntsville-Madison County Senior Center on Drake

By John E. Carson, he writes for American Legion Post 237's Newsletter and teaches Creative Writing at the Huntsville-Madison County Senior Center on Drake; and Colonel Michael Vaccaro(Ret.), a former NASA engineer and astronaut trainer as well as a member of the American Legion Honor Guard, Post 237.

There has to be a better way to perform death row executions. And there is according to my fellow Honor Guard member, Colonel Mike Vaccaro (Ret.) USAF and veteran NASA engineer and astronaut trainer, and he knows what it is; the Altitude Chamber. Also known as a Hypobaric Chamber, it is used for simulating conditions of atmospheric pressure and temperature of a given altitude in order to condition and test the behavior of flight personnel and equipment in a rarefied environment.

Used by the military and private industry to train pilots for upper altitude flight, Altitude Chambers (ACs) are also employed by professional athletes, health clubs and fitness trainers. During the checkout procedure, test participants keep oxygen masks at hand inside the chamber. While flying in unpressurized military aircraft wearing an oxygen mask is required at 10,000 feet or above. Without the mask a person's performance effectiveness begins to degrade at those levels. As altitude increases an individual's performance becomes progressively worse and in the AC, as the altitude is artificially increased, atmospheric pressure decreases. Without the protection of the oxygen mask, the chamber that is rising in altitude reaches a point where the subject cannot even perform trivial tasks. As the vacuum increases due to higher altitude the subject experiences a feeling of euphoria (equivalent to three martinis) and if the mask is not applied, soon loses consciousness followed by a peaceful death.

A member of the American Legion Honor Guard, Post 237 in Huntsville, Colonel Michael Vaccaro(Ret.) is a former NASA engineer and astronaut trainer.

A veteran of many such tests in maintaining his flight certification, Colonel Vacarro points out that unlike the numerous botched executions referenced in an al.com guest column by Stephen Cooper, it would seem that oxygen deprivation is a simpler, more humane way to execute a person than electrocution or lethal injection while at the same time eliminating the cries of cruel and unusual punishment. He goes on to say that the sheer anticipation of execution by the present systems, with their unpredictable results impose unnecessary pain and suffering on the families viewing the executions.

We would like to see the state of Alabama take the lead in instituting the Altitude Chamber to carry out the death penalty. With 181 men and 5 women awaiting execution, the AC does indeed appear to be a more humane and consistently reliable method than what many people believe are practices bordering on torture that should be discontinued as quickly as possible.

We both agree; there has to be a better way and fortunately there is. Colonel Vaccaro and others propose it, and while plans are being drawn as this is written for several new prisons to be built in Alabama to replace the archaic existing institutions, now would be the ideal time to implement the Altitude Chamber as the system of choice for executions.
Alabama Legislature

The Alabama House of Representatives Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, during regular legislative session in Montgomery, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

(JULIE BENNETT)

Alexander Vaughn

By Alexander E. Vaughn, an advocate for equal, fraternal, and liberty-minded government living in Madison, Alabama, who graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/thevaughnestate or email him at thevaughnestate@gmail.com

If we expect our state to cultivate a legacy of goodwill, care for those most in need, and protect economic growth, we owe it to ourselves to implore our legislature to stop cuts to Alabama Medicaid.

We Alabamians have a proud heritage of expressing goodwill. We were the first state to extend married property acts to women, and we were the birthplace of Helen Keller, who cultivated minds and hearts through kind instruction and advocacy. We contributed to trips to the moon and birthed playwrights and songwriters the world over. Our history is littered with examples of such generousness and good intention.

If our recent history has revealed anything, however, it is that our government is acting to disavow this heritage entirely by proposing draconian cuts to one of the few services that actually benefits working-class Alabamians, Alabama Medicaid. In a perversity of epidemic proportions, our legislature, and now our governor, are mulling cuts to Medicaid that are both fiscally and pragmatically unsound while they pass bills to pay millions for new prisons. As a perverse corollary, it may be that some of them hope to kill two birds with one stone since under their leadership many within our intellectually disabled population have been erroneously sent to those locations anyway. Erin Edgemon, As Alabama psychiatric hospitals close, county jails struggle to house mentally ill, disabled inmates, AL.com, July 30, 2014, http://www.al.com/news/montgomery/index.ssf/2014/07/as_alabama_psychiatric_hospita.html .

These proposed cuts fail economic common sense too. Studies have repeatedly shown that Medicaid benefits actually stimulate economic growth. If Medicaid were revoked, the families of the disabled, seniors, and children receiving benefits (and the businesses that employ these families) would be on the hook, then, for the $6.4 billion in medical care that these persons currently require. Additionally, the loss of even a portion of this money can also affect the availability of medical care to all Alabamians since rural healthcare providers depend on Medicaid funding for a good portion of their revenue, making the economic impact of their cuts even worse for the vast majority of Alabamians.

Above all, our choices in funding government represent our best aspirations for future generations. Help us to create a future where our actions stimulate the economy and provide mechanisms of support for those most in need. As a citizen who deeply cares about our legacy of goodwill, the care of those most in need, and our long-term tax intake, I urge you to write your representatives and governor to oppose any cuts to Medicaid.
The US is the only industrialised country that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave after childbirth.

Indiana, US  I meet Abi Leonard in a public park on one of the first days of spring in Indiana. She stands tall and assured, her purple cat-eye glasses framing sharp blue eyes. Theres a woodpecker! she says, pointing to a nearby utility pole, but by the time I look, hes flown away.

She smiles, and comments on all the animals whove come out into the warmer spring weather. Its hard to imagine, but five years ago, Leonard was 10 weeks postpartum, with an open wound that had already required three operations. And, because she was running out of maternity leave, Leonard was already back at work.

And I was one of the lucky ones, she tells me, because my employer gave me 12 weeks leave at 60 percent of my pay. Leonard had worked until the day she went into labour and then given birth to her first-born via caesarean section.

The day after that surgery, doctors discovered that an allergy to surgical glue had caused Leonard to develop a hematoma. She had to undergo a second surgery, and then, after developing an infection, a third surgery, at the same site.

I had to go back to work, Leonard says now, because I was getting close to the end of my 12 weeks. My first day back, I sat down in my office chair and my incision popped right open. The skin was just overworked.

I realised how little time I had to bond

The United States is alone among industrialised countries in being the only one without a national law providing parents with paid family leave after the birth or adoption of a newborn.

In fact, the United States is one of only three countries on earth that provides no maternity leave whatsoever. Compare it with the United Kingdom, which offers 40 weeks, Bangladesh, which offers 16, its neighbour to the immediate north, Canada, which offers 15, or Iceland, which offers three months.

Three American states  California, New Jersey and Rhode Island  have implemented paid family leave programmes, with much success for working families and little impact on employers.

But like Abi Leonard, many American mothers are without adequate support at this critical point in their reproductive and professional lives. Some are able to cobble together a combination of sick days allotted by their employer with the 12 weeks of unpaid leave allocated to them by the Family and Medical Leave Act, which protects employees who have worked for at least one year at a company with 50 or more employees; others go back to work almost immediately after giving birth or leave the workforce altogether.

READ MORE: How soon is too soon to return to work after giving birth?

Leonard had to keep working despite her precarious medical condition, and would keep working until her son was five years old, at which point, four months after the birth of her second child, she left the workforce to do graduate work in International Studies.

I realised, with my first, how little time I had to bond, she says. When I went to work, hed just started laughing and being expressive. On a medical level, it would have been nice to have time for my body to heal. On a psychological level, it would have been nice to have a chance to establish connection.

I was working the whole six weeks

Birgit Newman, who moved to the United States from Germany, where parents are allowed to take up to three years of unpaid leave, had heard of the lack of maternity leave in the United States. But it was better here than the rumours alleged, so it was a pleasant surprise.

After giving birth to her first son, she left her job as an IT consultant and struck out on her own.

I knew I couldnt work part time, she says, and I knew I didnt want to have a child and work full time including travel. So I went out on my own, but I wasnt prepared for all the salesmanship that was involved in that, and the financial insecurity was difficult.

Like many of the women I spoke with, Newman was in a place of increased choice when she had her second child. With Landon, I had an insurance policy that paid me 80 percent of my income. It was such a different experience to have the freedom and security at the same time. It was tremendously helpful.

Ashlyn Nelson, a professor of public policy at Indiana University, also considers herself fortunate: I had my first child in a year that was great from a personal standpoint. I was still a postdoctoral student, so I wasnt on the job market, and even though I didnt have a great salary, I had health insurance. Still, she says, it was not ideal from a professional standpoint. I was trying to get my research off the ground and I wasnt professionally established enough to be able to draw appropriate boundaries.

Like Abi Leonard, Ashlyn Nelson is poised and confident; sitting in a chair holding her sleeping baby while she speaks, she seems like the kind of woman who could tower over any situation.

But she describes the difficulty of her experience as a working mother of a newborn: I had a conference call scheduled when I was in labour. There I was with an epidural already in my back, dilated to six centimetres, trying to put together an NSF [National Science Foundation] proposal.

The doctor finally came in and asked me to put my phone away because they were going to break my water. It seemed crazy, Im sure, but given the incentive structure offered to working mothers, I was behaving entirely rationally.

The first week after my daughter was born, I was living off oxytocin and endorphins. After that, I was living off anger and fumes. I couldnt afford to take more than the six weeks and I was actually working the whole six weeks.

Nelsons infant daughter wriggles to wakefulness, and Nelson offers her the breast. With this one, its a little better because Im in a different place professionally. But most working mums go back to work before theyre ready. Theyre not being as productive as they could be at work; theyre just appearing in a space. And theres so much policy thats based on these outliers, these women who have triplets and go back to work at the end of the week. Were not all Superwoman. Most of us need sleep in order to function, and we need to physically recover from the process of giving birth.

Protect men and women

The Family and Medical Leave Act was not enacted until 1993; before that, the United States did not provide any rights to maternity or family leave. Its heartbreaking, says Molly McDonald, the chief executive and creator of Touch-A-Day Baby Welcoming E-Course for New Parents. I spent time in the Middle East, where the tradition is that the new mother goes back to her family of origin for 40 days, where theyre taken care of, cooked for and tended to. Here in the United States, mums are going back to the gym, preparing meals, cleaning their house, making their baby book, knitting blankets. And then going right back to work.

McDonald points to the ways in which American policy, or lack thereof, harms newborns as much as it harms their mothers. As a culture we dont fully understand what potential harm were creating by interrupting childrens biological processes with their parents.

READ MORE: Paternity leave blues

A mothers milk supply doesnt even establish itself fully for the first nine weeks. I see parents having to separate from their children before theyve even learned how to communicate with them. Socially, cognitively, physically, we are setting up our children for difficulty. If we had leave in place, and told women your job is to take care of this little being whos going to be the future of this country, we could build one compassionate being at a time and change the shape of our humanity.

Rebecca Warren is a mother of three and executive director of the Monroe County Humane Association in Bloomington, Indiana. Her answer to a lack of family leave policy? She takes her family to work with her.

Im fortunate that Ive had small employers who have been understanding and willing to work with me, she says, as the shelters resident cat follows her and her baby, Zach, from room to room in her office suite. There are so many larger companies where thats just not the case. Id love family leave policy to come out of a place where its the responsible and respectful thing to do, rather than its being forced on employers.

Warren calls her office the proactive, fluffier arm of animal advocacy. We educate people who have pets and provide opportunities for people in difficult situations to keep their pets. We provide people with therapy animals.

A typical day, she says, will see her bringing Zach to work for six to seven hours; he nurses, he naps, he plays in his Pack and Play. For my own wellbeing and sense of balance, she says, I needed to be able to bring my infants to work. This is where a lot of women head into postpartum depression, in the gap between what they need to do for balance and what they need to do to keep a job.

Warren points to the other societal costs of the lack of family leave policy in the United States: We raise children who grow up without boundaries, she says. They are going to daycare and then school in order to receive love instead of learning. And parents pay a tonne for daycare. You have to come back to work just to afford daycare.

READ MORE: Would you crowd fund your maternity leave?

Indeed, in the United States, it is more common than not for a family to pay more for childcare than it does for housing. The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies puts the average cost of centre-based daycare at $11,666 a year, but this is just an average: in some states, childcare costs more than in-state college tuition. Monthly child care costs in the nations capital, for example, average a whopping $1,472 a month.

Lots of children are in foster care because their mothers are poor .... If a woman's child is sick, does she go to work, leave her child alone, and prayer that there's no social worker there when she gets back? Does she leave the child with her cousin's shady boyfriend? Does she take the child to work and risk getting fired? by Lindsay Pappas

We would have paid more for infant daycare than we did for my graduate school tuition, says Lindsay Pappas, a mother of four who has chosen to postpone her re-entry into the workforce.

Pappas, who holds her son, Augustus, as she speaks, was a graduate student in Indiana Universitys School of Education when she learned she was pregnant. Like all of the women I spoke to, Pappas says she was fortunate: the university granted her a semester of unpaid leave. Halfway through her leave, as her family expanded first through birth and then through foster parenting, she decided she wasnt ready to leave her four children to teach all day, so she decided to postpone her student teaching and, consequently, her entry into the profession.

Its made me realise the kinds of privilege I have, that my family can even entertain the idea of me taking a year of unpaid leave. For the vast majority of American families, its not possible. Part of it is hard math. We have four children, so we couldnt have afforded child care.

When people hear the words unpaid leave, that sounds to them like at least youll still have your job when youre ready to return. But you have to pay your mortgage, your electric bill, your car insurance. Those things dont stop just because you had a baby. Its such a luxury to have one parent be a stay-at-home-parent.

Pappas stands up to entertain Augustus, who is teething, by carrying him around the house.

As a foster-care parent, Im much more tuned in to the ways in which American leave policy disadvantages low income families. We should protect men and women before theyre forced to make hard choices.

Lots of children are in foster care because their mothers are poor and have had to make such choices.

If a womans child is sick, does she stay home from work so that her lights are turned off? Does she go to work, leave her child alone, and pray that theres no social worker there when she gets back? Does she leave the child with her cousins shady boyfriend? Does she take the child to work and risk getting fired?

We dont want to give low-income families access to family leave, or birth control, or anything they might need to make good decisions or even informed ones. What were saying is, If you cant provide for your children, you shouldnt be having sex.'

Abi Leonard agrees. Our country doesnt see children as an economic benefit. Having children has become a luxury  most people simply dont have the resources. Our society is basically telling women that the only people who deserve to have babies are the ones who can have a perfectly planned pregnancy and spend $600 on a stroller. Its telling poor and working-class women that they dont deserve to have babies because they cant financially sustain the cost of motherhood. But how, then, will America maintain its population?

There will never be a perfect time to have kids

The federal guarantee of a family-leave plan, unfortunately, has never been an issue that gained much traction in election cycles, and the 2016 presidential election is no exception.

Both Democratic candidates have spoken all too briefly about their federal family leave proposals, with both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders saying that they would recommend 12 weeks of paid leave for families who need to care for newborns. Among the Republican candidates for president, only Marco Rubio had floated a proposal: he wants to offer small tax breaks to companies that offer paid leave.

In the meantime, American parents will wait. They will get creative. They will make difficult choices. As Lindsay Pappas says: Theres never a perfect time to have kids. You either wait and start your career later in life or you pursue a career, take time off to have kids, and then go back to a work world that has outpaced you. Or you end up stigmatised for putting your kids in daycare when theyre six weeks old. There doesnt seem to be a way to win, exactly.

But American parents who find themselves on the cliff of new parenthood without adequate leave will keep writing themselves elaborate financial and emotional good-parenting flowcharts. And then theyll put down their pencils, and hope for the best.
One day in April 2011, Stephen and Renetta Torres rushed home after receiving a call from their neighbours about a large police presence  mobile crime lab, SWAT team, armoured cars  at their Albuquerque, New Mexico, residence. The police were looking for their 27-year-old son, Christopher, who had been home on his own. The officers claimed that they had come to serve an arrest warrant on Christopher about a road rage incident months earlier. Christopher, who suffered from schizophrenia, refused to speak to the officers, so they moved in on him, jumping a fence and entering the Torres backyard. According to court documents, from that point, only a few minutes elapsed before Christopher was shot in the back three times by CJ Brown, a plainclothed police officer at the scene. They accused Christopher of taking control of Browns gun, but a judge in a civil suit later ruled that the story told by Albuquerque Police Department (APD) officers didnt hold water, awarding a $6 million judgment in favour of the Torres family. Brown was never disciplined over the incident, however, and he remains on the police force. Since 2010, the APD has shot more than 40 people. Twenty-seven of the victims died. Yet there has been very little punishment meted out for those incidents. An investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in early 2014 found that the APD engages in a pattern or practice of excessive force, including the use of unreasonable deadly force. After the March 16, 2014, shooting of a homeless man named James Boyd by an off-duty cop was captured on a police body camera, the citys hand was forced. The officer who shot Boyd, Keith Sandy, as well as one of his colleagues, Dominique Perez, are currently on trial for murder. Fault Lines spoke to Christopher Torres parents Stephen and Renetta about their sons death and the overly aggressive behaviour of police officers in Albuquerque.

Fault Lines: Before everything that happened with Christopher, did you have an idea of what was actually going on with the police in Albuquerque? Renetta: I am ashamed to admit that I was probably one of those individuals who, you know, youre watching the news and [the police] are very convincing that [the victims] were armed and they were dangerous, and the officers were in a position where they had no choice but to shoot to kill. Of course since Christophers shooting we went back and did a lot of research, and this is decades-long behaviour by the Albuquerque Police Department. Its not a small window of the last seven to eight years. It goes back quite a distance. But I didnt know that. Then you start to look at things a little bit more in depth, and youre not so quick to take whatever theyre spinning and however theyre feeding the story to you. The question was: How large was the group, the bad apples? Do they outnumber the good police officers? by Renetta Torres, mother of APD shooting victim Christopher Torres Stephen: Ive always been somewhat of a newshound, and so before this happened with our family, I had heard and I was aware that there were problems in the police department. But like Renetta, I was not aware of the depth of the problems. Once we started doing the research, I mean, you get to a point where after a while you dont want to do it any more because you dont want to hear any more about whats been going on. I mean the problems our police department has been having over the last 20 to 30 years with insurance fraud and prostitution and drugs within the police department, abuse of steroids. Renetta: Its truly disturbing to know that kind of thing is going on in your community with officers that are supposed to protect you and protect the public, and that is not at all as it plays out with what is occurring in the community. I think the other tragedy is that the good officers were remaining silent, and basically I think thats just condoning the deeds of the rogue officers. Always the question was: How large was the group, the bad apples? Do they outnumber the good police officers? Do you actually understand what happened, the circumstances leading to Christophers death? Stephen: We will never know the full story, the whole truth, because the story kept changing. Initially they were saying they were coming just to interview Christopher. And then they said, no, they were coming to arrest him. And then they changed their story back to they were coming out to just question him. There was some alleged road rage incident that we never even got full information about. But as we understand it, the police officers came to the front door, rang the doorbell, knocked on the door. Nobody answered. And then one of them walked to the side of the house because he maybe wanted to see what was going on. Or maybe he heard something. And yes, thats when he saw Christopher in the side yard here. And so he approached Christopher and asked him who he was, you know, Are you Christopher Torres? Christopher said, Yes, and supposedly they said, We want to talk to you. Christopher backed up, and I dont know if the officer thought he was getting ready to run or what he thought, but somehow that gave him justification to jump the fence and rush Christopher and tackle him to the ground. Christopher is lying face down on the ground, and these officers are apparently trying to handcuff him, and there is a struggle. And then again the story changes: One version of the story is that one of the officers handcuffs got loose, and they saw the handcuffs loose on the ground. They thought at one point, hes got a knife. And then the other story that finally came out is that one of the officers claimed that somehow during the struggle that Christopher had actually managed to get his hand on the officers gun and take it out of his holster and gain control of it. Hows he able to do that with two officers on his back? Its just, you cant. Its an incredible story. But anyway Christopher is faced down on the ground, the two officers are struggling to try and get him handcuffed and at one point, one of the officers may have told him, You better cooperate, or Im going to shoot you. And thats what they proceeded to do. Officer Brown took his service revolver out and at point blank range, literally with the barrel pressed against Christophers back, he fired three shots into Christopher.

What was Christophers funeral like? Was there any simmering anger at the APD there? Stephen: I dont think there was a lot of anger. Christopher was well liked. He was a very gentle person. We didnt realise Christopher had so many friends. The church was packed. Renetta: The church holds a little over 1,000 people. Stephen: And it was overflowing. There was certainly a lot of sadness, a lot of bewilderment, wondering how this could have happened. Renetta: I think that was most of what we were feeling in the days and weeks after Christopher was shot. You just cant believe it happened. I think that Christopher, his health, his wellbeing and safety was always such a priority for us, and hes taken in the very place that should be his sanctuary. It was hard. Can you give us some context about Christopher, his life, his struggles? Renetta: I think we like to categorise Christophers story as being a success. He had a part-time job. He was such a warm and caring individual. The day he was killed, just minutes before police arrived, he had been across the street visiting some neighbours who are in their 80s. He went to check on them. Hed gone to the grocery store. Hed help them clean their yard. Hed help them clean their pool. And they were the last people to see Christopher alive. There were people whose lives he had touched that we were not even aware of. But he was very caring. I think he handled his illness with a great deal of grace and dignity. When did you realise that what happened to Christopher was part of a larger pattern of behaviour by the APD? Stephen: Those first few weeks we were just in shock, going through the motions of daily life. But a month after Christopher was shot, Alan Gomez was killed, and the circumstances were just so similar  a needless shooting. Alan Gomez was turned around and walking away from police officers when they shot him in the back. That finally woke me up, and I realised weve got to try and do something. Renetta: Mike Gomez [Alans father], he certainly, I think, started to bring the community of families that had been affected by APD shootings together. Mike, in all of his grief, seemed to recognise there was a need and a call to action, and he started contacting the family members and saying weve got to meet and weve got to talk. And the first meeting was held at his home, and there were about 15 families there. For so long these officers were not facing any consequences. They could pretty much do whatever they wanted and they knew they were not going to face any sanctions.... It's very, very difficult to prosecute or even convict an officer when he's supposedly doing his job. So just to even see them being charged was a major victory for us. by Stephen Torres Fifteen families? Stephen: All sharing similar stories. That must have been a big surprise for you guys to see that. Renetta: It was. And their stories were just disturbing. I mean, it was almost too much to bear. I have to tell you for quite a while youre just fearful after you hear these horrible stories of these families that have lost their loved ones at the hands of these rogue officers. Some of them went back to 2007, 2006. As frightened as you are, you know youve got to do something, and theres strength in numbers. I certainly think that we were bolstered by the other families and we just moved forward. But Mike Gomez was very pivotal in getting the families together. I think absent Mike Gomez, who knows, we might have at some point kind of come out of this fog we were in. But I think he certainly mobilised us. So the DOJ coming in must have felt like a positive step. Right?
Luke Coffey is a research fellow specialising in transatlantic and Eurasian security at a Washington DC based think tank. He previously served as a special adviser to the British defence secretary and was a commissioned officer in the United States army.

On April Fools Day, the Russian News Agency TASS published a story claiming that South Ossetia, the Russian occupied breakaway region in the Republic of Georgia, is opening a diplomatic mission in Italy.

According to the article, Mauro Murgia, South Ossetias self-proclaimed official representative in Italy, said that the mission will be based in Rome and housed in a private apartment.

This article was suspicious for a number of reasons. To begin with Italy does not even recognise South Ossetias independence and who would open up a diplomatic mission in someones private flat?





Even though this story had all the ingredients of an April Fools joke, it was anything but.

An absurdity

It is telling how absurd a situation has become when one cannot tell the difference between what is an April Fools joke and what is a real news story.

Ever since the invasion of Georgia in 2008, the region of South Ossetia has been illegally occupied by Russia. Out of 193 countries in the United Nations, only four recognise South Ossetias independence: Russia, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Venezuela.

ALSO READ: Is Gagauzia next on Russias list?

Making the situation even more ridiculous, the so-called President of South Ossetia Leonid Tibilov  himself a chum of Vladimir Putins and a former KGB agent  announced this week that a referendum will be held to change the constitution, allowing South Ossetia to become part of Russia. The timing of the referendum was left vague but he said the vote would happen before August.

Undermining sovereignty

Far from being an exercise of self-determination, this referendum is simply the latest in a long list of Moscow-inspired political stunts aimed at undermining Georgias sovereignty.

The region of South Ossetia is legally part of Georgia and is occupied by Russia. Therefore, such a referendum has no basis in international law.

Furthermore, many of the original inhabitants of South Ossetia have been forcibly removed from their homeland or killed: Obviously, they will not get a vote.

During the 2008 Russian invasion, many ethnic Ossetians sought to cleanse the region once and for all of the ethnic Georgians living there  all under Russias nose. According to a report published by Human Rights Watch in 2009:

In the same way control of Crimea is important for Russia's maritime power projection into the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, Moscow's control of South Ossetia is vital for Russia's force projection in the South Caucasus. by

South Ossetian forces over a period of weeks deliberately and systematically destroyed ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia that had been administered by the Georgian government. The South Ossetians looted, beat, threatened, and unlawfully detained numerous ethnic Georgian civilians  with the express purpose of forcing those who remained to leave and ensuring that no former residents would return.

In 1989, South Ossetia had a population of almost 100,000 people. Today, the region has a population of only 30,000, mainly consisting of ethnic Russians and Ossetians.

One big military base

In the same way control of Crimea is important for Russias maritime power projection into the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, Moscows control of South Ossetia is vital for Russias force projection in the South Caucasus.

Since the 2008 war, Moscow has invested heavily in turning South Ossetia into one big Russian military base. Russia currently has 4,500 soldiers in the occupied territory as part of the the 4th Military Base under the command of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District.

The puppet government of South Ossetia has even integrated much of its militia forces directly into the Russian military.

The line of occupation between South Ossetia and Georgia, which Moscow prevents international ceasefire monitors from crossing, is controlled by border guards from Russias Federal Security Services, the successor to the Soviet Unions KGB.

ALSO READ: Will Putin bite off more than he can chew?

Anyone who has visited the line of occupation regularly since 2008 can see new military facilities being built as the Russians do not even try to hide them. The region is home to all sorts of Russian military hardware including armoured vehicles, artillery, and tactical missiles.

The creeping occupation

Russia regularly changes the location of the administrative boundary fence it has installed to mark the dividing line between occupied Georgia and free Georgia.

Last summer Russia moved the fence within 500m of Georgias E60 highway, which is the main road linking the Black Sea to Azerbaijan. This move also placed a 1.6km segment of the BP-operated Baku-Supsa pipeline inside Russian occupied territory.

There are even cases of locals going to bed in Georgia and, after Russians installed a fence overnight, waking up in occupied South Ossetia.

It is no coincidence that the referendum in South Ossetia was announced while the world was focused on the recent fighting in Nagorno Karabakh. The world can barely focus on just one crisis at a time in the South Caucasus, much less two. Moscow knows this all too well.

At the end of the day it does not really matter if a bogus referendum in South Ossetia leads to the full integration into Russia or not.

Either way families remain divided. Farmers are separated from their fields. When Georgian shepherds stray into South Ossetia they run the risk of being arrested.

As is often the case, the locals pay the price for Russian imperialism.

Luke Coffey is a research fellow specialising in transatlantic and Eurasian security at a Washington DC based think-tank. He previously served as a special adviser to the British defence secretary and was a commissioned officer in the United States army.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Australian refugee advocates and opposition politicians have condemned the conviction of an Iranian asylum seeker on charges of attempted suicide, a criminal offence in Nauru where he is being held in an Australian-run detention centre.

Under Australias tough immigration policy, asylum seekers attempting to reach the country by boat are intercepted and sent to camps on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru, about 3,000km northeast of Australia, or on Manus island in Papua New Guinea to the north.

The Iranian man, who is the sole guardian of his eight-year-old daughter in the detention centre, pleaded guilty to the offence of attempted suicide, according to a Nauru government statement.

He was reportedly ordered to pay a fine of $155.

The Nauru government said prosecutors wanted to deter other would-be offenders who resort to self-harm to avoid lawful actions against them or to get what they want.

We are concerned that this method of protest is being used and want to stamp out this practice, it said.

Human rights groups, including the UN Refugee Agency, have criticised the harsh conditions at the detention centers, which have sparked riots and self-harm protests.

READ MORE: Outsourcing refugees  How will I survive in Cambodia? Barri Phatarfod of Doctors for Refugees decried the case as outrageous because the man was not provided with access to a doctor or psychiatrist, despite the governments promises to do so. When they wanted to make an example of this man after he had done this self-harm attempt by taking him off to jail, where he spent close to three weeks, they didnt care for the eight-year-old girl, she told Al Jazeera.

So, she was effectively left to fend for herself, she said, adding that refugees are not being given equal treatment to Australians before the law. Nowhere in Australia would you see anything like that happen. Australias Greens opposition party has been a long-time critic of Australias offshore detention policy.

Weve left them there languishing, destroyed all hope of ever coming to Australia, This poor guy wanted to take his own life and he is now being punished for that, Greens politician Sarah Hanson-Young told Australias Sky News on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection said all refugees in Nauru were subject to that countrys laws.

The number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is small compared with those arriving in Europe, but border security has long been a topic of heated political debate.

Offshore detention is supported by both Australias conservative government and main opposition Labor party. A national election is expected to be called within months.
Government and opposition supporters take to streets amid proceedings that could oust president Dilma Rousseff.

Rival protests have taken place in Brazils capital in the run-up to a crucial Congress vote on Sunday that will decide whether President Dilma Rousseff will face an impeachment trial at the Senate.

Tens of thousands of pro-government supporters, largely union members and land reform activists, came by bus to Brasilia from across the country to defend Rousseff and her left-leaning Workers Party.

They credit the party for unprecedented improvements in their lives.

Al Jazeeras Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Brasilia, said the pro-Rousseff supporters were trying to pressure lawmakers against voting for her impeachment.

He added that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave a speech at the rally offering his support to the embattled Rousseff.

His key message to these people was stick with the president, stick with Dilma Rousseff. He is telling them that they are going to defeat this impeachment process against Rousseff, our correspondent said.

INSIDE STORY: Will Brazils Dilma Rousseff be impeached?

Just a boulevard away, several hundred anti-government protesters rallied demanding Rousseffs removal.

They blamed her for the tanking economy and the plague of corruption, which are reflected in the countrys sky-high taxes and dismal public hospitals, schools and other basic services.

The two rival camps of demonstrators in Brazils capital underscore the sharp ideological divide that is playing out in Congress as politicians debate whether to oust the president.

Both sides had previously pledged to flood the city with supporters before the crucial vote on Sunday in the Chamber of Deputies, which will determine whether the impeachment proceeds to the Senate.

Proponents of impeachment need 342 of 513 votes, and tallies in the main Brazilian news outlets show them hovering near that number.

Rousseff is fighting to survive a political storm prompted by Brazils worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s and a corruption scandal that has reached her inner circle.

She is accused of manipulating budget accounts during re-election in 2014.

Impeaching a president who has not committed a crime of responsibility is to rip the Brazilian constitution to shreds, Rousseff said in a signed article published Saturday in the Folha de S Paulo newspaper.

To oppose and criticise my government is part of democracy she wrote. But overthrowing a legitimately elected president who committed no crime is not part of democracy. It is a coup.

Rousseff accused her vice president, Michel Temer, and the house speaker of treachery and coup-plotting.

She also pledged to fight until the last minute  to foil this coup attempt.

But the collapse of her coalition has been relentless, starting with the defection of Temers PMDB party.

READ MORE: Poetry and poverty on the margins of Brazil

Temer will take over as interim president if the trial starts in the Senate. Rousseff would have to step down for six months during the proceedings.

If the Senate then voted by a two-thirds majority to impeach her, she would have to resign and Temer would remain in the presidency.

Both the vice president and the president of the lower house who will guide the impeachment vote have been embroiled in corruption scandals, Mark Langevin, an adjunct professor at George Washington University, told Al Jazeera.

He said what is going on in Brazil is that deputies and power-brokers are debating whether impeachment or the status quo is more divisive for the politically polarised country.
Street protests planned amid parliamentary proceedings that could topple President Dilma Rousseff on corruption charges.

Rival members of the Brazilian parliament are taking part in a controversial impeachment debate that could topple President Dilma Rousseff on charges of breaking budget laws.

Rousseff is fighting to survive a political storm prompted by Brazils worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s and a corruption scandal that has reached her inner circle.

She is accused of manipulating budget accounts during re-election in 2014.

The sessions, which will go on until Sunday, will lead to a vote that could take Rousseff, 68, closer to being driven from office.

The development comes as Brazil, Latin Americas biggest economy, struggles through a recession.

INSIDE STORY: Will Brazils Dilma Rousseff be impeached?

The governments lawyer, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, drew complaints in the chamber when he repeated Rousseffs claim that the impeachment drive was a coup.

Brazil faces a tense weekend as the debates continue and rival protesters plan to take to the streets.

Rousseffs supporters have been gathering for days at a stadium in the capital Brasilia. She had been expected to visit them on Saturday but cancelled her appearance.

Pro- and anti-Rousseff rallies are also planned in other cities on Sunday, including the economic capital Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where the Olympics will run from August 5-21.

Police tightly guarded the area around Brazilian Congress, which was surrounded by metal barriers.

Late on Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected Rousseffs last-minute bid to have the impeachment proceedings suspended.

She alleged that the case against her was a vendetta marred by irregularities.

She also pulled out of a planned television appearance on Friday after opponents threatened to appeal against it in court.

Rousseff is accused of illegally manipulating government accounts. The accusations and a deep recession have dragged down her popularity.

If the lower house votes to push on with impeachment, Rousseff will be sent to trial in the Senate in a process expected to last months.

Polarised country

Latest counts of voting intentions in the lower house by Brazilian newspapers suggest the pro-impeachment camp have the two-thirds majority needed to pass the impeachment motion up to the Senate.

Rousseff accused her vice president, Michel Temer, and the house speaker of treachery and coup-plotting.

She also pledged to fight until the last minute  to foil this coup attempt.

But the collapse of her coalition has been relentless, starting with the defection of Temers Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB).

READ MORE: Poetry and poverty on the margins of Brazil

Temer will take over as interim president if the trial starts in the Senate. Rousseff would have to step down for six months during the proceedings.

If the Senate then voted by a two-thirds majority to impeach her, she would have to resign and Temer would remain in the presidency.

Both the vice president and the president of the lower house who will guide the impeachment vote have been embroiled in corruption scandals, Mark Langevin, an adjunct professor at George Washington University, told Al Jazeera.

He said what is going on in Brazil is deputies and power-brokers debating whether impeachment or the status quo is more divisive for the politically polarised country.
Darrell Castle joins race for White House representing party that has never won a seat in House or Congress.

A small US right-wing party has picked its nominee for the 2016 presidential race, hoping to lure disillusioned Republican voters.

Delegates nominated Darrell Castle as the partys candidate at their convention in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

If I am elected president, I will first of all get out of the super-national authority, the United Nations, Castle said.

He also vowed that he would have the US leave NATO and promised to end the Federal Reserve.

OPINION: The US election as an existential threat to the world

He added: [Well have] a different monetary system. By that I just mean  no more going to the kings table for his scraps. No more crying and begging for an audit of this bank, please-tell-us-what-you-did-with-our-money kind of thing, he said.

Castle, 67, also said he would deal with state debt in order for the US to stop being a slave to the creditors  but did not elaborate on how he would do that.

Pushing their agenda

The Constitution Party is one of the larger so-called third-parties fielding a candidate in the race to the White House.

Al Jazeeras Patty Culhane, reporting from Salt Lake City, said the actual goal for the party is not to win the election, but to increase its popularity and push its agenda.

The hope here is that the Constitution Party can really take up the mantle of the far-right of the Republican party, she said.

There is a growing sense among some Republicans that the Republican Party no longer represents them, that America is in decline.

READ MORE: Turning up the volume on campaign rhetoric

Yet, Culhane said, the challenge for the Constitution Party is that very few people are aware of its existence, which makes fundraising difficult.

It is going to be an uphill battle, she said.

The Constitution Party has never won a seat in either House of Representatives or Congress. It believes the US is a Christian nation founded on the basis of the Bible.
Minister says troops may cross border to pursue assailants after deadly raid in Ethiopias Gambela region.

Gunmen from South Sudan have killed at least 140 civilians, including women and children, in a raid in Ethiopias Gambela region, according to the Ethiopian government.

Getachew Reda, Ethiopias communications minister, said on Saturday that Fridays attack had been carried out by members of South Sudans Murle tribe.

He added that Ethiopian forces have killed 60 of the assailants and may cross into neighbouring South Sudan to pursue them.

They havent crossed the border [yet], but they will if thats what it takes, he told Al Jazeera.

The minister, who said that the latest attack was much larger than past skirmishes, also said that a number of children have been abducted from Ethiopia and taken into South Sudan, according to an Associated Press news agency report.

The attack happened in Gambelas Jakawa area, which straddles the Ethiopian-South Sudanese border, in a region that alongside a neighbouring province hosts more than 284,000 refugees from South Sudan who fled conflict in the worlds youngest nation.

The attackers had no relation to South Sudans army or rebel forces who fought the government in Juba in a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people, a statement from the government communications office said.

David Shinn, a professor of International Relations at George Washington University and former US ambassador to Ethiopia, said the region has a long history of ethnic conflict originating on both sides of the Ethiopia-South Sudan border.

The border is porous and movement back and forth between South Sudan and Ethiopia is common, he told Al Jazeera.

The conflict in South Sudan has resulted in refugees moving into Ethiopia. Rebel groups can also move across Gambela region. It is not surprising that there are occasional local outbreaks of violence in this area.

South Sudanese officials were not immediately available for comment.

With reporting by Teo Kermeliotis: @Teo_Kermeliotis
The battle for Mosul is expected to drive hundreds of thousands more people towards Iraqs Kurdish region.

Erbil, Iraq  A military operation to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group could produce the largest civilian displacement anywhere in the world this year, according to the United Nations  but critics say the UN and Kurdish authorities are unprepared for the influx.

Last month, an offensive by Iraqi forces near Makhmour  which stalled shortly after it started  displaced more than 1,900 Iraqis from three villages, overwhelming the Kurdish Peshmergas limited facilities for screening civilians displaced from areas controlled by ISIL, also known as ISIS.

The Sunni Arab villagers were held in cramped and squalid conditions in a youth centre for a week, before most were transferred to a camp in nearby Dibaga.

READ MORE: Iraq may soon reach a point beyond repair

Their treatment illustrated one of the tensions slowing humanitarian contingency planning in Iraq. Kurdish authorities, already caring for more than one million displaced people, are reluctant to allow more displaced people into areas under their control, amid concerns about possible infiltration by ISIL sympathisers. UN agencies, meanwhile, have advocated for civilian freedom of movement as a fundamental humanitarian principle.

We were completely overwhelmed, a senior humanitarian worker in Iraq, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said of the displaced villagers arriving in Makhmour. Were not ready [for Mosul].





An eventual assault on Mosul could displace more than one million people, according to UN estimates.

Even by our most conservative estimates, this could be the largest population movement anywhere in the world this year, Lise Grande, the UNs humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told Al Jazeera.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that this will be the year Iraqi forces retake Mosul. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is expecting to receive between 300,000 and 500,000 displaced people from Mosul.

Publicly, the UN and the Kurds maintain that humanitarian contingency planning is proceeding apace.

We are envisioning a number of scenarios and prepositioning supplies based on those scenarios, Grande said, and were discussing with the authorities how we can support these populations in ways that are consistent with international humanitarian law.

Even by our most conservative estimates, this could be the largest population movement anywhere in the world this year. by Lise Grande, UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq

The senior humanitarian worker who spoke on condition of anonymity, however, said that while contingency planning has been discussed ever since ISIL captured Mosul in the summer of 2014, little concrete progress has been made.

Weve been doing the same exercise over and over again for the past year, the source said, noting inter-agency rivalries and a disconnect with Iraqi authorities have contributed to delays. There are a lot of ownership claims and pressure to make sure [contingency planning] fits a certain narrative that is funding-driven.

A third of Iraqs 3.4 million displaced people have taken refuge in Kurdish areas, increasing the regions population by nearly 30 percent, the highest ratio anywhere in the world. The World Bank estimates the displacement crisis cost the KRG $1.4bn in 2015, at a time when its economy was experiencing severe recession.

Kurdish officials have cited security concerns as a reason for keeping some displaced people outside of Kurdish areas.

Were looking at building camps outside of Makhmour in order to control security, Brigadier Mehdi Younes, a member of the Kurdish Peshmerga, told Al Jazeera. We asked the UN 20 days before to start to prepare a camp for these displaced people, but when the operation started, the UN still hadnt started.

UN agencies have acknowledged the KRGs security concerns, but say they cannot support detention centres for civilians. In a rare public rebuke last month, the UNs refugee agency cited concerns that the Nazrawa camp was being used by the Kurds to detain displaced Iraqis in a manner disproportionate to any legitimate concern, including those related to security.

IN PICTURES: Displaced Iraqis struggle in dusty tent city

We cannot deny that security screening is necessary, but it should be carried out in a more humane situation, Bruno Geddo, the UN refugee agencys representative in Iraq, told Al Jazeera.

What we are advocating with the government is that we need to maintain a level of fluidity. There are signs at this point that there is an understanding that we should not have detention camps, he added.

KRG officials said they did not want displaced people to be held in camps for longer than necessary. As some of the people have lived under ISIL for more than two years now, we dont know who is cooperating, Karim Sinjari, the KRGs interior minister, told Al Jazeera.

After security screening is carried out, they are free to leave the camps, Sinjari added, although they will need a sponsor in order to enter Kurdish regions.

In the meantime, the KRG, Baghdad and UN agencies have been cooperating to create a plan to receive additional civilians displaced by fighting, he said. We are working together and they are supportive.

However, both the Kurds and the UN say humanitarian funding is grossly lacking. So far, donors have pledged just $75m of the $861m that the UN has asked for in Iraq this year.
Third attempt to approve new cabinet fails after dissenting MPs continue attempts to replace the speaker of parliament.

Protesters have taken to the streets in Baghdad to demand a new government, after the Iraqi parliament cancelled its third session in a week to discuss political reforms.

Saturdays session was scrapped because parliament couldnt be secured by security forces, said a statement from the office of the speaker, Salim al-Jabouri, whose position is under threat as some legislators are seeking to replace him.

The political crisis centres around divisions over a plan by Haider al-Abadi, the prime minister, to bring technocrats into cabinet in a bid to check corruption.

On March 31, Abadi presented a list of independent professionals whom he hoped could free ministries from the grip of dominant political groups.

But under pressure from leading politicians, he drafted a second list this week based on party links.

The modified list, which Abadi had planned to present for a vote, prompted a sit-in by MPs who say it will allow corruption to continue to flourish.

Al Jazeeras Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghdad, said if the reforms are actually put in place, it will be the most significant development in Iraqi politics since 2003.

The political system created after Saddam Hussein was toppled distributed power among Shia, Sunni and Kurdish political blocs. It has created a government that many Iraqis feel serves politicians but not the people, she said.

Power distribution

The dissenting MPs, who accuse the speaker, Jabouri, of blocking reforms, said that they would meet on Monday to elect a new assembly leader.

The protesters include followers of influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who on Saturday issued a statement asking all the ministers to immediately resign, even those in Abadis Dawa party.

Sadr pledged to start protests in 72 hours if the nations leaders failed to vote on a technocrats cabinet.

If these conditions are not met then let it be known that the people will decide, he said in a handwritten statement.

Earlier this week, a parliamentary session degenerated into a massive brawl with shoving, shouting, and water bottles thrown.

READ MORE: Iraqs new government  Not exactly a breakthrough

The UN has called on Iraqi leaders to resolve the political crisis, warning that instability could jeopardise the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, which still controls much of northern and western Iraq.

The only party that benefits from the political divisions and chaos  is Daesh, said the UNs acting head of mission to Iraq, Gyorgy Busztin, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

The cost of the war against ISIL, along with the plunge in the price of oil  which accounts for 95 percent of Iraqs revenues  have caused an economic crisis, adding fresh urgency to calls for reform.

Iraqi officials predict a budget deficit of more than $30bn this year.
Questions of free speech are being raised after Pakistans lower house of parliament passed a cybercrime bill despite widespread opposition from civil rights activists and some members of parliament.

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 (PECB) was hurriedly passed in the National Assembly with only 30 of the 342 members present on Thursday.

The move comes during a week in which parliamentary debates were primarily focused on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs family being named in the Panama Papers.

The bill is aimed at preventing online harassment, cyber stalking and blackmailing and seeks to criminalise those involved in these offences, according to Anusha Rahman, junior minister for information technology and communication.

https://twitter.com/Brashnaa/status/720250835712741376

Rahman had said last year that some aspects of online networking [sic] needed attention after the implementation of the National Action Plan, referring to the countrys counterterrorism plan also known as NAP, which was launched in 2015 following the attack on a school in Peshawar.

However, activists argue that the scope of the bill goes beyond involvement in electronic fraud or promoting terrorism and is rather ambiguous in its definition of the crimes.

The average internet user in Pakistan is not aware of online sensitivities and perils of the digital age, Shahzad Ahmad, country director of IT-focused human rights organisation Bytes for All, told Al Jazeera.

READ MORE: Censorship fears persist as YouTube returns to Pakistan

Youth form a major percentage of internet users and they can fall into a lot of trouble for exercising what they believe is their right to free speech should the the bill be passed into law.

While agreeing on the need for cyber laws in Pakistan, Ahmad termed the bill not pro-people and a recipe for disaster for millions of netizens in the country.

Before the bill is made into a law, it has to pass through the Senate, or the upper house of the parliament, where the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) commands a majority.

Some of the senators have openly criticised sections of the bill. One of them, Shazia Marri, has submitted a note of dissent on the bill to the National Assembly standing committee and its chairman.

Bill has huge gaps

The cybercrime bill calls for imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of PKR10m ($95,000) or both for hate speech, or trying to create disputes and spread hatred on the basis of religion or sectarianism.

According to Bolo Bhi, an internet freedom and privacy rights nongovernmental organisation (NGO) based in Islamabad, the offence would stifle debate on what the law should or should not criminalise as well as the application of the criminal law in individual cases.

Ahmad argued that the bill, which he said the government sneaked in under the umbrella of the NAP, should not solely be considered a national security necessity and must focus on the citizens socioeconomic wellbeing and sustainable development.

READ MORE: Surveilling and censoring the internet in Pakistan

In its current form, the bill has huge gaps that can be abused and misused against any segment of society including businesses, activists, academia or individual users, he said.

Vague terminologies, especially in the presence of draconian laws such as the Pakistan Protection Act and the blasphemy law, can play havoc with the lives and livelihoods of people. Criminalisation of freedom of expression and free speech is the worst aspect of it.

Wont pass the Senate IA #CyberCrimeBill https://t.co/aCdT7OjouF

The bill also criminalises acts such as spamming via text messages or email and cyber-stalking, as well as production and distribution of encryption tools, whether they are used by individuals for protecting their privacy or by organisations for safeguarding sensitive information.

Spamming or sending messages irritating to others or for marketing purposes can result in a fine of up to PKR50,000 ($4,775) and if the crime is repeated, the punishment would be three months imprisonment and a fine of up to PKR1m ($9,500).

Some other key recommendations of the bill, which activists say are ambiguous in their ambit, include imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of PKR5m ($47,000) or both for transferring or copying sensitive basic information; imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to PKR500,000 ($4,700) for creating a website for negative purposes; and imprisonment of seven years, a fine of PKR10m ($95,000) or both for interfering in sensitive data information systems.

Follow Hafsa Adil on Twitter: @hafsa_adil
Francis implores EU leaders to come to the aid of refugees in symbolic visit to Greek island at the centre of crisis.

Pope Francis has taken 12 Syrians, all of them Muslim, back with him to the Vatican after his visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to highlight the plight of thousands of people seeking to reach Western Europe from Turkey.

The three families, including six children, met Francis on the tarmac and boarded his plane following his five-hour trip to the island on the frontline of the ongoing refugee crisis.

In a statement on Saturday, the Vatican said the pontiff wanted to make a gesture of welcome to the refugees, who were in camps on the island before the controversial agreement between the European Union and Ankara to deport all irregular migrants to Turkey came into effect on March 20.

The Vatican said the three families, two of them hailing from the Syrian capital of Damascus and one from Deir az-Zor, had all fled their homes after they were bombed.

READ MORE: Refugees attempt suicide by hanging from tree in Greece

They were selected in a lottery-type process.

Going back to the Vatican with 12 refugees  people who perhaps would have been sent back to Turkey otherwise  definitely sends not just a message of solidarity, but certainly a nudge towards Europes politicians to do something for the many people whove been here for weeks and months, Al Jazeeras Nadim Baba, reporting from Lesbos, said.

We are all migrants

Earlier on Saturday, Francis and the leaders of the worlds Orthodox Christians and the Church of Greece visited the Moria refugee centre on the island which has been converted into a closed detention facility as part of the EU-Turkey deal.





Thousands of people are trapped at the camp, waiting to hear whether they will get asylum or they will deported back to Turkey.

May we  recognise that together, as one human family, we are all migrants, the pope said in a prayer in memory to the hundreds of people of all ages who died in the Aegean while trying to reach Western Europe.

Francis said that he wanted the refugees to know they are not alone and implored European leaders to come to their aid in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity.

We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity, he said.

READ MORE: Pakistani man threatens suicide in Lesbos camp protest

Al Jazeeras Baba said Francis spent a lot of time with the people stuck in the Moria camp, talking to them and hearing how desperate they were to get some answers; to be given some hope whether they will be allowed to settle in Greece or elsewhere in the European Union.

He expressed a lot of sympathy with the people for the hardship that they are experiencing.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees and economic migrants have arrived in Lesbos in recent months on flimsy boats, while hundreds have died on the way.

The EU-Turkey deal as well as the processing centre have been criticised by rights groups, who claim refugees in Lesbos have been treated in a way that breaches basic human rights.

The Vatican insisted Francis visit to Lesbos was purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political or a direct criticism of the EU plan.
Visit expected to turn spotlight on Europes controversial deal with Turkey to end the unprecedented refugee crisis.

Pope Francis is visiting Lesbos, the Greek island on the frontline of Europes refugee crisis for people seeking to reach Western Europe on boats from Turkey.

Francis, who took off from Romes Fiumicino airport at 05:20 GMT on Saturday, arrived on the island at about 07:00 GMT for a visit expected to last five hours.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees and economic migrants have arrived in Lesbos in recent months on flimsy boats, while hundreds have died on the way.

READ MORE: Pope Francis washes feet of refugees for Easter Week

In a move bound to turn the spotlight on Europes controversial deal with Turkey to end the unprecedented refugee crisis, Francis was due to visit a processing centre.

The EU-Turkey deal as well as the processing centre have been criticised by rights groups, who claim refugees in Lesbos have been treated in a way that breaches basic human rights.

Francis stay will also include lunch with a handful of refugees in one of the adapted containers used to accommodate them, hearing their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe.

Father, bless me

Al Jazeeras Nadim Baba, reporting from Lesbos, said the refugees told their stories to Francis, with many of them describing the processing centre a prison.

One male adult refugee broke down before the pope and said Father, bless me, he said.

The Vatican insists that the visit is of humanitarian nature, not political. However, Greek media reports say he offered to take eight Syrian refugees back to Vatican.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos.

The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

Municipal crews had scrubbed the walls of the port after graffiti reading Papa Dont Preach was sprayed in black at several points on the seafront in Mytilene.

The Vatican insists Francis visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political or a direct criticism of the EU plan.
The Hope of Syria robotics team, composed entirely of refugee students, has advanced to an international competition.

Taanayel, Bekaa, Lebanon  After more than five years of brutal conflict, Hope of Syria may sound like an ambitious name  but this young team of robot engineers is eager to help shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding their country.

The team, composed entirely of Syrian refugee students, recently won a national robotics competition in Lebanon, when their robot, SYR01, managed to shoot the most balls into a net. They will now compete in the Vex world robotics competition on April 20 in the US state of Kentucky, coming up against some 450 other teams from around the world.

While winning the tournament is their first priority, team member Amjad al-Homsi, 17, says they also want to draw attention to the plight of Syrians.

[Its about] putting the spotlight on Syrians, Homsi, the teams engineering network manager, told Al Jazeera. We want to tell them that instead of the bad or difficult circumstances, they can do something  they can rebuild.

Homsi, who is originally from Damascus, says that when he returns to Syria, he wants to continue in this field, working in mechatronics, which combines mechanical, computer and electrical engineering.

My dream is to rebuild Syria, and to be part of that process, Homsi said.

Fatima al-Soki, 16, one of the teams programmers, is also hoping to turn this into a career.

This is the first time that Ive done programming, and Ive been really excited to come to class, Soki told Al Jazeera. I want to be a software engineer, and I hope the skills I am learning now will help all Syrians in the future.

READ MORE: Syrian women share stories of resilience

Mohammad al-Hasan, who directs the Continuing Education and Community Service Programme at MAPs, a Lebanese NGO catering to Syrian refugees, is passionate about inculcating this sense of optimism in students about a shared future back in Syria. Hope of Syria came about as part of a robotics class offered by Hasans programme.

These skills and this knowledge will create a revolution in their minds, he told Al Jazeera. Good ideas come from sharing, not from one person. We want to raise our voice to the world community to support refugees education. It is more important than relief or aid.

If we lose this generation, we will lose the future, Hasan added.

Tens of thousands of Syrian children in Lebanon do not attend school, sometimes due to the expense of transportation or school books, but also because parents often rely on the income that their children can earn.

Hasans programme, which provides an alternative for these children, is being funded by Orienthelfer, a German NGO. Bilal Hittawi, an Orienthelfer representative who works from the organisations Beirut office, recently visited the MAPs centre for a celebratory party for the robotics team.

I want to make robots to clear up the waste of the war. by Mohammed al-Khoshfeh, Hope of Syria's team captain

They are refugees because of the war, but they are normal people; they are talented, they are educated, they can do a lot, Hittawi told Al Jazeera. We have to support and let them be involved in other communities, and not just [be] outsiders.

Hope of Syrias team captain, 19-year-old Daraya native Mohammed al-Khoshfeh, has been interested in robotics for years, and says he is excited to learn more from the other teams in the United States next week.

All Syrians  can learn these things, even outside of school. You can build a robot just by playing, Khoshfeh told Al Jazeera, noting that he would like to help with the postwar rebuilding efforts in Syria whenever he is able to return home. I want to make robots to clear up the waste of the war.

Mulham Roumia, who teaches the robotics class at MAPs and is himself Syrian, is supportive of this idea.

Our children in Syria want to be taught, and they need to be given the hope that they can build Syria, Roumia told Al Jazeera.

If Hope of Syria wins in Kentucky, the prize will be dedicated to all Syrian refugees around the world, said 17-year-old team member Abdul Rahman Mawas.

Every one of them can be a beneficial person within the community, he said. Everyone should have a dream to follow, and they will achieve it.
Story of one man who was refused a visa to extend his stay in Italy as Africa takes first steps to implement agreements.

At the Valetta summit in Malta in November, European and African heads of state pledged to halt the flow of refugees and economic migrants and promised new funds to do so.

Now they are taking the first steps to implement their agreements.

After living in Italy for 17 years, Ndary Sylla was refused a visa extension and was forced to return to Senegal.

I grew up in Italy. It is like my country, Sylla told Al Jazeera.

I love it there. I have friends, family and it was my home but, in the end, my being in Italy was seen as a problem for the state.

Sylla is now selling Italian ice cream on a beach in Mbour, south of the capital Dakar, years after leaving Senegal to find better-paying work.

Last year, people like Sylla sent back a total of $1.6bn to their relatives in the country, proving that they are one of Senegals lifelines.





In 2015, over a million people were trafficked into the European Union illegally, with thousands dying along the way.

The area they are transiting through are governed by groups that use the migrants as commodity  they extort them, they extort their family and some are killed. It is a drama that unfolds under no ones eyes, said Patricia Danzi, ICRC regional director of Africa.

Last November, African countries acknowledged their shared responsibility in this crisis.

The EU is offering the African Union $1.8bn to fund programmes to better police borders and assist economic migrants to return to their home countries.

Italy is now investing in businesses set up by returning migrants, and sees them as untapped potential who need economic incentives to stay in Senegal.

We want to create development in this place in a way that Senegalese youngsters can realise their dreams here so that they dont go away, says Puasqualino Procacci of the Italian Cooperation in Senegal.

For many of those forced out of Europe  either voluntarily or through deportation  there is a sense of shame associated with returning home, given the expectations of relatives to provide for them and others.
UK protesters march against spending cuts, with some demanding PM Camerons resignation after Panama Papers revelations.

Tens of thousands of people have marched through central London to protest against UK government cuts to social welfare and public institutions.

No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts, the anti-austerity protesters chanted on Saturday, calling for increased investment in the health service, housing, education and public sector pay, as well as for protection on Britains troubled steel industry.

Some protesters also demanded that Prime Minister David Cameron quit following revelations that he had shares in an offshore fund set up by his late father, holding up banners saying Ditch Dodgy Dave and Cameron Must Go  Tories Out.

For somebody in that position, you have a duty of care to the people of the country to be very open, very transparent. Just because something is legal doesnt always make it right, protester Sarah Henney told the AFP news agency.

The march was planned before Camerons family finances were revealed in the so-called Panama Papers, but organising group The Peoples Assembly said it proves that this is a government for the privileged few.

Trade union leaders and politicians addressed the crowd gathered in a rainy Trafalgar Square, with the opposition Labour party promising to end years of austerity imposed following the global financial crisis.

In a video message, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: The austerity we are in is a political choice, not an economic necessity.

READ MORE: Cameron fights back after criticism over finances

Cameron said he sold his offshore holdings before taking office in 2010 and denied allegations that his father had set up his fund to avoid paying tax.

But the row has put him under pressure at a difficult time, as he seeks to manage an increasingly bitter fight within his Conservative party over the upcoming referendum on EU membership.

Some 128 of the 330 Conservative MPs and several of Camerons own ministers are campaigning against him in favour of leaving the EU ahead of the June 23 vote.

Veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke warned on Saturday that if Cameron loses the vote, he will be forced out of office.
Deployment ordered after second tremor jolts southwestern island of Kyushu, leaving 32 dead and hundreds injured.

Troops have been called in after a second, more powerful earthquake hit southern Japan, killing 32 people, toppling large buildings and causing a massive landslide just over a day after an earlier deadly tremor.

Saturdays earthquake rocked Japans south after a 6.2 quake hit near Mashiki town on Thursday, killing nine people and injuring about 1,000 others.





More than 1,500 people have been injured, 80 of them seriously, by the two quakes on the southwestern Kyushu island, Yoshihide Suga, Japanese government spokesperson, said.

Suga said the military would be boosted to 20,000 for rescue efforts. Police and firefighters were also being ordered to the southwestern region.

Japanese media also reported the eruption of Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan located on the island. That was the first eruption in a month.

Smoke was rising about 100 metres but no damage has been reported.

The powerful earthquake on Saturday set off a huge landslide that swept away homes and cut off a highway in one area, and unlike the earlier quake which mostly affected old houses, larger buildings were damaged and some toppled across Kumamoto prefecture.

There is a great possibly that the damage will spread widely so we must give it our all to gather the information on the damage situation and make the rescues and relief, Shinzo Abe, Japans prime minister, said on Saturday.

After Thursdays initial tremors, more than 3,000 troops, police, and firefighters were dispatched to the area from around Japan.

About 44,000 people stayed in shelters.

Japan is frequently hit by major quakes. In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake led to a devastating tsunami that killed 18,000 people along Japans northeast coast.

The wave struck the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing a major radiation leakage.

More than 100,000 displaced people are still unable to return to their homes near the nuclear plant because of the contamination.

The city office in Uto was badly damaged and said to be in danger of collapse, while aerial footage shot by broadcaster TBS showed the toppled centuries-old Aso shrine, its main gates flattened and wooden columns reduced to rubble.

Airport closed

In Kumamoto city, authorities evacuated patients from a hospital over fears it could collapse and images showed the tilted building.

The regions transport network suffered considerable damage with one tunnel caved in, a highway bridge damaged, roads blocked by landslips and train services halted, media reported.

Kumamoto airport was forced to close after a ceiling collapsed from the shaking, Jiji Press reported, with no immediate plans to resume flights, and communications in the area were spotty.

Gen Aoki, a Japan Meteorological Agency official, said Saturdays quake was the strongest to hit in recent days, and that Thursdays was merely a precursor.

The US Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 7.0, or 6.3 times bigger than the 6.2 tremor recorded on Thursday.

There have been more than 230 aftershocks of at least level 1 on the Japanese scale since Thursdays shock, said Japans meteorological agency.

Japan is on the seismically active Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean and has building codes aimed at helping structures withstand earthquakes.
Meeting between two leaders comes a day after Iran is rebuked for role in regional conflicts at OIC summit in Istanbul.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani have agreed to strengthen economic ties and cooperate in the fight against terrorism.

Their meeting on Saturday in Erdogans palace near the Turkish capital Ankara came a day after Iran was accused of supporting armed groups and interfering in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries, including Syria and Yemen, at a summit of Muslim heads of state in Istanbul.

Rouhani boycotted the closing meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Friday in protest at the rebuke.

READ MORE: Islamic leaders pledge to combat sectarianism

In a joint press conference on Saturday, Erdogan said Turkey and Iran must collaborate to narrow their differences in order to tackle violence and sectarianism in the region.

It is above all in our own countries interest to strengthen our political dialogue and reduce our differences of opinion to a minimum, Erdogan said.

We have to work together to overcome the problems of terrorism and sectarianism and the related humanitarian crises that are shaking our region, he added.

Boosting trade ties





Energy-hungry Turkey imports large amounts of natural gas from Iran and the two countries are looking to boost banking and trade ties, with the goal of tripling bilateral trade to $30bn annually in the coming years following the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran in January.

The situation is ripe for cooperation between Turkey and Iran in the post-sanctions era, Rouhani said at the news conference.

The most important part is closer ties between banks and credit lines. We decided to improve banking relations.

Turkish banks can now establish branches in Iran to help facilitate economic relations between the two countries, he added.

Despite their rapprochement, Turkey and Iran remain on opposing sides of several fronts, including the civil war in Syria.

Analysis by Jazeeras Jamal Elshayyal in Istanbul

Both countries have found an area that they can agree on  and agree upon strongly. They see that there is mutual benefit in increasing trade ties, promoting tourism and even have some sort of cultural cooperation.

Turkey hadnt signed up to some of the sanctions that were imposed on Iran prior to the nuclear deal  a lot of the money that was going into Iran was going there through Turkish banks  and it doesnt want to lose that trade now, particularly because the Turkish economy domestically has been stuttering in the past couple of years.

President Erdogan and his party need to rejuvenate that economy if they are to regain the popularity that theyve had before.

From an Iranian perspective, they sit on opposite ends with Turkey on several issues  not least the war in Syria, so to focus on an area that they can agree on will detract from maybe some of the areas that they disagree on.

Particularly, that Iran is one of the closest  if not the closest ally of Russia  in the region, and Russia is obviously still on very bad diplomatic terms with Turkey.

The elephant in the room was the war in Syria; it wasnt really discussed, bar few passing comments by President Rouhani where he said that each country had to respect the peoples will to choose their leadership and that they should oppose any foreign interference.

Thats something that a lot of critics will pick up on because actually the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and a lot of Shia militia coming from Iran have been fighting alongside the Syrian army.

Military analysts will point to the fact that probably was it not for Irans military support in Syria, Bashar al-Assads regime wouldnt still be around  it definitely wouldnt be as strong as it is now.

So, there are still severe disagreements between the two countries, however they have found from a money perspective  and they say money talks  business ties that can maybe bring the two countries together.
Residents of Syrias Yarmouk camp faced with desperate humanitarian situation as armed groups battle for 10th day.

Residents in the embattled Yarmouk refugee camp on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus are at risk of dehydration and starvation, the UN has warned, as armed groups continue fighting for control.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said on Saturday that it is greatly alarmed and concerned by the desperate humanitarian consequences being inflicted on civilians since the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) launched an attack on the al-Nusra Front 10 days ago.



The Piano Man of Yarmouk, and what he left behind

The fighting has been intense, and is taking place in the most densely populated areas of Yarmouk, with the use of heavy weapons, explosive devices and weapons of indiscriminate effect, Chris Gunness, UNRWA spokesman, said in a statement.

Calling for an immediate end to the hostilities, Gunness said there is a sharp escalation of humanitarian need in the area, warning that residents are facing starvation and dehydration alongside the heightened risks of serious injury and death from the armed conflict.

Yarmouk, set up as a camp for Palestinian refugees in 1957, has with time developed into a residential neighbourhood inhabited by both Palestinians and Syrians.

It had some 200,000 residents before the start of the uprising that turned into a civil war five years ago.

READ MORE: Yarmouk civilians in line of fire

Of the more than 500,000 Palestinian refugees who lived in the country before the uprising, more than 50,000 have fled and another 3,200 have been killed, according to estimations by the UK-based Action Group for Palestinians in Syria.

The Syrian government and forces loyal to Assad have imposed a tight siege on Yarmouk since early 2013, restricting the entry of food, water, medicine and other humanitarian goods.

In April 2015, ISIL invaded the camp in coordination with al-Nusra and took control of an estimated 90 percent of its territory. However, ISIL subsequently pulled out most of its fighters and stationed them in nearby neighbourhoods in southern Damascus.

The Jafra Foundation, a Yarmouk-based humanitarian group, estimates that a mere 5,000 to 8,000 residents remain at the camp today.

On Wednesday, Yarmouk residents appealed to the armed groups for a six-hour humanitarian ceasefire. However, fighting has continued unabated and ISIL reportedly controls most of the camps territory.

According to the Jafra Foundation, at least 20 homes were burned down on Wednesday alone, and ISIL torched a hospital and the medical supplies inside it.

READ MORE: Beyond Yarmouk, Palestinians in Syria need aid

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Jafra coordinator Wesam Sabaaneh said four civilians were killed as of Wednesday, including two who were beheaded by ISIL fighters.

More than 50 ISIL fighters and a dozen from al-Nusra were killed during the clashes.

Yet, UNRWAs Gunness warned the number of deaths could be much higher now.

Without humanitarian access to the camp, it is impossible to be precise about numbers of fatalities and injuries, he said

Yarmouk is one of at least 18 communities besieged by government forces or armed groups across Syria. An estimated 400,000 people live in areas with no or little access to sustained humanitarian aid, according to UNICEF.

On Saturday, the UN was able to reach Darayya, a town besieged for more than three years, in order to access the urgent humanitarian needs.

Planes also dropped food packages into Kefraya and Fouaa, Shia towns in the Idlib province currently encaged by al-Nusra, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The United States has transferred nine Yemeni men to Saudi Arabia from the US military prison at Guantanamo, including an inmate who had been on a hunger strike since 2007, US officials said.

The transfer marked the largest group of prisoners shipped out of the naval base in Cuba since President Barack Obama rolled out his plan to shut the controversial detention centre there before he leaves office.

The United States is grateful to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, the Pentagon said in a statement on Saturday.

The Saudis agreed, after lengthy negotiations, to take the nine Yemenis for resettlement and put them through a government-run rehabilitation programme that seeks to reintegrate them into society.

They could not be sent back to their homeland because US officials fear that the instability there would enable them to resume the militant activities that landed them at Guantanamo in the first place.

The most prominent of the transfers was Tariq Ba Odah, a 37-year-old Yemeni whom the military had been force-feeding daily since he went on a hunger strike in 2007. His legal team said he was down to 34kg, losing about half of his body weight.

Ba Odahs lawyer, Omar Farah, said the US government had played Russian roulette with his clients life and that his transfer ends one of the most appalling chapters in Guantanamos sordid history.

With the latest departures, there are now 80 prisoners at Guantanamo, most held without charge or trial for more than a decade, drawing international condemnation.

The transfers took place as Obama prepared to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and Thursday for a summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
We explore the reasons behind the steady collapse of the steel economy, from China to Britains oldest plant.

Steel is found everywhere from bridges to sinks, but the global steel industry is going through the worst downturn in 50 years.

An unbalanced supply and demand equation has left even China, the worlds largest producer and consumer of steel, calling for global cooperation to try and tackle the industrys problems.

But while China is calling for cooperation, many blame Chinas steel mills for flooding the market with cheap supply.

China has produced more steel in the last two years than Britain has since 1870. by Russell Jones, Partner, Llewellyn Consulting

Over in the UK, Tata Steel, an Indian company, put its entire business up for sale, blaming cheap Chinese imports for its decision.

The UK boasts the worlds oldest steel industry and Port Talbot in south Wales is home to Britains largest steel plant.

With the UK steel industry on the verge of collapse, we see how tens of thousands of jobs are at risk with the imminent closure, or at least significant downsizing, of the Port Talbot steelworks, which has already been on the decline for decades.

Although many blame the cheap steel making its way from China, others say the UK government has not offered the steel industry enough protection to help it stay competitive.

Steelmakers in China are also suffering. When China outlined its latest five-year plan it said that job cuts in the steel sector were likely.

In China, we see how job losses in the steel industry have become more commonplace. With the economy growing at its slowest pace in 25 years and steel mills producing at overcapacity with the lack of demand for raw materials, China has been exporting steel at low prices. Economists say, however, this is only a short-term solution and companies will need to restructure to be efficient.

Russell Jones, a partner at Llewellyn Consulting, speaks to us about the steel industrys problems.

Also on this episode of Counting the Cost:

Lebanons bad rating: Lebanon has borne the brunt of the Syrian refugee crisis over the past five years and has faced political and financial turbulence. Now, the Saudi decision to cease payment of $4bn in military aide and its ban on Saudi citizens travelling to Lebanon  a move than other Gulf countries like Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Bahrain have emulated  have caused Standard & Poors credit rating outlook for Lebanon from fairly positive plunge to negative.

Hong Kongs property market slump: Hong Kong is known for its boom and bust real estate patterns and for being one of the most unaffordable places to buy property in the world. Falling prices and economic uncertainty have analysts describing the market as a slow motion train wreck. But its not bad news for everyone: this slowdown is being considered a glimmer of hope by first home owners, who have so far been priced out of the market, and investors wanting to buy back in.
How coverage differs when it comes to Regeni and thousands of disappeared Egyptians. Plus, Malaysias muzzled media.

On January 25, the day that marks the fifth anniversary of the 2011 uprising, Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni disappeared. Ten days later, his body was found in Cairo by the side of the road.

Regenis death has made news globally. His photo has circulated around the world because, unlike the images of thousands of Egyptians who have come to similar fates, his has more political currency on the international news market.

The ensuing coverage has prompted a major diplomatic fallout  and also questions about those whose photos and stories have failed to make it on to our news bulletins.

This week, we take a look at how the media both in Egypt and Italy are dealing with the story.

Talking us through this media divide are: Sherine Tadros, Middle East correspondent at Sky News; Laura Cappon, Editor at Rai Radio 2; Giuseppe Acconcia, journalist and researcher; and Dr HA Hellyer, Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Other stories on our radar this week: Another Syrian journalist has been killed in Turkey at the hands of ISIL; an Australian TV crew has been arrested in Lebanon for involvement in a kidnapping saga  not for their reporting, but for facilitating the whole thing; and imagine life under a Trump presidency  thats what one paper did with a fake front page-come-public health warning. Also, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogans sense of humour is being tested again  this time it was a satirical poem aired on public broadcaster ZDF.

Covering Corruption: Malaysias Media Morass

In May 2015, investigative news website the Sarawak Report broke the 1MDB corruption scandal  millions of dollars allegedly misappropriated from the countrys development fund into Prime Minister Najib Razaks personal bank accounts.

Coverage of the story revealed something many Malaysians already knew: that the countrys media landscape is split between mainstream outlets unwilling to report such stories and online publishers facing increasing pressure to keep silent.
It's been a few years since essences hit shelves stateside after making waves in Korea. But the essencea watery, serum-like moisturizer with high concentrations of active ingredientsis still a relative enigma: Is it a toner? (No.) When do I layer it on? (First, before any other products.) What exactly does it do? (Hydrates the skin, leaving it dewy and bright in seconds.) Because an essence softens dead skin cells, anything you put on after will penetrate the skin better, says Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. So, why not translate that theory to our hair?

If there's anything we've learned, it's that you can count on Korea to pioneer new, sometimes bizarre products (rubber masks, anyone?). Enter hair essences.

"It's a similar concept to a face essence in that it helps hydrate and nourish the hair so that it is silky and shiny," said Charlotte Cho, a cofounder of the K-beauty retailer Soko Glam. According to Cho, hair essences are often sold as mists that are formulated to moisturize hair without weighing it down. Like face essences, hair essences have a thin consistency, like water, and they absorb into the hair immediately. Cho also explained that hair essences are a beauty staple in Korea, saying that it is "considered to be an essential step in your overall daily beauty regimen for silky-smooth strands. All the girls have both a skin-care essence and a hair essence."

So naturally I decided to try one out for myself. I went for Skin Food Apple Mango Volumizing Hair Essence, the only hair essence currently listed on Soko Glam. Described on the label as a serum, this hair essence promises to improve hair's elasticity and body. It's pretty fragrant (it smells subtly like mango, as the name would suggest) and nonsticky, so that's a win so far.
           2005     ..        
Authorities in Gambia must immediately investigate the death in detention of a well-known political activist and release all other peaceful protestors who have been detained, Amnesty International said today.



According to information received by Amnesty International, Solo Sandeng, the National Organizing Secretary of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), died in detention shortly after his arrest for participating in a peaceful protest. The circumstances of his death are as yet unknown.



Another UDP member, Fatoumata Jawara, is also detained and is believed to be suffering from serious injuries. The cause of her injuries is unclear but Amnesty International is deeply concerned for her welfare. Both opposition members were arrested by the police on Thursday 14 April following a peaceful protest in advance of Decembers elections.



The tragic death in detention of Solo Sandeng must leave no space for impunity. The authorities must conduct an immediate, thorough and independent investigation, said Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty International West Africa researcher.



Gambia must uphold the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, especially in advance of the elections. All of the peaceful protestors arrested by the authorities should be immediately and unconditionally released. Any who are injured must receive urgent medical treatment.



According to people present at the protest, Thursday afternoons demonstration in Serrekunda, Banjul, was peaceful with participants holding signs calling for electoral reforms.



The protest was dispersed by police who arrested several people, including the following UDP members: Solo Sandeng, Fatoumata Jawara (Female Youth President), Fatou Camara, (Constituency Womens Leader), Nokoi Njie (2nd Vice President of the Womens Wing) and Lang Marong (Deputy Campaign Manager). They were taken to Mile 2 Prison and later to the National Intelligence Agency for interrogation.



Solo Sandeng dedicated many years of his life to politics in Gambia and was previously arrested in 2013 for his political activities.
Goldman Sachs has evidently bought their way out of jail, as did the others, with a headline billion-dollar settlement for financial wrongdoing leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. Case closed, we are told.

The Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group has already reached historic settlements with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. They agreed to pay $13 billion and $16.6 billion respectively. Citibank settled for $7 billion and Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $3.2 billion.

Goldman Sachs finished off the list with a $5 billion fine. They have admitted to several shortcomings on their part in exchange for the penalty.

The sum total of the bank fines mentioned now totals $44.8 Billion.

The collection of these monies is due to the efforts of President Obamas Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Forces RMBS Working Group. But once settled, where does the money go, and who decides? Regarding the Goldman settlement:

The $2.385 billion civil monetary penalty resolves claims under FIRREA, which authorizes the federal government to impose civil penalties against financial institutions that violate various predicate offenses, including wire and mail fraud. The settlement expressly preserves the governments ability to bring criminal charges against Goldman, and does not release any individuals from potential criminal or civil liability. In addition, as part of the settlement, Goldman agreed to fully cooperate with any ongoing investigations related to the conduct covered by the agreement. Of the $875 million Goldman has agreed to pay to settle claims by various other federal and state entities: Goldman will pay $575 million to settle claims by the National Credit Union Administration, $37.5 million to settle claims by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines as successor to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, $37.5 million to settle claims by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, $190 million to settle claims by the state of New York, $25 million to settle claims by the state of Illinois and $10 million to settle claims by the state of California. Goldman will pay out the remaining $1.8 billion in the form of relief to aid consumers harmed by its unlawful conduct. $1.52 billion of that relief will be paid out pursuant to an agreement with the United States that Goldman will provide loan modifications, including loan forgiveness and forbearance, to distressed and underwater homeowners throughout the country, as well as financing for affordable rental and for-sale housing throughout the country. This agreement represents the largest commitment in any RMBS agreement to provide financing for affordable housinga crucial need following the turmoil of the financial crisis. $280 million will be paid out by Goldman pursuant to an agreement separately negotiated with the state of New York.

In a story from the Chicago Sun Times we get more details.

The bank (Goldman Sachs) will pay nearly $23.8 million to the Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois, $472,500 to the State Universities Retirement System of Illinois, and $737,500 to the Illinois State Board of Investment, which oversees the State Employees Retirement System, General Assembly Retirement System and Judges Retirement System, according to the statement.

Regarding the JP Morgan fine:

The FHFA accused JPMorgan and its affiliates of making false statements and omitting material facts in selling $33 billion in mortgage bonds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Sept. 7, 2005, through Sept. 19, 2007. Those two firms, regulated by FHFA, have taken $187.5 billion in federal aid since then.

Here is the breakdown of the disbursement of the 13 billion dollar JP Morgan fine:

$7 Billion goes to state and federal agencies:

$4 billion for the Federal Housing Finance Agency goes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This deal was announced in October.

$1.4 billion for the National Credit Union Association to reduce assessments for credit unions.

$515 million for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

$613 million to New York attorney general

$299 million to California attorney general

$101 million to Illinois attorny general for state pension funds.

$100 million to New York attorney general for expanding homeowner assistance programs.

$20 million to Delaware attorney general

$34 million to Massachusetts attorney general. The office has not decided how to spend the money.

$4 Billion goes to consumer relief:

$2 billion credit for JPMorgan to reduce the balance of mortgages in foreclosure-racked areas like Detroit and certain neighborhoods in New York.

Up to $500 million credit for JPMorgan briefly halting the collection of mortgage payments.

Credit for JPMorgan to reduce interest rates on existing loans, offer new loans to low-income home buyers and keep those loans on its books.

Credit for JPMorgan to demolish abandoned homes and other efforts focused on curbing urban blight.

$2 billion goes to Justice Department:

$2 billion fine goes to United States Treasury. Federal prosecutors in Sacramento led an inquiry into JPMorgans mortgage practices

There are two things very clear. No one goes to jail, and the federal government and this administration has a pot of money that no one in particular is monitoring. Incarceration of Wall Streeters doesnt fill the money pot, does it? Additionally, many of the components of the fine are tax deductible therefore the headline numbers dont truly reflect the real penalties incurred.

Fairness and pragmatism would dictate that the money should go to reduce the federal costs of the financial crisis and, where possible, financially assist those specifically and uniquely harmed by the admitted fraudulent activities. But everyone was harmed by the crisis, werent they? So who decides exactly where the money goes? Did Chrysler bondholders get covered? Did you?

Yet in these provided settlement details, very few states seem to be involved in the disbursement of the money. Mentioned are the New York attorney general, the Illinois attorney general, the California attorney general, the Massachusetts and Delaware attorneys general. All Democrat-controlled states with some hefty electoral vote totals. What of the other 45 States? Did they forget to join in on this legal matter?

Illinois comes out very nicely in this Goldman Sachs fine disbursement. Their underfunded, overpromised pension systems get some fresh oxygen. Any money for the Border Patrol Union? Curious that so many other states arent benefiting. What of Texas or Arizona?

California gets a largess, and the manner in which the money is to be spent is a little clouded. Transparency, only to a point, then poof.

The entire matter smacks of criminals bankrolling, via their fines, a slush fund for the administrations pet projects, with some Democrat electoral vote gathering thrown in. All fines should have been promptly deposited into the national treasury. There is plenty of room.
It is troubling that almost anything still goes. Good authors who once knew better have again succumbed to bigotry of Palestinian pressure groups against Israel. A number of them are now endorsing attempts by those groups to prevent better words emerging from anyone connected with the State of Israel.

The unseemly petition by these writers to deny free speech was made known in a message, published on April 5, 2016, that was sent by the pro-BDS organization Adalah-NY, the NY campaign for the boycott of Israel, 11 anti-racist organizations, and more than 100 writers to the PEN American Center. The Center is holding its World Voices Festival in New York City for the week from April 25-May 1, 2016. The letter demanded that PEN reject the Israeli Embassy.

The signatories to the letter were acting in a manner incompatible to the very principles of PEN and of any writer truly engaged in promoting dialogue. PEN American Center was created in 1922 to promote literature and support literary fellowship. It calls itself the U.S. branch of the worlds leading international literary and human rights organization.

The onslaught of those writers who automatically endorse the Palestinian Narrative of Victimhood and the efforts, in one way or another, to prevent or limit free speech by Israelis and their ability to participate in rational exchange of views, never stops. To their disgrace, the usual suspects and more than 100 writers including Pulitzer Prize winners Alice Walker, Richard Ford, and Junot Diaz, are guilty of this.

Moreover, the letter itself is hypocritical. The writers pretend their action is not a call to boycott individual Israelis, but instead, using weird, disingenuous, and meaningless language, that it is a call not to partner with the Israel government or other complicit (sic) institutions. In itself, the letter is a gross insult to those independent Israeli writers who may participate in the Festival and are implicitly accused of and assumed guilty of complicity.

One of the prominent persons who signed the letter is Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple. She has long been well-known, indeed renowned, for her automatic antagonism and critical view of Israel. Now, in this total irrelevant animus against Israel she complains of the failure of PEN to stand up for Palestinian writers, academics, and students who are suffering under a repressive Israeli regime that denies their right to freedom of expression.

The real question is whether by using this extreme rhetoric Walker is, deliberately or unknowingly, trying to prevent a peaceful dialogue between the State of Israel and Palestinians. If so, she must be held accountable for a divisive and reactionary point of view opposing the development of Palestinians, as well as falsely denouncing Israel as a racist state.

Among others who have supported Palestinian bigotry is Angela Davis. Her problem, and therefore that of the letter, is that she has no credentials to speak for the suffering. Even her leftist fellow travelers might remember that she endorsed the imprisonment of Communist political dissidents in 1968, and was awarded the International Peace Prize by Communist East Germany. The most devastating comment on the real Davis came from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the real sufferer in Soviet Gulags, in his remarkable Voice of Freedom speech to the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. on July 9, 1975.

Solzhenitsyn in his bitter criticism declared that in the Soviet press emphasized the suffering of Davis as if she were the only person in the world who was suffering, and that little Soviet schoolchildren were told to write petitions in defense of her. However, when Davis was asked by Soviet and Czech political dissidents to help their friends in jail she refused. Her shocking, inhumane answer, one that should be remembered by the present writers and by PEN, was They deserve what they get. Let them remain in prison.

Many of the people who signed the letter are writers of fiction but their flights of fancy has led them to the fantasy that Israel as always is engaged in a vast international conspiracy regarding the Festival. The PEN Festival has listed 15 agencies, starting with the Ford Foundation, as sponsors: Israel is not one of them. But Israel is mentioned, among a number of others, as one of the Champions of the Festival. Of course, for them Israel is engaged in conspiracy by the high crime of sponsoring one literary panel in the Festival, one dealing with freedom from torture. But it is only partly guilty because the other culprits also in it are the French Embassy and OR books.

The fact is that the Israel made a small contribution to help pay the costs of airfare, hotel, and interpreters for individual Israeli writers who are participating in the festival. Israel is one of the 14 agencies, including France, Germany and Poland, supporting individual authors.

Those writers who signed the letter, who are not automatically haters of Israel, should be ashamed of themselves, not only for their endorsement of the extreme Palestinian hostility to Israel, but also for their refusal to examine the reality of Israeli life.

Instead of taking part in machinations designed to denying free speech to Israelis they should be addressing a real problem, dramatically revealed in a report in April, about the perpetrators of crime in Israel.

On April 10. 2016, the Israeli government introduced a plan to deal with crime in the Arab communities in Israel. The Arab population, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Circassian communities amount to almost a quarter of the Israel population. About 60 per cent of the murders in Israel take place in Arab communities, as well as 47 per cent of robberies, and 32 per cent of reported property crime. Since 2000, about 1,100 Arabs have been murdered by other Israeli Arabs, a yearly average of 70 victims of Arab-on-Arab murders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recognizing a real problem, has called for equality in law enforcement along with more police to serve Arab communities. In a forthright comment, he declared the intention to reduce other gaps in Israeli society at large and particularly in Israeli Arab society concerning housing, education, employment, and transportation.

Is it too much to suggest that the 100 and more writers of the letter to PEN might listen to and benefit from Netanyahus effort to reform and also from recent harsh criticism of the Saudi Arabian TV anchor, Nadine Al-Budair? The anchor said that it is time for Muslims to own up to elements of their faith that encourage followers to commit terrorist attacks.

It is certainly time for those not committed to a lifetime devoted to warfare, physically or otherwise, against Israel to recognize they have been led into an abyss of hatred of Israel by those dedicated to its destruction. Like the authorities of PEN they should not succumb to the hatred.
I have to admit that I cant really follow the economic arguments that Bernies socialist policies would bankrupt the United States and destroy its quality of life. Financials are tough to follow. But I actually have a simpler question that I would like to ask Senator Sanders that speaks not to his economics but to his politics. I know that Bernie lately has a lot of (poorly-informed) Americans turned on by socialism, but I have a question about a prior, very revealing thing Senator Sanders did in the not-so-distant past. Im a bit troubled by his desire to visit and stay for an extended time in the Soviet Union in 1988 -- for his honeymoon, no less! I took my new wife to New Mexico for our honeymoon and her family thought that was strange. Although, I must admit that Bernie apparently started a trend, as it appears that fellow New Yorker, Bill DeBlasio, was a fellow honeymoon traveler to communist climes, having marched his bride off to sumptuous Cuba after their nuptials. It seems neither of them were overly enthralled with their new spouses, whisking them off to such 5-star culinary and lodging destinations.

Bernies choice reminds me historically of the halcyon days of international communist fraternalism in the 1930s when misguided Americans in the hundreds marched off to join the Abraham Lincoln brigades in Spain to fight alongside the communists there. What troubles me, though, is that those deluded idealists of the 1930s were totally clueless as to the track record of the communist Soviet Union with regard to the state-sponsored deaths of millions of its own citizens in the Great Famine and KGB (NKVD)-led purges. But Bernie, you knew of the millions murdered and of the Gulags and yet you still chose to spend your honeymoon in the real world equivalent of Mordor! If he did it today, I could chalk it up to Alzheimers, but in 1988? We sleepwalked in 2008 and 2012 through the revelations concerning Baracks anti-American tendencies. Are we going to repeat our national mistake?

For the nice guy, democratic socialist that Bernie seems to be, this decision has me really wondering about him. Oh, by the way, about the democratic socialist thing, a final word of advice for Bernie  Id drop the Democrat part and just go with Socialist. Remember -- Kim Jong Uns (underfed) workers paradise in North Korea? Its formally called The Democratic People's Republic of Korea. And then theres good old East Germany, the Soviet satellite with the most ruthless secret police. It was actually formally termed The German Democratic Republic. So, all of you extremely well-read Americans flocking to Senator Sanders -- tread carefully here. A people do get the government that they deserve! My advice to Bernie in fact is what the hell, it is 2016 in America, so Id just come out of the closet completely and use Communist not Socialist. If Americans elected Barack twice and were okay with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers and Valerie Jarrett, I think theyll be more than fine with Communist. After all, a people ignorant of history will have great fun repeating it!

Oh and to all fellow traveler Democrats this coming summer -- have fun in The Peoples Democratic Republic of Philadelphia.
More than a decade of war and massive cuts to the defense budget has left most Marine Corps aircraft grounded.

The Corps simply doesn't have the money to purchase spare parts to keep their planes in the air.

Fox News:

Today, the vast majority of Marine Corps aircraft cant fly. The reasons behind the grounding of these aircraft include the toll of long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the fight against ISIS and budget cuts precluding the purchase of the parts needed to fix an aging fleet, according to dozens of Marines interviewed by Fox News at two air stations in the Carolinas this week. Out of 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters in the Marine Corps inventory, only about 30% are ready to fly, according to statistics provided by the Corps. Similarly, only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters are airworthy. U.S. military spending has dropped from $691 billion in 2010 to $560 billion in 2015. The cuts came just as the planes were returning from 15 years of war, suffering from overuse and extreme wear and tear. Many highly trained mechanics in the aviation depots left for jobs in the private sector. Quite honestly, it is coming on the backs of our young Marines, Lt. Col. Matthew Pablo Brown, commanding officer of VMFA(AW)-533, a Hornet squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina. They can do it, and they are doing it but it is certainly not easy. Brown's squadron is due to deploy to the Middle East in the coming days. Lack of funds has forced the Marines to go outside the normal supply chain to procure desperately needed parts. Cannibalization, or taking parts from one multi-million dollar aircraft to get other multi-million dollar aicraft airborne, has become the norm. To get one Hornet flying again, Marines at Beaufort stripped a landing gear door off a mothballed museum jet. The door, found on the flight deck of the World War II-era USS Yorktown, was last manufactured over a decade ago. Imagine taking a 1995 Cadillac and trying to make it a Ferrari, Sgt. Argentry Uebelhoer said days before embarking on his third deployment. You're trying to make it faster, more efficient, but it's still an old airframe  [and] the aircraft is constantly breaking.

The budget cuts are largely the result of a draw down of forces in Afghanistan and when President Obama suddenly quit Iraq. But sequestration can also be blamed for about $80 billion of those cuts.

Sequestration decimated the military's readiness. Many may not realize but about 60% of defense spending is for pay, pensions, and healthcare for our military and their families. These line items are nearly untouchable when it comes to budget cuts. Defense planners can extend the time period it takes to bring new weapons and platforms on line, but realistically, readiness funds are the best option to achieve the kind of cuts needed under sequestration. Readiness funds are always the first to be cut and the last to be funded.

We found this same situation in the late 1970s after years of cuts following the end of the Vietnam War. The debacle in the Iranian desert where several aircraft were grounded as a result of poor maintenance eventually cost the US 8 lives in a futile attempt to rescue our embassy hostages:

The operation encountered many obstacles and was eventually aborted. Eight helicopters were sent to the first staging area, Desert One, but only five arrived in operational condition. One encountered hydraulic problems, another got caught in a cloud of very fine sand, and the last one showed signs of a cracked rotor blade. During planning it was decided that the mission would be aborted if fewer than six helicopters remained, despite only four being absolutely necessary.[3] In a move that is still discussed in military circles, the field commanders advised mission abort, which President Carter accepted and confirmed.[4] As the U.S. force prepared to leave, one of the helicopters crashed into a transport aircraft which contained both servicemen and jet fuel. The resulting fire destroyed both aircraft and killed eight servicemen.

This is the price we pay for our shortsightedness. But there is little appetite on either side of the aisle to spend the kind of money necessary to rebuild our military.

We live in perilous times and the near future does not appear good for our military.
A bizarre response by feminists and others on the left to some common sense advice John Kasich said he would give his daughters about avoiding rape, sexual assault, and sexual harrassment. He spoke at a town hall at Lawrence University in New York:

First, Kasich spoke of the importance of confidential reporting mechanisms and rape kit accessibility if something happens to you along the lines of sexual harassment or whatever. Then, Kasich claimed that Ohio is in the process of ensuring that the states college students know the states laws and confidential policies so co-eds are not vulnerable, at risk, and can be preyed upon. I have two 16-year-old daughters, and I dont even like to think about it, Kasich said. Incidentally, neither do women. Its sad, but its something that I have to worry about, the student responded. Id also give you one bit of advice, Kasich went on. Dont go to parties where theres a lot of alcohol. The crowd applauded him.

Exactly what I'd tell my daughter if I had one. Don't put yourself in risky situations. Keep your wits about you. Use your good judgment.

But to the left, this is "mansplaining":

Kasichs viewpoint is a cynical, victim-blaming, finger-wagging perspective. Former Dear Prudence columnist Emily Yoffe once made a similar argument to Kasichs in the pages of Slate, when she wrote that the rise of female binge drinking has made campuses a prey-rich environment. If women didnt get drunk, the thinking goes, they would be able to resist the advances of men waiting in dark corners, ready to prey on easy, intoxicated targets. And if they just stayed away from men who cant control their alcohol-amplified sexual impulses, they wouldnt become the victim of such heinous crimes. It would make just as much, if not more sense to tell men to stop drinking so much so they dont rape women. But rape and sexual assault are just as much about power and violence as they are about sex, and alcohol is not the root cause of rape. Kasich should blame misogyny, poor sex education, and toxic male behavior, not women, for the scourge of campus sexual assault. Women dont need paternalistic counsel from politiciansthey need men to learn about consent, respect for boundaries, and the swift punishment that awaits them when colleges and courts do their jobs.

You have to completely twist what Kasich is saying to come up with the conclusion that he's blaming women for anything. It's a simple matter of taking responsibility for your own safety. This is empowering, not degrading of women. "Women don't need paternalistic counseling" is an absurd statement to make to a father giving advice to his daughters. A father can't give his children the benefit of his wisdom? Sheesh.

Kasich's problem is that he didn't blame men. He didn't paint men as beasts who can't control themselves. The reason he didn't is because he wasn't asked to solve the problem of sexual assault on campus. All he did was offer common sense advice to women - advice that places the responsibility for staying safe not in the hands of university officials or daddy government - but exactly where it belongs.
It was a gathering of leftists today in Rome, as Pope Francis met with Bernie Sanders following the presidential candidates 15-minute address to a conference on social, economic and environmental issues, decrying wage and wealth equality. Normally, pontiffs are loath to give the appearance of intervening in American elections, and for that reason there are no pictures available of the meeting. But the fact remains that on the eve of the must-win New York Primary, Sanders is showcasing to the many Catholic voters of New York that he is acceptable to the leader of their church, despite being a Marxist non-observant Jew.

Sanders used media interviews following the meeting to focus on his program of envy and the global warming hypothesis, now being enshrined as religious doctrine of the left.

I conveyed to him my great admiration for the extraordinary work that he is doing all over the world in demanding that morality be part of our economy, Mr. Sanders said during his flight back to New York from Rome. We have got to move toward a moral economy, not simply an economy based on greed, he added. Mr. Sanders said he had also thanked the pope for his encyclical last year calling for action on climate change. I can tell you, as a member of the Senate committee on environment, that encyclical has played a profound role in changing a lot of consciousness on the reality of climate change and the need to act boldly to address it, he said.

If abortion was mentioned in the meeting, Sanders chose not to mention it. And the pontiff is not making the subject known.
In a move possibly related to reining in the religious police, Saudi Arabias Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman announced that the Kingdom is proposing a permanent residency program for expatriate workers similar to the US Green Card system.

The Green Card-like program and a plan to allow employers to hire more foreign workers above their official quotas for a fee could generate $10 billion a year each, the deputy crown prince told Bloomberg in an exclusive interview.

The obvious benefit to the country is more revenue in these times of low oil prices. Not only would the system generate $10 billion, but another $10 billion would be generated from fees imposed on companies which exceed foreign worker quotas. The proposed residency program is part of a larger package, which is expected to pull in an additional $100 billion in revenue. Also, non-Saudi residents will pay what the Saudis pay including Zakat, a mandated Islamic tax, a value added tax and insurance premiums. But Green Card holders will be allowed to own real estate and run trade, industry, and service firms.

The other, unstated motive is facing up to the realities of the Saudi labor market. The Saudi labor nationalization program, which mandated increasing percentages of Saudi nationals in jobs in the Kingdom, has never lived up to expectations. Its difficult to train and motivate sufficient numbers of young Saudis to get and hold a job, especially if an expatriate is the manager. This is what happens when the leadership tries to wean a substantial portion of trust fund babies off of the Kingdoms declining oil revenue. Zulqarnain Ali Khan, a Pakistani national who is chairman and CEO of Zultec Group, reads in between the lines:

and this move is part of his vision to integrate expatriates to make them part of the Kingdom and utilize their expertise for the development of the Kingdom. This gesture will motivate expatriates to work even harder and contribute in the welfare of the Kingdom.

In other words, Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, US (currently at 100,000 in the Kingdom), Brits, etc. have provided the core of Saudi labor and management; therefore, its time to recognize their indispensable contributions. Without them, any effort to diversify Saudi Arabias economy is problematic at best.

John Smith is the pen name of a veteran intelligence officer.
The Saudi Arabian government has informed the administration and some members of Congress that if a bill that would allow victims of the 9/11 attack to sue The Kingdom is passed, they will sell hundreds of billions of US assets.

New York Times:

The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bills passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon. The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation. Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdoms message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts. Several outside economists are skeptical that the Saudis will follow through, saying that such a sell-off would be difficult to execute and would end up crippling the kingdoms economy. But the threat is another sign of the escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The administration, which argues that the legislation would put Americans at legal risk overseas, has been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of Sept. 11 victims are infuriated. In their view, the Obama administration has consistently sided with the kingdom and has thwarted their efforts to learn what they believe to be the truth about the role some Saudi officials played in the terrorist plot. Its stunning to think that our government would back the Saudis over its own citizens, said Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and who is part of a group of victims family members pushing for the legislation.

There has been a renewed effort by lawmakers and the families of 9/11 victims to get the government to release 28 pages of redacted information from the report by the Senate Intelligence Committee on the 9/11 attacks. It is widely believed those documents contain some very damning information about the Saudi Arabian government's complicity in the attacks.

But even without the classified documents, the role of Saudi Arabia in the attacks is clear. The Kingdom may be afraid that their assets will be frozen or seized here in the US, but the real fear is that the grip on power by the royal family may slip if proof is offered that elements of Saudi intelligence and other individuals with close ties to the royal family were to be seen as complicit in the attacks.

With the stakes so high, I don't see how you can dismiss their threats of a sell off. Even cashing in a couple of hundred billion in Treasury bills could roil the markets worldwide. Both countries have a gun to each other's head and we should hope they don't pull the triggers.
In 2009, Italian/American designer Gianluca Gimini walked up to random strangers and friends and asked them to draw a bicycle from heart. Sounds easy, right? After all, everybody has ridden bicycles, most from a very young age. It is impossible to not remember how a bicycle looks like. Well then, go grab a pencil and try it.

Soon I found out that when confronted with this odd request most people have a very hard time remembering exactly how a bike is made, says Gianluca Gimini.

Of the 376 people who responded to his interview, only 25 percent managed to make an accurate sketch. Some did get close, but most ended up drawing something that was pretty far off from a regular mens bicycle. Gimini then took the most impractical designs and digitally rendered them, for his project titled Velocipedia.

Giminis participants came from across seven different nationalities. The youngest one is aged at 3, and the oldest at 88. Nearly 90% of drawings in which the chain is attached to the front wheel (or both to the front and the rear) were made by females. On the other hand, while men generally tend to place the chain correctly, they are more keen to over-complicate the frame when they realize they are not drawing it correctly. The most unintelligible drawing was made by a doctor.

There is an incredible diversity of new typologies emerging from these crowd-sourced and technically error-driven drawings. A single designer could not invent so many new bike designs in 100 lifetimes and this is why I look at this collection in such awe, said Gimini.

The idea started in a bar in Bologna, Italy, during a conversation with a friend. Gimini was recounting a childhood memory about a classmate who was asked to draw a bicycle, on the spot, in front of the entire class. He couldnt, which seemed laughable. Both Gimini and his friend agreed that everyone knows how a bike is made, but when his friend tried to draw one on a napkin, he failed.

Later Gimini learned that he was not the first one to conduct this experiment. A psychologist from the University of Liverpool once challenged people to draw a bicycle from memory to demonstrate how our brain sometimes tricks us into thinking we know something even though we dont.

via Wired
Like many smartphones that are imported from China, the Smartisan T2 comes our way without any Google services on board. This isnt surprising, considering the fact that Google services are completely blocked in China and with the Smartisan T2 only being sold in China, theres no reason for them to install it on the device (but it still does need to be approved by Google). However, its easy to install Google Play Services or Google Mobile Services, which ever you prefer to call it, onto the device. Lets explain.

What youll want to do is jump into the App Store that is pre-installed on the Smartisan T2. Now the name is in Mandarin, so unless you can read Mandarin you wont know what its called. It is in the top left-hand corner of the first screen on the Smartisan T2. Once you go into the App Store, search for Google. Now in the search results youll see a number of Google apps there including Google Play. Youll want Google Mobile Services. Now again this is going to be in Mandarin, but the icon does say GMS in the icon, so youll be able to know its the right app. Install that app, and once its installed open it up. Inside, youll be downloading the Google Apps package which can take a bit of time to download. Once its downloaded youll need to install it, which does require a reboot. Once its rebooted, youll be all set. Youll see the Google Play Store appear on the last page of apps on the device.

Advertisement

Its really that simple. While the process is pretty short, it will take some time. The download for the package can be pretty slow. It took us about 5-7 minutes to download a 45MB package  and that was on a 100Mbps connection. So be patient. But now youll have Google services on the Smartisan T2. However you will need to install every Google app. This includes Gmail, Android Pay, Google+, Google Keep, and the many others that they have available on the Google Play Store. If you need more help, weve put together a nice video below for you.
If youve done a search on the internet for a local product or service, or have been researching a possible purchase, youve probably clicked more than a few unassuming search links that actually put a few pennies in the search engines pocket. These ad links are pushed to or near the top of the list by paying the search engine, and would normally have a much lower position in your search. In some cases, it can be a bit difficult to determine when a link youre about to click is promoted, rather than an organic result. On Google, for example, a small golden button that bears the word Ad is all that separates an ad link from a normal link. The European Unions digital chief, Andrus Ansip, recently voiced concerns over the transparency of methods like this, calling out Google and Microsoft in particular.

At the moment, Ansip is handling a large-scale investigation into how a number of large tech companies make their billions, including the two mentioned above. As it happens, Google in particular is having a rough go in the EU at the moment, with a pending antitrust case poised to cost them handsomely. Among those methods, he cites search platforms, particularly the ads that fund them, as a source of concern. While he voiced some reservations about letting tech firms operate unfettered, he did specify that he wont be making any attempts to implement a wide-reaching, single-layer policy, saying that such an idea would be practically impossible to implement with any level of success.

Advertisement

In the same breath, Ansip said that the idea of making search engines pay to display previews for some results has been scrapped, but also voiced concerns over the terms and conditions for both users and service providers concerning things like Android, Google Maps and iOS. He also said that there may be some transparency issues in another area; paid reviews. While not all paid reviews end up being positive, its a much more likely scenario, prompting a need for consumers to know if the review theyre reading may have been paid for by the maker of the product or service being reviewed. To close things out, Ansip made a few comments about current laws concerning illegal content on websites, liability for that content and possible changes to the law. In essence, the plan is to not hold YouTube responsible for an illegal video, for example, so long as they uphold their responsibility to take it down once they know of it.
At the Mobile Carriers Show hosted by the Competitive Carriers Association earlier this week, the senior manager of Huaweis American carrier sales and marketing, Mr. Maurice DSouza, announced that the Chinese telecom giant grew its US telecommunication equipment business by around 10 to 15 percent YoY in 2015. He also said that he expects the trend to continue this year, even as major US carriers like Verizon and AT&T have not been doing business with the company because of an incriminatory 2012 report from the US government that expressed concerns regarding Chinese government-funded network vendors like Huawei and ZTE. In fact, the report went so far as to claim that network equipment from the two companies could well be used by the Chinese government to carry out espionage activities against the United States.

While both Huawei and ZTE have categorically and unequivocally rejected such claims, doubts continue to persist in the minds of government officials, bureaucrats and politicians in the country, because of which lucrative business from top-tier carriers continue to remain a distant dream for either of the two firms from China. That being the case, Huawei says it has concentrated on smaller US carriers, which is a strategy that has apparently paid rich dividends over the past couple of years. According to Huaweis director of wireless-product management in North America, Mr. Patrick Kaiser, the company acquired eight new customers in the US in 2014, taking the total number of telecom operators it does business with to 50, including as many as 30 wireless carriers such as Union Wireless, United Wireless and Pioneer Telecom.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, Huaweis growth story is not limited only to the American market either. The companys telecom equipment and consumer electronics businesses have both seen strong growth globally over the past couple of years and its recent earnings call for 2015 revealed a 37 percent increase in net profit on a YoY basis thanks largely to the continuing rollout of LTE networks by several telecom companies worldwide, not to mention the increasing sales of its smartphones and tablets. With momentum on its side, Huawei is now planning to build on that and while the lucrative tier-1 carriers still remain out of its reach, Huaweis network equipment business is still expected to grow this year according to company insiders, whether or not the US federal government withdraws its damning 2012 report.
No Jew can vote for Corbyns Labour, says former BBC director

Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC television, says no Jew can vote for Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party, an outfit embroiled in accusations of anti-Semitism. He tells the Times:

If you are Jewish how can you vote for them? How could you? For me it would be like being a Muslim and voting for Donald Trump, how could you do it? You have to feel absolutely confident that it is totally unacceptable and it wont be tolerated and I personally havent felt comfortable that it is happening yet in the Labour party.

Do we really believe Corbyns Labour if full of anti-Semites? Surely not. Anti-Semitism is rife, but to lay the root of it at Corbyns door is wrong. The issue is that the Labour Party appears to acquiesce to anti-Semitism and anti-Semites.

For too many on the Left, Jewish suffering does not touch them the way Muslim suffering or gay suffering or black suffering touches them, writes Stephen Daisley on STV News. Scrutiny of Corbyns associations elicits cries of smear or just a collective shrug of the shoulders. It was always going to. We lack a language to talk about anti-Semitism because too many on the Left dont consider it a serious problem and couldnt recognise it as readily as racism, misogyny or homophobia anyway.

Cranmer adds: Jeremy Corbyn is not only a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign: he supports the BDS agenda. What manner of peace-making diplomat supports sanctions against one party after hearing the grievances only of the other? Why invite Islamists to tea on the House of Commons terrace, but not extremist Zionists?

Corbyn is a politician. His business is winning votes and gaining power. If anti-Semitism is ok on the Left, well, why rock the boat? After all, there arent that many Jewish voters. In 2010, Jonathan Freedland wrote in the Guardian:

I can no longer do what I and others did in 2008, putting to one side the statements, insults and gestures that had offended me, my fellow Jews and  one hopes  every Londoner who abhors prejudice. Back then I tried to shrug off Livingstones quip to property developers the Reuben brothers that they could go back to Iran and see if they can do better under the ayatollahs, even though telling immigrants to go back to where they came from is the language of a pub racist from the 1950s. (The Reubens are in fact an Iraqi-Jewish family and the brothers were born in India.) Likewise, I accepted that when the mayor repeatedly likened a reporter to a concentration camp guard  even after he knew the reporter was both Jewish and offended  he was merely being irritable, his tongue loosened by a glass or two. I condemned his hugging embrace of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the scholar who supports female genital mutilation, the murder of homosexual people, and suicide bombing so long as the victims are Israeli civilians This week he made the news again, as a group of Jewish activists, all lifelong Labour supporters, wrote to Ed Miliband describing a closed-door meeting they had had with Livingstone that had left them despondent. The letter was leaked, with most attention focusing on its account of Livingstones suggestion that as the Jewish community is rich, [it] simply wouldnt vote for him.

Jews are privileged  the wealthy one, the poor ones, the disabled ones, the ones who might ever vote Labour or become a Labour MP. Under the terms of identity politics, where youre defined by what you are and, more vitally, what you are not, being a Jew is a bad thing to be. Jews should check their privilege. There are anti-Semites in Labour, of course  there are bigots on all sides  but the Lefts little problem isnt really with Jews, their customs and beliefs; its with what they symbolise.

When youre devoid of ideas, have no direction of travel for your weak projects, you need to find something to bind, define and epitomise what you stand for. We dont know what Labour is any more but the loyalists can show us what it is not: Israel.

Things soon get ugly. Just as anti-Semites say Jews are behind all the worlds ills, puppet-masters in a shadowy cabal, anti-Zionists say all problems in the Middle East are down to Israel. Defeat the Jews / Israel and all things in your life will be made better.

Hamas can be Jeremy Cornyns friends (his word) because as Zionist haters they are on the side of the good and the decent. But Corbyns friends dont believe in sexual equality, womens rights, gay rights, democracy, freedom of expression, a free press and human rights. To overlook all that anti-freedom  to blame all those Islamist and anti-progressive policies on Israel  is to side with the anti-Semites. Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism become indistinguishable.

Jamie Palmer has written a terrific essay on the history of Jews, Israel and the West. He notes:

the Left is unconcerned with Jewish interests and unwilling to take the matter of rising anti-Semitism seriously, preferring instead to dismiss it as a consequence of Israeli policies or a censorious attempt to close down discussion of the same. The horror with which many Jews greeted the election of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the Labour Party was outstripped only by the realization that his supporters felt that his fondness for the company of anti-Semites was unworthy of their concern So why cant the European Left change in such a way that European Jewish socialists and social democratic Zionists are made to feel welcome again? A number of recommendations suggest themselves: 1. Stop seeing the partition of Mandatory Palestine as some kind of act of paternalistic expiation for European sins rather than the realization of a persecuted peoples legitimate quest for self-determination.

2. Banish the term anti-Zionism from the realm of permissible discourse and reframe criticism of Israelno matter how vehementin political and not existential terms.

3. Respect the fact that for the vast majority of Jews, Israel represents an expression and final guarantor of Jewish security and identity.

4. Stigmatize anti-Semitism in the same way as any other kind of racism, including when it issues from the mouths and pens of other minority groups.

5. Stop treating Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular like children whose pathologies are to be patiently indulged.

6. Reject moral and cultural relativism, and hold all people to the same moral standards you would expect of yourself in the same circumstances.

7. Understand that differences of opinion with most democrats, of whatever political persuasion, ought to fall within the boundaries of respectable disagreement.

8. Appreciate the value of liberal democracy and learn to take seriously the threats of those who declare their intention to destroy it. But the reality is that the Left is in no mood to do much, if any, of the above. On the contrary, it is moving in exactly the opposite direction. In Britain, the Labour Party has elected Jeremy Corbyn as its leaderan unrepentant hard-Left anti-Zionist who has shared platforms with genocidal terrorists, blood libelers, and Holocaust deniers in order to supposedly demonstrate his solidarity with the oppressed denizens of Palestine, even as he signed petitions calling upon a centrist Israeli MK to be arrested on arrival in the UK.

Brendan ONeill and Tom Slater have been discussing Labours little problem. You can hear it below:

Paul Sorene

Posted: 16th, April 2016 | In: Broadsheets, Politicians, Reviews Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink
(ANSA) - Brussels, April 15 - Italy has sent a wide-ranging 'migration compact' to the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, to cut migrant flows, EU sources said Friday. The document envisages a framework accord with countries of origin and transit and a big financial commitment by the EU which could be achieved by redistributing already earmarked funds and also via possible Eurobonds, the sources said. Premier Matteo Renzi said in a letter accompanying the proposed compact that "the management of migrant flows is no longer sustainable without targeted and reinforced cooperation with the Third Countries of origin and transit". He said "much has been done, but we must do much more, quickly, if we want to avert the worsening of a systemic crisis." The migrant return deal between the EU and Turkey "should not remain an isolated event", Renzi said in the letter accompanying the 'migration compact' proposal. The accord "represents a first concrete attempt at enlarged and reinforced cooperation with a third country which, albeit clinched in a situation of urgency, and therefore perfectible, shows how it is possible to draw up effective lines of action in the management of migrant flows," he said. If it were to be a one-off, Renzi said, "that would determine an imbalance in terms of resources and political capital employed with respect to other geographical regions which are no less important in view of the migratory issue." Renzi also said in the letter that EU foreign policy is "central" to keeping up the Schengen Area and the EU must move from an "emergency" management of the migrant crisis to a "strategic" one. "The external dimension of migratory policy (takes on) a fundamental role in the preservation of Schengen," he said, stressing that new border guards and the reform of the Dublin III regulation "can only give concrete results if, in parallel, the management of migratory flows moves from the emergency phase to that of a more ordered and strategic management".

The migration compact will be distributed as an unofficial document at an upcoming EU foreign ministers' meeting.

The compact has been drafted in view of an increasing switch in flows of migrants and refugees to the Libya-Italy route after the Greece-Balkan route was closed off thanks to the EU-Turkey deal.


BarcelonaRaul Romeva, the Catalan Foreign Affairs Minister, travelled to Italy last Thursday. Government sources told the Catalan News Agency that in the afternoon he was to give a lecture entitled Catalonia looks at Europe: proposals and opportunities within a seminar held by La Parabola Centro Studi at the Luigi Sturzo Institute in Rome. As reported by this newspaper earlier on, Romeva will be travelling to the UK at the end of April.

While in Italy Romeva met a number of political leaders. These were private meeting that did not show on the ministers official schedule. While in Rome the Catalan minister also met the local expat community and visited the Catalan governments office in the city.

On Friday Raul Romeva attended the meeting of Spains Fiscal and Financial Policy Council in Madrid, in lieu of Catalan vice president and Finance Minister Oriol Junqueras. The latter asked Romeva to take his place at the Madrid meeting because he himself was travelling to Italy on Friday in order to meet Catalan and Italian business people.

The seminar where Romeva gave his lecture was about the role of Catalonia within the EU and Catalonias contribution to the European debate. The seminar was attended by Italian academics, civil servants and journalists, who were invited on a personal basis.

Also speaking were Paolo Acunzo, the national vice secretary of the European federalist movement; Francesco Tufarelli, the president of La Parabola Centro Studi who chaired the debate; and Giovanni Dessi, the secretary general of the Luigi Sturzo Institute.

Tufarelli is a personal friend of Italys prime minister and used to work as a legal advisor to the minister for European Affairs. Paolo Acunzo is a member of Italys Democratic Party leadership. While in Rome, Romeva was interviewed by RAI, Italys public radio and TV broadcaster, as well as by news agency ANSA.
Le CBD, cette molecule active du cannabis a aujourdhui le vent en poupe. Et cela est en grande partie du au fait quil permet...
For the first time in recent years there has been an increase in the global feline population. More than half are in India. Phnom Penhs program for restocking will cost 20 to 50 million dollars.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews)  On the heels of the alarm raised by the WWF on the extinction of tigers in Cambodia, the Phnom Penh government has decided to fund a project to repopulate their forests with the famous feline.

They are seeking the help of neighboring India which - following a meeting on the subject attended by the 13 nations that are home to tigers - has decided to transfer some of its specimens abroad.

Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of the Global Tiger Forum said that "at the meeting it was decided that the relocation of the tigers is one of the most effective measures in increasing the population. This will take place after the habitat has been best prepared to ensure the safety of this valuable species. "

In recent times Phnom Penh has had to admit the "functional" extinction of tigers on their soil due to deforestation and poaching. This means that the species has too few specimens to have an impact on the ecosystem. The government estimates that the restoration project will cost 20 to 50 million dollars.

Cambodia is in stark contrast to the rest of the world, given that in recent years there has been the first increase in the number of tigers in over century. The number has risen from 3,200 units in 2010 to 3900, more than half of which are in India.

The 13 nations - including Vietnam, Russia, Thailand and Indonesia - have united to form a worldwide task force (the "TX2") which aims to double the number of tigers by 2022.


On 9 May, the Filipinos called to the polls to elect a new president. Msgr. Villegas called on the population to be guided by the power of prayer. In the history of the country, the recitation of the Rosary is very significant. In 1986 - under the leadership of the late Card. Sin - the "Rosary Crusade" led to the end of the Marcos dictatorship.

Manila (AsiaNews) - A rosary a day against political corruption and for a healthy and credible "vote". This is the proposal of Msgr. Socrates B. Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan and president of the Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP, Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines), who has called on all Filipinos to pray the chaplet every day until next May 9, when they will go to the polls to elect a new president. On behalf of all the bishops, he recalled the power of prayer, especially the rosary, which in the past has played a decisive role in the political affairs of the country.



In the Philippines popular devotion is very strong. Card. Jaime Sin, the late archbishop of Manila, went down in history for leading the so-called "Rosary Revolution", a popular uprising in 1986 that led to the end of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship.

In a message posted online yesterday, Msgr. Villegas said: "Pray all the mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory every day until May 9. Pray as a family. Pray while travelling. Pray in the offices or factories. Pray everywhere for our national elections".



The archbishop stressed the power of prayer and its ability to influence major events. "In my pastoral guidelines for the 2013 elections, I reminded you of the unique importance of prayer for national change. Our best contribution is to pray that the Lord of history guide every voter and guide every candidate.



Then he added: "It is God who can enlighten our decisions. It is God who can thwart the plans of evil men and women to destroy social order. It is God who can give us the best leaders for the good of everyone.According to him, it is by the power of the rosary, we can stop the evil of election violence and cheating. By the power of the rosary, we can win the battle for peaceful and credible elections"



Msgr. Villegas has also asked Catholics to pray the rosary every day to "fight the stubbornness, cynicism and stupidity present in our choices. Let the rosary melt our hardened hearts and our sharp tongues ". Finally, the archbishop recalled the words of the Venetian senators during the battle of Lepanto in 1571 [the naval clash between the Muslim Ottoman Empire and the Christian fleet of the Holy League, ed]: "It was not our courage, or weapons, or leaders, but Our Lady of the Rosary that made us victorious. "
Tokyo (AsiaNews)  The death toll from another powerful earthquake in south-east of Japan is 18 people. The quake rocked the same area that just one day before had suffered a previous earthquake causing nine victims. Are at least 20 thousand soldiers stationed in the island of Kyushu are engaged in disaster relief. Experts say the quake that struck at 1.25 in the morning was of magnitude 7.3 with its epicenter just off the city of Kumamoto  where the first quake struck on April 14, causing nine victims  at a depth of about 10 km.

Msgr. Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, Bishop of Niigata and President of Caritas Asia, says another "strong earthquake" has rocked Kumamoto. "This time - says the prelate - the damage caused by the earthquake affected an area far greater than that on April 14".



"According to preliminary information - continues the President of Caritas Asia  this time 15 people lost their lives [but the toll has already risen to 18] and there are at least one thousand injured".



This second earthquake, continues Msgr. Kikuchi, "has affected a much larger area, including the nearby prefecture of Ohita". At two o'clock this afternoon the bishop of Fukuoka Msgr. Miyahara called a meeting with the leaders of the diocese to discuss "the plan of aid to those affected." Caritas Japan, concludes the Bishop of Niigata, "will study the results of the meeting in Fukuoka" to decide the next steps to take."



Meanwhile, rescuers are involved in the search for survivors. Local sources speak of dozens of people trapped in the rubble of buildings that collapsed overnight because of the earthquake. At least 200 thousand families are currently without power; experts are also concerned by the weather, for fear that the strong incoming rains could cause new landslides.



Tomoyuki Tanaka, an official in Kumamoto Prefecture, reports that the death toll will increase as the hours pass and is set to worsen. Thousands of people spent the night on the streets and in the parks, outdoors, in the fear of new tremors.



Meanwhile, the heads of the Japanese nuclear power plants have ensured that the Sendai plant was not damaged. A small eruption was instead registered at Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in the Land of the Rising Sun, as a result of the earthquake.

In the hours following the earthquake of April 14, the authorities placed the two nuclear reactors on the island of Kyushu under observation, but they do know if the facilities have not been damaged. The focus remains on the power plant, in fear of any new accidents.



Memories of the Fukushima disaster are still alive. The nuclear power plant was damaged by the 2011 earthquake that left 18 thousand dead and generated a tsunami that swept the structure.



Japan is one of the most active seismic areas in the world, with 205 of the total of the earthquakes that occur every year of magnitude 6 or greater. On average, the seismometers record activities, however slight, every five minutes. This is why the buildings in the country are among those built with the best seismic criteria and the authorities have created, over time, an effective warning system.
Meeting the people of Lesbos, Francis expresses "admiration" for the Greek people who - despite difficulties - welcomes those who suffer: "God will reward this generosity, like that of other surrounding nations, which from the first moments have received with great availability many forced migrants. " The people's "concerns are legitimate," but we must never forget that in front of us we have people who are suffering. A common prayer.

Lesbos (AsiaNews) - Europe is the homeland of human rights, and whoever sets foot on European soil ought to sense this, and thus become more aware of the duty to respect and defend those rights. Unfortunately, some, including many infants, could not even make it to these shores: they died at sea, victims of unsafe and inhumane means of transport, prey to unscrupulous thugs, said Pope Francis, meeting the people of Lesbos at the local harbor.

The Pope, together with Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Hieronymus, recited a prayer, and threw a laurel wreath into the sea in memory of the victims who died at sea.

Francis also expressed "admiration" for dear Greek people that "who, despite their own great difficulties, have kept open their hearts and their doors. Many ordinary men and women have made available the little they have and shared it with those who have lost everything. God will repay this generosity, and that of other surrounding nations who from the beginning have welcomed with great openness the large numbers of people forced to migrate".

Today, the Pope said, "I renew my heartfelt plea for responsibility and solidarity in the face of this tragic situation. Many migrants who have come to this island and other places in Greece are living in trying conditions, in an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, at times even of despair, due to material hardship and uncertainty for the future".



The Pontiff continued, "the worries expressed by institutions and people, both in Greece and in other European countries, are understandable and legitimate. We must never forget, however, that migrants, rather than simply being a statistic, are first of all persons who have faces, names and individual stories. You, the residents of Lesvos, show that in these lands, the cradle of civilization, the heart of humanity continues to beat; a humanity that before all else recognizes others as brothers and sisters, a humanity that wants to build bridges and recoils from the idea of putting up walls to make us feel safer. In reality, barriers create divisions instead of promoting the true progress of peoples, and divisions sooner or later lead to confrontations".



To be truly united with those forced to flee their homelands, he added, "we need to eliminate the causes of this dramatic situation: it is not enough to limit ourselves to responding to emergencies as they arise. Instead, we need to encourage political efforts that are broader in scope and multilateral. It is necessary, above all, to build peace where war has brought destruction and death, and to stop this scourge from spreading. To do this, resolute efforts must be made to counter the arms trade and arms trafficking, and the often hidden machinations associated with them; those who carry out acts of hatred and violence must be denied all means of support.



All this "can be achieved only if we work together: solutions to the complex issue of refugees which are worthy of humanity can and must be sought. In this regard, the contribution of Churches and religious communities is indispensable. My presence here, along with that of Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Hieronymus, is a sign of our willingness to continue to cooperate so that the challenges we face today will not lead to conflict, but rather to the growth of the civilization of love"



Finally, Francis recalled that "Before the evil of this world, he made himself our servant, and by his service of love he saved the world. This is the true power that brings about peace. Only those who serve with love build peace. Service makes us go beyond ourselves and care for others. It does not stand by while people and things are destroyed, but rather it protects them; service overcomes that dense pall of indifference that clouds hearts and minds. Thank you, for you are guardians of humanity, for you care with tenderness for the body of Christ, who suffers in the least of his brothers and sisters, the hungry and the stranger, whom you have welcomed (cf. Mt 25:35) ".



Immediately after the speeches, Francis and the two Orthodox bishops recited a prayer. Here is the full text in Italian.



"Merciful God,

we pray to you for all the men, women and children

who have died after leaving their homelands in search of a better life.

Though many of their graves bear no name,

to you each one is known, loved and cherished.

May we never forget them, but honour their sacrifice

with deeds more than words.

We entrust to you all those who have made this journey,

enduring fear, uncertainty and humiliation,

in order to reach a place of safety and hope.

Just as you never abandoned your Son

as he was brought to a safe place by Mary and Joseph,

so now be close to these, your sons and daughters,

through our tenderness and protection.

In caring for them may we seek a world

where none are forced to leave their home

and where all can live in freedom, dignity and peace.

Merciful God and Father of all,

wake us from the slumber of indifference,

open our eyes to their suffering,

and free us from the insensitivity

born of worldly comfort and self-centredness.

Inspire us, as nations, communities and individuals,

to see that those who come to our shores are our brothers and sisters.

May we share with them the blessings we have received from your hand,

and recognize that together, as one human family,

we are all migrants, journeying in hope to you, our true home,

where every tear will be wiped away,

where we will be at peace and safe in your embrace".
Along with the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop of Athens Hieronymus, Francis visits the large Moria refugee camp on the Greek island. Moving, painful but also much joy, especially from the young people. Many throw themselves at the Popes feet to tell stories of pain and suffering. The pope: "Do not lose hope." Special thanks to the Greek people who "despite their own suffering" opened hearts and homes to those fleeing from pain.

Lesbos (AsiaNews) - You are not alone, your voices are and will be heard, Pope Francis said during his visit to the Moria refugee camp this morning, on the Greek island of Lesbos. A visit full of emotion and at times even anger for Francis and his two companions: the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop of Athens Hieronymus. In fact, the Orthodox leader, in his speech, warned the world: "We and you will be judged by how we treat the migrants."

Between 2,500 and 3 thousand people live in the camp. The Pope personally greeted hundreds of people, and stopped to share a moment with each. Several migrants threw themselves at his feet and crying, asking for prayers and presenting dramatic personal situations. A little girl told him, in broken English and Arabic, of her dream to join her family in Germany. Francis, Bartholomew and Hieronymus were visibly moved.

In his speech Francis said, : I have wanted to be with you today. I want to tell you that you are not alone. In these weeks and months, you have endured much suffering in your search for a better life. Many of you felt forced to flee situations of conflict and persecution for the sake, above all, of your children, your little ones".



You migrants, resumes, " You have made great sacrifices for your families. You know the pain of having left behind everything that is dear to you and  what is perhaps most difficult  not knowing what the future will bring. Many others like you are also in camps or towns, waiting, hoping to build a new life on this continent. I have come here with my brothers, Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, simply to be with you and to hear your stories. We have come to call the attention of the world to this grave humanitarian crisis and to plead for its resolution".

As men of faith " God created mankind to be one family; when any of our brothers and sisters suffer, we are all affected. We all know from experience how easy it is for some to ignore other peoples suffering and even to exploit their vulnerability. But we also know that these crises can bring out the very best in us. You have seen this among yourselves and among the Greek people, who have generously responded to your needs amid their own difficulties".

Francis devoted a passage to the welcome migrants have received: "You have also seen it in the many people, especially the young from throughout Europe and the world, who have come to help you. Yes, so much more needs to be done! But let us thank God that in our suffering he never leaves us alone. There is always someone who can reach out and help us".

Despite the pain of the wounded humanity of Moria camp, the Pope wanted to leave a clear message: "do not lose hope! The greatest gift we can offer one another is love: a merciful look, a readiness to listen and understand, a word of encouragement, a prayer. May you share this gift with one another. We Christians love to tell the story of the Good Samaritan, a foreigner who saw a man in need and immediately stopped to help. For us, it is a story about Gods mercy which is meant for everyone, for God is the All-Merciful. It is also a summons to show that same mercy to those in need. May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the Good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history".

Dear friends, is the conclusion, "may God bless all of you and, in a special way, your children, the elderly and all those who suffer in body and spirit! I embrace all of you with affection. Upon you, and those who accompany you, I invoke his gifts of strength and peace".
Complete trust (7%)

Lots of trust (28%)

Some trust (48%)

Little trust (14%)

No trust (3%)

$30,000 or less (27% trust completely or a lot)

$30,001 to $70,000 (27% trust completely or a lot)

$70,001 to $100,000 (38% trust completely or a lot)

$100,000 or more (49% trust completely or a lot)

The survey, Who Do We Trust, was conducted by Colmar Brunton and published by Victoria Universitys Institute for Governance and Policy Studies (IGPS). When asked for their feelings on judges and the courts, the polls 1,000 respondents answered as follows:Over the past three years, the level of trust in the judicial system had dropped by 17%, the survey found. In fact, 27% of respondents said that their levels of trust in judges and the courts had fallen while only 10% said their levels had risen.Other trends appeared when the data was broken down across various demographics.In terms of judges and the courts, the main differentiating factor is household income, Dr Michael Macaulay, director of the IGPS and associate professor of public management, told NZ Lawyer. Those from lower income households have less trust than those from higher income households.When broken down across household income, the relationship with trust became obvious:There is also a clear trend when looking at age groups, Macaulay added.Interestingly, younger people seem to have higher levels of trust, he said. Forty-five per cent of 18 to 29 year olds trust the judicial system completely or a lot, compared to 31% of those aged 30 or more.
Finalists for this years Australasian Lawyer Law Awards have been announced, ahead of awards night on 19 May. Head to the awards site to see the full list of finalists.The first of 13 Murri courts opened in Rockhampton this week as part of a strategy by the Queensland government to lower the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system.Murri Courts assist in diverting people from the criminal justice system, said Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Yvette DAth.This is a vital change to the way we administer criminal justice in Queensland and an important step to closing the gap in our community. MinterEllison launched a flexible business to give clients access to contract lawyers with a quality guarantee.Clients and market feedback tells us that there is increasingly a need for high quality lawyers to work temporarily in-house  but they need to be of the highest quality and able to hit the ground running, partner and innovation head Andrew Cunningham said.The lawyers we place with clients through Flex are connected to and integrated with MinterEllison 's elite capability and knowhow, and this gives clients the confidence to embrace agile staffing.The firm said while the move is in response to client demand, a growing number of lawyers are seeking flexible work so the new business will attract quality lawyers who dont want to work long hours on a permanent basis.Melbourne lawyer Alex Lewenberg was hit with a 15-month practice ban at a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal this week. He was found guilty of professional misconduct in March over comments he made to a sex abuse victim while he was defending a paedophile.I am not exactly delighted that another Yid would assist police against an accused, no matter whatever he is accused of, Lewenberg told the sex abuse victim in a recorded conversation.Lewenberg, who has been banned previously, admitted to the comments but said he did not know he was talking to a victim of the paedophile he was representing when he made the comments.
This is an account of my partner's visa application which I now believe to be fraudulent. I am now concerned that someone could be granted the privilege of becoming a permanent resident of Australia despite committing fraud and lying to Immigration authorities both overseas and in Australia. I have a substantial amount of documentary evidence that demonstrates that this person intended to deceive all parties before her arrival in Australia and that the lies and deception were for the sole purpose of attaining permanent Australian residency.



I believe that if my wife was granted permanent residency it would be an injustice to all those that do the right thing and seek to enter Australia via the proper channels and processes and an insult to those that risk their life on the ocean whilst fleeing genuine persecution and end up in off-shore detention centres.



I first met my wife in Jakarta in early 2011 and we appeared to be very compatible. We met several times during the year and in September 2011 we had an Indonesian wedding ceremony. In February 2012, my partner arrived in Australia under a Prospective Marriage Visa. We were subsequently married in September 2012. Throughout this time I always considered our relationship was genuine. However, shortly after our wedding I discovered an extra phone that my wife had hidden which contained numerous text messages to multiple men. I found that my wife had at least two affairs with other men throughout 2012.



At that time, I had wanted to end the relationship however my wife fell pregnant and I decided to give my wife another chance so that we could raise our child together. I now firmly believe that my wife fell pregnant purely so that I would not end our relationship and that once the baby was born, she believed that her permanent residency in Australia was secure.



Some time later I managed to access my wife's email account which provided further information and demonstrated the level of lies, deception and betrayal towards me. I found that just 2 months after our Indonesian wedding ceremony my wife had made arrangements to meet up with another Australian in Thailand and they posed as a married couple in a resort while they were there. My wife immediately resumed the affair as soon as she landed in Australia and commenced a further ongoing affair with another man later that year. Both of those affairs continued until I discovered them.



My wife had stated to several men in those emails that she was just waiting to have her Permanent Residency ("PR") granted. On her first full day in Australia my wife stated that she was not happy in the situation that she was now in (ie. living with me) and that she had a long wait before getting her PR. On another occasion three weeks before our wedding my wife stated that she wanted to "give me a bad impression of herself so that I would divorce her".



In the two and a half years since my son was born, my wife had said to me on many occasions that we should send him to her parents in Jakarta so that they could look after him. I have of course stated repeatedly that there is no way that I could allow that to happen. While my wife claims to love our son and states that she was only saying in jest that we should send him away, I believe that my wife was serious as she has said that she would want him to learn the Indonesian culture and religion before living in Australia. I further believe that she lacks attachment with any of her children. My wife's two older boys were also looked after by my wife's parents in Indonesia for most of the last 4 years while my wife has been in Australia.



My wife returned to Indonesia twice in 2015. In March of that year my wife rekindled a relationship with an earlier boyfriend. In October 2015, I learnt that she had had another affair with an Indonesian man while she was home. I sent my wife a text message stating that I could not believe that she was again having affairs with other men with knowing how close we came to breaking up previously. My wife replied that she was sorry and cited an unbelievable excuse being that I did not follow her religion (her excuse is even less valid as her first affairs were with men that also did not follow her religion).



Over the next few weeks, I learnt more of my wife's latest affairs and in one conversation she said to one man that "she has been thinking over and over again that once she gains her permanent residency, she will bring him out under her PR". I then decided that I would definitely end our relationship.



However, before I informed my wife of my decision, I had to make sure that she would not attempt to take my son out of Australia. I then made an application to the Federal Circuit Court for a Parenting Order so that I could have my son placed on the Airport Watchlist which would prevent him from going overseas. I am also seeking sole custody of our son.



Once I knew that my son could not be taken out of Australia, I informed my wife during the evening of Christmas Day 2015 that I was terminating our relationship as she had proven once again how deceitful, unfaithful and untrustworthy she was. I said to her that I had given her more chances than she deserved to prove to me that her feelings towards me were genuine however she continually proved the opposite.



I have now informed Immigration that I have withdrawn my sponsorship of my wife's visa. At this stage, she still has only a temporary visa as the next stage of the visa process was delayed while we sought to have her two older boys included in the visa application.



I understand that one of the conditions that could allow her to stay in Australia is being the parent of a child where there is a joint custody arrangement. As I have stated previously, I do not believe my wife truly has any attachment or wish to provide any ongoing care of our son. I further believe that this condition of having a child in Australia and being granted a visa solely on that basis would further undermine the visa approval process and open it up to widespread abuse.



I have now also written to the Minister and Shadow Minister of Border Protection alerting them to this case as I am concerned that as time goes on Immigration will let things slide and grant my wife PR regardless of the information that I have provided.



My wife has deliberately lied and deceived everyone, including myself, everyone I know and Australian Immigration that she was in a genuine relationship with me. My wife's sole purpose was to obtain permanent entry into Australia and she was prepared to act the part and do whatever she had to do to obtain that goal. It would therefore be a mistake if Immigration believe my wife if she claims that her relationship with me was genuine.



I have been devastated by my wife's actions as I did actually love this woman and now I am frustrated by not knowing what or when Immigration will do something as they will now tell me nothing. I am angry that my wife could be rewarded with permanent residency despite all that she has done. I would appreciate any ideas on how I can continue to campaign so that her plan can be thwarted.
So if you're supposed to enforce the law in that city (or whatever it is), it shouldn't take that much to add things up and post a patrol car there at night. It doesn't even have to do anything: its mere presence would be enough to deter anyone from performing any sorts of unlawful shenanigans. Yes, you'd think that was obvious, but you would apparently be wrong.On the other hand, there's also the small aspect of half the cars in Monte Carlo being more or less super, with owners who can take a speeding ticket or ten like they were nothing. Also, the supercars are part of what's making Monte Carlo great, one more reason for tourists to book the hotels, pay for the overpriced dinner, and so on. Scaring them away wouldn't be good business, but neither would an accident caused by an over-enthusiastic driver. That's a fine balance to strike for the police officers.However, it would appear that their leniency isn't always at a certain level, oscillating depending on factors only les gars en bleu know. For instance, this Lamborghini Aventador doesn't seem to do anything we haven't seen before on countless occasions, and yet an undercover Citroen C4 makes a U-turn (almost cutting off a motorcyclist as it does so), fires up its siren, and begins its pursuit.Sadly, that's where the video ends. As the Citroen was finishing its three-point turn, the Lamborghini was already miles away. And it's not as if it was actually trying to run away from the police - it probably had no idea it was being followed in the first place. Still, credit to the police officers for trying. They will probably file in a transfer request for Dubai after this incident.
In Orthodox countries, high-ranking church officials get more or less the same treatment as generals or heads of state. That means they travel in limos, use jets and helicopters, all just to spread God's word.Take this next video as an example. Two cars parked sideways block traffic in either direction just so a priest can land his helicopter. Well, the priest is probably not the one doing the flying, but it's still a bewildering sight.The family filming this incident is just as stunned as we are, but they are much more accustomed to strange things happening on their national roads. You'd never see this stuff in Germany, maybe if somebody was about to die due to a severe accident, but never a priest.Not only does this seem illegal but it's also very dangerous. Why can't they land in a nearby field, does his holiness not want to get his shoes dirty? And if this is an officially approved landing, why isn't the police stopping traffic. This being Russia, it would surprise us to see somebody pull a bat or machinegun from that gray Skoda Octavia.Now, that's by no means an expensive helicopter, but it's still a helicopter used by a member of the church in an impoverished country. The light aircraft is probably worth around $100,000, but nothing beats the sky when you're in a hurry.American reality television has taught us that "God wants the priest to be rich and own Ferraris." As offensive as buying a supercar with donation money may be, the Russians have it much worse. Their church owns real estate, does business with the military, and sucks up money from the national budget. At least you could say that the helicopter gets this fellow a little closer to God.
McGraw HIll Financial has agreed to sell J.D. Power to investment group XIO Group for $1.1 billion in a transaction expected to close in the third quarter.

McGraw Hill Financial had been exploring "strategic alternatives" for the global marketing information services company since October. J.D. Power produces several closely-watched automotive reports, including the Vehicle Dependability Survey and Initial Quality Study. In May, J.D. Power acquired NADAs Used Car Guide business.

"The transaction represents good value for our shareholders and positions J.D. Power for continued success," said Douglas L. Peterson, McGraw Hill Financial's president and CEO. "Our portfolio will now be even more focused on financial intelligence businesses with a common set of attributes. The businesses are scalable, they are global and they all have market-leading positions."

Headquartered in London, XIO Group is a global alternative investments firm with operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Hong Kong and mainland China. XIO Group's strategy is to identify and invest in market-leading businesses located across North America and Europe and help these companies to capitalize on untapped opportunities in fast growing markets, particularly in Asia.

"We have enormous respect for J.D. Power and its experienced and successful management team," said Joseph Pacini, the XIO Group's CEO. "We are delighted to be the partner of choice and to further help grow J.D. Power given our world-class international team, significant capital resources and unique access to untapped opportunities in fast growing regions."

On April 27, McGraw Hill Financial will be renamed S&P Global.
The hype going on about self-driving vehicles and driver-assisted technology are but few of the continuous pursuits by known auto makers around the world. Amidst all the buzz with these innovations, Toyota is also one brand which doesn't stop expanding its research for renewable energy on its vehicles.

Considered the best fuel alternative for Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota Chairman and creator of the Prius hybrid, still has faith in the use of renewable energy for vehicles, UsaToday reported. As one of the coveted leaders in the auto industry, the company has been advocating the benefits of hydrogen fuel cell cars for years now.

With the unveiling of the Toyota Mirai in November last year, about 100 units have already been sold. Uchiyamada is also set to address a number of engineers at the SAE World Congress in Detroit's Cobo Center this week to promote the potential of cars powered by the innovative technology.

However, he also stresses on the need for refueling stations that would cater to this renewable energy source. "The big problem is ... not enough hydrogen refueling stations. If we want fuel cell vehicles to become popular, we have to build infrastructure from the ground up," Uchiyamada said. "And that is no easy task."

The company also announced that more than 5,600 patents related to the renewable technology have been generously shared to promote further awareness and development. "We want to encourage others to participate in creating the hydrogen society. By engaging our collective brain power, these possibilities can become reality," added Uchiyamada.

The Mirai is being marketed already in California, and Toyota announced its plan for availability in other Northeastern states no later this year, according to a previous MarketPlace report. The company says the model has undergone bullet testing to its fuel tank and assures the car is safe.
16 April 2016 10:25 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s Parliaments speaker Ogtay Asadov will participate in the first meeting of speakers of parliaments of the Eurasian countries to be held in Moscow, Russia, Azertac state news agency reports.

The delegation will include Parliament Administrations head Safa Mirzoyev and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and Government Structure Ali Huseynli.

The meeting will discuss the current state and prospects of development of cooperation in the for welfare of the Eurasian region in the 21st century.

The Speaker will deliver speech at the meeting.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 11:05 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov will participate in special session of the General Assembly on world drug problem, Azertac state news agency reports.

This Special Session will be an important milestone in achieving the goals set in the policy document of 2009 "Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem", which defined action to be taken by Member States as well as goals to be achieved by 2019.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 11:23 (UTC+04:00)

During a phone conversation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed determination to strengthen cessation of hostilities in Syria, as well as discussed the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reported citing the Russian foreign ministry.

The sides reaffirmed their determination to strengthening the cessation of hostilities in Syria, with the exception of fight against terrorist groups, as well as provision of access for relief supplies to the civilian population in blocked areas.

Other international issues, including the situation around Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region were discussed during the conversation, according to the Russian foreign ministry.

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.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 11:34 (UTC+04:00)

Armenia tries to gather mercenaries, members of international terrorist organizations from various hot spots around the world under the guise of volunteers and under any pretext on the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Azerbaijani defense minister, colonel-general Zakir Hasanov said.

He made the remarks Apr. 15 at a meeting with the EU delegation headed by EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Herbert Salber.

"We are well aware of the fact that during the recent clashes Armenian forces were completely demoralized," Hasanov said. "Yerevan now openly collaborates with terrorist organizations and brings it to the level of state policy."

At the meeting, the defense minister presented to the guests detailed information about the increase in the activity of the troops on the contact line between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the situation that currently exists, and brought facts of enemy shelling of civilian population and settlements to the attention of the participants of the meeting.

"Internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory for more than 20 years remains under the occupation of Armenian military units, more than a million of our fellow citizens are refugees and IDPs," Hasanov said. "The negotiations are still futile. The UN Security Council's four resolutions demand the unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan."

"The Armenian authorities have been ignoring the just demands of the international community and trying to maintain the current status quo for many years," Hasanov said.

He said that Azerbaijan urges the international organizations and the international community to assess this issue correctly and objectively.

"Otherwise, as Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani president, supreme commander-in-chief, stated, our armed forces will never agree with the occupation of the country's territory and certainly perform the sacred duty to liberate our lands," he said.

Khanlar Valiyev, deputy prosecutor general of the Azerbaijan Republic, military prosecutor, lieutenant-general of justice, also participated in the meeting.

Valiyev updated the guests about the facts and evidence on the participation of people, holding senior positions in the Armenian leadership, occupation of Azerbaijani territories, heinous crimes committed by the Armenians.

Valiyev also informed about the violence used by Armenian servicemen, who have violated the law of armed conflicts, against Azerbaijani civilians and the desecration of corpses left on the battlefield.

In conclusion, the answers were given to the guests' questions.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 12:00 (UTC+04:00)

Status quo in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not sustainable, says Herbert Salber, the European Union's special representative for the South Caucasus.

He made the statement in an exclusive interview with Trend in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Apr. 15.

Salber said he has had meetings with the Azerbaijani president, foreign minister and defence minister, and they discussed the recent escalation along the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.

"We discussed the escalation that took place at the line of contact at the beginning of April, the aftermath of these developments, and of course the prospects of how this issue can be solved," he said.

"The EU clearly has been saying for quite some time that status quo is not sustainable and a political solution has to be reached," Salber noted. "Now, we have been raising this with both sides and all indicators tell us that the status quo is not sustainable, a solution must be found."

He went on to say the EU respects the leading role of the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chairs, adding that this role has to continue.

"The Minsk Group has been helpful and we, the EU, very much encourage the Minsk Group to continue with these endeavours," he added.

Salber, further touching upon Russia's proposal on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement, said, "we don't know what is the certain proposal."

"If I see it correctly, the Minsk Group co-chairs support the proposal," he said. "We think it is good if the Minsk Group is standing behind [the proposal]."

Earlier, during a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "We have the proposals that we are trying with the co-chairs to actively use for achieving an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia."

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.

Further during the interview with Trend, Salber said the Minsk Group is the right form to push negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"I don't believe that the format of the Minsk Group should be changed," he said, adding that the change of format would require a new consensus with the OSCE.

"I doubt this consensus could be achieved," he stressed.

Salber further pointed to the necessity for the parties to respect the ceasefire and show the strength not to go to any risks.

"Parties should know it is an obligation for them to act in a responsible way," he added.

Speaking about his trip to Baku, Salber said the visit was exploratory to understand better where the endeavours for a peaceful solution are at the very moment, and how the sides see these endeavours.

Salber also said the visit was fruitful.

"It gave me some insights that I can report to the leadership of the EU," he added. "That helped me a lot."

He added that the EU member-states are interested to know what is happening in Azerbaijan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 12:36 (UTC+04:00)

Olaf Gutting, Christian Democratic Union member of the Bundestag and the South-Caucasus Friendship Group, gave an interview to the From the Bundestag programme on TV Berlin. He spoke about the recent Armenian provocations in the Nagorno-Karabakh zone of conflict and the process of conflict resolution. He went on to discuss the further development of relations between Germany and Azerbaijan, NATO, the European Union and Azerbaijan, also covering Azerbaijans growing role in energy security for Europe, Azertac state news agency reports.

Although there are some points of dispute with this high profile German politician, in view of the Azerbaijani audiences interest in a German view of current events in the region, we present here an overview of the discussion and its most significant points:

Olaf Gutting noted with regret that the 25-year-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had become frozen and slipped out of international attention. Armenias armed forces continue illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts, all undisputedly Azerbaijani land.

He focused on the refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan, noting that Europe and the international community do not pay enough attention to the problem. There are several UN, OSCE and Council of Europe resolutions that clearly indicate that Armenias occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the other territories violates international law. The occupation has lasted for over 20 years.

Despite the repeatedly approved decisions and resolutions by international organisations, there has been no progress in their implementation.

The Bundestag member noted that Germany is using all possible means to prevent an escalation of the conflict into a military confrontation. The problem should be solved through negotiation, he said. This needs joint efforts from Europe, NATO and, of course, Russia to achieve that. Azerbaijan, he said, remains committed to its political course and maintains a balanced foreign policy towards both sides.

Olaf Gutting noted that the conflict had not been at the centre of world attention 20 years ago. Back then the West was not as unified on a settlement of the Karabakh conflict as it is now on Ukraine. If there had been a similar approach to the Karabakh issue, then sanctions would have been imposed on Armenia.

This could be a possible solution for the conflict.

In explaining Europes need for energy security and diversification of resources, Mr. Gutting emphasised Azerbaijans particular role in the energy race as potentially the sixth largest supplier of gas to Europe, and Germany wished to strengthen that role. Any monopolisation of raw materials supplies is dangerous, he stressed:

For this reason it is crucially important to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Currently, the oil and gas pipelines lie within 100 kilometres of the front line. This presents a threat to European supplies. Thats why Europe must show an interest in resolving the conflict and reaching a satisfactory solution for all parties involved by negotiation. We dont need another conflict, we need peace.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 19:10 (UTC+04:00)

An Azerbaijani delegation led by Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Bahar Muradova has paid a working visit to Switzerland, Azertac state news agency reports.

Ms. Muradova has met President of the Council of States in the Swiss Parliament Raphael Comte. The Deputy Speaker spoke about the recent events on the line of the contacts of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, as well as current state in the conflict zone and the country`s expectations from Switzerland.

Raphael Comte said his country supported the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the norms of international law.

The sides exchanged views on relations between the two countries in political, economic and humanitarian fields.

The Azerbaijani delegation has also met Chairman of the foreign Policy Committee of the Cantons` Council Christian Levrat. They discussed the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as cooperation between the parliaments of both countries.

Bahar Muradova has met State Secretary of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Yves Rossier. The Deputy Speaker said Armenian armed forces shelled fire on Azerbaijan`s positions every day.

Yves Rossier, in turn, said Switzerland supports the settlement of the conflict within the norms of international law and the documents of the international organizations.

The Parliamentary delegation has also met compatriots living and studying in Switzerland, as well as heads of the Turkish Diaspora organizations.

The representatives of the Diaspora organizations were informed about relations between Azerbaijan, and Switzerland.

Azerbaijan`s Deputy Parliament Speaker Bahar Muradova was interviewed by the Media of Switzerland.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 10:47 (UTC+04:00)

The member-countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) must develop the joint relations more actively, Mustafa Kabakci, former Turkish MP from the Justice and Development Party, told Trend by phone April 15.

Kabakci said that taking into account the strength and capabilities of the Islamic countries, these countries can play a greater role in solving the world conflicts.

The Turkish MP added that unfortunately, the role of Islamic countries in this issue is not rather active.

"Today, the Islamic world consists of more than one billion people," he said. "The Islamic countries are the world's richest ones in terms of hydrocarbon reserves."

He said that taking into account the capabilities of the Islamic countries, these countries can solve all their problems themselves.

"Istanbul's 13th OIC Islamic Summit Conference can give a great impetus to the development of relations among the OIC countries and unify their efforts in all directions," he said.

Kabakci added that one of the important directions of uniting joint efforts of the OIC countries is to combat the growing threat of terrorism.

"First of all, the OIC countries must also give preference to each other in trade," he said. "This will contribute to the economic development of these countries."

The 13th OIC Islamic Summit Conference is underway in Istanbul.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), founded on Sept. 25, 1969, is the largest and most influential official Muslim governmental international organization.

The OIC brings together 57 countries.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 16:37 (UTC+04:00)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged for resolving the issues of the Islamic world without the interfering foreigners. "The problems of the Islamic world should be settled by Islamic countries without the interfering of foreigners," IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying at a meeting with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara.

Rouhani called on Turkey and all Islamic countries to join efforts to get use of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the favor of strengthening the unity in the Islamic world. Rouhani further called for the expansion of bilateral ties with Turkey and increasing the trade turnover between the two countries to $30 billion.

The Iranian president arrived in Istanbul to attend the summit meeting of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Turkish port city on Wednesday.

President Rouhani held bilateral meetings with heads of states on the sidelines of the 2-day OIC Summit meeting.

Rouhani alongside with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other officials refrained from attending the closing session of the OIC meeting.

The move followed "anti-Iranian" statements in the summit's final announcement, something pushed through by Saudi Arabia, Iranian media outlets said. Before the summit began, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif publicly objected to Saudi Arabia's attempt to introduce "anti-Iranian" articles in the draft declaration of the OIC.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 17:17 (UTC+04:00)

Iran and the European Union have great opportunity for cooperation in the nuclear field, which will not be like many other countries' cooperation for Iran is able to offer special services, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrooz Kamalvandi said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting between EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Kamalvandi said the special opportunity comes from two aspects of Iran's nuclear program, Trend correspondent reported April 16.

"The first aspect is that Iran needs to be producing about 10 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy, and the second is that the country has a lot of expert human resources. We can offer help to the other sides, which means a different kind of cooperation with Europeans," the spokesman added.

Regarding hot events on agenda in the AEOI, he said AEOI chief Ali Akbar Salehi is scheduled to meet European Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic the following day.

Salehi is also going to travel to the Czech republic next week to discuss bilateral cooperation with that country as a leading power in nuclear technology, Kamalvandi added.

Asked by Trend about Iran's heavy water production and export program, he said Tehran is holding talks with various countries to that effect.

After the JCPOA went into effect on January 16, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US were lifted. Iran, in return, has put some limitations on its nuclear activities.

The EU and other powers have promised to help Iran modernize its nuclear industry.

Mogherini has traveled to the Iranian capital on a one-day visit at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation comprising seven European commissioners.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 April 2016 19:00 (UTC+04:00)

Iran stands ready to ensure the energy security of Turkey, said the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

He made the statement during a joint press-conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara Apr. 16, which was aired live by Iran's state-run IRINN TV.

"We promised Turkey that Iran is able to ensure Turkey's energy security," Rouhani said, adding Tehran can fully meet Ankara's gas, oil, electricity and petrochemical needs.

Rouhani also said Iran and Turkey agreed to expand ties in various areas, adding that the two countries' economies complement each other.

He added that after the removal of international sanctions, grounds are ready for boosting cooperation in various areas.

Closer banking ties have big importance, said Rouhani, adding that Iran and Turkey need to remove obstacles to expand ties.

The two sides also decided to expand banking ties, according to the Iranian president.

He added that Turkish banks can open their branches in Iran in order to facilitate the mutual trade and economic ties.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
 

       3.0 (      -       -         ): editor [at] bahrainmirror.com
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Tampa ranks third in the nation for having the best beer scene, according to a recent USA Today poll.

Brewers credit influx of breweries

45 Bay area breweries



Brewers believe its because so many new breweries are popping up.



According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Bay area now has 45 breweries. Seventeen were licensed in 2015, 9 in 2014, and 14 in 2013. That amounts to 40 breweries being licensed to brew beer in the last three years.



Longtime brewmaster Norman Dixon attributes the growth to the increase in craft beer bars.



Now theres a whole lot of craft beer bars that serve 30, 40, 50 taps of beer and all of them are looking to put Florida beers and local beers in," said Norman Dixon, brewmaster of de Bine Brewing Company. "So the market is expanding both ways.



de Bine Brewing Company in Palm Harbor is one of four breweries that opened in 2016 in the Bay area.



Locals will be able to taste some of these new beers on April 23. The Tampa Bay Brewing Company is hosting a Beerfest from 7-11p.m.

For more information, click here.
A Pasco County restaurant owner is helping a combat veteran and his bride-to-be in a very special way.

Sal Argento owns Italian restaurant in Port Richey



When Argento heard frequent customer was marrying, he offered to cater wedding

Customer's fiance is a Navy combat vet who suffers from severe PTSD

Patty Birmingham is a frequent customer at Argentos Italian Bistro and Pastry Shop in Port Richey. Recently, she told the owner, Sal Argento, about her upcoming wedding to longtime love Daniel Bordeaux.

Bordeaux is a Navy combat veteran who suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

After hearing about the couples upcoming nuptials, Sal Argento immediately stepped in to help. He offered to cater the wedding at no cost.

"I've got goosebumps," Argento said. "If you can look at my hairs, they're standing up, but other than that, it's wonderful. It was the good thing to do.

"Once in a while, you have to do something good for the neighborhood, and that's what I'm doing," Argento said.



The gesture moved the couple to tears. They said they cant thank Argento enough for his act of kindness.

"Absolute tears," said Birmingham, describing her reaction to Argento's gesture. "We always like to support the local businesses, but when local businesses turn around and help support our veterans, I think that's a wonderful thing. They gave up their conditions, so to give back to them is just a wonderful thing."



The couple will tie the knot Saturday, April 16.
Candidates from both political parties are focusing on New York ahead of Tuesdays primary. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is stepping up his battle over the delegate process. Trump said its rigged and in a contested convention, the election will be stolen from him.

On Saturday, Bay Area republicans interviewed for a spot on the convention floor.

A total of 89 residents from the 12th, 13th, and 14th congressional district answered questions from other party members on why they should be chosen as a delegate.



Three delegates and three alternates will be chosen from each district.

"I've been involved with the party in the past I volunteered time most recently with the Rubio campaign and while my guy didn't win, we're going to support the Republican nominee in Cleveland," Republican party member C.J. Johnson said.

"I am the grassroots I believe in sweat equity that means you go out and you sweat for your candidate," party member Tina Harris said.

At the RNC, the chosen delegates must vote for Donald Trump, who won the Florida primary, through three rounds of balloting.

If balloting goes past three rounds, then the 99 delegates are in play.

"I just want to focus on the first three but I think once we get past that it'll be very interesting to see what happens," Johnson said.

Nick DiCeglie, Chairman of the Republican party in Pinellas County is also hoping to become a delegate and believes there is a chance there will be a contested convention.

"I do think this election really is about the voice of the voter and they're being heard loud and clear," DiCeglie said.

Those being interviewed said they want their voices to be heard loud and clear in the national spotlight.
A veteran zookeeper has been killed by a tiger at a South Florida zoo, officials said.

Zookeeper was killed in the Malayan tiger's enclosure

Tiger was 13-year-old male

Officials declined to comment on whether there have been other incidents with tiger

Palm Beach Zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter said Stacey Konwiser, 38, was killed Friday afternoon by a 13-year-old male tiger.

West Palm Beach Police spokeswoman Lori Colombino says Konwiser was attacked in the Malayan tiger's enclosure. Colombino says the tiger was tranquilized.

Media reports say guests were herded into the gift shop for a short time. Police said the tiger is in a contained area and guests were not at risk. The zoo said it will remain closed Friday.

Zoo officials say Konwiser's husband was also a zookeeper there. They declined to comment on whether there had been other incidents with the tiger.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said they planned to investigate.

Sadly this isnt the first time something like this has happened.

We talked to Carney Anne Nasser, Senior Counsel for Wildlife and Regulatory Affairs.



"OSHA has already acknowledged after Dawn Brancheau's death, OSHA acknowledged the inherent dangers of having direct contact with wild animals in the work place. Yet it has consistently refused to impose specific work place safety standards to keep individuals like Dawn Brancheau, like Stephanie James in the Knoxville Zoo who was crushed by an elephant, like Stacey Konwiser who was killed today. They've refused. It's really, enough is enough, she said.




Oregon Coast Near 80 This Week; Portland Close to 90

Published 04/15/2016 at 8:11 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast)  April has been unusually dry this year and has broken some heat records for the month already. Now you can look for more busted statistics as Portland approaches the 90's this week and even the coast will stretch into the 70's and maybe 80's.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland said high pressure will continue to be strong over northwest Oregon and southwest Washington, keeping warm and dry weather around through into early next week.

However, moist onshore flow will help keep some clouds around the forecast Friday, the NWS said. A strong upper level ridge will bring above normal temperatures on Sunday and Monday.



Saturday will start out cloudy but then mostly clear up with highs 65 to 70 and light wind along the coasts, according to the NWS.

Sunday, however, will heat up dramatically with highs 75 to 80 and partly cloudy. Monday continues highs in the mid 70's, cooling down a bit on the coast while possibly hitting record highs close to 90 degrees inland, such as Portland, Salem or Silverton.

Monday will be mostly sunny on the beaches.

Tuesday cools to partly sunny and highs around 65 degrees, and then later at night the chances of showers increase.

Some forecasts are indicating central Oregon coast towns like Newport and Lincoln City will be warmer than up north at Seaside, Manzanita or Cannon Beach by a few degrees.

Cooler and wetter weather starts to ease its way in over the midweek, the NWS said, and may bring thunderstorms.

Tidal conditions will remain calm on the coast, and this means good agate hunting and beach treasure discoveries after this week's heavy wave action. It's likely plenty of debris  both formerly alive and inanimate  will make it onto the beaches.

Smaller waves also make for better whale watching. Large waves act as gullies where whales get hidden. Currently, lots of gray whales and their calves are heading up the coastline, so you're chances of not only spotting one whale are good, but you could well catch sight of a mother and her baby whale.

These also bring on Orca whales, which is an impressive sight. These show up to try and chase down baby gray whales for food. You're chances of spotting killer whales are greatly increased at this time. More Oregon Coast Weather.

You'll want to keep your sunscreen on hand as this kind of weather will result in more reflection of the sun off the ocean, and thus a greater chance of sunburn. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours















More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

Coastal Spotlight



LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net

All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted
Since Easter, the Diocese of Beaumont has added 400 parishioners, in large part because of the pastoral approach of Pope Francis but also because of a desire among people to connect spiritually with something greater, said Bishop Curtis Guillory.

"Pope Francis has a lot do with it. Many non-Catholics have great admiration for his pastoral approach. He has a feel for what people go through. Pastors have to be compassionate and understanding," Guillory said. "He has helped to make the church warmer and more receptive."

Guillory also said he perceives that young people are asking themselves whether there is more than just the life of the senses.

"They're looking for something more solid," said Guillory, the spiritual leader of 80,000 Catholics across 51 parishes in Southeast Texas.

That's what Kristen Morgan, 22, said she was looking for as she was baptized and confirmed in the church on the Saturday before Easter.

"I like the consistency, the traditions that I can trust. I feel the church is our family and I never had that feeling before," she said.

Morgan and her fiance, Jack Morrison, are still taking the adult equivalent of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes. CCD was established in the Roman Catholic faith in 1562.

Morrison, 27, began CCD classes as a child, but one parent decided he should attend a Baptist church.

Last fall, he felt drawn back to the Catholic faith. His grandmother had been treasurer at St. Anthony's parish for 30 years, so it was like a return home for him.

Morgan said they want their marriage consecrated "in the eyes of the church" and want to grow in their new, or renewed, faith.

She is looking forward to graduating from the Lamar Institute of Technology in December in computer drafting and after that, she would like to become active in some of the many ministries the church offers.

"My life has taken a complete 180 (degree turn) in my relationship with God. I have so much peace," she said.

Guillory cites St. Augustine, who said people are created in the image and likeness of God, which means there is a place in the human heart for God to fill.

"You can fill the heart with materialism, but never satisfactorily," Guillory said. "There has to be something more."

While Francis is a warm and welcoming presence in the worldwide church with a billion adherents, Catholics are now practicing evangelization, Guillory said.

"Protestants have been much better at this," he said.

He said each parish has an evangelization commission and is undergoing training on how to share and witness for their faith to attract people.

The church also is reaching out to inmates.

"We have a very effective prison ministry," Guillory said, counting about 50 new adherents since Easter among the 400.

He recently celebrated Mass at the Lucille Plane Unit in Dayton, a prison unit for women, which is within the Diocese of Beaumont.

He said the women weren't there just for time off or for something to do but were taking part for heartfelt reasons, he said.

Much of it is because they are separated from their children and want to return to them with a much healthier outlook on life.

"The soil needs water," he said. "The desire for something is there."

Guillory said he also is reaching out to new converts to ask them why they were interested in the church.

For new converts, the church assigns a sponsor to help provide guidance through the journey of becoming a Catholic.

Bill Gier, who converted to Catholicism 30 years ago, is helping to shepherd Morrison. This is his first experience serving as a sponsor.

"It's enlightening and invigorating," he said. "I learn right along with Jack. We're discussion partners," Gier said.

The church is also enjoying a resurgence because of Francis and his attention to the plight of the poor, Guillory said.

He explains the attractiveness of Francis with comparisons of how people view the previous two pontiffs.

"People came to see John Paul II. (He was the most travelled of all the popes.) They came to hear Benedict because of his intellect. They come to hug Francis," Guillory said. "Each has his own contribution."

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/dwallach
David Di Pietro has resigned as chairman of Broward Health just days after winning a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Rick Scott to regain his position at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based system, according to a WPLG news report.

Gov. Scott suspended Mr. Di Pietro in late March. In his executive order, Gov. Scott said Mr. Di Pietro had engaged in malfeasance. On Monday, Broward County Judge Lisa Phillips held that the order did not meet the requirements of Florida law because it failed to state the specific acts that led to Mr. Di Pietro's suspension. Judge Phillips ruled that Mr. Di Pietro be reinstated as chairman of Broward Health.

On Tuesday, Gov. Scott appealed the Broward County judge's decision. However, an appeal will not be necessary, as Mr. Di Pietro sent a letter Thursday to Gov. Scott to announce he was stepping down from his position as chairman, according to the report.

"Although I have served with honor on the board, your actions have made it obvious to me that exercising my independent, fiduciary judgment as a board member is not consistent with your interests," wrote Mr. Di Pietro in his letter to the governor. "No matter how hard I may try to fix the problems at Broward Health, it is stifled with so much political interference that my continued membership is utterly futile."

More articles on Broward Health:

Fla. Governor: Broward board intimidated witnesses, blocking state investigation

Is dysfunction at Broward Health laying the groundwork for privatization?

Florida AG demands Broward Health fork over $5.3M to settle fraud claims
Certain leadership and management practices are so widely accepted they border on cliche. Take "culture eats strategy for breakfast," for example.

Other principles  delegate early and often, communicate clearly and provide feedback regularly  have become fixtures in the business world. The main reason? They work. Employees feel empowered when given the opportunity to contribute value and take ownership of their work. They feel engaged and more highly committed to the organization when its leaders communicate transparently. They see the potential for personal and career growth when they receive personalized, constructive feedback.

This all makes perfect sense, and these principles work perfectly well.

However, not all effective management principles are as intuitive. Some practices may be so different than what's taught in business school that they might generate resistance. But these three management practices  however counterintuitive  can yield as much success as the more obvious ones.

Management truth No. 1: Run from your strengths. When promoted or hired to a new leadership role, people are vulnerable to the pressure  whether perceived or actual to prove themselves. How do they do that? They stick to what they know they're good at, or the skills and expertise that promoted their success in their previous role.

This is a vital mistake for a new leader, according to Dan Michelson, CEO of Strata Decision Technology.

"They instantly lean on what they are good at, thin slice the information they are collecting, draw quick conclusions and then rinse and repeat something they have done before in a prior role," says Mr. Michelson. While this might help a new leader maintain confidence during an otherwise challenging transition, "the issue is they are often working on the wrong problem. Instead of focusing on what's most critical in this new role or new company, they run to what's most comfortable."

In doing so, one's insecurities begin to dictate his decisions, according to Mr. Michelson.

"In learning and in life, while one door opens another, opening the same doors over and over can lead to a dead end, for you and for your company," he says.

Mr. Michelson avoided this mistake when he became CEO of Strata in 2012. While he was confident he could guide the company in the right direction, he also knew he had a lot to learn. So, for the first 30 days on the job, Mr. Michelson didn't tell one "glory story" from his resume or draw one conclusion from the information his colleagues shared with him. He focused only on two things: listening and learning. He did this for the next 30 days, and, after having earned the trust of his team, shared his observations, not conclusions.

After his first 60 days at the helm, Mr. Michelson could clearly see what the company needed and convey that to his colleagues from an informed position. By then, through his dedicated practice of listening and learning, he had cultivated the trust and respect required to make change happen.

"Had I gone to my comfort zone of vision, strategy and growth, I would have likely generated better results initially, which would have drowned the company eventually," says Mr. Michelson.

Management truth No. 2: Execute more than you strategize, and maintain persistence. From the time he was three years old, David Shade's mother used to lament that he could never take "no" for an answer. What began as boyhood stubbornness transformed over time into a critical understanding that entrepreneurial success hinges on persistence and taking action. In the end, Mr. Shade's inability to take "no" for an answer was precisely what enabled him to successfully co-found Prism Healthcare Partners, a national healthcare consulting firm based in Chicago.

"As I worked with more people, I realized the tremendous value of persistence," says Mr. Shade. "It's so important for execution and making new ideas happen. So many times it would have been easy to say something wasn't going to work, but persistence paid off."

Persistence is an especially pertinent leadership trait when it comes to change management, which requires careful strategy and execution. By definition, creating a new company is creating change. When Mr. Shade co-founded Prism in 2013, he decided to take a less precise approach with its design. This is not to be confused with a less calculated or considerate approach; the fundamental elements were carefully designed, while some details were left to take shape organically.

Mr. Shade and Mukesh Gangwal, president, CEO and a co-founder of Prism, say they adhered to an 80/20 rule during the company's formation, in which 20 percent of energy was dealt to strategy and 80 percent was paid to execution.

"We knew what we wanted the company to be," says Mr. Shade, who serves as chairman. "We wanted it to focus on healthcare and to encompass a wide range of performance improvement services to meet the immediate needs of our hospital clients. We thought carefully and framed the strategy. We didn't spend months on it."

This mindset can be carried over throughout all stages of business. While some may be uncomfortable with an imprecise plan, Mr. Gangwal says emphasizing short-term execution over long-term planning yields much higher success.

"In business school, vision, goals and objectives were the mantra of strategy. As I thought more and more about the practice of consulting, I realized that execution has a higher precedence than pure strategy," says Mr. Gangwal. "The two are by no means mutually exclusive; execution is just a higher priority."

The demand for a high-level of certainty  something the healthcare industry is inclined to prefer  can impair the ability to execute in the short term. And as the pace of change in the industry accelerates, the need to accept change and make decisions quickly and effectively to meet near-term goals determines long-term viability.

"The idea of having a little uncertainty but going ahead with the execution anyways is more important than getting entangled with the enormous amount of analysis and other management tools that are good, but are  in my experience  secondary to execution," says Mr. Gangwal.

Mr. Shade adds that a leadership team that is comfortable executing plans without first working out a myriad of details fosters the culture of nimbleness and flexibility necessary to react quickly and comfortably to the many changes constantly occurring in the market.

Other business leaders have seconded Mr. Shade and Mr. Gangwal, affirming that strategizing can easily become a detriment to a company's success. It can zap energy and drown people in process. For instance, in the most recent edition of Harvard Business Review, authors Chris Zook and James Allen write that company "stall-outs" are rarely the result of a business model becoming obsolete. "Rather, our research shows that the business has almost always become too complex, most often owing to bureaucracy that slows the company's metabolism, or internal dysfunction that distorts information and hampers managers' ability to make rapid decisions and take swift action on them."

Management truth No. 3: You don't have to brand yourself with a management philosophy. Management and operational methods proven for efficiency  such as Toyota's lean management or Six Sigma  are attractive schools of thought. These methods are on a first-name basis with most executives, shortened to simply to "lean" and beloved by "Black Belts." And while their principles can be effectively applied to a variety of endeavors, leaders don't need to wholly commit to them, according to Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health.

"Rather than sending a bunch of people out to learn about lean management, the more effective approach is to teach leaders how to drive change," says Ms. Maysent.

Numerous name-brand management strategies uphold the fundamental competencies for leading and driving change. Oftentimes, organizations benefit from picking and choosing elements of different strategies to meet their particular needs, according to Ms. Maysent.

"If we need a tool out of the lean bucket, we'll use it," she says. "If we need something from another bucket, we'll use that, too. I care less about the name of the philosophy than I do about the efficacy of the tool we need to drive the specific change we're going for."
Cleveland Clinic and Milwaukee-based Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Froedtert Hospital are joining forces to advance cardiovascular care in the upper Midwest.

The affiliation allows the organizations to remain independent while collaborating on best practices in patient care, outcomes measurement, quality reporting and clinical research. In particular, Cleveland Clinic and Froedtert plan to focus on advancing heart care treatments and protocols through the new partnership.

"We have a strong cardiovascular program, and this relationship will help us take it to the next level," Michael Cinquegrani, MD, director of Froedtert & MCW heart and vascular services, said in a statement. "The best get better by collaborating and learning from each other. Joining our Medical College Physicians group with a proven national performer will accelerate our progress toward having a world-class heart program here in Milwaukee to benefit people throughout the region."

Froedtert is the first hospital in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest to become an affiliate member of Cleveland Clinic's Heart & Vascular Institute. This status will bring Froedtert patients and physicians access to new treatments and technologies and opportunities to collaborate in medical research, as well as the sharing of care pathways, quality processes, outcomes data analysis and medical education opportunities.

Froedtert's affiliation comes months after it opened a new Center for Advanced Care, which houses its heart and vascular program. This new home occupies the entire fourth floor of the new building  a testament to the program's 170 percent increase in outpatient volume over the past decade.

More articles on integration and physician issues:

8 key concerns for physicians in 2016

What does the public really think of gene editing? 6 things to know

AMA to offer $50k prize to physicians, med students for innovation proposals
From a husband and wife allegedly bilking $45 million from Medicare to a disbarred lawyer admitting he stole $1.2 million from a Missouri health system, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.

1. Boston Medical Center to pay $1.1M over billing errors

Boston Medical Center and two of its physician practices agreed to pay $1.1 million to resolve allegations that BMC improperly billed Medicaid and Medicare.

2. Former medical biller sentenced to 11 years for role in $63M fraud scheme

Nery Cowan, of Miami, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for her role in a $63 million healthcare fraud scheme involving now-defunct Greater Miami Behavioral Healthcare Center, a partial hospitalization program.

3. Physician who claimed to have 11,000 patients could spend rest of life behind bars

A federal jury in Dallas found Jacques Roy, MD, guilty in what is believed to be the nation's largest home healthcare fraud involving a single physician.

4. Lawyer in charge of past due patient payments steals $1.2M from St. Luke's

Alan B. Gallas, 64, a recently disbarred lawyer, admitted in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., that he embezzled more than $1.2 million from Kansas City-based St. Luke's Health System from 2009 to July 2015.

5. Husband and wife allegedly bilked $45M from Medicare, kept indentured servant

Defrauding Medicare of millions of dollars was a family affair for Richard and Maribel Tinimbang, a Chicago couple who allegedly used their healthcare business to steal $45 million from the government payer.

6. MemorialCare sues over hospital closure, asks for $42.5M in damages

Fountain Valley, Calif.-based MemorialCare Health System 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.

7. Maryland physician gets 9 years for healthcare fraud

Paramjit Singh Ajrawat, MD, of Potomac, Md., received a prison sentence of more than 9 years  111 months, precisely  for his role in a $3.1 million healthcare fraud scheme.

8. Judge dismisses abortion lawsuit against Trinity Health

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.

9. Physician imposter treats patients in Michigan, helps steal $6.2M from Medicare

Cecil Alexander Kent Jr. of Eastlake, Ohio, pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare of approximately $6.2 million while he posed as a licensed physician.

10. Lawsuit claims Ill. budget impasse has robbed state employees of health insurance

A state employee filed a lawsuit against Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and several other high-ranking state officials, claiming the state's budget impasse has left nonunion employees without the insurance they continue to pay for.

11. Employee sues hospitals for allegedly revealing HIV status during security breach

A University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro (N.J.) employee who was herself previously hospitalized within the health system filed a lawsuit, alleging her HIV-positive status was leaked to coworkers during a security breach.

More articles on health law:

Zubik v. Burwell compromise must end controversy, administration says

5 latest healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements

The evolution of the healthcare law specialty: 8 things to know
Nery Cowan, of Miami, has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for her role in a $63 million healthcare fraud scheme involving now-defunct Greater Miami Behavorial Healthcare Center, a partial hospitalization program.

While serving as a consultant and medical biller for Greater Miami, Ms. Cowan admitted she directed and authorized the payment of bribes and kickbacks to "patient brokers" in exchange for Medicare beneficiary referrals. The "patient brokers" solicited Medicare beneficiaries from halfway houses, drug courts and assisted living facilities, according to the Department of Justice.

Ms. Cowan admitted Greater Miami personnel routinely falsified the medical records associated with these recruited patients to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare. From 2006 through 2014, Greater Miami billed Medicare approximately $63 million for purported health services.

In addition to her prison sentence, Ms. Cowan was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.

More articles on healthcare industry lawsuits:

Physician imposter treats patients in Michigan, helps steal $6.2M from Medicare

Legal battle over Broward Health chairman's reinstatement heads to appeals court

FTC heads to trial to stop Hershey-Pinnacle merger: 3 things to know
St. Michael's Medical Center in Newark, N.J., has notified health plans their existing contracts will be terminated May 1, reports NJBiz.

The news comes days after a superior court judge gave final approval for Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services to acquire St. Michael's for $62 million.

Below are four things to know about the voided contracts.

1. The termination letters surprised many insurers that have contracts with St. Michaels. HealthRepublic of New Jersey CEO Robert Meehan told NJBiz his company did not anticipate the letter because "it is countering the public statements made by Prime." In a statement released April 12, Prime said it is committed to maintaining St. Michael's existing health insurance contracts during the acquisition.

2. Aetna and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield confirmed they also received termination letters from the hospital. Aetna's contract with St. Michael's had just been renewed for another year April 1.

3. Each insurer that reported getting termination notices expressed optimism they will be able to form new contracts with the hospital.

4. Bruno Tedeschi, a St. Michael's spokesman, said the contract terminations are a "standard part of the negotiating process" as the hospital pursues new contract discussions "to ensure patients are well-served". Mr. Tedeschi said St. Michael's continues to negotiate in good faith with insurers to maintain future relationships.
0 - Call to undefined function upload_hubspot()

You may not be able to visit this page because of:

an out-of-date bookmark/favourite a search engine that has an out-of-date listing for this site a mistyped address you have no access to this page The requested resource was not found. An error has occurred while processing your request.

Please try one of the following pages:

If difficulties persist, please contact the website administrator and report the error below.
To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below
Boris Johnson will spearhead the Brexit campaign with a series of speeches across the UK

Mortgage rates are likely to rise if Britain quits the European Union, the Chancellor has warned.

Families would be left "paying the price" of a Brexit as i nstability in financial markets pushed up the cost of repayments, George Osborne insisted.

Experts are "pretty clear" that prices would increase if voters choose to leave the 28-strong bloc in the June 23 referendum, he said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this week warned that quitting could inflict "severe regional and global damage" and downgraded its forecast for UK economic growth.

Mr Osborne, who is visiting the US, told Sky News: "If you look at the view of the experts here at the IMF in Washington it's pretty clear that if Britain votes to leave the EU then prices will go up and there will be instability in financial markets.

"What that means for families is that mortgage rates are likely to go up. In other words, it will be families paying the price if Britain votes to leave the EU and I think it's another reason why, frankly, we are stronger, safer and better off inside the European Union."

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Vote Leave, said: " Less than 24 hours in and the pro-EU camp are already panicking - resorting to doing down the economy and people's mortgages to intimidate the British public into voting their way.

"The Chancellor is desperate not to talk about the NHS and the pressure it is under because of EU migration."

As campaigning ramped up, l eading Leave campaigner Boris Johnson said it would be "hypocritical" for US President Barack Obama to seek to use his upcoming visit to the UK to try to persuade Britain to stay in the European Union.

London's mayor told the Evening Standard: "I honestly don't mind the idea of him joining the debate.

"Where we do part company, and where I do mind, is that it is plainly hypocritical for America to urge us to sacrifice control - of our laws, our sovereignty, our money and our democracy - when they would not dream of ever doing the same."

Fellow Brexit campaigner Michael Gove insisted quitting the EU would free up more cash for the NHS as Vote Leave put the service centre stage. It claimed a large chunk of the UK's 10.6 billion net contribution to Brussels could be diverted to medical care if Britain quits the EU.

The Justice Secretary told Sky News: "If we stay in, if we vote to remain, then the European Union will press ahead with integration and it will drag us into that process.

"At the moment, the money we give to the European Union is spent by others, people that we have never elected, never chosen and can't remove.

"If that money is taken back, then that 50 million a day will be spent on British people's priorities and the NHS, of course, is top of the list."

Downing Street insisted that Brexit would mean "less money for the NHS", with Mr Cameron's official spokeswoman saying: "A strong NHS needs a strong economy and the Prime Minister has been very clear that our economy is stronger in the EU."

Health unions blasted Vote Leave's figures as "spurious and outrageously misleading", insisting the NHS's financial woes were made in Whitehall and not Brussels.

Unite national officer for health Barrie Brown said: "It defies belief to think that Boris Johnson and Michael Gove would do a massive political U-turn and divert billions of EU cash into the NHS - when they have supported real cuts to the NHS budget and been enthusiastic flag-wavers for the privatisation and break-up of the NHS."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The reality is that Brexit would plunge the NHS into a staffing crisis, which could lead to the longest hospital waiting lists we've ever known. And with experts warning that Brexit would hit Britain's economy, the consequences for NHS funding would be dire."

The Remain camp also wheeled out a big gun, with former chancellor Lord (Alistair) Darling accusing Brexit backers of offering Project Fantasy, as he warned that leaving would threaten Britain's economy.

In a speech in London, the Labour peer acknowledged that either side could win the EU contest.

"This is a very, very close vote. No one can predict with any certainty what is likely to happen," said the Labour peer.

"I hope we will win and I hope we will win well but we need to get the support of people the length and breadth of the country, no matter what their political allegiance has been in the past.

"We need every single vote. It is going to be very close. Every vote counts."
The last time I met Laura Whitmore she rewrote the book on cool. Despite wearing something probably designery, Laura held my then six-month-old baby on her lap for 15 minutes while I attempted to interview her.

I was worried that Emilia would get, ever-so-gently, sick on the MTV superstar. The MTV superstar was, however, more worried about whether Emilia needed to be fed her bottle.

Babies are great at sussing out people - and my baby's instinct was clearly that Laura Whitmore was sufficiently sincere and lovely not to get sick on. Seven months later, Laura Whitmore's first question is: "How's the baby?" She wants to see pictures. She also wants to drink herbal tea and talk God, Donald Trump, honesty in men, Tayto crisps and inner, non-material matters.

"I am incredibly spiritual," she says. "I believe in working hard and being kind."

I ask her what is her greatest fear. "To not appreciate what I have."

Laura Whitmore, I think you'll agree, is quite a self-aware and philosophical young woman. "My parents split up before I was born," explains Laura, who was born on May 4, 1985. For the record, she looks more 25 than almost 31.

"My mum Carmel and dad are great mates. I am very lucky to have both in my life equally. I've got two lovely half-brothers who are my full brothers to me. One is turning 17 next week - and he is a proper grown-up - and the other one is 20."

It says something about Laura that her heroes are her family. "My mam. My friends. The people who graft and work hard behind the scenes without the glory."

When was the last time she cried?

"Watching the movie Brooklyn. I guess it drew some comparisons to my own life in a way," she says, referring to the fact that in 2007 she moved to London from Bray, the Co. Wicklow seaside town just outside Dublin where she grew up.

Laura, who has an idiosyncratic sense of humour, says she'd bring a Martian who came down to Earth for the night "probably to a gig in London and a good boogie on a dance-floor, with maybe some curry ships on the way home".

She names Roald Dahl as her favourite writer. "It's his fault I've such a vivid imagination."

What five items would she bring to a desert island?

"A phone. A ship with fuel. A captain. A bottle of Sancerre - and some Tayto."

I ask her what goes through her head when she is about to go live for I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in front of millions of television viewers

"'Lets try not to f**k this up Laura,'" she replies with a hearty laugh. "I can't believe I've anchored that show for five years, the longest running anchor on the ITV2 show. It's a great crew and everyone works really hard. I'm not sure if it's maybe time for me to hang up the jungle boots for the soon. Though I've been saying that for a few years now ..."

Asked if she were to interview Donald Trump for MTV, what would be her opening question and why, she replies without hesitation: "If you could listen to one song before you die what would it be? Music taste tells a lot about a person."

Does she think his racism is as bad as his hairdo?

"Donald Trump is an evil villain in a comic book movie. He is a real-life Lex Luthor with worse hair. It scares me that a man who is not only racist but also extremely sexist has managed to get so far in life."

Is Laura a political person? "Not particularly. I care more about the issues than the politicians themselves," she says.

Implacably decent, even normal - quite a feat for a beautiful young woman who has enough global publicity, from UK and France Vogue to the New York Times, US Elle and Harper's Bazaar and beyond, to make her a bona fide international TV star - Laura is not full of the proverbial.

Every eye in the place is on her the afternoon we met up in Dublin, yet she remains grounded and self-deprecating. This is probably something to do with growing up in a two-bed house in Bray where the soundtrack from her room was the sound of the Dart coming in.

She tells me the story of being at a Ralph Lauren dinner in the very grand Althorp House on 13,000 acres in Northamptonshire last summer and feeling - endearingly - "completely and utterly out of my league".

"It was at the Spencers' residence. Earl Spencer was hosting it with the Lauren family."

Lady Laura of MTV and ITV2 recalls sitting in the house where Lady Diana grew up "when Kitty Spencer, the Earl's daughter, says to me, 'nice to meet you, I have to tell you something really embarrassing, you are my dad's crush'.

"I said, 'what?' And she said, 'my dad's favourite show is I'm a Celebrity'. I went, 'Jesus!'" Laura says now hooting with laughter.

She was doubtless hooting with a similar awed disbelief in April, 2008 when she won a once-in-lifetime job on MTV as a presenter; she beat over 3,000 other applicants on Pick Me MTV.

"When I first started the MTV job I didn't know whether people were laughing along with me or at me. Or maybe it is the Irish mannerisms. You get away with murder, I find, when you're Irish. It's the banter," she told me in a 2012 interview, "

Would Laura move back to Dublin one day or is she way too ambitious with her career in England and Europe to do that for a good few years yet?

"Who knows," she replies with Sphinx-like presence. "I love travelling, so not sure where or when I'll settle down. London is my home now but Dublin has a lovely spirit that I will always be connected to."

Would she like to get married one day?

"Yes - when the timing is right ..."

Are you conventional in the sense of settling down, getting hitched, having a few kids and living in domestic bliss in London?

"There's no such thing as conventional," Laura answers.

Is she a domestic goddess? Or a bit of a non-entity around the house?

"I'm a bit of a nester. I'm the one making cups of tea and snacks for everyone," says Laura, who lives with her friend Conor McDonnell - the photographer who did Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's wedding in Italy in 2014 - and her dog Mick, named after Mr Jagger. Laura looks like an agreeable mutant of the aforesaid Mick's daughter Georgia May Jagger and Lara Stone.

What is the quality she most likes in a man?

"Honesty."

Who was the greatest love of your life?

"My family."

It's a bit like David Bowie's Space Oddity when Ground Control comes on the intergalactic telephone thingy to tell Major Tom that he's "really made the grade/And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear". I tell her that everyone wants to know if she is single or in a relationship.

"It's not really their business," Laura says with a half-smile. "Maybe I am dating someone ..." she says, trailing off. "But it is scary how things can get blown out of proportion. And I learned a long time ago it's good to keep some things for yourself," she adds.

"It's unnecessary pressure to have people speculating. I've always been private with certain parts of my life. Sharing a picture of me and a boyfriend on Instagram, months after being followed unknowingly and pictured on a first date, doesn't mean I have to tell the world every single detail of my relationship.

"And believe me, my life would be a lot more exciting if half the things written were true. I do find it difficult for a woman in this business that you get judged more on what you wear or who you are talking to than what's going on in your brain. And it's demeaning that, as a girl, if someone approaches you, it must lead to something else. I'm not sure if guys get it the same. I'm just a girl at the end of the day getting on with life.

"Most of the guys I've been pictured with are just people I've had a laugh with and some banter. Can you imagine being connected to everyone you chatted to on a night out? What a scary thought. I'm very loyal to my friends and the people in my life. And they know me very well, thankfully and they know when things are fabricated."

What is her motto?

"Work hard and be kind."

True to her word of working hard, Laura is off to Los Angeles for TV commitments the day after we meet up.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how actually swish and ritzy and fancy pants glam is her life?

"Less than 4. I am always working."

On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy is she?

"One of my good friends, Max, said to me recently that being happy is nothing to do with money or defining where you are. It's just waking up everyday and being appreciative of what you are doing, what you are experiencing and who you are with."
Family and friends gather to pay tribute to Lesley-Ann McCarragher at her funeral at First Presbyterian Church in Armagh on Wednesday.

Lesley-Ann (19) was running near her home, at Monaghan Road outside Armagh, when she was knocked down by a car in an alleged hit-and-run incident.

She was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital, but tragically died of her injuries in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A 17-year-old male has appeared in court charged in connection with the incident.

The local community has been shocked by the tragic death of such a popular and bubbly individual.

Tributes have flooded in from across Armagh and Lesley-Ann's friends have created a poignant video tribute to their pal.

Shortly before her death, Lesley-Ann had asked her family to bring back a designer handbag from their trip to America.

Instead of being worn proudly with the perfect outfit, the baby pink Sophie Hulme tote bag was placed beside her coffin, so friends and family could leave photos and handwritten tributes in her memory.

At the service, the McCarragher family thanked the emergency services who fought valiantly to save their daughter's life.

They also called for donations to the air ambulance appeal, so that others might be saved as Lesley-Ann, tragically, could not.

Lesley-Ann had been studying environmental health at Loughry College and had previously attended Armagh City High School. During her time there, she had become head girl, as well as completing her bronze, silver and gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

It has been a particularly sad week for Armagh City High - as their former head girl was being laid to rest, another pupil, John Irwin, lost his fight for life.

The 16-year-old collapsed suddenly at the school on Tuesday afternoon. He was rushed to Craigavon Hospital, where medical staff struggled in vain to save him. He died surrounded by his family in the hospital's intensive care unit.

The cause of John's death is not yet known and will be determined by a post-mortem examination, but police are not treating it as suspicious.

He had celebrated turning 16 just three days earlier.
Causeway Hospital in Coleraine is part of the Northern Trust

A damning report has detailed 14 years of inappropriate dealings with contractors for the Northern Trust.

Despite saying he has "serious concerns", Health Minister Edwin Poots has been slammed by the SDLP for taking almost two years to publicly respond to concerns raised by two whistleblowers.

A special investigation by the estates service of the Northern Health Trust found that almost 6m of maintenance work carried out by contractors was not properly accounted for.

However, allegations made by a whistleblower that contracting a former trust employee was inappropriate were dismissed.

It found that it was permissible for the ex-staff member to provide services to the trust, despite being retired on ill-health grounds, and that the rate charged per hour  40  was reasonable.

Allegations of potential malpractice were made by whistle-blowers in 2011 and 2012.

The subsequent investigation concluded that there was "no clear evidence of fraudulent activity" or no incidences of contractors being paid for work they did not do.

The auditors did identify a series of weakness in the estates management function of the trust that meant it could not be established if expenditure on maintenance contracts represented value for money.

The Northern Trust has been issued with 72 recommendations to mend its ways.

Mr Poots has announced an independent review into the issues raised by the internal report, but said he believed the trust had made "significant progress in implementing the recommendations to date".

He said audit checks would be carried out across the other trusts to ensure similar practices were not occurring elsewhere.

"Where wrongdoing has occurred it must be addressed, with a proportionate and appropriate response," he said.

SDLP MLA John Dallat said he was "astounded and appalled" that the report came almost two years after the whistleblowers came forward.

"The Northern Health Trust has been aware of the whistleblowing allegations since February 2012," he said.

"The fact it has taken 23 months to complete a report is, in itself, deeply worrying."

He also called for an inquiry to be carried out by the Northern Ireland Audit Office.

"The fact that 5.7m of public money has not been subject to appropriate controls or procurement is not just a matter of serious concern for the minister, it is a serious concern for taxpayers and other contractors who were deprived of the opportunity to tender for this work through the proper procurement process," he said.

Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs praised the whistleblowers for coming forward and demanded to know who'll be held accountable.

"The Northern Health Trust is under extreme pressures and management must ensure that value for money is obtained from every pound," he said.

Sinn Fein MLA Oliver McMullan added that there were serious questions to be answered by the Northern Trust.

"The minister needs to take action as it is obvious the current management oversight mechanisms are not fit for purpose," he said.

FACTFILE

What the report found:

Single tender actions without formal approval.

A contractor working without a contract for years.

Contractors used outside of their contracted areas.

Documentation was missing to verify expenditure.

Lack of checks on work carried out and on invoices.

Contracts completed in excess of tender quotation.

Key points from the alarming investigation

3,128 was paid to Contractor 1 as part of a decontamination scheme without competition. Furthermore, 74,540 was paid to Contractor 1 relating to the medical technician accommodation at Causeway Hospital without competition.

There is no evidence that the services provided by Contractor 1 relating to maintenance, aids and adaptations in the Causeway area from 1999 to the present were subject to any competitive process.

The refurbishment of Whiteabbey Health Centre scheme was inappropriately funded from revenue rather than capital.

Expenditure on the ambulatory care scheme at Causeway was in excess of 30,000 and was not appropriately procured in line with PGN 04/12 (Procurement control limits and basis for contract awards).

Of the sample of 40 invoices reviewed, there was no evidence of measurement of the work and labour was not recorded on the labour management system, as specified in the day works contract specification.

In the sample selected, there was no evidence to support that the quality and appropriateness of the work, hours charged and labour used was confirmed in advance of payment being made. There was no evidence available to confirm that spot checks were performed either by trust staff or quantity surveyors used.

There is evidence the assistant director of estate services, the head of building and estates SMT were aware in 2009 of concerns over legacy Homefirst and Causeway procurement/ contract management.

Various memos, reports and discussions illustrate concerns being escalated as far as the assistant director of estate services. Senior management were aware of the absence of a contract with Contractor 1 in 2008.
Rosemary Flanagan, the overall chair of the SDLP, also resigned over the party's inability to deal with the rift

Former SDLP members are considering the establishment of a new political party after a major split in West Tyrone.

Seven more members resigned yesterday, bringing the total number of those who have left to around 25.

Three councillors have already quit the party in the past two weeks after stormy internal meetings, shouting matches and walkouts.

The seven include Frank Sweeney, the former chair of the party's constituency council.

The others are Eugene Mullan, former Strabane councillor, Barney McDermott, chair of the Derg branch, Geraldine Mullan, secretary of the Derg branch, Michael Deehan, treasurer of West Tyrone Constituency Association, Bernard McGrath, vice chair of the Mid Tyrone and Omagh branch and Margaret O'Connor, member of party executive for the Fermanagh and Omagh Council.

The resignations follow intense disagreements about which candidates to run in the upcoming Stormont elections on May 5.

The rebels say the frustration has mounted at the rise of Sinn Fein across Ireland and seeming inability of the SDLP to win back its support.

The chair of the SDLP's West Tyrone party council has also resigned, as has the chair of one of the party's largest branches and dozens of other members.

Rosemary Flanagan, the overall chair of the SDLP, also resigned over the party's inability to deal with the rift.

"We are thinking of setting up our own political party, there are discussions taking place at the moment," said Patsy Kelly, who resigned last week, along with Omagh and Fermanagh council member, Dr Josephine Deehan.

A third councillor, Joanne Donnelly, also resigned from the Omagh and Fermanagh council, pledging support for the other two councillors.

Mr Kelly said that all three had now labelled themselves 'Independent Social Democrats' but said this may evolve into a new party. "Dozens of people have resigned from the party and we are getting support from all over Northern Ireland," he said.

Colum Eastwood, the SDLP leader, said at the party's manifesto launch on Monday that the resignations were regrettable but would not affect the party's election strategy.

Well-placed SDLP figures confirmed there were last-minute efforts by senior party figures to head off a split.

Long-standing frustration within the constituency erupted over the decision by the SDLP to appoint a young candidate, Daniel McCrossan, as an MLA, following the resignation of his mentor, former MLA, Joe Byrne.

This was compounded when the party decided to run Mr McCrossan alone in West Tyrone in the upcoming Stormont election, rather than allowing councillor (Josephine) Deehan to also run. Both sides agree that the situation reached boiling point, and almost violence, during a very stormy constituency meeting at Joe Byrne's constituency office last year. "It was so bad that people feared for their own safety. There was a lot of shouting and our group left and set up our meeting in a supporter's premises. There is no way we could have stayed," Mr Kelly said.

Tension at that meeting erupted after the rebels tried to appoint Frank Sweeney, the chair of the SDLP West Tyrone party council, to convene the meeting.

Mainstream SDLP loyalists objected and a shouting match erupted, leading to a walkout by the rebels, both sides said.

Mr Sweeney said he and others felt a great frustration the party was not properly organised and was not attracting young people in the face of a rising Sinn Fein.

He said: "Of course there is frustration over our response to Sinn Fein. Unless we have a proper structure, we can't fight back properly."

Mr Byrne added: "People are free to make their own decisions. I'm just disappointed that it has come to this."
Marriage equality is a Northern Ireland Assembly election issue, campaigners said yesterday as they launched Love Equality, a new political campaign which aims to deliver equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

Northern Ireland is now the only part of the UK or Ireland where same-sex marriage is barred by law.

The Love Equality campaign aims to secure a change in the law during the Northern Ireland Assembly's five-year term.

The campaign is jointly organised by Northern Ireland's main LGBT organisations, the trade union and student union movements and campaigners Amnesty International.

The organisations say the campaign will not stop until equal marriage rights are part of Northern Ireland law.

"Ever since the Yes vote in the Republic of Ireland, marriage equality has become a big political issue for many voters - straight and gay - in Northern Ireland," said John O'Doherty, who is one of the leaders of the Love Equality campaign.

"Last summer 20,000 people marched through Belfast demanding marriage equality, one of the biggest political demonstrations Northern Ireland has seen in years.

"Those people haven't gone away.

"On May 5 they will be looking for candidates who promise to deliver equality for everyone.

"Marriage equality is now an election issue," Mr O'Doherty told reporters yesterday.

The campaign website - loveequalityni.org - has an 'email your candidate' online tool, to make it easy for supporters to lobby their MLA hopefuls in every constituency in advance of the Assembly election on May 5. Belfast couple Sally Bridge (48) and Catherine Couvert (53) said they wanted the law to give them the chance to marry.

"We've been together for 15 years and raised two sons, two cats and a dog together.

"We're very proud of our family.

"We want young LGBT people to grow up in a world where they don't feel like second class citizens and we want families like ours to have equal rights."

Shane Sweeney (30) from Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh and Eoin Griffin (24) from Belfast hope to get married as soon as the law in Northern Ireland allows it.

Shane said: "Eoin and I have been with each other for four years.

"I met him at a particularly low point in my life and I'd imagine a lot of other people would have just walked away but he didn't.

"I knew he was special from the start."
A 34-year-old north Belfast man caught ferrying drugs across the city has been jailed despite calls for leniency

A 34-year-old north Belfast man caught ferrying drugs across the city has been jailed despite calls for leniency.

Judge Gordon Kerr told father-of-two Declan Peter Aylward from Newington Avenue that in drugs cases he was "obliged" to follow the legal guidelines in all but the most exceptional of cases.

The Belfast Crown Court judge said he was prepared to give Aylward "considerable allowance" given his guilty plea, the impressive "bundle" of references, including one from the Bishop of Derry, and Aylward's past clear record.

In all Alyward, who admitted possessing both class A drugs and cannabis with intent to supply in December 2014, was jailed for a total of nine months after the sentence was reduced by more than two years.

Prosecutor Gareth Purvis said police were suspicious of Alyward's car after it was stopped at a checkpoint on Stockman's Lane in west Belfast.

Officers could smell a strong aroma of cannabis and later found a holdall containing two bags of the class B drug together with a quantity of cocaine. Mr Purvis said that Aylward during interview admitted to being a courier, claiming he had been under pressure, having run up considerable debts. He was told "if he made the run, that debt would be cleared".

Defence lawyer Martin Morgan described the case as a tragedy in which Aylward stood to lose everything.
Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Man was shot three times in the leg in an alleyway at Butler Place close to Elmfield Street, near the Crumlin Road at about 22:05 on Friday. Photo: Aidan OReilly/Pacemaker

Police officers back in the Ardoyne estate carrying out door to door enquiries following the murder of Michael McGibbon on April 17, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye

Joanne McGibbon, whose mother Margaret was cared for by hospice nurses before she died earlier this year, pictured at home in north Belfast. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Police have arrested a 34-year-old man for the murder of Michael McGibbon in a fatal paramilitary-style shooting in an north Belfast alleyway.

Detective Superintendent John McVea said: "The male has been detained on suspicion of murder. He will be questioned at Musgrave police station in Belfast.

Mr McGibbon (33) was shot three times in the leg in an alleyway at Butler Place close to Elmfield Street at around 10.05pm on Friday night.

The father of four was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital but died from his injuries.

Expand Close Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye ) Kevin Scott / Presseye / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

Mr McGibbon's wife has said that her husband went to meet his murderers before his fatal paramilitary-style shooting.

His nurse wife Joanne told how she held him in her arms and tried to stop the flow of blood.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Life, the young widow told of how she and her children have been robbed of a good husband and father.

Expand Close Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye ) Kevin Scott / Presseye / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

"The kids are just devastated and I just can't take it in. It is just a nightmare."

Meanwhile, police returned to the area on Sunday morning to conduct door to door interviews.

Detectives investigating the murder said his killers 'have no legitimacy in this community.'

Expand Close Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye ) Kevin Scott / Presseye / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Emergency services at the scene of a shooting in the Elmfield Street area on April 15, 2016 Belfast, Northern Ireland ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye )

They called on the community in Ardoyne to help bring his killers to justice.

Detective Superintendent John McVea said: "Michael was brutally and callously shot a number of times in the leg in an alleyway in a densely populated urban area. Despite the best efforts of his wife Joanne immediately after the attack, she was unable to save him and Michael tragically passed away following emergency surgery at the RVH."

Treasured husband and father

He added: "What happened in that alleyway last night robbed a family of a treasured husband and father. There is nothing that can justify or explain the senselessness of this murder. And lets be clear, that is what we are talking about here, murder.

"Michael McGibbon was a local man. As Ive said, he was a husband and a father. He was also a taxi driver who was well known in his community. He was a man with no criminal record, no apparent criminal connections or associations and today we are talking about his murder. There is no rationalising that.

Hallmarks of a paramilitary murder

The PSNI said the killing "bears all the hallmarks of a paramilitary murder" and revealed that two men had called at Mr McGibbon's house the previous night demanding he come out to meet them, something he refused to do.

Detective McVea said: "Those who carried it out have no legitimacy in this community and today I am asking the community to help us find them. Help us bring justice to the McGibbon family.

"I am appealing in particular to two males who called at the McGibbon home late in the evening of 14 April. These men asked Mr McGibbon to step out of the house. When he refused, they stated that they would be back.

"The first male is described as in his early twenties, slim and was wearing a red hooded top, baseball cap and had a scarf over his face. The second is described as in his late teens, wearing a grey hooded top, baseball cap and also had a scarf over his face.

"I am asking these men, or anyone who knows their identity, to get in touch with police. If there is an innocent explanation for your presence at the house on Thursday night, allow us to eliminate you from this enquiry.

"I am also aware that other people in the area may also have been visited in a similar manner in recent days and I asking for these people to make contact with police."

Community shocked

Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly said the victim was a father of four.

He said: "This killing has shocked the local community in north Belfast. This is the second such killing carried out in this area in the last six months by an armed gang which is clearly at war with the local community."

Nichola Mallon, the SDLP councillor for North Belfast, added that the local community had been left "reeling" by the brutal killing.

She said: "The community is reeling and has been left shocked and horrified by this brutal murder.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims family whose lives have been plunged into darkness by this unspeakable crime.

"North Belfast has shouldered this kind of savagery in the past. There can be no justification for it. It was wrong then and it is wrong today.

"I urge anyone with information to contact the PSNI immediately."

Nuala McAllister, Alliance Party councillor for North Belfast, said: "There can never be any excuse for carrying out such a heinous act and I utterly condemn the thugs behind it. Thanks to them, there is now a man lying dead and a family plunged into mourning.

"Violent attacks and murder have no place in our society. This was a brutal crime and those behind it need taken off our streets. Our entire community must unite against those who seek to drag us back to the bloody days of the past."

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said: "This callous and shocking murder appears to have the hallmarks of the paramilitary-style assaults which too often ruin lives and scar Northern Ireland. My sympathy is with Mr McGibbon's young family."

Detectives can be contacted by calling the non-emergency number 101.

Or if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Questions still remain over the death of "shy, gentle and quiet" west Belfast man who died from unexplained head injuries sustained at a caravan park in 2008.

The final hearing of the inquest into the death of James Patrick McGauran (41), from Kestral Grange in Dunmurry, found that the motorcycle racing fan died as a result of pneumonia and a fractured skull a day after he was found lying at Castle Archdale caravan park in Irvinestown in May 2008 following a trip to the North West 200.

No one has ever faced charges over his death despite a pathologist's report stating Mr McGauran had sustained injuries such as a black eye, bruising to his lips, five fractured ribs and other bruising, and that some of the injuries were "consistent with having been punched".

He was found after 16 hours unconscious under a sleeping bag by resident Colin Rea-Preston. Mr Rea-Preston comforted him until paramedics arrived to take him to the Erne Hospital.

At the inquest yesterday coroner Brian Sherrard said there "was too much ambiguity" as to what had happened that night, as two of his acquaintances had persistently changed their witness statements.

He extended his condolences to the McGauran family.

Mr Sherrard added that "the failure of his acquaintances to call for assistance sooner was deeply lamentable".

Witness Robert McCracken (64), from Doagh Road, Newtownabbey, who changed his statement four times after the incident, was subsequently convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Speaking at an earlier inquest hearing in November last year pathologist Dr Peter Ingram said Mr McGauran could have been punched and fallen, could have fallen himself and sustained the injuries, or could have been struck with an object such as a brick.

Although it is unclear as to what caused his injuries, the acquaintances he had been staying with at the time reported "a bit of bother" had broken out between Mr McGauran and fellow biker Robert Kempton, who admitted to swinging a punch as a "knee-jerk reaction".

Mr Kempton had also helped wipe Mr McGauran's face, and brought him a sleeping bag.

The inquest found that had an ambulance been called sooner it is likely Mr McGauran would have survived.

At the time of his death eight years ago his family requested that the Public Prosecution Service review its position to not bring charges, and at one stage initiated an independent pathology report in order to bring possible prosecutions forward.

Speaking yesterday outside the hearing, Mr McGauran's sister, Ann McGauran, said that although his untimely death was a tragedy, she was "appreciative to have gained clarity and to have access to due process to have a better understanding of what happened".

She added that she was grateful to the coroner for "his sensitive handling of what was a difficult case".

London-based journalist Ms McGauran said that although saddened by her brother's death, she felt she'd rather people remember him for the light he brought to others' lives.

"James was quite quiet and sensitive but had a lovely smile that would light up a room," she said.

"He was a gentle person who was sensitive and caring, he was very perceptive and was the type of person who could sense something was wrong with you because he could feel it.

"He was trusting and would have gone to the aid of anyone who needed it, he was always helping others, supporting people who needed it.

"He was shy but people remember him as being an excellent listener, someone who didn't judge others but instead tried to help by empathising with them.

"James loved nature and walking in the Mourne Mountains, he loved dogs and enjoyed being outdoors surrounded by the beauty of nature.

"He was someone who had simple tastes, the simple things pleased him."

A former pupil of De La Salle in west Belfast and a keen mechanic, Mr McGauran had worked as a driving instructor and had a passion for dogs, photography and music.

He loved motorcycles, getting his first bike in his 20s, and could turn his hand to fixing anything mechanical with precision, proven by his former job as an optical technician.

Ms McGauran added: "I would like to thank Mr Preston for stopping to help my brother.

"He is what I would describe as a very decent person who did what a good citizen would do.

"Mr Preston saw James lying in the bushes and went to help.

"He called for an ambulance and tried to help James until the paramedics came, and we are so grateful for his help."
Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc has taken the wheel of the new Rolls-Royce Dawn and put it through its paces around Ireland's Ring of Kerry.

Viewers of the new series of Top Gear will see him driving around the scenic route in the luxurious convertible, also called a drophead.

The name Dawn was previously given to just 28 drophead models between 1950 and 1954.

Kerry Fine Gael politician Brendan Griffin praised the show's Irish adventures earlier this week, saying he was "delighted".

Mr Griffin revealed he had contacted the popular motoring show two years ago to invite them to film in Kerry and on the Wild Atlantic Way. "I believed that the landscape, the roads and the people would be a perfect fit for the programme," he said.

Meanwhile, LeBlanc and Top Gear co-host Chris Evans also dismissed rumours of a rift.

The presenters were reported to have fallen out over a stunt filmed at the Cenotaph war memorial for the revamped series.

Writing on Twitter, he said: "I'm at war with @achrisevans? That's funny, I thought we were pals."
Kate at the reception in her 745 red chiffon gown made by Beulah, one of her favourite fashion houses

The Duchess of Cambridge attends a reception celebrating UK and Bhutanese friendship and cooperation, at the Taj Tashi Hotel in Thimphu, Bhutan, during day six of the royal tour to India and Bhutan. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday April 15, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Bhutan. Photo credit should read: Mark Large/Daily Mail/PA Wire

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a trek to the Tigers Nest Monastery near Paro in Bhutan

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a trek to the Tigers Nest Monastery near Paro in Bhutan

It's not every day you run into a duchess thousands of feet up a mountain in the Himalayas, but that's what happened to Newry man Pio Smith.

He met the Duchess of Cambridge in Bhutan on the royals' visit to the kingdom.

Mr Smith (39) has lived in Bhutan since last June when his wife got a job there working with the UN.

He extolled the virtues of raising a family in the remote country.

He said: "It's fantastic in Bhutan, especially with a young family. We just came from New York and it's quite the contrast."

He said about Kate: "She was really interested in hearing about what it was like to raise a family here."

During the day the Duchess went from hiking chic to evening glamour.

Kate looked elegant in a full-length red chiffon gown featuring a poppy pattern - a nod to the Himalayan blue poppy, which is Bhutan's national symbol - as she greeted guests at an evening reception. The 745 dress is named Juliet and is by British fashion house Beulah, which is one of the Duchess's favourite designers.

She partnered the striking red evening gown with some simple black strappy peep-toe sandals to complete the look.

Earlier in the day on a trek to a remote mountain monastery she wore knee-high brown boots partnered with grey jeans, a white shirt and a khaki waistcoat.

Her boots especially caught attention in yet another look that is sure to sell out in the shops.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have evoked the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, by posing for a picture at the Taj Mahal.

Diana's time at the monument to enduring love was tinged with sadness as she was photographed sitting alone on a marble bench signalling the gulf between her and the Prince of Wales.

William and Kate recreated the image but the relationship of the young couple, who will soon celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, is a world away from the period when the Wales' marriage was disintegrating.

Royal commentators are likely to see the Duke's decision to sit on the bench as a significant milestone - an acknowledgement of his mother's association with the stunning building but an attempt to forge new memories and move on.

But a Kensington Palace spokesman said the Cambridges were just following a tradition that many tourists embrace by posing for a picture at that spot.

He said: "They made the decision because it is what all visitors to the Taj Mahal do - they sit on the bench with the perfect symmetry of the building behind them.

"They got a brief glimpse of the Taj from their hotel earlier and were visibly excited. They couldn't wait to get down here and experience it for themselves.

"Like everyone visiting this magical and beautiful place, they want to have a unique experience to remember forever."

In searing temperatures of 41C (106F) the duke and duchess toured the grounds of the Taj and were given a guided tour of the mausoleum itself.

When the couple first arrived they stopped to admire the imposing building from its main gate. Before them were immaculate formal gardens and fountains and the building itself had three of its towers covered in scaffolding.

The impressive structure was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the mid 17th century, a monument of love to his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

It took 22 years and 20,000 men to erect the building from white marble, transported from 200 miles away by elephant.

Despite the extreme temperatures William wore a linen blazer, shirt and chinos, but Kate looked cool and comfortable in a dress by Indian designer Naeem Khan.

They made their way slowly through the gardens with their guide, walked on to a large marble plinth containing a fountain and walked over to a bench in a similar position to the one the duke's mother sat on during her tour with Charles in February 1992.

The photograph of Diana sitting alone became the defining image of the tour and by the end of the year it was announced the couple had agreed to separate.

But, in contrast, William and Kate took off their sunglasses and smiled for the photographers as they sat together.

They spent around 15 minutes touring the mausoleum which is home to the tombs of Jahan and his beloved wife.

The building was not closed to the public but the crowds were held back while they completed their tour and visitors watched as they left the Taj Mahal and walked to another point in the garden where photographers were waiting.

Asked what he thought of the Taj Mahal, the Duke replied: "It's a beautiful place, stunning designs in there."

Kate said: "It's been really incredible learning about the romance of the building, it's a really beautiful building."

Tour guide Rizwan Mohammed, 35, said he wished them a happy wedding anniversary, adding: "They were shocked that I know about it, but you know the internet - but then she said this is the perfect thing to do before their wedding anniversary. She was quite happy about it.".

Asked if it was a "romantic day for them," he replied "absolutely".

Mr Mohammed said they were fascinated "by the story of the king and the queen" and the love that made him build the monument to her. And Kate got "quite emotional" when she came to know that the queen died at the age of just 39, he said.

He added: "She said she really deserves this kind of building as they were madly in love with each other - the prince was laughing."

The royal couple did not mention Diana but the guide told them "she was beloved so much in the whole of India".

Summing up the Cambridges' seven-day tour of India and Bhutan which ended on Saturday, a Kensington Palace spokesman said: "I think it's a huge success. They had very clear objectives when this tour was being planned and they have achieved all of those.

"They wanted to establish a real enduring relationship with India and its people. They had an incredible introduction to the top of government in prime minister Modi. They had a serious day focusing on conservation."

He added that the killing of a rhino by poachers would not have made the front pages if they had not been at Kaziranga National Park where they visited.

And they had established close ties with the King and Queen of Bhutan particularly after a successful three-and-a-half hour dinner that marked the start of "a relationship with this important part of the world".

He added: "They have fallen in love with India and Bhutan and I am sure they will be back."
The Duchess of Cambridge attends a reception celebrating UK and Bhutanese friendship and cooperation, at the Taj Tashi Hotel in Thimphu, Bhutan

The Duke of Cambridge described being in the cockpit of a plane that landed in Bhutan as "terrifying".

William was speaking at a reception for Brits living in the mountain kingdom and Bhutanese who have connections with the UK.

William, who was joined by Kate, spoke to helicopter pilot Nic Suddards, 56, from Yorkshire, who moved to Bhutan in December to fly with their national helicopter service making emergency rescues and transporting diplomats.

Mr Suddards said afterwards that William told him being in the cockpit was "terrifying" when he and Kate landed at the kingdom's Paro airport.

The approach to the airport is one of the most challenging in the world for pilots with huge mountains flanking the run to the tarmac.

He added: "There is a house on the approach which is known as Mr Smith's house and you miss it by metres.

"The pilot was showing him Mr Smith's house and he said 'don't look at that, concentrate on the runway!'"

Mr Suddards had brought his helicopter to the airport when the royal plane landed but he did not get the chance to show the royals around as they travelled by car to their hotel instead.

The pilot said: "I told him that he missed an opportunity because the dual controls were in the aircraft specially for him and he could have flown it back to Thimphu."

When asked how William felt about that, he said: "Devastated".

Mr Suddards added: "He said he would have loved to have flown it.

"I asked him to come and do some volunteer work here because we do a lot of medical evacuations.

"He said he would love to so we'll send him an official invitation."

Kate wore a long red dress for the reception by London label Beulah with poppies on. The blue poppy is the flower of Bhutan.

The duchess spoke to Pio Smith, 39, from Newry, Northern Ireland, who has lived in Bhutan since last June when his wife got a job here working with the UN.

He said: "It's fantastic in Bhutan, especially with a young family.

"We just came from New York and it's quite the contrast."

He said about Kate: "She was really interested in hearing about what it was like to raise a family here."
A cold snap brought a sudden end to the warm Spring weather as parts of the UK woke to snow on Saturday.

Social media was awash with people reporting a dusting of the white stuff across the West Midlands and even in some northern parts of Wales and south Lincolnshire.

The UK basked in temperatures of 18C and sunshine earlier in the week, but cooler and more wintry conditions arrived in Britain for the start of the weekend.

Chris Page, from the Met Office, said the snow is "very patchy in nature" with "only a few bursts".

"It is very isolated and really it is confined mainly to high ground - but where the showers linger for a time we could see snow showers down to lower levels," he said.

There might be snowfall of around one centimetre on ground of above 200 metres - in places such as the Cotswolds and the Chilterns on Saturday, he said.

"At this time of year the strength of the sun is quite strong so the snow is not really that likely to hang around," he added.

Mr Page said a combination of northerly airflow and April showers has caused the weather change, but said it is not that unusual to see "a dusting" at this time of year.

On Saturday temperatures in the north are expected to reach a maximum of 8C with mercury topping 10C in the far south.

Sunshine and rain are expected in northern and central parts of the UK and some of the showers could turn heavy with a risk of thunder and sleet.

Overnight showers will die away and clear conditions will be ushered in - with ice and frost patches forming on damp surfaces.

Temperatures are expected to be "chilly" with the mercury dropping to around 1C in cities and down to -3C in rural areas.

Across the south east, Mr Page said there will be some frost patches but they "will not be as widespread as they are across the north of the country".

Tomorrow will see a bright start across Wales and central and southern England, with more cloud around in northern Scotland and England.

Sunday will be largely dry with sunny spells and the chance of isolated outbreaks of rain across western Scotland. Temperatures will reach around 10C in northern parts and up to 14C in the south.

With snow falling across parts of the UK Ladbrokes have trimmed the odds to 6/4 that the thermometer drops to -10C this weekend, while it's a 9/2 shot April secures itself as the coldest month if -15C or lower is reached.

Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes said: "The odds are falling as quick as the snow. April's been a bonkers month and it could still get worse yet."

The fall in temperature also brought snowfall to Aberdeenshire and central Scotland.

In some parts of north-east Scotland up to 3cm of snow fell in the early hours of Saturday.

The weather should be good news for Scotland's ski areas as they hope to remain open throughout spring.

Glencoe, CairnGorm and the Nevis Range areas have all reported good snowfall with the majority of runs still open.

While skiers enjoy the weather, the Sportscotland Avalanche Information Service has warned walkers and climbers to prepare for winter conditions on the highest mountains.

The avalanche risk in the Cairngorms is described as "considerable" but "moderate" across other popular regions.
Refugees are seen on a beach behind a cross in a camp set up by volunteers near the port of Mytilini, on the Greek island of Lesbos (AP)

MYTILENE, GREECE - APRIL 16: Pope Francis poses with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as he arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos at Mytilene airport on April 16, 2016 in Mytilini, Lesbos, Greece. Pope Francis will visit migrants at the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos along with Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronimos II. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) and Bartholomew I of Constantinople (L), Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, greet Pope Francis upon his arrival on the Greek island of Lesbos on April 16, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

Pope Francis is met by Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronimos II as he arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos at Mytilene airport on April 16, 2016 in Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece. Pope Francis will visit migrants at the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos along with Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronimos II. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

Pope Francis brought 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europe's migration crisis.

Refugees on the overwhelmed island fell to their knees and wept at his presence.

Some 3,000 migrants on Lesbos are facing possible deportation back to Turkey under a new deal with the European Union, and the uncertainty has caused heavy strains.

Francis decided only a week ago to bring the three refugee families to Italy after a Vatican official suggested it. He said he accepted the proposal "immediately" since it fit the spirit of his visit to Lesbos.

Expand Close Pope Francis hugs a child at the Moria detention center in Mytilene on April 16, 2016. Pope Francis received an emotional welcome today on the Greek island of Lesbos during a visit aimed at showing solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Pope Francis hugs a child at the Moria detention center in Mytilene on April 16, 2016. Pope Francis received an emotional welcome today on the Greek island of Lesbos during a visit aimed at showing solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty. AFP/Getty Images

"It's a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same," he said of his gesture, quoting one of Mother Teresa's phrases.

During the five-hour trip, Francis implored European nations to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity".

The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its beaches and rocks in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece. They came to give a united Christian message thanking the Greek people for welcoming migrants and highlighting the plight of refugees as the 28-nation EU implements a plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Francis insisted his gesture to bring the 12 refugees to Italy was "purely humanitarian," not political. But in comments on the flight home, he urged Europe to not only welcome refugees but better integrate them into society, so they are not left in ghettos where they can become prey to radicalisation.

Many refugees wept at Francis's feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention centre on Lesbos, where they greeted 250 people individually. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as they passed by.

Expand Close Refugees holds placards that read 'Dear Pope, we are waiting for you at Idomeni' (C) as they demand the opening of the EU borders during a protest at the makeshift camp of the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, on April 16, 2016. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Refugees holds placards that read 'Dear Pope, we are waiting for you at Idomeni' (C) as they demand the opening of the EU borders during a protest at the makeshift camp of the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, on April 16, 2016. AFP/Getty Images

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. The pope also blessed a man who wailed "Thank you. Please Father, bless me."

The Vatican said the three Syrian families, including six children, who came to Rome will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italy's Catholic Sant'Egidio Community. They were treated to a raucous welcome on Saturday night in Rome, with drummers thumping, a crowd applauding and the three mothers receiving a single red rose.

"I thank you for what you have done," Nour, a mother of a two-year-old, said of the pope. "I hope this gesture has an effect on refugee policy."

Nour and her husband, Hasan, are both engineers who lived in Zabatani, a mountainous area near the Lebanese border that has been bombed. Another family with two children hailed from Damascus and a third family with three children came from Deir el-Zour, a city close to the Iraqi border that the Islamic State group has been besieging for months, leading to malnutrition.

Two of the three had their homes bombed, said Sant'Egidio's refugee chief, Daniela Pompei.

She said the three families had been given Italian humanitarian visas and would now apply for asylum. Francis said they were selected not because they were Muslim, but because their papers were in order. They had arrived on Lesbos before the EU deportation date.

Expand Close A woman holds a placard reading "Welcome to Lesbos Pope Francis" on April 16, 2016 at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, prior the arrival of Pope Francis. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A woman holds a placard reading "Welcome to Lesbos Pope Francis" on April 16, 2016 at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, prior the arrival of Pope Francis. AFP/Getty Images

"It's a small gesture," he said. "But these are the small gestures that all men and women must do to give a hand to those in need."

In perhaps a first, a baby's cry could be heard aboard the papal plane as Francis spoke. The 12 refugees sat right behind the papal delegation on the aircraft, and Francis greeted each one on the tarmac in Lesbos, again on the tarmac in Rome, and during the flight, said Ms Pompei.

Francis seemed particularly shaken by the trauma the children he met at the detention centre suffered as a result of their experiences. He showed reporters a picture one Afghan child gave him of a sun weeping over a sea where boats carrying refugees had sunk.

Expand Close A little girl stands next to a placard reading "We are Yazidi people, Need Help Help Help" on April 16, 2016 at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, prior the arrival of Pope Francis. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A little girl stands next to a placard reading "We are Yazidi people, Need Help Help Help" on April 16, 2016 at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, prior the arrival of Pope Francis. AFP/Getty Images

"If the sun is able to weep, so can we," Francis said. "A tear would do us good."

Hundreds of migrants have drowned so far this year in the waters between Greece and Turkey.

At a ceremony in Lesbos to thank the Greek people, Francis said he understood Europe's concern about the migrant influx. But he said migrants are human beings "who have faces, names and individual stories" and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

Expand Close Refugee children inside Moria detention center watch protest organized by Greek solidarity group demanding closing of detention center in Moria on April 15, 2016 in Mytilini on Lesbos island in Greece. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Refugee children inside Moria detention center watch protest organized by Greek solidarity group demanding closing of detention center in Moria on April 15, 2016 in Mytilini on Lesbos island in Greece. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

"God will repay this generosity," he promised.

In his remarks to refugees, Francis said they should know that they are not alone and should not lose hope.

Human rights groups have denounced the EU-Turkey deportation deal as an abdication of Europe's obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

Expand Close Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp on April 16, 2016 near the port of Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesbos. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp on April 16, 2016 near the port of Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesbos. AFP/Getty Images

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands since March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe.

In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up.
A powerful tornado swept over a small city in Uruguay, ripping up houses, hurling cars into the air and killing at least four people, while seven others were seriously injured.

Residents of Dolores, a city of 20,000 people about 165 miles west of Montevideo, shot images of their homes and cars being swept up by the tornado on Friday and posted them on social media.

"The president has ordered the deployment of all the resources in the state to attend to the situation in Dolores," said Juan Andres Roballo, an official with the Uruguayan president's office. The city was declared an emergency zone.

Mr Roballo said a good part of the population had lost their homes and at least two children were seriously hurt and had been transferred to the capital for treatment.

Fire department spokeswoman Mariela Vivone told Channel 12 television that two of the dead were killed by flying cars carried by the winds.

Local media outlets reported that some residents took advantage of the chaos to loot shops.

Mr Roballo said the police and military presence in the area would be increased.
I have learnt so much since I became a part-time carer for my dad last autumn. Not only about the problems or the rewards of this huge role reversal, but also about myself and how I deal with the daily challenges it throws at me.

But the greatest revelation of all has come from him in his own words as he has gradually begun open up and reflect on a past Id never really heard about before.

Now, with Mum it was completely the opposite. Mum was one of 14 children and until the day she died they were all very close-knit. My aunties and uncles would meet up frequently and whenever they did they spent their time regaling so many interconnecting anecdotes that their past was always a part of our present. Dad, however, was always quiet about his. He would happily listen and enjoy Mums tales but he rarely offered any of his own. As a result, until recently I knew very little.

The dad Id only ever seen or known before was a successful, hard-working and dedicated dentist who had built up a thriving practice treating thousands of people over 35 years until he finally stood down to enjoy his retirement at 60. In all that time he had given free treatment to the clergy and religious life and to the poor in the community. It became a bit of a family joke that in my dads waiting room at any given time there would always be a corner filled with nuns and priests all seated, heads bowed in contemplative thought, waiting for their new dentures.

By the time he retired he had brought eight children into the world, had always been a strict but generous father as well as a devoted and loyal husband. Thats the man Id always seen and always known. Successful, responsible, respected, hard-working and solvent.

But it seems that one of the most common effects of the ageing process and the early stages of Alzheimers is that sufferers begin to lose their short-term memory while their distant memories become more vivid and clear. In my dads case he is now pre-occupied with his life as it was 70-odd years ago and re-living the numerous hardships his mother faced. This has been a real education for me, because I knew none of it.

I had literally no idea how grim his youth had been until he started to open up and tell me. He was born to a single mum (even this I didnt know) who had discovered she was expecting after her boyfriend left to go to war. She was forced to leave home due to her predicament so she went to live with an aunt in Wales, which is where dad was born. Grandma worked in a factory and eventually saved up enough to rent a terraced two-up-two-down. It cost seven shillings a week and there was no heating, no electricity, no bathroom, no toilet, no comforts whatsoever. It provided a roof above their heads but little else. Eventually my grandad returned from the war (unlike his brothers, who had all been killed) and they got married. Another son was born and Grandad got a job, but on his way home every day he went to the bookies followed by the pub, so there was no extra money coming in and all the burden continued to fall on Grandma, who was really struggling to cope. The saving grace that enabled my dad to get away from it all came from the Church.

Dad had always served on the altar at St Wilfreds Church in Preston every Sunday, but during one very bad winter his home was so damp and cold that he became ill and didnt show up. The parish priest called to the house to see why he had gone missing and was apparently so shocked at the conditions that soon after my dad was offered a scholarship to the Catholic College run by the Jesuit Order. That was the poshest and most exclusive school in town. As a result, Dad vowed to work as hard as he could to make a success of his life, so he could repay his mother and also the Church for all that they had done for him.

Thats as far as weve got with the story at the moment. He keeps getting side-tracked when hes telling me and so I have to keep prompting him to continue where he left off. So what exactly have I learnt since I started to care for my elderly dad? Ill finish the story when he does.
It was highly moving to hear the Prime Minister explain that the reason he gave misleading answers about benefiting from offshore tax arrangements was because he was angry with comments made about his dad. It makes you realise that, when it comes to tax avoidance, the Camerons are the real victims.

Offshore tax deals may deprive the country of billions of pounds, but thats only money. Insulting comments are made about your father, such as did you benefit from his offshore tax account? would make anyone get angry and confused, and spend all week implying you didnt benefit when you did.

I remember when someone asked me if my dad liked bananas, and for the next month I told everyone I was the world discus throwing champion. Being devious was a natural reaction to the anger.

How dare people spread smears such as he set up an offshore company in the Bahamas, when the only evidence he did any such thing was that hed set up an offshore company in the Bahamas. Some people even insinuated the reason the millions of pounds were placed in the Bahamas was to avoid tax. But there are many other valid explanations, such as the need to keep the money warm.

But now, at last, some people are directing questions at the real tax dodger: Jeremy Corbyn. According to the Daily Telegraph, Corbyn has taken 1.5m from the state, and the sneaky method hes used is to make this from his salary as an MP (over 34 years).

Another MP is quoted as saying this revelation is remarkable. Thankfully there are dedicated journalists prepared to root out this astonishing figure  by multiplying his annual salary by 34. We must be grateful to those gallant crusaders prepared to go to such lengths to expose this scandal.



Thats socialists for you.

Having published his tax returns, it also emerged Corbyn was fined for sending in his accounts late, which David Cameron tried to make a joke about. This was reassuring because it suggests hes got over the deep trauma he suffered last week. And you can understand his point: as any businessman knows, its far better to be paid nothing on time rather than the right amount a week late.

Read more

Read More

It also turns out Corbyn paid too much tax, having stated he earned more than he did. We could quibble about the too much/too little detail  but he paid the wrong amount. This seems to be the Conservative argument about tax avoidance: were all up to it in our own way, so if you give your son three quid for mowing the lawn without paying VAT, youre no different to an investment banker squirrelling 10bn in the Virgin Isles so he can keep the lot and buy a Rembrandt to use as a dishcloth.

If you express discontent about it, youre asked do you have an ISA, because THATS tax avoidance? I suppose it is. If you buy an apple rather than spending that money on a house, youre sneakily avoiding stamp duty. Who are you to complain about Google?

And, as they insist, none of these people named have done anything illegal. That may be because the characters using accountants in Panama were rich to start with, so they could afford to employ an army of lawyers and accountants to make sure their avoidance was legal. If burglars had those resources, theyd inform a specialist firm about a house they were planning to rob so it could be registered in an archipelago off Alaska where its legal to walk off with someones telly and do a dump on their carpet.

Read more

Read More

But the saddest part of this story, as many Conservatives have suggested, is that if were going to be such sticklers over people in public life and where they put their 10m, we risk putting decent tax avoiders off from offering their services to the state. For example, William Hague said if Winston Churchill had to be open about his accounts, he wouldnt have stayed in politics.

Thats possible  although it may be that hed have stayed in politics and paid his tax. Or he might have said: I was planning to warn about the perils of Hitler, then if necessary become Prime Minister and oppose the attempted fascist domination of Europe. But if Im expected to pay the legal tax rate, I dont see why I should bother.

This only shows the slippery slope we go down if we insist our politicians stick to the same rules as everyone else.

If we expect them not to drive at 120 mph the wrong way down a motorway, or set fire to public buildings or sacrifice llamas in the woods in Satanic rituals, well simply deter the high quality individuals we need.
The case of the Belfast mother who smothered her infant son while suffering from post-natal depression is surely one of the most tragic to come before the courts in Northern Ireland.

From the facts made public it is clear that she was a loving mother who was suffering from a severe episode of the condition and who committed an act which she now sorely regrets every single day of her life.

She has not only lost her child but has not seen her other son who was two years old at the time in 2014 and has also seen her marriage break-up. The fact that she has been released on bail to await sentence indicates that the court recognises the exceptional nature of the case and may temper justice with mercy.

Whatever the final outcome it is clear that this woman's own actions have imposed on her a sentence greater than anything that could be passed in a judicial setting. She so desperately would love to be able to turn back the clock and hold her healthy baby again. Instead she has to confront daily the enormity of what she did.

Her defence lawyer's comment that she faces a very considerable challenge to rebuild her life is a masterly example of understatement. Hopefully she will have the support of family and friends and also professional assistance in undertaking that rebuilding process.

This tragedy underlines the need for women to be aware of the consequences of post-natal depression, which affects 10-15% of new mothers. This woman, who had trained to be a doctor, had previous experience of the condition after the birth of her first child but it was treated successfully.

Given the prevalence of the condition, health professionals should make every effort to gauge the mental condition of new mothers both during pregnancy and in the weeks after giving birth. Becoming a mum can be stressful for any woman and they should seek help if the natural baby blues deepen into a more serious darkness.
The US government is urging PC users to uninstall Quicktime from their computers, over fears that weaknesses in the software could leave them vulnerable to cyber-criminals.

As discovered by security firm Trend Micro, Apple, which develops Quicktime, is ending its support for the Windows version of the software.

This means it will no longer be issuing security updates, making it easier for hackers to use the software as a way into their targets' computers. The firm's experts also identified two "critical vulnerabilities" affecting the software, which could provide a window for hackers to launch cyberattacks against users.

Trend Micro's warning was echoed by the US Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), which said users who still have Quicktime for Windows running on their machines could now be vulnerable to "loss of confidentiality, integrity or availability of data," as well as facing increased risks from viruses and other security threats.

US-CERT also warned exploitations of these weaknesses "could allow remote attackers to take control of affected systems."

The only solution to the problem, it says, is to uninstall Quicktime for Windows from the Control Panel.

This kind of 'deprecation' happens fairly frequently, as software companies introduce new products and decide to stop spending time working on outdated progrms. Microsoft officially ended support for versions 8, 9 and 10 of Internet Explorer in January, leaving people still using them open to the same kinds of cyberattacks.

However, Microsoft told users in advance that support for these versions would cease - there appears to have been no similar warnings from Apple, although the company has been slowly winding up their support for Quicktime for Windows for a few years.

Trend Micro said there was no evidence that any hackers had exploited the Quicktime vulnerabilities so far, but since Apple won't be issuing any more security updates or keeping up with hacker activity against the software, it's now a prime target.

It's important to note that this issue does not apply to versions of Quicktime for Apple computers. Apple did not provide a comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.

Independent
The Cuban Missile Crisis

In May of 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, then the Soviet Premier, had promised Cuba that Russia would protect the island country with Soviet arms. Khrushchev mistakenly thought that the United States would do nothing to stop the Soviet Union from sending missiles to Cuba, both medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. It wasnt until July of 1962 that U.S. President John F. Kennedy found out about the shipments of missiles and accessories from the Soviet Union to Cuba. The following August, U.S. U-2 spy planes flew over the island country and they spotted new military construction and the manifestation of Soviet engineers there. Then in October, the spy planes reported seeing a ballistic missile in Cuba.



After receiving this news, President John F. Kennedy started weighing his options. He considered an invasion of Cuba, air strikes of the missile sites, or a blockade of the country, and decided on the latter. The president placed a blockade on Cuba to prevent any more shipments of missiles from the Soviet Union.



On October 22, 1962, President Kennedy announced the quarantine and warned the Soviets that U.S. forces would confiscate all offensive weapons and any materials that went with the weapons. During the days that followed, the Soviet ships that were heading to Cuba had changed course, steering away from the blockades. The two countries, the United States and Russia were on the brink of a full out nuclear war. This would be come to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.



Although there was a lot of rigidity on both sides, President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev had messages sent between them to try and curb the potential attack against U.S. soil. Finally, on October 28. Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy finally came to terms and the Soviet leader said that the work on the missile sites would be stopped and the missiles in Cuba would be returned to the Soviet Union.



President Kennedy told Khrushchev that the United States will never invade Cuba, for his concession. Kennedy also promised to withdraw the nuclear missiles that the United States had stationed in Turkey, several years earlier. At the time, the deal about the missile withdrawal from Turkey was not public knowledge. This deal was made in secret. During the weeks that followed, both sides began fulfilling their promised obligations and Cubas communist leader, Fidel Castro was angered that Khrushchev had kowtowed to the demands of the United States, but could do nothing to stop it.



The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the United States had come to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union and it is also believed that the backing down of Khrushchev, played a big role in his fall from power in the Soviet Union in 1964.


Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
It looks like you have reached this page in error ...

The content you are looking for has either moved, or if you typed in the address there might have been a mistake.

If you believe there has been a technical error  please let us know.

Most Popular Destinations
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/04/2016 (2382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Regional Health Centre Auxiliary has been in existence since 1892. Over the last 124 years, its raised money through various methods to assist our local hospital in purchasing equipment for patient care and providing services that werent funded by other entities. Longtime member Helen Dalling and auxiliary president Marlene Brichon, who has been president for the past decade, were eager to share details about the organizations fundraising efforts and are thrilled that the volunteer-run auxiliary has just topped the $4-million mark in contributions to the hospital.

Helen, Im betting youve belonged to the auxiliary for ages.

Dalling: Nearly 50 years. I came from Scotland 50 years ago this year.

Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun Helen Dalling and Marlene Brichon of the Brandon Regional Health Centre Auxiliary are pleased to see the funding of new birthing beds at the BRHC maternity floor.

And Marlene, how long have you been involved?

Brichon: I came along in 2004.

And Helen, I have to ask you, because weve known each other for quite some time, did it start out, as many of these organizations do, as a group of doctors wives?

Dalling: When I joined, definitely that was the case. Some of the former doctors wives  their husbands would just be in their prime  and hopefully, automatically, one of them would just approach you and say, You have to join the auxiliary. Now I came with two wee children from Scotland, but I did fit it in.

They then would say to you, Well, you have to stand for election  you have to become something, so you went through the vice-presidency and then the presidency and then the past-presidency. So thats when I was young.

And why did it remain such a passion for you over all these years?

Dalling: My husband John (who was an orthopedic surgeon)  this was his livelihood. And I was friendly with a lot of people in the auxiliary, and Id been taught to be kind of socially conscious of what needed to be done. And it was a much smaller place when we came, and we knew everybody.

Was it as much  not necessarily a social outlet  but you had that contact and then it evolved from there?

Dalling: We met socially, and this was District 3 of the medical fraternities in Manitoba, so you met everybody socially much, much more than they do now. And it was good. They became our friends.

And in terms of being involved for this long  the goal was always to raise money to support what the government couldnt, in a sense?

Dalling: Yes. And fill in places. I did flowers for two or three years. Doing the flowers where nurses would have had to do the work, so that it let them do their professional work, and we were just pleasant volunteers.

Does that pleasant volunteering continue to this day?

Brichon: Its different. I began volunteering at The Nearly New Shop after I retired  I taught psychiatric nursing. But I took my RN here as well. So I knew I wanted to volunteer, and not do nursing  Id had many years of that. And so I started at Nearly New. And one day, in the little office there, there was a sign saying, Volunteers needed for the auxiliary. And I had the impression that it was what you just discussed  that it was just doctors wives and kind of a social club. But I promised that I would go and see. And I think it was in transition at that time, because I saw that there were other people working who didnt want to do the teas and the lunches at the fair and were a little more business-minded.

And we have not looked back since The Gift Shop  especially with its new location. And the Nearly New made a huge change in the life of the auxiliary. Because now we had two flourishing enterprises. And now its just maintaining, sustaining and supporting those enterprises.

So what do you do behind the scenes then? See that the gas bills are paid, the lights are on, and all that sort of stuff?

Brichon: Yes. Supporting them in any way.

Because the shops are both run by volunteers, correct?

Brichon: In the Nearly New, there are probably around 70 volunteers and one full-time paid personnel.

And in The Gift Shop?

Brichon: The Gift Shop is all volunteers, with the support of Volunteer Services at the hospital.

Dalling: And one paid student in the summertime.

Brichon: And both are very profitable.

Dalling Youd be amazed.

Brichon: I think, if I can get one message out, it would be that those two enterprises wont flourish without public support. The donations that we get at The Nearly New are awesome and we need that to continue. People bring in lots of good stuff because were determined to have items that ARE nearly new. And what were trying to encourage now is maybe getting businesses to think of us as well.

Some do, though, I understand.

Brichon: Some have been great supporters. And as we see that, we need to maybe encourage that more. So were trying to approach businesses and say, You know, if you have extras or if you have something that isnt selling, think of us.

We had a huge donation of flower bulbs from Home Depot that was great for us! And, of course, we need customers to come. Not to think, Oh, this is a place for somebody else  I shouldnt be here. Or be shy about wearing Nearly New clothes.

Well, let me just say on the record that Im somebody who not only donates, but who goes and shops, too. You often have designer stuff at rock bottom prices. And sometimes theres just great stuff that I didnt know I needed until I found it there! And people shouldnt be shy, because 99 per cent of the stuff there is in great shape. So you can save a buck and help the hospital at the same time. Every dollar thats raised stays in this community and I think thats so important.

Brichon: It is.

How many people are on the auxiliary?

Dalling: About 20.

Are you looking for more members?

Brichon: Sure! If a person is interested and has a passion for hospital care. All the purchases are for patient care.

So what you buy are things like birthing beds and other types of equipment?

Brichon: Yes. And we also have bursaries. It doesnt have to be equipment for the hospital, but it has to be something that will help.

Dalling: Nursing students, for instance, at Assiniboine Community College and Brandon University. They have to apply for them.

Brichon: We just made quite an increase to those, because we were looking at what we were giving  I think we were giving three different bursaries of $1,000 each. And we were thinking thats hardly going to cover textbooks. So we moved that up to $3,000 at both places.

Do you have a full executive  like a secretary and treasurer and that sort of thing?

Dalling: No, because people were reluctant to take on roles that might lead to the presidency. Its a lot of work.

Brichon: It is a bit daunting. Because its overwhelming. Now with help, and a lot of discussion amongst our members  its a good group, very supportive  we talked about, What are we going to do? And finally, after meeting with other people in the community, we realized that we were probably one of the few charitable organizations that doesnt have a paid employee to do a lot of this  setting meetings up and so on. So we interviewed a few people  all good  and we just recently hired Janice Meadows. And I think shes just right for us.

And whats her official title?

Brichon: Shes auxiliary assistant, a part-time position. Shell take over running the meetings, which will be such a relief for me. Shell keep the publicity events organized, shell undertake a lot of the duties that will keep the auxiliary strong. And the joy of the auxiliary, I think, is seeing the money that was raised at the Nearly New and the money that comes from The Gift Shop.

And Tim Hortons in the hospital is actually our tenant  they rent from the auxiliary  so were not making coffee and sandwiches. When I came on board, thered been a change in thinking  we realized we had to spend money to make money. And so a tender went out, Tims won, so we have a set rate and we profit from them. We are the landlords, so we have to pay the utilities, but the more they make  we also have a sliding scale, so thats wonderful. When I see those lineups, even when I hate standing in them, I think, Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching for the auxiliary!

So whats the process for deciding what the auxiliary buys with the money it raises?

Brichon: After the government has decided what they will pay for, usually the vice-president of acute care services comes to us with a wish list. And I shouldnt say a wish list  a list of things that are desperately needed. And we choose. We try to avoid something that is $5,000 or thereabouts, because theres a lot of good service clubs that can do that. So most of what we purchase are items that cost $20,000 or $30,000.

So at our last meeting, they came with a shopping list. And it tallies up to almost $200,000. So all of the members took their list and they were asked to send to Janice what they thought the auxiliary could pay for. And well get to accumulate our choices and let the vice-president of acute care services know, OK, this is what we think the auxiliary can pick up. So we were up to $3,948,000 in donations. So when we spend this next $200,000 or so, will be up over the $4-million mark.

I was at Nearly New a while back, and Sharlene Gunston said, Its remarkable that were able to raise all this money just from stuff nobody wants. And I thought, What a perfect way to put that! It is feel-good shopping  you help the hospital, you help the community, and you save yourself some money. Its just a win-win-win.

Brichon: Yes! People come in and they feel so good about divesting themselves of  were such an affluent society  but they say, I couldnt throw this away but I know its coming here for a good cause. Im so glad to be able to get rid of it. And were sorting in the back and were going, Who would not want this? This is so gorgeous! And another good thing about the Nearly New is because its a charity, theres no tax.

There are so many good people. And Sharlene Gunston has been the chairperson of The Nearly New for a long time  theres a group of co-ordinators  and they keep things running smoothly there, and drafting policies and making sure that everythings good.

And theres another group for The Gift Shop  Brenda Burgess has a small but strong group of women there who decorate, who shop for the store. And I always think its so beautifully decorated.

Is it all still women on the auxiliary? Or do you have men involved as well?

Brichon: We have all still women.

But Im sure you would welcome some men if they would care to get involved?

Brichon: Anybody! As long as you are for the cause, were good. We meet every second month over lunch  we eat our lunch quickly and as soon as my mouth is empty, we start the meeting, and we try not to be long-winded.

Its approving purchases, and making sure things are running smoothly at The Gift Shop and The Nearly New. Reports come in from both of those entities, and volunteer services supports us. And thats another thing  the hospital is very supportive of us. Its a mutual admiration society. They know if they support us, the better we can do. So if a light goes out at The Nearly New, they come and fix it. Theyre very, very helpful in many ways.

When I first became involved, I looked back through my list, and they were at half-a-million dollars. And it took 11 years to get from half-a-million to one million. Now the last couple of times, from two million to three million, took four years. So the amounts are amassing much more quickly.

Anyone wishing to join the BRHC Auxiliary or volunteer at The Gift Shop or The Nearly New can contact Barb Ross at bross@pmh-mb.ca or call 204-578-2066.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/04/2016 (2382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As she sat in her Brandon office watching TV on Thursday, Leah Laplante said she could feel the electricity in Ottawa as the Supreme Court of Canada declared Metis and non-status Indians as Indians under the Constitution.

I know a lot of the players there, and you can just feel the excitement, the vice-president of the Manitoba Metis Federation said. People are just smiling whenever theyre not talking. Its been a long time coming.

On Thursday morning, the high court stated Canadas 600,000 Metis and non-status Indians would get the same federal treatment as First Nations and Inuit Canadians. The vote was unanimous at 9-0.

The Canadian Press Metis National Council President Clement Chartier, left, and David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, middle, celebrate following a decision at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on Thursday.

We really owe this to Harry Daniels, Laplante said.

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples joined with several individuals, including Metis leader Harry Daniels, in taking the federal government to court in 1999 to allege discrimination because they were not considered Indians under the Constitution.

Some 17 years later, the ruling is sure to have an impact on the relationship between Ottawa and 600,000 Metis and off-reserve Indians across the country.

Daniels died in 2004, and his son Gabriel was added as a plaintiff the following year.

Im overwhelmed, I have a heavy heart right now, an elated Gabriel Daniels said after the decision was handed down.

I am just thinking about my dad. Im not going to start crying  he would be climbing the walls  he would be happy but hed be focused on things to come.

In the moments following the decision, the buildings foyer filled with Metis and aboriginal stakeholders, all of them barely able to contain their delight. As they spoke, whoops of joy and hollers of celebration echoed through the building.

Jason Madden, lawyer for Metis National Council, an intervener, said the ruling was a game changer and a slam dunk because it upheld the notion that the government has a duty to negotiate with Metis.

There is no way that the federal government can avoid or hide from this issue any longer, he said in an interview. Its got to be positive negotiations with Metis just as much as there is with First Nations.

The decision, Laplante said, will probably take a few years to reach its full potential. But when it does, she hopes education and health for Metis Canadians are at the forefront for change.

She said she has seen discrimination between First Nations and Metis people on Manitoba reserves, specifically when it comes to getting treatment for things like diabetes.

The First Nations woman had her trips to Brandon for dialysis three times a week paid for, Laplante said. The Metis woman had to find her own resources.

Laplante started working with the Metis federation as a secretary when she was 16 years old. Now 62 and a leader, she said she feels the federal government made the right decision.

We were pushed away, and we were pushed between the province and the feds, she said. The Metis people have been busy, we havent been idle. And I dont think that will change.

You almost feel like its putting a stamp of approval on all the work that weve done in our lifetimes.

 ssamson@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press

 Twitter: @samanthassamson
The parents of Karen Buckley, along with her extended family attended mass at Analeentha, Co Cork yesterday evening to remember the one year anniversary of her death.

Friends, family and neighbours came together to recall the 24-year-old nurse who was murdered by Alexander Pacteau in Glasgow after a night out.
The recent conviction of a young woman in Northern Ireland for using the abortion pill will be discussed at a Repeal the 8th Amendment rally in Dublin today.

Pro-choice group ROSA is organising the Day of Action which will feature washing lines for the public to write and display their own Repeal the 8th messages.
Lewis Hamilton is targeting only a top-10 finish in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix after a car problem consigned him to the very back of the grid.

Hamilton, who was already due to serve a five-place grid penalty after a gearbox change, encountered more troubles with his Mercedes in qualifying.

The 31-year-old Briton, yet to win this season, returned to his garage reporting a lack of power from his engine after just one lap.

His Mercedes mechanics were unable to resolve the problem, and Hamilton was knocked out in last position after he failed to set a time.

His demise allowed Nico Rosberg to score a relatively comfortable pole to leave the German in prime position to extend his winning streak to three this season, and six stretching back to last term.

Hamilton last started at the back of the field in Hungary two years ago, and he took advantage of the intermittent weather to fight his way back through the field to finish third.

But with dry conditions forecast for Sunday, Hamilton said: "I don't take encouragement from that race. I take encouragement from the fact I have been driving a long time, so I have had the experiences since I've been young. There is no question in my mind as to how I am going to battle through tomorrow.

"Whether or not I can get all the way to third, that is going to be a very tough challenge, because you have got the Red Bulls that are quick, the two Ferraris and Nico, so just getting into the points is my goal."

Hamilton faces losing further ground to Rosberg, of whom he is already 17 points adrift, but the Briton is relishing the thought of carving his way through the pack.

"This is how it was when I first started racing," said Hamilton, who will take on a new engine for Sunday's race. "I use to battle my way through the field, so it is reminiscent of my younger days.

"There has never been a race where I have started at the back and not enjoyed."

Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari one-two in practice on Friday, but the Finn, who made a mistake on his final timed run, could manage only third, while Sebastian Vettel will start from fourth. Indeed it was the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo who surprisingly split Rosberg and the Ferrari pair, and he will start alongside the Mercedes driver on the front row.

Rosberg said: ''To get the lap done and to put it on pole, I am happy of course, but I am not ecstatic because Lewis had bad luck and his car broke down and the fight between us didn't take place.''

The sport reverted to last year's qualifying format after the unpopular elimination-style system was dropped following two unsuccessful outings. And Hamilton's failure to post a time ironically delivered the unpredictability which the previous format had so craved.

A red flag - the second of the afternoon after Pascal Wehrlein spun in the opening minutes of a damp start following a deluge of rain - brought an abrupt end to Q2. Nico Hulkenberg was left with just three tyres after his front-left wheel worked its way off before bouncing along the barrier.

It meant the McLaren duo of Fernando Alonso, back in the cockpit after sustaining a broken rib, and Jenson Button were unable to improve on their times and they will start 12th and 13th respectively.

Valtteri Bottas qualified fifth for Williams, with Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat sixth. Britain's Jolyon Palmer, whose Renault team-mate Kevin Magnussen was nearly one second faster, is to start only 19th.
Pope Francis implored Europe on Saturday to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity" - and then showed the way by taking three Syrian families back to Italy with him.

The 12 Syrian refugees, all of them Muslim, include six children. They met with Francis on the tarmac on the island of Lesbos and boarded the plane bound for Rome.

In a statement, the Vatican said Francis wanted to "make a gesture of welcome" to the refugees, who were in camps on the Greek island before the agreement between the EU and Turkey to return migrants came into effect on March 20.

The Vatican - which is already hosting two refugee families - will take responsibility for supporting the families. But the Catholic Sant'Egidio community will take care of getting them settled initially.

The pope made his historic visit to Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece to highlight the plight of refugees, thank the Greek people who have welcomed them in, and to show a united Christian response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding.

Many refugees fell to their knees and wept at Francis' feet as he and the two senior Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria detention centre on Lesbos.

In his remarks to them, Francis urged the refugees to know that they are not alone and shouldn't lose hope. He said he wanted to visit them to hear their stories and to bring the world's attention to their plight.

"We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity," he said.

Earlier in the day, the pope tweeted: "Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories and need to be treated as such."

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met the pope at the airport, with Francis thanking him for the "generosity" shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles, the Vatican said.

Mr Tsipras, for his part, said he was proud of Greece's response "at a time when some of our partners - even in the name of Christian Europe - were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenceless people from seeking a better life."

Then Francis and the two Orthodox leaders travelled to the detention centre to greet some 250 refugees stuck there.

They lunched with eight refugees to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. Later they prayed together, tossing a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didn't make the journey.

At the port ceremony Francis thanked Greeks for welcoming in thousands of refugees and for showing solidarity and humanity toward the world's most desperate.

He said "God will repay this generosity and that of other surrounding nations who from the beginning have welcomed with great openness the large number of people forced to migrate."

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the "globalization of indifference" that the world shows the less fortunate.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

The Vatican insisted Saturday's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political or a "direct" criticism of the EU plan.

However, the Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, has said the EU-Turkey plan essentially treats migrants as merchandise that can be traded back and forth and doesn't recognize their inherent dignity as human beings.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe.

In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.
Pope Francis is known for his symbolic gestures, but his visit to a Greek refugee detention centre as the EU implements a controversial deportation plan is as provocative as any he has undertaken.

Francis and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians will spend nearly an hour on Saturday greeting some 250 refugees stuck on the Greek island of Lesbos.

They will lunch with eight of them to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and hopes for a better life in Europe. And they will toss floral wreathes into the sea to pray for those who never made it.

It is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe.

Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories, and need to be treated as such.  Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 16, 2016

He made a similar gesture more recently at the US-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the United States.

The Vatican insists Saturday's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political or a "direct" criticism of the EU plan.

But spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi told reporters Francis' position on Europe's "moral obligation" to welcome refugees is well-known, and that the EU-Turkey deportation deal certainly has "consequences on the situation of the people involved".

The Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, was even more explicit, saying the EU-Turkey plan essentially treats migrants as merchandise that can be traded back and forth and does not recognise their inherent dignity as human beings.

The March 18 EU-Turkey deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euro to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.

Human rights groups have denounced the deal as an abdication of Europe's obligations to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the "globalisation of indifference" that the world shows the less fortunate.

Aside from the inherently political nature of the trip, it also has a significant religious dimension.

Francis will be visiting alongside the spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and the head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Athens Archbishop Ieronymos II.

The European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos, three hours before the pope was due to land on the island.

The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the port of Mytilene.

Under a controversial European Union-Turkey deal that came into effect March 20, all those arriving on Greek islands from that date on are detained and deported back to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

Meanwhile municipal crews are scrubbing walls in the capital and main port of Lesbos after graffiti was sprayed overnight in places where the pope will speak.

The crews removed the words "Papa Don't Preach" sprayed in black at several points on the seafront in Mytilene.
Don't Miss the Latest News

Subscribing is the best way to get our best stories immediately.
KARACHI: Gold prices on Friday lost some value on the local market, traders said. They dropped by Rs500 to Rs147400...
TOKYO: Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market on Friday to buy yen for the second time in a month after the...
LONDON: Liz Truss came to 10 Downing Street vowing to be a disruptor. She U-turned on almost everything else, but...
TEHRAN: Iran has once again rejected allegations that it has supplied Russia with weapons "to be used in the war in...
A release from the Global Womens Project.

Harrisonburg, Va., was the site for the March Global Womens Project Steering Committee meeting. Members enjoyed the warmth of the valley of Virginia both in weather and welcome.

Our face-to-face gathering time was spent considering our connections with our partner projects, program planning, budgeting, and sharing and reporting from our work assignments. We are open to exploring new possibilities to partner with small, women-led projects that lead to economic, educational, life-sustaining benefits for their families and communities.

Connecting with local congregations and communities is an important part of our semi-annual face-to-face gathering and we offered worship leadership at Linville Creek Church of the Brethren. Special thanks to the Linville Creek congregation and pastor Nathan Hollenberg for this opportunity.

A highlight of our weekend time was a visit and learning opportunity at New Community Project in Harrisonburg, guided by Tom Benevento. New Community Project models and teaches energy efficiency, eco-building principals, sustainable transportations, engagement with the community, and outreach to people on the margins of society.

Pearl Miller completed her term on the Steering Committee. We will miss her wise presence and capable leadership. A special welcome to our newest member, Carla Kilgore.

The year 2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of the conception of Global Womens Project. We are excited to begin the early stages of planning for this anniversary celebration. Be observant of future informational news releases and celebratory opportunities.
What's old is new again in Canberra and Queanbeyan this weekend, with a series of events celebrating timeworn practices and retro favourites across the region.

Visitors to Queanbeyan Museum had the chance to see the skill required to build model ships, quilt and sew from scratch in the days before automation at the Made by Hand Open Day and Fair on Saturday.

Bob Evans, Bruce George and Peter Hateley from the Canberra Model Shipwrights Society work on a model of an 1805 pilot boat at the Queanbeyan Museum Open Day and Handmade Fair. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

The crowds were entertained by an accordionist and children's choir, could try their hand at different skills with equipment from specialist stalls or buy handmade art and craftwork at during the day.

Queanbeyan and District Historical Museum president John McGlynn said the museum had also been decked out in numerous historical handmade objects, ranging from dresses to tables and even bandages.
Tales of feeling like a "fake Asian" and the difficulties of learning to speak Chinese have earned Lauren Duong the title of funniest teen comedy act in the country. The 17-year-old Narrabundah College student was named the winner of the national Class Clowns final in Melbourne on Friday night. Canberra student Lauren Duong has won the Class Clowns grand final at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She was one of 12 of country's top student comedians to battle it out in the final, which was held as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Other than performing stand up for a class assignment in high school, her gig at the Class Clowns ACT heat last month was her first go at performing in front of an audience.

"At the ACT heat the audience was about 15 to 20 people. But last night was 800. It was really scary," she said. "But in a way it was a lot nicer because when there's that many people it doesn't matter so much if some of them don't laugh because it's more likely that some of them will. So you get more caught up in the adrenaline and it's easier." While she's still too young to go to most of the venues that host stand up comedians, Duong said she had really gotten into comedy in the last couple of years. "I started more seriously watching it and being more familiar with specific comedians and I thought it was a possibility," she said. "Part of it [was] realising that a lot of comedians are male or Caucasian and I started to think that there was an opportunity there."
The ACT Greens have placed values at the centre of their campaign to take the territory's second Senate spot, as lead candidate Christina Hobbs claimed Canberra was more unified than Sydney.

Former federal Greens leader Christine Milne joined the party's Senate launch in Civic on Saturday, attacking key rival Zed Seselja as "extreme" and from the "Tony Abbott-end of the Liberal Party".

ACT Greens Senate candidate Christina Hobbs watches retired senator Christine Milne at the campaign launch on Saturday. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

Ms Hobbs, 33, an economist and former aid worker who still does some consulting to the United Nations, told a crowd of about 160 supporters her experience working in Sydney had helped her define what was different about Canberra.

"People asked, 'which school did you go to, how wealthy is your family, how connected are they?'  we just didn't ask that question in Canberra, because we grew up together, went to the same really high quality public schools or relatively affordable private schools, we played in the same parks and went to the same swimming pools," she said.
She's flown at twice the speed of sound, done an MBA and been a senior adviser to a defence minister, now Brooke Curtin has her sights set on a political seat of her own.

One of the five Liberal candidates announced this week for the central electorate of Kurrajong, Ms Curtin has the sort of resume which puts to shame many a career politician.

Brooke Curtin, then Brooke Chivers, after her first F-111 flight, aged 23, at Amberley, Queensland.

While she has six months to gain a profile ahead of this year's ACT vote, her name came to national attention in 2000 when she became the equal first Australian woman qualified to navigate a fast jet aircraft, being the F-111.
When man's best friend falls ill, the cost of treatment can rise quickly.



It is the reason hundreds of thousands of Australians insure their pets against illness and accident.



But a recent review by consumer advocacy group CHOICE has found consumers can pay up to $2120 a year to insure their pet and still not be covered for common illnesses  including chlamydia, leukaemia, cat flu, herpes, kennel cough and infectious canine hepatitis.

"With pet owners coughing up significant premiums each year, it pays to read the fine print," CHOICE head of media Tom Godfrey said.

Berowra resident Mackenzie Clarke said he learnt the importance of reading the fine print, when he lodged a claim on behalf of Titan, his German shepherd, this year.

Despite having been vaccinated, Titan had contracted kennel cough, a common respiratory infection that affects dogs.
Samsung customers say they are angry that fire authorities have rejected their request for a state coronial inquiry into what they claim is a botched washing machine recall.

Three years into Samsung's recall of six top-loader models, more than 37,000 units haven't been remedied yet. Some repaired machines have malfunctioned, including three reported fires.

Two Sydney women urged Fire and Rescue NSW last month to use its powers to have the State Coroner investigate Samsung's execution of the country's biggest recall.

But Assistant Commissioner Mark Whybro has decided against the move, saying the number of incidents was declining and the recall response rate was "greater than usually expected".
Soon after voters in Washington state green-lighted sales of recreational pot, Winterlife Cannabis made the pivot into home delivery. It wasn't exactly a legal business decision back then, in the months before state regulators had worked out all the rules. Winterlife spread the word on Craigslist, and employees adopted wildlife-inspired code names-spotted skunk, crow, platypus-while selling plastic baggies filled with distinct varieties of marijuana.

Three years later, Winterlife is a fully licensed cannabis processor with a diverse product line and more sophisticated branding. The company's THC-infused cookies come in professionally designed boxes that stand upright behind countertops or on shelves, a bit of package engineering made necessary by state rules for marijuana retailers. The old critter code names have evolved into polished illustrations, each animal now dressed in a Prohibition-era hat. In other words: basic branding. The product logos aren't rendered as simple cartoons-that would be illegal, akin to using Joe Camel on cigarettes. Another sales regulation dictating the minimum thickness of interior plastic packaging forced Winterlife to ditch its once-compostable wrappers.

A 'budtender' in Boulder, Colorado, talks a customer through some of the marijuana products on offer. Credit:Getty Images

By following these regulations and embracing carefully considered packaging, pot startups have effectively left behind the ramshackle trappings of the black market. "There's a place for the tie-dye, and there are people who really love that," said Charity Cox, co-founder and creative director of Winterlife. "But if we really want people to see this as an alternative to alcohol or just another way to kick back and relax, you can't just focus on what has been."

As marijuana legalisation and commerce spreads in the U.S., a new breed of cannabis ventures is trying to figure out how to draw in new customers-and packaging is key. Make your products look like they could be sold by Girl Scouts or Whole Foods, and pot manufacturers can assuage concerns about safety and social acceptance. Seattle is blazing the way, with entrepreneurs commissioning an eye-catching array of packages that are both beautiful and law-abiding. Mr. Moxey's Mints, for example, come in pressed-tin boxes that are reminiscent of Altoids, except for a band affixed to the box with the following warning:
You can't fault a mother for trying. When Sally Faulkner learned that her Lebanese ex-husband, Ali Elamine, had no intention of returning their two children to Australia from Lebanon, where he had ostensibly taken them for a holiday, she would have known her chances of getting them back legally were almost nil. Parental rights are automatically given to fathers in Lebanon and the country is not a signatory to the Hague Convention which stipulates that children be returned to their "country of habitual residence".

And so Faulkner turned to the media, with disastrous consequences. Now, along with four 60 Minutes journalists including presenter Tara Brown, she is in custody in Beirut following an audacious attempt to snatch the two children from a Beirut street. Two of the agents working for CARI, the "child recovery" organisation behind the bungled operation (run by Australian ex-soldier Adam Whittington), are also in custody.

The actions of a desperate mother are one thing; the extraordinary lapse in judgment and ethics of a crew of seasoned journalists getting involved in an international kidnapping scheme is another entirely.
It should've come as no surprise, but entering the Perth Arena on Friday night for Black Sabbath's The End tour, I was amazed that Perth still owns so many black t-shirts.

Despite the indoor venue, the smell of marijuana wafted through the air, and looking around it was apparent that Perth's metal scene was alive and well . Mature, sure, but there was a surprising number of young punters around too.

Ozzy Osbourne's' Black Sabbath rock Perth Arena on Friday night. Credit:janekita

As Ozzy Osbourne said in an interview with Faifax Media: "The thing about metal fans is that they're so loyal. They stick around. You look around and on face value you'd go, 'They look like a bunch of yobs!' But they're really nice guys, you know?"

This was the first night of the Australian leg of the tour, which is heralded as a last chance to see founding members Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Iommi and Geezer Butler on stage together.
The Turnbull government has all but given up on getting its building industry watchdog laws through the Senate, meaning it could have its early election trigger in place by the end of this week.

Parliament will resume on Monday for three weeks of special sittings, culminating with the federal budget.

While the lower house is scheduled to sit only on Monday and Tuesday, the Senate will sit until it has dealt with the government's Australian Building and Construction Commission legislation.

But multiple senior government sources now concede there is next to no chance the bill will get through.
Discovering that women can't be top guns as G-forces affects baby-making ability The father of another hero, Jenny, who is "24; a science graduate who had recently become one of the first female WSO's [weapon systems officer] in the RAAF", is concerned for her future. Not the fact that she'll be killed on duty but that she may suffer a far worse fate  being reproductively challenged. "Jenny, I just cannot understand you wanting to get into the military, especially not combat aircraft. I have enough of an understanding of physiology to understand what those G-forces can do as far as your ability to have children is concerned." Why Michelle Bridges fell for Commando Michelle Bridges and Steve "Commando" Willis have opened up about their relationship for the first time.

"For a long time, making season after season of The Biggest Loser, we were just friends. It was more of a communication connection that drew us together in that sense rather than anything physical," Willis said. "The thing about Michelle that got my attention was her willingness to listen and you could sit for minutes, hours and just talk and she would be like a sounding board." The couple, who met while working as trainers on Ten's weight-loss reality series and now have a four-month-old son together, will appear on Australian Story on Monday. The episode will chronicle Bridges' meteoric rise from small town Les Mills trainer to national fitness icon, now worth an estimated $53 million, according to BRW who listed her as the 29th richest self-made woman in Australia last year. An accolade that her former business partner and ex-husband, Bill Moore, said "damaged" her. "That damaged us, damaged her reputation ... We probably chose the business over the relationship, maybe that was the baby we didn't have," Moore said.

After the couple split in 2013, Bridges said she and Willis "came together at a time when we were both kind of raw and thinking 'Wow, what is happening with our relationships?'" Willis' partner Froso (surname unknown), who is the mother of two of his four children, at the time claimed she was blindsided by the blossoming relationship. Bridges added that motherhood is "the best thing I've ever done and I've done a lot". "It absolutely just felt right. For the first time in my 44 years, it absolutely felt right," she said of becoming a first-time mum at 45. The pregnancy wasn't an easy run for the trainer who attracted criticism for conceiving naturally, working out while heavily pregnant and for resuming exercise just weeks after giving birth. "I was going at the right level for me, myself, someone who has been training since she was 14. There was no way I would put myself or my child in any kind of danger by doing something dangerous," she said.

Australian Story airs on Monday, April 18, at 8pm on ABC. Easton Pearson say farewell but not goodbye Furry shoes and colourful pelts are having a fashion moment right now thanks to Fendi and Gucci, but they could have been trending sooner if Easton Pearson were successfully lured from Queensland and into the fur-trade business. Before Rick Owens took over the creative direction of luxury accessories company Revillon in 2003, Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson were approached to take the reins of the Parisian house that specialised in animal skins. "It was around the time we starting showing in Paris. In 1997 they approached us to take over as they were looking for someone to rejuvenate the brand. However, the older members of the management team nearly fainted when they saw what we do," Easton said of the pair's bold aesthetic.

"We weren't interested as we had children here in school, but we were shown through their archives, which were in a shocking state but still incredible, there were photos of fur pelts being sourced from Canada in 1895," Pearson added. It's one of the many colourful tales of Australia's most colourful fashion label which is set to close after 27 years. The creative duo announced last week that Easton Pearson as we know it will end after a special limited release of pieces into their Brisbane store. "I've had some women contact me saying they are having wakes by throwing all their Easton Pearson out on the bed and seeing how long they can wear it for," Easton said. Famous for their love of bold prints, natural fabrics and working with trading partners in India, the pair will miss their annual showing trips to Paris but are excited about their next endeavours.

"The first time we went to Paris we only had two showings booked and nowhere to host them. Then more people wanted to see us so we were running through the streets covered in coat hangers," Easton said. Those "people" happened to be buyers from some of the biggest stores in the world including Browns of London and New York's Bergdorf Goodman. Easton is now planning on launching a label under her name, an "eclectic range of items that are artisan-based", and exploring her passion for Chinese tea. Pearson will continue teaching third-year fashion at the Queensland University of Technology and establish a "creative living project" with a number of artists called Baroque Lab. Both would be open to a collaborative high street capsule collection, like Jean Paul Gaultier's line for Target or Alexander Wang's looks for H&M. "Easton Pearson was not interested in fast fashion. The customers wanted something unique. However, those high street collections are wonderful for designers and the sustainability of the fashion industry in terms of connecting with new clients," Pearson said. Ivy Park is activewear, say activewear experts

Beyonce is back. Not with a new album, but an activewear range. Ivy Park launched in Australia at 3.15pm on Thursday. Fifty per cent of the collection available at e-tailer The Iconic had sold out 24 hours later. The range is a collaboration between Bey and TopShop founder Sir Philip Green and features a range of tights, crop tops and leotards  because, it's Beyonce after all. Before Ivy Park comes to a cafe near you, Skit Box, the creators of last year's viral Activewear video that has chalked up more than 4 millions views on YouTube, gave the collection their verdict. "Beyonce is the queen of innovation. Who else would have thought to put words on a swimsuit and call it activewear?" the trio said.

To many women who wear their gym gear everywhere, the Skit Box comedians Sarah Bishop, Adele Vuko and Greta Jackson, are considered the final word in what constitutes "activewear". "We applaud Queen Bey Bey for this incredible addition to the Activewear Universe. There's just so much to say about this line, there's 'tude, there's luscious curves, there's zero shits given by the models in the ads, and by gosh it will make women like us, that have no intention of visiting the gym ever, look like we are go-getters. That is the true beauty of 'activewear'," they said. "We are excited about the armless hoodie. You can be active and a Jedi knight at the same time. Which means you can use the force to lift weights, rather than actually lifting them. Perfect," they said of the range's $64.95 "soft backless hoodie". Ivy Park's $64.95 soft backless hoodie

The "hexagon mesh bomber", that will set you back $119.95, also caught their eye. Ivy Park's Hexagon Mesh Bomber, $119.95 "You'll be easy to spot on the street in this number. Don't actually wear it to the gym though, because you might get sweat stains on it and this shit is expensive," Vuko said. Jackson added: "This is great and obviously a homage to that famous scene in Grease where Cha Cha sexily waves the cars to start the race. She was wearing the very first recorded activewear in history. Look how far humanity has come." No "athleisure" range would be complete without a hoodie.
The risks of IPOs are greater than for companies that have a longer life as a listed company. There are the successes, such as Chinese technology company Wonhe Multimedia Commerce, which floated in December last year and whose share price has more than doubled. Then there is Dick Smith, the electronics retailer that recently went into voluntary administration after a $520 million float by its private equity owners in December 2013. Elio D'Amato, the director of research at share analytical firm Lincoln Indicators, does not usually recommend IPOs. The float prospectus is mostly a marketing document, he says.

He prefers to look at the financial health of a company after it has listed. Otherwise it can be a "bit of a hit and hope situation". Steve Black, portfolio manager of the Pengana Emerging Companies Fund, says this IPO cycle has been strong but he remains cautious. He says directors of these newly listed companies are schooled by their advisers to under-promise and over-deliver on prospectus forecasts. As a consequence their share prices can do well, at least over the short term. "Our concerns centre more on the sustainability of returns beyond the prospectus period," Black says. "Myer Holdings and, more recently, Dick Smith provide good illustrations of why we remain wary."

Myer listed in October 2009 with an issue price of $4.10 and delivered on prospectus forecasts. But the department store chain subsequently reported five consecutive years of profit declines and its shares are trading at about $1.10. Black says there needs to be substantial upside from a float, over the longer term, to compensate for the extra risk's borne by investors in a newly listed company. Julian Beaumont, the investment director at Bennelong Australian Equity Partners, says he looks for highly profitable businesses that provide highly desired or essential products and services. The business needs to have experienced and driven management, he says. "The problem [with IPOs] is that you often have less understanding of the company, and less financial history with which to judge the company's prospects," he says.

"It is important to consider the vendors' motivations when considering an IPO. "We are more interested in IPOs where the company is raising money to enable investment in growth, rather than those where the owners are selling to simply line their own pockets," Beaumont says. Potential investors in IPOs have to remember that vendors know their company better than anyone else and have control over the timing of the IPO, he says. Mark Arnold, the chief investment officer at fund manager Hyperion, says he is cautious on IPOs given the information advantage of vendors over investors. "Although the prospectus does provide historical information on the company, the detail provided can be less than we would normally consider in making an investment," he says.

"Vendors are usually careful with the timing of an IPO to maximise their profits. "It is also likely the best floats are well and truly oversubscribed and will result in all investors' allocations being heavily scaled back." Beaumont says some of the best floats have been the government privatisations. These floats tend to be "priced attractively" to give investors, who are voters, a profitable experience, he says. That has led to investors doing very well from privatisations such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, biotechnology group CSL and, more recently, the Medibank float. Medibank is Australia's largest private health fund.

Medibank Private floated in late 2014 with retail investors paying $2 a share. Its shares are trading at about $3. Government enterprises can often be run far more efficiently in private hands with the efficiency gains falling to shareholders, Beaumont says. Western Power could be one of the biggest floats this year. If the West Australian government decides to privatise the business, which maintains and operates the electricity network in the south-west of the state, it could be worth $10 billion. Another potential float is that of NSW government-owned Endeavour Energy, which could raise $4 billion. Then there is State Plus, which provides financial planning services to NSW public servants, former public servants and their families.
The Baird government will turn to private investors to boost funding for preschool education and open adoptions.

NSW lags behind other states and fails to meet the national goal of all children attending 15 hours of preschool a week in the year before school.

Only 74 per cent of four-year-olds attended a preschool in NSW, compared to 95 per cent nationally.

Of the NSW four-year-olds that did attend a preschool program, only 60 per cent attended for 15 hours or more a week, according to the Productivity Commission. This was well below the 85 per cent attending nationally.
What kind of chocolate craving demands 312 packets of Tim Tams?

Wayne John Misfud, 47, from Rockdale, is alleged to have wheeled out 13 boxes of Tim Tams in a shopping trolley from Woolworths in Mashman Avenue, Kingsgrove, on March 8.

Wayne John Misfud is alleged to have stolen 312 packets of Tim Tams.

He entered the store, took a trolley and placed 13 boxes of Tim Tams stacked as part of a promotional display, Parramatta Bail Court heard on Saturday.

Inside each box were 24 individual packets of Tim Tams, equalling $1014 worth of the popular chocolate biscuits.
Police officers were posting homophobic and sexually degrading posts on social media before a NSW Police Integrity Commission investigation homed in on the racial and sexist harassment of an MP.

A Sun-Herald investigation can also reveal that one of the ringleaders behind the online trolling of the Greens MP Jenny Leong is an inner-city based sergeant who for years has spouted a string of anti-gay slurs and online comments that objectified and sexually degraded women.

Jenny Leong at the NSW election in May 2015. Credit:James Alcock

After viewing material linked to his Facebook account on Saturday, the NSW Police released a statement advising it had "acted to immediately suspend" the Central Metropolitan Region officer.

It is now apparent that far from being an isolated, politically motivated online attack, the recent hate campaign against Ms Leong was part of a culture of abuse within certain elements of the force.
Two protesters have been arrested after refusing to leave a house slated for demolition as part of the WestConnex motorway project.

Sydney residents Bill Holliday and Sharon Laura were detained on Saturday morning after spending the night inside the fenced-off house in Haberfield.

The suburb is heritage-listed as a Conservation Area and the house, which did not belong to either of the protesters, had been compulsorily acquired to make way for a construction site for WestConnex.
Maureen Ross has walked into her dream job designing a 3D printed human ear for children such as two-year-old Maia Van Mulligan.

Maia was born with Microtia, or "little ear", and currently wears an external device on a headband that uses her skull as a bone conductor for transmitting sound to her brain.

Queensland Government innovation funding for 3D printed genetically matched ears for children with Microtia - like Maia Van Mulligan Credit:Lisa Yallamas

The researchers will model a synthetic scaffold that will act like natural ear cartilage. They will use Maia's own cells to grow an ear for her that will be surgically attached for cosmetic purposes.

Eventually, they will attach a hearing implant to the ear.
A Brisbane gay couple have become the first in Queensland to celebrate their love with a civil partnership ceremony.

Jaime Kerr and his partner Stephen Thompson, both in their 60s, celebrated their 21 years of being together with friends and loved ones on Saturday at Brisbane's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

The chance for Queensland couples to hold a ceremony celebrating their civil partnership was restored more than three weeks ago after the Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Act 2015 restored state-sanctioned civil partnership ceremonies for straight and same-sex couples late last year.

It had been axed by the Newman government in 2012.
Police are investigating the third suspected domestic murder in Queensland's south east in less than three weeks.

Melanie Floyd, 28, was found unconscious at her unit in Brisbane's inner north on Wednesday afternoon.

The hospitality worker had suffered critical head injuries.

She died in hospital overnight Saturday, after her family made the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support.
A motorbike rider has died after his vehicle and a campervan collided near Rainbow Beach.

The 60-year-old man from Tin Can Bay, north of the Sunshine Coast, died at the scene on Saturday morning.

A motorbike rider has died after his vehicle and a campervan collided near Rainbow Beach. Credit:Tom Threadingham

The driver of the campervan, a 22-year-old woman from the Netherlands, was airlifted to a Brisbane hospital for treatment.

It was the second fatal crash on Queensland roads in 24 hours.
At 34, a working mum with three children, Ms Mailman decided to visit her sister's family up in North Queensland where she saw the intolerable conditions her nieces and nephews were living in. "I went up to north Queensland and that is when I went to see the little fellahs and they talked to me about how unhappy they were and the things that were taking place there and they weren't happy," she said. "I thought I had to do something and get them out of that bad situation, get some love and happiness back into their lives." Ms Mailman said her sister had experienced domestic violence throughout her life and had been horrifically attacked on the anniversary of their mother's death in 2001, which caused her to spiral downwards. "She was gang raped and she went off track badly and she never came back," she said.

"She couldn't even face the courts, it went for a while but it was just too dramatic for her." And so began the battle to get legal guardianship of her five nieces and nephews, which Ms Mailman said was hard and scary. "At first I went through the procedures, I didn't have any money to get legal people, I just knew I had to step up to the plate and represent myself," she said. "It was pretty hard and pretty scary, I only had a half school of education. "I was so proud of my efforts of getting in there and talking and representing myself, I knew that I had to stay strong and keep fighting for the because I was an adult and they weren't."

After receiving help from the women's legal service in Townsville, Ms Mailman was granted guardianship and welcomed five new children into her life. "I didn't have a lot of money or anything but it doesn't cost anything to give love," she said. "It was really taking its toll but I never ever wanted to give up on them or on my job that I loved and the passion I have for my culture and country so I kept digging deeper and finding more strength. "Having them with me as their blood aunt, it is like another mother in my culture anyway. "It was very important for them to keep their identity and be out on traditional country so they could learn the Aboriginal culture. You can get lost when you are taken away from your country."

Ms Mailman said her sister now had a good relationship with her children. "Her eldest son has given her a granddaughter now, so that has given her some hope," she said. Ms Mailman went on to write a personal memoir about her struggles, and also became the first Aboriginal woman to manage a cattle property, which she has been doing for about 19 years at Mt Tabor Station, an award winning Indigenous Land Corporation property run under licence to her Bidjara people. Her niece Fay nominated Ms Mailman for Barnardos Australia Mother of the Year, the largest and most recognised national award celebrating mothers, because her "Aunty Kay" was the mother she had "dreamt of". "Around 14 years ago I didn't want to live anymore. How could I hurt so much and still be here on this earth? Let down time and time again by my own parents," she said.
More than 10,000 asylum seekers will have a better chance of avoiding deportation back to potentially life-threatening persecution in their homelands, with key legal centres set to help more cases.

Asylum seekers living in the community while awaiting processing  known as the "legacy caseload"  have just one opportunity to make their claim for protection under a controversial fast-track system introduced in 2014.

They also face more stringent limits on their right to appeal negative decisions.

Victorian Legal Aid said the federal government's overhaul of the processing system had exposed nearly 30,000 people who arrived between 2012 and 2014 to the risk of unfair decision-making that could have them returned to countries where they would not be safe.

A new two-year initiative, to be launched by the state government, will now enable community legal centres Refugee Legal and Justice Connect to assist thousands of asylum seekers living in Victoria prepare visa applications and express their claims in writing.
A high-ranking Calabrian mafia drug trafficker escaped undetected into Australia on a visa under his own name, despite being on the run for his part in an international cocaine syndicate.

Antonio Vottari was arrested at Rome's international airport last month after getting off a flight from Melbourne.

Mafia drug trafficker Antonio Vottari met with Joseph Acquaro about a week before the lawyer was murdered. Credit:Il Quotidiano

The 31-year-old fled Italy in 2011 amid a high-profile investigation, codenamed Operation Imelda, that identified him as a key player in a vast mafia cocaine trafficking operation.

Vottari did not have to deploy cloak and dagger techniques to slip the police net. He applied for a student visa under his own name, and arrived under the guise of studying at a Melbourne tertiary institution.
Sameer Sahib stood out by his height, his vacant eyes and dumbstruck open mouth. He was the slow moving centre of a crowd that hugged him close, held his hand, kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear.

Then the father of Sanaya Sahib arrived to bury his little girl, and the hundreds moved towards him in tears, a sad mass converging slowly with arms outstretched.

At first the mourners stood scattered outside the chapel, feet shuffling, sausage balloons in hand, not quite knowing what to do at Bunurong Memorial Park.

It was 11am and a cold wind blew, and Mr Sahib stumbled through the grieving as if in a daze, until one person stopped him. It was a little blonde girl. She smiled as she inched forward past the Muslim men in taqiyahs and the women in hijabs. She held something up in her hands. A plush golden rabbit, tied up with pink ribbons.

Sanaya Sahib's maternal grandmother, in white, weeps over the toddler's coffin. Credit:Craig Sillitoe

"I'll have to stand on my tippy toes to give you a cuddle. Here's a teddy," she said, handing him the soft toy and giving the man a hug. "She's OK. She's resting now. She's our little princess."

The father said "Thank you", and held the rabbit in his hands. Then he brought it inside, to the front of the large room, to add to a pile with a rainbow teddy bear and a purple unicorn, which rested on a bed of gerberas, tulips and roses at the foot of the tiny brown coffin that contained his 14-month-old daughter.

The room was filled to capacity, perhaps 450 people, for a low-key 15-minute service for the girl, coordinated by Jameel Ahmad, her uncle. There were no photo montages, no songs. The family, Mr Ahmad said, was coping as might be expected.
Central to the remaining mysteries are British-Australian man Adam Whittington and his accomplice British-Cypriot Craig Michael believed to be from the child recovery agency spearheading the operation to snatch Faulkner's two children Noah, 4, and Lahala, 6, in Beirut on Thursday, April 7.

More than a week after Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew were thrown into a Lebanese jail, loose ends surround what has become an international debacle.

A missing Romanian, a mysterious Dutch woman in a grainy passport photograph, and a motor cruiser moored near a Beirut hotel  there are still plenty of unanswered questions about the botched child-snatch attempt that led to the arrest of Australian mother Sally Faulkner and a 60 Minutes crew.

What remains unclear are the exact identities and roles  if any  of Mr Whittington and Mr Michael's other alleged travelling partners, who are believed to have accompanied the pair on their yacht from Cyprus to Beirut last Wednesday, April 6.

When the yacht was processed by Lebanese Customs, it was recorded as having two women and three men on board, News Corp reported on Saturday.

But the role, if any, played by the two women is unknown. One is believed to be a Dutch national shown alongside 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown in photos of passports provided to news web site Al Arabiya by Lebanese officials after the plot was foiled.

The passport identifies her as a 36-year-old Dutch woman Antoinette Adriana van den Bersselaar.

There have been no indications she has been arrested or detained about the plot, leaving the very real possibility she and the other boat passengers were innocent bystanders in Mr Whittington's plans.
One in five Australians consume three quarters of alcohol, report finds

London: International guidelines for alcohol consumption are so confusing it's enough to turn you to drink. Scientists who studied low-risk drinking advice around the world concluded that there is a "substantial" risk of misunderstanding.

Doctors often suggest changes to alcohol regulations.

Guidelines were found to vary greatly, with measurements of the amount of alcohol in a "standard drink" ranging from 8g in Iceland and the UK, to 20g in Australia.

In the most conservative countries, "low-risk" consumption meant drinking no more than 10g of alcohol per day for women and 20g for men.
Lesbos, Greece: Pope Francis took three families of Syrian refugees back to Rome on Saturday after visiting the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis at a camp in Greece where migrants wept at his feet, kissed his hand and begged for help.

At a sprawling fenced complex on the Aegean island of Lesbos, adults and children broke down in tears before the head of the Roman Catholic church, after their onward journey to Europe was cut short by an EU decision to block a migrant route used by a million people fleeing conflict since early last year.

While borders have largely been shut for migrants, Francis symbolically took a small group of refugees with him as he left the island after a five-hour visit.

"The Pope has desired to make a gesture of welcome regarding refugees, accompanying on his plane to Rome three families of refugees from Syria, 12 people in all, including six children," a statement issued by the Vatican said.
Washington: The war in Yemen has become an invisible and dirty conflict. The US and Britain are propping up a stalled Saudi effort to assert itself as a regional power  but with Riyadh armed to the gills by the West, it demonstrates little restraint in its targeting.

As the war enters its second year, a shaky fourth truce is holding and investigations by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch have produced evidence that Washington and London could be complicit in war crimes  as the provider of weapons, training and intelligence for the Saudi forces.

Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, carry the coffin of a fellow Houthi who was killed during fighting against Saudi-backed Yemeni forces in Marib province. Credit:AP

President Barack Obama heads to Riyadh this week for talks with the Saudi royals, and veteran White House and CIA analyst Bruce Riedel argues that peace in Yemen needs to be a high priority  "the war has already cost the kingdom billions. It has had a devastating humanitarian impact in Yemen and the border regions of Saudi Arabia".
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

This will sound strange but it only gets stranger: A man in the Yukon who lives in a hut and has a team of 30 mush dogs got interested in the topic of female sex offenders.

Go figure.

The man, Darrell Otto, may trod the frozen tundra, but like everyone else, he has internet access, and somehow he stumbled upon an odd case: Four Texas lesbians convicted, when they were in their very early 20s, of raping two young girls in a tequila-soaked orgy. By the time Otto was reading about them, the women had been in prison four or five years, but they had at least another decade to go  and one had 30 years to go.

Thats a long sentence.

The more he read about the case, the more Otto wanted someone to dig deeper. At last he got the National Center for Reason and Justice, which identifies false allegations of harm to children, to agree to investigate. Heres what it found.

The girls, 7 and 9, had been staying with their aunt, 20-year-old Elizabeth Ramirez, for a week. Two months later, they told their grandmother theyd been raped by Ramirez and her friends.

The facts of the story were confounding, at best. First of all, the girls said all four of the women raped them, even though two of the womens work schedules made that almost impossible. Then, their details differed widely on retellings: Sometimes the girls said they were together during the attacks, other times apart. Sometimes they said they were threatened with a knife, other times, a gun.

But most damning of all: the same girls had told a strikingly similar story two years earlier. That time, it was about their mom. This was when their dad, Javier Limon, was engaged in a bitter custody battle with her.

Javier Limon figured large in this case too. He had been in love with Ramirez and outraged when she turned him down. He vowed vengeance on her and her family. Slate reports that Ramirez had love letters from Limon.

She was not allowed to enter them in her defense.

Instead, the trial was about four gay women, in a conservative Texas town, right on the heels of the Satanic Panic. Thats when Americans across the country became convinced that day care workers were dismembering babies, drinking blood, and ritually raping preschoolers. It sounds outrageous now, but people went to prison, sometimes for decades, for ostensibly making toddlers dig up bodies in the graveyard, or flying them down to Mexico to be raped by the army  and back by circle time. (See the case of Frances and Dan Keller).

In the end, the fate of the San Antonio Four was sealed when a doctor testified that the lines she saw on one of the girls hymens were irrefutable proof of rape. The women entered prison reviled as child molesters  and lesbians.

Many of these cases were fueled by homophobia, says Debbie Nathan, the Brooklyn-based author of Satans Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt. Nathan is on the board of the Center for Reason and Justice. Back then, she says, many people assumed that every gay person was also a child predator.

Nathan urged one of her proteges, Deborah Esquenazi, to keep digging, even as she convinced the Texas Innocence Project to do the same.

A gay woman herself, Esquenazi met the women in prison and was shocked to find, they were no longer angry. They just wanted to tell their story.

So she brought along a video camera, and bore witness over the next few years to an extraordinary turn of events.

First, the doctor who had insisted the physical evidence proved rape admitted shed been wrong. It turns out that hymen lines are a normal variation.

Second, a new Texas bill that allows people to appeal if their convictions were based on junk science brought the case back to court.

Finally: one of the victims, now in her 20s, recanted her testimony.

Then, after more than a decade in prison, the women were released  but not exonerated. Theyre in legal limbo, working factory jobs as they await what happens next.

Which is the red carpet.

This week, Esquenazis documentary, Southwest of Salem, premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival. The San Antonio Four will be there, their first time in New York.

It should be sweet, but not as sweet as justice.

Read Lenore Skenazys column every Sunday morning on Brook lynPa per.com

Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four dates: World premier: April 15 at 5:30. Then: April 17 at 7:30, April 18 at 3:30, April 20 at 8:30. The four women will be interviewed by Kelly Michaels at Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St. Manhattan, Wednesday, April 13, at 7 pm.

Lenore Skenazy is founder and author of the blog and book Free-Range Kids.
Gelato, smoothies, pizza and more: Check out the newest in Bucks' eats

These new Bucks County dining spots are serving up everything from gelato, pastries and pizza to green smoothies, cold-pressed juices and acai bowls.
latest news

October 3, 2022

Dee Gambit

Hundreds  if not thousands  of new and returning TV shows and movies are released every month  your options of what to watch are endless. Variety, they say is ...


A short ceremony is to be held in Burnham-On-Sea by the Town Council today (Thursday, April 21st) to mark the Queens 90th birthday.

A flag-raising ceremony will be led by Burnham and Highbridge Mayor Cllr Michael Clarke alongside other dignitaries.

At 10.50am, the Mayor, Mayors Cadet, Deputies, Councillors, Public, Clergy and representatives from the Armed Forces will gather by the Flag Pole in Pier Street.

At 11am, the Union Flag will be formally raised, followed at 11.05am by a blessing by members of the clergy.

Then at 11.10am, Burnhams Town Crier Alistair Murray will read a Royal Statement from the Loyal Order of Town Criers.

Also see:

Whats on in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge
Led by Telugu Desam Partys JC Divakar Reddy, a Parliamentary Committee has suggested introducing severe punishment for celebrities misleading the public through advertisements. The panel has proposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh or imprisonment of up to two years or both for a first-time offender, while a second-time offender could be slapped with a fine of Rs 50 lakh and imprisonment for five years. Sandeep Goyal, chairman of Mogae Media, shares his insights in an interview with Nikita Puri. Edited excerpts:



How much of an impact does a celebrity's endorsement really bring to the table?



I am currently writing my PhD thesis on human brands. My research clearly establishes that celebrities enhance both recognition and recall of a brand. This is even more pronounced in the non-metro markets, and in lower socio-economic groups.

Consumers are 60 per cent more likely to buy a lifestyle product endorsed by a celebrity and 48 per cent more likely to buy a product endorsed by a well-known sportsman.

In the past, Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Madhuri Dixit have been questioned for endorsing Maggi's nutritional benefits while Shah Rukh Khan faced people's ire for endorsing a fairness cream for men. M S Dhoni's endorsement of a builder too ran into trouble. Are they liable and accountable for what they endorse ?



In the Amrapali ad, Dhoni (with RP Singh) very clearly says that "we have our homes at Amrapali because Amrapali is the best". So the endorsement is explicit and unambiguous. Dhoni received a free flat (or so I am told) for endorsing the builder. Hence, he received due consideration. He did not make an innocent, straight-from-the-heart statement without knowledge of what he was saying. His culpability is evident. We need to first separate celebrity endorsement from celebrity advertising. Endorsement is the act of saying that you approve of or support something; so celebrity endorsement is when celebrities are playing themselves and endorsing a product.

Celebrity advertising, however, is an ad with a celebrity playing a role in line with a script. When Dhoni says he gets his energy from Revital, he is endorsing the product. Hence, he is liable if the product falls short of the promise it makes.

When Madhuri Dixit plays the role of a mom with kids and a reel husband in a home setting and serves them a bowl of Maggi noodles, she is playing a mom - not Madhuri, the actor. This is celebrity advertising, not endorsement.

If this proposal is passed, what would be the fallout of this?



The biggest fallout of a potential legislation will be that many brands and their agencies will shy away from using endorsers. Today, the easiest solution to any marketing problem is to use a celebrity. The lack of ideas is often substituted by roping in a celebrity. This will be halted.

Celebrities too will tread with caution. Contracts today cover liability between the company and celebrity. But this is largely civil in nature. No contract between the two can absolve the celebrity from criminal liability if the promise of the product is exaggerated.

Celebrities have to make sure they do enough due diligence on their own before they sign up multi-million dollar contracts. Today, it is just easy money. Lend your name, lend your face, and laugh your way to the bank.

Shah Rukh Khan recently said that celebrities have limited responsibilities towards endorsements, sharing how he believes in the credibility of an ISI mark. If brand endorsers are held accountable for misleading ads, should certificate-issuing bodies be pulled up too?



I disagree with Shah Rukh that just because the product has an ISI certification, it is enough proof for him that the product meets standards. If that were enough, the brand owners would focus the ad only on the ISI mark. Since they choose to spend a fortune to get Shah Rukh to lend his face to the brand, they obviously understand that the brand will be bought because of Shah Rukh and not the ISI mark.

Bollywood celebrities have been frowned upon in the past for endorsing pan masala and gutka. Should companies, and celebrities, follow certain guidelines before signing contracts?



So far, most of this is self-regulation. And that is obviously not working. More stringent guidelines are needed. More important, their enforceability is required. Today, despite the Advertising Standards Council of India, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the News Broadcasters Association, surrogate advertising for liquor is being aired with impunity. It is going unchecked. So, the moral of the story is that self-regulation is a myth, law is a reality.

What are the ways to ensure that a consumer is not led astray by false advertising?



This isn't easy. Celebrities have an aura, a magnetism which gets consumers to trust them. This cannot be wished away. It is human nature to look up to icons.
Surats diamond sector, reeling under slowdown blues since July 2014, has started to see green shoots.

After picking up in January-February, trade again plummeted in March due to the nationwide jewellers' strike that dented the domestic demand for . Domestic demand accounts for around 15 per cent of Surat's business. Traders are hopeful that international demand will bail them out. With the strike over, domestic demand too is likely to pick up now.

Read more from our special coverage on "DIAMONDS" Credit extension period to ease operational difficulties for diamond processors

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) figures for February showed that the gems and jewellery sector had done well, picking up 33.1 per cent.

Kirti Shah, a diamond unit owner in Surat said, this was the worst period of slowdown in the past 10 years or so. It is worse than the 2008 slowdown, when recovery was relatively quicker. On top of that, the jewellers' strike has taken off further sheen from the diamond market here," he said.

Of the 300 units that had shut shop during the slump, many have re-opened. Dinesh Navadia, president of the Surat Diamond Association, said there was now a labour shortage of 20-25 per cent. This was because several thousands of workers were rendered jobless owing to the slowdown around Diwali and Christmas last year and these people had shifted to other jobs.

Surat, which accounted for 90 per cent of the worlds rough diamond polishing, had employed over 600,000 people in around 5,000 workshops. Hardly 350,000 were working by the end of 2015, and many on reduced wages.

Several workers took to embroidery work, or returned to their villages. "Finding skilled workmen is now a challenge in Surat," Navadia said. "Demand from US and China are up compared to the pre-Diwali situation, and we hope that things would only move up from here."



The inventory situation too had improved from a 6-month inventory around September-October last year to around a months inventory with units now.

Traders are mostly relieved as the prices of rough and polished are now more or less balanced. "Earlier, while polished diamond prices had gone down drastically, the rough had gotten costly due to high demand since 2011-12. This made trade unviable. Now, the prices are more or less balanced," Navadia said.
Many gold and diamond jewellery artisans have shifted to doing imitation pieces in the past one month as a prolonged strike in the sector has raised fears of job security and steady income.

Gold, silver and diamond jewellery industry had gone on an indefinite strike on March 1, following an announcement of one per cent excise duty on jewellery in the Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The strike, which was on for more than a month, had started raising concerns among artisans of uncertain work flow and steady income. Instead of choosing to stay idle till the strike was over, many migrated from gold and silver jewellery making to the imitation-jewellery industry.

Getting work in precious metals is not an easy task, said Nagendra Mehta, secretary of Imitation Jewellery Manufacturers Association (IJMA). People do not easily trust artisans. Moreover, remuneration is not fixed as it depends on the amount of work they get. In imitation jewellery, the flow of work is higher than in precious metals, which tends to offer a secure and steady income. This led to a migration of artisans to our industry.Currently, out of the 2.5 million artisans active in the imitation jewellery industry, 40-45 per cent of the artisans are from the precious metals segment. The art work is mostly similar in both, making it easy to shift verticals.

Narendra Mehta, president of Rajkot Jewellery Association, said, Designs and art works are almost same in imitation and precious metals jewellery making. This makes it easy and quick for artisans to settle down.



Apparently, despite the recent announcement in the Budget of a one per cent excise duty on gold coupled with a levy of 10 per cent import duty, precious metals jewellery is still considered competitive.

This is because imitation jewellery attracts one per cent to five per cent value-added tax (VAT) in some states, along with a six per cent excise duty.

However, imitation jewellery industry score over precious metals in pricing. For instance, a gold ring would conservatively cost Rs 5,000-7,000, while an imitation ring of the same art or design work would cost around Rs 1,000. The imitation jewellery industry has also been demanding a reduction in excise duty to one per cent for some time.

Within the industry, Rajkot is known for casting or machine made imitation jewellery with more than 450,000 artisans, while Mumbai is the largest hub for handmade imitation jewellery.

Narendra Mehta said, In the past couple of years, gold and silver jewellery industry has faced several issues such as strikes and price rise in metals. Many artisans of precious metals have entered the imitation jewellery market due to strikes in February and March this year.
Nestle Global CEO Paul Bulckes statement on Thursday that the Indian operations bounced back faster than expected has come at a time when flagship brand Maggi noodles has cleared the safety tests directed by the Supreme Court and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

On April 11, Nestle India had said none of the tests conducted on 29 samples of the instant noodle brand found any excess lead or artificial monosodium glutamate (MSG). It said the reports were submitted to the Supreme Court, where it was facing a Rs 640-crore class-action action suit.

The company had already received the go-ahead to manufacture and market the brand last year following a legal battle in the Bombay High Court. The firms battle had begun in the wake of Maggi's recall and ban in June last year following allegations of contamination.

The class-action suit against the company, the first of its kind in the country filed on behalf of consumers by the government, was viewed as the last impediment in Maggi's journey back into consumer lives.

Nestle India is now looking to double efforts to launch new variants and re-introduce those that were pulled out of shop shelves following the recall and ban. Currently, only the masala and chicken variants of Maggi instant noodles are out in the marketplace.

At the close of trade on Wednesday (April 13, 14 and 15 were public holidays), Nestle India's stock  despite falling 0.49 per cent  hovered in the region of Rs 6,105.80 a unit, the highest in 2016. It highest point before that was in October 16, 2015, the day the company cleared the Bombay High Court-mandated safety tests.

Narayanan, who took over as managing director in August 2015 (he was subsequently promoted as India chairman), said he would also focus his attention on some of Nestle's other categories such as chocolates, confectionery and beverages that have not delivered as strongly in the past. I will add new brands and rev the engine up. The third stage (after getting Maggi back on track and focusing on existing categories) would be to look at new product segments.

Abneesh Roy, associate director (research  institutional equities) at Edelweiss, said investors were looking forward to Nestles investments in new and existing categories. Expansion of existing segments such as chocolates will be key. The addition of new categories such as pet food, packaged water and breakfast cereals by Nestle in India will excite investors.



While the company reported a 17.2 per cent decline in net profit for the December 2015 quarter, this was lower than the 60 per cent decline it reported in the September 2015 quarter and the loss it reported in the June 2015 quarter.

The companys net sales touched Rs 1,960 crore in the December 2015 quarter, after declining 22 per cent on a year-on-year basis. In the previous two quarters, sales fell 32 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.
Mutual fund management firm T Rowe Price has reduced he value of its stake in Flipkart by 15 per cent, becoming the second investor to mark down the online retailer's estimated worth.

It has also cut valuations in taxi aggregator Uber, file-sharing app Dropbox and accommodation aggregator Airbnb.

T Rowe Price had participated in Flipkart's $700-million funding round in December 2014.

In February, Morgan Stanley, another minority investor in Flipkart, downgraded the value of its stock, cutting the company's valuation from $15.2 billion to $11 billion.

T Rowe Price has fixed the per-share value of Flipkart at $120.69 in its March 2016 quarterly filing - down from $142.26 in the previous quarter. As a result, Flipkart's value would fall to $13 billion from a peak of $15.2 billion.

The markdown this time is not as drastic as the one by Morgan Stanley, which had cut share prices of Flipkart by 27 per cent.

However, the lowering of the valuation comes at a time when global investments in start-ups has, for the first time in two subsequent quarters, dropped.

According to a KPMG and CB Insights report early this week, in the March quarter of the previous financial year, investments in start-ups dropped to $25.5 billion from the peak of $39 billion in the September quarter last year.

Flipkart is not the only one to be affected by this bearish mood. Investors have cut their valuations in taxi-aggregator Uber as well as popular file-sharing app Dropbox.

T Rowe Price joined other firms, such as Fidelity Investments, BlackRock, and Morgan Stanley, to mark down values of their investments in that have been using technology to disrupt traditional businesses, such as Uber and Dropbox.

While the former is facing stiff competition from local players such as Ola, Amazon and Google are challenging Dropbox's disruption.

Experts are of the opinion that going public would be "moment of truth" for these firms.

"Public markets look favourably upon sustainable business models. That means steady growth in revenues, profitability and better RoI (return on investments). In contrast, private markets look at impact of technologies and try to value the company based on future impact. There is a huge disconnect," said V Balakrishnan, the founder and chairman of Exfinity Ventures, a private equity fund that invests in technology firms in India and the US.

He added: "The moment of truth for these will come when they actually go public."



In India, investments in startups by global venture capital firms dropped 24 per cent to $ 1.15 billion over the previous three months, Mint newspaper said on April 15 quoting the KPMG-CB Insights report.

For Flipkart, the drop in valuation by global mutual funds comes at a time when Flipkart has undergone a massive restructuring of its top management.

Sachin Bansal was elevated to the position of executive chairman, while co-founder Binny Bansal (not related) became the CEO. There is also a focus on bringing operational efficiency to the company and become profitable from a unit economics perspective within the next six months. It also has seen key executives such as Mukesh Bansal, Punit Soni, Manish Maheshwari and Ankit Nagori quit in recent months.

A trend of corrections to valuations of unlisted across the globe has seen billions of dollars in market cap being eroded. The reason for this is largely due to a wide variance between the perceived value of these companies by private and public investors. This has been demonstrated in the IPOs of companies such as Box and GoPro in the US.

"There have been a lot of excesses that have happened in the B2C space. Depending on how much clientele they have, they have received unpteenth investments. Now reality is kicking in because liquidity is a concern everywhere. For instance if you see in the US, all the companies are remaining private, none of them are going public," added Balakrishnan.
Faced with acute water shortage, Aurangabad authorities in parched Marathwada region on Saturday announced 10 per cent cuts for the industrial units and 20 per cent for breweries and distilleries in the area, hours after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded stoppage of supply.

"We have announced the cut in view of water scarcity. The decision has been taken after discussion with officials concerned," Aurangabad District Collector Nidhi Pandey said. "The rate of water evaporation in the reservoirs has increased suddenly due to high temperatures. The cut will be in force for a fortnight. We will review the situation on April 30 and decide on further course of action," the IAS officer told PTI.

"We have asked industrial units to take steps to save water. The quantum of water cut in the 11 liquor units - seven breweries and four distilleries - is more as they consume more water," she said.

The decision came on a day when Thackeray said Maharashtra government should stop water supply to the beer manufacturing units in the drought-hit Marathwada region to tackle acute shortage of drinking water.

"Water supply to beer units should be stopped in view of the drought," Uddhav said at Aurangabad, where the breweries are located.

However, a BJP minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government said cutting off water supply to breweries won't be such a good idea. "If beer units are using drinking water, it should be stopped. But discontinuing supply of water reserved for them as industrial units is not alright," Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde said in Beed, also in the Marathwada region. Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan said he has sought a report from the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner and other senior officials on the requirement of water for liquor companies.

"If needed, we will not hesitate to stop water supply to these units," he said.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said Maharashtra government should stop water supply to beer manufacturing units in the drought-hit Marathwada region to tackle acute shortage of drinking water.

"Water supply to beer units should be stopped in view of the drought," Uddhav said at Aurangabad, where the breweries are located.

However, a BJP minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government today said cutting off water supply to breweries won't be such a good idea.

"If beer units are using drinking water, it should be stopped. But discontinuing supply of water reserved for them as industrial units is not alright," Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde said in Beed, also in the Marathwada region.

Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan said he has sought a report from the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner and other senior officials on the requirement of water for liquor companies.

"If needed, we will not hesitate to stop water supply to these units," Mahajan said
A special court for money laundering cases on Saturday reserved its order on the Enforcement Directorate's plea seeking a warrant against liquor baron Vijay Mallya. The order will be pronounced on April 18.

The ED moved the court on Friday seeking a warrant after Mallya failed to appear before the agency despite three summons.

ED counsel Hiten Vengaonkar said, Out of Rs 950 crore he (Mallya) had been loaned by IDBI bank, Rs 430 crore worth of properties were bought by him outside the country. The money trail has been investigated but unfortunately the properties are still to be found."



The IDBI money was loaned for Kingfisher Airlines but used somewhere else. They did not even give a substantial collateral, he added.

Judge PR Bhavake of the special court heard the arguments and reserved his order for Monday. If the warrant is issued against Mallya, the Central Bureau of Investigation can ask Interpol to issue a notice for his arrest. Mallya is in the UK as banks try to recover around Rs 9,400 crore that Kingfisher Airlines owes them.

The CBI had first registered a case against Mallya on November 2015. In March, the ED registered its case against Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and a few IDBI executives.

The directorate had issued three summons to Mallya to appear on March 18, April 2 and April 9. The summons were shown to the judge on Saturday.

All these summons were issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and these are deemed to be judicial. If not obeyed then an offence under Section 174 is registered against the accused, the ED counsel told the court.

According to the ED, Mallya replied to the first summons on March 15 through an email id, vijayMallya@ubgroup.com. In his reply he said, I had already planned my departure on March 2 before I came to India in February. I am available to reply to all your queries via email or phone. The directorate told the court that according to Mallya, he had to be in Europe but he had not revealed his purpose. Mallya also said he wanted to appear on May 31.

The ED counsel said Mallya had used the same tactics during an earlier FERA investigation.

India on Friday suspended Mallyas diplomatic passport for four weeks. It asked Mallya to respond within a week why his passport should not be revoked. Mallya is said to be in the United Kingdom even as banks are trying to recover around Rs 9,400 crore that his Kingfisher Airlines owes them.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's claims in full-page newspaper advertisements of achieving 'huge savings' through its 'corruption-free and honest administration' in its first year in office, have raised eyebrows. The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, for instance, claimed it had saved Rs 125 crore on construction of an elevated road (flyover) and brought down the cost of a dispensary from Rs 5 crore to Rs 20 lakh. According to the chief minister, the previous governments in Delhi were starved of funds because of their mindless spending habits, while his administration's 'savings' helped subsidise power and water bills. The Opposition attacked the government claims as "exaggeration" and "an attempt to take false credit".

Significantly, the full-page advertisements by the Delhi government do not mention any specific flyover project. The ad states, "Rs 325 crore was the estimated cost of construction of an elevated road. The government completed the work within Rs 200 crore, thereby saving Rs 125 crore."



A closer look at the key elevated road projects completed by the Delhi government's Public Works Department (PWD) in the past few months - on the Outer Ring Road; between Prembari Pul and Azadpur; between Mangolpuri and Madhuban Chowk; and from Madhuban Chowk to Mukarba Chowk - shows that these were conceptualised, tendered and construction started during the previous Congress government regime in 2013, when Sheila Dikshit was the CM. The Kejriwal-led AAP government came to power only in February 2015.

The 1.6-km, six-lane elevated road between Prembari Pul and Azadpur was initially estimated in June 2012 to cost Rs 247.17 crore. The tendered amount in February 2013 was Rs 182 crore. PWD sources say that thanks to a 'design innovation', costs could be slashed at the initial stage itself. Engineers studied the structural designs of existing flyovers, which rested on two pillars and decided on innovating it to a single-pillar design. For the first time in Delhi, a six-lane carriageway was placed on a single pillar, thereby bringing down the cost by an 20 per cent per sq metre. It consequently also entailed savings on material, land and labour. "This innovation was possible due to the use of not just pre-cast concrete but pre-stressed concrete technology as well, which made the pillars sleeker and, therefore, lighter. It has enabled us to rest a stretch of 24.5-metre wide (six lanes) on a single pillar (located on the central verge) whose base is a mere three metres wide," explained an official.

What also helped in savings was that PWD contracts insisted on an escalation and de-escalation clause, linked to the market price of materials. According to an official, actual expenditures are also dependent on the quantity of material dumped at the work site and not the figures mentioned in the tender.

AAP's PWD minister Satyendra Jain being a technocrat, he closely monitors the progress of projects and takes the initiative to coordinate with other agencies to remove hindrances, say sources.

Kejriwal inaugurated two other flyovers in January 2016 this year. The 1.6-km stretch between Mangolpuri and Madhuban Chowk and another flyover from Madhuban Chowk to Mukarba Chowk. Again, the single-pillar design innovation during the Dikshit regime brought down the preliminary costs on both these projects with both being executed within Rs 300 crore each. The initial amount for the first was Rs 423 crore, but costs came down to Rs 289 crore when tendered in March 2013. For the latter, the preliminary estimate was Rs 421 crore but it got reduced to Rs 279.9 crore when tendered in March 2013.

Government sources disclose that such cutting down on costs has been a feature with earlier projects as well but it was never advertised by earlier regimes. The Barapullah extended corridor was estimated to cost Rs 500 crore; the PWD ensured it made a saving of Rs 80 crore.

While the AAP government's claims of savings on flyovers might be off the mark, it can legitimately stake claim to cutting down wasteful expenditure in the health sector. The government's decision to replace the dispensaries with the 'mohalla clinics' as the first point of medical care for the local community has been a revolutionary concept. It has been based on the realisation that the existing dispensary buildings with several rooms were practically non-functional. The mohalla clinic, located in the midst of a locality, is a single-room pre-fabricated structure with only a single doctor - a general practitioner - and an assistant manning it. To save on costs and space, the clinic is slated to utilise technology-enabled innovations, which will replace the conventional pharmacy and medical testing laboratory.

Innovations such as a vending machine dispensing medicines according to patients' requirements are still in the testing phase. The health department has proposed to have Wi-Fi-enabled services at these clinics, so that each patient's medical records can also be uploaded on their individual smart cards. The health department is also trying to get simple blood tests at these clinics. A pilot project of a mohalla clinic has already kicked off at Peeragarhi. The government has awarded tenders for 1,000 such pre-fabricated structures at Rs 20 lakh each to Punj Lloyd.
Independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is in the process of buying and refurbishing a vintage Dakota aircraft that he plans to gift to the Indian Air Force. He tells Aditi Phadnis why. Edited excerpts:



People buy real estate and villas abroad. They buy distressed banks, distressed companies and plantations. You've bought a tin can. Why?



(Laughs) It is not a tin can. It is a symbol of the pride of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that my father, Air Commodore M K Chandrasekhar, flew early in his career. The DC-3 Dakota was a transport aircraft used to move troops in 1947 to quell the attack on Kashmir and push back raiders. It is a symbol of India's unity because it was used in the Bangladesh war of 1971. The famous Tangail drop was done from this aircraft.

Few realise that the Indian Air force is one of the oldest air forces in the world. It has a hoary past, history and military traditions. Because of my upbringing, I have always been deeply interested in military history and, as I am a trained pilot, I also know a little bit about aircraft. To my utter horror, around 2010, I discovered that India's DC-3s, which were housed in the Sulur Airport Base just off Coimbatore, were sold as scrap. DC3 was the first transport aircraft that landed at the height of 11,500 feet in Leh by the then Wing Commander Mehar Singh, a legendary aviator. To sell an aircraft like that to some kabadiwalla!



Anyway, I discovered there was one for sale in Ireland but it needed to be restored. I decided to buy and fix it. Then I wrote to the Indian government - headed by Dr Manmohan Singh at the time - to say that I wanted to gift this to the Indian Air Force. Defence Minister A K Antony wrote back saying the Air Force had no 'policy' on gifts. So I kept it in the UK.

You mean you actually got a letter saying 'thanks but no thanks'?



Yes, well, to that effect. The message I got was: Looking after this thing is going to be a big liability for us, so why don't you just drop it.

But abroad, it has been lovingly restored and KLM even used it to make a historic commercial flight to England. Guests on the flight said they felt like Roger Moore drinking a vodka martini that was shaken, not stirred.... The aircraft was called Beautiful Lady and the pilot who flew it kept referring to it as 'she'...



For me, flying the aircraft (it is now airworthy for 15-20-minute flights) reminded me of my father. I was all of four years old, at the IAF airfield in Mohanbari, Assam, holding my mother's hand. My father, all spit and polish in his uniform, looking super-handsome, got into the cockpit, then he slid the window down and gave me a little wave, started the engine and took off. I did the same with my son.

In many ways, the UPA government's rejection of my proposal is emblematic of the way we treat the military, its history, traditions and sacrifices. Britain still celebrates the sacrifices its soldiers made by the Battle of Britain Memorial flights, which remind people of the costs that were paid for the country. In our country, we wanted to sell the Vikrant as scrap....

I sensed in Manohar Parrikar a person who had a greater sense of history and respect for tradition, so I wrote to him renewing my offer. He has accepted it and the Dakota should be back in India, painted in the IAF colours, soon. The government has to decide the logistics.

To me, this is true patriotism - not deciding who should and should not say 'Bharat Mata ki jai,' in what language, with what inflexion, at what time, etc, but the recognition that the Indians who protected our country and the military traditions that made those men, must be honoured. India requires its political leadership to take an interest in its military history.
The Government has decided to commemorate the current financial year as the Year of Economic Empowerment for SC/ST entrepreneurs. In order to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women, Rs. 500 crore has been allotted in the budget under Stand Up India scheme. This is in line with the Prime Ministers call for promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST to become job providers rather than job seekers. This Scheme will facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch, one for each category of entrepreneur. This will benefit at least 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs. .

.

The Government has also proposed to constitute a National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub, in the MSME sector in partnership with industry associations for building an entrepreneurship eco- system among Dalits. This Hub will provide professional support to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs to fulfil the obligations under the Central Government procurement policy, adopt global best practices and leverage the Stand Up India initiative. .

.

In the budget 2016-17 significant increase has also been made in the allocation of SC Sub Plan. Rs. 38,832 crore has been allocated under this head, while in the last budget this allocation was only Rs. 30,000 crore. These measures show that welfare of the vulnerable sections of the society, including SC / ST is in the top of the agenda of the Government. .

.

The rehabilitation all the scavengers will be achieved very soon as a time bound action plan with the help of State Governments is in pipeline. The Ministry has also provided 250 women from the family of Safai Karamcharis with commercial motor driving skills and some of them are driving their own commercial vehicles after funding from National Safai Karamchari Finance Development Corporation. .

.
With about 30,000 soldiers in action, the Indian Army is conducting a major Exercise SHATRUJEET by the elite STRIKE 1 in deserts of Rajasthan wherein the capability to Strike deep in enemy territory in an integrated Air-Land battle environment is being tested. .

.

The operationally oriented exercise is focusing on validating integrated theatre battle fighting concept incorporating new age technologies, weapon platforms and systems as well as long range precision targeting vectors. .

.

Indian Army undertakes such exercises at regular intervals at different levels to ensure forces are provided real war like situations and are kept in high state of battle readiness. The formation and units have been undergoing operational oriented training for past one month. Post preparatory training manoeuvres at subordinate units and formation levels, the STRIKE 1 is now poised to conduct integrated operational manoeuvres to validate its operational plans in simulated high tempo battlefield environment and terrain. .

.

Col Rohan Anand, SM.

PRO (Army)
Major Highlights of the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitleys Engagements in Washington D. C. on 15th April, 2016, the Third Day of his US Official Visit; Participates in G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting; Holds a Bilateral Meeting with the World Bank Group President Mr Jim Yong Kim among others .

On the third day of his US official visit, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley participated in the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington D. C. yesterday. G-20 is a premier forum for international economic cooperation. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley welcomed the agreed timeline of October 2017 for shareholding review in IMF and said that the new quota formula should enhance the voice, role and voting share of the developing countries and reflect their increased share in global GDP. On the same lines, the Finance Minister also emphasized the need for review of the World Banks shareholding to reflect share of the developing countries in the global economy. Shri Jaitley reiterated the need to leverage the credit rating and balance sheets of Multilateral Development Banks to ensure increased infrastructure investment in poor countries. FM stressed upon the need to take strong measure against Tax Havens. G-20 Finance Ministers have committed to take stern measures to prevent corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering. .

.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Jaitley also held a bilateral meeting with the World Bank Group (WBG) President Mr Jim Yong Kim. FM supported the WBG assessment of its funding and capital requirement and encouraged the President to raise annual financing volumes of the World Bank Group to $100 billion a year. Referring to the excellent contribution made by Indians in the World Bank Group, the Finance Minister emphasized upon the need to increase the representation of Indians in the top Management of the World Bank. Further, various ongoing and possible new projects in Social Sector in India were also discussed during the meeting..

.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley held a courtesy meeting with the Minister of State for Finance and Planning of Bangladesh Mr. M.

A Mannan. Finance Minister conveyed that India continues to attach the highest importance to her relations with Bangladesh. Both sides showed satisfaction over the progress of Maitree Power Project, which would be the largest power plant in Bangladesh. BHEL has been awarded the execution of this project. The Bangladesh Minister sought support of India for regional connectivity projects. Finance Minister assured full support of India on the issue..

.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley also held a bilateral meeting with Minister of Finance of Luxembourg, Mr. Pierre Gramegna. Finance Minister stated that Luxembourg is an important source of FDI for India and there is a huge potential to increase it further. Finance Minister also sought support of Luxembourg for information sharing in the area of taxation and cross border financial flows..

.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley is currently on official tour to Washington DC to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and other associated meetings. He is accompanied by Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor RBI, Mr. Shaktikanta Das, Secretary,Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) and other officials..

.
As a part of 125th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Dr. BR Ambedkar, Central Water Commission under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is organizing a national seminar on Multi-purpose Development of Water Resources and Present Challenges on April 19, 2016 in New Delhi to highlight his contribution in water sector and discuss way forward to realize his vision. .

.

Eminent experts from water Resources sector such as Dr. Mihir Shah, Former Member, Planning Commission,Shri A C Tyagi, Secretary General ICID,Prof.Sukhadeo Thorat, Chairman, Indian Council of Social Science Research and Professor Emeritus, Centre for the Study of Regional Development JNU, Shri Suresh Chandra, Former Chairman CWC,Shri Rajendra Singh, Tarun Bharat Sangh and Shri A B Pandya, Former Chairman, CWC are expected to attend the seminar. .

.

Shri Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister will be the Chief Guest during the plenary Session of the Seminar. Sushri Uma Bharti, Union Minister(WR,RD&GR) will preside over the function. Shri Ramvilas Paswan, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Prof. Sanwar Lal Jat, Union Minister of State for (WR,RD&GR), Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Prof. (Dr.) Ram Shankar Katheria, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Shri Hukum Singh, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources, Shri Udit Raj, Member of Parliament and National Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST will grace the occasion. .

.

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar is well known as the main architect of Indias Constitution and leader of oppressed. However, his contribution in the field of management of Indias water resources is not widely known. .

.

During his tenure as Member (Labour) of the Viceroys Executive Council(1942-1946), Dr. Ambedkar steered formation of a definite All-India Policy for the development of water resources in the country. In order to further this task, he laid foundation of Central Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation Commission (CWINC) which was forerunner of the present day Central Water Commission (CWC). .

.

Dr. Ambedkar advocated the concept of River Valley Authority or corporation for integrated development of the rivers. He introduced the concept of multi-purpose development of river basin in the country and his efforts in this direction have culminated with multipurpose development of Damodar, Mahanadi and other rivers immediately after independence. .

.

He was instrumental in inclusion of Entry 56 of List 1 and introduction of article 262 regarding the adjudication of disputes related to waters of inter-sate rivers or river valleys. His vision for water sector in the country is still relevant even after lapse of more than 65 years. .

.

Samir/jk
AntiMicrobial Resistance (AMR) is not merely a health challenge or a threat to health security, but is also a development challenge with significant and serious economic consequences. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Shri J P Nadda stated this in his address at the Asian Health Ministers meet on Antimicrobial Resistance, in Tokyo today. The Health Minister reaffirmed Indias commitment in the global collective efforts towards combating AMR and stated that as we look forward to the UN High Level Meeting on AMR later this year, we should reaffirm existing commitments and focus on mobilizing the necessary resources for the implementation of AMR national action plans in all countries". Also present were Health Ministers from WHO South East Asia Region and Western Pacific Region countries. .

.

Shri J P Nadda pointed out that since different countries are at different stages of economic development, prescribing uniform achievement objectives for combating AMR must be accompanied by a sustained effort of supporting those in more need with human, technological and financial resources through domestic, bilateral and multilateral channels. Besides, we must also ensure that both existing and new antimicrobials, vaccines and diagnostics are accessible and affordable for all", he added. .

.

Noting that the health and development challenges posed by AMR confront all countries, small or big, rich or poor, developed or developing, Shri Nadda stated that increasing resistance of pathogens to currently available antibiotics can lead to a situation where advanced techniques and procedures in the field of surgery and medicine become redundant and ineffective due to our failure to prevent the spread of infection. The Union Health Minister mentioned that the multi-sectoral nature of AMR requires that all countries promote rational use of drugs; appropriately regulate the sale of drugs; promote the concept of One Health" with control of anti-microbial use in human health, animal and agriculture sectors; promote infection control practices and protocols; improve hygiene, sanitation and ensure availability of clean drinking water; encourage universal immunization for vaccine preventable diseases as appropriate in each country context; encourage research and development and discovery of new drugs and ensure equitable and affordable access; enhance capacity of health workforce and doctors; undertake campaigns for consumer awareness and to discourage self-medication of antibiotics; and above all to evolve and implement a strategy for coordinated action by all stakeholders. .

.

In view of this, the Health Minister pointed out that the appreciable efforts have been made by India in this regard. He stated that that the roadmap identified by the Indian Government after the February Conference in India lists five priority areas for developing and implementing the National Action Plan of AMR. These are: improving awareness and understanding of AMR, strengthening surveillance in human, animal and agricultural sectors, strengthening infection prevention and control practices in health facilities, promoting rational use of antimicrobials and promoting investment in AMR and related research. .

.

During his visit, the Health Minister also met the Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Mr. Yasuhisa Shiozaki yesterday. The two Health Ministers held a 30-minute long bilateral meeting today morning before the AMR Conference. They stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation in the health sector and recognized pharmaceuticals; medical devices; training and capacity building as potential areas of enhanced cooperation. The Japanese Health Minister acknowledged Indias strength in pharmaceuticals, particularly generic medicines and referred to Japans own efforts in enhancing use of generic medicines in its medicines mix. Shri Nadda also stressed cooperation in the area of generic medicines, as well as in area of medical devices with greater opportunities being opened up due to our Make in India programme. He emphasized sharing of rich experience of traditional medicines and naturotherapy, Ayurveda, as well as Yoga in combating non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and lifestyle diseases. .

.

Shri J P Nadda also visited the Tamagawa hospital at Tokyo, yesterday. Tamagawa hospital has an advanced Nephrology Department with a unique dialysis technology, which can serve up to 20 patients through a central dialysis fluid system with small control units for each patient. Tamagawa hospital has had exchanges with Indian medical hospitals in the past and has organized training programmes for a few batches of Indian doctors and nurses in the area of dialysis training. .

.
The tug-of-war between Apple and the FBI over encryption shows no signs of easing with the company standing fast in its refusal to help investigators in Brooklyn access a drug dealer's phone. The government's argument that it needs Apple's help to extract the data is undercut by its revelation in California that it cracked a terrorist's phone without the tech giant's assistance, even though it was more secure, Apple said in court papers filed in Brooklyn on Friday. After months of fighting, both sides are now deeply entrenched in their positions - arguments that have ...
Iran will not attend a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC member countries about freezing oil output levels scheduled for Doha, Qatar, on Sunday, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Tehran's oil minister had not been scheduled to attend, but the OPEC member country was due to send a representative.

Iran has said it would not join a freeze agreement as it seeks to raise its oil output and market share to pre-sanctions levels.

Iran's oil production has already surpassed 3.5 million barrels per day, the deputy oil minister said on Saturday, and the Islamic Republic is seeking to increase oil and gas exports in the coming month.

"Iran's crude oil exports will increase to 2 million barrels per day in the coming month ... Gas condensate exports would also increase by 10 per cent in the coming month," Rokneddin Javadi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
At least 14 Nepali illegal migrants returned home from Malaysia at the initiative of Nepali Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The illegal workers were kept at various detention camps after being 'undocumented' and returned yesterday, after the Nepali mission arranged free-plane tickets with financial support from the Foreign Employment Promotion Board, reports the Himalayan Times.

According to Nepali Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, as many as 501 'undocumented' workers have returned to Nepal on free tickets. The migrant worker becomes illegal in another country generally if they lose their passports, or flee their country.
At least forty-one suspect loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have been killed in an Afghan airstrike in eastern Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the airstrike was carried out in Achin district around on Thursday night, reports TOLO News.

This comes as both the Afghan and United States forces in Afghanistan have stepped up operations against the loyalists of the terror group amid concerns that they are trying to expand foothold in the country.

The US Air Force dropped 251 bombs and missiles targeting mainly the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan during the months of January and February.

Although Afghan forces still depend heavily on US air power for both logistics and close combat support, the local air force has been building up its strength as more pilots and air crew qualify and more aircraft are delivered.

Afghanistan's fledgling air force has been building up its capacity since the withdrawal of the NATO-led coalition from most combat operations in 2014.
Manchester United star striker Anthony Martial has expressed gratitude to manager Louis van Gaal for showing faith in him, saying that the Dutchman has played a major role in his overall development as a player.

"The boss has shown a lot of faith in me and the fact he has played me in so many games has allowed me to make progress and come on as a player," Martial was quoted as saying by goal.com.

The 20-year-old Frenchman has been one of the few brightest sparks in an otherwise demoralizing campaign for United, scoring eight goals in 26 Premier League appearances.

Martial, who joined the Old Trafford from Monaco in September, believes his season had gone reasonably well under the guidance and influence of Van Gaal.

"On a personal level, it has gone reasonably well. There are occasions when I could have done better. I could have been more clinical, scored more goals and made more assists. Now it is down to me to keep going so I can help the team as much as I possibly can," he added.

United are currently standing fifth in the league table.
A business man was shot at by some unknown persons in New Delhi's Kamla Market on Saturday evening.

The incident took place at press road at 5 P.M., after which the police rushed the victim to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, where he is currently undergoing treatment. The 45-year-old's condition is said to be stable.

The Police has launched a probe to ascertain the motive behind the attack.

According to the eye-witness, the incident took place at a secluded place which allowed the attackers to flee with ease.
After making Jackie Chan groove to her tune in Rajasthan, choreographer Farah Khan is all set to do the same in the Beijing schedule of the former's upcoming movie 'Kung Fu Yoga.'

'Happy New Year' actor Sonu Sood, who is also a part of the movie, took to his Twitter handle last night to share a snap of his and the 'Om Shanti Om' director with Jackie Chan from their shooting days in India and wrote alongside, "Farah! Everyone in Beijing is waiting 4 u with their dancing shoes on. see u tomorrow. Time to dance on ur tunes."

The 62-year-old 'Rush Hour' actor was in Rajasthan some time back for a 15 days shooting schedule of the Indo-Chinese film.

Reportedly, it was then Sonu convinced Chan to do a song in the film. In fact, the 42-year-old actor had sent a chartered plane to bring Farah and Geeta Kapur to Jodhpur to make him dance.

'Kung Fu Yoga,' which also stars 'Mr. X' actress' Amyra Dastur and Tiger Shroff's rumoured girlfriend Disha Patani, is a part of the three-film agreement signed between the two countries during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India.
Indonesia's foreign ministry has in a statement confirmed the abduction of four seamen by the Abu Sayyaf militant group off the Philippine coast.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement Saturday that said Abu Sayyaf rebels had hijacked an Indonesian tugboat TB Henry and a barge Cristi at around 6 p.m. local time on Friday in waters bordering Malaysia and the Philippines.

It said both vessels were on their way to Tarakan in North Kalimantan from Cebu, the Philippines.

The foreign ministry said that six of the ten crew members, however, managed to escape. One of them, however, was injured by the gunmen.

Friday's abduction comes a month after 10 Indonesian sailors were kidnapped.
President Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday that the of India is a living document and should not be treated or seen as a relic cast in stone.

Inaugurating the Fourth Retreat of Judges of the Supreme Court at the Judicial Academy in Bhopal today, President Mukherjee said the retreat will provide a forum to discuss contemporary challenges that the country faces today along with global and transnational elements of legal disputes and adjudication.

He said discussion and reflection of this nature is important, as well as necessary, to enable judges keep pace with times and be able to deliver fair and effective justice in a rapidly changing world.

The president described the judiciary as one of the three important pillars of India's democracy, and as the final interpreter of the and laws.

"It helps in maintaining the social order by swiftly and effectively dealing with those on the wrong side of the law. As an upholder of the Rule of Law and enforcer of the right to liberty, the role of the judiciary is sacrosanct. The faith and confidence people have reposed in the judiciary must always be maintained. For justice to have meaning to the people, it must be accessible, affordable and quick," he said.

"We have a written in India, which is a living document, not a relic cast in stone. It is a Magna Carta of socio-economic transformation. The apex court of India has continuously been interpreting the mandate for good governance enshrined in the Constitution on the altar of contemporary situations and challenges facing the country, whether due to global winds of change or from within," he added.

"This has not been merely an exercise in interpretation of laws or legal order, much less an exercise in edifying jurisprudence; it has captured the ethos of our developing society as it has evolved from the colonial shackles to a social order replete with the essence of human dignity, of aspirations of a populace maturing into a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic as mandated by the makers of our Constitution," he said.

The President said given the circumstances of our developing country, our judiciary has enlarged the scope of justice. For the enforcement of fundamental rights, the Supreme Court through judicial innovation and activism has expanded the common law principle of 'locus standi'. It has been made possible for courts to permit anyone with sufficient interest and acting bonafide to maintain an action for judicial redress, and to activate the judicial process.

He emphasized that at the same time, judicial activism should not lead to the dilution of separation of powers. Each organ of our democracy must function within its own sphere and must not take over what is assigned to the others.

"The balance of power between the three organs of the state is enshrined in our Constitution. The Constitution is supreme. The equilibrium in the exercise of authority must be maintained at all times," the President said.
It's a kid on board for Ryan Gosling and her longtime partner Eva Mendes.

The duo is expecting their second child and the 42-year-old actress is in her second trimester, reports E! Online.

However, the duo has not commented on this issue.

Mendes and Gosling are parents to daughter Esmeralda Amada Gosling, who is one and a half years old. They have long kept their personal lives mostly private and have not yet shared a photo of their little girl publicly.

It was reported that Mendes was recently spotted hiding her growing baby bump during a photo shoot in Los Angeles in February and she has not been spotted in any of celeb parties since December.
The Sri Lankan government has said that it will give its views regarding a report released by the United States Department of State on the country's human rights situation last year after studying the report thoroughly.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Harsha De Silva has said that the government will express its views on the report on Sri Lanka in the 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published by the U.S. Department of State after a thorough analysis, reports Lanka Page website.

The executive summary of the report on Sri Lanka said that widespread impunity continued in Sri Lanka last year for the crimes committed during the armed conflict and other crimes committed following the end of the conflict, particularly for cases of torture, sexual violence, corruption, and human rights abuses.

The government arrested a number of military and police personnel and other government officials implicated in human rights violations for the crimes committed during the armed conflict.

The report noted that the government arrested and detained a number of military, police, and other officials implicated in old and new cases that included the killing of parliamentarians and the abduction and suspected killings of journalists and private citizens.

President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Rani Wickremesinghe has taken number of measures to address the past human rights abuses and accountability as well as to promote reconciliation.

State Minister of Finance, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena further said that the previous government failed to engage with the international community to resolve misconceptions but now Sri Lanka's approach has changed.

Regardless of the findings in the report, during the recent past, there has not been anything serious on the matter of democracy and human rights in Sri Lanka, so there is no need for fear, the State Minister said.

He said the Europe has commended the new government's engagement in protecting human rights and the establishment of democracy in the country.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday left for China on a five-day visit (April 17-20) during which he would be holding talks with top Chinese political and defence leaders.

"Looking forward to my meetings with the political and military leadership during my visit to People's Republic of China," tweeted Parrikar, who will be the first Indian Defence Minister to visit China since 2013, the last being his predecessor A.K. Antony.

Parikar will be accompanied by accompany by CNC - western command, Vice Chief of Indian Air Force, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and Defence Secretary.

Parrikar's trip follows high-level visits by top Chinese defence officials including Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman General Fan Changlong to India last year.

Parrikar's visit comes amid concerns in India about China's move to block its bid to have JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as terrorist by the U.N. in the aftermath of the terror attack on an air base in Pathankot in January this year.

On April 17, he will be meeting with Indian business leaders; while from April 18-20, he will be meeting defence delegation, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Vice Chairman of Central Military Commission, Chinese Defence Minister, and Western Theatre Commander.
Pope Francis, who is travelling to the Greek island of Lesbos this weekend said that refugees were not numbers but are people who have faces, names, stories, and need to be treated as such.

The Greek island of Lesbos is the place where hundreds and thousands of refugees and migrants have used as a stepping stone in their trip to northern Europe, many not surviving the journey.

"Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories, and need to be treated as such," Pope Francis tweeted.

The issue of migrants and refugees has always occupied a central part of his discourse. He had also criticised developed countries for the way they have dealt with the crises.

Apart from meeting the migrants and refugees in Moria, a fenced complex holding more than 3,000 refugees since a deal was reached to stem the flow last month between the European Union and Turkey, Pope Francis is set to urge leaders and societies to be and show more compassion to them.
Security has been beefed-up for the second phase of the West Bengal assembly elections in 56 constituencies spread over seven districts on Sunday.

A total of 383 candidates, including 29 women, are in the fray in this phase.

Around 1.21 crore people are expected to cast their votes in five constituencies in Alipurduar, seven in Jalpaiguri, six in Darjeeling, nine in Uttar Dinajpur, six in Dakshin Dinajpur, 12 in Malda and 11 in Birbhum districts at more than 13,600 polling stations, including 311 model booths.

As many as 1,563 micro observers will keep watch during the poling along with the general and police observers.

The state CEO's officer said international connecting borders along with north Bengal districts have been sealed and 800 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed. Meanwhile, the Election Commission has removed some more police officers ahead of tomorrow's polls.

It reshuffled police officials in troubled-zones of north Bengal and Birbhum and put some district level leaders and political activists under surveillance to ensure peaceful and free voting.

Weather officials have warned of heat wave conditions during tomorrow's voting in the entire Birbhum belt and adjoining areas.

However on Friday, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer said instances of advertisements of offending and misleading nature published in the print media have been brought to the notice of the commission in the past.

It said such advertisements in the last stage of elections vitiate the election, and the affected candidates and parties will not have opportunity of providing clarification and rebuttal in such cases.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's younger son, Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, resigned as director of Matrix late on Friday.

Matrix, a company jointly owned by him, was awarded a tender to open a diagnostics lab in a government hospital.

Dr. Yathindra and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had denied wrongdoing on initial reports of Matrix bagging the government diagnostics lab, claiming the tendering process was transparent.

Earlier in the day, Congress general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Digvijaya Singh, had told reporters in New Delhi that he had advised Siddaramaiah to ensure that his son withdrew from the company floated for the laboratory.

"I have advised (that) he withdraws. It is not an order, but an advice. Legally, the son does not have to quit. As a matter of propriety, he may have to," Singh told reporters.

According to reports, Singh has asked the Chief Minister to send a report on the issue, which has caused embarrassment to the party.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah rubbished allegations of favouring his son in a government hospital contract, saying everything is legal and transparent.

The lab, which is reportedly set to open at the end of this month, will be run in partnership with Matrix Imaging Solutions India Private Limited in which Yathindra is a director.

Matrix Imaging was awarded the tender in October last year despite objections from many heads of department at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) and questions over the emergence of the company as the lowest bidder.
? Former Pakistan president and Co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) called on visiting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London and inquired about his health.

Zardari, arrived in London earlier on Friday, while Sharif had arrived on Wednesday and is here for a week long medical treatment.

Both leaders are said to be staying in close proximity. Zardari is staying at Grosvenor House, which is few blocks down Park Lane where Sharif is staying, reports the Express Tribune.

Prior to their visit, PPP had denied any chance of a meeting taking place between the two.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted, "Zardari is not meeting Nawaz."

Later a statement from the PPP information secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira said that both leaders would not be meeting in London nor back in Pakistan, reports the Express Tribune.

Both the leaders in the past held meetings in but always have officially denied about it.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today released the National Perspective Plan detailing the contours of Sagarmala, the government's flagship program to promote port-led development in the country.

The National Perspective Plan has been crafted after detailed consultations with key stakeholders in the central and state governments, public sector companies as well as private players from shipping, ports, ship-building, power, cement and steel sectors. It takes forward Sagarmala's vision of substantially reducing export-import and domestic trade costs with a minimal investment.

Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Sh. Nitin Gadkari later talking to newspersons said promoting water transportation is priority of the Government as it will considerably reduce the logistics cost which is very high in India compared to China and European nations.

The report estimates that the program could lead to annual logistics cost savings of close to Rs 35,000 crore and boost India's merchandise exports to $110 billion by 2025. About one crore new jobs are estimated to be created, of which 40 lakhs will be direct employment.

This plan is based on four strategic levers - optimizing multi-modal transport to reduce the cost of domestic cargo, minimizing the time and cost of export-import cargo logistics, lowering costs for bulk industries by locating them closer to the coast, and improving export competitiveness by locating discrete manufacturing clusters near ports.

With a coastline of about 7,500kms covering 13 states and Union Territories, India enjoysa strategic location on key international trade routes. Nations like the United States, Japan, Korea and more recently, China, have leveraged their coastline and waterways to drive industrial development. The Sagarmala programme, led by the Ministry of Shipping, aims to replicate these successes in India.

The potential for port-led development has for long been constrained in India by high logistics cost, long lead-times and poor linkages between industrial and logistics infrastructure. Growth was hindered by inadequate and poor port capacity. Transportation by waterways has historically remained under utilised in India although waterways are significantly cheaper compared to road and railways. The Sagarmala National Perspective Plan identifies specific opportunities for transportation of commodities such as thermal coal, fertilisers, foodgrains, cement and steel by coastal shipping and inland waterways.

Sagarmala aims to deliver impact through over 150 projects and initiatives in four broad areas. To modernize India's port infrastructure, 5 to 6 new ports have been proposed to be built.

Additionally over 40 port-capacity enhancement projects will be taken up. Besides increasing capacity, these projects will result in a more modern port infrastructure through the mechanization of berths and deepening of drafts to accommodate larger vessels.

The second focus area is port connectivity, where over 80 projects are being planned. These include connectivity infrastructure projects like a heavy-haul rail corridor to evacuate large volumes of coal in Odisha, freight-friendly expressways to enable efficient movement of containers on key routes, and the development of strategic inland waterways.

The third set of projects aims to tap into the potential of port-led industrialization to boost industrial and export growth along the coastline. This will be realized through 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) along the coastline, each of which will house a number of industrial clusters. The clusters will have industries from the energy, bulk materials as well as discrete manufacturing segments, all of which will be able to use high-quality infrastructure which is fully-integrated with the corresponding ports.

Finally, the potential of coastal communities will be harnessed by focused skill-development to support port-led industrialization. The set of initiatives under this head also includes developing opportunities for fishermen and other coastal communities as well as development of the numerous islands along India's coastline. In terms of economic impact, the program envisages investments of close to Rs 4 lakh crore to flow into infrastructure.

The Sagarmala program has taken shape using the government's core philosophy of cooperative federalism. Keeping this in mind, the National Perspective Plan was drawn up with stakeholder consultations in parallel. Momentum on some key projects and initiatives has already picked up even as the plan is being released. Detailed project reports are being drafted for some of the new ports identified in the plan as well as for the connectivity projects like the heavy haul rail corridor. A separate perspective plan for the CEZs and a detailed master plan for major ports are also in the works.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Taiwan police on Saturday released 20 fraud suspects who were deported from Malaysia, citing lack of evidence.

Most of the suspects wore masks upon their arrival at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening, Xinhua news agency reported.

They were released at about 2 a.m. due to "incomplete evidence for any crime and a lack of arrest warrants."

They were among 52 people from Taiwan arrested in Malaysia for suspected telecommunication fraud.

Late last month, Malaysian and Chinese mainland police cooperated on an investigation into five transnational telecommunication fraud cases involving victims on the mainland, and arrested 119 suspects, including 65 from the the mainland, 52 from Taiwan and two from Malaysia.
Bernie Sanders said he met Pope Francis at 6 a.m. (local time) on Saturday at the papal residence in Santa Marta.

"He is a beautiful man," Sanders told ABC on Saturday. "I am not a Catholic, but there is a radiance that comes from him. It was very wonderful to meet him."

Sanders was joined by his wife, and Pope Francis was joined by Argentine Bishop and Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, ABC reported.

Jane, Sander's wife, is Catholic. She said "the trip was definitely worth it".

The Democratic presidential hopeful said: "I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the Earth and injecting the need for morality in the global economy."

Sanders, who often talks about his admiration for the Pope in speeches and his writing, said he believed Pope Francis was "one of the great leaders in modern world history".

Sanders attended a conference on social, economic and environmental issues hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
Uttar Pradesh BJP president Keshav Maurya on Saturday said the party will not announce a chief ministerial candidate in the run up to the assembly polls scheduled for early next year, rather thelegislators would decide it after polls.

In Mirzapur, as part of his campaign across the state after being appointed the new state chief, Maurya also said the decision about the chief ministerial candidate would be decided after the elections were over, in the event of a win.

"Party legislators will decide the name after the polls," he told media persons after praying before Goddess Vindhyavasini.

He also said a meeting of the state executive would be held in Lucknow on April 24, that will also deliberate on the names of the potential candidates for the state assembly polls.

Stating that development would be BJP's main poll plank in the polls, Maurya claimed the party would win 265 seats in the 404-seat state assembly.
BJP corporator Kundanika Sharma who was granted bail in a case of inciting hatred and delivering a provocative speech at a condolence meet for a VHP leader on Saturday defected to the Samajwadi Party.

"At a press conference in Lucknow party office, Shiv Pal ji (Mulayam Singh's brother) announced entry of five leaders in the party. Kundanika Sharma was also inducted and has been offered the party ticket from Agra North vidhan sabha constituency," Mrigank Prabhakar, an associate of Sharma, told IANS.

Last week, the Samajwadi Party had announced ticket to Roli Tiwari Mishra from Agra South. Roli is a member of the state women's commission and has been doing a lot of ground work for two years.

As news of Kundanika Sharma reached Agra, it caused surprise. "She was among the top leaders of the party and how could she have betrayed after such a long innings," a party leader wondered.

Uttar Pradesh BJP's president Keshav Maurya is scheduled to visit Agra on Sunday.
A blue alert, the lowest in its four-tier warning system, was renewed on Saturday for rainstorms in south China over the next two days.

On Saturday, heavy rain is expected in parts of Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, the National Meteorological Centre (NMC) announced.

Some areas of Anhui, Jiangxi and Guizhou will see torrential rain accompanied by thunder or hail, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Sunday, the rain will get heavier in these regions.

The NMC issued a blue alert for rain on Friday before this renewal.

China has a four-tier colour-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a lesson on quantum computing at an institute in Ontario.

At a press conference at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario on Friday when a reporter sarcastically suggested that Trudeau should explain quantum computing, the premier took up the challenge.

Before going into politics, Trudeau taught at the elementary and high school level in Vancouver, studied engineering and started a master's degree in environmental geography, Global News Canada reported.

"I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing but?" the reporter said before asking a serious question about Canada's role in defeating the Islamic State (IS).

But Trudeau answered the question anyway.

"OK, quite simply, normal computers work by?" Trudeau said before being drowned out by laughter and applause.

"No, no, don't interrupt me, when you walk out of here you will know more, well no, some of you will know far less about quantum computing," he continued.

"A regular computer bit is either a one or a zero, either on or off. A quantum state can be much more complex than that, because as we know, things can be both particle and wave at the same time and the uncertainty around quantum states allows us to encode more information into a much smaller computer."

"So that's what's exciting about quantum computing," he said as the crowd erupted into applause.

Martin Laforest, a quantum computing expert at the University of Waterloo, told HuffPost Canada that while Trudeau had just learned about quantum computing that morning, his answer was "quite accurate".
The central government on Saturday decided to send more troops to Jammu and Kashmir to bring the situation - on the boil for four days - under control.

Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Saturday in a meeting of senior officials from intelligence bureau, ministry of defence, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the ministry of home affairs reviewed the situation and assessed the requirements of Jammu and Kashmir government to bring the situation under control without any more loss of life.

"The central government is concerned over the loss of human lives in J&K during the last four days. It was decided to send additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to strengthen the security grid in the Kashmir Valley," a home ministry statement said.

Stating that the ministry is in regular touch with senior state government officials and has been monitoring the situation on a regular basis, the statement said that the ministry has assured "full cooperation and support to the government of J&K to ensure that there is no further loss of lives".

The statement also said the development package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kashmir in November last year "is being expeditiously implemented for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir, which will generate employment for the local youth and bring overall prosperity in the State".

A civilian was killed and four others were injured on Friday allegedly in a firing by soldiers as angry residents clashed with security forces and tried to storm their camp amid simmering anger over four similar deaths since Tuesday in tense but curfew-bound Kashmir Valley.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and its White House candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on Friday sued Arizona state on behalf of several voters who waited up to six hours to cast their ballots in the March primaries.

The lawsuit was filed in a Phoenix federal court on Friday representing seven voters who had to wait up to six hours to vote, EFE news reported on Saturday.

The lawsuit said that delays affected Latino, African American and Native American voters, and focuses especially on the decisions of the authorities in Maricopa county, the most populous region of the state.

The suit inquired why for the primaries on March 22, this county reduced the number of available polling stations to 60, when in 2012 there were 200, a provision which caused huge queues even after the polling closed.

Plaintiffs include the first president of the Navajo Nation, Peterson Zah, and the Senate campaign of Ann Kirkpatrick who aims to replace Republican John McCain.

The suit points out that Arizona has a long history of discrimination against minority groups and questioned the decision of the state's elections department's decision to reject provisional tickets at an "alarming number".

It also indicated that the rights of minority voters could be violated in future elections as a result of a recently approved law by the state legislature, which makes it a crime for an individual to submit a ticket signed and stamped at a polling station in the name of another voter.

"Democrats believe our country is stronger when every voice is heard and every vote is counted, and we will keep fighting to make sure the sacred right of every American to vote is protected," said DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a press release.

The plaintiffs requested that the rights of all residents of Arizona be protected during the upcoming general election on November 8, and that the court orders Maricopa county to present a plan specifying the locations and numbers of voting centres that will be available.
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who was hospitalised on Friday night due to "high fever and chest infection", is recovering well, says his wife Saira Banu. The veteran actress also added he was not admitted in the ICU and is in a "stable" condition.

Dilip Kumar, 93, has been admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here. According to his family friend Udaya Tara Nayyar, he has pneumonia and is under medical supervision.

"He had high fever today (Saturday) morning so we got him to hospital. The actor has pneumonia and the doctors have started the medication," Udaya Tara Nayar told IANS.

"He is stable now, and under observation. The actor is not in ICU. He is doing fine," Nayar added.

The veteran actor was rushed to the hospital after he complained of fever and breathing problem.

Saira took to the actor's official Twitter account to quash reports that Dilip Kumar is in ICU.

She issued a statement which read: "Dilip Sahab was admitted to Lilavati Hospital for treatment of high fever and chest infection on April 15 night. He was advised intravenous administration of antibiotics for speedy recovery.

"Oral drugs would not act as fast as the IV injections, the doctors advised. Hence it became necessary to shift him to a hospital. He is recovering well and is stable by the grace of God and the care of the doctors treating him. He is in a room and in the hospital and not in the ICU as spread by rumours."

Born in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, Dilip Kumar, whose real name is Yusuf Khan, entered the Indian film industry in the black-and-white era and became a name to reckon with in the 1950s and 1960s.

He is credited with films like "Aan", "Daag", "Madhumati", "Paigham", "Leader" and "Ram Aur Shyam".

His cinematic gems range from the tragic story of "Devdas", the historical love saga "Mughal-E-Azam" to the dacoit drama "Ganga Jamuna".

After working for about six decades, he stepped away from the arclights in 1998. His last movie was "Qila".

Dilip Kumar was honoured with Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, in 2015.
Legendary actor Dilip Kumar is stable and has improved since his admission to hospital but is not yet out of danger, his doctor said on Saturday.

"Dilip sahab's condition is stable since the time of admission... hasn't deteriorated but is slightly better. Multiple investigations have been conducted, and we have roped in the concerned consultants. We have taken a consensual decision as regards to the investigations and the modality of treatment.

"Some specialised tests are still left, which we are doing. We will keep a close watch on him for the next 48 hours or so," said Jalil Parkar, outside Lilavati Hospital, where Dilip Kumar has been admitted.

He also said that the 93-year-old actor had infection in his lungs, fever and had experienced a few bouts of vomiting, but was conscious and was having food.

Dilip Kumar was suffering from pneumonia as well but his breathing condition had improved.

"We can't say he's out of danger right now, we have to see for at least two more days, right now there is no need for an ICU for him, we have kept him in close observation. We can't say about discharge, we'll decide after 72 hours of observation," he added.

Dilip Kumar was admitted to the hospital late on Friday, and his wife Saira Banu had earlier announced that his condition is stable and he is recovering well.

Saira took to the actor's official Twitter account to quash reports that Dilip Kumar is in ICU.

She issued a statement which read: "Dilip Sahab was admitted to Lilavati Hospital for treatment of high fever and chest infection on April 15 night. He was advised intravenous administration of antibiotics for speedy recovery.

"Oral drugs would not act as fast as the IV injections, the doctors advised. Hence it became necessary to shift him to a hospital. He is recovering well and is stable by the grace of God and the care of the doctors treating him. He is in a room and in the hospital and not in the ICU as spread by rumours."

Born in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, Dilip Kumar, whose real name is Yusuf Khan, entered the Indian film industry in the black-and-white era and became a name to reckon with in the 1950s and 1960s.

Apart from films like "Aan", "Daag", "Madhumati", "Paigham", "Leader" and "Ram Aur Shyam", his cinematic gems range from the tragic story of "Devdas", the historical love saga "Mughal-E-Azam" to the dacoit drama "Ganga Jamuna".

After working for about six decades, he stepped away from the arclights in 1998. His last movie was "Qila".

Dilip Kumar was honoured with Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, in 2015.
Actors Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart are in early talks to star in upcoming film "Jumanji", a new adaptation of illustrator and writer Chris Van Allsburg's original 1981 adventure book.

Schedules are still being worked out, as both Johnson and Hart have heavy production loads ahead, but according to a source things are moving toward a deal, reports variety.com.

The producers are planning to to shoot "Jumanji" before the third season of Johnson's series "Ballers". He will also shoot "Fast 8" this summer, reprising his role of Agent Hobbs.

Meanwhile, Hart is expected to shoot "The Intouchables" this summer.

The duo showed great chemistry after co-hosting the MTV Movie Awards, and with anticipation high for their upcoming action comedy film "Central Intelligence", the producers see this as the perfect opportunity to pair the two up again for a film.

"Jumanji" will be directed by Jake Kasdan.

The film is slated to release on July 28, 2017.
Activists in Manipur are up against manufacturers of spurious food items who make a good fortune but pose a grave threat to public health, selling repackaged outdated items bought from other states.

A group of activists in Manipur on Friday raided the factory of Ajay Prasad from Bihar. He was doing a roaring business in Manipur and some other northeastern states, allegedly in spurious food items. The activists shut down his business forever.

It may be noted that the north eastern states have become a dumping ground of various spurious Indian-made foreign liquor, medicines and edible items.

Various consumer items with expired date of consumption are collected from cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai and brought for sale in the north east states.

One of the student activists said: "Food inspectors in most of these NE states are conspicuous by their absence and inaction. It is the student activists who seize the food items which are highly injurious to health."

"There had been complaints about suspicious looking medicines and contaminated bottles," a medical representative said.

Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) and other activists of International Peace and Social Advancement (IPSA) and Kangleipak Students' Association raided the street factory owned by Prasad at Khurai Ahongei in Imphal West district.

IPSA president Luwangcha Chingkhei said: "The raid was conducted on receiving complaints from some consumers. We found empty printed packets of popular brand names of various consumer items.

"The modus operandi is that sub-standard and injurious food items are stuffed in these packets for sale to the gullible consumers."

He said there were huge quantities of used and odourless tea leaf sacks perhaps collected from hotels and restaurants. It is mixed generously and packed in "Kaziranga tea" manufactured in Assam.

Confessing to the crime of selling such a harmful consumer items, Prasad reportedly told the activists that he had bought a packaging machine two months ago.

He also said various biscuits, which expired long time ago are packed in new packets for sale through the region.

During recent raids, it was found that popular brand ice creams were manufactured at roadside factories using dirty drain water. Shops and houses divert washrooms' effluents to the drains, from where criminals draw water for manufacturing the ice cream.

Ingredients of the ice creams were found full of flies and maggots inside the street factories during the raid.

Food inspectors and police were not available to comment as yet on the raid of the street factory of Prasad.
The police charged seven people, including five priests of Shri Mahalaxmi Temple here for assaulting Bhumata Ranragini Brigade President Trupti Desai at the temple complex on April 13, an official said here on Saturday.

The accused five priests are -- Kedar Muneshwar, Shreesh Muneshwar, Mayur Muneshwar, Chaitanya Ashtekar and Nikhil Shanbag -- all working at the temple.

Besides, two local Nationalist Congress Party activists Kisan Kalyankar and Jaykumar Shinde and their unidentified supporters have also been named in the FIR lodged by Junarajwada Police Station here.

The incident happened on the evening of last Wednesday, April 13, when Desai and her supporters arrived at the temple attempting to enter the sanctum sanctorum where women devotees are banned.

"The accused and their supporters willfully and illegally attempted to stop them, pushed them around, sprayed turmeric, kumkum powder and ink on them, posing a physical threat to them," an official said.

The accused are also charged with attempts to prevent the police from doing their duty and roughing up the police personnel at the temple premises, a report of which has been sent to the local court.

Shortly after the incident, an injured Desai was shifted to a hospital and remained in ICU for over two days before being discharged on Friday.

Later, the temple priests denied they assaulted Desai and claimed that they were trying to reason with her on the temple traditions and dress code which she and supporters had allegedly violated.

On its part, the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB) said the temple priests' actions were violative of the Bombay High Court order of April 1, which ruled that under the Maharashtra Hindu Place of Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act, 1956, women could not be barred from any place of worship.

Following the order, on April 8, the Shani Shingnapur Temple Trust, Ahmednagar, in a historical move, threw open the temple for women devotees where they were banned since over four centuries.

The BRB is continuing its campaign for women's entry to the Shree Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur and the Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik.
Four Indonesian sailors were abducted by a group of armed men when their vessels were hijacked between the Malaysian and Philippine waterways, authorities said on Saturday.

A statement from the Indonesian foreign ministry said a fifth sailor was shot during the hijacking incident on Friday evening. He was rescued by Malaysian maritime police and is in a stable condition, Channel News Asia reported.

Five other crewmen were also rescued and brought to the port in Lahad Datu in Malaysia.

The two Indonesian-flagged vessels, Cristi and TB Henry, were on their way to Tarakan in North Kalimantan from Cebu in the Philippines.

A ministry spokesman said that it is in contact with Malaysian and Philippine authorities.

"The Indonesian government will be taking measures to find a solution to recurring hijacking incidents in those areas. Indonesia will also urge countries in the region to step up security," he said.

Ten other Indonesian sailors are currently being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf militant group in the Philippines after their vessels were hijacked on March 26.
The CEOs of global software major Oracle and search engine giant Google failed to reach a deal to end their copyright lawsuit over software copyrights infringement, a media report said.

Oracle CEO Safra Catz and Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai attended the talks in a court for six hours on Friday and discussed the lawsuit that Oracle filed seeking $9.3 billion in damages from Google for use of Java in Android, computerworld.com reported, citing IDG News Service.

"After an earlier run at settling this case failed, the court observed that some cases just need to be tried. This case apparently needs to be tried twice," Magistrate Judge Paul Singh Grewal, who mediated the talks, was quoted as saying.

Oracle claims that it should receive $475 million in damages in addition to $8.8 billion relating to "profits apportioned to infringed Java copyrights".

It accused Google of illegally copying a key part of the Java platform into its Android operating system, making billions in profit for Google and crushing Java's chance of success in smartphones, tablets and other products.

Java was developed by tech firm Sun Microsystems which was acquired by Oracle in 2010.

Meanwhile, Google denies any wrongdoing. It argues that its use of Java is protected by the legal doctrine of "fair use," which permits copying in some circumstances, the report noted.

In 2012, the companies took the issue to court but the jury was unable to determine whether Google used Java application programming interfaces (APIs) fairly.

The two companies will again meet in court in May.
Guided by political strategist Prashant Kishor and his team, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday interacted with party leaders and workers near here to discuss the strategy for Punjab assembly polls likely to be held in February next year.

This was the first exercise carried out by the Congress leadership in Punjab as they prepare for the assembly polls in the state. The meeting, attended by senior Punjab Congress leaders including state unit president Amarinder Singh and party general secretary and Punjab in-charge Shakeel Ahmed, was held at a wedding resort at Zirakpur town on the outskirts of Chandigarh.

The Congress, which has been Punjab's main opposition party since 2007, takes on a well-entrenched ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine and an upbeat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is gaining ground in the state. Punjab has 117 assembly seats.

"The Congress party is standing together. We will try to give a new type of government to Punjab which is sensitive, is oriented towards future of youth, takes care of farmers and is able to bring back the industry to the state," Rahul told media here.

The Congress poll strategy in the state is being planned and executed by the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), headed by Prashant Kishor.

Kishor is credited with devising the poll strategy for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 2014 general elections and the virtual electoral coup by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Janta Dal-United (JD-U) in the Bihar assembly polls in November last year.

As part of the political strategy for Punjab, Rahul also held a closed door meeting with party leaders and workers.

Sources in the Congress party said that Rahul urged the party leadership to fight the election together and keep aside their differences.

Top Punjab Congress leaders head various factions within the party and are known for infighting.

Rahul also informally interacted with a few editors and media persons separately.

The Congress vice president, given the political stakes in the run-up to the assembly polls, refused to comment on the SYL canal controversy.

"It is a sub-judice issue. I will not comment on it," Rahul said, while avoiding any controversy in the matter.
Finance Minister has joined the G20 leadership in fighting money laundering, tax evasion and terror financing while calling upon tax havens to become transparent in this regard and share information.

After a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors here, attended by Jaitley and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan from India, a joint communique also warned non-cooperative jurisdictions with "defensive" steps.

The G20 leadership said it was important to improve transparency in the global financial system to prevent the misuse of such entities for illegal acts such as corruption, tax evasion, terror financing and money laundering.

It said all countries and jurisdictions must become members of the the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering that was established at the G7 Summit of rich nations in Paris in 1989. India is a member of this initiative.

Held on the margins of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, the G20 said countries that have not committed to automatic exchange of information by 2017 or 2018 must do so without any further delay.

"We mandate the OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) working with G20 countries to establish objective criteria by our July meeting to identify non-cooperative jurisdictions with respect to tax transparency," the communique said.

"Defensive measures will be considered by G20 against non-cooperative jurisdictions if progress as assessed by the Global Forum is not made," it said adding it looked forward to its report before the end of the year for further decisive action.

The communique comes when another global expose has surfaced on people with accounts in tax havens, including top politicians. With 500 Indians, too, named in the list, dubbed the "Panama Papers" a probe is currently on by a multi-agency team.

India does not have any official estimate about the quantum of black money stashed away by its nationals abroad, but unofficial estimate puts it somewhere between $466 billion and $1.4 trillion.

Earlier, during his interaction with US Treasury Secretary Jacob J Lew, both countries agreed to step up their joint work in pursuing tax evaders and terror financing, steps such as joint tax audits and examination.

"We have enhanced our cooperation in tackling money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism through increased information sharing and cooperation, including a dialogue held recently in India," the duo said in a joint statement.

"We both agree on the importance of fighting illicit finance in all forms as an important means of tackling global terrorism."
The death of two Indian girl students in a Russian medical college hostel fire and that of a medical student from Srinagar in a Russian city will figure External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's trip to Moscow on April 18.

"I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishna Bhonsle is on my agenda," Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Saturday ahead of departing for Tehran, Iran, on a two-legged foreign tour that would also take her to Moscow for the Russia-India-China (RIC) foreign ministers' meeting.

Kallur, 22, from Navi Mumbai and her room-mate Bhonsle, 21, from Pune, perished in the fire which broke out in their hostel on February 14 in the Smolensk State Medical Academy, Smolensk, around 380 km southwest of Moscow.

In a separate tweet, Sushma Swaraj said that she would also take up the Yasir Javed, an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed after being attacked in the Russian city of Kazan by unknown people.

A medical student, Yasir had reached Russia on February 26 on a business trip and was attacked in Kazan city in the Tatarstan republic that left him in a coma.

He died on March 8.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) rode on an unbeaten 60-ball knock of 90 from captain Gautam Gambhir after an impressive bowling performance to grab an eight-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Saturday.

Gambhir received great support from Robin Uthappa who contributed a 34-ball 38.

Chasing Hyderabad's 142/7, the Knights got off to a slow but steady start on a strip which was slowing down with time. However, openers Uthappa and Gambhir did not have much problems coping with the inconsistent bounce. The duo added 26 runs in the first six overs.

They went from strength to strength and the ninth, 10th and 11th together produced 36 runs, with Gambhir hitting Karn Sharma for three boundaries in an over. The 92-run partnership finally broke when Uthappa was out leg-before-wicket in the 13th over.

The ploy of sending in hard-hitting Jamaican Andre Russell (2) at No.3 backfired for KKR as he was soon dismissed by left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman.

It looked like the Sunrisers were in with a chance, but then Manish Pandey joined hands with his captain in the middle. The pair ensured that KKR had their first away-win without any more setbacks.

Earlier in the day, the visitors once again put up a disciplined bowling show as they restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 142/7.

Eoin Morgan top-scored for Sunrisers with a 43-ball 51 and was well supported by Naman Ojha who smashed 37 off 28 balls. Pacer Umesh Yadav bagged figures of 3/28 for the visitors.

The hosts were jolted upfront as KKR picked up two early wickets. First to head back was the out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan (6) who managed to slash one through to wicket-keeper Robin Uthappa in the third over.

Next, Umesh foxed captain David Warner (13) with a cutter and the powerful left-hander only managed to scoop it till short-cover.

In the last over of the powerplay, Umesh struck again as he trapped Moses Henriques (6) in front of the stumps with the score reading 36/3.

Sunrisers finally got some momentum in the 13th over as Morgan hit spinner Sunil Narine for two consecutive boundaries, much to the delight of the crowd. The next over from leg-spinner Piyush Chawla also helped the hosts as it yielded 13 runs with Ojha joining the act.

It took a brilliant catch to break the 67-run partnership as Ojha was holed out. Andre Russell held onto the ball first, but seeing that he would cross the boundary line he threw it back to Chawla who grabbed it on the second attempt.

Thereafter Morgan also fell trying to heave one to the leg side and with it went Sunrisers' hope of getting to the par 160 mark.

Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 142/7 (Eoin Morgan 51, Naman Ojha 37; Umesh Yadav 3/28, Morne Morkel 2/35) vs Kolkata Knight Riders 146/2 (Gautam Gambhir 90 not out, Robin Uthappa 38)
A senior BJP leader, campaigning in Kolkata, may well have put his finger on the people's pulse.

When he attacked Mamata Banerjee and the Left-Congress Front in equal measure, the crowd response was tepid. But when he attacked the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for 60 per cent of his speech, people applauded. At 75 percent, there was thunderous applause.

This was at the earlier phases of polling, but there is no reason to believe that the trend will change before counting day.

In fact, if the violence witnessed during the earlier phases continues, and the stuffing of ballot boxes by 'ghost' voters after polling hours multiplies, it will become clear that the TMC is nervous. It is brazening it out through violence, which has now become associated with Mamata's party in the popular imagination.

Does this mean there was no violence during 34 years of CPI-M rule?

A left liberal intellectual explains it succinctly: "CPI-M was more disciplined because it was cadre based; cadres knew the area and its leaders, the ones who had to be attacked. TMC goons who have grown during the five years of TMC rule, enter areas they may not know and attack everybody. There is, therefore, much more bloodshed." There is universal fear.

"Laat khayega ki biryani khayega" (Would you like to be kicked or served biryani?) An "aabdar" or barman at one of Kolkata's many clubs, mimics the TMC's neighbourhood tough. Aabdar is derived from Urdu - one who serves drinks.

"This time we are quiet, but we shall show our hands at the polling booth." He is clearly among the urban Muslims still loyal to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). Otherwise Muslims across the board have no grievance with the Mamata.

In fact, they quite adore her for the way she created an almighty movement in West Bengal on the land issue in Singur and Nandigram between 2006 and 2007. In both these efforts at industrialization by the CPI-M, poorest Muslims, among others, would have lost their livelihood and property, "had Didi not intervened".

That is where she hit the political jackpot. She had lost the 2006 assembly poll but she used Singur and Nandigram as fulcrums to turn her fortunes around. She won 70 per cent of the 54,000 Panchayat seats in 2008. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Left Front came down to 15 seats from 42 in 2004. In 2014, they had only two seats. Mamata won 38.

Now comes the "vote share" punditry on which those who wish to see the back of Mamata in Bengal base their calculations.

Even at her peak Mamata's vote share was only 40 per cent. The CPI-M was 30 per cent and Congress, 10. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have won just two seats but its vote share was 17 percent.

A very arithmetical argument is: CPI-M's 30 percent and Congress 10 makes the alliance equal to Mamata's 40. The question is: Which way will the BJP's 17 per cent split?

In a complex sociological turf, arithmetic is inadequate to accurately calculate electoral outcomes. To this comes a quick riposte. In Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav held onto his vote bank. After the Nitish Kumar-BJP combination ran its course, it was the Nitish-Lalu combination that triumphed.

Through grit, courage and a refusal to lose, once Mamata ascended the gaddi, she faced her biggest challenge: How to cope with the CPI-M cadres?

Violent tactics to overcome this handicap has become a strategy. Willy nilly she must keep riding the tiger. A group of thugs, cheering her along. Some of these cheering goons have formed an irregular system of co-operatives, called syndicates.

Imagine the new, garish, multi-storeyed buildings near Kolkata airport. Obviously, land has been acquired. "Land losers" have been given a novel compensation. They will supply all the materials used in the buildings. The infection has spread. No enterprise can take to wing without the syndicate's "blessings".

A senior Bengali academic from the US, confident that many in Mamata's administration had once been his students, returned to Kolkata to have his ancestral house repaired. Work progressed until one day a dozen peak-capped TMC volunteers materialized. How had work begun without their knowledge?

The professor and his wife called up a powerful minister, their student. The minister said he was helpless because the syndicate operated on the directives of a different minister.

This system has replaced the Left cadres. Indeed, out-of-job cadres have switched sides and joined the syndicate system. There is great consternation all around.

Obviously, there is loss of support for her. This explains the conventional wisdom across the board: She will return with a vastly reduced margin.

If it is generally accepted that she is on a down-hill slope, who can say with certainty where she may land?

She will, however, not lose support among Muslims who are over 30 per cent of the state's population. Talk to Samsuzaman Ansari, local leader in Matia Burj, where Awadh's last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, was exiled by the British in 1856, and he will list all that Didi has done for the community.

Did not the Left Front government also give them protection? Yes, they gave us protection but they also gave us a mantra:

"Gai ka gosht khaao/CPI-M ke geet gaao"

(Eat beef to your heart's content; but sing the CPI-M's praises). That was all.

There is populism all around. She has improved on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's rural schemes - not just Rs.2 per kg of rice but even gold bangles for girls.

For the Left Front and the Congress this could well be their last battle for survival in the state. They have joined hands in Bengal even though they are in direct conflict in Kerala. There may be no morality in all of this, but is it practical commonsense?

(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal)
A rights group that was to hold a press conference on

Saturday on the alleged molestation of a young girl in Handwara by the security forces earlier this week has alleged that the police have barred the media from entering the venue.

Jammu and Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) convener Khurram Parvez told IANS: "Police have cordoned the JKCCS office and are not allowing the media to speak to the family of the girl who was sexually assaulted in Handwara."

The JKCCS had invited the mother and uncle of the young girl for an interaction with the media. The alleged molestation on Tuesday led to violent protests, and subsequently to the deaths of five people in firing by security forces. The army has denied the involvement of any trooper in the alleged molestation.

"There is a huge contingent of police deployed around the office and the family is not allowed to speak to the media," Parvez said, adding that it reflects on the sincerity of the state government "in letting the truth come forward".

However, police have denied that the media was barred from entering the premises. They said the venue of the press conference falls in an area that was under restrictions due to the unrest.

"Restrictions have been imposed in the area where the press conference venue is. We have not barred them (JKCCS) from holding the press conference," Javaid Mujtaba Gilani, Inspector General of Police, told IANS.

"They can hold the press conference in an area where there is no restriction," he added.
Actor Kunal Kemmu has denied rumours of seperation from his wife and actress Soha Ali Khan.

Kunal took to Twitter to deny media reports claiming that the actors are planning to seperate.

"What!! Why is my marriage in trouble?? Why am I heading for a divorce? Am I in a different reality or the people reporting this nonsense," Kunal tweeted along with sharing the link of the news clip which made the claim.

The "Go Goa Gone" actor even tweeted a popular dialogue from superstar Salman Khan's movie "Wanted" and Soha re-tweeted it.

"Ek baar jo Maine commitment de di toh phir mae PRESS ki Bhi nahi sunnta! (Once I give a commitment then I don't even listen to the press)," Kunal tweeted.

The "Tum Mile" actress and actor Kunal got engaged in July 2014 in Paris and married in Mumbai in January 2015.
Workers of Maruti Suzuki on Saturday handed over cheques of Rs.50,000 each to the families of 36 sacked workers who are on trial for their alleged involvement in violence at the company's Manesar plant in July 2012.

Workers at Maruti Suzuki's Gurgaon plant collected nearly Rs.20 lakh.

Every employee deposited Rs.1,000 in the bank account of Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union.

"Cheques amounting to Rs.50,000 each were handed over to the family members of all 36 jailed workers," workers' union general secretary Kuldeep Janghu told IANS.

The 36 sacked workers are currently in Bhondsi jail in connection with the violence at the Manesar plant on July 18, 2012, in which senior executive Awanish Kumar Dev was killed and over 50 employees were injured.

A total of 148 workers were arrested, and 112 are currently out on bail.

The accused were on Saturday produced before a court. The next hearing in on May 21.
Mauritius President Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim will visit Pakistan on Sunday to further strengthen bilateral ties, the country's foreign ministry has said.

Firdaus Gurib-Fakim will visit Pakistan from April 17-20 on an invitation by President Mamnoon Hussain, the ministry said.

"Matters of mutual interests as well as regional and international importance will be discussed in the meeting between Mamnoon Hussain and the visiting president," the ministry said.

"The two sides will explore the possibilities of further strengthening bilateral ties in various fields of common interest with particular focus on economic and trade relations," it said.
Jammu and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday visited curfew-bound Handwara town to take stock of the situation even as the central government has decided to send more paramilitary forces to the state - on the boil for four days over civilian killings by security forces.

Mehbooba Mufti was accompanied by state Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, Chief Secretary B.R. Sharma and Director General of Police (DGP) K. Rajendra Kumar. She met relatives of the youths killed on Tuesday in the security force firing in Handwara.

Five civilians have been killed in five-day long violence in north Kupwara district since Tuesday in security force firing.

Her visit to Handwara comes as restrictions imposed by authorities and the protest shutdown called by separatists continued in Srinagar for the fourth day.

Meanwhile, the mother of the young girl allegedly molested by a soldier in Handwara town, the incident that triggered the violent protests in the Valley, on Saturday approached the state high court maintaining that her daughter was being held in "unlawful confinement" by the state police.

The chief minister, meeting with relatives of the killed youths, expressed condolences and asserted that the state government would ensure that anybody found guilty of having violated the standard operating procedure (SOP) during Tuesday's incident would face the process of law.

"I had wanted to visit Kupwara with a special economic package, but it is unfortunate that I had to come to console the bereaved families," Mehbooba Mufti said.

She also promised ex gratia relief to the next of kin of the slain youth.

Authorities had enforced curfew restrictions strictly in the town during the chief minister's visit. She interacted with relatives of the victims and senior officials of the district administration at the Kupwara Dak Bungalow in the town.

In New Delhi, union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in a meeting of senior officials from the Intelligence Bureau, ministry of defence, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the ministry of home affairs reviewed the situation in the Valley and assessed the requirements of the Jammu and government to bring the situation under control without any more loss of life.

"The central government is concerned over the loss of human lives in J&K during the last four days. It was decided to send additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to strengthen the security grid in the Kashmir Valley," a home ministry statement said.

The statement said the ministry has assured "full cooperation and support to the government of J&K to ensure that there is no further loss of lives".

The statement also said the development package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kashmir in November last year "is being expeditiously implemented for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir, which will generate employment for the local youth and bring overall prosperity in the State".

On Friday, protesters attacked the Natnusa camp of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) in Kupwara.

Soldiers at the camp fired at the protesters who army said had tried to enter the camp.

One teenager was killed in the Natnusa firing incident while three others were injured.

Police said 60 people were injured in violence in the Valley on Friday of whom 40 were security personnel while 20 were stone pelting protesters.

Fearing escalation of violence, authorities imposed restrictions in Handwara, Kupwara, Baramulla and Pulwama towns in addition to areas falling under the jurisdiction of seven police station areas in Srinagar on Saturday.

In Srinagar city, some skeletal private transport and three-wheelers were seen moving in the civil lines and outskirts areas.

Some shops also opened in civil lines and outskirts areas of Srinagar city where locals were seen buying essentials.

Restrictions imposed by the authorities and the protest shutdown called by the separatists continued in Srinagar for the fourth day Saturday.

Train services between the Valley and Banihal town also remained suspended for the fourth day while board of school education and the University of Kashmir postponed all exams scheduled for the day.

Meanwhile, the mother of the girl allegedly molested by a soldier told the state high court that her daughter was being held in 'unlawful confinement' by the state police.

The girl's mother has also alleged that the statement attributed to her daughter in which she said there had been no molestation attempt on her had been obtained by police 'under coercion'.

The state high court has directed the state police to come up with its reply quoting the provisions of law under which they were holding the girl in custody.

The high court also ordered that the police will not record any statement of the young girl till April 20 and she be produced before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Kupwara on that day where her statement will be recorded by the CJM in camera.
Indian IT industry body Nasscom on Saturday said it would stand by IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) against the verdict of the US jury in a lawsuit filed by an American software firm alleging stealing of its software code.

"As a policy, we do not comment on a company's case, but stand by its (TCS) response against the jury's verdict on the alleged infringement of intellectual property," National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) president R.Chandrashekhar told IANS on phone from New Delhi.

Responding to a $940 million fine slapped by a federal court in Wisconsin for allegedly stealing software information of Epic Systems Corp, TCS said it would appeal against the jury verdict in higher courts.

Besides the punitive damages of $700 million, the US Federal Court of the western district of Wisconsin has asked the company, and its US arm, Tata America International Corp, to pay $240 million to Epic Systems Corp for "ripping off" its healthcare-related software.

"As the ruling is of a jury trial, we will wait for a higher court judgement, as complex issues are involved in the case. For instance, there is a difference between having access to the source code and user code or a manual, which are in public domain or is a material given with the product for use," said Chandrashekhar.

Noting that there were gaps in the evidence presented before the jury, he said TCS had reaffirmed its respect for IP and clarified that it did not infringe upon the IP of the other company.

"It is a verdict by a jury consisting of laymen who may not know or understand the difference between a software source code and user documentation. But people in the IT industry understand very well all these technical things," Chandrashekhar said.

As the trial judge announced that he would almost certainly reduce the damages award (fine), the former telecom secretary said Nasscom would wait for the final judgement in the case with respect to the quantum of fine.

"We should wait for the final judgement of the US courts, where the legal system is fair. We should not rush to conclusions in such complex and technical cases involving software codes and documentation," he added.

Nasscom also ruled out any setback to the Indian IT industry from the jury verdict.
On the second day of odd-even phase-two, the increase in gaseous pollution (NO2) and a high concentration of particulate matter (PM) was reported in some areas of the national capital, even though the Delhi government claimed a positive impact on Delhi's air quality.

"Initial trends show Odd/Even will have a positive impact on Delhi's air quality - concrete assessment will be made after assessing the data of four-five working days," the Delhi government said in a statement.

As per the 'real time' (Live) assessment of the air quality by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), the gas concentration, mainly Nitrogen Dioxide dropped on Saturday.

However, the data based on Friday - the first day of odd-even phase-2, posed a different picture with increase in gas concentration as well as PM, against the claims of the Delhi government.

The difference in data based (on Friday's assessment) was also evident as PM 2.5 (particles with diameter less than 2.5 micro metre) was claimed at 132 units by green organisations, while the official report claimed it around 63.

Similarly, for Lodhi Road the difference in PM 2.5 was 100 units against 68 units, Tikri border around Bahadurgarh it was 132 units against the official claim of 49 units.

The data varied from source to source. For instance, PM 2.5 at Anand Vihar according to Central Pollution Control Board was 226 units, while Delhi government claimed it to be around 63.

The unit of PM and NO2 is microgram per cubic meters.

The gaseous concentration (NO2) had also increased on Friday as compared to a day before.

However, as per DPCC's real time data of Saturday, the NO2 concentration dropped drastically. Anand Vihar, where NO2 concentration was at a peak, saw a drop from 111 units to 97.7, at RK Puram it dropped from 81 to 41.2 units and from 40 to 22.4 units at Mandir Marg.

NO2 concentration increased at Punjabi Bagh area, despite two days of fewer cars on road.

The government reports also claimed that the PM 2.5 level was found within permissible limits, which is below 60 at 40 out of 74 assessed locations. According to the report, PM 2.5 concentration was 37 at India gate, 32 at Jantar Mantar, 63 at AIIMS and 32 at Dwarka to name a few.

Official reports also claimed that PM10 (particles with diameter less than 10 micro metre) levels at majority of locations were recorded below the level of 200 units, which is normal. The reports from TERI however claimed PM concentrations at RK Puram, Anand Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, Mandir Marg, Lodhi Road, Bahadurgarh, Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon had increased on Friday as compared to the day before.

As per TERI, the particulate matters' (PM) higher concentration, caused by unfavourable winds, had exceeded the standards in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

The PM are the pollutants responsible for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, while Nitrogen Dioxide causes lung diseases, lung tissue damage and reduction of lung function.

According to environment experts, several exemptions given by the government would limit the impact of odd-even in tackling pollution.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has set up data collection points at nine locations for the entire period of odd-even scheme.

"We follow the data from Central Pollution Control Board at some places and conduct our own assessment at other places," a TERI official told IANS, while raising concern over the difference in data projections.
Pope Francis on Saturday arrived in Lesbos, the island in Greece that has received hundreds of thousands of refugees in the past two years.

The Pope was welcomed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Archbishop of Athens Ieronymos and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Greek Reporter daily reported.

The Chief of the Roman Catholic Church landed at the Mytilene airport at 10.28 a.m.

"Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories, and need to be treated as such," Pope Francis tweeted.

He is scheduled to visit the Moria refugee reception centre where the three church leaders and Tsipras will have lunch along with the refugees.

Pope Francis will give a speech on the refugee crisis and the three church leaders will honour the refugees who drowned in the Aegean during the perilous journey from the Turkish coast. The pontiff is scheduled to fly back to Rome at 3 p.m.

Greek government sources revealed that Pope Francis has invited ten refugees (eight Syrians and two Afghans) to return with him to the Vatican.

According to a press release issued by the Vatican, the aim of the pontiff's visit to Lesbos is to support the refugees and to draw the world's attention to the European migration crisis.

The last Papal visit to Greece was 15 years ago.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex on Friday intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos.

The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday cautioned against "judicial activism", saying it should not lead to the dilution of separation of powers. He also stressed on a balance between the judiciary, executive and legislature organs of the country.

Mukherjee, speaking at the fourth Retreat of Judges of the Supreme Court at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal, said that the "Constitution is supreme" and the equilibrium in the exercise of authority must be maintained at all times.

"Judicial activism should not lead to the dilution of separation of powers which is the Constitutional scheme. Each organ of our democracy must function within its own sphere and must not take over what is assigned to the others. The balance of power between the three organs of the state is enshrined in our Constitution. The Constitution is supreme. The equilibrium in the exercise of authority must be maintained at all times," he said.

He added: "The exercise of powers by the legislature and executive is subject to judicial review. However, the only check possible in the exercise of powers by the judiciary is self-imposed discipline and self-restraint by the judiciary itself."

The president said the judiciary, one of the three important pillars of our democracy, is the "final interpreter of the Constitution and laws".

"It helps in maintaining the social order by swiftly and effectively dealing with those on the wrong side of the law. As an upholder of the Rule of Law and enforcer of the right to liberty, the role of the Judiciary is sacrosanct," Mukherjee said.

He further said that the faith and confidence people have reposed in the Judiciary must always be maintained. "For justice to have meaning to the people, it must be accessible, affordable and quick," the president said.

The judiciary has enlarged the scope of justice, Mukherjee said, adding that for the enforcement of fundamental rights, the Supreme Court through judicial innovation and activism has expanded the common law principle of 'locus standi', a legal premise by which one may pursue a case.

"It has been made possible for courts to permit anyone with sufficient interest and acting bona fide to maintain an action for judicial redress, and to activate the judicial process. This has helped to bring justice closer to the common man. The faith and confidence people have reposed in the judiciary must always be maintained," President said.

He also stressed on the importance of quick delivery for efficient jurisprudence. "Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice must be accessible, affordable and quick," said the president.

He expressed concern over pendency of a huge number of cases in courts, and said courts were being overburdened by these.

"There are over three crore cases pending in various courts throughout the country. Out of these about 38.5 lakh cases are pending in 24 high courts. The pendency of cases in the high courts has slightly declined from 41.5 lakh in 2014 to 38.5 lakh in 2015, but we still have a long way to go."

The president said that since the start of the year, as many as 145 appointments have been made as on April 12, 2016 by the Collegium and complimented the efforts of Chief Justice of India, Justice T.S. Thakur, for speedily filling up the vacancies in the high courts and the Supreme Court.

Mukherjee also congratulated judges for organising the Retreat saying it would provide a forum to discuss contemporary challenges the country is facing.
The Punjab government will extend all help and relief to the family of Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh who died under mysterious circumstances in a jail in Lahore, a state government spokesman said on Saturday.

"His family will be extended all help and relief which had been given to another Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh," the spokesman said.

Kirpal Singh, an ex-serviceman, had been lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison since 1992.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also assured the family of another Indian prisoner, Nanak Singh, who has been convicted for life and lodged in a Pakistani jail, that efforts would be made to ensure his release.

Badal said the government was in constant touch with the external affairs ministry to prevail upon Pakistan to secure Nanak Singh's safe return to India immediately.

Kirpal Singh, 54, who was arrested in Pakistan in 1992, died in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison on Monday.

While the Pakistani authorities, who had labelled him as a spy and got him convicted for terror attacks inside Pakistan, attributed his death to heart attack, his family has alleged that he had crossed into Pakistan inadvertently and was murdered in prison.

Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner, died after a murderous attack by fellow prisoners in a Lahore jail in April 2013.
Authorities have decided to continue the curfew-like restrictions in parts of Srinagar city and north and south Kashmir areas as tension gripped the Valley on Saturday.

With the death of another teenager Arif Ahmad Dar, 18, in army firing on Friday in Kupwara district, the toll in the five-day long unabated violence has risen to five.

A senior police official said a violent crowd attacked the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) camp in Natnusa area of Kupwara district on Friday evening.

"The mob attacked the RR camp in Natnusa (Kupwara) and despite dozens of bullets fired in the air to warn them, the protesters mounted the wall of the camp and tried to enter it.

"In order to protect their lives and the weapons and ammunition inside the camp, soldiers fired hitting four protesters. One of the protesters has died and the injured are being tried in the hospital."

Authorities said 60 people, including 40 security men, were injured in clashes in north Kashmir.

Violence also spread to other areas of the Valley, including Baramulla town and other parts of central and north Kashmir.

"To maintain law and order, restrictions will continue in areas falling under Rainawari, Khanyar, Nowhatta, M R Gunj, Safa Kadal, Kralkhud and Maisuma police stations in Srinagar," Farooq Ahmad Lone, district magistrate Srinagar, said.

Similar restrictions have been imposed in Baramulla town in the north and Pulwama town in the south.

Separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik and others, have called for a Valley-wide protest shutdown on Saturday against the killing of the teenager in army firing.

Authorities have also decided to continue the suspension of mobile Internet services in the Valley on Saturday.

"Mobile Internet services have been suspended to prevent spread of rumours by anti-social elements," a senior police officer said here.

The board of school education and the University of Kashmir have postponed all exams scheduled for Saturday.

Train services between north Kashmir Baramulla town and Banihal town in the Jammu region have also remained suspended since Wednesday.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who expressed anguish over the death of the teenager, is likely to visit Kupwara district later in the day.
Former brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that he believed the impeachment vote against incumbent President Dilma Rousseff on Sunday in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress, would fail.

"Dismissing a democratically elected government without a crime of responsibility will not solve anything, it will only worsen the crisis," Xinhua quoted Lula as saying on Friday.

Lula urged the lawmakers to unite their strength to make Brazil a country with strong institutions, and not to take "an unthinkable step" on Sunday.

He also said that he would use his experience as a former president to "aid the rebuilding of dialogue and unity in this country."

Last week, Lula met political leaders in the Chamber of Deputies to gather enough votes to help Rousseff survive the impeachment crisis.

"There have been extraordinary protests across the country in defence of legality. This shows that, outside of democracy, we will only have chaos and permanent uncertainty," he said.

Despite his strong support, a running tally from Brazilian daily O Globo indicated that 342 deputies are in favour of impeachment, 123 are against and 48 are undecided.

If the number of votes favouring impeachment exceeds 342, the matter could be referred to the upper house of the National Congress.

On Saturday, Rousseff is expected to take part in a political event in Brasilia at the Mane Garrincha Stadium, where thousands of supporters have been camping out.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday accused

the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to "fail" the Delhi government's odd-even traffic scheme.

"BJP appeals people to break odd-even. BJP auto union calls strike. RSS and BJP want odd-even to fail but Delhi will fail BJP yet again," Kejriwal tweeted.

In another tweet, Kejriwal said: "In January too, BJP tried to fail odd-even by orchestrating officers' strike. People failed BJP and made odd-even success."

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Delhi had on Friday kicked off the second phase of its odd-even scheme in the national capital. The opposition parties, however, did not back the plan and demanded improvement in the existing public transport facilities.

BJP's Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyaya said the "unplanned" odd-even scheme was causing inconvenience to the citizens.

"It is the most unplanned scheme the government has come up with. The government has not worked on improving the public transportation system," he said on Friday.

The odd-even vehicle movement plan for four-wheelers will continue till April 30 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. except on Sundays.
Russia, despite the existing problems, has a clear competitive advantage over other countries, President said in an interview on Saturday, noting the migration inflow into the country.

"Russia is changing, Europe is changing, and the world is changing. We have many problems, but there is a clear competitive advantage over other countries. This is what life shows," Putin stated in a televised interview on the Vesti v Subbotu weekly news programme.

He drew attention to the influx of migrants and the growth of the population in Russia, Sputnik news agency reported.

Putin cited the situation in Lithuania, where over 3.5 million people used to live in 1985-1990, while the current population is about one-third less, according to the census data.

"The situation is even worse, for example, in Latvia. It is slightly better in Estonia. But the outflow of population is huge, simply huge," Putin added.

In 2013, Russia recorded its first year of natural population growth since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, with the number of births exceeding the number of deaths by 24,013.
In view of the fast rising summer temperatures, all schools in Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh must start earlier at 7 a.m. and close latest by 12 noon, the authorities said on Saturday.

Managements of all schools will have to adhere to the new timing from Monday.

District Magistrate Raj Shekhar told IANS that the classes from nursery to sixth will have to be conducted from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the classes above the sixth from 7 a.m. to 12 noon.

He said the order has been issued in view of the rising heat and forecast of harsher summer.

"Schools have also been asked to take measures to keep temperatures under control inside the class-rooms through necessary infrastructure changes," Shekhar said.

Other districts in the state are likely to follow suit, said sources.

The state government might also order early summer vacations which otherwise are scheduled to start in May.

The temperatures in many parts of Uttar Pradesh have gone above 40 degrees Celsius. Allahabad recorded 45 degrees Celsius on Friday.
The president of the Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) here has paid glowing tributes to the memory of B.R. Ambedkar for the role he played in drafting of the Indian constitution, which set the stage for the campaign against all forms of discrimination in the country.

"Ambedkar's life is an inspirational story of achievement to move against discrimination," Osei Darkwa said, adding that his initiatives have influenced a lot of socio-economic policies in India.

Regarded as a social reformer, Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, and a politician who led the campaign against class discrimination in India, He later became the country's first law minister and is credited to be the architect of the Indian Constitution because he chaired the process.

Speaking at a ceremony organized by the Indian High Commission in Accra to mark the 125 birth anniversary of Ambedkar, Darkwa said India had stood side by side with other countries to rid themselves out of colonialism. In addition, India has been In the forefront of the establishment of the regional bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa (BRICS) to articulate the interest of Africa.

Darkwa said, the life of Ambedkar, who spent his life fighting against discrimination is an example to the rest of Africa to learn from to apply to root out oppression, discrimination and imperialism. Describing India as the biggest democracy in the world, he said, the country's constitution has put in place laws that protect the right of everybody which has made the country's history one that has been engaged in the protection of rights.

Indian High Commissioner, Jeeva Sagar said India's diversity baffles the world because in spite of the country's size, diverse languages and dialects, the people have been able to keep their price and self-confidence.

He said India did not begin with the arrival of the British to colonise the country, and argued that the country's diversity is what gave a sense of unity to the people when it took shape as a country. "We detest the caste system, and untouchability has become a crime punishable under law and the constitution has given pride to the people.

"The framers of our constitution not only understood our strengths but made sure no one took the country for granted," Sagar said.

Answering questions on why there were still reports of defilement and rape of women in India, Sagar said: "We dona't take pride in that", adding that, "Attacks on the vulnerable in society is something we condemn. Defiling of women is a shameful act and a shameful thing for any nation."

(Francis Kokutse can be reached at fkokutse@gmail.com)
While attention was focused on Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's activities in London, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar spearheaded PML-N efforts here to prepare the ground for a judicial commission to investigate the leaks.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Friday persisted in its efforts to reach out to political players and contact retired judges to head the commission, Dawn online reported.

Mushahidullah Khan, a PML-N senator, said he and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid had met Mahmoud Achakzai, chief of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), for consultations on the matter.

The media reported on Friday that Sarmad Jalal Osmany, a retired judge, will head a commission that would investigate the scandal. However, no one from the government confirmed the reports.

A PML-N legislator said Osmany's name was on the list prepared by the government. The list consists of retired judges who could, and have been, approached to head the commission.

Pakistani government's legal experts will meet Ishaq Dar on Saturday to discuss the issue.

Sharif is in London on a seven-days visit for long pending medical checkups.

Pakistani politicians have been keeping an eye on the prime minister's movements in the Britain after he landed in controversy following his children being named in the massive leaks dubbed as "Panama Papers".
The fear of devastating fires during the scorching summer in Bihar has led people in some villages to ban the use of stoves durimg daytime to cook food. Violators would be slapped with shoes and would have to pay a fine, officials on Saturday said.

Fire incidents are common during the hot summer months in rural Bihar, where people are vulnerable as most still live in thatched homes.

Officials said that fire incidents have been on the rise due to a heat wave with temperatures as high as 42 degrees Celsius over the last 10 days.

Fear of sweeping fires is such that people in over a dozen villages in Bagaha in West Champaran district, sounded the drum (dugdugi) to warn villagers not to light firewood or kerosene stoves to cook food after 9 a.m. to minimise the chance of fire incidents, a district official said.

They have also issued a diktat to punish violators. "Such people will be beaten with shoes and slippers and have to pay Rs.1,000 fine."

"Villagers have also formed teams to ensure people adhere to the diktat and identify the violators," district officials said.

According to latest data compiled by the state disaster management department, 23 people and over 50 animals have been killed, while seven people injured as well as 11 animals wounded in fire incidents till Friday. Some 5,742 families have been affected so far this summer across Bihar.

In West Champaran alone, more than 800 families have been badly hit by fire incidents this summer. Majority of the people are living in thatched homes made of hay and other flammable material.

Local officials have been directed to create awareness among the people about preventive measures, like not to use firewood stoves during the afternoon hours in view of the westerly winds sweeping the state that cause fire incidents. "Westerly winds sweeping the state cause most of the fire incidents in rural areas as they flare up a small spark or stove fire," an official said.

People in West Champaran's Laxmipur, Patilar, Ratwal, Lagunaha, Sitapar, Ahirwalia have decided to cook their food early in the morning due to the westerly winds that start blowing after 10 a.m.

In some other villages in the district, people have decided to manage life without cooking food.

"Villagers in Panchgawan village and other neighbouring village under Emra police station have not been cooking food in the night too. Some villagers are also not using the traditional kerosene oil lamps for light at nights, and using only battery torch and rechargeable electricity lamps for light," officials said.

Officials said some 400 cases of fire were reported in the state so far. The worst cases have been reported from remote villages where most houses have thatched roofs.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday embarked on a four-day visit to Iran and Russia that will see her attend a bilateral joint commission meeting in Tehran and a trilateral meeting later in Moscow with her counterparts from Russia and China.

In Tehran, Sushma will hold meetings with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, and also co-chair a meeting of the India-Iran Joint Commission that will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations.

Her visit follows that of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was in Iran last week.

The Iran visit also comes two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia, during which both sides discussed ways to scale up their strategic ties.

Besides oil, India has vital stakes in connectivity projects in Iran, like the Chabahar port, that will open up physical connectivity with Central Asia and Afghanistan.

In Moscow, during the Russia-India-China (RIC) foreign ministers' meeting, on April 18, Sushma would meet her counterparts Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Wang Yi from China. She is expected to raise with Wang the issue of China blocking India's bid to ban Jaish-e-Mohamed chief Masood Azhar in the UN.

Russia is likely to voice its concerns over India mulling signing a military logistics agreement with the US. India counts Russia among its trusted friends and during Modi's visit to Moscow last December for the annual summit meeting with President Vladimir Putin, both sides inked major deals in defence cooperation as well as in other spheres.

Sushma, announcing her visit, tweeted that she will raise the issue of the death of two Indian girl students in a Russian medical college hostel fire and of a medical student from Srinagar in a Russian city during her Moscow trip.

"I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishna Bhonsle is on my agenda," Sushma posted.

Kallur, 22, from Navi Mumbai and her room-mate Bhonsle, 21, from Pune, perished in the fire which broke out in their hostel on February 14 in the Smolensk State Medical Academy, Smolensk, around 380 km southwest of Moscow.

In a separate tweet, Sushma said she would also take up the issue of Yasir Javed, an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed after being attacked in the Russian city of Kazan by unknown people.

A medical student, Yasir had reached Russia on February 26 on a business trip and was attacked in Kazan city in the Tatarstan republic that left him in a coma.

He died on March 8.
The Taj Mahal is ready for the hyped visit of British royal couple, prince William and Kate, on Saturday.

According to the programme released here, the royal couple will have lunch and dinner at hotel Amar Vilas. They will see the Taj Mahal around 4.00 p.m., and leave late in the evening for Delhi by a special chartered plane.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will not be coming to welcome the dignitaries, as was earlier reported by a section of the media, and some hoardings placed.

The famed Diana seat on the central pool has been repaired, and the staircase were given a fresh coat of paint.

On Friday, municipal workers were seen cleaning up the whole area in Taj Ganj.

The almost 10 km long stretch of road from Kheria airport to the hotel Amar Vilas has been spruced up and barricades ready to be placed to stop traffic when the dignitaries pass the heavily guarded Mall road.

"Clearly there is no excitement among the people here, for whom they remain symbols of imperialism that subjugated India for over two centuries. Although the media is trying hard to hype the visit of the royal couple. For us it is like any other VIP visit," commented social activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

William and Kate are following the footsteps of the prince's mother, Princess Diana, who visited the symbol of love 24 years ago.

Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1631 to hold the body of his wife as an enormous, opulent expression of his love.

The visit to the Taj will be the last stop for Prince William and the duchess, the former Kate Middleton, on a seven-day tour to India and Bhutan.
India's top IT company Tata Consultancy Services has been slapped with a $940-million fine, including punitive damages of $700 million, by the US Federal Court in the State of Wisconsin for allegedly stealing software information.

Besides the punitive damages, the US Federal Court of the Western District of Wisconsin has asked the company, and its US arm, Tata America International Corp, to pay $240 million to Epic Systems Corp for "ripping off" its healthcare-related software.

The verdict came after the case was heard for around two weeks in Courtroom 250 of Judge William M. Conley, based on the lawsuit filed by Epic Systems of Verona -- a major company in electronic health records -- on October 31, 2014 in the US District Court at Wisconsin capital Madison.

The 39-page complaint alleged that Tata workers, hired as consultants to help a client, Kaiser Permanente in Oregon, to use its software, downloaded 6,477 documents accounting for 1,687 unique files from Epic's computers inappropriately, including those on its proprietary software.

The complainant further said a Tata employee had tipped off Epic about this activity and that the Indian company's leadership in the US and India were aware of the development that had commenced in 2012.

A TCS official in Mumbai said the company will respond to queries soon.

Epic claimed that the defendant company used the documents and related information to identify features of its software to accelerate the development of a rival product called Med Mantra. The court then asked Epic to prove in what manner Tata Consultancy would have benefited from that information.

The US company alleged that when confronted by Kaiser Permanente regarding the downloading of Epic data, the TCS staffer initially denied such an act. But later the said employee changed his story and admitted that he had provided his Epic access to two other colleagues.

The lawsuit also alleged the Indian company has engaged in an "elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data," with the purpose of utilising technical expertise developed after years of hard work and investment.

"TCS's misconduct appears designed to allow TCS and perhaps other Tata entities to unfairly compete with Epic in the marketplace. The unlawful conduct of TCS and potentially other Tata entities must be stopped and an appropriate remedy fashioned for the benefit of Epic," the lawsuit said.
India's top IT company Tata Consultancy Services has been fined $940-million by a US Federal Court in Wisconsin for allegedly stealing software information. The Indian company said it intended to appeal against the verdict in higher courts.

Besides the punitive damages of $700 million, the US Federal Court of the Western District of Wisconsin has asked the company, and its US arm, Tata America International Corp, to pay $240 million to Epic Systems Corp for "ripping off" its healthcare-related software.

"While TCS respects the legal process, the jury's verdict on liability and damages was unexpected as the company believes they are unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial," the company said in a statement mailed to IANS.

"It is expected the trial judgment will be entered in the case in the next 6-8 weeks, following which the parties can file an appeal within 30 days after the judgment is filed," the statement added.

"TCS plans to defend its position vigorously in appeals to higher courts. TCS appreciates the trial judge's announcement from the bench that he is almost certain he will reduce the damages award."

The verdict came after the case was heard in Courtroom 250 of Judge William M. Conley, based on the lawsuit filed by Epic Systems of Verona -- a major company in electronic health records -- on October 31, 2014 at the court in Wisconsin capital Madison.

The 39-page complaint alleged that Tata workers, hired as consultants to help a client, Kaiser Permanente in Oregon, to use its software, downloaded 6,477 documents accounting for 1,687 unique files from Epic's computers inappropriately, including those on its proprietary software.

The complainant further said a Tata employee had tipped off Epic about this activity and that the Indian company's leadership in the US and India were aware of the development that had commenced in 2012.

Epic claimed the defendant company used the documents and information to identify features of its software to accelerate the development of a rival product called Med Mantra. The court then asked Epic to prove in what manner Tata Consultancy would have benefited from that information.

The US company alleged that when confronted by Kaiser Permanente regarding the downloading of Epic data, the TCS staffer initially denied such an act. But later the said employee changed his story and admitted that he had provided his Epic access to two other colleagues.

The lawsuit also alleged the Indian company has engaged in an "elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data," with the purpose of utilising technical expertise developed after years of hard work and investment.

"TCS's misconduct appears designed to allow TCS and perhaps other Tata entities to unfairly compete with Epic in the marketplace. The unlawful conduct of TCS and potentially other Tata entities must be stopped and an appropriate remedy fashioned for the benefit of Epic," the lawsuit said.

In its statement, Tata Consultancy refuted all such claims and said no benefit was derived.

"TCS did not misuse or benefit from any of the said information for the development of its own hospital management system Med Mantra that was implemented for a large hospital chain in India in 2009," said the Tata Consultancy statement.

"The jury verdict will not have any impact on TCS Q4 (4th quarter) and FY16 (2016-17) financial results to be announced on Monday, 18 April," it said, adding: "As an organization, TCS remains committed a protecting IP as well as its reputation and financial interests fully."
Tensions between the Republican Party and its own front-runner erupted into a full-blown public battle as top party officials rebuked Donald Trump on Friday for alleging that the GOP primary system was "rigged" against him.

The dispute, which has been simmering for days, centres on Trump's failure to win any delegates last weekend in Colorado, which selected its 34 delegates at a party convention rather than a primary attended by voters. All went to Trump's chief rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, The Washington Post reported.

The outcome prompted a daily stream of complaints and allegations this week from Trump, who wrote in an op-ed published in Friday's Wall Street Journal that the "system is being rigged by party operatives with 'double-agent' delegates who reject the decisions of voters."

A senior Republican National Committee official fired back with a thinly veiled response, writing in a Friday memo to reporters that "each process is easy to understand for those willing to learn it."

"It ultimately falls on the campaigns to be up to speed on these delegate rules," wrote RNC communications director Sean Spicer.

"Campaigns have to know when absentee ballots are due, how long early voting lasts in certain states, or the deadlines for voter registration; the delegate rules are no different."

The fight again pits Trump against a Republican establishment that is still broadly opposed to his candidacy and struggling to reconcile with the possibility that he could be the GOP presidential nominee in November.

Veterans of past presidential campaigns warned that the feuding could have an adverse effect on down-ballot races and on the ability to defeat Hillary Clinton, seen as the likely Democratic nominee, in the fall.

"Traditionally, this is the time that the party and front-runner come together and make the plans necessary to defeat the Democratic candidate in the fall," said Michael Steel, who was an aide for Jeb Bush's campaign and previously worked on the Mitt Romney campaign in 2012 and as spokesman for John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) when he was house speaker.

"That's clearly not happening, and it's going to make it tougher to beat Secretary Clinton."

One of the keys to Trump's success until now has been his willingness to harshly criticise the party establishment, but he will need the support of the RNC in fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts if he wins the nomination. This has left Trump boomeranging between fighting the party and trying to embrace it.

Early this week, for example, Trump used Twitter and his rally speeches to call the nomination process "corrupt", "rigged" and one that rewards candidates who "play dirty tricks in order to pick up delegates."

In an interview with The Hill on Tuesday, Trump said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus "should be ashamed of himself because he knows what's going on."

Priebus responded on Twitter: "Nomination process known for a year + beyond. It's the responsibility of the campaigns to understand it. Complaints now? Give us all a break."

At the same time, Trump's campaign staff was finalising plans to send representatives to the RNC's upcoming spring meeting in Florida and to open an office in Washington.

On Wednesday, the real estate mogul had lunch at Trump Tower in Manhattan with Megyn Kelly of Fox News, a longtime target of Trump's who has come to symbolize his ongoing fight with the party establishment. Later that day, Trump announced he had hired GOP strategist Rick Wiley, who has a long history at the RNC.

Thursday night, the journal op-ed under Trump's name went online, reigniting the fires.

The fresh tension comes just as the party heads into another busy period of delegate allocation and selection. This weekend, seven states will hold meetings to select at least some of their delegates.

Republicans will gather in Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia for meetings in congressional districts to award their delegates.

And in Wyoming, Republicans are hosting a convention similar to the one held in Colorado, and Trump's team concedes that they are again poised to lose to Cruz.
India's tourism ministry has sanctioned a Rs.18 crore project for the Tripura government to create a variety of infrastructure along the India-Bangladesh border similar to that at the Attari-Wagah border with Pakistan, a state minister said.

"Wagah-like infrastructure, including a mini-stadium, would be created at the Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) border to organise a Beating Retreat ceremony like that at the Wagah border with Pakistan," Tripura's Tourism Minister Ratan Bhowmik told IANS.

He said the union tourism ministry recently sanctioned Rs.18 crore and 20 percent of the sanctioned funds have already been released for the Agartala-Akhaura project.

"Under the tourism ministry's 'Swadesh Darshan' scheme, the Centre sanctioned Rs.99 crore for Tripura to implement several tourism projects in the state. The Rs.99 crore ambitious project includes building of a mini-stadium, open theatre, cafeteria and other infrastructure at the Agartala-Akhaura border at a cost of Rs.18 crore."

The Tripura government's Public Works Department (PWD) would execute the project.

The Agartala-Akhaura check post is the second largest trading point between India and Bangladesh after the Benapole-Petrapole post with West Bengal.

The Beating Retreat ceremony, which marks the closing of the Attari-Wagah border near Amritsar every evening, is a military routine that the India-Pakistan border guards -- the Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers -- have jointly conducted since 1959.

People travel specially to the border to witness the ceremony in which the flags of the two countries are lowered by security personnel with a number of aggressive gestures and a mutually coordinated performance.

"To build a Wagah-like infrastructure at the Agartala-Akhaura border, official level meetings between Bangladesh and India were held and the Bangladesh government has no objection to the project," Bhowmik said.

"However, the Bangladesh government has not yet taken any decision to make similar infrastructure on their side at Akhaura."

"The Agartala-Akhaura border is not only a big trading point between India and Bangladesh, it is also an important tourist spot. After creation of the proposed infrastructure, the tourist attraction would increase to a large extent," he added.

The jurisdiction of the 145-year-old Agartala Municipal Corporation, northeast India's oldest municipal body, extends up to the Agartala-Akhaura check post.

A few years back, India's commerce ministry constructed a multi-purpose Integrated Check Post (ICP) at the border.

This ICP boasts of modern infrastructure to facilitate better trade, immigration and cross border movement of people from both sides. India plans to open 13 ICPs along the borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar.

The minister also said that under the Rs.99 crore budget, a musical fountain at Ujjayanta Palace, introduction of battery-operated cars at Sipahijala wild life zoo and sanctuary in western Tripura and development of the Dambur lake in southern Tripura would be undertaken.

Northeast India's biggest museum was set up at the historic Ujjayanta Palace, the former royal palace of Tripura's Manikya kings, which served as the state legislative assembly until 2011.
Exuding confidence about the "tyrannical" Mamata Banerjee regime being ousted in the ongoing West Bengal assembly polls, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says his party will join a new coalition government with the Left Front to be formed on the basis of a common minimum programme (CMP).

However, a call on the coalition's chief minister and whether he would be from the Congress or the LF will be taken "at an appropriate time".

Chowdhury - a Lok Sabha member and one of the chief architects of the Congress-LF tie-up - says the alliance between the traditional foes was a response to the people's call for the opposition to unite and dethrone the "corrupt" Trinamool Congress and free Bengal from its "misrule".

"There will be a common minimum programme and going by the response that we have got in the first phase, this alliance will come to power and the Congress will be a part of the government," Chowdhury told IANS in an interview.

Congress leaders Manas Bhunia and Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury have said CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra was the alliance's chief ministerial candidate. But the Bengal Congress chief said the duo have spoken in their individual capacity.

"As of now, neither the Congress nor the LF has decided on the chief ministerial candidate. It will be decided at an appropriate time," he said.

Asked whether he was in the race, Chowdhury said: "I will abide by whatever our high command decides."

In 2011, the Congress had joined hands with the Trinamool to dethrone the Left to end its 34 years of uninterrupted rule in the state. But five years down the line, the entire equation has turned on its head.

"There is no denying the fact that under the Left's 34-year rule, not only the people of Bengal but we too suffered atrocities.

"But If then we were faced with a wolf, this time we are up against a man-eater. The man-eater by the name of Trinamool has devoured democracy and law and order. If not ousted, it will finish off the entire state," Chowdhury maintained.

Candid enough to admit that the Congress or the LF alone cannot dismantle the Trinamool, the parliamenarian said the alliance was the only viable alternative to the ruling party.

"Much like in 2011, now too, it's the people's call for the opposition to unite and dethrone the ruling party. The Congress-LF alliance is the only grouping that can achieve that," said Chowdhury.

The tie-up has come under attack from both the BJP and the Trinamool especially on account of the bitter rivalry between the Congress and the Left in Kerala. But Chowdhury asserted the alliance neither signifies any "existential crisis" nor an "opportunistic politics" of his party and the LF.

"The alliance has become the biggest issue in the polls for our opponents and they are constantly attacking it. It's a big indication of their discomfort. In the alliance, Mamata has already started to hear the death knell of her despotic regime," Chowdhury said.

The coming together of the two forces has been far from smooth. Internal bickering and "heartburn" within both camps, the "friendly fights" in a number of constituencies, especially in the Congress bastion of Murshidabad, has often evoked angry reactions from Chowdhury himself.

LF constituents, particularly the RSP and the CPI, had openly expressed their anguish, claiming their existence was being compromised for the sake of the tie-up.

"We were traditionally opposed to each other - both ideologically and politically. All differences cannot be wiped out overnight," said Chowdhury who had earlier accused Left constituents - the All India Forward Bloc and the RSP - of "being bribed by the Trinamool to harm the alliance".

Chowdhury also refused to read much into the "friendly fights", saying several of these were "part of its electoral strategy".

While LF chairman Biman Bose has said the arrangement with the Congress was not an alliance but an "electoral understanding", an unfazed Chowdhury insisted it was a formal alliance and not just a mere arrangement to form a strong opposition.

"I won't get into semantics, one may call it by whatever name, but for us it's an alliance," asserted Chowdhury, pointing to joint campaigns by the parties across constituencies.

While heavyweights from both the camps, including the likes of Mishra and Bhunia, have participated in joint campaigns, several Marxist leaders and candidates have shared the dais with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi during their election rallies in the state.

(Anurag Dey can be contacted at anurag.d@ians.in)
The Assam Assembly elections are over. The two-phase elections - on April 4 and April 11 - registered an overall polling of 84.72 per cent, the highest ever for the state. Understandably, all political parties are interpreting this to their advantage. The first phase of the elections, covering 65 seats, saw a voter turnout of 78 per cent - higher than that of the 2011 Assembly elections, but slightly less than the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in these areas.
Most people present at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's address to interns at HCL-IT City in Lucknow were amused by his somewhat aggressive stance and could not figure out who the target was. In the past, father Mulayam Singh Yadav has repeatedly criticised the Samajwadi Party government headed by his son.

At the function, Yadav junior said, "Our government does so much good work but even in all that, our critics see defects." He talked about the construction of the Agra-Lucknow expressway and the Lucknow Metro and went on to say: "We've achieved so much but our critics say nothing is happening... We started an ambulance service in villages but people said road accidents are on the rise. We improved services in state-run hospitals so that more patients began coming for treatment, and the charge was: the Samajwadi Party is creating conditions so that more people are falling ill. We have built cycle tracks and people say it is because the election symbol of the party is the bicycle. When we speak of villages they say we are developing only our village (Saifai). It is impossible to please some people."
The proposed renaming of Delhi's satellite town in the state of Haryana from Gurgaon to Gurugram throws up a host of questions, not all of them comfortable. The response on social media and elsewhere has not been positive, in that it has focused among other things on what appear to be the misplaced priorities of the Haryana government - Gurgaon, while a major cash cow for the state, does not have its fair share of basic civic amenities, and its growth has been without much regulation or support from the government. Many feel that creating a more responsive municipal structure and working on ensuring better infrastructure should be a priority, not tokenism like renaming a city.
On the eve of its second anniversary in office, the government faces choices in the area of trade policy no less important and problematic than those in the area of foreign and security policy.
The problem of large-scale non-performing assets, or NPAs, in the banking sector is at the forefront of the policy debate. Kingfisher Airlines has been in the headlines, as has been the Supreme Court's request for a list of willful defaulters. There is hope that the proposed Indian Bankruptcy Code (IBC) will solve some of these problems, and prevent such a build-up of NPAs in future owing to timely resolution of insolvency. All of these discussions have been about resolving corporate insolvency.
Spanish police said they have arrested a man and a woman in the city of Algeciras at the southwestern tip of Spain on suspicion they are linked to the Islamic State group.

Police say the two, who were preparing to leave the country bound for Morocco, allegedly were part of a support group for IS that has contained other jihadists who have previously staged several suicide missions in Syria.

According to a police statement, those arrested today are a Moroccan man and a Spanish woman who both lived in the southern city of Granada.

Investigators discovered that a brother of the arrested man had died in a suicide attack and were searching the couple's home. The couple's son was taken into the care by Spanish social services.
Three persons were killed in a road accident near Chakrami village in Bihar's Bhagalpur district today, police said.

The incident occured when a truck loaded with stonechips lost control and rammed into a road side tea shop at NH-31 near Chakrami village and killed three persons on the spot, a police officer said.

He said the deceased has been identified as Shambhu Rai, Ajay Mandal and Mantu Rai, all these persons were sitting at the roadside tea shop this morning.

Bodies have been sent to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital for postmortem, SHO said.

Agitated villagers blocked National Highway NH-31 for few hours. The driver and cleaner of the truck managed to escape from the spot, Ram said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel today said all the villages in the state would be open defecation-free in the next one year.

Of the 14,000 villages in the state, 4,000 villages are now free of the practise of open defecation, she claimed, speaking at a function organised by the BJP on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar.

"Gujarat will achieve the target of building toilets at every village in one year," the chief minister said.

This effort also needed change of mindset and creating more acceptability for toilets in the villages, she said.

She paid rich tributes to the ruler of erstwhile state of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad, who funded Dr Ambedkar's education abroad.

"Gaekwad was a visionary ruler, known for making the primary education compulsory, opening library in each village of his state, establishing the world-famous MS University of Baroda, allowing remarriage of widows, etc.," she said.
AntiMicrobial Resistance (AMR) is not merely a challenge or threat to health security but also has "serious economic consequences", Health Minister J P Nadda said today, as he underlined the need for countries to promote rational use of drugs and "appropriately" regulate its sale.

Noting that countries are at various stages of economic development, Nadda said that prescribing uniform achievement objectives to combat AMR "must be" accompanied by sustained support with technological and financial resources through domestic, bilateral and multilateral channels.

"AMR is not merely a health challenge or a threat to health security, but is also a development challenge with significant and serious economic consequences.

"As we look forward to the UN High Level Meeting on AMR later this year, we should reaffirm existing commitments and focus on mobilizing the necessary resources for the implementation of AMR national action plans in all countries," Nadda said in his address at the Asian Health Ministers meet on AMR in Tokyo.

Noting that the health challenges posed by AMR confront all countries including small and developing ones, Nadda said that increasing resistance of pathogens to currently available antibiotics can lead to a situation where advanced techniques and procedures in the field of surgery and medicine become "redundant and ineffective".

"The multi-sectoral nature of AMR requires that all countries promote rational use of drugs, appropriately regulate the sale of drugs, promote the concept of 'one health' with control of anti-microbial use in human health, animal and agriculture sectors," Nadda said.

He said that all countries should promote infection control practices and protocols, improve hygiene, sanitation and ensure availability of clean drinking water while also encouraging universal immunization for vaccine preventable diseases as appropriate in each country context.

He said countries should also encourage research and development and discovery of new drugs and ensure equitable and affordable access apart from enhancing capacity of health workforce and doctors and undertake campaigns for consumer awareness and to discourage self-medication of antibiotics.

(Reopens FGN 17)



Nadda said that the roadmap identified by India after the February conference in India lists five priority areas for developing and implementing the national action plan of AMR.

These include improving awareness and understanding of AMR, strengthening surveillance in human, animal and agricultural sectors, strengthening infection prevention and control practices in health facilities, promoting rational use of antimicrobials and promoting investment in AMR and related research, he said.

"Since different countries are at different stages of economic development, prescribing uniform achievement objectives for combating AMR must be accompanied by a sustained effort of supporting those in more need with human, technological and financial resources through domestic, bilateral and multilateral channels.

"Besides, we must also ensure that both existing and new antimicrobials, vaccines and diagnostics are accessible and affordable for all," Nadda said.

Diarrhoeal illness in four developing nations, including India, leads to consumption of around 500 million courses of antibiotics and it could go up to over 622 million courses by 2030, a recent study had said while noting it could be reduced by 60 per cent through improved sanitation.

Experts have maintained that increasing drug resistance is likely to disproportionately affect lower and middle-income countries with their twin burdens of underdeveloped public health infrastructure and high infectious disease rates.

During his visit, Nadda also met Malaysian Health Minister S Subramaniam today and discussed issues of bilateral importance in health sector.

He also met his Japanese counterpart Yasuhisa Shiozaki and held a 30-minute long bilateral meeting. They stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation in the health sector and recognised that pharmaceuticals, medical devices, training and capacity building as potential areas of enhanced cooperation.

Shiozaki acknowledged India's strength in pharmaceuticals, particularly generic medicines and referred to Japan's own efforts in enhancing use of generic medicines in its medicines mix.

Nadda also stressed cooperation in the area of generic medicines, as well as in area of medical devices with greater opportunities being opened up due to our 'Make in India' programme. He stressed the need for sharing of rich experience of traditional medicines and naturotherapy, Ayurveda and Yoga between both nations in combating non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and lifestyle diseases.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) of Japan today signed a 'Letter of Intent' to collaborate on research in the field of antimicrobial resistance.

It was signed on the sidelines of the meeting of the Health Ministers from WHO South East Asia Region and Western Pacific Region countries here in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda, an official statement said.

Terming the collaboration as another "significant" milestone in the strong ties between the two countries, Nadda said it will further help in deepening the relations between the two in research and development in scientific areas, particularly public health.

"The letter of Intent noted 'Recognising' the global burden of antimicrobial resistance and its impact on global health security, 'Recalling' the memorandum of cooperation between Health Ministry of Japan and India in the field of healthcare signed on September 1, 2014...

"...Desiring to start collaboration between NIID of Japan and ICMR of the Republic of India in antimicrobial resistance research to include but not limited to areas, including development of integrated surveillance program covering epidemiology data and genomic data of antimicrobial resistance in each country," the letter of intent said.

It also said that there will be mutual exchange of information on molecular and epidemiological antimicrobial resistance data between both the nations by developing comparable surveillance program in each country.

During the meet, Nadda emphasised the importance of collaborative effort and mobilising the necessary resources for the implementation of antimicrobial resistance national action plans in all countries.

The Health Minister also underscored the need to encourage research, development and discovery of new drugs to ensure equitable and affordable access.
Apple has urged a federal court to reject efforts to force the company to help break into an iPhone as part of a New York drug investigation.

In the latest case involving efforts to compel Apple to help law enforcement break encryption, the company said the court should simply rule the assistance is unnecessary and not authorised by law.

The case in a federal court in Brooklyn comes weeks after the FBI dropped a hotly contested effort to require Apple to weaken the security of an iPhone used by one of the shooters in last year's attacks in San Bernardino, California.

In this case, Apple attorneys argued, the court can avoid a "constitutional thicket" and rule on "narrower grounds."



The Justice Department earlier this month appealed a decision by a US magistrate in Apple's favor, saying it still wants the company to extract pictures, text messages and other digital data from an iPhone used by someone accused of trafficking in methamphetamines.

The case is one of several pending in US courts as lawmakers and others debate whether Apple and other tech firms should be required to help break strong encryption, which in many cases allows only the user to access data, with no "keys" held by the company.

Apple said the government's interpretation of the All Writs Act -- a 1789 law that gives the courts wide latitude to help law enforcement -- was "soundly rejected" by the magistrate's ruling.

"It simply is not the case that federal courts can issue any order the executive branch dreams up unless and until Congress expressly prohibits it," the brief said. "That construction of the All Writs Act has it exactly backwards."



The company also said such an order isn't needed because of the "likely minimal evidentiary value of any data on the phone" given that all defendants have pleaded guilty.

The latest filing comes with Congress set to take up a bill that would require tech companies to provide technical assistance to law enforcement to help break encryption.

The proposal is facing intense criticism from civil liberties activists and tech firms, while organisations backing law enforcement support the measure.
Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said today that a "significant" part of the Muslim population celebrated attacks, blaming the country's policies for failing to integrate migrants into society.

He did not explicitly refer to last month's jihadist attacks on Brussels' airport and metro system that killed 32 people



"A significant section of the Muslim community danced when attacks took place," Jambon said in an interview with the Flemish-language De Standaard newspaper.

The Belgian minister also accused Muslim residents of Brussels' largely immigrant Molenbeek neighbourhood of attacking police during an operation last month to arrest a suspect in connection with the deadly attacks in Paris last November.

"They threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. This is the real problem. Terrorists we can pick up, remove from society. But they are just a boil. Underneath is a cancer that is much more difficult to treat. We can do it, but it won't be overnight," he said.

Jambon, whose New Flemish Alliance party has been a key part of Belgium's ruling centre-right coalition since 2014, previously offered to resign in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

In today's interview he said that the danger linked to the radicalisation of youth from third and fourth generation families is "too deeply rooted" in some areas because Belgium "have for many years ignored the warning signs".

Following the November 13 attacks in neighbouring France, Jambon sparked controversy when he promised to "clean Molenbeek" when it emerged that several of the attackers had links to the impoverished district of the Belgian capital.
Actor Bradley Cooper opened up about his father's struggle with cancer.

The 41-year-old actor, whose father died from cancer in 2011, gave an emotional speech about his loss at a star studded gala celebrating the launch of tech guru Sean Parker's new cancer research foundation, reported People magazine.

"I just want to tell you about my father Charles J Cooper, he passed away from lung cancer in 2011. I was in a very lucky position because I was able to put everything on hold in all aspects of my life and completely focus on taking care of him," he said.

The star described the process of treating his father's cancer as "just simply overwhelming, incredibly stressful, complex and all consuming."



"I can't even imagine how much more difficult it is for those patients and the families that are less fortunate than I was that simply can't afford to pay for both treatment and rent," he added.

Cooper promised that he and Parker will soon come up with a new initiative to help lessen the burden on both patients and their families so that they can focus on treatment.

The "American Sniper" actor was joined by celebs like John Legend, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry and Sean Penn for the Parker Foundation's launch.
President Dilma Rousseff is set to fight for her political life today backed by vast crowds of supporters as Brazil prepares to vote on whether to drive her from office.

The tomorrow vote in Congress could topple the 68-year-old leftist leader, in a political crisis threatening to destabilize Latin America's biggest economy as it struggles through a crippling recession.

It will be a rare outing for Rousseff, who has preferred to remain at her official workplace, the Palacio do Planalto, encouraging supporters from afar.

Rousseff will meet with the supporters camped out at the Mane Garrincha stadium who have turned out to support her bid to remain head of state.

"We came to join the defense of democracy and the government that was legitimately elected in 2014," said Tiago Almeida, 35, a metal worker from the state of Sao Paulo who has been at the camp for days.

Organisers hope that more than 100,000 will gather at the rally and the support camp this weekend.

Rousseff's opponents also plan rallies over the weekend as lawmakers debate a motion to send her to an impeachment trial in the Senate.

Police tightly guarded the area around Congress, which was surrounded with metal barriers.

Pro- and anti-Rousseff rallies are also planned in other cities tomorrow, including the economic capital Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where the Summer Olympics will be held in August.

Lower house lawmakers were due to make further speeches today and tomorrow before voting late tomorrow on whether to call for an impeachment trial.

Rousseff faces charges that she illegally used creative accounting to mask government shortfalls during her 2014 reelection.

She accepts the claims, defending her behavior by saying that previous governments used similar measures.

In a rowdy opening session yesterday, the government's top lawyer Jose Eduardo Cardozo drew noisy complaints when he repeated Rousseff's claim that the impeachment drive was a "coup."



"This is a historic process, there's no doubt," said House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, one of the leaders of the push to remove Rousseff.

Cunha has his own problems: he has been charged with taking millions of dollars in bribes linked to a massive embezzlement cartel centered on state oil company Petrobras. He also allegedly hid the money in Swiss bank accounts.
Three people were killed in Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a bomb exploded in their car, officials said.

The bomb went off at around 7 pm (1700 GMT) on the main road that runs through Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.

"The victims are two women and a man who were in the vehicle," said Evariste Manegabe, mayor of Ibanda commune where the incident happened, adding that an investigation had been launched.

"I heard an explosion before the jeep came to an abrupt stop, the windows blown out," a witness said, adding that he saw the three people inside the car covered in blood.

A police official told AFP that the three dead had not yet been identified.

"Either the vehicle was booby-trapped, or the explosive device was in the vehicle, or it was carried by one of the passengers," the police official said.

Manegabe added that such incidents were rare in Bukavu.

The two eastern provinces of North and South Kivu have been chronically unstable since two wars wracked the vast country between 1996 and 2003, drawing in armies from neighbouring and southern African countries, who fought in part over access to vast mineral wealth.
Asserting that India has been consistently trying to improve its ties with Pakistan, Home Minister Rajanth Singh today said if anyone raises questions over India's sovereignty and self-respect, it will not be tolerated.

"We don't want to raise questions over sovereignty and self-respect of any country in the world. But if anyone raises questions over the sovereignty and self-respect of India, then it will not be tolerated at all," Singh told reporters.

The minister was replying to a question pertaining to a video, in whichpeople in large numbers inPakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK) are seen protesting against the Pakistani establishment and demanding freedom.

"I have also seen (that video). As far as India is concerned,it is a sovereign country and so is Pakistan. We are continuously trying to ensure better relations between both the two countries. For this (reported protests in PoK) Pakistan has to take an initiative," he said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the convocation ceremony of Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita and Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya in Raipur, where he was present as the chief guest.

Prior to the programme, he chaired a meeting of senior police and paramilitary officials at the new circuit house here.

Chief Minister Raman Singh was also present at the meeting in which counter-insurgency operations and development works in the Naxal-affected areas were discussed.

"Some districts of Chhattisgarh are Maoist-affected and I have already appealed to those who are involved in Maoist activities that they should quit the path of violence," the Union Minister said.

"If they (Naxals) leave the violence then talks can be held with them. There is no place for violence in the democracy. I have already said that they should quit violence," he added.

During the meeting, he reviewed the growth of Maoist- affected region and found it "satisfactory".

"I am satisfied with the pace of development under Raman Singh-led government in the Naxal-hit areas of the state. In the coming years, more development will be witnessed in such underdeveloped areas," he said.

(Reopens BOM4)



During the meeting, Maharashtra Chief Minister



Devendra Fadnavis dwelt on the action taken by the state government to enforce colour coding of fishing vessels, issuing biometric cards to fishermen and their participation in community policing.

He suggested that marine policing being a specialised job, a Central Marine Police Force be created to protect sea, coast, ports and vital institutions.

Fadnavis emphasised that since the time PM Narendra Modi and GoI have planned to leverage India's marine stretch by giving impetus on port led development and on initiatives like Sagarmala, it has mandated the coastal security to be taken to the next level.

Fadnavis also suggested that all lending points and non-major ports should be brought under tech-based e-surveillance and the Government of India should bear the capex and states would bear the operation expenses.

He suggested that under universal service obligation, GSM service providers be asked to provide services in 5 nautical miles seawards from coast.
China has sought India's cooperation in various multilateral forums as part of its economic revival agenda.

Such a co-operation was sought when Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here on Thursday on the sidelines of the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, sources said.

It was Lou who had sought a meeting with Jaitley and during the meeting held here, the Chinese Finance Minister and other senior officials tried to impress upon that their economy is doing well and is back on track, sources familiar with the conversation between the two leaders said.

During the meeting, Lou repeatedly underscored the "greater need of India and China to have a coordinated action" in various multilateral forums.

While the issue of Masood Azhar, was not raised by Jaitley during the meeting given that it has been taken up at the highest level by India, the Indian delegation is believed to have made it clear to the Chinese leadership that Beijing needs to take into consideration India's national security and economic interests for such a cooperation to move forward.

On March 31, China again blocked India's bid to ban the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack Masood in the UN Sanctions Committee, following which India had reacted strongly.

The Chinese leadership during the IMF World Bank meetings have taken a stand that it is against isolating or naming any particular country.

"We are not in favour of isolating or naming any country," the members of the Chinese delegation are believed to have said multiple times during the series of multilateral meetings taking place on the sidelines of the spring meetings.

This is why Chinese opposed the idea of mentioning Panama when it came to Panama papers and tax havens, sources said.

During these meetings, the Chinese leadership has been underscoring that their economy is back on track and in the first quarter they had a growth rate of 6.7 per cent.

There was a keen emphasis that growth is back in China, a source familiar with these meetings said.

During the meetings the Chinese leadership is understood to have said that they have made certain changes to transform the economy.

Among other things, Lou is believed to have told Jaitley China is going to cut production in steel and coal where they have now surplus capacities.

The surplus has resulted in a global problem.
Sticking to its guns, China today again justified its decision to block India's bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN and described its stance as "fair and based on facts".

"China always deals with the listing of 1267 committee based on facts and pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions and relevant rules in a fair manner," Chinese Foreign Ministry said in response to India's Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin's criticism of "hidden veto" in dealing with the listing of terrorist outfits and their leaders.

"We have noticed the remarks by India's Permanent Representative to the UN," the Foreign Ministry said in written response to a question from PTI.

"Both China and India fall victim to terrorism and share similar positions when it comes to combating terrorism," it said.

China is one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC which plays a leading role in banning terrorist outfits.

"China supports the UN in playing a leading role in international anti-terrorism cooperation and takes an active part in international anti-terrorism cooperation," the Ministry said.

"In order to reach international consensus on counter terrorism, China encourage all parties to fully leverage the leading and coordinating role played by the UN and the Security Council and forge international synergy on counter-terrorism," it said.

This is the second time that China has defended the decision to put a technical hold on India's bid to ban Azhar, the mastermind of the January 2 Pathankot terrorist attack.

On April 1, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China dealt with the issues under the UNSC anti-terrorism committee based on "facts and relevant rules of procedures in objective and just manner".

The latest response comes in the backdrop of India taking up the issue directly with China.

China too acknowledged that it is in touch with New Delhi on this issue indicating that its position remained unchanged.

The deadlock over the issue continued as both the countries are set for high-level engagements to discuss the state of bilateral ties.

While External Affairs Minster Sushma Swaraj is set to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow on April 18, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar began his first visit to China today.
China, the world's biggest steel and coal producer, today unveiled plans to help the 1.8 million workers in the two sectors who faced the prospects of losing their jobs due to a restructuring aimed to cut overcapacity.

The "suggestions" on relocating the redundant workers were jointly released in a document by seven ministries including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the National Development and Reform Commission, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

According to preliminary forecast by the human resources ministry, the two sectors will see a combined lay-off of over 1.8 million workers. Official media recently reported protests by workers over the lay offs.

To cushion the effect of job losses on families and society, the central government decided to allocate 100 billion yuan (USD 15.4 billion) to help the laid-off workers find new jobs. The fund can be increased if necessary and local governments should handle their responsibilities accordingly, Premier Li Keqiang said in March.

Today's document said that in addition to the help given to redundant staff, support will be offered to firms who create new jobs by adopting the "Internet Plus" strategy, developing new industrial fields and products, and expanding domestic and overseas market.

A "back-to-work" program should be created so that workers receive training and career guidance for free, and, for those who want to start their own businesses, channels that will give them access to government support, it said.

Local authorities should also enhance trans-regional cooperation to relocate redundant workers to regions with employment opportunities.

To switch from an investment-led model to one that relies on domestic consumption, services and innovation, China is slashing industrial overcapacity, mainly in the coal and steel sectors, the document said.
PCC President Sachin Pilot today accused the Rajasthan government of questioning the character of a dalit girl, who was allegedly raped and found dead under mysterious circumstances, to shield the accused.

"It is surprising that the chief minister is saying that if the family of the girl demands, the government would consider referring the case to CBI as it is demanding the same since beginning," Pilot said.

The Congress leader said her family members have already forwarded letters to the President, Governor and Chief Minister seeking a CBI inquiry and the government has earlier rejected the demand.

Pilot alleged that the government is questioning the girl's character to dilute the case and shield the accused.

He said due to the "irresponsible behaviour of the state government, criminals are moving scot free and carrying out their activities."



The 17-year-old girl, who was pursuing a teacher training course, was found dead in a water tank on March 30 in the college premises in Bikaner.

On the intervening night of March 28-29, she was found in the room of the college's physical trainer Vijendra Singh by the hostel warden.

Singh was arrested after the girl was found dead. The hostel warden and principal were also arrested for not informing the police when she was found in the instructor's room.
Spanish emergency services today recovered the body of a man from the rubble of a four-story apartment building that collapsed in a popular Canary Island tourist town, raising the death toll to seven.

The Canary Islands' emergency service said in its official Twitter account that sniffer dogs today had located the body of an apartment resident who had been missing since the building in the southern coastal town of Los Cristianos had collapsed Thursday.

Earlier, the local government of the southern region of Arona said rescue teams had recovered the bodies of four women and two men.

The building had collapsed in a built-up location near the beach in the town on the island of Tenerife. Three people suffered injuries. It was unclear how many people were in the building when it collapsed.

Witnesses told Spanish media the building had been undergoing renovations.
The Delhi government is contemplating to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel from 18 per cent to 16.6 per cent due to which the price of diesel may come down by around 60 paisa per litre.

The move is intended to take VAT on diesel, in the national capital, at par with that in Haryana. Government may soon issue a notification in this regard.

"Government is planning to bring down VAT rate on diesel from 18 per cent to 16.6 per cent," a sources said, adding, it may lead to a cut of 60 paise per litre.

In 2016-17, the Delhi government had standarised VAT on different items in order to bring parity with neighbouring states - Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today accused the Election Commission of playing a partisan role by having an FIR filed against him for alleged violation of the Modal Code of Conduct by holding a press conference.

"I have not violated the Model Code. I have not asked voters to vote for us. How did the EC know even before holding the press meet what would I say? I came to know about the FIR from newspapers only. If necessary, we will fight it out in the court of law," Gogoi said at a press conference here.

He said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also held a press meet a day before the poll in Delhi but no action was taken despite a complaint.

Referring to the assembly the election in Assam, the Chief Minister said he is confident of winning at least 65 seats out of the total of 126 seats.

"If the people of Assam want us to sit in the opposition, then we will do that. We will accept any verdict given by the people. Only government-formation is not responsibility. If we are in the opposition, then we will play the role of a positive opposition," he added.

Talking about floods in Assam, Gogoi said the Centre has not released "hundreds of crores" of rupees to the state and it is affecting the work of repair and rehabilitation.

"I will again take up the issue with the Centre till the election results are out," he added.

He also said there has been encroachment attempts of Assam land in Karbi Anglong district by miscreants from Nagaland in recent times.

"I have discussed the problem with the Chief Secretary and the DGP. At any cost, we will protect our land," Gogoi said.

Gogoi alleged the bloody Assam agitation in 1980s was "sponsored" by RSS and was guided by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former union minister Arun Shourie.

"Assam agitation was sponsored by RSS. (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and Arun Shourie were guides for them (agitators). AASU was getting all funds and other helps for agitators from RSS," Gogoi alleged.

He appreciated AASU's current leadership for opposing BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma's reported statement of shifting the base year for updating the National Register of Citizens and deporting "infiltrators" should be shifted from 1971 to 1951.

"We have been fighting and we will continue to fight against the divisive forces. We want to form the government but not by hook and crook. We will take people's verdict respectfully," Gogoi said.
An 81-year-old well-known pro- opposition magazine editor in Bangladesh was today arrested for sedition and his alleged involvement in an abduction plot of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son in the US last year, police said.

Shafik Rehman, the editor of popular Bengali monthly magazine Mouchake Dhil and also a British citizen, had worked as a speech-writer for former prime minister Khaleda Zia and his arrest is the latest in a series of cases that have sparked concern over freedom of speech.

Rehman was approached by three men in plain clothes who identified themselves as reporters and asked him to accompany them, said his wife Taleya Rehman, a former BBC journalist.

Police later said Rehman, who has also worked with the BBC, was arrested in connection with a sedition case lodged with the Paltan police station in Dhaka last year.

"He (Rehman) has been brought to our Detective Branch... he has been arrested in connection with a case pending with the (Dhaka's) Paltan police station," a police official said.

The official added that Rehman was arrested as he was found involved in a plot to abduct Prime Minister Hasina's son and Information and Communications Technology advisor Sajib Wajed Joy last year from the US.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), meanwhile, condemned the arrest and demanded Rehman's immediate release.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the government arrested him to divert peoples' attention from its numerous failures.

"The incident proves that there is no democracy in the country and nobody has the right to express his free opinion," Alamgir said.

He is the third pro-opposition journalist to have been arrested by the government. Two other journalists associated with Bangladesh's leading Bengali and English newspapers have also been booked for defamation and sedition.

Rehman has formerly served as a speech-writer for two-time former prime minister and opposition leader Zia who is also the chief of BNP.

He shot to fame for his criticism of the government during General H M Ershad's dictatorship through in his weekly column after becoming editor of Jaijaidin weekly in the 1980s. Rehman had to leave Bangladesh facing the wrath of Ershad but returned after he was dethroned.
A huge haul of around 18,600 kg of Ephedrine powder, worth around Rs 2,000 crore, was seized and five persons, including a factory manager, were arrested, police said today.

"A Nigerian national was apprehended on April 10 for possessing half kg MD powder. He had come to sell the powder in Navi Mumbai," Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh told reporters here.

However, during investigations it was revealed he had Ephedrine powder, which is a controlled drug, and not MD powder, he added.

On April 12, two persons - Sagar Powale and Mayur Sukhdare - were arrested here for allegedly possessing around 2 kg of Ephedrine, police said.

Singh said their interrogation revealed the source of the drug was a factory in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area in Solapur (West Maharashtra).

An alleged drug peddler - Dhaneshwar Swamy was apprehended on April 14 in Solapur and 5.50 kg Ephedrine powder was seized from him, he said.

Swamy led police to the factory where the drug was allegedly being manufactured. Police raided the unit and arrested its senior production manager - Rajendra Dimri, Singh added.

"We seized around 7.600 kg Ephedrine powder from his cabin (and) another 9,500 kg from an adjacent godown in the factory. About 571.500 kgs of the drug and another 8,541 kg of pseudo Ephedrine (powder) was seized from the same premise," the Commissioner said.

According to Singh, value of the seized Ephedrine powder is around Rs 2,000 crore.

Ephedrine powder is used for sniffing. Sometimes it is exported to Poland and other European countries. It is also used to manufacture MD powder and Meth Methamphetamine, the Commissioner said.

The factory, which was functioning illegally, has been sealed and the seized drug being brought to Thane, he said, adding, the drug was being manufactured for the past one and half years.

According to the Commissioner, the Thane police is working with Narcotics Control Bureau in the case.
An Ethiopian official says that armed groups have killed more than 140 civilians near Ethiopia's border with South Sudan.

The attackers came from South Sudan and killed civilians, including women and children, Getachew Reda, Ethiopia's communications minister, told the Associated Press today.

"The Ethiopian defense force is currently chasing after the perpetrators," said Reda, adding that there is no relation between the attackers and the South Sudanese government or the country's rebels. "Our defense forces have so far killed 60 members of the attackers."



Ethiopian forces may cross into South Sudan to pursue them, he said.

The attack took place on Friday in Jakawa, in Ethiopia's Gambella region and the attackers were members of South Sudan's Murle tribe, said Reda.

A number of children were abducted and taken into South Sudan, he said. The latest attack is much larger than past skirmishes, he said.

The Ethiopian region hosts thousands of South Sudanese refugees who fled after war broke in their country in December 2013. It is also home to Ethiopian and South Sudanese armed groups that attack government installations and soldiers.
The European Union's top diplomat during a visit to Tehran today admitted difficulties in implementing Iran's recent nuclear deal with world powers, but maintained that the agreement was on track.

Federica Mogherini's comments, in a joint press conference with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, underscored tension in Tehran over the accord, which has been in force for three months.

Under the deal, all nuclear-related sanctions were lifted but Iranian officials have accused the West, particularly the United States, of failing to honour its side of the bargain.

Among their grievances is the contention that US government officials are scaring off European banks from investing in Iran for fear of falling foul of regulations that saw massive fines imposed in recent years.

Mogherini, on her first trip to Iran since the nuclear deal came into force in January, said the diplomatic gains of the agreement must now be turned into "benefits in Iranians' daily lives."



But Zarif echoed remarks from other Iranian officials about the deal not producing discernible benefits.

"It is necessary that the other side's cooperation, especially the United States, is made good in practice, not only on paper," Zarif said, alluding to Seif's comments.

"We warned the US and we will put some pressure on them, to pave the way for cooperation between non-US banks and the Islamic Republic of Iran."



Mogherini sought to play down concern, saying that three months of "challenges" on the deal's implementation was nothing compared to the 12 years of diplomacy it had taken to produce the nuclear agreement.

"We obviously have not finished the work on implementing the JCPOA," Mogherini said, referring to the nuclear deal by its official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, describing it as "an ongoing task".

Put to her by a reporter that the banking issues were obstacles, Mogherini countered: "There are challenges in implementation, it is true."



She cited 50 pages of guidelines that have been issued to European financial institutions that detail how business can now be conducted with Iran.

"We are doing all that we can to reassure our financial and banking system that all the new information on the new system is provided."



Mogherini pointed to other evidence of cooperation, saying the EU has agreed to support Iran's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) for example, and Iran will take part on a joint dialogue on human rights.

But Mogherini also raised with Zarif the EU's concern about recent ballistic missile tests by the elite Revolutionary Guards, which a UN panel said breached Security Council resolutions.
The European Union's top diplomat Federica Mogherini arrived in Tehran today on her first visit since a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers came into force as tensions surface over its implementation.

Mogherini, who was the lead negotiator for the six powers who struck the deal, was accompanied by other top EU officials. She was to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Her one-day trip comes after Iran raised concerns about banking sanctions, with officials saying the West, particularly the United States, is still creating hurdles to its access to the global financial system.

Yesterday, the governor of Iran's Central Bank said the international community was not sticking to its promises.

"The impact that we were expecting to get is not what we see, at least on a tangible basis," Valiollah Seif told a forum at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington.

The six powers led by the United States agreed in July last year to lift sanctions that had locked down much of the Iran's economy for years in exchange for limits on Tehran's nuclear programme.

The move allowed Iran to resume a higher level of oil exports when the deal was implemented in January, as well as opening up more trade opportunities.

But with the US still maintaining some sanctions on the country, Iran's access to global finance remains limited.

Seif, in the US capital for the IMF-World Bank spring meetings, pointed to a reluctance by European banks to engage with Iran for fear of falling foul of US sanctions.

"They have been asked not to work with Iranian banks, and they're afraid," he said.

"It's because of the heavy penalties that have been imposed upon them," he said, referring to huge fines imposed in the past.

Ahead of her trip to Tehran, Mogherini said banking, investment and trade were on the agenda of her talks, as well as the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, where the West has been looking for Iran's cooperation with peace efforts.
Two drivers for the European Parliament have been caught in possession of Islamic State propaganda, a German newspaper reported today.

Der Spiegel weekly, citing informed sources, said that IS propaganda CDs were found among the drivers' personal effects and that the discoveries prompted a recent decision by the European parliament to create its own team of chauffeurs rather than relying on private service providers.

That decision is in itself controversial as it boosts the EU parliament's transport costs by USD 11 million annually.

The parliament is justifying the change, according to Der Spiegel, on the basis that the case of the two drivers may not be an isolated one, and that private sector companies may be more susceptible to infiltration by individuals linked to jihadist groups.

A European parliament spokesman in Brussels told AFP that there was never any comment made on "questions of security".

According to the Biribin Limousines firm, which employed the pair found with the offending material, "no driver has been sacked . There has never been anything (untoward) found in our cars".

The Paris-based company dismissed the Spiegel report as "a tissue of lies".

On April 6 the European parliament, which has homes in Brussels and Strasbourg, announced that one of the jihadists who blew themselves up in Islamic State attacks in Brussels on March 22 briefly worked as a cleaner for the parliament several years ago.

Najim Laachraoui was said to have had a summer holiday job cleaning at the parliament for one month in 2009 and one month in 2010.
DMK leader today charged the ruling AIADMK with not considering the welfare of farmers, many of whom had committed suicide due to debts as they were not getting remunerative prices for their produce.

"Several farmers have committed suicide during the AIADMK regime due to debt burden as they were not getting adequate prices for their produce," the DMK treasurer said at an election meeting here.

Though Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had promised several measures and welfare schemes for farmers in the last election, nothing had been implemented, he alleged.
Actor Jeremy Renner says fatherhood is the most important thing in his life.

The 45-year-old "Captain America: Civil War" actor said he doesn't like exposing his three-year-old daughter to fame, reported E! online.

"Fatherhood is the most important thing in my life. I still don't expose my baby's face, just to protect her or anyone in my family (who's) a minor.

"I just think that's not my decision to make. You know what I mean? You don't need to be world famous just because your jackass did is," Renner said.

The actor recently posted a pic of himself with daughter Ava from the set of "Wind River," a thriller he is shooting with Elizabeth Olsen, but says she is too young to know if she will be interested in acting.

"I think she's definitely artistic for sure, but...I'd love to steer her away from (show business) but I'll never say no. I first and foremost want her to be a kid and have a lot of fun," he said.
The foreign ministers of France and Germany made an unannounced visit today to Tripoli in a show of support for the new unity government striving to bridge Libya's deep political divisions.

World powers see the Government of National Accord (GNA) as a crucial partner in tackling jihadists behind a string of deadly attacks in Libya as well as human traffickers exploiting the country's turmoil.

France's Jean-Marc Ayrault and Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier flew into the capital amid tight security for talks with the UN-backed cabinet which has set up operations at a naval base in the city.

The GNA is seeking "training for its police and military forces", Ayrault told journalists after the two envoys met prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.

"There is the need to train them perhaps in the beginning outside of Libya and this is what we will discuss on Monday," said Steinmeier, referring to talks in Luxembourg on a possible EU mission to assist Libya's police and border guards.

It is the latest in a flurry of visits by European diplomats who had been absent since 2014 when EU member states closed their Tripoli embassies as fighting shook the North African nation.

Their return was prompted by the arrival of the UN-backed prime minister on March 30 by sea with a naval escort, after a rival Tripoli authority closed the airspace to try to keep Sarraj out.

"France was one of the first countries to back Sarraj, and the time has come to give a new impetus to that support," a French diplomat said.

The visit comes two days before a crucial vote by the country's recognised parliament on whether to endorse the GNA, and ahead of the talks in Luxembourg.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni hailed the unity government as a "game changer" when he visited Tripoli on Tuesday.

The British, French and Spanish ambassadors flew in for talks two days later, saying they were working towards reopening their diplomatic missions there.

European nations are increasingly alarmed by the expansion of the Islamic State jihadist group in Libya, where it has established a new stronghold just 300 kilometres away from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The jihadists last year seized control of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and have used the city as a base to stage a string of suicide bombings and attacks on oil facilities.
The leader of the Gambia's main political opposition was arrested today following a second round of rare demonstrations in the country, with supporters demanding answers over the death in custody of a senior party figure.

United Democratic Party (UDP) chief Ousainou Darboe, a human rights lawyer, was seen being hauled away by police with three other party leaders after beginning a protest march from his residence just outside the capital of Banjul.

Gambian security forces armed with assault rifles fired tear gas at the protesters, according to eyewitnesses.

Around 150 supporters had joined Darboe to call for justice in the case of UDP organising secretary Solo Sandeng, who died in custody on Thursday.

Sandeng had led a protest which ended with Gambian security forces beating and arresting dozens for making a public call for electoral reform and the resignation of strongman President Yahya Jammeh.

The UDP confirmed Sandeng's death to AFP today morning, while Darboe told a gathering of activists prior to his arrest that two female protesters were also in a coma but remained in detention.

"We have received some reports that Solo Sandeng died in detention. We understand he died shortly after his arrest for participating in what we've been told by eyewitnesses was a peaceful protest," said Amnesty International west Africa researcher Sabrina Mahtani.

The circumstances of Sandeng's death were "as yet unknown", Mahtani said, calling on the authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation and to release any other UDP members still being held.

Gambia's information minister did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

President Jammeh was out of the country when Thursday's protest happened, attending a summit of leaders from the world's Muslim countries in Istanbul.

A military officer and former wrestler, he has ruled the tiny west African country with an iron fist since he seized power in a coup in 1994, and is regularly accused of sanctioning a catalogue of human rights abuses.

Amnesty's Mahtani said further repressive measures against opposition activity was likely in the run-up to a presidential election in December widely expected to return Jammeh to power for a fifth term.

"We are concerned with the election period coming up that there will be a further crackdown on fundamental human rights," she said.
Actor Gary Oldman is in negotiations to play Winston Churchill in Joe Wright's WWII drama "Darkest Hour".

"The Theory of Everything" writer Anthony McCarten has been roped in to pen the screenplay, reported Deadline.

The story will focus on the United Kingdom in 1940, less than one year into World War II.

Churchill was appointed Prime Minister in May of that year, stepping in for Neville Chamberlain, who resigned.
'Hanuman Chalisa' recitation at an AIDS awareness programme here recently has invited more trouble for organisers with Bombay High Court issuing notices to BJP-ruled civic body, municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar and leader of the ruling party Dayashankar Tiwari.

The Nagpur bench issued the notices yesterday following a contempt petition filed by city-based NGO Nagari Hakka Saurakhshan Manch soon after the event was held here on April 7 by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Nagpur Mayor Pravin Datke has also been made a respondent in the case.

A division bench comprising justices Bhushan Gavai and Swapna Joshi directed all of them to file their replies within a month, before adjourning the hearing in the case till the court vacations are over.

The NGO had earlier on April 5 approached the judiciary alleging that NMC was wasting taxpayers' money in organising an AIDS awareness programme, where they planned a mass recital of 'Hanuman Chalisa' in association with Poddareshwar Ram Mandir Trust.

The organisers including Tiwari, the convener of the programme, planned to create a world record of Hanuman Chalisa recital by over 1.5 lakh people.

The programme which was held at sprawling Kasturchand Park ground in the city, was a big flop as only a few people, mostly from right wing outfits, had turned up, the petitioner claimed.

On April 5, after disposing of the plea, the court had sternly asked respondents, NMC and temple trust, to keep at least an hour's gap between the AIDS awareness programme and Hanuman Chalisa recitation event at the ground.

They were also directed to ensure separate banners backstage at both the programmes, with individual names of organisers. NMC was told to give wide publicity to its AIDS awareness event without naming and mixing Hanuman Chalisa recitation.

Petitioner's counsel Ashwin Ingole alleged that all respondents have blatantly violated the court directives.

He claimed that the organisers started the second programme of recitation within 40 minutes and also pasted posters and banners of the two programmes at both the events.

He submitted photographic evidence along with video recording of the time interval between both the programmes.
Madras High Court has reduced the



claim amount awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) to a victim while pulling up a private hospital for issuing "cooked up" medical bills to him.

A division bench comprising justices R Sudhakar and S Vaidyanathan gave the order last week on an appeal by New India Assurance Company against the Rs 44.75 lakh compensation awarded by the MACT to Karthik, who was severely injured in an accident in 2012, following which his right leg was amputated.

"We record our anguish over the action of the hospital authorities who have issued cooked up cash receipts in support of the patient. Their action has to be deprecated. They can neither take the judiciary nor the insurer for a ride. Public shall be made aware of such hospitals," the judges said.

Karthik and his friend met with an accident on September



16, 2012, while riding a motorcycle at nearby Otteri and both of them sustained injuries.

Alleging that the owner and insurer of the lorry were jointly and severally liable to pay compensation, Karthik moved the MACT, seeking Rs six lakh as compensation.

Later, he enhanced his claim petition to Rs 40 lakh.

However, taking into account the income of Karthik, the



Tribunal awarded Rs 44,75,000 as compensation, higher than what Karthik had actually sought, with 7.5 per cent interest.

Challenging the quantum of compensation awarded by the Tribunal, the Insurance Company moved the High Court.

Verifying the bills issued by the hospital, the bench said, "the said bills are unbelievable. Even a cursory glance at the cash receipts issued by hospital would reveal that they were cooked up ones for the purpose of proceeding with the claim."



The bench noted that there was no description in the cash receipts of injections or tablets given to Karthik, nor details of medicines and drips given to him.

"Though we are not inclined to rely on those receipts, considering the nature of injuries sustained by the claimant, which are grievous in nature and considering the fact that his right leg has been amputated, this court awards a total compensation of Rs 21,55,500 with 7.5 per cent interest."



The court directed the insurance company to credit this



amount in Karthik's bank account after reducing the sum if any paid already, within six weeks.
French President Francois Hollande today pledged financial and military support for Lebanon and urged its paralysed political class to elect a president, at the start of a regional tour.

Deep political divisions have left Lebanon without a president since May 2014, and parliament has extended its own mandate twice since 2009.

Beginning a four-day Middle East tour, Hollande met Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

He announced USD 113 million in assistance in the next three years for Lebanon which is hosting more than one million Syrian refugees, as well as "immediate aid to strengthen Lebanon's military capacity".

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia suspended a grant to finance USD 3 billion worth of French weaponry for Lebanon's security forces.

The Lebanese army and police receive weapons and training from the United States, Britain and other Western countries.

On the political front, Hollande said it was time for Lebanese leaders to overcome their differences.

"This is a crucial moment, because you need to resolve this crisis and give Lebanon a president," Hollande said after meeting Berri in downtown Beirut.

"I believe in you and I know that you will succeed," he added.

Hollande told a conference that he recognised "the particularly difficult circumstances" facing Lebanon because of the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

The large refugee community means that Lebanon -- whose own population is just over four million -- has the highest refugee-to-resident population in the world.

"In addition to... Facing terrorist threats, Lebanon has hosted and continues to host a very high number of refugees," Hollande said.

Berri said it was necessary "to find a political solution to lift the burden" created by the refugee population on the country.

Tomorrow, the French leader will travel to an refugee camp for Syrians in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley to speak to families who will be resettled in France.

France hosts more than 10,000 refugees.

Hollande said France "will mobilise the international community", with Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault working on an international donors' meeting.

The French president's entourage said Ayrault would visit Lebanon on May 27 as part of this effort.
Underlining that India is too big to get ignored, Singapore's former foreign minister George Yeo has said the strategic "sweet spot" the country has found itself in is helping it attract investment and extend global influence in all directions.

In a lengthy foreword to a new book,"India Rising: Fresh Hope, New Fears" by veteran journalist Ravi Velloor, Yeo said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has surprised many by the brilliance of his foreign policy, keeping all external forces in dynamic balance.

Yeo, who himself played a key role in the Singapore-India relationship first as trade minister, then foreign minister, said "India is too big to be ignored, yet not so powerful to be considered a threat by any of the major powers."



"The country can also be expected to maintain its traditional independence in foreign policy," he said.

"There is no danger to the US and Japan that India will get too close to China. But there is also no danger that India can be made use of by others to contain China. I agree wholeheartedly with Ravi (the author) that India is now in a strategic sweet spot courted by everyone," Yeo wrote.

"This can help India attract investment, export to the world and extend its global influence in all directions, including Southeast Asia," said Yeo.

The book details the key events in the decade that led to the rise of Modi as prime minister.

The book includes insider accounts of events such as the removal of National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, the resignation of navy chief DK Joshi, how India handled the crisis in Sri Lanka and the Mumbai attack, and the tense relationship between UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The book will be released in Singapore on April 21by Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, the architect of Singapore's close ties with India.
Indonesian authorities today moved the jailed spiritual leader of the 2002 Bali bombers from a notorious prison island amid demands by his lawyer to end his "inhumane" treatment.

The ailing 77-year-old Abu Bakar Bashir was confined to a tiny isolation cell on Nusa Kambangan in the wake of the January 14 suicide bombings in the Indonesian capital Jakarta to prevent him from radicalizing other prisoners and to cut him off from extremist networks.

Hendra Eka Putra, the chief warden, said Bashir was moved to Gunung Sindur prison, about 50 kilometers southeast of Jakarta. He was transported in an armored car from Jakarta to the prison in an operation involving more than 230 officers.

Bashir's lawyer Mohammad Mahendradatta said Thursday that the condition of Bashir's 2-square-metre cell was "simply shocking and inhumane treatment against him is causing his health to deteriorate."



"His transfer was made on the basis of humanity because of his old and health-related rights," Putra said. "The government has considered that he needed a prison that has better health facilities and doctors."



Bashir, known as the spiritual leader of al-Qaida-linked militants behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011.

Prosecutors said he was a key player in funding a militant training camp in Aceh that brought together men from almost every known extremist group in predominantly Muslim Indonesia. A higher court later cut the sentence to nine years.

Mahendradatta had told The Associated Press that Bashir was kept in his isolation cell for 23 hours a day and slept on thin mats over a cement floor without blankets.

He was denied reading materials and personal items, regularly awakened from his sleep because of mosquitoes, and consultations with medical staff took place behind barriers.

Putra declined to say whether authorities would continue to isolate Bashir in his new prison. He said Bashir would not be denied basic rights.

The Gunung Sindur maximum-security prison, which was built in 2010, is equipped with high-tech security measures including cellular signal jammers to prevent unauthorised communications by inmates.
Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today said both domestic and international law have an "innovation lag" compared to knowledge explosion in other fields and the judiciary should keep itself updated with science and technology advancements.

"We live in a global flux of constant transition. Globalised movement of knowledge and its products, impacts our societies and their functioning. This poses a global challenge for the judiciary's two key instruments: rule of law and of reason," CJI Thakur said while addressing the Fourth Retreat of Supreme Court judges here.

"As the science and technology for discovering and hiding truth advances, the judiciary's task of capturing relevant facts, rests on a knowledge of such science and technology," he added.

"Virtual reality increasingly becomes actual reality. Nature is no longer captured and processed. It is created in a Petri dish. The challenges posed by these developments, to individuals, social, economic and political systems, necessitates exposition, thought and interaction in key areas of evolving knowledge," he said.

"One may ask why a Retreat. The answer is straight and simple. Because hyper global challenge and its pace of change demand a total focus away from the daily turmoil and struggle in the courts," he said.

"In the global race for control of creation and its conversion into currency, both domestic and international law have an innovation lag. This can be overcome only by understanding the reason for it.

"The understanding of the forces behind the lag in the law, compared to the knowledge explosion in other fields, needs a reflexive environment, in which the judicial mind can absorb and contemplate," the CJI said.

"Global challenges posed by an array of technologies affecting international trade and foreign direct investment apart, challenges of strengthening democratic institutions, strengthening accountability systems and combating corruption... Are matters of great contemporary importance," he added.

He also flagged issues of protection of human rights and the significance of humanitarian law, concerns of national security and the threat of global terrorism, economic growth and globalisation, climate change and environment.

"The soaking up or internalisation of rolling frontier of human endeavour, enveloping one sixth of the human race that lives in this country needs peaceful time. This retreat is an attempt to provide such quality time," he said.

"Learning is by building on what one already knows. But if you cannot have access to knowing, because of the private economy of selfish interest, then there is nothing to build on," he said.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has accused US President Barack Obama of hypocrisy for supporting those who want Britain to stay in the European Union.

Speaking just days before the American leader travels to London, Johnson told the BBC there is no way the United States would share sovereignty the way EU membership requires.

Obama has voiced support through aides for the United Kingdom remaining in the EU. But the White House has suggested that during his visit the president will stress that it is up to the British people to decide their future in a June 23 referendum.

Johnson says that while Obama has the "perfect right to make any intervention he likes," it is "nakedly hypocritical" to lend his weight to the campaign to stay in the EU.
Questioning the "business model" of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines for Vijay Mallya's mounting woes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the airline sector as such is doing well in India with many carriers making good profits.

Mallya, the owner of Kingfisher Airlines and many other companies that owe over Rs 9,000 crore of dues to lenders, is currently in London, defying Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons.

"I am not giving a final opinion on it. It could be attributed to the business model of a particular company," Jaitley yesterday said here in response to a question on Mallya, on which he refused to be directly dragged into.

"As far as the recoveries are concerned, in this (Mallya) case, banks are taking all possible steps. And whether there have been violations of some penal provisions, the investigating agencies are looking at it," he said.

A non-bailable warrant has been issued against Mallya after he refused to return to India to appear before the ED on three different occasions on investigations related to a money laundering case against him.

Jaitley's remarks came on a day when the External Affairs Ministry suspended Mallya's diplomatic for four weeks and threatened to revoke it if he fails to respond within a week on why his passport should not be impounded.

"I do not think it (Mallya's case) had anything to do with the government because a lot of his cases were also locked up in courts. When he was in India, I understand from the banking sector that almost every recovery, every step, was challenged in court. So he used the legal process till the date of his departure and then he had to abandon that," the minister said.

A member of Parliament, under the existing law, could lose his membership if one becomes an "adjudged insolvent", for which the bankruptcy law is necessary, he said.

"Generally, if you are not paying, that is different from the legal language in the constitution. There has to be a system under which you are adjudicated and judged as a declared insolvent and that only happens if you have an insolvency law in place. That's what the parliamentary committee is looking at not in his context but independent of that," he said, hoping that this case may help early passage of the law.

Jaitley further said the airlines sector in India is not suffering that much, unlike several other sectors like steel and power.

"If you look at other airline companies in India, most of them have turned around and are making (profits). Jet is now making profit. Indigo has made huge profits throughout. Spice Jet is making profits. Go Air is making profits," Jaitley said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of trying to "unleash" CBI and ED on Trinamool Congress as it speaks up against them and alleged that the Election Commission was working on the instructions of BJP.

"Even If Modi, BJP, Congress and CPI(M) join hands I am not afraid of them. You can unleash CBI and ED if you want. Everyday you people are insulting us. I will not tolerate this, I will give reply to such attacks," the Trinamool Congress supremo told a party rally at Satyanarayan Park in Central Kolkata.

"The CPI(M), Congress, BJP along with Modiji are trying to malign us. They are inflicting torture on us. I am not afraid of Delhi, I am not afraid of Congress, I am not scared of CPI(M), I am not afraid of Modiji," Banerjee said.

The BJP might be in power in Delhi but that has not given them the right to insult and torture someone, she said.

"You (BJP) may have come to power, but that does not mean that you will remain in power for entire life. Whoever is not agreeing with you people, you are engaging CBI, Income Tax and ED after them. More than 70,000 industrialists have left the country because of the income tax torture," Banerjee said.

Banerjee alleged that the Election Commission was working on the instructions of BJP.

"There are few leaders of BJP who demand some officers be transferred, and he is transferred. They are demanding that a showcause notice be sent to Mamata Banerjee and a showcause notice is being served. I will not say anything against Election Commission, because it is the BJP, CPI(M) and Congress who had levelled charges," the TMC chief said.

Arguing that the decision to form a new district (Asansol) had been taken in December last year, Banerjee said, "Before taking a decision, you (EC) should have asked us whether the complaint is true or not.

Banerjee said, "You (EC) could have asked government



officers. Its okay you have felt like showcausing (me) and you have showcaused. I am grateful to them that they have served me a showcause. But this is not the way that you will act on the orders of BJP leaders."



Her comment comes in the backdrop of Election Commission serving her a notice on April 14.

Referring to the Narada sting operation, Banerjee questioned how a decision on it could be reached even before the probe of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee is over.

"They want to remove five (TMC) MPs in the name of sting operation. If someone raises his voice he will be removed. They are saying that Ethics Committee will decide on that matter. If Ethics Committee will decide on the matter then how come they can say that they will be removed (from their MPs' post) already. Who are you to remove them?," She wondered.

"They (BJP) will remove whoever they want to. Will the country and the state be run like this? They (opposition in Bengal) have created a situation where killing me will help them in cooling their brains. They have so much dislike towards me," Banerjee said.

Banerjee alleged that BJP President Amit Shah is visiting from Delhi time and again and issuing "threats and the work is being done."



"The Congress, CPI(M) and BJP are working in tandem. The BJP is jealous of me." she said.

(REOPENS CAL8)



Banerjee questioned why CPI(M) Politburo Member Mohammed Salim was not arrested for making statements over taking revenge.

"One of my district presidents has been put under surveillance. My question is why Mohammed Salim is not arrested and put under surveillance for making revenge speech. Why is Adhir Chowdhury not being arrested," she said, in reference to TMC's Birbhum district president Anubrata Mandal put under surveillance by Election Commission.

Banerjee also touched on the transfer of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who was removed by the EC few days back, said he was punished even before charges against him were proved.

"The Police Commissioner is removed. They (Opposition) are making false allegations and removing him. I don't blame the Election Commission. The police Commissioner did very well during the flyover collapse. He is one of the brightest officers," she said.

"A BJP leader in a planned way complained against him and he was removed, even before the charges were proved. He was removed because BJP leader Rahul Sinha feels if he remains the Commissioner it would be tough for him to win the elections. He will lose in any case," she said.

While accusing the opposition of doing politics over the dead in the Posta flyover collapse case, Banerjee said, "So many people had died in Kerala due to an accident. We had expressed our condolences. But when some people die in a flyover collapse here, they are busy doing politics over it."



About the Saradha Chit Fund and other ponzi companies, Banerjee said the companies had come up during the CPI(M) rule and it was the TMC government which had arrested the owners of chit fund companies.

"It is the CPI(M) which has given birth to the chit fund companies in Bengal. Top CPI(M) leaders were involved in Chit Fund business," she said.
A man was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a local court for kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old about two and half years ago.

District and Sessions Judge Malaya Ranjan Das convicted the man and ordered the jail term. The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 25000 on the man, failing which he would undergo an additional year in prison.

The man had kidnapped the class 12 girl on December 26, 2013 when she was on way to her college at Aska on her bicycle. She was rescued by police from Aska the next day. The man was arrested following a complaint to the police by the girl's father.

The man has been in the jail since then and his bail pleas were rejected by the district and sessions and high court several times.
The Mexican army made a rare public apology over a scandal in which two soldiers and a policewoman tortured a terrified woman in a video that went viral.

It is just the latest allegation of abuse committed by security forces in Mexico, who are often accused of violent acts against civilians, including murder.

General Salvador Cienfuegos, the defence minister, read out the apology before 26,000 soldiers assembled at a military base in Mexico City yesterday.

"In the name of all of us who make up this great national institution, I offer my heartfelt apology to all in society wronged by this impermissible event," Cienfuegos said.

In the video, which went viral on social media this week, a barefoot woman is seen crying and screaming on the floor as a female soldier puts the muzzle of an assault rifle to her head.

A federal policewoman is then seen handcuffing the woman and proceeding to tightly wrap a plastic bag around her head while one of the officials demands threateningly: "Are you going to talk?"



The incident is reported to have taken place in February 2015 in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, in the southern state of Guerrero.

The defence ministry says it only learned of the video in December.

The male army captain and the female soldier seen in the video were arrested in January and charged with disobeying orders.

Mexican authorities are investigating a policewoman to determine if she was the one in the footage.

"It's necessary to publicly express our outrage over the regrettable events that occurred nearly 14 months ago," Cienfuegos said.

"Bad members of our institution besmirch the honourable behaviour of thousands of women and men in military uniform," he added.

"Although isolated, (such incidents) damage in a major way our image and the prestige we have worthily earned."



Cienfuegos told the soldiers they would continue to be on the frontlines of Mexico's war against drug cartels.

But he stressed: "We must not, nor cannot, confront illegality with more illegality. Crime is contained with the law in hand."



Federal prosecutors have been investigating the case officially since January 7 and they plan to try the three troops in a civilian court.
Having guided his team to victory with a stellar performance, leg-spinner Amit Mishra felt that it was opposition captain David Miller's wicket that became the "turning point" as the other batsmen found themselves uncder tremendous amount of pressure.

"I had some plans. I had watched some videos. I had discussed with Zak (Zaheer) how to get them out if they go for big shots. The plan was successful and I am happy," Mishra told reporters after Delhi overhauled the 112-run target with 39 balls to spare.

"I think the wicket of Miller was the turning point because it created a lot of pressure on them. I am very happy that I got a purple cap on my 100th match," said Mishra.

With 116 scalps, Mishra became the second highest wicket-taker in IPL history after Sri Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga.

"We get an idea from the body language of the batsmen as to when they are thinking of going for a big shot but I think what is more important is that I got the wickets on those particular deliveries."



Asked why he was not given another over, Mishra, who returned with figures of 3-0-11-4, said:"The plan was to give the fast bowlers more overs. It will help them as they need to bowl more at the death in the next matches. The best thing for me is that I contributed in the team's win."



Asked about the importance of the win to the team morale, Mishra said:"There has not been any problem with team morale. We are working hard and we are happy to win today. In T20, anything can happen. Our focus has always been to play well and not think about win or loss. We will try and focus on improving ourselves in the next matches," said Mishra.

The 33-year-old said the wicket was not supportive but the slowness of the track did help him to take the four wickets.

"It could have been a high-scoring game as well if we had not taken the wickets at regular intervals. I can't say it was a supportive wicket but it was slow wicket so it was an advantage because we took wickets before they could gauge the track."



Talking about Zaheer Khan's initial spell, Mishra said: "Zaheer bhai has always been a wicket-taker bowler whenever he has played. His spell created a lot of pressure and it helped me. Because when spinners come to bowl, batsmen think that they will go after the spinners and it creates more chances of taking wickets.
Advocating holding of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously and fixed terms for legislatures without the provision of mid-term dissolution, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today urged the President Pranab Mukherjee to take steps for this.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had said it would be desirable to hold all the elections at once.

"These days elections are always being held in one state or other. It has become a 24 hours job now for the ruling as well as other political parties, affecting development to a great extent," Chouhan said at the Fourth Retreat of Judges of Supreme Court at the National Judicial Academy (NJA) here.

"I urge the President to take steps so that elections of both the Parliament and state Assemblies are held simultaneously across the country once in five years. Fix the term of the house at five years and in case any leader of the house loses majority, then members should have the power to elect another leader. The house should not be dissolved before five years," he said.

Chouhan also called for state funding of political parties to curb the corruption and to "ensure transparency". "Otherwise those who pay for it will definitely look for ways to recover it," Chouhan said.

The Chief Minister also urged the Apex Court judges to come out with a solution like "pre-litigation mechanism" to reduce pendency and to provide relief in minor cases.

Earlier, welcoming the President and the judges, Chouhan highlighted the achievements of his government and invited them to attend the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Ujjain between April 22 and May 21.

Chief Justice of India T S Thakur and Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court A M Khanwilkar also addressed the function.
With the megapolis facing a massive challenge of growing population and urbanisation, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said there is a lot to learn from Shanghai, which has been able to tackle the issue of mass housing.

"We have a lot to learn from our partner countries -- Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. Mumbai is facing a problem of urbanisation and growing population. We have seen how Shanghai has been able to tackle the problem of mass housing and I believe we can learn from that model and implement in Mumbai to solve its problem of providing affordable housing," Fadnavis said at the concluding session of the three-days BRICS Friendship Cities Summit here.

He also said the partner countries need to share the best practises implemented by them in various fields like transport, security and mass housing among others.

Fadnavis said his government is considering roping in expertise from St Petersburg in Russia to clean up the sluggish Mithi river (in Mumbai) and make it navigable.

"Like South Africa, we are also facing the challenge of safety and security. We can therefore adopt the model being implemented by the country to combat threats to security. Similarly, there is a lot to learn from the 'Minha Casa, Minha Vida' program of Brazil to promote social housing," he added.

The chief minister further said inclusiveness is the key development of any city.

"Cities are not for the affluents or the haves of the society but for the underprivileged. Unless we integrate them in the planning process, the development of cities cannot be sustainable. There is a need for more interaction between the government and the citizens," he added.
In a rare honour, New York City declared this year's April 14 as 'Bindeshwar Pathak Day' in recognition of the contributions made by the Indian social activist and 'Sulabh International' founder for improving the lives of people engaged in the "most dehumanising situation".

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio honoured Pathak for his outstanding work to improve health and hygiene and "moving the world forward".

"Pathak has been an example of someone who saw a great injustice, saw something that to many people was impractical and permanent and had the creativity, energy, drive and hope to make the change," he said at the ceremony on April 14 attended by Pathak, 73, himself.

Pathak was presented with the New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award earlier this week here.

The Mayor said Pathak took his vision to help the oppressed and through his work and organisation, created new technology that improved public health and environment and "fundamentally changed the reality" for many communities.

He presented Pathak with the proclamation declaring April 14, 2016 as Bindeshwar Pathak Day, honouring Pathak for being a "pioneer" in advocating for human rights in India by campaigning for social reforms and developing innovative and environmentally-sound sanitation technologies.

"This visionary humanitarian has improved quality of life for millions and increased opportunities for education and employment.

"I commend Dr Pathak for his outstanding work to improve health and hygiene, provide vocational training, promote gender equality and give dignity and hope to impoverished people in India and far beyond," the proclamation read.

It added that Pathak's "lifelong" dedication to championing human rights has helped break the cycle of poverty and disenfranchisement throughout India.

The mayor lauded Pathak for improving the lives of people who worked in the "most dehumanising situation" and being a catalyst of change for them.

Sulabh, which engages nearly 50,000 people, has constructed nearly 1.3 million household toilets and 54 million government toilets based on an innovative design.

Apart from construction of toilets, the organisation is leading a movement to discourage manual cleaning of human waste.
There could be "stray" incidents of people on either side of the political spectrum making irresponsible statements but this could not be generalised as prevalence of a climate of intolerance in the country, Union Minister has said.

Dubbing such incidents as "terrible", the senior BJP leader, however, said that they are "rare" in a large country like India.

"There could be stray incidents of irresponsible statements by individuals on either side of the political spectrum, that does not mean that zamin per koi iss tarah ki activity hai (intolerance exists)," Jaitley said during a media roundtable with Indian reporters here.

"These are bad incidents. These are terrible incidents, but these are extremely rare in a large country. Historically stray incidents have taken place," he said.

Responding to a question on alleged prevalence of intolerance in the country, Jaitley described this as a creation of media.

"On the ground, my own understanding of the subject is, are there a lot of things happening that show this (intolerance)? The answer is no. There could be in a large country like India some incident or the other, which takes place one time, which could be considered highly improper and condemnable," he said.

When asked if there is any introspection within the party, he said, "Actually neither in the party agenda nor on the ground there is any such activity wherein in a large country like India it (incidents of intolerance) is happening state after state."



"A news channel can show same four people giving irresponsible statements and build a story around it. That seems to be more of what is happening.

"What gets projected is in a large body of politics there would always be three or four people who would react aggressively and disproportionally to events," he observed.

"So loose comments, loose statements, improper statements, when the television camera confronts you, you say what you should not say, aise char, panch, chhe log hai (there are four, five, six such people), usko aap environment of intolerance kah do? (and you describe them as an environment of intolerance)?" the minister asked.

The Finance Minister is currently on a week-long tour of the US primarily to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

He also had the annual India US Economic and Financial Dialogue on Thursday and bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Luxemburg and Bangladesh.

Over the weekend, he would travel to New York to interact with the business community there and address a meeting at the United Nations.
A BMW car hit three motorcycles, leaving six persons injured in Sector 24 area here, police said today.

According to police, the vehicle hit three bikes near the Adobe crossing here, causing injuries to their six riders, one of whom identified as Gulfam Ali, an AC mechanic, was stated to be in a critical condition in the ICU of a hospital.

Three other persons who suffered major injuries in the incident were identified as Prem Kumar, Joginder and Anwar and admitted to a hospital where their condition is said to be stable, police said.

The remaining two suffered minor bruises, they said, adding that a search has been launched to nab the accused driver.

The police said they have identified the man who was driving the BMW as one Vinod, a property dealer by profession who lives in Mayur Vihar Phase III in Delhi. But he is yet to be arrested till late this evening. Vinod also runs gym in Sector 22 in Noida.

Police said the BMW was registered in the name of Neetu, a resident of Faridabad. Vinod was stated to be family member of Neetu.

Talib, brother of one of the injured, alleged that BMW driver had whipped out a pistol after the accident to scare away the people around and fled in another car. However, the police denied any information about this.

Earlier this month, a 32-year-old marketing executive was mowed down by a speeding Mercedes sedan in Delhi's Civil Lines area which was allegedly being driven by a juvenile.
Against the backdrop of growing incidents of hate crime against the Sikhs here, a New York City Mayor has lauded the community's resilience in overcoming challenges of discrimination and making the US "vibrant".

"I have admired all of the South Asian communities in the city for the crucial role in making New York City vibrant. The Sikh community for me has been a revelation, becoming close to this community and friends with this community and getting to know the glory of the Sikh culture and history," Bill De Blasio said at an event here on Thursday.

Wishing New Yorkers a "Happy Vaisakhi", the mayor voiced appreciation for the resilience shown by the Sikh community despite facing discrimination time and again and continuing their contribution to the social and economic fabric of the country.

He said it has been a "revelation" to understand the "challenges, discrimination and unfairness" the community has confronted and overcome time and time again.

He expressed gratitude to the Sikh community for "giving back so much to the city and America."



He added that he espoused the long-held beliefs of the Sikh community of "commonality of all humanity."



The remarks by the mayor come against the backdrop of increase in recent months in hate crimes targeting members of the Sikh community.

Last year on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, 53-year-old Inderjit Singh Mukker of Illinois was brutally assaulted and called "terrorist" by a teenager.

In March, hate crime charges were filed against an individual for brutally attacking Balwinder Jit Singh, a Sikh Los Angeles County bus driver.

In 2014, Sandeep Singh, a Sikh father in New York City, was run over and dragged 30 feet after being called a "terrorist."



In 2012, a gunman with Neo-Nazi ties walked into a Gurdwara and shot and killed six innocent Sikh victims in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in one of the most brutal attacks on the Sikh community in the US.
Odisha government today urged the Centre to set up a national-level pulses research institute in the state so that suitable varieties can be developed in a time-bound manner.

"I would request you to consider setting up a national level pulses research institute or a branch of Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR) Kanpur in the state so that suitable varieties can be developed here in a time-bound manner," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

Patnaik said pulses are grown on about 20.88 lakh hectares of land -- 6.86 lakh hectares in kharif season and 14.02 lakh hectares in rabi season -- higher than most states in India.

Odisha has about 16 lakh hectares of fallow rice fields which can be easily utilised for cultivation of pulses during rabi season, he said.

Mung, urad, arhar, kulthi, gram, cowpea, field pea and lentil are some of the major pulses grown in the state. The seed replacement rate of pulses is generally low due to non-availability of suitable cold-tolerant varieties in the state as pulses are grown in large areas during winter season as pyrra crops, he said.

Patnaik pointed out that many indigenous local varieties of pulses, conducive to these climatic conditions are being used, but the yield potential of these varieties is below the national average.

"There is a need for research on pulses in the state for development of suitable varieties to enhance the income of the farmers," the chief minister said.

Patnaik said the state has taken several steps to bridge the yield gap in pulses like inviting various national and international institutes to develop suitable location-specific new varieties.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar arrived in Shanghai tonight on his first visit to China to shore up defence ties amid strains in bilateral relations over Beijing's move to block India's attempts in the UN to ban Pakistan-based terror group JeM chief Masood Azhar.

He is the first Indian Defence Minister to visit China in three years. His predecessor A K Antony visited China in 2013.

During his four-day visit, he is expected to hold talks with top Chinese leaders and Defence officials and meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Officials say during his visit he will also visit Chengdu Military Area Command which looks after the border with India.

Parrikar accompanied by a high-level delegation arrived by regular Air India flight.

He will arrive in Beijing tomorrow after addressing a get-together of Indian professionals based in Shanghai being organised by the Indian Association.

He is scheduled to hold talks with top Chinese defence officials on Monday.

Indian officials said while no agreements were expected to be signed during Parrikar's visit, it is aimed at firming up defence ties.

His visit follows high-level visits by top Chinese defence officials including the highest ranking Chinese General Fan Changlong, the Vice Chairman of Central Military Commission (CMC) to India last year.

CMC headed by President Xi Jinping is the overall commanding authority of China's 2.3 million armed forces.

In the last two years, defence cooperation between the two countries has been enhanced with high-level interactions.

Both sides had also set upWorking Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to discuss the issue of incursions along the 3,488-km long disputedborder.

Officials on both sides acknowledge that it helped to address the tensions.

His talks with Chinese defence officials will be immediately followed by the visit of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who would be attend the 19th boundary talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

Doval and Yang, who are designated Special Representatives for boundary talks, also have a mandate to discuss entire gamut of bilateral issues.

China's decision to block India's move to ban Azhar in UN for his alleged role in Pathankot terrorist attack is expected to figure in their talks.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he will talk with his commanders in the coming days to identify additional ways the US can intensify the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, including more airstrikes, cyberattacks and American troops on the ground.

He said the United States wants to do more in the fight and is "only limited by our own ingenuity" and ideas. Carter expressed confidence that the White House will approve recommendations, saying nothing he has asked President Barack Obama for yet in the conflicts has been turned down.

Carter spoke to reporters at Al-Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi, an important launching point for military operations against the Islamic State group in the region.

His visit comes as the US is considering moves to boost the number of American troops in Iraq, as well as other steps to help the Iraqis take on IS.

Carter suggested the US may consider shifting the nature of its military campaign against the extremists, adding there could be more rapid targeting of the enemy as intelligence on the ground improves.

"As we've learned more and are more on top of the enemy, you can do more dynamic targeting," Carter said.

Late last month, US Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that he and Carter believe there will be an increase in US forces in Iraq in the coming weeks. Any final decision would be worked out with the Iraqi government and require Obama's approval.

It's unclear whether the increase would force the White House to formally approve a higher cap on troop levels in Iraq, now set at 3,780.

The Pentagon says there are close to 3,400 US troops there now. According to US officials, however, there are actually as many as 5,000 American forces in the country, but some do not count against the cap because they are in Iraq on temporary duty.

Dunford and Carter have said that accelerating the fight against US could mean using Apache helicopters for combat missions, deploying more US special operations forces or using American military advisers in Iraqi units closer to the front lines.

The US also is likely to provide additional artillery fire and targeting help for Iraqi forces advancing on Mosul. Those American forces, however, would remain well behind the front lines.

Carter has said that Obama and other US leaders will encourage other Gulf nations to contribute economically to the effort to rebuild Iraq once IS is defeated.
Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson today in how to treat refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos.

The Vatican said the three families, including six children, would be supported by the Holy See and cared for by Italy's Catholic Sant'Egidio Community.

Sant'Egidio has worked out a program with the Italian government to grant deserving refugees humanitarian visas to live in Italy while their asylum applications are being processed.

The Vatican said Francis wanted to make a "gesture of welcome" at the end of his five-hour visit to Lesbos, where he implored Europe to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity."



The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its shores in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

Francis visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece to thank Greece for its welcome and highlight the plight of refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey.

At a ceremony in the port of Lesbos to thank locals, Francis said he understood Europe's concern about the migrant influx. But he said migrants are first of all human beings "who have faces, names and individual stories" and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

"God will repay this generosity and that of other surrounding nations, who from the beginning have welcomed with great openness the large number of people forced to migrate," he said.

Many refugees fell to their knees and wept at Francis' feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention center. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as they passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet sobbing uncontrollably. A woman told the pope that her husband was in Germany but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos.

In his remarks to them, Francis said the refugees should know that they are not alone and shouldn't lose hope. He said he wanted to visit them to hear their stories and to bring the world's attention to their plight.

"We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity," he said. "May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the Good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history.
Declaring "we are all migrants," Pope Francis today brought a message of hope to thousands of people facing expulsion from Greece as he slammed the world community for failing to end the wars fuelling the crisis.

In an emotional visit that saw people kneeling in tears at the pope's feet, the pontiff told exiles they were "not alone" and pleaded for the world to show "common humanity" following a hardening of the EU's stance on migrants.

And in a clear message to hardline states who have refused to participate in a European Union migrant relocation scheme, the 79-year-old leader of the Catholic Church took with him three Muslim Syrian families whose homes have been bombed.

"You are not alone... Do not lose hope," the pope, who was accompanied by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, told migrants at the Moria registration centre, where around 3,000 people are being held.

The vast majority have requested asylum but will likely be deported under a controversial agreement reached last month to tackle Europe's refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.

As the pope was escorted through Moria to meet a select number of migrants, one man broke into tears as he knelt at the pontiff's feet, requesting his blessing.

Another woman who slipped past security to approach the pontiff also broke down in tears as he paused to listen to her.

Other migrants gathered outside held handmade signs that read 'We want freedom', 'Let my people go' and 'Papa cherche a nous sauver' ('Pope, try to save us').

A group of small children presented the pope with a dozen drawings.

Lesbos is one of the first ports of call in the EU for the hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who have fled war, poverty and persecution in the Middle East and Asia across the Aegean Sea via nearby Turkey in the past year.

The religious leaders held a prayer at Lesbos harbour in memory of the hundreds of migrants who have drowned during the voyage in overcrowded smuggler boats.

"Merciful God...Though many of their graves bear no name, to you each one is known, loved and cherished," the pope said.

"May we never forget them, but honour their sacrifice with deeds more than words," he said.

Earlier they signed a declaration calling on the international community to "respond with courage" to the humanitarian crisis and calling on religious communities to step up efforts to assist refugees.

The pope stressed that migrants were not numbers but people with "faces, names and individual stories" who were preyed on by "unscrupulous thugs" and called for "resolute" efforts to clamp down on arms trafficking.
Pope Francis received an emotional welcome today on the Greek island of Lesbos during a visit aimed at showing solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty, a small group of whom he hopes to bring back to the Vatican.

The pontiff's landmark visit comes amid controvery over a deal last month to end Europe's refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.

At a refugee camp, where refugees knelt before the pope, one man cried "Father bless me" as the pontiff smiled and placed his hand on the man's head.

"This is a voyage marked by sadness, a sad voyage," the pope told reporters during the flight from Rome.

"We will witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War. We will see so many people who are suffering, who are fleeing and do not know where to go," he said.

"And we are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived," he said.

An official from Greece's state refugee coordination agency said Francis, who has repeatedly spoken out about the plight of the migrants risking their lives to reach Europe, wanted to take back a small number of refugees from Lesbos.

The chosen refugees are expected to be from those who arrived on Lesbos before the EU-Turkey deportation deal took effect in March, the official told AFP, without specifying whether this would take place immediately after the pope's five-hour visit or at a later stage.

Greek public television ERT said three families from Kara Tepe refugee camp on Lesbos, who were chosen in a draw, would be the ones to go.

Lesbos has been the first port of call in the EU for hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing war, poverty and persecution in the Middle East and Asia across the Aegean Sea from nearby Turkey in the past year.

The influx has sparked fierce disagreements between EU members and brought the bloc's system of open borders to the brink of collapse.

Lesbos has also become the focus of criticism of the EU's deal with Turkey to take back migrants who travel to the Greek islands on boats operated by people smugglers, in return for billions in EU cash.

New arrivals on Lesbos are being detained while waiting to be processed to determine whether they have a legitimate claim to protection from conflicts like the war in Syria or from fear of persecution.

Pope Francis, who was accompanied by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, visited the Moria processing centre, which is currently housing around 3,000 people.
Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew fly to Lesbos today for a visit that will again turn the spotlight on Europe's controversial deal with Turkey to end an unprecedented refugee crisis.

The Greek island, where hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers and other migrants have arrived in recent months, is on the frontline of a humanitarian crisis that has sparked disagreements between European countries and brought the bloc's system of open borders to the brink of collapse.

The island has also become the focus for criticism of the EU's March deal to ensure so-called economic migrants who travel to the Greek islands on boats operated by people smugglers are quickly sent back to Turkey, which has agreed to take them in return for billions in EU cash.

The deal has resulted in new arrivals being detained on Lesbos pending processing to determine which of them have a legitimate claim to refuge from conflicts like the war in Syria or from fear of persecution.

"Perhaps (the Pope) can help open the borders?" Nedal, a 35-year-old Syrian being looked after with his family by Catholic aid group Caritas, told AFP ahead of the visit.

The two religious leaders, accompanied by Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, will spend five hours on Lesbos where they will visit the Moria processing centre.

The facility, currently housing around 3,000 people, has been described as a centre for "arbitrary detention" by rights groups. Amnesty International has urged the pope to use his time on Lesbos to speak out against the EU-Turkey deal concluded last month.

Francis has framed his visit as an awareness-raising exercise trip and his spokesman insisted this week that its purpose was "strictly humanitarian and ecumenical, not political".

The pontiff, however, has demonstrated in the past that he is not one to mince his words and his spokesman reiterated: "If he the pope has something to say he will say it."



Francis said earlier this week that the goal of his trip was "to show closeness and solidarity with the refugees as well as the citizens of Lesbos and to all the Greek people who have been so generous in their welcome".

The use of the term 'refugee' was not accidental. The former Jesuit priest -- and son of an Italian emigrant to Argentina -- has repeatedly said he does not accept the EU's distinction between those fleeing conflict and those fleeing poverty and starvation created by global economic inequalities.

And that line has been backed by Bartholomew, the Turkey-based leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, who said Europe as a whole must display the same generosity as the people of Lesbos.

"This offends God himself," he said. "The segregation of certain groups of people to the advantage of others does not reflect His desire.
Pope Francis, who visited the Greek migrant hotspot island of Lesbos today, took three Syrian families with him on the papal plane back to the Vatican, describing the move as a "humanitarian gesture... (but) a drop in the ocean."



Speaking to reporters on board the flight home, the pope said taking in the refugees back had been suggested by an aide a week earlier.

"Everything has been done according to the rules, with the agreement of the Greek and Italian governments," he said. "They have their papers, and everything is in order."



The three families were all Muslim, the Vatican said in a statement earlier.

"I didn't make the selection. These three families had papers which were in order and it was feasible," the pope said.

"There were two Christian families but their paperwork wasn't ready. (Religion) was not grounds for exemption. All refugees are children of God."



Asked about the symbolic nature of his actions, as Europe struggles to deal with its biggest migrant crisis since World War II, the Argentinian pontiff paraphrased the sainted Mother Teresa of Kolkata in reply: "It's a drop in the ocean, but after this drop the ocean will never be the same again."



The pope said he understood European fears over the massive number of migrant arrivals but added that "we have a great responsibility for welcoming" them.

"To build walls is not a solution," he added. "We must build bridges but build bridges intelligently, through dialogue, through work."



The refugee families to be taken in by the Vatican, which include six children, will be initially cared for by the community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, the Holy See said.

They originally lived in Damascus and Deir Azzor, an area currently occupied by jihadists, and have lost their homes to bombings, it said.
President Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated a two-storey rest house at the Raj Bhawan here which was constructed after the old one got damaged in an incident of fire some time ago.

Ajay Tirkey, Principal Secretary to Governor Ram Naresh Yadav (89), was present with other dignitaries and senior officers when the President cut the ribbon.

The Governor couldn't make it to the function as he has been hospitalised for the past two days, according to the Raj Bhawan (Governor's residence) Public Relation Office.

The rest house has five suites, two rooms, and a modern gym for the VVIPs, a Raj Bhawan official said.

He said the rest house was built with an amount of Rs 34.9 lakh in 18 months.

The old rest house on the Raj Bhawan premises too has been repaired, an official said.

The President will also be inaugurating the fourth retreat of Supreme Court judges at the National Judicial Academy here later in the day.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the President's Bhopal visit with deployment of 1,800 police personnel, including eight SPs, two DIGs and, an IG.
Protesters took to the streets of Skopje for the fourth night in a row, after Macedonia confirmed snap June 5 elections as the country grapples with a bitter political crisis.

The date was officially set despite the angry anti-government rallies in protest at President Gjorge Ivanov's decision to halt probes into more than 50 public figures, including top politicians embroiled in a wire-tapping scandal.

"Based on my constitutional and legal authority... I today signed the decision to call early elections... On June 5, 2016," parliament speaker Trajko Veljanoski said in a statement.

The early elections, originally agreed for April 24 and then postponed in February to June 5, are part of an EU-brokered agreement to solve the country's seething political feud.

But Zoran Zaev, leader of the main opposition SDSM, insisted yesterday that he would boycott the vote, claiming that conditions for a free and fair vote were not in place.

Ivanov, however, pledged to push ahead, vowing that the ballot would be a "new chapter for Macedonia".

Thousands of people, mainly SDSM supporters, took to the streets again yesterday, demanding Ivanov either revoke his decision or resign, as well as calling for the election to be postponed.

Police responded by blocking off traffic near parliament and deploying four armoured vehicles and a water cannon.

One placard read: "Exchange the president for 10,000 refugees" -- a reference to Europe's migrant problem and the fact that Macedonia last month closed its border with Greece where thousands of Syrian and other migrants are camped in squalid conditions as they attempt to reach Western Europe.

An AFP reporter witnessed no serious incidents before the crowds on the streets dispersed in the evening.

Macedonia's political crisis began last year when the SDSM accused then-prime minister Nikola Gruevski of wiretapping around 20,000 people, including politicians and journalists, and said the recordings revealed high-level corruption.

The government denied the accusations and, in response, filed charges against Zaev, accusing him of "spying" and attempting to "destabilise" the Balkan country.

Gruevski, who had been prime minister since 2006, resigned in January in order to pave the way for early elections.
With the mantra of "Reform to Transform India", the Indian government has embarked on a path of far reaching structural reforms to foster strong and sustainable growth, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the IMF today.

"The present government is following the approach of 'Reform to Transform India' through far reaching structural reforms to foster strong and sustainable growth," Jaitley said in his address to the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Measures, inter alia, to enhance infrastructure investment, incorporation of bankruptcy law, improving business climate and significant tax reforms such as GST are being pushed forward, he said.

Jaitley, who is here on a week-long visit to the US, said the Indian government is taking steps to reform institutions, simplify procedures and repeal obsolete laws.

"A progressive and non-adversarial tax regime incorporating best international practices is being put in place," he said, giving a brief presentation on the key steps being taken by the Indian government to improve the country's economy.

Initiatives such as 'Make in India, 'Startup India', 'Standup India', 'Mudra bank' and 'Skill India' are focused at encouraging innovations, entrepreneurship and job creation, Jaitley said.

At the same time, novel welfare and social security schemes have been implemented to improve social outcomes, he said.

A new crop insurance scheme with attractive premium charge has been launched to protect farmers from income losses due to crop failures. The scheme protects farmers from losses due to crop failures, Jaitley stated.

Further, the government is leveraging digital technology to ensure that all eligible persons are included under the direct benefit transfer programme.

Accordingly, the AADHAAR (unique identification) system with statutory backing will form the backbone for targeted delivery of financial and other subsidies, benefits and services, he said.

In his address, Jaitley said India's balanced macroeconomic environment and strong growth prospects make it a 'bright' spot in the global scenario.

According to advanced estimates, GDP growth in 2015-16 is likely to attain level of 7.6 per cent, higher than 7.2 per cent in 2014-15.

"Quarterly growth rates during the first three quarters of 2015-16 have showed consistently strong traction, with the 3rd quarter registering a growth of 7.3 per cent as compared with 6.5 per cent in the same quarter in 2014-15," Jaitley said.

"The growth performance is more credible given that it



has been achieved despite contraction in our exports due to slowdown in global economy and two consecutive years of monsoon shortfall," the Finance Minister said.

The Gross Fiscal Deficit (GFD) of the central government at 3.9 per cent in 2015-16 was met by recovering higher tax and non-tax revenues without reducing planned spending or reducing allocation for pro-poor schemes, thereby underpinning the quality of fiscal consolidation, he said.

Despite the additional burden of pay and pensions on account of 7th central pay commission and defence pensions, the government is aiming to attain GFD target of 3.5 per cent in 2016-17 as per the medium term fiscal framework, Jaitley said.

He said the focus of the government will be on expenditure prioritisation particularly in the farm and rural sector, the social sector, infrastructure and recapitalisation of banks.

Fiscal policy has to play a vital role in sustaining overall growth in the uncertain global environment, Jaitley said.

With gains from low commodity prices, mainly oil, the current account deficit (CAD) was contained at 1.3 per cent of GDP in 2014-15 and is projected to remain stable 1.4 per cent by end of 2015-16, he said.

"However, there are concerns about export growth which is declining consecutively for more than a year due to slowdown in global demand," Jaitley added.
Curfew-like restrictions continued for the fourth day in parts of Kashmir following killing of five persons in security forces action since Tuesday, even as mobile Internet services have been snapped across the Valley.

Strict restrictions have been imposed in some areas in north Kashmir, including Kupwara and Handwara towns, to maintain law and order, a police official said.

He said restrictions also continued in some police station areas of Srinagar city as a precautionary measure.

The affected police station areas include Maharajgunj, Khanyar, Nowhatta, Rainawari, Safakadal and Maisuma, he said.

The restrictions were imposed following death of three persons during protests against alleged molestation of a girl by a soldier in Handwara town on Tuesday.

Another youth was killed in Drugmulla area of Kupwara during protests against the Handwara incident a day after.

In the fresh spate of violence yesterday, 18-year-old Arif Hussain Dar was killed while three others sustained bullet injuries when army opened fire to disperse stone-pelting protestors outside a camp in Nathnusa area of Kupwara, 100 kms from here, the official said.

Mobile Internet services across Kashmir have been completely snapped to curb rumour mongering, the official said.

More than 40 security forces men were injured in the clashes yesterday, the official said.

Despite severe provocations, the deployment on ground exercised maximum restraint, he said.

He said incidents of stone-pelting were reported from Mir Mohalla, Hyhama Chowk, Kralpora in Kupwara, Kralgund, Magam in Handwara and Cement Bridge, Baramulla yesterday.

Police have appealed to the public to maintain calm and



not to resort to violence.

Meanwhile, normal life remained affected elsewhere in the Valley due to strike called by separatist groups to protest the killing of the youth yesterday.

Shops, business establishments, private educational institutions and petrol pumps in most district headquarters of the Valley were shut, the official said.

Police and paramilitary CRPF have been deployed in strength in sensitive areas to foil any attempt to hold protests.

Most of the separatist leaders have either been arrested or kept under house arrest.

Kashmir University has postponed all examinations scheduled for today. A spokesman of the varsity said fresh dates for these examinations would be notified later.
A local court today sent to 14-day judicial custody two former policemen arrested in connection with the 2010 murder of Pune-based RTI activist Satish Shetty.

A CBI team produced both the accused B R Andhalkar, former police inspector with local crime branch (LCB) and his subordinate, former Assistant Police Inspector (API) Namdev Kauthale, in Shivajinagar court, where Additional Sessions Judge S B Kachare remanded them to judicial custody.

Citing a threat to their clients' lives inside the jail, counsel of both the accused requested the court to move them to some other jail. However, the court rejected the plea and ordered to keep both the suspects in separate barracks in Yerawada jail.

The defence counsel told the court that their clients were previously attached to the LCB of Pune Rural Police and during their stint, they sent many criminals behind the bars, hence there will be a threat to their lives inside the jail as several such criminals are still inside the prison.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the murder case, had arrested the then police inspector, Andhalkar and Kauthale recently and got their custody to "unearth" the larger conspiracy behind murder.

According to CBI, Andhalkar was arrested after it emerged that he had allegedly "conspired with others and fabricated and manipulated evidence" whereas Kauthale was accused of "creating false evidence and fake eye-witnesses to shield the real conspirators and killers".

Shetty was murdered in Pune by unidentified assailants when he had stepped out of his house for morning walk at Talegaon Dabhade town in Pune district on January 13, 2010. He had been attacked with swords.

After filing a closure report in a local court in August 2014 saying that it could not find any prosecutable evidence against the suspects, CBI in early 2015 reopened the probe in view of new evidence recovered in searches in Pune and Mumbai.

CBI had carried out the searches at 21 locations to probe allegations of land-grabbing along the Mumbai-Pune Highway on the directions of the Bombay High Court.

The case had been reopened following the searches.
Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders briefly met Pope Francis at the Vatican today, using the lightning visit to align his White House bid with the popular pontiff's advocacy of a "moral economy."



Sanders, who broke away from the presidential campaign trail to travel to Rome, spoke of the five-minute meeting afterward in interviews with CNN and ABC, calling the pope "a beautiful man."



There were no cameras at the meeting, which was described as an encounter in a foyer at the pope's residence at Santa Marta, shortly before he departed for the Greek island of Lesbos to see the plight of refugees.

The quick meeting was particularly striking because Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, is a secular Jew whose positions on social issues are far from those of the pope.

"I was leaving Santa Marta. He knew that I was leaving and he was kind enough to greet me," the pope later told reporters on the flight home from Lesbos.

"I greeted him and his wife and another couple who were with them and staying at Santa Marta. Nothing more," the pope said.

"It was a matter of politeness and if anybody thinks that greeting somebody amounts to meddling in politics, they should go find a psychiatrist," he said.

But it clearly was a dramatic way for Sanders to gain attention for his campaign, just three days before a crucial primary in New York, where he faces off against frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Sanders has made attacks on Wall Street, the "billionaire class" and a growing rich-poor divide the core of his campaign, and he seized the opportunity today to identify with Francis's calls for greater economic equality.

"I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the planet and injecting the need for morality in the global economy," Sanders told ABC.

On CNN, Sanders praised the pope's call for "a moral economy" and the need to "transform our energy system so as to prevent climate change from wreaking havoc on this planet."



He said he wanted Francis to know "how appreciative I was of the extraordinary role he is playing throughout the world in raising consciousness about massive levels of income and wealth inequality, greed such that the top one percent now owns more wealth globally than the bottom 99 per cent.
Scores of people were feared buried alive today after two powerful quakes hit southern Japan a day apart, killing at least 35 people, as a forecast storm threatened more devastating landslides.

Homes, roads and railway lines were swept away when huge hillsides collapsed as thousands of tonnes of mud was dislodged by the thunderous seismic tremors.

Buildings were reduced to rubble, including a university dormitory and apartment complexes, with dozens of people unaccounted for over a wide area.

"We are aware of multiple locations where people have been buried alive," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

"Police, firefighters and Self Defense Force (military) personnel are doing all they can to rescue them."



More than 90,000 people have been evacuated, including 300 from an area close to a dam thought to be at risk of collapse.

A hospital was left teetering by Saturday morning's 7.0 quake, with doctors and patients rushed from the building in darkness.

Isolated villages in mountainous areas near Kumamoto city were completely cut off by landslides and damage to roads. At least 1,000 people were believed trapped in one settlement and expected to spend the night in public buildings, reports said.

Aerial footage showed a bridge on a main trunk road had crashed onto the carriageway below it, its pillars felled.

The quake came as emergency responders were working to reach areas already hit by a 6.2 magnitude tremor that struck late Thursday. Both quakes were very shallow and caused violent shaking.

Adding to worries was the eruption of a nearby volcano, although seismologists cautioned there was no evidence of a link and said activity was limited.

Aftershocks continued to rock Kumamoto on Kyushu island and its surroundings, an area unaccustomed to the powerful quakes that regularly rattle other parts of Japan.

Thursday's initial quake affected older buildings and killed nine people, but Saturday's brought newer structures crashing down, including a municipal office in the city of Uto.

"The total number of deaths reached 35," Mariko Kuramitsu, a spokeswoman at the Kumamoto prefectural government, told AFP.

Nearly 1,000 people have been hurt, 184 of them seriously, she added.
A senior figure in Gambia's main opposition has died in custody after leading a protest for electoral reform and the resignation of strongman President Yahya Jammeh, his party and a rights group said today.

Solo Sandeng, who had recently been promoted to organising secretary of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), died following his arrest and detention on Thursday by riot police, they said.

"We have received some reports that Solo Sandeng died in detention. We understand he died shortly after his arrest for participating in what we've been told by eyewitnesses was a peaceful protest," said Amnesty International west Africa researcher Sabrina Mahtani.

The UDP confirmed his death to AFP this morning, while leader Ousainou Darboe later told a gathering of activists that two female protesters were also in a coma in detention following their arrest.

The circumstances of Sandeng's death were "as yet unknown", Mahtani said, calling on the authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation and to release any other UDP members still being held.

Gambia's information minister did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

Gambian security forces beat dozens of UDP activists who had gathered just outside the capital of Banjul on Thursday to press for reform, before rounding them up and taking them to an unknown location.

Sandeng was taken away separately from his colleagues. He had previously been detained by the authorities in 2013, according to Amnesty.

President Jammeh was out of the country when the protest happened, attending a summit of leaders from the world's Muslim countries in Istanbul.

A military officer and former wrestler, he has ruled the tiny west African country with an iron fist since he seized power in a coup in 1994, and is regularly accused of sanctioning a catalogue of human rights abuses.

Amnesty's Mahtani said further repressive measures against opposition activity was likely in the run-up to a presidential election in December widely expected to return Jammeh to power for a fifth term.

"We are concerned with the election period coming up that there will be a further crackdown on fundamental human rights," she said.
Rajya Sabha MP Anil Sahni, who was served a show cause notice by JD(U) today for his alleged involvement in LTC scam, pleaded innocence and said he would send his reply to the party.

"I have not received any show-cause notice. I am in Muzaffarpur and the notice might have been delivered in Delhi (residence)...But I'll explain my position in my reply to the party," Sahni told PTI.

Sahni, who is a second term Rajya Sabha member, reiterated his stand that he was innocent and had actually been implicated by those whom he had exposed in the LTC scam.

Asked if he has met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the new JD(U) President, Sahni said "not so far".

"It's a matter within the (JDU) family. Whenever I get a call from Kumar, I'll meet him and make my point and tell him the truth," Sahni said.

The JD(U) Rajya Sabha member asked the probe agency to look into his bank accounts to ascertain money flow on this count.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari had a few days back given his approval to CBI to prosecute Sahni against whom the agency had filed a charge sheet for alleged cheating and corruption in LTC Scam.

CBI had filed a charge sheet against Sahni alleging that he, in conspiracy with other persons, used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha to the tune of Rs 23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement without undertaking the actual journey.

Besides Sahni, whose term in Rajya Sabha ends in April 2018, others named in the CBI charge sheet were Anup Singh Panwar, an employee of Delhi-based Air Cruise Travels Private Limited, N S Nair, then Office Superintendent (Traffic), Air India and one Arvind Tiwari.

Meanwhile, opposition BJP attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the issue.

"Despite Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari giving his permission to prosecute Anil Sahni in Rs 23.71 lakh LTC scam, why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is still maintaining silence?" senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said in a statement.

"Nitish Kumar who talks about zero tolerance on corruption should answer as why Sahni has not been suspended from the party so far?" Modi asked.
Six Nigerian nationals have been arrested for allegedly duping a city resident of Rs 51 lakh on the pretext of sanctioning a loan of Rs 3 crore, police said today.

While four of the accused were arrested from Bengaluru 10 days back, two others were held from Gurgaon on April 11, Cyberabad police said.

"Responding to calls from different cellphone numbers and e-mails from one Dr Arnold Collins representing M/s Kason Financial Service, New Delhi, the victim deposited money in several bank accounts," Officer on Special Duty (Crimes) B Naveen Kumar said.

"The money was sent to the victim by her husband Sumanth Toranala, working in Dubai," he said.

The kingpin of the gang is a Nigerian national Urieto Isesele (23), who has been staying in India illegally since 2011 and cheated many Indians and persons of Indian origin living in the Middle-East countries, a release from Cyberabad Police said.

Isesele's roommates - James Omonbeleghan (26), Ogbeifun Abel Inegbenoise (24) and Omobhude Onuwabhagbe Collins (24) - provided SIM cards, data cards and sent e-mails to potential loan seekers. They were arrested from Bengaluru on April 6, police said.

Two other Nigerians - Henry Ominunu (32) and Wisdom (26)- who helped Isesele in receiving money sent from abroad using fake documents in Delhi, were arrested on April 11 from Gurgaon, they said.

Rs 30,000 in cash, four original and one fake passports, five laptops, 14 mobile phones, three data cards and three USB drives with templates of documents used in the fraud, have been recovered from the accused, police said, adding investigation into the case is on.
The wooden home barely withstood the first earthquake. An even stronger one the next night dealt what might have been the final blow if not to the house, then to the Tanaka family's peace of mind.

The Tanakas joined about 50 other residents of the southern Japanese town of Ozu who were planning to sleep in their cars at a public park today after two nights of increasingly terrifying earthquakes that have killed 41 people and injured about 1,500, flattened houses and triggered major landslides.

"I don't think we can go back there. Our life is in limbo," said 62-year-old Yoshiaki Tanaka, as other evacuees served rice balls for dinner. He, his wife and his 85-year-old mother fled their home after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck today at 1.25 am, just 28 hours after a magnitude-6.5 quake hit the same area.

Army troops and other rescuers, using military helicopters to reach some stranded at a mountain resort, rushed today to try to reach scores of trapped residents in hard-hit communities near Kumamoto, a city of 740,000 on the southwestern island of Kyushu.

Heavy rain started falling today night, threatening to complicate the relief operation and set off more mudslides.

"Daytime today is the big test" for rescue efforts, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said early today.

Landslides had already cut off roads and destroyed bridges, slowing down rescuers.

Nearly 200,000 homes were without electricity, Japanese media reported, and an estimated 400,000 households were without running water.

Kumamoto prefectural official Riho Tajima said that more than 200 houses and other buildings had been either destroyed or damaged, and that 91,000 people had evacuated from their homes.

Hundreds of people lined up for rations at distribution points before nightfall, bracing for the rain and strong winds that were expected. Local stores quickly ran out of stock and shuttered their doors, and people said they were worried about running out of food.

Police in Kumamoto prefecture said that at least 32 people had died from today morning's earthquake. Nine died in the quake on Thursday night.

More than half the deaths were in Mashiki, a town on the eastern border of Kumamoto city that was hit hardest by the first quake.

Japan's Kyodo agency reported that four people were missing in Minamiaso, a more rural area farther east of Kumamoto where the landslides were triggered by the second quake.
Social reformer and



spiritual guide Sri M's 16-month 'Walk of Hope' from Kanyakumari to Kashmir received a huge endorsement from Pope Francis with the Pontiff exuding robust hope that such a mission to promote inter-faith harmony would ensure "a strong and vibrant future for India".

The endorsement for the 'padayatra' came when Sri M met the Pope at the Vatican on Friday, a press release said here today.

The Head of the Roman Catholic Church congratulated Sri M for the endeavour undertaken to "ensure a strong and vibrant future for India".

Last year, the 67-year-old social reformer had undertaken the 'Walk of Hope' - a 7,500-km pan-India padayatra through 11 Indian states.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Iran today on a two-day visit to boost ties with a focus on raising India's oil imports and enhancing trade with the powerful Persian Gulf nation which has opened several lucrative sectors after sanctions against it were lifted under a historic nuclear deal.

The visit by Swaraj to the oil-rich country comes amid a rush for investment in the resource-rich nation by global economic powers including Japan, China, the US and several European countries after Iran invited foreign companies for joint ventures in many of its crucial sectors including oil and gas.

India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up USD 20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.

Swaraj's visit is seen as a balancing act by India as it came nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Saudi Arabia, another West Asian power which considers Iran its rival.

Iran is an important country for India for its energy security as well as to get access to oil and gas-rich Central Asian nations.

India imports close to 12 million tonnes of crude from Iran and it is looking at increasing the oil import from the country.

Swaraj will hold extensive talks with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif tomorrow during which entire gamut of bilateral relations will be reviewed with a major focus on ramping up ties in energy, trade and banking sectors.

The External Affairs Minister will also call on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Iran has ended free shipping of crude oil to India and terminated a three-year-old system of getting paid for half of the oil dues in rupees and the issue is likely to figure in talks between Swaraj and Zarif.

Iran is now insisting on being paid in Euros for the oil it sells to Indian refiners. It also wants refiners like Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MPRL) to clear nearly USD 6.5 billion of past dues in Euros, according to officials.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had paid a two-day visit to Tehran from April 9 during which he discussed with his Iranian counterpart the repayment of nearly USD 6.5 billion that Indian refiners owe to Iran.

This was the first visit by an Indian minister since the US and other western powers lifted sanctions against Iran in January.

During Swaraj's visit, sources said, the two sides will



also explore ways for cooperation in areas of banking and review of implementation of the Chabahar port project in which India is a key partner.

Swaraj and Zarif will also review implementation of the decisions taken by the two countries during the last joint commission meeting here in December.

The two Ministers are also likely to deliberate on bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism, situation in Afghanistan and in Syria besides other regional issues.

New Delhi is looking to increase engagement with the sanction-free Iran by raising oil imports and possible shipments of natural gas.

It also wants rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf discovered by OVL.

Sources, however, said a deal for the field was not signed during Pradhan's visit as Iranian Parliament, Majlis, is yet to approve the new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) under which the Farzad-B field is to be given to the OVL-led consortium.

Indian firms have so far shied away from investing in Iran for the fear of being sanctioned by the US and Europe.

The same was deterring New Delhi from claiming rights to invest nearly USD 7 billion in the biggest gas discovery ever made by an Indian firm abroad.

But after the lifting of sanctions, India is making a renewed pitch for rights to develop 12.8 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves OVL had found in 2008.

Pradhan also conveyed to the Iranian side that both countries must expand the basket of oil and gas trade.

He had also expressed India's interest in importing LPG from Iran and said companies from both sides could discuss setting up an extraction plant in Chabahar, if required.

From Iran, Swaraj will leave for a two-day trip to Moscow to attend the annual Foreign Ministers' meeting of RIC (Russia, India and China).

On the sidelines of RIC, Swaraj is expected to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during which she is likely to raise the issue of China blocking India's bid at the UN to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.
On the eve of her visit to Russia, External Affairs Minister today said that she will take up the death of two Indians in a fire tragedy and killing of another Indian in that country during her talks with the authorities.

Swaraj today left for a two-nation three-day visit to Iran and Russia.

She will go to Moscow from Tehran tomorrow where she will participate in the annual Foreign Ministers' meeting of RIC (Russia, India and China).

"I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishma Bhonsle is on my agenda.

"I will also take up the matter of Yasir an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed in Kazan (Russia)," Swaraj said in a series of tweets.

I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishma Bhonsle is on my agenda.  (@SushmaSwaraj) April 16, 2016

Besides attending the RIC meeting, she is also expected to have a bilateral meet with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Two Indian girl students were killed in a fire at the Smolensk Medical Academy in western Russia in February while a Kashmiri businessman died after being attacked by unidentified men last month.
Two figures from the main Syrian opposition team to the peace talks in Geneva said today that they have rejected a suggestion that was put forward by the UN special envoy to Syria in which President Bashar Assad would stay in power during a transitional period and the opposition would choose three vice presidents.

The UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said it was not an offer but one of many ideas put forward in the attempt to find a solution for Syria's five-year crisis.

The two officials told The Associated Press that the offer is not even worth considering, adding that Assad should not have any role in Syria's future or during the 18-month transitional period during which a new constitution is to be drafted and elections held.

The announcement came after a new round of indirect peace talks resumed in Geneva on Wednesday in which the opposition's High Negotiations Committee, or HNC, and the government delegation met separately with de Mistura.

Assad's future has been a main point of disagreement with the opposition demanding that he has no role in Syria's future even during the transitional period while the government delegation saying any talk about the president's future is a red line.

De Mistura told the AP later that the idea "simply came up as one of the many ideas that are being floated by various experts in trying to analyze the current gap between the concepts of political transition of the government and the opposition."



"It is therefore a storm in a tea cup," the envoy said. Opposition official Yahya Kodmani said in Geneva that de Mistura told them that an expert suggested to the envoy that Assad stays and in return "the three vice presidents will be from the opposition. We consider that we did not hear this suggestion because we categorically reject it."



"We insist that a political solution be based on international resolutions and this (suggestion) is not mentioned in international resolutions," Kodmani said insisting on a transitional governing body with full executive powers to take over power during the transitional period.

The HNC's chief negotiator Mohammed Alloush, when asked if de Mistura gave them an offer, responded by telephone text message: "Yes it is true but it is impossible to even think about it."



Officials at de Mistura's office were not available for comment because of the weekend.

Earlier this week, the HNC's spokesman Salem Al Meslet said they would accept that members of Assad's government could be included in a possible future transitional authority but not Assad himself.
Telugu film director Puri Jagannadh today lodged a complaint with the police here alleging that he was assaulted by three persons.

Jagannadh in his complaint alleged that Abhishek, Sudhir and M Subbaiah came to his office at Jubilee Hills here two days ago and assaulted him demanding back the money they had invested in the Telugu film 'Loafer' which was released last year, sub-inspector Maqsood Ali said adding police was investigating the matter.
Tens of thousands of people marched through London today in protest against government spending cuts, with some activists demanding Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation over his family's offshore finances.

Demonstrators converged on Trafalgar Square calling for increased investment in the health service, housing, education and public sector pay, as well as action to stop the loss of thousands of steel workers' jobs in Wales.

"No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts," they chanted.

Some protesters also demanded Cameron quit following revelations that he had shares in an offshore fund set up by his late father, holding up banners saying "Ditch Dodgy Dave" and "Cameron Must Go -- Tories Out!".

"For somebody in that position, you have a duty of care to the people of the country to be very open, very transparent. Just because something is legal doesn't always make it right," protester Sarah Henney told AFP.

The march was planned before Cameron's family finances were revealed in the so-called Panama Papers, but organising group The People's Assembly said it "proves that this is a government for the privileged few".

Trade union leaders and politicians addressed the crowd gathered in a rainy Trafalgar Square, with the opposition Labour party promising to end years of austerity imposed following the global financial crisis.

In a video message, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The austerity we are in is a political choice, not an economic necessity."



Cameron said he sold his offshore holdings before taking office in 2010 and denied allegations that his father had set up his fund to avoid paying tax.

But the row has put the premier under pressure at a difficult time, as he seeks to manage an increasingly bitter fight within his Conservative party over the upcoming referendum on EU membership.

Some 128 of the 330 Conservative lawmakers in parliament and several of Cameron's own ministers are campaigning against him in favour of leaving the EU ahead of the June 23 vote.

Veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke warned today that if Cameron loses the vote, he will be forced out of office.
Thousands of Macedonian opposition supporters took to the streets for the fifth day today calling for President Gjorge Ivanov to resign and for legislative elections scheduled for June to be postponed.

"The people have come out on the streets again to send a message to President Ivanov." said Pavle Bogojevski, one of those taking part in the protest in the capital Skopje.

"He must resign... And parliament must meet to cancel the June 5 elections," he added.

The date was officially set yesterday despite the angry anti-government rallies that have been taking place each evening in protest at Ivanov's decision to halt probes into more than 50 public figures, including top politicians embroiled in a wire-tapping scandal.

The early elections, originally agreed for April 24 and then postponed in February to June 5, are part of a EU-brokered agreement to solve the country's seething political feud.

But Zoran Zaev, leader of the main opposition SDSM, has insisted he will boycott the vote, claiming that conditions for a free and fair vote are not in place.

There were no reports of major incidents as yesterday's protest got underway in the capital Skopje, which Zaev joined.

Macedonia's political crisis began last year when the SDSM accused then-prime minister Nikola Gruevski of wiretapping around 20,000 people, including politicians and journalists, and said the recordings revealed high-level corruption.

The government denied the accusations and, in response, filed charges against Zaev, accusing him of "spying" and attempting to "destabilise" the Balkan country.

Gruevski, who had been prime minister since 2006, resigned in January in order to pave the way for early elections.

But tensions surged again Tuesday when Ivanov announced the halt of judicial investigations into 56 people, including his ally Gruevski -- still Macedonia's most influential political figure.

Others affected by the decision included former interior minister Gordana Jankulovska, ex-intelligence chief Sasho Mijalkov, as well as Zaev and former SDSM leader and ex-president Branko Crvenkovski.

Yesterday opposition leader Zaev told the massed protesters; "It's either Gruevski or Macedonia. We are Macedonia!"



Ivanov's move has sparked condemnation abroad, with the United States and the European Union warning it raises questions about the rule of law in Macedonia and could hurt its aspirations to join the 28-member EU.
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has all but thrown in the towel in Wyoming ahead of today's Republican convention.

The billionaire businessman's campaign made a conscious decision not to commit resources to Wyoming, according to Alan Cobb, a senior Trump adviser.

Trump picked only up a single delegate in last month's Wyoming county conventions while rival Ted Cruz scored nine. There are 14 more delegates at stake at this weekend's state convention.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press from the convention site in Casper, Cobb said yesterday that he expects Cruz to sweep what remains of the 29 delegates up for grabs in the Wyoming convention.

"This process is favorable toward party-insider folks," Cobb said. "When you don't have a vote of the people, it just favors (Cruz)."



While Cruz' campaign has been working for months lining up support among Wyoming's Republican insiders, Trump's campaign has limited mobilization in the state, and the candidate has not spent any time campaigning there. Cruz is scheduled to attend today's convention.

The state party's arcane system of allocating delegates through county meetings followed by the state convention doesn't favor the disorganized.

If Cruz performs as expected, Wyoming's result could mirror that of Colorado, where Cruz swept all 34 delegates earlier this month. Trump encouraged supporters to demonstrate against the Colorado party's presidential nominating process yesterday at the state capitol in Denver.

"The very insider, narrow pathways like Wyoming, they just don't work very well for us," Cobb said. "Campaigns make strategic choices on where to go and where to invest, and just given your process here, it just doesn't lend itself to our kind of campaign and candidate."



Sarah Palin had been scheduled to speak for Trump in Casper today but the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee canceled her appearance on Thursday. Cobb said he may wind up giving Trump's address.

Even so, Cobb said he still sees Trump on track to win the 1,237 delegates required to secure the Republican nomination on the first ballot at the national convention this summer.

"We've got the Northeast states," he said. "I think we'll do well in California, Oregon, Washington."



By contrast, the Cruz campaign in Wyoming has been well organized for months. Ed Buchanan, a former Wyoming House speaker, is state campaign chairman.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today said Maharashtra government should stop water supply to beer manufacturing units in the drought-hit Marathwada region to tackle acute shortage of drinking water.

"Water supply to beer units should be stopped in view of the drought," Uddhav said at Aurangabad, where the breweries are located.

However, a BJP minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government today said cutting off water supply to breweries won't be such a good idea.

"If beer units are using drinking water, it should be stopped. But discontinuing supply of water reserved for them as industrial units is not alright," Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde said in Beed, also in the Marathwada region.

Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan said he has sought a report from the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner and other senior officials on the requirement of water for liquor companies.

"If needed, we will not hesitate to stop water supply to these units," he said.
An 18-year-old youth was arrested today by British police at Manchester airport on suspicion of "Syria-related terrorism offences".

The man from Birmingham was detained by officers from the West Midlands Police's Counter Terrorism Unitas he arrived into the UK.

A police force statement said: "There was no risk to any passengers at Manchester Airport or to the wider public in relation to these arrests.

"These arrests and this investigation is not connected to the terrorism arrests of five people from Birmingham in the last 48 hours."



Police say today's arrest follows the detention of a man and a woman on April 4.

The pair, a 24-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, both from Birmingham, are currently on police bail.

The arrest comes soon after five terror suspects were detained by West Midlands Police as part of a Europe-wide investigation in connection with the terrorist attacks in Paris last November and Brussels last month.

A 26-year-old man was held at Gatwick Airport near London early on Friday while four others, including three men aged 26, 40 and 59 and a 29-year-old woman, were arrested in Birmingham on Thursday night.

All five are being held in West Midlands on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

However, the force has stressed that the arrests earlier this week are not related to the arrest today.
The UN special envoy for Yemen who will be leading peace talks next week between the government and Shiite rebels says peace has never been as close as it is today.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the recent cession of hostilities and a commitment by both sides to next week's talks highlight the potential for peace.

He urged both sides to use the talks starting Monday in Kuwait to "drop their destructive and belligerent attitudes," and restore peace after more than 18 months of war.

Ahmed told the UN Security Council yesterday that he is hopeful despite "a worrying number of serious violations" of the cessation of hostilities that went into effect at midnight April 10.

Yemen's conflict pits the government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, against Shiite Houthi rebels who are allied with a former president.
The UN Security Council (UNSC) has strongly condemned North Korea's test-firing of a missile, saying that the launch violated UN resolutions even if it was a failure.

The council yesterday demanded that refrain from further actions in violation of resolutions barring Pyongyang from developing ballistic missile technology.

In a unanimous statement, the council said it would closely monitor the situation and was ready to "take further significant measures" against the reclusive state.

"Although the DPRK's ballistic missile launch was a failure, this attempt constituted a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," the statement said.

Last month, the council imposed its toughest sanctions to date on after Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test and fired a rocket that was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.

Since the adoption of the new sweeping sanctions, has carried out at least two sets of ballistic missile launches that the council has condemned.

During yesterday's attempt, the missile disappeared from tracking radar a few seconds after its launch and was believed to have exploded in midair, according to a Seoul intelligence official quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Asked about the failed launch, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said: "We certainly are aware of the recent reports of activity by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is alarming."



"We once again call on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for restraint."



The launch took place on the birthday of founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

In Washington, a Pentagon official said the test-firing of what appeared to be a medium-range missile ended in catastrophic failure.

"I can tell you it was a fiery, catastrophic attempt at a launch that was not successful," Navy Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.

The missile was likely "road-mobile" -- or transportable -- because it had been launched from an area on the east coast of North Korea where tests don't normally occur, Davis said.

Recent intelligence reports suggested North Korea was preparing for the first-ever flight test of its Musudan missile, which is believed to be capable of striking US bases on the Pacific island of Guam.
A US grand jury has slapped two companies of India's Tata group - Tata Consultancy Services and Tata America International Corp - with a USD 940 million fine in a trade secret lawsuit filed against them.

After days of hearing, the federal grand jury in the US State of Wisconsin ruled that Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Tata America International Corp. Must pay USD 240 million to Epic Systems for ripping off its software.

Tatas have also been asked to pay another USD 700 million in punitive damages.

Epic Systems had accused TCS and Tata America International Corp, in a lawsuit filed in October, 2014 in US District Court in Madison which was amended in January and December 2015, of "brazenly stealing the trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data" belonging to Epic.

In its lawsuit, Epic had said that TCS took that data while consulting for its customer.

Epic said that it "recently learned from an informant" that TCS employees have been "fraudulently accessing" Epic's software beyond what the consulting contract required - and using Epic's software to improve their own competing product.

One TCS employee's account, which was used in India and several US locations, downloaded 6,477 documents, according to Epic.

"Rather than compete lawfully with Epic, TCS has engaged in an apparently elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data from Epic, for the purpose of realising technical expertise developed by Epic over years of hard work and investment," the lawsuit said.
After two decade-long hiatus, MDMK general secretary Vaiko will contest the May 16 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, trying his luck from Kovilpatti constituency.

He made an announcement in this regard at an election rally here today.

The announcement has come as a morale booster for party workers. "We are happy that our leader is again in the fray in the Assembly poll after 20 years," a senior party functionary told PTI.

In the 1996 Assembly election, just three years after founding MDMK, he had contested from Vilathikulam constituency and lost by a very narrow margin of 634 votes to DMK candidate K Ravisankar, who polled 30,190 votes.

He lost in the Lok Sabha election too that year and only emerged third by bagging 2,04,339 votes in Sivakasi seat.

Since then, Vaiko has not contested in Assembly polls though he won in Lok Sabha polls from the same Sivakasi seat in 1998 and 1999. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls he lost in Virudhunagar.

Meanwhile, the party today named its nominees in 27 seats, which includes its chief Vaiko. Of the 29 seats it has been allotted in the DMDK-PWF combine, MDMK named candidates for 27 and gave away two seats from its kitty to its allies, fringe Tamil nationalist outfits.

Among the key MDMK nominees in the fray are former MLA Dr T Sadhan Thirumalai Kumar (Sankaran Kovil), Mallai Sathya (Thiruporur) Redsun Ambigapathi (Thousand Lights), K M A Nizam (Palayamkottai), R Anthiri Das (Avadi), and Murath Buhari (Harbour).

Ki Veeralakshmi, chief of Tamilar Munnetra Padai, will fight from Pallavaram constituency here. Nagai Tiruvalluvan of Tamil Puligal Katchi will try his luck from Dharapuram seat.

Both of them will contest under MDMK symbol of top.
Longtime Congolese leader Denis Sassou Nguesso was sworn in for another five-year term today following a contested presidential election last month that has raised tensions in the country.

At an inauguration ceremony that formally extended his 32-year grip on power, Sassou Nguesso vowed to focus on boosting the economy and tackling youth unemployment.

"This five-year term will be that of the economy," he said in an address in Brazzaville attended by several other African heads of state.

"All our efforts will be on strengthening the national economy so that it is deeply diversified, dynamic and flourishing and most of all creating thousands of decent jobs."



He also said he would strive to "eradicate unemployment" among young people.

Some 60 per cent of young people are out of work in Congo, a small but oil-rich country of some four million, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The Constitutional Court earlier this month confirmed Sassou Nguesso's first-round win in Congo's March 20 presidential polls, with more than 60 percent of the vote. The opposition however condemned the election as a "massive fraud".

Sassou Nguesso's win only became possible after an October constitutional referendum ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates, allowing the former paratrooper to run again in a move denounced by his opponents as "a coup". Congo has been on edge ever since.

The day the president's re-election was confirmed on April 4, heavy fighting erupted in southern Brazzaville districts loyal to the opposition. The army was deployed and thousands of residents fled their homes.

The government said at least 17 people, including two civilians, were killed in the violence, which it blamed on a "terrorist attack" by the disbanded Ninja Nsiloulou militia.

Members of the opposition however have dismissed the official version of events and accuse the government of trying to quell post-election protests.

The runner-up in the presidential election, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, last week urged his supporters to accept the vote outcome despite "all sorts of irregularities" to avoid further unrest.

Adding to the criticism of last month's polls, the United States has said it was "profoundly disappointed by the flawed presidential electoral process".

Sassou Nguesso first served as president from 1979 to 1992, returning to power in 1997 following a civil war.
DMDK chief Vijayakant has compared the quality of roads laid during the AIADMK regime to parottas which broke into pieces.

During one of his election meetings here, he jocularly said that the roads that were laid during the AIADMK regime were like parottas.

"My drive from Tirutani to Chennai was tiring. This was owing to the condition of roads laid by AIADMK government which came apart like the parottas," he said yesterday night to applause from audience.

He criticised both the AIADMK and DMK governments for alleged corruption during their nearly 50 year rule in Tamil Nadu and promised a graft free regime if teh DMDK--PWF combine was voted to power.
Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao hailed the contribution of the Wadia family for the economic development of the state.

Rao was speaking at a function to celebrate nine decades of service to society by the 'Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital for Women' and the 'Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children' at Nehru Centre, here yesterday, a Raj Bhavan release said today.

Mentioning that the Wadia Hospitals had rendered matchless contribution to society by reducing maternal and infant mortality rate, the Governor called for upgrading and strengthening the Wadia Hospitals to cater to the ever growing needs.

Stating that women-centred healthcare is extremely critical to achieving the goal of 'Swasth Bharat', Rao asked the Maharashtra government to think of bringing a legislation that would allow women to deliver in the hospital of their choice.

Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde said even though most of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) models are favourably biased towards the private parties, it is the ordinary people who had benefited most from the Wadia Hospitals.

Stating that Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai Port Trust and the ONGC had assured the (state) government of their help in setting up medical colleges, Tawde called upon the Wadia Hospitals to extend their help to the government in starting medical colleges.

Chairman of the Wadia Hospitals Nusli Wadia said the Wadia Hospital was the first successful example of the tripartite PPP between the Wadia family, the Municipal Corporation (of Greater Mumbai) and the government which had worked successfully for nine long decades.

He said the Wadia Hospitals had provided specialised healthcare to women and children from the families of mill workers and other poor and less privileged families for nine decades.
Drug maker Alkem Laboratories today said it will submit 'suitable clarifications' to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) over a decision by the drug regulator to review two drugs for which clinical trial studies were conducted by the Mumbai-based firm.

"We will be submitting a suitable clarifications to the EMA within the stipulated timelines to enable the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) take a balanced risk-benefit view with respect to these two products," Alkem Laboratories said in a regulatory filing.

The review of the two drugs -- antibiotics cefuroxime and rulizole -- that are sold both by Alkem and Slovenia's Krka, has been ordered after German drug regulator raised concerns over their trial study data.

Alkem conducted trials on the drugs at its Taloja facility in Maharashtra for Krka.

"After the inspection of March 2015 by German regulator, BfArM, Alkem has responded to the regulator with a robust remedial plan and has also been implementing several measures which include changes in staffing, upgrading equipment and improving quality assurance systems to ensure proper controls during bioequivalence studies and thorough review of the acquired data," it said.

The Federal Institute of Drug and Medical Devices (BfArM), Germany, and Health Care Inspectorate (IGZ), Ministry of Health of the Netherlands had performed a joint inspection in March 2015 at Alkem's unit at Taloja in Maharashtra.

The review is being carried out by the CHMP, responsible for all questions concerning medicines for human use, which will adopt an opinion.

The CHMP opinion will then be forwarded to the European Commission, which will issue a final legally binding decision applicable in all EU Member States.

Alkem said the review would not have any significant impact on the company's revenues.

"Currently sales from Europe contributes less than 1 per cent to Alkem's total consolidated sales for 9MFY16," it said.

The Mumbai-based firm said it takes quality issues very seriously and is committed to comply with all the required regulatory norms to ensure that safe and effective products are supplied to the market.

EMA had earlier recommended suspension of about 700 pharmaceutical forms and strength of medicines for which authorisation in the EU was primarily based on clinical studies conducted at GVK Biosciences at Hyderabad.

After the instruction of EU for withdrawal of these 700 products, the government had at that time temporarily deferred resumption of the talks on free trade agreement with EU.
Britain's Prince William accompanied by his wife Kate today visited the Taj Mahal, the 17th century marble monument symbolising eternal love, bringing back memories of his mother Princess Diana's trip 24 years ago.

And the royal couple did sit on the marble bench in front of the dazzling monument here for a picture like Lady Diana.

William had donned a blue linen jacket, white shirt and chinos while Princess Kate wore a white dress with blue motif by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan.

The royal couple, who will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on April 29, arrived at around 3.30 PM and were briefed by an official as they took a stroll around the mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

"It is beautiful. It is overwhelming," William, the Duke of Cambridge, said later.

The two spent around 45 minutes in the complex on a sizzling day as mercury soared to 40 degrees Celsius.

"It was too hot but they went around," guide Lalit Chawla said.

William's mother Diana had visited the Taj Mahal in 1992 and her picture seated alone on the marble bench remains one of the iconic images of the princess, who died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

The royal couple's visit generated much excitement here. Tight security arrangements were in place with deployment of CISF personnel.

The stretch from Amar Vilas hotel to the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal was spruced up and tourists on the western gate were held back for an hour.

It is the last stop for the British royal couple during their week-long trip to India and Bhutan. The couple visited Mumbai and Kaziranga National Park in Assam and also met leaders in Delhi.
The winning bidders for the 16.5-km Dahisar (East) to Andheri (East) Metro-7 corridor will be announced on Monday and the civil work is expected to commence post monsoon.

"We are finalising the bids for Metro-7 corridor and the winning bidders will be announced on Monday," Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) Commissioner U P S Madan told reporters.

Preparatory work for the Rs 4,737-crore project will start soon while the actual civil work, beginning from piling, will start after the monsoon.

The Authority is developing the corridor in three separate 'packages' and the three winning bidders will design and construct the entire corridor and 16 stations in 30 months.

The first package consists of designing and constructing an elevated viaduct and five elevated stations -- Andheri (E), Shankarwadi, JVLR Junction, Mahanand and new Ashok Nagar.

The second package consists of designing and constructing an elevated viaduct and six elevated stations -- Aarey, Dindoshi, Pathan Wadi, Pushpa Park, Bandongri and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The third package consists of designing and constructing an elevated viaduct and five elevated stations -- Magathane, Devipada, National Park, Ovaripada and Dahisar (E).

Madan also said the final bidder for the Rs 5,566 crore Dahisar to DN Nagar Metro-2 corridor will be declared in the last week of the month.

MMRDA has entered into an agreement with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for the implementation of this 18.5-km corridor.
Pope Francis today told refugees trapped on the Greek island of Lesbos that they are "not alone" in their plight, and called on the world to respond with "common humanity" to the migrant crisis.

"You are not alone... Do not lose hope," the pope said as he visited Lesbos with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, calling on the world to respond to the tragedy "in a way worthy of our common humanity".

The three religious leaders then signed a joint declaration that calls on the international community to "respond with courage in facing this massive humanitarian crisis and its underlying causes through diplomatic, political and charitable initiatives."



The pope, who is next scheduled to say a prayer at Lesbos harbour for the hundreds of people of all ages who have died in the Aegean trying to reach Europe, has expressed a desire to take to the Vatican some refugees after his five-hour visit, according to an official from Greece's state refugee coordination agency.

"We are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived," he said before his arrival today.

There were emotional scenes as the pope visited the migrant facility of Moria, greeting unaccompanied minors, women and small children who gave him over a dozen drawings.

One man broke into tears as he knelt at the pope's feet, requesting his blessing. Another woman got around security to approach the pontiff, also breaking down in tears as he paused to listen to her.

Other migrants detained at Moria, unable to reach the pope, shouted and whistled.

Some held handmade signs that read 'We want freedom', 'Let my people go' and 'Papa cherche a nous sauver' ('Pope, try to save us').

The pontiff's landmark visit comes amid controversy over a deal last month to end Europe's refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.
Saudi Arabia's top official, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said Riyadh could boost output immediately and almost double it long term, in comments that could threaten the signing of a global production freeze deal planned for Sunday.

The second in line to the throne of the world's largest crude exporter added in remarks to Bloomberg that the kingdom would only restrain its output if all other major producers, including Iran, agree to freeze their production.

His remarks appeared to cast doubt on a freeze plan to be discussed by producers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC member countries such as Russia on Sunday in the Qatari capital Doha.

Iran, a fellow OPEC member but also Saudi Arabia's regional rival, said it would not participate in Sunday's meeting as it could not accept proposals to freeze production.

"We have told some OPEC and non-OPEC members like Russia that they should accept the reality of Iran's return to the market," Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the oil ministry's news agency SHANA. "If Iran freezes its oil production at the February level, it means it cannot benefit from the lifting of sanctions."

Yet OPEC delegates told Reuters there was still a chance for a deal on Sunday if participants can find a compromise and avoid a repeat of the last OPEC meeting in December where Iran and Saudi Arabia clashed over output policy.

The fact that Tehran's stance has not torpedoed the convening of the meeting suggests fellow producers may be prepared to tolerate a rise in Iran's output, provided there is no new price rout.

The freeze proposal has helped oil prices to rise over 60% from a 12-year low near $27 a barrel hit in January, despite little change to the market's supply glut.

"I am optimistic," acting Kuwaiti oil minister Anas Khalid al-Saleh said on Saturday regarding prospects for a deal.

Several sources told Reuters there was support among the producers, including another OPEC delegate who said: "I still think there will be a deal."

Delegates said a number of approaches were being discussed and there was talk of setting up a committee to monitor compliance.

"We have a deal," one senior oil source told Reuters, referring to a proposal backed by several producers for an output freeze at January levels that would last until October.

Market share

Producers have struggled for nearly two years with low oil prices and an oversupplied market but have been loath to cut output as that would cede market share to rivals.

Sanctions imposed by the United States and other world powers were lifted in January in return for Tehran agreeing to long-term curbs on its nuclear programme.

Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia would cap its market share at about 10.3 million to 10.4 million barrels a day (bpd), if producers agree to the freeze.

"If all major producers don't freeze production, we will not freeze production," he said.

The prince, who has emerged as Saudi Arabia's leading economic decision-maker, said Riyadh could increase output to 11.5 million barrels a day immediately and go to 12.5 million in six to nine months "if we wanted to".

If the kingdom chose to increase investment in its oil industry, production capacity could be increased to 20 million bpd, he said in remarks made on Thursday and published on Saturday.

"I don't suggest that we should produce more, but we can produce more," said the prince.

It is not clear to which extent his comments reflect the thinking of the Saudi leadership and king. They contrast with mostly conciliatory statements from market players in recent weeks.

Iran's production has already surpassed 3.5 million bpd and exports are set to reach 2 million bpd next month, Iran's deputy oil minister was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will only freeze the level of its oil production if all other major producers, including Iran, do so, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He told Bloomberg the world's largest crude exporter would cap its market share at about 10.3 million to 10.4 million barrels a day, if producers agree to a freeze.

"If all major producers don't freeze production, we will not freeze production," he said.

He noted the kingdom had the capacity to increase output to 11.5 million barrels a day immediately and to produce as much as 12.5 million in a matter of months.

"I don't suggest that we should produce more, but we can produce more," said the prince, who is second in line to the Saudi throne.

OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers are set to meet on Sunday in Doha, Qatar, to discuss freezing output levels.

Producers are struggling with low oil prices and an oversupplied market.

(Reporting by Katie Paul; editing by Jason Neely)
By Elaine Lies and Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) - A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan early on Saturday, killing at least 16 people, injuring hundreds more and trapping people in collapsed buildings, barely a day after a quake killed nine people in the same region.

Rescuers dug through the rubble of collapsed buildings and mud and debris on Saturday to try and reach those trapped, but continued aftershocks hindered rescue efforts and fuelled fears of more powerful quakes.

"We have already seen of several of the mid to upper 5 plus magnitude range, and over the next several days and weeks, we would not be surprised to see more earthquakes of this size," said John Bellini, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Factories producing auto parts and tech components for companies including Sony Corp and Honda Motor Co halted production as they assessed the damage.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said rescue efforts were critical with wet weather forecast overnight, which could further damage weakened buildings and cause landslides.

"Nothing is more important than human life and it's a race against time," Abe said at a government meeting after the disaster. "I want rescue activities to continue with the utmost effort."

The epicentre of the quake was near the city of Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu and measured at a shallow depth of 10 kms (6 miles), the USGS said.

Damage from Saturday's quake covered a wide area with reports of fires, power outages, collapsed bridges and gaping holes in the earth. Residents near a dam were told to leave because of fears it might crumble, broadcaster NHK said, while the 400-year-old Kumamoto Castle in the centre of the city was badly damaged.

The quake triggered a tsunami advisory which was later lifted and no irregularities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the area, a senior government official said. People still reeling from Thursday's 6.4 shock poured onto the streets after the Saturday earthquake hit at 1:25 a.m. (1625 GMT).

TV Asahi showed rescue efforts for what it said were 11 people trapped in a university apartment in the town of Minami Aso and NHK reported that people were trapped in a nursing home in the town of Mashiki.

NHK reported 16 deaths and more than 1,000 people treated in hospitals.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said nearly 80 people were believed trapped or buried in rubble. Extra troops would be sent to help, with up to 20,000 due by Sunday, as well as more police, firefighters and medics, he said.

"We are making every effort to respond," Suga said.

Many frightened people wrapped in blankets sat outside their homes while others camped out in rice fields in rural areas surrounding the main towns. About 170,000 households were without power and 385,000 without water, Suga said.

The region's transport network suffered considerable damage with one tunnel caved in, a highway bridge damaged, roads blocked by landslips and train services halted, media reported. Kumamoto airport was also closed.

There have been more than 230 aftershocks of at least level 1 on the Japanese scale since Thursday's shock, said Japan's meteorological agency.

Japan is on the seismically active "ring of fire" around the Pacific Ocean and has building codes aimed at helping structures withstand earthquakes.

A magnitude 9 quake in March 2011 north of Tokyo touched off a massive tsunami and nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima. Nearly 20,000 people were killed in the tsunami

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, speaking at a G20 event in Washington, said it was too early to assess the economic impact but bank operations in Kumamoto were normal.

Manufacturers including Honda, Renesas Electronics Corp and Sony halted production after the tremors but no major damage was reported.

The 2011 quake temporarily crippled part of Japan's auto supply chain in particular, but some companies have since adjusted the industry's "Just in Time" production philosophy in a bid to limit any repeat of the disruption.

(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg,Kiyoshi Takenaka, William Mallard, Chris Gallagher and Jon Herskovitz; Writing by Robert Birsel and Michael Perry; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Lincoln Feast)
Solar energy company SunEdison is preparing to file for bankruptcy as early as April 17, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, nine months after its market value had reached $10 billion.

A SunEdison spokesman declined to comment.

Such a move would represent a fall from grace for the former darling of Wall Street and the renewable energy sector, whose rapid, debt-fuelled expansion with solar and wind energy plants around the world proved unsustainable. The companys market value as of Friday was $117 million.

The source cautioned that the timing of the bankruptcy filing had not been finalised and asked not to be identified because the plans were not public. SunEdison, which had debt of about $12 billion as of September 30, said in a filing on Friday that it was in talks for potential debtor-in-possession financing with some of its first and second-lien lenders.

The company said it needed about $310 million to stay in business, estimating a cash shortfall of $260 million by mid-June. SunEdison said it expected to secure the financing by pledging assets.

In the filing, the company said challenges to its business started developing in the middle of last year, when it pursued acquiring Vivint Solar and it worked on an initial public offering for TerraForm Global, a so-called yieldco company it created to hold renewable energy assets.

TerraForm Global and SunEdisons other yieldco, TerraForm Power, hired financial and legal advisors to help them prepare and develop contingency plans in case SunEdison files for bankruptcy, a spokesman for the yieldcos said on Friday.

The companies rely on SunEdison to make interest payments for them and for back office functions. They have no employees of their own.

Typically, companies enter into debtor-in-possession financing after they file for bankruptcy protection to maintain liquidity while they reorganise. Analysts said that while the decision to seek this option did not necessarily mean the company would file for bankruptcy, it was likely that this would happen soon.

It is definitely a sign that they are thinking about it because they are trying to get the arrangement in place before they file, said Ian Feng, an analyst at credit research firm Covenant Review.

In the filing, SunEdison laid out three scenarios to continue operating. Two included bankruptcy expenses of more than $70 million. The company said it entered into confidentiality agreements with lenders on March 17.
By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department is finalizing new tax rules aimed at combating the use of shell companies to evade taxes, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Saturday amid increased pledges by global finance leaders to cooperate on tax issues.

In a statement to the International Monetary Fund's steering committee, Lew said the Treasury was finalizing a rule that would require banks to identify the beneficial owners of new customers that are companies.

"In addition, we are about to propose a regulation that would require the beneficial owners of single-member limited liability companies to identify themselves to the Internal Revenue Service, thus closing a loophole that some have been able to exploit," Lew said.

In the wake of controversy stirred by the so-called Panama Papers, which revealed widespread use of tax havens and shell companies by wealthy global elites, officials from the Group of 20 major economies on Friday threatened to penalize tax haven countries that do not comply with new information-sharing efforts and moves to reduce tax mismatches between countries.

They called for criteria by July to identify non-cooperative jurisdictions.

"Defensive measures will be considered by G20 members against non-cooperative jurisdictions" if progress towards tax goals is not made, the group said in its statement.

Lew said the United States fully supports calls for all countries to automatically exchange financial account information.

The new U.S. shell company rules will follow steps taken by the Treasury earlier this month to curb corporate "inversion" deals in which U.S. firms buy foreign rivals to move their tax jurisdictions offshore.

Those changes were cited as scuttling a $160 billion merger between U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc and Dublin-based Allergan Plc that would have shifted the combined company headquarters to Ireland, where corporate tax rates are 12.5 percent, compared to the top U.S. corporate tax rate of 35 percent before deductions and credits.

"Tax evasion and tax avoidance hurt government budgets, reduce the equity of our tax systems and hinder global growth," Lew said.

In his statement, Lew also repeated calls for euro-area countries and Japan to use available fiscal policy space to stimulate domestic demand while enacting structural reforms to their economies.

"Japan should deploy a flexible fiscal policy in the near term that provides a supportive fiscal impulse, while accelerating the implementation of structural reforms, including labor market reforms and opening the service sector to increased competition."

He offered up a long to-do list for China, saying the world's second-largest economy "should prioritize reforms that strengthen its social safety net, reduce industrial over-capacity, open up the services sector to competition, tackle rising corporate leverage, confront the associated challenges to the banking system, and allow for a market-determined allocation of credit."

(Reporting by David Lawder, Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Maritime India Summit attracts Rs 82,905 cr investment

A total of 141 MoUs and business agreements were signed by various players in maritime sector including major ports, state maritime boards and PSUs, says the Ministry of Shipping

A total of 141 MoUs and business agreements were signed by various players in maritime sector including major ports, state maritime boards and PSUs, says the Ministry of Shipping

The first ever Maritime India Summit, held in Mumbai from April 14-16, 2016, has resulted in attracting investments worth Rs 82,905 crores, according to the Ministry of Shipping. A total of 141 MoUs and business agreements were signed by various players in maritime sector including major ports, state maritime boards and PSUs like Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Cochin Shipyard Limited, Inland Waterways Authority of India etc.



One significant MOU signed relates to establishment of a greenfield port at Vadhavan, Maharashtra. Phase I of the project is estimated to cost around Rs 9167 crores. Shareholders agreement for the project was signed between JNPT and Maharashtra Maritime Board. Once completed the new port will allow large size ships to enter Indian waters and will also help decongest JNPT and Mumbai Port.



To give boost to inland water transport, Government of Andhra Pradesh entered into an MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India for development of National Waterway 4 at estimated cost of around Rs 3000 crores. Once developed, this waterway will help take off roads significant portion of cargo traffic.



Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) entered into an MoU with Shapoorji Pallonji Company for development of a new LNG terminal costing around Rs 5,411 crore at Chara. GMB will also ink an MoU with IL&FS for setting up a Maritime Services Cluster at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.



Petronet LNG has signed a MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India to facilitate greater use of LNG in inland water transport thereby reducing carbon footprint. Cochin Shipyard Limited has entered into an agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries to formalise technical cooperation for building LNG ships in India. This will also be first of kind in the country.



Adani group has announced plans to invest around Rs 28000 crore over next five years in various projects in Odisha and Gujarat. JSW Group owned by Jindals has also proposed to invest around Rs 10,000 crore over a span of 5 years.



Visakhapatnam Port Trust signed an MoU with HPCL who plan to increase the capacity of Visakha Refinery from 7.50 million metric tonne (MMT) to 15 MMT at an estimated cost of Rs 18412 crore. Shipping Corporation of India also signed a slew of agreements to enhance shipping capacity both inland as well international.



BS B2B Bureau
When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas
Contributed photo The American String Quartet will perform a preview of "A Night in Old Vienna" at 7 p.m. Friday at Coffee Waves, 5738 S. Alameda St.

SHARE

SATURDAY

SYMPHONY: The Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra welcomes visitors to the fifth annual Pops in the Park concert at 7:30 p.m. at Whataburger Field. Cost: $35, reserved seats; $10, general admission; $5, students; free, children 12 and under. Information: ccsymphony.org.

FESTIVAL: Robstown Independent School District will host its inaugural El Cotton Picker 2016 Mariachi Festival vocal and group competitions starting at 8:15 a.m. and ending after 8 p.m. at Robstown High School Auditorium, 609 W. Highway 44, Robstown. More than 700 mariachi students and 35 mariachi ensembles will participate. Cost: Tickets for competition will be $1 before 7 p.m. Concert at 7 p.m. will be $5. Information: 361-767-6600.

RECORD: Hybrid Records hosts its first Record Store Day event from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at 4233 S. Alameda St. The festivities will include giveaways, T-shirt printing and an exclusive vinyl release, and the first band will begin about 7 p.m. Cost: Free to attend. Information: 361-452-9044.

MEETING: The Maxine Flournoy Third Coast Squadron CAF hosts its monthly meeting and luncheon at 11 a.m. at the Museum of Military History and Squadron Hangar at the McCampbell-Porter Airport, 3201 Farm-to-Market Road 3512, Aransas Pass. President of United Vietnam Veterans of Texas Lazaro O. Camarillo III will share his Vietnam combat experiences. Cost: Free. Information: 361-356-4918, www.ThirdCoastCAF.org.

HEALTH: The Antonio E. Garcia Arts & Education Center will host a community health fair and career expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 2021 Agnes St. Cost: Free. Information: 361-825-3600.

CULTURE: The Festival of India Cultural and Health Fair will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the SV Temple, 10401 McKinzie Lane. There will be henna tattoos, classical Indian dancing, free yoga sessions, free EKG, weight and blood tests and Indian food. Cost: Free to attend, food prices vary. Information: svtemple@svtempletexas.org.

SUNDAY

RODEO: Rodeo Corpus Christi will start at 2 p.m. at American Bank Center, 1901 N. Shoreline Blvd. Cost: Tickets range from $15 to $30. Information: www.BucDays.com.

THEATER: The Aurora Arts Theatre will present "Our Lady of the Tortilla" at 2:30 p.m. Cost: $15, general admission; military, student, seniors and children discounts available. Information: 361-851-9700, www.auroraartstheatre.com.

PETS: The Nueces County Animal Control will host rabies vaccination clinics for Coastal Bend residents from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bluntzer Fire Station, at the corner of Farm-to-Market roads 666 and 624. Cost: $8. Information: 361-387-5701.

For more events check Caller.com/vivacc
Contributed photo Fans can make their mark on this year's Fiesta de la Flor by scrawling signatures and love notes to the Tejano icon on a Selena Tribute Wall at La Palmera mall.

SHARE CALLER-TIMES file Local Artist and Community Activist La Lisa Hernandez will host a Selena-inspired painting class on April 30 at La Palmera.

By Esther Hackleman, Esther.M.Hackleman@caller.com

La Palmera mall offers Selena fans the chance to take home a memory of her with a painting of the Queen of Tejano.

The mall will partner with local artist and activist La Lisa Hernandez to host a Selena-inspired painting class from 1:30-4:30 p.m. April 30, according to a news release. There are 50 spots available to participate in the class, which will cost $50 per person. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Women's Shelter of South Texas on behalf of the Selena Foundation.

Residents can secure their spot in the class by calling the La Palmera Concierge at 361-91-5718 for reservations.

The public classes will follow classes geared for local celebrities and community leaders to create their own Selena masterpieces, which will be on display from April 29 to May 1. During that time, the public may purchase white roses for $2 each in memory of the Tejano icon. Those proceeds will benefit the Women's Shelter of South Texas.

La Palmera continues to sell one- and two-day tickets to this year's Fiesta de la Flor, and mall visitors can sign the Selena Tribute Wall in West Court.

Twitter: @Caller_Esther
School of Science and Technology third-grade students participated in "Lunch with the Librarian." The students are reading and discussing "Alice in Wonderland." Makaela Chupogo (from left), Willow Tucker, SST Librarian Cammie Bonilla, Leslie Davis and Makayla Ponce.

SHARE

Area students place at Texas science fair

Seashore Middle Academy student Nikolai Ortiz and Flour Bluff High School freshman Tatiana Ortiz competed at the 2016 Texas Science and Engineering Fair TXSEF in San Antonio against about 1,200 other middle and high school students across Texas.

Nikolai won second place in Junior Division Environmental Engineering for his project on heavy metal water pollution filtration. He also received a $200 cash prize from the Society of American Military engineers. He will advance to the first round of the Broadcom MASTERS Junior National Science fair.

Tatiana won third place in Microbiology at TXSEF in the senior division for her project on modifying surgical gloves to prevent hospital-acquired infections. She also won the University of Texas, San Antonio SACNAS Award for Excellence in Science and a cash prize. Tatiana earned advancement to the Intel International Science Fair this coming May in Phoenix through the Coastal Bend Regional Science Fair.

Students win state Law Day contests

The State Bar of Texas announced March 5 that three of the 18 statewide student Law Day contest winners are from Corpus Christi.

The Corpus Christi Bar Association sponsored the three students' entries as part of its local Law Day celebration, which includes a reception on May 10 and luncheon on May 11 at the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center.

All of the local winners won first place in their respective categories here, and their entries were forwarded to the Texas State Bar in Austin, where they competed against submissions from local bar associations all across the state, including Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio, officials said.

In the statewide poster contest, Alison Duncan placed second in the sixth- to eighth-grade category.

Jessica Bang, of Incarnate Word Academy, is a double winner, placing third in the ninth- to 12th-grade category for her poster, placing first in the statewide photography contest.

This is the 58th celebration of Law Day in the U.S. This year's theme, Miranda: More Than Words, commemorates the Supreme Court decision in Miranda v. Arizona.

For information: 361-883-4022.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
Donell Holland

SHARE

By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times

An Aransas County judge sentenced 65-year-old Donell Holland of Rockport to five life sentences Friday, according to a news release from the Aransas County District Attorney's Office.

Holland was found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting two 13-year-old mentally disabled twin girls Thursday. Judge Robert Cheshire then sentenced Holland to five life sentences for aggravated sexual assault of a child and two 15-year sentences for indecency with a child. The sentences will run concurrently, according to the release.

Holland was previously convicted of aggravated assault and served four years in prison for that crime.
FARES SABAWI/CALLER-TIMES Officer Javier Salinas accepts the Life Saver Award from Police Chief Mike Markle.

SHARE FARES SABAWI/CALLER-TIMES Officer Steven Ruebelmann accepts the Police Shield Award from Police Chief Mike Markle.

By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times

Officer Steven Ruebelmann, one of three officers shot during a house raid last February, doesn't consider himself a hero. That distinction belongs to his peers, he said.

"I get to go to work everyday with my real heroes," he said.

But the rest of the department thought otherwise. Ruebelmann was one of several officers honored at a CCPD awards ceremony Friday afternoon.

Police Chief Mike Markle spoke with enthusiasm when addressing the audience. Even though police departments around the nation are tasked with the same responsibilities, Markle said police officers in Corpus Christi stand out.

"You guys go above and beyond," he said. "The way we (police) and the way we interact with our community ... is different. Everyone of you should be proud of the way you conduct your business."

Senior Officer Andrew Jordan, who received the Police Shield Award along with Ruebelmann and Officer Steven Brown, said he thought of others when his name was called.

"It gives me a debt of gratitude to everybody who was thoughtful enough to help me along the way," Jordan said.

In all, 11 officers and employees were honored at the event. Markle said each one made valuable contributions and earned the distinction.

"It's a joy for me to go to work with you everyday," Markle told them. "You ... make this city move the way it moves."

POLICE AWARD RECIPIENTS

Police Shield Award

Officer Steven Brown

Senior Officer Andrew Jordan

Officer Steven Ruebelmann

Life Saving Award

Senior Officer Jonathon McGinley

Richard Sanchez, dispatcher

Officer Javier R. Salinas

Volunteer of the Year

Cheryl Daubs

Supervisor of the Year

Lt. Michael Pena

Officer of the Year

Senior Officer Ross Richards

Civilian of the Year

James Smith

Investigator of the Year

Senior Officer Alicia Escobar
FARES SABAWI/CALLER-TIMES Reigning Feria de las Flores queen Justine Garza gives a speech Friday afternoon about what she learned from the pageant experience.

SHARE

By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times

Justine Garza never imagined she would be a Feria de las Flores queen. She watched the pageants since she was 6, but thought she'd be too shy to participate.

Fifteen years later, the 21-year-old reigning queen stood in front of the nine contestants for this year's pageant and reflected on her experiences.

"I gained so many things," Garza said. "It was overwhelming, but it's all worth it."

On Friday, the contestants of League of United Latin American Citizens Council No. 1's 57th annual Feria de las Flores Scholarship Pageant introduced themselves and found out which Mexican state they will represent at the pageant July 30. The contestants all must perform a dance to a song from their state at the pageant.

The contestants, local Hispanic high school and college students, will learn more about the culture of the state they will represent and do community service while they prepare for the pageant, said LULAC No. 1 president Nick Adame.

"The foundation is about Latinas that are powerful leaders," Adame said. "It's about leadership and mentoring."

The contestants aren't the only ones spending time on this pageant. The council prepares for this event year-round, Adame said.

"It's 24/7 for us," Adame said. "We're always trying to figure out how to take this to the next level."

Being queen presented new opportunities for Garza, she said. She told the contestants to prepare for the experience of a lifetime.

"You're going to grow, you learn different things and you meet new people," Garza said.

IF YOU GO

What: Feria de las Flores Scholarship Pageant

When: 7 p.m. July 30

Where: Richardson Performance Hall, Del Mar College East Campus

Cost: Free

2016 Feria de las Flores Participants

Samantha Anguiano, Miller High School sophomore

Carmen Ayala, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi freshman

Alvarisa Ann Calderon, Miller High School senior

Ysenia Falcon, King High School junior

Brianna Di Garcia, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi freshman

Lucero Guerrero-Saenz, King High School senior

Mireya Guerrero-Saenz, Miller High School sophomore

Ariana Jones, Gregory-Portland High School sophomore

Kathryn Flores, Del Mar College freshman
Friday, April 15, 2016 at 7:40PM

There are different fast charging technologies out on the market. One of the more well-known ones is Qualcomm's Quick Charge. Now out with version 3.0, there aren't that too many devices yet that support it. But just so you know which ones do, Qualcomm released the list of Quick Charge 3.0-compatible smartphones. These include the LG G5, HTC One A9, HTC 10, HP Elite X3, Xiaomi Mi 5, General Mobile GM 5+, and LeTV MAX Pro. Of course, for quick charge to work, you'll need a certified Quick Charge 3.0 power adapter for it. Quick Charge 3.0 is said to charge devices 38 percent faster than Quick Charge 2.0 and twice as fast as version 1.0.

Source: Android Police
"I was born in Australia in 1988 after my parents came here but this upsets me because we could easily all still be in Poland. It could have been my choices taken away from me but instead my cousins' are, our friends' are, so it's a big concern."
A Justice and Community Safety Directorate spokesman said the review would analyse the circumstances in which the worrying incident occurred and would consider whether changes to policies or procedures were necessary to minimise the risk of repeats.
Court documents said Bye had offered to call a taxi to help a woman outside a nightclub after she had vomited a number of times. She allegedly awoke to discover him assaulting her and tried to resist, with Bye at one point holding her by the throat so she could not breathe until she stopped resisting.
Six students from ANU were also awarded scholarships as part of the inaugural 100 Westpac foundation donations, four of them to travel to an Asian university on exchange. One other former ACT resident, now studying at the University of Melbourne, was also a scholarship recipient.
The auction will enable the country to re-allocate the 900MHz licence acquired by Jas Mobile last December but had to give up when it failed to make its first payment last month.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), Thailands telecoms regulator, had initially planned to re-auction the spectrum June 24, 2016 but its general Prayut Chan-o-cha called for it to be brought forward by a month on Tuesday.

Existing operators such as True and Advanced Info Service (AIS) will be eligible to participate in the auction. The latter had requested for the regulator to award it the 900MHz licence for 1.9 billion (75.65 billion baht) without hosting another auction.

In a separate meeting, Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of NBTC, said the auction is likely to be held on May 22, 2016.
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.
Applications are invited by University of Hyderabad (UOH), Hyderabad invites applications for admission to PG programmes.

Programmes are offered in Masters of Technology (M.Tech), Masters in Public Health (MPH), Masters in Philosophy (M.Phil), Masters of Arts (M.A), 5 years integrated M.A, 5 years integrated Masters in Science (M.Sc), Master of Computer Application (MCA), integrated M.Tech, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) programs offered in various specialisations for the session 2016.

Eligibility Criteria:

MCA Programme: Candidates must have bachelor's degree with at least 60% marks in aggregate. Candidates should have studied Mathematics as a main subject in Higher Secondary (10 + 2) level .

M.Sc Programmes: Candidates should be holding bachelor's degree with minimum of 60% marks in the aggregate of optional subjects with Mathematics/ Statistics as one of the subjects.

M.A Programmes: Candidates should have minimum of 50% marks in the Bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks in selected language as optional subject

For more information on eligibility criteria, visit the official website

How to Apply?

To apply online candidates should visit the official website

Selection Procedure:

Admission will be offered to candidates based on their performance in the written test and interview, conducted by the institute.

Important Dates:



Last date to submit online application: May 10, 2016

Applicants can download admit cards from: May 24, 2016

Dates of entrance examination: May 30, 2016 to June 5, 2016

Also Read: India Rankings 2016 - NIRF: Top 10 Universities
Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city.

Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea
Speeding through a tunnel with a howling V12 Italian exotic thats blasting flames from its tailpipes is a sure way to get noticed by undercover cops.



During Top Marques 2016 I saw this Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, writes our tipster and the man behind the camera, Michael. When he arrived at the famous tunnel and accelerates into it, undercover police saw him and turned around to chase him.

These officers were the real undercover deal, I mean, who would ever suspect a timid Citroen C4? For that extra stealthiness, were guessing they must have chosen the base 100PS diesel edition.

If anything, it surely has the upper hand over any supercar showing off in Monacos tunnels when it comes to driving range. All the cops have to do is unwearyingly follow the Lamborghini Aventador until it runs out fuel. Touche gents, touche.

Thanks to Mike for the tip!

Photo Gallery
Photo: UBC Farm Julian Napoleon

A fundraiser to help cover the legal fees in a case against the proposed Site C Dam in Peace River Valley is coming to Kelowna.

Julian Napoleon of the Saulteau First Nation will be in town on April 19, to speak about the Treaty 8 First nation - a collection of First Nations affected by the dam, legal challenge to the development.

Napoleon grew up surrounded by the indigenous food-gathering practices and now attends UBC in an agriculture program.

He is also intimately familiar with Site Cs threat to Peace valley farmland, which has the potential of providing fruits and vegetables for one million British Columbians, wrote the Council of Canadians in a press release.

The fundraiser, held at the Okanagan Mission Community Hall at 7 p.m., is co-hosted by the Sierra Club BC and the Council of Canadians, Canadas largest citizens organization.

The event will also feature the former chair of the Agricultural Land Reserve, Richard Bullock and Ana Simeon, a Peace Valley campaigner for Sierra Club BC.
Photo: Facebook - Waterfront Wines Restaurant & Wine Bar

Mark Filatow has continued his dominance over the Okanagan restaurant scene at the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards this week.

For the eighth year in a row, Filatows Waterfront Wines took home the coveted title of best Okanagan restaurant.

Hopefully we can make it 10 (years), and then we might have to pass it off, Filatow, executive chef, sommelier and partner of Waterfront Wines, said of the win. Its not something where we ever want to rest on our laurels, but its nice and its super humbling.

The magazines awards have been running for the past 28 years, providing an annual list of must-try restaurants throughout B.C.

Eighteen judges spend a year dining out to determine the best of the best.

Filatow credits his restaurants success to his staff and the local products the restaurant uses.

As the saying goes, youre only as good as your days off, Filatow said. If Im not here and the restaurants still doing well and the guests are happy, that shows a lot of kudos to whos really doing all the work because I cant do it all.

Filatow moved from Vancouver to Kelowna in the early 2000s because of the easy access to locally-sourced produce, meat and wine in the Okanagan.

We really are in a bit of a bountiful basket, its pretty awesome, he said.

Filatow grew up in Ontario, but moved west as soon as (he) could.

He dropped out of his program at UBC Vancouver, halfway through his degree, after realizing he was happiest in a kitchen.

He ended up enrolling in culinary school in Vancouver instead, and eventually found his way to Kelowna to open Fresco, which became Raudz in 2009.

In 2004, Waterfront came along, and I wasnt looking for anything, but there it was, he said.

Raudz, Filatows old stomping ground, took home second place for best Okanagan restaurant at the Restaurant Awards, followed by Salted Brick, a relative newbie in the area, having opened in early 2014.

The overall restaurant of the year went to Maenam, a Vancouver Thai restaurant.
Photo: Monkey Business

Canadian cable companies recently began offering skinny basic television packages, after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission mandated the creation of the cheaper bare-bones options.

But, most Canadians arent that interested.

A recent Angus-Reid poll shows that 68 per cent of Canadians believe these TV packages arent worth it because of the extra costs TV providers have been adding for added features.

Only two per cent of those polled have actually made a switch from higher cost TV packages to one of the new skinny basic packages, while 17 per cent said they have looked into switching.

Of those who looked into switching, 66 per cent said they had a negative impression of the options they found.

The CRTC changes were announced back in March 2015, which required cable and satellite companies to offer stripped-down packages for $25 or less and allow customers to choose extra individual channels.

The rules came into effect in March 2016.

Forty-nine per cent of those surveyed said they get not very good or terrible value for what they currently pay for TV, while 37 per cent said they get really good or decent value.

One-in-four people aged 18-34 dont have TV service at all.

Overall, 68 per cent of those surveyed said the extra costs added on to the low-cost packages are not worth it, despite the greater choices offered.
Photo: CTV

The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia has been called to probe the crash that killed RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett.

The civilian-led IIO is tasked with investigating whether or not an officer may have committed an offence.

Beckett, 32, died April 5 when her cruiser was broadsided by a pickup truck in the Vancouver Island community of Langford. The 11-year member of the force left behind a husband and two sons aged five and two. Her funeral was held this week.

At the time of the crash, the RCMP notified the IIO, but no investigation was launched.

The driver of the pickup truck has since been released with no charges.

"As the investigation has progressed, information pertaining to an attempt by police to stop the suspect vehicle prior to the collision was provided to the IIO BC for assessment," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Rob Vermeulen in a news release.

The IIO has now confirmed they will indeed be conducting an independent investigation into the events leading up to the fatal crash "and whether the actions or inactions of any police officer may have been a contributing factor."

RCMP said they will also continue to investigate.
Photo: Contributed

Nearly two months after the incident, Kelowna RCMP say they have a suspect in the death of an Ontario man outside the Cactus Club Restaurant on Highway 97.

Zachary Gaudette, 30, was beaten during an altercation outside the restaurant on the evening of Feb. 17. He succumbed to his injuries two days later.

RCMP now say they have identified a 25-year-old man as a suspect.

Meanwhile, police say they are still awaiting results of an autopsy conducted on Gaudette's body.

"RCMP remain in close consultation with Crown counsel," said Const. Jesse O'Donaghey.

"As such, once all the evidence has been presented, Crown counsel will be in a position to be able to make an informed decision with respect to their consideration for charge approval."

Police are releasing no further information.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Advocates of medical assistance in dying are hoping to persuade MPs to amend the federal government's proposed new law to make it less restrictive  but they may have more luck focusing their attention on senators.

Unlike elected parliamentarians who avoided the sensitive issue until forced to deal with it by the Supreme Court, appointed senators chose to grapple with the issue more than 20 years ago, creating a special committee on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

And now some senators argue their immunity to the political pressures facing MPs equips them to more independently and impartially assess whether the proposed law complies with the charter of rights and respects last year's so-called Carter decision by the top court, which struck down the ban on assisted suicide.

At least two of them  independent Liberals James Cowan and Serge Joyal  don't believe it does pass the charter test and they're prepared to try to amend the bill or even defeat it if necessary.

Joyal says another option would be to refuse to vote on the bill until the government agrees to refer it to the Supreme Court to see if it passes muster  much as the Senate did on the previous Harper government's initial attempt to unilaterally reform the upper house, which the top court eventually determined could not be done without the consent of provinces.

"As much as we understand the political context in which a delicate issue like this one takes place, nevertheless we have to have a broader perspective," Joyal, an acknowledged constitutional authority, said in an interview Friday.

"That's why we have a Senate."

He likened the challenge facing the Senate to the situation in 1989, when the Senate killed an abortion bill that had passed the Commons. Canada has been without an abortion law ever since.

Cowan and Joyal were members of the special joint parliamentary committee which recommended a much more permissive approach to assisted dying than has been adopted by the government.

Both Conservative and Liberal senators on the committee supported the majority recommendations, although Conservative MPs did not. While some Conservative senators have since denounced the majority report, the consensus among those on the committee suggests the government might have more difficulty getting the numbers to pass the bill in the Senate than in the House of Commons.

"I think that the government has added too many conditions that restrict access to medical assistance in dying beyond, much beyond, what the Supreme Court has stated in Carter," Joyal said, adding that's not what he expected from a governing party that has declared itself to be the party of the charter.

The Supreme Court has given the government until June 6 to enact a new law and government House leader Dominic LeBlanc warned Thursday that if the bill is not passed by that deadline, there will be a "a complete vacuum in terms of a Criminal Code framework around this particularly sensitive issue."

"To say there's a legal void is not true," retorted Joyal, noting that the top court laid out parameters in the Carter decision for medical assistance in dying which would apply in the absence of a new criminal law.

Should it come down to choosing whether to support the new law, unamended, or leaving the Carter decision to govern assisted dying, Joyal said: "I would trust more the court than such a bill."

Similarly, Cowan said he's disappointed that the proposed law is "narrower, much more minimalist" than he'd hoped. While he's waiting to hear from legal experts, Cowan said if he concludes it doesn't meet the charter "floor" imposed by the court in Carter, he'll feel no obligation to support it.

Cowan said he doesn't "at all" accept the argument that the unelected Senate has no business rejecting the legislation if it's passed by the House of Commons.

"We're an independent house and ... I don't think they could claim they had a mandate from the Canadian people to implement this particular piece of legislation," he said.

Indeed, during last fall's election campaign, the Liberals promised  in a written response to Dying with Dignity Canada  to bring in "a legislative framework that respects the Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the priorities of Canadians."

"They specifically promised that and we're not seeing it," said the advocacy group's head, Shanaaz Gokool, adding that she remains "cautiously optimistic and hopeful" that the government will agree to amend its proposed law.

Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, who co-chaired the special joint committee, said he's hopeful the Commons justice committee and the Senate will do their jobs, scrutinizing the legislation thoroughly and making sure it can withstand a charter challenge. He noted that MPs will not be "whipped" to support the bill as is.

And if that means the bill isn't passed by the June 6 deadline, so be it, he added.

"That deadline is less important to me than having excellent legislation. Good enough legislation is not good enough," Oliphant said.

"This is a legacy piece of legislation that will be affecting Canadians for a generation or more and it's life and death and we have to make sure we have excellent legislation."

In Carter, the court ruled that the ban on assisted dying violated the charter guarantee of the right to life, liberty and security of the person. It said medical help in dying should be available to clearly consenting adults with "grievous and irremediable" medical conditions who are enduring physical or mental suffering that they find intolerable.

The government's more restrictive bill would require a person to be a consenting adult, at least 18 years of age, in "an advanced stage of irreversible decline" from a serious and incurable disease, illness or disability and for whom a natural death is "reasonably foreseeable."

The bill does not extend the right to assisted dying to those suffering only from mental illnesses or to mature minors. Nor does it allow for those suffering degenerative, competence-impairing conditions such as dementia to make advance requests for medical assistance in dying.
Photo: Contributed

A woman accused in her toddler's death from bacterial meningitis says she wishes she had taken him to a doctor.

Collet Stephan said Friday she could not recall doing tests in March 2012 to determine whether her nearly 19-month-son Ezekiel had meningitis.

Stephan and her husband David are on trial in a southern Alberta court on a charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life for their child.

The couple, formerly of Glenwood, Alta., now live in Nelson, B.C.

Ezekiel was sick for more than two weeks before he died in hospital. Court has heard how his parents gave him natural remedies, including smoothies with hot peppers and horseradish because they thought he had croup and the flu.

The jury has already heard that a friend who was a nurse told the Stephans that their boy might have viral meningitis and advised them to take him to a doctor.

Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles asked why Collet Stephan had performed two tests she found on the Internet to check for signs of meningitis.

"I'm not saying I didn't do them," Stephan said. "But I just don't have a recollection of doing them today. I can't comment on what I saw then if I can't remember what I saw today."

Giles suggested Stephan would have taken a significant amount of time researching meningitis in order to diagnose her son's issues.

Collet disagreed with the term "diagnosis," but agreed with the Crown that she was researching in order to identify the illness.

"I was just trying to figure out what virus or what illness he had, not try to, like, diagnose my child and say, 'This is with certainty what he has,'" she said.

"Taking him to a doctor for a diagnosis would have been a much more sure way," Giles said. "Would you agree with that?"

"No one would want a different outcome than my husband and I," Collet said tearfully. "Do I wish I would have took him to a doctor? Absolutely."

Stephan also testified that the day the boy was rushed to Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary she told police that her children never got sick.

But she previously told court that her kids did occasionally get the flu and she's not sure why she told police otherwise.

Stephan said she and her husband were under a great deal of stress and had had very little sleep when they were first questioned by police.

Court documents already entered in the trial say just days before Ezekiel was rushed to hospital his family was giving him fluids through an eyedropper because he wouldn't eat or drink.

The jury has also heard that the little boy's body was so stiff and sore that he couldn't be placed in a car seat and was placed on a mattress in the back seat of a car to be taken to a naturopath in Lethbridge the day before he stopped breathing and was rushed to hospital.
Photo: peshkov

Prisoners struggling with opiate addictions in British Columbia jails have gained the same right to medical treatment as people outside the corrections system.

B.C. Corrections has implemented a new policy after four men who alleged they were denied opiate replacement therapy launched a charter challenge last month.

The men, who are addicted to opiates and range in age from their 20s to late 40s, are now under the care of doctors after a settlement that will also give other prisoners access to timely therapy.

"We know, regrettably, there are drugs in provincial and federal institutions," their lawyer Adrienne Smith said Friday. "The fentanyl epidemic doesn't stop at the prison gate."

"This is a step in the right direction to keep people well, particularly when they're at a good place being able to ask for medical support."

The new policy comes as the province's medical health officer Dr. Perry Kendall declared Thursday that B.C. is facing a public health emergency involving overdoses involving drugs such as the opioid-based pain killer fentanyl.

Dr. M-J Milloy, of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said that under Canadian law, health care must be equivalent for people inside and outside corrections facilities.

"Anything that moves us closer to that being the reality ... is a good thing," said the infectious-disease epidemiologist.

Opioid addicts who have been released from prison are at greater risk of suffering a fatal overdose, Milloy said. A Washington state-based study in The New England Journal of Medicine found opioid dependent people were 12 times more likely to face that risk in the two weeks following release, he said.

B.C. Corrections' current policy follows the same guidelines for administering suboxone or methadone treatment to opioid addicts as set out by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C.

That means any addicted prisoner seeking help can request therapy during an appointment with a jail doctor.

Suboxone, which is now listed in the policy as the first line of treatment for prisoners, can be dissolved under the tongue in tablet form. Methadone is administered as a liquid that's usually mixed with orange juice.

An application for injunction and notice of civil claim was filed on March 18 as the four prisoners sought therapeutic prescriptions but alleged they were repeatedly told they were required to be in custody for at least three months before being eligible for treatment.

B.C. Corrections spokeswoman Cindy Rose said in a statement that methadone has been available in jails since 2002 and Suboxone since 2010.

Rose declined to dicuss the process leading to the settlement or the terms, and said B.C. Corrections was working on updating the opiate addiction treatment policy before the prisoners' legal challenge.

"B.C. Corrections will continue to offer treatment in conjunction with substance abuse management programs," she said, adding that the department is pleased that the matter has been settled.

B.C.'s Ministry of Public Safety has said there is no minimum time or length of custodial sentence to start treatment but did not explain why the four prisoners were refused therapy.

The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Milloy said there is evidence that opioid-addictions therapy not only prevents overdoses, but protects against HIV infections and helps people living with HIV stay on their drugs.

"There's an awful lot of benefits tied up into one relatively inexpensive medication," he said.

One of Smith's clients, Shawn Gillam, overdosed on illicit drugs at North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam after repeatedly being refused treatment, according to his affidavit.

"There are lots of drugs in this jail," he said. "I've seen MDMA, acid, heroin, cocaine and oxys. I don't want to overdose again."

Smith said 33-year-old Gillam "will be safer now."

 Follow @TamsynBurgmann on Twitter
Photo: Contributed

An animal rights group says Ontario's animal welfare agency didn't go far enough after laying animal cruelty charges against a zoo owner famous for training animals for Hollywood movies.

In December, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released footage that appeared to show Michael Hackenberger repeatedly whipping one of his tigers at the Bowmanville Zoo and boasting about it.

Earlier this week, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals laid four counts of causing an animal distress and one of failing to comply with the prescribed standards of animal care, all under the authority of the provincial OSPCA Act.

"The OSPCA should have charged Hackenberger under the criminal route," said lawyer Camille Labchuk, the head of Animal Justice, an animal rights organization.

"They've got a very strong case. This guy deliberately and wilfully caused pain to the tiger. It's conclusive; the video doesn't lie."

The OSPCA has the authority to lay Criminal Code charges but chose not to, according to OSPCA senior inspector Jennifer Bluhm.

"In consultation with the Crown attorney, these five charges were the most appropriate in this case," she said.

Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums  which represents zoos and aquariums in Canada and promotes the welfare of the animals they house  said Friday in a release that it has revoked Hackenberger's professional membership for violations of its code of ethics.

"The finding follows an investigation by the CAZA ethics committee into allegations of animal abuse stemming from a third-party hidden-camera video recording released last December," CAZA said.

A spokeswoman said CAZA could not comment further as the matter is before the courts. Hackenberger could not be reached for comment.

The video released by PETA allegedly shows Hackenberger lashing a tiger in the face with a whip.

A posting on the Zoo's Facebook page says Hackenberger plans to contest the charges and has stepped down as director of the zoo "while the charges against him are being defended."

In a statement on the OSPCA charges, posted on Wednesday night, the zoo described the charges as "politically driven," and said they are "completely unwarranted and unsupported by the actual facts surrounding the allegations against Mr. Hackenberger."

Meanwhile, PETA said it was satisfied its investigation was taken seriously.

"We're really just happy that Michael Hackenberger has been charged with anything," said PETA spokeswoman Brittany Peet.

She said the organization began looking into Hackenberger after he was seen on live television in Toronto last summer angrily cursing an unco-operative baboon that resisted riding a miniature horse.

So they enlisted one of their members to go undercover and begin working at the zoo with a hidden camera.

"It didn't take long for the eyewitness to get that footage," Peet said.

PETA claims the video shows Hackenberger repeatedly whipping a cowering tiger named Uno.

"Cause I like hitting him in the face and the paws ... and the beauty of the paws being on the rock, when you hit them it's like a vice ... it stings more," the video released by PETA has Hackenberger saying to the PETA member with the hidden camera.

Hackenberger claims that part of the video "was taken from somewhere (else)."

"That's something that PETA has created and put in there," he said in a video posted on the zoo's Facebook page last December.

In the video, Hackenberger says he "got him twice" as the tiger came into a training ring the wrong way, but "after that every blow, or every whip of the whip you see, I do not strike the animal."

And Hackenberger called allegations he hit the animal in the face "not true."

"A tiger will not lay on the ground and allow itself to be struck as this videotape suggests," he said of the PETA video. "They'll turn around and they'll try to kill you."

PETA released that video in December, which made headlines around the world. The organization also sent a copy to the OSPCA.

Bluhm said the video is the key piece of evidence in the case, but they've also interviewed everyone involved in the incident, including the PETA undercover operative and Hackenberger himself.

It's unclear if there have been problems at the zoo before. The OSPCA runs a voluntary zoo registry as part of the $5.5 million fund it receives each year from Ontario government.

The animal welfare agency said it inspects 69 zoos and aquariums in the province twice yearly, but cannot discuss the results of those inspections.

"We can only tell you we've been there, but not what we saw," Bluhm said.

Many of the Bowmanville Zoo's animals appeared in a variety of Hollywood movies. The zoo's other tiger, Jonas, for example, is famous for appearing in the movie adaptation of "Life of Pi." And many of its animals, including tigers, can be rented out for events or private encounters, according to the zoo's website.

Hackenberger is set to appear in court on Tuesday.

He faces a maximum fine of $60,000, two years in jail and a lifetime ban from owning animals if convicted.
Photo: Contributed

There is no winning ticket for the $16-million jackpot in Friday night's Lotto Max draw.

The grand prize for next Friday's draw on April 22 will be an estimated $24 million.

A $50-million Lotto Max jackpot was won last weekend by Kelowna senior June Bergh.
Photo: CTV

UPDATE: Sunday

The 60-year-old woman struck by a car in Surrey Friday night has died.

She was rushed to hospital after being hit by a car on 96th Avenue, but later succumbed to her injuries.

ORIGINAL: Saturday

A pedestrian was critically injured when she was struck by a vehicle in Surrey, Friday night.

RCMP were still on the scene of the collision, on the 12100 block of 96th Avenue, late into the night.

The incident happened about 8:30 p.m.

The 60-year-old victim sustained life-threatening injuries in the collision, Surrey RCMP Staff Sgt. Joe Johal said in a press release issued late Friday night.

The woman was taken to hospital in critical condition.

The driver of the vehicle remained on the scene and is co-operating with police.

The incident is still under investigation.

Traffic on 96th Avenue, between 120th Street and 122nd Street was shut down for several hours.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has further information is asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca, quoting file number 2016-51810.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Politicians from all sides of the spectrum are in Montreal to attend a second funeral for former federal cabinet minister Jean Lapierre and his wife Nicole Beaulieu.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are among the many dignitaries who travelled to the Saint-Viateur d'Outremont church to pay their respects to the ex-politician and political commentator.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the service, Trudeau described Lapierre as "an extraordinary, thoughtful, passionate man who was deeply committed to his country, and always looked for the very best for it."

Lapierre, 59, three of his siblings and Beaulieu were among the seven people who died in a plane crash in eastern Quebec on March 29.

Former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Paul Martin are in attendance, as well as NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, former Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe and several federal and provincial cabinet ministers and former Quebec premiers.

Ahead of the service, Lapierre's former political colleagues described him as a man who loved to laugh, was respected by members of all political parties and, above all, as someone with a gift for explaining politics to the public in a way they could understand.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard described Lapierre as a man who united people across the political spectrum.

"He was a man from the regions but also a man from the city so he could talk to all Quebecers from all walks of life," he said. "There was a deep emotional attachment between Quebecers and Jean Lapierre."

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest said Lapierre "constructed himself a place that's unique in the political landscape and the media landscape, and he lived in both worlds."

Hundreds of people also attended a funeral last week for Lapierre, 59, his father Raymond, his two brothers, one of his sisters and Beaulieu in Lapierre's hometown of Bassin in Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

Lapierre's father died of Parkinson's disease just a few days before the crash, which also killed pilots Pascal Gosselin and Fabrice Labourel.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating.
Photo: Google Street View

The Lake Country Fire Department got to church just in time Friday morning.

A Lake Country city councilor was driving by St. Edwards Catholic Church Friday morning at 10:30 when he noticed a fire had started beside the building.

Fire crews arrived at the scene just as the fire, which began amongst some cedar trees, was crawling up the side of the church.

It broke a couple windows and had actually just started to get into the attic space when the fire department arrived on scene, said Steve Windsor, Lake Country fire chief. Probably another five or 10 minutes and it would have been a whole different story, thats for sure.

Fire crews quickly sprang into action, putting out the potentially devastating blaze.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but Windsor says there were no obvious signs of an ignition source, so theyre classifying it as suspicious.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Workers' rights advocates are set to rally in Vancouver and Victoria tonight against changes to regulations that were brought in after the death of gas-station attendant Grant de Patie.

The British Columbia Federation of Labour's Young Workers' Committee will hold its annual overnight sit-in to mark the anniversary of the province's changes to the rules known as "Grant's Law."

The pay-before-you-pump rules were brought in after de Patie was dragged to his death in 2005 after trying to prevent a gas-and-dash robbery over $12.30 worth of fuel.

The B.C. Federation of Labour says the province bowed to pressure from the business community in 2012 and removed specific safety requirements from the regulations.

President Irene Lanzinger says the rules no longer require late-night workers to be physically separated from the public with a barrier or to work in pairs.

B.C. was the first province to enact regulations requiring drivers to pay at the pump before filling up and the death of a Calgary service-station worker last year has prompted calls for similar legislation in Alberta.
Photo: Contributed - Castanet Dayleen Van Ryswyk

A few letters were sent to Castanet supporting Dayleen Van Ryswyk, after her resignation this morning.

Our poll today is to check public opinion on Van Ryswyk's comments.

Here are her unedited threads (a thread is a continuation of a conversation that another person started) from the Castanet Forums:

Re: Strip them of the Status Card

Postby Dayleen  Feb 11th, 2009, 9:33 pm

It's not the status cards, it's the fact that we have been paying out of the nose for generations for something that isn't our doing. If their ancestors sold out too cheap it's not my fault and i shouldn't have to be paying for any mistake or whatever you want to call it from MY hard earned money. My husbands parents lived during the war in Holland, when the Germans came and told them to get out..they lost everything...are they getting a paycheck every month or a huge lump sum every year tax free...no..they got nothing but work in a concentration camp. It's time our generation stopped paying for the mistakes of the past...let us all be one people...THE SAME..race, creed colour or gender shouldn't matter anymore in this day and age...enough is enough already.

Told ya...don't get me started ..LOL

Re: Strip them of the Status Card

Postby Dayleen  Feb 12th, 2009, 11:13 am

I don't think anyone is saying that wrongs didn't happen (incredible wrongs) you could have almost any race, group or ethnic people tell you horrible haunting stories of what happened to them. If someone did me wrong, it's my right to sue...as it is everyone else's. In my opinion, holding an entire group of people liable for something that happened hundreds of years ago, people who weren't even alive yet for the wrongs of their ancestors is ridiculous. Again, how many Jewish, Polish, Russian, Dutch etc walked into a gas chamber, we're gunned down, raped, tortured and starved to death....tell me...how many Germans do you know that are handing over a potion of their paycheck EVERY month for what happened NOT very long ago (in all our parents life time)...none...that's how many are paying for those wrongs. I'm not given a free ride, i work very hard for everything i have and 40% of it goes to taxes. This native handout isn't from the government...it's from the over worked calloused hand of every single TAX paying person in this country. The government is nothing more than a big black hole that feeds off the working man, sucking his last penny from his hand so they can give it away freely or lose it stupidly on things like fast ferries and about a zillion other stupid things. I'm not so ignorant as to think there will ever be total equality...there never will, as long as there are people or groups of people that think they are better than others or deserve more than others. I hope that in the not so distant future the hatreds of the past can diminish and we can truly move on as a people that are all here together trying to make the best of what we have and not standing with our hand out screaming "you owe me". In my opinion. we have paid our debt...a thousand fold..it's time to move on, heal and grow. If the native people are to be the proud nation they keep talking about, then stand on your own two feet and hold your heads high. There are a lot of things to be proud of, stop dwelling on the past. Because like the economy...the gravy train bubble will eventually burst too.

Re: Opening Ceremony is a waste of time

Postby Dayleen  Feb 12th, 2010, 8:23 pm

Yup...we all drive dog sleads..live in igloos and all are native...OH..and we're all FRENCH TOO!!

I'm getting so sick of having french stuffed down my throat..this isn't Quebec,,it's western Canada...we speak english here...so does the majority of Canada. I'm offended that the french is spoken first. When Montreal had their games they could do what they want over there but why are we forced to have it as the predominent language at our western Canadian hosted Olympics? Why can't we celebrate Canada's diverse cultures..everyone..not just natives!

Re: "More French in the ceremonies"

Postby Dayleen  Feb 16th, 2010, 9:54 pm

Thank God I'm not the only one that was shocked at the french first at the ceremonies. what the hay??? This is BC..we speak english here..this isn't Quebec!! Now i read they are upset not enough french was spoken...are you freaking kidding me??!!!!

Speak french, don't speak french..i couldn't care less but when you force it down my throat every time i turn around, it pisses me right off! French first at the Olympics held in WESTERN Canada...and then bitch it wasn't enough...i guess it shouldn't have had any english at all.

I travel quite a lot and when i say we are from Canada I'm always asked if we are french Canadian or western. I always say...hell no..we aren't french Canadian. Seems the only group of people universally hated around the world other than the Americans are the french and FRENCH CANADIANS...Interesting. Their arrogance is astounding and this latest complaint proves it...oh yes, but no english signs allowed over there...the bigots are the french not us...get over yourselves already!!

Now you know the rest of the story, take our poll.
Missed Delivery?

If missed delivery or wet paper please call our office 909-628-5501 ext 110 Leave a detailed message with name, address, and phone number. Readers must call before 1 p.m. on Saturday. Re-deliveries are available for Chino residents until 1 p.m. Saturdays.

Click Here
Kaan Gunaydin, an analytics analyst at Chicago-based tech firm Enova, has applied for an H-1B visa for the third year in a row after not getting one the past two years in the random lottery. A graduate of Northwestern University, he has applied for master's programs to ensure he can stay here even if he gets rejected again. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

Kaan Gunaydin knew since high school that he wanted to build start-ups. He also knew he didn't want to do it in his native Turkey, where he felt the social and career opportunities fell short.

Thrilled to be accepted at Northwestern University, Gunaydin joined a fraternity, played club tennis and majored in industrial engineering and economics.

Advertisement

Now 24, he lives in the Loop and works in business analytics at Chicago-based online lender Enova International.

He also, for the third year in a row, is rolling the dice for an H-1B visa so he can stay.

Advertisement

Gunaydin's application is among 236,000 submitted this year for the controversial and increasingly competitive foreign-worker program meant for skilled employees in "specialty occupations," often in the tech sector.

Demand for H-1Bs, which was not as high as some expected this year, has nonetheless surged in recent years with the improving economy, climbing from 124,000 employer-sponsored applications submitted in 2013 to 172,500 in 2014 and 233,000 last year. The visas, which allow people to stay up to six years, are awarded through a random lottery.

With 65,000 slots for foreign nationals who have at least a bachelor's degree, and another 20,000 designated for those with advanced degrees, large technology employers have called for raising the cap, insisting they can't find the right skills in the local talent pool.

Critics of the program lash back that claims of a talent shortage in STEM  science, technology, engineering and math  are overblown. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for reform, saying abuse of the system exploits cheaper labor and displaces U.S. workers.

As the debate roils and applications mount, employees such as Gunaydin face diminishing odds of securing a visa and building their lives here.

"If people asked me where my home is now, Chicago is my home," said Gunaydin, who is approaching the end of the Optional Training Visa status, tied to his student visa, which permits him to work after graduation. "I would have to go out of my home if I don't get a visa."

The rise in H-1B applications comes amid a rapid increase of foreign students at U.S. universities, many of whom are eager to stick around to work after graduation.

There were 975,000 foreign students studying in the U.S. in the 2014-15 academic year, most of them from China and India, up 10 percent from the previous year and an increase of 78 percent since 2000, according to the nonprofit Institute of International Education.

Advertisement

More than 40 percent of foreign students study in STEM fields, where H-1B demand is hungriest, and they dominate advanced STEM degree programs. Foreign students earn 57 percent of the doctorates in engineering and half of the doctorates in computer science and math and statistics, according to a Pew Research Center report last year.

At the Illinois Institute of Technology, for instance, 65 percent of graduate students last year were international, up from 40 percent in 2005, spokesman Mark Zonca said.

Lack of an easy path to legal employment makes it difficult to retain foreign-born students after they graduate, which drains local economies of talent and tax money, according to a new report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. In Illinois, the low transition of college graduates on student visas into the local workforce costs the state $29.2 million in state income tax, the report said.

David Hornthal, president of Crosly & Associates, an executive search firm based in Deerfield that recruits for analytics jobs, said he was "extremely surprised" there wasn't a steeper rise of H-1B applications this year, given the boom in foreign students and the snowball effect as people who lost in the lotteries over the past few years tried again. He had predicted 290,000 to 330,000 applications.

Hornthal wonders if slower job growth last year dampened demand, or if a crackdown by federal authorities on companies that submit multiple applications for the same individual to increase their chances might have dissuaded the practice.

But Dick Burke, CEO of Chicago-based VisaNow, an immigration services provider that helps workers and employers through the visa process, said he was not surprised by the modest bump. Many of his employer-clients have said they are beginning to lose faith in the program, fearing it too risky to stake a hire on it, and have begun to pursue other visa classes, he said.

Advertisement

"A mistake would be to read the news of no (application) growth and assume that (employers) are satiated," Burke said. "The need has remained profound and it continues to grow."

Whether that need must be filled with foreign-born workers is a hotly debated topic.

With global consultancies filing the most applications and getting the most H-1B visas, the program has gained a reputation for swiping U.S. IT workers' jobs.

Walt Disney World came under fire last year after it laid off 250 employees, some of whom said they had to train the workers brought in on H-1B visas to do their jobs, according to media reports. Two of the laid-off employees in January filed federal lawsuits against Disney as well as HCL and Cognizant, the global consulting firms that sponsored the visas. At least 30 of the Disney workers also have filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging they were discriminated against, based on their U.S. citizenship.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a longtime advocate for reforming the program, sent a letter Friday to Abbott Laboratories telling CEO Miles White he was "deeply disappointed" that the company was laying off 150 American workers and replacing them with contractors from Wipro, an Indian outsourcing company.

Hal Salzman, professor of public policy at Rutgers University and a critic of the program, estimates that only about 15 percent of the market for H-1B visas is for truly hard-to-find skill sets such as data science. The vast majority is for basic programming and tech support skills that employers could fill with U.S. workers if they were willing to pay them more.

Advertisement

With the tech sector warning of some 300,000 layoffs this year, Salzman disputes complaints of a talent shortage, likening the scramble for H-1Bs to the fight for Black Friday deals.

There are "a lot of disappointed customers but there's no shortage of TVs, just half-price TVs," he said. "Similarly, there is no shortage of IT workers, just those available at a discount."

Attorneys for employers that hire H-1B workers say that's untrue. The program requires employers pay H-1B workers the prevailing wage based on the job, location and skill level, or the actual wage U.S. employees are paid for that position  whichever is higher, said Scott Fanning, a Chicago-based attorney at Fisher & Phillips.

Violations can get employers barred from the program or slapped with monetary penalties, and recently there has been an increase of audits and investigations, Fanning said. Given the consequences, and that it costs employers $5,000 to $10,000 to file a single H-1B application, including attorneys and filing fees, "they wouldn't be doing it if there wasn't a need for it," he said.

But Ron Hira, associate professor of public policy at Howard University, said loopholes in the law give employers flexibility to define the job and skill level so they can pay less and save significant money. More than 40 percent of the workers approved by the government last year for H-1Bs were at the lowest prevailing wage level, meant for beginning-level employees such as research fellows or workers-in-training, and were paid 40 percent less than what Americans would earn in the same occupations, he said.

John Pollak, senior director of people resources at Enova, said such pay concerns don't apply in his business, where "if we're not paying highly competitive wages, we're just not in the conversation."

Advertisement

The demand for quantitative skills at the company, which handles heavy amounts of data from its nearly 4 million customers, far outstrips the supply, he said. "Some of that stretch is self-imposed because we have a really high bar for how we recruit," Pollak said.

Gunaydin said an Enova recruiter found him through a resume book published by an elite undergraduate certificate program he participated in through Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He interned there after his junior year and knew he wanted to start his career at Enova, which he said has helped him throughout his H-1B process.

About 15 percent of Enova's 1,100 employees are foreign nationals, who work mostly in analytics, product management, software engineering, and strategy and operations, Pollak said. The company has a robust immigration program, which puts employees on a path to permanent residency as soon as they start and includes securing visas for spouses so they also can work.

Enova submitted about a dozen H-1B applications for employees this year  most years it submits between 10 and 25  which Pollak says is a risky investment given the time and cost of training and developing people who might not be selected.

It is worth it not only for the talent but for the cultural diversity, he said, a value that often gets overlooked in conversations about foreign employees. "It's a must that we have folks from a lot of different backgrounds and schools of thought for us to be able to think creatively," Pollak said.

Gunaydin's boss, Joe DeCosmo, chief analytics officer at Enova, said the data science skills Gunaydin brings are "vital to our success."

Advertisement

"It's tough to think about losing that kind of top talent," DeCosmo said.

As a Plan B, Gunaydin applied to and was accepted to computer science master's programs so he can stay as a student. Still, he is frustrated that the inflated applicant pool driven by some companies' abuse of the H-1B program could take him from the American friends he has amassed and a job he says he couldn't have dreamed of in Istanbul.

Advocates on either side of the issue are pushing legislation to reform the system.

A bill co-sponsored by Durbin and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would require employers seeking H-1Bs to first make a good-faith effort to recruit American workers and would give priority to advanced degree-holders, those being paid a high wage and those with valuable skills.

On the other side, the Immigration Innovation Act, known as I-Squared, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and backed by Microsoft and Facebook, would lift the cap of H-1Bs to between 115,000 and 195,000 visas a year, depending on market conditions and existing demand. People with advanced STEM degrees would be exempt from the cap.

Not-for-profit universities and research organizations are already exempt from the cap.

Advertisement

Neither bill is expected to move forward in this election year, when the issue has been hot-button in the presidential debates.

As for Gunaydin, he should find out within the next month if he won the lottery.

aelejalderuiz@tribpub.com

Twitter @alexiaer
"Niobe: She Is Life" is a comic series by co-writers Sebastian A. Jones and Amandla Stenberg, artist Ashley A. Woods, and layout artist Darrell May. (Ashley A. Woods illustration)

Ashley A. Woods has a drawn out workday.

"I haven't done anything for myself in weeks," said the 30-year-old Chatham resident. "It's 18-hour days right now. All I do is draw. And I do research when I'm eating."

Advertisement

The artist illustrates "Niobe: She Is Life," the comic book series written by Sebastian A. Jones and outspoken teen actress Amandla Stenberg.

The four-issue Stranger Comics book is a rarity  in that it's a nationally-distributed comic featuring a black female character, written and drawn by black women.

Advertisement

Woods also is working with New Arab Media, based in Amman, Jordan, and Copenhagen, on a post-apocalyptic book featuring a female Saudi heroine, Latifa. It's a gig that has her regularly up at 4 a.m., drawing and prepping for Skype meetings with co-workers with a nine-hour time difference.

But Woods isn't complaining. She's giddy about the opportunities she's seeing in an industry dominated by older white men.

Chicago comic book artist Ashley A. Woods. (Ashley A. Woods photo)

There's a lack of black female creators in mainstream comics where five companies  Marvel, DC, Image, IDW Publishing and Dark Horse  make up the bulk of the sales. However, more of them are being heard through web and independent publishing often funded through crowdsourcing.

"Most of your black women creators, you're going to find doing web comics more so than a book that you can pick up in your local comic book store," said Tee Franklin (a.k.a. Miz Caramel Vixen), who last year created the #BlackComicsMonth Twitter hashtag and website to spotlight black comic writers and artists. "You can't let anybody tell you you can't do your own story. Just do it yourself. That's where a lot of people of color are going."

Woods started by independently producing her own action fantasy book, "Millennia War," and getting it in local stores as an 18-year-old. But work wasn't coming after she'd graduated from the International Academy of Design and Technology in 2007, and she ended up taking menial jobs (she distributed beer samples at events) before deciding to leverage contacts she'd made on the comic-con exhibit circuit and at local gatherings of industry professionals.

You can't let anybody tell you you can't do your own story. Just do it yourself. That's where a lot of people of color are going.  Tee Franklin, #BlackComicsMonth creator

One had offered her a chance to work with him on a Batman comic. She was intimidated and didn't follow up. Still, in 2015, he offered her another project, this one with Marvel, due out in October, she said.

Woods wouldn't reveal details about the Marvel job. But that assignment would make her one of few black women creators to work with the top two comic publishers; others are artists Natacha Bustos, the half Afro-Brazilian artist working on Marvel's new "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur"; Afua Richardson, who has worked with Marvel, DC and Image Comics, where she did the "Genius" miniseries featuring a black girl leading an urban uprising; and Brittany Williams, working on Marvel's "Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!"

Celebs also have gotten into the mix. Actress Erika Alexander co-created and writes sci-fi graphic novel series "Concrete Park," a Dark Horse title, and Rosario Dawson was a co-writer on the "Occult Crimes Taskforce" limited horror series published on 12 Gauge Comics and Image Comics.

Advertisement

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 38 Dave Ziemak, 26, walks to the show floor after his fake axe was inspected at the C2E2 entrance at McCormick Place, on March 19, 2016, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Stenberg, who was recruited by Stranger Comics to bring a black woman's voice to the Niobe series that stars an orphaned teenage elf, was one of the people Woods met on the circuit. The actress had stopped at Wood's booth at the Black Comix Arts Festival in San Francisco, bought a print, and later suggested her for work on "Niobe."

"Doors started opening for me out of the blue," Woods said.

She's particularly hyped about working on books featuring women of color.

"It is important for blacks to be shown in a certain light, in a certain context," she said. "I'm going to represent anybody of color with brains."

Such efforts are needed to get away from a standard of black female tropes in characters, said Jennifer Cross, who moderated a panel on black female characters in fantasy, science fiction and comics during the C2E2 comic and pop culture convention at McCormick Place last month.

"It's not only a series for us and by us, but also about us," said Cross, a 35-year-old writer who lives in Edgewater. "It's about giving people an opportunity to see themselves as more than a weather witch or a warrior woman or a magical Negress or a strong black character  or even worse, a political tool for any sort of white supremacist narrative that is going on in the story."

Advertisement

Industry titles are in dire need of more racially diverse characters  particularly women said Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds blogger and podcaster.

"People have a desire to see characters that look like them and support creators who look like them," Broadnax said. "We've always been into comic books. But black women will support and purchase comic books even more if they see themselves represented in them."

About half of the customers at Third Coast Comics in Edgewater are women and many are of color, said owner Terry Gant.

Sales indicate there is support for more diverse female characters.

The first issue of "Niobe" was released in November and has sold about 10,000 print copies  twice the number that connotes success for an independent company, said Jones, president of Stranger Comics.



About 5,000 of those moved through Diamond Comic Distributors, including 3,500 that first month, making it Stranger's best-selling comic. That compares to 38,000 copies of the first issue of powerhouse Marvel's "Moon Girl" sold the same month.

And fangirls flock to those writers and artists, said Chicago feminist and science fiction writer Mikki Kendall, whose first effort in the genre was an issue in Dynamite's "Swords of Sorrow" series of crossover comics last fall.

Advertisement

Gail Simone, who has written "Wonder Woman," "Superman" and "Deadpool" titles, tasked her with the project after meeting at a C2E2 conference.

"I learned that for black girls who read comics, I suddenly became a big deal. People would bring their kids to stop by wherever I was, just so they could meet me," said Kendall, who is guest writing on a Princeless anthology, featuring an adventurous black princess who eschews the awaiting-a-white-knight stereotype. "One of the moms said to me, 'My daughter loves comics but at most of the stuff we go to, she doesn't see anyone who looks like her.'"

Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer. Twitter @cherylvjackson


Lake Forest Country Day School has changed the name of its event to "VIP and son bowling." (Lake Forest Country Day School)

The daddy-daughter dance is an age-old tradition, but some say that it's time for a name change.

Many schools host these dances in the name of long-established customs, but with the rise of nontraditional families, these gender-specific events need to become more inclusive, parents say.

Advertisement

RELATED: TRENDING LIFE & STYLE NEWS THIS HOUR

Erik Sosa-Kibby and his partner, Mark, said they felt excluded when their sons' elementary school held its annual mother-son outing.

Advertisement

"When I brought up my concern, it was like pulling teeth," said Sosa-Kibby, whose two sons missed the event twice at Bristol Elementary School in Wisconsin. "I made a joke on Facebook that I was going to dress up as a woman in order to take my boys."

The events were finally made more gender-neutral, but the family didn't benefit from the change. Last year, the boys switched schools, and SosaKibby found himself bringing the same concern to the new school.

Lake Forest Country Day School held a mother-son bowling event, but when Sosa-Kibby asked the school to change the name to be more inclusive, administrators quickly agreed to change it to "VIP and son bowling."

The father-daughter dance at a public elementary school in southern New Hampshire was changed to Little Miss Dance two years ago. The PTO encouraged female students to bring their father or another male role model.

"We chose to change the name to accommodate the many types of families we have at our school, and hopefully to not make any girl feel excluded, dad or no dad," said Kerstie Ellenton Hazelbaker, PTO president. "We have had families with two moms, dads serving overseas and transgender parents contact us to ask if they can come. No girl should ... feel that they cannot attend or that it doesn't apply to them."

Parents who have been denied access to a school function because of their gender have sought help from the American Civil Liberties Union.

A public school in Rhode Island blocked a single mother from attending a father-daughter dance with her daughter in 2012. The mother worked with the ACLU, which said the school violated national Title IX legislation that protects people from sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities. The school was forced to change the name of the dance to make it inclusive of all genders.

"No one should be denied participation in any education program that receives federal assistance due to sex or gender," said Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the ACLU of Illinois.

Advertisement

"But the thing that is vexing to me is you see the language of the daddy-daughter and the mom-son thing, and you see the rapidly changing dynamics of our society, and you wonder, 'Would the daddy-daughter dance ban the daughter of a lesbian couple?' The way in which families form and re-form, and the various assorted relationships which one has, these aren't always as linear as the traditional nuclear family," he said.

There are some parents who disagree.

"I know I would be nothing but flattered to take a nephew or niece, and my kids would be happy to take grandma or a family friend in my place if I was unable," said Edith Gomero, a stay-at-home mom of three in Oak Park who is for keeping the traditional names of these events.

"I understand trying to be inclusive for all, but at the same time, I feel that sometimes this inclusiveness takes a little away from kids that want to have the opportunity for some traditional things," she said.

Danielle Braff is a freelance writer.

RELATED STORIES:

Advertisement

Childhood is easy to customize; parenthood should be about broadening horizons

One car for a suburban family? It can work

50 books every kid should read by 12: Did your favorite make the cut?






Chicago Teachers Union members and supporters attend a rally at the Thompson Center before marching during a one-day strike by teachers April 1, 2016, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

The Chicago Teachers Union on Saturday rejected the recommendation for a four-year-contract made by an independent fact-finder, creating the possibility of a strike as soon as next month.

The recommendations of Steven Bierig, a Highland Park attorney, largely followed a proposal the school board made in January that was turned down by a union bargaining team. The recommendations included a 8.75 percent base salary increase over four years and the resumption of step-and-lane raises based on experience and educational level in the final three years.

Advertisement

Bierig also agreed with the district's proposal to phase out after two years the long-standing practice of picking up 7 percentage points of teachers' 9 percent pension contribution.

Bierig acknowledged the deal he was backing would do nothing to resolve the ongoing dispute over school funding that pits both Chicago Public Schools and the union against Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislators in Springfield.

Advertisement

"It appears that the political conflict between the board and the state is a dark cloud that overhangs these entire proceedings," wrote Bierig, who was brought in as part of the state-mandated process that governs CTU labor negotiations.

The release of Bierig's findings on Saturday means CTU can legally strike as soon as May 16, as long as it gives 10-day notice. "The clock has started," union President Karen Lewis said in a statement in which she blasted both the district and Rauner.

"CPS has created this fiscal mess and refuses to go over hundreds of millions of dollars in existing revenue that is already out there. Our wacked-out governor isn't helping," Lewis said. "We have no choice (but) to prepare ourselves for a possible strike."

In the union's dissent to Bierig's report, CTU attorney Robert Bloch said the school board "simply cannot afford to sign a contract" with the union.

District CEO Forrest Claypool said CPS could afford Bierig's recommendations even though the system is "nearly insolvent."

"This report should not be the precursor to a strike," Claypool told reporters on Saturday. "It must be the precursor to a final agreement."

Claypool did not directly respond when asked whether CPS, which accepted Bierig's report, would end the year early if teachers went on strike before school lets out.

"I'm not making any judgments right now on a speculative strike," he said. "We're going to spend the next 30 days trying to get an agreement, and we think the fact-finder has provided a pathway."

Advertisement

The clock is ticking on a potential teachers strike before the end of the school year after the Chicago Teachers Union rejected an independent fact-finding report that recommended a four-year contract. April 17, 2016. (CBS Chicago) (CBS Chicago)

Claypool noted, as did Bierig in his report, that the January offer from the district was deemed serious by union leaders when they brought it before the "Big Bargaining Team."

"What we have now here is an agreement, in totality, that has been accepted by the CTU leadership, has been accepted by the Chicago Public Schools, and has been accepted by an independent, third-party labor expert and fact-finder," Claypool said. "I would say that should be a contract that we can build on and come to an agreement on."

Bierig said the January contract proposal was a "fair deal," while also acknowledging a "resolution of the contract will not in and of itself make a significant difference in alleviating the board's overall financial crisis."

The offer recommended by Bierig included holding off on closing any schools due to under-enrollment for at least two years. Also, the district said there would be no net increase in the number of privately operated charter schools in the city, and the enrollment at charters would be limited to 101 percent of current capacity.

Both sides submitted final offers to Bierig as part of the fact-finding process. CPS' final offer differed from the January proposal that Bierig endorsed. The district proposed an immediate end to the pension pickup and a total base wage increase of 10 percent over four years, most of that coming in the final two years.

The CTU wanted a two-year deal with a 2 percent base salary increase each year and the preservation of both step-and-lane raises and the district's pension pickup.

Advertisement

The union argued that the differences between the two sides amount to a total of $183 million over the two-year contract CTU asked for, a fraction of the district's $5.7 billion budget. "The union contends that the board's financial difficulties greatly exceed the small difference in the parties' proposals," Bierig wrote. The board's proposals, the union contends, "will result in the flight of teachers" and paraprofessionals to neighboring school districts.

Cost-cutting by the district is also noted in Bierig's report, which says nonunion central office employees haven't received a pay hike since 2012, while principals and assistant principals have gone without an annual raise since 2011. The district said it has cut 1,400 positions and reduced spending by $200 million in this fiscal year.

The contract reached after a seven-day strike in September 2012 expired June 30. The two sides have been in talks for about 18 months, and held 17 days of continuous bargaining sessions before CPS made the proposal in January.

Before the 2012 strike, the union's governing House of Delegates voted to reject the fact-finders report. This time around, the union said delegates gave officers authority to immediately reject the report if its conclusions offered "no substantial breakthrough in terms of class-size limits, reasonable economics or the closure of devastating loopholes."

Protesters march south on Michigan Avenue in support of the Chicago Teachers Union on April 1, 2016, in Chicago. (John Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

"An immediate rejection would ensure that the union will have its strongest weapon, a strike, at its disposal as soon as possible  May 16  whether or not we choose to use it at that time," the CTU told members Friday.

The CTU plans to send members and "1,100 union and community allies" to Springfield this week, which is spring break, to "demand education and public service funding."

Advertisement

"We will highlight budget-progressive revenue options, lobby individual legislators and continue to build our influence," the union told members.

The district also pointed to state government as the ultimate solution to the dispute.

"The public interest, including the interests of students, parents and taxpayers, demands that CPS and CTU cease the unnecessary rancor, work together to reach a contract and direct their combined attention to work under way in the General Assembly to reform Illinois' educational funding system," district negotiator Joseph Moriarty wrote in a letter endorsing Bierig's report.

jjperez@tribpub.com

Twitter @PerezJr
Widespread use of smartphones has made it easier for Chicagoans to hop onto the Internet, but research shows there still exists a sizable gap in the number of people with access to broadband at home  particularly on the South and West sides.

In 2013, broadband adoption on home computers and devices was lowest in neighborhoods such as West Garfield Park, Burnside and Brighton Park, as well as other African-American and Latino neighborhoods where poverty rates are high, according to a study released Friday by the MacArthur Foundation and Partnership for a Connected Illinois.

Advertisement

While the majority of people without broadband home access still connect to the Internet with their smartphones or public computers, research shows they're limited in their Internet use and are far less likely to use online courses, visit government websites, look up political information or access online job applications.

"People who hadn't been online before are now exploring the Internet on their phones, and that's exciting. But there are limits," said Karen Mossberger, an Arizona State University professor and lead researcher on the study. "Reading intensive things, filling out forms  even today with the development of mobile, it's difficult to do those types of things on your phone."

Advertisement

Parents who need to help their children with homework and lack broadband, for example, are limited to their public library's hours and the basic Internet searches they're able to perform on their phones, said Mossberger, who formerly headed the Department of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The study is based on English and Spanish telephone surveys conducted between 2008 and 2013 of about 8,400 Chicago residents from 77 community areas.

Chicago is the only major city to have Internet usage data available on a neighborhood level, Mossberger said. The specified data could help city leaders and community groups make more informed policy decisions on how to increase broadband access.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

"In a diverse city like Chicago, just saying what the Internet access is on a city level really masks the differences between neighborhoods and demographics," Mossberger said.

Between 2008 and 2013, several neighborhoods on the South and West sides have made strides in bridging the "digital divide," as those areas experienced higher rates of growth in home broadband and Internet usage away from home, such as at libraries or community centers.

In 2013, however, disadvantaged neighborhoods were still far behind the rest of the city in regard to home broadband access. In West Garfield Park, Burnside and Brighton Park, for instance, fewer than 45 percent of homes had broadband access, compared with the city's average of 70 percent, according to the study.

The reason for the continued divide could be affordability, Mossberger said. Those primarily accessing the Internet through their phones don't have to buy a separate device, such as a laptop, or worry about paying an additional bill for broadband Internet. But mobile Internet usage may be subject to a data cap, particularly with cheaper plans, further limiting people's usage.

The greatest users of library computers also tend to be low-income African-Americans and Latinos, further suggesting affordability is a barrier to home broadband access, Mossberger said. In 2013, Latinos were the least likely demographic group to go online via broadband at home or public computers, according to the study. Just 55 percent of Latinos adopted broadband compared with 66 percent of blacks, 81 percent of whites and 87 percent of Asians.

Advertisement

meltagouri@tribpub.com

Twitter @marwaeltagouri
Lt. Nakia Fenner, center, passes Chicago police interim Superintendent Eddie Johnson, left, at the Chicago Police Department's graduation and promotion ceremony at Navy Pier on April 8, 2016. Johnson, now the full-time police chief, and Fenner are engaged. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

The city of Chicago's inspector general is investigating allegations that three recently promoted police lieutenants, including the fiancee of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's hand-picked superintendent, were coached by a high-ranking police official who helped develop the qualifying test, sources said.

The official is Eugene Williams, who oversees the department's administrative activities and was one of the three finalists for police superintendent passed over by Emanuel, according to the sources.

Advertisement

Williams helped develop the lieutenants' exam and, before it was administered in August 2015, led a study group with several clouted sergeants who ended up being promoted after posting high exam scores, according to complaints filed with Inspector General Joseph Ferguson and the department's Internal Affairs Division. The Tribune obtained copies of both complaints.

Taking part in that study group were Nakia Fenner, who is the fiancee of new Superintendent Eddie Johnson, and Maryet Hall, the wife of retired First Deputy Superintendent Al Wysinger, according to the Internal Affairs complaint. Both women, as well as Davina Ward, were promoted earlier this year to lieutenant from the rank of sergeant.

Advertisement

Lt. Maryet Hall participates in the Chicago Police Department's graduation and promotion ceremony April 8, 2016, at Navy Pier. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Asked earlier this month if he was concerned about the allegations against Williams, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said: "Gene has served the city extremely well over the years, and continues to serve, even in his present role. (He) has a lot to offer."

The investigation comes just as Johnson, whose appointment the City Council approved Wednesday, takes the reins of a department grappling with the fallout over the Laquan McDonald shooting video and a harsh task force report that questioned the department's ability to police itself.

A statement issued by Johnson said the Police Department "will fully cooperate and support an investigation by the inspector general should we be asked." Fenner declined to comment Friday, while attempts to reach Williams, Hall and Ward were not successful.

The investigation into the alleged test cheating, first reported by the DNAInfo online news site, was launched after a leader in the union that represents sergeants received an anonymous letter in November 2014. That leader passed it on to an internal affairs investigator who is also a director of the union.

"It has come to our attention that several sergeants have been handpicked by Chief Williams to participate in a private study group in his conference room on Tuesday evenings (6 p.m.)," the letter said. "I work at HQ and have personally confirmed existence of these weekly meetings. Come see for yourself!"

The letter alleged that Fenner, Hall and Ward attended the study sessions and that Williams "played a key role in the development of the recently announced lieutenant's exam."

"What information is he sharing with them that is not being made available to all sergeants regardless of race?" said the letter, noting the three women were black. "I'd hate to think of the criticisms if another ethnic group hosted a private study group in a department conference room after hours."

An internal affairs investigator assigned to look into the allegations went to the conference room on Tuesday evenings, once in November 2014 and again in January 2015, but he found no one present, according to an Internal Affairs report obtained by the Tribune under the Illinois open records law.

Advertisement

The investigator "made no observation that would support the allegations," the report stated.

A year later, as Williams was being considered as a potential finalist for police superintendent, Ferguson's office received another letter, this time from a sergeant who says he did well enough on the test to eventually be promoted as positions open up.

The sergeant, who said he has been interviewed by the inspector general's office, asked the Tribune not to identify him out of fear of retaliation.

"I'm fairly certain this 'study group' was actually an opportunity to give those select few the questions (and answers) that would be on the upcoming test," said the sergeant's letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune.

"The reason I am writing to you is I think the public needs to know what is STILL going on in the city of Chicago," the letter continued. "With all the criticism and scrutiny we are under, all the promises of transparency, all the cries for justice, it seems to be 'business as usual.'"

The sergeant told the Tribune that he spoke about the allegations last week to officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, which is investigating the Police Department after the controversy over the McDonald video.

Advertisement

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

A month after the letter was sent to Ferguson, an anonymous email was widely distributed within the Police Department. Attached was a response to a public records request that confirmed Williams was "a senior subject matter expert (who) was the final reviewer for the Chicago Police Department of potential exam content for the most recent sergeant and lieutenant promotional examinations before they were administered."

The email itself contended that those in the study group earned particularly high scores on the lieutenant's exam. Much like the initial anonymous complaint to Internal Affairs, the email made a racial reference, alleging that "a small group of members of a race-based police organization which Eugene Williams is the head of" did particularly well on the exam.

Williams is president of the Chicago metropolitan chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and Johnson is its parliamentarian. Ward is the group's recording secretary.

"I hope you all take this as a warning to all those taking future examinations that the process is fixed, and as evidence to all officers and sergeants receiving the tainted group of new 'lieutenants' to watch your back, and finally, to hopefully shame whoever the new superintendent is (into) revamping the entire promotional process to bring integrity to it," the email said.

Chicago Tribune's John Byrne contributed.

hdardick@tribpub.com

Advertisement

jgorner@tribpub.com
In this picture taken April 14, 2016, a Syrian man carries a carpet as he walks through a devastated part of the town of Palmyra, with families loading their belongings onto a bus in the central Homs province, Syria. Thousands of residents of this ancient town who fled Islamic State rule are returning briefly to check on their homes and salvage what they can -- some carpets, blankets, a fridge or a few family mementos. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, file) (Hassan Ammar / AP)

Across Europe, law enforcement authorities scramble to unravel Islamic State terror networks poised to strike against innocent civilians. Progress is fitful, and fear of another attack is high.

But on the Iraqi and Syrian battlefields of Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate, better news:

Advertisement

 A loose coalition of forces, backed to varying degrees by the U.S., have reclaimed a huge chunk of Islamic State real estate. The Pentagon now estimates Islamic State has lost at least 40 percent of its territory and 25,000 fighters.

 Russian-backed Syrian government forces recently wrested control of the ancient city of Palmyra. In the gun sights of anti-Islamic State fighters: the group's strongholds of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. But first the U.S., Kurds, Arabs, Russians and assorted rebel leaders reportedly have to settle squabbles about who will take control (Read: Who will get the lion's share of credit?) and how these cities will be governed.

Advertisement

 Islamic State is also bleeding cash. Since late October, an American air campaign has targeted oil fields, refineries and tanker trucks, and American officials believe they have cut the Islamic State's oil revenue by about a third, The New York Times reports. (Tumbling oil prices have helped, too.) American-led efforts also are strangling the terrorist group's ability to move money in the international banking system. One significant result: major salary cuts for Islamic State fighters.

All of this is encouraging. But as quickly as Islamic State leaders are killed, new ones step in. The group still raises fresh millions from extortion, fees and taxes. The U.S. boasts that it has incinerated millions of dollars of Islamic State reserves, but terror attacks that kill hundreds don't take large sums of cash. From attacks in Brussels and Paris, it is clear that Islamic State is pressing its global campaign to infiltrate jihadists into European (and American?) cities. And it has established beachheads in Libya and Afghanistan.

The U.S. mission? "We've got to get these guys beaten and as soon as possible," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said recently. "We're looking for opportunities to do more."

There should be plenty in this target-rich environment, if President Barack Obama chooses to aggressively parlay Western gains against Islamic State. Russian President Vladimir Putin has all but declared victory in his mission to prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad, but that's hardly the U.S. mission. We're hoping Washington will spearhead a bold Islamic State-crushing strategy that cuts off all avenues for Islamic State to retreat and regroup.

Some administration advisers reportedly want to sharply increase training and weapons supply to the Kurds, arguably the most effective fighting force in the region. Others push a plan to do the same for so-called moderate Sunni rebels, hoping they can drive Islamic State from Syria.

Why not both?

The U.S. must launch a complex military operation, and also a stepped-up public relations campaign.

One encouraging sign: Large numbers of young Arab men and women are now turning thumbs down on Islamic State, according to a new poll of 16 Middle Eastern countries. Nearly 8 in 10 young adults oppose the terrorist group, and rule out the possibility of ever supporting the Islamic State even if it scaled back its savage tactics, according to a just-released survey sponsored by PR firm ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller. That response is a significant increase over just a year ago, when 6 in 10 rejected Islamic State.

Advertisement

Islamic State attracted recruits with surprising victories over the Iraqi army in 2014, beheadings of Western captives, and a violent jihadist message that brought many from Europe, America and elsewhere to fight in Syria. As its forces retreat, its ability to recruit and its appeal to violence should dwindle as well. It is also true, however, that a stronger push against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria could spur more desperate jihadist attacks in the West.

The Islamic State battlefield is the Syrian civil war battlefield as well. Fighting surged on that front last week, signaling the possible collapse of a U.S.-backed truce. If so, that will complicate the campaign against Islamic State.

At the moment, however, Europe's cities remain in peril of Islamic State-dispatched or inspired attack. So do America's. Stomping out this brutal regime is job one. The sooner, the better.
University of Illinois student Lindsay Johnson, 20, walks away from the bench with attorney Tony Bruno during her arraignment at the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana, Ill., on April 12, 2016. Johnson was charged with first-degree murder and other charges after authorities say she suffocated her newborn baby after giving birth in a residence hall bathroom in March. (Rick Danzl / The News-Gazette)

Bousfield Hall, the University of Illinois' glassy new LEED platinum-rated residence hall on the west side of campus, is known as a quiet, upperclassman dormitory where student interaction is curtailed by the building's unique floor plan.

Because of the layout, which segments students into four-person suites with a shared bathroom, few residents socialize with people on other floors, or even with those on their own floor.

Advertisement

But when a Bousfield resident gave birth in a dorm bathroom last month and the baby ended up dead, word spread like wildfire.

"It was everywhere," said a sophomore student who lives in neighboring Scott Hall and heard about the incident on YikYak, a popular social media app that acts as a bulletin board of anonymous local gossip.

Advertisement

"It's the talk of the campus right now," said another sophomore who requested to be identified only by her initials, A.S. "You hear about a lot of things, like crimes and stuff, but this is kind of something in a different ballpark."

University of Illinois sophomore Lindsay Johnson, of Monee, was identified this week as the student who allegedly bore the child. The Champaign County state's attorney charged her with first-degree murder, child endangerment and concealment of a homicidal death.

Prosecutors allege that Johnson, an agricultural communications major and member of the university marching band, suffocated her infant son in the bathroom of her Bousfield Hall dorm suite after giving birth March 13. Police later found her wearing a backpack with the deceased newborn boy inside, according to prosecutors.

She was charged Monday and appeared in court Tuesday. Court records indicate she was released after posting 10 percent of a $750,000 bond.

While reaction to the incident has been mixed, with some students taking a wait-and-see approach before passing judgment and others responding with disgust, almost all interviewed expressed astonishment that such an event could occur on campus.

Bousfield Hall at the University of Illinois. (Zak Koeske / Daily Southtown)

"It was just kind of a shocking punch to the gut about U of I," junior Eric Palm said. "I think because we didn't think something like this could happen here."

Those who know Johnson describe her as a quiet, friendly person with a supportive family who plays trumpet in the Marching Illini, earns good grades and keeps mostly to herself.

"She's one of those kids you would want your kids to hang out with," said Tammy Cowger, whose son Dakota was a close friend of Johnson's at Peotone High School and who chaperoned Johnson and other Peotone High School students on Future Farmers of America field trips. "She was just like your typical high school girl."

Advertisement

Johnson's friends and family have been reluctant to speak publicly.

One friend, who asked not to be identified, said Johnson had hidden her pregnancy.

He said Johnson appeared to have gained weight recently but that friends thought nothing of it because it was normal for her to dress in baggy sweatpants every day.

A photo of Lindsay Johnson from a Peotone High School yearbook. (Zak Koeske/Daily Southtown)

Other friends or acquaintances of Johnson's, including multiple Marching Illini bandmates, declined comment on her situation.

While discussion of Johnson's case continues to flare up as a topic of casual campus gossip or on student social media threads, the university has remained mostly silent on the issue, students said.

"They haven't acknowledged it at all," said Palm, who lives in a campus fraternity house. "If you didn't read Facebook articles or you don't have somehow a connection (to Johnson), you wouldn't know because they haven't released any articles.

Advertisement

"They usually give crime alerts and stuff like that, even for the most small, petty crimes that happen in the area. But they didn't mention this at all."

The university did send an email blast to residents of Bousfield Hall on March 15, two days after the incident, but because it lacked specific details, many students didn't recall receiving it.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"Dear Bousfield Residents," the email begins. "Later this morning, the campus will be alerting the media concerning an incident that occurred at Bousfield Hall on Sunday. If after reviewing this news you have concerns, you are welcome to speak with your Resident Director, Area Coordinator, or other Residential Life staff members."

Bousfield Hall at the University of Illinois. (Zak Koeske / Daily Southtown)

The letter goes on to list phone numbers for the counseling center and crisis hotline.

None of the Bousfield Hall residents interviewed said their resident advisers had brought up the incident or tried to turn it into a teachable moment for students.

"I would say nothing has really changed, honestly," said Lindsey Cusack, a sophomore who lives in Bousfield. "The RAs haven't made a big deal about it; they haven't talked about it or changed anything."

Advertisement

When a reporter attempted to ask desk staff at the dorm about the incident, he was asked to leave the premises.

Multiple attempts to reach university officials for comment on Johnson's case and what the university had done to notify students in its aftermath were unsuccessful.

zkoeske@tribpub.com
A worker at a shipyard in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, is busy with a fishing ship. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese shipbuilders are seeing a surprise surge in new orders despite the sluggish global demand.

State-owned AVIC International Ship Development (China) Co Ltd received orders this month for four ro-pax ferries from Stena RoRo, a subsidiary of the Swedish shipowner Stena AB.

It is the first time a Chinese shipyard has won a contract to build ro-pax ferries for a Western owner.

The multi-billion-yuan deal came on April 5.

Three days later, the country's No 1 private shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd inked a $510 million deal with ICBC Leasing, a shipowner under Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, to build six large iron ore carriers.

Chinese shipbuilders received 7.42 million dead weight tons of new orders in the first quarter of this year, representing more than 80 percent of the new orders worldwide, according to industry watchdog, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The Chinese builders only controlled less than a third of the global new orders a year ago.

The stabilizing global economy, recovering commodity market and the advance of Baltic Dry Index helped boost ship demands. Japan and South Korea are among the major competitors for Chinese shipyards.

Stronger international presence has sent up shares of local shipyards.

Stocks of China State Shipbuilding Corp, one of the biggest shipbuilders in China, closed at 25.58 yuan ($3.95) on Friday, comparing with the week low of 24.45 yuan.

Shares of Zhejiang-based Asian Star Anchor Chain Co Ltd climbed 0.68 percent to close at 10.36 yuan.

"Shipbuilders delivered more ships in 2015 than a year earlier. Delivery number of super-large carriers saw an obvious increase while demand for bulk cargo ships went flat," according to a report from Shanghai Brilliance Credit Rating and Investors Service Co Ltd. "Chinese makers are heavily relaying on bulk cargo ships."

Industry researchers said the future for small shipyards remain gloomy despite the recent order pickup.

The China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry said Chinese shipbuilding industry shrank in the first two months in terms of tonnage delivered, under construction and new orders.

Zhang Feng, spokesman of the MIIT, said in an earlier interview that further adjustments to the industrial structure are needed in the shipbuilding sector.

"We are more interested in quality than quantity in the industries that are suffering from overcapacity," said Zhang.

Zhao Zhongxiu, vice-president of the University of International Business and Economics, said the increase in overseas orders indicates overseas shipowners are preparing fleets for economic recovery.

"Chinese shipbuilders are offering a considerably lower price for orders, so for shipowners, it is a good chance to use less capital purchasing a larger fleet," said Zhao.

Zhong Nan contributed to this story.
A foreign buyer poses for photo at the 119th China Import and Export Fair, or the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province, April 15, 2016. A total of 24,514 enterprises from home and abroad participated in the fair. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Canton Fair, the largest import and export expo of its kind in China, opened on Friday in the southern province of Guangdong, with the majority of participants being small and medium-sized firms.

The 119th China Import and Export Fair has an exhibition area of 1.18 million square meters and about 60,000 booths for more than 24,000 companies from home and abroad.

More than 90 percent of the firms are small and medium enterprises.

Fair spokesperson Xu Bing said over the past three years the fair has helped more and more small- and medium-sized Chinese firms to develop their unique, quality products.

Companies from regions and countries along the "Belt and Road" account for more than 60 percent of all participants in the import section.

To boost foreign trade for Chinese firms, the fair cut the fee for each booth by 4,000 yuan ($615) on average, or 18 percent, compared with the 117th Canton Fair.

China's exports saw a turnaround in March, while a decline in imports narrowed, customs data showed on Wednesday, adding to signs of stabilization in the economy.
Chinese tourists take a selfie with canned drinks and fried chicken at a park in Incheon, South Korea, on March 28. New government policies are moving the country toward a more consumer-driven economy. [Photo/Agencies]

Yi Gang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said on Thursday that China can achieve its growth target despite its efforts to restructure its economy.

He made the remarks when meeting in Washington with Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

"I'm pretty confident that we'll have 6.5 to 6.7 percent annual GDP growth this year," Yi said.

Bernanke said his recommendation to China is to focus more on targeted fiscal policy.

"Use fiscal policy as a way of achieving the level of demand, which doesn't have quite the negative effects on the currency that monetary policy can have," Bernanke said.

"I would say that we have a solid foundation to continue to fight this weak demand, and for the global economy, we can, through macroeconomic policy and through reform, restore trade and restore growth," Yi said.

China's economy has, over the past couple years, undergone a transformation from being characterized by heavy industry to one with a growing service sector and consumption, according to the panel.

Yi provided an early assessment of China's transition.

"Consumption is relatively stable, but last year, consumption contributed about two-thirds of GDP growth. So all these indications point to China already being in a transition from a heavy industry and export-oriented economy to a consumer-driven economy," Yi said.

This year, China is going to increase the deficit ratio to 3 percent of GDP, which is more than 2 trillion yuan ($309 billion), according to Yi.

"The proactive fiscal policy in China is very important," Yi said.

Bernanke said: "In order to create a more consumer-led economy, you need to improve the social safety nets, increase disposable income, and reallocate labor from the heavy industry sector to the service sector. I think that getting the monetary-fiscal mix right, in order to support the currency objectives, is consistent with the reform goals."

Yi said that the Chinese economy could see some of these consumer-oriented policies implemented in the future, but it will take time.

"It will take several years to finish this process. The difficulty is that China's saving rate is relatively high, probably one of the highest in the world," he said.

Yi emphasized a balance between the urgency of dealing with China's economic woes and avoidance of overreaction.

Bernanke said he was cautiously optimistic about the global economic outlook. "I agree with the governor that we are far better off than we were a few years ago. But growth overall is very disappointing for different reasons."

Allan Fong in Washington contributed to this story.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde addresses a news conference during the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington April 14, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, defended her positive view of China's economy, as global economic and financial leaders gathered in Washington this week to convene the World Bank-IMF spring meeting.

"It's normal that (China's) growth rate is a little bit lower than it was a few years back, perfectly legitimate, difficult but manageable," Lagarde said during an interview with Stephen Sackur, host of BBC's HARD-talk, at George Washington University on Thursday.

"The Chinese economy is going through a massive transformation," she said. "It's moving from being vastly export driven to being much more focused on the domestic market, it's moving from heavy-industry based to light industry and predominantly service driven, and it is clearly moving in terms of opening to the rest of the world."

Lagarde's comments came in response to Sackur's suggestion that "the world is losing its faith in China".

Lagarde conveyed a similarly positive message during an earlier news conference at IMF headquarters on Thursday morning.

"We've reset China's economic growth rate to 6.5 percent, taking into account the measures that have been announced by the Chinese authority in its latest five-year plan," said Lagarde.

IMF's signature document, World Economic Outlook, released on Tuesday, raised China's projected 2016 growth rate from 6.3.

The outlook stated that growth in China was slightly stronger than previously forecast, reflecting resilient domestic demand, and that robust growth in the services sector offset recent weakness in manufacturing activity.

It concluded that "China's transition toward more sustainable growth, backed by ample policy buffers, is a welcome development."

Another key IMF document, Global Financial Stability Report, released on Wednesday, said that "China's financial integration with the rest of world is expected to accelerate, and its financial influence abroad will likely catch up with its economic prowess."

Lagarde seems satisfied that China has followed some of the IMF's advice.

"Some of the structural reforms that we have been advocating are clearly endorsed by the Chinese authority now," said Lagarde, who has been re-elected to a second five-year term as managing director of the IMF.

Lagarde praised China's determination to play an increasingly important role in international organizations like the IMF.

"In the next five years, I am convinced that China will play an important role because it wants to be a player in these institutions and it wants to cooperate in the international domains, playing by the rules and belonging to the club," said Lagarde, calling China "a serious and solid partner".
China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan speaks at a press conference in Washington DC, the United States, April 14, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said on Thursday that China would support efforts to develop policy recommendations on diversified financing for small and medium-sized enterprises during China's G20 presidency.

Zhou Xiaochuan made his remarks in welcoming a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on SMEs, which was issued in Washington on Thursday before the G20 finance ministers meeting.

"The OECD Scoreboard is a valuable tool to support G20 work, and to monitor trends and the implications of financial reforms for SMEs," Zhou said. "It will not only enrich G20 discussion, but will also provide a reference for G20 policymakers."

China will host the 11th G20 summit, for the first time, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September.

In China, SMEs made up 97 percent of all companies, accounting for 80 percent of urban employment, and for 60 percent of GDP in 2013, according to the scoreboard.

"SMEs and entrepreneurs can play an active role in achieving stronger and more inclusive growth, and it is now time to show our commitment to enabling the development of alternative funding options," Zhou said.

Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the OECD, said governments are increasingly supporting the development of new SME financing instruments.

"Finance is one of the keys for unlocking the potential of small firms to innovate, upgrade and become more productive," said Gurria. "We still have a lot to do, to create conditions for the diverse population for the SMEs, to access finance in appropriate amount, appropriate forms, appropriate terms."

Zhou said that China is considering a plan that would allow banks to swap bad debt for equity in the company, a plan that may help reduce the debt of large and medium-sized companies that "borrowed too much".

Globally, financing for SMEs has turned the corner from the decline seen during the global financial crisis, but overall credit conditions remain challenging and access to external finance continues to be much tighter for SMEs than larger firms, according to the OECD report.
Chinese Financial Minister Lou Jiwei said on Friday that the downgrading of China's economic outlook "doesn't reflect the reality" of the Chinese economy.

Lou made his comment at a press conference in Washington where he led a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors including US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, and where he is also attending the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. China will host the G20 summit in September in Hangzhou.

Before taking questions at a news conference, Lou first shared key points of a communique reached by his G20 colleagues on issues including infrastructure, the international monetary system, terrorist financing, green investment and climate change.

When asked for his reaction to Standard & Poor's and Moody's downgrade of China's credit outlook rating to "negative" in March, Lou said, "I do not think it reflected the reality of Chinese economy. We just released the GDP growth rate of the first quarter at 6.7 percent, still within our expectation."

"I do not blame them though because they do not know the specifics of Chinese economic situation," he said. "I hope they can have more communication with the countries that they rated, which will help them come to a more comprehensive conclusion."

Lou also commented on the IMF's decision to set the projection of China's 2016 GDP at 6.5 percent in its newly released World Economic Outlook, which is lower than the first quarter's actual number.

"IMF has their own way of reasoning. They might have seen some of the measures we introduced on the demand side. But we are also making great stride on the supply side structural reform, which over the long term will help to sharpen the path of growth," Lou said.

Lou said China has taken two important steps to rebalance its economy: deregulation and market-oriented price correction.

"Others may not see the benefits of these two reform areas, but I know it's going to have very crucial and positive impact. It just speaks to the fundamental laws of economics," said Lou.

Calling the Washington meeting a great success, Lou said he is looking forward to the G20 in China, the first for the country.

"How to evaluate the outcome of China's economic reform is indeed a big issue," he said, "I, however, have confidence."

charlenecai@chinadailyusa.com
BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) hopes to export more agriproducts to China, a senior EU official said Friday ahead of a trade promotion trip to China.

China is a crucial market for EU agriproducts and has seen considerable growth in recent years, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said as he embarked on a six-day campaign accompanied by a group of European business leaders.

During the trip, part of an EU program to boost agricultural sales inside and outside the EU, Hogan will meet with Chinese agricultural and commerce ministers and attend a series of promotion events.

Hogan said he would highlight the quality of Europe's products in hopes of stimulating further demand from China, which is now the second largest importer of EU agriproducts.

Describing bilateral agricultural cooperation as "excellent," Hogan said he looked forward to showing Europe's openness to business, in particular for agriproducts.

Business delegates of 44 agriculture-related enterprises and organizations from more than 15 EU member states will join Hogan to seek more business opportunities in China.

China purchased 8 percent of all EU agricultural exports in 2015, only lower than that of the United States. On top of China's shopping list were infant food, pork, offal, wine and spirits, and dairy products.

The EU is the fifth largest importer of Chinese agricultural exports, mostly buying fresh and processed vegetables and fruits.

Hogan will attend the G7 agriculture ministers' meeting in Japan after concluding his visit to the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai.
Organizers pose at the 2nd China Returnee Entrepreneurship Contest launch ceremony in Beijing on April 15, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2nd China Returnee Entrepreneurship Contest is an entrepreneurship competition tailored for returnees.

The contest, themed 'Converge Returnee Talents, Boost Innovation and Entrepreneurship', was launched in Beijing on Friday. Under the guidance of several government agencies, it's organized by the Chinese Returned Overseas Scholars Entrepreneur Parks' Alliance.

Over 200 entrepreneurship parks for returnees nationwide provided support while more than 30 venture capital organizations were involved in the competition.

Featured in returnee entrepreneurship, the contest requires all participating teams to have at least one returnee, from overseas study or from overseas work experience.

The competition establishes a training camp led by entrepreneurship mentors who offer counseling in business planning, marketing and management, intellectual property, entrepreneurship policy, and assistance in settlements.

The contest will be divided into three stages: the preliminary round, expert review round, and the final round. The winner will be awarded with certificates and opportunities to approach institutional investors.

The first contest was hosted in 2015. It attracted a total of 238 teams from home and abroad. About 152 projects were approved at the preliminary round and 30 of them drove into the finalist.

Registration begins on April 15 and ends on July 31.
The structural rebalancing of the Chinese economy toward consumption has received a boost from the tertiary sector, which registered a 7.6 percent growth in the first quarter, way outpacing agriculture and industry.

"We saw some positive signals of economic restructuring progress in the first quarter, driven by fast development of the services sector," said Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, on Friday.

Sheng's comments came a day after data released by the National Development and Reform Commission indicated that the tertiary industry has had the fastest growth of electricity consumption, which registered a quarterly growth of 10.9 percent year-on-year.

Growth of electricity consumption in the primary and secondary sectors was only 7.8 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, which is still a "mild recovery", according to Zhao Chenxin, spokesman of the NDRC.

Official data show that the tertiary sector accounted for 56.9 percent of the GDP growth in the first quarter, which is 19.6 percentage points higher than that of the manufacturing sector.

Niu Li, director of macroeconomics at the State Information Center, said a bigger contribution of the services sector to GDP delivers positive signals that China is on the right track for structural improvements.

A waitress works at a restaurant in Luoyang city, Henan province, April 9, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

As evidenced by the data breakdown, major contributors including financial services and real estate sales did not drag down the broader services sector.

Real estate sales amounted to 1.85 trillion yuan ($284.6 billion) in the first quarter, which saw a 54.1 percent increase from a year earlier.

While admitting some future uncertainties, Niu said increased demand for high-end services and e-commerce industries point to a sustainable growth in the services sector.

In the first quarter, online retail sales registered 27.8 percent year-on-year growth, taking up 10.6 percent of total retail sales.

Investors are buying into services and high-tech industriesboth of which witnessed a growth that is 3 percentage points higher than the total investment growth rate, according to the NBS.

Some new online products and services, such as medical service, have become a new driving force for the economy.

Qin Zexi, an analyst at Beijing-based internet consultancy iResearch Consulting Group, said the internet healthcare sector has entered a new stage in the first quarter as a growing number of consumers are accepting the innovative business model.

"Previously, consumers on online platforms can only access basic medical services such as making appointments. But now they can go to a local clinic and consult with a doctor at a top-level hospital faraway through the internet," said Qin.

According to Qin, a string of new internet hospitals has been established within the first three months, partly fueled by the strong support from local governments.
President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

President urges Turnbull to link Australia's strategies for development with China's

Beijing and Canberra have to respect each other's core interests to ensure stable development of the relationship, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

Xi made the remark when he met Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, before he hosted a banquet for the distinguished guest.

Turnbull's visit follows immediately after his calling China's military deployments in the South China Sea "counterproductive".

Beijing has said the United States is militarizing the region with frequent patrols and that China has every right to construction on its own territory.

Earlier this month, Australia for the first time joined a US-Philippines joint drill in the South China Sea, an exercise seen as apparently targeting China.

However, Turnbull made no mention of concerns over the South China Sea in his speech on Thursday in Shanghai, the first stop of his China visit.

On Friday, Xi told Turnbull, "Both sides should grasp the correct direction of developing bilateral relations, respect each other's core interests and major concerns and ensure the continuous, healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations."

Dong Manyuan, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said after Xi's visit to Australia in 2014, "Australian politicians and citizens realized that China is the best partner for the country to realize its vision of revitalizing economy.

"Turnbull chose to play down the South China Sea issue during the visit - and that is no surprise.

"Deepening trade cooperation with China is his priority here, and he will not let incautious remarks ruin the visit."

Xi said both sides should link their own development strategies, implement the free trade negotiations, and push forward cooperation in areas including defense.

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement took effect in December 2015. Under the agreement, more than 86 percent of Australian goods exports can enter China duty free, and that will rise to 94 percent in 2019 and 96 percent in 2029.

Xi also encouraged both sides take more measures to facilitate issuing visas to promote civilian exchanges.

Turnbull announced in Shanghai that Australia will grant 10-year visas to Chinese for the first time and allow online applications.

China is Australia's most important tourism market, with more than 1 million visitors last year.

Turnbull was leading a 1,000-company delegation, Australia's largest ever trade mission, to tap into the country's biggest export market.

Vice-Premier Wang Yang told CEOs from both countries at a round-table meeting on Friday morning - which Turnbull also attended - that the visit of more than 1,000 Australian entrepreneurs reflects a new high point for bilateral trade.

"It is a public opinion poll on the prospects of bilateral trade cooperation," he said in a speech.

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn
Shenzhen police said on Friday that three suspects have been arrested in connection with the slaying of a Hong Kong teacher who had been missing for more than three weeks.

The Shenzhen Public Security Bureau's Nanshan branch posted a statement on its micro blog saying that the three were taken into custody on April 8 on suspicion of killing 60-year-old Hilary Bower. They include Bower's girlfriend, a woman identified by her surname Xu.

Xu, 38, had lived at times with Bower and been involved with him for more than 17 years, said the police. She is suspected of killing him with the help of two men, a 28-year-old surnamed Sun and a 23-year-old surnamed Liu, both from Xu's native city of Xianning, Hubei province.

The victim, a UK citizen and permanent resident of Hong Kong, taught English at Hong Kong Polytechnic University since 1996. He was reported missing after going to Shenzhen via the Lo Wu checkpoint on March 22.

Police believe that Bower went to an apartment he rented for Xu in Nanshan district and was killed and dismembered there. Xu surrendered to police in Dongguan on April 7, according to Hong Kong's Chinese-language Oriental Daily newspaper.

Various media have reported that police on the mainland are investigating whether Bower's death had anything to do with a 9 million yuan ($1.39 million) apartment in Shekou he had sold.

Hong Kong police said Bower's other mainland girlfriend reported him missing on March 30. The police confirmed on Tuesday that the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau had told them Bower had been killed on March 22.

The British Consulate-General Hong Kong is aware of the arrest of three suspects. A representative of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated earlier that they are providing support to the family and will remain in close contact with local authorities.

Hong Kong Polytechnic University, also made aware of Bower's death by Hong Kong police, said that it will provide all necessary support and assistance to his family and counseling to colleagues and students.

Chai Hua in Shenzhen contributed to this story.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com
China's top health authority said on Friday that it is closely watching the ongoing investigation into what caused serious eye injuries, including blindness, among dozens of patients who received eye surgery at two hospitals nine months ago.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement it will continue to guide the two hospitals involved in providing treatment to the victims and helping them seek compensation.

Impurities contained in perflutren, a medical gas commonly used to fill the hollow eye during surgery, may be the culprit. But experts have been unable to identify the impurities because of testing limitations and an insufficient amount of remaining samples, the China Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on Thursday night.

The statement followed media reports that 18 patients who were blinded in one eye after eye surgery at Peking University Third Hospital in June are waiting for the results of the investigation and still seek treatment.

The CFDA said 71 patients suffered eye injuries last year after eye surgery in which the same batch of perflutren had been used at Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing and Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University in Nantong, Jiangsu province.

The gas had been supplied by Tianjin Jingming New Technological Development Co, in Tianjin.

The company recalled the remainder of that batch after reports of the injuries emerged in July, and it suspended the production and sale of perflutren, it said on its website.

The company said it has been cooperating in the investigation with drug regulators, hospitals and patients and will make public any results of the investigation.

Zheng Xueqian, a lawyer at China Health Law Society, told China National Radio that by law, victims of accidents involving medical products can seek compensation from the hospitals that performed the surgery, and the hospitals can seek compensation from suppliers.

Peking University Third Hospital said in a statement that it has filed a lawsuit against Tianjin Jingming New Technological Development Co and provided compensation to some of the 45 patients who suffered eye injuries after its operations.

Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University in Nantong also has sued the company, it said in a statement last week.

The two hospitals bought a total of 150 boxes of the suspect gas from the batch and used most of it in May and June. The 13 boxes that remained were sent to local labs for testing, the CFDA said.

Test results released in July showed that the quality of the batch was uneven and some of the gas was substandard, but the impurities in the gas could not be identified because of testing limitations and insufficient samples, it said.

The CFDA said products from the same batch were sold in 25 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China, and that 621 boxes were used in 82 additional hospitals, but no other injuries were reported.

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn
File photo shows a seal placed on several 100 yuan notes.[Photo/IC]

BEIJING -- China's top economic planner has listed major tasks in propelling economic reforms this year, including reforms of state-owned enterprises (SOE), market supervision, investment, urbanization, opening up and innovation.

China will initiate mixed-ownership pilots in SOEs and push forward reforms in electricity, oil, natural gas and salt industries, said a statement issued after a two-day meeting of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), held on Thursday and Friday.

The government will further cut red tape and improve market supervision, including compiling a negative list to enhance market access regulation. Market threshold of some major industries will be lowered for investors, and the current investment and financing mechanism will be improved, according to the statement.

China will implement the household registration reform to urbanize more rural migrants with a plan to help 100 million people settle in cities.

The country will continue to push forward opening up, stepping up the Belt and Road construction, promoting international production capacity cooperation, further opening service and manufacturing sectors, and establishing a negative list for foreign investment.

The government will also better its support for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Other tasks include accelerating a pricing reform in electricity, medical services and transport, and improving the way China uses natural resources and protects the environment.
A worker welds at a machinery manufacturing factory in Huaibei, Anhui province in this August 20, 2013 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING -- China's ministries on Saturday unveiled general plans to help people laid off from the steel and coal industries, which are in the midst of overcapacity cut.

The "suggestions" on relocating redundant workers were jointly released by seven ministries including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the National Development and Reform Commission.

In addition to the help given to redundant staff, support will be offered to firms who create new jobs by adopting the "Internet Plus" strategy, developing new industrial fields and products, and expanding domestic and overseas market, according to the document.

A "back-to-work" program should be created so that workers receive training and career guidance for free, and, for those who want to start their own businesses, channels that will give them access to government support, it said.

Local authorities should also enhance trans-regional cooperation to relocate redundant workers to regions with employment opportunities.

To switch from an investment-led model to one that relies on domestic consumption, services and innovation, China is slashing industrial overcapacity, mainly in the coal and steel sectors.

According to preliminary forecast by the human resources ministry, the two sectors will see a combined laid-off workers totaling 1.8 million.

To cushion the effect of job losses on families and society, the central government decided to allocate 100 billion yuan ($15.4 billion) to help the laid-off workers find new jobs. The fund can be increased if necessary and local governments should handle their responsibilities accordingly, Premier Li Keqiang said in March.
CHENGDU - A college student in Southwest China's Sichuan Province remains in police custody after he allegedly stabbed his roommate to death on March 27.

Police of Longquanyi district of Chengdu city on Friday confirmed the detention and the incident.

The victim, identified by his surname Lu, was a freshman in Sichuan Normal University. He was stabbed over 50 times and beheaded by his roommate, identified by the surname Teng, around midnight, according to Lu's cousin who was informed of the murder by the university at 1:10 am on March 28.

Lu, born in 1995 in Gansu Province, was raised by his uncle, following his father's death when he was just a toddler.

The cousin said Lu had been outgoing and friendly.

Lu allegedly got into an altercation with Teng on March 26, as Teng objected to Lu singing in the dormitory, but two other roommates helped the two make amends.

Teng left the campus on March 27, and returned to his dormitory late at night, and asked Lu to accompany him to a nearby study room. Teng later returned to the dormitory, asking the other roommates to call the police and went back to the study room and locked the door.

Teng was arrested at the school.

Campus murders resulting from dormitory disagreements in recent years have raised concerns about students' psychological state and interpersonal relationships.

In 2004, Ma Jiajue, 23, a biochemistry student at Southwest China's Yunnan University, killed four roommates after what were described as "trivial squabbles."

Another famous case involved a medical student ,Lin Senhao, who poisoned his roommate Huang Yang at Fudan University in Shanghai in 2013.
The main hall is the only structure that remains from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The temple also features four ancillary halls as well as a bell and drum tower and several side rooms.[Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

Beams Of Light Reveal Astonishing Detail In Masterfully Crafted Frescoes In A Buddhist Temple

In 1933 the German photographer Hedda Morrison went to a western suburb of Beijing, where she discovered what she would call the city's most interesting temple. With a Rolleiflex twin lens camera and a heart captivated by the beauty of oriental art, she recorded in black and white the stunning frescoes on the walls of the temple's main hall.

However, the way Morrison went about her work, which she wrote about in detail, is likely to fascinate the modern reader almost as much as her pictures. Since the frescoes remained in the shadows, she had to remove some of the roof tiles to allow in sufficient light. A photographer with her tried to blow magnesia powder onto blazing paraldehyde to illuminate what can only be called a darkroom. But those efforts went unrewarded, filming being abandoned when Morrison was accidentally burned.
An unlikely amalgamation of dining and drinking traditions is about to hit China.[Photo provided to China Daily]

A sizzling hotpot in a tranquil tea lounge? A simmering pot of tea in a hotpot restaurant? After hearing about the concept of a hybrid teahouse and a hotpot restaurant, whichever way I looked at it the concept perplexed and intrigued me.

It is the idea of China's largest fastfood hotpot chain brand, Xiabu Xiabu, which last June had a total of more than 500 restaurants in 34 cities across China, and whose restaurants can be found in almost every mall and commercial area in Beijing.

After 18 years in the trade, Xiabu will soon debut a medium and high-end "hotpot plus tea brand" called CouCou, the first one opening next month in the Sanlitun area of the capital.

With questions still spinning in my head about how a marriage between a hotpot restaurant and a teahouse could possibly succeed, I met Chang Chen-wei, CouCou's chief executive, a Taiwanese restaurateur who has worked in food and beverages on the Chinese mainland for about 10 years.

In the understated way in which he talked about his project and aims he comes across more as a bookshop owner than a flamboyant veteran of the restaurant scene.

"There's a downturn in profits, which are pretty thin right now in today's food and beverages industry. We needed to think of how to create a different hotpot restaurant that also produces added value.

"It's surprising that I have been unable to find an authentic Taiwan style hand-shaken teas outlet in China, including in the myriad of so-called bubble-tea shops you see in every mall in Beijing. Hand-shaken teas are made to order, and the shaking process chills and dilutes a drink.

"So the idea with CouCou is to create a zen-like atmosphere in which diners can enjoy a bit of peace while having hotpot at meal hours or drinking bona fide Taiwan-style hand-shaken teas at off-meal hours."
Rescue workers walk on a street cracked by the earthquake in Mashiki, Kumamoto prefecture in southwestern Japan, April 16, 2016. According to local press, at least 15 people were killed after a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake rattled Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan's southwestern Kyushu Island early Saturday. [Photo: Xinhua]

A major travel agency said on Saturday a group of 20 Chinese nationals visiting Japan's earthquake-hit area is safe. The agency confirmed that they are working with local rescuers to help them get out of the area safely.

The majority of tourists are senior Chinese citizens who came to Japan to visit their friends and relatives, said China Youth Travel Service.

China expressed sympathy to Japan over the powerful earthquakes that rattled Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu.

At least 19 people have been confirmed dead after the 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit on Saturday. This marks the second earthquake of the week for Japan after a 6.5-magnitude quake hit the region Thursday night killing nine. Some 1,500 were injured during the earthquakes.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a press release that China is concerned about the disaster, and expresses condolences over to the bereaved families and the injured.

Lu said there are no reports on Chinese casualties, but will continue to closely follow the disaster situation.
Parents cry after confirming that their daughter was found dead at their collapsed house after earthquakes in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 16, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

OSAKA -- A total of 41 people have been killed in two strong earthquakes in Japan.

At least 32 people were confirmed dead after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan's southwestern Kumamoto Prefecture in the early hours of Saturday.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency said that the massive quake on Saturday was the main event while the 6.5-magnitude quake earlier that killed at least 9 people was a foreshock.

The agency also warned that severe aftershocks might still follow, and as heavy wind and rain was predicted in the Kyushu area from Saturday night, residents should be wary of landslides and other secondary disasters.

The prefectural governments of Kumamoto and Oita have required 160,000 residents in the danger zones to evacuate.

The 7.3 magnitude quake that struck Kumamoto at the depth of about 12 kilometers early on Saturday triggered a tsunami warning which was later lifted.

Numerous aftershocks followed the massive quake. As of 5:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, more than 30 shocks over magnitude 4 have been reported, causing extensive damages to the stricken region.

Local media also reported a "small-scale" eruption at Mount Aso, a large active volcano in Kumamoto. The Japanese Meteorological Agency said later that the volcano was still active on Saturday afternoon but the eruption was not linked to the quakes.

Over 2,000 people were reported injured in the quakes. In Kumamoto Prefecture, some 91,000 people were evacuated to over 680 shelters, and over 1,700 houses damaged, including 1,400 in the village of Nishihara.
(Photo : David Ramos/Getty Images) Microsoft's Cortana will now only use Bing and Edge to display search results.

Advertisement

The battle over privacy and security is getting bigger by the day and the latest to join the battlefront is tech giant Microsoft. The Redmond-based company entered the battle regarding digital privacy after it sued the United States Justice Department over its use of court orders that require the company to turn over sensitive customer data that are store in its data centers.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Microsoft, based on the court documents, stated that most of the time, customers are not notified about the request of the Justice Department. According to Reuters, the lawsuit was filed on April 14 in a federal court in Seattle.



Microsoft's lawsuit is the latest in the series of legal challenges brought by several tech companies over the supposed coercion of the government in their efforts to suppress acts of crime and terrorism. Earlier this year, Apple fought a high-profile legal battle against the Federal Bureau of Investigations after the latter demanded the tech company to create a backdoor software in order to penetrate the encrypted iPhone of the perpetrator of the San Bernardo shooting.



Due to the proliferation of online identity theft and hacking, tech giants like Facebook, Google and Yahoo, have all increased their use of encryption in order to safeguard their customers' data. Online privacy advocates have applauded the initiatives done by these tech companies.



On the other hand, authorities have been constantly demanding exclusive access to user data that are store in these companies' data centers. Authorities claim that encryption makes it hard for them to track criminals and may create serious hurdles that may impede ongoing investigations.



In a statement, former Justice Department attorney Jennifer Daskal said, "Privacy is an economic good at this point. It's good for business because consumers care about it. So the companies are competing over being privacy protective."



Some legal experts claim that tech companies have a practice of selling user information to advertisers, a practice criticized by consumer groups as well as privacy and security experts. On the other hand, tech companies argue that this practice is different from handing over information to the government authorities who have the power to jail people.



Advertisement

TagsMicrosoft, Microsoft lawsuit, Department of Justice, us justice, US Department of Justice, Microsoft data request
(Photo : Getty Images) The US has invited China to the upcoming largest multinational naval exercise in the Pacific despite opposition from US lawmakers.

Advertisement

Despite repeated calls of US congressmen to disinvite China from the upcoming US-led multinational naval exercise in the Pacific, US defense secretary Ashton Carter said Beijing will attend the international event.



"We have not taken the step of disinviting them," Carter told reporters on Friday during a visit to the US aircraft carrier USS John Stennis.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Carter said the invitation for China to join the bi-annual Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercise still stands amid growing tensions between the two countries over the South China Sea territorial issues.



RIMPAC



The RIMPAC, the largest multinational naval exercise led by the US, will be conducted off Hawaii in June and July.



The defense secretary defended the decision to invite China to this year's exercise saying despite the US' strong military ties with its allies, it was still open to the approach that all nations should cooperate and work together to maintain peace in the Pacific.



US lawmakers had expressed strong opposition to China's inclusion in the RIMPAC naval exercise.



US congressmen have castigated China over its aggressive actions in its territorial claims in the South China Sea and have called on the defense department not to include China in the exercises.



Proactive



China took part in the US-led RIMPAC for the first time in 2014. The maritime event involved more than 23 countries, 50 ships, six submarines and over 26,000 troops.



Speaking on Friday, Carter urged China to stop "isolating and excluding" itself and instead to be proactive by joining other cooperative nations that have made possible the "miracle that is Asia."



Carter was in the Philippines recently where the US and Philippine troops took part in an annual military war games dubbed " 2016 Balikatan Exercise."



Observers said Carter's visit to the Philippines showed Washington's continued commitment to make its presence felt in the region and uphold the governing rules and laws in the disputed waters of the South China Sea despite China's protest.



US commitment



Carter said the US has reiterated its commitment to stand with the Philippines and other allies against "coercion and intimidation."



China is laying claim to a large portion of the disputed South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei. Taiwan, and Malaysia have overlapping claims in the area.



Around $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes through the disputed waters yearly.



Advertisement

TagsRim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), china, largest naval exercise, Pacific, South China Sea, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter
(Photo : Getty Images) After Kenya, Taiwan now fears that Malaysia may also deport Taiwanese suspects in a telephone fraud case to China. Experts say the ongoing Cross-Stair row is the litmus test for incoming President Tsai Ing-wen's government.

Advertisement

Amid the escalating row over Kenya deporting Taiwanese citizens to China, Taiwan's government now fears that Malaysia would also follow the same pattern.



Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that 20 Taiwanese suspects who were held in Malaysia have boarded Taiwan bond flight, but fate of additional 32 suspects remained unclear.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

The ambiguity surrounding the fate of the 32 suspects has raised concerns among Taiwanese officials who fear that they might be deported to China, Just like Kenya did last week.



Chinese state media Xinhua reported that the Taiwanese suspects in Malaysia are being held over charges of telephone fraud - the same charges that several Taiwanese and Chinese citizens were facing in Kenya.



China's Ministry of Public Security says that telephone fraud aimed at swindling money from Chinese citizens has increased drastically over the years. The ministry further added that Taiwanese criminal syndicate based in foreign countries are the ring leaders of this fraud.



Chinese media claims that most of these Taiwanese criminal syndicates are largely based in Southeast Asian and African countries. They reportedly recruit Taiwanese and Chinese nationals, who call Chinese citizens, while pretending to be "law enforcement officers" and swindle millions of Yuans from them.



Meanwhile, a group of officials from Taiwan are scheduled to travel to China next week to discuss the deportation row with Chinese officials, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said on Friday.



The ongoing deportation row, which may escalate further if Malaysia follows footsteps of Kenya, will be the first litmus test for president elect Tsai Ing-wen. Hailed as "pro independent leader", Tsai Ing-wen will take office next month.



Advertisement

Tagschina, Taiwan, Malaysia, Cross-Strait relation
(Photo : Jes Aznar/Getty Images) Dry Spell Hits Agriculture In Restive Southern Philippines

Advertisement

The government of Shanghai, China destroyed a total of 60.34 tons of bananas imported from the Philippines on Friday after found to be infected with a certain disease.



According to China Daily, the said fruit from the Southeast Asian country was discovered to contain Dysmicoccus neobrevipes Beardsley that reportedly destroys fruits and vegetables during planting and while growing.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Considering such move by the Shanghai quarantine authorities, the Philippines lost $37,000 from the 4,642 cartons of bananas packed in two batches.



In the meantime, People's Daily reported that the imports were burned on site by the Shanghai, China's entry-exit inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Pudong following the discovery of pineapple mealybugs in the Philippine bananas. Thus, the fruit's value has been lowered.



As explained, this particular kind of disease affects the fruit by damaging its skin causing it to discolor or get rotten, while living on the surface of the plant. Once the plant gets affected, it weakens and becomes more susceptible to other pests and diseases. If this continues, the farmer or producer of such plant may have to face the risk of high losses.



Based on the new site's gathered data, the incident on Friday was already the second time in three weeks that China destroyed Philippines bananas.



It can be recalled that on March 27, Chinese officials also destroyed $33,000 worth of banana shipment from the Philippines after the customs office in the Shenzhen Port discovered that they contained more than the allowable limit of carbendazim, a kind of pesticide. It can be noted that the "maximum residue limits for pesticides in food standards" is only pegged at 0.1mg /kg.



It was claimed that the said batch of Philippine bananas exported to China was found to have 0.199mg /kg.



Advertisement

Tagschina, Philippines, Philippine Bananas
(Photo : David Becker/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Those who owned certain models of Samsung smartphones and Sony mobile devices, including tablets must have been glad that Android Marshmallow update has already been made available for them.



Based on Gotta Be Mobile's report, the OS upgrade for Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is already rolling out in Korea.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 for the smartphone's respective variants in India, the United Kingdom, Austria, Russia, Iraq, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Italy, Macedonia, Spain, and in some other countries have already been rolled out as well.



With the said Android Marshmallow update, a long list of features, including enhancements and bug fixes, have been provided for the smartphone models' customers.



In the meantime, Android Authority reported that the same update has already been lined up for Sony Xperia Z5, Xperia Z3 Plus, Z4 tablet, Z3 and Z3 compact and Z2.



Following the upgrade in the operating system of these models, certain additional features and enhancements have been noted.



One major inclusion of this is the "Now On Tap" feature, which enables its user to access details on their gadget by just a tap. Thus, acquiring details has become faster and easier since there is no need for another application to do such.



Meanwhile, it can be recalled that some owners of the cited variants from Sony previously complained about the inefficiency of their battery. With the recent Android Marshmallow update, these are expected to finally find a fix via the "Doze" and "App Standby" features.



Advertisement

TagsAndroid Marshmallow Aupdate, Samsung, sony
A conference aiming to recharge pastors of Korean immigrant churches will be taking place from April 25 to 27, featuring Tom Mercer, the senior pastor of High Desert Church, as the main speaker throughout the conference.

We desire to serve pastors with a time of rest and recharging, said the organizers. We want to invite and serve those pastors who are exhausted or burnt out, losing the passion that they first had when they were called as pastors.

The conference, which will be taking place at High Desert Church, is the ninth annual one hosted by Hanam Presbyterian Church in South Korea. For the past nine years, the church has been hosting this Happy Pastors Conference to provide a time of restoration for pastors of Korean immigrant churches in the U.S.

This year in particular, organizers expressed hopes that more Korean American pastors would attend, especially as the main speaker is Tom Mercer, the well-known pastor of High Desert Church, which consists of some 11,000 congregants.

Mercer is also known for the Oikos Challenge, a ministry which promotes the idea of gathering with a small group of believers on a regular basis to build each other up in the faith.

Only the first 30 pastors to register will be able to attend, and those who register must pay a $100 deposit that will be returned to them after the conference. Those who are interested can contact Pastor Boo Hwan Kwak at 213-321-4433.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed a bill that sought to make the Bible the official state book of Tennessee.

SB 1108 is sponsored by Republican Sen. Steve Southerland, an ordained minister, and Rep. Jerry Sexton, a retired Baptist pastor.

Upon vetoing the measure, Haslam wrote in a letter to the speaker of the statehouse that he saw the bill as undermining the significance of the Bible.

...my personal feeling is that this bill trivializes the Bible, which I believe is a sacred text, he wrote. If we are recognizing the Bible as a sacred text, then we are violating the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Tennessee by designating it as the official state book.

The Tennessee Constitution states that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.

Opponents of the bill saw the bill to be giving preference to Christianity, while supporters pointed to the significance of the Bible to the state.

What were doing here is recognizing it for its historical and cultural contribution to the state of Tennessee, Southerland said earlier in April, according to Washington Post.

Initially, the House approved the measure 55-38, and the Senate 19-8. Had the bill not been vetoed, Tennessee would have been the first state to assign the Bible as its official book.
Bible-based theme park in Buenos Aires features live reenactments of crucifixion, other biblical events

The theme park Tierra Santa in Buenos Aires, Argentina is unlike any of its kind. Instead of having rollercoasters and other rides, the park boasts of interactive displays of crucifixions and resurrections.

Tierra Santa, which is Spanish for Holy Land, features a reproduction of ancient Jerusalem with 37 different simulations depicting the Creation, Noah's Ark, the Last Supper, and many other pivotal Christian events described in the Bible, the Daily Mail reports.

For the crucifixion scene, an actor playing a blood-splattered Jesus Christ carries a cross while a Roman soldier whips him. Later, a robotic Jesus is seen nailed to the cross with two criminals beside him.

Entry to the park costs $130 for adults and $55 for children. Visitors will get to see all park staff dressed in costumes from the Roman era. During weekends or holidays, the park offers special performances such as Arabic dancing, puppetry, and carpentry.

Even the food takes a nod to ancient Jerusalem, with three restaurants offering dishes that take inspiration from Arabic and Armenian cuisines. For those who prefer modern fare, there is a pizza shop that caters to guests.

The park has been dubbed as "Christianity's answer to Disneyland," according to Thrillist.

Some have criticised the park as "creepy" and "a very tacky place," while others suggested that only "die-hard Christians" would love to visit it.

However, majority of its visitors wrote on TripAdvisor that they thoroughly enjoyed their experience there. "It's a very good place to spend a pleasant evening with family. Neatly maintained. The figurines depicted the Bible incidents and there are also other figurines placed in the park, like Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, to mention a few," wrote Antony Navin.

"Tierra Santa is a very nice place to visit and is a total replica of the Bible and Israel, and it will definitely take you back in time. The park has been open for 14 years and I think it is one of a kind," commented Howard Shore.
Boko Haram increasingly using kidnapped children in suicide attacks, says UNICEF

The Nigeria-based Islamic terror group Boko Haram is increasingly using abducted children in staging suicide attacks, the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) states in its latest report.

The U.N. humanitarian organisation notes that in 2014, Boko Haram used four children in suicide attacks. But in 2015, it used 44 children in such attacks.

UNICEF says that one in every five "suicide bombers" used by Boko Haram in the past two years has been a child, with 70 percent of them girls, many of whom had been kidnapped like the 276 Chibok schoolgirls two years ago, CBN News reports.

The girls reportedly detonated bombs in schools and markets.

"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.

UNICEF also reports that children suicide bombings have spread beyond Nigeria's borders, with an increasing number of deadly attacks carried out by the children with the explosives hidden under their clothes or in baskets.

Some young children probably did not know they were carrying explosives, which are often detonated remotely, Duvillier said.

The agency noted that the use of young girls to carry out suicide attacks has "created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion that has devastating consequences for girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence by Boko Haram."

Rachel Harvey of UNICEF expressed concern that many communities worry that girls and women rescued from Boko Haram have been radicalised and could still be a threat.

Meanwhile, women who had been raped by their captorsand especially those who bore children as a resultalso face stigma, according to the report.

"You need strong influential voices that are going to say, 'We need to accept these girls and women back, and the children. These are victims, it was not their fault,''' Harvey said.

She believes that hostages who may have been radicalised have to be "addressed, not just dismissed."

Amnesty International estimates that Boko Haram has kidnapped about 2,000 women and girls since 2014 for use as cooks, sex slaves, fighters and "suicide bombers."

In April 2014, 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.

Two years later the girls remain missing. Last month, a girl on an apparent suicide attack mission in Cameroon reportedly cried for help and surrendered to authorities, saying she was one of the Chibok girls. If true, it would be the first concrete news of the missing girls' whereabouts in months.

In 2014, Boko Haram was dubbed as the world's deadliest terrorist organisation by the Global Terrorism Index.
Joel Osteen answers Morgan Freeman's question, 'Who is God?'

Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman visited Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas as part of National Geographic's "The Story of God," and asked the megachurch pastor, "Who is God?"

"I believe God is our Father, the Creator, Somebody that gives us purpose and destiny," answered Osteen, according to The Christian Post. "Sometimes it's hard for people to say, 'How can I believe in something I can't see?' But it's what you choose to believe, through faith."

"When Jesus came He said, 'I want you to come to me.' So I tell people, 'You can talk to God all through the day like you talk to your friend, in your thoughts you can say, God thank you for this day," he continued. "I think God can be as involved in your life as much as you want Him to be. That's what we try to teach people to get God out of your Sunday morning box."

For his part, Freeman said that God means a lot of things to different people, but Osteen made God feel "personal, approachable, helpful."

While observing the thousands of people who attended Osteen's church, Freeman called their worship service a "show." He appeared mesmerised by their celebration of God, and said in closing: "This is clearly a faith in the God in you, your inspiration, your power."

Freeman earlier admitted that he is not a religious person. "I went to churches and synagogues, only it never caught hold. At 13, I stopped," he told Page Six. The actor said his basis for right and wrong was simply "grandma's big slap on my head," which "always pointed out when I'd done wrong."

However, his visit to Osteen's Lakewood Church made him feel an affinity towards God. "In a Houston megachurch I connected somewhat," he said. "Encouraged to think positive. You don't just get some things just like that! You have to go do it to get it. God's plan for us is to succeed."
Prayers to commemorate Japan tsunami

Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church in Japan, has released special prayers to commemorate the triple disaster that struck the country on 11 March 2011.

A 9.0 magnitude earthquake under the sea off the coast of Japan triggered a giant tsunami that swept across north-eastern Japan, travelling up to 10km inland.

It was the largest earthquake to ever hit the country, causing over 15,000 deaths, with thousands more missing.

The tsunami also caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, leading to the emergency evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents.

To commemorate the third anniversary of the disaster, churches across Japan will be holding special services on Sunday 9 March.

Nippon Sei Ko Kai has issued the following prayers to be used on this and future anniversaries:

Most merciful and compassionate Lord, we remember before you the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, which took place (three) years ago. We pray that you will sustain those in the affected areas; those living in places of refuge; especially those who suffer because of the various hardships they experience in Japanese society; and those who have lost hope in the future. (We particularly pray for ____)

We remember before you those who have lost their livelihoods due to the nuclear accident, as well as the damage that has been done to the natural environment. We ask you to protect those forced to live far from their homes; those engaged in dangerous work; and their families. Please lead in the ways of righteousness those in positions of responsibility in government and society.

Help us always to remember those suffering in these situations. We ask you to strengthen the work of the NSKK project "Let's Walk Together Part II" and lead all of us, so that we may join together in body and spirit and continue to walk together with those who suffer.

Lord, source of all life, we ask you to gather in your loving arms all victims of the Great Japan Eastern Earthquake and Tsunami; and victims of war and natural disaster all over the world. Grant them eternal peace.

In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Responsive prayers

Officiant: Most merciful and compassionate Lord, we remember before you the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, which took place (three) years ago. We pray that you will sustain those in the affected areas; those living in places of refuge; especially those who suffer because of the various hardships they experience in Japanese society; and those who have lost hope in the future. (We particularly pray for ____)

Congregation: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Officiant: We remember before you those who have lost their livelihoods due to the nuclear accident, as well as the damage that has been done to the natural environment. We ask you to protect those forced to live far from their homes; those engaged in dangerous work; and their families. Please lead in the ways of righteousness those in positions of responsibility in government and society.

Congregation: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Officiant: Help us always to remember those suffering in these situations. We ask you to strengthen the work of the NSKK project "Let's Walk Together Part II" and lead all of us, so that we may join together in body and spirit and continue to walk together with those who suffer.

Congregation: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Officiant: Lord, source of all life, we ask you to gather in your loving arms all victims of the Great Japan Eastern Earthquake and Tsunami; and victims of war and natural disaster all over the world. Grant them eternal peace.

Congregation: In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Syria: Muslims murdered by ISIS for helping Christians flee al-Qaryatain

Muslims helping Christians to escape from the besieged Syrian city of al-Qaryatain were murdered when they were discovered by jihadists, according to the Fides news agency.

More information has emerged about the treatment of Christians in the city, which was retaken at the beginning of April from Islamic State by Syrian army forces.

Many Christians were killed during Islamic State's eight-month rule in the town. However, rather than a single massacre, Fides' research indicates they died in different circumstances and over a period of time.

According to local sources contacted by Fides, in September last year some Christians died of natural causes while one was killed in a bombing raid. Three others were taken as hostages to Raqqa, though rumours spread that they were killed. One Christian was murdered by jihadists for 'blasphemy'.

In October Christians began to escape from the city in small groups, beginning with unmarried girls fearful of being forced to marry jihadists. Fr Jaques Murad, prior of the Mar Elian monastery, was among those who escaped during this period.

Six Muslims lost their lives with five Christians at a farm being used as a base to help people escape to Homs. The farm, in an area controlled by neither side, was also used to store goods the refugees were unable to take with them.

All 11 died in December when the farm was attacked by around 50 men who looted the goods left in storage.

After the first escapes the jihadists seized 10 young Christians and threatened them with death if they did not convert to Islam. They had previously been told by priests and Christian leaders that in such cases it was better to declare their conversion to Islam rather than lose their lives on the grounds that an insincere denial of faith was invalid.

The last three Christians to die in al-Qaryatain were killed in the Russian air assault that led to the recapture of the town.
Tennessee governor vetoes Bible bill, says it violates state's Constitution and trivialises sacred book

Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed on Thursday a bill that would designated the Bible as the state's official book.

Haslam said an opinion last year by Attorney General Herbert Slatery indicated that the bill would violate the Establishment Clause and the Tennessee Constitution.

"In addition to the constitutional issues with the bill, my personal feeling is that this bill trivializes the Bible, which I believe is a sacred text," Haslam said in his veto letter addressed to Speaker Beth Harwell.

He added, "If we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, then we shouldn't be recognizing it only as a book of historical and economic significance. If we are recognizing the Bible as a sacred text, then we are violating the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Tennessee by designating it as the official state book."

The state Constitution mandates that "no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship," according to the Associated Press.

If Haslam had signed the bill, it would have made Tennessee the first state to designate the Bible as official book.

The legislature is planning to override Haslam's veto as it takes only a simple majority to overturn it.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Steve Southerland, an ordained minister, and Rep. Jerry Sexton, a retired Baptist pastor.

"Sen. Southerland and I are prepared to move forward with a veto override and we plan to do exactly that," Sexton said, The Tennessean reported.

The bill was passed by the state House last year with a 55-38 vote while Senate passed it this month.

"Men and women motivated by faith have every right and obligation to bring their belief and commitment to the public debate. However, that is very different from the governmental establishment of religion that our founders warned against and our constitution prohibits," Haslam said.

Roger Gannam of the Liberty Counsel said Haslam's reason to veto the bill is based on an "erroneous interpretation of the Constitution."

"The government's adoption of the Bible as the state book would not be an endorsement of Christianity or Judaism or the contents of the book as religion," Gannam said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee applauded the governor.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, thanked the governor for his decision. The ACLU had opposed the legislation as it made its way through the Tennessee General Assembly.

"We applaud Governor Haslam for his leadership in sending a clear message that Tennessee values and respects the religious freedom of all Tennesseans," said executive director Hedy Weinberg.
U.S. provides Kurds with heavy weapons ahead of looming offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS

The United States has started arming Kurdish Peshmerga forces with two army brigades' worth of equipment as part of preparations for a looming U.S.-led coalition offensive to regain Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, according to news reports.

The U.S. government has sent armoured personnel carriers, mortars and anti-tank weapons to the Kurds, UPI reports.

The U.S. also donated personal military equipment including helmets, body armour vests, anti-chemical protection equipment, medical equipment and M16 rifles, the report says.

"This is the first time for our soldiers here and if you look around today, you can see they have all the same equipment,'' said Col. Bernd Prill, the commander of the Kurdistan Training Coordinated Centre (KTCC), Kurdistan local news Ara reports.

"This will make it easier for us and for them. Previously our trainers had to be prepared for five different weapons, now only for one,'' he added.

Last week, he said the Kurds begun the first Modern Brigade Courta 10-week programme during which the Peshmergas are trained on basic infantry skills using U.S. weapons.

Brig. Gen. John E. Novalis II, who is overseeing coalition training of Iraqi security forces, told Stars and Stripes that the U.S. government have decided to give the Kurds ''two U.S. Army brigades-worth of equipmentheavier stuff'' to aid in the ongoing offensive on Mosul, the de-facto capital of the ISIS in northern Iraq.

The Kurdistan Peshmerga is one of the few effective forces on the ground to battle with the ISIS.

In an earlier press conference, U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters that the U.S. weapons delivered to the Kurds would be coursed through the Iraqi government, and that it is up to the central government "to decide where every piece of equipment goes."

In addition to the heavy weapons for the Kurds, the U.S. military also deployed tactical aircraft capable of attacking ISIS's ability to communicate closer to the front lines of the battle against the terrorist group.

CNN reports that the U.S. European command sent a squadron of Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to support operations against ISIS. The Prowler can protect allied forces on the ground and strike aircraft by jamming any radar and communication devices ISIS has, it added.

First used in 1972 during the Vietnam War, the aircraft has been deployed to assist peacekeeping missions around the world as well as to enforce "no-fly" zones like the one over the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. It has also been used in both Iraq and Syria since military action against ISIS began in 2014.

Last week, the U.S. Central Command also reportedly sent B-52 bombers into the ISIS fight for the first time.
Dear Abby:

My husband is extremely critical of others. He almost never has anything nice to say about anyone. He badmouths his co-workers, friends, family members and strangers. We don't have friends anymore because he doesn't want to be around them.

He thinks his way of thinking and doing things is the only right way and everyone else is wrong. He's always quick to shift the blame when something goes awry.

What makes people this way? Is there any hope that he can change? We are nearing retirement age, and I need my space. I cannot be his everything.

Reached the Limit

Dear Reached:

It appears you married a self-entitled misanthrope. Not knowing him, I can't guess why your husband is this way. Change is possible in anyone, if the person recognizes the need for it and wants to change. From your description, he must be a heavy load to carry, and I doubt he will admit the need.

If you want to continue this marriage and save your sanity after he retires, you must create separate time, hobbies and relationships for yourself apart from him, and be prepared in advance for the fact that he won't like it one bit.

Dear Abby:

Kudos to you for your advice to "Willing to Do It in West Virginia" (Dec. 10), who asked for advice regarding temporarily adopting her son "Kevin's" dog while he was away on deployment, which her husband did not want to do. The husband felt that Kevin getting the dog in the first place was a mistake and her son should "learn his lesson." You advised that they should temporarily take the dog, since there was no way of knowing what might happen during his deployment.

Giving the dog to a shelter would have a high probability of being a death sentence. That's not humane when there are viable alternatives, and the situation is no fault of the dog's. An alternative would be to contact Dogs on Deployment (dogsondeployment.org), a national nonprofit that provides an online network that connects service members with volunteers willing to board their pets during their service commitments.

Dogs on Deployment promotes responsible, lifelong pet ownership by advocating for military pet-owner rights, providing educational resources and granting financial assistance for military pet owners during times of emergency.

Jennifer in San Diego

Dear Jennifer:

Thank you for the information. Along with Dogs on Deployment, other organizations that may be helpful to military families include PACT for Animals, Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pet or the local SPCA.

DearAbby.comDear AbbyP.O. Box 69440Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A north Houston unauthorized game room was raided late Friday, resulting in one arrest and surprising a new Houston city council member who spent her day riding along with officers.

Houston Police Department officers descended on the business, on East Crosstimbers at Bauman, around 9 p.m. They seized cash and 40 machines, whose computer motherboards were secured in plastic evidence bags. The man who owns and operates the business, whose name was not released, was arrested.

Capt. Dan Harris with HPD's vice division said the officers who participated were from the agency's north division and vice as well as the special weapons and tactics unit or SWAT.

"This is an illegal business. People come thinking that the gambling machines are regulated. They're not. The business owner sets them to make payouts of whatever he wants and so it's just basically a big rip off," Harris said. "The vice division became aware of this game room through some citizens' complaints, developed the case to confirm, yes, it's an illegal business, and then tonight we executed the search warrant and the arrest warrant of the owner and the operator."

Patrons were not taken into custody.

"The Houston Police Department is not interested in arresting the people who come here thinking that this is a legal business," Harris said. "We don't arrest them. We just check to see that everybody is safe ... that we don't have anybody with an outstanding warrant."

Houston City Council District H council member Karla Cisneros, who was riding along with HPD patrol officers in her district on Friday, said she had no idea the experience was going to end with a SWAT raid.

"It was really a remarkable thing to watch," she said. "There's a lot of secondary crimes that come out of it. It's not just illegal gambling. ... There's a lot of money here that creates a lot of illegal opportunities."

Cisneros joined the council in January after winning a December runoff election.

"We want to live in a safe community, so shutting down illegal operations like this is part of that," she said.
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.
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron woman admitted Friday to hitting a Tallmadge police officer with her minivan while she tried to escape from a shoplifting arrest.

Yolanda DeBruce, 48, pleaded guilty to felonious assault, robbery and failing to comply with a police order. Summit County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Teodosio will sentence her Monday.

DeBruce on Dec. 12 pushed a shopping cart full of groceries out of the Giant Eagle without paying. A Tallmadge police officer confronted her in the parking lot.

DeBruce ignored the officer, a 10-year veteran, and hit him with her minivan as she drove off. The officer fired one shot and hit the van.

DeBruce was not hurt. The officer was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released. Police followed her into Akron and arrested on Davis Street near Victoria Avenue.

She is serving a one-year prison sentence for violating the terms of her probation in two thefts, one for stealing from Target in Cuyahoga Falls and for another shoplifting incident at Giant Eagle on Howe Avenue.

She also has convictions in seven felony cases since 1990 and dozens of misdemeanor convictions, including 16 for prostitution.

Her felony record includes convictions for forgery, drug possession, theft and escape. She's been sentenced to prison in six of the cases.

If you want to comment on this story, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Rock Box project is ready to rock East Ninth Street with snippets of music created by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

The city's planning commission on Friday unanimously approved plans for the $500,000 public art project, which calls for installing six groups of artistically designed loudspeakers along East Ninth Street from Progressive Field to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The installations - to be finished in time for the Republican National Convention starting July 18 - will play snatches of rock classics at least twice a day, blending art and music to connect the Rock Hall more firmly to downtown.

Although the museum regularly attracts a half million visitors a year, it has never felt firmly attached to downtown.

A museum too far

Designed by architect I.M. Pei and built in 1995, the Rock Hall feels relatively remote given its location at the foot of the East Ninth Street pier at North Coast Harbor, where it is separated from Lakeside Avenue by a quarter mile of sidewalk that descends 70 feet in elevation and crosses busy intersections and highway on- and off-ramps.

"Were thrilled that the support for this has been really strong," Greg Harris, president and CEO of the Rock Hall, told the planning commission on Friday.

The Rock Box project is funded by Destination Cleveland and will be maintained and operated by the Rock Hall, which will transmit the music snippets wirelessly to the loudspeakers.

"We're looking at twice-a-day 30-to-90 sec clips all inspired by inductees," said Sarah Siebert, a project manager for the nonprofit LAND Studio, which is managing the project along with the $50 million renovation of Public Square and other upcoming public art and landscape projects.

Talent with local ties

The project has been designed by New York-based by Mark Reigelman II, a 2006 graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art who specializes in functional street art.

His other creations include the picnic table array installed outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland at Uptown in University Circle, and the concrete planters along Euclid Avenue downtown, designed to resemble large floral bouquets wrapped in conical swaths of paper.

Each Rock Box will consist of all-weather audio equipment encased in stacks of two-by-two-foot aluminum boxes, painted charcoal gray, with colorful speaker horns embedded in one side.

The back of each Rock Box will be incised with the names of Rock Hall inductees. The Rock Hall will encourage music fans to make pencil rubbings of the names as mementos.

The Rock Hall first introduced the Rock Box concept publicly in December, and has since refined the proposal, reducing the total number of installations from seven to six.

No more 'Walk of Fame'

The idea is meant to supplant the Rock Hall's earlier "Walk of Fame" project, which installed brass markers embossed with names of inductees on sidewalks along Lakeside Avenue near Public Auditorium, where Rock Hall inductions have taken place.

The markers quickly became scraped up by snowplows and corroded.

Siebert said the concrete footers for the Rock Box arrays would be installed in May, followed by the boxes in June.

The installations will occupy private and public property at locations including:

- The park at the northeast corner of Progressive Field.

- The northwest corner of East Ninth Street and Prospect Avenue in front of the Medical Mutual Building.

- The Euclid Avenue median planter bed installed in 2008 as part of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's bus rapid transit HealthLine.

- The small city park on the west side of Euclid Avenue just north of the Hampton Inn hotel on Superior Avenue.

- The One Cleveland Center plaza at East Ninth Street and Chester Avenue.

- The Rock Hall's renovated entry plaza.

Lovin' it

Developer and commission member Fred Geis chided Siebert, LAND Studio and the Rock Hall for saying that the loudspeakers wouldn't play that often.

"It seems like a lot of stuff for twice a day," he said.

"That's a comment we've heard a lot," Harris responded. "Should it be well received and work well, we'll do it more frequently. We appreciate the enthusiasm of those who want us to do it more and are certainly willing to do it."

Geis then teased Harris, said that he, Geis, and David Bowen, the commission's vice chair, would only vote 'yes' on the proposal if the Rock Hall promised to play Iron Butterfly's 1968 hit, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."

"It looks sexy and cool I love it," Geis told Harris. "I'm a big fan of what you guys are doing down there."
200 Public Square atrium renovations will start Monday

The 200 Public Square office building, in the foreground, is picking up a large office tenant in New York Life, an insurance company that plans to move downtown from Lakewood later this year.

(Peggy Turbett/Plain Dealer file)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The nation's largest mutual life-insurance company plans to bring hundreds of jobs to downtown Cleveland starting in late 2016, after signing a lease on three floors at the 200 Public Square office tower.

New York Life Insurance Co. recently inked a deal to occupy 110,000 square feet in the building, the former BP Tower just off Public Square. The company plans to shift more than 350 jobs downtown from Lakewood, where New York Life is leaving its longtime space - and creating the potential for an apartment redevelopment - at the Lakewood Center North office building on Detroit Avenue.

But the size of New York Life's future digs indicates that the company is looking at an even larger presence in Cleveland. The company's space at 200 Public Square could accommodate 600 workers, said Brian Hurtuk of Colliers International, which handles leasing at the property.

At Lakewood Center North, New York Life occupies roughly 77,000 square feet, said Patrick Reardon of Cushman & Wakefield/Cresco Real Estate, which represented the insurance company in its recent real estate search.

So the New York-based business is expanding its local footprint by 43 percent, at a time when it's more common to hear about major office tenants cutting back due to technology, changing workplace designs and efforts to save cash.

A New York Life spokeswoman wouldn't discuss the details.

She confirmed that the move involves more than 350 people and said other Cleveland-area offices aren't relocating. New York Life has a 120-agent branch in Seven Hills, according to its website.

"New York Life regularly reviews the size, scale and nature of each of our locations to ensure it is an appropriate match for our business needs," Theresa Wolcott, the spokeswoman, wrote in an email Friday. "In this case, our expanding business required higher-quality business space. To meet this need and stay in Cleveland, which we are committed to doing, New York Life is moving to new office space in downtown Cleveland. The new space provides the updated work environment we needed for our employees, access to the amenities of downtown Cleveland and room to add jobs in the years ahead."

The deal tips occupancy at 200 Public Square to just above 90 percent. Hurtuk acknowledged that Colliers and Harbor Group International, which owns the building, will have to reshuffle some existing tenants to make room for New York Life.

A Harbor Group executive couldn't be reached for comment Friday. Renee Evans, the property manager, said the landlord is "ecstatic" about landing New York Life.

Harbor Group expects to complete atrium renovations at 200 Public Square in late May or early June. Ruth's Chris Steak House is scheduled to open on the north side of the atrium in late summer, joining a cafeteria-style eatery, a bakery and other recent additions to the building.

That atrium faces Public Square, where a $50 million overhaul is set to wrap up before the Republican National Convention in July.

"They're going to be right on the square," Reardon said of New York Life. "And I think it's going to be very exciting for their employees, as well as the city, to have New York Life downtown as a big tenant."

In Lakewood, the insurer's space could become apartments, under a plan announced April 8 by the city and Kowit & Company Real Estate Group. New York Life is the largest tenant at the 15-story Lakewood Center North building, which is only half full. Now the building will be repositioned as a mixed-use project, with high-rise residential living above offices and retail space.

Construction is likely to start in late 2016, after New York Life moves out, according to the city's website.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been corrected to reflect that Michael Menefield was not arrested at Andrew Carr's house.

MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio - A multi-department police SWAT unit was fired on Friday morning while executing a search warrant at a Maple Heights home, according to a news release.

Maple Heights police and the Southeast Area Law Enforcement SWAT team arrived about 7 a.m. at a home on the 19000 block of Milan Drive, according to the release. The Cleveland police gang unit, FBI, ATF and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office assisted with the search.

Someone from inside the home fired at officers when they arrived, the release states. However, no one was injured.

Inside the house, authorities found eight guns and a large amount of ammunition, police said.

Three people from inside the home were detained, Maple Heights police said at the time.

It was later revealed that Michael Menefield, 23, turned himself into authorities earlier in the day. Police went to the Milan Drive home to execute the search warrant after Menefield was in custody.

Andrew Carr, 28, and Menefield will be arraigned Monday in Garfield Heights Municipal Court, the release states.

The exact charges the duo faces are unclear. Police said in the release that charges pertaining to the shots fired and confiscated weapons are "forthcoming."

If you wish to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments page.
police officers.jpg

Cleveland police are investigating a Thursday night armed robbery at a dollar store in the city's North Collinwood neighborhood.

(File photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - A dollar store was robbed at gunpoint Thursday night on Cleveland's East Side.

Cleveland police responded about 10 p.m. Thursday to the Family Dollar on the 16000 block of Lakeshore Boulevard in the city's North Collinwood neighborhood, a police report states. Officers spoke with two female employees, who said they were preparing to close the store when a masked man ran inside with a gun.

The robber demanded money from the employees, according to the report. One employee said she gave him cash from two registers, but could not get money from the safe.

The man ran from the store and headed east through the parking lot. The employees could not say exactly how much money the robber managed to grab, the report says.

Police plan to review surveillance video from the incident as part of their continuing investigation.

If you want to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.
For the better part of the last few years, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has been embroiled in a war of words and money with Herbalife , a multilevel marketing company.

Now, the activist investor's case against Herbalife is being featured on the big screen, but viewers shouldn't expect a Hollywood ending. "Betting on Zero," a new documentary that debuted this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, chronicles Ackman's crusade against the company  which has done little to dent its stock or get regulators to take the billionaire's side.

Although his numerous broadsides against the company have yet to take effect, including a $1 billion bet against Herbalife's stock, Ackman continues to insist the company is little more than a scheme that harms those involved in selling its product.

"The real story are the people being harmed," who are overwhelmingly lower-income workers and immigrants who are Herbalife's foot soldiers, Ackman told CNBC this week, as he appeared on the red carpet of the Tribeca Film Festival.

"They sell people on a false business opportunity and they seduce a group of aspiring people that came to this country to pursue the American dream," he added. "They invest three thousand, five thousand, fifty thousand, a hundred thousand dollars" trying to move up the ladder, but ultimately lose money, Ackman added.

"They lose everything," Ackman said, calling Herbalife's system a "horrible way to take advantage of people [and] ruins dreams and aspirations."


watch now

Once again, oil was in control of stocks on Friday. The market is so interlinked with crude that Jim Cramer pretty much knows if oil opens down, so will stocks. "Oil is in control as we saw today. That is OK, as long as we know what we want to buy as we can use the declines to put money to work in situations that might not otherwise be down if it weren't for crude's weakness," the "Mad Money" host said. While individual stocks can transcend oil, Cramer anticipates that crude will be in the driver's seat again next week because of the OPEC meeting in Doha. Oil ministers from both OPEC and Russia are expected to gather to discuss freezing oil production. "This meeting isn't about freezing anything. There are way too many countries involved and OPEC itself is basically broken. It is every country for itself in the oil market," Cramer said. Cramer recognized that OPEC is still relevant, but in his perspective, everything comes down to supply and demand. Right now supply is being cut back in the U.S. and demand worldwide is picking up. Cramer expects that no conclusions will be reached at the meeting, and oil will sell off. That is when he wants investors to buy favorite stocks  but not oil stocks  that are taken down by a market-wide sell-off. Read More Cramer game plan: Sizzling buys on an oil swoon









At a time when many investors are scrambling to submit tax returns, Cramer crowned one company the tax king to buy. "I can't tell you who to use to actually do your taxes, but we can figure out which of these stocks is the one to buy if you are looking for a play on tax season," the "Mad Money" host said. H&R Block and Intuit are the two big players to put to the test. Intuit is the company behind TurboTax, the software used by millions to do taxes online, and also provides software to assist small businesses with accounting and payroll. On the other hand, H&R Block is the No. 1 player in the industry, with brick and mortar locations to assist customers with taxes in person, and it also has an online business. "If you are looking for a way to play tax season, I say go with Intuit over H&R Block," Cramer said. (Tweet This) Read More Cramer's tax day showdown: Intuit vs. H&R Block

Cramer is always on the lookout for new themes and innovation that could prompt a portfolio to outperform. One of the big ongoing themes is the proliferation of big data. The amount of digital information available has exploded, and the technology used to store, retrieve and analyze that data has grown with it. That means a physical location to store all of the data must exist. Data centers, therefore, have grown significantly in recent years. They are not just about big data, but they are an essential component of cloud computing that has taken the world by storm. Cramer highlighted Equinix and CoreSite Realty as two ways to play the data center theme. "If you are looking for a way to play the rapidly growing data center space, I like the fast growing, domestic CoreSite more than its larger, more established competitor, Equinix," Cramer said.

Getty Images
H&R Block and Intuit are the two big players to put to the test. Intuit is the company behind TurboTax, the software used by millions to do taxes online, and also provides software to assist small businesses with accounting and payroll.

"I can't tell you who to use to actually do your taxes, but we can figure out which of these stocks is the one to buy if you are looking for a play on tax season," the " Mad Money " host said.

At a time when many investors are scrambling to submit tax returns, Jim Cramer crowned one company the tax king to buy.

If you are looking for a way to play tax season, I say go with Intuit over H&R Block.

On the other hand, H&R Block is the No. 1 player in the industry, with brick and mortar locations to assist customers with taxes in person, and it also has an online business.

"If you are looking for a way to play tax season, I say go with Intuit over H&R Block," Cramer said. (Tweet This)

Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer

Cramer Remix: A sucker's game for this stock

Cramer: The secret to trading Facebook

Cramer: New dynamic signals big earnings season

Cramer's decision came down to the fact that Intuit's small business division means that it makes money year round. H&R Block's business is almost entirely seasonal.

So, while H&R Block is the market share leader with 15 percent of the tax industry and Intuit's TurboTax business has only 8 percent, Cramer still sided with Intuit.

"I think it is really important to note that Intuit only does online tax filing  and when it comes to the tax software category, Intuit's TurboTax is unrivaled  last year they helped prepare 70 percent of online tax returns," Cramer said.

Currently Intuit trades at a premium, selling for 23 times next year's earnings estimates, and H&R Block sells for just 12 times next year's numbers.

Intuit may seem expensive, but Cramer considered it to be more of a cloud-based software-as-a-service play. Those stocks tend to be very pricey.

And while H&R Block may seem cheap, Cramer noted that the business is not doing well right now.

"I don't want to call it a value trap, but let's just say it deserves to trade at a discount," he said.
Big multinational companies that shelter overseas profit from federal taxation cost the U.S. economy more than $100 billion a year by withholding more than $1 trillion collectively, according to a new study that may inflame the debate over tax fairness.

This week, anti-poverty group Oxfam America published a report that analyzed the financial reports of the 50 largest publicly traded U.S. companies. The organization found that behemoths such as Apple , General Electric , Microsoft and Google engage in tax havens that costs the U.S. $111 billion annually. Apple was cited by Oxfam as one of the biggest corporate offenders, holding some $181 billion in money offshore, followed by GE's $119 billion and Microsoft's $108 billion.

The U.S's effective corporate tax rate is 35 percent, but the study found that companies used a variety of tax strategies to cut that rate to just 26.5 percentwith only 5 of the 50 companies paying the full 35 percent.

The Oxfam data put a new spin on a decades-old argument over U.S. corporate welfare and tax fairness. Companies frequently avail themselves of legal yet complex strategies that reduce the amount they pay in overseas earnings, the result of what critics argue is a tax regime shot through with distortions, moral hazards and perverse incentives.

The Congressional Budget Office points out that most corporations can lower their tax burden simply by deducting certain expenses. In a 2013 study, the CBO suggested that a change to foreign tax credit could boost revenues by at least $113 billion over a decade.

Oxfam said that an "opaque and secretive network" of over 1600 subsidiaries have conspired to stash around $1.4 trillion offshore, and linked that amount to the widening gap between rich and poor. The accusation takes on new significance in light of last week's disclosures in the "Panama Papers" affair, which ripped the veil of secrecy from companies and wealthy individuals trying to shelter income.

"Tax dodging practices by corporations and enabled by federal policymakers contributes to dangerous inequality that is undermining our social fabric, and hindering economic growth," the report said, as it urged both Congress and President Barack Obama to enforce tax haven abuse.

From 2008-2014, Oxfam's analysis noted, the 50 companies collected more than $11 trillion in assorted loans, loan guarantees and bailout funds. Branding the current labyrinthine tax code as "rigged," Oxfam contended that corporate efforts to subvert the system are depriving the government of needed revenue to fund education, health care and infrastructure.

Nonetheless, the Treasury Department reaped a record $1.48 trillion in tax revenue in the first half of fiscal year 2016, according to recent Treasury data, but still ran a deficit of nearly $500 billion. Last fiscal year, the federal government hauled in over $3 trillion in tax receipts, which was also a record.
Did the Doha meeting of oil producing countries end before it even began? Not necessarily.

On Saturday, Iran announced that it would not send a representative to the confab, which is being closely watched by analysts for hints on whether OPEC and non-OPEC producers will agree to a freeze of crude output. Given that Saudi Arabia has insisted that any deal include all member countries, Iran's absence was interpreted by some as a death knell for an agreement.



Yet sources in Doha told CNBC say that for several reasons, a "soft deal" on freezing production is still a possibility, even without Iran's involvement. Minus Tehran, oil producers assembled in Doha still account for nearly half of the world's daily output. With the exception of Libya and Iran, all of OPEC is represented at the meeting.



Though Iran's increased production and exports are perhaps the single biggest factor fueling global oversupply, the producers here still have the power to either cap or cut a sizable chunk of production. Although a lid on current levels would be at near record output, it would at least help ensure that more oil isn't put on the market by the non-Iranian producers.

Ahead of Sunday's meeting, the Sheraton Hotel in Doha is abuzz with oil ministers from around the globe, along with the journalists that cover them as final preparations are made for Sunday's oil summit. Extra security can be seen throughout the hotels property, and airport style security checks have been set up at every entrance.



Inside the ballroom where the ministers will meet, flags of each nation represented are in place, indicating where each country's representatives will be seated. Saudi Arabian oil Minister Ali Al Naimi will be sitting between Alexander Novak, the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, along with a representative form Trinidad.


King Salman bin Abd alAziz of Saudi Arabia Getty Images

WASHINGTON  Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bill's passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon. The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation. Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdom's message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts. Several outside economists are skeptical that the Saudis will follow through, saying that such a sell-off would be difficult to execute and would end up crippling the kingdom's economy. But the threat is another sign of the escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The administration, which argues that the legislation would put Americans at legal risk overseas, has been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of Sept. 11 victims are infuriated. In their view, the Obama administration has consistently sided with the kingdom and has thwarted their efforts to learn what they believe to be the truth about the role some Saudi officials played in the terrorist plot. "It's stunning to think that our government would back the Saudis over its own citizens," said Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and who is part of a group of victims' family members pushing for the legislation.

President Obama will arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday for meetings with King Salman and other Saudi officials. It is unclear whether the dispute over the Sept. 11 legislation will be on the agenda for the talks.

A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy did not respond to a message seeking comment. More from The New York Times:

Saudi Arabia Moves to Curb Its Feared Religious Police

Saudis Moving to Reduce Dependence on Oil Money

The Big Four in Saudi Arabia's Government

Saudi officials have long denied that the kingdom had any role in the Sept. 11 plot, and the 9/11 Commission found "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization." But critics have noted that the commission's narrow wording left open the possibility that less senior officials or parts of the Saudi government could have played a role. Suspicions have lingered, partly because of the conclusions of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the attacks that cited some evidence that Saudi officials living in the United States at the time had a hand in the plot.

Those conclusions, contained in 28 pages of the report, still have not been released publicly. The dispute comes as bipartisan criticism is growing in Congress about Washington's alliance with Saudi Arabia, for decades a crucial American ally in the Middle East and half of a partnership that once received little scrutiny from lawmakers. Last week, two senators introduced a resolution that would put restrictions on American arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which have expanded during the Obama administration. Families of the Sept. 11 victims have used the courts to try to hold members of the Saudi royal family, Saudi banks and charities liable because of what the plaintiffs charged was Saudi financial support for terrorism. These efforts have largely been stymied, in part because of a 1976 law that gives foreign nations some immunity from lawsuits in American courts. The Senate bill is intended to make clear that the immunity given to foreign nations under the law should not apply in cases where nations are found culpable for terrorist attacks that kill Americans on United States soil. If the bill were to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the president, it could clear a path for the role of the Saudi government to be examined in the Sept. 11 lawsuits. Obama administration officials counter that weakening the sovereign immunity provisions would put the American government, along with its citizens and corporations, in legal risk abroad because other nations might retaliate with their own legislation. Secretary of State John Kerry told a Senate panel in February that the bill, in its current form, would "expose the United States of America to lawsuits and take away our sovereign immunity and create a terrible precedent."
Family aims to raise awareness about invisible illness

Michelle and Jason Kemp's two children were born with cystic fibrosis. The Columbia family shares their story to raise awareness about the genetic disorder.
Crime Report Shelby County 911 - A Crime Report SHARE Aaron Franklin

By Stephanie Norton of The Commercial Appeal

A man is facing multiple charges after allegedly crashing his Ford Explorer into an ambulance shortly after midnight Saturday.

A Memphis Fired Department ambulance was at Sherwood and Florida turning southbound when it was struck on the driver's side by a Ford Explorer, traveling north on Florida with no headlights, according to Memphis police spokesman Louis Brownlee.

Aaron Franklin, 23, is charged with driving with a suspended license and driving under the influence. The paramedic driving the ambulance was ticketed for failure to yield.

There were no injuries, Brownlee said.
January 21, 2016 - People make their way through the Memphis International Airport in the B6 concourse.

(Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE

By Wayne Risher of The Commercial Appeal

Two vice presidents who abruptly left their jobs at Memphis International Airport on March 11 will collect their $16,000-a-month salaries through June 30.

Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority officials, citing confidentiality of personnel issues, said they couldn't discuss why Richard White and George Mabon left or whether the departures were related.

White resigned, and Mabon's employment agreement wasn't extended past June 30, general counsel Brian Kuhn said.

White and Mabon will receive nearly 16 weeks pay, 30 percent of their annual pay, just over $58,000 apiece for the time between March 11 and June 30. Each executive has an annual salary of $191,772.

Airport officials wouldn't comment on whether the departures of White and Mabon were connected to the earlier resignation of a White subordinate who complained about workplace issues.

Contract compliance manager Regina Martin said in a Feb. 16 resignation letter, "I feel that I am being constructively discharged and forced to resign due to issues that I feel have made an uncomfortable and hostile work environment for me."

The letter, copied to White and Airport Authority president Scott Brockman, added, "I have made known some of the inappropriate treatment that is displayed within the Authority. The bullying, intimidating and sexist ways must stop. It's intolerable."

In a followup email to Brockman on March 11, Martin wrote, "I am upholding the resignation that I originally presented to you dated February 16, 2016. I appreciate your efforts in investigating the issues that I presented to you. As I stated to you on yesterday, under the circumstances, my comfort level is not where I feel it should be in order for me to continue on as an employee of the Authority."

White was vice president of properties and business development, overseeing airport concession agreements, parking and rental cars, disadvantaged and minority business programs and leasing of airport-owned properties.

Mabon was vice president of human resources, responsible for employment, employee relations, labor relations, benefits and compensation, training and related activities.

White, Mabon and Martin declined comment.

When airport officials confirmed the departures of White and Mabon, Kuhn had declined to say whether they resigned or were terminated, pending the outcome of a personnel process.

White tendered his resignation in a March 10 letter and but didn't give a reason. He signed a severance agreement and general release on April 6.

Brockman wrote a letter to Mabon on April 7 saying Mabon's employment agreement wouldn't be extended beyond June 30.

The letter was sent by email attachment to attorneys Don Donati and William Ryan, who represent Mabon. A phone call to their law office wasn't returned.

White and Mabon were the Airport Authority's only African American vice presidents.

A review of personnel files of White, Mabon and Martin turned up a history of exceeding supervisors' expectations and no sub-par performance reviews.

Martin's pay had been increased by $389.60 a year, to $85,235.06, according to a March 2 letter from Mabon, citing "annual salary adjustment due to EEO (equal employment opportunity) review."
December 04, 2014 -- The sign for movies is vacant as the large theater has been closed at the Raleigh Springs Mall. The mall in Raleigh is now a shell of its former self with most of the stores closed including an abandoned movie theater. (Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE

By Thomas Bailey Jr. of The Commercial Appeal

A judge will hand down his decision Tuesday whether to give possession of the Raleigh Springs Mall to the Memphis Housing Authority over the objections of its private owner.

At issue for Shelby County Circuit Court Judge James F. Russell is whether the city agency made another error in the way it published notices for a public hearing required in the eminent domain proceedings.

The city is eager to start a $31.7 million redevelopment that would begin with the demolition of the 45-year-old enclosed mall in Raleigh.

The plan includes erecting two buildings, one for civic functions including a police North Precinct and Traffic Division, library and community center, and the other building for new retail or institutional tenants.

Several property owners within the 68-acre site along Austin Peay Highway at Yale Road had fought the condemnation in court. They blocked the eminent domain action last August, successfully arguing that MHA published a wrong date in its notices for the required public hearing.

Memphis Housing Authority restarted the process, including holding another public hearing and publishing notices about that hearing in The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Daily News and La Prensa Latina.

But the one property owner still fighting the eminent domain, Raleigh Mall RPS LLC, is asking Russell to invalidate the condemnation yet again because MHA failed to also publish notice of the hearing in the Memphis Business Journal.

Raleigh Mall RPS owns four parcels comprising the main mall that still stands.

State law requires that public hearings on eminent domain be published in newspapers of general circulation.

Attorney Jonathan Hancock of Baker Donelson, representing MHA, battled for two hours Friday afternoon with attorney Kirk Caraway of Allen Summers over whether the Memphis Business Journal is such a newspaper.

Among his other arguments, Hancock told the court that the MBJ publishes for a select group of readers. Just the newspaper's name indicates that the publication is "geared toward a specific community, the business community,'' Hancock said.

He cited the state law requirements for election notices. It states that a newspaper that distributes news primarily "to a particular group of citizens is not a newspaper of general circulation,'' Hancock told Russell.

Caraway countered that MHA published a notice in the Memphis Daily News, which is also geared to business and has a smaller circulation than the Memphis Business Journal.

"There's no statute that says The Commercial Appeal and Daily News are general circulation, either,'' Caraway said.

Russell called the case "interesting and intellectually challenging.'' He praised both legal teams for the quality of their briefs and arguments, calling the legal back-and-forth "a joy.''

The judge also asked a number of questions of the attorneys.

Would the mall owner contend there are other newspapers in which the notice should have been published? Caraway responded he did not know, leading the judge to respond, "...how should the Memphis Housing Authority know?''

Russell even had the court deputy hand the attorneys copies of The Memphis News, an affiliated publication of the Memphis Daily News. He leafed through the paper, pointing out a number of non-business stories.

"... The question should be asked..., how many more of these are out there and how are the Memphis Housing Authorities of the world to know where they are to comply with the statute?"

Even if the judge sides with MHA, more litigation is expected over the price the city would pay for the mall.
A Memphis imam and college professor is one of five American Muslim clerics being threatened with death by ISIS.

The latest edition of Dabiq magazine  the ISIS online version of Pravda  has declared Dr. Yasir Qadhi an apostate and called for his assassination.

This is the second year in a row that Qadhi, a religion professor at Rhodes College and resident scholar at the Memphis Islamic Center, has made the ISIS hit list.

"The irony is that the very people ISIS is targeting are also the ones that the Far Right here targets as being stealth jihadists," Qadhi said.

"What this shows is that the radicals from both sides are threatened by the same people: mainstream American Muslims who demonstrate the reality of what it means to be an American and a Muslim."

Five Muslim American political leaders also made the new ISIS hit list, including U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslims elected to Congress.

In a prepared statement, Ellison called ISIS "a collection of liars, murderers, torturers and rapists. No Muslim I know recognizes what they preach as Al-Islam."

Qadhi, who grew up in Houston and Saudi Arabia, is the son of Pakistani immigrants. He moved to Memphis in 2010. He has denounced ISIS in forums and publications, debunks ISIS ideology and calls it "McSharia."

"What ISIS is doing in the name of Islam is so un-Islamic, so unethical, so wrong," he said.

"We, the mainstream of peace-loving Americans of all faith, need to cooperate together to drown out their narrative of hate."
Cranes are seen near a container ship docked in 2015 at the Port Newark Container Terminal in Newark, N.J. The nation's second-busiest port was expanded to provide an effective way of moving 40-ton containers arriving on ships. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Nearly 15 years after terrorists struck New York and Washington, Americas ports and cargo hubs remain vulnerable.

Memphis, the daily destination for freight trucked and railed from the ocean ports, could be targeted.

Or, at the least, the citys logistics industry could slow down for weeks if a U.S. port is bombed.

Sound like science fiction?

A former U.S. Coast Guard officer sketches this very scenario in a recent report delivered to a U.S. Congress subcommittee:

Overseas a fanatic buys a batch of radioactive material.

It is secreted into a seagoing container filled with name-brand apparel bound for America along with a small bomb set to a timer.

The container is shipped across the Pacific and unloaded at Long Beach, where the timer sets off the bomb, which lifts a radioactive cloud over the California port.

America has spent more than $600 billion on security since 2001. Memphis alone has received $38 million from the federal Urban Area Security Initiative plus another $6.5 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to set up the Real Time Crime Center, a video surveillance system that deploys cameras throughout the city.

Despite the preparation, there is a hole in the wall for determined terrorists to get through.



Stephen Flynn Stephen Flynn

No one really knows what is inside a container except those who are there when the container is packed, said former Coast Guard officer Stephen Flynn, a seaport security analyst who testified before a congressional subcommittee on maritime transportation in October.

In 2005, he and a colleague wrote an opinion piece published in The New York Times, warning, terrorists can defeat radiation sensors by shielding a dirty bomb with dense materials like lead.

Whats happened since 2005?

Were still vulnerable.

Ive seen the protocol in Singapore and Hong Kong and Rotterdam. Ive stood beside U.S. customs agents in those ports and seen it, said Flynn, co-director of the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security at Northeastern University in Boston. Only a very tiny percentage of containers are being examined.

Three winters ago, a sudden ice storm closed the interstates. Stranded freight trucks stretched in a line for 20 miles from the northern Arkansas Delta, over the Hernando DeSoto Bridge and deep into Memphis. It was a vivid display of the citys role in the global supply chain.

Most days, nearly 20 heavy trucks each minute of every work hour cross the Mississippi River on Interstate 40, a highway some truckers consider Americas busiest east-west freight artery after Interstate 80.

Trucks usually pull conventional cargo trailers bearing names of truck lines such as Hunt, Old Dominion and Ozark. Shippers and carriers usually know what is in those trailers and who put it there. Most of the cargo was picked up and delivered in Canada, Mexico or the United States. Most shippers are very strict about who comes on and off their property, said long-haul driver Earl Paul, 55, of Wichita, Kansas.

The traffic consists of more than conventional trailers. Every year, ships deliver more than 11 million seagoing containers to American ports. These metal boxes  most are 40-feet long  carry inside them more than 60 percent of the worlds seaborne freight.

Arriving at a port, the boxes are stacked on railroad cars or placed on wheeled chassis and towed inland by big trucks. Some containers are scanned at the port by high-tech machines and along the road at weigh stations, although Flynn insists this is insufficient. No scanner, he said, can detect radioactive material if it is in a carton sheathed in lead. And if a bomb were detonated in an American city, it could gridlock the country's freight distribution network for weeks as authorities searched containers for a second weapon.

Today containers bearing names such as APL (American President Lines, a unit of Neptune Orient Lines of Singapore), Cosco (China Ocean Shipping Co. of Beijing), Evergreen Marine of Taiwan and AP Maersk of Denmark are stacked in Memphis freight yards like high-rise buildings. They have carried merchandise from places as diverse as Hamburg, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Lahore and Shenzhen. In February, importers brought $225 billion worth of goods into the United States, nearly $50 billion more than was exported.

AutoZone, Asics, Nike and hundreds of other national companies operate major freight depots in Memphis, a city long nicknamed Americas Distribution Center. Scores of Memphis truck terminals repack a large share of the merchandise arriving in containers and deliver it across the region in conventional trailers.

If you look around the room you are now seated in, many manufactured items such as blouses and coffee makers were imported or, even if the label says Made in the United States, often assembled in America of imported fabric or parts.

Even on Detroit cars chances are good thousands of the 5,000 parts were made and machined by workers in another country. Much of the material reaches America in the seagoing containers Flynn views as a potential threat.

As our manufacturing capabilities have diminished and we rely on imports for a preponderance of consumer goods, youre playing a multi-faceted game here between port security, economics and politics, said security executive Mark Johnson, a former Coast Guard officer who shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks was hired by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration as the deputy in charge of maritime and land security.

Other nations dont want U.S. Marines in their ports inspecting containers. Nor do we want to look inside each container. Inspecting all of them would snarl global trade. Instead, the American government has negotiated agreements under the U.S. Container Security Initiative.

Nations that are home to major seaports have agreed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency can locate agents at 53 ports, which load 86 percent of the containers bound each year for Memphis and America. The customs agents can request inspections of suspicious cargo. Usually they rely on intelligence data and shipping manifests to decide which containers to inspect. Of the 11 million containers shipped to America in 2013, U.S. customs agents oversaw inspections of 103,999 containers during the entire year at the 53 foreign ports, Flynn said.

Earl Paul, the long-haul trucker from Wichita, said terrorists dont worry him. Ive never even considered it, said Paul, who has himself hauled containers inland. I think most drivers dont think about it. Indeed, Americans are satisfied.

From my knowledge the screening has been very extensive, said Memphis World Trade Club president Jeremy Holt, president of Specialized Commodity Freight Brokers, which deals primarily in domestic trucking. I dont remember any large-scale incident.

Hes right. More than 150 million containers have entered U.S. ports since September 2001. None have been blown up.

I think we are doing what we need to do. Carriers take these programs seriously, said Boyd Stephenson, vice president for supply chain security at the American Trucking Association, a Virginia trade group representing 31,000 carriers.

Stephenson cited vigilance and especially C-TPAT  the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agencys Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program. It is voluntary, signed by 10,650 certified members who account for 54.1 percent of all imports into the United States, including carriers and factories overseas.

Wal-Mart, for example, can insist its suppliers abroad adhere. Overseas factories are toured, their security procedures inspected, sometimes every few months. Once they enter the program, plants can load cargo into seagoing containers sealed on their shipping dock and carted off by a trusted truck line. At the port, the U.S. Container Security Initiative kicks in if it is one of the 53 seaports for which the United States has negotiated agreements to station its customs agents.

Under the security initiative, agents can inspect a suspicious container, although if the shipping papers show the container has name-brand merchandise such as Nike running shoes or General Motors auto parts the container is almost always put aboard ship without inspection, Flynn said.

This, he said, is the systems flaw. America does not usually try to inspect the commonest goods reaching the port unless there is an intelligence alert or the cargo listed in the shipping manifest seems odd.

Yet, what if the trucker in that foreign land hauling the container from the shoe factory to the port were bribed by Islamic State? In his report to Congress, Flynn set out such a scenario: The trucker parks briefly behind a secluded building. A small wooden box lined in lead to hide the dirty bomb inside from radioactive scanners is pushed inside, the cargo door closed, the all-important door seal carefully put back in place. The trucker drives to the port and is waved through to the dock, and the container is hoisted aboard ship.

Once a truck leaves a factory, Flynn reported to congress last fall, as a practical matter there are few controls in place for preventing a shipment from being diverted before it arrives at a port, particularly if the driver has been recruited, bribed, or intimidated into cooperating with a terrorist group intent on placing a dirty bomb into the container.

The crack in the wall of American port security is well known around the world.

In 2008, the Hong Kong Trade Council reported to its members that the U.S. General Accounting Office had examined the Container Security Initiative and determined operational and management challenges  may limit its (U.S. Customs and Border Protections) ability to ensure that CSI provides the intended level of security for U.S.-bound container cargo.

In 2012, Frances Center for International Security Studies noted in a public report the ports of Shanghai and Shenzhen participate in the U.S. Container Security Initiative, but not the Chinese port of Dalian, which the security agency pointed out is regularly identified as a hub of North Korean proliferation activities.

Last year, the U.S. General Accounting Office reported U.S. Customs agents in foreign ports may be unnecessarily holding shipments for examination, while others may be waiving shipments that should be examined.

And two weeks ago, President Barack Obama presided over a nuclear security summit in Washington. One topic: dirty bombs in the hands of terrorists, a subject that escalated in importance after Belgians sabotaged a nuclear plant in 2014 and later joined the Islamic State. Analysts estimate a fair share of the 1,800 tons of nuclear material stored in 24 countries is not well protected from theft.

A U.S. Customs communications executive did not reply to an email requesting comment.

How can we mend the crack?

Flynn has an idea. Freight airlines including FedEx scan cargo before loading it aboard planes. Ports can scan every container too.

He serves on the advisory board to a small California tech firm, Decision Sciences, which has the appropriate scanning technology in hand. Rather than scan every container for radioactivity, which he compared to looking for that needle in the haystack, he said a cheaper alternative is to scan each container for heavy concentrations of metal inside the box. Containers that show dense metal inside can be towed away and opened for inspection, perhaps by a robot.

The technology can be deployed immediately, at a cost of about $18 per container, he said, but no ranking official in Washington, no senior truck executive, no ship line, no foreign port wants to tackle the task.

Industry does not want new technology that may disrupt their operations, Flynn said.

Johnson, the former maritime security official now working as vice president at SureID, an Oregon-based firm that manages identification systems for personnel on U.S. military bases, said even though the transportation industry hasnt responded, Flynn is on the right course.

Steve has been sounding this clarion call for a long time. It is a very real threat, Johnson said. But again mitigation of that threat is a very complicated process. It is important that Steve, who has an international reputation in port security, keeps reminding people you have to up your game because the bad guys will up theirs.
April 15, 2016  Rhodes College students (from left) Amanda Draper, Hope Hudson, Lacey Jamerson, Dani Garcia, Schaeffer Mallory and Justin Davis talk before a news conference held by Students Against Sexual Violence. SASV delivered a list of demands to the Rhodes board of trustees and others which call for reforming the way sexual assault is treated on campus. (Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE

By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

A group of Rhodes College students said Friday that the institution isn't doing enough to stop rape on campus, and held a news conference calling for steps including expulsion of offenders and use of text message alerts to warn students about recent sexual assaults.

Student Amanda Draper, a participant in a group called Students Against Sexual Violence, referred to a report that on March 18, two female students were assaulted by the same person within an hour of one another at a fraternity house.

"That's an imminent threat," she said, and the college should have notified students immediately.

Details about the case are unclear. "The March 18 reports of sexual misconduct were made anonymously using our online report form," Rhodes spokesman Ken Woodmansee wrote in an email. "The college continues to investigate the matter."

Woodmansee said in a statement Friday afternoon that the college is making efforts to stop sexual assault, including launching new mobile reporting processes and 24-hour counseling access and requiring all college employees to officially make a report any time someone tells them about a sexual assault. This last requirement drew criticism from the protesting students, who said victims should be allowed to decide when and how to make a report.

Woodmansee said the audit committee of the college's board of trustee would take up the sexual assault issue soon.

Memphis Police spokesman Louis Brownlee said he couldn't find any reports of rape or sexual assault at the Rhodes College address in the past year.

By contrast, a recent Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report said the number of sexual assaults at Rhodes rose from 17 in 2014 to 21 last year. Ike Sloas, Rhodes campus safety director, has said that the number may be the result of efforts to encourage reporting of such incidents.

Campuses across the country are dealing with sexual assault. According to federal statistics, 19 percent of undergraduate women reported a completed or attempted sexual assault since entering college.

"Many college rapists target victims who are drugged, drunk, passed out, or otherwise incapacitated  creating a situation in which victims may be less likely to report and where prosecutors may be less likely to prosecute," the Department of Justice Web page states.

Schaeffer Mallory, a participant in the Students Against Sexual Violence conference Friday, had also criticized a recent incident at Rhodes in which a sock monkey was hung by its neck out a window. Some interpreted the hanging monkey as a racist symbol, though the college said the student involved was playing a prank on his roommate and had no racist intent.

Separately, the college announced Friday that President William E. Troutt plans to retire in June 2017.

Woodmansee said Troutt's announcement was unrelated to the other incidents.
By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

A shooting Friday night at South Third and East Brooks Road in Whitehaven left two people injured, and both were transported to the Regional Medical Center, said Harold Hall with Memphis Fire Department dispatch.

The report came to the fire department at 8:18 p.m., he said.

Police spokesman Louis Brownlee said a female victim reported that she and her boyfriend had been shot. The shooter was in an older model black vehicle last seen traveling southbound on Third.

Brownlee said the male victim was in critical condition and that he didn't have information about the female victim's condition.
April 15, 2016 - A new sign has been installed at the city park located on front street between Court and Jefferson Ave. (Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE

By David Royer of The Commercial Appeal

First the little patch of green in Downtown Memphis was called Confederate Park. Then, in a controversial move, it was renamed Memphis Park. For the next few days it has a new moniker: "The Fourth Bluff."

Two signs bearing those words stand near the intersection of Front Street and Jefferson and stretch across the hill facing the river. But officials with the Riverfront Development Corporation say the signs are just temporary markers for a demonstration project to highlight Downtown attractions.

"We've not renamed the park," Dorchelle Spence, vice president of RDC, emphasized Friday.

Memphis is one of several cities participating in a civic initiative called Reimagining the Civic Commons that will place new wayfinding signs along Riverside Drive and bring attention to Memphis Park, the Cossitt Library, Mississippi River Park, Court Square Park and Main Street through art installations, new lighting, decorations and events including parties and food trucks.

Spence said the point of the activities is to "create a prototype of what potentially could be a gathering space for folks throughout the community to feel comfortable and spend time doing activities."

Memphis City Council ignited discussion about historic park names in February 2013 when it passed resolutions to rename Confederate Park, along with Jefferson Davis Park and Nathan Bedford Forrest Park, giving them placeholder names Memphis Park, Mississippi River Park and Health Sciences Park.

In choosing the name "The Fourth Bluff" for this project, Spence said that many Downtown visitors are interested in history, but much of the city's Civil War history is already known. Few people, however, are familiar with the history of the settlement of Memphis on the "fourth bluff" overlooking the Mississippi River.

"That's one of the primary reasons Memphis was put where it was," she said.

Two events highlight the old Cossitt Library at Front and Union. Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m., the long-closed second floor will be open and guests will be invited to share ideas about new uses for the space. There will be music, food, beer and outdoor activities taking place at the front of the Cossitt as well as on the back green space overlooking the river, RDC said in a release. Tuesday at 7 p.m., Hattiloo Theatre will present a free performance of the gospel musical "Mahalia" in the Cossit space.

Chicago, Detroit, Lexington, Kentucky, Akron, Ohio, Long Beach, California and Columbus, Georgia have also been invited to participate in the Reimagining the Civic Commons project. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation are sponsors.

Staff writer Daniel Connolly contributed to this report.
April 13, 2016  Chinese immigrant couple Erxin Zhou and husband Yifan Kong, who live in Memphis and made $80 million exporting luxury automobiles are new targets of federal prosecutors. Officials say their scheme of exporting cars to China was illegal and the feds have seized millions held in bank accounts in Memphis as well as a several dozen luxury vehicles nabbed by Customs agents. Erxin Zhou who owns Unicorn Tire Wholesale, and husband Yifan Kong operated Efans Trading Corp., are located in the same build in South Memphis. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE

By Tom Charlier of The Commercial Appeal

At a bustling port terminal in Staten Island, New York, six shipping containers attracted special interest from U.S. Customs and Homeland Security agents three years ago this month, but not because they held drugs or weapons.

The containers seized by the agents had entirely different type of cargo: a total of 12 luxury BMW X5 automobiles bound for export to China. Although seemingly harmless, their discovery gave added impetus to an investigation tracing back 1,200 miles to a Memphis couple.

Yifan Kong and his wife, Erxin Zhou, who arrived in the U.S. from China in 2006 and moved to the Memphis area about two years later, now find themselves at the center of one of the largest federal court cases targeting the practice of selling luxury vehicles on the so-called gray market. It's a market in which private export firms typically buy BMWs, Porsches, Land Rovers, Mercedes Benzes and other vehicles for $55,000 to $100,000 in the U.S. and resell them to customers in China and other countries, where they can command prices of $150,000 to $300,000.

A federal judge in Manhattan is expected to rule any time now on the government's motion for summary judgment in its forfeiture lawsuit against Efans Trading Corp., which was launched by Kong and is housed in an office and warehouse building a mile east of Memphis International Airport. The firm exported more than $80 million worth of vehicles in 2012 alone, according to federal prosecutors.

The government is seeking the forfeiture of nearly $7 million in assets  including bank deposits and 47 vehicles seized at East Coast ports and China-bound vessels  belonging to Efans and other companies linked to Kong and Zhou. Prosecutors claim Efans employed fraud and deceptive practices, such as the use of straw buyers to conceal its intent to export the vehicles, and therefore the assets should be forfeited.

But Randy Fishman, a Memphis lawyer representing the couple, calls the federal action a case of "overreach by the government." He insists the export operation broke no laws.

"I may not like someone selling hot dogs, but it's not against the law," Fishman said.

"If there's something they did wrong, somebody tell me. I don't see it."

The case is part of a larger crackdown by the government against the niche export business, which prosecutors say cheats manufacturers, dealerships and domestic customers.

Manufacturers often require dealerships to verify that car-buyers don't intend to export vehicles. That way they can tailor their deliveries for specific markets, provide appropriate parts and warranty service and track down customers when recalls occur. Dealerships can face penalties from manufacturers if they don't comply.

In recent months, however, authorities have eased off the crackdown on exporters and settled many cases by returning seized vehicles.

Efforts to interview Kong and Zhou have been unsuccessful. Kong does not speak English, according to court papers, and Zhou did not return phone calls.

But the court file and other records indicate that since their arrival in the Memphis area, the couple's connections to their native country have served them well.

Zhou, who was born in the Hunan province and had worked for a state-owned trading company in China, founded a company that buys Chinese-made tires and resells them worldwide. Unicorn Tire reaped more than $100 million in sales during 2011, a total that doubled by 2013, she said in a deposition filed with the court.

Kong, born in the Anhui province, said in his deposition that he decided to start Efans after a friend in China told him about the auto-exporting business. During 2012, Efans exported 2,000 Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, BMW cars and Ford F-150 trucks to multiple destinations in China, according to prosecutors, and the firm had set a goal of moving 3,000 vehicles overseas in 2013.

Efans and Unicorn shared the same building on Distriplex Drive West near the airport.

In a sign of their success, the couple in 2014 purchased a 12,000-square-foot home in a gated community in East Memphis for $2.95 million.

In its court filings, the federal government alleges the tire business owned by Zhou and the export firm owned by Kong were intertwined. Each month, millions of dollars were transferred from Unicorn accounts to Efans accounts, funding the purchase of vehicles, it said.

Efans also took steps to deceive authorities and carmakers about the exports, according to the federal suit. For instance, the shipper's export declarations for the six containers seized at Staten Island did not list the vehicle identification numbers for the 12 BMWs, thereby concealing from the manufacturer that the cars were being exported.

The federal suit outlines a network of straw buyers  people who make a purchase on behalf of someone else in order to bypass laws  allegedly used by Efans to acquire vehicles. Some of the vehicles were purchased in the Memphis area and brought to the warehouse on Distriplex, but most were bought from dealerships along the East Coast.

In one transaction documented in the court filing, an alleged straw buyer purchased a BMW from a dealership in Oyster Bay, New York, on April 13, 2013, with a cashier's check made out the previous day for $60,190. Bank records show a cashier's check for that exact amount was drawn from an Efans account in Memphis on the same day.

Authorities interviewing the alleged the straw buyers found that they had been recruited by Efans to purchase vehicles for "minimal compensation," typically $100 to $300, the suit says.

Prosecutors also contend that the buyers made false statements to dealerships about their intentions in making the purchases. They also made false declarations when obtaining the required insurance policies for the vehicles, the suit says, adding that the policies often were canceled shortly after the cars were bought.

The Efans operation, prosecutors say, violated federal laws against mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy.

But court filings by attorneys for couple say the government misrepresents several key facts and fails to support its case for forfeiture.

The government "has not obtained testimony from even one witness who claims to have been deceived" through the export operations, a memorandum filed on behalf of the couple states.

In depositions taken by attorneys for the couple, witnesses involved in the vehicle purchases say they were up front with dealerships about the planned export of the vehicles. Dealerships "were very aware that the vehicles were going to be exported," said one witness, who cited text messages from sales personnel regarding Customs paperwork.

The memorandum noted that in two similar forfeiture cases, federal courts rejected the government's arguments and ordered the return of seized property. "The result here should be no different," it said.

In their depositions, Kong and Zhou each say they did not believe "there was anything improper or illegal" about the export of vehicles.

Fishman, the attorney, declined to speak about the "nuances of the case." But he described the export activities as classic capitalism  buying low and selling high.

"All the paperwork was done, everybody did what they were supposed to. But somebody didn't like the fact that they got exported," Fishman said.

"If they (dealerships) sell a car to me, I don't know why I couldn't do whatever I want with it."
SHARE

By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

Former Memphis Fire Director Michael Putt is one of four finalists to become the next chief of Collierville Fire and Rescue. The other finalists are former Memphis deputy fire chief Mark Heath; Manuel Fonseca, an assistant fire chief in Nashville; and John Bailot, a former chief in suburban St. Louis, according to applications released by the town government.

Whoever becomes the fire chief will run an agency responsible for saving lives and whose operations accounted for nearly $7 million in spending in the most recent fiscal year.

"It's a very, very important job for us," Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner said.

Joyner said the initial pool of applicants for the chief's job was narrowed to four finalists with the help of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, an organization affiliated with the University of Tennessee that provides specialized support to governments.

Each of the four candidates went through joint interviews with the mayor along with town administrator James Lewellen, town human resources director Jay Jeffries and Collierville Schools Superintendent John Aitken. The candidates will now meet with aldermen for one-on-one talks and also will go through reference checks and background screenings, the mayor said.

Aldermen will make their recommendations to Joyner, who said he'd nominate the consensus candidate for final approval by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, probably within a couple of weeks.

The fire chief position became vacant following the retirement of Jerry Crawford at the end of February. Longtime Collierville fire employee Buddy Billings is serving as interim chief.

Putt is probably the best known of the four finalists. A longtime employee of the Memphis Fire Department, Putt was appointed as fire director by then-Memphis Mayor A C Wharton in late 2014, then retired this January. His resume also lists experience teaching at the University of Memphis as well as responding to hurricanes and other disasters. Efforts to reach Putt were unsuccessful.

Heath was deputy chief in charge of logistics and emergency medical services at the Memphis Fire Department and, like Putt, retired in January. That month marked the arrival of new Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, but Heath says the new mayor didn't ask him to go.

"I had 30 years of service, had been contemplating a move in that direction, certainly open to the fact that with changes in administration sometimes they go in different directions," he said.

Heath's application includes recommendation letters from Germantown fire chief John Selberg and Millington fire chief Gary Graves. Heath said Collierville's growth makes it appealing.

"And the opportunity to go out there and be part of that in a leadership capacity," said Heath, 56.

He said if appointed, he'll work to open opportunities for personal development of the officers, look for ways to boost the area's fire insurance rating and to improve both fire and emergency medical services.

Another finalist is Fonseca, 53, currently assistant administration chief in charge of life safety education at the Nashville Fire Department. His resume lists an unusual credential for a firefighter: a doctorate in education. He said he's led large-scale fire prevention programs, including working with schools to teach young children behaviors such as not touching matches and lighters.

He said he's familiar with Collierville because his brother, Winston Fonseca, has lived there for years.

He said if he's appointed, he'll use his contacts with the National Fire Academy, a training organization, to help officers get the most out of their careers.

"I'm going to bring a lot of expertise in many, many fields," he said.

Fonseca said he'd share his knowledge with local officers and learn from them as well.

The fourth finalist is Bailot of Kirkwood, Missouri, former fire chief of the city of Ladue, Missouri, near St. Louis and now an instructor at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park. He declined to comment.
SHARE

It's nice to see our representatives in the General Assembly having fun once in a while. Curry Todd certainly showed that he has a sense of humor when he stood up the other day for ex-police officers who have been convicted of drunken driving and want to carry guns in public.

If only.

In fact, Todd wasn't joking when he spoke up on the issue despite a personal history that might bear on his credibility: The Republican representative from Collierville, an ex-police officer, had to give up his gun carry permit after his 2011 arrest when he failed a roadside sobriety test and police found a loaded .38-caliber gun next to the driver's seat.

The legislation in question, which passed the Senate unanimously, would give the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission the authority to prohibit retired officers from obtaining carry permits if they have been convicted of drunken driving once in the previous five years or twice within the past decade.

According to The Associated Press, Todd argued that any state law on the matter would be superseded by a federal law that gives off-duty and retired officers the ability to carry concealed firearms nationwide.

Todd's history aside, it should be noted that carrying a loaded gun while inebriated is not a joking matter. Retired law enforcement officers do not deserve special treatment on this.

The bill will be up for a vote in the House again Monday. Let's hope it gets the serious consideration it deserves.
SHARE

By Arnold Isaacs

Donald Trump's call to bar Muslims from entering the country got all the attention, but an even uglier thread of anti-Muslim bigotry exists inside Ted Cruz's campaign.

The team of foreign policy advisers he announced on March 17 "trusted friends who will form a core of our broader national security team," Cruz called them  includes some of the most fanatical anti-Muslim activists in America. The list got some attention when it was unveiled because of its leader, Frank Gaffney, a prominent anti-Muslim writer. But the campaign has enlisted a deeper bench of aides with records that are, if anything, even more shocking.

Gaffney's views (including the suspicion that President Obama is a secret Muslim) are well known. He runs the Center for Security Policy, which specializes in dire warnings about the imminent danger that Muslims will impose sharia law on the United States.

A few months ago, for instance, he declared that sharia adherents are conducting operations "aimed at penetrating and subverting of our civil society institutions and governmental policy-making." This was, he wrote, part of "collective effort of sharia-adherent Muslims and their enablers around the world to force 'non-believers' to submit to that toxic ideology."

Sharia, he wrote, not only obliges observant Muslims "to engage in jihad or holy war" but that "where practicable, sharia dictates they must do so through terrifying violence." Previously, the author suggested that Muslims who observe sharia should be prosecuted for sedition. He wants to stop all immigration not just from Syria and Iraq, but also from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Libya and Afghanistan.

The radical views on Cruz's team do not stop there. Retired Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin also was named an adviser after having said things such as "Islam is evil. Islam is an evil concept." As he puts it, "Islam is not a religion and does not deserve First Amendment protections," because "those following the dictates of the Quran are under an obligation to destroy our Constitution and replace it with sharia law." He's also declared that Christians should "go on the offensive" to prevent Muslims in America from building any more mosques. (Boykin also preached a couple of years ago that when Jesus returns, he will be carrying an AR-15 assault rifle.)

Two of Gaffney's colleagues at his center, Claire Lopez and Fred Fleitz, are also on Cruz's team. A recent example of Lopez's attitude and style was her commentary on President Obama's speech at a Baltimore mosque in early February. She began her diatribe this way: "Perhaps it's because he was making faces in Qur'an class instead of paying attention to his teacher. Or maybe he just has a selective memory about what he was taught as a young Muslim student in Indonesia. Whatever the reason, President Barack Obama got a lot of things factually wrong. . . ." Her piece promoted one of the anti-Muslim movement's standard themes  that mosques are outposts of terror and communities should not let them be built. "A mosque is not simply the Muslim version of a church, synagogue or temple," she wrote. "Mosques are established not only as places of prayer and worship, but also as centers for indoctrination, the dispensing of shariah justice, the stockpiling of weapons, and the launching of jihad."

Still another member of Cruz's team is Andy McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor and a regular contributor to National Review. McCarthy, whose claim to fame is that he prosecuted the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, regularly argues that terrorism is embedded in Muslims' religious beliefs  that there is an "irrefutable nexus between Islamic scripture, sharia supremacism, and jihadist terror." Among believers' different visions of Islam, he wrote in one column, "the most dynamic is the conviction that Islam is an alternative civilization determined to conquer the West by force, by political pressure, by cultural aggression, and by exploiting Western civil liberties (liberties that are forbidden in the sharia societies Islamists would impose)."

Though Cruz's campaign has the clearest connections, it is not alone in having associations with the anti-Muslim advocates. Walid Phares, an adviser to Donald Trump, writes in "Future Jihad" that "Islamic fundamentalists" have successfully infiltrated Muslim immigrant communities in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, have "taken control of the communities' establishments on both sides of the Atlantic," and "have moved deeper inside the national tissue."

The muted reaction to Cruz's selections reflects the different yardstick we apply to anti-Muslim views in contrast to bias against other minorities. If a leading presidential campaign included advisers who made comparable statements about Jews or African-Americans, it is a safe bet the outcry would have been far more intense and lasted a lot longer.

But this isn't troubling only as a matter of values. Experts overwhelmingly agree that the kind of policies promoted by the anti-Islam noise machine  such as Cruz's call for surveillance and special police patrols in Muslim neighborhoods, or Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering the country  will not lead to more effective counterterrorism efforts. Treating Muslim communities as a potential enemy population simply reinforces the extremist narrative. It says exactly what the terrorists want Muslims here and around the world to believe: that America is at war with Islam, and Muslims have to strike back.

Cruz should not be listening to "national security advisers" like Boykin, Gaffney and his colleagues. Their views violate fundamental American principles of freedom of belief, respect for law and equality of all people. Their advice will not make the nation more secure. Nobody who embraces such ideas or their authors should be president of the United States.

Arnold R. Isaacs is an author and journalist based in Maryland. He wrote the for The Washington Post.
SHARE

By Craig Dunn

The first email I opened had the subject line, "Trump Bull****." The message was pretty simple: "You sorry mother******! I hope the worst for you and yours!"

The next email had the unambiguous subject line, "Traitor of the people and what was the Conservative party/now the conjoined twin of the Progressive left." This missive carried a religious message: "God calls me to pray for my enemies and you are my enemy. Your thinking causes you to be a traitor to the citizenry. Imagine the disgrace U R."

What was the heinous offense I committed that made me, according to one person, "the biggest traitor since Benedict Arnold?"

I made the mistake of expressing my opinion.

At the conclusion of a long interview with Politico last week, I was asked whether I support Donald Trump. I said that I did not. I was then asked if there was any situation where I could see myself supporting Trump. "If Satan was one vote away from the nomination," I replied, "I would consider voting for Trump if he was the only alternative."

As a result of that remark, Trump supporters have tried to make my life a living hell. I've received hate email to my business and political accounts. People have left hateful messages on my home and office and home phone. This is totally unprecedented in my decade as a political party chairman.

Here's the truth: I may well vote for Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. Indiana's rules require that district delegates, of which I am one, vote on the first ballot for the candidate who won the congressional district they represent. If Trump wins Indiana's 4th Congressional District on May 3, I will cast my first ballot vote for him. Case closed. No Benedict Arnold here.

However, if Trump does not win a majority, and we need a second ballot to choose our nominee, Indiana rules unbind the delegates and allow them to vote their consciences. In that case, I'll support John Kasich. This is what inflamed the Trump supporters and motivated them to launch their vicious verbal assaults on me and others who were quoted in the Politico story.

Many Trump supporters have taken the bait and swallowed the stump-speech swill that the Republican "establishment" is trying to steal the nomination. Trump and his pundits would have you believe that every delegate who supports Kasich or Cruz is a fat-cat millionaire lobbyist or businessperson who'll personally prosper only by maintaining the status quo.

What many of these supporters don't realize is that the delegate selection process for the 2016 presidential election began four years ago in a very democratic way.

For me, the process started when the registered Republicans in my county elected precinct committeemen and vice committeemen in May 2012. Those elected party officials then conducted an election for county officers in March 2013. At that time, I was elected county chairman. One week later, the county chairs and vice chairs in the 16 counties that make up Indiana's 4th Congressional District elected me as district chairman.

Earlier this year, we solicited interest for positions as delegates to the Republican National Convention. Candidates were required to submit a notarized application to me by March 15. The district officers then prepared a slate of candidates for a straight up or down vote to be presented at a district meeting in April.

In my district, only two people applied by the deadline. Since we need three delegates, they automatically became our representatives for the convention. I will go as well.

As this shows, the Republican establishment is not top-down. It's an amazing grass-roots organization that begins and ends with the great loyal Republicans who stuff envelopes, walk neighborhoods, work phone banks, attend Lincoln/Reagan Dinners, vote consistently, and contribute to the election of council people, commissioners, auditors, sheriffs and legislators. They receive no compensation for their efforts on behalf of the Republican Party. They are the true strength of our party and a vital element in the process of selecting national convention delegates.

As a lifelong Republican who attended his first state convention in 1972 at age 18, who has worked to help elect Republicans to every level of government for more than 40 years, who has written two books dedicated to the brave sacrifices made by our soldiers in the Civil War and who still tears up during the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner," it deeply troubled me to be called a traitor to the American people. I hold my responsibility as a delegate to the Republican National Convention as a sacred trust.

There will always be those who attempt to use harassment and intimidation to try to get what they want. History is littered with those who rose to power via bullying and the jackboot. Here's one Hoosier who will serve his country and his party without fear.

Craig Dunn is Howard County, Indiana, Republican chairman and Indiana 4th District Republican chairman. He works as a financial consultant in Kokomo, Indiana. He wrote this for The Washington Post.
SHARE

By Trudy Rubin

How would President Hillary Clinton conduct foreign policy? After decades of public exposure, including four years as secretary of state, one would think the answer to that question would be obvious. But it isn't entirely clear.

Perhaps that's because Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom she debated Thursday ahead of the New York primary, has tried to paint her as Hillary Hawk by constantly harping on her Senate vote for the Iraq war (while punting on most foreign policy questions.) Clinton has apologized for backing the 2003 war.

Or perhaps it's because her role as secretary was constrained by the fact that, during her tenure, foreign policy decision-making was closely held by the Obama White House. We don't know what Clinton would have done had she been given the leeway of a James Baker (who held the post under President George H.W. Bush).

We do know that Clinton's instincts were more muscular than those of her boss. In the summer of 2012  before the Islamic State, when senior Syrian military defectors were looking for help in organizing a secular rebellion  she urged President Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels. This position was also adopted by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, CIA head David Petraeus and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey. Obama demurred.

When I asked a senior aide how she would differentiate herself from Obama, he replied, "They are two different people with two different styles and temperament (and differences in) how they think of America in the world."

Clinton sees America as the leading global actor, without apologies, and wants to use all the tools of American power  including force, in collaboration with allies, if there is a compelling national interest and all other tools have failed.

Whereas an aide famously described Obama as "leading from behind," Clinton is clearly eager to lead from the front.

However, during a conference call with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board this week, when I asked her to describe her foreign policy philosophy, her emphasis was on diplomacy.

"When I became secretary of state," she said, "I chose to say I wanted to practice smart power, meaning I wanted to elevate diplomacy and development (alongside) defense, because I thought the Bush administration militarized our foreign policy to our detriment."

A perfect example of "slow, patient diplomacy," she said, was the Iran sanctions. As secretary, she put together the international coalition, including Russia and China, that imposed the toughest ever sanctions on Tehran, which finally brought the ayatollahs to the bargaining table. Clinton started the negotiations for the agreement that was completed by Secretary John Kerry.

But, and here she was emphatic, "We've got to enforce it. If the Iranians violate even a lesser provision, there needs to be consequences." Her emphasis on enforcement was made with a vehemence that isn't usually heard from Obama.

I asked her views on use of force, and whether she regretted her advice to Obama to intervene in 2011 to prevent Moammar Gadhafi from massacring the inhabitants of Benghazi, Libya, a decision that ultimately produced a failed state that has become a terrorist haven. (This is a different issue from the tragic deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three U.S. officials in Benghazi, which have generated endless conspiracy theories that have been disproved by eight congressional committees.)

Clinton insisted she acted only after urgent requests from the British and the French, as well as the Arab League, and after the U.N. Security Council had called for measures to protect civilians. U.S. military involvement was limited, in support of NATO partners and the Arabs.

Yet a humanitarian intervention evolved into regime change, and America's allies failed to help rebuild Libya after the fall of Gadhafi. A Clinton aide cautions "don't extract from Libya that she is a fan of regime change, but sometimes a dictator remaining in power is the worst option."

To be fair, had Obama not intervened, the Libyan situation might have turned out like Syria, with a dictator clinging to power as civil war raged and terrorist groups took root.

Clinton seems on firmer ground when speaking of Syria, where she says diplomacy must be accompanied by "intensifying our military actions against (the Islamic State)." She would like a more robust air coalition to take out Islamic State infrastructure and leadership, while supporting Kurdish and Arab fighters on the ground who are battling the Islamic State.

I have my doubts about her call for a "no-fly zone" in the north of Syria to train and equip those fighters. With Russia involved, and Turkey at odds with the Kurds, I doubt such a zone is possible, but Clinton says she would push it in talks with Moscow and Ankara.

However, events in Syria are moving so fast, no one can predict the situation when the next president is sworn in.

What one can say is that Clinton has far more foreign policy experience and a deeper network of advisers than any of her competitors. And the foreign policy alternatives to her candidacy are slim.

In a meeting with the Inquirer editorial board, the charismatic Sanders was clearly disinterested and thinly briefed on foreign issues. As for her GOP competitors, Donald Trump is totally irresponsible, while Sen. Ted Cruz's mix of fundamentalism and careless military bravado is scary.

Obama once said his organizing principle was "don't do stupid stuff." Clinton aides say her organizing principle is this: "The United States must be aggressive in leading, in pulling friends together and creating disincentives for our adversaries." In this strange election year, that looks like the best foreign policy mantra we can get.

Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Contact her at trubin@phillynews.com.
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.
After the Autumn Statement of November 2015, many Conservatives have criticised George Osborne for his lurch away from the politics of personal responsibility, embodied by his decision to bring in (or at least, declare an intention to bring in at a politically-remote future date) a tax on fizzy drinks.

Other Conservative-minded critics of the Government, in light of the steel crisis, have highlighted how well-intentioned policies, made without due consideration of their knock-on effects, have increased the cost of doing business in Britain and helped to make heavy industry unviable.

But buried in the Autumn Statement was a consultation on another policy which combines the worst elements of both: Tobacco Retailer Licencing.

Simply put, this policy would require all retailers who want to sell tobacco products to get permission from the Government to do so.

This is theoretically intended to help crack down on the illicit trade, although it isnt obvious how it will do this. Black marketeers use a distinct supply chain, and most regulatory policies  such as plain packaging and the duty escalator  tend to make their jobs easier rather than harder.

A more realistic outline of the reasoning behind the scheme is probably that provided by ASH, the hard-line anti-smoking group funded by the Department of Health

They highlight the uses of licencing as to: restrict businesses located near schools or youth-oriented facilities from selling tobacco; reduce the density or number of retailers; prohibit distribution of licences in residential zones; and restrict the types of businesses that can sell tobacco.

Or theres ASH Scotland, which is reported in the Sunday Times () as comparing tobacconists to landmine retailers. Seriously: its like having guns or knives or land mines on open sale.

Clearly, the Chancellor does not have a huge amount of time for the individual choice and responsibility argument  much to the irritation of many ordinary members. But the unintended consequences case is also worth considering.

Whilst the initial justification appears to be to crackdown on illegal trade, it is far from clear how it would actually do this. Indeed, it could well have the opposite effect.

As has been demonstrated time and again, penalising legal suppliers only makes the job of illegal distributors easier and their market larger. Higher duties make black market alternatives more cost-competitive; plain packaging makes them harder to detect.

Limiting the number of shops which can supply legal tobacco  which is one of the undisguised ambitions of the control lobby  will again shift the market towards illegal operators, specially if that plan involves the wholesale exclusion of tobacco retailing from large areas such as residential zones.

Make legal purchase inconvenient, and you create space for illegal sellers to fill the gap.

Assuming people stay within the legal market, such zoning still stacks the deck against small, local shops. If you need to go to a town centre or out-of-town complex for your cigarettes, chances are youll do the rest of your shopping whilst youre there.

This could lead to a substantial loss of revenue for convenience stores, not only from lost tobacco sales but from a much bigger chunk of smokers overall spend.

Such a regime could disadvantage small and independent shops in other ways too: due to the susceptibility of such programmes to mission creep, businesses would face uncertainty and, in all probability, mounting costs from ancillary policies such as new training.

Both of these would be much better absorbed by larger stores and chains. That new burdens favour big players over small is Regulation 101.

Even Scotland, currently the UK hotspot for authoritarian legislation, has shied away from licencing in favour of registration, which essentially replicates the system operating in England and Wales but with an extra layer of public health bureaucracy thrown in for appearances.

The Association for Convenience Stores, which represents over 33,500 local shops in the UK, has already condemned the idea. James Lowman, the Chief Executive, has said:

Licensing systems load costs and administrative burdens on retailers, and the registration scheme adopted in Scotland has not been effective in tackling the illicit tobacco trade. We will be responding to the consultation calling on HMRC and enforcement agencies to use the existing resources and penalties to tackle the illicit trade.

Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley, worked as a newsagent before being elected. He will be leading a campaign in Parliament against tobacco retailer licensing and has taken a very strong line against the proposal:

What would a compulsory retailer tobacco scheme achieve, other than yet more bureaucracy and costs for small businesses. If the Government wishes to see a reduced number of retailers selling tobacco products they are achieving that aim without an extra regulatory burden as small newsagents have gone to the wall in massive numbers.

Many of these stores are family run, and find it impossible to cope with the costs and burdens of operating their businesses as it is. The illegal trade of smugglers and counterfeiters is massive and this scheme will do nothing to control this illicit trade.

This Government was elected with a business friendly approach, less regulation and lower costs. This change is another example of a regulatory burden which will achieve nothing other than hastening the demise of the CTN (Convenience, Tobacco and News) sector in the UK and one must ask, is this what we were elected to do?

A Conservative Government should stand for consumer freedom, respect for the individual, scepticism of the heavy hand of the state, and  of course  small and independent shops and shopkeepers.

Both for practical and principled reasons, then, the Government should reject tobacco licencing.
Close

In the effort of the Chinese government to address the country's vaccine scandal, more than 200 people have been detained who are allegedly connected with the black market that is selling illegal vaccine.

According to Fox News, the China's government officials reported that the 202 detainees along with 357 health and regulatory officials who are involved in the illegal vaccine trades are going to be punished.

"Vaccine quality and safety are to do with people's lives and health, especially children, and is a red line that cannot be crossed," the council said in the report, released on the central government's website.

The State Council said that they will be tightened their regulatory system. They will improve the record keeping for the production, transport and storing of vaccines, and punishments for those who will break the law will be tougher.

The issue caused angry debates, questioning the government's goals to strengthen the country's drug industry and addressing the challenge it faces to control a widespread and fragmented chain of medicine supply.

Since 2011, vaccines against rabies, meningitis and other illnesses are suspected to be sold in multiple provinces around China. The government stated that they received no reports regarding negative reactions caused by the vaccine. The officials said that the vaccines were not fake; however, the drugs are traded illegally and stored improperly.

The illegal vaccines have been linked to 45 drug sales groups and we sold to 59 health institutions. The Chinese media state said that the case has "exposed prominent problems such as inadequate quality supervision and management," WDBJ 7 reported.

The government has been doing some investigations to the individuals and company for allegedly selling expired or improperly stored vaccines. The authorities have made dozens of arrest regarding the issue in Shandong's eastern province last month.

After the Shandong incident last month, the World health Organization (WHO) sent a warning that says "vaccines need to be stored and managed properly or they can lose potency and become less effective."

However, expired or improperly stored vaccine rarely causes toxic reactions, said the WHO. "Rather, the risk to children from administering expired or improperly stored vaccine is lack of protection from the disease for which the vaccine was intended," it added.

Last year, two women were arrested after being caught selling around $88 million worth of illegal vaccines. However, health officials still urging people to continue coming forward and get vaccinated, as reported by BBC.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

Accidental pregnancy is something that people have a hard time figuring out, though resorting to contraceptive pills is advised.

But then again, there is that lingering possibility that relying on contraceptive could come with costly side effects. Normally, physicians (when consulted properly) would make patients aware on that aspect to properly identify the safe ones from the rest.

Going over these practices, one would say that they will someday come to an end. With the advancements in technology, it may only be a matter of time before an app can do all that for you. And apparently there is now an app for that.

The app is called the Natural Cycles app, something that could eventually take the place of the old contraception method. The app makes use of an algorithm based on a womans temperature that is taken each morning to establish a data plan of fertility.

It eventually plots out something that would show the days when a woman could (potentially) get pregnant. Days will be themed green and red. Green days mean women can have sex on these days while red days are the ones to avoid.

How effective is it?

A clinical trial in Sweden showed more than 4,000 women (aged 20-35) showed the Natural Cycles app rendering practically the same results with that of a contraceptive pill on the Pearl Index.

For those who are not familiar with it, the Pearl Index (also known as Pearl Rate) is something that measures the effectiveness of birth control methods in clinical trials.

With that angle proven, the app stands to be a better alternative for the ones who are not too keen on using contraceptive pills. Side effects are the obvious fear, something that could technically interfere with the human bodys natural method as pointed out on The Telegraph.

"The future of birth control lies in knowing your body rather than altering it with hormonal contraceptives, and we are excited to be leading the way and creating a future where every pregnancy is wanted," the authors claimed via the Economic Times.

The app has been around for about two years now and was created by physicist, Elina Berglund. The app is available for Android and iOS both for free. It is however advisable to subscribe where the monthly charge will be $9 a month. Those who want to get some savings can do so if they take the annual subscription of $70 which includes a free thermometer sent right at your doorsteps.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Are We A Hindu Rashtra?

By Samuel Dhar

16 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Hinduism is not a religion. For that matter neither are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikkhism and so on.

These are all COMMUNITIES.

Literal meaning of the Word, 'Hindu', coined by the Persians of the 7th century, is universal. By this definition, most of us who firmly believe in one Universal God, commonness of human kind and unity of social order, are true Hindus.

If screaming, 'Bharat Mata ki Jae' is the test of nationalism, many of us are not. India has always been a Patriarchal Community. Vedic folklore supposes Bharat, a male, to be the founder of the Nation known by his name.

A million dollar question is : "From where does the word 'Mata' get attached to Bharat?"

Our Bharat shall not become a Hindu Rashtra, simply by contorting and perverting its meaning and establishing an association with a so called religion.

As Guru Nanak said, "There is neither Hindu nor Mussulman (Muslim), but only man. So whose path shall I follow? I shall follow God's path. God is neither Hindu nor Mussulman and the path which I follow is God's."

This is our heritage.

Many Holy Names for God, from many different traditions, are present in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. To name a few, Hari appears 8344 times, Ram 2533 times, Gopal 491 times, Gobind 475 times, Prabhu 1371 times and so on.

This is our heritage.

In the words of the Upanishads :

"Bala, darpa, kamam, moham, krodham, parigraham,

Nirmamah, Shanto Bhuae Kalpate."

This is the true path of/to God; "Rid of the five sinful ways, born out of the five human indriyas, we can roam the entire ethereal space of the Universe, in peace; one with God; I AM THAT I AM.

This too is our heritage.

By accepting the Rakhi sent by Rani Karnavati, Humayun gave birth to a new social order of a mixed culture.

This is our Heritage.

Are the ten Commandments only a Christian faith. Barring three of the first four, the other seven commandments are universal in nature :

Shall not take the LORD's name in vain (Not swear). Shall honour thy father and mother. Shall not kill. Shalt not commit adultery. Shalt not steal. Shalt not bear false witness. Shalt not covet thy neighbor's property, wife or servant.

Can all this too not be a part our heritage?

Recently, a circulated study report, painstakingly prepared by an esteemed fellow Indian, under the banner of Virat Hindu Sangam, found its way in my mail box, kind courtesy a fellow Veteran. The report lists thousands of Muslim shrines, mosques, mazars and dargahs, which were either built upon the ruins of or built with the materials of Hindu temples/shrines.

Even if the above report is taken on face value, most true Indians would not understand its purpose. What has the compiler tried to achieve?

How far in History do we go back? How much of distortion of History do we accept? At which point of time in History do we stop taking stock of edifices of a new order built on the ruins of an existing culture?

Extensive archaeological excavations have proved that before the Aryan migration into the ancient Indian subcontinent, IVC was a highly developed civilization on its frontiers, on the fertile flood plains of the Indus River and its vicinity. This civilization was attacked and annihilated. As the Vedic group advanced rapidly to the rest of the Indian Sub-Continent, the Dravidians retreated further East and South, till they had no were else to go. Poor Chaps!

The earliest evidence of religious practices of IVC date back approximately to 5500 BC; evidence suggests that the IVC had social conditions comparable to Sumeria and even superior to the contemporary Babylonians and Egyptians.

Whatever be the origin of the Aryans, it is an incontrovertible fact of history that the Aryans were not indigenous to India, were totally a different race than the Dravidians of IVC and that they completely destroyed the towns and cities of the latter civilization and established themselves atop its ruins.

Flying in the face of facts of both Archaeology and modern science, it has become fashionable for the Hindutva Brigade to state on authority, with the support of unverified arguments, that the Aryans were none other than those of IVC and were the original inhabitants of India,

Cristian Violatti, one of the editors of Ancient History Encyclopedia, has written, "Unlike the peace loving Dravidians of the IVC, Aryans in antiquity, were a nomadic war like tribe of cattle herders".

This is borne by many an ancient account, a few of which are :

A number of key battles of Dasarajna' or the 'Dashradnya Yuddha' or the Battle of the ten kings, spanning many years, described in the Rig Veda, resulted in the total destruction of the pre-Vedic culture and settlements.

Rig Veda also mentions the battles fought by the earlier Aryan King Devdosa, with non Aryan Dasa King Sambara, the death of the latter and the complete annihilation of 99 non Aryan cities.

Then of course, if any further proofs were required, we have our very own Mahabharat, through which the Vedic Philosophy was propounded in the Bhagwat Gita, the Upanishads and the Vedanta.

Who was the non-Aryan King Dasa and what was the non-Aryan civilization of the 99 cities completely destroyed by the Aryan King Devedosa?

Archaeological excavations of the IVC till date, carried out over almost 100 years, establish IVC's flourishing and advanced nature, much beyond the competence of the nomadic Aryans of that period.

Some of us, who still wonder how such an advanced civilization like the IVC, suddenly vanished, have to look no further than the accounts in the Rig Veda, of wars waged by the Aryan King Devdosa as also the war of the ten Kings.

Archaeological excavations have uncovered a culture that had nothing in common with the culture of the Vedic Aryans. IVC people, unlike the Vedic Aryans of later years, were largely city bound and peaceful, followed no rituals but believed in philosophy, meditated, practised Yoga, reared or used no horses, had no iron tools/weapons, fought no wars, at least till the ones thrust upon them by the latter, had a language other than Sanskrit and had a script for writing on seals.

Much is made of by some private archaeologists and a handful of historians who have been trying to debunk the erstwhile established fact of the transmigration of the Aryans. I will recommend to these skeptics, the relevant web site of ASI for these latter day excavations http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_imp_gujarat.asp. ASI which makes no such claims.

Whereas, copious written and Archaeological proofs of the existence of IVC spanning over three millenniums exist even today, there is not even a shred of similar proof of the legendary Vedic Aryan civilization which flourished thereafter; the unscripted literature, (For lack of a written script), is supposed to have survived orally for a millennium, before being reduced to writing around 600 BC.

A detailed study of the findings of the Archaeological sites will lead to the following conclusions :

(a) The IVC were not conversant with iron technology even as late as 1500 BC and were still using copper and bronze tools and making artifacts from these metals. (b) The seals of the period were still being written in the same script as before. (c) Carbon dating, firmly establishes the dating of excavated artifacts as between 3000 to 1500 BC. (d) No mention of these sites are found in the Vedas or the Upanishads. (e) IVC seals depict a creature we call unicorn bulls, mistaken as horses by some eager diggers, out to prove that Aryans were indigenous to India.

The word 'Arya' was used by the Indic people of the Vedic period in India. to refer to a geographic location known as Aryavarta, where Indo-Aryan culture flourished.

(Gopal Madan, 1990, 'India through the ages', Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 70.).

The closely related Persian people used the same term as an ethnic label for themselves in the Avesta scriptures, and the word forms the etymological source of the country Iran. (Mallory 1991, p. 125).

It is difficult to understand how the word Hindu, coined by Persians in the 7th century BC, got hitched to a culture and oral literature at least a thousand years older ! Even if the existence of a Dravidian IVC culture is ignored, there is no Hindu connection to the origin of the Vedic Culture.

Given the mass of evidence, only a small part of which has been enumerated above, should one ask for the restoration of the Dravidian Institutions and culture of the IVC after destroying everything Vedic-Aryan? Preposterous? Yes, most definitely.

How logical is, then, the painstaking efforts of the Hindu Brigade under the encouragement of the Parivar, to reverse History, by listing destroyed so called Hindu shrines, with shrill calls for rebuilding all real or imaginary Hindu temples/shrines after destruction of the present Muslim monuments?

Samuel Dhar is an Army Engineer officer, who took premature retirement 28 years ago to practise as an engineering consultant, specialising in use of polymers in constructions. He has authored scores of Articles and book on philosophy, theology and Nationalism. He also has a collection of poetry. His Blog site, "Samuel's World" as well as Sainik Darpan, has over 120 articles.










Restoring Our Cultural Heritage In Syria The Debate Over Why, How, When, By Whom,

In What Order, & Who Pays? Intensifies!

By Franklin Lamb

16 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

It was a place to connect to your history, to your identity and to tell others, who were not from Aleppo or Syria: This is where we are from. This is who we are. This is where you come to encounter your roots. It was a place that existed forever, a place we thought would exist long after we were gone. But we were wrong. (Amal Hanano, Lessons from the Minaret, 2013)

For the past two months, since the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee amended legislative proposal H.R. 1493, known as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act , the key bill has picked up stream on Capitol Hill with bi-partisan support. This week (4/13/2016), the full senate passed the measure by unanimous consent. This important legislation, which is expected to become law in the coming weeks, given its strong support also on the House side of Congress, calls for emergency import restrictions on at-risk Syrian cultural property within 90 days of President Obamas signature. Rather than establishing a rather controversial cultural heritage czar called for in an earlier version, H.R. 1493 now calls for an inter-agency executive committee to protect international cultural property.

This observer has been advised by two Congressional sources that concerns for the restoration of our shared global cultural heritage in Syria, widespread relief that Palmyra has been liberated from ISIS iconoclasm, and American public support for the repair and restoration of Palmyras treasures, are major reasons for moving the tough new and most welcomed ban on Syrian cultural property forward.

The Umayyad mosque in Aleppo, Syria was built between the 8th and 13th centuries and is reputedly home to the remains of John the Baptist's father. It is located in the walled Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Heavy fighting during the Syrian civil war has ruined the holy site and toppled its minaret on April 13, 2013. Photo: Franklin Lamb

These concerns are global and being widely debated this spring, especially by archeological organizations. Among a growing number of diverse organizations that continue to monitor damage to Syrian cultural heritage and who are joining the debate and often voicing disparate and occasionally emotionally antithetical views with respect to our shared global cultural heritage in Syria are the following:

Aga Khan Trust for Culture the Co-coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA), ASOR, Avaaz, , Heritage and development, International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), International Council on Archives (ICA), International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), International Council of Museums (ICOM), , Libraries without Borders/Bibliotheques sans Frontieres, Peace Palace Library. Research Guide Cultural Heritage, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, Blue Shield International, Canadian Conservation Institute, Conservation Center for Art & historic artefacts, Conservation OnLine (CoOL), History of Historic Royal Palaces, Hornemann Insitut, IFLAs work on preserving cultural heritage, Image Permanence Institute, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (ICC), International Red Cross and Red Crescent, Le laboratoire de conservation, restauration et recherches de Draguignan, Portal Euromed Heritage Digital Resources, ,Preserving History. How to Digitally Archive and Share Historical Photographs, Documents, and Audio Recordings, The Shirin NGO (www.shirin-international.org), The Getty Conservation Institute, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

There are many contributing to this rapidly expanding dialogue and sometimes boisterous and even accusatory debate.

Avaaz, is circulating a Petition against UNESCO and Russian plans to reconstruct Palmyra. It states in part: We, the undersigned, urge the international community and its cultural organizations and academic institutions to help protecting the Syrian heritage and sparing it the political, ethnic, sectarian, or business agendas of the fighting groups in the Syrian conflict and their global backers. We regret that UNESCO Director General reiterated her full support for the restoration of Palmyra without first considering the ramifications of such a hasty statement.

The intention of UNESCO and other organizations to engage in a restoration and reconstruction process of the ancient site of Palmyra right now is both inopportune and unrealistic. Millions of Syrians are still suffering the enormous consequences of this bloody war. Among them are the people of Palmyra who have experienced and continue to experience loss of life, detention, displacement, and the devastating destruction of their homes and heritage. But we firmly oppose any hasty reconstruction initiated by UNESCO and carried out by parties directly involved in the Syrian tragedy.

Restoring Palmyra: Yes! Hastily: No!!!

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has made public its views Against Rushing to Conclusions about Palmyra Damage. ICOM warns against rushing to draw conclusions about the damage inflicted by ISIS terrorists on the world heritage site of Palmyra, ICOM's director of Programs and Partnerships advised this week.

"Assessment is what we need so far, because no official international mission has been there in a couple of years, we have not assessed the situation of heritage," France Desmarais said advising that There are three words that we need to remember when we talk about this  professionalism, independence and integrity, and we want to make sure that whatever assessment is conducted it should be of course done with national and international experts of diverse institutions and expertise and it needs to be done thoroughly. Any quick assessment that would be done for communication purposes would not be welcome."

Other experts and academics are also skeptical, believing that the task will take many years and resources, that some sites are beyond repair, and that others might never be restored to their former glory. They argue as Syrian archeologist and refugee Mr. Azm has that Its still early days, This is all going to take a long time.

The Shirin NGO (www.shirin-international.org) will soon release a blunt motion challenging a project of reconstruction of Palmyra, a result of recent talks between UNESCO Director General and the President of Russia. According to the Shirin-International Board of Directors, their motion, written by professional archaeologists and Directors of excavations in Syria until 2010/11 will be sent to a large number of institutions and organizations, including to UNESCO and its satellite agencies, universities, press agencies, chancelleries.

Avaaz, noted above, is circulating another Petition against UNESCO and Russian plans to reconstruct Palmyra. It states in part: We, the undersigned, urge the international community and its cultural organizations and academic institutions to help protecting the Syrian heritage and sparing it the political, ethnic, sectarian, or business agendas of the fighting groups in the Syrian conflict and their global backers. We regret that UNESCO Director General reiterated her full support for the restoration of Palmyra without first considering the ramifications of such a hasty statement. The intention of UNESCO and other organizations to engage in a restoration and reconstruction process of the ancient site of Palmyra right now is both inopportune and unrealistic. Millions of Syrians are still suffering the enormous consequences of this bloody war. Among them are the people of Palmyra who have experienced and continue to experience loss of life, detention, displacement, and the devastating destruction of their homes and heritage. And we firmly oppose any hasty reconstruction initiated by UNESCO and carried out by parties directly involved in the Syrian tragedy.

Some inside and outside of Syria question whether limited government resources should be used restoring ruins while half of Syrias population remains displaced, including thousands from Palmyra, and others are killed in daily fighting and airstrikes that are hallmarks of its five-year-old conflict. They suggest that there is an international responsibility to preserve and protect our shared cultural heritage.

Karen Leigh, deputy Middle East bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal explained to this observer recently that some are advocating that while Palmyra was built with stone and mortar, it must be rebuilt with computers and drones and with the new technology. She wrote: Some are urging UNESCO to use drones to get a birds-eye view of areas needing repair, not just at Syrias six UN World Heritage Sites but at countless other sites around Syria.

Three-dimensional reconstructions will aid precise repairs. Radar scanning will be used to view and assess any damage to underground structures such as the citys Roman-era catacombs.

Francesco Bandarin, assistant director-general for culture at UNESCO. Opined, A machine in one or two hours gives you a perfect reconstruction of an object, whereas before it would take weeks and weeks. But dont expect Palmyra will be rebuilt in a day. This will be years and years of painful work, he added noting that the continuing reconstruction at Cambodias Angkor, similar to some of Palmyras sites in scope, has taken decades after war and nature took their toll.

Stefan Simon, director of the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage at Yale University, expresses the hope that colleagues can travel to Syria with sophisticated equipment and scanners can go to Palmyra.

Nasser Rabbat, director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology argues that strict views on conservation could impair Palmyras reconstruction efforts: Technological improvements arent a substitute for knowledge held by the generations of Syrian historians who lovingly restored the citys columns and stones. It is not that we have lost things that have stood as they were for 2,000 years. What we have lost is the effort, the intellectual and labor effort, of generations of restorers who worked on this city.

Shall we 3D print a new Palmyra?

The Institute for Digital Archaeology hopes 3-D models of Palmyras sites will result in their detailed reconstructions which helps produce a replica of Palmyras Arch of Triumph and other structures. Others criticize this approach and worry about creating kitch antiquates.

Many archeologists argue that 3D printing fails to capture the authenticity of the original structures, amounting to little more than the Disneyfication or McDonaldization of heritage. They also point out that the fighting is still ongoing: some estimates suggest that half a million Syrians are dead, millions are displaced, and perhaps 50%-70% of the nearby town has been destroyed. Given the pressing humanitarian needs, stabilization alone should be the priority for now.

The international community is also playing a role. Groups like UNOSAT, the UNs satellite imagery analysts have used satellite imagery to monitor the damage. On the ground, Syrian-founded NGOs like APSA have linked with universities to assess the site. Groups such as NewPalmyra and Palmyra 3D Model are using the latest technology to create open-access 3D computer models from photographs.

Still others claim that rebuilding archeological sites fail to redress the loss caused by the extensive looting of the site, focusing only on the dramatically destroyed monuments. Raising questions, for example whether returning Palmyra to its pre-conflict state denies a major chapter of its history and suggesting that what is required is wide-ranging discussion on the priorities for the immediate future and the nature of any future reconstruction.

Some aver that at each repaired archeological site that there must be a memorial as a testimony to those beheaded in the arena, or tied to columns that were detonated etc because their stories are also part of Syrias, history. Others insist that while Palmyra may hold great interest to the world, the final decision should belong to those who have lived in and around it, took care of it for centuries managed it, fought for it, and protected it for generations: the Syrian people.

Syrias Director of Antiquities, Dr. Maamoun Abdul-Karim has recently urged that Palmyra must not just rise again, It must not be turned into a fake replica of its former glory. Instead, what remains of this ancient city after its destruction by Isis  and that is mercifully more than many people feared perhaps 80%, should be tactfully, sensitively and honestly preserved. DGAM Director Abdelkarim promised that 100 years of experience in conservation, including on the grand avenues and public buildings of Palmyra, would be put to immediate use but also called for international support. We have to send a message against terrorism that we are united in protecting our heritage, he said. We will never accept that the children of Syrian and the world visit the site of Baalshamin and Bel and the victory arch while they are lying in ruins on the ground. We will rebuild them.

The Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums at the Syrian Ministry of Culture is currently assessing the damage inflicted on the ancient city along with its museum in order to be able to set plans and visions for emergency and urgent intervention through adopting a clear and scientific method (the castle of Palmyra, the gate of the Temple of Bel, the structure of the museum, the damaged statues). In addition, the DGAM is preparing the architectural and constructional plans for our future restoration works within definite deadlines; this is because a large part of the architectural elements of the damaged monuments can be reused in restoration so as to retain the city's originality and identity.

Wrote Dr. Abdul-Karim to this observer on 4/13/2016, Some speculations and statements, made by some who do not belong to our institution, speak of our intention to rebuild the city utilizing 3D technologies as well as constructing modern buildings. These, unquestionably, are in complete contrast to our vision at the DGAM, which has been well-reputed for its scientific professionalism for almost 100 years since it was established. It has helped rescue the majority of artifacts under such exceptional circumstances in the past five years of war. It also carried out emergency restoration works in a number of Syrian ancient cities between 2014 and 2015, including the Ancient City of Homs, Maaloula, the Ancient City of Damascus, Krak des Chevaliers (after its liberation) and a number of other castles on the Syrian coast. Hence, we would like to emphasize that our plans and visions will be devised and designed in cooperation with our national and international partners taking into account international standards and conventions applicable worldwide.

It has been reported that even after becoming refugees and leaving their beloved country, Syrians have worked to keep a detailed memory of the archeological sites alive. Syrian artists have created artworks depicting destruction in Palmyra and elsewhere. In a Jordanian camp, refugees made miniature models of the city and other cultural sites, even measuring out the number and position of Palmyras columns from available photos.

The intensifying international debate over how best to restore and protect our shared global cultural heritage in Syria is positive, relevant, essential and constructive.

And it is quite likely that this discourse will bring new safeguards for saving our past for our future.

Franklin Lamb's recent book, Syria's Endangered Heritage, an International Responsibility to Preserve and Protect is available on Amazon and other ebook outlets as well as at www.syrian-heritage.com . Lamb is reachable c/o fplamb@gmail.com.




Ignoring Government of India taking strong exception to a United Nations (UN) special rapporteur (SR) report on caste-based discrimination, the United States (US) State Departments India 2015 Human Rights Report has gone ahead and noted significant discrimination against Dalits in access to services, such as health care, education, temple attendance, and marriage. Released two days ago, even as referring to numerous cases of caste-based violence against Dalits in India, the US report has pointed towards a new discrimination: It says, though some Christians and Muslims were identified as Dalits, the Government of India has preferred to limit reservations for Dalits to Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains.Indias permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Ajit Kumar had reportedly described the UN special rapporteurs report a breach of the SRs mandate. Rita Izsak-Ndiayes report came as a surprise to Government of India: It was released amidst heightened political tension over the suicide of Hyderabad University Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.Kumar especially said that the justification of minority-like characteristics in SRs report was not convincing, as it could cover almost every group in society.The new US report says, although the law protects Dalits, those among them who asserted their rights were often victims of attacks, especially in rural areas, adding, Most bonded laborers were Dalits. Dalits reportedly often worked without monetary remuneration.Referring to systematic abuse of Dalits, including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence against Dalit women, the report says, Crimes committed against Dalits often went unpunished, either because authorities failed to prosecute perpetrators or because victims did not report crimes due to fear of retaliation.It refers to what it calls widespread discrimination, including prohibiting Dalits from walking on public pathways, wearing footwear, accessing water from public taps in upper-caste neighborhoods, participating in some temple festivals, bathing in public pools, or using certain cremation grounds.It says, Dalit students were sometimes denied admission to certain schools because of their... There were reports that school officials barred Dalit children from morning prayers, asked Dalit children to sit in the back of the class, or forced them to clean school toilets while denying them access to the same facilities.There were also reports that teachers refused to correct the homework of Dalit children, refused to provide midday meals to Dalit children, and asked Dalit children to sit separately from children of upper-caste families, the US report adds.Especially referring to manual scavenging forced upon Valmiki Dalits, the report states, The removal of animal or human waste by Dalits continued in spite of its legal prohibition continues. It adds Elected village councils employed a majority of manual scavengers and belonged to Other Backward Classes and Dalit populations.The law prohibits the employment of scavengers or the construction of dry (nonflush) latrines, and penalties range from imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of 2,000 rupees ($30), or both. Nonetheless, Indian Railways often violated the laws without consequence, the report points out.Maharashtra led the country with 63,713 households engaged in manual scavenging, based on Socio-Economic Caste Census data, the report says, adding, despite the Supreme Court order to enforcement of the 2013 law banning manual scavenging, the authorities rarely implemented it, adding, there were at least 700 deaths in manholes across the country every year.National crime statistics indicated that, compared with other caste affiliations, assailants most often perpetrated rape against Dalit women, the report says, adding, lower caste women were reportedly pressured to have hysterectomies or other forms of sterilization because of the payment structures for health workers and insurance payments for private facilities.Discrimination based on caste remained prevalent particularly in rural areas, referring to the Indian National Council of Applied Economic Research survey which said that 27 percent of Indian households practice caste-based untouchability, with the highest untouchability practices found in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.---
Indiana is a prime example of what happens when state government meddles with the Department of Natural Resources management decisions. Take for instance, the resurrection of permitting the use of high powered rifles during Hoosier deer season.

Recall the hue and cry from citizens throughout the state whose majority opinions decried passage of legislation allowing rifles to be legal deer hunting firearms.

The people spoke and the idea was killed. Except it really wasn't, so State Representative Lloyd Arnold of Leavenworth submitted House Bill 1231, which legalizes hunting deer with high-powered rifles on private property only.

Apparently it isn't safe to use high powered rifles on state-owned lands but on private property long-range projectiles won't be a threat. Or will they?

As a public safety afterthought, H.B. 1231 only permits using rifles of 243, 30/06, 300, 30/30 and 308 calibers. But don't worry about too many errant shots ricocheting across the countryside.

H.B. 1231 mandates that hunters toting the newly approved rifles can "only" carry 10 shells while afield.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said regardless of caliber and shell limitations, the deer herd will be negatively impacted statewide when hunters switch to long-range rifles.

And the IDNR continues its opposition. So much so, that rumor has it they are asking for exact legislative wording on H.B. 1231. Meanwhile, the IDNR is attempting to contact all state representatives to suggest amendments.

However, unless emergency legislation gets enacted, it appears that when this year's modern firearms deer season arrives, specific high-powered rifles will be legal for hunting Indiana's deer on private lands.

Remember, all newly enacted Indiana game laws (even flawed ones) remain in effect for three to five years.

Maybe now you see why Indiana needs to make its IDNR a separate entity that can manage fish and wildlife with biological sense rather than by reactionary legislation without biological merit.

n Would you sanction a five dollar raise in the price of all Indiana hunting and fishing licenses if the moneys were earmarked for purchasing/managing public lands?

How about creating some sort of minimally priced annual license for those who don't buy hunting or fishing licenses but roam public areas to gather medicinal herbs, edible mushrooms, bird watch, train dogs, hike, photograph, camp, bicycle or any other legal capacity?

For everyone holding lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, would you be willing to donate a few bucks annually to aid the cause?

Recreational lands are vanishing hourly so something must be done to save prime areas for the future. Perhaps a concerned legislator will begin crafting such a bill. Perhaps you should start contacting your legislators, and the IDNR, to suggest immediate action.
SHARE

By Abbey Nickel, abbey.nickel@thegleaner.com / @abbeynickel

The "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" illustrates the hilarious awkwardness middle school, a time most of us would rather forget. But it also strikes the perfect balance between silly and warm and fuzzy.

The University of Southern Indiana Theatre's production of the award-winning musical comedy written and produced by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin is good for more than a few laughs.

The show, directed by Eric Altheide, chronicles the journey of a group of six misfit middle-schoolers vying to take home the grand champion trophy of a spelling contest and conquer the perils of puberty at the same time, accompanied by two zany moderators. The show is also riddled with improv because of the audience participation, which guarantees a different yet riotous performance each night.

The "kids,"  who aren't really middle-schoolers, of course  are fun to watch and deliver believable performances as they channel angst, and at times, heartbreakingly awkward parts, of the intelligent teenagers they portray. Craig Belwood received some of the biggest laughter of the night as Leaf Coneybear, the delightfully strange, yet endearing homeschooled student who wears a helmet for safety. Nick Smith as the anxious and high-strung William Barfee who champions himself on being able to spell with his foot was also spot-on and charming.

The two moderators shouldn't be left out of the mix when it comes to notable performances, either. Ashley Dulik as Rona Lisa Perretti and Austin Tenbarge as Vice Principal Douglas Panch excelled at every moment that required improv, and were both at the center of some of the performance's strongest, and funniest, moments

Some of the best fun came from the audience members that were brought on stage to participate in the bee, which is accompanied by the improvised, good-humored one-liners from Dulik and Tenbarge that add a fresh twist to the show. At Thursday's performance, USI President Linda Bennett joined the six young actors on stage with three other audience members. She was also an obvious audience favorite, who, after being acknowledged she spelled a word correctly, deadpanned "well, of course it is."

The bee isn't all about comedy however. The kids do take the spelling bee rather seriously, and the musical doesn't shy away from some social commentary, which is executed well, along with all of the musical performances.

The show continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Performances are at the USI Performance Center located in University Center East. Tickets are $10 for USI students, $12 for USI employees, $13 for non-USI students and seniors 60 and older and $15 for adults.
SHARE Matt Maher will present his concert on April 29. provided photo

By Sara Anne Corrigan

As a child of the 70s, renowned Catholic recording artist Matt Maher said one of the first songs he recalls is from a Coke commercial  "I want to teach the world to sing."

From his faith perspective, "Singing  congregational hymns ... is a way to preserve, transmit and communicate faith  congregational singing is, to me, one of the unrecognized wonders of the world," Maher said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Nashville, Tennessee.

Maher will encourage his audience to experience this wonder when he presents his "Saints and Sinners" concert at Evansville's Mater Dei High School April 29.

The concert is a fundraising event for the band program at the school, said Timothy Dickel, Mater Dei president.

Singing along with Maher may be fairly easy for his fans, Dickel said. Maher, a five-time Grammy Award nominee, is one of the most popular Catholic and Christian artists performing right now. His music is used in some of our local churches, and anyone who listens to contemporary Christian radio will probably be familiar with his music, Dickel said.

Maher's songs include "Lord I Need You," "Hold Us Together" and "Your Grace is Enough."

He has performed for international crowds assembled to greet three popes, Maher said  John Paul II in 2002, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and Pope Francis in 2013  "although the only one I actually saw was Pope Francis, in Brazil, in 2013."

The concert title, "Saints and Sinners" reflects Maher's most recent album by the same name and much of the music he will be performing in Evansville comes from it.

"It is mostly my own material  a collection inspired by different men through history who have had a profound impact on the world and the church  Mother Teresa, Oscar Romero, Woody Guthrie and my reinterpretation of his song, 'This Train is Bound for Glory,'" he said. The song "Sons and Daughters" is an ode to Martin Luther King Jr.

"All these prophetic people had that prophetic voice (even as) they were wrestling with their own humanity  The point is: What does it mean to be a mouthpiece for God?

"I have looked at people who have been that  looking at their imperfections and how it says something about the nature of God; Jesus involved humans in his work  in the midst of our frailty we are still involved in sharing the love of God with people," he said.

Maher will be traveling with a five-piece band, he said, and the concert will include some acoustic and  as he noted he has a background in jazz  some full band.

"There'll be a lot of different stuff  a little bit of rock and a little bit of swamp bluesy Americana as well as congregational music," he said.

Dickel, who is familiar with Maher's work, said "he is a deeply spiritual and talented musician whose music seems to speak to people, and his reflections during live performances are inspiring. While we (at Mater Dei) connect as Catholics, Maher's music really is geared toward all Christians, and we hope to have many denominations together at the concert so we can all come together in praise and worship."

IF YOU GO

What: Matt Maher, "Saints and Sinners" concert

When: 7 p.m. April 29

Where: Mater Dei High School, 1300 Harmony Way

Tickets: Advance tickets: $15 students; $20 adults, At the door: $25. Advance tickets available through the Mater Dei website at .materdeiwildcats.com, click on "Upcoming Events"
SHARE

By Max Roll of the Courier and Press

Evansville police arrested two people early Saturday they suspect were involved in an East Side armed robbery attempt.

According to an Evansville Police Department arrest affidavit, officers were called to a robbery in progress around 2:30 a.m. at 2502 East Tennessee Street. A woman who lived at the residence reported a man, later identified by police as Richard Wayne Garnes, 38, who had kicked her apartment door open while wielding a sawed-off shotgun.

Two male occupants inside the apartment disarmed Garnes and held him down until police arrived, according to the affidavit. Police said the gun discharged during the struggle and a 12 gauge round struck the underside of a concrete balcony but did not penetrate. Officers also stopped a red Honda leaving the scene driven by Tara Marie Bustos-Gaytan, 33, of Mount Carmel, Illinois.

Garnes and Bustos-Gaytan are lodged in Vanderburgh County jail on preliminary charges of burglary and armed robbery, both with a deadly weapon. Garnes doesn't have a listed address on the jail booking website.

Victims told police that they were asleep when Garnes kicked the door in and entered the apartment demanding money, according to the affidavit. The two male victims said they rushed Garnes when he was distracted talking to the female victim about not calling the police.

Inside the Honda police said they found a portion of a shotgun barrel that had been removed along with a hacksaw, according to the affidavit. Garnes was treated at Deaconess Hospital for injuries sustained during the altercation.
SHARE Basel Alhaj

By Megan Erbacher of the Courier and Press

Basel Alhaj didn't have any choice but to adapt.

A native of Damascus, Syria, the 22-year-old is a junior at the University of Evansville pursuing a biochemistry degree. Alhaj moved to the U.S. in 2013 after he received a scholarship from UE and obtained his visa.

He had "lost hope" in Syria when his city was taken over by ISIS.

"It was not an easy process," he said Friday morning to about 250 Harrison High School and Shepard Academy students. "But I'm really grateful it happened."

As part of UE's Scholars for Syria, Alhaj spoke about Syrian culture, the crisis in the Middle East and the repercussions of ISIS and its governments. He also described his life before and after social and cultural changes occurred in government.

UE's Scholars for Syria is a group that formed last December to help Syrian families, students and refugees promote public awareness of Syrian culture, as well as the present crisis and the needs of Syrian people.

Everything changed for Alhaj when he left his country. But his only option, he said, was to adjust.

"I have to adapt," he said. "That's my only choice if I want to succeed and continue. I'm not going to give up."

Freshman Mary Hansen asked Alhaj how he deals with people stereotyping him.

Alhaj said he faces hate with love.

"Whenever people are rude or mean to you, just be loving and supportive for them," he said. "Love causes more changes and more effect in people's heart than anything else."

"I liked (his answer) a lot," Hansen, 15, said. "I would probably respond the same way he would."

It's been three years since Alhaj has seen his family, who still resides in a "kind of safe area" in Damascus. He thinks about visiting them on a daily basis, and tries to talk to them as often as possible.

"I'm always scared (for them). ... It's kind of frustrating to be away from your family," he said. "I just have hope, always."

Junior Chase Gross, 17, said Alhaj's speech was refreshing.

"We see our biased opinions of it from the news," Gross said. "Now we got to see an honest one from there  someone who actually had firsthand experience."

Junior Garrett Smith was shocked by some of the information Alhaj shared.

"I didn't know there are seven million refugees still looking for a home," Smith, 17, said. "That number completely dumbfounded me."

Kent Houston, UE adjunct instructor, and Jill Hahn, Shepard Academy Leadership and Law Academy coordinator, organized the presentation. Hahn said speaking to someone who has been directly impacted by a situation makes it real for students.

"It makes a big difference when you talk about it in class," she said. "Or you even see it on the news. But to see someone in the flesh talk about their own personal experiences, you can't put that in a textbook and you can't put it on a video. It just really gives a hands-on opportunity."

After earning his bachelor's degree, Alhaj plans to attend pharmacy school.

He hopes students realize they have the power to influence others and make a difference. His goal is to educate the community.

"Tell others about the stories of those people who are suffering," he said. "And to help stop the stereotyping ... and change their perspective and others' perspective as well."
SH12G114HEROIN July 16, 2012 -- A Drug Enforcement Administration agent lies in the trunk of a vehicle uses to smuggle bags of heroin into the United States. Law enforcement experts say the drug, once mostly limited to urban areas, now is available virtually nationwide and often is taken up by people addicted to prescription pain drugs no longer able to get high on them. (SHNS photo courtesy U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency) (heroin); Tiny bags of heroin are weighed on a scale at the Lee County Sheriff's Office following a recent bust.



Submitted photo; SH12G112HEROIN July 16, 2012 -- Mexican "black tar" heroin, ranging in color from dark brown to black, is a less pure form of heroin that tends to be sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal. Because of its consistency, it's usually dissolved and injected or smoked, rather than snorted or sniffed. It's more likely to be distributed in the western and southwestern. (SHNS photo courtesy U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency) (heroin); SH12G115HEROIN July 16, 2012 -- Some paraphernalia typically used to inject heroin: needles, syringes, spoons, cotton balls and tiny plastic bags. The parents of a 20-year-old Maryland overdose victim found the material under his bed after he died. (SHNS photo by Emmanuel Tambakakis) (heroin); SH12G113HEROIN July 16, 2012 -- "White powder" heroin from South America has become the most prevalent form of the drug in the United States, particularly in the Northeast, South and Midwest. Although typically purer than the "black tar" variety, white heroin is still often cut with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk or other drugs, making the active dose of heroin difficult to gauge. That often leads to dangerous side effects and overdose. (SHNS photo courtesy U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency) (heroin)

By Richard Gootee of the Courier and Press

In the first half of this decade, heroin use  and deaths from the opiate-based drug  skyrocketed in Indiana and across the Midwest.

But this part of the Hoosier State remained largely unaffected, at least until recently.

There were a total of six fatal heroin overdoses in Evansville in 2015, which were the first deaths from it here in the last few years. So far in 2016, there have already been three deaths attributed to the drug, according to Steve Lockyear, Vanderburgh County's chief deputy coroner.

The national narrative of such deaths has been captivated by the high-school and college age of many of heroin's victims. But locally, four of the nine deaths have been people older than 50, and another one was 42. There have been two 24-year-olds among those who have died in the last 15 months, which are the youngest of the recent overdose fatalities in Evansville.

Warrick County Coroner Sarah Seaton said there were two heroin-related deaths in her county in 2015, and none yet this year.

To address the rise, as well as the issue of prescription pill abuse, the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office is hosting a symposium on the topic of opiate drug addiction for Monday. About 200 people signed up before registration closed, said Whitney Riggs, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office. State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams will be one of the day's featured speakers.

Adams told the Courier & Press that a heroin epidemic  or a drug-related emergency like what happened in Scott County in 2015 with the painkiller Opana  "can devastate a community."

"Ultimately, that is the whole reason why we're having that drug symposium," he said. "You don't want to wait until you get to that point before you convene partners and stakeholders and identify what's going on and figure out what you can do to turn it around. ... We want to catch people before that wave crests and hopefully turn things around."

About 80 percent of the people using heroin now got started by using prescription pills  many of them with a prescription because of a properly-diagnosed pain problem, Adams estimated.

He said it is important that the medical community, specifically, play a part in reversing the problem. But he also added that a solution can only be found if people, causes and groups work together.

"We have a problem here in our state and it stated very much with legitimate prescribing. We need to educate the community about the dangers of opioids and we need to educate providers about the dangers of overprescribing," he said. " ... Communities need to be aware of their overdose rates, be aware of their hepatitis rates and be aware of the factors in the community that ultimately lead folks to go down this pathway of painkiller prescriptions and then ultimately on to injecting heroin."

Though deaths in Evansville from heroin have only happened recently, prescription opiate abuse has been a longtime issue. Of the 47 total overdose deaths worked by the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office last year, opioids were at least partly to blame in 31 of those.

Adams highlighted Evansville's health advocates, including the county health department, as positives in the local fight against heroin and opiod abuse.

"You've got a strong medical community there," he told the Courier & Press on Friday. "You've got several hospitals, you've got several people who are committed to turning things around and there's an opportunity if we can bring folks together."

He urged churches and other religious groups as well as law enforcement to continue to be integral voices in the discussion. Adams said he is not surprised that many of Vanderburgh County's first deaths were older in age.

"It goes to show again that this is not your grandmother's or your grandfather's heroin epidemic. It used to be in the 1970s that the epidemic was largely related to illicit drugs and (happened in) urban and minority (areas)," Adams said. "But now it doesn't spare anyone  it doesn't spare anyone by age, it doesn't spare any one by race. It's not sparing people by class  you've got folks from all aspects of life."
SHARE Richard Moss

By Zach Evans of the Courier and Press

Republican congressional candidate Richard Moss was charged with battering his wife more than 20 years ago, but the account given by police in 1993 and the one from Moss and his wife now greatly differ.

The charges were dropped two years after the incident because his wife, Supit Moss, didn't want the charges to stick, Moss said.

Moss, a surgeon from Jasper, is challenging Rep. Larry Bucshon for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives 8th District race.

The incident between Moss and his wife happened Feb. 27, 1993.

According to an affidavit (PDF) filed with Dubois County Superior Court on March 16, 1993, Moss "pulled her (Supit Moss') hair and shoved her down onto some broken glass."

Moss and his wife said there is no basis for those allegations.

"She was not shoved. Her hair was not pulled. She was not pushed on to any glass. There was an argument," he said.

Moss met his wife in Thailand while he was a volunteer surgeon in Asia from 1987-1990. They moved to Jasper to start their life, he said. The stress of a new baby and a new medical practice put a strain on the couple, he said.

Moss said he was holding their 1-year-old daughter during an argument on Feb. 27, 1993, when Supit Moss threw a glass at him that shattered onto the floor.

Supit described the charges as a "misunderstanding."

Supit doesn't remember throwing the glass, she said. But she corroborated her husband's account that he didn't pull her hair or shove her onto broken glass.

But she did call 911 during the incident, which led to the police coming to their Jasper home.

"Then I call up the police," she said. "I don't (didn't) understand the whole concept of what 911 is," she said.

Supit, who had moved to the U.S. from Thailand just a few years before the incident, spoke and understood very little English.

The police arrested and "put him somewhere," and presented Supit with a statement to sign, she said.

"Someone told me to sign, and I have no idea what's going on because my English was not as good as it is," she said.

The county filed charges against Moss a week later.

At least two trial dates were set for the case  Aug. 24, 1993 and Aug. 15, 1995, according to court records, but those were canceled. The state dropped the charges against Moss on Aug. 22, 1995 with no recorded updates on the case between those canceled trial dates.

Supit Moss had told the court and prosecutors that she didn't want to pursue charges, Richard Moss said.

"Due to inactivity, or her decision to utterly dismiss and not proceed with it, it was finally officially dropped," he said.

The deputy prosecutor assigned to the case no longer works in Dubois County.

Supit and Richard Moss still work together at his medical practice, and have been married 26 years.

"This is the event of 23 years ago and we have lived our lives beyond that," Richard said. "There's many, many, many, many, many, many more things to discuss besides the event that occurred where nobody was struck, no violence, nothing happened, no visits to the emergency room, no lacerations, not a thing, no broken bones, nothing happened  there was an argument."

Supit said they still have arguments sometimes, but nothing violent, and that Richard is a good father to their four children.

"We have arguments like regular marriage. Every couple has that. But we're still married 26 years and no problems," she said.
SHARE

By Jon Webb of the Courier and Press

Rafael Cruz, the father of Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, will speak in Evansville Saturday morning.

According to a news release sent by Ted Cruz's Indiana campaign, Rafael will speak at 9 a.m. at Boeke Road Baptist Church "on behalf" of Ted.

As nonprofit, tax-exempt entities, churches are barred by federal law from hosting political events. According to the Revenue Ruling 2007-41, "Organizations that are exempt from income tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code as organizations described in section 501(c)(3) may not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."

The Courier & Press reached out to the Cruz campaign for comment Friday night.

The news release calls Rafael Cruz, who is a reverend, an "amazing American" and says he will share his "story of oppression to Cuba to freedom in the U.S., to his encounter with Christ and his passion to preserve liberty for future generations."

The full text of the release is below.

"In just over two weeks, on Tuesday May 3rd, Indiana will have an opportunity to add their voices to the growing chorus of grassroots support for Ted Cruz.

"This weekend Ted's father, Reverend Rafael Cruz, is visiting Evansville on his behalf, and you are invited!

"Reverend Cruz is an amazing American, and his is a uniquely American experience. From his story of oppression in Cuba to freedom in the US, to his encounter with Christ and his passion to preserve liberty for future generations, Rafael Cruz is a charismatic personality with a compelling message.

"Please consider joining Reverend Rafael Cruz in Evansville tomorrow morning!"
SHARE President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk out to greet Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and Canadian First Lady Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau on the North Portico prior to the State dinner the White House March 10.

By Gregory Korte, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON  President Obama and his wife Michelle paid $81,472 in federal taxes last year on an adjusted gross income of $436,065, his tax return shows.

That's the lowest tax bill  and his lowest annual income  since becoming president, owing largely to diminishing sales of his books.

Most of Obama's income comes from his $400,000-a-year salary as president. But he also continues to receive outside income of $60,745 in royalties from his two adult books Dreams from My Father and Audacity of Hope. The royalties from a children's book, Of Thee I Sing, are donated to charity.

The Obamas file a joint return, with Michelle Obama showing no income and listing her occupation as "First Lady."

With schedules and state returns from Illinois, Obama's tax return weighs in at 45 pages. It's a little complicated than most because of his royalty income and because he's hit with the alternative minimum tax, which limits the number of deductions that high-income taxpayers can take.

The Obama's gave $64,066 to charity last year. The largest contribution of $9,066 went to Fisher House, which helps military families and has been the biggest recipient of Obama's largesse during his presidency.

Also receiving contributions were the Beau Biden Foundation, established in memory of the late son of his vice president ($5,000) and Sidwell Friends School, where their daughters attend, the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation ($2,000), and CARE, which fights global poverty ($2,000).

Though not required by law, there's a long tradition of presidents  and presidential candidates  releasing their tax returns.
Rafael Cruz, the father of Ted Cruz, spoke in Evansville Saturday morning at Boeke Road Baptist Church "on behalf" of the Republican presidential candidate.

SHARE Bobby Shipman / Courier & Press Rafael Cruz (front right), the father of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, spoke in Evansville Saturday morning at Boeke Road Baptist Church "on behalf" of the Republican presidential candidate.

By Bobby Shipman

Rafael Cruz, the father of Ted Cruz, spoke in Evansville Saturday morning at Boeke Road Baptist Church "on behalf" of the Republican presidential candidate.

He said too many pastors are afraid of being politically incorrect because they fear losing their tax exemption.

"It's time we become biblically correct instead of politically correct," he said.

As nonprofit, tax-exempt entities, churches are barred by federal law from hosting political events. According to the Revenue Ruling 2007-41, "Organizations that are exempt from income tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code as organizations described in section 501(c)(3) may not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."

But Cruz was not concerned about the federal law on Saturday.

"I will tell you this: no church in America has ever lost its tax exemption for speaking on politics. It's an empty threat," he said.

He said the Bible tells people to elect men of truth who fear God, and do not covet.

"Let's stop electing the village idiot," he said.

Cruz said he has been touring the country for years, visiting congregations and encouraging people to vote.

Cruz's speech covered the "dangers" of issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, political correctness and "the secularization of America" by removing religion from public schools.

"How can you call Bible study a political issue?" Cruz said. "The consequence of that silence: teen pregnancy skyrocketed and so did violent crime."

" (The church has) been sleeping for way too long. And I'll tell you what, the sleeping giant is waking up," he said.

The elder Cruz was accompanied to the event by Christian Collins, who refused to answer question regarding how the political event was able to be held at a church. He also refused to say if he worked for Ted Cruz's campaign. However, the back of his business card is labeled "Ted Cruz 2016."

Boeke Road Baptist Church Pastor Stephen Russ said he is not worried about facing any repercussions for the event.

"(Cruz's) speech had to do with the involvement of Christians in our politics at any level and it was taken from a historical context," he said.

Russ heard Cruz speak about a year ago. He said he received a call Friday from a faith-based group that said that Cruz would be passing through the area and that they'd like to set up the event.

"I would just say that we appreciate (Cruz's) stand for religious freedom and his unique perspective, having been under an oppressive regime," he said. (It) was both enlightening and inspiring."

Cruz came to the U.S. in 1957 on a student visa after spending years living in Cuba under the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.
SHARE

inspections (March 28-april 1)

Summaries of Vanderburgh County Health Department's inspections are made public after restaurants and food stores have had 10 days to respond. Reinspections are at the inspector's discretion.

FOOD SERVICE

The Bar-B-Q Barn, 1003 E. Diamond Ave., one noncritical violation: Wood outside needs stacking.

Cafe One Eleven, 111 S. Green River Road, no violations.

Co-op Country Corner, 5015 N. St. Joseph Ave., one critical violation: Using reused five-gallon bucket with screws and plastic to bag ice; one noncritical violation: Grease trap log not up to date.

Diamond Lanes, 2400 U.S. 41 North, one noncritical violation: Walls in fryer area need repair.

Freddy's Frozen Custard, 2848 N. Green River Road, one critical violation: Spray bottles not labeled with contents (corrected); one noncritical violation: Walk-in floors need cleaning.

Kite and Key Cafe, 2301 W. Franklin St., approved to open.

Long John Silver's, 4625 W. Lloyd Expressway, no violations.

Los Tres Caminos, 12100 U.S. 41 North, one noncritical violation: dumpster area needs cleaning.

Pangea Kitchen, 111 S. Green River Road, no violations.

Penn Station, 4827 Davis Lant Drive, one noncritical violation: Outside waste receptacle had trash on ground.

Piston's, 2131 W. Franklin St., one noncritical violation: Shelving on prep tables and bar reach-in soiled.

Pizza King, 220 N. St. Joseph Ave., no violations.

Ri Ra Irish Pub, 701 NW Riverside Drive, three noncritical violations: Water leaking under downstairs bar dump sink; four hand sinks lacking disposable towels; dessert cooler and upstairs bar cooler shelving soiled.

St. Benedict School, 530 S. Harlan Ave., one noncritical violation: Handwashing sink water not reaching required temperature.

Scott Elementary School, 14940 Old State Road, no violations.

Spudz-N-Stuff, 5225 Pearl Drive, two critical violations: Reach-in not maintaining 41 degrees or below; ServSafe employee not properly training staff; two noncritical violations: Reach-in and warmer not operating as designed; three-compartment sink has leak at faucet.

Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve, 551 N. Boeke Road, approved for event, no violations.

FOOD Stores

Circle K, 7 N. Fulton Ave., two noncritical violations: Shelving under hand sink and shelving under soda machines soiled and in need of cleaning; hand sink lacking soap.

Farm 57 Market, 3443 Kansas Road, OK to open.

GFS Marketplace, 1500 N. Burkhardt Road, no violations.

Jules Grocery and Specialty Gifts, 204 Main St., approved to open.

MotoMart, 500 N. Burkhardt Road, one critical violation: Lacking hand-washing sink for three-compartment sink area; one noncritical violation: Walk-in freezer has ice accumulation.

St. Joe Mini Mart, 6000 W. St. Joe Road, no violations.

S&P Petroleum, 2801 Mount Vernon Ave., two noncritical violations: Walk-in fans lacking covers; restroom lacking soap.
JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS Braxton Wiley, 4, reveals his excitement while meeting Razin Kane monster truck driver Buddy Tompkins before the start of Monster Jam at the Ford Center in Evansville Friday. Wiley was treated to a special meet and greet with drivers thanks to the help of Wish Upon a Star and Monster Jam.

SHARE JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS Grave Digger driver Charlie Pauken holds up Braxton Wiley, 4, as they pose for a photo before the start of Monster Jam at the Ford Center in Evansville Friday. Wiley was treated to a special meet and greet with drivers thanks to the help of Wish Upon a Star and Monster Jam. JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS Braxton Wiley, 4, clutches onto his new Grave Digger plush monster truck after receiving it from Grave Digger driver Charlie Pauken before the start of Monster Jam at the Ford Center in Evansville Friday. Wiley was treated to a special meet and greet with drivers thanks to the help of Wish Upon a Star and Monster Jam. JASON CLARK / COURIER & PRESS Braxton Wiley, 4, points out the Grave Digger to his father Evan Wiley before the start of Monster Jam at the Ford Center in Evansville Friday. Wiley was treated to a special meet and greet with drivers thanks to the help of Wish Upon a Star and Monster Jam.

By Sarah Loesch of the Courier and Press

Monster trucks helped Braxton Wiley through seven surgeries in the span of five months.

The 4-year-old spent almost half of 2015 at Riley Hospital for Children after he was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari Malformation, a condition in which brain tissue extends into the spinal cord.

The condition can result in headaches, nausea, feeding problems and issues with walking and balance. Other symptoms differ among patients.

Friday evening, Wish Upon a Star helepd Wiley see two of his favorite monster trucks in person at Monster Jam at the Ford Center.

Wish Upon a Star is an Evansville-based organization that fulfills the wishes of children ages 3-18 who have life-threatening or terminal illnesses.

His mother Dennise Wiley said Grave Digger and Monster Mutt are the two trucks he that got him through his time at Riley.

"He always had them up in his hands playing," she said. "He would try and roll them anywhere he could."

Dennise said Wiley has seven disorders, including a sensory disorder, but he loves the sound of monster trucks.

She said he doesn't like to wear the headphones most kids put on during the event.

His father Evan Wiley was the first to show him monster trucks.

"I looked it up (on YouTube) and he fell in love with it," Evan said.

Wiley had the opportunity to enter the Monster Jam Party in the Pits before anyone else. He took photos with Grave Digger's driver and received a backpack full of monster-truck items.

Wiley ran from the motorized cars to the drivers, but spent most of his time in an area of sand set up for children to play with monster trucks.

He built "castles" with the sand and pulled Corey Eblen, an executive director with Wish Upon a Star, in to play with him.

Eblen started with the organization four years ago and said there is no feeling like seeing the reaction of the children when their wishes are granted.

He said it's a "euphoric" experience.

Susan Washburn, executive director for Wish Upon a Star, said the timing of the Monster Jam was perfect. They were prepared to have to wait until next year and take him to Chicago for a show.

Washburn said a lot of times they don't get to work with children as active and happy as Wiley.

Both Washburn and Eblen spent the wait outside the Ford Center swinging Wiley between them as he laughed and told them to swing him "higher, like a rocket." He only took breaks to run in circles and show them how high he could jump.

"This is good because of the interaction," Washburn said. "Just the fact that you have to chase him around is amazing."

Evan said Wiley is shy when he first meets new people, but it doesn't take him long to warm up. Even during his surgeries he never lost his smile.

Wiley didn't like being bothered by the doctors and nurses, his dad said, but he always remained positive.

Dennise said Wiley underwent surgeries that removed parts of his vertebrae, and a chunk of his skull was removed from the back of his head. He lost a lot of weight and she said he was "sunken in."

His attitude throughout the process helped her, especially since often it was the two of them in the hospital, she said.

"He was always a happy-go-lucky kid. He kept the nurses and I on (our) toes," she said. "No matter how sick he got, he was happy."
A photo of Indiana's black bear taken in July 2015.

SHARE

By Amy Bartner, IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Michigan wildlife officials last week opted to euthanize a black bear that had been meandering around the Michigan-Indiana border since June after its behavior increasingly put people in danger.

But officials here dont know what they would have done if the animal had been caught in Indiana, because when it comes to wayward bears, the state lacks a formal plan.

The state has never needed one. The 2- to 3-year-old 300-pound American black bear was the first of its kind spotted in the wild in Indiana since 1871.

Would Indiana wildlife officials also have euthanized the bear? Relocated it? Shipped it off to some wildlife refuge?

"Youre asking a hypothetical question for a situation that Indiana has had little experience with, if any," said Phil Bloom, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. "We've not had to face that decision here. Indiana has not had a resident bear population (since) before the Civil War."

Soon it likely might.

Rising populations in other states, coupled with the bear management plan of Indiana's northern neighbor, suggest bears and people will meet again in the Hoosier state.

"I'll tell the people of Indiana that bears will be back," said Dave Garshelis, co-chairman of the Bear Specialist Group, a wildlife conservation organization.

Managing the risk bears present isn't simple, and the choices to be made aren't easy.

Black bears are no longer rare

The black bear population is rising in states where the animals have not been seen in years, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

"Many states are recognizing that American black bears are very adaptable animals and they can live in very small areas near people," said Garshelis, who also is a bear research scientist with the Minnesota DNR. "Because they were so absent for so long in Florida, people viewed them as very rare, and now there are more and more."

The increase in Michigan can be attributed to a host of factors, including changes in hunting rules, bears becoming more comfortable in urban spaces, and bears moving longer distances to get to food, said Mark Sargent, a field operations manager for the Michigan DNR.

Florida and Louisiana have put wildlife management plans in place within the past four years. The policies offer guidelines on how to handle the growing populations of bears and instructions on fostering an environment where bears can live near people without risking public safety.

Michigan's plan, last updated in 2011, accounted for an increased bear population and recommended hunting as the main way to control it. Education and outreach to communities about bear safety are also major parts of the strategy.

"Whether you welcome the black bear or not," the management plan reads, "all of us that live and recreate in bear range share the responsibility of avoiding activities that attract bears and create the potential for bear problems."

Experts say people need to avoid leaving food and garbage out and reconsider the use of bird feeders.

The Michigan DNR generally believes it's more beneficial to control the population through hunting and to promote cohabitation rather than engaging with the bears.

By allowing the black bears to expand naturally into southern Michigan, the DNR will encourage a balance between the bear population and the public's acceptance, according to the state's management plan.

Indiana plans to develop its own bear management strategy, Bloom said, more than likely pulling from neighboring states' protocols. But nothing is imminent.

"It was discussed last year that when appropriate," he said. "We're looking at doing that more down the road."

A growing aggression

Indiana's first wild American black bear in 145 years was first spotted in a forest northwest of South Bend in June and was seen in several locations in both states during the summer. Bloom said wildlife officials knew they had the same bear each time because of how rare the sighting was and because of the visual commonalities.

By July, the bear began to enter yards, go through trash, eat from bird feeders, walk on porches and, in one incident near Michigan City, stand against a door. The Indiana DNR at that point took action. Officials borrowed a bear trap from Michigan's department and caught the bear. But the trap wasn't welded properly, and the bear escaped.

When Indiana's DNR attempted to catch the bear, the situation was defined by Michigan's standards as a Category 3: not a threat to humans. The plan was to relocate the bear in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula. But when the bear awoke from hibernation, it became more aggressive. It entered several residential yards before trying to push its way through a glass door into an occupied home in Stevensville, Mich., less than 30 miles north of the Indiana border.

"It's once those bears lose that fear of humans is when they become dangerous," Bloom said.

At that point, the situation was upgraded to a Category 2: a threat to public safety.

"He's trying to get in, and now that he's done that twice, he's highly habituated," Sargent said.

Michigan's Problem Bear Management Guidelines assign a 1 to 4 ranking to bear sightings, with subsequent actions to take in each case:

 Category 1: The bear is a threat to humans and public safety because it has been known to cause injury or death. In this case, the guidelines instruct that the bear should immediately be euthanized.

 Category 2: The bear is possibly a threat because it's showing aggressive behavior, is injured or is unable to leave an area on its own. The bear could either be relocated or euthanized "when no other options exist."

 Category 3: The bear is a threat to personal property. In this case, it should be captured and relocated.

 Category 4: The bear isn't a threat to either property or people. Michigan's guidelines state that the DNR will offer help to bear-proof the area.

Michigan's DNR caught the bear and euthanized it on April 8. It was tranquilized and shot at the base of the skull. The bear's body was taken to Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and cremated. Sargent said the DNR plans to donate the skin and skull to the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, a Native American tribe in Dowagiac, Mich.

"This is stuff that we dont take very lightly," Sargent said. "It's nothing that we really want to do."

A difficult choice

Was euthanization the only option?

Could the bear have been relocated?

Wildlife is typically relocated only to DNR land because of the state resources used, Sargent said. In this case, the DNR believed the bear presented too great a danger to people to take it to a different location, whether state land or a wildlife refuge.

"Just moving him would certainly be out of the question," Bloom said. "You'd just basically create the problem for someone else."

Bears can travel long distances, so even if it was transported to a remote area in Michigan, people still could be in danger.

"As isolated as some parts of Michigan are, there's a cabin, there's a home, there's something within his range," Sargent said. "And this bear has already shown he has an abnormal relationship with people. We have a responsibility to accept the public safety."

Even if the bear were less dangerous, though, the DNR still would need to find a refuge or a zoo willing to take it. A zoo likely would not be interested in an adult male black bear, Garshelis said.

"It would be really hard to find a zoo that would want a 300-pound bear at this point," Garshelis said. "American black bears are just so common, and I don't think there are zoos that are around that would want them."

Sargent said in this specific case, this bear should not have been taken anywhere where it could have access to humans.

"We didn't go after this bear until it became a human safety concern," he said.

Dean Oswald, owner of a bear ranch attraction in Newberry, Mich., questioned whether killing the bear was necessary.

"There are plenty of places to relocate him," Oswald said. "He doesn't have to be euthanized. That's just my opinion."

Oswald has owned bears since the 1980s. He opened the ranch in 1997. There are 36 bears on the ranch, all raised in captivity without fences.

"Ninety percent of the time I'd say they could relocate them," Oswald said. "There's a lot of state land. You can drive out here for miles and not see a house. I just hate to see a bear euthanized."

The rarity of this particular bear made him somewhat of a celebrity, he said. When people recognize and follow an individual animal, watching it die becomes more difficult.

"It is very different when a bear does become a star."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

It began as a fashion forward T-shirt company in 1997. Now, Velvet by Graham and Spencer is bringing its laid-back luxe to Greenwich Avenue.

The brand, which opened its first Connecticut store on Friday, embodies West Coast style. Creative directors Jenny Graham and Toni Spencer started the company when they couldnt find high-end Ts with long-lasting quality. So they decided to fill this niche in the market. Since its launch, Velvet by Graham and Spencer has expanded its collection to include luxury basics, long sleeve Ts, cashmere, denim, dresses, jackets, footwear and more.

The common thread? All clothing is clean, basic and classic, according to Lu Spriggs, marketing director at Velvet by Graham and Spencer. She said the new store features essentials with a high-fashion twist, as well as a carefully chosen selection of handmade trinkets, art books and baubles from well-known jewelry designers.

Its all about must-have staples that form the foundation of peoples wardrobe, she said.

Located at 271 Greenwich Ave., the new store presents luxe contemporary looks in a minimalist, upscale environment. Based on a retail concept by architect Johnston Marklee, the new 1,000-square-foot space echoes the look and feel of Velvets flagship store in Brentwood, Calif., with its white walls, exposed wood and elegant lighting fixtures.

The Greenwich store is the next step in the brands expansion into the brick-and-mortar retail landscape. The brand was initially sold wholesale at luxury department stores, like Bloomingdales and Nordstorm, and opened its flagship location just three years ago. Since then, Velvet by Graham and Spencer has expanded to include an East Coast flagship on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, three stores in southern California, one store in London and a summer pop-up in Southampton, N.Y.

We've been looking to further our expansion on the east coast and Greenwich was on the top of our list, said Henry Hirschowitz, owner of the company. The town is the perfect fit for Velvet and we couldn't be happier to be joining the community.

Spriggs said Velvet by Graham and Spencer looks for great neighborhoods that fit the vibe of the brand, and Greenwich was the right place to introduce new audiences to its growing womenswear and menswear collections.

Once you go in, youll live in their clothes; they only get better with age, she said. Its stuff you will buy and keep forever.

Megan.Dalton@scni.com; 203-625-4411
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

They are small, soft and convenient  a parents dream.

But baby wipes and their adult-use kin are becoming every citys nightmare, from Ansonia, Conn., to London, England.

Municipal officials say the flushable wipes disappear down the pipes, but they dont degrade.

People flushing wipes down the toilets are creating costly problems for us, said Michael DAlessio, Ansonias public works director. Sometimes, were out as often as every two weeks, cleaning sewer lines and pulling them off pumps.

And thats the easy part. Other times, DAlessio has had to call in a contractor to disinfect a homeowners basement. Thats what happened around New Years Day on Brook Street, when wipes bound together by another no-no  cooking grease  wrapped themselves around the Sunset Drive pump stations impellers.

That was a mess, DAlessio said. We had four to five blocks of human waste spilling out of the homeowners basement sink and washing machine. ... Once these catch on the impellers, they stay there. They dont tear or disintegrate. We had to bring in a crane, pull out the pump, clean it by hand and reinstall it.

But as DAlessio and his crew quickly discovered there were so many wipes in the backed-up water below that the process kept repeating. After the crew pulled out the pump and cleaned it two more times, its motor burned out.

All this cost us at least $20,000 in overtime, pump repairs and cleanup, DAlessio said.

On other occasions, his crews have had to vacuum out sewer lines after noticing raised manhole covers.

Sometimes we can clear the clog quickly, sometimes it takes hours, he said.

Almost always, the clogs are caused by residents flushing wipes, sanitary napkins, cleaning cloths, paper towels or diaper liners, or pouring cooking grease down drains.

People dont realize that once grease hits the cold water below the street, it congeals and forms a glob, DAlessio said.

Banding together

In Derby, Lindsay King, the city Water Pollution Control Authority superintendent, said the Division Street pump station has failed four times this year because of sewage buildup.

Things have gotten worse, King said. Were going to bring the pump up, take it apart and pull the debris off by hand. Its kind of a nasty process.

He anticipates the emergency repairs on the 55-year-site will cost about $50,000 and take the rest of the month. A new grinder, costing $60,000, has been installed in the Roosevelt Drive pump station, in the hope that it will shred debris flowing through the system.

These wipes dont break up, and even if the grinder does tear them, they re-form with others downstream, creating a long rag, King said.

To try to catch those rags, some towns have screens at their pump stations or at wastewater treatment plants.

Milford, Stratford and Trumbull have each had plumbing problems with wipes.

On Friday, Sumner Johnston and Nick DiGioia found themselves standing above an open manhole at the intersection of Buckingham Avenue and Vine Street in Milford. Its one of 55 known trouble spots in the citys 225-mile sewer system, said Ed Kozlowski, Milfords wastewater superintendent.

The trouble, he said, is caused primarily by wipes.

We dont know where they are coming from, he said. The sheets dont carry any addresses.

So Johnston, who grew up in his fathers Johnston Excavation business before transferring that experience to his city 10 years ago, said these sites are cleaned regularly.

We used to do them annually, then quarterly. Now, its becoming monthly, he said. The problem is getting progressively worse.

With the manhole cover off and the area closed to traffic, DiGioia and Johnston get to work. While Johnston shines a search light down the hole, DiGioia spots an 8-inch-high pile of browning, smelly paper, soaking in grease. The flowing water stops as it pushes against it.

DiGioia moves a 14-foot-long clamshell scoop atop the pile and grabs as much as possible in its mouth. He drops the sopping papers into a pail. Another two scoops retrieve most of the debris before he shoots pressurized jet streams of water in both directions of the sewer line.

Recently, Johnston said, he attended a class in which toilet paper, paper towels and various types of wipes were put into a mini-washer for six hours as students waited to see what broke down.

Only the toilet paper disintegrated, Johnston said.

London sewers falling down

All of this seems minor compared to whats been happening in London during the past three years.

Two summers ago, grease and wipes combined to form a 15-ton, bus-sized clog.

Its happened so much that the Thames Water Co. named the globs fatbergs and established a squad to bust them.

Workers needed three weeks to dislodge the cement-like buildup, and another six weeks to repair the damage, estimated at $600,000.

American suburbs arent immune, either.

Phil Zink, president of Sanitrol Services, one of Connecticuts largest septic-system and drain-cleaning companies, said these wipes are an increasing problem.

They absolutely do not decompose, said Zink.  Many manufactures put safe for septic systems on their products when, in fact, from years of experience, we are seeing they are not safe for septic systems. Weve seen tanks that were 50 percent filled with them. None of these should ever, ever enter any city sewer or septic system.

Like municipal sewer clogs, Zink said, wipe-clogged septic tanks have to be vacuumed out. That can cost $200 or more. If wipes have clogged the inlet pipes, snaking could cost another $200 or more. And some of the newer septic system have filters installed, which cost another $100 or so to clean.

Damage suits

Six lawsuits claiming damage from flushable wipes are pending before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein. Each charges negligence, breach of contract and breach of warranty on the part of wipe manufacturers and distributors.

To me, all flushable means is they will flush down the toilet, maintains Ansonias DAlessio. Unfortunately, they dont decompose like toilet paper.

Instead, they retain their strength in the sewers, added Brian Capozzi, the Ansonia Water Pollution Control Authority superintendent.

Take one, wet it and twist it, Capozzi said. Try to pull it  it doesnt tear.

But Dave Rousse, president of the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, disagrees.

Only 7 percent of the wipes marketed are designated as flushable, Rousse said. These are made out of cellulose, not plastic. They are bound together at the point of use and then they start to pull apart.

Rousse blames backups on people tossing the other kinds of wipes down their toilets. Still, he recommends no more than two flushable wipes go down a toilet at one time.

What we need to do is work with the wastewater sector to develop an awareness campaign that the toilet is not a trash can, Rousse said. I believe if we do this properly, people will do the (right) thing if they know whats happening downstream.

He likened the campaign to the one that brought awareness of the need to recycle rather than throw plastic bottles in the trash. He also suggested all boxes of nonflushable wipes contain a warning symbol with a line drawn through a person dropping items down a toilet.

Then all someone has to do is look at the symbol, and they will know that product is not flushable, he said. They dont have to read a lot of words.

Warning letters

The Ansonia WPCA plans to send a notice with its bills, advising residents what not to put down drains.

Grease, baby and kitchen wipes and other foreign objects that enter the sewer system cause damage to the pump stations and block up sewer lines, the letter said. If it can be determined where the foreign object came from, the owner will be billed for the damage and man hours.

Ansonia would not be the first area municipality to warn residents of the issues. Stratford sent out a two-page letter advising its residents not to flush down the following: fats, oils and grease, paints and stains, motor oil or auto fluids, household cleaners and lawn care products, paper towels and napkins, medicines and needles, egg shells and fruit pits, coffee grounds and beauty products.

It all comes down to the three ps,  said Johnston, of Milfords crew. Only poop, pee and toilet paper should be flushed.

mmayko@ctpost.com, 203-330-6286
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Norwalk police have uncovered a drug factory in a rented Rowyaton Woods condomium room where they seized more than 670 bags of packaged heroin and another 49 grams of the drug.

The 49.1 grams of heroin powder, when processed with cutting agents, has the capability of filling more than 3,000 individual bags for street sale, police said. Also found were more than 7,000 empty bags ready to be bagged with the drug, an electronic scale, multiple ounces of cutting agents, an electronic blender for processing heroin and cutting agents, hundreds of rubber bands and an ink stamp for marking the heroin, named REVENGE.

Officers also said the owner of the condominium never knew the room she rented was being used a stash place for one of the biggest drug operations in Norwalk.

Lt. James Walsh, of the Special Services Division, said the girlfriend of a man who was arrested earlier this month for heroin distribution, was taken into custody and busted on multiple drug charges. They say she was continuing the drug operation while her boyfriend was behind bars.

Police said Saturday that the woman arrested - Hilary Guillen, 21 of 6 Leuvine St. - is the girlfriend of Sylvester Edwards, who was arrested on April 6. Edwards and an associate, Michael Ross, were arrested when a search warrant was executed at 6 Leuvine St. During that search, 496 bags were located, along with a large amount of unpackaged heroin.

Guillen was not home on Leuvine Street when the warrant was executed last week.

The Leuine Street address is about four miles from the Rowyaton Woods condominium.

This operation was a lot more sophisticated than we had originally thought, said Walsh. They had rented a room from an unknowing landlord and changed the locks and were running a heroin packaging and processing operation there.

This investigation stemmed from a joint operation between the State Police Statewide Narcotics Taskforce southwest office and the Norwalk Police Department Special Services Division. It follows a new crackdown that federal prosecutors announced this week to bust heroin dealers in Connecticut in what lawmakers have characterized as an epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse and overdoses.

The secret stash location

Walsh said information had been gleaned that this stash location was the spot where the majority of the narcotics were stored and were packaged for distribution. With limited information, hours of surveillance was conducted on Guillen over the past several days to identify the location of the stash house. At approximately 2:15 p.m. Thursday, investigators followed Guillen to a location inside the Rowayton Woods Condominium complex. Guillen entered the location and left shortly thereafter.

Guillen was later stopped on Flax Hill Road for numerous motor vehicle violations, including talking on a cell phone and having tinted windows on her vehicle.

During the traffic stop, a police service dog was brought to the scene. The dog had a positive indication for narcotics being inside the car, a further search of the car by the K9 indicated a strong positive indication on the driver seat, Walsh said. A female officer was brought to the scene and a search was conducted on Guillen. A plastic bag found in Guillen" pants containing six bundles of heroin (60 bags) was located. A bundle is 10 bags of heroin banded together for easier distribution.

Police said all the bags containing heroin were stamped "REVENGE."

Guillen was transported back to police headquarters where she was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of narcotics with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of drug paraphernalia within 1,500 feet of a school, operating a drug factory, operation of a motor vehicle while using a hand-held telephone or mobile electronic device, operating a motor vehicle without a license, failure to wear seatbelt and failure to have a tinted window sticker.

She is being held on $250,000 bond and will appear in Norwalk Superior Court on April 29.

Police: Condo owner didnt know

Police said they interviewed the owner of the unit that Guillen was seen entering and leaving at the Rowayton Woods condos.

The occupant, who was the owner of the condominium, stated she had rented a room to Hilary Guillen in December 2015, Walsh said. The owner further stated that Edwards (Guillens boyfriend) was a frequent visitor to the rented area of her house.

Police then secured the residence and applied for a warrant to search the rented condo. Upon execution of the search warrant, officers discovered a full heroin drug factory in the rented room, which had been kept, locked from the owner, Walsh said.

Evidence was also located inside the room that both Edwards and Guillen had dominion and control over the premises and were operating a drug factory to facilitate their heroin distribution in the city of Norwalk.

Investigators will be pursuing charges against Edwards as a result of the heroin found in the stash house.

At this time, investigators believe that the homeowner was not aware of the activities being conducted by Edwards and Guillen.

Crackdown to contuinue

Last Tuesday, the U.S. Attorneys Office and Drug Enforcement Administration announced two new cash injections for investigation and enforcement. Department of Justice officials said they will focus on drug dealers who distribute heroin, fentanyl or opioids that cause death or serious injury to users.

Prosecutors said they had developed a protocol calling for local police to fast-track fatal overdose investigations an preserve evidence from them, as well as loop in DEA agents.

The police protocol will allow investigators to preserve evidence critical to identifying and convicting those responsible for distributing these drugs, Deirdre Daly, the states top prosecutor, wrote in the announcement. Our aim is to prevent additional deaths and to hold accountable those who distribute these deadly drugs.
In 1860, New York Sen. William H. Seward arrived at the Republican National Convention with a plurality of delegates in his back pocket.

Secure in his front-runner status, he never expected defeat at the hands of a former congressman from Illinois.

No one did. No one expected Abraham Lincoln to win the Republican nomination that year, but where would our country be if he hadnt proved the naysayers wrong?

Like President Lincoln, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is frequently underestimated. He is also the only Republican candidate in the race who stands a chance at winning the general election in November. Now that Julys Republican Convention is in our line of sight, the path forward for Kasich is becoming clearer.

Its an uphill climb for Ohios governor, but Connecticut can make a positive difference by electing the most qualified and capable candidate for President.

Kasich is best equipped to be President for a number of reasons. As chairman of the Budget committee in Congress, Kasich led the effort to balance the federal budget. As Governor, he led the revitalization of Ohios economy, achieving growth and sustainability, by applying conservative principles and taking on the status quo, he turned Ohios projected $8 billion budget shortfall into a $2 billion surplus, helped create nearly 400,000 new jobs and lifted up people once forgotten by the economic recession.

Kasich is a compassionate leader in maintaining the safety net to protect the most vulnerable and at-risk Ohio citizens. Better education, health care, pathways up and out of poverty, support for the disabled, addicted and mentally ill. Kasich is producing results in all these areas so we, as Americans, can rise and succeed together.

He believes that prosperity isnt a goal in itself, but a tool that can also make America stronger  for everyone. Government must be reformed and streamlined to offer taxpayers the value they deserve and ensure that those in need receive the help that makes a positive difference. In Connecticut, we urgently need this kind of proven leadership.

Kasich can win the nomination and general election  and it starts with a Connecticut primary victory.

First, we are most likely headed for a contested convention. Donald Trump would have to win over half of the remaining delegates to lock down the Republican nomination before the convention, a victory rate he has yet to reach thus far. Ted Cruz would have to win 88 percent of the available delegates, even more unlikely given that he has only won 30 percent until now. Kasich is heading into contests in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, Pacific and Northeastern states  including our own  that are a natural fit for his brand of conservatism. A contested convention is not a given, but it becomes more realistic as time and state primaries pass and no candidate reaches the required majority of 1237 delegates.

Second, contested Republican conventions have a history of producing nominee winners who have two things in common: they didnt enter the convention with the highest number of delegates and they are more electable in the general election than the other candidates. Out of 10 contested conventions since 1856, seven have produced nominees who did not begin as front-runners. Six have produced eventual presidents. John Kasich is the only Republican candidate who fits the bill, so he is likely to become the white knight candidate who emerges victorious in the GOP national convention in July.

When matching Republican candidates in a head-to-head battle with Hillary Clinton in a general election, the results are telling. On average, recent national polls2 show Clinton defeating Trump and Cruz by 10 and 3 percent, respectively. Kasich, on the other hand, is polling ahead of Clinton by 6 points. Without a doubt, John Kasich is the only Republican who can beat Hillary Clinton in a general election, particularly crucial swing states, and win the White House.

The party of Lincoln has the opportunity to win the Presidency in 2016. Kasich has conducted himself with class and civility during the long primary campaign. Lets make Connecticut matter and elect a responsible leader who has achieved positive change and results through governance, rather than espousing anger and empty rhetoric to raise false hopes.

State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-28, represents Fairfield, Southport, Westport, Weston, Easton and Newtown for the 28th District in the CT General Assembly. He also is Connecticut state chairman of the Kasich for America Leadership Team. Email: tony@tonyhwang.org.
General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt admits hes not in love with the Red Sox. After Bernie Sanders called out GE for greed, Immelt lashed out at the Democratic presidential candidate, writing that the company he heads has never been a big hit with socialists.

Wow. A chief executive willing to distance himself from Red Sox Nation as his company moves onto its turf  and take on Sanders in the land of sister revolutionary, Senator Elizabeth Warren.

If only Immelt could channel that cockiness into another kind of boldness: a commitment to speak out on local economic policy, now that GE got its tax abatements and other corporate welfare perks. Boston could certainly use a CEO who thinks of leadership as more than chairing the United Way.

When David DAlessandro headed John Hancock Financial Services, he was one of those rare, fearless CEOs. Known for his acerbic observations, DAlessandro sold Hancock to Canadas Manulife in 2004. It was part of a depressing trend. As Boston lost a core of local headquarters to industry consolidation, its corporate tea weakened.

The Boston public company CEOs are a shadow of days past, said DAlessandro, who hasnt lost the tartness. They act like its a club they have finally attained membership in and play it safe publicly. No point of view. No risk-taking. No courage.

Its different in New York, said DAlessandro. There, CEOs feel a responsibility to represent not just employees and shareholders, but the greater community as well  not just by giving money, he explained, but by taking a very public stand on important issues. Boston CEOs fear being hit by lightning if they were to do so  like supporting raising taxes even if it was the right thing to do.

It wasnt always so. Hancock lobbied successfully for corporate tax breaks. But the company also got behind tax hikes. Back in 2001, DAlessandro and Hancock joined forces with Jack Connors, the legendary head of Hill Holliday, the great Boston ad agency, to support a proposed property tax increase. Fidelitys Ned Johnson poured money into a campaign to defeat it, and the ballot question failed. At least no one hid behind the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

In 2002, when Massachusetts tax collections plummeted, Boston business leaders also spoke out in favor of delaying an income tax rollback. Saying he had no problem with a tax-cut freeze, Connors said, The people who are getting hurt here can least afford to be hurt. Said DAlessandro at the time: I feel really strongly about delaying the tax cut. If we dont do something, the economy will lag even longer. Asked to assess the impact of higher income tax rates, DAlessandro declared, It wont cut Hancocks business.

Now, consider Immelts response when asked about a constitutional amendment to implement a so-called millionaires tax at the recent press conference called to roll out GEs plans for its new Boston headquarters: I think whatever happens, happens, and will impact us just like it impacts everybody else. Really, I think, believe it or not, most days what we think about is how we can sell more jet engines and gas turbines and we let the rest of the chips fall where they may.

Well, its a start. At least, he didnt slam the door shut, and he shouldnt. After all, revenue raised from this proposed income tax surcharge would be targeted to education and infrastructure. That would help GE employees and their families. The same is true of a proposed property tax surcharge for Boston that would set aside new revenue for affordable housing and open space.

It takes a real leader to frame that as a benefit, not a burden, to business. Imagine if Immelt did that.

Joan Vennochi is a Boston Globe columnist.
BRIDGEPORT  A West Haven teen is accused of threatening to kill a Stratford girl  sending her a photograph of him pointing a gun  after she refused to go to the prom with him.

Trevon Malik Avery, 18, of Washington Avenue, was charged Friday with first-degree threatening, second-degree harassment and second-degree breach of peace.

During an arraignment hearing, state Superior Court Judge William Holden ordered the teen confined to house arrest with the exception of going to school, and issued a protective order requiring Avery to stay away from the girl.

The judge continued the case to May 11.

Police said the 17-year-old girl told them she had broken up with Avery on Thursday and refused to go to her high school prom with him. She told police she subsequently began getting threatening text messages from Avery.

N dont honestly care who u tell bro, dad, superman whoever they could get it too, one of Averys texts read, according to police.

They said the girl showed them a photograph on her phone of Avery pointing a handgun into the camera. Police said the girl told them he had never acted this way toward her before, and that she became frightened and decided to call for help.

Stratford and West Haven police went to Averys home. They said he answered the door and, when he saw it was the police, ran back into the house. A short time later, Averys mother came to the door, and police said she agreed to turn her son over to them.

Police said Avery told them he had only been joking and the gun wasnt real, but he didnt know where it was.

While in the back of a police car, Avery kept yelling, You dont understand, the gun was not real. Its a joke, police said.

West Haven officers told the Stratford officers they are familiar with Avery and that he runs with a rough crowd that causes a lot of problems in the area, police said.

The arrest renewed memories of a Milford slaying with some similar circumstances.

Last month, Christopher Plaskon, now 18, pleaded no contest to fatally stabbing 16-year-old classmate Maren Sanchez on April 25, 2014, in a hallway at Milfords Jonathan Law High School after she refused to go to the prom with him, police said.

Plaskon faces 25 years in prison when he is sentenced June 6.
International conference on languages in Eastern Cuba in April

Submitted by: Juana

Education

Events

Holguin

international

04 / 16 / 2016



The 10th International Conference on foreign languages, communication and culture (WEFLA), sponsored by the Department of Canadian studies at the University of Holguin, will be held in the resort of Guardalavaca from April 27 and 29.

The essential premise of the meeting is encouraging the exchange of ideas and experiences among professionals, academics and students to strengthen the bonds of friendship not only with Canada, but also with other nations.

Other topics under analysis are referred to translation and interpretation, various aspects of culture, linguistic processes and French language in Cuban universities, which lack programs contributing to postgraduate studies of professionals in this field.

The event is expected to be attended by 200 delegates, including 130 foreigners from 13 countries like Canada, USA, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Spain and Belgium.

The conference on foreign language communication and culture, which began in 1996 with an international character, has received to date more than 350 professors from 70 universities and Canadian institutions.


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.
Lifestyle | Daily Life | News | The Sydney Morning Herald

Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later.

Dismiss
For a snapshot of Britains demographic crisis, consider four items from this weeks news  each linked by a common thread that the Left prefers to ignore.

Item One: a gang of African benefit fraudsters, who ripped off taxpayers to the tune of more than 4million over 20 years, are still in the UK after serving their sentences, despite supposedly being subject to automatic deportation.

Two members of the nine-strong conspiracy  asylum-seekers from the safe country of Uganda  are photographed walking carefree down a London street. Each now takes home 500 a month in benefits after claiming to suffer from depression. Their smiles say it all.

Dennis Kyeyune (left) and Lamulah Sekiziyuvu (right) were both members of a notorious nine-strong gang that stole more than 4million in benefits over 20 years

Item Two: a minister admits that GPs are legally obliged to register all patients claiming to come from the EU, even those with no form of identification. Thus illegal immigrants can secure expensive treatment, courtesy of taxpayers.

Item Three: monthly NHS figures show A&E waiting times are the longest on record, with almost 230,000 patients in need of urgent treatment being left for at least four hours before being dealt with.

Item Four: with National Offer Day coming up on Monday, it is predicted that unprecedented numbers of children will miss out on their parents first choice of primary school.

As the shortage of places intensifies, as many as 80,000 are likely to be sent elsewhere, with some 20,000 expected to have all their choices rejected.

A picture emerges of a Britain whose public services are buckling under the weight of numbers, as the population relentlessly expands.

And a significant factor in this population growth, of course, is the epic-scale immigration that most of the Left prefers to ignore (though Jeremy Corbyn positively welcomes it).

While we remain in the EU, there is nothing we can do to control the numbers from within the club. But in theory we can shut the door on those from outside.

Yet as the broad smiles of those depressed Ugandan benefit fraudsters show so clearly, even those who grotesquely abuse our hospitality are too often able to stay, while our schools and hospitals struggle to cope.

Yes, many migrants work exceptionally hard, often in low-paid jobs that Britons wont accept. But how much more strain can our public services take?

Where ministers and courts have the power to limit numbers, they must use it. As for EU migration, the Government may yet be able to control this too. That is for the people to decide on June 23.

Dont meddle, Obama

How can the President contemplate patronising the UK by advising us to remain locked in a relationship that Americans would reject as unthinkable?

In other circumstances, this paper would throw open its arms to welcome the President of the United States to Britain.

He is, after all, our most powerful ally. And despite the present incumbents manifold failings in foreign policy, his country remains the ultimate guarantor of our security and the Wests way of life.

But if, during his visit next week, Barack Obama intends to repeat his advice that we should remain in the EU, we cannot help feeling less than hospitable.

As the President knows very well, Americans wouldnt agree in a million years to join an organisation like the European Union, submitting to laws made by foreigners and allowing judges in, say, Mexico City to overrule the Supreme Court in Washington.

Nor would they tolerate for one second the kind of statist, socialist legislation that spews from Brussels.

So how can the President contemplate patronising the UK by advising us to remain locked in a relationship that Americans would reject as unthinkable?
Hallelujah! Next week Sir John Chilcot will finally send his two-million-word-long report on the Iraq war to David Cameron.

The news  confirmed in Parliament on Thursday  brings to an end this long-running scandal. Seven years have passed since Sir Johns report was commissioned  and it will be delivered more than five years late.

There is, however, an equally serious stain on Britains integrity concerning alleged crimes committed during the Blair years that will also shortly start to bubble to the surface.

This concerns torture  and in particular a police investigation into British involvement 12 years ago in the kidnap and subsequent treatment of Abdul-Hakim Belhaj, an exiled Libyan politician, who was suspected of connections with Al-Qaeda.

This concerns torture  and in particular a police investigation into British involvement 12 years ago in the kidnap and subsequent treatment of Abdul-Hakim Belhaj, pictured

Briefly, Belhaj  a known dissident of Libyas Colonel Gaddafi  was living in China in 2004 when he decided to seek asylum in Britain.

While en route here, he was abducted at Bangkok airport in Thailand by U.S. authorities  after a reported tip-off by British intelligence  and flown to Libya to be locked up and tortured.

The police started looking into the case more than four years ago. Alison Saunders, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Crown Prosecution Service, must decide whether to prosecute.

If she gives the green light, it will lead to one of the most sensational trials in British political history.

We could see a former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in the dock, charged as a participant or accessory to the Common Law offence of kidnapping, as well as a statutory offence of torture under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. This carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

We could also see a former senior MI6 officer, Sir Mark Allen, charged with the same set of offences. It is not inconceivable that Mr Straw and Sir Mark could appear alongside one another as co-defendants.

The police investigation into the Belhaj case followed a chance discovery by Human Rights Watch as they wandered through Colonel Muammar Gaddafis Tripoli after the dictator had been killed at the end of the 2011 Libyan uprising.

Amidst the ruins they found correspondence between Sir Mark Allen, a senior MI6 officer, and Moussa Koussa, Gaddafis head of Intelligence. It suggested MI6 had helped in sending Belhaj to Libya, where he was imprisoned and tortured.

Sir Mark congratulated Gaddafis intelligence boss on the safe arrival of Abdul-Hakim Belhaj. He wrote: This is the least we could do for you and for Libya to demonstrate the remarkable relationship we have built up over recent years.

On the face of things, the case for prosecution is compelling  especially as neither MI6 nor Sir Mark has challenged the authenticity of the letters. The possibility of such a trial has, however, sent gasps of horror through Whitehall. This may help explain why the criminal investigation has been subject to a series of inexplicable delays.

We could see a former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in the dock

The police took more than two years to carry out their initial investigation and I am told that they started to pass on their evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service in the autumn of 2014.

Normally, it takes the CPS a few months at most to decide whether or not to prosecute. Particularly, as in this case, when the evidence  in the shape of Sir Marks letters  appears to be so clear-cut.

Those who follow the case believe there have been two principle causes of delay. They say the first stems from dramatically differing accounts of events from MI6 on the one hand, and the Blair government on the other.

Those who understand how MI6 works are adamant that patriotic British intelligence officers would never have become involved in illegal activity  let alone kidnap or torture  without clear approval or authority from at least a minister of Cabinet rank.

However, Jack Straw, who was Tony Blairs Foreign Secretary at the time Belhaj was abducted, has repeatedly denied any knowledge of so-called extraordinary rendition  the official euphemism for kidnapping and transporting someone for torture to a country which tolerates such practices.

Mr Straws denial to Parliament when he was Foreign Secretary could hardly have been more emphatic: Unless we all start to believe in conspiracy theories and that the officials are lying, that I am lying, that behind this there is some kind of secret state which is in league with some dark forces in the United States  and also, let me say, we believe that Secretary Rice [Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State under George W. Bush] is lying, there simply is no truth in the claims that the United Kingdom has been involved in rendition, full stop.

One can only feel great sympathy for Alison Saunders, as she faces what is possibly the most momentous decision of her time as Director of the CPS.

Should she prosecute a former Foreign Secretary? A former senior British intelligence officer. Both? Or should she let the matter rest?

For it is a near certainty that Ms Saunders may come under pressure to scrap the case.

That would be known in higher legal circles as the Shawcross option, after the post-war Labour Attorney General Sir Hartley Shawcross, who once said: It has never been a rule in this country  I hope it never will be  that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution.

Shawcross held that there are circumstances where the public interest overrides the requirement that justice must be seen to be done.

IT'S TIME FOR NIGEL FARAGE TO EAT SOME HUMBLE PIE This week Nigel Farage bowed to the inevitable and made his peace with Vote Leave, which has been chosen by the Electoral Commission as the official voice of the Out campaign. Until now Mr Farage has refused to have anything to do with Vote Leave, preferring instead to split the eurosceptic movement by joining forces with Ukip donor Arron Banks, who is backing Leave.EU and Grassroots Out. There are still fences to be mended, however. A few weeks ago, rising Brexit star Suzanne Evans was suspended from Ukip for unspecified acts of disloyalty  in reality, joining Vote Leave, where she is now on the board. History has shown that Suzanne Evans made the right judgment on Vote Leave, while Nigel Farage got things wrong. Ukip needs to stretch out the hand of friendship to Ms Evans and bring her back into the party. Otherwise the Leave campaign will continue to be dogged by unnecessary splits which will ultimately damage the common campaign to take Britain out of the European Union. Advertisement

Versions of the Shawcross defence were subsequently applied to avoid the prosecution of British soldiers during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. They were also brought into play to halt a potential criminal prosecution of defence giant BAE, following allegations it had been involved in bribery when trying to sell arms to Saudi Arabia.

Many senior politicians and security personnel would love to see the Shawcross option invoked for the Belhaj case. They maintain  and many would agree  that Sir Mark Allen and Jack Straw are British patriots who would never sanction an immoral act.

But Alison Saunders must also consider the message that using the Shawcross option would send across the world.

Lets recollect the circumstances of Mr Belhajs abduction in more detail. He was with his pregnant wife in China when they decided to seek asylum in Britain.

On trying to leave the country, they were detained and deported to Malaysia where they were held for several weeks, before being told they could travel to the UK  but only via Bangkok.

After being abducted by U.S. authorities in Bangkok, they were brutally interrogated in a secret prison, before being rendered to Gaddafis torturers in Libya.

Belhajs pregnant wife was punched, bound, and denied medical care, while Belhaj himself spent the subsequent six years in jail  years in which he endured hideous punishment at the hand of Gaddafis henchmen.

If the Sir Mark Allen correspondence is authentic, we know the British state has potentially been involved in a very serious crime indeed. Can we just leave it at that?

The fact is that the Belhaj case, after all this time, is starting to look like yet another government cover-up.

I do not know the precise facts that Alison Saunders must take into account as she contemplates her truly grave decision.

But I sincerely believe we need to come to terms with the truth about Britains involvement in torture during the dark period when we were George W. Bushs closest allies in the so-called War on Terror.
The reputation of our overseas aid has taken a serious knock. The series of stories on the pages of this newspaper has shown how substantial sums of aid money are being misspent, stolen or simply blown in thick layers of bureaucracy.

I am proud we punch well above our weight in the league table of global generosity.

But the well from which that generosity is drawn is not bottomless.

This is why we need this new debate on the aid target, following The Mail on Sunday campaign backed by almost a quarter of a million people. For I have seen aid work in my mother's birthplace of Sierra Leone  but I have also seen the way it is wasted.

'I have seen aid work in my mother's birthplace of Sierra Leone (pictured)  but I have also seen the way it is wasted,' writes James Cleverly

In tough financial times it is understandable if taxpayers get infuriated when their money fails to get through to those truly in need.

Left unchecked, such anger threatens to undermine both British aid and British interests.

Visiting Sierra Leone last month, I saw how our cash helped stabilise the country after civil war and end the terrible ebola outbreak. Now it focuses on helping the nation feed itself and fend for itself in the event of future medical emergencies.

But that trip to West Africa also showed how easy it is for an economy to be distorted by wrongful aid spending.

I saw fleets of pristine white 4x4 vehicles among the battered vehicles driven by local people. And I saw luxury hotels filled with aid workers, not tourists or business travellers.

A country can easily become addicted to aid money when enough is spent to prevent collapse but not to kickstart sustainable change. We should help countries break free from the need for aid. Yet instead we have ended up with the focus on a target for spending, not on the actual needs of poor places.

The reputation of our overseas aid has taken a serious knock and the series of stories on the pages of this newspaper has shown how substantial sums of aid money are being misspent (pictured, aid workers in Sierra Leone)

I dislike the idea of spending being used as a proxy measure for compassion. This works against financial efficiency, leading people to focus on spending cash quickly rather than effectively. So I will champion the cause of ditching this outdated target, because it makes success an enemy. After all, if a country no longer needs your money it makes it harder to hit that target  yet the sums needing to be spent will grow as our economy grows.

The British people want to help the global poor but public confidence in aid policies is essential. Voters want to know their money is making a real difference to the world and reaching the right people.
One senior official at BMA wanted emergency paediatric care to be exempt

A split has opened up within the hardline doctors' union over whether this month's all-out strike should affect babies and sick children.

One senior official in the British Medical Association (BMA) wanted emergency paediatric care to be exempt from this month's walkout  but he was voted down.

Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee, warned other union members that withdrawing care from sick children would be a 'difficult line to defend'.

Junior doctors during a strike earlier this month outside North Middlesex Hospital, Edmonton, North London

In an email to members of the committee sent on March 21 that was leaked to the Health Service Journal, he said: 'Having taken a lot of very private soundings and talked to lots of people I am going to suggest that any full withdrawal of labour excludes emergency paediatric services.

'I hope the committee will support me in this decision. I think from a [communications] perspective and to try and ensure we get the sign up of [doctors] as well as retaining the reasonable ground, it is the right thing to do.'

In a second email he said: 'The reasoning being that doctors withdrawing care from children would be a difficult line to defend.'

But the committee rejected his plea and agreed that the full withdrawal of care should go ahead as planned, on April 26-27.

The two all-out strikes will be the first time in the history of the NHS that doctors have completely walked out on all patients, even emergency cases. NHS Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh has warned they will cause 'irreparable damage' to the profession.

The two all-out strikes will be the first time in the history of the NHS that doctors have completely walked out on all patients, even emergency cases

The row centres on a new contract for junior doctors which will see them paid less for Saturday shifts.

The leaked emails are the first sign of a split within the union, which represents two-thirds of all doctors practising in England.

But many within the profession are strongly against the strikes and some have resigned from the BMA in a silent protest.

Last night Health Minister Ben Gummer said the emails were 'yet more evidence that the BMA should call off this dangerous and damaging strike'.
A drug hailed as a breakthrough that could transform the lives of people suffering from the debilitating lung condition cystic fibrosis has been rejected as too costly by the NHS medicines watchdog.

MPs and charities have condemned the decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to reject Orkambi, which has been shown to reduce infection and can cut the number of hospital admissions by more than 60 per cent in those with the lung condition.

The twice-a-day tablet thins mucus build-up in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) sufferers, preventing further damage and allowing the lungs to heal.

But in draft guidance, NICE says that at 104,000 a year, the drug isnt cost-effective.

Dylan Richmond, left, 16, and brother Callum, 14, right, both suffer from cystic fibrosis. Callum has been taking Orkambi since the start of this year and his lung function has improved

It adds that while Orkambi reduces a sudden worsening of symptoms requiring hospitalisation, benefits to lung function  a marker of how CF patients are improving overall  are modest.

Experts say that while not a cure, Orkambi could allow many to lead near-normal lives without the need for a transplant.

MPs have called for a reform of the way drugs are approved for NHS use. Labour Shadow Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said: Its no surprise NICE is having to make this type of decision when the NHS is facing financial crisis. Ministers need to give patients the assurance that reform of drugs pricing will finally happen.

Fellow Labour MP Ian Austin says the massive quality-of-life improvement Orkambi offers for sufferers  such as his constituent Carly Jeavons, who is taking the drug  must be considered.

He adds: Carly has had the opportunity to stay in work and live her life as she wishes, but thousands are set to miss out on these new drugs under the current rules.

'The Government has to work with NICE to ensure the rules on commissioning new treatments take account of the longer and more productive lives that these drugs offer.

About 10,000 Britons have CF. A transplant may be necessary if the lungs become extensively damaged, and average life expectancy is 41.

Orkambi is licensed to treat people who have a specific genetic defect known as the F508del mutation. About 2,750 people in England have this genotype.

The drug works to correct a faulty gene which causes a sticky mucus build-up in the lungs, causing infection, breathing difficulties and loss of lung function.

Global trials involving 1,100 CF patients found that lung function improved after 24 weeks in all patients taking Orkambi.

Labour MP Ian Austin, pictured, has urged NICE to consider the massive' quality-of-life improvements of the drug

The Richman family from Littleborough, Lancashire, are among those calling for the drug to be made available on the NHS.

Brothers Dylan, 15, and 14-year- old Callum both have CF. While Dylan had a lung transplant last year, Callum has been taking Orkambi since the start of this year as part of a programme funded by Orkambi manufacturer Vertex. He has responded well and his lung function has improved.

His father David said: Orkambi cant reverse the damage already done but it can keep Callum in good shape until the transplant.

Cystic Fibrosis Trust chief executive Ed Owen said: It would be ethically unforgivable if people with cystic fibrosis were treated like pawns in a bigger battle between the NHS and Vertex over price and longer-term impact.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the NICE centre for health technology evaluation, said: The NHS is a finite resource and we can only recommend treatments for routine funding that are both clinically effective and represent good value for money.
The Jungle Book Cert: PG 1hr 45mins

Rating:

I tend not to watch trailers much; not because I dont like them  I do  but because, these days, they simply give too much away. Hence this recent exchange in the hallway at home.

Why are you humming The Bare Necessities? asked my teenage son.

Because Im off to see the remake of The Jungle Book, I replied. Pause.

Have you seen the trailer? he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nope, why?

He grinned. Well, lets just say it looks darker and more serious than that  I dont think there are going to be songs.

The new Jungle Book is darker, more serious and probably 100 times more frightening than the 1967 original, but it does  after a long wait  feature songs

Oh, I thought.

In the event, it turns out we were both right. The new Jungle Book is darker, more serious and probably 100 times more frightening than the 1967 original, but it does  after a long wait  feature songs.

Two of them, in fact. We get The Bare Necessities at least a couple of times, together with a rewritten version of I Wanna Be Like You sung by a very strange King Louie.

According to the production notes given to the press, Scarlett Johansson may also have warbled her way through Trust In Me, but as shes voicing Kaa the Python and I absolutely hate giant, widescreen snakes in terrifying 3D, I had my eyes shut and have no memory of it.

But whether its two or three, there are definitely songs.

Which is either a sign of director Jon Favreau bravely going his own way but also sensitively acknowledging the iconic status of the original, or its the sign of a film thats actually a bit of a mess, where someone senior at Walt Disney looked at the work in progress and panicked.

Whaddya mean there are no songs? Stick some back in right now.

Mowgli turns out to be the sort of whiny American kid who says things like check this out, youre kinda cute and were buddies, arent we?

That would certainly account for some alarming changes in tone and at least one sequence that seems to belong to another film altogether.

But in saying that, Im aware that Im very much of the generation that wont easily give up its love for the life-enhancing original. That was a classic; this is not.

The problems with its successor dont take long to become apparent and begin with the animation.

Disney is currently preceding some of its films with a charming clip from the simple pen-and-ink drawings that got the whole thing started  Steamboat Willie from 1928.

Almost nine decades of technical advances later, the new Jungle Book shows just what has been achieved, employing a computer-assisted, photo-realistic style that is just a pip or two short of real life.

Sounds great, doesnt it? But, as other animated film-makers have discovered, photo-realism brings with it a whole new set of problems.

Old-fashioned cartoons are easy. We know theyre not real so we have no problem suspending our disbelief and enjoying the cartoon fun.

But with photo-realism you get these constant visual reminders that this isnt quite real.

As a result, we never quite believe in the world Favreau and his animators have created, never more than when the first almost-real-looking wolf opens his mouth and starts to speak.

Cartoon animals can speak  of course they can  but real ones?

Almost nine decades of technical advances later, the new Jungle Book shows just what has been achieved, employing a computer-assisted, photo-realistic style that is just a pip or two short of real life

You think people might have learnt that lesson with talking polar bears in the ill-fated The Golden Compass or talking dinosaurs in the creatively clever but commercially unsuccessful Walking With Dinosaurs.

But apparently not. Also, the setting looks more African savannah than Indian jungle, and that is so vital if a tiger, Shere Khan, is really to be the villain of the piece.

The voice cast is led by a bored-sounding Sir Ben Kingsley and the increasingly ubiquitous Idris Elba (after Zootropolis this is his second Disney voiceover in three weeks, with a third, Finding Dory, out in July) struggling to hit their dramatic stride.

And Mowgli turns out to be the sort of whiny American kid who says things like check this out, youre kinda cute and were buddies, arent we?

IT'S A FACT In 1967, when the original Jungle Book film was a hit, the English actor who voiced Baheera the black panther, Sebastian Cabot, issued a whole album of spoken recitations of Bob Dylan songs. Advertisement

But new generations may need a new Jungle Book to love, and things do improve, although I worry Favreau has made it too dark and scary for small children, particularly in 3D.

In the screening I went to, Shere Khans first attack had adults recoiling as the angry tiger apparently leapt straight out of the screen.

And I was cowering in horror at the prospect of Kaas much anticipated entrance, even if the giant serpent has had a change of sex and is now voiced by a suitably hypnotic-sounding Johansson.

But what gets us back on track is the arrival of Baloo the Bear (brilliantly voiced by the laconic Bill Murray), which requires a creative U-turn on Favreaus part.

Baloo doesnt look real (he wont be gracing The Revenant 2), represents a return to the joyous spirit of the original, and  at last  introduces not just comedy but song too.

Never have I been more pleased to hear a chorus of The Bare Necessities.

Its a shame the honey-collecting episode owes so much to Winnie-The-Pooh but not nearly as bad as whats happened to King Louie.

The king of the swingers has, despite fine voice work from Christopher Walken, been super-sized and turned into a character that is one part Kurtz from Apocalypse Now and one part King Kong.

Now that really does belong in another film.

Animation buffs  or keen-eyed small children  may note the films similarity to the rather good South African cartoon Khumba from 2013, but even die-hard devotees of the original will have to grudgingly acknowledge that it builds to a dramatic and well-worked law-of-the-jungle climax.

In other words, its definitely a Jungle Book movie, its just not my Jungle Book movie.

SECOND SCREEN

Eye In The Sky (15)

Rating:

Criminal (15)

Rating:

Despite The Falling Snow (12A)

Rating:

There are some things wrong with Gavin Hoods new military and political thriller, Eye In The Sky.

At 70 and 69 respectively, Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman seem a tad on the senior side to totally convince as serving army officers, even playing a colonel and general as they are.

Then theres the clandestine surveillance equipment, which at crucial points here mimics the winged flight of a bird and a beetle in a way that seems to owe more to the special-effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen (remember the original Clash Of The Titans?) than it does to state-of-the-art military technology. But maybe Im being naive.

Despite these hiccups, the rest of the movie, about a joint counter-terrorism operation between the British, American and Kenyan security forces, is seriously good.

Its meant to be a straightforward capture operation led by British colonel Katherine Powell (Mirren, pictured), who has been on the trail of a suspected British Islamist terrorist for six years and has finally tracked her down to a compound in Nairobi.

Powells calling the shots, the Americans are providing the drone cameras and ID technology and the Kenyan special forces are standing by to go in and arrest the suspect once everyone is sure theyve got the right woman.

Eye In The Sky is tense and convincing. Mirren is unexpectedly gung-ho and the already much-missed Rickman gets better as some slightly jarring moments of early comedy recede

And then this little flying beetle cam (nope, even as I write it, I still dont believe it) reveals preparations for an imminent terrorist attack. Suddenly, the operation has gone from capture to kill, but who is authorised to give the order to fire?

Is it the Brits or the Americans?

Is it a senior military officer or a civilian politician?

Eye In The Sky is tense and convincing, as this vital decision is passed ever higher up the chain of command on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mirren is unexpectedly gung-ho, the already much-missed Rickman gets better as some slightly jarring moments of early comedy recede, and Monica Dolan, as a principled junior minister, stands out from a strong supporting cast that also features Breaking Bads Aaron Paul and Captain Phillips star Barkhad Abdi.

Highly recommended.

The weeks other main offerings, alas, are not. Criminal is an unpleasantly violent thriller that starts falling apart as soon as someone asks Can you transfer memory from a dead mammal to a live one? and someone else answers with Probably.

The really depressing thing is that good actors such as Gary Oldman and Tommy Lee Jones are involved in this tosh.

Despite The Falling Snow is a ponderous Cold War thriller that simply isnt worth the effort. Set in both 1992 and the early Sixties, it tells the story of Sasha, a young Russian political apparatchik who defects to the West while on an official visit to New York, leaving behind the great love of his life, his wife, Katya.

Three decades later, his artist niece, Lauren, travels to Moscow to find out what happened to her.

Inexplicably, Mission: Impossible star Rebecca Ferguson plays both Katya and Lauren, despite the fact that  unless Im really missing something  theyre not related.
Advertisement

What's got into Sir Ian McKellen, the peerless actor who thrilled theatre audiences as King Lear and moviegoers as Richard III? Is he really kicking off our Shakespeare special by calling for a reading ban on the Bard? And what DID his great friend Derek Jacobi do to incur his wrath? It's curtain up on a class act...

Seeing a play first makes the words come alive, McKellen insists. If you see Shakespeare on stage, much of the difficulty goes. You may not understand every word but you get more than the gist, and long stretches of the plays are perfectly easy to understand

Nobody knows William Shakespeare better than Sir Ian McKellen. The veteran actor has played all the leading roles, from Romeo and Hamlet to Macbeth and King Lear  so it is a shock to hear him declare that the way the plays are taught in many schools is wrong  and most of us should stop trying to read them.

Reading Shakespeare is almost as difficult as reading Mozart on the page [from the musical notes], says McKellen in that deep, warm voice familiar to millions around the world who may never have seen a play by the Bard in their lives.

McKellen is a genuine Hollywood superstar: Magneto in the X-Men movies and Gandalf in The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings  the long, pointy hat worn by the kindly wizard sits proudly on a hat stand just inside the door of his home by the river in east London, startling visitors.

He appears grand but McKellen is also playful and candid when he wants to be, and today well talk about everything from his guest role in Coronation Street to what he shouted at best friend Sir Derek Jacobi  co-star of the highly camp sitcom Vicious  in a blazing row on holiday (Oh Derek! Dont be so stupid!).

Hell reveal how alarming it is to be heckled when youre trying to perform a play  as several West End stars have been recently  and why he wishes people would remember how to behave in the theatre (We want them to laugh, we want them to cry  what we dont want them to do is start texting their mates or joining in...).

This is a rare chance to glimpse the life of a man so private that he has just handed back a 1 million advance rather than finish writing his memoir (I didnt want to go back into my life and imagine things that I hadnt understood so far, he said).

Frankly, if anybody wants to know anything about my public life, my working life, my career, its all catalogued in greater detail on my website than could ever be put into a book.

McKellens passion is for William Shakespeare, and he is preparing to lead the celebrations that will mark 400 years since the playwrights death in April 1616. 'If youre telling the story of Othello and Iago, then youre telling the story of lives that are still current, he said

Were sitting out on the rooftop terrace of his home, on bright pink wooden chairs with rainbow cushions that I take to be a witty visual reference to his work as a gay rights campaigner.

The co-founder of the lobby group Stonewall did not come out publicly as gay until 1988, when he was 49 and so angry at the government of the day that he could no longer keep quiet.

His parents were no longer alive, but his stepmother just said she had known for years.

The pink chairs are also a sign that he doesnt take himself too seriously  as is Vicious, in which he and Sir Derek play an elderly gay couple, a pair of gossiping, bickering actors.

He was in a relationship with the director and actor Sean Mathias during the Seventies and Eighties, and they are now business partners who own the historic pub next door to his house, The Grapes, with the Russian newspaper owner Evgeny Lebedev.

Theres no obvious sign that he is sharing his home with anyone: they might have warned him that his sweatpants are a bit saggy and his lilac T-shirt looks like it has been nibbled by moths.

But he does have a gorgeous grey Ralph Lauren pashmina that he wraps tightly around himself like King Lear in the storm.

McKellens biggest passion is for William Shakespeare, and he is preparing to lead the celebrations that will mark 400 years since the playwrights death in April 1616.

Much has changed in the past 400 years but human nature hasnt really changed, he declares. Were all susceptible to falling in love and out of love, being jealous, envious, ambitious. So if youre telling the story of Othello and Iago, say, then youre telling the story of lives that are still current.

Incredibly, though, McKellen wants us all to put down our books and stop trying to learn the plays before weve seen them.

Its not what ordinary people should have to bother with. Thats for the actors to do. The plays werent written to be read, they were written to be spoken out loud and acted and for us as an audience to watch.

Seeing a play first makes the words come alive, he insists. If you see Shakespeare on stage, much of the difficulty goes. You may not understand every word but you get more than the gist, and long stretches of the plays are perfectly easy to understand.

Too many of us are put off Shakespeare at school by having to stare at pages of blank verse wondering what its all about, he says. Its a great pity if people who are new to Shakespeare, whatever their age, have to read him. They should go and see him.

Sir Ian is no fan of teaching Shakespeare by the book  as is still the case in the majority of schools. It worries me that you might easily be put off Shakespeare for life if thats how you start out, he said

McKellen has been performing on stage since his days at school in Wigan, Lancashire, in the Fifties  and he has won countless awards  but surprisingly, he still struggles with the scripts on the page.

I find it very difficult to read a play, even now. If I get a new one I have to hear it out loud before I can judge what its like.

And he is no fan of teaching Shakespeare by the book  as is still the case in the majority of schools. The idea of any children in their early teens with a teacher who has not quite worked out how to do this, so that it just comes down to reading and reading, perhaps speaking it out loud, maybe even standing up and acting out a little bit... it worries me that you might easily be put off Shakespeare for life if thats how you start out.

Theres a warmth about the way he says it that suggests he really does care. Hes been living at his east London home since the days when the Docklands were derelict and the houses were cheap, but now they are worth a fortune and so is he.

Not all of us can afford to go to the theatre, which is why he has worked with collaborators to come up with an astonishing new app for the iPad that brings the theatre to your lap.

Its all very modern for a 76-year-old who is often described as our Greatest Living Shakespearean, though he laughs when I mention that people say such things.

Oh, do they? Perhaps theyre right! he says, looking away, a hand up fluttering at his face. But its not something Im aiming for. I would not want to be someone who only did Shakespeare  there are many other delights.

McKellen smiles then sucks on a cigarette, eyes hidden behind sunglasses like an elderly rock star.

The big question people have been asking for years  and which is resurfacing as the anniversary approaches  is this: who exactly was Shakespeare, really?

McKellens old mate Sir Derek Jacobi is one of a growing number of actors, academics and experts who believe the plays were actually written by the Earl of Oxford, using a common player called Will Shakespeare as his frontman. Mark Rylance, the Oscar winner, is another who argues for this.

WILL I NEVER! Shakespeare only began writing sonnets because outbreaks of the plague closed down theatres in London between 1592 and 1594. As the demand for plays disappeared, the Bard started penning poetry to compensate.

The only thing Shakespeare left in his will to his wife Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than him when they married in 1582 and who bore him three children, was his second-best bed. Ouch.

We probably dont spell Shakespeares name correctly. Sources from his time show it spelled more than 80 different ways, including Shappere and Shaxberd. Shakespeare himself used abbreviations such as Willm Shakp.

Hitler designed a Shakespeare play: one of his 1926 sketchbooks shows a design for the staging of Julius Caesar, depicting the Forum with similar architecture to that of the later Nuremberg rallies.

Shakespeare is credited with introducing more than 1,700 new words and phrases. Ever been sent on a wild goose chase, turned into a green-eyed monster or regretted your salad days? Youre quoting the Bard. Advertisement

So is McKellen still clinging stubbornly to the traditional view that a man called William Shakespeare from a relatively humble background in Stratford-upon-Avon was the greatest genius in English literature? Oh yes. I think so. He freely concedes that others might also have been involved.

Its clear that Shakespeare wrote plays with other people, thats in the nature of the job. Odd as it may sound, every episode of [the American sitcom] Will & Grace is written by 12 people. There are 20 people who write Coronation Street. I did ten episodes and each was written by a different author, but the audience couldnt tell, they were brilliant at it.

His friends believe Shakespeare was too poorly educated to have written the plays himself.

Does it matter? Its evident to me that the man who wrote the plays loved the theatre. He thinks as an actor. One of Shakespeares greatest contributions to human thought is that All the worlds a stage and all the men and women merely players. Human beings act. Animals dont act. We disguise ourselves, we pretend. That all seems to add up to being some professional who was well steeped in theatre and doing this as a full-time job.

He may profess not to care too much but it mattered enough to cause a row with Jacobi, whose career has been equally stratospheric since they acted together as students. They still go away together.

I did say to Derek, late at night, when we were on holiday together one time, Come on Derek, just explain to me why you think what you do.

He said, No, Im not going to. Youll shout at me.

McKellen purses his lips in the telling and makes this anecdote sound like an episode of Vicious. They argued about whether Shakespeare went to a grammar school and tempers flared, says McKellen, who acts out what he bellowed at his friend: Oh Derek! Dont be so stupid!

The words echo across the water, startling a seagull. The actor looks sheepish. I did exactly what he had told me I was going to do. We havent talked about it since.

By the time he got to university, McKellen had seen half of Shakespeares plays and been in several of them.

My parents went to the theatre a lot  it was my main hobby as a child. I was never frightened of Shakespeare, bewildered or overwhelmed by him.

His first encounter was at the Little Theatre in his home town of Wigan when his big sister took him to see Twelfth Night at the age of nine. As she told me a bit of the story in advance, I didnt have any difficulty.

But it was at Cambridge that he first came across the challenge of a heckler in the audience and he was shocked.

The first time I walked on the stage as an undergraduate at the amateur dramatic club, some drunk who had just wandered into the theatre shouted, Get off! That was the first comment I ever heard from an audience.

There were more annoying disturbances when he began to play the leading roles such as Romeo and Hamlet. It can be very distracting if youre playing Hamlet and theres somebody on the front row with the script, not looking at you. Listening to you, following the text, turning the page and saying, Youve missed something out. All actors will say you can start a famous speech and there will be someone in the audience saying the words at the same time.

All this makes McKellen sympathetic to actors stopped in full flow, as Laurence Fox was recently when performing in London in The Patriotic Traitor.

Fox swore at the man, raged against him and left the stage early, refusing to come back for the curtain call.

McKellen sighs and wishes we would all behave. The convention these days is that the audience should respect the situation, which is that were all going to sit here and watch and appreciate what is in front of us. Of course we do want an audience to laugh and make a noise. We want them to cry, if that suits the situation. What we dont want is for them to start texting their mates about the play or joining in; thats not appropriate.

Benedict Cumberbatch pleaded with the audience coming to see him as Hamlet not to whip out their phones and start filming.

But were paying for the tickets, so why shouldnt we do as we please? Whats bad is that it disrupts the actors and puts off the rest of the audience who are trying to have a personal relationship with the play. To disrupt that in any way  by getting up to go to the loo, by whispering to your beloved, by videoing it or shouting out  all those things are just bad manners.

His movie Richard III  which was made in 1995 and has McKellen prowling around Battersea Power Station in a fascist uniform  will be shown live in cinemas around the country at the start of a month-long British Film Institute festival dedicated to depictions of Shakespeares work on screen.

Lets be honest, though, for every fine Hamlet by Kenneth Branagh (due to be screened by the BFI) isnt there a woeful one with Mel Gibson?

They are what they are: cinema. A film-maker is trying to make a good film, not good Shakespeare, though sometimes they do. Baz Luhrmanns Romeo + Juliet is spectacular and has a lot of Shakespeare in it. And a lot of other stuff as well.

McKellen will host a bus tour of the locations used in Richard III before taking off around the world to talk about the Bard for the BFI and the British Council.

McKellen is sympathetic to actors stopped in full flow, as Laurence Fox was recently when performing in London in The Patriotic Traitor . He said: 'It disrupts the actors and puts off the rest of the audience who are trying to have a personal relationship with the play'

His last great Shakespearean role on stage was back with the RSC as King Lear in 2008. Does he get nervous?

You cant start thinking, Ill never be as good as Gielgud. Your contribution is yourself. Forget all the rest and respond to the text as if it is new, as if Shakespeare is about to come into the rehearsal room and say, What the hell are you doing with my play?

McKellen prefers performing in small theatres because they are intimate. He believes in diversity but admits that theatre audiences are still predominantly white.

Isnt there a real danger that Shakespeare remains the preserve of rich, middle-class people who can afford up to 100 a time to see it?

Yes, and I think thats addressed by making sure there are some, if not many, cheap tickets. Its not ideal, I suppose. But its not got to the stage that opera has got to.

He points to videos of past productions and cinema screenings of live productions as examples of ways in which Shakespeare has been made more accessible.

And of course there are proper movies, although youve got to be careful with those, says McKellen. A film can be useful but the text can be cut to the bone.

All this has been weighing heavily on his mind, but McKellen has come up with his own remarkable  and potentially game-changing  solution to the problem of how to get more people to love Shakespeare.

He has developed a new app for the iPad with Heuristic Media that takes the user into the rehearsal room for an intimate performance of the play.

Actors speak their parts directly to the camera, while the words scroll down at the same pace on the bottom half of the screen.

The Tempest is the first to get this treatment, with Jacobi leading the cast, but there will be others.

Pat Stewart wants to do one. Morgan Freeman wants to do something. Stephen Fry... We want people who have done the plays.

You click on the script for access to notes from the scholarly Arden editions of Shakespeares plays, with explanations, definitions, essays and helpful videos, all graded according to whether youre a beginner, a fan or an expert.

Everybody who uses the app says, Oh, I see. Yes, this makes it easier. This is the equivalent of getting a Mozart manuscript then seeing and hearing the orchestra play.

McKellen is the son of an engineer from Wigan. Hed like to believe Shakespeare was the son of a glover from Stratford. But in the end it doesnt matter much to him.

It wouldnt make the plays any better for us to realise one day that Shakespeare was a woman, says McKellen, finishing with the flourish of a quote from Hamlet. It would be interesting but the plays would remain. The plays the thing!
Gregory Porter Festival Theatre, Edinburgh On tour until April 28

Rating:

It turns out Gregory Porter is massive in every sense of the word. In purely numerical terms, the 44-year-old Californian is a phenomenon.

His last album, 2013s Liquid Spirit, broke into the UK Top Ten, shifted a million copies worldwide, and became the most streamed jazz album ever.

Physically, too, Porter has the goods. Six-foot something and built like a particularly impressive Welsh dresser, he strolled on stage in a three-piece suit, dandyishly accessorised with bow tie, trainers and, yes, that hat.

Porters penchant for wearing a large cap with the straps pulled tight over his ears has become a key part of his image, though he has little need for such smart marketing angles.

Six-foot something and built like a particularly impressive Welsh dresser, he strolled on stage in a three-piece suit, dandyishly accessorised with bow tie, trainers and, yes, that hat

Because the third massive thing about Porter is his talent. This two-hour show was a masterclass from an artist at the top of his game.

He was aided by a superb quintet, led by pianist Chip Crawford. Although Porter allowed them the space to shine, both individually  yes, there was a drum solo  and as a collective, he led from the front with his voice. Its a deep, luxurious thing, but with grit, too.

Porter played with his vocal prowess like a cherished toy  sighing, whispering, crooning, scatting.

When he unleashed its full power the effect was devastating.

IT'S A FACT Porter describes his distinctive headgear as both his 'security blanket' and his 'jazz hat' - but has rather more prosaically explained that it covers a skin blemish caused by minor surgery. Advertisement

During the slyly seductive torch song Wolfcry, he hit a note so deep that the very walls of the theatre seemed to rumble.

Porter and his band flitted easily between styles, bouncing from skittish jazz workouts to slow, soulful R&B ballads to spare, almost abstract ruminations, such as the title track of his new album, Take Me To The Alley, out next month.

Its sombre formality was a reminder that Porter  who writes his own material  is also a lyricist of considerable skill, empathy and sometimes anger.

The sharp, mutinous funk of 1960 What?, from his debut album Water, recalled peak-period Gil Scott-Heron.

Other key influences popped up throughout the set.

Porter's upcoming album - Take Me To The Alley - a follow on from Liquid Soul, which is the most streamed jazz album of all time

There was a brief cover of The Temptations Papa Was A Rolling Stone.

The uptown swing of On My Way To Harlem paid homage to his jazz roots while name-checking Marvin Gaye.

On the ballad Dont Be A Fool, Porter found his inner Nat King Cole, while Consequence Of Love contained trace elements of Bill Withers.

The gorgeous Be Good had the feather-light elegance of a modern-day Mr Bojangles.

Whether throwing out light or bringing down shade, Porter was a genial, gentlemanly presence.

He treated us to a verse of his old high-school song, Mighty Scotsmen, and dedicated the New Orleans groove of current single Dont Lose Your Steam to his three-year-old son Demyan, watching from the wings.

Returning for a well-earned encore, he played No Love Dying, at the request of a six-year-old fan, then exited, shaking hands with the crowd.

Big heart. Huge voice. Giant star.

THREE GIGS TO SEE

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

SSE Hydro Glasgow Thursday, touring to April 30

Gallaghers solo career has been solid rather than spectacular, but he still knows his way around a proper tune. And for those pining for the heady days of Britpop, Noel and his Birds are the sole access point to the Oasis songbook

Nerina Pallot Union Chapel, London Monday, touring to Thursday

The Ivor Novello-nominated singer-songwriter jettisoned the pretty piano ballads on fifth album The Sound And The Fury in favour of bluesy, rhythmic, socially engaged songs shot through with grit and attitude. File the results somewhere between PJ Harvey, K T Tunstall and Nick Cave

Mark Lanegan Manchester Cathedral Tuesday, touring to May 3

The hard-living dark star of Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age possesses a battle-scarred baritone, all the better for his excursions into atmospheric Americana. These shows are billed as intimate and acoustic, so expect more shadows than sunlight

THIS WEEK'S CD RELEASES

By Adam Woods

Graham Nash T his Path Tonight Blue Castle, out now

Rating:

After his shift as peacemaker in Crosby, Stills & Nash, Graham fancies some me-time: a block on awful David Crosbys calls, a divorce at 74 and an album about lifes trials and new love. His songs are simple and sombre, decked, as ever, in harmonies. The guitar on Target mimics ex-girlfriend Joni Mitchells Nash break-up record Blue, but hes eyeing the path ahead

Andra Day Cheers To The Fall Warner, out Friday

Rating:
Cool dude: Iceland founder and ceo Malcolm Walker

Malcolm Walker is chief executive of Iceland, the frozen food store which he started in 1970.

It floated on the stock exchange in 1984, before Walker bought the firm back in 2012.

It currently has 860 stores across the UK. Walker, 70, is married to Rhianydd (Ranny) and has three children.

Whats the worst job youve ever had?

Working seven days a week as a deputy store manager for Woolworths.

It was what drove me to look for other business opportunities, including founding Iceland.

Toughest decision youve had to make?

Firing 400 people at head office when I came back to Iceland in 2005.

Actually it was one of the easiest decisions ever, because the business was on the brink of collapse and we had to act quickly and decisively to save it by freeing up the log jam of bureaucracy.

Whats the best piece of advice youve ever been given?

Keep attacking.

Whats the quality you most admire in others?

I often wonder how much more successful Id have been if only Id been more of a morning person. Apart from punctuality, the qualities I most admire in others are kindness, determination and a good sense of humour.

Whos had the biggest influence on you?

My wife Rhianydd (Ranny). Weve been together for over 45 years and without her support Im sure I would only have achieved a fraction of what I have done.

What would you change about your job?

The British attitude to frozen food. For some reason its perceived here as inferior to fresh food, when the opposite is almost always the case.

What else would you have named your firm?

We ran through a long list of other ice-related names when we set the business up, including Iceberg, Penguin, Igloo and Eskimo. It was my wife Ranny who came up with Iceland.

What was your earliest childhood ambition?

I wanted to be a joiner, mainly because I got an O-Level in woodwork.

What would you like to own that you dont possess?

A photo of myself holding an Iceland flag at the summit of Mount Everest. My son Richard and I made it as far as the North Col at 23,000ft in 2011.

If your young self could see you now, what would he say?
The president and his wife reported their lowest income since the beginning of Barack Obama's presidency on their latest tax return.

The White House released the document on Friday, revealing the Obamas - who filed jointly - made $436,065 in 2015.

They paid $81,472 worth of taxes, amounting to an effective tax rate of 18,7 per cent.

The president reported earning $61,000 from his books - a sharp decline from the millions he made when sales surged after his 2009 inauguration.

Scroll down for video

Barack and Michelle Obama (pictured at the White House last month) made $436,065 in 2015 according to their latest tax return, which the White House released on Friday

The 45 pages of documentation, which also include an Illinois state tax return, shows a presidential salary of about $395,00.

The Obamas, who also paid $16,000 in state taxes in Illinois, will be receiving a refund of nearly $23,000 overpaid to the IRS.

Obama and the first lady lowered their tax bill by claiming more than $145,000 in itemized deductions, including tax-deductible donations.

The couple reported making $94,889 from book sales last year. Obama's last book, The Audacity Of Hope, came out in 2006.

His first, Dreams From My Father, was first published in 1995 and was released again in 2004.

The first page of the document (pictured) shows that the Obamas filed jointly and lists their daughters Sasha and Malia as dependents

In addition to Fisher House Foundation, which has long been the Obamas' favored charity, the couple donated $5,000 to the Beau Biden Foundation.

It was established in honor of Vice President Joe Biden's son who died of brain cancer last year.

They contributed $5,000 to Sidwell Friends School, which their daughters attend, and gave smaller amounts to nearly three dozen charities including AIDS United, Habitat for Humanity, United Negro College Fund and the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation.

The Obamas also sold or redeemed roughly $1 million in Treasury notes, freeing up cash they could use for costs they'll face as they return to private life early next year.

Obama has said his family plans to stay in Washington for a few years until youngest daughter Sasha finishes high school, but their home is in Chicago.

The president's oldest daughter, Malia, will start college in the fall.

Issues of tax fairness and politicians' wealth have been at the center of this year's presidential campaign, driven largely by Bernie Sanders' calls for making the wealthy pay more and intense public interest in Donald Trump's personal wealth.

The president reported earning $61,000 from his books (pictured) - a sharp decline from the millions he made when sales surged after his 2009 inauguration. Dreams From My Father was first published in 1995 and was released again in 2004, while The Audacity Of Hope came out in 2006

Hillary Clinton has released 30 years of her tax returns, while Trump has refused to release any. Sanders said he also planned to release returns on Friday.

'While we've made progress toward ensuring that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share, there is more work to do,' White House spokesman Josh Earnest wrote in a blog post accompanying the release of Obama's taxes.

'We need to close special tax loopholes for millionaires and billionaires, and invest in the middle class.'

The vice president and his wife, Jill Biden, paid more than $91,500 in federal taxes last year on adjusted gross income of more than $392,000, for an effective rate of 23.3 percent.

They paid smaller amounts in state taxes in Delaware, where they own a home, and in Virginia, where Jill Biden works as a community college professor.

The Bidens reported more than $6,500 in donations to charity, including $2,400 to the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware.

They also gave $100 to 'Mother Emanuel' African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine parishioners were gunned down last year.

They claimed $300 in deductions for clothing donated to a Delaware clothing bank.
He opened eyes around the world with his exposure of surveillance by the NSA.

But Edward Snowden's next venture will target the world's ears, with the whistleblower set to release a techno tune as he makes his debut as an electronic dance music artist.

The fugitive intelligence contractor is releasing a track with acclaimed electronica star Jean-Michel Jarre, the Columbia record company announced on Friday.

Scroll down for snippet of Edward Snowden's song

Edward Snowden (right) set to release a techno tune as he makes his debut as an electronic dance music artist with Jean-Michel Jarre

The song - called Exit - is set to hit the charts on May 6 and features Snowden discussing digital surveillance to the backdrop of a lively electronic soundscape created by Jarre.

It is available to stream online and will appear on Jarre's forthcoming album Electronica Vol. 2: The Heart of Noise.

The pair were brought together by the Guardian after Jarre gave an interview and asked to be put in touch with the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who is now wanted on espionage charges in the United States.

'Edward is an absolute hero of our times. When I first read about him, it made me think of my mother,' Jarre saud,

'She joined the French resistance in 1941, when people in France still thought they were just troublemakers, and she always told me that when society is generating things you can't stand, you have to stand up against it.'

After being put in touch, Jarre, 67, travelled to Moscow to meet Snowden, 32, who lives in Russia in exile, and record the samples that feature on the track.

The song - called Exit - is set to hit the charts on May 6 and features Snowden (right) discussing digital surveillance to the backdrop of a lively electronic soundscape created by Jarre (left)

Other guest contributors on the album will include Gary Numan and the Pet Shop Boys.

Snowden became one of the worlds most wanted men in 2013 when stole classified documents from the NSA.

Snowden, who was a computer specialist at an intelligence centre in Hawaii, tricked colleagues into handing over passwords so he could copy up to 1.7million documents in one of the biggest leaks in US history.

He also leaked details of attempts by state spy agencies  including Britains GCHQ  to view citizens private information.

Snowden claimed internet history, emails, text messages, calls and passwords were harvested by spies.

And he made the highly damaging claim revelation that the U.S. had hacked Chinese computers and the communications of allies such as Germany and France.

The defence contractor claims he had to act because the US governments policies were a threat to democracy - but America consider him a traitor and he would face decades in jail if he ever returned.

He fled justice in the US to Hong Kong, then Russia, where he was granted asylum. Snowden is now stranded in Moscow as a fugitive after America took away his passport.

Intelligence chiefs believe he is now a puppet' passing details of military capabilities, operations and tactics to Putin's henchmen, although he denies taking any classified material to Russia.




The parents of a little boy suffering from a rare illness that has left him with tumours in his mouth, tongue, brain, spine and cheeks have opened up about their son's terrifying condition.

Rebecca and Luke Lilly, from Brisbane, Queensland have two sons, their youngest, Dexter, was born with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumours to grow throughout the body.

The diagnosis of the genetic mutation, and its growth has turned the family's life upside down as they learn how to make Dexter's life more comfortable.

Scroll down for video

Dexter Lilly, pictured here with his mum Rebecca has neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumours to grow throughout the body

The disease has caused tumours to grow in Dexter's head, this MRI shows how far the tumours spread (the grey matter on the left hand side of the image)

The family told Daily Mail Australia that the hardest part of their son Dexter's diagnosis is the fear of the unknown.

'It is the uncertainty that hurts,' Rebecca said.

'If he had cancer we would know what we had to do.

'We would be able to say ''ok this is how we attack'' even if it was a death sentence we would know what it was we were working with.'

The parents of two have no option but to continuously monitor their youngest son's condition, and take him to each of his 14 specialist for constant checkups.

Dexter (left), 2, (pictured with his brother Harrison, 5) was diagnosed neurofibromatosis just before his first birthday

Since his diagnosis the tumours have continued to grow and are now threatening his sight, hearing and ability to breathe

'Having to watch it is the worst thing in the world,' Luke said.

'The thing we struggle with the most is that regardless of anything happening the doctors always say there is nothing we can do.

'It isn't something you treat, so we just have to watch.'

At the moment the two-year-old has tumours in his spine and head.

The one in his head is causing the most concern for doctors and the Lilly family.

'The tumour is pressing against his right eye, ear and obstructing some of the airflow through his throat,' Rebecca said.

'He will lose the sight in his right eye, and it will affect his hearing but we don't know when.'

The most recent MRI gave Dexter's parents a sense of relief as it showed the tumour was not growing at a fast rate, which means it is less likely to be turning malignant.

The young family say the diagnosis turned their lives upside down because of the uncertainty surrounding it

Doctors have told the family they cannot act and must just monitor the spread of the disease

'The next MRI is in six months and will indicate if the tumour is growing slower or faster than Dexter,' Rebecca said.

Dexter was diagnosed with the rare disorder just before he turned one, after his mother refused to give up hope when a GP told her not to worry about 15 cafe au lait spots over her son's body, a telltale sign of the disorder.

'When we were told about the extent of the tumours he had our world just shattered, we had to rebuild our lives,' Rebecca said.

'Sometimes we have days where we don't want to get out of bed because we don't know how we can put on our sunny positive face for the boys, but we do.

'We are lucky to have Dexter, he is a wonderful child.'

Dexter's brother Harrison adores him and knows, to a certain extent, how sick his baby brother is.

'We don't want to hide it from him but we don't tell him everything because it is really scary,' Rebecca said.

Dexter, left, and his brother Harrison, right, are close with the older of the Lilly's children aware his brother is sick

She has also admitted giving up her job and going home to be with her son is exactly what her family needed.

She also said she isn't going to be looking for work anytime in the future because caring for her son and organising his specialist appointments is a full time job.

Dexter has 14 specialist who are each in constant communication about the development of his disease.

'Every specialist gives us their own list, it is vitally important but we feel so frustrated, all these specialists just give us a lot of these reasons why they can't make him better,' she said.

'There is none who can say what will happen because it is such a variable and unknown condition, he has a shortened life expectancy but no one can say what will happen.'

'Dexter's tumour have already partially deformed his face and will grow more quickly because there is no bone restricting it.'

Rebecca Lilly, left, left her job to become a full-time carer for her son after his diagnosis

Surgeons have told the family they cannot operate on the tumour because of how it interacts with the nerves in Dexter's body.

'It is too risky, because they can't tell the difference between the tumour and the nerves, and if they cut a nerve it will do more harm than good,' Rebecca said.

'The tumour also grows back very quickly which is why operating is not an option,' Luke said.

The tumour is currently blocking some of Dexter's windpipe.

'He wakes up screaming when it blocks his throat and he can't breathe,' Rebecca said.

'But he just settles himself and goes back to sleep.

'He doesn't know any different.'

The Lilly's say their son is a loud breather and that some nights they lay awake to make sure he doesn't stop. 'We try to do our best to be normal,' Luke said.

Dexter's future is uncertain because of how little information is available on the disease and because there is no cure or treatment

'But we have both agreed we have to live each day as it comes, we can't be on edge constantly and get bogged down in the horribleness of it all.'

Dexter may need the help of breathing machines at night if the tumour continues to take up more room in his throat.

'The worst case scenario is he will end up with a permanent tracheotomy to assist him full time.'

While Dexter is living a life of unpredictability, Rebecca maintains he is mischievous, determined and strong.

'We took him to the hospital the other day because he came down with pneumonia and it took four adults to hold him down so the doctor could give him an injection.

'This is after his physio said he has very little muscle tone which is a symptom of NF.'

Even though he is often in pain because of the tumours Dexter laughs a lot, according to his dad.

Each sufferer of NF presents with different symptoms, some are able to lead normal lives, others are impacted greatly

Dexter is described a s a strong and happy child by his parents who spend their lives constantly monitoring him

'He is always laughing he is just a very happy child.'

Dexter's right side is more sensitive to pain than his left because of the tumour growth he is experiencing there.

Dexter's aunt has kickstarted a crowdsourcing campaign to provide financial relief to the family of four, who rely only on her husband's teaching income to pay for his weekly appointments with 14 individual specialists.

They have raised more than $4000 so far and hope to bring Dexter into a clinical chemotherapy trial in Sydney to treat the tumours.

'We are really excited to be able to have our foot in the door with these trials.

'I guess what we want most is to raise awareness for NF.

The Lilly's want to raise awareness for the disease which affects one in 3000 children because like many other parents they had never heard of it before he was diagnosed

'When Dexter was diagnosed we had never heard about it, and even though it is classed as a rare disease it affects one in every 3000 children so people should know about it.

'We don't want to take any attention off any of the other diseases that need to be talked about but we do want to start a conversation about NF too,' Luke said.

Rebecca said she has found most people who have children with the genetic mutation hide it from their friends and family because they are scared.

There is no cure or treatment for the disease. It is also a broad disease which impacts each patient differently, with some able to lead normal lives while others like Dexter are quite severely affected.

Dexter's most recent MRI scan showed the tumour is growing at a moderate speed which was considered good news by professionals and the Lilly's
Eggheads star CJ de Mooi has revealed he is being questioned by police over the sexual assault of a man

An Eggheads star has revealed he is being questioned by police over the sexual assault of a 23-year-old man.

CJ de Mooi, who has regularly appeared on the popular quiz show since 2003, was allegedly banned from a BBC event and dropped by the show after police launched an investigation at the end of January.

The 46-year-old, who was not named when the news initially emerged, has now chosen to unmask himself, with a source claiming he feels persecuted after being 'hung out to dry' by the Corporation.

The source told The Mirror: 'He has seen his life and finances completely collapse. He's got nothing left. He feels that the BBC have hung him out to dry.

'He thinks his career is over and is demanding an apology from the police and the BBC.'

The claims refer to an incident around January 23 in Glasgow, when De Mooi is believed to have been out with two male friends.

He allegedly spent up to five hours in a police cell before being questioned and released. He said he was suspended from Eggheads the following day.

At the time, the BBC refused to confirm the identity of the celebrity, which police force was investigating the incident and any further details.

The corporation did, however, say that the celebrity was not taking part in any filming at the time.

The source has now alleged he is unable to compete in the Corporation's celebrity London marathon race due to the claims.

The latest news comes after De Mooi admitted he left a homeless man for dead after punching him and throwing him in a canal more than two decades ago.

The 46-year-old, pictured (centre) on the show, was allegedly dropped by the show and banned from a BBC event after the police launched an investigation at the end of January

The claims refer to an incident around January 23 in Glasgow, when De Mooi, pictured at the London Marathon (left) in 2014 and in 2012 (right), is believed to have been out with two male friends

The quiz show star revealed he carried out the attack after being threatened by a knife-wielding mugger while living on the streets in Amsterdam in 1998.

Mr de Mooi, who is originally from Rotherham, Yorkshire, said he is convinced he delivered a fatal blow as he fought off the man.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'As we said last year CJ was never approached to take part in Strictly, Eggheads is not currently in production and he has not been banned from our London Marathon coverage. Any criminal allegations would be a matter for CJ.'

A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed enquiries were ongoing.
His electorate takes in the Townsville nickel refinery in Queensland

Mr Palmer said he didn't use the Nickel money for private purposes

Clive Palmer denied the allegations and said he was not worried at all

Federal MP and businessman Clive Palmer has denied allegations that he took any money out of Queensland Nickel.

The Federal Government will take unprecedented steps to go after Clive Palmer to recover millions in unpaid entitlements owed to 800 Queensland Nickel workers who lost their jobs.

Mr Palmer told ABC's Lateline he was 'not at all' worried that the government would pursue him and his companies for financial relief for the sacked workers.

Scroll down for video

Federal MP and businessman Clive Palmer (pictured) has denied allegations that he took any money out of Queensland Nickel

Federal MP Ewen Jones (left) burst into tears after the Turnbull government announced that most of the sacked Queensland Nickel workers will be compensated

Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash announced she expects most of the Yabulu refinery employees will get the bulk of the $73.9 million owed by the company under the government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee Scheme.

But she also warned the Government would do everything in its power to ensure Mr Palmer and his businesses cough up the money provided by taxpayers and other funds.

Mr Palmer told Lateline he did not use Queensland Nickel money for private purposes and was not a shadow director.

'At no time, did I take any money out of the company Queensland Nickel,' he told Lateline.

'And I would point out that the joint venture partners of the venture are all privately-owned companies, 100 per cent owned by me.

'It's naive in the extreme to imagine that private commercial companies in Australia don't operate for making purposes of a profit.

'One thing to look at realistically is that at the moment in Australia there's a great tragedy unfolding in Whyalla.

'There's workers' jobs under threat, up to 14,000 people apparently, and at Queensland Nickel there was less than a quarter of that.

'But if you look at the news, it's all directed at Queensland Nickel,' Mr Palmer said.

Mr Palmer told ABC's Lateline he was 'not at all' worried that the government would pursue him and his companies for financial relief for the sacked workers

Ewan Jones, whose electorate takes in the Townsville nickel refinery that used to employ so many of his constituents, broke down as federal employment minister Michaelia Cash made the announcement

Mr Jones (left), a critic of Mr Palmer, stepped away from the microphone during the press conference

Mr Palmer claims the federal government is campaigning to end his political career in its pursuit of him over the collapse of Queensland Nickel.

In an unprecedented move, the government will seek court permission to appoint a special-purpose liquidator to target assets held by the federal Fairfax MP and his companies, in the hope taxpayer funds can be clawed back.

But he told Lateline that he was not worried about the government seeking to appoint a special-purpose liquidator to recover costs.

Mr Palmer has scoffed at claims by Senator Cash that the move had nothing to do with his position in parliament.

'Here we have the executive of the federal government ordering the investigation of a political opponent,' he told AAP on Friday.

'They know that the polls are showing we can win three, four senators and have the balance of power. They want to crush us by any means whatsoever. They are absolutely desperate.'

Senator Cash said Mr Palmer's company had abandoned its workforce and there was no way taxpayers were going to foot the bill if the MP had assets that could be recovered.

'Everything will be looked at,' she told reporters in Townsville.

Senator Cash (pictured) expects most of the Yabulu refinery employees will get the bulk of the $73.9 million owed by the company under the government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee Scheme

Mr Palmer has scoffed at claims by Senator Cash that the move had nothing to do with his position in parliament

It comes after Liberal MP Ewen Jones burst into tears after the Turnbull Government announced that most of the sacked Queensland Nickel workers will be compensated.

Mr Jones, whose electorate Herbet takes in the Townsville nickel refinery that used to employ so many of his constituents, broke down as Senator Cash made the announcement.

'This is a tough day in Townsville because this says this is the end of the line for a lot of these people,' Mr Jones said.

'It's up to the liquidators to ensure they do everything they can to step in and chase this money. There's nothing surer ... there are assets floating around that everyone can see, that can be cashed in ... if the circumstances are right.'

Mr Jones, a critic of Mr Palmer, stepped away from the microphone during the press conference as he wiped his tears away and was comforted by Senator Cash.

'Our city is bigger than Clive Palmer and we'll get over him.'

Opposition workplace relations spokesman Brendan O'Connor accused Mr Jones of crying 'crocodile tears', prompting a reaction from the prime minister in China.

'Frankly, he lacks the heart, he lacks the compassion that all of us should have for people that have lost their jobs like this,' Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in Beijing.

Subject to court consent, the federal government will appoint a special purpose liquidator, Stephen Parbery from PBB Advisory, to pursue the funds 'ripped off from employees', positioning the government as a creditor to Queensland Nickel.

'This has never been done by a Commonwealth Government before,' the minister told reporters in Townsville on Friday.

Queensland Nickel's administrators this week detailed allegations of how tens of millions of dollars was stripped from the company to fund Mr Palmer's other activities, she added.

'If money has been improperly taken out of the company, then it will be pursued. If individuals have broken the law, then they will be pursued,' Senator Cash warned.

'We're not pursuing a parliamentarian, we are pursuing the management of Queensland Nickel. They are fundamentally different. They just happen to be the same person.'

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the workers, who were sacked in two lots in January and March, had been treated disgracefully

Mr Jones is usually one of Parliament's more bubblier and joyful personalities

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the workers, who were sacked in two lots in January and March, had been treated disgracefully.

'I'll be expecting the regulators, ASIC and others, to be pursuing this within the full extent of their powers,' he said in Sydney.

Australian Workers Union Queensland branch secretary Ben Swan said cash-strapped Townsville families would welcome access to federal help and the pursuit of Mr Palmer.

'He should be held to account for what he's inflicted on people,' Mr Swan told AAP.

Administrators FTI Consulting say there's evidence to suggest Mr Palmer used Queensland Nickel as a 'piggy bank' to fund his other interests and possible breaches of corporations law that could expose him to civil or criminal charges.

Mr Palmer has branded the report derogatory and untrue and denies ever acting as a 'shadow director' of Queensland Nickel - taking part in day-to-day operational and expenditure decisions - after announcing in 2013 he was stepping down after entering parliament.

Refinery operator Queensland Nickel and its sales arm are owned under a joint venture arrangement by QNI Resources and QNI Metals, which in turn are owned by three entities - all 100 per cent owned by Mr Palmer.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the Government's move was 'better late than never'.

Creditors are expected approve the company's liquidation next week.

PUP leader Clive Palmer is seen during House of Representatives Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra

Mr Jones took to Twitter after the press conference to apologise for 'getting teary'




A charity set up by the Queens grandson to organise a street party for her 90th birthday celebrations was branded high risk by regulators after it awarded his own company the high-profile contract.

The Patrons Fund, of which Peter Phillips was a trustee, handed SEL UK, where he is managing director, the task of organising the event because of his royal connections.

The Charity Commission raised concerns over this being a conflict of interest for Mr Phillips, who is son of Princess Anne and 13th in line to the throne.

The watchdog is subjecting the fund to extra monitoring to ensure there is no wrong-doing. The fact it involves large sums of money and high profile figures also pushed the charity up the watchdogs risk framework.

The Charity Commission raised concerns over a conflict of interest for Peter Phillips, pictured, who is son of Princess Anne and 13th in line to the throne

Documents obtained by BuzzFeed News through Freedom of Information requests, show that the Charity Commission gave the Patrons Fund a red risk rating  the highest possible.

The files reveal that the watchdog was worried over the fact Mr Phillips could get personal benefit from the not-for-profit event and confronted the fund when it applied to become a registered charity.

The event, for which the 10,000 guests are charged 150 each, will be held outside Buckingham Palace in June and is expected to make 4million, which will be donated to 600 charities supported by the Queen.

This is not the only venture of Mr Phillips that has raised eyebrows. The royals alternative energy business, Fish Pond Ring, which is based in a Gloucestershire barn owned by his sister, Zara Tindall, is in debt.

Its latest accounts show that it is almost 96,000 in the red, thanks to liabilities of 13,532 and a 225,000 loan, which Phillips took out from Barclays last April.

His other business spin-off, a pheasant and partridge shooting company that he owns jointly with his Canadian wife Autumn, 37, is also in the red. At the latest count, the couples co-owned company owed 1,632.

Mr Phillips is no stranger to controversy. In 2008, he sold access to his wedding to Hello! for a rumoured 500,000 and later ran Formula One sponsorship for RBS under the banks disgraced CEO, Fred Goodwin.

Mr Phillips stepped down as a trustee of The Patrons Fund after SEL UK was granted the contract but has said it was always his intention to step away once the charity was up and running. He has been replaced in the position by Lynne Berry, chair of Breast Cancer Now.

The Charity Commission quizzed Mr Phillips over the phone about the arrangements and demanded written assurances from the trustees of the fund that any conflicts were being appropriately managed.

The regulator was assured by that SEL UK had been appointed independently by Mr Phillips two fellow trustees, Sir Anthony Wreford and Sir Stuart Hetherington. This was enough to convince the Commission to award the fund charitable status.

Although the high risk flag was removed once it became a charity, the fund will undergo extra monitoring within a year. These checks have not yet happened for The Patrons Fund.

Mr Phillips, 38, first suggested the idea of the street party on Pall Mall to raise money for the 600 charities supported by the Queen. After getting the green light from the Palace, he founded the Patrons Fund to oversee arrangements.

Mr Phillips, pictured second from left in the back row, with the rest of the Royal Family in 2007

In February, he stepped down as a trustee of the fund following his event management firm being awarded the contract for a fixed, but as yet undisclosed, fee. Despite the fee, SEL has arranged a not-for-profit agreement with Buckingham Palace.

This is not the first time the event has found itself running into controversy. SEL UL has already been criticised for charging 150 a head for the 10,000 guests.

The event, which will be attended by the Royals, is expected to generate 4million. However, this total will be reduced by the cost of staging the party before the remainder is split between the charities, which include Cancer Research UK.

The Palace declined to comment yesterday, saying it was a matter for Mr Phillips and the Charity Commission.

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chair of Trustees of The Patrons Fund, said: I take very seriously the not-for-profit nature of the event and I am comfortable that the set up and structure will ensure that this is the case. I have put in place a strong board of trustees who will be responsible for ensuring that this event achieves all the things it set out to do. The surplus that is made after event costs are paid will be put into The Patrons Fund. A disbursement committee with a range of external charity experts will determine how this will be distributed in support of The Queens charities within the UK and across the Commonwealth. The details of the Patrons Funds income and grants will be published in full in its annual report.
A former journalist has criticised Channel Nine for its botched child kidnapping attempt in Lebanon and said he would never have done the story.

Dr Denis Muller, a media ethics expert at the University of Melbourne, who has 27 years experience as a journalist, told News Corp Channel Nine did the story because it would 'rate its sock off'.

'I never would have done the story,' Dr Muller said.

'If Ms Faulkner came to me and said she was going to try and get her children back I would have said all right, we might send a reporter and photographer with you but we are not participants in this'.

'If you get into trouble, you get into trouble and well report what happens, thanks for the tip-off,' he said.

Scroll down for video

'Legally he is the one with custody': Sally Faulkner's Lebanese lawyer is negotiating a drawn-out deal with the legal team of Ali Elamine (pictured with Noah, 3, Lahela, 5)

Mr Elamine said he would grant Ms Faulker full access rights to their children if she agreed he could have sole custody

Sally Faulkner's estranged husband will reportedly will drop kidnap charges against her if she agrees to never take their two children on holiday to Australia because he fears she may never bring them back to Lebanon.

Ali El-Amine - who did the same thing to Ms Faulkner when he took their children Lahela, five, and Noah, three, to Lebanon in 2014 and never returned - said he would grant her access rights if she agreed he could have sole custody.

She must also agree to a full religious divorce - a list of demands Ms Faulkner's lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab says he will be able to secure because he has legal rights to the children in Lebanon.

'Legally he is the one with custody,' her Lebanese lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab told News Corp.

Ghassan Mughaghab (pictured), the lawyer for Brisbane woman Sally Faulkner, there would be a very favourable flow-on effect for the 60 Minutes Crew if Ms Faulkner and Mr Elamine reached a private agreement

Ali Elamine (pictured with his children Noah, four, and Lahela, six) has to decide whether to pursue child kidnap charges again his ex-wife Sally Faulkner which may get her 20 years in prison

'He is willing for her to see the children at any time.

'But he is not willing to allow her to take the children to Australia or elsewhere on holidays. These are Australian holiday difficulties, if she takes the children to Australia who will say she will keep them and not bring them back to Lebanon,' he said.

Mr Moghabghab also warned that because Mr Elamine had been granted sole care of the children from religious authorities, he would likely be calling all the shots in the international custody battle.

If an agreement is reached between the estranged pair over the weekend, it could be registered in the next court appearance on Monday and Ms Faulkner could be on a flight back to Brisbane within the week, without her children.

Speaking to ABC's 7.30, Mr Moghabghab revealed that there would be a very favourable flow-on effect for the 60 Minutes Crew if Ms Faulkner and Mr Elamine reached a private agreement.

'When there is not (kidnapping charges) - when he withdraws his charges, there will be only the public charges here, and everything will - they will not go out there indefinitely, but they will take this into consideration,' he said.

'When there is not charges from Mr Elamine, it will be a much more better for her.'

'It will help everybody, I think. It will help everybody.'

'It will help everybody, I think. It will help everybody': Ms Faulkner's lawyer says that if Mr Elamine drops the personal kidnapping charges against his estranged wife, it will have a favourable flow-on effect for the whole team

Sally Faulkner's lawyer has reportedly said she was paid for by the Nine Network and had used money given to her by 60 Minutes to the child recovery agency, Child Abduction Recovery International. She is pictured above with her children Lahela, five, and Noah, three

Meanwhile, Mr Elamine has remained tight-lipped about the entire ordeal, instead focusing on the wellbeing of his two children and mother - who was allegedly hit with a pistol on the head during the dramatic kidnapping that was captured on security cameras.

'We're keeping to ourselves about the whole situation, there is a personal side, a family side and a judicial side to all of this and all I can say at the moment is everyone is doing okay and we are getting through this process,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'I took her to the doctors for a check up on head scan today, she is okay.

'On that (pistol) I can't really tell you what happened I wasn't there but she was and I have read reports that that is what she said.

60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown has told the media she is being kept in a barred, heavily meshed holding cell and was required to wear handcuffs each time she went outside

Veteran journalist Stephen Rice (left), David Ballment (centre) and Benjamin Williamson (right) are also in custody in Lebanon

Sally Faulkner's Lebanese lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab told the ABC Ms Faulkner had paid funds directly to the recovery team, Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), for the bungled mission to Beirut.

Mr Moghabghab said she had used money from 60 Minutes. But he was quoted saying 'I don't have any idea' if the Nine Network had intended to pay for the retrieval operation or simply the rights to her story.

The lawyer also told the ABC Ms Faulkner had had told the judge she regrets paying for the mission.

Mr Moghabghab's comments have not been tested in court.

In her only interview on the matter so far, Ms Faulkner told The Australian on Friday she was doing well behind bars at Baabda Central Women's Prison in south-eastern Beirut.

'Please tell my mum and dad how well I am and also (husband) Brendan and my in-laws,' she said. Ms Brown is also behind bars at the prison.

'I am fine but my loved ones need to know that.'

The Channel Nine TV crew was planning to film Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, three, and Lahela, five, from her ex-husband Ali Elamine, who she claims kept them in Lebanon without her permission.

Prosecutors had earlier claimed they had a signed statement from a member of the recovery team saying Nine had paid $115,000 for the operation.

CCTV footage supplied by Lebanese authorities appeared to show the bungled kidnapping earlier this week

Ms Faulkner and the Channel Nine TV crew members appeared handcuffed in a Lebanese court on Wednesday, where they were remanded in custody to face court again on Monday.

Faulkner is facing kidnapping charges. The 60 Minutes crew is accused of: hiding information, forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person, kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval, and physical assault.

Lebanese Investigative Judge Rami Abdullah said there was 'no way' the charges against the crew will be dropped. The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail.

Nine Network spokeswoman Victoria Buchan said: 'I hope you understand that we never comment on money but also we are not making any comments in this matter as it is currently a matter before the Lebanese judicial system which we respect. It is not appropriate at this time.'

A conviction could mean the male 60 Minutes crew risk ending up in Beirut's infamous Roumieh prison, one of the largest jails in the Middle East with 5,500 inmates.

LEBANON KIDNAP CASE: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR THE MUM, THE TV CREW AND THE KIDNAPPING CASE Brisbane mum Sally Faulkner and a Nine Network TV crew made up of reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment, are facing kidnapping and assault charges in Lebanon following a bungled abduction of Ms Faulkner's two children in Beirut. WHAT HAPPENED? The Australians have spent a week behind bars in Beirut after being arrested for the alleged abduction on April 7. The TV crew was filming Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, four, and Lahela, six, from her ex-husband Ali Elamine, who she claims kept them in Lebanon without her permission. A professional agency, Child Abduction Recovery International, is believed to have been hired to snatch the children. Two of its members, named in media reports as Britons Adam Whittington and Craig Michael, have also been detained and charged. THE ABDUCTION Security camera footage shows masked men jumping out of a car and snatching the kids from their grandmother and another woman on a Beirut street. The grandmother claims she was attacked and hit on the head with a pistol. The TV crew and recovery agency members were arrested shortly afterwards, while Faulkner hid with her two children in a safe house. Authorities later found the family, arrested Faulkner and returned the children to their father. THE CHARGES Faulkner is facing kidnapping charges. The 60 minutes crew is accused of: - hiding information - forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person - kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval - physical assault. The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail. LEGAL CASE SO FAR Judge Rami Abdullah told the Australians during a second round of interviews on Wednesday that there was no chance their charges would be dropped. However, he indicated that if Mr Elamine was willing to drop legal action and come to an agreement with his estranged wife, that would help the case against all of the accused. The accused will remain in detention until facing the Baabda Palace of Justice again on Monday. Nine has refused to comment on speculation it organised and funded the recovery operation. Advertisement




Out: Iain Duncan Smith said the Government has 'no ability' to control immigration numbers while Britain stays in the European Union

The Prime Minister cannot fulfil his pledge to slash migrant numbers while Britain remains in the EU, Iain Duncan Smith said last night.

Membership of the bloc means the UK has absolutely no ability to control the numbers of people coming to this country, the former work and pensions secretary said in a devastating attack on the Governments immigration policy.

As a result, migrants are putting unsustainable pressure on public services, he warned. Only by leaving the EU will Britain restore controlled migration to let in the brightest and best needed for their skills, he said.

The comments are Mr Duncan Smiths most significant intervention in the Brexit debate since he resigned from the Cabinet last month over cuts to disability benefits.

Describing the June 23 referendum as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become independent again, he argued:

Britain would have a more prosperous future if it left the EU and did trade deals with emerging economies and old friends such as Australia.

The EU is a ratchet constantly increasing its power over member states and a Brexit vote would take power away from judges and unaccountable bureaucrats and restore it to elected MPs.

The bloc is driving to a predetermined destination and Britain can be carried along in the boot of the car or stride back into the light and take back control of our future.

His speech to supporters in Ipswich was one of a series made by senior Vote Leave figures as part of a Brexit blitz on the first day of the official referendum campaign.

Boris Johnson spoke at a rally in Manchester and Michael Gove addressed supporters in Nottingham. Speeches by Chris Grayling, the Leader of the Commons, and employment minister Priti Patel will follow today.

Mr Duncan Smith made it clear how hollow he sees the Governments pledge to slash migrant numbers to the tens of thousands.

David Cameron continues to insist he can cut net migration below 100,000 despite record highs in recent years.

In the 12 months to the end of September last year, there were 323,000 more arrivals than departures  up 31,000 in a year. Of the arrivals, 257,000 were from the EU.

Speeches by Chris Grayling and employment minister Priti Patel will follow the impassioned speech by Mr Duncan Smith. Pictured, all three with fellow Brexit campaigners John Whittingdale, Theresa Villiers and Michael Gove

The PM has claimed changes to benefit rules secured as part of his EU renegotiation would reduce numbers.

Last night Mr Duncan Smith said: Governments are elected promising to cut the numbers arriving, but how can they when we have to accept unrestricted freedom of movement from Europe?

At the moment we have absolutely no ability to control the numbers of people coming to this country and that puts unsustainable pressure on our invaluable public services.

He added reducing migrant numbers was not about saying no migration  its about saying we want controlled migration.

In his speech, Mr Duncan Smith (pictured) explained that the Governments pledge to slash migrant numbers was hollow

Mr Duncan Smith said: By getting back control we could let in the best and the brightest in the world  wherever they come from  welcoming them based on their talents, not their passports.

He also argued Britains trading relationships would be better outside the EU. Less than half our exports go to Europe and the share is falling, while the USA is our biggest trade partner, he said.

Leaving the EU means we get back control of our seat at the World Trade Organisation and freedom to reach agreements with emerging economic superpowers like India and other old friends like Australia.

He added: Britain is condemned to second-class status if it stays in the EU, which is heading down a path where we dont want to go.
Australia Post has started trialling drone delivery of small parcels - a move that could revolutionise the way mail is sent, but leave posties out of a job.

The use of remotely piloted aircraft will allow quick and easy delivery of 'time critical items' like medication and give customers greater convenience, according to Australia Post.

It could also help posties beat traffic and dangerous dogs at the front gate.

Scroll down for video

Australia Post started trialling drone delivery of small parcels in Melbourne this week

Ahmed Fahour, managing director at Australia Post, said today's online shopper expected to receive their purchase whenever and wherever they want.

'This trial is another exciting example of how we're looking to the future with emerging technologies to make life easier for our customers,' Mr Fahour said.

Australia Post unveiled its new drone technology in a closed-field trial in Melbourne on Friday, and the company hopes to begin a customer trial later this year. It will need to apply to the the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for permission first.

Mr Fahour said Australia Post had been working closely with Melbourne drone and robotic technology company, ARI Labs, to develop reliability.

The prototype drone, which is fitted out with HD cameras and can carry up to 1.2kg, is being trialled on short flights of about 15 kilometres

Australia Post says drones could allow quick and easy delivery of 'time critical items' like medication

'We will put this innovative technology through its paces over the coming weeks and months to understand what it can deliver, how far it can travel, and ultimately, how our customers could receive a parcel.'

The prototype drone, which is fitted out with HD cameras and can carry up to 1.2kg, is being trialled on short flights of about 15 kilometres, The Australian reported.

Mr Fahour said Australia Post was still trying to work out what role the new technology would play, but it could be helpful at properties where there was a significant distance between the road and front door.

He denied, however, that drones would replace drivers

'At the moment this is not about [being] cost effective, this is not a cheaper option,' he was quoted as saying by the ABC.

The drone trial builds on Australia Post's $20 million innovation fund where the organisation will directly invest in great eCommerce businesses.

Ahmed Fahour, managing director at Australia Post, said today's online shopper expected to receive their purchase whenever and wherever they want
Unprecedented numbers of children  up to 80,000  are expected to miss out on their preferred primary schools this year as the national places crisis intensifies.

A baby boom fuelled by migration has left many local authorities at breaking point  and the most over-populated won't be able to offer some families a single place.

Experts said the problem could get worse as councils lose powers to create new places because more schools are becoming academies, which are free from local authority control.

They also warned of over-crowding in classes and poor facilities as schools struggle to keep pace with the rising birth rate.

Unprecedented numbers of children  up to 80,000  are expected to miss out on their preferred primary schools this year (file photo)

On Monday, more than 600,000 children are due to receive their primary school allocation on what is known as National Offer Day.

A Daily Mail survey of councils suggests up to one in seven children will miss out on their first choice in some areas, while one in 20 may get none of their preferences.

Around 20,000 families are expected to miss out on all of their choices, while several thousand are likely to be offered no place.

Alan Smithers, professor of education at the University of Buckingham, said: 'The Government misjudged the issue and is desperately trying to catch up with the rising birth rate.

'The situation is not helped by the fact that while local authorities are responsible for securing sufficient places, they have neither the power to open new schools nor decide admissions to the growing number of primary academies.

'In short, parents are less likely to get the school they want, and, if they do, the class is more likely to be crowded and the classroom temporary.'

According to the Mail's survey, 13 per cent of applicants have missed out on their first choice in Hull, with 5 per cent getting none of their choices. The city's most oversubscribed school is Gillshill Primary, with 245 first-choice applications for just 60 places.

In Essex, 13 per cent missed out on their first choice. Hamilton Primary School in Colchester received 357 applications for 60 places.

A baby boom fuelled by migration has left many local authorities at breaking point (file photo)

And in Sandwell, West Midlands, 12 per cent missed out on their first choice and 5 per cent were offered none of their choices.

Meanwhile, in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire 12 per cent did not get their first choice, while in Leicester and Ealing, West London, it was 14 per cent. Several London boroughs had more applications than there were places, meaning many of those losing out will have to attend schools far away from their homes.

In contrast 6 per cent did not get their first choice in North Lincolnshire.

Last year, applications in England rose from 623,526 to 636,279, with 12 per cent missing out on their first choice school and 3 per cent missing out on all of their choices.

Yesterday, research revealed that competition for places is so fierce that even the worst schools are becoming difficult to get into.

According to the FindASchool website, the difference in average catchment areas between schools in London with 'outstanding' and 'requires improvement' Ofsted ratings has more than halved since 2010.
Family members of the crew have questioned Channel Nine bosses

Channel 9 has recruited an experienced crisis management specialist to advise them over its 60 minutes botched 'child recovery' saga.

Greg Baxter, a partner at Newgate Australia joined Nines rescue team last Monday.

Newgate Australia is a spin doctor agency which guides companies through public relations disasters and their impingement on shareholder confidence.

Mr Baxter will join a core management team including CEO Hugh Marks, publicity director Victoria Buchan, new boss Darren Wick and 60 Minutes executive producer, Kristy Thomson, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Scroll down for video

Crisis management expert Greg Baxter (right) has been recruited to advise Channel 9 over its 60 minutes botched 'child recovery' saga.

His role will be to provide more manpower to cope with the huge scale of media interest, while giving strategic advice on government relations in Australia and overseas.

I certainly havent worked on a story where people are (jailed) like this in a foreign country, but on issues that are really complex and very challenging, where you are sort between a rock and a hard place, he told The Daily Telegraph.

The distressed family members of a 60 Minutes crew being detained in Lebanon over their involvement in a botched child recovery agency have asked Channel Nine bosses for answers.

Channel Nine chief executive Hugh Marks was questioned by the family and loved ones of senior reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Benjamin Williamson and sound technician David Ballment on Wednesday following the team's arrest in Lebanon last week.

The wife of one of the imprisoned Channel Nine employees demanded answers during the meeting at Nine's Willoughby office, asking 'since when is Channel Nine in the business of child stealing?'

Channel Nine executives were questioned by the family and loved ones of Tara Brown and her 60 Minutes crew on Wednesday following the team's arrest in Lebanon last week (Pictured Tara Brown with her husband television producer John McAvoy)

A wife of one of the detained men - including producer Stephen Rice (left), cameraman David Ballment (centre) and sound technician Benjamin Williamson (right) - asked 'since when is Channel Nine in the business of child stealing?'

Inside sources have revealed there was a 'distinct lack of information' coming from the television station during the meeting, but that everyone involved appeared quite concerned for the crew who face up to 20 years in jail if convicted, the Daily Telegraph reported.

'Nine management is out of their depth. They have never encountered anything like this before,' they said after the meeting on Wednesday.

A source said they felt the television executives were trying to stop them from launching legal proceedings against them for failing to protect their family members before they were sent overseas.

The group, including the Brisbane mother at the centre of the operation, face charges for kidnapping, physical assault, hiding information and criminal conspiracy.

Nine Entertainment chief executive Hugh Marks told the family Nine was doing everything they could to get the team out of Lebanon

The group, including Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner who is at the centre of the operation, face charges for kidnapping, physical assault, hiding information and criminal conspiracy

Lebanese police beleive 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 Lebanon without her permission

Brown will remain in custody at the Baabha Women's Jail, in Beirut, in a shared cell with Ms Faulkner until their next court appearance on Monday

Brown told the media she is being kept in a barred, heavily meshed holding cell at Baabha Women's Jail (pictured) and was required to wear handcuffs each time she went outside

Lebanese authorities claim to have proof that Channel Nine were involved in funding the kidnapping scheme.

Channel Nine have not responded to allegations that they planned to pay $115,000 to Adam Whittington's agency Child Abduction Recovery International.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports Mr Whittington's personal charity Project Rescue Children was given a 'donation' from another Australian media organisation - Pacific Magazines - after its outlet New Idea profiled him last year.

This reveals a way for him to receive money from news outlets without being directly paid by them.

It is understood Channel Nine have not yet launched an internal investigation into how the segment was approved, however a memo has been issued that claims the station 'will get to the bottom of it when everyone gets back', the Daily Telegraph reported.

The story was initially pitched to A Current Affair, but was forwarded on to producer Stephen Rice and reporter Tara Brown to follow up on.

The story was initially pitched to A Current Affair, but was forwarded on to producer Stephen Rice and reporter Tara Brown to follow up on

It has been reported that Nine's bosses would have had to approve the segment if significant funds were going to be used to cover the story

It has been reported that Nine's bosses would have had to approve the segment if significant funds were going to be used to cover the story.

Brown will remain in custody at the Baabha Women's Jail, in Beirut, in a shared cell with Ms Faulkner until their next court appearance on Monday.

The two women, along with the rest of the crew were individually questioned by Judge Rami Abdullah at the Baabda Palace of Justice on Wednesday.

Judge Abdullah told Ms Faulkner that she needed to 'reach an agreement' with her estranged husband Ali Elamine over the custody of their young children, but said there was 'no chance' the group of Australians would avoid charges.

'There is no chance the charges will be dropped. It is a violation of the Lebanese law by all of these

Brown told the media she is being kept in a barred, heavily meshed holding cell and was required to wear handcuffs each time she went outside.
A gay North Carolina waitress was 'tipped' by customers with a Bible verse calling for her death.

Alexandra Judd, 20, works at Zada Janes in Charlotte. She said a group of ladies she served for lunch on Tuesday left her a 'hateful message' instead of an actual tip, according to WBTV.

The patrons left Bible verse Leviticus 20:13 on the tip and Judd said she was infuriated and hurt by the message that targeted her sexuality.

Alexandra Judd (left), 20, was 'tipped' by customers with a Bible verse left on their check (right) calling for her death. The check that was posted to Facebook shows 'lev 20:13' written on the tip line

Leviticus 20:13 from the King James version of the Old Testament reads: 'If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.'

The women also left another message at the bottom of the receipt saying: 'Praying for you!'

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:13 Old Testament

The incident comes just weeks after North Carolina passed its anti-LGBT House Bill 2 into law, which prevents the state's cities and counties from passing their own anti-discrimination rules and instead imposes a statewide standard that leaves out sexual orientation and gender identity.

After Charlotte approved anti-discrimination measures that would have allowed transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, the Republican-led legislature passed the bill.

And Gov Pat McCrory signed the bill into law.

Now, transgender people can use the bathrooms and changing facilities corresponding with their gender identity only if they get the biological sex on their birth certificate changed.

Judd told the New York Daily News that 'there's a lot of hate in Charlotte right now'.

She posted a picture of the receipt on her Facebook page and responded by saying: 'I don't care what anyone says, this is the most disrespectful thing you can do.

'Don't pray for me darling, I have everything I could possibly want and need in my life.'

Judd, who has joined in rallies criticizing the passage of House Bill 2 in North Carolina said the entire incident was infuriating and hurtful.

She told WBTV that she never expected a 'hateful gesture like this'.

'I've had a guest leave me a pamphlet to their church as a tip one time, but I didn't feel as if they were being hateful towards me.

She added that 'the ladies that came in were very rude, and would hardly talk to me'.

Judd also said she's heard of people leaving 'fake money or writing funny stuff in the tip spot of a check, but never believed it would happen to me, in the way that it did'.

She's been living in North Carolina nearly a year after moving from Alabama and the day after getting the so-called 'tip', Judd participated in a rally in Charlotte to protest the anti-LGBT bill.

The incident comes just weeks after North Carolina passed its anti-LGBT House Bill 2 into law, which prevents the state's cities and counties from passing their own anti-discrimination rules. Protestors in Chapel Hill, NC

Judd, who has joined in rallies criticizing the passage of House Bill 2 in North Carolina said the entire incident was infuriating and hurtful. She added that there's 'a lot of hate in Charlotte' due to the passage of the new bill

'It was actually amazing,' she said. 'People trying to make a difference and fighting back.'

North Carolina isn't the only state that has passed legislation discriminating against LGBT people.

Tennessee Gov Bill Haslam just passed a so-called 'religious freedom' bill that would allow counselors and therapists in the state to refuse services to patients based on the providers' 'sincerely held principles.'

And Mississippi Gov Phil Bryant signed into law a bill that allows businesses to refuse services to gay couples based on religious objections.

Georgia has been the only state to veto an anti-LGBT law that would have given faith-based organizations in the state the option to deny services and jobs to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Gov Nathan Deal said he didn't think the bill was necessary.
Mike Barton believes some Class A and B drugs should be made legal and, in some cases, handed out for free to addicts

A chief constable who wants to legalise drugs has been charged with overseeing how officers tackle the menace nationwide.

Mike Barton believes some Class A and B drugs should be made legal and, in some cases, handed out for free to addicts.

Despite his controversial views, the officer has now been quietly elected to an influential role at the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC).

The move provoked fury from critics who warned legalising drugs would simply create a new set of challenges.

Mr Barton was elected to lead crime operations by his peers, replacing respected Merseyside chief Sir Jon Murphy.

The officer, from Durham Constabulary, has campaigned to introduce consumption rooms where addicts can inject drugs in safety.

He also wants drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis to be legalised.

Simon Stephens, of Addictions UK, warned any move to decriminalise cannabis would have dire results. Legalisation will simply change the nature of the problem, he said.

The officer has now been quietly elected to an influential role at the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC). The move provoked fury from critics who warned legalising drugs would simply create a new set of challenges

Mr Stephens added: From a police point of view it makes perfect sense if we decriminalise all drugs as there will be no drug dealers, no black market and therefore no crimes.

The NPCC, which was formed last April, replaces the discredited Association of Chief Police Officers. The organisation aims to help police cut crime and keep the public safe from the most serious threats.

Its chair Sara Thornton said Mr Barton beat two others and that she has already discussed with him the importance of representing the views of the NPCC.
Tony Blair is facing calls for an inquiry into allegations he got special treatment from Britain's top taxman and senior staff when setting up a secret trust to run his multi-million business empire.

Former Home Secretary David Davis called for the probe after the man who set up the former Prime Minster's business affairs claimed head of HMRC Dave Hartnett was approached for advice.

Two of Blair's advisers claimed they had access to senior HMRC staff when setting up his trust before he left office, and were able to ask how they would be treated for tax purposes.

Trust me: Former prime minister Tony Blair says he paid full UK tax - and 'did not set up this structure for reasons of tax advantage'

The advice came from senior advisers that normal taxpayers 'wouldn't get anywhere near', according to a leading tax QC, and helped him avoid tax on his multi-million pound business empire.

Mr Davis said he would write to the Commons public accounts committee calling for an inquiry into special treatment of high-profile individuals by HMRC,' he told The Times.

He added: These arrangements appear to have been put in place without any proper scrutiny, and are not available to ordinary taxpayers.

Blair's empire - which includes 32million in property - is managed through more than a dozen trusts and companies, which his advisers claim is done for privacy purposes.

Talking to undercover reporters from The Times, the adviser boasted that the trust was so shrouded in secrecy that the Guardian newspaper had 'crawled all over it for ten year' and still not cracked it.

He described Mr Hartnett, famous for offering 'sweetheart' tax deals to companies including Starbucks and Vodafone, as 'quite approachable'.

THE 'PUBLIC SERVANT' WHO STRUCK SWEETHEART DEALS WITH GIANTS, FLEW BUSINESS CLASS ON THE TAXPAYER AND LEFT HIS 165,000-A-YEAR POST TO WORK FOR ACCOUNTANCY FIRM THAT HELPS PEOPLE AVOID TAX HMRC head: Two of Mr Blair's advisers allege Dave Hartnett (pictrured) was approached about the trust by a consultant hired by Mr Blairs lawyers Dave Harnett was one of the Government's most highly paid officials, with a 165,000-a-year salary as head of HMRC - and perks to match. Mr Hartnett left his post in 2012 with a year's salary, 48,000 in unclaimed holiday and with a pension pot worth 1.7million - 80,000 a year. During his tenure, he met the biggest names in business and went on to work for Deloitte - after meeting senior British partner David Cruickshank 48 times between 2007 and 2011. The salary for the one-day-a-week post at one of the world's top accountancy firms was never disclosed, but it no doubt came with all the perks enjoyed by staff in the lucrative industry. However, Mr Hartnett hardly suffered under HMRC, enjoying the sort of pay and expenses that would lead to national scandal if the Prime Minister allowed himself the same indulgences. In 2010, Mr Hatnett enjoyed a 6,000 trip to the Mumbai International Taxation Conference, flying business class and staying in 200-a-night hotels on the taxpayer. Mr Hartnetts tenure at HMRC, which ended in July 2012, was dogged by claims that he helped multinational companies shave millions of pounds off their tax bills. He was severely criticised for brokering a deal that saved Goldman Sachs 20million in interest payments. The deal was described by a judge last month as lawful, but not a glorious episode in the history of the Revenue. On another occasion, Mr Hartnett allowed Vodafone  a Deloitte client  to pay 1.25billion of an alleged 6billion tax bill  figures which are disputed by the telecoms company. After being accused of lying to MPs last year, Mr Hartnett left HMRC and joined HSBC as an adviser on honesty. In 2013, he accepted a one-day-a-week post with Deloitte  the firm that signed off the accounts for coffee chain Starbucks which, entirely legally, paid no corporation tax for three years by channelling its revenues through Luxembourg and Switzerland. During his time as HMRC boss, Mr Hartnett met Deloittes senior British partner David Cruickshank 48 times between 2007 and 2011, including meetings about Vodafone. Advertisement

The advisers told undercover reporters that Mr Blair had used the interest-in-possession (IPP) trust to receive payments from his consultancy work, some of which was with controversial regimes.

IIP trusts are legal entities that can hold property, shares or other sources of income for a beneficiary, most commonly for their lifetime.

According to experts, such trusts can offer significant tax advantages, including the possibility of passing on wealth to children free of tax.

Demands: Conservative MP David Davis wants an inquiry into HMRC giving preferential treatment to high-profile individuals

The trusts do not have to file accounts. Lawyers for Mr Blair said the trust had been set up due to a desire for privacy. They stressed he did not seek or obtain a tax advantage.

But the fact of its existence raised questions about whether Mr Blair received special treatment due to his position, which is why MPs are now demanding an investigation.

The Times was not able to verify independently that the HMRC chief was contacted in the way the two advisers separately claimed.

Mr Blairs representatives said Mr Hartnett had not been consulted on his behalf and no special treatment had been sought or received.

Mr Hartnett has previously been criticised for offering sweetheart deals to companies including Goldman Sachs and Vodafone during his time as head of HMRC.

There is no suggestion that he offered such a deal to Mr Blair.

Mr Hartnett, who left HMRC four years ago, said last night he had no recollection of the advisers claims. He added: I dont give advice to individuals at all.

A spokesman for the former PM said: Tony Blair did not set up this structure for reasons of tax advantage.

He has paid full UK tax on all his earnings. He specifically instructed the accountants who set up the structure that there was to be no tax advantage or avoidance through it.

Neither did he receive any special privilege from the tax authorities. So the entire premise of the story is mistaken as we have repeatedly told the Times for the last year.
The British Army doctor serving in a casualty station just behind the front line in France knew shell shock when he saw it.

Men in the trenches whose minds had gone under the barrage of explosives falling on their heads from enemy guns, or by being steeped in so much gore and misery for months on end, had a haunted look about them.

They are exhausted, their faces twitch and hands and arms shake constantly, he told his wife in a letter home. They were unable to answer the simplest of questions, their eyes were glassy and bulged out of their sockets, their skin was yellow, their teeth chattered, they swallowed constantly. Some could not speak at all. Others just stared into space without comprehension.

A shattering new book, released 100 years since the Battle of the Somme, has revealed the true extent of shell shock. Above, a solider carries a fallen comrade during the brutal battle

And in the summer of 1916, to his alarm, there were more and more of them reporting to him with these catatonic symptoms.

A boy of 17 does nothing but cry and say he cant stand the noise. Another talks incessantly about the black cloud that stalks him. A shell burst between him and two of his chums, knocking him down but killing them instantly. It also threw up a great cloud of black smoke  and every morning he thinks he sees this, with his two friends in it.

The litany of horror was endless. I bend over the bed of man who whispers: Its the dreams, sir. I dare not go to sleep because of the dreams. I have 12 men in my ward like this.

All have had friends killed by their side. If they do manage to sleep, they wake up with a cry and shriek out.

Its very sad to see strong, brave men brought down like this.

How many were affected in this way he cannot have known, only that his own station was overflowing with this new sort of casualty. Today, historians estimate that as many as one in every five of the wounded in World War I was a mental rather than a physical case.

A British Army doctor has come forward to discuss the horrifying mental injuries some soldiers were forced to deal with. Above a group of men from the Irish Rifles on the first day of the battle

If hed had a choice, this doctor would have sent them all home to recover, far away from the ugly sounds, sights and smells of battle that had wrecked their minds in the first place.

But his duty was to make them just well enough to return to the trenches. After a few days, the beastly time comes when you have to order them back to all the misery of it again. Why? Because otherwise there would be no men to fight.

Here was a dilemma that vexed not only this medic but the Army establishment as a whole as World War I stretched into a third year, its bloodiest yet. Physical wounds were easy to assess, but mental ones were not.

This was a new phenomenon they were dealing with  a savage by-product of modern, industrialised warfare with its rapid-fire machine guns and far-reaching artillery. With armies dug into lines of trenches, battles were drawn out over weeks and months, unlike the past when, say, Waterloo, a century earlier, had been done and dusted in a single day.

The very description shell shock was new, coined in medical journal The Lancet as recently as 1915, and what it meant was constantly being revised by the psychiatrists who were now joining the ranks of the Royal Army Medical Corps for the first time.

Many Army chiefs referred to soldiers suffering from shell shock, the definition of which was relatively new, about bloody cowards

They tended to regard the fear men felt when they came under sustained fire as a perfectly natural human response, but this very idea had many Army chiefs growling into their moustaches about bloody cowards.

Such a diagnosis in an otherwise fit and healthy soldier offended the rigid military mind, bent on bravery and discipline under fire. It should not be encouraged in case it provided a way out and a safe passage home for cowards, malingerers, skrim-shankers and dirty cheats.

All this came to a head  as historian Taylor Downing explains in Breakdown, a new history of shell shock in World War I  at the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles in human history, with casualties of more than a million.

It took place exactly a century ago this summer and was supposed to change the course of the war.

After more than 18 months of virtual stalemate on the Western Front, with both sides firmly dug in along a line of defences from Switzerland to the English Channel, the British aimed to break the deadlock with their Big Push against German forces.

A huge army was built up, largely of new recruits rounded up in Lord Kitcheners patriotic enlistment drive back home. They arrived in France enthusiastic for the fight but inexperienced, a citizen army tacked on to a much smaller professional one.

Plans were meticulously laid. The battle would begin with a massive, week-long artillery barrage, to cut the barbed wire hindering forward progress and destroy the Germans in their bunkers. Then the British would advance gloriously across a wide front and take over the German lines from an enemy retreating in disarray.

But as the whistles blew on the morning of July 1 and lines of Tommies, bayonets fixed on their Lee-Enfield rifles, climbed up from their trenches and out into no mans land, it was quickly apparent that the big guns had not done their job.

In many places, the barbed wire was still intact, left on the battlefield by the wrong British shells that lacked the required cutting edge, and men had to queue at the gaps to get through, making them sitting ducks.

Even more alarming was that the Germans had not been winkled out of their deep shelters and forced to flee, leaving their lines undefended, as the British generals had hoped.

British infantrymen occupying a shallow trench in a ruined landscape before an advance during the Battle of the Somme

They had been pounded with explosives day after day, but had not been killed or dislodged. When the barrage stopped, they were able to scramble back to their machine gun and rifle positions.

From there they didnt even need to aim, but just fire willy-nilly into the wall of khaki-covered flesh advancing towards them.

Tragically, if the British had run to the German lines, they might well have got there before the enemy had time to haul themselves out of their bunkers and up to their parapets. In which case, the outcome would have been very different.

But the British strolled, as they were ordered to. The generals had decreed that a walking pace would keep the raw recruits steady and in line. And what was the rush anyway, since all the Germans were presumed dead, killed by the bombardment?

This was a terrible error of judgment. On that first day alone, 20,000 British soldiers were killed and 40,000 were wounded, making it the worst day in British military history.

Little ground was gained, even less secured, and the Battle of the Somme continued for 20 bloody weeks, with bombardments that never seemed to stop and attempted advances that came to nothing.

One hunkered-down soldier recalled: We have been shelled since 11.30 this morning and all afternoon. The din is ear-splitting. The whizzing and whining of shells overhead is like the passing of express trains.

He felt helpless: All you can do is lie as low down as possible and wait for it to stop. No wonder some men go mad.

Frantically, he dug out his sergeant from under a mountain of earth that had landed on him. He was jabbering and mumbling like a maniac. Meanwhile, a friend standing just ten yards away received a direct hit.

A German trench was left lined with bodies following the bloody battle, which left soldiers unable to sleep and one man claiming a 'black cloud' was following him

He was blown to pieces from the waist down and body parts were scattered all around the trench. But his top half was untouched. His face didnt have a mark on it except for a slight scratch on his balding head.

With everyday experiences like this, it was not surprising that the numbers succumbing to shell shock and war fatigue soared, quadrupling in six months to around 50,000, and sending the British military establishment into a state of panic.

The top brass had always been suspicious of the diagnosis, preferring a traditional stiff upper lip attitude in the men under their command and feeling embarrassed by those too disturbed by war to fight on.

That was why the shell-shocked were kept apart from other wounded men and shipped home from France in separate ambulance trains, their windows blacked-out and doors locked. They were shunted into specially built platforms at Denmark Hill railway station in South London, from which there was direct access to the Maudsley mental hospital, out of sight of prying eyes.

Behind the embarrassment was fear that this disease would spread like wildfire unless stamped out. As Downing writes: Commanders firmly believed that soldiers with symptoms of hysteria would infect the troops around them.

So, as the tragedy of the Somme unfolded, every effort was made to halt what was seen as a potential epidemic of funk that would destroy morale, decimate the ranks and even cost Britain the war.

Every soldier lost to a diagnosis of shell shock was viewed not as a casualty but as wastage  a reduction in the manpower needed to defeat the Germans. Compassion was now regarded as weakness. Man up was the message from on high to those on the ground.

One recourse was to deny mercy to traumatised men who fled the battlefield. Death sentences for desertion and cowardice soared: 100 British soldiers were executed in the two years before the Battle of the Somme, and nearly 250 in the two years during and after.

Shattered nerves were no excuse. Rejecting a plea for mercy, Field Marshal Douglas Haig, the commander-in-chief, confirmed the sentence on one particular Somme soldier with an exasperated: How can we ever win if this plea is allowed?

Another general said of a private who went to pieces during a gas attack: Cowards of this sort are a serious danger. The death penalty is instituted to make such men fear running away more than they fear the enemy.

The deranged private was tied to a stake and shot at dawn.

A second recourse was to play down and dilute the very concept of shell shock. Definitions and diagnoses were queried until the words shell shock were actually banned. Any soldier displaying such symptoms was henceforth classified as nervous  and under no circumstances was he to be recorded as a battle casualty.

The legs broken off from trunks, heads that came off at a touch, and the overpowering stench of decomposing bodies in shallow trenches... One soldier's memories of the trenches

Treatment also changed. It was originally thought wise to get men suffering from nerves away from the battlefield and preferably back to England. Now the opposite was decreed: that they should be allowed a short period of recuperation immediately behind the lines before being thrown back into the fray.

The third recourse was to tell Army doctors and medics not to be so wet, and to rap the knuckles of those considered too ready to cite shell shock as a diagnosis.

Fundamental to this new approach was the case of Lieutenant George Kirkwood, medical officer of the 11th Borders, who on July 9 examined his men and concluded that they were unfit to fight.

On the bloody first day of the Somme on July 1, the battalion had lost all its officers and half its men. The survivors were demoralised, a condition worsened by exposure to constant shelling and lack of sleep.

One soldier told him how he had been sent to deal with the remains of comrades lost in the last futile attack and couldnt get out of his mind  or his nostrils  the legs broken off from trunks, heads that came off at a touch, and the overpowering stench of decomposing bodies in shallow trenches.

The fear of death had so entered into me that if I had been ordered to go over the top next morning I should not have been able to.

Kirkwood reported to his superiors that few, if any, are not suffering from some degree of shell shock.

He recommended calling off a planned attack. His advice was ignored, they were ordered over the top anyway, but many refused to go.

At a board of inquiry into the incident, Kirkwoods explanation was derided.

I dont attach much importance to the medical officers ideas, his brigadier told him.

A general was even more scathing, blaming Kirkwood for showing undue sympathy for the men and adding: It is not for a medical officer to inform his commanding officer that his men are not in a fit state to carry out a military operation.

Kirkwood was relieved of his duties and sent home in disgrace  a clear case of shooting the messenger. From the top of the command structure came an instruction that the medical corps must understand that it cannot encourage wastage by approving large-scale cases of shell shock.

The medical corps tried to defend its corner, but this was a fight the generals were not going to lose. Winning the war was their priority and sustaining morale and manpower was vital. Officially, shell shock cases peaked during the Somme and then fell off.

A year later, at the gruesome Battle of Passchendaele, only a little over 5,000 cases were logged, a tenth of those on the Somme. The figure was so preposterously low it could only have been achieved by manipulation and mirrors.

But the generals were pleased. As author Taylor Downing scathingly puts it: Outwardly the Army could congratulate itself that the crisis of shell shock had been solved. In reality, it simply refused to count the cases any longer.

Shell shock had not gone away, but recognition of it had. A giant lie had been perpetrated, and a successful one  until after the war, when mental hospitals filled with ex-soldiers and shell shock at last began to be understood as the very real affliction it was.
When its our turn to make tea, many of us would admit to boiling more water than we really need.

But its a habit that costs Britons dearly  as it adds nearly 150million to the nations energy bill each year, a study suggests.

Researchers examined how households use their kettle over a period of 18 months, and found that nine in ten families needlessly add to their electricity costs.

Researchers found that nine in ten families add to their electricity costs by boiling more water than they need

Putting in more water than required and re-boiling it out of forgetfulness wastes an average of 5.39 per home each year, with some families spending up to 18 extra. Across all 27million households in the UK, this makes a total bill of 145.4million.

The team from Strathclyde University in Glasgow said: While the consumption difference may be insignificant to an individual household, it is significant for the whole housing stock, with clear impact on electrical demand and regional carbon footprint.

The study, published in the journal Applied Energy, looked at 14 households ranging from a single retired person to a family of four. Each time they boiled the kettle, the water they used was compared with an ideal measure of 275ml for each adult and half that for each child.

Thirteen of the households were found to be frequently overfilling.

Martin Lewis, of MoneySavingExpert.com, added: Overfilling is not only a waste of electricity but a waste of water for those on water meters. Some people will say that its only a fiver a year, so why should they bother changing their habits?

But add together lots of small amounts and you can end up saving hundreds of pounds. The researchers found that kettle use peaks at 7am, 1pm, and 8pm on weekdays, and 9am at the weekend.

Putting in more water than required when boiling the kettle for a cup of tea or coffee wastes an average of 5.39 per home each year

There are also well-documented surges in demand for electricity during TV advert breaks  when millions of people switch on their kettles at the same time.
Valerie Storie once said: I identified the guilty man. I looked in his eyes and he looked in mine. I knew who he was and he knew that I recognised him. I had found the guilty person.

Indeed she had. The guilty mans name lives on in the annals of criminal notoriety: James Hanratty, the A6 killer who had left her for dead after killing her lover and who was subsequently convicted of murder. He was one of the last men to be hanged in Britain.

But her certainty would not be enough to allow Miss Storie, whose own death was announced yesterday, what is described these days as closure. At the time, the then 22-year-old laboratory assistant was raped and left permanently disabled  with her lover shot dead in a field beside her.

James Hanratty, the A6 killer who had left her for dead after killing her lover and who was subsequently convicted of murder. He was one of the last men to be hanged in Britain

However, she was forced to endure another 40 years of suffering as wicked doubts were raised about her evidence, as part of a campaign  which she described as mass hysteria  led by a roll-call of liberal or Left-wing lawyers who took up Hanrattys cause and argued that he should never have been sent to the gallows.

The campaigners  including John Lennon, journalists Paul Foot and Ludovic Kennedy and the barrister Michael Mansfield  were desperate to prove Hanrattys posthumous innocence.

Unlike some later executions  such as that of Ruth Ellis, for example, who shot dead her violent lover  there was an initial doubt as to Hanrattys identity, although he had been arrested.

The circumstances of the evening of August 22, 1961, were that Miss Storie and her married colleague boyfriend Michael Gregsten were sitting in a Morris Minor at the edge of a deserted cornfield when they were ambushed by a man holding a revolver and wearing a handkerchief across his face.

He shouted: This is a hold-up. I am a desperate man. He then got into the car. They were made to drive for hours.

In the early hours of the following morning, the attacker made Mr Gregsten pull over into a lay-by of the A6 at Deadmans Hill in Bedfordshire.

The gunman said he wanted to sleep and would have to tie up his victims. Ordering Mr Gregsten to fetch a bag, the assailant then shot him twice in the head, fatally.

He then raped Miss Storie before firing five times at her, reloading and firing again. She was hit in the shoulder and neck and left for dead.

Hanratty, a mentally disturbed serial criminal, was arrested in Blackpool almost two months later. He was duly tried, convicted and hanged at Bedford prison.

Although his claimed alibis were rejected by the jury, his case was championed by justice campaigners who believed his eve-of-execution appeal to his family of Im innocent. Clear my name.

Miss Storie was raped and shot by Hanratty when she was 22 years old and lived out her life in a wheelchair

As for Miss Storie, who lived out the rest of her life in a wheelchair, she was the real hero of the story  becoming an activist for disadvantaged people. She had always been convinced of her attackers identity and had picked him out in an identification parade.

But it took until 2002 for Miss Storie to receive vindication when the Court of Appeal heard DNA evidence proved Hanratty had been responsible for the crimes.

Details of the extraordinary twist in the case were exclusively revealed by the Mail in 2001. The development came after Hanrattys body was exhumed and DNA taken to compare with the clothes Miss Storie wore on the night of the attack.

Evidence found on a handkerchief wrapped around the murder weapon also matched samples from his body. Three senior judges rejected all 17 grounds of appeal brought by Hanrattys family and friends  and said DNA evidence conclusively proved he was the killer.

Barrister Michael Mansfield had argued that the prosecution should never have been allowed to introduce the genetic evidence. However, the words of the Appeal Court judges certainly rang with finality.

Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with Lord Justice Mantell and Mr Justice Leveson, announced: The DNA evidence established beyond doubt that James Hanratty was the murderer. The DNA evidence made what was a strong case even stronger.

He pointed out that Hanratty had also been picked out by three witnesses at identification parades, and had the same manner of speech as the killer.

Bullets that had been fired from the murder weapon were also found in a room in which Hanratty had stayed the night before the crime, he said.

For her part, Miss Storie broke a 40-year silence on the eve of the Court of Appeals withering judgment. The courageous, dignified woman said: I identified the guilty man. I looked in his eyes and he looked in mine.

Hanratty (pictured) was picked out by three witnesses at identification parades, and had the same manner of speech as the killer, but still campaigners did not believe that Miss Storie had identified the right attacker

I knew who he was and he knew that I recognised him. I had found the guilty person.

Sitting in her wheelchair, in the same neat semi on the outskirts of Slough, Berkshire, where she was born and died aged 77 on March 26, she said: I wasnt always this hard. I was very shy, gentle and scared but I have had a life sentence to cope with and so has the Hanratty family.

They have had over 40 years believing he was innocent and I have had more than 40 years knowing he wasnt.

With typical dignity, she claimed she felt no hatred towards the man who destroyed her life.

I am not bitter. You cant live like that, she said. You destroy yourself, let alone everyone else. Hanratty is not a real person to me.

I have always believed in capital punishment and he committed a crime for which that was the punishment.

Because Hanratty is dead, I have no fear of the future or the present.

But she added quietly: I still do not like, right to this day, being in a car or in my kitchen and having anyone come up to the window and tap on it.

Yesterday, Miss Stories friend, Margaret Lenton, spoke angrily about the campaigners who doubted Miss Stories evidence.

She said: Valerie was very bitter that the journalist Paul Foot and others had insisted Hanratty was not guilty. She once said to me: If you have been subjected to what I had been through, you cannot make a mistake about who the perpetrator was.

What she resented were the various people who insisted that Hanratty was not her attacker. She was so pleased that the DNA evidence proved that he was guilty.

Professor Adrian Hobbs, a friend and former colleague, said Miss Stories health had been deteriorating in recent years.

He said: She didnt expect to live beyond 50. She was incredibly brave. To survive the attack and then to have to suffer all the accusations that she got it wrong about the identity of her attacker.

She found it very hard because she was sure she was right and in 2001 she was proven right.

Miss Storie became a pillar of her community after retiring as a government scientist in 1983 at the age of 45. Professor Hobbs added: She was always very active despite her disability. She was always very determined, and it was that determination which helped her survive the attack.
The toddler's father carried his daughter in a tiny coffin he built

Murdered toddler Sanaya Sahib has been farewelled at a private, traditional Islamic burial after a public outpouring of grief where mourners remembered the 'little princess', less that one week after she was reported missing.

Sanaya Sahib's father, Sameer Sahbib carried his daughter in a tiny wooden coffin that he built.

Almost 450 people gathered at Dandenong South's Bunurong Memorial Park for the 14-month-old's public memorial service.

Scroll down for video

Sanaya Sahib's father, Sameer Sahbib (left) carried his daughter in a tiny wooden the coffin that he had built

Zureeen Sahib the maternal grand mother of Sanaya Sahib is comforted at Bunurong Memorial Park

Sameer Sahib (left, father) and Sheraz Sahib (grandfather) carry the coffin of 14 month old Sanaya Sahib at her funeral

The funeral service was open to the public from 10.45am on Saturday at Bunurong Memorial Park, followed by a private, family-only burial

Sameer Sahib (second from left) the father of 14 month old Sanaya Sahib prays at her funeral in Dandenong

Sameeer Sahib (left), father of Sanaya Sahib carries the coffin at Bunurong Memorial Park on Saturday in Dandenong

The 14-month-old's body was found in the Darebin Creek on Sunday less than 24 hours after her mother, Sofina Nikat, told police she had been snatched from her pram in Olympic Park in Heidelberg West.

Nikat, of Mitcham, was charged with her daughter's murder on Tuesday.

As her tiny, black coffin sat at the front of the auditorium under a bouquet of yellow and pink flowers, Sanaya's family, the teenager who found her little body, and community leaders spoke.

Her father, Sameer, was hugged by a stream of mourners from the moment he arrived at the Dandenong South cemetery.

Family and friends arrive for the funeral of Sanaya Sahib at Bunurong Memorial Park on Saturday

Mourners embrace at the funeral of 14 month old Sanaya Sahib at her funeral in South Dandenong in Melbourne on Saturday

Zureeen Sahib the maternal grand mother of Sanaya Sahib is comforted at Sanaya Sahib's funeral on Saturday

He did not speak at the service, but stood between the coffin he made himself and Sanaya's grandfather Sheraz, as his father thanked the community for their support at the end of the memorial.

Sanaya's uncle Jameel Ahmad gave a short eulogy for the toddler, thanking the hundreds, from all backgrounds, who had gathered and said the support for their family had been overwhelming.

'It's incredible to see just how many hearts our Sanaya has touched,' he said.

'Sanaya brought so much joy to our family, Sameer loves his little princess and will love and miss her every day of his life.'

Murdered Melbourne toddler Sanaya Sahib was farewelled at a public funeral service, one week after she was reported missing

Melbourne toddlerSanaya Sahib's funeral was held on Saturday

'The bond between a father and daughter is unbreakable... We say goodbye Sanaya, you will be missed but you are now with Allah and his angels.

Mr Ahmad said 'we can never thank you enough' to the Mason family, who found Sanaya early on Sunday morning.

Rosalia Mason spoke through tears, telling the community to remain united around Sanaya's family.

The teenager was declared missing in December 2014, but returned home on Christmas Day after a public appeal from her parents.

Rosalia and her family grabbed torches and went looking in the park about midnight, after the search for Sanaya had been called off on Saturday night until 8am the next day.

'Seeing all the news about the missing girl affected my family and myself because the way her family are feeling right now, is the way my family felt when I went missing a year ago but safely returned, which unfortunately did not happen with Sanaya,' she said.

Man Ismail Hyka (left) speaks at the funeral for 14 month old Sanaya Sahib

Family and friends mourn the death of murdered Melbourne toddler, Sanaya Sahib at her funeral on Saturday

Zureeen Sahib the maternal grand mother of Sanaya Sahib breaks down at Sanaya Sahib's funeral on Saturday

Sameeer Sahib (right), father of Sanaya Sahib is greeted at Bunurong Memorial Park on Saturday

Sanaya Sahib's coffin is taken away during her funeral at Bunurong Memorial Park

Heartbroken family and friends attend Sanaya Sahib funeral on Saturday

The young woman who found the body, Rosalie Mason (left) speaks at the funeral for 14 month old Sanaya Sahib

Family and friends arrive for the funeral of Sanaya Sahib at Bunurong Memorial

Sameeer Sahib, father of Sanaya Sahib is greeted at Bunurong Memorial Park on Saturday

Dear Sanaya, Rest in peace- Flowers and kind words honor Sanaya Sahib

Family and friends gather at the funeral of murdered Melbourne toddler Sanaya Sahib

Sameeer Sahib, father of Sanaya Sahib is comforted at his daughters funeral

'You may now fly high and rest forever in our hearts.'

Dandenong South Mosque's Imam Ismail Hyka and Liberal Member for Isaacs Garry Spencer spoke as leaders of the community.

'She will be the flower of Paradise,' Imam Ismail said.

Family from New Zealand and interstate came to Melbourne for the funeral.

On Friday, about 200 people and Sanaya's family gathered at Olympic Park for a vigil and balloon releasing ceremony.

Sameer Sahib said it was too late for his 14-month-old daughter, but not too late for others reported the Herald Sun.

Sameer Sahib, Sanaya's father, built the tiny wooden coffin that his daughter was buried in on Saturday

A group of about 200 people gathered at Olympic Park in Melbourne on Friday to remember Sanaya Sahib

Mr Sahib, who separated from Sanaya's mother in July 2015, said he had battled authorities to see his daughter.

'She shouldnt have been in that environment,' Mr Sahib said. 'I do not want other people to go through this.'

A public memorial for murdered toddler Sanaya Sahib was held at Olympic Park in Melbourne on Friday, close to where her body was found.

A group of about 200 people gathered at the park in Heidelberg West at 11am to remember the 14-month-old girl.

The toddler's body was found in the Darebin Creek on Sunday less than 24 hours after her mother, Sofina Nikat, told police she had been snatched from her pram in a Heidelberg West park.

The toddler's body was found in Darebin Creek last Sunday less than 24 hours after her mother claimed she had been snatched

Community support for Sanaya has left her heartbroken family 'almost lost for words'

Ms Nikat had told police a man of African appearance, smelling of alcohol and wearing no shoes, pushed her to the ground on Saturday morning before taking off with the toddler.

She said she gave chase but could not catch him.

Ms Nikat, of Mitcham, was charged with her daughter's murder on Tuesday.

Hundreds of flowers, soft toys, and notes have been left at a makeshift shrine along a fence at Olympic Park since the toddler was murdered.

Her father, Sameer Sahib, has released videos of the little girl being cuddled by his estranged wife just days before Ms Nikat allegedly murdered the toddler.

Sanaya Sahib's family thanked the community for its support at the vigil, saying it has left them 'almost lost for words'.

The toddler's mother, Sofina Nikat, was charged with her daughter's murder on Tuesday

Community members who gathered at the vigil released pink and yellow balloons in memory of the toddler

Sanaya Sahib's family thanked the community for its support at the vigil

Sanaya's uncle, Jameel Ahmed, said the family thanked the community from 'the bottom of our hearts'

Mr Ahmed said 'She (Sanaya) absolutely lit up our lives in the short time she was with us'

Local girl Bella-Mia Bortolin performed two songs at the funeral.

After the balloon ceremony and two songs performed by local nine-year-old girl Bella-Mia Bortolin, Sanaya's uncle, Jameel Ahmed, said the family thanked the community from 'the bottom of our hearts'.

'Obviously it's been the most difficult week for all of us and it means so much, I'm almost lost for words,' he said.

'She (Sanaya) absolutely lit up our lives in the short time she was with us, she touched a lot of hearts.'

Sanaya's funeral will be held at Dandenong South's Bunurong Memorial Park at 11.15am on Saturday, with the service open to the public before a private burial.

Family and friends wrote messages for Sanaya on balloons before they were released into the sky
Jailed: Albert Patterson (pictured) said he kept the 9mm pistol, taken from an Argentinian officer, to remind him of the 22 friends who died in the conflict

Former military top brass and politicians last night called for an SAS hero who was jailed for keeping a souvenir gun to be freed.

Paratrooper Albert Patterson was sentenced to 15 months for possession of a 9mm pistol  a war trophy which was taken from an Argentine officer during the Falklands War.

He said he had kept the weapon to remind him of 22 friends who died in the conflict.

Last night politicians said the war veteran had been treated like a common criminal and called for him to be released.

Major General Julian Thompson, who commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, called the sentencing nuts.

He said: If he was a gang member in London then bang him up, but hes not. He made a mistake and they should give him a suspended sentence, or even a fine.

Prison, in my opinion, is out of proportion. He should be treated as someone who has been silly, not a criminal.

Patterson, 65, served for 22 years in the military, first in the Parachute Regiment and then in the SAS.

Tory MP Johnny Mercer, a former army officer, said: I dont know the guy personally but it sounds for all intents and purposes that he was a good man with an exemplary military record. In this particular case, I wonder whether more of a common sense approach could have been applied.

Former Commando engineer Mike Hookem MEP has said the former paratrooper should not have been sent to prison and called for a review by the Ministry of Justice.

Mr Hookem said Patterson should not be treated like some common criminal when his service record clearly highlights he is a man of talent and integrity.

He added: He is being treated like he is some gang member from a criminal underclass.

Major General Charles Heyman said the former soldier should be punished, but added: In light of his service, I think the sentence was excessive. The tragedy is he has to be made an example of, but to be given 15 months, it is an awful lot.

He certainly should appeal. Calling for his immediate release, Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: An SAS hero who risked his life to defend our country shouldnt be treated like a south London drug dealer.

Judge Christopher Plunkett said that he had been privileged to see Patterson's service record

Judge Christopher Plunkett said he had seen Pattersons service record, but the legislation meant he would have to send the former soldier to prison.

Sentencing him on Thursday, the judge told Hereford Crown Court: In the wrong hands these weapons could lead to the death of police officers or cause all sorts of mayhem. It is this risk that parliament is concerned about.

Stephen Davies, prosecuting, said Patterson now lived in Thailand when not working overseas.

Following a divorce from his wife his brother went round to his former home to collect his items.

However, his ex-wife became suspicious of what the brother was up to after items of jewellery had previously gone missing.

She contacted police and they carried out a full search, finding the illegal weapons, and Patterson was arrested in November 2014.

Cache: The former soldier had a 9mm self-loading pistol, five rounds of expanding ammunition, 177 rounds of 9mm ammunition, four Enfield pistols (file picture) and a self-loading rifle component.

He admitted possessing a 9mm self-loading pistol, five rounds of expanding ammunition, 177 rounds of 9mm ammunition, four Enfield pistols and a gas self-loading rifle component part.

Scott Coughtrie, defending, pointed out that Patterson had an illustrious career. He said: He spent a great deal of time abroad protecting our country and our way of life.

In his history he has dealt with the most sensitive and dangerous operations this country has had to bear. These weapons were never loaded or used in the UK and had never been in the public domain.

He said he received said pistol as a trophy of war from the Falklands and the ammunition during his military service.

When asked why he didnt hand them in he said he worked abroad for 15 of the last 20 years and wasnt back when there was an amnesty. They werent hanging on the wall but were hidden.
People from other EU countries can register with a GP and access health treatment for free in Britain without a European Health Insurance Card or any form of identification, a minister has revealed.

GPs have also been told by ministers that they are legally barred from stopping anyone from registering even if they cannot prove who they are or that they have a right to free healthcare.

Critics said the revelations, which came from a ministers statement in Parliament, showed how lax controls are on Britains open door NHS.

European Health Insurance Card: This allows anyone from a country in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to receive healthcare in Britain if they fall ill

An EHIC card allows anyone from a country in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to receive healthcare in Britain if they fall ill. The EEA is the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

In theory, Britain should then claim back the cost of the treatment from their home country. But vast sums are believed to go unrecovered, often because health service staff do not ask for identification.

The most recent figures  for 2013/14  show Britain claimed back only 50.3million from other European countries for healthcare claimed by their nationals in this country. That is compared with the 750million the Government handed over to EU states to pay for treatment for Britons abroad.

This health tourism gap means the UK is now paying out 15 for the healthcare costs of Britons who fall ill abroad for every 1 it gets back for NHS treatment of European visitors.

Ministers have always claimed they are trying to shut loopholes and claim more money back from health tourists using the NHS.

But in reply to a question lodged in Parliament, health minister Alistair Burt made clear how easy it is to access free healthcare.

He was asked by Labour MP Frank Field whether a visitor to the UK from any other EEA country who does not have an EHIC card can register as a temporary patient with a GP practice and receive treatment free of charge.

Response: But in reply to a question lodged in Parliament, health minister Alistair Burt made clear how easy it is to access free healthcare

Mr Burt replied that holding an EHIC card is not required to register with a GP and that practices cannot legally refuse to register any applicant even if they dont have any identification. He also warned GPs against only asking migrants for ID, saying it could be discriminatory and that they should ask all patients.

Mr Burt wrote: Anyone can seek to register as an NHS patient with a GP practice by approaching one directly and submitting a written and signed application.

A practice cannot legally refuse to register someone because they do not possess identification or documents. Individual GP practices can have a policy where they ask prospective patients to provide identification, however they must ensure that this is applied to all patients and not done in a discriminatory manner.

Last night Mr Field, who is backing the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, said the answer exposed Britains open door to EU migrants seeking healthcare.

It is totally proper and legitimate for GPs to refuse access to their practice and thereby in to hospitals, for people who cannot prove who they are and whether they have got an EHIC card, he said.

Once you are in the doctors practice you can get your treatment. This shows show inadequate systems are and David Camerons renegotiation was. This was never even raised.

The law states that GP services and any treatment deemed urgent or emergency is free for everyone  regardless of whether they pay taxes including maternity care and treatment in A&E.

But anyone who does not live long term in the UK is meant to pay for all other hospital treatment. In reality, many patients get away without being charged because NHS staff assume that once they are registered with a GP and have a referral letter, they are entitled to free care.

The NHS advises Britons that Ehic cards, which can be obtained for free, give them the right to access state-provided healthcare during temporary stays in other EEA countries and Switzerland.

Anyone can seek to register as an NHS patient with a GP practice by approaching one directly and submitting a written and signed application Alistair Burt, health minister

What treatment you can secure, and whether you will get it for free or at reduced cost, depends on rules in the country you are visiting. Even if Britons do not have their Ehic card with them, they can obtain a Provisional Replacement Certificate to prove they are entitled to a card, which can be sent to the hospital or surgery visited.

Last year a Daily Mail investigation revealed how the Ehic card also allowed EU nationals to bill the NHS for expensive healthcare they receive in their own countries.

By obtaining an EHIC card from the NHS, they can return to their home countries and use them to have medical treatment, with the bill passed to the NHS.

A Department of Health spokesman said: This Government is determined to make sure our NHS isnt abused  and while EHICs have never been needed to register with a GP, we were the first to introduce tough measures to clamp down on migrants accessing care and have consulted on extending charging to other areas of healthcare including GP services.
Late politician: Cyril Smith, who died in 2010, was the subject of various sex abuse allegations and investigations over decades during his career

A former teacher yesterday became the first person to be charged with historical sex abuse at a residential school where the late Cyril Smith is said to have preyed on boys.

David Higgins is accused of sexually abusing two boys aged between 11 and 15 at Knowl View school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, between 1969 and 1971.

The 76-year-old  whose address was given by police as Rye Hill Prison in Warwickshire where he is serving a sentence for an earlier conviction - faces 18 counts of indecent assault and one of attempted indecent assault.

Police launched an investigation dubbed Operation Jaguar after claims that the heavyweight Liberal politician used his status to sexually abuse boys at Knowl View with impunity.

Detectives identified 27 potential suspects and 16 alleged victims from the 1960s to the 1990s, but Higgins is the first person to face charges, with all but one of the remaining files now closed.

He is due to appear at Bury Magistrates Court via video-link on May 4 to face allegations of 18 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.

Smith, who died in 2010, was the subject of various sex abuse allegations and investigations over decades during his career, first as a prominent local councillor in Rochdale and later as the towns Liberal MP.

He was a governor of the school for vulnerable boys for 20 years, with former residents telling how they would be summoned from their dormitories when they were as young as eight to perform sex acts on the 29-stone politician.

However he never faced charges despite 144 complaints by victims, according to his successor Simon Danczuks book, Smile For The Camera: The Double Life Of Cyril Smith, which was serialised in the Daily Mail.

Claims: Smith never faced charges despite 144 complaints by victims, according to a book by his successor Simon Danczuk (pictured)

Police are still investigating claims of corruption by officers and local politicians as part of an alleged cover-up into abuse at Knowl View.

Claims by former residents of both Knowl View and Cambridge House Boys hostel, also in Rochdale, are also being examined by Justice Lowell Goddards five-year inquiry into sexual abuse.

In relation to Operation Jaguar, Greater Manchester Police said it had submitted 13 files to the Crown Prosecution Service containing multiple allegations of both physical and sexual offences involving 27 suspects and 16 alleged victims.

It is understood that just one of the 13 files submitted remains under review.

Assistant Chief Constable Robert Potts said: Investigations into allegations of historical sexual and physical abuse are by their very nature extremely complex and protracted inquiries.

These investigations are managed with the utmost sensitivity and files of evidence are put together by officers before being discussed and considered with the Crown Prosecution Service.

Claire Lindley, Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England, said: We have carefully considered the evidence gathered by police in connection with their investigations into alleged abuse at Knowl View residential school for boys.
A Tennessee mother has been arrested leaving her 14-month-old daughter in a sweltering car while she danced at a strip club, authorities said.

Kelsey McMurtry, 24, was auditioning at Deja Vu Showgirls in Nashville, Tennessee, when witnesses called the police.

They said the little girl had been inside for 30 minutes, News 2 reported.

The temperature inside the car was above 100 degrees and the little girl was wearing a coat according to the arrest warrant.

Scroll down for video

Kelsey McMurtry (left), 24, has been charged with felony child neglect after police said she left her daughter in a sweltering car was she auditioned at a strip club. Her friend Summer Taylor (right), 19, was supposed to be watching the 14-month-old but she was inside watching McMurtry's audition according to authorities

McMurtry, who works as a bikini and lingerie model and as a ring girl during boxing and MMA events, had left her daughter in the care of a friend, the affidavit states.

Summer Taylor, 19, was meant to be watching the child but was inside watching McMurtry's audition according to the warrant.

Officers say they found the little girl drenched in sweat inside the car with the windows rolled up, while the temperature outside was 72 degrees.

Taylor said she had been checking on her according to authorities but witnesses said they hadn't seen her outside.

McMurtry (pictured), who works as a bikini and lingerie model and as a ring girl, is currently held on a $40,000 bond and is due in court Monday as well as Taylor

Police asked McMurtry to come and get her daughter out of the car, the New York Daily News wrote.

McMurtry has now been charged with felony child neglect and criminal impersonation as she initially gave police a fake name.

She is held on a $40,000 bond.

Taylor also faces a felony child neglect charge and her bond has been fixed at $10,000.

Both are due to appear in court on Monday afternoon.

McMurtry's daughter was taken to the hospital and has been placed in the care of children's services.
The real estate mogul also branded Bernie Sanders a 'communist' and laughed at the notion of him as America's next president

He said in Connecticut that Hillary Clinton was a 'liar' for claiming she was poor when she left the White House in 2001

Donald Trump uncorked a fusillade of attacks against Hillary Clinton on Friday night, signaling that he's looking past July's GOP nominating convention to a general election campaign in which undermining her credibility will be Job One.

He also pushed back against claims that his rallies have devolved into dangerous free-for-alls when protesters and supporters find themselves doing battle in close quarters  saying his rallies are 'among the safest places to be on earth.'

After his speech was over, a cordon of protesters stood in the way of the audience members streaming out. After police intervened, one protester was photographed lighting a Trump rally sign on fire.

Trump has said in recent weeks that he's confident he can overcome poor showings against Clinton in opinion polls because he hasn't 'started on her yet.'

On Friday in Hartford, Connecticut, he started in earnest.

'Hillary Clinton is a joke,' he boomed. 'Hillary Clinton knows nothing about trade. She knows nothing about business, except getting business and money into her own account, using what she's got to get it in.'

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS OF TRUMP RALLY VIOLENCE

NOVEMBER MAN: Donald Trump hammered Hillary Clinton with gusto on Friday in Hartford, Connceticut, calling her a 'liar' and a 'joke'

MORE FIREWORKS COMING: Clinton, shown at a New York senior center on Friday afternoon, is drawing more and more flak from Trump as he begins to look past the GOP primary season to the fall election

BECAUSE POLITICS IS FUNNY: Trump laughed as he said Bernie Sanders was 'a communist' and scoffed at the idea of the democratic socialist senator in the White House

Trump recalled a controversial interview in 2014 when Clinton claimed she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were 'dead broke' when they left the White House in 2001.

But a few weeks before that, the Clintons made a cash down payment of $855,000 on a home in Chappaqua, New York.

'Remember when she said she was poor, she had no money, and she had tens of millions of dollars?' Trump asked a crowd of thousands at the Connecticut Convention Center.

'She's a liar when you think, right?'

He added that he had picked out a derogatory nickname for her, but 'you only have one "Lyin' Ted." I don't think we can use the same term for Hillary.'

That was a reminder of the sobriquet that has hung around the neck of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who poses the only practical threat to Trump's hunt for the GOP's presidential nomination.

The real estate tycoon said that in New York's April 19 primary, 'he's gone.'

'Lyin' Ted Cruz is like this,' he said, making downward swooping motions with both arms.

'I don't know what happened to him! Boom!' he yelled. 'Lyin' Ted. Lyin' Ted. What a liar!'

ONE OF THE 'SAFEST PLACES': A teen girl protesting against Donald Trump was pepper sprayed last month outside a Trump rally in Wisconsin after she punched a Trump supporter

'Did you ever watch when he goes bad in the polls?' Trump continued. 'He's like a basket case.'

'Watch what happens. Watch how badly we beat him. And we're gonna have a lot of fun doing it.'

Trump also said he agrees with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is chasing Clinton on the Democratic side of the race, that 'Wall Street owns Hillary Clinton. Wall Street. Remember.'

But that was the only kind word Trump had for Sanders, who describes himself as a 'democratic socialist' and takes great pains to frame that political label along economic progressive lines.

'He doesn't understand,' Trump said of Sanders' approach to international trade.

'Basically he's a communist! What the heck? We're gonna have a communist?' he mocked, chuckling as his fans laughed along with him.

Trump's Hartford rally, held 11 days before the state's April 26 primary election, attracted about a half-dozen protesters who stopped the action for one minute apiece.

'We have a First Amendment right,' he told his cheering crowd after one interruption. 'They really impede freedom of speech and it's a disgrace. It's really a disgrace.'

'But the good news is, folks, it won't be long. We're just not taking it and it won't be long.'

CLASH: Trump supporters argued with protesters outside Trump's rally Wednesday night in Pittsburgh

FAMILIAR SIGHT: In addition to hauling disruptive protesters out of Trump's speeches, law enforcement routinely separates activists from the billionaire candidate's supporters in hallways and on streets

FRIEND OR FOE? This man prepped a Trump mask as he waited for the billionaire to enter the Connecticut Convention Center on Friday night

He insisted that police and Secret Service handle the activists gently, and patted himself on the back for his restraint.

'Trump rallies are among the safest places to be on earth. It's true. We don't hear that,' he said. 'Because the people in this room love each other and they protect each other, and that's what we have to do as a country.

'We have to protect each other. And that means everything! Right now we're a divided country. We have to bring our country back and we have to be inclusive. That means everybody. We have to be inclusive. But we have the safest places that you'll ever be, I mean that you'll ever be.'

Trump's boast comes in an election season that has seen protesters, supporters and police injured at his rallies and during the outside scuffles that sometimes accompany them.

Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a protester hit police officers with pepper spray as they tried to separate left-wing agitators from Trump's audience outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Last month twin riots broke out both inside and outside a Trump rally site in Chicago after hundreds of anti-Trump protesters flooded an arena on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Injuries and arrests were reported after the atmosphere became volatile enough to cause Trump to cancel his campaign speech.

Another March rally, this one in Fayetteville, North Carolina, featured a Trump fan sucker-punching an African-American protester who was being marched out of an arena by police.

Law enforcement briefly considered filing a criminal charge of inciting a riot against Trump, but later abandoned the idea.

BIG TENT: Trump urged unity, saying that 'we have to bring our country back and we have to be inclusive. That means everybody'

And on March 30 in Janesville, Wisconsin, a teenage girl was pepper sprayed after she punched a man during protests outside a Trump rally.

Police debunked her claim that she had been sexually groped before her fist flew.

In Trump's mind, those aberrations aren't signs of blood boiling, but of rent-a-mob activists who are paid to protest against him.

'They have no voice, they've got nothing, they've got nothing going,' he said Friday. 'They're all put in here.'

'You notice how the signs are all beautifully manufactured and handed to 'em?'

'This is such a con job being placed on the American public, folks. It's a total and complete con job,' Trump added as his audience cheered and waved the professionally printed pro-trump rally signs they were handed when they walked in.
A 13-year veteran of the fire service has been killed and a volunteer firefighter critically injured after a shooting in a Maryland suburb of Washington.

John Ulmschneider, 37, died Friday night at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, while Kevin Swain, 23, was reported to be undergoing emergency surgery at Shock Trauma in Baltimore.

Ulmschneider, who was nicknamed 'Skillet', was a father and husband, while images from Swain's Facebook show him with girlfriend Betty-Ann Humbert, who he had been dating for 17 months.

Kevin Swain, (pictured left with girlfriend Betty-Ann Humbert) is in critical condition after being shot in Maryland on Friday night, while fellow firefighter John Ulmschneider, 37 (right), was killed

Swain (pictured) was responding to a call of a medical emergency at a property on Friday night before a man inside opened fire, hitting him and Ulmschneider

Ulmschneider (pictured far left), who was nicknamed'Skillet', was a father and husband and had served the fire department for 13 years before being shot dead

The pair were wounded while answering a call at a property in the Temple Hills area near Washington D.C. at around 7.30pm.

Firefighters were called to the property by a concerned relative saying another man in the house was in need of medical attention.

When they arrived on the scene, the person inside was unresponsive and the property locked, so they decided to force entry, police Chief Henry P. Stawinski III said.

As that was happening, the person inside fired several rounds through the door, striking the two firefighters and the relative who had initially made the call for a welfare check.

Ulmschneider was hit in the chest and later died from the wound. Swain was shot multiple times in the body and transported to hospital in critical condition.

Ulmschneider was flown from the scene (pictured) to MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center where he died, while Swain is undergoing treatment at Shock Trauma in Baltimore

The pair had approached a house on Sharon Road (file image) and attempted to enter only to find it locked when a man inside opened fire on them

Stawinski said that once officers got into the home, the gunfire stopped. He added that no officers had fired their weapons.

The civilian was not seriously injured, according to the police chief, while the other person inside the home has been taken into custody and cooperating with police, Stawinski said.

Prince Georges County Executive Rushern Baker told Fox 5: 'Once again, unfortunately, I've got to go before the people of Prince George's County and let them know that we have lost another one of our brave firefighters doing what they do every day.
Apple is pleading with another judge not to issue an order forcing it to hack into its own iPhone in an ongoing battle with government agencies over encryption.

In a 45-page filing in a Brooklyn court on Friday, the tech company accused the Justice Department of 'utterly failing' to prove it had tried all methods to get into the device before demanding an order.

The new battle comes just three weeks after the FBI also sought a court order forcing Apple to hack into the iPhone used by San Bernardino terrorists Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik.

Apple has urged a judge to refuse to issue a court order forcing it to hack into another iPhone, accusing the Justice Department of 'utterly failing' to show that it has tried other methods before seeking the order

Apple also resisted that order and just a day before the case went to court the FBI revealed it had managed to get into the device without the company's help.

The second case involves in iPhone used by meth dealer Jun Feng, who was arrested back in 2014.

New York authorities, who have been in possession of Feng's iPhone since his arrest, say they cannot access it and argue it is crucial to sentencing Feng and uncovering potential co-conspirators.

Feng has already admitted his crimes and is only waiting to be sentenced.

In its most recent filing, Apple said: 'As a preliminary matter, the government has utterly failed to satisfy its burden to demonstrate that Apple's assistance in this case is necessary.

'The government has made no showing that it has exhausted alternative means for extracting data from the iPhone at issue here.'

The Justice Department, in a statement, noted that some 70 times before the Brooklyn case emerged, Apple had helped authorities access data on iPhones.

A spokesman added: 'Indeed, Apple has said it would take them only a few hours to open this kind of phone, because they already have a mechanism that would allow them to do so.'

The New York case became the forefront of the battle between government and tech companies over encryption a week ago when the Justice Department wrote to Judge Margo K. Brodie insisting it wanted to press ahead with the case.

In a brief written filing, lawyers said: 'The government continues to require Apple's assistance in accessing the data that it is authorized to search by warrant.'

Apple lawyers said they were disappointed by what amounted to an appeal by the government, after the FBI backed down from its case in California.

Detectives have been in possession of an iPhone belonging to meth trafficker Jun Feng since June 2014 and have already been denied permission to have Apple hack into it once, but renewed their appeals last week

Attorneys for Apple said this new case is another attempt to set a troubling legal precedent and not really a pursuit of vital information for fighting crime.

The DEA and FBI had attempted to force Apple to hack into Feng's phone before using the 1789 All Writs Act.

But in fall last year U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein invited Apple to appeal the order.

In March this year Orenstein ruled firmly on the side of Apple, causing the government to appeal his decision, which is now before Brodie.

Feng's iPhone is believed to be an older model to that used by the San Bernardino terrorists, meaning the security features are not as advanced.

As a result, Apple would not need to create a new version of its software in order to allow agents access to the phone, as it would have done in San Bernardino, the company has acknowledged.

But experts point out that Apple could still be right to refuse the order, since sentencing a drug dealer who has already admitted to his crimes is a much lower legal bar than thwarting terrorism.

Jill Bronfman, director of the Privacy and Technology Project at University of California Hastings College of the Law, said: 'If you want to do a balancing test and you've got terrorism on one side of the scale, that's a very heavy weight.

'We'll see how the request is balanced when we have drugs on the other side.'

Apple is scheduled to file papers in opposition of the Justice Department's appeal by April 15.
Surgeons at a Texas hospital successfully separated two 10-month-old sisters born conjoined below the waist after a 15-hour operation, but doctors say they aren't in the clear yet.

Ximena and Scarlett Hernandez-Torres, born on May 16 last year at Bay Area Corpus Christi Medical Center, were joined at the pelvis.

In a press conference, the team of doctors overseeing the surgery for the girls said they are not out of the woods just yet. In fact, Ximena underwent another surgical procedure on Friday.

Dr Haroon Patel says a team of specialists had been working for months to prepare for the surgery and that his biggest concern throughout the surgery was 'blood loss'.

Scroll down for video

Dr Haroon Patel says a team of specialists had been working for months to prepare for the surgery but the twins, Ximena and Scarlett Hernandez-Torres aren't out of the woods yet, as Ximena underwent a surgical procedure on Friday

The twins had to have their large pelvic ring (left) cut in four different places so the doctors could bring their legs together, to allow them to be in a more normal position

Scarlett and Ximena (left to right) shared a colon and bladders that will be reconstructed. The conjoined twins headed in for surgery in Corpus Christi on Tuesday morning

Driscoll Children's Hospital staff has cared for the girls since they were transferred to the facility last year

On Friday, Ximena underwent another procedure, where doctors connected a temporary mechanism from her kidney to a urine bag, to relieve some of the stress from the kidney while it heals

The twins had to have their large pelvic ring cut in four different places so the doctors could bring their legs together to allow them to be in a more normal position.

Scarlett now has two functional kidneys while Ximena only has one, which prompted a longer surgical procedure on her with more surgery the next day.

On Friday, Ximena underwent another procedure, where doctors connected a temporary mechanism from her kidney to a urine bag, to relieve some of the stress from the kidney while it heals.

Patel said the second thing that worried him was 'time'. He told KIII TV that 'the longer you spend in the operating room, the potential for problems goes up'.

The twins shared a colon and bladders that will now be reconstructed.

The staff at Driscoll Children's Hospital has cared for the conjoined girls since they were transferred to the Corpus Christi facility hours after birth.

Hospital spokesman Jeff Salzgeber says the hours-long operation began Tuesday morning.

A hospital statement says doctors have a positive outlook for the children's recovery but the girls will require additional surgeries as they grow.

Their identical triplet sister, Catalina, was born without serious health issues.

The little girls were supposed to go through the procedure in March, but they caught a respiratory infection that delayed it until April.

Their mother, Silvia Hernandez, 23, has spent the last 10 months at a nearby Ronald McDonald House.

Hernandez and her husband Raul Torres found out three months into the pregnancy that they were having triplets and that two of them were conjoined.

The girls were actually born triplets, with their identical sister, Catalina, born without any major health issues

Ceremony: The girls were baptized Saturday at the hospital in preparation for the surgery, as per their parents wishes

Triplets Ximena, Scarlett, and Catalina were born in May last year. Ximena and Scarlett (left to right) were joined at the pelvis, but have separate legs. Catalina was born without any major issues

'Since they were born, I have been waiting anxiously for them to be separated because I want to hold them separately in my arms and hold them close,' Hernandez earlier told CBS.

'But the closer the surgery day is getting, I don't want it to happen. But of course I want it to happen so they can have a normal life.

'My daughters are in hands of God and his will will be done.'

The girls were baptized Saturday at the hospital in preparation for the surgery.

'I'm nervous,' their father Raul Torres told NBC News before the surgery.

'I've been praying a lot, every single day, even at work I think about them and think about the surgery. Sometimes I can't even sleep.'

'Just in case something happens like that, their soul can already be with God, before something bad happens.'

There is only a one in 50 million chance that conjoined twins are born in a set of triplets.
A woman who committed murder in Charles Manson's name received letters from the cult leader saying she had failed him while she was in prison.

Leslie Van Houten, 66, received several letters from Manson during her 46 years behind bars, her lawyer Richard Pfeiffer told the New York Post on Friday.

The last letter, which arrived a few years ago, 'was condemning her for not supporting him and his whole movement,' Pfeiffer said. 'She wasnt happy, no. We were all shocked.'

Van Houten, who was recommended for parole on Thursday, told the parole board Manson had sent her approximately four letters at California Institution For Women in Chino.

Scroll down for video

Leslie Van Houten, 66 (pictured Thursday), received several letters from Charles Manson during her 46 years behind bars, in which he blamed her for not supporting him and his movement

She gave each letter to prison officials shortly after they arrived, the New York Post reported.

The former beauty queen was recommended for parole on Thursday after undergoing counselling and exhibiting good behavior behind bars.

She held a pillow over Rosemary La Bianca's face as the Manson murderers stabbed her and her husband, Leno, to death before carving the word 'WAR' in his stomach.

Van Houten, who was 19 at the time of the killings, admitted stabbing Mrs La Bianca after she died.

She was sentenced to death for murder, which was later commuted to life in prison.

Van Houten, the youngest member of the Manson cult, has taken 'self-help programs, classes and counselling' and provided an 'insight why she committed the crimes', a spokesman for the Department of Corrections said.

The killer denounced Manson and his teachings soon after she was first convicted of murder.

Leno La Bianca's daughter, Cory La Bianca, gave a rare interview to the Los Angeles Times, pleading with the authorities to keep the killer in jail.

'I very much disagree with the ruling,' Ms La Bianca said.

'We all need to be held responsible for our behavior. The least we can do, for someone who commits a crime against another human being, is to keep them in jail.'

She said her 41-year-old son burst into tears while listening to the parole hearing at the California Institution for Women in Chino, which deemed Van Houten 'suitable for parole' after years in prison.

Van Houten, who was denied parole in 2013, was not due to be heard by the parole board again until 2018.

Van Houten (right), who applied for parole 20 times in total, was given a recommendation on Thursday for her good behavior

The former beauty queen admitted holding a pillow over the head of Rosemary La Bianca (left) while other cult members stabbed her and husband Leno (right) to death

However, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Van Houten addressed many of the failings reported by the parole board in 2013 and was granted an early hearing.

The case will now be reviewed, which can take up to four months, while the final decision on Van Houten's release will be made by California Governor Jerry Brown.

A spokesman for the governor said Thursday that it would be premature for his office to comment.

'Maybe Leslie Van Houten has been a model prisoner,' Cory La Bianca said. 'But you know what, we still suffer our loss.'

Speaking about her father, she said: 'He didn't get to live his, and I'll live it for him.'

She added that her grandson had recently asked her about her father, leaving her speechless.

'How do you answer that to a six-year-old?' Ms La Bianca said. 'It doesn't end. This doesn't end.'

She now intends to appeal to Gov. Brown to demand he intervene and keep Van Houten in jail.

Pfeiffer told Daily Mail Online: 'The governor deserves a lot of credit for taking a broken parole system and making it work.

Charles Manson appears in Los Angeles, California court on March 29, 1971

'The court system was impossible, so he appointed a board who know what they're doing and only I hope he follows through all the way in this case.'

He also said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times: 'A lot of people who oppose parole don't know anything about Leslie's conduct.'

'Her role was bad. Everyone's was. But they don't know what she's done since then and all of the good she's done.'

Van Houten, who launched her first parole attempt in 1979 and has applied for parole 20 times, recounted her part in the killing of La Bianca and his wife during her hearing.

The former homecoming princess, who described herself as a hippy at the time of the murders, told of how she looked off into the distance until another Manson follower told her to do something before she joined in the stabbing.

She described herself as a young woman who was angry at her parents' divorce.

During her five-hour testimony, Van Houten described Manson as a 'Christ-like man that had all the answers'.

She then went into graphic detail how she held down Rosemary La Bianca and secured a pillow with a lamp cord while another member of the Manson family stabbed her repeatedly.

She said: 'I don't let myself off the hook. I don't find parts in any of this that makes me feel the slightest bit good about myself.'

The La Biancas were killed a day after other so-called 'Manson family' members murdered actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others.

Tate's sister, Debra, has started an online petition opposing parole for Van Houten, saying she failed to show remorse for years after the crimes and can't be trusted.

The killings were the start of what Manson believed was a coming race war. He dubbed it 'Helter Skelter' after a Beatles song.

Pfeiffer said in an earlier interview that she presents no danger to the public and should be freed.

'The only violent thing she has ever done in her entire life was this crime and that was under the control of Charles Manson,' he said. 'She is just not a public safety risk, and when you are not a public safety risk, the law says you shall be released.'

At her last hearing in 2013, a parole commissioner told Van Houten she had failed to explain how someone as intelligent and well-bred as she could have committed such cruel and atrocious crimes.

Van Houten told the panel she had been traumatized by her parents' divorce when she was 14, her pregnancy soon after and her mother's insistence she have an abortion.

During the hearing, she apologized to everyone she had harmed.

Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings but went along the next night when the La Biancas were slain.

Her defense lawyers portrayed her as a young woman from a good family who had been a homecoming princess and showed promise until she got involved with drugs and was recruited into Manson's cult.

Van Houten (pictured right along with fellow Charles Manson cult members Susan Atkins, left, and Patricia Krenwinkel, center) arrives in court in August 1970 for assisting in the murders of Leno La Bianca and his wife Rosemary

Van Houten (pictured right along with fellow Charles Manson cult members Susan Atkins, center, and Patricia Krenwinkel, right) leaves court after being convicted of first degree murder

Van Houten (pictured right along with fellow Charles Manson cult members Atkins, left, and Krenwinkel, center) laughs after being sentenced to death for her role in the murders

During the penalty phase of her trial, she confessed to joining in stabbing Rosemary La Bianca after she was dead.

Van Houten's conviction was overturned on appeal after her lawyer was found dead during the trial.

Members of the Manson family took credit for the killing, but it is believed he died in a flash flood.

She was retried twice and ultimately convicted in 1978 of two counts of murder and conspiracy.

Her first retrial ended in a hung jury, and prior to her conviction in 1978 she was out on $200,000 bond - and even attended the Oscars with a friend.

In an interview with filmmaker John Waters, Van Houten was asked what she said to people that night when they asked her if she had seen any of the films.

'If someone brought up one of the nominees, I'd just say, "No, I missed that one" or "I was away when that was playing",' Van Houten said.

Manson, 81, and other followers involved in the killings are still jailed.

Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles 'Tex' Watson have each been denied parole multiple times, while fellow defendant Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009.

Former Manson follower Bruce Davis was approved for parole but Gov. Brown blocked his release in 2014, citing the gravity of his offenses and his refusal to fully accept responsibility for his role in the murders of a stunt man and a musician.
The remains of 25 Australian soldiers killed in Vietnam will be brought back to Australia in June.

Minister for Veterans' Affairs Dan Tehan said the soldiers' remains would be repatriated from Terendak Military Cemetery in Malaysia by the Royal Australian Air Force, the ABC reported.

A private memorial service for families would follow a military ceremony at the RAAF Base Richmond on June 2.

Reginald Hollier is one of 24 men buried at the Terendak General Christian Cemetery on Terendak Military Base in Malaysia

Australia sent more than 60,000 troops to the Vietnam War between 1962 and 1975, and 521 Australians were killed.

But instead of bringing all the war dead home, 24 Australian casualties were flown to Terendak Military Cemetary, north of Malacca, and buried there, rather than returned home.

One soldier was buried in Singapore.

In May last year, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government would repatriate the soldiers except in cases where their families wanted the graves left undisturbed.

Minister Tehans announcement will come as a relief to the relatives of the ex-serviceman, who were part of a campaign launched by The Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia to bring the soldiers home.

Ken Foster, national president of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, said bringing the soldiers home would enable families to pay their respects.

This is the grave of Reg, as his family and friends call him. His family have been trying to get him home for 50 years

'The families will be able to visit their graves as and when they want,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Foster said the majority of the mens' bodies would be buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney and the rest forwarded to wherever families wanted them.

The reason many of the men were not brought back to Australia was simply because their parents couldn't afford it. It would have cost them 500, which was half of the average yearly wage in 1965.

Not being close to their loved ones was a cause of grief for many of the soldiers' relatives.

Neil Bond, whose uncle Reginald Hillier was buried in Malaysia, told Daily Mail Australia last year that his family had been trying to get his uncle home for almost 50 years.

'It's tragic enough that he was killed  but the real wrong is that they only bought him partway home,' Mr said.

Mr Foster said another 10 Australians buried at Terendak Military Cemetery - both soldiers and civilians killed in Malaysia - would be repatriated along with the Vietnam veterans.
Thelma Louise Coleman, 60, has been arrested in the death of a two-month-old boy at an in-home daycare she runs in Missouri City, Texas

A 60-year-old Texas woman has been arrested in the death of a two-month-old baby boy who died at an in-home daycare last month.

Thelma Louise Coleman has been charged with criminally negligent homicide.

Police said evidence collected at the scene of the Missouri City daycare that Coleman ran led to her arrest.

Sebastian Bingley III was found responsive at the home on March 29.

The cause of his death has not been released.

Authorities said the owner called 911 and attempted CPR on the child.

First responders also attempted to revive Sebastian, according to KHOU.

Coleman's bond has been set at $50,000.

The daycare has been cited numerous times in the past two years, according to ABC 13.

Issues included letting children sleep on their stomachs and allowing them to sleep with prohibited, potentially dangerous items.

Sebastian's death devastated his family, who called him Baby Bash.

They held on to the memory of the baby's first and last Easter, a dinner his mother Jazmine set up at the last minute.

Sebastian Bingley III was found responsive at the home on March 29. The cause of his death has not been released. Authorities said the owner called 911 and attempted CPR on the child

Video courtesy KTRK ABC 13

'Thank God she came up with that bright idea,' Sebastian Bingley Sr, the boy's grandfather, told ABC 13.

'He was here to enjoy that moment.'

The family held a vigil for their Baby Bash, walking a cross up a hill to symbolize him looking down from Heaven on them.

'Kiss your babies,' Bingley Sr said. 'Any time of the day, think about your family, kiss them in the morning.'
A prison guard who watched over bank robber, 'Postcard Bandit' has warned the notorious criminal will attempt another escape if forced to spend more time behind bars in Western Australia.

Some of the cash stolen by Brenden Abbott have never been recovered and Hans Anderson, now a retired guard, believes the notorious prison escapee will attempt another escape and go straight to the money.

Abbott was released after serving 18 years of a 25-year sentence in SuperMax at the Woodford Correctional Centre northwest of Brisbane.

But a magistrate has ordered Abbott return to Western Australia where he could face another 16 years behind bars, reported The Courier Mail.

Scroll down for video

A former prison guard has warned Brenden Abbott, 53, will attempt another escape from prison if forced to spend more time behind bars in Western Australia

The notorious prison escapee went on the run and taunted police with postcards after breaking out twice.

Hans Anderson, now a retired guard, was one of 10 men who watched over the criminals in the Maximum Security Unit, which included Abbott.

Mr Anderson believes Abbott has already planned an escape plan with two convicted murderers who are now out on parole, Lee Garrett and Greg Maycock.

'I personally believe that if he's got something planned, he's not going to serve another 16 years in WA,' he said.

'That's the way he operates. He plans things, he tests things and he knows he's very smart.'

The former guard noted the effort his co-workers put into monitoring 'Postcard Bandit,' from x-raying his belongings every five days to writing detailed entries in logbooks.

'He would test the officers. He used to cover his camera [in his cell] and he would see how long it would take officers to respond to it, he would time things. Continually testing us and forever doing that sort of thing, looking for opportunity,' Mr Anderson said.

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

Abbott was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment at the then-new SuperMax at Woodford Prison (pictured), 80 kilometres north of Brisbane

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

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

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 Brenden 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.

Brenden Abbott, 53, spent more than six years evading authorities and managed to escape from two prisons
Ex-BBC boss Danny Cohen, who sacked Jeremy Clarkson, has attacked Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claiming any Jewish people supporting his party would be the same as Muslims backing Donald Trump.

The former director of BBC television eventually succeeded in ending Jeremy Clarkson's BBC career after the former Top Gear presenter punched a producer after a day's filming.

Cohen resigned from his 327,000-a-year job in October just three months after he was accused of breaking impartiality rules by secretly asking a host of stars to lobby Prime Minister David Cameron on the BBC's behalf.

Left-wing former 327,000-a-year BBC boss Danny Cohen, pictured, attacked Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party

The Oxford-educated former TV boss equated a Jew voting Labour with a Muslim supporting Donald Trump

Cohen was the driving force behind the decision to axe former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, centre

In his first interview since leaving the BBC, the Labour supporting former television boss attacked the party which has been plagued with claims of antisemitisim since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader.

Cohen told The Times: 'If you are Jewish how can you vote for them? How could you? For me it would like being a Muslim and voting for Donald Trump, how could you do it? You have to feel absolutely confident that it is totally unacceptable and it won't be tolerated and I personally haven't felt comfortable that it is happening yet in the Labour party.'

The 42-year-old Oxford-educated former executive is a leading member of the Jewish community and with his wife, Noreena Hertz, regarded as a prominent figure in North London's intelligenstsia.

Cohen's wife is a leading far-left economist, who has written books such as The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy.

Cohen admitted that Jewish people should not support the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn, pictured

The former TV executive is married to left-wing economist Noreena Hertz, left, who is six years his elder

Last July, Cohen was accused of orchestrating the infamous 'luvvies letter', signed by 29 celebrities including Dame Judi Dench and Daniel Craig - telling David Cameron that his plans to reform the BBC would damage Britain.

He lives with his wife, who is six years his senior, in North London. The pair married in March 2012, with actress Rachel Weisz present as a bridesmaid, and the guest list including Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson.

At the time of the infamous letter, the Daily Mail asked the BBC five times about its origin. The corporation claimed the stars arranged the letter to the PM themselves.

However, during the controversy, former Monty Python star Michael Palin told a BBC News programme: 'I was asked to sign it by Danny Cohen. He knows Im a supporter of the BBC so he just asked: Would you sign? The charters coming up. Were a little bit worried the BBC will become smaller and less significant.

The Government says the BBC is now too big for its own good, and that it spends too much time chasing ratings and making programmes which could easily be made by its commercial rivals.
Rachel Tyquin, 44, was found dead in a quiet one-way street in Sunbury, north-west Melbourne

A woman has been found reportedly stabbed to death near her house in an attack believed to be linked to a long-running neighbourhood feud over street parking.

Rachel Tyquin, a 44-year-old fitness instructor, was found lying dead on a nature strip not far from her Sunbury house in Melbourne's north-west on Saturday morning, Herald-Sun reported.

Emergency services were called to the quiet one-way street at about 7.30am, but she was pronounced deceased at the scene, according to Victoria Police.

Another woman who reportedly lives across the road from Ms Tyquin handed herself in to police a short time later and was interviewed by police for several hours.

She was charged with murder just after 7.30pm on Saturday night.

Scroll down for video

A woman who reportedly lives across the road from Ms Tyquin, 53, handed herself into police shortly after and was charged with murder in the evening

The accused murderer, who is 53 years old, had her silver Subaru Forester kept as evidence outside Sunbury Police Station

Victoria Police have not revealed the exact cause of death, although Ms Tyquin was reportedly killed while walking to work on Saturday morning.

The accused murderer, who is 53 years old, had her silver Subaru Forester kept as evidence outside Sunbury Police Station.

She appeared in an out-of-sessions hearing and was remanded in custody to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

Victoria Police have not revealed the exact cause of death, although Ms Tyquin was reportedly killed while walking to work on Saturday morning
The jail conditions where Sally Faulkner and the 60 minutes crew are being held in Lebanon are crowded and dirty and food is delivered sparsely, says the chief planner of the botched kidnapping attempt earlier this month.

Child Abduction Recovery International founder Adam Whittington, who is being held in an underground single person cell with three men from the 60 Minutes crew, told News Corp on Saturday that not only were the jail conditions appalling but Ms Faulkner is 'throwing everyone under the bus.'

On April 7, the TV crew filmed Ms Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, four, and Lahela, six, from her husband Ali Elamine, who she claims kept them in Lebanon without her permission.

Scroll down for video

Chief planner Adam Whittington (pictured) of the 60 Minutes botched 'child abduction' in Lebanon said on Saturday that not only are jail conditions appalling but Brisbane mum Sally Faulkner is trying to save herself

Mr Whittington said Ms Faulkner (pictured) is 'throwing everyone under the bus'

On April 7, the TV crew filmed Ms Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, four, and Lahela, six, from her estranged husband Ali Elamine (pictured with Noah and Lahela)

Mr Whittington said the operation to bring Ms Faulkner's children back to Australia was doomed and now the Brisbane mother is weaving a different tale so she can be released at the expense of the eight other people in jail.

In the jail, Mr Whittington said 'the rats are as big as cats, it is so small [they] can't move, and the toilet in the ground is blocked.'

If their respective lawyers didn't bring them meals every day, he said they would be relying on meals every three days or so.

Mr Whittington's comments come as it is reported Ms Faulkner's estranged husband might agree to drop the kidnapping charges against her if she agrees to never take their two children on holiday to Australia because he fears she may never bring them back to Lebanon.

Mr Elamine said he would grant Ms Faulker full access rights to their children if she agreed he could have sole custody

Ali Elamine - who allegedly took their children to Lebanon in 2015 and never returned - said he would grant her access rights if she agreed he could have sole custody.

She must also agree to a full religious divorce - a list of demands Ms Faulkner's lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab says he will be able to secure because he has legal rights to the children in Lebanon.

'Legally he is the one with custody,' her Lebanese lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab told the News Corp.

Ghassan Mughaghab (pictured), the lawyer for Brisbane woman Sally Faulkner, there would be a very favourable flow-on effect for the 60 Minutes Crew if Ms Faulkner and Mr Elamine reached a private agreement

Ali Elamine (pictured with his children Noah, four, and Lahela, six) has to decide whether to pursue child kidnap charges again his ex-wife Sally Faulkner which may get her 20 years in prison

'He is willing for her to see the children at any time.

'But he is not willing to allow her to take the children to Australia or elsewhere on holidays. These are Australian holiday difficulties, if she takes the children to Australia who will say she will keep them and not bring them back to Lebanon,' he said.

Mr Moghabghab also warned that because Mr Elamine had been granted sole care of the children from religious authorities, he would likely be calling all the shots in the international custody battle.

If an agreement is reached between the estranged pair over the weekend, it could be registered in the next court appearance on Monday and Ms Faulkner could be on a flight back to Brisbane within the week, without her children.

Speaking to ABC's 7.30, Mr Moghabghab revealed that there would be a very favourable flow-on effect for the 60 Minutes Crew if Ms Faulkner and Mr Elamine reached a private agreement.

'When there is not (kidnapping charges) - when he withdraws his charges, there will be only the public charges here, and everything will - they will not go out there indefinitely, but they will take this into consideration,' he said.

'When there is not charges from Mr Elamine, it will be a much more better for her.'

'It will help everybody, I think. It will help everybody.'

'It will help everybody, I think. It will help everybody': Ms Faulkner's lawyer says that if Mr Elamine drops the personal kidnapping charges against his estranged wife, it will have a favourable flow-on effect for the whole team

Sally Faulkner's lawyer has reportedly said she was paid for by the Nine Network and had used money given to her by 60 Minutes to the child recovery agency, Child Abduction Recovery International. She is pictured above with her children Lahela, five, and Noah, three

Meanwhile, Mr Elamine has remained tight-lipped about the entire ordeal, instead focusing on the wellbeing of his two children and mother - who was allegedly hit with a pistol on the head during the dramatic kidnapping that was captured on security cameras.

'We're keeping to ourselves about the whole situation, there is a personal side, a family side and a judicial side to all of this and all I can say at the moment is everyone is doing okay and we are getting through this process,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'I took her to the doctors for a check up on head scan today, she is okay.

'On that (pistol) I can't really tell you what happened I wasn't there but she was and I have read reports that that is what she said.

60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown has told the media she is being kept in a barred, heavily meshed holding cell and was required to wear handcuffs each time she went outside

Veteran journalist Stephen Rice (left), David Ballment (centre) and Benjamin Williamson (right) are also in custody in Lebanon

Sally Faulkner's Lebanese lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab told the ABC Ms Faulkner had paid funds directly to the recovery team, Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), for the bungled mission to Beirut.

Mr Moghabghab said she had used money from 60 Minutes. But he was quoted saying 'I don't have any idea' if the Nine Network had intended to pay for the retrieval operation or simply the rights to her story.

The lawyer also told the ABC Ms Faulkner had had told the judge she regrets paying for the mission.

Mr Moghabghab's comments have not been tested in court.

In her only interview on the matter so far, Ms Faulkner told The Australian on Friday she was doing well behind bars at Baabda Central Women's Prison in south-eastern Beirut.

'Please tell my mum and dad how well I am and also (husband) Brendan and my in-laws,' she said. Ms Brown is also behind bars at the prison.

'I am fine but my loved ones need to know that.'

The Channel Nine TV crew was planning to film Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, three, and Lahela, five, from her ex-husband Ali Elamine, who she claims kept them in Lebanon without her permission.

Prosecutors had earlier claimed they had a signed statement from a member of the recovery team saying Nine had paid $115,000 for the operation.

CCTV footage supplied by Lebanese authorities appeared to show the bungled kidnapping earlier this week

Ms Faulkner and the Channel Nine TV crew members appeared handcuffed in a Lebanese court on Wednesday, where they were remanded in custody to face court again on Monday.

Faulkner is facing kidnapping charges. The 60 Minutes crew is accused of: hiding information, forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person, kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval, and physical assault.

Lebanese Investigative Judge Rami Abdullah said there was 'no way' the charges against the crew will be dropped. The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail.

Nine Network spokeswoman Victoria Buchan said: 'I hope you understand that we never comment on money but also we are not making any comments in this matter as it is currently a matter before the Lebanese judicial system which we respect. It is not appropriate at this time.'

A conviction could mean the male 60 Minutes crew risk ending up in Beirut's infamous Roumieh prison, one of the largest jails in the Middle East with 5,500 inmates.

LEBANON KIDNAP CASE: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR THE MUM, THE TV CREW AND THE KIDNAPPING CASE Brisbane mum Sally Faulkner and a Nine Network TV crew made up of reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment, are facing kidnapping and assault charges in Lebanon following a bungled abduction of Ms Faulkner's two children in Beirut. WHAT HAPPENED? The Australians have spent a week behind bars in Beirut after being arrested for the alleged abduction on April 7. The TV crew was filming Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, four, and Lahela, six, from her ex-husband Ali Elamine, who she claims kept them in Lebanon without her permission. A professional agency, Child Abduction Recovery International, is believed to have been hired to snatch the children. Two of its members, named in media reports as Britons Adam Whittington and Craig Michael, have also been detained and charged. THE ABDUCTION Security camera footage shows masked men jumping out of a car and snatching the kids from their grandmother and another woman on a Beirut street. The grandmother claims she was attacked and hit on the head with a pistol. The TV crew and recovery agency members were arrested shortly afterwards, while Faulkner hid with her two children in a safe house. Authorities later found the family, arrested Faulkner and returned the children to their father. THE CHARGES Faulkner is facing kidnapping charges. The 60 minutes crew is accused of: - hiding information - forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person - kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval - physical assault. The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail. LEGAL CASE SO FAR Judge Rami Abdullah told the Australians during a second round of interviews on Wednesday that there was no chance their charges would be dropped. However, he indicated that if Mr Elamine was willing to drop legal action and come to an agreement with his estranged wife, that would help the case against all of the accused. The accused will remain in detention until facing the Baabda Palace of Justice again on Monday. Nine has refused to comment on speculation it organised and funded the recovery operation. Advertisement




Jamaica may axe the Queen as their official Head of State in a new proposal.

Governor-General Patrick Allen announced plans to make a constitutional amendment that would replace the Queen with a president on Thursday.

The British monarch is officially the head of state in 15 countries in the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Jamaica may axe the Queen as their official Head of State and replace her with a president

Jamaica declared its independence from Britain in 1962 but remains within the Commonwealth.

The Queen, who has a ceremonial role in the country, is represented on the island by the governor-general, who is appointed on the advice of the Jamaican Prime Minister.

Mr Allen announced the plan to 'replace Her Majesty The Queen with a Non-Executive President as Head of State' during the opening of parliament in Kingston.

The Queen last visited Jamaica in 2002 as part of her Golden Jubilee year celebrations.

It is not first time that the country has discussed dropping the Queen as head of state.

In 2012, former prime minister Portia Simpson Miller said she would severe colonial-era links by abandoning the British monarch and adopting a republican form of government.

The Queen, who has a ceremonial role in the country, visited Jamaica back in 2002 (pictured)

Jamaica declared its independence from Britain in 1962 but remains within the Commonwealth

Barbados announced in December is planning to drop the Queen as their head of state later this year, ahead of the 50th anniversary of their independence from British rule.

If the Queen is replaced as head of state, the island nation will retain links with the British Crown through its membership of the Commonwealth.

At the time, a spokesman for Buckingham Palace told MailOnline it was a matter for the government and the people of Barbados.

Fellow Caribbean countries Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago are already republican countries.
A former girlfriend of controversial Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has claimed she had threesomes with him and some of his female colleagues.

Retired federal prosecutor Lillian McEwen, who is now 70, dated Thomas for seven years before he married.

She told Inside Edition that the Supreme Court Justice - whose nomination in 1991 was plagued by allegations that he sexually harassed his assistant - had threesomes with her and other women.

Retired federal prosecutor Lillian McEwen (left) has claimed she had threesomes with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (right) and some of his female colleagues

The alleged threesomes took place before Thomas (pictured with his wife Virginia) joined the Supreme Court

'We had a relationship that included threesomes,' Ms McEwen said.

'He recruited women that he worked with for participation in those threesomes,' she added.

The alleged threesomes took place before he joined the Supreme Court.

Thomas, who still sits on the Supreme Court bench aged 67, was nominated by President George H. W. Bush in 1991.

During Thomas' televised confirmation hearings in 1991, his former assistant Anita Hill alleged that he sexually harassed her while she worked for him at the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

He fought his way through the claims and scraped the senate confirmation by 52 to 48.

Thomas (pictured at his confirmation hearing), who still sits on the Supreme Court bench aged 67, was nominated by President George H. W. Bush in 1991

During Thomas' televised confirmation hearings in 1991, his former assistant Anita Hill (pictured during the hearings) alleged that he sexually harassed her

At the time, he called the hearings a 'high-tech lynching' and denied the allegations.

Ms McEwen was speaking ahead of the release of Confirmation, a HBO movie about the hearings.

She believes Ms Hill, who is played by Kerry Washington in the senate drama, is 'a woman scorned'.

'She didn't tell the truth and he didn't tell the truth either,' the former federal prosecutor said.

Ms Hill, who is a law professor at Brandeis University, told CBS' This Morning show that in 2010 - 19 years after the hearings - she received a voicemail from Thomas' wife, Virginia.

'Good morning, Anita Hill, its Ginni Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the airways and the years,' the answerphone message said.

'I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.'

Ms Hill, now 59, said she initially thought it was a joke.

'I couldn't believe that the wife of a Supreme Court Justice would be calling me,' she said.

Ms Hill said she received a voicemail from Thomas' wife, Virginia (pictured together at the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia), in 2010 asking her if she wanted to apologize

Ms Hill told Today earlier this week that she has come to terms with what happened.

'I'm really at peace with my role in history,' she said. 'I don't think I really have to become at peace with him being on the Supreme Court.

'I think what we have to do though, is to understand why my testimony and my experience  why that was so important to the integrity of the court, and why it spoke directly to the character of the nominee at the time.'

She also shared what kind of questions Washington, who is the film's executive producer, asked her when they met.

'Most importantly I think she just wanted to know not only how I felt during the confirmation hearing, but what was I thinking.
Poland's foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski has urged NATO to deploy troops to guard its eastern flank against Russian aggression.

Speaking at a security conference in Bratislava in Slovakia, Waszczykowski said he would appeal to NATO directly when the organisation visits Warsaw in July for a summit.

He said Russia has the potential to destroy countries and therefore was a greater threat than ISIS.

Scroll down for video

Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, pictured, described Russia as a greater threat than ISIS

Waszczykowski said the Russian Military, pictured here earlier this week at the annual Victory Day parade, has the potential to destroy entire countries, a feat which is beyond the capabilities of ISIS

Poland has been incredibly critical of Vladimir Putin's foreign policy, especially the annexation of Crimea

He said: 'We have existential threats and non-existential threats. Of course the Russian activity is kind of an existential threat because this activity may destroy countries,' he said when asked which security challenges he saw as existential.

'And we have non-existential threats like terrorists, like massive wave of migrants.'

'It is a very important threat but it is not an existential threat for Europe,' he said when asked specifically about ISIS.

A former Soviet satellite, Poland has been alarmed by Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and its support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and remains one of Moscow's staunchest critics.

Waszczykowski said he hoped the July NATO meeting would address what he said was an inferior level of security on its eastern flank.

'We expect presence, presence, presence. Presence of military troops from different NATO countries could be a symbol of determination to defend the eastern flank. We can discuss the scale.'
Lewinsky became public hate figure and 'very close' to attempting suicide

Pair then had affair and when scandal broke in 1998, Clinton denied it

Former White House intern told President Clinton 'I have a crush on you'

Monica Lewinsky has described the public humiliation she suffered after her affair with President Bill Clinton was exposed as 'excruciating', and said it brought her 'very close' to attempting suicide.



The 42-year-old former White House intern became a household name after her friend Linda Tripp secretly recorded conversations with Lewinsky discussing the affair and passed them on.

'That people could read the transcripts was horrific enough, but a few weeks later the audio tapes were aired on TV. The public humiliation was excruciating. Life was almost unbearable,' she told The Guardian.

Monica Lewinsky (pictured here at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Los Angeles in February 2016) has described the public humiliation she suffered after her affair with President Bill Clinton was exposed as 'excruciating', adding that it brought her 'very close' to attempting suicide

The Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, when a news report emerged saying then-President Bill Clinton had an affair with Lewinsky, who started flirting with the president soon after her internship began.

One day she told him 'I have a crush on you' and he responded 'Well, do you want to come into the back office?'.

Other employees started to notice how much time the two spent together and she was transferred to the Pentagon, where she met Linda Tripp.

Bill Clinton, pictured with his wife Hillary shortly after the Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, first denied allegations that he had an affair with Lewinsky He then admitted in August that year that he'd had an 'inappropriate' relationship with the former White House intern

Clinton first forcefully denied the allegations, saying in January that year in a public statement: 'I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me ... I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.'

He eventually admitted in August 1998 to having an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky.

'I know that my public comments and my silence about this matter gave a false impression. I misled people, including even my wife,' he said at the time. 'I deeply regret that.'

'Indeed I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong.

It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible.'

Speaking about when the scandal first broke, Lewinsky said: 'I felt like every layer of my skin and my identity were ripped off of me in 98 and 99.'

Clinton, pictured embracing Lewinsky at a White House lawn party in November 1996, was later impeached by the House of Representatives on two charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate acquitted him in February 1999

'Its a skinning of sorts. You feel incredibly raw and frightened. But I also feel like the shame sticks to you like tar.'

She added that she never attempted suicide although 'came very close' and even worked out how she would do it.

Lewinsky faced hostility from every angle - from late-night talkshow host Jay Leno to feminist writer Nancy Friday.

Lewinsky, pictured in June 1998 with her lawyers Nathaniel Speights (left) and Jacobs Stein (right) in Washington, DC, said in her Vanity Fair article that she didn't want ill with the Clintons and wanted to give a purpose to her past

She recalls attending a press conference held a week before the launch of the 2002 HBO documentary, Monica In Black And White.

She said: 'A reporter told me he was surprised Id agreed to take part in it. He said, "We expected you to crawl under a rock and die".

'Then he said, "I misspoke. I meant hide. Not die." But he did say die.'

She said she wanted to 'help other victims of the shame game survive, too' after experiencing it herself. Pictured, Lewinsky arriving at her attorney's office in 1998

When the affair was revealed, Lewinsky says her mother had to sit by her bed every night 'because she was worried about what I would do if I were left alone' and she wouldn't even let her daughter shower with the door locked.

In the years following the scandal, Lewinsky stayed out of the spotlight but she said that it became 'really hard to stay silent' on the issue of bullying.

She reemerged in the public eye 2014 in response to the suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi.

Clementi's roommate secretly filmed him kissing a man and streamed the video online, where he was relentlessly mocked.

After Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge, Lewinsky said it was her calling to speak out against cyberbullying.

Lewinsky told Forbes in 2014: 'Having survived myself, what I want to do now is help other victims of the shame game survive, too.'

Lewinsky's work as an anti-bullying advocate has helped her find purpose in life and fully move on from the story that has haunted her since she was 22

And its her work as an anti-bullying advocate that has helped her find purpose in life and fully move on from the story that has haunted her since she was 22.

Lewinsky says that while she used to be approached by people in the street because of the negative affair, they are now also showing interest in her charity work.

'I really think that I'm grateful to have this opportunity,' she said. 'Even though I have suffered from shame, I'm not ashamed of who I am.'

Lewinsky launches line of emojis

Lewinsky has released a new series of emojis to give teens an easy way to support their friends who are being cyberbullied.

In a video released just before World Safer Internet Day on February 9, Lewinsky alluded to her own experiences struggling with unwanted attention.

The video humorously alludes to Kim Kardashian's Paper Magazine cover and the release of her own line of 'kimojis' when the video was posted on YouTube with the tagline: 'It might not break the internet but it could fight cyberbullying.'

The emojis consist of either hearts or circles, with hands inside depicting a hug or a handshake.

Lewinsky said: 'This symbol means: "I'm with you", "Hang in there", "I got your back", "Sending a hug", "I'm still your friend."'

The teens who were surveyed confirmed that the emoji would be useful for them, and picked the two designs, available in a number of different color combinations.
A spokesperson for FREF said they are disappointed with the results

Hens were found crammed into barns with limited access to outdoors

An egg producer has been fined $300,000 for making misleading claims to dupe customers into buying their falsely labelled free range eggs.

The Federal Court found Derodi Pty Ltd and Holland Farms Pty Ltd which trade brands including Ecoeggs, Port Stephens and Field Fresh, falsely claimed their hens 'spend their days roaming lush grassy fields'.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took the two companies which trade together as 'Free Range Egg Farms' to court for the claims made from January 2012 to December 2014, reported The Age.

The Federal Court has fined Free Range Egg Farms $300,000 for misleading consumers about their free range eggs

The case which focused on two NSW farms found in one case hens were locked inside for 240 days.

Sepos Farm in Allworth, a small village 200km north of Sydney, had about 10 hens per square metre allowing the company to squeeze almost 19,000 hens to one barn.

The four pop holes which allowed the hens to head outside were opened between 12.30pm and 9pm but for a third of the year they were kept closed.

Hens were constricted from heading outdoors until 90 per cent were laying eggs but once allowed only 5.2 hectare of open space was available.

The second farm Hutchison in Booral, about 9km south of Allworth, kept 16,500 hens in one barn, also at an approximate 10 hens per square metre.

Roaming outdoors was a difficult process for the hens as they were only able to reach the pop holes by walking up ramps almost a metre high.

The ramps were also inconsiderately covered in rubber which turned hot on warm days and slippery on rainy days.

The fields for the hens were about 7.5 hectares and did not provide an acceptable amount of shade.

But statements across advertisement and websites had different claims including: 'Ecoeggs are produced by hens thriving on lush improved pastures' and 'resident hens spend the day roaming pastures'

Derodi Pty Ltd and Holland Farms Pty Ltd which trade brands including Ecoeggs, Port Stephens and Field Fresh said their hens spend their days roaming lush fields

Justice Edelman said the misleading statements made by the companies have considerably effected consumers and competitors as the difference between 'barn laid' and or 'cage free' eggs is between 50 cents to $3.88 for a dozen.

'The loss to consumers includes the price premium they paid to acquire eggs because they thought the eggs were free range, when those eggs were not. That premium is substantial,' he said.

A spokesperson for FREF said it was disappointed by the judgement because they had stopped working with the farm being reviewed and its practices have since been amended.

'The ACCC's case was limited to one farm which FREF had ceased to work with before the proceedings were instituted and one single shed at another farm that was already in the process of substantially improving its practices,' she said.

'In the agreed statement of facts, the ACCC also acknowledged and accepted the price structure for FREF's free range Ecoeggs was not solely based on the free range characteristics of the eggs, but also the nutritional enhancements due to the patented Omega 3 and vitamin enriched feed given to the hens.'

A spokespersons for FREF said they are disappointed with the court's decision

But the ACCC was pleased with the result claiming its third win in its campaign for free-range-farming, reported the ABC.

'When you advertise birds as free range you are charging double what you charge for barn laid eggs, so there are serious consequences for consumers, and also you are gaining an advantage over your competitors,' Mr Sims said.

'I am afraid we don't apologise for taking people to court when we feel that the law has been breached, and we certainly feel that was the case here.'

Earlier this year Ministers met in Canberra to sign off on new rules stating free range eggs must come from hens with 'meaningful and regular' access to an outdoor range and at least one square metre of space.

Supermarkets have been banned from selling free-range eggs unless they come from farms with no more than 10,000 chickens per hectare.
Bronwyn Bishop has been dumped by the Liberal Party as their candidate for the northern Sydney seat after 22 years of service

Former Speaker Bronwyn Bishop has been dumped by the Liberal Party as their candidate for the northern Sydney seat of Mackellar in the federal election.

Veteran Liberal Party member Jason Falinski was chosen in favour of Ms Bishop, winning the ballot 51 votes to 39 in a hotly contested four-round pre-selection ballot on Saturday night.

The loss comes after Mrs Bishop was forced to resign as Speaker last year as a result of an expenses scandal over her use of a $5000 chartered helicopter flight to attend a party fundraiser.

She will now have to get by on a taxpayer-funded pension of $250,000 a year, along with lifetime access to a free travel 'Life Gold Pass,' the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Ms Bishop failed to gain the endorsement of former prime minister Tony Abbott, who instead backed close friend and conservative option Walter Villatora.

Mr Villatora received just nine votes in the third round of voting, leaving Mr Falinski and Mrs Bishop the final two in the fourth round race.

A moderate and former Liberal staffer, Mr Falinski was frontrunner heading into preselection.

Liberal Party member Jason Falinski was chosen in favour of Ms Bishop, winning the ballot 51 votes to 39

The loss comes after Mrs Bishop was forced to resign as Speaker last year as a result of an expenses scandal over her use of a $5000 chartered helicopter flight to attend a party fundraiser

Deputy government whip Mark Coure was among the first to congratulate the new candidate.

'A great friend and mentor for over 20 years, who'll make a great contribution to federal parliament,' he wrote on Twitter.

Labor used the preselection battle to highlight what it says is internal disunity and personal ambition in the Liberal Party.

'Wherever you look across the Liberal Party, from (Malcolm) Turnbull to (Scott) Morrison to Mr Abbott to Mrs Bishop, the Liberal Party is at war with itself,' Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters in western Sydney earlier on Saturday.

'You've got a Mr Turnbull-inspired candidate, you've got a Mr Abbott-inspired candidate and then you've got Bronwyn Bishop hanging on grimly to her position.'

Ms Bishop will now have to get by on a taxpayer-funded pension of $250,000 a year for life

Mr Falinski was frontrunner heading into preselection, beating Ms Bishop and conservative option Walter Villatora in a hotly contested four-round ballot

Preselection for retiring party stalwart Philip Ruddock's seat of Berowra was also decided on Saturday.

Julian Leeser, executive director of the Menzies Research Centre, won the vote on Saturday afternoon.

'Congratulations Julian Leeser on an outstanding win in preselection for Berowra,' Mr Ruddock said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, another long-time Liberal parliamentarian, Bob Baldwin, announced he will also bow out of federal politics in a bid to bring fresh faces into the house.

Mr Baldwin has been the member for Paterson in NSW for 17 years.

Greens candidate for Mackellar, Mike Hall, congratulated Mr Falinski on winning preselection and said he looked forward to welcoming him into the political contest.

'I think he's got a lot of work to do to undo the damage caused by his predecessor to the Liberal Party in the electorate,' he said.

Mr Hall said the Liberal Party had taken the blue-ribbon electorate for granted for too many years, and the Greens would be running their strongest campaign ever for the seat in the coming election.
The most helpful source for Lebanese police when tracking down alleged kidnapper Sally Faulkner was the Brisbane mother herself.

Just hours after Ms Faulkners, 29, two children Noah, four, and Lahela, six, were snatched from a Beirut street on April 7, she called their father  her estranged husband  and unknowingly gave up the location of her safe house in Lebanon, a judicial source told The Guardian.

Ms Faulkner, who claims her ex-husband Ali Elamine took their children to Lebanon in 2015 and never returned, contacted Mr Elamine to tell him their children were now with her.

Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner (pictured in what is believed to be the safe house) unknowingly led Lebanese police to her exact location when she called her estranged husband after allegedly kidnapping her two children

Ms Faulkner, who claims her ex-husband Ali Elamine (pictured) took their children to Lebanon in 2015 and never returned, contacted Mr Elamine to tell him their children were now with her

Police raided the home where Ms Faulkner was hiding and arrested her and a 60 Minutes TV crew, including journalist Tara Brown (pictured), who had travelled with Ms Faulkner to film the botched kidnapping

Later that night, police raided the home where Ms Faulkner was hiding and arrested her and a 60 Minutes TV crew, including journalist Tara Brown, who had travelled with Ms Faulkner to film the botched kidnapping, The Guardian reported.

It is alleged that Channel Nine paid $115,000 to Child Abduction Recovery International founder Adam Whittington to carry out the retrieval.

Mr Whittington was also arrested on a boat that was waiting in a harbour to take Ms Faulkner and her kids out of the country.

Lebanese police have labelled the plot to bring the two children back to Australia as reckless.

It is alleged that Channel Nine paid $115,000 to Child Abduction Recovery International founder Adam Whittington to carry out the retrieval

The 60 Minutes crew reportedly filmed the abduction of the two children (pictured)

Mr Whittington was also arrested on a boat that was waiting in a harbour to take Ms Faulkner and her kids (pictured) out of the country

Mr Elamine was already aware of Ms Faulkners plan after reading messages on her social media accounts and emails, which he still had access to, the source said.

It is reported that when Ms Faulkner and the TV crew arrived at Beiruts airport, security guards identified them and informed Mr Elamine, the Guardian said.

Mr Whittington arrived via the boat that was supposed to be the groups exit route.

When he arrived he reportedly hired two Lebanese men who allegedly grabbed the kids as they waited at a bus stop with their paternal grandmother.

Lebanese police have labelled the plot to bring the two children back to Australia as reckless. On Wednesday, Ms Faulkner was charged with kidnapping (pictured)

Ms Faulkner's lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab (pictured) said on Saturday that negotiations between he and Mr Elamine's attorney have broken down

When interviewed by police, they asked Mr Whittington if he thought he was Superman or Spiderman or something, the source said.

On Wednesday, Ms Faulkner was charged with kidnapping. The 60 Minutes crew is accused of: hiding information, forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person, kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval, and physical assault.

A total of seven people are facing charges as a result of the operation.

All of the groups efforts may have been in vain, according to Ms Faulkners attorney, who claims that an Australian ruling granting her full custody could possibly be enforced in Lebanon.

Veteran journalist Stephen Rice (left), David Ballment (centre) and Benjamin Williamson (right) are also in custody in Lebanon. A total of seven people are facing charges as a result of the operation

All of the groups efforts may have been in vain, according to Ms Faulkners attorney, who claims that an Australian ruling granting her full custody could possibly be enforced in Lebanon

This week Mr Elamine said he said he would drop the kidnapping charges against his ex-wife and grant her access rights if she agreed he could have sole custody.

She must also agree to a full religious divorce.

Ms Faulkner and the Channel Nine TV crew members appeared handcuffed in a Lebanese court on Wednesday, where they were remanded in custody to face court again on Monday.

Lebanese Investigative Judge Rami Abdullah said there was 'no way' the charges against the crew will be dropped. The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail.
He later clarified his point and placed the blame on assailants, rather than the victims of sexual assault

Critics blasted his 'victim blaming comments' after he said: 'Dont go to parties where theres a lot of alcohol'

John Kasich prompted a firestorm of outrage after he told a female college student worried about sexual violence not to 'go to parties where there's a lot of alcohol'.

A first-year student at St Lawrence University asked the Ohio governor what policies he would implement to help her 'feel safer and more secure regarding sexual violence, harassment and rape' at the Watertown, New York town hall event on Friday.

The Ohio governor discussed the need for readily accessible rape testing kits, but ended his response with a piece of advice that many thought placed the blame squarely on victims of sexual assault.

John Kasich prompted a firestorm of outrage after he told a female college student worried about sexual violence not to 'go to parties where there's a lot of alcohol'(pictured in Utica, New York on Friday)

Kasich initially responded to the college freshman by saying: 'You ought to absolutely know that if something happens to you along the lines of sexual harassment or whatever, you have a place to go where there is a confidential reporting, where there is an ability for you to access a rape kit, where that is kept confidential, but where it gives you the opportunity to be able to pursue justice, after you have had some time to reflect on it all.'

He then added: 'I have two 16-year-old daughters, and I don't even like to think about it.'

When the college student shot back that she couldn't afford to avoid the subject, Kasich made his inflammatory comment, saying: 'Well, I would give you - Id also give you one bit of advice. Dont go to parties where theres a lot of alcohol.'

Members in the audience responded with applause, but critics were quick to take to social media to blast Kasich, who is seen as the moderate candidate against his Republican opponents Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.

'Republican presidential candidates like John Kasich and Donald Trump are insulting women everyday on the campaign trail by blaming victims of sexual and domestic violence,'spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, Christina Freundlich, said in a statement.

Members in the audience responded with applause, but critics were quick to take to social media to blast Kasich, who is seen as the moderate candidate against his Republican opponents Donald Trump or Ted Cruz

She added: 'It is no wonder women are turning away from the Republican field in huge numbers. Our country deserves a president who will stand with them, not put the blame on them.'

While the percentage of women in the US nudges just slightly over 50per cent, female voters under 65 turned out at the polls in higher rates than their male counterparts in 2012.

With Donald Trump's sexist attacks on women highlighted in recent weeks, Kasich's victim-blaming comments are just the latest gaffe alienating female voters.

Massachusetts congresswoman Katherine Clark retorted: 'Again: women's presence doesn't cause rape. Rapists do. Stop telling women to change their behavior.'

Others argued that it was naive and insulting for Kasich to discount rapes that occur in contexts where no alcohol is involved.

The presidential candidate soon realized his response garnered widespread criticism, and he took to Twitter to clarify his point.

Kasich wrote: 'Only one person is at fault in a sexual assault, and that's the assailant.'

His campaign also pointed out he previously allocated $2million in his state's budget to implement new strategies on college campuses to prevent and respond to sexual assault.

Kasich clarified his comments and pointed out his previous policies supporting the prevention and response to sexual assault

He also addressed the controversy among reporters in Utica, New York, and said: 'There should be no confusion and no misunderstanding about what I feel about campus sexual assaults.

'Ive done everything I can. In fact, we've checked the record and found that I've been probably one of the leaders in making sure that women have a safe place to go.

'I just said, be careful where there's alcohol. And the reason why I worry about that is, it obscures the ability of people to seek justice.

'Because then it gets to be about "he said, she said", and there's alcohol, and it creates an inability to find the truth at times. That has nothing to do with saying that somebody who has been a victim is somehow responsible for it.'

Kristen Houser, spokesperson for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center acknowledged Kasich's response could have seen a better delivery and said there was a correlation between alcohol and sexual violence, ABC reported.

But this isn't the first time Kasich has slipped up interacting with women on the campaign trail.
Bernie Sanders finally released his latest tax return on Friday - and the documents reveal he made less in a year than Hillary Clinton did from a single speech.

Sanders's 2014 tax documents show he and his wife Jane reported an adjusted gross income of about $205,000 that year.

That same year, Clinton made an average of $233,600 per speech. She gave 45 speeches in 2014 raking in a total of about $10.5 million, according to a Politico report.

Scroll down for video

Bernie Sanders's 2014 tax return shows he reported an adjusted gross income of $205.271

For each of these speeches made by Hillary Clinton in January and February 2014, she made more than Sanders makes in a whole year

Sanders released his tax return after months of stalling - apart from Republican candidate Donald Trump, Sanders was the only candidate still in the race who hadn't released his tax documents (Trump has used a variety of excuses not to release his tax papers).

Since the 1970s, it has been standard practice for presidential candidates to release their tax returns for public scrutiny.

It took a challenge from Clinton during Thursday's debate in Sanders's hometown of Brooklyn for the Vermont senator to publish his 2014 return.

During the debate, Sanders blasted Clinton for her hefty speaking fees, and called for the former Secretary of State to release transcripts of paid speeches she gave to Wall Street banks - echoing a demand from the New York Times editorial board for Clinton to 'show voters those transcripts.'

Clinton deflected Sanders's request, and countered by questioning why he hadn't yet released his tax returns.

Hillary Clinton's documents show she reported an adjusted gross income of $27,946,490 in 2014

Sanders promised he would - along with his non-existent Wall Street speech transcripts:

'I am going to release all of the transcripts of the speeches that I gave on Wall Street behind closed doors - not for $225,000, not for $2,000, not for two cents. There were no speeches,' he said.

Together, Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill made over $25 million from giving speeches between January, 2014 and May, 2015, Politico reported.

In justifying the large paychecks she received for speaking, Hillary made a famously tactless comment: 'That's what they offered.'

Clinton's 2014 tax return, which she released last summer along with returns from several other years, shows she reported her household's adjusted gross income as about $27,946,000 - more than 136 times higher than Sanders's reported income.

Most of the Sanders household income came from Bernie's six-figure government salary. The couple also received over $46,000 in Social Security benefits.

The documents also show Bernie and Jane Sanders donated $8,350 to charity, which amounted to around 4 percent of the couple's total income.

By comparison, Hillary and Bill Clinton donated $3 million, nearly 11 percent of their income, in 2014.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders pictured at Thursday's Democratic presidential primary debate in Brooklyn

Bernie Sanders gave $8,350, or 4 percent of his household income, to charity in 2014

By comparison, Hillary Clinton gave $3,022,700, or 11 percent of her household income, to charity in the same year

Earlier this month, Sanders took heat from CNN's Jake Tapper for not releasing his tax return sooner.

During their April 3 interview, Sanders said his wife is the one that does the family's taxes, and that she'd been too busy on the campaign trail to get the papers in order for publication.

He also claimed he'd already revealed some tax documents, saying 'Of course, we have released them in the past.'

Politifact deemed that statement 'False.'

The average American household reported an income of $53,657 in 2014, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Behind-the-scene negotiations between Sally Faulkner and her estranged husband Ali Elamine have broken down.

Ms Faulkner's lawyer, Ghassan Moughabghab, and Mr Elamine's attorney have failed to reach an agreement regarding the custody of their two children despite being urged by Lebanese officials, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I met the lawyer of Mr Elamine, he put his conditions, we accepted all of them and yet now I am told they will not accept the agreement,' Mr Moughabghab said.

Scroll down for video

Negotiations between the lawyers for Sally Faulkner (pictured) and her estranged husband Ali Elamine regarding the custody of their two children broke down on Saturday night

Mr Elamine previously said he would grant Ms Faulker full access rights to their children if she agreed he could have sole custody

Ms Faulkner's lawyer, Ghassan Moughabghab, said on Saturday that she agreed to give up sole custody of Lahela, five, and Noah, three, (pictured) but Mr Elamine (pictured) is no longer 'interested in a settlement'

Ms Faulkner and a 60 Minutes TV crew were arrested by Lebanese police on April 7 and charged with kidnapping offences after Ms Faulkner's children were snatched in a botched kidnapping attempt.

Mr Elamine proposed last week that he would drop the kidnapping charge against his wife if she agrees to give up sole custody of the children - Lahela, five, and Noah, three.

The requirements also included a full religious divorce and never take the kids with her to Australia because he fears she may never bring them back - like Mr Elamine himself allegedly did when he took the kids on a holiday last year and didn't return.

'It seems Mr Elamine is not interested in a settlement,' he said. 'Maybe he wants to savour his joy at her predicament a bit longer,' Mr Mughaghab (pictured) said

A negotiation could not be met on whether Ms Faulkner would be able to spend time with the children in Lebanon or a neutral country nearby, Mr Moughabghab told the Herald.

'She will even give up the sole custody granted to her by the Australian (Family) Court if he agrees to drop the charges,' Mr Moughabghab said.

'It seems Mr Elamine is not interested in a settlement,' he said. 'Maybe he wants to savour his joy at her predicament a bit longer.'

Ms Faulkner must also agree to a full religious divorce from Ali Elamine (pictured with his children Noah, four, and Lahela, six)

She must also agree to a full religious divorce - a list of demands Ms Faulkner's lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab says he will be able to secure because he has legal rights to the children in Lebanon.

It is a change of tune compared to a statement made by her attorney last week.

'Legally he is the one with custody,' Mr Moghabghab told News Corp on Friday.

'He is willing for her to see the children at any time.

Attorneys were hopeful an agreement could be reached between the estranged pair over the weekend and be registered in the next court appearance on Monday.

Speaking to ABC's 7.30, Mr Moghabghab revealed that there would be a very favourable flow-on effect for the 60 Minutes Crew if Ms Faulkner and Mr Elamine reached a private agreement.

'When there is not (kidnapping charges) - when he withdraws his charges, there will be only the public charges here, and everything will - they will not go out there indefinitely, but they will take this into consideration,' he said.

'When there is not charges from Mr Elamine, it will be a much more better for her.'

'It will help everybody, I think. It will help everybody.'

'It will help everybody, I think. It will help everybody': Ms Faulkner's lawyer says that if Mr Elamine drops the personal kidnapping charges against his estranged wife, it will have a favourable flow-on effect for the whole team

Ms Faulkner's lawyer reportedly said she had used money given to her by 60 Minutes to the child recovery agency, Child Abduction Recovery International

Meanwhile, Mr Elamine has remained tight-lipped about the entire ordeal, instead focusing on the wellbeing of his two children and mother - who was allegedly hit with a pistol on the head during the dramatic kidnapping that was captured on security cameras.

'We're keeping to ourselves about the whole situation, there is a personal side, a family side and a judicial side to all of this and all I can say at the moment is everyone is doing okay and we are getting through this process,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'I took her to the doctors for a check up on head scan today, she is okay.

'On that (pistol) I can't really tell you what happened I wasn't there but she was and I have read reports that that is what she said.

60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown has told the media she is being kept in a barred, heavily meshed holding cell and was required to wear handcuffs each time she went outside

Veteran journalist Stephen Rice (left), David Ballment (centre) and Benjamin Williamson (right) are also in custody in Lebanon

Sally Faulkner's Lebanese lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab told the ABC Ms Faulkner had paid funds directly to the recovery team, Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), for the bungled mission to Beirut.

Mr Moghabghab said she had used money from 60 Minutes. But he was quoted saying 'I don't have any idea' if the Nine Network had intended to pay for the retrieval operation or simply the rights to her story.

The lawyer also told the ABC Ms Faulkner had had told the judge she regrets paying for the mission.

Mr Moghabghab's comments have not been tested in court.

In her only interview on the matter so far, Ms Faulkner told The Australian on Friday she was doing well behind bars at Baabda Central Women's Prison in south-eastern Beirut.

'Please tell my mum and dad how well I am and also (husband) Brendan and my in-laws,' she said. Ms Brown is also behind bars at the prison.

'I am fine but my loved ones need to know that.'

The Channel Nine TV crew was planning to film Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, three, and Lahela, five, from her ex-husband Ali Elamine, who she claims kept them in Lebanon without her permission.

Prosecutors had earlier claimed they had a signed statement from a member of the recovery team saying Nine had paid $115,000 for the operation.

CCTV footage supplied by Lebanese authorities appeared to show the bungled kidnapping earlier this week

Ms Faulkner and the Channel Nine TV crew members appeared handcuffed in a Lebanese court on Wednesday, where they were remanded in custody to face court again on Monday.

Faulkner is facing kidnapping charges. The 60 Minutes crew is accused of: hiding information, forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person, kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval, and physical assault.

Lebanese Investigative Judge Rami Abdullah said there was 'no way' the charges against the crew will be dropped. The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail.

Nine Network spokeswoman Victoria Buchan said: 'I hope you understand that we never comment on money but also we are not making any comments in this matter as it is currently a matter before the Lebanese judicial system which we respect. It is not appropriate at this time.'

A conviction could mean the male 60 Minutes crew risk ending up in Beirut's infamous Roumieh prison, one of the largest jails in the Middle East with 5,500 inmates.

LEBANON KIDNAP CASE: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR THE MUM, THE TV CREW AND THE KIDNAPPING CASE Brisbane mum Sally Faulkner and a Nine Network TV crew made up of reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment, are facing kidnapping and assault charges in Lebanon following a bungled abduction of Ms Faulkner's two children in Beirut. WHAT HAPPENED? The Australians have spent a week behind bars in Beirut after being arrested for the alleged abduction on April 7. The TV crew was filming Faulkner's attempt to retrieve her children Noah, four, and Lahela, six, from her ex-husband Ali Elamine, who she claims kept them in Lebanon without her permission. A professional agency, Child Abduction Recovery International, is believed to have been hired to snatch the children. Two of its members, named in media reports as Britons Adam Whittington and Craig Michael, have also been detained and charged. THE ABDUCTION Security camera footage shows masked men jumping out of a car and snatching the kids from their grandmother and another woman on a Beirut street. The grandmother claims she was attacked and hit on the head with a pistol. The TV crew and recovery agency members were arrested shortly afterwards, while Faulkner hid with her two children in a safe house. Authorities later found the family, arrested Faulkner and returned the children to their father. THE CHARGES Faulkner is facing kidnapping charges. The 60 minutes crew is accused of: - hiding information - forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person - kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval - physical assault. The offences carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail. LEGAL CASE SO FAR Judge Rami Abdullah told the Australians during a second round of interviews on Wednesday that there was no chance their charges would be dropped. However, he indicated that if Mr Elamine was willing to drop legal action and come to an agreement with his estranged wife, that would help the case against all of the accused. The accused will remain in detention until facing the Baabda Palace of Justice again on Monday. Nine has refused to comment on speculation it organised and funded the recovery operation. Advertisement




Charged: December Hebert, was arrested and booked with carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile, authorities said

Authorities in Louisiana have arrested a woman from Marrero accused of carrying on a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy for several weeks.

December Hebert, 38, was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. Bond with her bail set at $5,000.

She is charged with carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior of a juvenile.

Hebert apparently met the victim through acquaintances and allegedly persuaded the teen to participate in a sexual relationship for about three weeks in April 2015.

The sexual encounters took place at a home where she was living.

According to Nola.com, the boy told deputies he did not reveal the relationship to authorities because Hebert threatened him.

In the end, it was a friend of Hebert's who contacted the police in May of last year upon discovering the relationship.

It took detectives several months to investigate the case. When investigators obtained a warrant for Hebert's arrest in 2015, she was nowhere to be found.

The Sheriff's Office took her into custody on Wednesday from her home in Marrero.

The arrest wasn't planned. Deputies were at the property on an unrelated matter, but while cops were at the home they determined she had an outstanding warrant and arrested her.

Authorities arrested Herbert who is accused of carrying on a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy for several weeks
A powerful tornado tore through a city in Uruguay yesterday, ripping up houses, hurling cars into the air and killing at least four people.

Seven other people were injured as the city of Dolores was declared an emergency zone. Many of the city's 20,000 population have been left homeless and struggling to cope with the damage.

'The president has ordered the deployment of all the resources in the state to attend to the situation in Dolores,' said Juan Andres Roballo, an official with the Uruguayan president's office.

Devastating: Several people try to comfort one distressed woman after the city was badly hit by a tornado

Tragic: Locals try to clear up debris from inside a badly damaged supermarket in Dolores just hours after the city was damaged by a tornado

Struggling: Several cars lie underneath a pile of debris following the tornado in the city of Dolores

Roballo said a good part of the population had lost their homes and at least two children were seriously hurt and had been transferred to the capital for treatment.

Fire department spokeswoman Mariela Vivone told Channel 12 television that two of the dead were killed by flying cars carried by the winds.

Local media outlets reported that some residents took advantage of the chaos to loot stores.

Roballo said that the police and military presence in the area would be increased.

Much of the colourful city has been led decimated by the tornado in Uruguay

Shocking: Fire department spokeswoman Mariela Vivone told Channel 12 television that two of the dead were killed by flying cars carried by the winds

Damaged: A powerful tornado through Uruguay yesterday, ripping up houses, hurling cars into the air and killing at least four people and leaving seven others seriously injured

Volunteers have banded together to cook food for the elderly and young caught up in the disaster

Photos have emerged from the scene of the horrific tornado, which appears to have wrecked vital infrastructure, buildings and homes.

Residents have now started to try and clean up the remains from the natural disaster, with many people left homeless following the tornado.

Tornadoes are rare in Uruguay, with the country averaging one tornado per 10,000 square miles every five years.

Survivors of the tornado gather in a small temporary shelter in a public gym in the city of Dolores

A resident cries as he picks up his belongings after a tornado swept through Dolores

Awful: A motorcyclist surveys the extensive damages as he rides out of a mechanic shop which had its roof tore off in Dolores

Historic: Tornadoes are rare in Uruguay, with the country averaging one tornado per 10,000 square miles every five years

Volunteers have already started dontating shoes and clothes for the victims of the tornado
Now it is a modern seven-bedroom house with luxurious period features, ornate poster beds and cosy log fires

Underneath the castle is a network of tunnels, but the reason for their construction remains a mystery to this day

Has been occupied by the Knights Templar, a rebellious baron hanged by Henry VIII and German prisoners of war

Advertisement

A Yorkshire castle that was restored from a ruin on Grand Designs is now up for sale priced at 1.65million.

Presenter Kevin McCloud described the reconstruction of Hellifield Peel Castle, near Skipton, as his favourite project when it featured twice on the Channel 4 programme.

And the lucky buyer will own a building with a past dating back to the Saxon period that takes in medieval knights, a rebellious baron and a network of mysterious tunnels.

Scroll down for video

Presenter Kevin McCloud described the reconstruction of Hellifield Peel Castle, near Skipton, as his favourite project when it featured twice on the Channel 4 programme

The lucky buyer will own a building with a past dating back to the Saxon period that takes in medieval knights, a rebellious baron and a network of mysterious tunnels

The restoration project was started in 2004 by the Shaw family, and was featured on Grand Designs in 2007 and 2009.

Hellifield Peel is now a comfortable seven-bedroom house, with luxurious rooms that are currently used as a bed and breakfast.

But all this hides a dark and mysterious history, which began around 850AD when the original manor house was built by the Saxons.

Then, around 1150, this hall building was enclosed in stone and a solar tower added a hundred years later by the Norman lord, Elias de Knole.

Although part of this early house still survives, the main body of the castle was built in 1305 by Sir John Harcourt, one of the last members of the Knights Templar before the order was suppressed.

Ownership passed to the Knights Hospitaller, which in the late 14th century became joint lords with the Hamerton family, who would go on to dominate much of the building's later history.

The restoration project was started in 2004 by the Shaw family, and was featured on Grand Designs in 2007 and 2009. Pictured here is the Chapel Room

The building now serves as a bed and breakfast. Pictured here is the Hamerton bedroom, which features an ornate four-poster bed and period features

During this period the north of England was ravaged by Scottish border raids, and numerous Peel Towers were built to defend the border.

Whether Hellifield Peel itself was ever attacked is unclear, although its defences were bolstered by the damming of a local stream to create a five-acre lake.

Some people say the network of tunnels under the castle was built during this period of border warfare to allow the castle's inhabitants to escape in the event of a siege.

In reality though, no one knows why or when they were constructed.

One owner, Stephen Hamerton, took part in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536, the Catholic uprising against Henry VIII's reformation of the Church.

He went on to be hanged at Tyburn after being betrayed by his uncle, Lord Clifford, who went on to become a co-owner of Hellifield Peel alongside the Knights Hospitaller.

Kevin McCloud filmed Grand Designs at Hellifield. James II is thought to have hid in the building during the Civil War

The castle shown under a leaden sky during the filming of Grand Designs

In the 1570s, the tower was doubled in size and crenellations and fine mullioned windows added.

But when the Hamertons entered into financial difficulties, the building was split between three separate owners.

Around 1780, Hellifield Peel was completely remodelled, with a stone staircase added and large Georgian windows installed.

In 1908, Chrisnall Hamerton, the family's last male heir, died and the building was leased to Sir William Nicholson, who carried out further restorations.

He was a friend of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who designed several houses while staying at Hellifield.

After Sir William fell ill and moved out, the building was taken over by the MOD as a prisoner of war camp, firstly for Italian prisoners and then for Germans.

The building currently serves as Hellifield Peel bed and breakfast. The five rooms available to guests include the Old Bedroom, which the owners describe as having a 'highly ornate four poster bed and romantic log fire'

When the war ended it became a shelter for the displaced and homeless, before being sold at auction.

It then fell into disrepair, and remained derelict for 50 years until being rescued by the Shaw family.

The building currently serves as Hellifield Peel bed and breakfast.

The five rooms available to guests include the Old Bedroom, which the owners describe as having a 'highly ornate four poster bed and romantic log fire'.

There is also a roof terrace in the Attic Appartment, stained glass windows in the Chapel room and a deep granite bath for two in the Square Bedroom.

It is now on sale through Carter Jonas.
Tarika Wilson, 36, pleaded guilty to murder Thursday

A Louisiana woman who fatally beat a 3-year-old girl in her care avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty.

Tarika Wilson, 36, admitted to killing the toddler on Thursday, the Shreveport Times reported.

In June, 2013, Wilson tortured Rizcheir Muskelly so severely with an extension cord that the child died.

According to the Times, a crime scene investigator testified that 75 percent of the toddler's body was covered in injuries that were both fresh and old.

'The only places I didn't see wounds were the bottoms of her feet,' the investigator said, according to the Times.

At the time of the child's death, Wilson was taking care of Rizcheir and her two sisters while the children's mother was in jail.

The mother told the Times she was disappointed Wilson won't be punished with death.

'I was kind of upset because I really wanted her to get the death penalty, but she's going to have to think about my baby for the rest of her life,' said Debbie Muskelly.

Muskelly said she'd like to talk to Wilson and ask for an explanation.

'I just want to know why,' Muskelly said. 'But I have to hear it from Tarika.'

The Times reported Muskelly will be able to reach out to Wilson at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel through trained facilitators.

Wilson will spend the rest of her life in prison without possibility of parole, KSLA reported.

Rizcheir Muskelly was three years old when she was beaten so severely by her caretaker that she died. Her killer was responsible for her and her two sisters while her mother was in jail
Just a few weeks ago, poor pit bull Kobe was stuck in a Maryland shelter.

He was in bad shape having been terribly mistreated by his previous owners for years on end.

But almost overnight, everything's changed for the better. And now Kobe has now been given a new home with his foster parents, Sean and Jade, he can't seem to stop smiling.

The couple from Maryland found him through Baltimore Bully Crew adoption and have showered the playful pitbull with nothing but plenty of love and affection.

Smiling: Pictured here with his new owner, Jade,Kobe is starting to understand that hes safe again

The lick of love! Kobe gets to enjoy his favorite flavor ice cream on his ride home from the kennels

The pair have been giving him lots of delicious doggy treats and toys to show him that he never has to worry about being abused again.

It's clear that Kobe loves his new home very much and he appears to be grinning from ear to ear.

He gives that face whenever he sits down with you, Sean told Barkpost.

Since he has been getting used to receiving lots of love and food, it seems like he is smiling more often.

In a few months, Kobe will be ready to go up for adoption and find a forever home.

With a smile like that, it doesn't seem as though there'll be any shortage of potential owners.

If you would like to adopt Kobe, you can visit the website here.
Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, 26, alleges he was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for speaking Arabic

A U.C. Berkeley student who fled Iraq after his father was killed by Saddam Hussein's regime alleges he was booted off a flight for speaking Arabic.

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, 26, was flying back to continue his studies in Oakland last Wednesday after attending a dinner at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council with Secretary-General of the United Nations Bank Ki-moon.

Before the plane left the gate, he was kicked off the Southwest Airlines flight, the Daily Californian reported.

The U.C. Berkeley senior, who fled Iraq in 2002 after his diplomat father was killed and who lived in Jordan before being granted asylum in the United States, said he was on the phone with his uncle in Baghdad when another passenger was frightened by his language.

He said it was his use of the word 'inshallah,' which means 'God willing,' that caused his co-passenger to point him out to a crew member, who then threw him off the plane.

'At the end of my call I said, "Inshallah, I will call you," and he was like, "Call me when you get home," Makhzoomi said.

Makhzoomi said he believed the other passenger mistook the word 'inshallah' with the Arabic word for martyr, 'shahid.'

In a statement, Southwest Airlines said it 'neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind'

After he was led off the plane, Makhzoomi said he was humiliated by airport security agents who searched his genital area in front of other travelers and asked him if he had a knife.

'That is when I couldnt handle it and my eyes began to water,' he told the Californian.

'The way they searched me and the dogs, the officers, people were watching me and the humiliation made me so afraid because it brought all of these memories back to me. I escaped Iraq because of the war, because of Saddam and what he did to my father.'

Afterwards, he said he was questioned by FBI agents who quizzed him on his family and the phone call on the plane.

After he was let go, he learned that Southwest Airlines would not let him fly to Oakland.

In a statement to NBC Bay Area, Southwest Airlines said it 'wouldn't remove passengers from flights without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedures.'

'We aim to safely transport every Customer while maintaining the comfort of all. Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind.'

Makhzoomi, who is part of Model United Nations and the Berkeley Political Review, said he thought about suing but changed his mind.
Cabinet Minister John Whittingdale had a two-year relationship with former porn star Stephanie Hudson who claims he showed her confidential Government papers at his constituency home

Cabinet Minister John Whittingdale had a two-year relationship with a former porn star who claims he showed her confidential Government papers at his constituency home.

Married ex-Page 3 model Stephanie Hudson, 36, says Culture Secretary Mr Whittingdale showed her highly-sensitive documents to show off as he worked on his Ministerial Red Box over breakfast.

And she also revealed how Mr Whittingdale, the Minister in charge of media privacy laws, photographed Cabinet Ministers at a private meeting at Chequers and secretly texted it to her.

The photograph taken at the Prime Ministers official country home is a major breach of protocol and is thought to be the first such picture ever to be published.

The shocking revelations come days after it emerged that Mr Whittingdale, 56, had a sexual relationship with a dominatrix  with claims the story had previously been buried because he was in charge of press regulation.

Mr Whittingdale, MP for Maldon, Essex, last night refused to discuss his affair with Ms Hudson. A spokeswoman said: John is a single man. He is entitled to a private life.

And a source close to the divorced Mr Whittingdale insisted that Ms Hudson did not have access to Government papers.

Last night, David Cameron was standing by Mr Whittingdale. However, a Government source told The Mail on Sunday: His [Mr Whittingdales] behaviour is causing raised eyebrows in Whitehall.

The new claims are made by Ms Hudson, a medical receptionist, who appeared topless in tabloid newspapers until the early 2000s and once took part in a soft-porn TV series. In a candid account of their turbulent on-off relationship, Ms Hudson says:

After meeting on the internet, Mr Whittingdale told her he was an arms dealer;

He called his local Essex constituents oiks;

The couple were asked to leave the Savoy Hotel for 'drunken heavy petting';

He took her to the Commons and turned off the lights to avoid being caught on CCTV  and kissed and groped her;

He said of immigrants: If you let one in, they all want to come;

He two-timed her with a dominatrix.

In a separate investigation, The Mail on Sunday has learned of new details of Mr Whittingdales political links to Eastern Europe and a pro-Vladimir Putin Ukrainian oligarch; in addition to relationships with two Eastern European women 20 years his junior.

In an interview with this newspaper, Ms Hudson says Mr Whittingdale studied his Cabinet papers at his Essex home dressed in a blue silk kimono dressing gown at the breakfast table, after a long morning bath. She recalled: The Red Box was open on his breakfast table and all the papers were strewn on the table. He would show me his work schedule and the letters when I would sit next to him.

He was always saying this important person had been writing to him and he had to respond to so and so.

The now-married ex-Page 3 model (left) says the Culture Secretary showed her highly-sensitive documents to show off as he worked on his Ministerial Red Box over breakfast and revealed he was seeing dominatrix Mistress Kate (right) at the same time

She added: I always felt he was trying to show he was important, you know: Look at me, I am big.

It would have been easy to read the papers either across the kitchen table or when he was out of the room. There was something about Ofcom written on one of them.

The couples relationship began in 2013 and continued after his Cabinet promotion following the May 2015 Election. Ms Hudson says Mr Whittingdale told her last July he planned to make a major decision that would anger the BBC. He said he had a big decision to make about the BBC that would upset a lot of people.

Mr Whittingdale, a long-standing critic of the BBC, was brought into the Government with orders to lead a shake-up of the Corporation.

And coincidentally, last night it was reported that he is looking to force the BBC to sell its 500 million stake in UKTV  which owns ten channels including Dave, Gold and Yesterday  and give half the proceeds to the Treasury.

The special Cabinet meeting at Chequers where Mr Whittingdale photographed Ministers to entertain his lover also took place in July.

Ms Hudson, who stored Mr Whittingdales number on her mobile phone under the pet-name Sexybum, says he told her in advance that he was going to Chequers  another apparent breach of security protocol  texting her the day before the meeting: Off to Chequers tomorrow. She replied: You mean chukkers men in white jeans? [A polo reference.]

And Whittingdale answered: Er no  the Prime Minister's country residence.

On the day, while other Ministers were lunching on the Chequers terrace, Mr Whittingdale astonishingly took an impromptu mobile phone photo of ten senior Ministers including George Osborne, Michael Fallon, Nicky Morgan and Sajid Javid.

He texted it that day to Ms Hudson who replied: Pretty house.

Mr Whittingdale, the Minister in charge of media privacy laws, photographed Cabinet Ministers at a private meeting at Chequers and secretly texted it to Ms Hudson. The picture is above

The photograph at Chequers is likely to anger Mr Cameron, who bans mobile phones at Cabinet meetings, partly for security reasons.

The extraordinary affair between the Cabinet Minister and porn star Ms Hudson, who is estranged from her American businessman husband, began in late 2013.

The mother of three noticed that Whittingdale had winked at her profile on the dating website Match.com, to show he was interested. Ms Hudson says she was not deterred by the 20-year age gap, adding: Ive always liked older men. Their first date was at the trendy Saatchi Gallery off Kings Road, Chelsea.

Initially, Mr Whittingdale, then chairman of the influential Commons Culture Select Committee, fibbed about his career. He told me he was a Russian arms dealer and had just come back from the Ukraine, said Ms Hudson.

I dont know if he was just being careful or trying to make himself more attractive by sounding mysterious, but it wasnt necessary  I liked him.

Bizarrely, it was their shared interest in Margaret Thatcher that prompted him to own up to being an MP. He only told me he was an MP after I told him I admired Margaret Thatcher, said Ms Hudson.

She and her twin sister Samantha were the first twins to appear topless in red-top newspapers together, known as The Boobie Twins. Ms Hudson also appeared in Playboy magazine and in a US soft porn cable TV series, Hotel Erotica, playing the role of Paloma, a postgirl, in a naked lesbian romp.

Mr Whittingdale earns 135,500 a year, yet Ms Hudson says she paid for most of their dates.

THE RED BOX RULES All Ministers are given a Red Box in which to carry Government papers. The documents sometimes contain top-secret information. The cardinal rule is that Ministers should never leave the contents of their Red Boxes where their security could be compromised. Cabinet Office guidance says that official documents must be appropriately protected. Government sources say Ministers should never read documents in public in case they are seen by unauthorised individuals. All Ministers are given a Red Box (pictured) in which to carry Government papers. The documents sometimes contain top-secret information Advertisement

They first went to bed after their fourth meeting. Ms Hudson says Mr Whittingdale told her of his relationship with a dominatrix, known as Mistress Kate, who plies her trade in London, complete with her own dungeon. When the BBC last week revealed Mr Whitingdales relationship with the dominatrix, he insisted he met her under her real name on Match.com and had no idea she was an escort until approached by the media, at which point he ended the relationship. However, Ms Hudson says she believes Mr Whittingdale was sleeping with the dominatrix and her at the same time.

Around February 2014, John told me that he would have to live like a monk for a while because the newspapers had found out a woman hed gone out with was a prostitute. He told me it was all over long before he met me. But last week, I discovered he was sleeping with her at the same time as me, and we always had unprotected sex. It made me angry. I feel so betrayed, not only that he was lying to me, but also he was taking that kind of risk with my health.

Ms Hudson describes Mr Whittingdale as very intelligent, but cold and calculating.

He would walk over anyone to get ahead. He would call me whenever he needed some emotional support or had free time. But when I would want to see him, he would not be there. We split up during our relationship about four times, but every time he would come back.

There was one time when he kicked me out of his St Jamess flat [in London]. I came downstairs and cried. I eventually got a taxi home.

She added: Emotionally, he hurt me a lot.

Ms Hudson said that in December 2013, she and Mr Whittingdale got drunk on the cheapest red wine on the list in the American Bar at Londons Savoy Hotel. The final bill, which the MoS has seen, was 87.75.

We started kissing passionately and it got quite steamy with his hands all over my boobs, she said. We were warned to stop by the staff as it was upsetting other guests, but we soon started again, and were asked to leave. John said wed better go.

They also used his Commons office for trysts.

He always turned the lights out so we wouldnt be recorded on CCTV going down the corridor outside. Once we were in the office, we groped each other and kissed passionately.

According to Ms Hudson, Mr Whittingdale showed little regard for his constituents, and could be outspoken. I once asked him what he was up to and he said he was at a fete in his constituency with some reprobate oiks, by which he meant the local people.

When we discussed immigration once, he said The trouble is if you let one in, they all want to come.

Ms Hudson says her Winchester educated Tory ex-lover was embarrassed to be seen with her in public. He knew that I was a Page 3 model. He said it could be embarrassing for him as he once campaigned against Page 3. If he found my past embarrassing, why date me?

A source close to Whittingdale did not dispute that he had a relationship with Ms Hudson, but claimed she did not have access to government papers. The source described Ms Hudsons claims as tittle tattle.

Anti-EU campaigner Mr Whittingdale appeared to be in hiding yesterday and he pulled out of a Vote Leave speech in Oxford.

How Page 3 model who claims Whittingdale showed her highly-sensitive documents was one half of 'The Boobie Twins' with her sister and starred in TV show Hotel Erotica

In her glamour modelling heyday, Stephanie Hudson enjoyed the dubious distinction of being one of Britains first Page 3 twins, with her sister Samantha.

They were crowned The Boobie Twins.

She also made an appearance in an American soft porn TV series, Hotel Erotica.

Stephanie Hudson, who has revealed she enjoyed a two-year relationship with John Whittingdale, was one of Britains first Page 3 twins and also starred in American soft porn TV series, Hotel Erotica. She is pictured above in the dark blue underwear

Broadcast on a cable channel, and still available to buy online as a DVD, it centred on the sexual escapades of guests at the fictitious beachfront Blue Hotel.

In one episode, Stephanie plays a postal worker who has a threesome with a male character and another woman.

Before she and her sister sought fame in the US, Stephanie landed a small part in a Lynda La Plante Channel 4 drama, The Killer Net.

In one episode of Hotel Erotica (DVD pictured above), Stephanie plays a postal worker who has a threesome with a male character and another woman

Stephanie, from Malvern, Worcestershire, said: I went to America more to become an actress, as I wanted to make it big in Hollywood.

'My favourite actress is Emma Thompson, and I wanted to become as successful as her.
The move could be Sanders' appeal ahead of NY primary on Tuesday

She later edited profanities out of her post, but Sanders' spokesperson told the New York Times she had been suspended pending an investigation

In 2015, she wrote, 'F*ck you, Bibi,' and called him a 'manipulative asshole'

As a critic of Netanyahu, her appointment was polarizing among the Jewish community, with some praising her while others called for her dismissal

Simone Zimmerman's was the Jewish outreach coordinator for two days

Just two days after Bernie Sanders appointed a 25-year-old as his campaign's Jewish outreach coordinator, she was suspended for writing Facebook posts calling the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'an arrogant, deceptive, cynical, manipulative a**hole'.

Simone Zimmerman's prompt suspension marks a misstep for Sanders' campaign as the country's largest population of Jewish voters heads to the New York primary on April 19.

Sanders has made it further in the presidential run than any other Jewish candidate before, but with polls showing 60per cent of Jews prefer Hillary Clinton to Sanders' 38per cent, Zimmerman's brief role may have been a risky move.

Simone Zimmerman (pictured) was suspended just two days after she was appointed as Bernie Sanders' Jewish outreach coordinator after it was revealed she made Facebook posts calling the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'an arrogant, deceptive, cynical, manipulative a**hole'

Polls showing 60per cent of Jews prefer Hillary Clinton to Sanders' 38per cent (pictured, Sanders during the Democratic debate on April 14)

With the critical New York primary coming up on April 19, Sanders' suspension of Zimmerman pending an investigation may have been an attempt to appeal to more mainstream Jews

In a March 3, 2015, Facebook post, Zimmerman wrote: 'F*ck you, Bibi, for daring to insist that you legitimately represent even a fraction of the Jews in this world, for your consistent fear-mongering, for pushing Israel, in word and deed, farther and farther from the international community...'

The lengthy rant, reported by the Washington Free Beacon, also accused the prime minister of 'sanctioning the murder of over 2,000 people' and branded him 'an arrogant, deceptive, cynical, manipulative a**hole'.

She later edited the profanities out of her post, replacing 'a**hole' with 'politican' and 'f*ck you' to 'shame on you', according to the Beacon.

Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders, told the NY Times: 'She has been suspended while we investigate the matter.'

She initially called him an 'a**hole' and wrote 'f*ck you, Bibi', but edited the profanities out of her post (above)

Zimmerman, who has long been a vocal critic of Netanyahu, was a controversial choice from the start, as her opinions polarized the Jewish community, which tends to be split along generational and ideological lines.

While some deemed her appointment 'inspiring' and 'progressive', others immediately called for her dismissal.

Older, more conservative Jews tend to be more defensive of Israel, while younger members of the community may struggle to voice their ambivalence and criticisms regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Zimmerman's suspension may have been a strategic attempt to win over Jewish voters before the crucial New York primary.

In Thursday's debate against Clinton, Sanders called for 'treat[ing] the Palestinian people with respect and dignity' while pledging his support behind Israel.
The Mail on Sunday's petition demanding a rethink on Britain's foreign aid spending has now been signed by an incredible 222,308 people  forcing a parliamentary debate to which the Government must respond.

The petition, which was set up on an official Government website last month, is the most successful to have been initiated by a newspaper.

In an outpouring of anger over the squandering of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money on needless projects abroad, a staggering 150,000 people signed it within a week of its launch  far in excess of the 100,000 signatures needed to ensure that the Commons would consider a debate.

The Mail on Sunday's petition demanding a rethink on Britain's foreign aid spending has now been signed by an incredible 222,308 people

At peak times, 150 people were signing up every minute to back the MoS's call for the axeing of the law that obliges Britain to spend 0.7 per cent of national wealth on foreign aid.

WHERE AID MONEY WAS SENT 700m: To education in Pakistan where officials are accused of faking teaching jobs to pocket salaries 253m: To 15 tax havens blacklisted for alleged lack of financial accountability and transparency 172m: Overspent on foreign aid by mistake last year. It could fund Port Talbot steel for six months 1.1m: Spent on sending teachers around the world to help children learn folk songs 90m: What you gave to the BBC arm behind Somali radio drama that gave tips to illegal immigrants 72m: UK aid to Palestine, where the PLO gives cash to convicted terrorists and their families 5m: What we spent on US think-tank that lavished 12million on a new HQ in Washington Advertisement

As well as putting their names to the petition, many readers emailed or wrote to this newspaper to express their anger.

The MPs' debate, on June 13, will dramatically increase the pressure on Ministers to scrap the ring-fencing of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money for projects abroad which, critics say, encourages reckless waste and feeds corruption.

The Department for International Development's (DFID) current budget of 12 billion is set to rise to 16 billion by 2020.

Among those backing efforts to scrap the legally enshrined 0.7 per cent pledge is actress Dame Joan Collins, who said: 'I absolutely support your campaign.'

Startling revelations by this newspaper in recent weeks include how cash provided by DFID has effectively helped to fund convicted terrorists via the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Our investigation also found that Britain paid out 172 million more than it needed to last year when the Government overspent its foreign aid budget by mistake.

The sum would have kept the troubled Port Talbot steelworks going for another six months.

QUESTIONS PUT TO INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY JUSTINE SECRETARY Mail on Sunday put ten questions to Aid Minister Justine Greening (pictured) a fortnight ago We put ten questions to Aid Minister Justine Greening a fortnight ago. Her only reply was that spending 0.7 per cent of UK wealth on aid was a promise in the manifesto on which the Government was elected, and to claim there had been a 'root and branch' review of the system. Now, with an MPs' debate pending, we ask again 1) Do you back the call for a fresh debate over the fixed aid target? 2) Why it is necessary to give away almost double a slice of Britain's wealth compared to the next most generous G20 nation? 3) The aid budget will grow by a further 4 billion over the next four years. Why is it fixed? 4) If a fixed rate is a good idea, why is yours the only department with one? 5) How do you justify giving 1.1 million for projects such as teaching foreign nationals to sing? 6) The Palestinian Authority admits supporting 'salaries' for suicide bombers and terrorists. So why are we giving it 25 million? 7) Do you understand concern over cuts at home, only to see billions being sent overseas? 8) Do you have concerns about charities receiving taxpayers' money paying six-figure salaries? 9) Polls show aid to be voters' favoured area to be reduced if there must be cuts. You are increasing it. Why? 10) Economist Angus Deaton says aid often ends up hurting, not helping, the poor. Is he wrong? Advertisement

In a further disclosure, The Mail on Sunday discovered that British taxpayers have given 253 million in foreign aid handouts over the last six years to be spent in dubious tax havens.

New disclosures this week  including how thousands of pounds was spent to fund an Armenian television documentary on the mysteries of Scotland  will add further fuel to the controversy.

The parliamentary debate follows new official figures that show Britain's foreign aid budget is now so swollen that it accounts for 1 in every 7 spent on aid by rich countries.

Voices that won't be silenced...

Exasperated readers continue to make their views known by letter, email and online. This is just a selection of the latest

'Keep up the good work in exposing the absurd, corrupt foreign aid policy. We object strongly.'

- Alan and Maggie Morton, East Sussex

'Where are the wonderful results of all this aid? Is it possibly because it's gone into dictators' pockets.'

- Muriel Thompson, Greenock, Scotland

'Why are we giving away money to despots and people who won't help themselves?'

J. M. Jefferies, Meols, Wirral

I agree that we should help other countries when disaster strikes. But when money is short, the UK must support its own.

- Alexa Michael, Bromley

'We should stop all overseas aid until the system can be sorted out.'

John Allcock, Southampton

I am a pensioner. I need new windows and maybe a roof later, I can't afford to pay for these things but there is no grant or help for me.

- C. Shires, Leeds

This Government takes not listening to a whole new level.

'Trucking EU', Merkeltown

Cameron wants to feel warm and gooey inside. If he likes to give away money he could start with his own.

Mrs Doyle, Brighton

The dictators and oligarchs who are supposed to run these countries are laughing their heads off at us.

Rose, Bristol

I don't know how Cameron and Osborne can sleep at night when there are people in the UK depending on food banks.

Ellie May, Scotland

The billions saved could be used to totally modernise the steel industry, save jobs, and strengthen the NHS. It seems like a simple choice.

Clara, London

My mum, aged 96, has just gone into a care home at a cost of 995 a week! A bit of help for her wouldn't have gone amiss.

Clare Allan, Northamptonshire

...And how you can still add yours

The Mail on Sunday's campaign has forced a debate in Parliament, but you can still add your name to our petition
Advertisement

More than 25,000 members of the Islamic State terror group have been killed in the relentless war fought by Britain and its allies, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The campaign has halved the number of jihadi fighters in IS-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq in just 20 months and eliminated scores of the group's leaders, with bombing raids and missile strikes by the RAF playing a crucial role.

The revelations of how IS has been dealt a series of devastating blows emerged in an exclusive interview with Colonel Steve Warren, the US military spokesman for the US-led global coalition against Islamic State.

The campaign has halved the number of jihadi fighters in IS-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq in just 20 months and eliminated scores of the group's leaders, with bombing raids and missile strikes by the RAF playing a crucial role

Col Warren revealed:

The terror group's ability to make millions of dollars every day selling oil on the black market and pay its army of jihadis has been vastly reduced by repeated air attacks on IS-held oilfields;

Coalition forces are preparing to mount a final assault on their stronghold of Raqqa in Syria;

The remains of Jihadi John were 'like a greasy spot on the ground', according to the first eyewitness account of the drone strike that killed the British executioner.

Col Warren said: 'Much like a boxer, Daesh [Islamic State] has taken several hard blows to the mid-section. We believe the knees are getting weak, and the head is starting to drop, and they are beginning to feel the effect of the exceptional pressure we've placed on them over 20 months.'

He said 600 fighters had been killed in the past three weeks alone, and recent precision drone strikes and covert Special Forces missions to take out senior leaders had left the extremists 'paranoid and in chaos'.

Eliminated: Mohammed Emwazi, aka Jihadi John, was one of the ISIS jihadis who was killed in recent months

The RAF is using ten Tornado GR4 jets (pictured), six Typhoon combat aircraft, and Reaper drones, piloted 3,000 miles away in Lincolnshire.

Strikes on IS-held oilfields had seen its cash flow slashed by a third  leading to a 50 per cent pay cut for its fighters  and, with the help of 650 RAF strikes, the group had been forced to flee from 40 per cent of territory it once held in northern Iraq.

Col Warren's comments came in the face of mounting criticism that the coalition mission to 'degrade and destroy IS' was faltering, as almost two years of air strikes have not been able to destroy the army of fanatics.

Islamic State extremists seized swathes of eastern Syria in 2014 during its bloody civil war, before sweeping into northern Iraq and proclaiming itself an Islamic caliphate. However, Col Warren said the terror group now appeared to be on the back foot, and announced a huge bombing campaign would soon be unleashed on its capital, Raqqa, to pave the way for a ground attack by Kurdish troops.

He added: 'We are not going to telegraph our timeline, because it is something they [IS] want to know, but it is coming.'

Col Warren claimed that half of the IS fighting force was now dead, and the group may have fewer than 30,000 soldiers left

The coalition has killed more than 100 leaders, including Omar al-Shishani, (pictured) IS's reputed 'Minister for War', who had a 3 million bounty placed on his head

Speaking from his base in Baghdad, he also said it was only a matter of time before either a US or a British drone targeted the elusive IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Britain began air strikes in Iraq in September 2014 as part of a global force to wipe out IS. Last December, Parliament voted to extend the RAF's mission to hit targets in Syria. So far, British pilots have flown more than 2,200 sorties and made 640 air strikes against IS targets in both countries.

The RAF is using ten Tornado GR4 jets, six Typhoon combat aircraft, and Reaper drones, piloted 3,000 miles away in Lincolnshire.

Col Warren said the coalition had been targeting IS in a 'three-pronged attack' by hitting battlefield fighters, taking out leaders in precision strikes and attacking oilfields.

Other IS industrial targets being hit were arms depots and warehouses where the group stored hundreds of millions of pounds in local currencies and US dollars.

'Using intelligence methods, we can discover where this cash is and just incinerate them from the air, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars which we have seen go up in smoke,' he said.

Col Warren claimed that half of the IS fighting force was now dead, and the group may have fewer than 30,000 soldiers left.

And the flow of new recruits has slowed, thanks to better enforcement of border controls by neighbouring Turkey.

The killing of IS chiefs has mainly been through drone strikes, but on at least two occasions US Special Forces have been deployed to kill key leaders of the group, he said.

The coalition has killed more than 100 leaders, including Omar al-Shishani, IS's reputed 'Minister for War', who had a 3 million bounty placed on his head.

Shishani was killed in an air strike last month in Shadadi in eastern Syria, where he was sent to bolster flagging IS fighters.
It was the real life Fawlty Towers  the hotel so bad that it inspired John Cleeses famous TV series after he endured a disastrous stay there in the 1970s.

And today, with the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay on the brink of demolition, the truly bizarre reality of life in the hotel is laid bare for the first time  by the daughter of the eccentric Basil and Sybil couple who ran it.

Helen Cooper says her parents were every bit as odd as the fictional pair Cleese created, often offending guests with their bizarre behaviour and feuds.

The odd couples: Donald and Beatrice Sinclair ran the hotel where John Cleese based his sitcom in the 1960s

John Cleese and Prunella Scales as Basil and Sybil Fawlty - characters inspired by Helen's parents

Comically, Helens family photographs, never before published, even show that the couple had a passing resemblance to their fictional counterparts.

Helen, 69, says that, just like Basil, her father Donald Sinclair was a snob who hated looking after guests. And her mother Beatrice was  just like Basils wife Sybil  glamorous, tough and the brains behind the business.

Helen recalls how John Cleese checked in at Gleneagles in 1970, for a three-week stay while filming Monty Pythons Flying Circus in nearby Paignton.

He was accompanied by the other Pythons  but the group got a typically ungracious and bizarre welcome from Sinclair, a former Merchant Navy officer.

Helen says: He would tell Terry Gilliam, the American one, how he should hold a knife and fork the English way and he put Eric Idles briefcase out by the pool because he thought it might be a bomb.

The Pythons, infuriated then exasperated by the frosty reception and the dreadful service, soon moved to a different hotel.

However Cleese, who later described Sinclair as the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met, stayed on with his then wife Connie Booth  who would play Polly the maid in the TV series  gleefully gathering material. Fawlty Towers was first broadcast in 1975 and though there were only ever two series, each containing six episodes, it became a worldwide success.

In the show, Cleese as Fawlty launches himself from crisis to crisis. In one famous episode, he is seen thrashing his red Austin 1300 car with the branch of a tree after it fails to start. In another, Basil impersonates a goose-stepping Nazi in front of the hotels German guests.

Lifting the lid: Helen Cooper said her mum and dad were both so embarrassed at Fawlty Towers

But for the Sinclairs, Fawlty Towers was no laughing matter.

Helen says: Mum and Dad were both so embarrassed at Fawlty Towers and the way they had been portrayed. In some ways it was very unfair but I can see elements of their personalities in both Basil and Sybil. Dad did not suffer fools and could be prone to the most monumental outbursts. Who does that remind you of?

His sanctuary was his little office just off the reception. He would sit there happily doing his little bits and pieces, like typing up the menus, until Mum would burst in demanding he sorted this, that and the other out for her. She was the real power behind the throne.

She adds: Dad loathed being in the service industry. He had been an officer with his own batman and was used to being waited on hand and foot. He hated being at other peoples beck and call. He was torpedoed three times during the war but survived. It made him a rather serious man.

Not only were Basil and Sybil based on characters Cleese encountered at the hotel, Helen says the comedian obviously drew inspiration from the other staff, too.

At Gleneagles, there was an efficient German-Swiss housekeeper called Jetty  transformed into the character Polly  and the garrulous Spanish waiter Pepe, who became Manuel, played by Andrew Sachs.

Dashing: Beatrice aged about 25 in one of her glamorous gowns (left) and Donald in uniform during the war

Helen and her older sister Ann lived and worked long hours in the hotel in the evenings, at weekends and during summer holidays.

Helen recalls: At the height of summer, every available room was jammed with guests. We had to give up our beds for them. Instead we slept in a cupboard under the stairs  just like Harry Potter.

I would work flat out as a chambermaid and my sister was a waitress at three sittings in the dining room every day. Mum seemed to look at and treat us like slave labour. It was exhausting.

Both sisters moved out almost as soon as they turned 16. Ann went to the US, while Helen was soon a married woman. But she remained crucial to the business, so much so that when she became pregnant, Beatrice forced her to give up the baby as she could not be spared, and the little boy was raised by her mother-in-law. Helen and her son, Martin, have since been reconciled.

Canny Scot Beatrice had had an eye for business from her early days. She met Donald at the Piccadilly Club in Glasgow in the early years of the Second World War after his ship docked in the Clyde. She had made good money providing dresses for wealthy ladies and, after the war when the couple moved to the English Riviera, she paid 3,000 for Greenacres Hotel, a large property in the Wellswood area of Torquay.

Slowly she built up the business and in 1962 bought another property, as an annexe. She renamed the whole complex Gleneagles.

Helen says: Mum loved to be the centre of attention and liked to feel needed by people. It made her a natural for the business. Years later, people would say how special she had made them feel when they stayed. They would ask if she remembered their holiday or wedding or whatever had brought them to the hotel and she would say of course she did. In fact, most of the time she didnt have a clue.

Helen Cooper's parents used to own the Gleneagles hotel in Torquay which Fawlty Towers was based

Despite her bizarre experiences at the hotel, when Helen married her second husband, a professional commercial caterer, she returned to work with her parents at Gleneagles. She and her husband drew up a contract stating how the hotel should be run.

At first Donald and Beatrice welcomed the couples new ideas, such as branching out into the wedding market and lucrative functions. But they soon fell out. Helen says: Mum had her own philosophy in life. There was the right way, the wrong way and there was her way.

When her parents refused to pay the couple what was owing to them, Helen and her husband walked away after barely a year.

But the hotel in its heyday was well-regarded. Beatrice spend vast amounts on interior design and Gleneagles was one of the first family- run hotels to provide an en suite bathroom with every room. It also had a heated outdoor pool.

It was set in its own extensive grounds that were beautifully maintained and furnished with modern sculptures. Inside there were daring works of art on the walls. All the crockery used in its award-winning restaurant was Denby and its cutlery came from the distinguished Viners brand.

In 1972, the hotel was sold to Best Western, providing Donald and Beatrice with a healthy retirement pot. The pair went on cruises and Beatrice treated herself to facelifts. Donald died in 1981. Beatrice died aged 95 in 2010.

Helen says: My mother had such energy and vision. She knew exactly how to deal with people. My father was a very loving, funny man.
African nations that have received billions of pounds in British aid to combat poverty and starvation are spending vast sums on launching rockets into space and astronomy research.

Nigeria  given more than a 1billion by Britain between 2010 and 2015  has pledged that an astronaut will be in space by the end of the next decade.

The country has already sent six satellites into orbit. Two were built in Britain. The first one cost 10million and was launched in Russia.

'The space programme is very important for a country like Nigeria,' said Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the country's minister of science and technology.

Nigeria  which was given more than a 1billion in foreign aid by Britain between 2010 and 2015  has pledged that an astronaut will be in space by the end of the next decade

A Nigerian delegation is due to visit China this month to discuss plans for Africa's first manned space mission.

Nigerian officials have defended their space schemes as a 'key to development'  crucial for analysing climate patterns to improve agriculture and for tracking the Boko Haram terror group.

But there has been criticism over launching space adventures when two-thirds of Africans live on little more than 1-a-day.

FOREIGN AID MADNESS Official figures released last week reveal that the UK gives away more money in aid than Australia, Canada, France, Spain and Portugal combined. Advertisement

There is a space programme too in Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries. It has developed East Africa's first observatory, in hills above the capital Addis Abba. The 3.5 million research centre, with two one-metre telescopes, was built by private donors, but running costs were taken over last month by the Ethiopian government.

The Ethiopian Space Science Society is investigating a second site for a bigger observatory and wants to launch satellites within a decade.

Britain is a major donor to Ethiopia, handing over more than 300 million this year despite concerns over human rights.

Elsewhere on the continent Ghana  given 73 million-a-year in UK aid  has launched a Space Science and Technology Institute to co-ordinate projects and 'develop the nation's space talents'.

Kenya and Gabon are pursuing similar space schemes.

Nigeria has already sent six satellites into orbit, two of which were built in Britain

South Africa, which established a space agency six years ago, is building the powerful Square Kilometre Array telescope with Australia. This is a huge cluster of radio dishes and antennae in the Karoo desert.

The revelations  underlining the speed of change in Africa  follow past concern over British aid funding for India when it was developing a major space programme that included a mission to Mars.

UK Government figures show that between 2009 and 2014 Britain gave Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa more than 4 billion in foreign aid.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It is deeply depressing that Ministers still think it appropriate to be sending taxpayer-funded aid to countries that can afford their own space programmes.'
Clinton admitted on campaign trail that home-based email setup was a mistake, but insists she never sent or received any classified documents

government officials about the creating of the private system

A judge consented to allowing the group to questions current and former

A conservative legal group has been granted permission to question several current and former government officials about the creation of Hillary Clinton's private email system.

The State Department and Judicial Watch reached an agreement to let the legal group conduct a 'limited discovery' probe into why Clinton relied on an email server in her New York home during her tenure as secretary of state.

Questions about the email system have bedeviled Clinton during her run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The State Department and Judicial Watch reached an agreement to let the legal group conduct a 'limited discovery' probe into why Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton relied on an email server in her New York home during her tenure as secretary of state

If Judge Emmet G Sullivan approves of Friday's agreement, lawyers from Judicial Watch will be allowed to depose Clinton's top aides, including former chief of staff Cheryl D Mills, deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin and undersecretary Patrick F. Kennedy.

Also on the list to be questioned is Bryan Pagliano, the department employee who set up and maintained Clinton's home brew email system.

Pagliano previously invoked his Fifth Amendment right in declining to answer questions from a congressional committee.

The FBI is investigating whether sensitive information that flowed through Clinton's email server was mishandled.

The inspectors general at the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies are separately investigating whether rules or laws were broken.

But President Barack Obama said Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton never jeopardized national security in the handling of her emails as his secretary of state.

'I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized Americas national security,' Obama stated in an interview broadcast on Fox News, adding that Clinton has recognized a carelessness on the email issue in which she used a private server for Government business.

The FBI is investigating whether sensitive information that flowed through Clinton's email server was mishandled

Clinton has admitted on the campaign trail that her home-based email setup was a mistake, but she insists she never sent or received any documents that were marked classified at the time

'But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective,' Obama said. 'This is somebody who has served her country for four years as secretary of state, and did an outstanding job.'

There are also at least 38 civil lawsuits, seeking copies of government records related to Clinton's time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Critics of Clinton's decision to rely on the private server have suggested it potentially made her communications more vulnerable to being stolen by hackers, including those working for foreign intelligence agencies.

In response to public records requests, the State Department has released more than 52,000 pages of her work-related emails, a small percentage of which have been withheld because they contain information considered sensitive to national security.

Thousands of additional emails have been withheld by Clinton, whose lawyers say they contain personal messages unrelated to her government service.
Having terrified the world with its fierce initial momentum, Islamic State briefly consolidated its sprawling caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria. Two years on, how have things changed?

Although IS is still capable of mounting local attacks using suicide bombs, its forward momentum has been checked.

IS has lost control of about 40 per cent of the populated territory it controlled in Iraq, and ten per cent of its lands in Syria. The terror groups finances are also severely strained. The RAF and other coalition aircraft have destroyed about 30 per cent of ISs oil infrastructure, including wellheads, ad hoc refineries, and the tankers smugglers use to move diesel and petrol.

Although IS is still capable of mounting local attacks using suicide bombs, its forward momentum has been checked

In January, two US 900 lb bombs obliterated ISs main cash depository in Mosul, badly affecting what is essentially an all-cash operation.

Like a shark, IS needs to keep moving to survive. In order to pay its fighters, the group is therefore more and more reliant on extortionate taxes and petty fines on a captive population of roughly seven million people which they are no longer in a position to add to.

Worse, now that Turkey (and Syrian Kurdish YPG militias) control the border with Syria, the flow of fresh foreign recruits can no longer replace the numbers of IS fatalities. A force that may have numbered between 30,000 and 50,000 has suffered 25,000 losses.

These include most of the Iraqi and Syrian Baathist officers who gave IS its original tactical edge in 2013-14, as well as Ali Omar al-Shishani, the red-bearded Georgian Chechen former army sergeant and commander of IS operations in northern Syria, who was killed in a US air strike in March.

Ali Omar al-Shishani, the red-bearded Georgian Chechen former army sergeant and commander of IS operations in northern Syria, who was killed in a US air strike last month

The pace of operations against IS may seem desultory, but the cumulative effect of pin-prick blows is punishing

In addition to killing 100 mid- and senior-level commanders, the US has incapacitated the Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in one of several attempts to kill him. As Barack Obama has said: Every day IS leaders wake up and understand it could be their last.

The pace of operations against IS may seem desultory, but the cumulative effect of pin-prick blows is punishing. The air campaign has been dominated by the US, which has just added 60-year-old B-52s based in Qatar to the advanced aircraft active already.

Belatedly, the US was joined by Russian aircraft, with whom there is a de facto division of labour. The Russians have bombed around Palmyra in the west while the US softens up Raqqa in the north, deploying more and more fixed artillery to add firepower to local ground forces.

IS was itself the cancerous remnant of Al Qaeda in Iraq, so we should probably expect that even if this ghastly iteration is destroyed, another will replace it, for the forces that created IS are still very much alive

But in its death throes, IS may seek to emphasise its enduring potency with terror strikes, including in Britain, and it has 6,000 fighters in and around Sirte in Libya, many of them disgruntled members of the Gaddafi tribe whose dictator scion we overthrew

Irans Revolutionary Guards have played a key directing role, again in de facto alliance with the US, in ground operations. The Iraqi national army is gradually becoming a fighting force again, but most of the hard fighting is being done by the Syrian Kurdish YPG, Iranian-backed Shia Popular Mobilisation militias, and thousands of Lebanese Shia Hezbollah guerrillas who act as President Assads light infantry.

When they are in a position to, these forces will be marshalled to retake Mosul (640,000 inhabitants) and Raqqa (220,000). Now the focus is on securing the surrounding villages needed to launch such major offensives. Capturing Mosul, where in July 2014 Baghdadi proclaimed his caliphate in the Great Mosque, would be a symbolic victory.

But in its death throes, IS may seek to emphasise its enduring potency with terror strikes, including in Britain, and it has 6,000 fighters in and around Sirte in Libya, many of them disgruntled members of the Gaddafi tribe whose dictator scion we overthrew.
A new bill has been signed in Mississippi to allow churchgoers to carry holstered firearms without a permit - to protect their place of worship.

The legislation follows the Charleston church massacre last June when Dylann Storm Roof allegedly opened fire during a bible study group.

On Friday, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed House Bill 786, also known as the The Church Protection Act, which allows individuals to provide armed security to protect places of worship, if they attend firearms training sessions.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed House Bill 786, also known as the The Church Protection Act, written by Rep. Andy Gipson, to allow churchgoers to carry guns without a permit

'The bill is effective immediately and, among other things, extends the protections of the castle doctrine to local churches who elect to establish a trained and licensed security team for protection of the congregation. Thank you Gov. Bryant!' said the bill's author, Rep. Andy Gipson in a Facebook post.

Gun groups have welcomed the bill as a 'great day for law-abiding gun owners in Mississippi'.

'This will allow them to carry firearms for personal protection in the manner that best suits their needs,' Chris Cox, executive director for the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action told AOL.com.

But another local pastor, Pat Ward of the Orchard Church in Oxford, Mississippi, warned there should not be a relationship between religion and guns.

Photographs of the nine victims killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina are held up by congregants during a prayer vigil at the the Metropolitan AME Church on June 19 in Washington, DC

Bryant wrote the legisaltion after nine people shot dead at a bible study group at Emanuel AME Church last June. allegedly by Roof, at the African-American church

Greeleyville is roughly 60 miles from Charleston, where Dylann Roof is thought to have killed nine people at a historically black church after publishing a racist manifesto online

Bryant wrote the legislation after nine people shot dead at a bible study group at Emanuel AME Church last June by a white gunman at the African-American church.

On Wednesday, a judge in Charleston County on Wednesday moved the trial of Dylann Roof to January 17 at the request of Roof's defense lawyers - who said they needed more time to prepare their case.

Roof, 22, is accused of shooting nine dead, including church's pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, in downtown Charleston on June 17 last year.
Jihadi John was killed in a drone strike so powerful that it left his remains like a 'greasy spot on the ground', according to US Colonel Steve Warren.

Col Warren is the first military or intelligence chief to reveal details about the death last November of the Londoner, whom he described as a 'terrorist celebrity'.

The executioner became one of the world's most wanted men after beheading Western hostages including Britons Alan Henning, 47, and David Haines, 44.

He was killed near the famous clock tower in the main square of Raqqa, the city that has become the de facto capital of IS in Syria.

Mohammed Emwazi became one of the world's most wanted men after beheading Western hostages including Britons Alan Henning, 47, and David Haines, 44

Col Warren said Jihadi John  real name Mohammed Emwazi  was killed close to midnight on a night in November

NEXT OBJECTIVE: RAQQA British forces are gearing up for a huge offensive on Islamic States capital city in the coming weeks. Colonel Steve Warren told The Mail on Sunday that Kurdish forces are within 30 miles of Raqqa waiting to begin the ground assault, which will be supported by air strikes from coalition jets and drones. Raqqa, which had a population of more than 220,000 before IS took control, serves as the groups main base in Syria. Col Warren said: There is a lot of work that needs to be done  it is going to be a significant fight. They are not going to abandon Raqqa easily. Advertisement

The death of the terroristwas steeped in irony, given that it came in the same place where the group publicly beheaded its victims and crucified their remains.

Col Warren said Jihadi John  real name Mohammed Emwazi  was killed close to midnight on a night in November.

He had been walking along the square in Raqqa while talking on a mobile phone, but as he moved towards a parked car, he was hit by a drone missile.

Col Warren said: 'I watched the video when we killed Jihadi John.

'We found him when he was alone on the street, when he was talking on the cell phone. And when it was all over, he was a greasy spot on the ground.'

Asked why it had taken so long to kill the 27-year-old, Col Warren added: 'We have to positively identify the location of these guys, so we want to make sure that we can take the strike with the minimal amount of civilian casualties. This has been the most precise air campaign in the history of warfare.'

Col Warren said that Jihadi John was a 'nobody' in terms of rank within IS, but he became a 'terrorist celebrity'

The death of the terrorist was steeped in irony, given that it came in the same place where the group publicly beheaded its victims and crucified their remains.

He added that Jihadi John was a 'nobody' in terms of rank within IS, but he became a 'terrorist celebrity'.
It has gained a reputation as one of the most polite places in Britain, with virtually no reported cases of bad behaviour since being designated a national park six years ago.

But that hasnt stopped officials blowing 35,000 of taxpayers money on a bizarre campaign to teach ramblers and dog-walkers on the South Downs to greet each other with a cheery Have a good day or Hi there!

Those behind the Share The Path initiative say the aim is to reduce the risk of confrontation between walkers, cyclists and horse-riders on the parks hundreds of miles of tracks and bridleways, which stretch across three counties from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Officials have blown 35,000 of taxpayers money on a bizarre campaign to teach ramblers and dog-walkers on the South Downs to greet each other with a cheery Have a good day or Hi there!'

But officials have been accused of wasting public money by trying to solve a non-existent problem.

Alex Wild, of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: The authority has clearly lost touch with reality. This is an utterly pointless and patronising campaign  they should pull the plug on it before any more taxpayers money is wasted.

Keen walker Jo Foulser said: Its already a friendly area and people really dont need to be told to say Good morning.

And another user who rides his motorbike on approved routes through the park added: Its a lot of money to spend on addressing a problem that doesnt exist.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that a consultancy firm that specialises in nudging people into changing their behaviour was hired to devise the campaign and produce a selection of recommended greetings for use by the public.

The firm, Behaviour Change, was paid 15,000 to promote the initiative and 11,500 to make a two-minute spoof video about a rambler called George and his dog Dean  their saunter through the park is constantly interrupted by chats with other users, including a bird-watcher.

A further 8,000 was spent on recruiting so-called Street Teams dressed in bright colours to wave Hello signs at visitors over the Easter weekend.

Alex Wild, of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: The authority has clearly lost touch with reality. This is an utterly pointless and patronising campaign  they should pull the plug on it before any more taxpayers money is wasted'

Postcards carrying various greetings have also been handed out to walkers and cyclists.

But a briefing paper seen by The Mail on Sunday reveals that there have been virtually no reported cases of bad behaviour since the South Downs  which attracts 46 million visitors a year  became a national park in 2010.

The document, written by national park staff, says: Incidents of conflict or actual collisions between path users are very rare, and courteous and friendly interactions are the norm.

Britains 15 national parks are funded by taxpayers and receive millions of pounds each year from the Environment Department. They can also apply for grants for specific projects, and the money for Share The Path came from a 1 billion Transport Department fund aimed at discouraging car use.

Andy Gattiker, national trail officer for the South Downs Way, a 100-mile route across the park, said: The British are renowned for their courtesy, no more so than here in the South Downs where youll almost always be greeted by a Hello or even a Much obliged on the path. Were encouraging everybody to get into the spirit and pass on a greeting as they meet others.

A South Downs spokesman said the light-hearted campaign was intended to make all visitors feel welcome, adding: Celebrating friendly and responsible behaviour as normal is far more effective than telling people what they should or shouldnt do.
Shocking multi-million-pound waste and paralysing bureaucracy at the United Nations have been exposed by a former senior official from the organisation  which receives vast sums from the British taxpayer each year.

Killian Kleinschmidt was the manager of a sprawling camp for Syrian refugees in Zaatari, Jordan.

A veteran of 25 years with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Austrian aid expert has revealed how the organisation was dogged by infighting and an obsession with celebrities.

And he has exposed how senior aid bureaucrats lied about caring for thousands more children than they actually did.

Killian Kleinschmidt, a former senior official from the UN, revealed how the organisation was dogged by infighting and an obsession with celebrities (pictured, David Beckham)

His concerns will again raise serious doubts about why the UK is spending 0.7 per cent of its wealth  12 billion last year  on aid, funding many questionable projects and unaccountable multi-national organisations.

The Zaatari camp houses about 79,580 displaced Syrians and costs about 320,000 a day to run.

Prince Charles and actor Michael Sheen have both visited the camp, which no one doubts is providing vital humanitarian care.

However, Mr Kleinschmidt highlighted how bureaucracy has led to colossal waste in energy costs for what is in effect a small city, after UNHCR passed up the opportunity to install money-saving solar panels.

FOREIGN AID MADNESS Civil servants in Uruguay were taught how to talk their way out of tricky situations with lessons in 'diplospeak'  funded by 1,400 of British aid. Advertisement

After an initial outlay, the panels would have helped the camp avoid energy bills of about 700,000 a month, but bureaucratic resistance meant the opportunity was missed.

Mr Kleinschmidt said: 'A company from the US came in early 2014 and said it would cost $ 20 million.

'They offered help with the engineering, and said they would donate $5 million, leaving us to find $15 million for solar panels and to manage production of power.'

Although the UNHCR said no, the German government has now agreed to pay for the solar panels, but the camp will have to wait until 2017 for them to be installed.

If the panels had been installed in 2014, it would have saved nearly 25 million in energy costs  much more than the initial set-up fees.

Another project, on sanitation, showed how the UN was needlessly wasting money on contractors.

Mr Kleinschmidt also exposed how senior aid bureaucrats lied about caring for thousands more children than they actually did (pictured, UNICEF Ambassador and actor Michael Sheen)

Killian Kleinschmidt was the manager of a sprawling camp for Syrian refugees in Zaatari (pictured), Jordan

Mr Kleinschmidt said: 'In Zaatari, Unicef [the UN's Children's Emergency Fund] spent $30 million on water and sanitation  clean water coming in and dirty water and garbage going out.

'It would have been much cheaper to have set up a piped water system, but they were bringing it in by truck and are still trucking it in there to a large extent because that ensures the money keeps coming to fund all the bureaucrats involved. From Unicef it goes down to the next international NGO [Non-Governmental Organisation] and then down the line to the Jordanian contractor who owns the trucks, and before a single drop of water has been delivered, you've spent $15 million out of the $30 million.'

Mr Kleinschmidt, who ran the camp from 2013 and left the UN in late 2014, was also shocked by the outright lies of aid colleagues.

He said: 'I remember in 2013, Unicef were making a big story about how 15,000 kids go to school at the camp, but it wasn't true, it was a lie. You might have that many enrolled, but only 3,000 to 4,000 were going into the school. How can you put something out which is simply not true?

'They were very angry with me because I spoiled their story.'

He added: 'Zaatari confirmed to me that the [aid] chain makes no sense.

'In a world of maybe only $23 billion of humanitarian aid, one has to be a bit more careful how it's spent and more innovative in our partnerships.'

Mr Kleinschmidt said Unicef 'spent $30 million on water and sanitation  clean water coming in and dirty water and garbage going out' but it would have been cheaper to set up a piped water system

Mr Kleinschmidt, who after becoming disillusioned with the UN started his own aid consultancy, said that vicious infighting between the organisation's departments made aid work ineffective. 'The key issue is competition for resources between different agencies. The UN shouldn't worry about which agency has the nicest T-shirts and the nicest caps, or which celebrity is your ambassador.

'We're supposed to work all together so that agencies with different skills are all pulling in one direction but of course that doesn't happen.

'Getting away from all that pointless competition would help tremendously.'

Britain gave the UN 518 million in 2014, the last year for which figures are available, and a total of 2.1 billion for the five years starting from 2010.

Mr Kleinschmidt said that, after his long career delivering aid, he had concluded: 'Looking at people only as victims and recipients of charity has to change as well.

'The way the system works is pushing people to dependency. You either become very cynical and negative or you try to change it.

'I've seen most of the system at work  I'm one of those guys you might describe as a 'frustrated senior aid official'.'
The echoes are everywhere, and quite deliberately so  the most romantic setting in the world, a bench weighed down with memories, and even the bend of Kate's knees.

Yet there is a world of difference between yesterday's carefully planned photo opportunity for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the sad, iconic portrait of Diana taken in the same spot in 1992 when her marriage was crumbling.

Yesterday, as they said farewell to India and Bhutan with a visit to the Taj Mahal, it was clear to see that Kate and William are a couple very much in love  and that they are determined to banish any lingering ghosts.

Scroll down for video:

Prince William sat down with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, on the same marble bench as his late mother, Princess Diana, at the Taj Mahal

The couple's spokesman said they had only decided this morning that they would sit on the bench - and not because of its associations with Diana, but because it is 'where everyone sits to admire the Taj's beauty'

Arriving shortly before 4pm local time, they walked past tree-lined water pools towards an unassuming stone bench, which minutes earlier had been washed down by staff, for the most anticipated photograph of the year.

Then, as thermometers hit an unbearable 41C, they sat for 25 seconds, the initial silence broken by the clattering of camera shutters.

Kate, 34, wore a dress with a royal blue embroidered motif by Indian designer Naeem Khan and her trademark nude heels, while William removed his Ray-Ban sunglasses for the occasion.

The picture of Diana that they were self-consciously recreating had come to represent the collapse of her marriage to Prince Charles. Within the year, Charles and Diana had announced their separation.

Kate looked effortlessly cool in a pretty white and blue dress by Indian designer Naeem Khan, while William was smart casual in chinos, a jacket and an open-necked shirt

The photograph that was transmitted around the globe: Princess Diana was pictured on a bench in front of the Indian landmark in 1992 as her marriage to Prince Charles unravelled

Diana was famously photographed alone on this marble bench but the image of William and Kate, sat together, will forge new memories of the iconic building for the couple

The symbol of her loneliness: The bench Princess Diana was sitting on was the seat on which 12 years earlier a single Charles had posed and vowed to return one day with a bride

Hopeful romantic: Charles sits on the bench at the Taj Mahal where he vowed to bring a wife back... 12 years before Diana was pictured in the same place but alone

Yet when asked what visiting the monument had meant to him, William avoided the subject, saying: 'It's a beautiful place, stunning designs in there,' and later described the experience as 'overwhelming'. The Duchess added: 'It's been incredible to learn about the romance of the building and its really beautiful architecture.'

She told their guide, Rizwan Mohammed, the visit was 'the perfect thing to do' before their fifth wedding anniversary later this month.

A senior Royal aide said: 'The Duke is completely aware of the history of this place with his family and he appreciates that a lot of people who come here have his mother in mind.

'But this is about the future for them  it's about looking forward and creating new memories.'

It was also the final act in what has been the most tightly controlled  and one of the most expensive  Royal tours, raising questions about what it will be remembered for.

Nothing was left to chance and there has been at times a lack of spontaneity. Glimpses of the 'real' William and Kate have been sparing. Even the questions at the Taj Mahal had to be submitted in advance.

Diana's visit in 1992 could not be in starker contrast to today's tender display of affection between a couple still clearly in love as they prepare to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on the 29th of this month

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge evoked the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, as they visited the Taj Mahal and the bench that became a symbol of her broken marriage

In searing temperatures of 41C (106F) the Duke and Duchess walked around the grounds of the Taj and were given a guided tour of the mausoleum itself

The couple signed the visitor's book as they left and will enjoy dinner at a local hotel before flying back to the UK tomorrow

Months in the making, the tour involved four private jet flights and numerous reconnaissance trips. The Mail on Sunday understands that it cost about 270,000. Security has been tight at all engagements, including the visit to the Taj Mahal, which remained open to the public, and there have been no traditional walkabouts.

This newspaper has been told that the Duke took an active role in the planning, and worked closely with his media advisers.

A variety of camera positions had been painstakingly planned at each engagement to accommodate 100 members of the international media. Part of the problem was the brevity of the seven-day trip, giving it a whistle-stop feel. This is William and Kate's fifth tour overseas  although the first one in which their children have been left behind  and they are said to have been anxious to return home.

Given the criticism that the Cambridges have taken in recent months, caution is understandable. But this was planning taken to an extraordinary degree. Even the colour of the rose petals the couple scattered at the Banganga Water Tank in Mumbai had been agreed beforehand.

A 'romantic day': Kate described the Taj Mahal as the 'perfect' place to visit just before her fifth wedding anniversary

The thrifty Duchess was wearing the 6.60 earrings she bought at a craft market in Bhutan after her mountain walk yesterday, while William kept his cool despite the searing heat in his chinos and blazer

As the couple wrapped up their tour, Kensington Palace tweeted: 'TRH want to say thank you to the people of India for their hospitality and warmth'

The monument was a stunning venue for the couple to visit ahead of their fifth wedding anniversary on the 29th of this month

The couple's farewell to India could not have been more meaningful as they sat together, knees touching, beaming for the assembled photographers

The Duchess packed 20 outfits for the tour, each pressed and wrapped in tissue paper. They had been chosen only after an aide was sent to photograph all the places they would visit.

The fact is William and Kate have a strategy called 'Brand Cambridge'. While Diana's spontaneity was loved, her recklessness sometimes threatened to damage the Royal Family. William is playing it more safe, and in that he has the full support of the Queen.

There is a reason, too, why William's aides were prolific on Twitter, posting pictures and stories from the tour: to free themselves from what they see as the grip of the traditional media.

When they touch down in Britain this morning, William and Kate will drive straight home to be reunited with George and Charlotte.
A teenager has been arrested at Manchester Airport on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences.

The 18-year-old man from Birmingham was held by counter-terrorism officers after returning to the UK.

West Midlands Police said: The arrest follows the arrest of a man and a woman on April 4. The pair, a 24-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, both from Birmingham, are on police bail.

In a separate anti-terrorism operation, four men and a woman from Birmingham were arrested on Thursday and Friday after an investigation involving MI5 and authorities in France and Belgium.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested at Manchester Airport for terrorism offences (file photo)
A media mogul is behind bars in India accused of murdering his stepdaughter in an attempt to cover-up his alleged theft of millions of pounds of British foreign aid.

Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani are alleged to have syphoned off up to 90million from their television empire, which was set up with an estimated minimum of 2million from the Department for International Development (DFID).

Sheen Bora, 25, Mrs Mukerjea's daughter from a previous marriage, had intimate knowledge of the couple's financial affairs and offshore bank accounts.

She went missing in April 2012. The following month the charred remains of her body were found hidden deep in woods in a remote village in India.

Media mogul Peter Mukerjea (left, with actor Richard Gere) is accused of murdering his stepdaughter Sheen Bora, 25, who had knowledge of his financial affairs and offshore bank accounts.

She had been strangled. Detectives are investigating the allegation that she was killed to prevent her blowing the whistle on the offshore fraud. The focus of the investigation is now on suspected financial fraud.

4,000... TO HELP GAMBIANS CROSS THE ROAD An overseas aid project that funded a new pedestrian crossing in The Gambia has come under fire from Sussex villagers who battled for more than ten years to get their own crossing  and then had to pay half the cost of it themselves. The new crossing in the village of Cranedown finally opened on Friday, but East Sussex County Council only gave approval last September when the villagers, who raised 9,000, agreed to pay half of it. Wendy Brewer, chairman of the local residents' association, said: 'I don't doubt there are many hazardous roads in Gambia, but there is an endless demand for this sort of thing in the UK.' The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent 4,000 in 2014 on a new crossing in The Gambia, which has an awful road safety record and where pedestrian deaths are commonplace. An FCO spokesman said: 'Road safety is a major issue in The Gambia and we provided some funding towards a campaign to raise awareness. 'A small proportion of this funding was used to establish pedestrian safety aids outside schools and hospitals.' Advertisement

In 2006 the Mukerjeas set up INX Television using money from a range of backers including a relatively new private equity fund called The New Silk Route (NSR).

NSR was founded by raising almost 1 billion from a variety of investors including the CDC, formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation.

CDC is the investment arm of the Government's overseas aid programme, and is entirely funded by DFID. The CDC contributed 28 million to NSR which went on to invest in numerous projects across south Asia, including the Mukerjeas' INX Television start up.

CDC say it is not possible to reveal the exact amount of British taxpayers' cash that went into INX because of 'commercial confidentiality' but the figure is thought to be at least 2 million.

India's top law enforcement agency the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), suspect the Mukerjeas of taking swathes of money out of INX, including money that originated from DFID.

Last November the CBI lodged an application at a court in Mumbai for permission to access several offshore accounts to try to track down the missing money.

The CBI's Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the hearing: 'Money siphoned off from INX dealings was routed to Sheena Bora's HSBC account in Singapore.'

The CDC's decision to back NSR will raise a fresh round of serious questions about how it distributes DFID money. CDC has come under fire for making huge investments in elite developments in some of the world's poorest countries, such as an 18 million investment in a development of upmarket flats and a business hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, and 17 million towards an 'aspirational ocean lifestyle village' in Mauritius.

Mr Mukerjea, 61, was born in Bristol, the son of a doctor and began his career with Terence Conran's retail empire Storehouse.

Bora (pictured) went missing in April 2012 and the following month, the charred remains of her body were found hidden deep in woods in a remote village in India

10,000... TO TEACH ARMENIA ABOUT KILTS A bizarre series of films about Scotland made for Armenian TV and funded with 10,000 of UK aid promised to teach viewers about kilts, clans and how to drink whisky. Entitled Scotland: Mysterious And Real, the programmes also included a feature on bagpipes and an interview with the former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling. The series, made between 2011 and 2012, received funding from the Foreign Office, which paid for a four-person television crew to be flown from Armenia to Britain. An Armenian official said the aim of the programme was 'to present the Scottish best practices in the area of governance, politics and economy to the Armenian society'. Eben Wilson, from Taxpayer Scotland, said: 'This is yet another example of money going to places none of us would consider to be supporting the poor.' An FCO spokesman said the financial support was given to promote Britain 'to a developing country that will be an important political and economic partner in the future.' Advertisement

His fortunes rocketed when he moved to Mumbai to work for Rupert Murdoch's Indian media giant Star TV where he was chief executive officer until 2007 when his wife set up INX.

Miss Bora, an executive with the Mumbai Metro transport system was the daughter of Mrs Mukerjea and her first husband Siddhartha Das.

Mrs Mukerjea's second husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver are reported to have confessed to kidnapping and killing Miss Bora, allegedly under instructions from the Mukerjeas.
Advertisement

At least 11 people remain missing following two powerful earthquakes that killed 41 in Japan yesterday.

Rescuers began searching the countryside for them today, following the two powerful earthquakes which shook the entire nation this week.

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake damaged older buildings and killed nine on Thursday and a second 7.3 magnitude quake yesterday levelled newer structures and killed dozens more.

Thousands of aid workers fanned out across mountainous terrain - much of which has been cut off by landslides and collapsed bridges - as helicopters flew above.

A heavily damaged, 1,700-year-old Shinto shrine in southern Japan became a site of moral support following the two quakes.

The shrine's wooden gate lay mangled on the ground, its main prayer hall was tilted and nearby buildings were flattened to the earth.

At least 11 people remain missing following two powerful earthquakes that killed 41 in Japan yesterday (pictured, a destroyed house in Kumamoto prefecture)

Much of Japan's southern districts have been cut off by landslides and collapsed bridges following two powerful quakes this week

Rescuers today began searching the countryside for the missing people today, following two powerful earthquakes which shook the entire nation this week

And yet locals continued to visit the iconic site to pray, leave donations and - most importantly - collect the spring water that pours out from bamboo pipes at the compound. Many households in the region lost running water and electricity.

Daiji Matsunaga, an 80-year-old rice farmer, came with a pair of large plastic containers to fill with water he considers sacred.

He said: 'This is holy water... So I will only use this to cook rice and make green tea. To wash my face or wipe my body, I can use river water.'

The U.S military is is preparing to join relief efforts and Toyota has suspended vehicle assembly in Japan over the course of next week because of quake-related parts shortages.With 180,000 people seeking shelter, some evacuees said that food distribution was a meager two rice balls for dinner.

U.S. Forces, Japan said it is getting ready to provide aerial support for Japan's relief efforts. The U.S. has major Air Force, Navy and Marine bases in Japan, and stations about 50,000 troops in the country.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: 'We are extremely grateful, and we would like to coordinate quickly and have the emergency relief be transported in as soon as possible.'

However, he warned heavy rain and plunging temperatures could lead to more victims dying before they could be pulled from the rubble.

Shiori Yatabe, an official at the Kumamoto prefecture crisis management department, said 11 people were missing. She didn't have a breakdown, but Japanese media reported that eight were in Minamiaso village.

Minamiaso is in a mountainous area southwest of 5,223-foot-high Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan.

Rescuers search through tonnes of dirt in Minamiaso, Kumamoto after two nights of earthquake triggered deadly landslides

Rescuers in Japan are involved in a desperate race against time to try to save hundreds of earthquake victims trapped in the ruins of their homes. Pictured is Aso Ohashi Bridge, washed away by a landslide

Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force members are make their way past destroyed buildings to the rescue sites

Roads in the area were also left badly damaged by the destructive earthquakes which hit over the weekend

Two policemen searching for missing people in a damaged neighbourhood walk past a destroyed home in Mashiki, Kumamoto

Residents walk along a street that suffered a huge crack during the earthquake in Mashiki yesterday

Rescue workers, such as the ones pictured, are facing a race against time to try and locate the 11 missing people

Army defence soldiers were also drafted in to take part in the search following massive landslides

Rescue workers search for missing persons trapped underneath houses in the deadly earthquakes

Local U.S. forces, are also getting ready to provide aerial support for Japan's relief efforts

Aerial footage from Japanese TV showed teams of rescuers going through small clusters of destroyed buildings.

Earthquakes on successive nights struck Kumamoto city and the surrounding region late last week.

Nine people died in the first earthquake, and 32 in the second. Kumamoto, a city of 740,000, is on the southwestern island of Kyushu.

Overnight rainfall did not appear to cause any more landslides, as had been feared, and the skies had cleared by Sunday morning.

About 80,000 homes in Kumamoto prefecture still didn't have electricity Sunday, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. Japanese media reported earlier that an estimated 400,000 households were without running water.

Meanwhile, survivors described the shaking of the disaster unlike anything they had ever experienced.

Yuichiro Yoshikado, 33, was taking a bath when the first earthquake struck and said it was 'as if all control was lost'.

A road is left in ruins after a landslide dragged the asphalt down the cliff face in during the massive earthquake

Here debris is seen scattering a cliff side after the landslides triggered by the shaking fell apart

The search and rescue operations were well underway today with 11 locals still remaining missing following yesterday's quake

A group of soldiers search for survivors at a landslide site in Minami, in the Kumamoto Prefecture

It is feared many more could be dead after landslides complicated the rescue efforts following two earthquakes within three days

A group of soldiers involved in the rescue operations underway today walk past a badly damaged home

A local resident looks out across a road that was ripped apart during the deadly shakes

Rescuers search through the debris left scattered outside a home left tilted on its side by the earthquake

I thought I was going to die, and I couldn't bear it any longer, so I grabbed onto the sides of the bathtub, but the water in the tub, it was about 70 percent filled with water, was going like this [waving his arms], and all the water splashed out of the tub.'

Yachiyo Fuchigame, 64, said the second earthquake caught his village by surprise.

'We survived the first one, and we were just watching the scene in Mashiki town on TV, never imagining we were next.'

She suffered a broken arm after a bookshelf fell on it as the earthquake hit while she slept.

Yoshiaki Tanaka, 62, said: 'Then came the big one, which was so powerful I couldn't even stand on my feet. It was horrifying. I don't think we can go back there. Our life is in limbo.'

And Tokio Miyamoto, 75, claimed he goes to the evacuation centre with his futon to sleep overnight before returning home during the day.

Even though his house withstood the quake, he said he doesn't want to sleep by himself at night. 'It's a hassle, but it's too scary to be alone.'

A car lies partially crushed after part of a sunken building smashed the back half of the vehicle

A woman tries to enter her home to remove personal belongings after the building was destroyed in the earthquakes

Members of the search and rescue team look for missing people at the site of collapsed buildings in Minasmiaso, Kumamoto

A house which collapsed in the earthquakes lies on top of a car that was parked in its way

More than 1,000 buildings were damaged in the two earthquakes, including at least 90 that were destroyed.

A resident looks at a car sent tumbling by the powerful earthquakes, while cracks in the tarmac are visible

The second earthquake triggered major landslides in Minamiaso. One tore open a mountainside from the top to a highway below

More than 1,000 buildings were damaged in the two earthquakes, including at least 90 that were destroyed.

The hardest-hit town appears to be Mashiki, on the eastern border of Kumamoto city, where 20 people died.

The second earthquake triggered major landslides in Minamiaso. One tore open a mountainside from the top to a highway below.

Another gnawed at a highway, above a smashed house that had fallen down a ravine. In another part of the village, houses were hanging precariously at the edge of a huge hole cut open in the earth.

Toyota Motor Corp said it would shut down the assembly of vehicles in Japan over the course of this week because of parts shortages stemming from the earthquakes.

The shutdown will begin on Monday at a factory in Kyushu and progress to other plants in Japan through Friday. Toyota said on its website Sunday that resumption of operations would depend on the availability of parts.

Other companies, including Sony, have announced stoppages of some of their factories in Kyushu.

In the town of Mashiki, where most of the casualties occurred, a 93-year-old woman, Yumiko Yamauchi, was pulled from the rubble of her home.

Her son-in-law, Tatsuhiko Sakata, said she had refused to move to a shelter with him after the first quake, which measured 6.5 on the Richter scale, struck the island of Kyushu.

David Cameron last night pledged to support Japanese rescue efforts.

The 200-metre long bridge over the Kurokawa river was totally destroyed by the 7.3 magnitude earthquake and washed into a gorge
Advertisement

The bears snout is inside the towering, bright orange mound and shes tugging and shaking like a crazed thing. Shes breaking apart the poor critters home without remorse and sucking up the termites as if using a straw.

Im in the jungles of Central India, in Madhya Pradesh, with my husband, Mark and our two Mowglis Zac and Archie, aged four and two. From Mumbai, you fly to Bhopal, then its a three-and-a-half hour drive; a long trek, but the rewards come rich and fast.

Day one we see our own real-life Baloo. The cuddly black bear finishes her meal and then saunters right by with her two cubs. She comes within an arms length of Archie, who is transfixed.

Scroll down for video

Enchanting: Neel Sethi (Mowgli) and Bagheera in the new Walt Disney Pictures film The Jungle Book, which hit cinemas yesterday

Idyllic: Rudyard Kipling based his story partly on Satpura National Park, one of Indias 48 tiger reserves

India in excelsis: There is muchto see in Madhya Pradesh, from dense forests to jungle temples - including the Royal Cenotaphs of Orchha

Baloo  inspired by India's bears  can be seen in the film singing once more about the bare necessities of life. The 3D remake of Walt Disneys Jungle Book has Bill Murray as the voice of Baloo

Baloo  inspired by these sloth bears  is singing once more about the bare necessities of life. A 3D remake of Walt Disneys Jungle Book has just been released, with Bill Murray as his voice.

Rudyard Kipling based his story partly on Satpura National Park, one of Indias 48 tiger reserves. Its the first reserve in India to offer game walks within the park, as well as the usual Jeep safaris.

Jungle is a Hindi word for thick tropical forest. As we walk through, we shatter tinder-dry, plate-sized teak leaves. Its like stepping on poppadoms.

We are staying at Forsyth Lodge with its 12 mud-walled cottages, hand-painted Rajasthani furniture and art by a tribe called the Gond. Zacs highlight is making chapatis on an outdoor fire with some of the ladies.

Each morning we reach the park by boat, crossing the Denwa River. Thick mist rises like steaming tea. One morning, we canoe down it, while crocodiles slip into the water. Another day we wander into deserted Jungle Book temples, their leaning stone pillars buried within the vines.

Creature comforts: Kate and her family explored a number of national parks, and saw a wealth of spellbinding landscapes and wildlife

Timeless: The Jungle Book film tells the tale of a boy raised in the forest with the help of a pack of wolves, a bear, and a black panther

Water features: The natural landscape of Madhya Pradesh includes Dhuandhar Falls on Narmada River

Monkey business: Mowgli's adventures in the film include an encounter with the great ape King Louie, voiced by Christoper Walken

A six-hour drive brings us next to Pench National Park, where were in the quieter north at Jamtara Wilderness Camp. We sleep in a tent surrounded by tall elephant grass and forest views from our wooden platform.

We share the swimming pool with monkeys leaning down in a row having a drink, which delights the boys.

Evening drinks are around a roaring fire under a magnificent giant banyan tree and dinner is served among twinkling lanterns.

The drive here brings us past a chaos of colour with garish temples, glistening green wheat fields, womens bright saris and cows with painted horns.

On one safari we head off in the open Jeep; hot water bottles on our laps (mornings are icy cold) and see a leopard and her cubs.

Then Avijit, our naturalist spots a tiger, her markings jumping out from the vegetation and eyes ablaze. She sees a jackal; crouches down and is gone, chasing it away from a kill she has hidden.

Theres no doubting who is boss here.

Seamless: The film's creators use a combination of live action and computer-generated imagery to bring Kipling's story to life

Burning bright: In Kiplings day the forest was teeming with tigers. Things are different today. A decade ago Indias tiger count dropped to 1,500. But it has now risen to a healthier 3,500 - and there is plenty of other wildlife to see, such as the Scarlet Minivet (right)

Animal collective: Sambar are Indias largest deers. Kate witnessed these incredible antlered beastswhen she visited Pench National Park

Tuning down: The new film features only two songs, The Bare Necessities, and I Wanna Be Like You, but many familiar faces like Baloo

While in Kiplings day the forest was virtually unbroken and teeming with tigers, things are rather different today. Yet, its not all bad news. A decade ago Indias tiger count dropped to 1,500, but has now risen to 3,500.

We also watch sambar  Indias largest deer  with their big Mickey Mouse ears, gaur (the worlds biggest cows) and spot deer, with antlers full of velvet. Scarlet minivet birds add shots of colour.

Our final park is Kanha, with its refreshingly cool sal tree forests alternating with rolling meadows filled with mist hanging low in the mornings. We stay at Shergarh, a small-tented camp, run by a delightful British-Indian couple.

An India away from the world: Visit Madhya Pradesh to witness spectacular national parks, forgotten temples and plenty of wildlife

Fresh face from the Big Apple: In the new film, Mowgli is played by ten-year-old New Yorker Neel Sethi

One morning we ride into the jungle on elephants  just like Colonel Hathi in the film on dawn patrol. Forget roads or paths, it feels as if weve become part of the jungle.

Other days we cycle through bucolic surrounding countryside  the camp has bikes with child seats  pedalling through Gond tribal hamlets, past shrines and men threshing rice in the paddies.

On our last evening, the sun flares into the forest, soaking the sky gold. Everything glows a tangerine orange.

The Jungle Book remake might be a wild success, but nothing can ever compare with the real thing here in Kanha.

Travel Facts: Plan your own break to India Explorations Company (explorationscompany.com, 01367 850566) provides tailor-made trips, from 6,400 per family of four for a week. This price includes meals, game drives, transfers and flights from Mumbai to Bhopal and Raipur to Mumbai. British Airways (ba.com, 0344 493 0787) flies direct from Heathrow to Mumbai from 430 pp. Advertisement




Advertisement

On a smooth, dark sea en route to Marseilles from Corsica, the floor filled with revellers falling into neat rows, moving to the music with an unexpected grace.

This smart French crowd somehow managed to make line-dancing look chic.

As a finale they formed a chenille  a more stylish version of our conga  slithering around the lounge like a caterpillar gathering more legs, including mine, as they went.

Everything about the sleek, Le Lyrial, from the Veuve Clicquot champagne served at the captains cocktail party to the young staff wearing stripy Breton tops, exuded Gallic charm

In the historic city of Cagliari, guests can explore sights such as the Archaeological Museum within the walls of the hilltop medieval citadel

There are many spectacular areas to witness, such as Santa Maria Cathedral in Cagliari and the limestone cliff of Bonifacio

Before the dancing started on Le Lyrial  the latest luxury cruise ship operated by the small, Marseilles-based Ponant line  wed sat down to a five-course gala dinner, beautifully created by Philippe Joannes, a celebrated French chef who had come aboard in Monaco.

When I returned to my cabin  all nautical blues, greys, and cream leather  I found a little gold-inscribed box on my pillow containing an exquisite salt caramel macaroon by the upmarket Parisian patisserie Maison Laduree.

Everything about this sleek, tricolore-flying ship, from the Veuve Clicquot champagne served at the captains cocktail party to the young staff wearing stripy Breton tops, exuded Gallic charm.

With just 122 stylish cabins, all with balconies and 14 of them swish suites, I felt as if in a boutique hotel, albeit one touring the Med.

And when I was out on deck having breakfast in the sunshine, dipping in the pool overlooking the stern before a barbecue lunch, or lounging on a sofa with an aperitif at sunset, it was like being a guest on a super-yacht.

Le Lyrial is small enough to get into ports many larger ships have to miss, so it was a treat to step ashore in Bonifacio at the southern tip of Corsica

The added bonus was this one came with a tip-top spa, run by the Parisian beauty institute Sothys. The facial I had on board was one of the most soothing ever.

As one of a minority on board whose first language was not French, I had the bonus of joining a small group for our excursion ashore with an English-speaking guide in Cagliari, Sardinia.

On our way up to the historic city centre, we called on sa genti arrubia (the red people), as the flocks of flamingoes that gather on the ponds of a former salt works are known locally.

They get their rosy hue from gorging on pink shrimps.

Within the walls of the hilltop medieval citadel, we visited the Archaeological Museum, which boasts a wonderful collection of bronze figurines dating from 1800 BC, saw Mussolinis slogans fading on the sides of buildings, and spotted a bride with a billowing veil arriving at the glorious Romanesque cathedral.

On the cruise, Caroline was in a minority as her first language was not French. She had the bonus of joining a small group for an excursion ashore with an English-speaking guide in Cagliari

Le Lyrial is small enough to get into ports many larger ships have to miss, so it was a treat to step ashore in Bonifacio at the southern tip of Corsica.

A steep walk up from the harbour, bobbing with yachts and lined with enticing seafood restaurants, took me over the drawbridge of the Port de Genes to stroll around the ancient city walls.

I enjoyed magnificent views of the coast and browsed the craft shops selling jewellery, wooden bowls and woven bags.

Back on board, we gathered on the pool deck to watch the pink, clifftop town get smaller and smaller across the sparkling blue sea as we sailed up the craggy coast of Corsica towards France.
A Muslim woman was allegedly kicked off a flight because the attendant 'did not feel comfortable' that the traveller switched seats with a fellow passenger.

Hakima Abdulle from Maryland was travelling alone from Chicago to Seattle on a Southwest Airlines flight on Wednesday when she was asked to leave the plane by an unnamed stewardess.

Her furious husband, Abukar Fadaw, is now calling for an investigation into the incident, which he believes is religiously motivated.

Scroll down for video

Hakima Abdulle was flying on Southwest Airlines to Seattle on Wednesday when she was asked to disembark

Speaking at a press conference hosted at Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Mr Fadaw said: 'She was humiliated because of her religion and the way she dressed.'

Ms Abdulle, who's of Somalian descent, was wearing a hijab, a traditional Islamic headscarf, at the time.

She was on her way to help her niece, who's about to give birth, and had reportedly asked a fellow passenger if she could swap for an aisle seat according to the Baltimore Sun.

However, while her neighbour was happy to make the swap, a flight attendant allegedly intervened.

According to Mr Fadaw, who was on the phone to his wife at the time of the incident, the airline ignored him when he asked them why his wife was removed from the flight.

Further, Mr Fadaw said that his wife, who does not speak English, had been reduced to tears and 'suffered extreme distress and anxiety as a result of this experience.'

Her husband suspects religious motivations behind the incident and wants an explanation from the airline

Ms Abdulle was escorted from the gate and back to the ticketing desk where she had to wait several hours for a later flight.

CAIR's Dr. Zainab Chaudry said at the press conference: 'Police asked Southwest Airlines attendant at the gate whether there was any reason why Ms Abdulle should not be allowed onto the flight and continue with her trip to Seattle.

'The reply was no, that she does not feel comfortable.'

According to Dr Chaudry, Southwest Airlines did not respond to requests for explanation leading the group to suspect religious prejudice might have been the motivation behind the incident.

In a statement to MailOnline Travel, Southwest Airlines said: 'Information available, collected at the time of the event, indicates that our employees followed proper procedures in response to this customer's actions while onboard the aircraft.

'Out of respect for the customer's privacy, we will not share specifics about her conduct or travel experience.

'Southwest Employees welcome hundreds of millions of Customers onboard annually.
While the internet has made it infinitely easier to fix up holidays ourselves instead of going to a travel agent, unfortunately it has also created rich pickings for criminals.

Online holiday booking fraud  put crudely, when someone is duped into paying for accommodation or travel, only to discover later that what they have forked out for doesnt exist  is a fast-growing problem.

According to a report published last week by the City of London Polices National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, in 2015 there were nearly 5,000 cases of holiday booking fraud.

Flight risk: Be suspicious if youre offered unusually cheap air tickets. Sometimes you can end up paying for fake tickets or ones that never materialise

Travellers were swindled out of a total of 11.5 million  that represents a five-fold increase on the previous year. The average loss was almost 3,000.

And these are just the figures reported  the actual number of holidaymakers who have lost out and the total amount involved are likely to be far higher.

Key problem areas are flights  you buy a fake ticket or one that never materialises  and villas and apartments advertised on rental websites.

The tactics used by the fraudsters include hacking into the accounts of the genuine homeowners and creating bogus versions of listings from which to lure victims into handing over substantial sums for non-existent bookings.

Even if theres a surcharge, it can still be worth paying by credit card: on payments of more than 100, the card issuer is legally responsible if things go awry

So what can you do to protect yourself?

Even if theres a surcharge, it can definitely be worth paying by credit card: on payments of more than 100, the card issuer is legally responsible if things go awry.

For flights, if the fare offered is much cheaper than it is advertised elsewhere, beware. Check that the agent is accredited with reputable bodies such as IATA and ABTA.

And especially watch out if buying tickets to Nigeria, India or Pakistan, because flights to these countries have been particularly targeted by con-artists.

For accommodation advertised on online rental platforms, the best safeguard is to pay via the websites own secure booking system. This is always possible on websites such as Airbnb.

For accommodation advertised on online rental platforms, the best safeguard is to pay via the websites own secure booking system. This is always possible on websites such as Airbnb

On others such as HomeAway, many but not all properties are bookable through the companys online system, so consider sticking to those that are.

Other commonsense precautions to check a rental is legitimate are to read online reviews, use Google Maps to verify a propertys location, and speak to the owner on the phone before booking.

For more information, see abta.com/fraud.

Watch out for copycat websites

Richard Cook took his wife and three children to New York over the Easter break. Like most holidaymakers heading to the United States, the Cooks needed to fill out ESTA forms to travel under the Visa Waiver Program.

Richard searched on Google for ESTA, and up popped an outfit called visaunit.com. He completed ESTA applications for himself and his wife on the website at a cost of 56.19 each.

At which point, thank goodness I realised I was being a fool and stopped, says Richard. There is, after all, a disclaimer on the bottom of the page on visaunit.com saying its a commercial website and not affiliated to the US government. I just didnt absorb that information initially.

To complete his childrens applications, and redo those for himself and his wife as he wasnt sure these had been done properly on visaunit.com, Richard went to the official ESTA website.

Copycat websites are not illegal, but unless you are on your guard against them they can result in you needlessly paying way over the odds for a worthless service. It is advised to use official websites when travelling, such as ESTA for US visits

The cost? Just $14 (about 10) per person.

Copycat websites are not illegal, but unless you are on your guard against them they can result in you needlessly paying way over the odds for a worthless service.

Turkish visas are another example. On the official website (evisa.gov.tr/en), an e-visa costs $20 (about 14); on an unofficial website that features prominently in Google search results, the cost is 31.80  and there have been reports of unauthorised websites issuing fake Turkish e-visas.

You can find other official visa pages on the relevant country page at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.

Finally, make sure that you get a EHIC  European Health Insurance Card  from the official Government website, where it is free to obtain.
She just became engaged to her boyfriend of seven short months, Egor Tarabasov.

Following such a monumental occasion, it's no surprise Linday Lohan would want to spend a bit of bonding time with her younger sister Ali, 22.

The duo were spotted shopping together in New York City on Friday, before Lindsay swapped her gold embellished leather jacket for a chic blazer to go meet her new fiance.

Scroll down for video

Sister act: Following her shock engagement Lindsay Lohan was spotted enjoying a shopping trip with her younger sister Ali in New York City on Friday

Quick change: The star then ditched her leather jacket for a chic blazer to meet up with her new fiance Egor Tarabasov

Lindsay wore a form-fitting grey T-shirt, which she sported tucked into a pair of skintight black trousers.

She accessorized the flattering look with a stylish black leather jacket that was embellished with a criss cross print in gold.

She finished off the look with a pair of black loafers with gold chain embellishments, also donning a black leather belt with a silver buckle.

The actress hid her eyes behind a pair of over-sized black sunglasses, and carried a silver, leather cross body purse.

She's golden! Lindsay donned a fitted, black leather jacket with a checkered, gold pattern and coordinating black loafers with gold embellishments for the shopping trip

Coordinating: The sisters both sported nearly all-black ensembles on Friday

Her long, red tresses were worn in a center part, and styled in soft curls that cascaded over her shoulders as she joined her younger sister for a bit of shopping at Intermix.

Ali coordinated with her sister, also donning an all-black ensemble as she wore a trendy, short-sleeved jumpsuit.

The jumpsuit featured a plunging front, and showcased her toned pins, with the raven-haired beauty pairing it with studded, peep toe black boots.

Distracted: Lindsay and Ali were both glued to their cell phones as they hit Intermix in New York City

Bold: The Parent Trap star accessorized her look with a silver, leather cross body purse, while Ali added a pop of color with a bright blue, leather handbag

Ali kept her accessories simple, shading her eyes with a pair of rose-colored sunglasses, and donning a small wristwatch with a black leather band.

Both sisters looked to have had a successful shopping trip as they toted large bags leaving the store.

Later that day Lindsay swapped out her leather jacket and black loafers for a chic black and grey patterned blazer and gray pumps.

Switching things up: Following her shopping trip Lindsay donned a sophisticated grey blazer and coordinating pumps

Putting her best foot forward: The Mean Girls actress kept her make-up simple for the outing, and hid her eyes behind a pair of over-sized, black sunglasses

She was spotted by herself as she made her way to meet new fiance Egor in Midtown in New York City.

The Parent Trap star looked to be in good spirits on her way to meet up with her partner, as she showed off a big smile.

The duo reportedly became engaged over this past weekend, with Page Six writing that Lindsay was surprised by the 5-carat oval emerald ring, and 'didn't see it coming.'

Matching: The happy duo coordinated in grey tops and fitted jeans as they met up in New York City on Friday

Lending a hand: Lindsay's gentlemanly new fiance put out his hand to greet his partner as the two met in Midtown, New York City on Friday
Australian designer Shona Joy has been given the Kardashian seal of approval this week thanks to a busty Instagram snap shared by reality starlet Khloe.

The 31-year-old, who boasts an eye-watering 46.6m Instagram followers, took to the photo-sharing app on Thursday as she showcased her curves in a dress from Shona Joy's Autumn Winter 2016 collection.

The navy-coloured dress features military-inspired detailing, a high neckline while allowing for a peek of side-boob thanks to the narrow-cut arm holes.

Scroll down for video

Representing Down Under! Khloe Kardashian, 31 showcased her curves in a dress from Shona Joy's Autumn Winter 2016 collection on Thursday in this sizzling Instagram snap

She completed her look with a pair of gold earrings and a slick of cherry-red lipstick.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, designer and founder Shona said of the blonde beauty: 'She's totally owning our Giselle midi'.

It's not the first time the famous family has displayed their love for local Australian designers.

Rocking it! Speaking to The Daily Telegraph , designer and founder Shona said of the blonde beauty: 'She's totally owning our Giselle midi'

Beaded beauty! Kylie showcased her love for Australian fashion at the Grammy Awards in 2015 when she stepped out in this beaded gown by Steven Khalil

Kim Kardashian has been known to don pieces by the likes of Camilla and Marc, Johanna Johnson, Willow and Ralph & Russo.

Kendall Jenner has been sighted wearing trousers by Bec and Bridge, while her sister Kylie has been spotted in Alex Perry, Steven Khalil and Sass and Bide on the red carpet.

In November last year, Kendall and Kylie jetted to Australia for the launch of their collaboration with Australian fashion retailer Forever New.

Star power: Kim Kardashian squeezed her famous physique into a $220 strapless dress by Australian label Bec & Bridge as she attended a New York fake tan product launch in 2014

Flashback! Kylie showcased her slender frame in this white mini dress by Australian label Camilla & Marc in 2012

Wowing in white! Kylie sizzled in 2014 as she attended the Billboard Awards in a plunging white dress by Australian designer Alex Perry

The 19-piece range of black, white and peach colours with a statement nude and black print, includes dresses, jumpsuits, skirt, tops and two-piece ensembles.

Kendall and Kylie's trip Down Under came four months after big sister Khloe visited Sydney to promote the Kardashian Kids line with budget retailer Big W.

In 2013, Khloe also made a visit Down Under to promote the Kardashian Kollection, while Kim also visited Australia in September last year.
They've been inseparable since rumours of an affair rocked their marriage six months ago.

And on Friday Beau Ryan and wife Kara showed their solidarity by documenting a day out as a happy family on social media.

The couple got all dressed up to drive around town with their adorable daughter Remi, taking to Instagram to share a family selfie with fans.

'We are weird!' Beau Ryan and wife Kara went for a drive around town with daughter Remi on Friday, dressing up for the occasion

Captioning the image, Beau wrote on the pair's shared Instagram account: 'Mum got a new dress. She looks great but she is way overdressed.

'Sometimes we just put on nice clothes and drive around.'

The caption then jokingly finished: 'We are weird. Have a good weekend guys.'

Kara, 30, wowed in a silver mini-dress from designer label CRISTAHLEA.

The stunning garment appears to be a favourite of the blonde beauty's, having previously worn it to a Swarovski event last week.

Fashion favourite! Kara sported the CRISTAHLEA mini-dress to a Swarovski event last week

'Sometimes we just put on nice clothes and drive around:' The stylish couple (seen above in March last year) like to dress up and go out

'A moment to admire this amazing dress created by two talented sisters from Melbourne,' she wrote while discussing the designer dress.

She added: 'With over 2500 Swarovski Crystals hand sewn over 30 hours I felt pretty special at The Swarovski Frozen Launch.'

According to the Daily Telegraph, the mother-of-one has recently started working at beauty salon, The Lip Lab, in Sydney's Paddington.

The publication has claimed that the blonde beauty works at there one-day a week, custom making lipstick colours for clientele.

Working mother: The 30-year-old Kara recently started working at a Sydney beauty salon
She is busy promoting the second series of her Netflix show Grace and Frankie.

And while she was stepping off a cross-country flight on Friday, Jane Fonda still looked impeccable elegant as she arrived back in Los Angeles.

The 78-year-old screen veteran chose a vibrant purple sweater and scarf combo for her airport ensemble.

Scroll down for video

Looking chic: Jane Fonda looked impeccable elegant as she arrived back in Los Angeles after a cross-country flight from New York

Jane perfectly matched the colour of her sweater to her scarf which was knotted at the neck.

She added a simple black midi-length skirt and brown suede block heels.

A long necklace and shades were the perfect accessorIes, with Jane adding a touch of makeup as she made her through arrivals.

Purple reign: The 78-year-old screen veteran chose a vibrant purple sweater and scarf combo for her airport ensemble

The star was jetting back from New York after promoting the second series of her hit show at the Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday alongside her co-star Lily Tomlin.

Grace and Frankie follows Jane's character Grace, a retired cosmetics mogul, and Lily's Frankie, a hippie art teacher, whose husbands, Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol (Sam Waterston), are successful divorce lawyers in San Diego.

Grace and Frankie's lives are turned upside down when Robert and Sol announce that they are in love with each other and are leaving their wives, with the women forced to live together as they navigate the next chapter of their lives.

Jet-set style: Jane perfectly matched the colour of her sweater to her scarf which was knotted at the neck, and added a simple black skirt and suede boots

Finishing touches: A long necklace and shades were the perfect accessory, with Jane adding a touch of makeup as she made her through arrivals

During the Tribeca panel for the series Jane and Lily declared they were keen to abolish the label 'women of a certain age'.

'I hate the phrase,' Jane told the audience. 'Just say how old we are. I'm 78,' the Oscar-winning actress continued.

The stars also admitted though that they've learned how to embrace aging, even in image-conscious Hollywood.

'When you're looking at it from the outside, it's terrifying,' Jane admitted. 'But when you're smack dab in the middle, it's not scary. In fact, it's better.'
The lawyers who defended Steven Avery in the sensational docuseries Making A Murderer are to travel to Australia later this year to answer questions on the high profile case.

Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, who appeared alongside Avery in the Netflix hit, will tour the country in November to address viewers' questions about the show and their involvement in it.

Avery, 53, was jailed in 2007 for the murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

He had already spent 18 years behind bars after being wrongly convicted of a rape in 1985 from which he was exonerated by fresh DNA evidence.

Tour: Jerome Buting and Dean Strang, the lawyers who represented Stephen Avery throughout his murder trial which was made famous by the documentary series Making A Murderer, are to come to Australia

The series, which became a standout hit for the online streaming site around the world, follows both trials and alleged foul play by local police against whom Avery had launched a lawsuit at the time of his second incarceration.

Speaking to Salon earlier this year, Strand and Buting said they were eager to answer viewers questions after they were inundated with questions from fans after insufficient media reports.

'The tour idea came out of how the media was interviewing us [about the show].

'It was the same thing as before the trial where they would interview us and two to three minutes would end up on the news,' Buting said.

Convicted: Stephen Avery was jailed in 2007 for the murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin

History: Strang and Buting represented Avery during his second trial. Above, Buting sits next to the 53-year-old on the opening day of his murder trial in Chilton, Wisconsin in

'You cant discuss these kinds of issues in that sort of time, so we thought it would be great to have a forum where we can engage people.'

Each appearance will include a discussion between the attorneys and a Q&A session. A portion of their speakers fees will be donated to legal justice charities.

Strang and Buting will begin their Australian tour in Perth on November before heading to Sydney, then Adelaide, Brisbane and finally wrapping the tour up in Melbourne on November 7.

Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, April 19.

Questions to be answered! Strang and Buting, who appeared alongside Avery in the Netflix hit, will tour the country in November to address viewers' questions about the show and their involvement in it

The pair garnered their own fanbase after the show premiered on Netflix last year.

Stephen Avery remains behind bars after being sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005.

The photographer had visited Avery's home in the days before she disappeared. Her corpse was never found.

Avery denied killing the brunette but was charged with the crime when his nephew claimed the pair sexually assaulted and murdered her together.

Brendan Dassey, who was just a teenager when he made the claims to police, changed his story multiple times afterwards.

Standout case: The series has become a standout hit for the online streaming site around the world

The Netflix series prompted global criticism of the Monitowoc County Police's handling of the case, with several petitions calling for Avery's release created in its wake.

Avery spent 18 years behind bars after being wrongly convicted of raping a local woman. He was freed when DNA evidence proved he could not have committed the crime in 2003.

He launched civil action against Manitowoc County after being released, seeking damages of more than $36million.
Rita Ora might be filming 50 Shades Darker, but her hair was turning a few shades lighter on Friday.

The blonde bombshell was spotted at her salon appointment in Vancouver, Canada before commencing filming for the 50 Shades Of Grey sequel.

While the singer might have been keen to make sure there wasn't a hair out of place for her big screen appearance, she's known to wear a raven wig for her part as Mia Grey.

Scroll down for video

Blonde bombshell: Rita Ora left the salon in Vancouver after having her hair lightened in anticipation of 50 Shades Darker on Friday

Jetsetter Rita didn't waste a minute between the airport and the salon, having only just informed fans of her arrival that afternoon, via Twitter.

She neglected to mention her swift roots touch up, since it wasn't the most glamorous of moments for the international star.

Rita was pictured with foils in the top half of her naturally curly tresses and later emerged with a longer, lighter, poker straight style that was parted at the middle.

See Rita Ora updates as she gets platinum highlights ahead of 50 Shades Darker filming

Touch up: She was pictured in her foils as she waited at the hairdressers on Friday

New do: She checked herself out in the mirror after achieving a lighter, longer and straighter style

The pop star kept her earphones in throughout the appointment and didn't seem to make small talk with her hairdresser as she tapped away furiously on her phone.

Fans of the film franchise will know that Rita's character, Christian Grey's sister, does in fact have brown hair.

The appearance was little more than a cameo in the first film nonetheless.

For Rita, it was clear that she was thrilled to reprise her acting role on Friday though, as she took to Twitter to tell her followers: 'I made it!!! In Vancouver about to start filming 50 Shades Darker!!'

Teaser: Rita sports a brunette wig in the first film, entitled 50 Shades Of Grey

Busy bee: Rita later hid her hair beneath a cap, ready to film her part as Mia Grey

Lacy lingerie: Rita dressed appropriately for filming when she was seen leaving her condo that day

She was also dressed appropriately when she left her condo that afternoon, baring her black lace bra in a completely sheer blouse.

It was more fifty shades of black than grey for Rita, since she omitted any splashes of colour from her ensemble and instead meant business in all-black.

Rita did seem inspired by E.L. James' saucy novel with her top half, nonetheless, when she decided on a top that did nothing to conceal her lingerie.

See Rita Ora updates as she reveals her lacy bra as she leaves the 50 Shades Darker set

Ready to undress? She revealed her lacy lingerie in a sheer blouse, which she paired simply with jeans

Hiding her excitement: She had been delighted to arrive in Canada and reprise her role as Mia Gray

Rita plays Mia Grey, protagonist Christian Grey's sister, for a second time in the forthcoming book-to-big screen adaptation.

Her acting debut in February 2014 came as something of a shock for Rita's fans since she was only given three lines - one of which was in French - when it came to the final cut.

She told OK magazine at the time: 'Everyone is going to have their own opinions. But for me this was such a great cameo to be involved in, and even though I'm only in it for a little bit, it's opened the door to a lot of movie things that I haven't actually announced yet.

50 Shades of Black: For Rita, there wasn't a single splash of colour and she instead chose all black

'I have the bug, for real. Fifty Shades was a moment of cameo and a really good wake-up call.'

The film, in which Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson return as Christian and Ana, is slated for release in February 2017.

It will be followed the year after by 50 Shades Freed, which is the final installment from the best-selling trilogy.
Actresses Liv Tyler and Anna Paquin hinted at a forthcoming feature with The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, as they left Los Angeles' Milk Studios in quick succession.

Both dressed in black, the women lead a group including Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Colin Hanks out of a photoshoot with the US magazine before going their separate ways.

With their high profile Hollywood careers acting as a common factor for the foursome, there was a suggestion that they may have completed one of the publications' famous ensemble shoots that day.

Scroll down for video

A natural glow: Liv Tyler was one of the stars see leaving Mil Studios after a shoot with The Hollywood Reporter on Friday in Los Angeles

In fact, the group were a part of a select few taking part in the Emmy Awards Supporting Actors Class Photo.

As well as Joey Pollari, Andrew Rannells and Anna Chlumsky, the quartet were gathered in one place to capture shots for the June issue.

Luckily, The Leftovers star Liv had a natural glow about her thanks to her third pregnancy, which was announced in January.

Also in attendance: Anna Paquin (left) was also in attendance for the Emmy Awards Supporting Actors Class Photo

Though she concealed her baby bump behind a blue jacket and a suit back, she looked radiant with a coral lipstick offsetting her all-black look.

It seemed to be something of a theme for the acting stars, since Anna also dressed in a little black dress with chunky peep toe heels.

Meanwhile, Bend It Like Beckham star Jonathan was slick in a suit, leaving the collar of his white shirt open and his chest exposed.

Slick: Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers left by himself, cutting a slick figure in an open white shirt and suit trousers

He looked happy and healthy behind large sunglasses, wearing his hair slicked back after being styled for the ensemble picture.

Though in a departure from the class photo uniform, Tom Hanks' actor son Colin seemed to wear a casual double denim.

Earlier that day, he too had been dressed in a blazer and smart suit trousers but left with a more dressed down air about him.
She's been loved up with boyfriend Liam Payne for five months now.

And Cheryl Fernandez-Verisni has been rocking a more relaxed look since taking up with the 22-year-old One Direction singer, showcasing her laid-back style as she shared a selfie with her 2.4million Instagram followers on Saturday.

The 32-year-old Something New hitmaker sported a pair of trendy white framed glasses with a gold rim, simply captioning the snap, 'Sexy specs'.

Scroll down for video

Do you think I'm specsy? Cheryl Fernandez-Versini was embracing a more relaxed look as she modelled a pair of geek chic glasses in a selfie posted on Saturday

Cheryl completed her geek chic look with a relaxed outfit, wearing a baggy hoodie and wearing her hair pulled back in a messy bun.

The Geordie beauty didn't compromise when it came to her make-up, however, opting for a smokey eye and contoured cheekbones.

The former Girls Aloud favourite has been back in London for the past week after living it up with Liam in Los Angeles.

This comes after the X Factor judge continued to demonstrate her playful side as she messed around on social media on Wednesday.

See more from Cheryl Fernandez-Versini as she dons 'sexy specs' for latest selfie

Striking a pose: The Fight For This Love singer cried artificial tears and rocked a head of rollers in a playful 'comic girl' selfie, shared on her Instagram page on Wednesday

Cheryl cried artificial tears as she shared an edited selfie while getting ready on her Instagram page.

The Fight For This Love singer super-imposed an animated face, featuring a watery eye and bold red lips, over her own face as she posed mid-hair appointment.

She rocked a head full of rollers, with her long brunette locks wrapped around large colourful cylinders in the posed-up image

Cheryl showed no effects of the night before after having spent Tuesday evening out in London with her One Direction toyboy Liam.

See Cheryl Fernandez-Versini updates as she rocks head of rollers in 'comic girl' selfie

Night on the town: Cheryl, 32, went hand-in-hand with her boyfriend Liam Payne as they arrived at London hotspot Sexy Fish on Tuesday evening

Tropical vibes: The former X Factor judge was sporting a fashion-forward ensemble, comprising leather culottes and a silk bomber jacket for the low-key evening

The pop power pair were recently alleged to have moved into a multi-million Los Angeles mansion together but Cheryl and her 22-year-old boyfriend of five months Liam were enjoying a night out on more familiar territory on Tuesday, going hand-in-hand as they arrived at celebrity hotspot Sexy Fish in the capital.

The Newcastle-born star and the boyband heartthrob proved they were still very much an item as they made a rare public appearance together.

Cheryl looked as lovely as ever in a quirky, fashion-forward ensemble, pairing leather culottes with a tropical print silk bomber jacket.

Moving fast: The pair are alleged to have moved into a multi-million dollar mansion in Los Angeles together

Smitten: The unlikely lovebirds - who boast a 10 year age gap - have rarely strayed from each other's sides

Quality time: The British stars were alleged to have moved in together in LA because they wanted to spend as much time as possible together before their schedules tore them apart

The Girls Aloud favourite - who announced she was quitting The X Factor last week - added a pop of colour to her look by styling her statement coat with a red vest top.

She finished off the edgy look with funky footwear and layered chain necklaces, while wearing the left side of her locks pulled back in a tight braid.

Liam opted for casual comfort, dressing down in black jeans, a simple T-shirt and a fitted leather jacket, with his extensive body art peeking out of the sleeves.

The unlikely lovebirds - who boast a 10-year age gap - are alleged to have recently moved into a mutli-million Los Angeles mansion together.

An insider told The Sun: 'Cheryl and Liam are getting more serious by the day.

Quashing speculation: A source told MailOnline reports Cheryl wanted to star a family with Liam were untrue

Moving on: The pair's date comes after it was reported that Cheryl had unfollowed her estranged husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini on Instagram

'They want to make the most of their time with each other before Cheryl has to go back to the UK, so it made sense for her to come and live with him.

'They are so happy together and head over heels.'

The paper claimed Cheryl is so serious about Liam, she could even imagine having a family with the History hitmaker.

Silk perfection: The I Don't Care hitmaker looked effortlessly chic in her tropical blazer

However, an insider told MailOnline the star was 'bemused' by the suggestion, and confirmed the reports were false.

'Cheryl isn't in any rush to have babies and is bemused by people saying that is her plan with Liam,' the insider revealed. 'It is so wide off the mark.'

It was also reported that Cheryl wants to sever all ties with her estranged husband Jean-Bernard since she has unfriended him on the social media site.

Cheeky grin: The 1D star flashed a small smile as he left with the former Girls Aloud favourite

No shomance! Fans were initially convinced the pair were putting it on for the cameras, but it seems their romance is genuine

Hell for leather: Cheryl set off her ensemble with a pair of leather culottes and funky footwear

Still going strong: The pair have only been dating for five months, but their romance is going from strength to strength

The 32-year-old singer's drastic move was reciprocated by the Frenchman unfriending her back - amid reports that their divorce process is dragging on longer than expected.

The Fight For This Love singer panellist filed for separation shortly before Christmas, with claims that she wanted a 'quickie' divorce, but it is alleged that matters still remains in the hands of lawyers.

'It's been a lot slower than expected. There's no information coming up as there are confidentiality clauses in place,' a source told the Daily Mirror.

'What's clear is it hasn't been as easy as had been hoped.'

He makes her happy: Cheryl had a big smile on her face as she left the restaurant later that evening

Closer than ever: The relationship appears to be going from strength to strength

Going well then: The pair appeared to be very close as they made their way back to their car
He sensationally quit the X Factor judging panel in 2015 after 11 years on the show.

But Louis Walsh has heavily hinted that he and original judge Sharon Osbourne will be returning to the hit ITV singing competition this year - while also taking a swipe at his former replacement Nick Grimshaw, claiming the radio DJ 'didn't work' on the programme.

The 63-year-old music manager candidly said: 'I might be [back] and I should be and I probably will be but I actually haven't signed my contract yet.'

Scroll down for video

Comeback? Louis Walsh has heavily hinted that he and Sharon Osbourne will be returning to The X Factor this summer alongside show boss Simon Cowell - and that he just needed to 'sign the contract' (pictured in 2007)

Speaking to the Late Late Show on RTE One on Friday night, he revealed he had just jetted back from Los Angeles after meeting with show boss Simon Cowell and Sharon - who he says is looking to rejoin the panel.

He added: 'I haven't signed my contract and neither has Sharon. I'm going to when I get it but I haven't got it yet.'

Louis appeared on every series of the show until he was replaced last year by Nick Grimshaw while Sharon appeared on four series until 2008 when Cheryl Fernandez-Versini took the judging helm.

And after BBC Radio One presenter Nick revealed he won't be returning to the talent show, Louis remarked: 'Grimmy didn't work, let's be honest.'

Not so subtle swipe: Louis said his former replacement Nick Grimshaw 'didn't work' as a judge on the programme

The originals: Louis revealed he had just jetted back from Los Angeles after attending a meeting with Simon Cowell and Sharon

Cheryl has also confirmed she'll be leaving the show alongside Nick, but fourth and final judge Rita Ora is yet to announce her next move.

When asked if he was glad Cheryl had quit the panel, Louis replied smiling: 'I didn't say I'm delighted... but she's gone.'

Louis, who quit last year as he said he wanted to focus on his managing career, admitted the year off was a positive move and a chance for Simon to miss him.

'I had a good year off,' he said. 'I think the best year was to not be there and be missed. It was a really good move.'

The tripod: Louis said: 'I haven't signed my contract and neither has Sharon. I'm going to when I get it but I haven't got it yet'. The Irish music manager is pictured with Sharon and Simon in 2005

Old pals: Louis said Simon had invited him for dinner to catch-up in Los Angeles amid rumours he wants to gauge the chemistry between Louis and Sharon

The television personality, who is hoping for an Irish winner this year, also discussed why he and Sharon would be assets to the new series.

He said candidly: 'I think they want the fun back and I think Sharon and I bring a lot of fun. She's not afraid of Simon.

'There's always tension between those two. He cannot control her because she doesn't know what she's going to say herself until she's on it.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for The X Factor for comment.

This year's series prepares for a host of changes, including presenter Dermot O'Leary returning after double act Caroline Flack and Olly Murs were sacked following just one year, Louis also speculated that Nicole Scherzinger might join him on the panel.

Louis' comments about rejoining the show come amid the news that Simon Cowell recently held a pre-X Factor rehearsal in order to determine whether there is still chemistry between Louis and Sharon.

New beginnings? Louis, who quit the panel to focus on his managing career, said the time off had made Simon miss him

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.

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, 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.'

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.'
Naomi Campbell might have thought she was making a quick, under-the-radar exit in sneakers.

But she couldn't be missed from behind as she dashed out of the amfAR Inspiration Gala in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Friday flashing her bright white knickers.

The British supermodel had ditched her sexy pair of stiletto booties - that served as the perfect match for her sheer gown - but her comfortable bold, black footwear did nothing to detract from her racy display.

Scroll down for video

Stilettos for sneakers! Naomi Campbell, 45, ditched her heels and opted for comfort as she left the amfAR Inspiration Gala in San Paulo, Brazil on Friday night

The 45-year-old catwalk star stepped out in a pair of snug black Nike high-top sneakers with a white logo after the star-studded event.

She'd been dressed to the nines in a see-through embroidered ensemble, revealing her bikini-cut undergarments.

She chose a white frock with an asymmetrical hemline, a ribbon closure on the back and elaborate beading throughout.

Her long dark brunette locks were styled straight for a dramatic look, choosing a heavy fringe and sleek tresses.

Sheer beauty! The Playboy cover model was dressed to the nines in a see-through embroidered ensemble, revealing her bikini-cut undergarments at the star-studded event

Opting for comfort! The British beauty hit the red carpet in a sexy pair of lace-up pointed stilettos before changing into the cosy high-top sneakers

Just do it! The supermodel changed into a pair of snug black leather Nike high-top sneakers with a white logo

The Playboy cover model rounded out the sleeveless look with a stunning diamond necklace with a large green gem.

Once she left, she also untied the delicate ribbon that was neatly done which held together the back of her dress.

And as she attended the event in San Paulo, it was also the same city where she was spotted wheelchair-bound just a few days before Christmas last December.

Campbell was seen arriving at Sao PauloGuarulhos International Airport in the chair when her reps stated she sustained a 'light foot injury.'

But over a month later she was spotted going undercover at JFK airport using a wheelchair and cane.

It was reported earlier in December that she was set to undergo hip replacement surgery by The Sun's Dan Wootton.

An insider told the paper: 'It's become well-known in the industry that she's been suffering.'

Naomi's rep added: 'She is out and about as usual. There is no scheduled surgery.
UN Security Council strongly condemns N. Korea missile test

The UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea's test-firing of a missile, saying that the launch violated UN resolutions even if it was a failure.

The council demanded that North Korea refrain from further actions in violation of resolutions barring Pyongyang from developing ballistic missile technology.

In a unanimous statement, the council said it would closely monitor the situation and was ready to "take further significant measures" against the reclusive state.

Picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) inspecting an artillery drill at an undisclosed location KCNA (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File)

"Although the DPRK's ballistic missile launch was a failure, this attempt constituted a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," the statement said.

Last month, the council imposed its toughest sanctions to date on North Korea after Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test and fired a rocket that was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.

Since the adoption of the new sweeping sanctions, North Korea has carried out at least two sets of ballistic missile launches that the council has condemned.

During Friday's attempt, the missile disappeared from tracking radar a few seconds after its launch and was believed to have exploded in midair, according to a Seoul intelligence official quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Asked about the failed launch, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said: "We certainly are aware of the recent reports of activity by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is alarming."

"We once again call on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for restraint."

The launch took place on the birthday of founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

In Washington, a Pentagon official said the test-firing of what appeared to be a medium-range missile ended in catastrophic failure.

"I can tell you it was a fiery, catastrophic attempt at a launch that was not successful," Navy Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.

The missile was likely "road-mobile" -- or transportable -- because it had been launched from an area on the east coast of North Korea where tests don't normally occur, Davis said.

Recent intelligence reports suggested North Korea was preparing for the first-ever flight test of its Musudan missile, which is believed to be capable of striking US bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

Davis said the latest launch attempt would surely factor into conversations between Washington and Seoul about the deployment to South Korea of the sophisticated THAAD system -- Theater High Altitude Area Defense System.
Phelps 'not happy' with 200m fly win

Olympic superstar Michael Phelps saw plenty of room for improvement after winning the 200m butterfly at the wind-whipped Mesa Pro Swim on Friday in 1min 58.14sec.

"Not happy," the 18-time Olympic gold medallist said after winning in a time that didn't crack the top 20 in the world this year -- a list led by the 1:54.14 of Japan's Daiya Seto.

Phelps was in control at the 100m mark, but Pace Clark closed strong to finish second in 1:58.71 and Jonathan Gomez was third in 1:58.79.

Michael Phelps competes in the men's 200m butterfly final at Mesa Pro Swim on April 15, 2016 in Mesa, Arizona Chris Coduto (Getty/AFP)

Phelps said the wind, with gusts up to 30 mph (48 km/h) were a challenge.

"That wind, oh my gosh," Phelps said. "I felt like I was moving backwards with about 15 meters to go going into that wall."

Reigning Olympic 100m freestyle champion Nathan Adrian said it was howling so loudly in his ears he was afraid he wouldn't hear the start of the 50m free.

He managed, and won in 21.69sec, knocking one-hundredth of a second off his third-fastest time in the world this year. Anthony Ervin was second in 22.28 and Cullen Jones third in 22.30.

With the wind at her back, Madison Kennedy won the women's 50m free in a sizzling 24.45sec, sixth-fastest in the world this year.

In other events, Maya DiRado beat an impressive field in the 100m backstroke, winning in 1:00.71 ahead of Zimbabwean Olympic gold medallist Kirsty Coventry and Hungary's Katinka Hosszu.

David Plummer clocked 54.29 to win the men's 100m back over Ryan Lochte (55.35) with Russian-born Serbian Arkady Vyatchanin third in 55.39.

The wind was especially hard on the backstrokers, but it seems nothing can blow freestyle queen Katie Ledecky off course.

Ledecky won the 400m freestyle in 4:02.15, the second-fastest in the world this year behind her own 3:59.34.

American Cierra Runge battled with Denmark's Lotte Friis for second. Runge, who trains with Friis at North Baltimore Aquatic Club, nabbed second in 4:08.08 with Friis third in 4:08.89.
Gunmen kidnap four Indonesian sailors off Malaysia

Gunmen have abducted four Indonesian sailors and shot and wounded one crew member on the high seas off the east coast of Malaysia's Sabah state, waters where Abu Sayyaf militants are known to operate, a senior police official said Saturday.

If the Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf is confirmed to be behind the kidnapping off Borneo, it would be their third such hostage-taking in as many weeks and comes amid a surge in such attacks.

"The incident happened late Friday in international waters. Four Indonesian seamen were abducted by the kidnappers. One man was shot and is being treated at a hospital," Sabah police chief Abdul Rashid Harun told AFP.

Philippine marines patrol a highway along the village of Busay in Isabela City, Basilan island in the Philippine's southern island of Mindanao as they continue their hunt for Abu Sayyaf militants Therence Koh (AFP/File)

The tugboat carrying coal was sailing from Cebu in the Philippines back to Tarakan in Indonesian Borneo when the kidnappings occurred. Six other seamen, including the wounded man, managed to escape.

In a bid to curb kidnappings, Malaysia has imposed a temporary ban on the trade route between Sabah and the southern Philippines.

"The government has suspended barter trade between the two regions until a comprehensive plan is formulated to ensure the safety and security of Sabah state. It is a temporary ban," marine police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah told AFP.

"We have deployed marine police boats along with ships from the maritime enforcement agency and the navy to enforce the ban," he added.

- Concern over attacks -

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre, said the shipping community had expressed concern over the rise in attacks.

"Everyone is concerned as the attacks could hurt trade. Operating costs will go up if they were to use a longer but safer route," he said.

"IMB fears such attacks will continue to escalate. How can seamen defend themselves against militants armed with high-powered guns and fast boats?" he added.

On April 1, four Malaysian sailors were kidnapped from a ship near Sabah's Ligitan island. It is still unconfirmed who was responsible.

Several days earlier 10 Indonesian sailors were kidnapped in waters off the southern Philippines, with initial information indicating they may have been taken by an Abu Sayyaf faction to Sulu, a remote southern island that is a hideout of the militant outfit.

Someone claiming to be from Abu Sayyaf called the vessel's owners to demand a ransom for the sailors' release.

Many Western and other embassies routinely issue warnings against travelling to most of the Philippines' Muslim-populated southern regions, which lie just northeast of Sabah, because of the risk of being abducted by the group.

In the past Abu Sayyaf has mainly targeted tourists as they can demand high ransoms for foreigners.

Two Canadians and a Norwegian were kidnapped from yachts at a marina in September, with the militants setting an April deadline for a ransom to be paid.

The militants in a video demanded one billion pesos ($21 million) for each of the three foreigners.

Since the April 8 ransom deadline passed there has been no word on the hostages' fate.
Will and Kate end India trip with historic Taj Mahal visit

Prince William and his wife Kate arrived at the Taj Mahal Saturday, wrapping up their week-long trip to India and Bhutan with a visit that carries poignant echoes for Britain's royal family.

When the late Princess Diana was photographed sitting alone outside the tragic monument to love in 1992, it sparked much media speculation and later became a symbol of her failing marriage.

The Taj Mahal was cleared of tourists minutes before the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived, after flying in earlier to Agra, its streets decked out in fairy lights and flowers to welcome the high-profile visitors.

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (R) and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, pose at the Taj Mahal in Agra, central India on April 16, 2016 Money Sharma (Pool/AFP)

As temperatures soared, workers sprinkled ice water on the famous "Diana bench" in front of the monument, before the pair posed for a photo, Kate wearing a white-and-blue dress and her husband in a matching blue blazer.

"It's a beautiful place, stunning designs in there," Prince William told reporters after the couple spent about half an hour inside the mausoleum, famous for its pure white marble.

The Duchess said it had been "incredible learning about the romance of the building and its really beautiful architecture".

Their visit to India's most recognisable landmark follows a whirlwind week that saw the young royals feed baby rhinos in northeastern Assam and trek to a mountain monastery in Bhutan -- retracing the footsteps of Prince Charles.

Also waiting for the royal couple in Agra was a 73-year-old fan whose family memories stretch back even further, to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1961.

"I have been dreaming of meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ever since I got to know they would be coming to the Taj," Surendra Sharma told AFP.

Sharma's late uncle Kailash Nath Sharma, a keen photographer whose studio in the city is still thriving, took several black-and-white pictures of the Queen and Prince Philip.

In one, the Queen is shown dressed in an elegant overcoat and a knee-length dress, sitting next to her husband in an open-top car.

Sharma may have reason to hope he gets his wish -- in Mumbai, the couple took time out from engagements to meet with a 93-year-old admirer, Boman Kohinoor.

The Britannia & Company restaurant owner became the star of a social media campaign that saw arrangements made for him to meet the royals at the last minute.

- Security tight -

Security was beefed up around the monument, a UNESCO world heritage site, ahead of the Duke and Duchess's arrival, with several paramilitary personnel standing guard with sniffer dogs.

The mausoleum is currently undergoing renovation work, with scaffolding covering three of the minarets -- and a senior archaeological official told AFP it would not be dismantled for the visit.

It marks the final stop of a hectic itinerary for the royal couple, on their first official trip to the country that the British ruled for close to 200 years.

Their whistlestop tour has seen them hobnob with Bollywood stars in Mumbai and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for lunch at a former palace in New Delhi.

They then spent two days in Bhutan, meeting the king and the queen of the remote Himalayan kingdom, trying their hand at the national sport of archery, and taking a mountain hike.

The couple are set to return to England on Sunday in time for the Queen's 90th birthday on April 21.

Crafted in white marble and inlaid with precious stones, the Taj Mahal was built between 1631 and 1648 under Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, pose at The Taj Mahal in Agra, central India on April 16, 2016 Money Sharma (Pool/AFP)

Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, fires an arrow as Prince William looks on at the Changlingmethang National Archery ground in Thimphu during their visit to Bhutan on April 14, 2016 Roberto Schmidt (AFP/File)
Sanders briefly meets pope at Vatican

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders briefly met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, using the lightning visit to align his White House bid with the popular pontiff's advocacy of a "moral economy."

Sanders, who broke away from the presidential campaign trail to travel to Rome, spoke of the five-minute meeting afterward in interviews with CNN and ABC, calling the pope "a beautiful man."

There were no cameras at the meeting, which was described as an encounter in a foyer at the pope's residence at Santa Marta, shortly before he departed for the Greek island of Lesbos to see the plight of refugees.

US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders broke away from the presidential campaign trail to travel to Rome, where he met briefly with Pope Francis at the Vatican Jewel Samad (AFP/File)

The quick meeting was particularly striking because Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, is a secular Jew whose positions on social issues are far from those of the pope.

"I was leaving Santa Marta. He knew that I was leaving and he was kind enough to greet me," the pope later told reporters on the flight home from Lesbos.

"I greeted him and his wife and another couple who were with them and staying at Santa Marta. Nothing more," the pope said.

"It was a matter of politeness and if anybody thinks that greeting somebody amounts to meddling in politics, they should go find a psychiatrist," he said.

But it clearly was a dramatic way for Sanders to gain attention for his campaign, just three days before a crucial primary in New York, where he faces off against frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Sanders has made attacks on Wall Street, the "billionaire class" and a growing rich-poor divide the core of his campaign, and he seized the opportunity Saturday to identify with Francis's calls for greater economic equality.

"I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the planet and injecting the need for morality in the global economy," Sanders told ABC.

On CNN, Sanders praised the pope's call for "a moral economy" and the need to "transform our energy system so as to prevent climate change from wreaking havoc on this planet."

He said he wanted Francis to know "how appreciative I was of the extraordinary role he is playing throughout the world in raising consciousness about massive levels of income and wealth inequality, greed such that the top one percent now owns more wealth globally than the bottom 99 percent."

- Differences -

Sanders, who is enjoying a string of primary successes but still faces a monumental task in overhauling Clinton for the Democratic nomination, acknowledged his differences with the Catholic Church on several sensitive topics.

"It is no secret that my view on women's rights, on gay rights, on contraception is different than the church's," he told CNN.

"But in this world what we have to do is work with people when we can work with them."

Sanders' wife Jane, who is Catholic, was also at the meeting along with Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the Argentine head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a kind of Vatican think tank on social, economic and environmental issues.

Sanchez Sorondo had invited Sanders to come to the Vatican for a conference on Friday.

Sanders was returning to New York on Saturday for an afternoon rally.

The Brooklyn-born Sanders lags behind Clinton in the polls in New York by more than 10 points, according to a RealClearPolitics average.

But he attracted thousands to a rally in New York's Washington Square earlier this week, demonstrating the pull of his well-funded campaign, particularly among young voters.

The Democratic race has become increasingly acrimonious, with Sanders and Clinton sharply attacking each other's qualifications to lead the country.

US Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders met with Pope Francis, using the lightning visit to align his White House bid with the popular pontiff's advocacy of a "moral economy" Aris Messinis (AFP)
Iran and Turkey vow to cooperate on terrorism and trade

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to boost trade between their two countries at talks Saturday following the lifting of most international sanctions on Tehran.

They also agreed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism during their meeting at Erdogan's lavish palace near Ankara, just a day after Iran was accused of supporting extremists at a summit of Muslim heads of state in Istanbul.

Rouhani boycotted the closing meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in protest at the rebuke.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani during an official welcoming ceremony at the presidential complex in Ankara on April 16, 2016 Adem Altan (AFP)

His meeting with Erdogan focussed on the Syrian conflict and trade between the two neighbours.

In a joint press conference, Erdogan said he hoped bilateral trade would reach $30 billion (27 billion euros) annually. It currently stands at just $10 billion after years of sanctions.

After being brought in from the cold following last year's nuclear deal with world powers, Iran is being courted by both Europe and Turkey as a potentially lucrative market for trade and investment.

Rouhani called for banking and energy ties between the two nations to be enhanced as the two leaders inked several cooperation deals.

Energy-hungry Turkey is dependent on Russia and Iran for its oil and natural gas but may turn more to Tehran after Ankara's relations with Moscow cooled after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane.

Despite their rapprochement, Turkey and Iran remain on opposing sides of the five-year civil war in Syria.

Tehran backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Ankara sees Assad's ouster as key to any resolution of the conflict and supports rebels fighting to overthrow his regime.

Rouhani said stability in Syria, Yemen and Iraq would benefit the Islamic world.

Erdogan said despite their differences on regional issues, Turkey and Iran agreed on the need to stop the bloodshed in the region.

The war in Syria has pitted Shia-majority Iran against Turkey's ally, predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia, with both aiming to increase their influence in the region.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been embroiled in a diplomatic crisis since a mob set fire to Riyadh's missions in Tehran and Mashhad in January in protest at the execution by Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shiite cleric.

The Turkish and Iranian leaders also agreed to seek to end sectarian divisions in the Islamic world and join forces to fight terror.
Syria opposition rejects UN proposal for Assad to stay

Syria's opposition has rejected a proposal from the UN envoy that would have kept Bashar al-Assad as president during a political transition, with three deputies of his opponents' choosing.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura told Syria's opposition attending peace talks in Geneva that the proposal could end the "vicious cycle" of debate over a transitional period to end the war, a source told AFP on Saturday.

On the ground, tens of thousands of Syrians are at risk of being displaced as clashes between rebels and jihadists intensified in the country's north.

The UN envoy brokering peace talks in Geneva had made a proposal that would have kept Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (pictured) as president during a transitional period Handout (SANA/AFP/File)

The escalating fighting across swathes of Aleppo province has threatened to collapse a fragile ceasefire and derail the latest round of indirect negotiations in Switzerland between the regime and opposition.

The fate of Assad remains the key sticking point in the discussions involving the opposition High Negotiations Committee and a government delegation.

The HNC insists Assad must leave, but Damascus objects to that demand.

A HNC source told AFP on Saturday that the committee had rejected a proposal by de Mistura that would have seen Assad remain as president through a transitional period.

In exchange, the HNC would have been allowed to hand-pick three vice presidents, the source said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

Assad "would transfer his military and political prerogatives to them. Effectively, Assad would stay in a ceremonial position."

"But we categorically rejected the proposal," he said.

- 100,000 could be displaced -

Assad's ouster has been the key demand of Syria's opposition since the uprising broke out in March 2011, but Damascus says his departure is not on the table.

While the opposition insists on forming a "transitional governing body" without Assad, the regime says it wants to form a broader "unity government."

The HNC source said de Mistura had presented the idea of Assad transferring most of his powers to three deputy presidents from the opposition as a way to end that "vicious cycle" of debate.

According to him, de Mistura told the opposition that the proposal "was not his personal view... but that he hoped to hear our thoughts".

On Friday, HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet told AFP that Syria's opposition would be willing to cooperate with regime "diplomats and technocrats" in a transitional period.

But he insisted that there would be no role for Assad or anyone who had played a central role in the civil war, which has killed 270,000 people and displaced millions.

A jihadist onslaught on opposition-held territory in northern Syria has displaced about 30,000 civilians in recent days and left thousands of others near the Turkish border at risk, Human Rights Watch said.

"We're talking about more than 100,000 people now sandwiched between Aleppo and the border and affected by this crisis," HRW's Gerry Simpson told AFP by phone from the Turkish side of the frontier.

Those Syrians are already living in displacements camps scattered near the border "and are perilously close to the shifting front lines," Simpson said.

He said people were sleeping under open skies without access to food or sanitation.

Turkey has kept its border closed through recent waves of displacement, a decision that Simpson called "unconscionable".

- IS wins against regime, rebels -

The new scramble for safety comes as IS presses a fierce offensive against non-jihadist rebel groups in Aleppo province, seizing another village on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rebels had previously advanced from Azaz, a town eight kilometres (five miles) south of the Turkish border, towards IS bastions further east.

But IS has pushed back with a fierce counter-attack.

"The IS gains have cut off opposition territory around Azaz from rebels in the town of Dudyan further east," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

"Now the rebels in Dudyan are practically surrounded by IS."

The jihadists also scored gains against regime forces near Khanasser, a battleground town southeast of Aleppo that has changed hands several times.

The road through Khanasser is the sole link between government-held areas in and around Aleppo and those in the rest of the country.

And in Aleppo city itself, two civilians were killed by rebel fire on a residential neighbourhood in the government-held west of the city, the Observatory said.

The city was once Syria's commercial hub, but since rebels seized eastern districts in 2012 a frontline cuts through the heart of the city.

The only remaining road out of opposition-controlled neighbourhoods was under threat this week from a fierce Russian-backed government offensive.

Fighting has surged on several fronts throughout Aleppo province, which is criss-crossed with supply routes that are strategic for practically all of Syria's warring sides.

War in Syria: the control of territory Kun TIAN, Thomas SAINT-CRICQ (AFP)

Syria's conflict began in 2011 as a peaceful revolt, with protests across the country that spread in 2012 to Aleppo province, which borders Turkey Georges Ourfalian (AFP/File)

Syrian refugees Gal ROMA, Adrian LEUNG (AFP)

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura at the opening of peace talks on April 15, 2016 in Geneva, which have been overshadowed by a surge in fighting around Aleppo forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes Fabrice Coffrini (POOL/AFP)

The war in Syria Kun TIAN, Thomas SAINT-CRICQ (AFP)
French, German FMs in Libya to back unity government

The foreign ministers of France and Germany made an unannounced visit Saturday to Tripoli in a show of support for the new unity government striving to bridge Libya's deep political divisions.

World powers see the Government of National Accord (GNA) as a crucial partner in tackling jihadists behind a string of deadly attacks in Libya as well as human traffickers exploiting the country's turmoil.

France's Jean-Marc Ayrault and Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier flew into the capital amid tight security for talks with the UN-backed cabinet which has set up operations at a naval base in the city.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault give a press conference at the naval base in Tripoli on April 16, 2016 Mahmud Turkia (AFP)

The GNA is seeking "training for its police and military forces", Ayrault told journalists after the two envoys met prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.

"There is the need to train them perhaps in the beginning outside of Libya and this is what we will discuss on Monday," said Steinmeier, referring to talks in Luxembourg on a possible EU mission to assist Libya's police and border guards.

Sarraj said he spoke to Ayrault about "combating terrorism", but added: "We shouldn't be waiting for international intervention."

Saturday's was the latest in a flurry of visits by European diplomats who had been absent since 2014 when EU member states closed their Tripoli embassies as fighting shook the North African nation.

Their return was prompted by the arrival of the UN-backed prime minister on March 30 by sea with a naval escort, after a rival Tripoli authority closed the airspace to try to keep Sarraj out.

"France was one of the first countries to back Sarraj, and the time has come to give a new impetus to that support," a French diplomat said.

The visit comes two days before a crucial vote by the country's recognised parliament on whether to endorse the GNA, and ahead of the talks in Luxembourg.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni hailed the unity government as a "game changer" when he visited Tripoli on Tuesday.

- Alarm at IS expansion -

The British, French and Spanish ambassadors flew in for talks two days later, saying they were working towards reopening their diplomatic missions there.

European nations are increasingly alarmed by the expansion of the Islamic State jihadist group in Libya, where it has established a new stronghold just 300 kilometres (185 miles) away from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The jihadists last year seized control of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and have used the city as a base to stage a string of suicide bombings and attacks on oil facilities.

IS claimed responsibility for a car bombing on Friday near the city of Benghazi that security sources said left two soldiers of the internationally recognised government dead and three wounded.

The jihadists claimed to have killed as many as 50 soldiers and destroyed 15 vehicles in the attack.

Oil-flush Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed Kadhafi.

The country has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance took over Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east.

A UN-backed power-sharing deal in December was backed by some lawmakers by both sides.

But Sarraj has not yet received the endorsement of the internationally recognised legislature, and the head of the rival Tripoli-based administration, Khalifa Ghweil, has refused to recognise his authority.

Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the European visit was "timely", coming days ahead of the confidence vote in parliament and the meetings of EU foreign and defence ministers.

Sarraj is expected to participate in the Luxembourg talks, probably by videolink.

The diplomatic push takes place against a backdrop of growing concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to set off from North Africa instead.

Nearly 6,000 mostly African migrants have landed at southern Italian ports since Tuesday, adding to concerns that the country is on the verge of becoming the main entry point for people trying to reach Europe.

Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance took over Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File)

Libya has been plagued by instability since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi
France's Hollande pledges aid to Lebanon at start of Mideast tour

French President Francois Hollande on Saturday pledged financial and military support for Lebanon and urged its paralysed political class to elect a president, at the start of a regional tour.

Deep political divisions have left Lebanon without a president since May 2014, and parliament has extended its own mandate twice since 2009.

Beginning a four-day Middle East tour, Hollande met Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

French President Francois Hollande speaks during a joint press conference with Lebanese PM after their meeting in Beirut on April 16, 2016 Anwar Amro (AFP)

He announced 100 million euros ($113 million) in assistance in the next three years for Lebanon which is hosting more than one million Syrian refugees, as well as "immediate aid to strengthen Lebanon's military capacity".

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia suspended a grant to finance $3 billion worth of French weaponry for Lebanon's security forces.

The Lebanese army and police receive weapons and training from the United States, Britain and other Western countries.

On the political front, Hollande said it was time for Lebanese leaders to overcome their differences.

"This is a crucial moment, because you need to resolve this crisis and give Lebanon a president," Hollande said after meeting Berri in downtown Beirut.

"I believe in you and I know that you will succeed," he added.

Hollande told a news conference that he recognised "the particularly difficult circumstances" facing Lebanon because of the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

The large refugee community means that Lebanon -- whose own population is just over four million -- has the highest refugee-to-resident population in the world.

"In addition to... facing terrorist threats, Lebanon has hosted and continues to host a very high number of refugees," Hollande said.

Berri said it was necessary "to find a political solution to lift the burden" created by the refugee population on the country.

On Sunday, the French leader will travel to an refugee camp for Syrians in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley to speak to families who will be resettled in France.

France hosts more than 10,000 refugees.

Hollande said France "will mobilise the international community", with Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault working on an international donors' meeting.

The French president's entourage said Ayrault would visit Lebanon on May 27 as part of this effort.

It is Hollande's second visit to Lebanon since 2012. He will travel on to Egypt on Sunday afternoon and then Jordan after his two-day visit to Lebanon.

In Cairo, he is expected to discuss with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi both the political crisis in Egypt's western neighbour Libya and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

His visit to Jordan on Tuesday will take him to the Prince Hassan air base, 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Amman.

French aircraft taking part in the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria are stationed at the base.
UN weighs options for Burundi police force

Calling the situation in Burundi "alarmingly precarious," UN chief Ban Ki-moon is proposing three options for a new UN police mission there, ranging from a full force of 3,000 officers to a light dispatch of 20 to 50.

The options were detailed in a report to the Security Council obtained by AFP on Saturday, two weeks after the council agreed to send a police force to the African country to help quell a year of violence there.

In the report, Ban said dispatching a force of up to 3,000 was "the only option that could provide some degree of physical protection to the population" but that the mission would take months to prepare and present logistical challenges.

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza (L) stands next to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon (R) during a press conference on February 23, 2016 in Bujumbura Stringer (AFP/File)

A second option, he said, would be to send 228 UN police officers to work with human rights officials and possibly with African Union monitors to provide early warning, but it would not offer any protection to civilians.

The secretary-general said the council could also decide to send a group of 20 to 50 officers who would assess the Burundi police force and "help bring about concrete and measurable improvements in the respect for human rights and rule of law."

The council is under pressure to take action in Burundi where the descent into violence has raised fears of mass atrocities, similar to those that convulsed neighboring Rwanda in 1994.

Burundi has been in turmoil since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans in April last year to run for a third term, which he went on to win.

Violence has left more than 400 dead and driven more than 250,000 people across the border.

Diplomats said the proposed force of 228 police officers appeared to be the best option, but it remained unclear if Bujumbura would accept that many officers.

The government has told the United Nations that it was ready to receive some 20 unarmed police experts, but would oppose any "large" UN police presence.

- Alarming situation -

Ban's proposals followed the adoption earlier this month of a French-drafted resolution that called for the deployment to monitor the security situation and help promote human rights.

"The security situation in Burundi remains alarmingly precarious," Ban wrote in the 11-page report to the council sent late Friday.

"Even as hand grenade attacks on public venues peaked in late February, attacks targeting military and police personnel, including assassinations and abductions, have increased."

Ban cited a "rising trend in enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, illegal detention and ill treatment and torture," although the number of killings has decreased in the past two months.

The proposed police force would allow the United Nations "to maintain situational awareness" and could help develop a strategy to address the crisis, Ban said, but he warned that it was no substitute for a political dialogue.

The United Nations has repeatedly called on Nkurunziza to open up serious talks with the opposition on ending the crisis, but the appeals have been ignored.

The African Union in January abandoned plans to deploy a 5,000-strong peacekeeping force after the Bujumbura government rejected what it described as an "invasion force."
Sanders gave 4 percent of income to charity in 2014

WASHINGTON (AP)  Bernie Sanders released his full 2014 federal tax return Friday, revealing that he mostly lives off a six-figure government salary and donated about 4 percent of his family's income to charitable causes.

Sanders and his wife, Jane, donated $8,350 to charity while reporting an adjusted gross income of about $205,000 that year, according to the couple's joint tax return. The share of his family's income that went to charity was about one-third the percentage of income that his primary opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, gave to charitable groups.

The Sanders campaign released the return a day after a heated Democratic presidential debate in New York in which Sanders pledged to release the single return but hesitated to say when he would release additional years of his taxes.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate with Hillary Clinton at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Thursday, April 14, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The campaign didn't immediately respond Friday evening to emailed questions seeking additional details about Sanders' charitable giving.

Since 1976, every major party presidential nominee has released full tax returns. So far this year, though, Clinton is the only major-party presidential candidate who has released several years of full tax returns.

GOP front-runner Donald Trump hasn't released any of his returns, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have only released partial returns.

Until Friday, Sanders had only released an excerpt from his 2014 tax return. During Thursday's debate, Clinton attacked Sanders for failing to release more.

"I've released 30 years of tax returns, and I think every candidate, including Senator Sanders and Donald Trump, should do the same," said Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.

Sanders fired back at Clinton, contrasting his modest wealth with Clinton's multimillion-dollar income, a significant portion of which has come in the form of paid speeches to corporate and interest groups.

"They're pretty boring, I'm afraid," Sanders told The Associated Press on Saturday during his visit to Rome, where also met with Pope Francis. "No $225,000 speaking engagements. No massive investments. I earn a very good salary as a United States senator. My wife has made a few thousand dollars. I don't think there's anything terribly exciting about it."

According to the self-prepared return, Sanders and his wife reported about $205,000 in adjusted gross income, with about $156,000 coming from his Senate salary. The couple reported about $46,000 in Social Security benefits and an additional $5,000 annual pension.

Jane Sanders, a former college president, also reported $4,900 in income from her work as a commissioner on the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission, which manages the handling of certain types of radioactive waste in Texas and Vermont.

In 2014, the couple paid $27,653 in federal taxes, resulting in an effective tax rate of 19.6 percent on $140,994 in taxable income.

For comparison, the Clintons reported about $28 million in adjusted gross income in 2014. Combined, the Clintons earned more than $139 million between 2007 and 2014. They paid an effective federal tax rate of 39.4 percent on $111.4 million in taxable income during those years.

In 2014, the Clintons donated more than $3 million nearly 11 percent of their income. Since 2000, the Clintons have given nearly $15 million to charity, tax returns show.

The release of at least one of Sanders' full tax returns has put the Democratic presidential candidates ahead of their GOP rivals in terms of tax transparency.

On the Republican side, Trump has refused to release any of his tax returns, saying he won't make them public them while he's being audited by the IRS. Trump's reluctance has fueled accusations from his political rivals  including 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney  that Trump has something to hide in his taxes.

The lack of public returns has also made it impossible to verify some of Trump's claims about his actual income and his personal charitable giving. Last summer, Trump's campaign said the billionaire had given $100 million to charity in the past five years.

But an Associated Press review of his foundation's finances found that none of the money over the time period came from Trump directly. The AP also found that many of the donations from Trump's charity, The Donald J. Trump Foundation, were made with other people's money, including some donations to seemingly opposing groups. For example, the foundation donated to the Billy Graham Evangelical Association  a group that opposes gay rights  while also donating to the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

Cruz and Kasich have released portions of their taxes that contain summary information about their income sources. But they haven't released full returns that would provide more detail about their finances, tax maneuvers and charitable donations.

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Horwitz in Washington and Catherine Lucey in Brooklyn, New York, contributed to this report.

___
2 Bundys, 3 others balk at pleas in Nevada standoff case

LAS VEGAS (AP)  Two sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and three other men refused Friday to enter pleas in federal court in Las Vegas to charges in an armed confrontation with government agents two years ago.

Magistrate Judge George Foley Jr. entered not guilty pleas on behalf of each man during a sometimes contentious arraignment that featured cat-calls and cheers from about 30 Bundy backers and defendants' family members, under watchful eyes of about a dozen U.S. marshals.

"We don't need any outbursts," Foley warned from the U.S. District Court bench. Twice he told the restive audience, "This is not a show."

Before he refused to enter a plea, Ammon Bundy (pictured) alleged he had been mistreated in custody to Nevada from Oregon, where he and the others have been held since their arrests in the occupation of a US wildlife refuge this year

Before balking at entering his plea, Ammon Bundy alleged he had been mistreated in custody to Nevada from Oregon, where he and the others have been held since their arrests in the occupation of a U.S. wildlife refuge this year.

He said he'd been handcuffed for 23 hours during the move, including 11 hours to a bench, and that jailers once passed him by when other inmates were fed. He said he got a meal after he complained.

"I do not see how we are being treated as innocent in any way," he said.

His brother and co-defendant, Ryan Bundy, professed to understand his rights but not the charges against him. He also said he wants to serve as his own lawyer.

The judge noted that a court clerk and prosecutor Steven Myhre had just spent 94 minutes reading the 63-page, 16-count indictment aloud. The word-for-word recital came after the defendants exercised their right to hear the charges against them.

A grand jury accused 19 people  including Friday's defendants, family patriarch Cliven Bundy and 13 others who were arraigned previously  of conspiracy, obstruction, weapon, threats and assault charges in the April 2014 standoff with federal agents near Bunkerville, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. All 19 are now in federal custody in and around Las Vegas.

Seven men, including the five in court Friday, are also facing conspiracy, weapon, theft and damaging government property charges in Portland, Oregon, stemming from the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

U.S. District Judge Anna Brown in Portland has scheduled jury selection to begin Sept. 7 in the Oregon case, despite defense attorneys' objections that they won't have enough time to prepare and that it would be improper to make their clients defend two cases at once in different states.

Co-defendants Blaine Cooper and Ryan Payne stood Friday next to their court-appointed attorneys in Las Vegas and said their rights were being violated.

Payne told the judge it was "preposterous, sir," to have to defend himself against federal charges in two jurisdictions at the same time.

"I don't understand the pretense of this level of government to bring forth such charges," he added.

Brian Cavalier finished his arraignment  "I will not be entering a plea today," he said  by offering federal prosecutors a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution.

The cordon of marshals tensed when Cooper picked up the pamphlet and tossed it onto the table of the U.S. attorneys handling the case.

Another federal magistrate judge has scheduled an April 22 hearing to determine if the Nevada case will be designated "complex," and if a May 2 trial date is feasible.

Ammon Bundy's attorney in the Oregon case, Michael Arnold, was removed from the Las Vegas courtroom gallery by marshals after beginning to text on his cellphone while the indictment was being read.

Arnold protested as he left that he hadn't heard a pre-hearing warning that cellphone use was prohibited, because he was meeting with his client at the time.

The lawyer later said he was using the device to meet a deadline set by the judge in the Oregon case.

"Literally I had to be in two places at once," Arnold told The Associated Press. "It illustrates the impossibility of doing two cases at one time justly and fairly."

FILE - This Jan. 27, 2016, file photo provided by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office shows Ryan Bundy. Amid debate about whether they should be tried first in federal court in Oregon or Nevada, Ryan Bundy and his brother Ammon Bundy, sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, and three other men are due in court, Friday, April 15, 2016 before a judge in Las Vegas on charges stemming from an armed confrontation with government agents rounding up cattle two years ago.(Multnomah County Sheriff via AP, File)
Pope brings 12 Syrian refugees to Italy in lesson for Europe

MORIA, Greece (AP)  In an extraordinary gesture both political and personal, Pope Francis brought 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his plane Saturday after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europe's migration crisis.

Refugees on the overwhelmed island fell to their knees and wept at his presence. Some 3,000 migrants on Lesbos are facing possible deportation back to Turkey under a new deal with the European Union, and the uncertainty has caused heavy strains.

Francis decided only a week ago to bring the three refugee families to Italy after a Vatican official suggested it. He said he accepted the proposal "immediately" since it fit the spirit of his visit to Lesbos.

Pope Francis meets migrants at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

"It's a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same," he said of his gesture, quoting one of Mother Teresa's phrases.

During the five-hour trip, Francis implored European nations to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity." The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its beaches and rocks in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece. They came to give a united Christian message thanking the Greek people for welcoming migrants and highlighting the plight of refugees as the 28-nation EU implements a plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Francis insisted his gesture to bring the 12 refugees to Italy was "purely humanitarian," not political. But in comments on the flight home, he urged Europe to not only welcome refugees but better integrate them into society, so they are not left in ghettos where they can become prey to radicalization.

Many refugees wept at Francis' feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention center on Lesbos, where they greeted 250 people individually. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as they passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. The pope also blessed a man who wailed "Thank you! Please Father, bless me!"

The Vatican said the three Syrian families, which including six children, who came to Rome will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italy's Catholic Sant'Egidio Community. They were treated to a raucous welcome Saturday night in Rome, with drummers thumping, a crowd applauding and the three mothers receiving a single red rose.

"I thank you for what you have done," Nour, a mother of a 2-year-old, said of the pope. "I hope this gesture has an effect on refugee policy."

Nour and her husband, Hasan, are both engineers who lived in Zabatani, a mountainous area near the Lebanese border that has been bombed. Another family with two children hailed from Damascus and a third family with three children came from Deir el-Zour, a city close to the Iraqi border that the Islamic State group has been besieging for months, leading to malnutrition.

Two of the three had their homes bombed, said Sant'Egidio's refugee chief, Daniela Pompei.

She said the three families had been given Italian humanitarian visas and would now apply for asylum. Francis said they were selected not because they were Muslim, but because their papers were in order. They had arrived on Lesbos before the EU deportation date.

"It's a small gesture," he said. "But these are the small gestures that all men and women must do to give a hand to those in need."

In perhaps a first, a baby's cry could be heard aboard the papal plane as Francis spoke. The 12 refugees sat right behind the papal delegation on the aircraft, and Francis greeted each one on the tarmac in Lesbos, again on the tarmac in Rome, and during the flight, said Pompei.

Francis seemed particularly shaken by the trauma the children he met at the detention center suffered as a result of their experiences. He showed reporters a picture one Afghan child gave him of a sun weeping over a sea where boats carrying refugees had sunk.

"If the sun is able to weep, so can we," Francis said. "A tear would do us good."

Hundreds of migrants have drowned so far this year in the waters between Greece and Turkey.

At a ceremony in Lesbos to thank the Greek people, Francis said he understood Europe's concern about the migrant influx. But he said migrants are human beings "who have faces, names and individual stories" and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

"God will repay this generosity," he promised.

In his remarks to refugees, Francis said they should know that they are not alone and shouldn't lose hope.

Human rights groups have denounced the EU-Turkey deportation deal as an abdication of Europe's obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands since March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up.

During the visit, Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, signed a joint declaration urging the world to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need. It also called on political leaders to ensure that everyone can remain in their homelands and enjoy the "right to live in peace and security."

"The world will be judged by the way it has treated you," Bartholomew told the refugees. "And we will all be accountable for the way we respond."

Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, lunched with eight of the refugees to hear their stories. They then went to the island's main port to pray together and toss floral wreaths into the sea in memory of those who didn't survive the journey.

Earlier, Francis met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the airport and thanked him for the generosity shown by his people despite their own economic troubles. Tsipras said he was proud of Greece's response when other European nations "were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life."

Hours before the pope arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope.

___

Winfield reported from Rome and Becatoros from Athens.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield and Derek Gatopoulos at www.twitter.com/dgatopoulos

Pope Francis meets migrants at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis greets a group of Syrian refugees upon landing at Rome's Ciampino airport Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis, center, hugs a baby, flanked by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians, left, and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II, head of the Church of Greece, at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants wait for Pope Francis at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Syrian refugees are welcomed as they arrive at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece three Muslim families who were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis waves to journalists as he boards an airplane at Rome's Fiumicino airport, Saturday, April 16, 2016, on his way to the Greek island of Lesbos, The Pontiff will visit the island Saturday joined by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Athens Archbishop Ieronymos II, a mission human rights groups hope will highlight the plight of refugees who fled their war-ravaged homes only to be denied entry to Europe. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis, center, is flanked by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians, left, and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II, head of the Church of Greece, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis arrives at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis smiles as he arrives at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis meets migrants at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A boy holds a sign reading "Let me go to dad please" at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis delivers his speech at the Mytilene port on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have conducted a prayer ceremony for refugees at the port of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos where hundreds of thousands of have passed through on perilous journeys from the Turkish coast toward Europe. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis delivers his speech at the Mytilene port on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have conducted a prayer ceremony for refugees at the port of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos where hundreds of thousands of have passed through on perilous journeys from the Turkish coast toward Europe. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis delivers his speech at the Mytilene port on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have conducted a prayer ceremony for refugees at the port of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos where hundreds of thousands of have passed through on perilous journeys from the Turkish coast toward Europe. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis, flanked by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians, greet a group of refugees at the airport of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis, center, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, sign a joint declaration on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis implored Europe to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity," making an emotional and provocative trip to Greece as the European Union deports refugees back to Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this photo released by Greek Prime Minister's office on Saturday, April 16, 2016, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, Pope Francis, center, and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos are pictured during a visit at the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Pope Francis implored Europe on Saturday to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity," during an emotional and provocative trip to Greece. (Andrea Bonetti/Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP)

Pope Francis, right, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I pray at the Mytilene port on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have conducted a prayer ceremony for refugees at the port of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos where hundreds of thousands of have passed through on perilous journeys from the Turkish coast toward Europe. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis speaks at the Mytilene port on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have conducted a prayer ceremony for refugees at the port of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos where hundreds of thousands of have passed through on perilous journeys from the Turkish coast toward Europe. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis, center, flanked by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, left, and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II, toss floral wreaths into the sea on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have conducted a prayer ceremony for refugees at the port of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos where hundreds of thousands of have passed through on perilous journeys from the Turkish coast toward Europe. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP)

Pope Francis meets refugees at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis visits the Moria refugee camp in the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP)

In this photo released by Ecumenical Patriarchate's office on Saturday, April 16, 2016, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, lifts a child as Pope Francis looks on during a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos. Francis, along with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, and the head of the Church of Greece Archbishop Ieronymos, visited the Moria camp, which has been converted into a detention center. (Nikolaos Manginas/Ecumenical Patriarchate's Office via AP)

Migrants and refugees stand behind a locked Iron door as Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I visit the Moria refugee detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants and refugees stand behind a locked Iron door as Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I visit the Moria refugee detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants and refugees stand behind a locked Iron door as Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I visit the Moria refugee detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants and refugees wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Moria detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants and refugees stand behind a locked Iron door as Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I visit the Moria refugee detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Migrants and refugees stand behind a locked Iron door as Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I visit the Moria refugee detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis, right, greets Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians, during their joint visit to the Moria refugee detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis speaks during his visit to the Moria refugee detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Syrian refugee Wafa, center with white head scarf, and her husband Osama, left, answer reporter's questions with an interpreter as they arrive at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece three Muslim families who were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Syrian refugee Wafa, no last name available, holds a red rose as she arrives with her family at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Wafa and her family are part of three Muslim families that Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece, where they were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Two-year-old Riad sleeps on the shoulder of his father Hasan, no last name available, as they arrive at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Hasan and his family are part of three Muslim families that Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece, where they were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Thousands mark 2nd anniversary of S. Korean ferry disaster

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Thousands of South Koreans participated in memorial events Saturday for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country.

Hundreds of people, carrying umbrellas in light evening rain, created long lines at a square in the capital, Seoul, waiting to place flowers on a makeshift altar near where relatives of the victims had camped out for months in protest.

Seoul police said nearly 4,500 people participated in the event that continued into the night with speeches, concerts and film screenings, even as the rain grew heavier. Although the police had prepared for the possibility of the gathering turning into an anti-government march, the event ended peacefully.

A mother of a student victim of the sinking of ferry Sewol weeps in a classroom, at the Danwon High School in Ansan, South Korea, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Thousands of South Koreans on Saturday participated in memorial events nationwide for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Hours earlier, about 2,500 people, including grieving family members and government officials, gathered for an event at a memorial altar in Ansan, where most of the victims lived. There were other memorial events around the country, including a gathering at a small island port near the site of the accident, where relatives had spent months waiting for divers to return with the bodies of their loved ones.

A total of 304 people, most of them students from a single high school in Ansan, died when the ferry Sewol sank off South Korea's southwest coast in April 2014 in a disaster partially blamed on official incompetence and corruption.

Divers recovered 295 bodies from the ship's wreckage and nearby seas before the government stopped underwater searches after seven months. Nine victims remain missing.

The tragedy touched off an outpouring of national grief and soul-searching about public safety. The relatives of the victims, angry that higher-level officials haven't been held accountable, have been calling for a stronger investigation into the government's responsibility for the disaster.

"We really want to move on," Jeon Myung-sun, the father of one of the student victims, said during a speech in Ansan. "We would be able to go back to our ordinary lives if the people who are responsible are held responsible, and after finding out why (the accident) happened and why our children had to die."

South Korea's top court in November last year upheld a life sentence for the ferry's captain. The court concluded that he committed homicide by "willful negligence" because he fled his ship without giving an evacuation order.

A relative of a victim of the sunken ferry Sewol cries during a ceremony for the second anniversary of the sinking at a memorial altar in Ansan, South Korea, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Thousands of South Koreans on Saturday participated in memorial events nationwide for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country. About 2,500 people, including grieving family members and victims, gathered for an event marking the second anniversary of the sinking at a memorial altar in Ansan, where most of the victims lived, according to the city's police. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People arrive to offer flowers to the victims of the sunken ferry Sewol during a ceremony for the second anniversary of the sinking at a memorial altar in Ansan, South Korea, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Thousands of South Koreans on Saturday participated in memorial events nationwide for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People visit a classroom as flowers, notes and snacks from classmates and families paying tribute to the victims of the sinking of ferry Sewol are placed on the desks, at the Danwon High School in Ansan, South Korea, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Thousands of South Koreans on Saturday participated in memorial events nationwide for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A woman leaves messages as flowers, notes and snacks from classmates and families paying tribute to the victims of the sinking of ferry Sewol are placed on the desks in a classroom, at the Danwon High School in Ansan, South Korea, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Thousands of South Koreans on Saturday participated in memorial events nationwide for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
At Trump Tower, true believers mix with the morbidly curious

NEW YORK (AP)  Inside Trump Tower, altar to all things Donald, the throngs pouring into the soaring brass-and-glass atrium include both the true believers making a political pilgrimage and the truly turned off who still can't look away.

Such is the odd fascination with the Donald Trump presidential campaign that has made his Fifth Avenue home a go-to destination for supporters and detractors alike.

There's the famous escalator Trump rode down before launching his campaign with a speech labeling Mexican immigrants as "rapists" and "criminals." There's the shimmering waterfall that's been the backdrop for countless interviews. And there's the shiny elevator that many an "Apprentice" contestant has taken down after being fired. For better or worse, it's a place many see as a reflection (in highly polished brass) of the man who built it.

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2015 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. Days before New York's presidential primaries, the 58-story tower in midtown Manhattan is a cross-section of the world, alive with chatter about the Republican front-runner. People mill around the massive marble entrance floors, sprinkled with boutiques and eateries all bearing his gold-lettered name. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

"I'm not really quite sure what he stands for exactly  but it certainly seems to be wealth," said Gail Shields, a retired attorney from McLean, Virginia. She came to visit her banker son, who lives in the 58-story tower, where apartments can sell for more than $20 million.

"Everybody knows his brand shows power, strength, beauty. It shows worth," said Jodi Flynn of Nanuet, New York, a "huge fan" who came to show her 9-year-old son the monument to Trump.

Flynn, who works in the hospitality business but has been out of a job for five months, said she believes Trump can boost employment better than any of the other candidates. "He's not an official politician, thank God. We need a breath of fresh air."

Trump remains an uneasy political puzzle to many, with visitors at the tower parsing pieces of the Republican front-runner as they stroll around the three massive levels of floor-to-ceiling marble, brass and chrome. Shops and eateries flash their names in bold, gold letters: Trump Grill, Trump Cafe and Trump Store, where "Make America Great Again" hats do a brisk business.

"This is definitely not my style. I cannot relate to it  but I'm fascinated by it," said Jacob Katz, a writer who lives in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish enclave of Monroe, New York. "As far as the man himself, I have a lot of reservations about him. I think he is, quite frankly, arrogant."

Sitting under the marble waterfall, Marcia Barasia awaited a call from the Trump offices upstairs so she could spend the afternoon making volunteer calls to potential voters, something she had also done at home in suburban Atlanta.

"The low-informed people, the people who call him a racist and say he hates Mexicans, are just taking what he says without listening to him," Barasia said, adding that Trump makes more sense than other candidates when it comes to the economy and national security. "He has a very strong message that resonates with everyday people."

There is nothing "everyday" about the surroundings in Trump Tower, but Barasia had an explanation for why that still worked for her. "It's kind of funny about people and money. People want money, period."

Nashville, Tennessee, mailman Donald Belton said he came to Trump Tower for one specific reason: "Hopefully I'll see Donald Trump."

The 60-year-old, who has been a Trump supporter since the billionaire announced his candidacy, added that, "If I see him, I'd tell him to keep on doing what he's doing  concentrate on making America great again."

Lenise Smith, a woman in her 20s from the Bronx who works in a nearby retail business, said she comes in almost every day to unwind during her lunch hour because she loves the space. She said she admires Trump's business success but favors Hillary Clinton, "especially when it comes to women and abortion."

Similarly, Swiss tourist Ulrich Rothhardt, 69, agreed the "it's marvelous ... the building is just incredible, but a country's not the same as a building."

"A future president of the United States should be credible and have a certain idea of what he's going to do," Rothhardt said. "He's changing all the time."

Swedish tourists Ralf Bjerstrom and his wife stopped at Trump's Ice Cream while sightseeing and agreed that the over-the-top decor seems to match Trump's personality.

"He's also extravagant. He's very pushy," Bjerstrom said. "He is, in some ways, the archetype of an American. ... Sorry."

FILE - In this March 16, 2016 file photo, Trump Tower, right, the residence of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, rises above Fifth Avenue in New York. The Republican front-runneras gilded home turf turns into a daily New York town square of political chatter that's a cross-section of the world. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

FILE - This April 8, 2016 file photo shows the entrance to Trump Tower in New York. The billionaire developer and Republican presidential candidate lives and works in the tower. (AP Photo/Beth Harpaz, File)

FILE - In this June 16, 2015 file photo, Ivanka Trump, daughter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, arrives to hear her father announce that he will run for president of the United States, in the lobby of Trump Tower, New York. Inside Trump Tower, the throngs pouring into the soaring brass-and-glass atrium include both true believers and the truly turned off. Such is the odd fascination with the Donald Trump presidential campaign that has made his Fifth Avenue home a go-to destination for supporters and detractors alike. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2015 file photo, books and DVD's by Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump are for sale in the Trump Store in New York's Trump Tower. Inside Trump Tower, the throngs pouring into the soaring brass-and-glass atrium include both true believers and the truly turned off. Such is the odd fascination with the Donald Trump presidential campaign that has made his Fifth Avenue home a go-to destination for supporters and detractors alike. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
With friends like these: GOP race spurs awkward endorsements

WASHINGTON (AP)  Sen. Lindsey Graham says Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz is "not my favorite." Ben Carson says there are "better people" than Donald Trump to serve as commander in chief.

And those are the candidates Graham and Carson want to win.

Presidential endorsements often create strange alliances  remember over-the-top Trump validating buttoned-up Mitt Romney four years ago? But rarely have so many partnerships of political necessity appeared to be as reluctant, awkward, even downright tortured as in the 2016 GOP race.

FILE - In this March 11, 2016 file photo, former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson listens at left, before announcing he will endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a news conference in Palm Beach, Fla. But rarely have so many partnerships of political necessity appeared to be as reluctant, awkward, even downright tortured as in the 2016 GOP race. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

"Neither Trump nor Cruz win Mr. Congeniality contests," said Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist whose preferred candidate, Jeb Bush, flamed out in February. When it comes to the leading GOP candidates, Navarro said she's "not sure why anybody would want to hang out with them."

Bush found a way to throw his support behind Cruz without ever actually having to hang out with the Texas senator. Rather than join Cruz for the traditional on-camera grip-and-grin that normally accompanies an endorsement, Bush took a more subdued approach: a brief, 219-word statement posted on Facebook.

Bush has made no public appearances with Cruz since that initial announcement and has stayed quiet about his support for his former rival on social media. Graham, who joked earlier this year that choosing between Cruz and Trump was like picking between being murdered or poisoned, did hold a private fundraiser for Cruz, but has not made any public appearances with his Senate colleague.

Trump has had more success getting his supporters to appear on stage with him. His surprise endorsement from Chris Christie stunned the political world and appeared for a time to be a perfect union, with the New Jersey governor traveling with the billionaire businessman, and even standing beside Trump during a celebratory press conference after the March 1 Super Tuesday contests.

That's when things took a turn.

Christie's deer-in-the-headlights expression as Trump rambled on at length sparked a thousand Internet parodies.The governor's role as a Trump surrogate has diminished since then, with Christie barely speaking about his favored candidate in public and bristling at questions about the real estate mogul from reporters back home in New Jersey.

Carson was also game for an on-camera endorsement of Trump last month. The soft-spoken retired neurosurgeon, who is a favorite of religious conservatives, praised Trump as a man who is far more reflective privately than he comes across publicly.

Trump probably would have preferred if Carson had just left it there.

Instead, Carson has set off on one of the most extraordinary surrogate tours, raising more questions about Trump's qualifications to be president than he's answered. He's said he would have preferred another scenario than seeing Trump winning the nomination, suggested Trump's supporters aren't making a rational decision, and conceded that his favored candidate has "major defects."

"Is it possible Ben Carson is secretly with us and sabotaging Trump from the inside?" former Bush adviser Tim Miller wrote on Twitter. Miller is now working for a super PAC that opposes Trump.

To be sure, both Trump and Cruz have rallied a few loyal endorsements.

Former GOP candidate and business executive Carly Fiorina has been one of Cruz's most active surrogates, campaigning for him aggressively throughout the country. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker waited until just before his state's primary to back Cruz, but his late seal of approval was seen as a boon for the Texas senator, who went on to top Trump in the Midwestern battleground.

Trump has benefited from the support of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, who announced his support shortly before his home state's March 1 primary, a contest the New York businessman went on to win handily. Sessions has also set up a foreign policy advisory group for Trump and is helping introduce the real estate mogul to prominent Washington Republicans.

But Trump and Cruz have an incentive for avoiding having a parade of elected officials joining them on the campaign trail. Both have cast themselves as Washington outsiders who want to shake things up in the nation's capital rather than be embraced by their party's leaders.

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., was the first House member to endorse Trump. Even as he's taken on an active role in promoting the businessman, he says he's not expecting a flood of his colleagues to follow.

"Mr. Trump is a political outsider," he said. "He's not collecting endorsements."

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

___

The story has been corrected to show that Christie's role as a Trump surrogate has diminished since the event sparking parodies, not that he hasn't appeared with Trump since then.

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands with then-fellow presidential candidate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich , in Manchester, N.H. But rarely have so many partnerships of political necessity appeared to be as reluctant, awkward, even downright tortured as in the 2016 GOP race. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2015 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands with then-follow candidate Jeb Bush following the CNN Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas. But rarely have so many partnerships of political necessity appeared to be as reluctant, awkward, even downright tortured as in the 2016 GOP race. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Syrian opposition rejects offer over transitional period

GENEVA (AP)  Two figures from the main Syrian opposition team to the peace talks in Geneva said Saturday that they have rejected a suggestion that was put forward by the U.N. special envoy to Syria in which President Bashar Assad would stay in power during a transitional period and the opposition would choose three vice presidents.

The U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said it was not an offer but one of many ideas put forward in the attempt to find a solution for Syria's five-year crisis.

The two officials told The Associated Press that the offer is not even worth considering, adding that Assad should not have any role in Syria's future or during the 18-month transitional period during which a new constitution is to be drafted and elections held.

Mohammed Alloush, chief negotiator for the main Syrian opposition body and rebel group Army of Islam, listens during a briefing after a round of negotiation between the Syrian opposition and the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, April 15, 2016. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

The announcement came after a new round of indirect peace talks resumed in Geneva on Wednesday in which the opposition's High Negotiations Committee, or HNC, and the government delegation met separately with de Mistura.

Assad's future has been a main point of disagreement with the opposition demanding that he has no role in Syria's future even during the transitional period while the government delegation saying any talk about the president's future is a red line.

De Mistura told The AP later that "I clearly indicated that I did not share the idea" and that it "simply came up as one of the many ideas that are being floated by various experts in trying to analyze the current gap between the concepts of political transition of the government and the opposition."

"It is therefore a storm in a tea cup," the envoy said.

Opposition official Yahya Kodmani said in Geneva that de Mistura told them that an expert suggested to the envoy that Assad stays and in return "the three vice presidents will be from the opposition. We consider that we did not hear this suggestion because we categorically reject it."

"We insist that a political solution be based on international resolutions and this (suggestion) is not mentioned in international resolutions," Kodmani said insisting on a transitional governing body with full executive powers to take over power during the transitional period.

The HNC's chief negotiator Mohammed Alloush, when asked if de Mistura gave them an offer, responded by telephone text message: "Yes it is true but it is impossible to even think about it."

Officials at de Mistura's office were not available for comment because of the weekend.

Earlier this week, the HNC's spokesman Salem Al Meslet said they would accept that members of Assad's government could be included in a possible future transitional authority  but not Assad himself.

Al Meslet said the HNC wouldn't object to members of Assad's coterie taking part in an internationally sought Transitional Governing Body that would help Syria emerge from war "as long as they are not involved in killing, they are not involved in crimes."

In Syria meanwhile, the Islamic State group captured more than a dozen villages and hills during a fresh offensive in northern Syria, opposition activists said Saturday. The IS territorial gains bring the extremist group close to the main highway that links the capital, Damascus, with the country's largest city of Aleppo.

IS also clashed with rival insurgent groups near the border with Turkey where they have been on the offensive for days, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee toward safer areas near Turkey.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting between IS and government forces is concentrated in areas east of the town of Khanaser, which has changed hands several times in recent months.

An activist based in Aleppo told the AP via Skype that IS launched its latest offensive in the area a day earlier and by Saturday was in control of some 18 small villages. The activist spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from IS.

Khanaser is strategic since it's on the highway that links government-held parts of Aleppo with the rest of the country. The extremist group has cut the highway several times in recent months but government counteroffensives were able to push them back.

The Observatory said traffic on the highway was interrupted by IS shelling of the area on Saturday before resuming as usual.

To the north, IS continued in its offensive near the Turkish border capturing the village of Tal Shaaer from opposition fighters.

"Daesh is advancing against the regime and the rebels at the same time," said the Aleppo-based activist, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Around 30,000 displaced persons have fled from their shelters near the Turkish border, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

___

Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Asaad Al-Zoubi, center, head of the Syrian opposition delegation of High Negotiations Committee (HNC) speaks to the media with George Sabra, left, Syrian opposition Deputy Head of High Negotiations Committee (HNC), and High Negotiations Committee (HNC) spokesman Salem al-Meslet, right, after a round of negotiation between the Syrian opposition and the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, April 15, 2016. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Merkel criticized, lauded for allowing comic's prosecution

BERLIN (AP)  Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow the possible prosecution of a TV comic for writing an intentionally offensive poem about Turkey's president prompted mixed reactions in Germany on Saturday.

Some commentators praised the move as a vote of confidence in the country's justice system while others accused Merkel of kowtowing to Turkey, whose president had filed a legal complaint against the comic.

In the unusual move, Merkel called a short-notice news conference Friday to personally announce that her government had granted Turkey's request to let prosecutors examine a criminal complaint against the comic for writing an intentionally offensive poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Under German law, the government has to grant permission before prosecutors can consider whether to press charges against someone for the crime of insulting a foreign head of state.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel leaves after a statement at the chancellery in Berlin, Friday, April 15, 2016. Chancellor Angela Merkel says the German government has granted a Turkish request to allow the possible prosecution of German TV comedian Jan Boehmermann, who wrote a crude poem about Turkey's president. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

"It's not clear what reasons weighed so heavily that she had to take this legally, politically and morally unnecessary as well as disastrous step," wrote Torsten Krauel, chief opinion writer of the center-right German daily Die Welt.

Krauel described Merkel's decision as bow to Erdogan, whose help the chancellor depends on for her plan to reduce the influx of migrants to Europe. Any conviction of comedian Jan Boehmermann would now "carry her political signature," he said, noting that previously Merkel had been known as a strong defender of free speech and for shrugging off public attacks against her in foreign media.

Others praised Merkel's move, arguing that it would highlight the independence of Germany's judicial system.

"Unlike in Russia or Turkey, innocent people don't have to fear the rule of law in this country," wrote Berthold Kohler, a publisher of the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "The Boehmermann case is therefore better left in the hands of independent judges."

The comic himself indicated that he planned to take a break from television for a while.

In a Facebook posting Saturday, Boehmermann said he had received support from "the overwhelming majority of those who aren't President Erdogan."

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2012 file photo comedian Jan Boehmermann hosts the talk show Roche & Bohmermann in Cologne, western Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to announce Friday April 15, 2016 whether her government will grant a Turkish request to allow the prosecution of the German TV comedian who wrote a crude poem about Turkeys president. (Henning Kaiser/dpa, file via AP)
How Trump can lock up GOP nomination before the convention

WASHINGTON (AP)  To all the political junkies yearning for a contested Republican convention this summer: not so fast.

It's still possible for Donald Trump to clinch the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. His path is narrow and perilous. But it's plausible and starts with a big victory Tuesday in his home state New York primary.

Trump is the only candidate with a realistic chance of reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the July convention in Cleveland. His rivals, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, can only hope to stop him.

FILE - In this April 15, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Hartford, Conn. To all the political junkies yearning for a contested Republican convention this summer: Not so fast. Its still possible for Donald Trump to clinch the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. His path is narrow and fraught with peril. But its plausible and starts with a big win on Tuesday in his home state New York primary. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

If Cruz and Kasich are successful, politicos across the country will have the summer of their dreams  a convention with an uncertain outcome. But Trump can put an end to those dreams, and he can do it without any of the 150 or so delegates who will go to the convention free to support the candidate of their choice.

What comes next isn't a prediction, but rather, a way in which Trump could win the nomination outright on June 7.

To be sure, Trump will have to start doing a lot better than he has so far. He gets that chance starting Tuesday, beginning the day with 744 delegates.

___

NEW YORK

There are 95 delegates at stake in the Empire State, and it's important for Trump to win a big majority of them. It won't be easy.

There are 14 statewide delegates and three delegates in each congressional district.

If a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the statewide vote, he gets all 14 delegates. Otherwise, he has to share them with other candidates.

If a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in a congressional district, he gets all three delegates. Otherwise, again, he has to share.

Trump leads statewide in the most recent preference polls, with right around 50 percent. New York is a large and diverse state, so he probably won't win all the congressional districts.

Let's say Trump does make it to 50 percent, but Kasich or Cruz wins five congressional districts; Trump will take 77 delegates on the night.

Trump's running total: 821 delegates.

___

APRIL 26

Five states have primaries on April 26, with 172 delegates at stake: Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island.

Pennsylvania could be trouble for Trump. The state has a unique system in which 54 delegates  three from each congressional district  are listed by name on the ballot, with no information for voters to know which candidate they support.

That means even if Trump wins Pennsylvania, he's only guaranteed to claim 17 of the state's 71 delegates.

Connecticut awards 13 delegates to the statewide winner and three to the winner of each congressional district, for a total of 28. The New York real estate mogul needs to win his neighboring state. If he does well, he could get 22 delegates.

Delaware's 16 delegates are winner-take-all, increasing the importance of this small state. If Trump loses Delaware, he has to make it up elsewhere.

Maryland awards 14 delegates to the statewide winner and three to the winner of each congressional district, for a total of 38. Recent polls show Trump with a significant lead. If he does well, he could get 32 delegates.

Trump can afford to lose Rhode Island, which awards its 19 delegates proportionally.

In all, it's a day on which we'll say Trump claims 93 delegates.

Trump's running total: 914.

___

MAY

Five states hold contests in May, with a total of 199 delegates at stake: Indiana, Nebraska, West Virginia, Oregon and Washington State.

Indiana's May 3 primary is important for Trump. The state awards 30 delegates to the statewide winner and three delegates to the winner of each congressional district, for a total of 57. If Trump can win the state and a majority of the congressional districts, he could collect 45 delegates.

West Virginia is another unique state in which voters elect 31 delegates in the May 10 primary. In West Virginia, however, the delegates will be listed on the ballot along with the presidential candidate they support. If Trump does well here, he could pick up 20 or more delegates.

Nebraska's 36 delegates are winner-take-all. But if Nebraska is like its neighbors Kansas and Iowa, two states Cruz won earlier in the race, Trump can't count on these delegates.

Oregon and Washington state award delegates proportionally, so even the losers get some.

We'll give Trump 70 delegates for the month.

Trump's running total: 984.

___

JUNE 7

This could be Trump's D-Day. Or his Waterloo.

Five states vote on June 7, with 303 delegates up for grabs. The biggest prize is California, along with New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana and New Mexico.

The only state Trump can afford to lose is New Mexico, which awards 24 delegates proportionally.

New Jersey, South Dakota and Montana are winner-take-all, with a total of 107 delegates.

California is more complicated, with 172 delegates at stake. The statewide winner gets only 13. The other 159 are awarded according to the results in individual congressional districts.

Each of the state's 53 congressional districts has three delegates. You win the district, you get all three.

For Trump to clinch the nomination on June 7  the last day of the primary season  he has to win a big majority of California's congressional districts. If he wins 39 districts, he gets 130 delegates.

On the last voting day of the primary campaign, we'll say Trump wins 242 delegates.

Trump's running total: 1,226  or 11 delegates short of the magic number.

___

OH, WAIT!

Missouri has certified the results of its March 15 primary, with Trump beating Cruz by 1,965 votes. If the results survive a potential recount, Trump wins Missouri and another 12 delegates.

Trump's total: 1,238.

Cue the balloons.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a campaign event in Hartford, Conn., Friday, April 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Military brass to gather in Vermont to highlight ROTC origin

NORTHFIELD, Vt. (AP)  Almost 200 years after Vermont native Alden Partridge set up the nation's first private military college on the banks of the Connecticut River, thousands of young women and men across the country are perpetuating his dream of having civilian-educated officers leading the nation's military.

On Thursday, some of the nation's top military officers will be at Vermont's Norwich University, the descendant of the school created by Partridge in 1819 in Norwich, Vermont, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, now known as ROTC, which produces about 70 percent of the nation's military officers.

After Partridge, an 1806 graduate of West Point, founded the school that evolved into the present-day Norwich University, the idea of civilian schools that train military officers expanded throughout the growing United States. Now about 275 colleges and universities across the country host ROTC programs.

In this April 12, 2016 photo, ROTC cadet Jacob Jasewicz squats next to an unloaded rifle that was used as part of a training exercise at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., The exercise is part of the training undergone by ROTC students at Norwich. On April 21 and 22, some of the nations top military officers will be at Norwich to commemorate the 100th anniversary of ROTC, which produces about 70 percent of the nations military officers. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)

The size of the military has grown and shrunk over the decades, but the need for young officers remains. Now as the United States eases out of 15 years of war in Afghanistan that followed years of fighting in Iraq, the Army is shrinking, but the number of officers for the regular Army, National Guard and reserves being commissioned through ROTC remains steady at just over 5,000 a year.

"We all know we are going to be fighting again," said Norwich University President Richard Schneider, whose school, now located in Northfield, is expected to commission about Army 80 officers next month. The school is also expected to commission 11 into the Air Force and 32 into the Navy and Marines.

The two-day symposium on the Norwich campus in Northfield is scheduled to be attended by 12 general and flag officers, who will be focusing on what roles ROTC and citizen soldiers will play going forward.

On Thursday evening, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, an ROTC graduate of Princeton University, will give the keynote speech. On Friday, a panel led by Gen. David Perkins, the commanding general of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, will look at the role ROTC will play in the next century.

Many of the nation's top military officers were trained to fight a traditional war against the Soviet Union. Now, threats that young officers must confront are changing daily and they must be trained to adapt, Maj. Gen. Peggy Combs, the commander of the Army's Cadet Command, which oversees the ROTC programs, told The Associated Press in an interview.

"For the future in this dynamic and evolving, very dangerous world that is unknown we have to develop an ROTC, I believe, of thinkers, folks that are confident in their ability to develop a situation, think their way through a problem, both critically, creatively, systematically and most importantly, in our business, ethically," said Combs, who attended Syracuse University as an ROTC student and ended up making the Army her career.

Before President Woodrow Wilson signed the Defense Act of 1916, Norwich and dozens of other colleges supplied officers to the military, but the soldiers, sailors and Marines received direct commissions from their branches of the armed or from their state's militia systems, said Leo Daugherty, the historian for the U.S. Army Cadet Command.

"It was very haphazard," he said.

Norwich has ROTC programs for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Over the course of those four years, the students are taught the military basics, but they are now, as Combs said, being asked to become thinkers who can lead the military against evolving threats.

"They have a wide breadth of things we have to put into their kit bags before we validate and say 'OK, This young person is the type of American that we want to put in charge of America's sons and daughters,'" said Army Col. Eric Brigham, who oversees the Army ROTC program at Norwich.

Seeing Norwich recognized for its role as the birthplace of ROTC is giving the current students a sense of pride.

"It reminds us of what our roots are and why we're here, what you can achieve and what you can do," said Norwich junior nursing student and ROTC cadet Annelies Heni, 20, of New York.

In this April 12, 2016 photo, ROTC cadet Friedrich Sala holds a rifle while preparing to jump into the pool at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt. The exercise is part of the training undergone by ROTC students at Norwich. On April 21 and 22 some of the nations top military officers will be at Norwich to commemorate the 100th anniversary of ROTC, which produces about 70 percent of the nations military officers. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)

In this April 12, 2016 photo, ROTC cadet Curt Fedoush flashes a thumbs up after completing an exercise in the pool at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt. The exercise is part of the training undergone by ROTC students at Norwich. On April 21 and 22 some of the nations top military officers will be at Norwich to commemorate the 100th anniversary of ROTC, which produces about 70 percent of the nations military officers. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)
Spain leads Italy 2-0 in Fed Cup World Group playoff

LLEIDA, Spain (AP)  Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro gave Spain a 2-0 lead over Italy after winning the opening matches of their Fed Cup World Group playoff on Saturday.

Fourth-ranked Muguruza beat Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (4), 6-0, before Suarez Navarro eased past Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1 on the outdoor red clay court in Lleida.

Schiavone was a last-minute substitute after Sara Errani strained a muscle in her right leg.

Schiavone converted her sole break chance to force a first-set tiebreaker, in which Muguruza rallied from trailing 4-2, helped by four errors in the last five points by her opponent.

The Wimbledon runner-up dominated the second set to take her Fed Cup record to 5-0.

"I was nervous early on, but in the second set I calmed down and was able to show that I could play better," Muguruza said.

Suarez Navarro broke Vinci's first service game and never looked back, cruising to Spain's second point in just over an hour.
The Latest: France's Le Pen criticizes EU refugee approach

MADRID (AP)  The Latest on Europe's migration crisis (all times local):

6:40 p.m.

France's Marine Le Pen and other far-right politicians have criticized the European Union for its approach to Europe's migration crisis.

Migrant girl poses for photo as she waiting in line to get food at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, April 16, 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)

Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, says a recent agreement between the EU and Turkey to stem the flow of migrants was "a catastrophe" for Europe. Speaking Saturday in Romania, Le Pen claimed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had given into to all demands made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The EU plans to send back some migrants to Turkey in exchange for taking some Syrian migrants now in Turkey.

Le Pen also criticized what she called "radical Islamism," a recurring theme at the "Our Europe, a Europe of Nations," conference in the Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia.

___

6:10 p.m.

A Syrian refugee who has made it to Germany is back in Greece trying to get his family out of a makeshift refugee camp.

Bassel Al-Khalaf, 25, has been living in Germany for a year and a half. But for the last six days he has been staying in a tent at the refugee camp in the northern Greek border town of Idomeni, reunited with his wife, Hannaa Al-Ahmad, 24, and his 1-year-old daughter, Sahinas.

He says "I came to try and take them with me .... but I've been told reunions take a long time." Al-Khalaf plans to go to the German Embassy in Athens, having collected the necessary paperwork.

His wife and daughter had made it as far as Macedonia before a series of European nations shut their borders to migrants in March. Macedonian authorities pushed them back to Greece.

___

3:40 p.m.

Spain's maritime rescue service says it has deployed ships and aircraft in a search for a boat believed to be carrying 27 people in the southern Mediterranean Sea.

The service said a Spanish Navy ship joined in the search Saturday for the boat that is thought to be transporting migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa.

Rescuers on Friday picked up 76 migrants, including 22 who had disembarked from a boat onto a small Mediterranean island and 54 who had been aboard a small boat.

Thousands of migrants try to reach Spain each year either by attempting to enter the country's north African enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta or by making perilous sea crossings to the mainland.

Migrant man with German passport Bassel Alkhalaf, 25, looks out from his tent where he has been reunited with his family at the refugee camp in Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Bassel Alkhalaf came to Idomeni camp to be reunited with his wife Hanna Alahmad, 24, and daughter Shahinas, who both travelled from Syria and now stay at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, with some 12,000 others hoping that the border will reopen.(AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Migrant woman waits in line to get food at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, April 16, 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)

Migrant man with German passport Bassel Alkhalaf, 25, plays with his daughter Shahinas, in the shade of their tent, at the refugee camp in Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Bassel Alkhalaf came to Idomeni camp to be reunited with his wife Hanna Alahmad, 24, and daughter Shahinas, who both travelled from Syria and now stay at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, with some 12,000 others hoping that the border will reopen. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Migrant girl poses for photo as she waits in line to get food at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, April 16, 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)

Migrant women prepare food inside of their tent at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Saturday, April 16, 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)
Refugees in Greece overwhelmed by pope's visit to Lesbos

MYTILENE, Greece (AP)  For some refugees, when it came time to actually meet Pope Francis, the tears just began to flow.

Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, whose shores have seen the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people making their way toward Europe.

Francis, along with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, and the head of the Church of Greece Archbishop Ieronymos, visited the Moria camp, which has been converted into a detention center as part of a controversial European Union-Turkey deal under which new arrivals are slated for deportation back to Turkey.

Pope Francis blesses a man kneeling in front of him, at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Several people at the camp cried upon meeting the pope. One man sobbed uncontrollably as he knelt before Francis, his shoulders shaking as he lowered his head and implored the pontiff for his blessing. "Thank you, God. Thank you! Please Father, bless me!" he cried.

A little boy in a stripped T-shirt smiled as he ducked between the bars of a barrier to kiss the pope's hand while his mother held him.

As the religious leaders left the camp, a woman wearing a crucifix around her neck struggled to break through a security cordon to see the pope. She managed, kneeling at his feet as she wept uncontrollably. The pontiff laid his hand on her head, and security personnel gently raised her to her feet before she walked away, wiping tears from her cheeks.

Others not among those selected to meet the pope held up banners of cardboard or paper with slogans in marker pen. One little boy held up a white piece of paper with his appeal in red pen, hearts decorating some of the letters: "Let me go to Dady (daddy) please."

Pope Francis caresses a child as he meets migrants at the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis' Saturday visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, whose shores have seen the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people making their way toward Europe, might have been brief but it was highly emotional, with some of the refugees and migrants he met breaking down and weeping at his feet. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP)

An unidentified protester, right, is detained by a plain clothed coast guard officer after trying to display a banner during a speech by Pope Francis on the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Earlier, the Pope and Orthodox religious leaders visited refugees at a detention camp. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Pope Francis meets refugees at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Migrants wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis, background, speaks at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Migrants stand behind a fence as they wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Migrants wait for Pope Francis to arrive at the Moria refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis travelled Saturday to Greece for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention center as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis meets migrants at the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis Saturday visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, whose shores have seen the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people making their way toward Europe, might have been brief but it was highly emotional, with some of the refugees and migrants he met breaking down and weeping at his feet. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP)
Mexico's defense secretary apologizes for torture incident

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico's defense secretary formally apologized to the country Saturday for a video-recorded incident of torture involving two soldiers and a federal police officer.

Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda addressed a sea of green-uniformed soldiers in a televised address that illustrated just how damaging the graphic torture video has been for the institution.

"In the name of all who make up this great institution, I offer a sincere apology to all of society offended by this unacceptable event," Cienfuegos said. He urged soldiers and citizens to come forward to report other abuses.

Mexico's Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda speaks to soldiers at the Number 1 military camp in Mexico City, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Cienfuegos formally apologized to the country for a video-recorded incident of torture involving two soldiers and a federal police officer. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Torture by police and armed forces has long been criticized as a far too common technique for extracting information or confessions from suspects.

But the video of a young woman having a rifle muzzle pressed to her head by a female military police officer and having a plastic bag placed over her head by a female federal police officer has stirred outrage. The incident occurred Feb. 5, 2015, in Ajuchitlan del Progreso in the southern state of Guerrero. The state has seen a massive deployment of soldiers and federal police to battle the drug cartels.

Cienfuegos said such acts "not only denigrate us as soldiers but also betray the confidence that this institution has earned day by day."

"Let it be clear: We must not, nor can we confront illegality with more illegality," he said.

In the past, the military has assumed a much more defensive position when confronting allegations of abuse. The widely circulated video made that impossible.

"Unfortunately they only give these apologies when they have no choice, when there is no alternative because the images are irrefutably captured in a video," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. The usual reaction is to deny and even cover up incidents, he said. "The lesson that these soldiers and officers take away is not to take photographs much less leave evidence like a video."

Since former President Felipe Calderon stepped up the country's battle with drug cartels in December 2006, the military has assumed a more active role in internal security and that has continued under his successor, President Enrique Pena Nieto. In some areas soldiers took over policing duties as corrupt local police forces were disarmed and disbanded.

International and domestic human rights organizations have been highly critical of this role and the abuses they say it brought.

In February, Mexico's Navy announced that it was investigating several marines for allegedly torturing and sexually abusing six female suspects in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz in 2012. Mexico National Human Rights Commission had recommended the investigation.

In October 2015, it was announced that the United Nations Committee Against Torture found Mexican soldiers had tortured four men with beatings, asphyxiation and electric shocks in the northern state of Baja California in 2009.

That same month, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, recommended that the government set "a time frame for the withdrawal of the military from public security functions."

In December 2014, the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on Torture published a report that concluded that "torture is generalized in Mexico. It occurs especially from the moment when a person is detained until he or she is brought before a judge, and is used as punishment and as a means of investigation."

On Thursday, two federal security officials told The Associated Press that the suspect in the video has been in prison for more than a year on weapons charges. One of the sources, who both requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak about the case, said the federal police officer in the video had been identified and was being held at a federal police installation. She had not been charged.

The two soldiers are being held in a military prison and Cienfuegos said Saturday that in addition to military justice, they will be investigated by federal prosecutors for crimes against a civilian.

The attorney general's office said Thursday it had opened a torture investigation.

__

Associated Press writer E. Eduardo Castillo contributed to this report.

Soldiers respond to Mexico's Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda at the Number 1 military camp in Mexico City, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Cienfuegos formally apologized to the country for a video-recorded incident of torture involving two soldiers and a federal police officer. He urged soldiers and citizens to come forward to report other abuses. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Soldiers salute Mexico's Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda at the Number 1 military camp in Mexico City, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Cienfuegos formally apologized to the country for a video-recorded incident of torture involving two soldiers and a federal police officer. He urged soldiers and citizens to come forward to report other abuses. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Mexico's Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, center, salutes soldiers at the Number 1 military camp in Mexico City, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Cienfuegos formally apologized to the country for a video-recorded incident of torture involving two soldiers and a federal police officer. He urged soldiers and citizens to come forward to report other abuses. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Soldiers wait for the arrival to Mexico's Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda at the Number 1 military camp in Mexico City, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Cienfuegos formally apologized to the country for a video-recorded incident of torture involving two soldiers and a federal police officer. He urged soldiers and citizens to come forward to report other abuses. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

This screengrab of a video posted on several youtube sites on April 14, 2016 shows a plastic bag held tight over a woman's head by an unidentified federal police officer in an unknown location in Mexico. Two Mexican soldiers face military charges after this video surfaced of them helping a federal police officer torture a female suspect. It's unclear if the police officer faces charges. Mexico's Defense Department says the events occurred Feb. 4, 2015 in a small mountain town in southern Guerrero state. (via AP)
German, French foreign ministers in Libya in show of support

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP)  The German and French foreign ministers said Saturday while on a joint visit to Libya that the country's new U.N.-brokered unity government has the international community and Europe's full support.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, that he believes only Libyans are able to rebuild their national institutions and fight the Islamic State group, which has exploited the chaos over the past two years in Libya to establish a foothold in the country.

The visit by Steinmeier and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault follows a Thursday visit by the ambassadors of France, Britain and Spain who pledged to reopen embassies closed two years ago because of instability in the country.

"We know that a fresh start for public institutions is difficult. We know how difficult it is to rally loyal security forces behind this government, and we certainly don't underestimate the task required to combat the tumor of Daesh," said Steinmeier, with reference to the Islamic State group's Arabic acronym. "But we also know that only the Libyans themselves can shoulder this task in the end."

The country slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with an array of militias, including Islamic extremists, carving out fiefdoms and backing rival authorities.

Most foreign embassies closed in 2014 as Tripoli descended into heavy clashes between militias supporting rival camps. The country has split it into rival governments and parliaments: an outdated parliament and a government backed by a set of Islamist militias and seated in Tripoli, and second parliament and its government based in eastern Libya, which had been internationally recognized as legitimate.

Western nations now hope the U.N.-backed government of prime minister-designate Fayez Serraj can unite the country in order to combat an increasingly powerful Islamic State affiliate.

Steinmeier said the two ministers had brought medical aid with them on their trip and would provide support for various efforts to rebuild infrastructure and provide security in Libya.

The government, known as the Government of National Accord or the GNA, has yet to receive an endorsement from the eastern parliament, which is Libya's last elected House of Representatives. A vote is scheduled to take place on April 18.

The eastern parliament fears sweeping changes in the leadership of the Libyan army, currently led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter who has led a two-year campaign against Islamic extremists in the eastern city of Benghazi. In an interview last week, Hifter told the Egyptian Al-Ahram Al-Arabi magazine that Libya's army will support the unity government if it wins the eastern parliament's endorsement.

"We want to help the people of Libya feel that the political agreement is linked to the possibility of leading a life in peace and security once again," Steinmeier said.

Serraj arrived in Tripoli by sea on March 30 and has so far been able to rally support from Tripoli's militias and many of the municipal councils in western Libya. The Central Bank and state-run National Oil Corporation have also backed Serraj's unity government.
Turkey and Iran seek closer economic cooperation

ISTANBUL (AP)  Turkey and Iran agreed Saturday to boost economic cooperation between their neighboring nations, aiming to triple their trade to reach $30 billion annually, Turkey's president said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, speaking Saturday at a joint press conference in Ankara, prioritized banking cooperation and easing custom duties to foster investment and increased trade. They also hope to boost tourism between their citizens, a sector that took a hit in Turkey after deadly suicide bombings in Ankara and Istanbul.

Rouhani said his country could fulfill Turkey's energy needs  the country already imports natural gas from Iran.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a joint news conference with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Rouhani is in Turkish capital for a one-day official visit.( AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Iran has been seeking to integrate into the global financial system since nuclear-related sanctions were lifted in January, but has accused the U.S. and the European Union of shutting it out despite the deal.

Erdogan said the two nations, which are at odds over Syria, should work together "to tackle the problems of sectarianism and terrorism" that are shaking the region.

The conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have fanned sectarian tensions in the Middle East and widened the divide between pre-dominantly Shiite Iran and the Sunni powerhouse of Saudi Arabia, an ally of Turkey.

Iran was singled out Friday as a supporter of terrorism in the closing declaration of a summit of the Organization of Islamic Countries in Istanbul that gathered representatives from across the Muslim world.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani listens to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a joint news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Rouhani is in Turkish capital for a one-day official visit.( AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, left, and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan speak during a joint news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Rouhani is in Turkish capital for a one-day official visit. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani arrive for a joint news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Rouhani is in Turkish capital for a one-day official visit.( AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
Endangered seals start journey home after rehab

ABOARD US COAST GUARD HC-130 HERCULES (AP)  A U.S. Coast Guard airplane rumbled down an airstrip on Hawaii's Big Island, carrying hundreds of pounds of rare and precious cargo: seven endangered Hawaiian monk seals.

Federal officials found most of the young animals malnourished late last year in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the northernmost islands and atolls in the Hawaiian Islands chain.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration brought the seals to the nonprofit Marine Mammal Center on the Big Island, which nursed them back to health.

In this Feb. 1, 2016 photo released by The Marine Mammal Center, Moo, an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, participates in rehab after being rescued and admitted to the Marine Mammal Centers Big Island seal hospital in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Seven seals were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at the marine hospital in Hawaii. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu Thursday, April 14, 2016 for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (Julie Steelman /The Marine Mammal Center via AP)

Now rehabilitated, they have started their journey home.

The Coast Guard loaded the seals on a HC-130 Hercules plane Thursday and flew them to Honolulu. The Associated Press was on the flight.

The animals will stay in a NOAA facility on Oahu until they embark on a roughly weeklong journey by boat back to their home islands. One will return to the privately owned island of Niihau.

Monk seals number only about 1,200 worldwide, and they all live in the main or Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, federal officials said.

Fewer than one in five survive their first year in the uninhabited islands because of threats including predation, entanglement and environmental changes, according to the California-based Marine Mammal Center.

All those being transported Thursday were female, said Michelle Barbieri, a NOAA veterinarian with the Monk Seal Research Program who was aboard the flight.

"We focus our efforts on female seals because they're going to grow up and contribute to the population in the future," Barbieri said.

While in rehab, the seals were nursed to a healthy weight to help increase their odds of survival, initially receiving fish mash through a feeding tube. They later were taught to catch and eat fish, with little human intervention, so they can hunt for themselves when they return to the wild.

"We don't want them to become habituated to people or associate food with people," Shawn Johnson, director of veterinarian science for the Marine Mammal Center, said in a telephone interview Friday. "So we can't go out there and hand-feed them."

He said he hopes the center can reintroduce 10 to 15 seals per year, which could have a dramatic effect on the population in years to come. The facility has successfully released eight seals so far, but this group was its biggest recovery and release effort to date.

Eric Roberts, a Coast Guard marine mammal response coordinator, helped bring the pups to the hospital and was there to escort them home.

"At the Coast Guard, we pride ourselves on being lifesavers, and this is a unique opportunity where we can actually contribute to saving a species," Roberts said.

Rescuers normally transport only one or two seals at a time, making Thursday's effort "historic" and a major boost for the overall population, which is declining by about 4 percent per year, said David Scholfield, a NOAA response coordinator for the Pacific Islands.

"These seven animals would have died," Scholfield said. "So getting them back to health and having them potentially reproduce in the wild, and produce offspring, has a many magnitude effect."

All seals that are released are equipped with tags so scientists can monitor their health, Johnson said.

Kevin Deininger, a United States Coast Guard loadmaster, smiles at one of seven endangered Hawaiian monk seals that were being transported from Hawaiis Big Island to Honolulu, Thursday, April 14, 2016 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The seven seal pups were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at a marine mammal hospital on the Big Island. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back Honolulu Thursday for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

ADDS MONK SEAL TO THE SUBJECT - An endangered Hawaiian monk seal looks out from her container as she is transported from Hawaiis Big Island to Honolulu, Thursday, April 14, 2016, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Seven seal were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at a marine mammal hospital on the Big Island. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu Thursday for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

Coast Guard and NOAA officials unload an endangered Hawaiian monk seal after a flight from Kailua Kona, Hawaii to Honolulu, Thursday, April 14, 2016. Seven endangered Hawaiian monk seals that were found abandoned or malnourished have begun their trip back to their remote island homes after being rescued and rehabilitated. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rescued the seal pups several months ago on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the northernmost islands and atolls in the Hawaiian Islands chain. The nonprofit Marine Mammal Center's monk seal hospital on Hawaii's Big Island then nursed them back to health. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

In this Sept. 8, 2015 photo released by The Marine Mammal Center, Kilo, an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, rests after being rescued and admitted to the Marine Mammal Centers Big Island seal hospital in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Seven seals were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at the marine hospital in Hawaii. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu Thursday, April 14, 2016 for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (Julie Steelman /The Marine Mammal Center via AP)

In this Nov. 7, 2015 photo, Moo, an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, rests after being rescued and admitted to the Marine Mammal Centers Big Island seal hospital in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Seven seals were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at the marine hospital. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu Thursday, April 14, 2016 for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (The Marine Mammal Center, Julie Steelman via AP)

A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules is prepared for takeoff, Thursday April 14, 2016 in Honolulu. Seven endangered Hawaiian monk seals that were found abandoned or malnourished late last year began their trip back to their remote island homes Thursday after being rescued and rehabilitated. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found most of the seal pups on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the northernmost islands and atolls in the Hawaiian Islands chain. The nonprofit Marine Mammal Centers monk seal hospital on Hawaiis Big Island then nursed the animals back to health. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

U.S. Coast Guard pilot Lt. Eric Casida, left, and co-pilot Lt. j.g. Kevin Knaup, right, fly a HC-130 Hercules from Honolulu to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Thursday, April 14, 2016. The crew was transporting seven endangered Hawaiian monk seals back to Honolulu. The seals were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at a marine mammal hospital on the Big Island. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu Thursday for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

An endangered Hawaiian monk seal looks out from her container as she is transported from Hawaiis Big Island to Honolulu, Thursday, April 14, 2016, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Seven seal were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at a marine mammal hospital on the Big Island. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu on Thursday for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

An endangered Hawaiian monk seal looks out from her container as she is transported from Hawaiis Big Island to Honolulu, Thursday, April 14, 2016, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Seven seal were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at a marine mammal hospital on the Big Island. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu on Thursday for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

In this April 11, 2016 photo, Kilo, an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, lays next to a poll after being treated at the Marine Mammal Centers Big Island seal hospital in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Seven seals were found either abandoned or malnourished and were rescued by federal officials and then rehabilitated at the marine hospital. The Coast Guard picked them up and flew them back to Honolulu Thursday, April 14, 2016 for the first leg of their trip back to their native Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (The Marine Mammal Center, Julie Steelman via AP)
Man leaves anonymous $1,000 tip for college-bound waitress

GUN BARREL CITY, Texas (AP)  A customer eating alone at a Texas restaurant left a big surprise behind for an 18-year-old waitress  a $1,000 tip.

Alesha Palmer says she was so stunned by the gift she began crying in the middle of Vetoni's Italian Restaurant in Gun Barrel City, a small community about 50 miles southeast of Dallas.

The high school senior told Tyler television station KLTV (http://bit.ly/1VrIF15 ) that she was serving a couple she knew last weekend and they asked about her college plans. She says she told them her parents would be helping her pay for it.

Another customer who was seated nearby got up to leave and approached the restaurant owner. She says after he left, she asked if everything was all right and her boss showed her the receipt with the huge tip from the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

___
Plucked from the uncertainty of Lesbos: 12 Syrian refugees

ROME (AP)  Pope Francis says his gesture is "a drop of water in the sea" of Europe's migration crisis. Yet for 12 Syrian refugees, the pope's decision to fly them back to Italy from Greece is an act of kindness that will resonate for the rest of their lives.

"Thanks be to God," exulted Wafa, mother of two children who made the trip with her husband Osama as she arrived in Rome. "I thank the pope for this very human gesture."

The three Muslim families, including six children, had all fled their homes amid the devastation of Syria's civil war. They were plucked from a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, where they have been stranded for weeks. They were chosen because they had their documents in order, not to make a political point to Europe about the need to better integrate Muslims, the pope said.

Pope Francis greets a group of Syrian refugees upon lading at Rome's Ciampino airport Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

"Their privilege is that they are children of God," Francis told reporters en route home to Italy after an emotional trip to Lesbos on Saturday.

The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. The mothers were given red roses, and they were applauded as they arrived.

Sant'Egidio released some details about the refugees but didn't give any of their last names due to privacy concerns.

Hasan and Nour, both engineers, and their 2-year-old son fled their home in Zabadani, a mountainous area on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus that has been heavily bombed. They headed to Turkey and took a boat across the Aegean Sea to Lesbos, like hundreds of thousands before them, hoping to reach Europe. But Austria and several Balkan nations shut their borders to refugees in early March, stranding more than 50,000 people in Greece.

Ramy and Suhila, a couple in their 50s, came from Deir el-Zour, a Syrian city close to the Iraqi border which has been devastated in street-by-street fighting between Islamic State militants and government troops. They arrived in Greece with their three children in February via Turkey. Ramy is a teacher, Suhila a tailor, Sant'Egidio said.

The third family, Osama and Wafa, hail from the Damascus suburb of Zamalka. Their youngest still wakes each night  and even stopped speaking for a time  apparently due to the trauma of the war and the journey to Europe.

They were selected after being identified as vulnerable and deserving of humanitarian protection, and after being interviewed about their hopes for settlement in Europe, said Daniela Pompei, the Sant'Egidio official who helped facilitate the project. She said all 12 had been registered as asylum-seekers in Greece but will now actually make their requests in Italy.

They had all arrived in Lesbos in the past two months, meaning they had lived through the brunt of Syria's civil war, she said.

"They resisted for five years," she said.

Francis said his decision to bring the refugees to Italy was a "purely humanitarian" gesture and not a political act.

Many human rights groups have criticized the European Union's new policy of deporting some migrants back to Turkey. The Vatican made sure that all 12 it selected Saturday had arrived on Lesbos before a March 20 deadline, and were not subject to any possible deportation to Turkey.

Speaking on the flight home with the refugees sitting behind him, Francis said the idea of bringing some refugees back came to him only a week ago from a Vatican official. He said he accepted it "immediately" because it was in keeping with the message of humanity that he wanted to send with his trip to Lesbos.

Francis said the Vatican would take full responsibility for the 12 Syrians. He said two Christian families had been on the original list, but they didn't have their documents in order.

Hundreds of migrants have died in the Aegean Sea this year as the flimsy dinghies supplied by smuggling gangs sink or capsize.

The pope cited Mother Teresa in responding to a question about whether his gesture of bringing 12 refugees to Italy would change the debate about Europe's migrant crisis.

"It's a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same," he said.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

___

Elena Becatoros contributed from Athens.

Pope Francis greets a group of Syrian refugees upon landing at Rome's Ciampino airport Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis shows drawings made by children on his flight back to Rome following a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Syrian refugees arrive at St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece three Muslim families who were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Syrian refugee Wafa, no last name available, holds a red rose as she arrives with her family at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Wafa and her family are part of three Muslim families that Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece, where they were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis greets a group of Syrian refugees upon landing at Rome's Ciampino airport Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Pope Francis greets a group of Syrian refugees upon landing at Rome's Ciampino airport Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

A group of Syrian refugees board a plane at the airport of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Two-year-old Riad sleeps on the shoulder of his father Hasan, no last name available, as they arrive at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Hasan and his family are part of three Muslim families that Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece, where they were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A group of Syrian refugees board a plane at the airport of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

A group of Syrian refugees arrive to board a plane at the airport of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

A group of Syrian refugees wait to board a plane at the airport of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis gave Europe a provocative and concrete lesson in how to treat refugees Saturday by bringing home 12 Syrian Muslims aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos. (Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP)

Syrian refugee Nour, no last name available, smiles back as she enters the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Nour and her family are part of three Muslim families that Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece, where they were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Guests of the St. Egidio Community hold up a welcoming banner with writing in Italian reading "Thank you Pope Francis" as they welcome a group of 12 Syrian refugees, in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy three Muslim families from Greece, where they were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis, right, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, left, prepare to toss floral wreaths into the sea on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday, April 16, 2016. The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have conducted a prayer ceremony for refugees at the port of Mytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos where hundreds of thousands of have passed through on perilous journeys from the Turkish coast toward Europe. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP)

Journalists surround Syrian refugee Suhila, wearing a head scarf, no last name available, and her daughter Masa as they arrive at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, Saturday, April 16, 2016. Suhila and her family are part of three Muslim families that Pope Francis flew back with him to Italy from Greece, where they were in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Ex-Newcastle players congratulated me after tribunal decision - Jonas Gutierrez

Jonas Gutierrez has revealed he received messages of congratulations from several former Newcastle team-mates after winning his disability discrimination claim against the club.

An employment tribunal on Thursday found the midfielder was ditched by the Magpies because he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Gutierrez, now at Deportivo La Coruna in Spain, spent seven seasons with Newcastle after joining the club in 2008 .

Jonas Gutierrez spent seven seasons at Newcastle

"Yesterday they (former players) called me telling me congrats about the decision of the court," the Argentinian said on Sportshour on BBC World Service.

"I have good pals from my times over there, players that I've been playing a long period (with), like Perchy (James Perch), Ryan Taylor, (Dan) Gosling, Robbie Elliot.

"I've been talking with them, they can't understand as well the way they treat me.

"When the courts announce (the verdict) they call me and say congrats. They know (what) I had to go through, they send me congratulations for that."
Gulf-backed Yemeni forces seize city from al Qaeda - military source

ADEN, April 15 (Reuters) - Yemeni forces backed by Apache helicopters from a Saudi-led coalition wrested the city of Houta from al Qaeda fighters after a gun battle on Friday morning, a local military official said.

Hours later, a car bomb detonated outside the foreign ministry in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, causing no casualties, another local official said. Islamic State claimed responsibility in a posting on its al-Amaq news agency website.

The recapture of Houta, regional capital of southern Lahj province which has been held by the militants since last summer, is one of the embattled Yemeni government's most important inroads yet against al Qaeda forces who have taken advantage of more than a year of war to seize territory.

Government troops began their attack at daybreak and succeeded after several hours of air strikes and heavy combat, the military official told Reuters.

"The campaign to control Houta has been completed and it has been cleansed of al Qaeda and extremist elements," he said. Several people were killed and injured on both sides and 48 militants were captured, he added.

Saudi Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies entered Yemen's civil war on March 26 last year in support of Yemen's internationally recognised government after it had been pushed into exile by the Iran-allied Houthi group.

Amid impoverished Yemen's security chaos, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) seized the port city of Mukalla and extended its area of control and influence about 600 km (370 miles) along Yemen's southern coast toward the government seat at Aden.

Forces loyal to President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi have been repeatedly attacked by al Qaeda and Islamic State militants as the embattled administration struggles to secure Aden and the southern provinces where the fighters thrive.

A Reuters investigation this month revealed that the group earns up to $2 million every day by taxing imports of basic goods and fuel.
Slovenian banks paid 191 mln euros into new rescue fund

LJUBLJANA, April 15 (Reuters) - Slovenian banks have paid 191 million euros into a bank rescue fund established in March last year to avoid the need for further state aid, the Bank of Slovenia said in a report on Friday.

The fund, which is managed by the central bank and will be operational until the end of 2024, was set up after Slovenia only narrowly avoided an international bailout for its banks. No lender has had to resort to the fund as yet.

The banks had to pay the equivalent of 1.3 percent of all their state-guaranteed deposits into the fund and must keep funds equivalent to 1 percent of those deposits liquid, in case they need to be called on for any rescue.

In 2013, the government had to pour more than 3 billion euros into local banks, which are mostly state-owned, to prevent them from collapsing under a large amount of bad loans and thereby avoided the need for an international bailout.
Caixabank to lay off around 500 workers in Spain

MADRID, April 15 (Reuters) - Spain's Caixabank plans to lay off around 500 workers, mostly in its home region of Catalonia, the bank and a union said on Friday, joining a growing list of Spanish lenders trimming costs as part of a domestic overhaul.

Under pressure to cut costs, Spanish banks including leader Santander are shutting small domestic branches and laying off hundreds of employees in response to rising regulatory costs and a push into digital services.

Barcelona-based Caixabank was one of Spain's most expansive banks during the financial crisis as it attempted to offset falling profitability in its domestic market by buying up smaller savings banks hit hard by a property market crash.

As a result, Caixabank is the biggest lender in Spain in terms of branches with more than 5,200 domestic offices as of 2015. The lender has around 32,200 employees in total internationally.

Caixabank said in a statement it sought to lay off up to 484 employees through voluntary and early retirements and would offer them 75 percent of their annual gross salary as compensation.

Union CCOO said it would call on the bank to hire new employees to reduce the burden on its current staff.

Spanish banks have been cutting costs since a 2012 financial crisis. Profits have since recovered, but Spain still has among the highest number of bank branches per person of any country in the world.
Kerry tells Russia to press Assad to comply with Syria ceasefire

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - There is an "urgent need" for the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop violating the ceasefire in Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday, and called on Russia to help, the State Department said.

It said Kerry, in a telephone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said "The United States expected Russia to urge the regime to comply with the cessation and that we would work with the opposition to do the same."

The United States knows that some of the Syrian government actions in and around the city of Aleppo are being backed by Russian air strikes, State Depart spokesman John Kirby said at a news briefing.

He said Kerry made clear to Lavrov that the United States was concerned about credible reports of violation in and around Aleppo, "and to the degree that they are aided and abetted by Russian air strikes - yes that's a matter of concern for us."
Protesters nationwide denounce big money in U.S. politics

By Valerie Vande Panne and Richard Cowan

BOSTON/WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Conservative and independent protesters channeling themes from the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders dumped faux contributions into Boston Harbor on Friday, one of some 30 nationwide demonstrations planned against big money in politics.

In Washington, police arrested 142 members of a more liberal group called Democracy Spring including 12 who cuffed themselves inside the Capitol Rotunda to protest the influence of special interests and to denounce laws making it more difficult to vote.

Nearly 1,000 Democracy Spring demonstrators have been arrested in Washington this week.

Both the week-long protests in Washington and Friday's nationwide demonstrations led by the activist group Represent.Us have tapped into some of the voter frustration seen on the presidential campaign trail.

"From super PACs (political action committees) to lucrative job offers and campaign contributions, there are tons of perfectly legal ways to bribe a politician," said Charlotte Hill, communications director for Represent.Us.

The group, which has promoted anti-corruption resolutions in American cities, says it neither endorses nor opposes any presidential candidate. Represent.Us said it would stage events in 33 cities.

Trump, a billionaire Republican, and Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist running for the Democratic nomination, have both criticized the influence of large campaign contributions in their surprising runs for the White House.

"It doesn't matter if you're conservative or progressive. Two hundred and forty-three years after the original Boston Tea Party, Americans of all political stripes are still facing taxation without political representation," said Dan Krassner, political director of Represent.Us.

About 40 activists attended the symbolic re-staging of the Boston Tea Party near the spot where American colonists dumped tea into the harbor to protest taxes levied by the British. Represent.Us activists tossed a stack of wooden crates into the water, representing campaign contributions.

In Washington on Friday, Democracy Spring activists cuffed themselves to scaffolding in the Capitol Rotunda.

"We the people demand a democracy free from the corruption influence of big money and voter suppression," the protesters said in unison.

Another 130 were arrested for unlawful demonstrations, Capitol Police said. A few hundred chanting demonstrators marched up Capitol Hill with signs saying "Sweep Big Money out of Politics" and "Corporations are not people." They also protested the high cost of college loans, economic inequality and fracking.
U.S. Air Force looks to help Latin America fight illegal drugs

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Air Force Secretary Deborah James said on Friday she was looking at ways to help Latin American partners boost the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, possibly by increasing the number of Air Force training flights to the region.

James, who just returned from a tour of South America, gave examples of what the Air Force could accomplish by sending more training flights to the region to do double-duty in the drug- and crime-fighting effort.

In one case in March a B-1 bomber on a training mission in the Caribbean spotted a suspicious vessel in the water and conducted a low-level pass to try to identify the boat and what it was doing, she told a briefing.

"Sure enough, it was drug smugglers," James said. "Upon seeing the B-1 performing this maneuver, they panicked and they threw the drugs overboard."

The U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force working on counternarcotics operations in the region estimated the smugglers dumped about 500 kg (1,100 pounds) of cocaine in the sea, she said.

James said a B-52 bomber participating in an air show in Chile while she was there had also conducted some of its nuclear training procedures while en route and had practiced aerial intercept missions with Colombian forces concerned about drug trafficking.

"I'm going to be looking for additional ways to replicate these types of examples more broadly to leverage other training missions, other aircraft, perhaps helicopter sorties and more," she said.

James noted, however, that tensions and conflict in other areas of the world mean the United States has fewer resources to devote to helping neighbors in its own region.

"A little U.S. goes a long way in much of Latin America," she said.

James visited Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Colombia on her trip. While in Chile she also met counterparts from Honduras, Spain, Peru, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.
Pope says its crazy to see his meeting with Bernie Sanders as political

By Philip Pullella

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, April 16 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday that his meeting with Bernie Sanders, contesting the Democratic candidacy for the U.S. Presidency, was not meddling in politics and that anyone who thought otherwise should "look for a psychiatrist".

Sanders and the pope met briefly on Saturday morning at the Vatican guest house where Francis lives and where Sanders and his wife spent the night after he addressed a Vatican conference on social justice.

"When I came down, I greeted him, I shook his hand and nothing more. This is called good manners and it is not getting involved in politics," the pope told reporters in answer to a question aboard the plane returning from the Greek island of Lesbos, where he visited a refugee camp..

"If anyone thinks that greeting someone is getting involved in politics, I recommend that he look for a psychiatrist," he said, laughing.

In an interview with ABC News after the meeting, Sanders called the pope "a beautiful man", adding "I am not a Catholic, but there is a radiance that comes from him."

"I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the planet and injecting the need for morality in the global economy," Sanders, a Brooklyn-born son of Polish Jewish immigrants, told ABC.

The Democratic hopeful from Vermont has campaigned on a promise to rein in corporate power and level the economic playing field for working and lower-income Americans who he says have been left behind, a message echoing that of the pope.

The meeting came just days before Tuesday's Democratic party primary in New York, where polls say he is trailing Hillary Clinton. After he won seven of the last eight state contests, a loss in Sanders' home state would give front-runner Clinton a boost toward the party's presidential nomination.
South Africa's Zuma bids to win back ANC support in Mandela Bay

By Mfuneko Toyana

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa, April 16 (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma, facing pressure to resign from within his African National Congress, sought to win back support with the launch on Saturday of the party's manifesto in Port Elizabeth, where it risks losing an important local poll.

Losing power in Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, a stronghold of the ANC's fight against apartheid and named after its liberation hero, would be a symbolic blow for Zuma and his party nationally.

Zuma has faced calls to resign from within the ANC since a court ruled this month that he breached the constitution by ignoring an order to repay some of the $16 million in state funds spent renovating his private home.

Steering clear of his personal setbacks, Zuma told crowds that the ANC would do more to fight corruption, create jobs and expand access to basic services like water and electricity for millions of poor South Africans.

"A vote for the ANC is a vote for a united, non-racial, democratic, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa," Zuma told around 40,000 supporters in Nelson Mandela Stadium, less than half the number promised.

"Compatriots, local government is in your hands. Vote ANC and together we shall build better communities," Zuma concluded, before leading party leaders in traditional dance on stage and singing a favourite freedom anthem.

Before Zuma had even finished his speech, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) spammed South Africans with computer-generated text messages.

"You are hearing more empty promises from a corrupt president. We need real change," the message said.

Many South Africans are angry at corruption in the ANC and feel the liberation movement has not done enough to help lift people out of poverty since the late Nelson Mandela swept to power on a wave of optimism in 1994.

"If Madiba was still alive I would have been the first one in that stadium," Patricia Domons, 58, told Reuters at her simple home in Port Elizabeth, using Mandela's clan name.

"Now you find we have a president that steals, people are poor and they don't have jobs. Our country is going down and a hell of a lot needs to change."

STRUGGLING ECONOMY

Zuma has been partly blamed for South Africa's economic struggles after he fired two finance ministers within a week late last year, sending markets into a tailspin.

South Africa's economy is barely growing, unemployment runs above 25 percent and it is likely ratings agencies will cut its sovereign rating to "junk" status later this year.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said ahead of the launch that he was "convinced" the ANC would win the Aug. 3 vote and brushed off the effect of scandals.

The ANC will be relying on loyal supporters who don't see an obvious alternative to a party they still associate with its leading role in ending apartheid.

"We are ANC for life," Cumisa Msuthu told Reuters from the stadium where supporters danced and sang liberation songs.

"The ANC is not Zuma. We have and will always be ANC."

Zuma survived an impeachment vote last week thanks to the ANC's big majority in the 400-seat national assembly and hopes to now put the scandals that have dogged him behind. He is required by law to step down in 2019 after two five-year terms.

An Ipsos poll late last year suggested a very tight race in Mandela Bay, with the ANC winning only 43 percent of the vote against 42 percent for the combined opposition parties and 15 percent of undecided voters. The local elections around the country will choose provincial officials, metropolitan and local municipal councils and mayors.

In the 2011 local poll in Mandela Bay, where Port Elizabeth is the largest city, the ANC won 52 percent of the vote, against 40 percent for the DA.

The constitutional court ruling against Zuma and subsequent splits within the ANC may have eroded its support base further since the Ipsos poll was taken, analysts say.

Local governments manage large budgets and will be able to influence voters ahead of a presidential election in 2019.
British police arrest teenage terror suspect at Manchester airport

April 16 (Reuters) - British police arrested an 18-year-old man at Manchester airport on Saturday on suspicion of terrorism offences related to Syria's civil war.

The teenager from the central English city of Birmingham had posed no risk to the public, West Midlands Police said in a statement, without giving further details about why he was held.

The detention was not connected to Friday's arrests of five other people from Birmingham, police said. Those were linked to last month's suicide bombings in Brussels, which killed 32 people, and November's attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, a security source said.

Earlier, police in Spain arrested a couple believed to be part of a group that supported and recruited Islamic State fighters, including individuals that had carried out suicide bomb attacks in Syria.
Turkey urges cooperation with Iran to fight terrorism, sectarian strife

By Mert Ozkan

ANKARA, April 16 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday his country and neighboring Iran must work together to narrow their differences in order to tackle terrorism and sectarianism in the region.

Ankara and Tehran are on different sides of Syria's civil war, but they are looking to boost bilateral trade and improve banking relations following the lifting of international sanctions on Iran in January.

Shi'ite Iran has stood by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the uprising against him, while mainly Sunni Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics, supporting his opponents and giving refuge to rebel fighters.

"It is above all in our own countries' interest to strengthen our political dialogue and reduce our differences of opinion to a minimum," Erdogan told a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, in Ankara.

"We have to work together to overcome the problems of terrorism and sectarianism and the related humanitarian crises that are shaking our region," Erdogan said.

Erdogan's comments came a day after the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), meeting in Istanbul, accused Iran of supporting terrorism and interfering in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries including Syria and Yemen.

Sectarian divisions have flared up in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia's Sunni allies rallying behind it as it cut diplomatic ties with Iran, the region's main Shi'ite power. Turkey has close ties with Riyadh.

Besides their rivalry in Syria, Iran is allied with the Houthi movement in Yemen, which has been battling forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed president.

Meanwhile, Turkey is seeking international backing for its view that Kurdish YPG forces in Syria are a terrorist group closely linked to PKK militants fighting in southeast Turkey.

ROUHANI STRESSES BANKING

Despite the political divisions, Turkey could be one of the major beneficiaries as Rouhani, bolstered by reformist gains in February elections, pursues plans to strengthen the private sector and welcome foreign investors.

Turkey imports large amounts of natural gas from Iran and the two countries are looking to boost banking and trade ties, with the goal of tripling bilateral trade to $30 billion annually in the coming years.

"The situation is ripe for cooperation between Turkey and Iran in the post-sanctions era," Rouhani said.

"The most important part is closer ties between banks and credit lines. We decided to improve banking relations. Turkish banks can now establish branches in Iran to help facilitate economic relations between the two countries," he added.

Iran's central bank governor called on Friday on the United States and the European Union to help it access the global financial system, including assets that Tehran says were supposed to be unfrozen following the nuclear deal.
Taiwan angers China by releasing 20 deported telecom fraud suspects

SHANGHAI/TAIPEI, April 16 (Reuters) - Taiwan angered Beijing on Saturday by freeing 20 suspects in a telecom fraud case linked to China that has put more pressure on the sensitive relationship between the two countries.

Malaysia had deported the 20 people, who were part of a group of 53 Taiwanese arrested there in March on suspicion of fraud, according to the Taipei foreign ministry.

Taiwan's Executive Yuan spokesman Sun Lih-chyun told Reuters there was no legal reason to detain them.

"The evidence is not with us. It is with China," he said, noting that Taipei has been talking to Chinese counterparts on the matter so investigations can begin on the self-ruled island.

The decision was not welcomed by China.

"By releasing the suspects, Taiwan authorities disregarded many victims' interests and harmed them a second time. It also harmed the two sides' cooperation in jointly cracking down on crimes," state-run Xinhua quoted An Fengshan, the Chinese State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman, as saying.

Taiwan should give the suspects "the punishment they deserve", An was quoted by the news agency as saying.

In a statement issued Saturday, Taiwan's cabinet said that the government would not shield people suspected of crime and that it had instructed the Ministry of Justice to gather information for investigation.

Taiwan's justice ministry sent a formal letter requesting China's public security bureau to provide information on the crime once it knew the 20 suspected Taiwanese were returning to Taiwan from Malaysia, the statement said.

Separately, Taiwan has objected to the forcible deportation of more than 40 Taiwanese people to China from Kenya also on suspicion of telecom fraud.

China's Ministry of Public Security says Taiwanese people have been heavily involved in telecom fraud in China and had caused huge losses, with some victims killing themselves.
Gambia arrests opposition leaders amid reports of party member's death

DAKAR, April 16 (Reuters) - Security forces in Gambia arrested senior opposition members and their supporters on Saturday after they accused authorities of killing a party youth leader who was being held in custody after a demonstration earlier in the week, witnesses said.

Police stormed the home of Ousainu Darboe, leader of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), rounding up supporters and party officials who had gathered there, witnesses told Reuters by telephone from the capital Banjul.

Darboe was among those arrested, family members said.

He had earlier held a news conference where he demanded answers from the authorities amid reports that Solo Sandeng, the party's National Organising Secretary, had been tortured to death while in detention.

"I'm ready to die. I'm not going to ask for police permission (to demonstrate). I want to see the body of Solo, dead or alive," Darboe said, according to a witness who was present.

The government of the tiny West African nation had acknowledged making arrests following Thurday's demonstration. Police sources confirmed Sandeng had been among those detained.

The small protest, which called for election reforms and free speech protection, was a rare act of defiance and occurred while President Yahya Jammeh was in Turkey attending a summit of Islamic countries.

Government and security officials were not available to comment on Saturday, but Amnesty International said that, according to information it had received, Sandeng had died.

"The tragic death in detention of Solo Sandeng must leave no space for impunity. The authorities must conduct an immediate, thorough and independent investigation," said Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty International West Africa researcher.

Amnesty said that another detained UDP member, Fatoumata Jawara, was also believed to be suffering from serious injuries.

Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has made headlines for eccentric proclamations, including a claim to have invented a cure for HIV/AIDS and his recent surprise decision to make Gambia an Islamic republic.

But he is also regularly denounced by rights groups and foreign governments for ruthlessly stamping out political dissent in the nation of 2 million people, which is a popular beach destination for budget-minded European tourists.

The former military man, who once told a reporter he could lead Gambia for "a billion years", is expected to extend his rule in elections in December.
EU could start to train Libya forces outside country - German minister

TRIPOLI, April 16 (Reuters) - European training for Libyan forces could more realistically be started outside the country in the initial stages as part of efforts to rebuild the North African state, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Saturday.

Steinmeier and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault visited Tripoli for talks with the new Libyan unity government in a show of support to end fighting among rival factions, and combat militants and migrant trafficking.

"I think it is realistic enough to say we have to start training measures from my point of view outside of Libya," Steinmeier told reporters, when asked about European training plans. He said training could be in Libya later.
Ethiopia says South Sudanese gunmen kill 140 civilians in cross-border raid

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, April 16 (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Saturday that gunmen from South Sudan had killed 140 people in a raid in its Gambela region, and that Ethiopian troops had crossed the border to pursue the attackers.

The attack took place on Friday in the Jakaya area that straddles the border, in a region that hosts alongside a neighbouring province more than 284,000 South Sudanese refugees who fled conflict in the world's youngest nation.

"140 civilians died in the attack carried out by bandits that crossed from South Sudan," a statement from the government communications office said.

"Ethiopian troops are pursuing the bandits inside South Sudan. 60 of the assailants have been killed so far," it added.

The gunmen had no relation to South Sudanese government troops or rebel forces who fought the government in Juba in a civil war that ended with a peace deal signed last year, the body said.

South Sudanese officials were not immediately available for comment.

Under pressure from the region, the United States, the United Nations and other powers, South Sudan's feuding sides signed an initial peace deal in August and agreed to share out ministerial positions in January.

Fighting broke out in December 2013 months after President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar as vice president, exacerbating a political dispute that reopened ethnic rifts between Kiir's Dinka ethnic group and Machar's Nuer.

Machar said last week he would return to the capital Juba on April 18 to form a transitional government with Kiir.

Ethiopia's Gambela region has a sizeable Nuer population as well.
Iraq's Sadr threatens renewed protests to bring about new government

By Maher Chmaytelli and Saif Hameed

BAGHDAD, April 16 (Reuters) - Iraq's powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr warned on Saturday he would re-start protests within 72 hours if the nation's leaders failed to vote on a cabinet of technocrats proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to tackle corruption.

His warning came as influential politicians lobbied Abadi to modify his plan and appoint candidates of their choice.

The political crisis is crippling parliament and Abadi says it threatens to hamper Iraq's campaign against Islamic State militants who still control swathes of territory in the north and west of the oil-rich state.

Sadr addressed his warning to Abadi, who belongs to the Shi'ite majority, and to the two other top state officials, President Fuad Masum, a Kurd, and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, a Sunni Muslim.

"The three presidencies should coordinate in order to hold a session and present a cabinet of independent technocrats," Sadr said, demanding that current ministers resign immediately.

The cabinet overhaul should be presented "in less than 72 hours, while keeping the sit-in in parliament with unlimited popular support through peaceful protests", Sadr said.

He was referring to a lawmakers' sit-in that began on Tuesday in protest over a modified list of candidates that Abadi had planned to present for a vote under pressure from leading politicians. The dissenting MPs say it will allow corruption to continue to flourish.

Iraq, a major OPEC exporter which sits on one of the world's largest oil reserves, ranks 161th out of 168 countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

Abadi's initial line-up, presented on March 31, was made up of independent professionals who he hoped could free their ministries from the grip of dominant political groups that have built their influence and wealth on a system of patronage put in place since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

ESCALATING CRISIS

Parliament has already postponed the vote on Abadi's government overhaul three times.

The crisis escalated further on Saturday when the dissenting lawmakers refused to allow Jabouri to chair a session of parliament, prompting him to cancel it. They accuse him of failing to allow a session for them to grill Abadi over his proposed cabinet line-up.

Speaking on television on Saturday, Jabouri urged Iraq's political blocs to discuss how to end the stalemate.

"The Iraqi parliament is one ... and we wouldn't want it to convene if we are not together," he said.

Abadi announced his government overhaul in February under pressure from the Shi'ite clergy as the population continues to suffers from high unemployment and lack of basic services.
Turkish army kills 23 Kurdish militants in clashes, air strike

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, April 16 (Reuters) - Turkey's armed forces killed 23 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the latest clashes in eastern Turkey, including three militants who died in an air strike, the general staff said on Saturday.

Security sources said warplanes and attack helicopters fired on a mountainous, forested area in the eastern province of Tunceli after military drones spotted a group of about 20 PKK rebels there on Friday.

The armed forces' statement said three of the militants were killed in the air strikes.

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight for Kurdish autonomy last summer, ending a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and shattering peace efforts.

Turkish warplanes have frequently struck PKK targets since the conflict revived, mainly hitting the group's bases in northern Iraq.

Security sources said on Friday that four Turkish soldiers were killed and two wounded when a bomb hit a military vehicle travelling in the southeastern province of Mardin.

Elsewhere, in the southeast, the army killed eight PKK fighters in Silvan, six in Nusaybin and three each in the towns of Sirnak and Yuksekova on Friday, Saturday's statement said.

The government has ruled out any return to the negotiating table and has said it will crush the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.
U.S. looks to Gulf allies to help Iraq rebuild post-Islamic State

By Yeganeh Torbati

AL DHAFRA AIR BASE, United Arab Emirates, April 16 (Reuters) - U .S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday he would ask Gulf states next week to contribute to efforts to rebuild parts of Iraq devastated by the fight against Islamic State.

Carter spoke at the start of a regional trip during which he will meet leaders of Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies in the Gulf to discuss the battle against the militant group and other defence issues, such as Iranian actions in the region.

President Barack Obama will also attend the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and will meet with King Salman in Saudi Arabia.

Islamic State, also known as ISIL, has seized large portions of Iraq and Syria since 2014. Iraqi forces have won back some of the territory, such as the provincial capital of Ramadi, but often after long battles that have left the cities destroyed.

"For the defeat of ISIL to stick in Iraq and Syria, these badly broken places destroyed by ISIL, pillaged by ISIL, mistreated by ISIL, are going to need to be rebuilt," Carter said, adding that a global oil price slump was hampering Iraq's reconstruction efforts.

Iraq will need economic, political, and military help to recover, Carter said.

"Even as we're looking to make contributions in all three of those areas, so also can the Gulf partners, and we'll want to talk to them about that," he said.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other Sunni Gulf states are also major oil producers that have faced financial pressure because of low crude prices.

Carter added that Washington was looking for ways to intensify its push against Islamic State, which includes air strikes, U.S. special forces and a strategy to target the group's extensive finances, which it earns from illicit oil sales, taxation in areas it controls and other methods.

"You should expect to see us doing more," Carter said, speaking at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts about 3,500 U.S. troops as well as fighter and reconnaissance aircraft used against Islamic State.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford said in March that he expected to increase the level of U.S. forces in Iraq from the current 3,800.
Iran urges OPEC and non-OPEC members to accept its return to oil market - SHANA

DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) - Iran said it would boycott Sunday's meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC member countries in Qatar as it did not agree with a plan to freeze oil production at the January level.
We were talking Kashmir.

"Strategic stalemate" is how someone in the defence ministry put it. "With an unprecedented number of 26 terrorists killed this year and achievements before, weve hit the armed insurgency hard. If the political act does not take off now, things will go downhill. Conversely, if it takes off, the insurgency will be history."

Nearly 96 hours have lapsed since Handwara shot into international limelight. In this time, a policeman has been suspended, the Army has "regretted" the incident twice apart from assuring "action" against guilty, the political class has made the right sounding noise and the Valley remains on the boil.

All of this has happened, oddly, despite the victims denial about the Armys involvement.

A different reason rattles me. Does the Army necessarily have to be in isolated, middle-of-town pickets/bunkers, facing mobs, as in Handwara? Should it not be the local police or the Central Armed Police Forces (CRPF) job?

Why do I ask? Unlike the police/CRPF which deal with the maintenance of public order, the Army is a different breed. Trained to wage war, maim the adversary if not kill, the Army finds itself out of depth when made to deal with something which is not in its DNA.

In Handwara, an entrenched Army, facing a mob, asked the police and CRPF to come and handle the situation.

To think that this is not known to those who instigate mobs would be living in fools paradise.

If the Army is unable to move out of these duties, there is growing chorus for it to be equipped with non-lethal, riot police-like gear to deal with mobs without causing deaths.

Is that agreeable to the Army? No. Will it make sense for the Army posts to be co-manned by the police or CRPF to tackle mobs? No.

And in saying "no", the Army is only trying to keep its operational effectiveness "undiluted". In Handwara, an entrenched Army, facing a mob, asked the police and CRPF to come and handle the situation. And it was in the execution of this plan that things went wrong.

Truth be told, the Army does feel it should not have been in that bunker. "We had nearly vacated Handwara town but the police sought our presence and thus we occupied the ill-fated bunker," said an officer. It isnt something the police agreed with.

Since Handwara overlooks the main arterial highway which connects Kupwara and the Valley, there is the need to ensure that terrorists do not stage attacks, said another informed voice. "Given that Handwara is at the confluence of many infiltration routes, the Army has to remain there," added another voice.

The fact is, for reasons best known to them, the Army has allowed itself to get into "police-like" roles. Barring Srinagar, the Army across the Valley sits in roles and places it need not be.

Every town has a Rashtriya Rifles (RR) company (thumb rule: one company has 100 men) which stages itself in these posts. Headed by a young officer holding the rank of captain, he is called "Town Commander" and works, among other things, as an extension of the local police.

Is there a problem of numbers or is it a trust issue or something else that is stalling the delegation of what is "doable" for police or the CRPF?

The Army has to reorganise, reduce its footprint and focus on the bigger game. Since the last two years, the Army says it is working on just that. It now needs to speed up.

When asked, a home ministry official explained it this way, "The issue isnt that there is no one else to do the job. The issue is that while everyone else wants to, the Army doesnt want to go home.

The Armys situation is perhaps better explained in the words of American musician Eddie Vedder, who wrote in his song "Guaranteed", the following:

On bended knee is no way to be free

Lifting up an empty cup, I ask silently that all my destinations will accept the one thats me
BJPs culture warriors are at it again. The Hindutva culture apparatchiks have taken over the elite Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

The dissolution of IGNCAs board and the appointment of a new chairman and board members are yet another example of how the Modi government is pushing its Hindutva project to saffronise the culture sphere.

The IGNCAs rejig is part of the assault on institutions, which the BJP has always viewed as instruments used by those who want to advance Left and liberal ideologies to the detriment of the partys majoritarian interests.

After having announced his appointees, Union culture and tourism minister Mahesh Sharma remarked nonchalantly, "It should not come as a surprise to anyone. Change is inevitable. The new members will take the organisation to new height."

Union culture and tourism minister Mahesh Sharma.

There is indeed no surprise in the manner the government has gone about to rejig educational and cultural organisations. There is nothing surprising about the government packing education, art and culture institutions with individuals short on scholarship but high on their commitment to propagate the RSSs worldview.

The new chairman of IGNCA is Ram Bahadur Rai, a former journalist known for his links to the RSS. He has been a competent journalist but does that make him a competent and suitable person to head an elite art and culture organisation?

The stated objectives of IGNCA are to "serve as a major resource centre for arts, written, oral and visual source materials," and to "foster dialogue between arts and current ideas in philosophy, science and technology," among other such things.

Suffice it to say that the person heading IGNCA should have a proven record in art and culture, or he/she should have administrative experience.

Chinmaya Gharekhan, a former diplomat, who has been given the boot, is a man of erudition and vast international exposure. The term of the board was set to expire. So what was the hurry to dissolve it?

The history of IGNCA during its not so long existence - it was set up during the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1987- is an example of how governments mess with art and culture.

Both Congress and BJP governments are guilty of using art and culture as a handmaiden of politics. The IGNCA boards have been sacked and the incumbent governments have foisted their nominees to boards at their whims and fancies.

Had governments not treated IGNCA as their political playgrounds, this autonomous institution, which has 25 acres of prime land close to India Gate and huge resources at its disposal, would have evolved into an enviable centre of arts. But the reality is that this institution has done precious little by way of work in the spheres of art and culture.

The Nehru-Gandhi family always treated IGNCA as personal fiefdom.

One of the main reasons IGNCA has not fulfilled its mandate is because its very foundation was based on the premises of client-patron relationship. Its founder trustees were: Rajiv Gandhi (prime minister), R Venkataraman (president), PV Narasimha Rao (HRD minister), HY Sharda Prasad, Kapila Vatsyayan and Pupul Jayakar.

Leave aside the first three - ex-officio members - the other three were for life-long closely related to the Congresss first family.

Kapila Vatsyayan and Pupul Jayakar were looked upon as czarinas of culture. Whatever their contributions to culture, they were also courtiers of the Nehru-Gandhi family. They rose to pre-eminent position owing to their proximity to Indira Gandhi, continued to enjoy the patronage during Rajiv Gandhis days that continued during Sonia Gandhis time.

The Nehru-Gandhi family always treated IGNCA as personal fiefdom. The institution was set up in memory of Indira Gandhi by the government, but the idea was to turn it into a family borough.

To legitimise the family ownership, Madhavrao Scindia as HRD minister appointed Sonia Gandhi as life president and Vatsyayan as life trustee in 1995. Before that Sonia had already been nominated IGNCA president after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination.

The Vajpayee government removed them from their positions but Sonia Gandhi remained a life trustee. The Congresss return to power in 2004 brought back Vatsyayan to her favourite pasture.

If the Congress governments treated IGNCA as a pocket borough of its first family, the Modi governments intention is to convert it into an institution to promote Hindutva through art and culture.

Its not just that the government is packing institutions with individuals wedded to Hindutva ideology. More disconcerting is the quality of the people who have been chosen to head apex education, history and culture bodies.

The appointments to head such premier institutions as ICHR (Indian Council Of Historical Research), ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), FTII (Film and Television Institute of India), IIAS (Indian Institute of Advanced Study) and IGCNA show either the Modi government has nothing but contempt for erudition and scholarship, or its working on a plan to oversimplify and trivialise history and culture. The long-term plan is to blunt critical faculty and to dissuade people from asking questions.

In a nutshell, the Modi governments agenda is to dumb down history and culture and present them with as little critical evaluation as possible.

Didnt Lokesh Chandra, the ICCR chairman, describe Modi as an incarnation of god after his appointment? Gajendra Chauhan at FTII, Pahlaj Nihalani at Central Board of Film Certification, Y Sudershan Rao at ICHR, Chandrakala Padia replacing Gopal Krishna Gandhi at Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla - its a long list of individuals with questionable academic credentials heading top institutions.

The Hindutva forces know that art and culture are always the first frontier to be won but the last to be lost. Culture leaves traces of footsteps long after political power is lost.
The recently expanded Gwadar deep water port in Pakistan, which is part of the so called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is nearing completion.

According to Zhang Baozhong, chairman and CEO of China Overseas Ports Holding Company Ltd, "The port cranes are almost ready, and we are thinking that it will be (at) full operation by the end of this year."

The port will process about one million tonne of cargo next year, most of which will be incoming construction materials to be used in projects related to CPEC. The port city Gwadar, in south-western Balochistan province, is central to the CPEC.

Impediments

Pakistan's army chief has accused India of attempting to undermine the $46 billion project with China. Speaking at a development conference on the impact of CPEC, Pakistan's chief of army staff general Raheel Sharif stated, "I must highlight that India, our immediate neighbour, has openly challenged this development initiative 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."

China-Pakistan collusion against India has taken new turns recently. Despite the Modi government's attempts to improve ties with Pakistan and China, both have responded negatively so far.

The writing is on the wall and has been for quite some time. The Pakistani military-intelligence complex has no interest in a rapprochement with India; it made it a point to scuttle the growing Sharif-Modi bonhomie.

Last month, Pakistani authorities announced they captured a suspected Indian spy in Balochistan, identified as Kulbhushan Jadhav. The military also aired video footage of Jadhav, saying he was working out of his base in Chabahar in neighbouring Iran.

Gwadar port. (Reuters)

The Pakistani investigation team, which had visited Pathankot, ended up suggesting that the attack in January was in fact staged by Indian agencies. This was followed by the Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit announcing the suspension of India-Pakistani peace talks. China then turned the screws tighter and made it a point to scuttle the nascent counterterror cooperation between Delhi and Beijing.

By insisting that designation of any individual as terrorist by UN is a "serious issue", China last week blocked the UN from banning Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief and Pathankot strike mastermind Masood Azhar by the global body. The January 2 attack at Pathankot base was followed by a raid on an Indian consulate in Afghanistan that has also been linked to JeM, whose militants were also behind the 2001 attack on Indian Parliament.

Relationship

The Sino-Pakistan relationship has now moved beyond the "higher than Himalayas and sweeter than honey" phase. Chinese strategists are openly taking of Pakistan as their nation's only real ally. China's submarine operations in the Indian Ocean and the Sino-Pak naval cooperation are challenging naval supremacy and have the potential to change the regional naval power balance.

China is also busy redefining territorial status quo in the region. By deciding to construct major civil, energy and military infrastructure projects in the CPEC, which runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, China has accorded de facto "legitimacy" to Pakistan's illegal occupation of these areas. China - the world's third largest weapons exporter - has Pakistan as the top recipient of its arms.

By aiding Pakistan to set up its nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes, besides supplying conventional arms, Beijing had made sure that the India-Pakistan military balance is maintained.

China is considered a reliable ally that has always come to Pakistan's aid when India has seemed on the ascendant - so much so that China has even tacitly supported Pakistan's strategy of using terror as a policy instrument against India.

Challenge

With India ascending in the global hierarchy and strengthening its ties with the US, China's need for Pakistan is likely to grow.

This has been evident in China's polices toward Pakistan on critical issues in South Asia. A rising India makes Pakistan all the more important in China's strategy for the subcontinent. It is highly unlikely that China will give up playing the Pakistan card vis-a-vis India anytime soon. The China-Pakistan partnership serves the interests of both partners by presenting India with a potential two-front theatre in the event of war with either country.

And for China, Pakistan is increasingly important to fend off a joint India-US challenge. South Asia is emerging as an important new front in the balance of power struggle between the US and China as well as India and China, and the region's importance is only likely to increase in the coming years.

The Modi government needs to recognise that the challenges of a two-front adversarial strategic environment are only likely to intensify in the coming years.

New Delhi needs to be prepared to take on this challenge head-on. Even as India reaches out to China in the next few weeks with the visits of the national security adviser and the defence minister, it should be clear that Chinese behaviour is unlikely to change in the near future.
LYNCHBURG  After submitting a filing Friday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Dominion has taken an important step in moving forward with the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The nearly 600-mile pipeline, if approved, would cross parts of West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The pipeline would measure 42 inches in diameter and would provide natural gas to public utilities in Virginia and North Carolina, which would be used to generate electricity, as well as heat homes and businesses, according to Dominions website.

Opponents of the pipeline in Nelson and surrounding counties continue to voice staunch opposition to the project.

The Friday filing includes Dominions responses to all of FERCs environmental information requests from December and January, according to a news release. The move gives FERC the information it needs for the draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The statement will describe the effects of the proposed pipeline on several different aspects of the environment, including land, water, air quality, existing structures and wildlife, FERCs website states. The social, cultural and economic aspects also will be considered.

The FERC process has been extraordinarily thorough and comprehensive, and it has allowed us to work closely with agencies and the public to resolve the important environmental issues that have been raised, Dominion said in the release. These are important issues, and weve devoted a significant amount of time and resources to ensure they are fully addressed.

The 7,000-plus-page filing also includes updated alignment sheets, tables and information regarding the alternative routes adopted by Dominion since filing a certificate application in September.

The next step in the project is for FERC to issue a Notice of Schedule, which will set a timeline for the remainder of the review process, the release states.

Dominion said it expects to receive a certificate in early 2017, which would put it on track to reach its targeted in-service date of late 2018.
RICHMOND  Nine years after 32 people were killed by a deranged shooter at Virginia Tech, bells tolled on a postcard-pretty spring morning at Capitol Square and a father reflected on his grief.

"It doesn't get any easier," said Greg Gwaltney of Chester, whose son Matt was one of those killed on April 16, 2007 when student Seung-Hui Cho went on a meticulously planned shooting rampage. Matt, a graduate student in civil engineering, was one of three only children killed that day.

"You still think he will come down the driveway" to visit, Gwaltney said. "Christmas is extremely difficult. Spring with the birds singing, it's like just after it happened."

The day of the shooting was cold, with snow flurries in the morning that Cho set out on two separate shooting incidents. The afternoon brought 50 mph wind gusts.

"The wind was whistling," Gwaltney recalled. "It was almost like God and the devil were fighting it out."

On Saturday at 9:43 a.m., Capitol Police Officer Mathias Varga pulled the rope at the Bell Tower 32 times to toll once for each of the victims. The gathering was small and simple: no speeches, a few tears and lots of hugs.

Virginia Tech alumni in Richmond had organized a blood drive on Friday as a way of commemorating the victims and helping others, said Charlie Wood, president.

"I think to a large extent it has pulled the university together," he said, noting that alumni chapters across the nation are working on volunteer projects in remembrance and service. The Virginia Tech motto, Ut Prosim, means "That I May Serve."

Next year, the 10th anniversary date happens to come on Easter Sunday.




"We are very excited to see the State of Ohio embracing this new industry, and for our partnership with Cleveland State University," Schwarz said via statement. "Education has always been the bedrock of our workforce development efforts, and we will continue to work with CSU and other local institutions to ensure that we maintain a media production workforce on par with any other in the industry."

"This new school will provide a unique opportunity for students to receive first-rate instruction in a growing industry, while furthering the development of Cleveland as a center of film and TV production," CSU president Ronald Berkman said Friday, via Cleveland.com.





This news might also be a clue as to which way state lawmakers are leaning toward with a proposed state tax incentive increase for film productions. This past February, at Wizard World, The Daily SuperHero reported that the GCFC is hoping that Ohio lawmakers will pass a new legislation increasing the current state film tax incentives from $20M per year to $75M per year. Next month, in May, a decision is reportedly to be made on this increase. But if the state is looking to help CSU put in a brand new film school, then the writing might be on the walls that lawmakers could very well approved the proposed incentive increase.





What this all means is that Cleveland could instantly become one of the most competitive markets in the film industry right along with Georgia and Louisiana. And if/once the Ohio film incentive is increased, then sounds stages will be built with one of the ideal locations being the former Geauga Lake Amusement Park just southeast of Cleveland in Aurora. The Daily SuperHero has been told by its sources the GCFC somewhat prefers this location over other potential locations for sound stages because film studios will have access to a lake at the location for any productions where a controlled body of water might be needed.





Finally, if, and this is a big if, the state incentive increases to $75M per year then The Daily SuperHero is already well-positioned locally to be able to cover possible movies that could eventually be filming in the area. If not, then there is a good chance the website might be relocating to the Atlanta area soon so it can be more plugged into the film community there.



[Photo taken on location by The Daily SuperHero during the filming of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER in Cleveland; and it was the first photo taken, and uploaded online, of the Winter Solder's bionic arm.]









Related Posts:





You may or may not know this but The Daily SuperHero is based in Cleveland, Ohio. The city has been a recent up-and-comer when it comes to the film industry with the help of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission (GCFC) and its president Ivan Schwartz, a former Hollywood location scout.Over the past few years, Marvel has made its presence known by filmingandin and around Cleveland. While Atlanta has been a booming scene for big budget Hollywood productions in recent years  the opening of Pinewood Studios' massive sound stage facility in summer 2014 most definitely helped  Cleveland has been quietly building up its own resume.The Daily SuperHero also started its beginnings shortly beforebegan filming in Cleveland and a big part of the website's growth was due to local Clevelanders Joe and Anthony Russo convincing Marvel Studios to shoot the majority of the film in their home town. The Russos might even bring Marvel back to Cleveland in 2017 as they told the crowd at this past February's Wizard World Cleveland Comic Con that the city is being considered as a location shoot for parts ofToday, the state of Ohio, city of Cleveland and Cleveland State University (CSU) received some great news as it was been announced that the state has granted $7.5 million in funds to CSU to build a brand new film school.
Deepika has another month of grueling shoots to go through, before she heads back home.

Even though Deepika Padukone isnt in India currently, she is making headlines in the country with her new smoking hot stills from her upcoming Hollywood debut 'xXx: The Return of Xander Cage'. Ever since news about Bollywoods gorgeous diva starring next to international sensation Vin Diesel broke out, Indian audiences are on a constant lookout for updates.

Deepika will be playing the role of a badass huntress called Serena.

Earlier it was revealed that the actress will be playing the role of a badass huntress called Serena in xXx: The return of Xander Cage. By the looks of films new still, its not unfair to say that Deepikas inner huntress has been unleashed. In the new pictures, we see Deepika shooting for action sequences.





According to previous reports, Deepika has another month of grueling shoots to go through, before she heads back home. While she will be seen in this Hollywood film, the star has not yet signed any Bollywood films for 2016.

Director DJ Caruso and the films star cast have moved to Dominican Republic for the films next schedule. After from Deepika and Vin, the film also stars Donnie Yen, Nina Dobrev and Ruby Rose.
In a joint operation, the city crime branch and state Anti-Terrorist Squad teams on Thursday night conducted raids at Riya Industries on Vehlala-Zak road here and seized 1364 kg of Ephedrine and arrested its owner Narendra Kachha.

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Police has seized 1,364 kg of Ephedrine, a raw material used to prepare party drug methamphetamine, from a factory in the city outskirts, with an international market value of Rs 270 crore.

In a joint operation, the city crime branch and state Anti-Terrorist Squad teams on Thursday night conducted raids at Riya Industries on Vehlala-Zak road here and seized 1364 kg of Ephedrine and arrested its owner Narendra Kachha.

Police has also named the son of a former Congress MLA Bhavsinh Rathod, Kishorsinh as kingpin of the drug racket, who is yet to be arrested.

Kishorsinh Rathod and a Mumbai-based Jay Mukhi had procured this drug from Sholapur in Maharashtra from another person named Punit. They gave this drug to Kachha to convert it into crystal math (methamphetamine), a party drug, Joint Commissioner of Police heading the crime branch, J.K. Bhatt said here.

Kachha, who has a BSC degree is associated with pharmaceutical business for the last 20 years. Earlier he used to work in different companies and has a wide experience on how to make the party drug from ephedrine, he said. Ephedrine is a drug used to prevent low blood pressure and also used for asthma, narcolepsy and obesity. It is a Schedule A controlled substance.
The formation and units have been undergoing the training for past two month. (Photo: Twitter)

Jaipur: Mathura-based Strike 1 corps is conducting a major exercise 'Shatrujeet' in the deserts of Rajasthan to evaluate the capability of the Army to strike deep into enemy territory in an integrated air-land battle environment.

The operation-oriented exercise is focusing on "validating integrated battle theatre fighting concept" incorporating new-age technologies, weapon platforms and systems as well as long range precision targeting vectors, defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said in a release on Saturday.

The Army undertakes such exercises at regular intervals at different levels to ensure forces are provided war-like situations and kept in high-state of battle readiness. The formation and units have been undergoing the training for past two month.

Post preparatory training manoeuvres at subordinate units and formation levels, the corps is now poised to conduct integrated operational manoeuvres to validate its operational plans in simulated high tempo battlefield environment and terrain. The exercise would culminate on April 23.
KOZHIKODE: Eleven Bangladesh nationals who are stuck in various short-stay homes and prisons in Kozhikode for having no valid travel documents are now free to go home with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs directing Kozhikode city police commissioner to deport them before April 24.

City police commissioner Uma Behera told DC that her office received the communication on April 13. The Bangladeshis include three girls, six men and a boy. The girls were brought here eight years ago by the sex racket when they were of the age 12, 13 and 14 and are now put up at Mahila Mandiram.

The men, who are in the district jail, and a boy in Government Boys Home, were arrested by the police two years ago for not having proper documents with them.

The news of the Bangladeshis being trapped here reached the Prime Ministers Office after the media celebrated the release of the translation of a book of poems and short stories written by one among the women.

Following the books release, the woman, victim of sex-trafficking, could travel back to Dhaka and Bangladeshi High Commission officials visited the others on January 16. Anoop G, managing trustee of Arm of Joy, the NGO that initiated the homecoming efforts for the Bangladeshis, said the Bangladeshi high commission has issued travel permits which will expire on April 24. The high commission had earlier issued the permits but they went missing, he said.
Dealing with the subject in elaborate fashion, Jayalalithaa also listed out the efforts she has been taking since 1991 to get back the islet, traditionally used by fishermen of the southern districts.

Aruppukkottai: AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Friday accused the DMK leader M Karunanidhi of being instrumental in the handing over of the Katchatheevu islet to Sri Lanka. Addressing a huge gathering at Aruppukkottai in Virudhunagar district, Jayalalithaa ridiculed the DMK promise of retrieving Katchatheevu, which is featured in the partys election manifesto.

Dealing with the subject in elaborate fashion, Jayalalithaa also listed out the efforts she has been taking since 1991 to get back the islet, traditionally used by fishermen of the southern districts.

Karunanidhi, who colluded with the then Congress government at the Centre in making Katchatheevu over to Sri Lanka, was branding the Tamil Nadu fishermen as greedy persons for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line for fishing, she pointed out. Katchatheevu was handed over to Sri Lanka when the DMK was in power in 1974, but Karunanidhi declined to approach the Supreme Court to retrieve the island, Jayalalithaa said.

Referring to the Supreme court judgement in the 60s on the Berubari dispute, she said even when the Indian Government decided to give Berubari in West Bengal to East Pakistan, the apex court ruled that any part of the nation can be giving to another country only if both Houses of the Indian Parliament ratify it, besides making an amendment in the Indian Constitution.

Karunanidhi neither used this apex court order to retain the island in 1974 nor supported the AIADMK when she filed a petition in the court in 2008 to retrieve it, Jayalalithaa pointed out. nMore on P4
Prince William and Kate Duchess of Cambridge pose for photo during their hike to the Tiger's Nest Monastery. (Photo: AP)

Thimphu: Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate hiked to an ancient Buddhist monastery high in the mountains of Bhutan on Friday, a day after meeting the king and queen of the tiny Himalayan nation.

The couple hiked up to the spectacular seventh-century Buddhist monastery, perched on the edge of a cliff 3,636 metres high in the Himalayas and known as the "Tigers' Nest".

William's father Prince Charles undertook the same trek in 1998 but only made it halfway because of a polo injury, stopping en route to paint a watercolour of the monastery.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a private dinner on Thursday with Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema. Earlier, they braved the rain to attend an open-air archery venue, where they tried their hand at the national sport.

They are spending two days in the tiny kingdom, famously the last country to get television and home to just 750,000 people, before returning to India for a visit to the Taj Mahal on Saturday.

Bhutan's Oxford-educated monarch, known as the Dragon King came to the throne in 2006 after his father abdicated and agreed to cede absolute power to a parliamentary democracy.

The country held its first elections in 2008 and is known for pursuing a unique economic development model of "Gross National Happiness", which aims to balance spiritual and material wealth.
Even though Delhi grapples with odd-even car curbs, a section of auto and taxi unions have called for a day-long strike on Monday, demanding the government to ban app-based cab services.



Hardship may await commuters in the Capital, as schools and government offices will open on Monday after a long weekend.



Rajendra Soni, general secretary of Bharatiya Private Transporter Mazdoor Mahasangh, said, The unions want the government to impose a ban on app-based taxi firms since it has put livelihoods of traditional black-and-yellow taxi and autrickshaw drivers in jeopardy.



He alleged that the government has reintroduced the odd-even car scheme  banning alternate vehicles on alternate days  to benefit the online taxi companies. Earlier, the unions were upset over an autorickshaw permit scam, which prevented the government from rolling out 10,000 new three-wheelers ahead of the odd-even trials in January.



Government says it wants to strengthen public transport in Delhi. But it has not issued 10,000 new permits of autos so far, he said.



When we met Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai on March 14, he assured us that our demands will be fulfilled within 15 days, but till now no decision has been taken by the government, he added.



Nearly 13,000 black-and-yellow taxis and over 80,000 autorickshaws ply on the city roads. If the unions go on a strike, commuters may face hardships as the fortnight-long odd-even scheme will keep nearly 10 lakh private cars off Delhi roads.


On the first day of the new odd-even plan, women drivers had a relaxing day driving around town. Even though many of them opposed the exemptions given to them, they said that they took advantage of relatively empty roads and had outings with friends since it was a public holiday.



Since it is a holiday, I left home early in the morning with my friend in my car. We have watched a movie, shopped, etc and enjoyed the empty roads due to odd-even, said college student Ridhi Sharma.



When asked whether there should be any exemptions to women during the road rationing scheme, Sharma said, I dont think so. There wont be much impact on pollution if so many categories are exempted. But since we are exempted, I am enjoying the advantage.



Similarly, another woman driver Amisha said that she reached her office in 25 minutes instead of the usual 45 minutes due to less traffic on roads.



It was an easy day. I love when odd-even is in place in Delhi, she said. On a serious note, Amisha said women should be exempted, considering their safety.



I feel safe in my vehicle. In todays time, we cannot even trust cab drivers. And sometimes we have odd working hours. So keeping these things in mind, women should be exempted, she said.



Empty roads

Amisha added that her sister is currently learning driving and relatively empty roads are helping her.



Law student Pooja thinks women should not be exempted. We are being taught about equality in our course. So if we demand equal rights in everything then there should be no bias even in granting exemptions, she said.



Meanwhile, workers at parking lots said that they have been asked not to allow parking of an even-numbered car on an odd-numbered day, and vice versa.



There has hardly been any violation today, but if there is any we are strictly telling them that parking is not allowed. If we allow it, then we are also challaned, said Sunil Kumar, working at a parking lot in Connaught Place.
Five men died in two separate road accidents in the capital on Thursday and Friday. In the first accident in outer Delhis Alipur, two men were killed and another injured when the scooter they were riding was hit by an unidentified vehicle on Thursday evening.



Police suspect that the victims were drunk as their bodies smelled of liquor. But this will be confirmed only after the post-mortem.



Police are trying to trace the vehicle which hit the two-wheeler. We suspect that it was a heavy vehicle  a truck or a bus  as the two bodies were badly mangled, said a police officer investigating the case.



The dead men were identified as Ankit, 20, and Vikas, 32, both residents of outer Delhis Narela. The injured Ravinder, 27, is from Sonepat in Haryana.



Ankits head was badly crushed and his face was beyond recognition, and Vikas had head and leg injuries, police said. The injured mans leg has multiple fractures.



Ankit and Ravinder were cousins, and Vikas was their friend. We are waiting for Ravinder to recover from his injuries so that he can give his statement, the officer added.



Ankit was a college student. Vikas and Ravinder worked as mechanics. They were headed towards Samaypur Badli from Alipur.



We are trying to ascertain from their family members where exactly they were going, a police officer said.



Second accident

In the second accident early on Friday morning, three men were killed when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a road divider.



The incident occurred in Dhaula Kuan area at about 3 am, when the three friends were returning home after watching a movie in Naraina.



Their motorcycle collided with the divider at a sharp turn. The three men were declared brought dead at the trauma centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences.



They have been identified as Vellai Swami, 36, M Senthil, 26, and Suresh, 27. According to police, the three originally hailed from Tamil Nadu and were living in a slum near south Delhis Moti Bagh for many years.


Sticking to its guns, China today again justified its decision to block India's bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN and described its stance as "fair and based on facts".





"China always deals with the listing of 1267 committee based on facts and pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions and relevant rules in a fair manner," Chinese Foreign Ministry said in response to India's Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin's criticism of "hidden veto" in dealing with the listing of terrorist outfits and their leaders.



"We have noticed the remarks by India's Permanent Representative to the UN," the Foreign Ministry said in written response to a question from PTI.



"Both China and India fall victim to terrorism and share similar positions when it comes to combating terrorism," it said.



China is one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC which plays a leading role in banning terrorist outfits.



"China supports the UN in playing a leading role in international anti-terrorism cooperation and takes an active part in international anti-terrorism cooperation," the Ministry said.



"In order to reach international consensus on counter terrorism, China encourage all parties to fully leverage the leading and coordinating role played by the UN and the Security Council and forge international synergy on counter-terrorism," it said.



This is the second time that China has defended the decision to put a technical hold on India's bid to ban Azhar, the mastermind of the January 2 Pathankot terrorist attack.



On April 1, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China dealt with the issues under the UNSC anti-terrorism committee based on "facts and relevant rules of procedures in objective and just manner".



The latest response comes in the backdrop of India taking up the issue directly with China.



China too acknowledged that it is in touch with New Delhi on this issue indicating that its position remained unchanged.



The deadlock over the issue continued as both the countries are set for high-level engagements to discuss the state of bilateral ties.



While External Affairs Minster Sushma Swaraj is set to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow on April 18, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar began his first visit to China today
Vijay Mallya diverted Rs 430 crore for purchase of a property abroad from the Rs 950 crore IDBI loan for his Kingfisher Airlines, the ED alleged today before a special court which reserved its order till April 18 on the agency's plea for a NBW against the beleaguered businessman.



The order on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea for a Non Bailable Warrant(NBW) in the money laundering case involving Mallya's alleged defrauding of the IDBI was reserved by special Judge P R Bhavake who hears cases filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA).



Mallya, now in Britain, is charged with siphoning off a portion of money involving IDBI loan of Rs 950 crore, which he had borrowed for Kingfisher Airlines.



"We have stumbled upon the money trail and found that of the money he borrowed (Rs 950 crore), a portion (Rs 430 crore) had been used to buy a property outside India. He wants to avoid probe and therefore Non Bailable Warrant may be issued to compel his presence by bringing him from UK," ED Counsel Hiten Venegaonkar told the court.



IDBI'S money was thus used for some purpose other than the one for which the loan had been given, he said.



Venegaonkar said three summons had been issued by the PMLA court against Mallya this year on March 10, March 18 and April 2 asking him to appear in the case. However, Mallya replied in e-mails to ED that he cannot appear because of his commitments in Europe and also because he was busy trying to arrange money to pay off his debts by a one-time arrangement.



In all these e-mails, Mallya sought time to appear and he was delaying the progress of investigations by not coming before ED, the agency's lawyer told the court while justifying issuance of a Non Bailable Warrant against him.



The ED counsel argued that even in FERA cases, the Supreme Court had observed that Mallya was using evasive tactics by not appearing before the investigating agency.



He further cited Supreme Court judgements to point out that only the investigating agency can decide how, when, where and on which day an accused or suspect should appear for the probe. Therefore, Mallya's submission that he was cooperating and would himself decide when to appear before ED was a baseless argument and was intended to delay probe.



The court was hearing an application moved by ED which is probing money laundering charges against the flamboyant 60-year-old liquor baron and seeking NBW against him.



Kingfisher Airlines has allegedly defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crore obtained from various banks and Mallya has left India for Britain where he is staying with his family.



The Union Government had yesterday suspended Mallya's diplomatic passport and even threatened to revoke it if he does not come to India and cooperate with the investigations.



The ED lawyer informed the court that an offence was registered by CBI against the accused on July 29 last year and an FIR was filed by CBI on January 25 this year under sections 120-b (Conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC and under the PMLA.



Venegaonkar said Mallya's conduct and his replies to ED summons were questionable. Time and again he requested adjournment of the court proceedings and the probe saying he was not in the country. This conduct was highly deplorable as he was trying to avoid the summons, the lawyer said.



IDBI extended credit to Mallya's company on the basis of collateral security which was a personal bond issued by Mallya himself. Besides, the loans were given on the strength of the Kingfisher's brand value which has now been lost.



The petition filed by Ram Kumar Pandey, Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate, Mumbai, submitted that scrutiny of loan fund utilisation statement of IDBI had revealed that an amount of Rs 423 crore (approx) had been remitted out of India on account of aircraft lease rent, import of spare parts and aircraft maintenance services.



The ED official said major recipients of this amount have been identified, along with their bank details. FIU (Financial Intelligence unit) reference has been prepared and sent to various countries such as Ireland, UK and France to verify the veracity of transactions effected by Kingfisher Airlines in respect of payments outside India.



"From the people ED has interrogated a specific input has come on record stating that Mallya has acquired several properties in foreign countries. There is a possibility that these properties are acquired from the proceeds of crime involved in the present offence and it is feared that Mallya may alienate and/or dispose of the same by creating hurdles in investigations and frustrating proceedings under PMLA," ED's petition alleged.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today hit out at Punjab's SAD-BJP government, accusing it of "ignoring" the serious drug problem and "betraying" the farmers of the state.





"The drug problem is a very serious issue in Punjab and it has always been a serious one. But the Akali government has ignored it," he said here after a meeting with 2,000-2,500 party members including MLAs, MPs and office-bearers.



Accusing the SAD-BJP government of not being serious about eliminating the drug problem, he said Congress has to make sure that steps are taken to eradicate it.



He said when he had raised the issue of drug problem in Punjab, the SAD-BJP dispensation had made fun of him.



Reacting to the accusation by SAD-BJP combine about drug problem claims being an insult to Punjab, Gandhi said nobody can harm the image of the state.



"Nobody can insult Punjab. Punjab is the heart of the country. Punjab gives life to the country. There is a place for Punjab in my heart. I want to help Punjab," he said.



Hailing Punjab's farmers for their "hard work", he claimed a sense of "betrayal" prevailed among the peasantry as the Akalis have "let them down".



The Congress Vice President also demanded that there be no delay in disbursal of payment to wheat-growers.



Painting a grim picture of Punjab, he said, "Industry is closing in the state and the issue of cancer also prevails."



He said if Congress is voted back to power in Punjab in the 2017 Assembly polls, the state will witness rapid development.



"When our party forms government (next year), the drug problem will soon be solved," he said, adding Congress wants to give a "new kind" of government which would be sensitive to the needs of the people.



He also claimed that the party faced no threat from Aam Aadmi Party.

Asked about allocation of party tickets for the 2017 assembly polls, he said that representation will be given to all sections of the society.



"Tickets will be given to all -- young, experienced and women," he said, adding that at least 45 per cent tickets will be allocated to the youth.



He said nominees will be finalised six months before the assembly polls.

Rejecting the suggestion that Congress decides on election tickets at the high command level, he said that "it is absolutely a myth and incorrect."



"Congress does not decide on tickets in Delhi, but a decision is taken at district level," he said.



"Punjab has reached a very sad position," he said, adding the state at one time used to show the path to the entire country on all fronts.



Referring to his visit to Haryana, he said Haryanvis say that it a matter of pride that they are miles ahead of Punjab.



"We need to change this and make Punjab stand up and be successful again," he said.

Asked about the party's social media campaign, he attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that BJP spent about Rs 800 crore to tarnish his image on social media.

Congress does not spend on social media to tarnish anyone's image, be it Modi or Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.



"If Congress utilises its strength in a systematic manner, it will form the next government in Punjab," he said.



Asked who will be the chief ministerial candidate of the party, he said that Congress follows a process where the CM is declared after the election.



Gandhi refused to comment on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue, saying the matter is sub-judice.



Gandhi's meeting with party leaders, which was organised by poll strategist Prashant Kishor's organisation Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), was out of bounds for the media.



Congress aims to wrest power in Punjab in 2017 after setbacks in the 2007 and 2012 polls, when it was defeated by the SAD-BJP coalition.


Imagine a writer who still commands the attention of readers and actors more than 4 centuries after his birth. A 16th-century writer whose one-liners are used in contemporary conversations and debates.





William Shakespeare. Age cannot wither him nor custom stale his infinite variety. His work transcends languages, borders and cultures. This is being further proved by the Globe to Globe tour that was launched on April 23, 2014, the 450th birth anniversary of the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon. Conceived by Shakespeares Globe Theatre under its artistic director Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe to Globe tour is going strong. And, at the time of going to press, it had travelled a distance of 3,09,841 km, and had visited 189 countries. The 12-actor team is set to cover all 205 countries of the world by April 23, 2016.



Artful introduction

Only 8 years after it was written, Hamlet was performed on a boat off the coast of Yemen in 1608. Within 10 years of its first performance in England, this play toured Europe extensively. The Globe Theatre hopes to pay tribute to Shakespeare by invoking this spirit of touring and reaching people who may have never heard of the Bard or Hamlet.



Shakespeares Globe Theatre played at just one city in India: Bengaluru, at Ranga Shankara. And, over an eclectic High tea of sabudana vada, sandwiches, tender-coconut water and tea, the various actors shared their fabulous experience of taking Hamlet to over a 100 countries, just before stepping onto the stage for their last show here.



Each actor plays various roles, which is not new to touring theatre. There were three Hamlets that evening. Ladi Emeruwa (from Nigeria), one of the actors who played Hamlet, was curious about sabudana vada. After having explained to him the mysteries of how tapioca or sago was transformed into this chewy snack, and how it was a native dish that had travelled from Maharashtra to Karnataka, we delved into the intricacies of playing Hamlet and other characters in the same tour.



The conversation turned out to be more down-to-earth than one would have imagined. I didnt like Shakespeare when I was studying in school. I thought it was for the intellectuals. It was only after I played Hamlet that I realised how close to the common man Shakespeare was.



I wondered what he thought of Bengaluru. He made it clear that the cast never got a chance for sightseeing in any country  it was airport-station-hotel-theatre (or venue where they played), back to sleep and off to the next country. But what Ive seen of Bengaluru reminds me so much of my own Nigeria  the kind of mix between modern buildings and smaller ones; and certainly the crowded roads and the people. I think there is oneness in the suffering of the common man.



Same play, varied venues

Emeruwa talked about the dramatically-changing venues they played at during the global tour: a courtyard of a university, a stage erected in an old temple, at a rock concert venue in Budapest with massive-screen camera rehearsals in the afternoon, before the show in the evening.



Phoebe Fildes, who plays Ophelia, Gertrude, Horatio, and some other smaller roles in the play, also talked about the different settings of the locations where they staged the play: in town squares with children running around, dogs walking onstage, cats finding their way in; in formal venues; on beaches. She said each venue had an identity that affected the way the audience responded to the play. She recalled that nearly 5,000 people turned up to see the play in Sudan, while there was only space for about 3,500.



Arundathi Nag, artistic advisor of Ranga Shankara, was palpably excited at meeting the Globe players. The different audiences, spaces, experiences, and thats not all, they all play 4 to 5 roles in each show! I saw one actor playing Hamlet in the afternoon and another character in the evening, with different interpretations. As an actor, for me, watching them swap roles and still keep the core of Shakespeare intact is a treat. They are completely loyal to the written word.



S Surendranath, artistic director of Ranga Shankara, could barely suppress his excitement at having the Globe players in Bengaluru. He watched all the shows and marvelled at how each show looked completely different. Every Hamlet plays his role differently. Its fascinating how each brings his or her interpretation to the plays.



Miranda Foster, who plays Hamlets mother Gertrude in the play, echoes the other actors views on the variety of venues and audiences they got to experience. She talked about Tuvalu, a little Pacific island where the play was performed on a strip of land around which the island peoples life revolved.



She was thrilled as people came and watched a play for the very first time in their lives. Although they could not understand a word of English, they were fascinated by the actors holding forth to each other, live. Foster was particularly moved by the rapt attention with which children looked up at the actors. She said the children could understand the passion the actors had for theatre, and that held their attention.



And, as the global tour crosses more borders and touches more hearts before it ends, immortal lines from Hamlet echo across beaches, temple yards, mountains, deserts and market squares  bringing experienced and first-time audiences the magic of Shakespeare, the way it did about 450 years ago, to resounding applause.


Shah Rukh Khan is almost parked for entire days at Yash Raj Studios for his new film Fans promotions, and rues that his children, Aryan and Suhana, are home for the holidays, but he has only odd times to spend with them, like 3 am!





The day you decide to become a star or any public figure, and finally become one, you know that there will not be any real private life, he says, matter-of-factly. After about 5 years, my family  Gauri and my kids  had to accept the fact that I am not theirs alone. So it does not disturb my kids that I can only meet them during those odd hours. I sit with them and they never complain, because they know that our space is not entirely ours.



He goes on, almost ruminatively. It is a strange adjustment. They know that papa will get disturbed if they want to go out somewhere with me, or even travel home from the airport with me, with people meeting me or taking pictures. And they are not disturbed by this. It was amusing when my son told me that he attended a party at which he denied being my son. He would have felt awkward along with his friends had he done so, and not been able to enjoy the party as people tend to be judgemental about star kids.



Fans vs family

Coming to the new film, he declares, Fan is a derivative of the word fanatic and a fan, therefore, unconditionally loves you. Even if you do something bad, he will defend you. Most people  friends, spouses, even parents  can be conditional in their love. And any unconditional love can therefore look obsessive.



Fan is in the real space, though most of his films have been larger-than-life blockbusters. Whats more, Shah Rukh reveals that the film was written many years ago by its writer-director Maneesh Sharma, and explains why it just had to be a double role for him.



Due to the concept of the film, he points out, the role of the superstar Aryan (named after his son) Khanna, needed someone who had a huge body of work behind him in a strange mix of real and reel. He explains, Otherwise, 15 to 20 minutes would have been needed just to establish a superstar. Like when audiences watch Kajol and me together, it is understood that we are going to fall in love. So here, the film opens with me waving to my fans, which is a real shot taken on my birthday, and we have footage from about 10 films produced by my banner Red Chillies, Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions.



He adds, What you will realise after you watch the film is that the role of the fan, Gaurav, needed to have a hint of me, yet not really be like me. But here again, a young actor would not have fitted the bill, as apart from the double roles acting demands, a certain craft and technique is always needed to shoot the many scenes that the superstar and his fan share, like shooting against a blank background.



The make-up used, he states, was first of its kind, because in most cases, prostheses are used to make people older or change them into, say, women or vampires. This time, the fan was younger than I am, though for me, playing someone younger, with some weight loss and body language to match, was easier than when I had to play 60 in Veer-Zaara. I needed over 10 retakes before I could convincingly address Rani Mukerji, who played my lawyer, as beti, he laughs.



Shah Rukh attributes this ease of playing younger to his body and facial structure that is boyish. I cannot be the Alpha Male, no matter how hard I try. My mental status is also young, because I am usually surrounded by my kids. It sounds funny to say this at 50, but my son told me, Papa, you are looking like a boy only.



Similarly, the films real zone helped his performance. Realistic films and roles are easier. The world helps you here  the atmosphere, my lines, the costumes, locations and other actors. Also, there are no songs, because real people like Gaurav and Aryan Khanna do not sing, he says.



Unrealistic roles

In contrast, films like Happy New Year are challenging because he has to convince himself of a heroic character so that he can convince his audience. He smiles as he says, I am introduced as a boxer parodying my own lines from films like Devdas, then shown to be a dance teacher, who is also a genius at planning a bank robbery abroad, is teaching a girl to romance, isfighting karate on a rooftop, and in the last scene, has become the worlds best dancer.



The way to keep stress-free and sane could have been tough for someone like him, says the actor, but for the key base rules that he keeps in mind. You have to believe in yourself and not in what you watch, and differentiate between real and reel. If I know that my entry in Karan Arjun resounded with claps, I must know that it was for my stardom, not for me as a person. Another smile and he says, Recently, when I stood next to the Miss Femina India finalists, I found myself looking up at them  because they were all six inches or more taller to me. So that helps in keeping me grounded.



He smiles and continues, So I know that I only have to work for the image, following the philosophy, Karam kiye jaa (just keep doing what you must). I work like a maniac, because I believe in my talent and know that I can fly with hard work. I tell youngsters that bad days will come, but it is your confidence and talent that will take you through, and people will look for you again. It is, therefore, important that you do not get carried away.



Gauri and he become role-models for their kids as well, Shah Rukh says. My kids know that I am a hardworking father and this is something that they will absorb as being important. From their mother, they have learnt her sense of quiet sacrifice, where she has to share me with the world, and keep the family together and happy.



Last year, Shah Rukh had expressed his desire to step up his quantum of work if people are willing to sign me (!) and he has now become successful at that. After his next film Raees, he will be doing a film each with Gauri Shinde, Aanand L Rai and Imtiaz Ali, with buzz about a film with Shimit Amin of Chak De! India fame. Plus, they are completely diverse roles, with Imtiazs film portraying him as a Sikh driver, and the Aanand Rai movie showing him as a dwarf.



The Shimit Amin story isnt true. Yes, it is a concerted decision to do three films at a time so that I can get to play a variety of roles, he says. These are all films in different spaces, and I am planning a heroic-role kind of biggie too. Right now, I have the energy and time to do that many movies. In the past, there were health issues as well as my over-involvement in every department of my productions that would come in the way!


If the hills of Darjeeling and plains of Siliguri are tough battlegrounds for Trinamool Congress, for the Left and Congress, it is time to prove their combined mettle in Alipurduar, the crucial district of Jalpaiguri.





With the new district Alipurduar curved out in 2014, the Left-Congress coalition faces a tough time retaining five of the seven seats it currently holds.



Considered a Left stronghold before Alipurduars formation, partners CPM and RSP had won five seats in Jalpaiguri while the Congress won three. Much has changed in last five years and from playing second fiddle to the Congress in North Bengal, the Trinamool has emerged strongest at Alipurduar.



Ground realities suggest the Trinamool is most likely to increase its tally since it has managed to drive a wedge in the Congress and Left, ensuring significant defections from both sides. Trinamool staged a coup of sorts when it drew to its ranks RSP MLA Ananta Deb Adhikari from Moynaguri and CPM MLA Bulu Chik Baraik from Malbazar, fielding both from their respective seats on the Trinamool tickets. The ruling party also imported number of other Left and Congress leaders, along with droves of supporters from both sides since the 2014 parliamentary elections.



While the combine is hopeful of putting up a tough fight, the Trinamool is confident of winning more seats. Trinamools Jalpaiguri district president Saurav Chakraborty claimed his party will win all seven seats in the district even though sources pointed out that some seats like Nagrakata, Malbazar, Moynaguri and Jalpaiguri would give the ruling party a tough contest.



If sitting Congress MLA Joseph Munda from Nagrakata is considered a favourite, BJP candidate John Barla, leader of the influential Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad is also not a lightweight, given his sway among the large tribal population, most of who work in the regions tea estates. Another tight spot for the Trinamool is likely to be Moynaguri, where sitting MLA Adhikari, one of the high-profile defectors, seems to have lost the electorates favour since 2011. Selection of the former RSP leader for the contest has also caused some rift within Trinamool ranks, who wanted a home-grown party leader instead of an outsider.




Airtels recent deals with existing players Videocon and Aircel will bring its 4G spectrum in all circles across India. This is good for Airtel and to fast track growth of data services. It is also a clear fallout of the recent reform in spectrum rules that now allow spectrum trading between operators.





The government will need to build on such reform if consumers are to be able to access data services across India at affordable rates, as they do telephony.



4G services are key to expansion of data services and increasingly, to market success of operators. They offer data speeds several times higher than those available in 2G or 3G networks. With increasing internet usage, data services, like 4G, will form an increasing part of operator revenues which, earlier, came primarily from voice telephony.



Airtels transactions are therefore shrewd and also, veritable coups. Both sellers had reportedly been in talks with Bhartis competitors. Videocon had agreed to sell a substantial part of its spectrum to Idea. Similarly, Aircel has been in talks to merge its telecom business with Reliance communications. Airtel has not just outwitted its rivals but also insured itself against uncertainties posed by spectrum auctions.



This is in line with Airtels journey in the telecom sector so far. It was arguably among the smallest business houses that entered the telecom market when it was opened to private players in the early 1990s. It has expanded its reach nationwide through some licences obtained in auctions and others, through a series of acquisitions over the years. It has successfully fended competition from industry heavyweights including Tata, Birla, Reliance etc., who all entered the market at the same time.



Today, while some of its competitors are ahead of Airtel in some circles, it is by far the national champion. It leads in subscriber numbers and revenues in virtually all segments of Indias telecom market.



By acquiring 4G spectrum in all circles, and having already started 4G services in several parts of the country, Airtel has stolen a march over Reliance Jio (RJio). The latter acquired nationwide 4G spectrum in the spectrum auction six years ago but has yet to launch its services commercially.



RJio however still poses a formidable challenge to Airtel. By all accounts, it has ambitious plans to offer triple play  i.e. voice, data and television  services. Unlike Airtel, RJio is also investing heavily in optical fibre which will augment its data carrying capacity several fold. The data battle is far from over. Indeed, it has barely started.



India has a relatively small data market. While it has grown significantly in recent months, Indians are some of the lowest consumers of data. The average data consumption in India is a fraction what it is in Singapore, Brazil, Korea and developed western countries. Less than 20% of Indians access the internet at least once daily. Roughly one billion Indians have yet to connect to the internet.



Data is still unaffordable

Demand and supply issues are both to blame for the weak data markets. Data services and devices are still unaffordable to the vast majority of Indian dependent on handsets that cost less than Rs 1,000 and spend around Rs 100 monthly on the service. Predominance of English content is a challenge. Relevant content is sparse. More so in local languages.



Much excellent work is already underway in expansion of local content and services. E-governance programmes will also go a long way to spur demand by offering relevant and usable content. However, the expansion will inevitably increase demand for network capacity.



That makes 4G important for an another reason too. India has a sparse fixed line network with very little copper or optical fibre installed in the ground. It relies predominantly on wireless technologies for telephony and data. Wireless accounts for over 97% of phone connections and 65% of traffic carried. 4G therefore offers arguably the fastest way to expand data services, if 4G networks can be deployed speedily and services are priced affordably.



Fortunately, 4G ecosystem has improved considerably. Barely a couple of months ago, customers had few, relatively expensive, handsets to choose from. Today, dozens of 4G handsets are on offer below Rs 5,000 and prices are still falling further. Players with 4G spectrum, wondering if there would be takers for their services, in the absence of affordable devices, now have a greater incentive to rollout networks. Not surprisingly, we now see aggressive marketing of 4G services.



However, two nationwide playerseven championsin the 4G market may not be enough. We have seen how intense competition brought down prices and expanded telephony to low income users. We need greater competition in the 4G market to achieve the same for data services.



Harmonising spectrum

India will need to free up more spectrum to expand competition in 4G market. But it is not enough to increase the total amount of spectrum available. 4G technologies cannot be deployed if spectrum is not available in units of at least 5MHz. Unfortunately, thanks to ad hoc allocation, a large part of 1800 MHz which can support 4G is unusable because it is fragmented across the country.



Several companies have discontinuities in spectrum in the same circle that make it impossible to use it for 4G. Fortunately, the government has recognised the urgency of harmonising spectrum to improve efficiency in its use. Delaying this task, not only promotes inefficiency, but also hurts governments own revenues in auctions.



However, 4G services cannot possibly meet Indias data needs indefinitely. Capacity on offer in wireless services depends on spectrum, a scarce resource. Fixed line technologies like fibre and cable offer orders of magnitude greater capacity which can also be expanded easily. They are critical for transporting data in the backbone. All major economies and Indias peers like Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa have extensive fixed line networks. Indias policy makers need to expedite the much delayedthe national optical fibre network or BharatNet.



This is therefore a necessary complement to the genius of champions like Airtel, to realise the dreams of Digital India.



(The author consults on regulatory issues in the communications sector. Reach him at mahesh.uppal@gmail.com)
Branded garment manufacturer Monte Carlo Fashions, which has 11 stores in South India, plans to take the number to 20 by the end of this financial year.





In Bengaluru, we have four stores, including the latest one at HSR Layout, Sandeep Jain, Executive Director of Monte Carlo Fashions, who was in the city recently, told Deccan Herald.



Monte Carlo Fashions was launched in 1984 by Oswal Woolen Mills, the flagship company of Nahar group. Apart from woollen knitted garments, its products include t-shirts, linen shirts, sportswear, tunics, and tweens (8-14 years). We launched tweens three years ago, and we are seeing 30% growth, Jain said.



The companys latest addition is socks, and Jain said, The reason we came up with socks is that there is no established brand in India. When we launched t-shirts in 2002, there were no branded t-shirts as such, and we were the first ones to come up with the brand. Socks is a category that will grow.



When asked about materials, he said, they are sourced from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The company has 230 exclusive brand outlets, 1,400-plus multi-brand outlets, and the products are available on Myntra, Jabong, Amazon and Flipkart. When asked about its online sales, Jain said, Our price is same both in offline and online stores. We started online sales a couple of years ago, and close to 2.5% of sales come from online. We are also present in two countries- Bangladesh and Nepal, he said, adding that expansion has been slowed down because of the economy.



We make westernised clothes keeping Indian tastes in mind. Our USP is the price, said Jain, adding that the companys turnover in FY15 was Rs 581 crore and the guidance for FY16 is 10% more than the previous years turnover.

DH News Service
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which is dominated by nations like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, once again slammed India on the Kashmir issue.





In a communique issued at the end of the 13th summit of the OIC at Istanbul, the bloc comprising 57 Islamic nations expressed concern over indiscriminate use of force and gross violations of human rights by security forces of India in Kashmir.



India rejected all references to Kashmir in the final communique of the OIC summit. New Delhi also pointed out that the bloc had no locus standi on the issue.



The OIC called upon India to implement numerous UN (United Nations) resolutions on Kashmir, which declared that the final disposition of the state of Jammu & Kashmir would be made in accordance with the will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite, conducted under the auspices of the international organisation.



The conference affirmed its support to the widespread indigenous movement of the people of the India Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOK) for their right to self determination. It urged that freedom struggle must not be equated with terrorism, the OIC said in the statement. Pakistan has been most vocal within the OIC on the issue of Kashmir.



The bloc also accused security forces of India of indiscriminately using force and flouting human rights, resulting in killing of thousands of innocent and unarmed civilians as well as injuring hundreds of others including women, children and elderly. It also referred to the killing of a 22 year old woman, Shaista Hameed, at Pulwama (in Kashmir) on February 14.



The OICs diatribe against India on the issue of Kashmir came just a few weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with King Salman in Riyadh. Modi also visited UAE last year. Saudi Arabia and UAE are among the nations that dominate the OIC.



We completely reject all such references regarding matters internal to India, on which the OIC has no locus standi, said spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup.



HC questions J&K police



Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Saturday directed the police to cite the law under which they have detained the girl, who was molested by a soldier in Handwara on Tuesday.



The mother of the 16-year-old girl, filed a petition before the high court on Saturday seeking release of her daughter and two other relatives from illegal detention of police, counsel for petitioner Parvaiz Imroz said.




HLL Lifecare, a government of India enterprise, has alleged that there was something fishy in the way its bid to set up a diagnostic laboratory at the PMSSY super speciality hospital was rejected on technical grounds. The hospital, however, said it only received a tender from HLL Lifecare and not the earnest money deposit (EMD).





G Krishna Kumar, associate vice-president, Healthcare Services Division, HLL Lifecare Ltd told Deccan Herald: There is definitely something fishy. We uploaded the amount (EMD) at 1 pm, well within the 3.30 pm deadline. The amount was credited to their account at 1 pm on October 26 but was returned five days later, he said.



PMSSY special officer Dr PG Girish, however, denied the claims and said HLL Lifecare deposited just the tender fee of Rs 550 and the not the EMD of Rs 5 lakh.



The contract was awarded to Matrix Imaging Solutions India Pvt Ltd, a firm jointly owned by Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs son Dr Yathindra who is a pathologist, and former Lok Sabha member CP Mudalagiriappas son Dr CM Rajesh Gowda.



Meanwhile, PMSSY uploaded tender bid details opened on October 28, 2015 along with a request letter from HLL Lifecare seeking extension of the last date.



Blame Game

Kumar also held Dr Girish responsible for HLL missing out on the tender. We called him a couple of times genuinely requesting him to extend the deadline and explained the problem. He said he was not the authority concerned. We did not get responses to the mails. We had also sent a speed post. Even that went unanswered, he claimed. In the letter, Kumar has said the e-portal team informed HLL Lifecare Ltd to reach out to Dr Girish while Dr Girish said otherwise.



On Friday, Dr Yathindra had said he would resign from Matrix Solutions India Pvt Ltd as director on Monday.



Denying allegations, Dr Girish said the company had to send them a mail within the given deadline. They sent a mail after the deadline. How can we take action after that? Also, they wrote to us two months later asking for a re-tender. They should have done that earlier, he added.



Denying that he had anything to with the tender process, Dr Girish said, It is an e-tender. No one gets to know how many bidders are participating until the bid is opened. All the details are kept confidential and I cannot access it to see who are the ones participating.



He also claimed that in ESIC Hospital, HLL had taken a contract from ESIC Hospital and later outsourced it to Matrix Solutions.

DH News Service
Caught in a controversy over getting government accommodation at concessional rate, Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday made it clear that the rent for her Lutyens bungalow was fixed during the Vajpayee era.





In a rare statement, Priyankas office said it was a letter by media baron Ashwani Kumar (Minna), now a BJP MP, to the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that led to the reduction of the rent for the government accommodation provided individual for security reasons.



Priyanka, who is guarded by the elite Special Protection Group, said she had rented the private accommodation for her residence and paid the advance rent for the same in December 1996.However, the SPG did not approve of it as it did not fulfil the security requirements and directed to look for government occupation.



A controversy broke out on Saturday after a media report claimed that she had bargained over the rent of the government bungalow that was reduced from Rs 53,421 per month to Rs 8,888 per month.



Congress leaders hit out at the Modi government for letting out details about the residence of a SPG protectee, while BJP leaders claimed that she sought concessions despite her ability to pay the high rent in a posh locality.



Apart from Priyanka, three other private citizensformer Punjab DGP KPS Gill, former Youth Congress president M S Bitta and Punjab Kesari Editor Ashwani Kumar (Minna)were provided government accommodation on security grounds.




An RTI activist has filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah alleging nepotism and corruption in favouring his son Dr Yathindra in a tender to set up a diagnostic laboratory on Victoria Hospital premises.





In the complaint, RTI activist Bhaskaran stated that the multi-crore tender awarded to Matrix Imaging Solutions India Private Ltd, in which Yathindra is a partner along with his friend C M Rajesh Gowda, violated rules and regulations.



Matrix had participated in the tender process and successfully bagged the contract for providing diagnostic services on the premises of Victoria Hospital under the Prime Minister's Swasth Suraksha Yojana. This is in clear violation of the regulations set for the people's representatives. The code of conduct for chief minister and other ministers clearly stipulates certain do's and donts,'' he said.



After taking office and so long as he/they remain in office, the chief minister/ministers shall ensure that the members of his/their family do not start, or participate in business concerns, engage in supplying goods or services to that government (excepting in the usual course of trade or business and at standard or market rates) or dependent primarily on grant of licences, permits, quotas leases etc, from the government,'' said the complaint, quoting rules. The company, co-owned by the chief minister's son, had participated in the Health Departments tender process. The chief minister is the head of the council of ministers. One does not need additional knowledge to find out what would have happened in this tender process and how the company bagged the contract. The ACB will have to find out whether family members of the chief minister are allowed to take part in the government tender process. Similarly, only an investigation will reveal why the other six companies which participated in the pre-tender discussions, backed out in the final tender process and whether the tender process was transparent and as per the rules,'' Bhaskar has stated in the complaint.



The complaint, addressed to the ADGP of ACB, was filed with the office staff at Khanija Bhavan. Bhaskaran said there was no police staff at the Khanija Bhavan office and the complaint had to be submitted to an employee at the reception at Khanija Bhavan.

DH News Service
The second PU results are set to be delayed as the alternative plan made by the government to rope in lecturers from aided and unaided colleges failed to take off on Saturday.





Hardly any lecturers turned up for valuation work at several centres in Bengaluru. The situation across the state was no different. There are 46 centres across the state of which 20 are located in Bengaluru. Ramegowda, director, Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE), however, expressed confidence that the valuation process will pick up pace from Monday when lecturers turn up in full strength.



In some of the centres DH visited, lecturers did not turn up for valuation work.The government has said that it will send notices to the lecturers who boycotted the work.



Judging the mood of agitating lecturers, the government is considering to rope in SSLC teachers with required qualifications of post graduation to do the valuation.



The DPUE has approached the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board for high school teachers besides seeking the services of degree college lecturers.



Sources in the education department said they are considering to rope in senior SSLC teachers who are due for promotion as PU lecturers in the next couple of years.



There are 2,780 such teachers. Senior PU lecturers, however, said that such strategies amounted to playing with the future of students as inexperience leads to numerous problems in the results.



S R Venkatesh, working president of the State PU lecturers association, accused the government of trying to divide and rule lecturers.



Meanwhile, 44,000 SSLC teachers of Karnataka Rajya Badti Sarkari Proudashala Shikshakara Sangha and Karnataka State Aided Schools and Colleges employees association have decided to stay away from the SSLC evaluation beginning from Monday to express solidarity with agitating PU lecturers.










The Bangalore Development Authority has not only allotted prime land in Hebbal to Shanta Industrial Enterprise, owned by business partner of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's son, but also offered monetary compensation as quoted by the company.





The BDA had deposited Rs 29,09,335 in the City Civil Court in 1987 as monetary compensation for having acquired 2,32,008 sq feet of land owned by the firm at survey # 174 and 175 of Kethamaranahalli (now Mahalakshmi Layout). Interestingly, the BDA went ahead with allotting alternative land of 2.11 acres in Hebbal in January this year to the firm though the compensation amount lies with the the court. The land is part of HBR Layout and its value is estimated at Rs 150 crore.



Dr Rajesh Gowda, one of the owners of Shanta Industrial Enterprise, is also the founder-director of Matrix Imaging Solutions in which Siddaramaiah's younger son Yathindra is a director. Matrix has run into a controversy for bagging a government contract to set up a superspeciality laboratory at Victoria hospital recently.



According to BDA land acquisition Act, the land losers were entitled to only monetary compensation. The government a few years ago introduced a new acquisition policy whereby the land losers may either take monetary compensation or 40 % of the developed land. But there is no provision in the Act to give alternative land in lieu of acquisition.



Besides, it has now come to light that the BDA took the decision to allot the alternative land to Shanta Industrial Enterprise only on the basis of legal opinion. The BDA appears to have been eager to favour the firm after 2013  when Siddaramaiah became the Chief Minister. Though the firm had filed a petition in 2011 seeking alternative land, the Authority had not taken any action.



Documents accessed by this paper revealed that the BDA had arrived at the compensation amount of Rs 29,09,335 as requested by the company. The then Managing Director of Shanta Industrial, G K Srinivas had on October 6, 1977 given his consent to accept the compensation at the rate of Rs 20 per sq ft. Subsequently, the BDA deposited the compensation amount in court.



This apart, documents revealed that the BDA had spent Rs 2.25 lakh for obtaining legal opinion before allotting the land. The BDA paid Rs 45,000 to Supreme Court advocate E V Venugopal and Rs 1.80 lakh to retired Supreme Court judge A R Lakshmanan in April 2014. The advocates opined that the BDA was open to allot alternative lands commensurate to the value of the lands that have already been acquired from the person interested without following the procedure of law, in lieu of cash compensation.



Saga of prime land



Survey #174 & 175 of Kethamaranahalli (now Mahalakshmi layout) owned by Mahalakshmi Woolen and Silk Mills Company in 1965.



High Court ordered liquidation of the company land in 1974.



Shantha Industrial Enterprises purchased the land in auction done as part of liquidation in 1975.



But BDA acquired 2,32,008 sq ft of the firm's land to form Mahalakshmi layout in 1975.



The firm petitioned the then govt in Sept 2011 to give alternative land.



BDA obtained legal opinion from SC advocate on the petition in March 2014.



BDA allotted 2.11 acres of land near Hebbal in Jan 2016.



Karnataka HC upheld the BDA's decision in Feb 2016.
Eleven districts in the north-interior Karnataka are in the grip of heatwave with Kalaburagi topping the list as three of its taluks recorded 44 degrees Celsius on Friday.





Heatwave condition prevailing in Telangana, Rayalseema, Vidarbha and Marathwada regions is affecting the bordering districts of Karnataka. While Kalaburagi has suffered the worst, the condition is almost similar in Yadgir, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari which are adjacent to the Telangana region.



On Saturday, pockets of Belagavi, Bagalkot and Vijayapura districts, under the influence of central Maharashtra region, experienced heatwave.



On Friday, mercury touched 44 degrees Celsius in three taluks of Kalaburagi  Chittapur, Aland and Kalaburagi  according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNMDC). The temperature is recorded in eight weather stations in the district. Heatwave is prevailing from the last three days and it is all set to continue for the next two to three days. The state government is yet to declare heatwave condition.



Heatwave is declared when temperature rises above 40 degree Celsius by four to six degrees in a couple of locations in a district, and continues for some days. For heatwave-affected places, the government would have to offer more financial help, medical help and provide drinking water.

Of the 30 districts in Karnataka, 26 have recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in the recent days. Only four districts  Kodagu, Udupi, Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural  have not crossed 40 degrees Celsius.



Scientists at KSNMDC said there is no respite for the north-interior Karnataka till at least April-end. There have been isolated rains in Dakshina Kannada, Hassan and Chikkmagaluru. But these scanty rains have not been able to bring down the temperature level. No widespread rains are expected in any district, including those in the Malnad region, in next few days, the sources said.



KSNMDC Director G S Srinivas Reddy, who has accompanied Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his tour of the drought-hit districts, said: Kalaburagi is really facing a tough time. Providing drinking water and fodder has become the priority of the district authorities. Water is supplied in tankers to some villages, he said.



About 853 parched villages in 19 districts have been supplied water in tanks for drinking purpose. In Vijayapura alone, as many as 217 villages are getting water from tankers. Uttara Kannada district comes next with 178 villages getting water from tankers. These are followed by Kalaburagi (113 villages), Belagavi (93 villages), Udupi (24 villages) and Dakshina Kannada (9 villages). District authorities mainly purchase water from private borewell owners and there is no uniform price for this. In all, 2,071 villages may require drinking water through tankers during April, May and June, according to the Revenue Department. Interestingly, the perennially drought-affected districts  Kolar and Chikkaballapur  are not facing much problem this year as majority of the tanks are full.

The districts received good rains in September and October. While last year, 300 villages in Kolar had to depend on tankers for water, this time it is about 39 villages.



Low water level in major reservoirs has become a worrying factor for the government. Against the total capacity of 906 tmc of 13 major reservoirs, there is only 132 tmc ft. This also means the availability in the reservoirs is just 14.5% against the total capacity. Last year, the gross storage was 178 tmc ft.



To avoid severe drinking water shortage, the government has taken precautions to limit the usage of water mainly for drinking.



This is the fourth consecutive year the state is facing hydrological drought.

DH News Service
Effective and speedy treatment for all haemophiliacs still appears to be a distant dream in Karnataka even as the World Haemophilia Day-2016 is being celebrated on Sunday. Though treatment facilities have improved considerably over the last few years, concentration of facilities at few places, lack of coordination between government medical colleges and district hospitals have continued to haunt patients.





Haemophilia, a rare bleeding disorder, requires a Comprehensive Treatment Centre (CTC) to treat such patients. There are only four centres in the state - Bengaluru, Manipal, Davangere and Hubballi. On many occasions, deaths occur due to excess bleeding by the time patients are admitted at the CTCs or will develop permanent disabilities, says Dr Suresh Hanagawadi, president, Karnataka Haemophilia Society (KHS).



Realising that the medicine are too expensive, the state government has decided to provide Anti-Haemophilic Factor (AHF) to arrest bleeding in haemophiliacs at district hospitals.



The governments initiative was of a little help as the district hospitals lacked CTCs to administer AHF. On the other hand government medical colleges have CTCs, but bereft of factors.



There are coordination issues between Medical Education department, under which medical colleges come, and the Family and Health Welfare department which control district hospitals, delaying the treatment. On a few occasions in the past, AHFs had to be sent back as they could not be used within the stipulated time.



Apart from the government initiatives, the CTCs are available in six private medical colleges.

The Karnataka Haemophilia Society, which manages a CTC in Davangere, submitted a report to the Medical Education department in 2012, requesting the government to ensure AHFs in all the 13 government medical colleges and 30 district hospitals so that the speedy treatment could be provided.



It took about four years for the government to respond and an amount of Rs 8 crore was released to set up a nodal centre at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMRCI) for setting up of CTCs across the state.



The government has identified BMRCI to establish CTCs in various medical colleges in the State. The BMRCI has one CTC and we plan to have three CTCs in North Karnataka and two in South Karnataka, BMRCI director Dr Devadas P K told Deccan Herald.



However, the BMCRI is yet to identify these colleges and the talks are on with various college directors. We plan to set up the CTCs in those places where the incidence of Hemophilia is more, he added.



He said the aim is to make one medical college adopt around two district hospitals to ensure speedy availability of treatment.  Our aim is to ensure CTC in very taluk headquarter in future so that treatment is ensured to all. Hemophiliacs, once they realised the nature of the ailment, tend to settle down in those place where CTCs are located. We want to prevent the migration by setting up CTC at every taluk, he added.

DH News Service


The governments alternative plan to begin evaluation of II PU examination papers with the help of inexperienced lecturers might have a huge bearing on the results, said senior lecturers and lecturers selected for evaluation work for the first time.





On Thursday, the government had issued fresh orders to a number of lecturers who had earlier not got the orders to report for evaluation duties.



Many of these lecturers, however, have less than three years of teaching experience and no valuation experience, according to one senior lecturer who is serving as a chief examiner at one centre.



It looks like the government is only trying to test the patience of the lecturers and does not really have a plan. Many of the lecturers who have been selected for evaluation work are raw with barely any experience in evaluation.



Some of these evaluators visited my centre today and I can only imagine how any of them would be able to do the evaluation without any guidance, said the lecturer.



Last year, there was a lot of trouble due to faulty evaluation. This year, if the government goes ahead with such plans, it will be in a lot more trouble, said the lecturer.



Another senior lecturer who is also serving as a chef examiner said there is apprehension and confusion about evaluation without experienced hands.



The PU department has said that decoding and coding would be done by DSERT staff, however this is a highly complex process and I wonder how one day of training would help. Also, unaided lecturers are not answerable to the government but only to their management, said the lecturer

A lecturer recruited in 2013 who has just been issued orders to attend evaluation duties said, This is the first time I have been called for evaluation. It is my third year running as a lecturer. The evaluation is done under the guidance of deputy examiners. However, most of the experienced hands are out protesting. This leaves youngsters like us to fend for ourselves. Hopefully there will not be any erratic evaluation, he said.

DH News Service
The CID sleuths on Saturday seized various materials from campuses of colleges that were raided in Bengaluru, Ballari and Mangaluru on Friday, in connection with the II PU chemistry paper leak.





The materials seized included answer scripts of examinations conducted at the college level and those of practical examinations.



The cops have obtained answer scripts of those students who appeared for the Chemistry paper on March 21, after getting the leaked paper. The answer papers were collected based on the students registration numbers.



The police will now compare handwritings in those scripts and the practical examination answer scripts to gather more leads about the involvement of colleges and their staff, said the police.

The sleuths slapped notices on these colleges and seized the answer scripts. The police also obtained information regarding student strength and the number of teaching and non-teaching faculties, said the police.



A few staff of the private colleges were involved in the Chemistry question paper leak, it is said. They wanted better results for their colleges and hence, shared the paper with students on WhatsApp. The police collected information about the involvement of some staff during the interrogation of students and the raids were conducted accordingly, the police said.



The students had claimed that the principals and some other staff advised them to concentrate on CET and other examinations and that they would ensure better results in II PU. Impersonation took place during practical examinations as some others appeared on behalf of students and wrote the answers. The comparison of the papers will throw more light, said the police.



Meanwhile, Anil, the physical education teacher at Poornaprajna College and Satish, the physical education teacher at the government school at Palace Guttahalli, were produced before the court and they were remanded in judicial custody.



The police said they were on the lookout for kingpin Shivakumaraiah and his petition seeking anticipatory bail will come up for hearing on April 20. The CID is all set to strongly oppose granting him bail.



The police are also on the lookout for realtor Narayan S. He got the question paper as his daughter was appearing for the examination and later sold the paper for huge sums to others. At present, he is absconding, said the police.

DH News Service
Claims by the government of having an alternative plan and beginning the evaluation of II year PU examination papers seemed to fall flat, at least on Saturday, as major evaluation centres in the city had very few evaluators. As a result, no major evaluation work took place.





Only a handful of lecturers turned up at a few centres. There are a total of 46 valuation centres in the state, of which 20 are in Bengaluru. The PU department had issued orders to Deputy Chief Examiners (DCE) and Assistant Examiners (AEs) to report for duty on Saturday.



Although evaluation work was supposed to begin on April 3, no work has begun due to the protest by lecturers for increase in their salaries.



At Seshadripuram PU College, an evaluation centre for Physics, 500 AEs and 100 DCEs were required to report for work. However, by noon only around 30 had turned up. Even these 30 lecturers soon left, due to lack of work. We cannot begin the evaluation work with a few lecturers, said a source at the college.



At NMKRV PU College, an evaluation centre for English, there was a similar requirement for 115 DCEs and 600 AEs. Most of the lecturers boycotted the work and not a single person turned up.

From 9 am to 5 pm, the only people at the centre were the chief examiner, observer and some staff in the college. At the other English evaluation centre in Vijaya College, the situation was no different. Not a single lecturer turned up.



At St Anns College, the mathematics evaluation centre, it was the same situation. Only a handful of lecturers turned up.



Around 20,000 lecturers have boycotted evaluation work. Even after several rounds of negotiations between the lecturers and the government, there is still no outcome as both sides refused to reach a common agreement.



The government claimed that it had an alternative plan using another batch of lecturers  7,500 teachers from various government, aided and unaided colleges.

The government had, on Thursday, sent fresh orders for these lecturers to report for duty on Saturday.



Heads of the state PU lecturers associations said that there was no evaluation work in any of the centres.



Ramegowda, director, Department for Pre-University Education, however, said that most of the lecturers would report for duty and begin evaluation by Monday.

DH News Service
About 200 Donald Trump supporters chanted and railed about what they called the unfairness of the Republican Party, arguing that its loyal members are corrupt and un-American at a rally on the state Capitol steps Friday afternoon.

Jim Sutter of Denver led cheers at intervals.

Stop the steal, he called out loudly, and the Trump fans answered back.

Sutter told the crowd he had been in Colorado only since 1991, after crossing the border from Wyoming.

Were you legal? someone shouted back, causing a ripple of laughter.

Protestors said they had demands: Hold an emergency straw poll, or the Republican National Committee should lock out Colorados delegates from the nominating convention in Cleveland.

Failing that, they said they would march on the convention, stopping short of a call for violence.

Trump supporters criticized the state caucus system that resulted in their candidate failing to pick up any of the Colorados 34 delegates.

It wasnt an election, said John Hart of Commerce City. It was a selection.

On Twitter this week and in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Trump has lambasted the Colorado Republican Party for canceling its preference poll at the March 1 caucus.

State GOP chairman Steve House disputed protesters claims.

The notion that any secret group of politicians colluded behind closed doors against one presidential candidate last August by eliminating the straw poll is completely false, he said.

A rally to support the Republican Party drew about 40 people to the state GOP headquarters in Greenwood Village on Friday afternoon.

We need to straighten out the confusion, take out the crazy, and just move on, said Mark Baisley of the partys base that is splintering over Trump.

Keith Nobles said state GOP leaders have been threatened by Trump supporters intimidation tactics.

That is not how we do our politics, he said. People have a fundamental misunderstanding of the process. Everything in this building was voted on. There were meetings held and people were elected. The people that are angry are the people who didnt get involved in the caucus process.

Speakers at the Capitol took turns with a bullhorn to explain what they saw as improprieties at their precinct caucus or heavy-handed party tactics to keep Trump from winning.

Many urged Trump to form his own political party.

Where he goes, I go, explained Becky Ellis of Colorado Springs.

Colorado has looked at returning to a state primary, as it did from 1992 to 2000, when state leaders decided to revert to the caucus system. The Colorado caucus system goes back to at least 1912.

A bipartisan bill is being drafted in the legislature with input from both state parties.

Theres a lot of support for doing this, said House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, a Democrat from Boulder County. It would be just the presidential primary.  We have the opportunity, as I understand it from the state parties, to have that presidential primary fairly early on.

Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com or @joeybunch
Panic ensued on a college campus last week when social media fueled rumors that a member of the Ku Klux Klan had been spotted. The man, as students later realized, wasnt a Klan member, but rather Father Jude McPeak, an ordained priest from Evergreen, in line for frozen yogurt while wearing his habit.

Students from Indiana University took to Twitter to caution fellow students of a man dressed in white robes who was seen on campus carrying a whip. A university dorm resident advisor subsequently sent out a cautionary email to students in his building, and campus-wide chaos ensued.

While a mix-up between a Klansman and a priest seems unlikely, McPeak, who serves as the director of campus ministry at the Saint Paul Catholic Center at Indiana University, said he could understand the confusion.

Ive learned early on to kind of ignore things when Im out, so when I was at Red Mango getting yogurt, I had no idea what was going on around the campus, McPeak said. A few times Ive had people stop and ask, what are you? Because it is a very different dress in terms of normal attire, I think people assume because they dont know.

McPeak said only by following a flurry of texts from students in his ministry did he realize the extent of the rumor. In the days following, he was overwhelmed by the flood of community support he received.

When it really broke out, people were defending me and were very supportive. Now the main thing Im trying to do is outreaching to the community explaining who Dominican friars are and clarify whats going on, McPeak said. I understand why people could mistake us  we open our history books and we see Klans burning crosses in white robes.

Father Luke Barder, a priest from the St. Dominic Catholic Parish in Denver and longtime friend of McPeak, said people often are confused by the robes, called habits, because they dont expect to see them when they out doing day-to-day activities, such as getting frozen yogurt or visiting a brewery.

Its kind of a running joke when we get confused, because it is kind of out there. The habit isnt seen much anymore even though weve been around for 800 years. People just dont know what it is, Barder said. If you think of movies like Robin Hood, they wear a habit. Each religious group, or order, have habits that are traditionally theirs  the clothing marks their way of life. Dominican friars wear white, but if you see brown habits, theyre probably Franciscan friars.

McPeak said not all reactions they get are bad, and often genuine confusion will open a dialogue to discuss their way of life.

Dominican friars want to take on the idea of a monastic life while still staying active in the world. We want to stay in a place of prayer but engage in our day-to-day life, McPeak said. So Ill typically wear my habit every day because I see it as being authentic to who I am in the order. When I dont, its for something like convenience. I wouldnt wear it to the gym or to do yard work, for example. That wouldnt be convenient.

Both Barder and McPeak said keeping a sense of humor often is how the friars react.

We do kind of take it like a joke, Barder said. One time in Denver somebody started yelling at me assuming I was in the Klan. I just said, no, Im not that. They probably hate me just as much as you. Its kind of a running joke.

Natalie Munio: 303-954-1666, nmunio@denverpost.com or @nataliemunio
Theres more to The Night Manager than the cameras admiring shots of gorgeous scenery and gorgeous bodies. Picturesque views of Mallorca, Spain and Zermatt, Switzerland and Tom Hiddlestons physique are not to be minimized. But if those stunning assets initially draw viewers in to this top-notch six-part story, its John le Carres story that holds us rapt.

The Night Manager premieres April 19 on AMC. (Set the DVR, the first episode airs at 8 and repeats at 9:15 p.m. locally).

A beautifully constructed update on le Carres 1993 novel, the casting is as eye-popping as the globe-trotting locales: Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman make it a must-see spy thriller produced by The Ink Factory (A Most Wanted Man), BBC One and AMC.

Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier working as a hotel night manager in Cairo during the Arab spring (just one of the updates from the book).

Hiddleston (The Avengers), aside from being a gorgeous physical presence for the lens, brings a compelling urgency to the work, as he gets swept up in a complex story and becomes a smiling assassin out for revenge.

Laurie (House) portrays international arms dealer Richard Roper, a ruthless billionaire who operates above the law, secure on his own island retreat off Palma de Mallorca, Spain. In the modernized telling, Roper is doing business with a repressive Middle Eastern regime (news footage of the Syrian refugee crisis come to mind).

Lauries sly delivery makes Ropers diabolical nature intriguing. Roper makes a late appearance, but once on-screen he is a delectable champagne-swilling, morally bankrupt villain. Laurie is the gravitational force around which the miniseries swirls.

Colman (Broadchurch) plays British intelligence operative Angela Burr, who recruits Pine to infiltrate Ropers operation. Her pregnancy was smoothly incorporated into the character rather than have the actor constantly holding props or standing behind desks.

Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) plays Ropers glamorous girlfriend with a complex past. She does his bidding, living the high life while vaguely aware of his secret deals. Tom Hollander (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest) turns in a great supporting performance as Corky Corkoran, Ropers right-hand man.

Efficiently unspooling the tale to sustain the suspense, director Susanne Bier (In a Better World) keeps the pace quick and the atmospherics sensual in this first television adaptation of a le Carre novel in more than 20 years. But its more than slick. The spy tale is a great character study built on concerns about how superpowers, intelligence communities and organized crime operate and what the quest for revenge can do to decent people.

Updated April 18, 2016 at 1:27 p.m. Due to a reporters error, the time for The Night Manager on AMC was incorrectly listed. The first episode airs Tuesday, April 19 at 8 p.m. and repeats at 9:15 p.m.

Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or @ostrowdp
Authorities say organized crime elements with out-of-state ties increasingly are using Colorado homes to grow large amounts of marijuana illegally for transport and sale across the nation.

The uptick in these so-called pirate grows has become a priority for federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, who have dedicated resources to quashing the trend.

Weve seen more and more of it, said Tom Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. When we first legalized marijuana, we saw pockets of it  a lot of Colorado people growing illegally for the black market. Now, youre seeing a lot of people coming in from out of state to hide behind the legal market.

Its gotten really out of hand, he added.

While many of these illicit operations have gravitated to areas around Pueblo and Colorado Springs, the problem spans the state, including the Denver area, investigators say. Criminals set up shop in homes they rent or buy, then quickly begin cultivating hundreds, or even thousands, of plants.

Law enforcement flexed its muscle Thursday morning by raiding about 30 locations  many of them homes  between El Paso County and the north Denver area as part of an operation targeting a pot trafficking organization.

Also, over 12 days this month, authorities in Pueblo raided eight homes with suspected illegal marijuana grows filled with hundreds of mature and developing pot plants.

In each case, the county sheriffs office found the residents were from out of state  many with international ties.

Their plan is to send it out of state, said Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor. Thats well-documented.

The rise in these pirate grows coincides with a similar boom in massive illicit outdoor pot cultivation operations, a number of which were discovered in the past year on federal land. In several of those cases, federal authorities arrested Mexicans on felony drug cultivation charges.

The illicit house grows, however, provide a year-round way to produce higher-quality pot as opposed to the weather-dependent method of planting marijuana out in the open and hoping it is not discovered as it matures.

Now, instead of public land grows, they are coming into communities, Taylor said. They are buying and renting homes and putting these (grows) in basements and garages.

In plain sight

From March 30 to April 10, 12 people  all from Florida  were arrested as part of the Pueblo-area raids that resulted in the seizure of some 2,400 marijuana plants. Five of those suspects originally were from Cuba, authorities say.

In one of the raids during that span, deputies also seized 67 pot plants from a Pueblo West home inhabited by two Russian immigrants who recently moved to the area from New York.

Many of the operations were prompted by tips from the public. One came after authorities in Texas stopped a vehicle full of marijuana grown in Pueblo.

They can kind of hide in plain sight, said Barbra Roach, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administrations Denver division. They dont try to abide by the law in any way. For a while, they were going into warehouses. Now they are just going into homes.

Roach said the unintended consequences of the illicit grows can be vast, from fires to water pollution to devaluing rental property.

Theres a lot of law enforcement activity focused on this, said John Walsh, Colorados U.S. attorney. These operations violate federal law but also state law.

Walsh said the DEA has been working with local police departments and sheriffs offices to address the problem. He pointed to an operation last year that targeted 20 people in southern Colorados Fremont and Custer counties accused of harvesting marijuana at eight properties and shipping it to Florida via UPS.

Federal agents and local police confiscated 28 guns, more than $25,000 and 50 pounds of processed marijuana as part of that case.

We probably have more substantial marijuana trafficking cases in this office than we have ever had, he said.

Colorado law allows people 21 and older to grow up to six plants  three or fewer of which can be mature, flowering plants  provided its done in an enclosed, locked space.

Some cities have limited the number of plants that can be grown in a single house, and some cities have imposed other zoning or code restrictions on home-growing. Denver has a cap of 12 plants.

Some illegal home grows have been discovered after residents called police to report marijuana smells.

The Thursday morning operations targeted at least one Denver home that was nestled in a neighborhood near the intersection of Federal Boulevard and West First Avenue. Neighbors say officers dragged out stacks of marijuana plants and growing materials.

Money and crime

Those living nearby knew the residents were cultivating pot  partly because of the smell  but were surprised by the amount seized from the home.

They didnt cause any problems or anything, said neighbor Joshua Bower. They just had a whole bunch of weed in their house.

But in Huerfano County, just south of Pueblo, Sheriff Bruce Newman said he is worried about the potential of violent crime accompanying the increase in illegal pot grows hes seeing.

Theres a lot of people coming from out of state, he said. Its getting to be a pretty big trend.

An intruder was killed at a home about 20 miles west of Walsenburg on March 14 as he tried to break into a house with a 400-plant illicit cultivation operation where two Florida residents lived.

A Fort Morgan-area man was killed as he and two others tried to break into the rural house near the intersection of Huerfano County roads 520 and 530. Newman believed the intruders were after the illegal pot.

He added: Anytime theres money to be made, crime comes with it.

Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
RABIA, Iraq  Outside the police station, Iraqi men in robes and headscarves wait for permits to leave the dusty border town of Rabia, which was wrested from the Islamic State terrorist group 18 months ago but remains isolated and impoverished by the battle lines drawn around it.

To the east is the city of Mosul, still held by the Islamic State. To the west is the crossing into Syria, but that has been closed by Iraqi Kurdish authorities. The only way out is north to Iraqs largely autonomous Kurdish region, where authorities are suspicious of Rabias mostly Arab residents and require them to apply to enter.

The isolation is straining the town economy, making it difficult to bring in goods.

We are living now on livestock alone. There is nothing else, said Sheikh Fadl al-Shammari, a local farmer. Look at the market. Vegetable prices are going up because of this. Same with other items.

When Iraqi Kurdish forces retook Rabia last year, it was a major advance against the Islamic State, 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 Islamic State rampage.

The town long relied on cross-border trade, but the crossing into Syria has been closed for months because of the rivalry between Syrian Kurds and Iraqi Kurds. All goods now are imported from the Kurdish semi-autonomous zone, making everything more expensive in Rabia.

We hope that our Kurdish brothers will agree among each other because the closure of the border has affected us a lot. We are a border town, said Sheikh Khaled Ahmad Safuq al-Shammari, the towns tribal leader.

Residents are also cut off from the central government in Baghdad. The towns farmers long relied on the central government, which bought their wheat at a guaranteed price, higher than the market price, but those payments halted with the Islamic State takeover and havent resumed. Most municipal employees quit after not being paid for months.

Tribal militias and Kurdish forces provide security in the town, and the Kurds view the Sunni Arab residents with suspicion of being Islamic State sympathizers. The Kurds have barred nonresident Arabs from entering their autonomous zone in the north, but have made an exception for Rabia, although the townspeople require permits. Kurdish police say the permits are regularly provided. But residents say the process can take a day or two, the crossing is not always open and security checks extend the journey.

It is not like you just go up there freely, spend a couple of days and come back  no, said Ahmad Dhanoun, a local resident. You go to the police, and if you have an ill person with you, or you have a case, then they give their approval. Otherwise, no.
A womans body was found Wednesday in Wyoming matching the description of a woman who has been missing from Weld County since October.

The Weld County coroners office is doing a formal identification after the body was found in Laramie County, but officials believe it could be the body of Tera Lewandowski, 34, according to a news release from the Weld County Sheriffs office.

Police arrested six people in connection to the case six months ago, charging five with first-degree murder charges and one with an accessory charge.

Among those charged was 36-year-old Daniel Meyer, a Pierce town board member who told police during an interrogation that he forced a hunting knife into Lewandowskis chest after she was hit in the head.

Lewandowski had been staying at Meyers house for about a week before she was killed and had discovered Meyer was stealing her prescription medicines.

The case is still ongoing. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Weld County Sheriffs office at 970-356-4015 or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or @yeseniarobles
You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.

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)

Sign up below to have the hottest Catholic news delivered to your email daily!

Close

Sign up below to have the hottest Catholic news delivered to your email daily!

Church Militant, we need to band together to protect our religious liberties and win the culture war!
No power, no hot water, bedbugs at apartment towers near Downtown

Residents at the Latitude Five25 apartment towers on the Near East Side said they've had no hot water, no power at times. The city is going to court.
Egyptian security forces fired tear gas today at demonstrators protesting President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Chants of "leave, leave!" directed at el-Sissi marked the first significant wave of street protests since the former army chief became president in 2014. Riot police first cracked down on protesters in Cairo's twin city of Giza, where demonstrators had gathered at two prominent mosques after Friday prayers and started marching toward Tahrir Square downtown. Many carried signs reading, "Land is Honour" and denouncing the surrender of the islands. Others chanted, "The people want the fall of the regime" and "Down with military rule!" After police fired tear gas, the protesters ran in all directions, according to videos posted online by activists. Several photojournalists covering the protests were briefly detained near al-Istiqama mosque in Giza, according to witnesses at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared for their own safety. All unauthorised demonstrations in Egypt are illegal and security forces have, in the past, used lethal force against peaceful demonstrators. Egypt's state news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying that the protesters were members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group and that they chanted "anti-regime slogans". The official said police responded with tear gas after protesters threw rocks at them. Another demonstration of nearly 2,000 protesters gathered outside the Press Syndicate downtown, a few metres from a collection of armoured vehicles and hundreds of police in full riot gear who sealed off the surrounding streets. The protesters there chanted, "They sold our lands to the Saudis." Except for a handful of bearded men and female protesters wearing full-face veils, there was little sign of an organized Islamist presence among the demonstrators. "If we give up the lands now, there will be more future concessions for him to stay in power, for few more months," said Alaa Morsi, one of the protesters, echoing a widely-held notion that el-Sissi essentially sold Egyptian territory in exchange for much-needed Saudi financial support, to shore up his rule. What infuriated many was the secretive nature of the deal and particularly its timing. It was announced at the same time the Saudis were pledging billions of dollars of loans, causing critics and even some former el-Sissi supporters to accuse the president of a desperate and humiliating territorial sell-off.








Letterkenny student Amy Scanlon will be among some of Irelands future fashion designers who will showcase their latest designs next month as part of the hotly anticipated Ulster University Graduate Fashion show.

A fashion favourite on the stylistas schedule, the event will take place at the iconic Europa hotel in Belfast on 26 May, where final year students work will storm the catwalk displaying their unique style and individual vision. With some truly inspiring and creative pieces including knits, prints and jaw-dropping silhouettes in the mix, the students will no doubt wow the audiences.

Ahead of the event Amy said From the conceptual idea in my head, to putting pen to paper and sketching a 5 piece collection, before uncountable and pain-staking hours knitting and at a sewing machine, its cathartic to come full circle as we prepare for our pieces to come alive on real life models, with creative hair and makeup to create a full fashion theatre experience. It brings the whole project full circle and it has certainly helped me learn the importance of things like commerciality versus creativity for example, so it is such a fantastic way to finish our degree and help launch our fashion careers.

Student Amy will see her collection Rue modelled on show presenter and producer Cathy Martins CMPR Models with hair perfectly styled by the inventive team at Andrew Mulvenna hair and beautiful makeup looks created by the talented artists at MNX Pro.

Tickets are on sale now at just 15 per ticket, which includes a fabulous goodie bag and are available from https://getinvited.to/ulstergraduatesfashionshow2016.
Ronald Moede was born on December 21, 1934, in Rio Creek, WI. The son of the late Fred and Emily (Hanamann) Moede, he married Bonnie Neinas in Brussels on June 4, 1960, and they were married for 62+ years. He was a life-long resident of Rio Creek and was an innovative dairy farmer. He owned and managed a large dairy operation, Meade Manor Farms, which had been homesteaded by his grandfather, August Moede, in 1895. The log cabin home, barn, and herd grew to become one of the larger dairy farms in Kewaunee County under his guidance. Upon his retirement, it evolved into Meade Manor Pet Clinic, a vet service for small animals, but the land continued to flourish and produce. Ron graduated from Casco High School, Class of 1952 and Graham School for Cattlemen, Kansas. He was a member of the Wisconsin Holstein Breeders, Kewaunee County Holstein Breeders, and the National Holstein

Association. He was a charter member of the Algoma FFA Alumni. His family exhibited champion dairy cattle at local, state, and national dairy cattle shows. In 1984, in Madison, the Wisconsin FFA named him Outstanding Farmer and in 1995, he was named and honored at the Wisconsin State Fair as a Century Farmer. He served as an elder in his church for many years as well as a trustee and various committee appointments. In his younger days, he was active in dartball and also high school sports. He received the Algoma Honorary Chapter Farmer Award, and the Unified Board Business Award. In his retirement, he drove school bus for 15 years for the Algoma School District and was a member of the Great Lakes Sports Fishermen. A hobby later enjoyed was his chicken farming. He raised a small flock of chicken, and he enjoyed passing out extra eggs to friends and relatives when the supply was greater than the family could handle. He was an avid sports fan and he and Bonnie attended both Packers Super Bowl games in 1996 and 1997, and also the Milwaukee World Series in 1983. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, both here and in upper Michigan and Minnesota. He even got Bonnie to go along with him to Lake of the Woods on the Canadian border to do some ice fishing. He held Packers season tickets since 1960 and at the time they bought their tickets they were allowed to pick out where they wanted to sit on the sidelines --there were no end zone seats yet-- and the tickets cost $5.00 a piece! He traveled through most of the U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii as well as traveling to the Caribbean and Europe. He enjoyed a summer place in Door County for 20 years. He told many stories of farming with his dad and the fact that at the age of 12, he had his own team of horses to work with on the farm. Responsibility came early as he was left in charge whenever it was necessary for his parents to be gone for a few days. He learned to drive a truck at an early age and often drove himself to school in 8th grade and parked the vehicle a few doors down at a relatives. This was because chores need to be done before and after school. The first tractor purchased was in 1937. In his retirement, he had it restored and displayed in local fairs and tractor shows. He would tell of shocking grain and threshing crews traveling from neighbor to neighbor and the wonderful table his mother would set full of food. A vivid memory was the day WWII ended. The whole neighborhood and working crew quit in the early afternoon (unheard of) and celebrated With beer and music! Even the clergy arrived and joined in. It was a day to remember! In his lifetime he went from horses and the depression, to the digital age and unimagined luxuries. There was no electricity and no running water in his youth and now he had wireless phones, computer screens in his vehicles, along with heated steering wheels and heated seats. Who would have thought that back then.

Ron is survived by his wife Bonnie; son Robert (Debbie Harms) Moede; grandson Michael and granddaughter Megan; siblings, Terry (Jane) Moede, Paul (Roxie) Moede; sisters-in-law, Diane Fontaine, Sheila (Don) Baudhuin; and brothers in-law, Dan (Mary) Neinas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Emily Moede; sister, Marilyn (Arno) Schneider; father- and mother-in-law, Herman and Madeline Neinas, and brother-in-law, Gary Fontaine.

Visitation will be held at Kinnard Funeral & Cremation Services  Algoma, on Friday, October 7, 2022, from 4-7:30 pm with a prayer service at 6:30. Visitation will continue on Saturday, October 8th at St. Johns Lutheran Church  Rankin, from 9-11:00 am. Funeral service will be held at 11:00 am with Dr. Rev. Christopher Jackson officiating. Burial to follow in Evergreen Cemetery. Online condolence message may be shared at KinnardFCS.com. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Kewaunee County 4-H Dairy Fund and the Projection Screen Fund at St. Johns- Rankin.
dpa ElectionsData

With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc.

The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties.
Sussex News

Story Saved

You can find this story in My Bookmarks.

Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.
Students on the DeSales 3rd & 4th grade Destination Imagination Teams will move on to the Global Competition in Knoxville, Tenn. From left are 4th-graders Olivia Rongo, Sydney Mosher, Jamie Fraass, Natalie Pellicano and Kai Schiesel. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS)

From left, DeSales 3rd graders, Jillian Knuutila, Isabella Watson, Dominic Pellicano, Sophia Goyette, Daniel Rahill and Aubree Parker.



Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.



After achieving honors for creativity, teamwork and innovation in regional and state academic tournaments, two teams from DeSales Catholic School have earned the right to compete in Destination Imagination's Global Finals, the worlds largest celebration of student creativity, to be held May 25-28 in Knoxville, Tenn.Team members from from the DeSales 3rd grade team, The Zoo Crew led by Mrs. Nicole Goyette and assisted by Mrs. Sue Watson, include Daniel Rahill, Sophia Goyette, Dominic Pellicano, Isabella Watson, Jillian Knuutila, Aubree Parker and Hannah Upshaw. Team members from the DeSales 4th grade team, The Magnifiers led by Mrs. Stacey Pellicano, include Olivia Rongo, Sydney Mosher, Kai Schiesel, Natalie Pellicano and Jamie Fraass.The DeSales 3rd graders will compete with other teams in the In Plain Sight challenge, while the DeSales 4th graders will compete in the Get a Clue challenge. These challenges are open-ended challenges that require students to apply science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, in addition to their talents in improvisation, theater arts, writing, project management, communication, innovation, teamwork, community service and social entrepreneurship."These children worked very hard developing and creating their solution to the In Plain Sight problem," said Mrs. Nicole Goyette, 3rd grade team manager. "They showed that working together to solve problems does great things! I cannot wait to see how they do at Global Finals.""It is cool to work with my friends. If we have a problem, we work it out together." said 9-year-old Aubree Parker, a member of the 3rd grade Zoo Crew.Destination Imagination has had a positive impact on more than 1.5 students who have taken part in its acclaimed Challenge program. This year, 150,000 students have participated in tournaments throughout the U.S. and 30 countries in hopes of earning a spot at the Global Finals competition in May.The 12 students representing DeSales Catholic School will be among more than 8,000 students representing more than 1,400 teams that will advance to Global Finals, which will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville May 25-28.The Destination Imagination program is a fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students creativity, courage and curiosity, said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination. Quantitative reasoning, collaborative problem solving, risk taking, collaboration, presentations and thinking on your feet are some of the important skills learned in the program.Fundraising efforts and underway to help these 12 students get to the Global Competition in Knoxville, Tenn. Anyone interested in making a donation to help these young students is asked to mail a check to DeSales Catholic School, 6914 Chestnut Ridge Road, Lockport, NY 14094, attention Destination Imagination Team.DeSales is Eastern Niagara Countys only Catholic School, welcoming students of all faiths in Pre-School through Eighth grade. For more information call 433-6422 ext 407, or visit www.desalescatholicschool.org
Expanding on Facebooks embrace of video and communication as a transformative tool, CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday launched the companys new Messenger platform beta at its annual F8 conference for developers. The Messenger announcement was the first major initiative in the long-term vision he presented.

Zuckerberg outlined a major push to incorporate artificial intelligence and bots into the Messenger platform. The revamped service will allow companies and individuals to develop more sophisticated and personal experiences through Messenger than ever before, ultimately transforming the app into a major communications and marketing tool.

Messenger is going to be the next big platform for sharing privately, Zuckerberg told conference attendees.

More than 900 million people around the world and 50 million businesses use Messenger to communicate every month, he noted. Facebook already has started working with various businesses to help them build deeper relationships with their customers, and it now is opening up the platform to include bots and the send/receive API.

Video Takes the Wheel

We are entering the golden age of online video, Zuckerberg added, noting research findings that show Facebook users file 10 times more comments in response to video than to ordinary photos.

In some cases, public figures have been able to develop a bigger audience using video on Facebook than they attracted to their own television shows, he noted.

Facebook is making a global push with messaging to make it a global platform and destination for all types of businesses, said Brian Blau, a vice president at Gartner.

With bots, they want to enable businesses to have a more direct and personal connect with their own customers, he told TechNewsWorld, and with the use of automated response and interaction technology, backed by deep learning and artificial intelligence, those bots will become very personal and human-like.

Facebook can bring a number of new features to the table using the new Messenger bots, David Marcus, vice president of messaging products at Facebook, noted in a blog post.

The bots will be able to deliver a range of messages  from weather and traffic updates to customized receipts, shipping notifications, and live automated images specifically tailored to individual customers.

Messenger API and the ability to integrate video and instant messaging into the social interaction will transform Facebook into a global telecommunications player, Frost & Sullivan Research Manager Michael Jude told TechNewsWorld.

The Messenger send/receive API support will let developers and businesses build bots for Messenger. Facebook has developed Messenger codes, user names and links to help find people on Messenger, and to make it easier for people to find businesses.

Using bots to power customer interaction allows businesses to scale to handle many customer issues without relying on large call centers, Tirias Research Principal Analyst Kevin Krewell told TechNewsWorld.

Despite the ambitious plans, it may prove difficult for Facebook to get a large number of customers to switch from their existing messaging habits, suggested Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

This is where Facebooks lack of marketing skills will likely hurt their ability to make progress, he told TechNewsWorld, because they have to build demand for Messenger, and building demand currently isnt one of their strengths.

Facebook Spans the Globe

Zuckerberg also outlined a number of long-term initiatives to grow the company over the next decade, with one of the most ambitious being an effort to expand access to the Internet in the developing world. Nearly 4 billion people dont have access to the Internet because they either lack the infrastructure or the ability to pay. In some cases, they have access to both but dont see the urgency.

Facebook is developing lightweight, solar-powered aircraft that will be able to fly at 60,000 feet above the ground and provide high-speed Web access to population centers in Africa and other regions of the developing world. The aircraft, which has a wingspan wider than Boeing 737  but weighs less than a car  can stay up in the sky for months at a time and beam Internet signals to the ground.

The company also has built a tool called augmented traffic control, part of an effort to help telecommunications companies provide Internet at an affordable price so that they can offer basic services for free. The initiative is already under way in 37 counties and reaches more than 30 million people.

Facebooks Account Kit, another newly launched product, will help customers avoid a routine many hate  choosing usernames and passwords to sign up for websites. The tool will make it possible to use a single phone number or email, to be authenticated with a code.
An army of 39,000 workers this week went on strike against Verizon in one of the biggest labor actions in the U.S. in several years. Fast food workers have joined in a show of support, and both Democratic candidates for president have entered the fray.

Thousands of wireline workers from Massachusetts to Virginia walked off the job at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning after the company was unable to reach an agreement with labor leaders on health benefits, flexibility to utilize technicians away from home, and a host of other issues.

Verizon has trained thousands of non-union employees under a contingency plan to make sure customers are not disrupted by the massive strike, the company said. The two sides appear to be hardened in their positions, and an immediate resolution does not appear to be on the table.

Were more than prepared, and thats our primary focus right now  meeting the needs of our customers with minimal disruption, Verizon spokesperson Ray McConville told the E-Commerce Times.

Verizons Story

Company negotiators have worked hard over the past 10 months to find a resolution with unionized workers, represented by the Communication Workers of America and the IBEW, Verizon maintained.

Unionized workers have an agenda that is rooted in the past and ignores todays digital realities, said Marc Reed, chief administrative officer at Verizon.

The average wage and benefit package of 36,000 employees involved in the strike is US$130,000 per year, according to Verizon. About 99 percent of those workers support the wireline business, which provided 29 percent of the companys revenue in 2015 but only 7 percent of its operating income.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on Monday offered to provide mediation if the unions would extend the strike deadline, Reed noted, but they declined.

The Unions Side

Among the workers beefs is that Verizon has sent more than 5,000 jobs overseas and wants to outsource even more jobs, including call center jobs, according to CWA spokesperson Candice Johnson.

Verizon wants to make technicians work up to four months away from home in the mid-Atlantic region in order to help make repairs to the network or do emergency work, she told the E-Commerce Times.

Thats one reason Bernie Sanders and other politicians have joined the picket line, Johnson said, which resonated well with working class people who feel that the economy is rigged against them.

These companies are not sharing, if you will, the increased productivity gains with the workers at all, Johnson maintained.

Verizon has told them it is heavily focused on the needs of its wireless business at the expense of its landline business, she noted.

The company is under investigation for allegedly failing keep promises to build out broadband infrastructure in several jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania, some parts of New York City, and other communities, Johnson pointed out.

Promises to Keep

Verizon is in the wrong in this dispute, said analyst Craig Settles, who follows the broadband industry closely.

The workers have legitimate concerns, and these are also the concerns of customers and businesses that use Verizon services, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The buildout issue is of particular resonance, he said, noting that these communities in many cases exemplify the struggle to get adequate service for low-income and rural communities that Verizon and other telecoms do not view as potentially profitable.

Intense speculation that Verizon would put its wireline business up for sale began circulating late last year.

I think if Verizon could snap their heels together and make a wish, they would want to get out of local phone service, wireless industry analyst Jeff Kagan told the E-Commerce Times. Verizon has gone from nearly 100 percent market share 10 and 20 years ago to roughly 30 percent today, and its still dropping.

Meanwhile, the company is one of the leading candidates to acquire the Web assets of Yahoo in an effort to build up its content business, which includes America Online.
Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)
(Photo: REUTERS / Filippo Monteforte / Pool)Pope Francis (L) and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I sign a joint statement at St George church, the principal Greek Orthodox cathedral, in Istanbul November 30, 2014. Pope Francis began a visit to Turkey on Friday with the delicate mission of strengthening ties with Muslim leaders while condemning violence against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East.

Pope Francis has welcomed three families of Syrian refugees who arrived in Rome after he rescued them from a camp in Lesbos following a visit to the Greek island to highlight the humanitarian crisis.

Twelve people from the families of Syrian refugees boarded the pontiff's aircraft shortly at the end of his whirlwind April 16 visit to Lesbos.

"We are are migrants," said the Pope during his visir.

A deal between the European Union and Turkey on how to deal with with migrants and refugees has been ciritiicized as inhumane and even illegal.

Some 3,000 people detained on Lesbos are highlighting the refugee crisis after the visit of Pope Francis and Orthodox Christian leaders.

Francis visited the island with the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens.

"This is a sad journey. We're going to see a lot of people who are suffering and do not know where to go," said the Pope. "

"We are heading for a meeting with the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War," the pontiff told reporters the Vatican Television Center (CTV) said, Sputnik News reported.

Pope Francis gave Europe "a concrete lesson in how to treat refugees" by bringing the 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane, The Associated Press commented.

Two of the families come from Damascus, the Syrian, while the third is from the stronghold of the fanatical group Daes, also known as ISIS, of Deir el-Zour in the north of the country, near the Iraq border.

'Today I renew my heartfelt plea for responsibility and solidarity in the face of this tragic situation," said Pope Feancis.

The Vatican will take responsibility for supporting the families, while the Catholic Sant'Egidio community, which works with refugees, will take care of getting them settled initially.

During his trip to Lesbos, Francis castigated people smugglers and arms traffickers, accusing them of aggravating Europe's current refugee crisis in Europe.

Refugees wept and fell when the Pope came close to them while others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as he passed by.

Lesbos lies close to Turky and has been a major gateway to Europe for many of those fleeing war and poverty in North Africa and Middle East.

More than 80 aid groups are three assisting thousands of refugees on Lesbos, among them the UN's refugee agency UNHCR, the International Committiee of the Red Cross and the International Rescue Committee that operate transit and aid centers there.
Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o...
Working to build greater prosperity for disadvantaged and vulnerable rural people in developing countries around the world, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed an agreement today to reinforce and expand cooperation between the two organisations.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by EIBs Vice-President, Pim van Ballekom, and IFADs Associate Vice President, Henock Kifle, in the margins of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington DC.

The agreement reflects the shared focus of IFAD and EIB on developing agribusiness and creating jobs and prosperity in the countries where the two organisations both operate. In the context of recent international agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change, the partnership will focus on investments in agriculture which will result in sustainable and inclusive economic growth and continued food supplies for a growing population.

Through this partnership, the two organisations aim to share knowledge, implement joint projects and provide financial instruments, such as loans and guarantees, to better channel crucial financing to help smallholder farmers maximise their potential.

Pim van Ballekom, EIB Vice-President, said: Agriculture and agribusiness play a very important role throughout the world, especially in developing and emerging economies, as these sectors are huge employers and key to social issues such as livelihoods and food security. They have the ability to create more jobs and to further drive growth in a sustainable manner. But to achieve this, they need the correct approach to investment, as well as sufficient funding. They deserve our full attention and support and this is where the EIB and IFAD can make a real impact.

IFAD and EIB share a common belief in the importance of investing in smallholder famers and in developing rural areas. Through the Sustainable Development Goals, the world has envisioned an inspiring future. By sharing our knowledge and working together, our two organisations can make a real contribution to ending hunger, achieving food security and ensuring that agriculture is a sustainable business. added Associate Vice-President Henock Kifle of IFAD.

Background information:

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. As the worlds largest multilateral lender and climate financier, the EIB is helping to tackle climate change. Last year 27% of all lending went towards climate action, through the EIBs Climate Strategy.

The EIB is active in 160 countries around the world. As a key player in the world of development finance, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is participating in the 2016 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) taking place in Washington D.C. (USA) through a delegation led by President Werner Hoyer. These events are among the most important in the calendars of all organisations involved in international development and the EIB is proud to contribute its expertise.

As the EU bank, the EIB provides long-term finance for sound, sustainable investment projects in support of EU policy goals in Europe and beyond including the Sustainable Development Goals and putting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change We are the largest multilateral lender and borrower in the world and are owned by the EUs 28 member states. The EIB makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals including the support of the Sustainable Development Goals and putting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change into practice.

The EIB invests in four priority areas in support of growth and job creation: innovation and skills; access to finance; climate action and 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% by 2020, and placing a greater emphasis on helping regions in the frontline of climate change to adapt.

For more information

Tackling Global Challenges Together: for updates, news and videos www.eib.org/globalcooperation

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency. It invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, IFAD has provided US$17.6 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached about 459 million people.
Rio de Janeiro, Apr 16 (EFE).- Brazilian environmental authorities have fined the company that operates the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric power station over fish deaths during the process of filling the dam's reservoir, officials said.

Norte Energia has been ordered to pay 35.3 million reais (some $10 million) for causing the deaths of 16.2 tons of fish in the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon where the dam is located, the state-run Ibama agency said in a statement Friday.

The company also presented "partially false information" about the hiring of personnel to rescue fauna from the river and thus failed to comply with one of the conditions of its operating license, which Ibama issued late last year.

In November 2015, Ibama authorized the start of operations at Belo Monte even though its technicians acknowledged that Norte Energia had ignored requirements to protect the environment and affected indigenous communities.

It finally issued the license after the company pledged to take corrective measures.

Belo Monte began operating in February on a trial basis after the volume of water in its reservoir reached the required level.

Construction of the dam began in March 2011 in the northern state of Para despite resistance from local Indians, farmers, fishermen and environmentalists who expressed concern about the $10.6 billion project's ecological impact.

Between 16,000 and 25,000 people were paid to leave their homes to make way for the dam, according to several estimates.

Belo Monte will flood a total of 506 sq. kilometers (195 sq. miles) of rainforest and have an average installed capacity of 4.5 gigawatts and a peak capacity of 11.2 GW in times of high river flow.
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.
New York, NY, April 14, 2016 - Few data are available concerning the consequences of neonatal circumcision on penile sensitivity in adults. New research reported in The Journal of Urology indicates that there are no differences in penile sensitivity for a variety of stimulus types and penile sites between circumcised and intact men. Additionally, this study challenges past research suggesting that the foreskin is the most sensitive and, in turn, most sexually relevant, part of the adult penis.

When the American Academy of Pediatrics and Canadian Pediatric Society recently revised their policies concerning routine neonatal circumcision, public interest was reignited in this long-running debate. Focusing on health outcomes, particularly protection against sexually transmitted infections, rather than penile sensitivity, the American policy statement supports routine circumcision of newborn males, while the Canadian policy does not.

Investigators examined two hypotheses that might support decreased penile sensitivity: whether the exposed glans penis of circumcised men is less sensitive than that of intact men (where keratinization is hypothesized to take place), and if the highly innervated foreskin is more sensitive than other sites of the penis.

"We directly tested whether circumcision is associated with a reduction in penile sensitivity by testing tactile detection, pain, warmth detection, and heat pain thresholds at multiple sites on the penis between groups of healthy (neonatally) circumcised and intact men," explained lead author Jennifer Bossio, PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology of the Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Ontario, Canada (working with Dr. Caroline Pukall, PhD, and Dr. Stephen Steele, MD). "This study indicates that neonatal circumcision is not associated with changes in penile sensitivity and provides preliminary evidence to suggest that the foreskin is not the most sensitive part of the penis."

Sixty-two men between the ages of 18 and 37 (30 circumcised, 32 intact) participated in the study. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) protocols assessed touch and pain thresholds and warmth detection and heat pain thresholds at a control site (forearm) and three to four penile sites (glans penis, midline shaft, proximal to midline shaft, and foreskin, if present). The authors reported that the pain, warmth detection, and heat pain stimuli likely activate nerve fibers more relevant to sexual pleasure than touch thresholds, which has been the focus of previous research.

Although in a previous study lower tactile thresholds were noted at the glans penis in circumcised men, the current investigation found no between-group differences in sensitivity across four stimulation types, lending no support to the widely accepted, but largely untested, keratinization hypothesis.

The investigators also found that the foreskin had similar sensitivity as the control site on the forearm for any stimulus type tested. Given that other genital sites (e.g., glans penis, midline shaft) were more sensitive to pain stimuli than the forearm, removing the highly innervated foreskin does not appear to remove the most sensitive part of the penis.

Sexual function was assessed via the International Index of Erectile Functioning (IIEF), a 15-item measure of men's sexual functioning over the past four weeks across the five domains of erectile function: intercourse satisfaction, orgasmic function, sexual desire, and overall satisfaction. No differences between the groups were observed on any of these measures, suggesting that sexual functioning may not differ across circumcision status.

"Methodology and results from this study build on previous research and imply that if sexual functioning is related to circumcision status, this relationship is not likely the result of decreased penile sensitivity stemming from neonatal circumcision," observed Ms. Bossio.

###
A team of UK and Swedish researchers has released the findings of a new study which assessed the hip fracture risk of farmers in Sweden.

Sweden is one of the few countries which tracks hip fractures through a national registry. It is therefore possible to assess how hip fracture risk across the country varies according to occupation, economic status, level of education, latitude, and urban versus rural residence. Although hip fracture risk is known to be correlated to physical activity, that's one of the variables, among others, which the registries can't track.

The researchers therefore focused on farming, an occupation which is characterized by regular, long-term outdoor physical activity. Looking at the hip fracture incidence of all men and women aged 40 years or more in Sweden between 1987-2002, they found that there were 100,083 individuals who sustained a hip fracture. Of these, 4, 175 were farmers.

For both men and women, the hip fracture risk rose with age, low income, low education, higher latitude, and urban location. For women, being a farmer was not associated with a significant difference in hip fracture risk.

For male farmers the risk of a hip fracture was 14% lower compared to other occupations, adjusted for age. When also adjusted for rural status of residence, the risk reduction was still 15% lower. However, when also adjusted for income, education and latitude the effect was even more marked -- at 39% lower risk.

Lead author, Dr. Helena Johansson of the Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases, University of Sheffield Medical School, UK, stated, "We need to be concerned about hip fractures as they are the most serious and disabling osteoporosis-related fractures. Given the many, complex factors that affect fracture risk, it is not possible to pinpoint a single variable that is associated with lower hip fracture risk. However, these findings are interesting in that they suggest that a lifetime of outdoor, physical activity may be a positive factor when it comes to hip fracture risk. "

###

Reference:

OC 31 Swedish Farmers Have Lower Risk for Hip Fracture Than Expected From Economic Status, Education and Location Abstract book: WCO-IOF-ESCEO World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, 14 -17 April 2016, Malaga, Spain Osteoporosis International, Volume 27/ Suppl 1/ 2016

About World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis & Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO-IOF-ESCEO 2016):

Held jointly by IOF and ESCEO, the Congress is taking place in Malaga, Spain from April 14-17,2016. It is the world's largest annual forum for the presentation of clinical research and new advances in the prevention and management of bone, muscle and joint disorders, including sarcopenia and frailty. The next Congress will be held in Florence, Italy from March 23-26, 2017. For complete information visit http://www.wco-iof-esceo.org #OsteoCongress

About IOF:

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world's largest nongovernmental organization dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. IOF members, including committees of scientific researchers, leading companies, as well as more than 234 patient, medical and research societies in 99 locations, work together to make bone, joint and muscle health a worldwide heath care priority. http://www.iofbonehealth.org / http://www.facebook.com/iofbonehealth / https://twitter.com/iofbonehealth

About ESCEO:

The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) is a non-profit organization, dedicated to a close interaction between clinical scientists dealing with rheumatic disorders, pharmaceutical industry developing new compounds in this field, regulators responsible for the registration of such drugs and health policy makers, to integrate the management of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis within the comprehensive perspective of health resources utilization. The objective of ESCEO is to provide practitioners with the latest clinical and economic information, allowing them to organize their daily practice, in an evidence-based medicine perspective, with a cost-conscious perception. http://www.esceo.org
International Osteoporosis Foundation recognizes 8 outstanding individuals for their dedication to the work of IOF and to global osteoporosis awareness and education

Malaga, Spain - April 15, 2016 - The IOF President's Award was presented today to eight leading regional osteoporosis experts and advocates in recognition of their contributions to IOF and their extraordinary work in the field. The presentations took place at a special ceremony during the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, currently being held in Malaga, Spain until April 17, 2016.

The following individuals were recognized for their outstanding contributions:

Asia - Dr Ambrish Mithal, Chairman and Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes division at Medanta, the Medicity, Gurgaon, Delhi NCR; IOF Board of Governance Member; IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors Member; Chairperson, Bone and Joint Decade, India and immediate past President, Endocrine Society of India (2009-2010). Founder, past President and currently Chief Advisor to the Indian Society Bone and Mineral Research (ISBMR). He chairs the Nutrition Working Group of the Committee of Scientific Advisors, International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF).

Latin America - Prof. Patricia Clark , Head Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Infantil de Mexico; Professor Master and PhD programs Clinical Epidemiology Faculty of Medicine, National University of Mexico; IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors Member; Epidemiology/Quality of Life Working Group Member and Sarcopenia; FRAX advocate in Latin America; Editorial Board member Osteoporosis International.

Middle East & Africa - Prof. Leith Zakraoui, Head of the Department of Rheumatology at Hopital Mongi Slim, La Marsa, Tunisia and Professor at the University of Tunis School of Medicine; IOF Board of Governance member; Regional Advisory Council Member; Scientific Committee Member and Speaker IOF Regionals Middle East & Africa; President of the Tunisian Osteoporosis Prevention Society (TOPS); President of the Tunisian League Against Rheumatism, and General Secretary of the African League of Associations of Rheumatologists (AFLAR).

North America - Dr Famida Jiwa, President and CEO of Osteoporosis Canada, Chair of the Patient Societies Subcommittee; Vice-Chair Committee of National Societies; Speaker and Chair IOF Worldwide Conference of Osteoporosis Patient Societies.

Oceania - Paul Mitchell, Managing Director of Synthesis Medical NZ Limited, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Notre Dame Australia and a member of the ANZ Hip Fracture Registry Steering Group; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Osteoporosis New Zealand; Co-Author 2012 IOF World Osteoporosis Day report Capture the Fracture; Co-opted Member Fracture Working Group; Capture the Fracture Steering Committee Member; Speaker IOF Regionals Asia Pacific.

Eastern Europe - Prof. Andrea Ildiko Gasparik, Senior lecturer at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Targu Mures, Romania; President of the Association for the Prevention of Osteoporosis in Romania (ASPOR); Speaker IOF Worldwide Conference of Osteoporosis Patient Societies; Organizer IOF Osteoporosis Diagnosis Course, with Densitometry Certification.

Southern Europe - Prof. Jorge B. Cannata Andia, Service of Bone and Mineral Metabolism, Istitute Reina Sofia of Investigation, Oviedo, Spain, President of the European Union Medical Specialities (UEMS) Renal Section and Board, Chair of the Committee of Education or the European Renal Association and European Dialysis and Transplantation (ERS-EDTA).

Western Europe - Prof. Thierry Thomas, Head of Rheumatology Department,University Hospital of St-Etienne, France, CNS Representative of the French Group de Recherche et d'Information sur les Osteoporoses (GRIO), IOF EU Consultation Panel Member; Capture the Fracture Steering Committee Member.

IOF President, Professor John A. Kanis presented the awards to the eight recipients, commending them all for their contributions: "I am delighted to present these awards to each of these leading osteoporosis experts. Within their respective regions and through their global participation in IOF programmes and projects, they have made considerable contributions towards awareness of musculoskeletal diseases and improved patient care."

###

About the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis & Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO-IOF-ESCEO 2016)

Held jointly by IOF and ESCEO, the Congress is taking place in Malaga, Spain from April 14-17,2016. It is the world's largest annual forum for the presentation of clinical research and new advances in the prevention and management of bone, muscle and joint disorders, including sarcopenia and frailty. The next Congress will be held in Florence, Italy from March 23-26, 2017. For complete information visit http://www.wco-iof-esceo.org #OsteoCongress

About IOF

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world's largest nongovernmental organization dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. IOF members, including committees of scientific researchers, leading companies, as well as more than 234 patient, medical and research societies in 99 locations, work together to make bone, joint and muscle health a worldwide heath care priority. http://www.iofbonehealth.org / http://www.facebook.com/iofbonehealth / https://twitter.com/iofbonehealth

About ESCEO

The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) is a non-profit organization, dedicated to a close interaction between clinical scientists dealing with rheumatic disorders, pharmaceutical industry developing new compounds in this field, regulators responsible for the registration of such drugs and health policy makers, to integrate the management of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis within the comprehensive perspective of health resources utilization. The objective of ESCEO is to provide practitioners with the latest clinical and economic information, allowing them to organize their daily practice, in an evidence-based medicine perspective, with a cost-conscious perception. http://www.esceo.org


'Orient can raise more money in Hong Kong than it could through a mainland IPO'



On April 11, a draft prospectus appeared on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing website for a company called DFZQ. The 568-page Application Proof, as draft prospectuses are known on HKEx, is heavily redacted on timetable and amount, but illuminating all the same: DFZQ is better known in English as Orient Securities, the Chinese capital markets house, and it is thought to be seeking as much as $1 billion.

The proposed deal catches the eye for several reasons. The first is that Orient is Citis securities joint venture partner: it holds 66.67% of Citi Orient, and Citi 33%. Citi Orient is one of the handful of JVs, alongside UBS Securities, Goldman Sachs Gao Hua and Zhong De Securities (which partners Deutsche Bank and Shanxi Securities), that is doing well both in terms of deal volume and profitability. According to data from the Securities Association of China, as of June 30 2015, Citi Orient ranked second among foreign JVs for net profit (albeit only Rmb162.8 million ($25.1 million)  theres still not a huge amount of money to be made in these ventures), second for total revenue, third for underwriting fees and ranked top for financial advisory fees and second for M&A fees.i







** Daiwa SSC and Fortune CLSA are no longer foreign JVs. Each has been acquired by a Chinese securities firm.

Source: Securities Association of China

A Citi official says the Orient Securities IPO will make no difference to the JV, since its a listing of the parent in isolation, and JVs arent allowed to engage in business that conflicts with the parent. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if the once-removed presence of Citi and the relative success of the JV prove useful in marketing the parents listing.

The second reason the deal is interesting is the selection of Hong Kong rather than China as a listing venue. Orient is already listed in Shanghai, but could have opted to raise more capital domestically, particularly in this low-valuation environment. Some commentators have said the choice of Hong Kong is because of the suspension of capital raising in mainland China, but in fact that suspension was lifted in December and only applied to IPOs. Instead, the answer must be more pragmatic.

Orient can raise more money in Hong Kong than it could through a mainland IPO, and it will possibly be an easier process for them, says Stephen Baron, an analyst at Z-Ben Advisors, the Shanghai-based research group.

Wherever it raises capital, it faces very obvious headwinds. The A-share (domestic mainland Chinese) market has been more volatile than the H-share (Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong) market, but that hardly makes H-shares a haven of peace, particularly when it comes to the listing of mainland securities companies.

Shares in Guolian Securities, which listed in Hong Kong in June 2015, trade at less than half their level at launch. Hengtai Securities followed in October and is also well down on its listing price.

'Time is right'

Although many Chinese securities firms are believed to be ready to launch in Hong Kong when the time is right, among them China Merchants Securities and Everbright Securities, Orient appears to be the first since the Chinese market crash to believe that now is the time.

That said, the draft prospectus is careful to give no indication of timing, though it is understood that the joint sponsors  Citi, Goldman Sachs and Nomura  are sounding out the possibility of a listing within the next few months.

When they do decide to go ahead, it will be interesting to see how different the numbers in the final prospectus are from those in the draft.

The draft  which uses numbers from December 31 2015  shows fabulous performance: a 72% increase in revenue from 2013 to 2014, then a 159.4% increase from 2014 to 2015, reaching Rmb20.46 billion.

The problem is, assuming the interim results are out before the company lists, the next numbers are likely to look rather different.

As Orient itself says in the draft prospectus, the increased income reflects an increase in income from our wealth management business as a result of increased trading activity of the A-share market, the overall strong performance of our asset management schemes in our investment management business leading to an increase in performance fees, and an increase in our net investment gains from our fixed income as well as equity securities investments.

One would imagine all of those sources of income have taken a bit of a dent, particularly anything proprietary related to A-shares. Chinas CSI300 dropped 21% in the first month of the year alone, and, despite a subsequent rebound, was still off 13.8% in the first quarter. Orient says: Our revenue was materially and adversely affected. How much so will have quite an impact on how attractive the IPO looks, particularly to retail investors who tend to make decisions on headlines.

Baron, though, says the numbers may not look too bad. Profits in the brokerage industry have continued to increase, he says. Yes, a fair portion of the revenues for the larger companies were derived from proprietary trading, but they continue to appear healthy.

Clamp down

A bigger issue, in his view, is the drastic shrinkage in margin lending volumes as the A-share market collapsed and regulators tried to clamp down on individual leverage. He says the outstanding margin trading balance has fallen from a peak of Rmb2.4 trillion to about Rmb800 billion this year. Margin lending, he says, is a nice earner for Chinese securities houses; the earnings that come from it will be missed.

Either way, this would all have been a much easier sell last June.

Still, cash is always welcome, now in particular.

The IPO process may benefit their [Orients] securities operations on the mainland, says Baron. It will give them more cash to bolster the margin trading and stock lending side of the business and invest into other areas. Weve seen it before with Citic and Haitong: use the IPO to reinvest in the company and create strong brand names in the industry locally and to make international acquisitions.

Next, another member of the same group may come up with a still more important transaction. Orient is the largest (39.96%) shareholder in China Universal, a fund management business with Rmb107.9 billion under management, one of the top 10 in the industry in both asset and performance terms. Baron reckons it, too, is planning to list, and may well become the first Chinese mutual fund company to do so.

That would be a landmark. Perhaps were not too far from the day when a Sino-foreign securities JV lists in its own right.
Writing in The Guardian, developmental psychologist Nathalia Gjersoe laments, Although it is part of the compulsory science curriculum in most schools in the UK and the USA, more than a third of people in both countries reject the theory of evolution outright or believe that it is guided by a supreme being. Her solution is simple.

According to developmental psychologists, children have an intuitive bent toward intelligent design. Thus schools should begin evolution education at younger ages  one advocate says five to eight years old. Disrupting this natural inclination will pave the way for greater scientific understanding.

This is indoctrination and the promotion of a one-sided view of evolution (for a summary of the theorys weaknesses and links to scientific articles challenging the major mechanisms of neo-Darwinism, read Casey Luskins article, The Top Ten Scientific Problems with Biological and Chemical Evolution). Whats more, it simplistically conceives science as fact rather than a process of inquiry.

I also object to Gjersoes conflation of an intelligent design framework with some  obviously false  notions. She notes:

Under speeded conditions, even adults with PhDs in scientific disciplines tend to say that promiscuous teleological explanations like Cows have udders so that farmers can milk them are correct. The common-sense bias to believe that everything exists for a purpose underpins the intuitive attractiveness of intelligent design.

Wrong. Holding to intelligent design does not mean accepting such propositions.

Dr. Deb Kelemen, Developmental Science Program Director at Boston University, writes and publishes illustrated storybooks about natural selection. In research described by Gjersoe, Kelemen used a storybook to teach evolutionary concepts to children between ages five and eight. In her study, published in Psychological Science, Kelemen describes the book this way. It involves imaginary bug-eating animals called pilosas (apparently not to be confused with the non-imaginary order Pilosa, which includes anteaters):

The custom 10-page storybook used realistic pictures and factual narrative with nonteleological, nonintentional language to answer the question posed at the books beginning: Why did pilosas change from having highly variable trunk widths in the past to having predominantly thin trunks now? The explanation then unfolded, tightly causally connecting information on six natural selection concepts: trait variation within a population, habitat and food-source change in response to abrupt climate change, differential health and survival due to differential food access, differential reproduction due to differential health, trait inheritance, and trait-frequency change over multiple generations. Although multiple generations were depicted, most of the book focused on describing adaptation in the initial population and their immediate offspring.

The story goes like this: Some pilosas have thin trunks and other pilosas have thick trunks. When, for some natural reason or another, all the bugs move underground, the thin-trunked pilosas can reach the bugs and so survive. This seems to describe microevolution  variations of the sort observed, for example, in Galapagos finch beaks. Microevolution takes place within the same species. It does not involve speciation, or what Darwin called the origin of species. Following the reading of the story, when children were asked questions about changes in another imaginary animal, they described those changes in terms of adaptation and reproduction.

Kelemen wants to start evolution education by ages five to eight because she thinks childrens understanding of teleology and essentialism should be disrupted before they have coalesced into a coherent theoretical framework that gets in the way of contradictory scientific explanations.

Gjersoe and Kelemen seem to be looking for a palatable way to suggest pre-conditioning young minds to accept evolution. The idea of trying to disrupt a natural human bias in children is disconcerting. Interfering with childrens thinking processes to inculcate a certain pre-determined opinion sounds like brainwashing. But this seems to be the effort in the UK: After persistentlobbying by the British Humanist Association, evolution was included in the national primary curriculum for the first time last year.

The right question isnt when, but how to introduce children to evolution. Teaching the subject uncritically doesnt foster scientific literacy. On the other hand, learning about the scientific controversy over neo-Darwinism does foster such literacy. As Casey Luskin has noted:

Everyone wants to be scientifically literate, but the Darwin lobby pressures people by redefining scientific literacy to mean acceptance of evolution rather than an independent mind who understands science and forms its own informed opinions.

The optimal way to teach evolution is to present both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of the theory (note for the umpteenth time that we oppose pushing intelligent design into public schools), and thus to encourage students to grapple with the evidence.

The point of education in origins science is not to increase the percentage of the population that holds to neo-Darwinism, unlike what Gjersoe implies. Origins education should be about practicing scientific inquiry, coming to conclusions by examining the evidence  that is to say, learning to think like a scientist. What in the world is wrong with that?

Image credit:  2016 GraphicStock.com.
Hi Guys,

Trust you all doing well.



I'm perplexed and hope to get some good advice here.



I got my PR in mid 2010 but I moved to Perth in early 2012 for good. So essentially I was still in India for close to two years after getting my PR visa.



I applied for Citizenship recently and as understood they demanded PCC from overseas. As per process I applied for it at local Indian Consulate.



Now I had my test and interview done on Friday. The officer didn't accept the PCC issued by the consulate she advised me to get from local police of the area where I stayed before arriving here. I tried to make it clear that proper channel to get PCC is via Indian Consulate and they do full investigation and then only issue the Cert.



But she was not convinced and put my file in pending documents category. Now I'm totally confused. I asked my Dad to visit local police station but as expected Inspector there wasn't that helpful and is asking lot of questions.



Wondering what is the way out? Will the local police cert on a normal plain paper with Hindi office seal will work or should I go to Consulate again for the help?



Thanks heaps,



Cheers

Jit
ITHACA, N.Y.  Both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have filled their debates and speeches this election year with references to Americas widespread economic insecurity and high rates of income inequality.

Now rather than just listen to politicians sound bites, Americans can judge for themselves how close they are to falling into poverty.

A calculator to determine how close a person is to poverty is available by clicking here.

For many, the answer will be they are perilously close.

Poverty likelihood

A new poverty calculator developed by Cornell sociologist Thomas Hirschl and his collaborators lets users determine the likelihood they will fall below the federal poverty line over the next five, 10 and 15 years.

Users enter their education level, marital status, age and whether they are white or non-white  four of the strongest predictors of economic instability  to predict their risk of poverty.

Factors impact outcome

The calculator also allows users to change any of the factors and see how it would affect their risk.

In earlier research Hirschl and his co-authors estimated that nearly 60 percent of Americans will spend at least one year in poverty between the ages of 20 and 75.

The federal poverty line for a family of four is about $24,000.

People are beginning to address these issues of economic insecurity, but we are not addressing them in ways that are concrete or sustainable, said Hirschl, professor of development sociology. The idea of the poverty calculator is were trying to make poverty risk more real, so that people can see where they stand and where people like them stand.

So far 63,000 people have accessed the calculator, he added.

American dream

Hirschl developed the calculator with Mark Rank of Washington University and Kirk Foster of the University of South Carolina.

The calculator is an Internet-based companion to their 2014 book, Chasing the American Dream.

In 2014, about one in every seven Americans  nearly 15 percent  were living below the poverty line, representing 46.7 million people.

Among industrialized countries, the United States is at the high end of the poverty spectrum.

Age and education

According to the calculator, someone who might be thought of as having a low risk of poverty  a woman in her later 30s, white, unmarried and with an education beyond high school  has a 32 percent risk in the next five years.

If just race changes from white to non-white, her risk increases to 49 percent. The most at risk are people who are non-white, unmarried, younger and have a high school education or less.

Economic status

Hirschl and his colleagues based their findings on data theyve culled from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which has been tracking the economic status of a nationally representative group of Americans for the past 50 years.

Any number of life events can trigger a period of poverty, from losing a job to having a divorce or major illness.

Safety net

Often these are events that people cannot control and for which there is no effective safety net, Hirschl points out:

The safety net we do have is largely derived from 1935 legislation, the Social Security Act, which is outdated to say the least.

We have a society where, if you fall on hard times, you feel that its your fault, that theres something wrong with you. Among whites thats especially true, he said.

But the fault also lies squarely within our societys choice to leave poverty unaddressed, he said.

Theres very little understanding about social causality and the decisions that weve made as a country, particularly since 1970.

Economic divide

The economic divide has been growing over time and will continue to spread, he said.

With America becoming increasingly non-white and as higher education costs spiral, the United States is on the verge of becoming an economically polarized society in which the majority of citizens will experience poverty as a normal event, versus a minority who is economically secure.

Take action

Hirschl hopes the calculator will elevate the national discussion about poverty so that the country takes substantive action to address it.

A lot of the political discussion doesnt make any sense whatsoever, but people are starting to come to terms with issues they havent thought about, Hirschl said.

We need to go into the discussion with intellectual clarity. We hope the calculator will help establish a baseline to bring about that clarity.
"Vegetables WA had a position going in Perth, I thought I don't really want to go to Perth, all my family is in the east coast and I've never been to Perth and don't really know what it's like and that was four years ago.
There was some concern among Muresk Old Collegians Association (MOCA) members that without former CY O'Connor Institute managing director John Scott - one of 92 TAFE staff made redundant by the reorganisation - the degree course might not continue long-term.
Starring: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman

Eye in the Sky

Director: Gavin Hood

Rating: 4.5/5

Drone warfare has been a hot film topic in recent years and Eye in the Sky is set to explore this further as it hits the big screen this weekend.

Eye in the Sky marks the return of Gavin Hood to the director's chair for his first feature film since Ender's Game back in 2013.

London-based military intelligence officer Colonel Katherine Powell (Mirren) is remotely commanding a top secret drone operation to capture a group of dangerous terrorists from their safe-house in Nairobi, Kenya. The mission suddenly escalates from a 'capture' to a 'kill' operation as Powell realizes that the terrorists are about to embark on a deadly suicide mission.

From his base in Nevada, American drone pilot Steve Watts (Paul) is poised to destroy the safe-house when a nine-year-old girl enters the kill zone just outside the walls of the house. With unforeseen collateral damage now entering the equation, the impossible decision of when to strike gets passed up the 'kill chain' of politicians and lawyers as the seconds tick down.

Eye in the Sky is one of the best movies to hit the big screen so far this year as it is a tense, serious, and thrilling that will shred your nerves and send a shiver down your spine.

This is a perfectly balanced movie that is action packed but also asks some interesting questions and explores the moral implications of this kind of warfare.

Hood has delivered a movie that is incredibly thought-provoking but never preachy - he never tells the audience how they should think or feel about this subject. Eye in the Sky does deal with some very complex ethical and moral issues but the director never forgets that he also needs to entertain audiences.

Helen Mirren takes on the central role of Colonel Katherine Powell in what is a formidable and uncompromising performance. It is fantastic that a role like this has been written as a woman and Mirren grabs this meaty character with both hands and truly runs with it.

But Eye is the Sky is a movie that is tinged with some sadness as it is the last time that we are going to see the late Alan Rickman on the big screen - he is going to lend his voice to Alice Through the Looking Glass later this summer.

Rickman delivers another fine performance and it is a reminder of the talent that we have sadly lost. While it is sad to see him this final time, both he and Mirren deliver two fantastic and strong performances.

Gavin Hood is no stranger to the director's chair with the likes of Ender's Game, Rendition and Tsotsi under his belt but, for me, this is the best film of his career to date.

Hood has delivered a movie that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled and will leave you considering all points of view - even if they differ from your own.

At the same time, Eye in the Sky is a film that really will keep you on the edge of your seat as it really is a tense and unpredictable drama.

Eye in the Sky is a movie that I have been looking forward to for some time - the first trailers really did promise and awful lot - I am glad to say that it does not disappoint.

Eye In The Sky is out now.

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk

find me on and follow me on
Korean menswear brand Stripes that it has set up an office in Hong Kong offering online-to-offline bespoke garments with direct delivery services from Korea to consumers in Hong Kong, as part of its global expansion strategy.Stripes Strategy Manager Ms Inggeol Kim said that customers can visit its website to request a stylist for consultation at a location that is convenient to them. This service-oriented approach to fashion sets it apart from other ready-made shirt retailers, according to a press release by Invest Hong Kong.The garments will be made in the company's own factory in Korea and delivered from Korea directly to customers. In addition, measurements are stored online for future reference when the same customer orders. The Hong Kong operation will start with offering tailored shirts, and gradually expand its product offering.Ms Kim said that Stripes has been a hit among young Koreans because it eliminates the hassle of finding the right tailor and provides convenience. She said, "In Korea, our products and services are much sought after by young professionals looking for both style and comfort. We believe that the same business model can be successful in an international city like Hong Kong.""With over 40 000 body sizes collected from our customers we can make use of big data analytics to continually upgrade our services. We have built a new customised fit system called "NEU-FIT" that can help us identify customers' tastes and advise on the best fitting sizes and patterns for each individual, she said.

She added that the company has attracted over $5 million in funding so far, showing investors' confidence in its commercial viability.



Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion, Dr Jimmy Chiang, welcomed the arrival of Stripes in Hong Kong and said, "Hong Kong is one of the most digitally connected cities in the world, and the consumers are sophisticated. This creates a conducive environment for innovative business models that merge fashion with technology."



In 2013, Stripes started in Korea as an online platform offering menswear for those who look for customised garments to highlight their own style. The company now offers a variety of colours and designs, plus a range of fabric options for customers to choose online with the aid of a stylist. The company also owns a manufacturing facility in Korea which has a heritage of producing premium shirts for international brands. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has said that it is seeking input for a new investigation concerning whether certain textile and apparel articles from Nepal are import sensitive.The investigation, Nepal: Advice Concerning Whether Certain Textile and Apparel Articles Are Import Sensitive, was requested by the US Trade Representative (USTR) in a letter received on March 30, 2016.

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has said that it is seeking input for a new investigation concerning whether certain textile and#

As requested, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, fact-finding federal agency, will provide advice on the likely impact on US imports, competing US industries, and US consumers of providing duty-free treatment for 66 products, listed by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheading, from Nepal.The products include luggage and attache cases, handbags, pocket goods, travel bags, carpets, shawls, scarves, and travel blankets, hats, gloves and miscellaneous articles.The USITC will submit its confidential report to USTR by September 29, 2016. As soon as possible thereafter, the USITC will, as requested by USTR, issue a public version of the report containing only the unclassified sections, with any business confidential information and classified information deleted.The USITC is seeking input for its new investigation from all interested parties and requested that the information focus on the articles for which the USITC is requested to provide information and advice. The USITC will hold a public hearing in connection with the investigation on June 9, 2016. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Supreme Court has clarified that an exporter is eligible for refund on duty paid on inputs as well as duty paid on final product cleared from factory on payment of duty for exported final products under Rule 18 of the Excise Rules, according to media reports.The ruling came while the Supreme Court of India recently dismissed the Review Petition filed by the Department of Revenue against the judgement of the apex court in the case of a textile company Spentex Industries Limited. The company argued that exporters are entitled to both the rebates i.e. amount of duty paid on inputs used in the manufacturing of exported goods as well as the amount of duty paid on exported final goods, under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 (the Excise Rules).

The Supreme Court has clarified that an exporter is eligible for refund on duty paid on inputs as well as duty paid on final product cleared from#

...We have carefully gone through the review petitions and the connected papers. We find no error, much less apparent, in the judgment impugned. The review petitions are, accordingly, dismissed, the Supreme Court said.Rule 18 of the Excise Rules states that Where any goods are exported, the Central Government may, by notification, grant rebate of duty paid on such excisable goods or duty paid on materials used in the manufacture or processing of such goods and the rebate shall be subject to such conditions or limitations, if any, and fulfilment of such procedure, as may be specified in the notification. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Yes, it just happened tonight! The ex-couple of Bollywood, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shahid Kapoor spotted together at the trailer launch of their upcoming film, Udta Punjab. Along with them, their co-stars Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh were also present and the entire team , while sporting a black tee, which reads 'Drugs Di Maa Di', were looking super hot!

More than anything, we are drooling over the comeback of B-town's favourite jodi, Shahid & Kareena. Though, the duo will not be seen sharing screen space with each other in the film. We are glad that at least, they shared the stage for the trailer launch together.

Check Out All The Pictures Here:

20 PICS! Introducing Shahrukh Khan's Fan Co-Star Shriya Pilgaonkar, Who Plays Gaurav's Love Interest

The story of UdtaPunjab is all about the four different lives, which are connected via one state i.e., Punjab! The trailer of the film has come out and it looks very promising. Whereas, Shahid & Alia's never seen before avatars are grabbing many eyeballs. On the other side, we are looking forward to watch Kareena & Diljit's chemistry on the screen.

At the trailer launch, Shahid Kapoor said that the character he is playing i.e., of 'Tommy Singh', is the scariest character he has ever played. Whereas, Alia Bhatt revealed that she got Udta Punjab all because of Shahid, as he was the one, who had referred Alia for the film.

The director of the film, Abhishek Chaubey said that the only motive to make Udta Punjab was to make drug abuse a nationwide discussion. Punjabi Superstar Diljit Dosanjh also expressed his happiness over the idea of Udta Punjab.

The film is all set to hit the theatres on June 17, 2016.
LONDON, April 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Crowdfunding Leadership Event for Entrepreneurs in Stockholm, Sweden on April 16 2016 will Feature the Launch of LEOcrowd

London based new crowdfunding platform LEOcrowd, will be launching globally in Stockholm, Sweden on April 16, 2016. The platform, http://www.LEOcrowd.com, was designed specifically for entrepreneurs and those with creative ideas to source alternate finance to bring their projects to life.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160415/355946LOGO )



The LEOcrowd crowdfunding platform was born out of Learning Enterprises Organisation Ltd a global online business training company, and the creators of the groundbreaking digital currency, Leocoin. LEO, with their "Learn Earn Own" business philosophy empowers entrepreneurs through resources, education and now funding, so that they can have the tools necessary to be a success.

LEOcrowd's mission is to "set entrepreneurial spirits free" by bringing together those with business ideas, new innovative projects or exciting new inventions together with those who are willing to back such projects.

LEOcrowd General Manager David Johnstone, said "LEOcrowd is more than just another crowdfunding platform, it is a community devoted to bringing creative ideas or start up business to life. We want to help launch tens of thousands of businesses around the world."

Based in London's Tech city, the hub of the business startup community, LEOcrowd operates a REWARD based crowdfunding model that has distinct advantages.

Firstly through its relationship with Learning Enterprises Organisation it has a global footprint in 140 countries already.

Secondly it facilitates payment through digital currencies such as Bitcoin or LEOcoin, making it at the cutting edge of financial technology. Access to digital currency fundraising will enable projects to be more global and help strip down financial barriers typically in place when raising capital internationally. Mr Johnstone added, "Access to finance for startup businesses or those with great ideas has become increasingly difficult and we provide the solution"

The platform, currently in its soft-launch phase, already hosts several projects in the process of fundraising, and will formally launch at an entrepreneurial leadership event on April 16, 2016. The event from 1.00pm to 4.00pm is free and open to the public at The Brewery Conference Center Stockholm in Stockholm, Sweden.

For tickets or additional information visit Eventbrite, or email info@leocrowd.com.

About LEO (Learning Enterprises Organisation)

Learning Enterprises Organisation, Ltd. (LEO, "Learn Earn Own") is an entrepreneurial membership network designed to deliver knowledge, resources and inspiration for entrepreneurs worldwide. Its motivational philosophy is centered around unleashing human potential for the betterment of entrepreneurs, small businesses and the global economy. The LEO ecosystem includes a vast array of products, services and educational tours designed for entrepreneurs including LEO eTutoring, multilingual training products LEO Coreline, LEOxChange digital currency exchange for LEOcoin, social network LEO Cafe, and LEOcharity. LEO has offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. To learn more go to http://www.learnearnown.com.

Video - https://youtu.be/smRWIJj--fw
BASEL (dpa-AFX) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a lawsuit against health insurer Capital District Physician's Health Plan for unlawfully denying coverage of Hepatitis C treatment. The lawsuit alleges that CDPHP denied coverage for HCV treatment unless the member demonstrated advanced disease. The lawsuit further alleges that by failing to fully disclose the definition of 'medically necessary' used in determining when benefits will be covered, CDPHP is violating the New York State Insurance Law and Public Health Law. Attorney General Schneiderman said: 'Forcing patients to wait for care, risking internal organ damage, is unconscionable and, as we allege in our lawsuit, violates the law and the company's own policies.' CDPHP has approximately 450,000 members in New York State and provides service to 24 counties throughout the Capital Region, North Country, Hudson Valley, Central New York, and the Southern Tier. The statement from A.G. Schneiderman noted that the lawsuit is part of a continuing investigation into numerous health insurers for improperly restricting coverage of Hepatitis C treatments. 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.
It may be called Sarbjit, but the trailer for Omung Kumar's film shows that it as much about Dalbir Kaur, and her fight for justice, as it is about Sarabjit Singh himself.

The trailer starts off with the moment when the lives of Sarabjit (Randeep Hooda) and his family changed irrevocably  the time he claimed to have crossed over the (unmarked) Pakistan border in an inebriated state and was captured by Pakistani forces. We see his family hunting frantically for him, unaware that he has already been placed under arrest, beaten and tortured. A 'confession' that he is responsible for the Lahore and Faisalabad terror attacks of 1990 is extracted from him, and when his family finally hears of him, it is from a Pakistani prison, facing a death sentence.

We see vignettes of Sarabjit's happy days with his family  sister Dalbir (Aishwarya Rai), wife (Richa Chadda) and their little daughter  and have a sense of how limited their time together is, how carefree and unaware they are of the tragedy that is to colour their lives.

The trailer is a marvelous showcase for the histrionic skills of its cast. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan transforms herself from beauty queen to a woman struck by grief but not willing to give up the fight for her brother's freedom, and life.

Her fight ages her, but does not break her. A quibble if any, would be that her accent sounds a little unconvincing and she relies on shouting her dialogues, veins in her throat popping, during the dramatic moments. She is much better in the quieter scenes in the trailer, when she has to let her face do the talking.

Richa Chadda gets a smaller portion of screen time, but is impressive, if only for the haunting, expressive quality she brings to the frame.

But the revelation the trailer unveils is Randeep Hooda. Reports of his startling physical transformation to play the incarcerated Sarabjit, have been doing the rounds for a while now, but to see him in action is at a whole different level. We'll let you discover the power of his performance for yourself.

Sarabjit Singh's story, as well as Dalbir's fight to free him, makes for dramatic telling. Omung Kumar could perhaps have done well to underplay some of the more filmi touches  like the dialogues for instance  and let the tale enthrall viewers on its own steam.

Still, the trailer looks very promising, and hints at a film that will make for riveting viewing.

Take a look:

https://youtu.be/q1kYpWU7apI
It's only natural that many of us felt an outrageous sense of deja vu when billionaire businessman and king of good times Vijay Mallya ran away from the country just in time to escape Indian law because this is exactly what Lalit Modi did five years ago. When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revoked Mallya passport on the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the parallel between the two became gnawingly similar.

But what makes the deja vu really eerie is not the story so far, but what is likely to happen in the coming days.

Lalit Modi chose to be a fugitive, although his friends and supporters argue he is not, exactly five years ago when the Congress-led UPA was in power. The 22 charges that the BCCI levelled against him had everything that could have kept an ordinary Indian in jail, pending trial, for a long time, but he ran away in the nick of time. In an apparent attempt to bring him back, various investigating agencies of the UPA government filed several cases against him, mostly related to FEMA violations, and even revoked his passport.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been in jail in India, but nothing happened. Even without a passport, the UK government didnt kick him out, instead gave him documents to travel freely across holiday hotspots; the ED hardly moved an inch against him in any of the cases; and finally his passport was restored by the Delhi high court.

Whats more, two top leaders of the BJP, Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Sushma Swaraj, stood up for him in his bad days. In fact, it was their support that secured him the protection of the UK government.

In 2015, when the vulnerability of Swaraj and Raje was exposed, the BJP vowed to bring him to book and made some accompanying noises to make their resolve sound genuine. In fact, the ED had the teeth to do that despite the legal setbacks because the list of cases against him also included money laundering under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act).

Although Modi was right in arguing that his presence was not required in India for investigations under FEMA (and hence he is not a fugitive), under PMLA the ED could have told him that his presence was indeed required because the law allows for custodial interrogation.

This is the route the ED should have taken, had it been serious. It also should have asked the MEA to go on appeal against the restoration of his passport. But both didnt happen. After the initial noise died down, the ED trail went cold and the MEA became silent. Did the ED really pursue the PMLA charge against him? Did the MEA do anything to file an appeal against the Delhi High Court verdict on his passport?

There is no information on this in the public domain. Neither did the Congress nor anybody else from the opposition ask for the details. The media too forgot about it in due course. In all likelihood, both the ED and the MEA kept his case in cold storage and before the end of last year, we completely forgot about Lalit Modi and our moral outrage.

This is the formula that Mallya is also likely to use - buy time and use friends in Delhi to soft-pedal.

The revocation of his passport makes ordinary Indians happy and the BJP look good, but it means nothing because he can continue to stay in the UK without a problem. Thats what happened to Lalit Modi.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the UK had clarified in Modis case that the permission to stay in the country doesnt expire when ones passport is cancelled.

This is what the FCO had reportedly said on Modi: "Legally, an individual does not require a valid passport in order to remain in the UK, so long as their leave to enter or remain in the UK remains valid. Such leave is granted to the individual and therefore does not automatically expire upon the cancellation or expiry of the passport in which it is endorsed.

So, the revocation doesnt make Mallya a fugitive that we can capture through Interpol. Instead, he can build a case of criminal persecution by political rivals for a bonafide business failure and build certain invincibility around him.

His next step will be to find a more permanent residence in the UK and the British authorities will not treat him the way they treat ordinary Indians or Bangladeshis. In the worst case scenario, which is highly unlikely, he can even take a new passport from the Central African Republic and possibly become its Ambassador in some first world country. All you need is money parked across the world.

Its foolhardy to believe that the government will ever be able to bring Mallya back to face investigation and possible trial because thats how rule of law works for cronies and people with money in countries such as India. Had the government been serious, he couldnt have escaped Indian shores because he was a wilful defrauder of massive amounts of its money for a few years.

If it really wants him to either pay up or face the law, the government can still do it by leveraging its political power. Cant a country, aspiring to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council and dishing out billions of dollars worth military contracts, ask the UK for the return of a highly prized fugitive?

Otherwise, what has Narendra Modi gained in all his whistle-stop shuttle-diplomacy?
Editor's note: On Friday, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Kerala government and the Devaswom Boards in Kerala on a petition by Subramanian Swamy and TG Mohandas seeking to abolish the boards and end the state's control over temples. In light of this development, Firstpost is republishing a three-part series analysing why it might be in state's interest to give up control of religious shrines and temples. This is the second segment in a three-part series on Hinduism, godmen and the judiciary.

What is Hinduism?

One of the best definitions comes from the Supreme Court itself when it remarked: Hinduism, as a religion, incorporates all forms of belief without mandating the selection or elimination of any one single belief. It is a religion that has no single founder; no single scripture and no single set of teachings. It has been described as Sanatan Dharma, namely, eternal faith, as it is the collective wisdom and inspiration of the centuries that Hinduism seeks to preach and propagate.

This was recorded in their judgement by Justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramana, Supreme Court judgement (Writ Petition (Civil) No 354 of 2006 of 16 December 2015.

On 6 January 2014, the SC pronounced a judgement on the role that governments should not play with temples. It ruled that no government had the absolute right to take over the management of temple trusts. By implication it was also stating that the government takeover of temple trusts of Shirdi, Siddhvinayak, Vaishnodevi and even Tirupati were patently illegal and could be challenged.

The Supreme Court ruled that Article 26 of the Constitution confers certain fundamental rights upon the citizens which can neither be taken away nor abridged. The Court made this observation while deliberating over the case against the Tamil Nadu (TN) government, which wanted to take over the management of the Chidambaram (Nataraja) temple.

This order is extremely significant. It could reopen other temple cases as well. After all, ever since Independence, state governments, with a wink and a nod from the Centre, have coveted the power and the wealth that temple trusts have enjoyed.

People still remember how NT Rama Rao, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, nationalised the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams or TTD (Tirupati Trusts), which administer the famous conglomeration of temples, educational and social organisations under the Tirupati banner.

Of course, TN holds the distinction of having nationalised most of the temples. There are instances where temple funds have been used to finance mid-day meals with the chief ministers picture painted on the walls of the venue where these meals are served.

The government of Maharashtra similarly took over the management of important Hindu shrines like Shirdi and temples like Siddhi Vinayak. It may be recalled that the state government wanted the temple to finance the funding of the airport strip that was to be built near the shrine.

But this had to be shelved after violent protests by devotees who objected the government trying to pass on what was a state expenditure to the temple trust.

Many other states have followed similar practices and have nationalised temple trusts. In all cases, the trusts have been Hindu temple trusts. None of the religious trusts of other denominations and religions have been touched. Thus the Hindus have lost the most critical source of funding of community welfare programmes. The beneficiary has been the government which has prevented the Hindus from carving out a sensible vision for their own community.

As mentioned above, TN has the worst record. It today controls 36,425 temples, 56 mutts or religious orders (and 47 temples belonging to mutts), 1,721 specific endowments and 189 trusts. It has misused temple property, promoted politically expedient programmes using temple funds, and emasculated the mainstream religion in that state and even the country.

In the absence of the mainstream Hindu community having independent funding sources for its own vision, the vacuum has been exploited by politicians. They have propped up other godmen, who build their own community of devotees. They are allowed use of all the money they collect. And they eventually use their parish as a votebank for some leader or the other.

They thus erode the ability of a community to preserve its value system. They actually encourage lumpenisation of the community, and later even of society.

It is anguishing to watch temples and community values being thus degenerated (see chart/table).

Governments are known to have used trust properties for personal benefit. As a noted lawyer, TRS Ramesh, points out, TNs temple trusts own 478,000 plus acres of land. That should earn Rs 6,000 crore annually. Instead the state earns only Rs 58 crore. Someone is being shortchanged.

A case in point is the Sri Kalapeshwar temple in Chennai, which gets a rental of just Rs 3,000 a month against the market rate of Rs 3 lakh. The difference is cause enough for a criminal investigation to be launched.

In the Chidambaram temple trust case, the Supreme Court noted that each time the lower courts passed an order, the state came up with a new order. This compelled the Trusts Brahmin caretakers, often referred to as Dikshitars, to challenge these new orders. The state tried frustrating each court verdict with even newer orders. Finally, the matter reached the Supreme Court which reiterated that the provisions of Article 26 of the Constitution are inviolable.

As the court observed, Even if the management of a temple is taken over to remedy the evil, the management must be handed over to the person concerned immediately after the evil stands remedied. Continuation thereafter would tantamount to usurpation of their proprietary rights or violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution in favour of the persons deprived. Therefore, taking over of the management in such circumstances must be for a limited period Supercession of rights of administration cannot be of a permanent enduring nature.

This order might go a long way in restoring to the majority community the right to govern itself. But it hasnt till now. Even two years after the Court passed this judgement, no other temple trust has come forward. But this could possibly be because the present temple trustees are people known to be close to politicians. Clearly, till the devotees come together to file a case against the temple trustees, this might not happen.

Curiously, even the RSS, known to be espousing the cause of Hinduism, is unwilling to take up the issue of liberating the temple trusts from the government. Has even the RSS become collusive?

Time lines to the SC judgement:

The story of the government taking interest in temple trusts in India goes back to around the 1840s when the British government  unable to control temples  asked several prominent mutts(religious orders) to administer temples and endowments. This was because while a temple was located in one place, a devotee might have donated his lands located far away to the temple. It was difficult for the tax authorities to reconcile ownership of lands with temple managements.

In the 1920s, the local legislature in Madras State (much of which later became Tamil Nadu) passed the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1923 (Act of 1925). This led to the setting up of a Hindu Religious Endowments Board (Board) with the object of providing for better governance and administration of certain religious endowments. Its validity was challenged.

By 1926, the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act 1926  ACT II of 1927 was passed thus repealing the Act of 1925. This was subsequently amended several times.

By 1939 the Madras High court ruled that the Board cannot undertake the notification process (for takeover of temple trusts) on frivolous grounds.

By December 1951, after independence, the Madras High Court Division Bench passed twoorders questioning amendments and orders passed by the TN government in August 1951. Dikshitars (Brahmin priests and aretakers) are recognised as a religious denomination.

By 1954, the Supreme Court dismissed TNs appeals as the state itself decided to withdraw the earlier notifications.

In 1959, the state introduced the Act of 1959, Section 45, which empowered the states authorities to appoint an Executive Officer to administer the religious institutions, but withsafeguards.

On 31 July 1987, the commissioner of religious endowments appointed an Executive Officer for the aministration of the Chidambaram Temple. The Dikshitars challenge this order by filing a writ petition. The High Court of Madras grants stay of operation of the order, but the writ petition was dismissed on 17 February 1997.

After several more attempts at the High Court of Madras, the Digshitars along with Subramaniam Swamy, member of Parliament, file a writ appeal with the Supreme Court  appeal No 181 of 2009, followed by a civil appeal No 10620 of 2013 contesting that Article 26 of the Constitution confers certain fundamental rights upon the citizens and particularly on a religious denomination which can neither be taken away or abridged.

On 6 January 2014, the Supreme Court upholds the contention. The apex court curtails the States right to administer temples.

Also read: Part I  Does Hinduism produce more godmen than other religions?

Next: Part III  The Supreme Court and its approach to religion in India
Now that Latur is in news, let us begin with it.

Within hours of the deadly 1993 earthquake striking the region, Sharad Pawar flew over the worst-affected parts to get a quick idea of the devastation, and camped in Solapur to direct the relief operations. His camp was located some 120-odd kms away from the epicentre, a two-hour journey by road. He didnt want to get underfoot of the relief operations which had to be mounted on an unprecedented scale, and as a leader, he knew how to marshal resources.

Similar resource planning was shown by Narendra Modi after the Bhuj earthquake in 2001, management of both the earthquakes got positive cognizance.

When Eknath Khadse visits Latur in a helicopter, normally this would have been taken as a routine visit, and a sluggish machinery responds to a crisis in its own way. But when 10,000 litres of water is sprayed on the helipad landing to keep the dust down, it calls for another Arab Spring moment.

In Latur, those driven by curiosity rushed to examine devastated areas and the samaritans carried unusable items like torn clothes with them. No actual estimation of the real needs was possible then, but the curious rush to gawk. If it had not water scarcity, people would have rushed to Latur too. Even packaged drinking water would have been hard to come by for them.

This VIP disaster tourism has become a routine now. Even the media tends to ask, where was Modi? Where was that minister during the crisis? Why arent they on the ground zero? When military jargon is used, the significance of the situation should dawn on them. But does it? When this was happening, they were doing that kind of discussion gains ground.

After the Bombay High Court pulled up BCCI and IPL, Maharashtra biggies should have learnt their lessons. This time, Modi made a serious mistake. Within hours of the firecrackers disaster in Kollam, he flew in, and it was administratively not welcomed. Kerala's director-general of police, TP Senkumar minced no words in mentioning that when his men were on the verge of collapse, he had to look after the security of the prime minister. And how he had to change his priorities to suit the security needs of the prime minister.

Senkumar also said that Rahul Gandhis and Modis visit to the spot should have been delayed by a day. What positive difference did Modis and Rahul Gandhis trip there made is hard to fathom. Even the states health services director, R Ramesh, bluntly said that their visit to the Thiruvanathapuram hospital was unwarranted.

It is however understood that the staging of the fireworks despite the administrations refusal to permit was guided by legislative Assemblys electoral politics. So was the manner in which both Modi and Rahul Gandhi descended on the scene.

Normally officials even at the level of the DGP and health services do not speak so boldly and on record. Ramesh's words describing the amount of inconvenience and how most of the VVIPs visiting the hospital were not even sterilised are disturbing. Patients with serious burn injuries with their lives hanging by a thread are prone to quick infections. Such patients are isolated even in muggy hospitals, and in that Thiruvanathapuram hospital, with 136 to be precise, it would have definitely upset the logistics of the hospital.

The VVIPs with their entourage stomping into hospital wards holds no respect for the patients rights and privacy. In their agony, they may not have even recognised who came to console them. Relief is all that they seek at such a critical moment. Much like what victims of communal riots seek, instead they are used in as photo opportunities for the leaders. Ramesh said the visit was intrusive to an extent that nurses were not able to reach the intensive care units.

A leader's prompt visit to a crisis scene to provide help to the affected victims not only upsets the on-going management but also defies the very logic of crisis management. It apparently shows lack of faith in the local administrators, who could have been asked by a mere phone call to buck up and assure any assistance if required.

But havent we read news stories about the prime minister or chief minister of any state instructing the concerned to do the needful? It is not because things are always bad on the ground but because the leaders who mess things up think they are good at micro management. Such a top down approach has helped none.
Kolhapur (Maharashtra): The police have booked seven people, including five priests of Shri Mahalaxmi Temple here for assaulting Bhumata Ranragini Brigade President Trupti Desai at the temple complex on April 13, an official said here on Saturday.

The accused five priests  Kedar Muneshwar, Shreesh Muneshwar, Mayur Muneshwar, Chaitanya Ashtekar and Nikhil Shanbag  all worked at the temple.

Besides, two local Nationalist Congress Party activists Kisan Kalyankar and Jaykumar Shinde and their unidentified supporters have also been named in the FIR lodged by Junarajwada Police Station here.

The incident happened on the evening of 13 April, when Desai and her supporters arrived at the temple attempting to enter the sanctum sanctorum where women devotees are banned.

"The accused and their supporters willfully and illegally attempted to stop them, pushed them around, sprayed turmeric, kumkum powder and ink on them, posing a physical threat to them," an official said.

The accused are also charged with attempts to prevent the police from doing their duty and roughing up the police personnel at the temple premises, a report of which has been sent to the local court.

Shortly after the incident, an injured Desai was shifted to a hospital and remained in ICU for over two days before being discharged on Friday.

Later, the temple priests denied they assaulted Desai and claimed that they were trying to reason with her on the temple traditions and dress code which she and supporters had allegedly violated.

On its part, the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB) said the temple priests' actions were violative of the Bombay High Court order of April 1, which ruled that under the Maharashtra Hindu Place of Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act, 1956, women could not be barred from any place of worship.

Following the order, on April 8, the Shani Shingnapur Temple Trust, Ahmednagar, in a historical move, threw open the temple for women devotees where they were banned since over four centuries.

The BRB is continuing its campaign for women's entry to the Shree Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur and the Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik.
North India is being literally turned on a skewer. Punjab had to be restrained by the Supreme Court as it sought to stop further construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. Haryana went on a rampage earlier demanding minority status for the Jats. There are war cries surrounding the alleged gang rape at Murthal. Intemperate pronouncements by political and religious leaders in the North have increased in frequency and shrillness.

It was therefore appropriate for Ambit Capital to talk about North India becoming a ticking demographic time bomb (Sizing Indias demographic bomb, April 5, 2016).

Look closely at this region and you will understand why. The instances of violence, abuse and even sex-related crimes could just be for starters. The nightmare of the past few months could get worse. This is Indias badland. It accounts for the most votes in the country. It has a very young population. It is also, collectively, the most backward.

This territory has little education, and has fewer women and jobs than most other parts of the country. This collective absence is a sure recipe for violence, lawlessness and even anti-national activities.

Just examine the figures.

Watch how the all-India average of 933 females for every 1,000 males has climbed to 944 between 2001 to 2011 (when the last Census was taken). But the figures for some states are hardly flattering. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has dipped from 892 to 883. It could be a key factor for the violence that threatens to spiral out of control. The figures for Bihar are not very flattering either. Theyve fallen from 919 to 916.

But delve a bit deeper, and the signs become even more disturbing. It is then that you realise that things arent right with many other states. Take Uttarakhand. Or Delhi. Or Uttar Pradesh (UP). Or Chhatisgarh. Or Madhya Pradesh (MP). They are additions to the two states mentioned above. They are all ticking time bombs where the skewed sex ratio will mean more allegations (or actual instances) of rape and brutality.

Then take literacy levels. Here it is wise to begin with the precautionary warning. Indias average literacy levels are reported to be around 74 percent. But this figure can be quite misleading. Indias definition of literacy remains the same for the six decades or so  anyone who can read and write the letters of his or her name, in any language  is presumed to be literate. Thus, if a persons name is Ram and he can write and read the three letters of his name, he is classified as being literate. It is the most convenient way to perform a statistical fudge, and could easily classify as one of the worst fudges in the world.

So where would you peg Indias literacy level? It is quite hard to tell, because each state has its own board examination. This is compounded by the fact that Kapil Sibal, the former Union home minister, had steered a legislation through Parliament, which compelled students to automatically and compulsorily promote students each year, up to the Class Seven level. Since around five percent of the students on an average are filtered out each year on grounds of non-performance on various counts, the automatic promotions policy ensures that, at the Class Eight level, each class would have around 40 percent of students who ought not to have been there.

As no school would like to face the combined onslaught of parents and society by detaining 40 percent of students at the Class Nine level, most managements of schools promoted them further (automatically). Some good schools that attempted to detain students at this stage were warned by education ministers (as in Maharashtra) not to detain them. Thus, almost all students who enrolled for Class One could be expected to appear for Class 10 exams.

At the board level too, state governments chicken out at the thought of detaining 50 percent (or more) of the students. Even otherwise, examination boards are known to give grace marks to students at each level (local, regional and state). Thus, a student securing 15 percent of marks could be expected to be graced to 35 percent. The new automatic promotions policy only made things worse. That is why, the present HRD Ministers decision to scrap the automatic promotions policy is perhaps a good move  finally.

Thus students who should not pass the Class 10 examinations also get promoted. Many of these students then knock at the doors of colleges in order to gain higher education. The poor quality of students seeking enrolment plays havoc with teaching standards. Coupled with the terrible salaries teachers get  when compared with their counterparts in manufacturing or in the financial sectors  the best talent stays away from teaching. The quality of graduates thus is also pathetic.

Organisations like McKinseys and Nasscom believe that only 20 percent of graduates are employable. Now go back to our chart, and you will discover that even in the face of such rotten benchmarks, students in J&K, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Chattisgarh and MP under-performed. Literacy levels in these states are lower than the propped up national average. Obviously, most graduates from these states will not even be considered for employment by most good organisations. Without good education, there can be little scope for growth.

Now comes the final rub. These are states that have not even been able to create the number of jobs (well paid or even otherwise) that the teeming millions aspire for.

With no jobs, little employability and fewer women, and a vibrant and youthful population, these states are at the brink of a social revolt. They are willing fodder for rent-a-mob possibilities that short-sighted and amoral politicians are always in search of. They can be exploited, abused, and even provoked into unbelievable acts of violence, loot and arson.

This is what the world realised when the Shah of Iran was forced to abdicate power, ushering in the Islamic Republic under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini. True, the Shah had big plans of modernising his people. But he forgot that his country had a large proportion of young people, which he loved to believe were capable of a demographic dividend for his country. But this population had little education, and fewer jobs. They were ready to be ignited. They just needed an excuse, and the revolution was unstoppable.

That explains why in spite of the Western world calling Iran fundamentalist, the new regime focused on good education, and job creation. Prime Minister Modi has been talking about creating jobs. But heads of North Indian states want to drag the country down further. One chief minister has called for extending reservations to the private sector as well.

Reservation makes sense only at the school level. Good education is the best leveler. Thereafter, jobs and promotions must be on merit. But when education is terrible, and most are unemployable, reservations begins to gain much support among unemployable masses. Reservation without merit is a surefire recipe for economic disaster.

Put these reasons together and the penny drops. North India is a demographic time-bomb.

Can it be defused? Yes, if there is good education. And strict enforcement of laws that are aimed at preventing female infanticide. Jobs can be created, but only if there is political peace. With unemployability and gender disparity, social stability will remain fragile.
AGRA, India Where Princess Diana went alone, her son Prince William visited the Taj Mahal with his wife Kate on Saturday, bringing the British royal couple's week-long South Asian tour to a poignant close.

William and Kate sat side by side on the same bench where his late mother was photographed on a solitary visit in 1992.

Kate wore a slimline white dress with a circular navy pattern while William braved intense afternoon heat in a blazer and open-neck shirt.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were rounding off a tour in which they met another glamorous young royal couple, the king and queen of Bhutan, and saw rhinos and elephants in a national park in Assam.

The final stop at the Taj Mahal was an emotional one for William, who was 15 when Diana died in a car crash in 1997. He has often spoken of how much he misses his mother, and that he thinks of her every day.

Diana's solo visit to the 17th-century mausoleum - built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife - came to symbolise her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles.

The couple separated months later. [nL5N1712T7]

Three of the Taj Mahal's four minarets were swathed in scaffolding for repairs. Still, images of William and Kate sitting before the onion-domed monument, its ivory coloured marble translucent in the afternoon sunshine, were striking.

It was raining earlier in the day when the couple flew out of Bhutan's only international airport, a day after they trekked to a Buddhist monastery 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) up a mountain. [nL3N17I2ZV]

They landed in Agra in afternooon temperatures that reached 41 degrees Celsius (105.8F). Much of India is suffering a heatwave and severe drought after two years of failed monsoon rains.

(Additional reporting by Sunil Kataria in Thimpu; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Louise Ireland)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Agra: Britain's Prince William accompanied by his wife Kate today visited the Taj Mahal, the 17th century marble monument symbolising eternal love, bringing back memories of his mother Princess Diana's trip 24 years ago.

And the royal couple did sit on the marble bench in front of the dazzling monument here for a picture like Lady Diana.

William had donned a blue linen jacket, white shirt and chinos while Princess Kate wore a white dress with blue motif by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan.

The royal couple, who will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on April 29, arrived at around 3.30 PM and were briefed by an official as they took a stroll around the mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

"It is beautiful. It is overwhelming," William, the Duke of Cambridge, said later.

The two spent around 45 minutes in the complex on a sizzling day as mercury soared to 40 degrees Celsius.

"It was too hot but they went around," guide Lalit Chawla said.

William's mother Diana had visited the Taj Mahal in 1992 and her picture seated alone on the marble bench remains one of the iconic images of the princess, who died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.

The royal couple's visit generated much excitement here.

Tight security arrangements were in place with deployment of CISF personnel.

The stretch from Amar Vilas hotel to the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal was spruced up and tourists on the western gate were held back for an hour.

It is the last stop for the British royal couple during their week-long trip to India and Bhutan. The couple visited Mumbai and Kaziranga National Park in Assam and also met leaders in Delhi.

PTI
Saving money is no easy feat, especially when life's expenses get out of hand. Of course, struggling to save in the face of rising costs is one thing, but wasting money needlessly is a completely different story. Here are three ways you're probably throwing money away without even realizing it.

1. Wasted food

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the typical American family spent close to $4,000 on groceries in 2014. Yet the National Resources Defense Council reports that Americans usually wind up throwing away 25% of the food they purchase each year. If you're the like average American, that's $1,000 a year gone to waste for no good reason. Now think of the things you might do with $1,000 instead. You could use it to pay off debt, save for retirement, or invest to meet some of your short-term goals. In fact, imagine you're able to invest $1,000 a year instead of flushing it down the toilet in the form of uneaten food. If your investments generate a 6% return -- which is actually well below the stock market's average -- over the course of 20 years, you'll grow your savings to $40,000, which is enough to make you rethink your current habits.

2. Upgrading electronics needlessly

Our collective obsession with technology may be costing us more than we think. According to a recent Gallup survey, 44% of Americans opt to upgrade their smartphones as soon as they're eligible, which is generally every two years. And it's not just cellphones we're all so eager to replace. These days, it seems like everything we buy has a magical way of becoming obsolete within a year or two of purchase, from laptops to TVs to GPS devices -- or at least that's what the companies who sell these items would have us believe. According to a study by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Americans spend about 17% of their monthly mortgage or rent payment on technology. This means the average American with a $1,500 mortgage bill spends over $250 a month on gadgets instead of investing that money or putting it in the bank. If you were to cut that annual spending in half, you'd save over $1,500 a year and still have plenty of cool toys to show off.

3. ATM and banking fees

In the grand scheme of wasting money, there's perhaps no greater offense than paying for cash that's rightfully yours. A study by Tufts University confirms that American households lose a collective $43 billion per year to costs such as check-cashing services and ATM fees. For the average family, the price of accessing cash is a ridiculous $1,739 a year. Even if you fall well below that average, there's a good chance you're still paying more than necessary to get your hands on money that's yours to begin with. According to Bankrate, it costs an average of $4.52 to withdraw money from an ATM that's not affiliated with your own bank. Make one such transaction per week, and you're out $235 dollars over the course of a year. Clearly, there's a lot to be saved by planning your cash withdrawals in advance and sticking to your bank alone.

As humans, we're wired to seek out convenience and luxury in just about every form imaginable. And while it's easier to take money out of the nearest bank, get a new computer as soon as your current one starts to slow down, and grab food haphazardly off the supermarket shelves in lieu of creating a carefully curated grocery list, these practices can cost you not only your savings, but the opportunity to put your money to better use. So the next time you whip out your wallet, think hard about what that transaction entails. You'll be amazed at how much you stand to save by putting some of your old habits to bed.
Last summer, when new vehicle sales in China slowed to a crawl, it would have been difficult to predict that a current issue would be lacking production capacity -- which I'm skeptical about, for the record.

"The companies are sticking to their growth plans for China," said Namrita Chow, a London-based analyst for IHS Automotive, when speaking with Automotive News. "Because demand is still growing in interior regions, if you don't have capacity, you can't sell there. That's the immediate problem."

While production capacity varies between major automakers, as an investor, I can tell you that everybody is happy to see sales moving higher in China, and sales are expected to rise 6% during 2016. With March sales data officially in the book, let's take a look at the winners and losers.

Winners

Ford Motor Company (F 3.57%) capped off a strong first quarter in China by selling 5% more vehicles last month than it did the year prior, up to 114,788 units. That 5% gain helped offset a weak February that took a big hit on sales volume because of the Chinese New Year. Through the first quarter, Ford's sales in China climbed 14%, compared to the prior year, to 314,454 units.

Driving Ford's sales gains last month and during the first quarter were the usual suspects: SUVs. Combined sales of Ford's Ecosport, Kuga (Escape), Edge, Explorer, and Everest nearly reached 80,000 units in the first quarter, a 38% increase compared to last year.

Another clear winner in China was Toyota Motor Corp. (TM 0.39%) which posted a sales gain of 41% during March to 100,500 units. While Toyota's gains in March looked outrageous, it wasn't a one-off wonder as its first-quarter sales were 28% higher than last year's results, totaling 291,000 units. Meanwhile, Honda Motor Co. (HMC 1.52%) managed to post a 15% gain to 97,004 units during March, and an 11% gain to 261,731 units during the first quarter.

Those three automakers thumped the industry average in China last month, which posted a sales gain of 7.8%, and a first-quarter rise of 6.8%. However, not all companies had such glaring success.

Losers

Calling General Motors (GM 4.67%) a loser in China really isn't fair, depending on how you look at it. Sure, GM and its joint ventures delivering 296,939 vehicles in March alone was a 0.6% decline from the prior year, but it still outsold most of the foreign automakers by a landslide. Looking at the first quarter, GM's deliveries increased 0.2% to a total of 963,652 units.

The good news for GM investors is that the automaker fully plans to take advantage of consumers' love affair with SUVs. About 40% of the new vehicles GM will launch in China over the next five years will be SUVs and MPVs. For context, between now and 2020, GM plans to unleash 60 new and refreshed models in China -- those launches should help GM's sales gains.

Another "loser" with a possible glass-half-full theme is Nissan. While the Japanese automaker's sales were up only 0.5% to 110,200 last month, it still held the top spot among its Japanese competitors for the first quarter. With 298,000 units sold during the first quarter, it outsold Toyota by roughly 7,000 units, and Honda by more than 36,000 units.

Going forward, investors will want to watch sales in China closely to understand if the slowing Chinese economy and increasing competition negatively impact automakers' business in the region. In fact, there's already evidence of some pricing pressure as 45% of dealers reported in a survey by the China Automobile Dealers Association that transaction prices declined in March as more discounting took place. That said, with three months of sales in the books, so far so good for investors of major automakers.
Soda consumption is cratering. According to data from Beverage-Digest (via Vox), annual per capita consumption of soft-drinks dropped to 650 8-ounce cans last year, down 11% in the last five years. In fact, the last time soda consumption was this low was 1985. The "War on Soda" spearheaded by government, the medical community, and other health advocates appears to be succeeding, and that's a direct risk to soda companies such as Coca-Cola (KO 1.60%) and PepsiCo (PEP 0.93%), right?

If the concerted campaign to reduce soda consumption seems familiar, it's most likely you're a baby boomer. The so-called "nanny state" efforts to change behavior for the sake of health harks back to the government's war on smoking. While attempts to encourage smoking predated President Reagan's administration, the anti-smoking push kicked into high gear with C. Everett Koop, Reagan's U.S. Surgeon General. It's been successful: Since 1980, the percentage of smoking American adults and high school students has been cut in half, from 33.2% to under 17%, according to data from the CDC.

So naturally you'd expect investments in Big Tobacco to struggle over this period. And you'd be mostly wrong. As my colleague Morgan Housel points out, since 1968, when the smoking rate was near 40%, the best possible company you could have purchased was Altria (MO 2.11%).

It appears one soda company has followed Altria's game plan better than the other.

Food was an important part of Altria's returns

In addition to the excellent thesis Morgan provides, there's another, sometimes forgotten contributor to Altria's success story. Morgan's chart shows a $1 investment in Altria in 1968, but that doesn't mean the entire return was attributable directly to Altria. In an attempt to further diversify beyond tobacco, Altria (then Philip Morris) purchased Kraft for $13.1 billion in 1998 in an attempt to broaden its product mix in the face of falling cigarette volume sales.

In 2002, Philip Morris further broadened its product mix by buying the National Biscuit Company, or Nabisco, for $15 billion in cash. Philip Morris merged the two food companies, alongside prior food brand holdings, and took the new company public while retaining nearly 90% of the new company's shares. Eventually the company spun off its entire stake of Kraft to shareholders.

Splits and spinoffs continued post-Altria divestiture. Kraft itself performed a stock split by shifting the higher-growth brands to Mondelez International, which is now a $65 billion company. Since then, Kraft has merged, again, with Heinz to form KraftHeinz -- Kraft shareholders received 49% of the transaction price of a company now worth $100 billion. Including minor divestitures and dividends, you can see food has been an important part of Altria's story.

What's Public Enemy No. 1 to do? Diversify.

PepsiCo has followed Altria's playback to a T. The company has owned salty-snack purveyor Frito-Lay for 50 years. Last fiscal year, food was responsible for 27% of PepsiCo's net revenue, and Frito-Lay was responsible for the vast majority of PepsiCo's food revenue, with Quaker Foods contributing to a lesser extent. If soda volumes are declining, this diversification should help PepsiCo from cratering. Additionally, PepsiCo is diversified within beverages by its Gatorade, Aquafina, Dole juices, Ocean Spray Cranberry, and Tropicana beverages.

On the other hand, Coca-Cola is essentially undiversified outside of beverages. The company has beverage holdings outside of soda -- Minute Maid, Dasani Water, Glaceau Vitaminwater, Fuze Tea, and Powerade, and a distribution deal with energy drink Monster beverage, but the company's fortunes are tied to sugar-loaded beverages. As consumers continue to give up on sugar-loaded and carbonated drinks, Coca-Cola should be affected more than PepsiCo.

There's more to the Altria story

It should be noted that diversification is only one part of the Altria story. The company also aggressively expanded into foreign countries through its Philip Morris International spinoff. Both Pepsi and Coca-Cola have strong international operations with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo reporting 35% and 40% of total revenue from outside of North America last fiscal year. Another is Altria's transparent dividend payout policy, where the company pays out 80% of adjusted earnings.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are facing an environment where health concerns are hurting demand. As Altria shows, that's not always a bad thing for the company as an investment. That said, both companies would be well advised to study Altria's playbook over the past 50 years.
Microsoft (MSFT 2.53%) and Starbucks (SBUX 2.10%) are practically neighbors.

The two companies are headquartered in Redmond, Washington and Seattle, respectively, which are both part of the same region. In reality it's even closer than simply being in neighboring towns, because Microsoft has office space all around Seattle, and the coffee chain has a truly stunning number of shops in that area including prototype locations for its juice bar, its tea store, and its roastery concept.

Starbucks, despite being a tech pioneer in the retail space, has ignored its neighbor for the most part. The coffee company's app does not work on Windows phones or tablets which, for Starbucks fans (myself included), was a major strike against Microsoft's mobile devices.

Now, however, with a new Starbucks app for the Microsoft brand, relations have thawed and the two companies have plans to work together on more than just a Windows phone app.

What is happening?

It began when Starbucks finally announced a plan to offer a Windows Phone app at its annual shareholders meeting in March.

"[Our] team has been working in partnership with Microsoft and we are within 30 to 45 days of releasing a Windows Phone app," said Starbucks COO (and former Microsoft executive) Kevin Johnson.

That would put the app on-target for a late-April early May release. But the app is only one part of a bigger plan from the two new friends. Starbucks and Microsoft also aim to integrate coffee ordering into Outlook.

How will it work?

Microsoft has been working on expanding its mail/calendar program's functionality and the Starbucks deal is an example of that. The feature was introduced by Starbucks Chief Technology Officer Gerri Martin-Flickinger on-stage at Microsoft's Build developer conference on March 31.

The new tool will let Outlook users schedule meetings at Starbucks locations while also purchasing and sending gift cards without leaving the email program. It will be an add-on which consumers have to opt to install. Plans for exactly what the technology will do still seem a bit vague, but Martin-Flickinger seemed excited about it.

"Our customers like innovation -- they like interacting with Starbucks in new and interesting ways," she said, according to GeekWire.

What does this mean?

From a business perspective Starbucks avoided Windows Phone not out of some hatred for Microsoft, but because the user base was so small. That can't be said of the Outlook/Office customer base.

This new warm and fuzzy relationship between the two companies could be good for both. Starbucks has driven its success, in part, by making ordering easy. Microsoft has stayed ahead of the various free Office and Outlook rivals by continually evolving their platform. Together, the two companies should be able to unlock value for one another.

It's possible that this new partnership will result in Outlook users spending more money at Starbucks and becoming more loyal to Microsoft. That will be a big win for shareholders of both companies. This might lead to the two neighbors finding new ways to work together in the future.
The Trump campaign can return its focus to the race for the GOP presidential nomination, now with one less distraction.

On Thursday, Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for Donald Trump, was cleared of simple battery charges by Florida prosecutors. Police charged Lewandowski after reporter Michelle Fields, who at the time was with Breitbart News, accused him of grabbing her while she asked Donald Trump a question during an event in early March. Fields resigned her position following the incident.

Lewandowski, speaking to Blake Burman of the FOX Business Network, explained what happened that night in Florida and said he tried to get in touch with Fields.

I picked up the phone and I called Michelle, Lewandowski said. I wanted to find out what happened because I didnt know what happened because I never heard from her. To this day the campaigns never heard from her. She never once called and said hey, this took place. Id like to go and resolve this issue. I dont want to make this a story. None of that ever took place. But because I saw what the Twitter feed was saying, I said jeez, lets find out whats going on.

The campaign manager said he turned over his phone records to the district attorneys office in Florida in order to prove he made the calls that evening.

I never heard back [from Fields], Lewandowski said. The [Trump] campaign never heard back. And I think what we could have done, if she didnt want to become the story here, is have a private conversation saying this is what I think occurred.

Lewandowski said he is relieved to have the charges dropped and very appreciative of Donald Trumps support throughout the controversy.

I want to thank Mr. Trump first and foremost for standing behind me and next to me and giving me the privilege of keeping my job here, he said. All of the other people in this race said I should be immediately fired, and Donald Trump stood next to me and said Im going to stand by him like I would the American people.
Can you answer the following questions?

Who fought in the Peloponnesian War?

Who taught Plato, and whom did Plato teach?

Who was Saul of Tarsus?

Why does the Magna Carta matter?

What are one or two of the arguments made in Federalist 10?

Hard questions, right? Maybe not. Maybe you learned some or all of the answers in school, or you knew them at one time, but have now forgotten the details. Or perhaps you are devoted to a few events that you have internalized and helped form you into the person you are today.

But knowing the answers in great detail may be less important than recognizing the importance of the questions.

Today's students don't know what liberty costs. They can't identify between good and right. They have no sense of what "exceptionalism" means. They don't know how history got us to where we are today, and why its bloody path was worth it.

Unfortunately, Stanford University students may never realize how significant and meaningful these questions are because the student government earlier this week voted overwhelmingly against requiring students to complete a two-quarter course on Western civilization.

That's right. Instead, the student leadership, validated by its Pravda-esque mouthpiece, The Stanford Daily, concluded that supporting Western civilization basically equated to "upholding white supremacy, capitalism and colonialism, and all other oppressive systems that flow from Western civilizations."

Apparently no one taught this up-and-coming generation that Western civilization is full of the theoretical underpinnings for things like democracy, equality, freedom, liberty, is the source of many of those sticky philosophical foundations for arguments in support of ending human oppression and slavery, and developed the economic principles responsible for pulling billions out of poverty.

For students who are interested in upholding those old-school priniciples, perhaps they should attend the University of Notre Dame, or at least the classes taught there by Professor of Political Theory Patrick J. Deneen.

In a recent essay, Deneen laid out the questions above  and others  and issued a clarion call that will no doubt land with a compelling thud on the heads of today's Stanford students as well as the educational leadership that failed to teach the answers to these questions, much less acknowledge their importance.

His article, Res Idiotica, is worth reading both for its inspiration and lamentation. In it, he notes that most of today's youth are just what generations of parents taught their children to be: polite, respectful, well-behaved, and tolerant.

Just one problem with them: They don't know what liberty costs. They can't identify between good and right. They have no sense of what "exceptionalism" means. They don't know how history got us to where we are today, and why its bloody path was worth it.

This is no fault of their own, Deneen notes. They are trained to not care.

"They are not to be blamed for their pervasive ignorance of western and American history, civilization, politics, art and literature. It is the hallmark of their education. They have learned exactly what we have asked of them  to be like mayflies, alive by happenstance in a fleeting present.

"Our students' ignorance is not a failing of the educational system  it is its crowning achievement. Efforts by several generations of philosophers and reformers and public policy experts whom our students (and most of us) know nothing about have combined to produce a generation of know-nothings. The pervasive ignorance of our students is not a mere accident or unfortunate but correctible outcome, if only we hire better teachers or tweak the reading lists in high school. It is the consequence of a civilizational commitment to civilizational suicide. The end of history for our students signals the End of History for the West."

In other words, our educational system has deliberately and with malice aforethought undertaken to produce "cultural amnesia" and "a wholesale lack of curiosity" that is disguised under claims of "critical thinking, diversity, ways of knowing, social justice, and cultural competence." Yet these buzz words merely result in the development of individuals who have no history, no country, no purpose, and no unity, except in the unified belief that everyone is an independent creature full of self-worth whose motivations and intentions cannot be questioned.

Is this an accident? No, Deneen concludes. It is a deliberate effort to "sand off remnants of any cultural or historical specificity and identity that might still stick to our students, to make them perfect company men and women for a modern polity and economy that penalizes deep commitments." Instead, there is a "commitment to mutual indifference," which would be undercut if the next era of adults acknowledged their own set of chosen and particular devotions.

What is the outcome of such effort? Sadly, it is a generation of automatons unable to distinguish complaint from blame or to differentiate expression from value.

We've reached a place in time where liberty is confused with choice, and history's battles are treated as anachronistic and unworthy of acclaim. The rising generation has forgotten that enduring freedom has been attained through millennia of challenges, upheavals, and competitions whose victories  and defeats  have ushered in generations of progress for humankind.

Perhaps today's university students are suffering from some sort of PTSD. They are unwilling to partake even in intellectual battle while they silently seek to erase the seeming cause of their unnamed trauma.

For those who refuse to allow the impending collapse of Western civilization or dismiss it merely as the evolution of history, Deneen's essay embodies courage and inspires encouragement. The moral and ethical boundaries that serve as the roots of the struggle for liberty and freedom are indeed the very foundation of modern civilization, and today's students should not be taught to forget it.

Answers to Deneen's Questions (Short answers to encourage readers to investigate the history and impact of each event):

Who fought in the Peloponnesian War?

Athens and Sparta (431-404 BC). Athens' ultimate defeat crippled Greece's military strength and brought the most culturally advanced Greek state to final ruin.

What was at stake at the Battle of Salamis?

The Battle of Salamis in 480 BC saved Greece from the Persian Empire led by Xerxes and ensured the rise of Western civilization in the world.

Who taught Plato, and whom did Plato teach?

Socrates taught Plato. Plato taught Aristotle (Aristotle became tutor to Alexander the Great).

How did Socrates die?

Socrates was executed with poison, allegedly for corrupting the youth, but really because he insulted many of the distinguished households of the time.

Raise your hand if you have read both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Canterbury Tales? Paradise Lost? The Inferno?

No? Well, here are the authors and what they're about:

Greek poet Homer, believed to have lived in the 8th century BC, authored the Iliad and Odyssey, great adventures and the most famous of the Greek tragedies.

The Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, and is cited for its satirical wit and multiple narrators. He died before the tales were finished.

Paradise Lost, written by John Milton in the 17th century, is an epic poem about the fall of man and his relationship to God.

The Inferno (also known as Dante's Inferno) was written by Italian poet Dante Alighieri's in the 14th-century. It is an allegory about bringing the soul closer to God.

Who was Saul of Tarsus?

Paul the Apostle, who lived from 10 BC-63 AD, and wrote much of the New Testament.

What were the 95 theses, who wrote them, and what was their effect?

Martin Luther wrote the 95 theses in 1517 attacking the Catholic Church's practice of selling "indulgences" to absolve sin. It sparked the Protestant Reformation.

Why does the Magna Carta matter?

Written in 1215, the Magna Carta is a cornerstone of the birth of individual liberties and the ongoing challenge to arbitrary rule. A keystone of American democracy, it declared equality under the law and the right to due process.

How and where did Thomas Becket die?

The Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered on the alter of his church in 1170, his death blamed on four knights who tried to appease King Henry II and took it upon themselves to kill Becket. Henry was enraged that his longtime friend would not absolve bishops who had sided with the authority of the king over the authority of the church.

What happened to Charles I?

King Charles I was executed for treason in 1649 after he sparked the first English civil war when he dissolved Parliament. He was defeated by Oliver Cromwell and the Ironsides, and the monarchy was briefly abolished.

Who was Guy Fawkes, and why is there a day named after him?

The 5th of November, Guy Fawkes Day, marks the day of the failed Gunpowder Plot, an attempt in 1605 by Fawkes and his Catholic allies to blow up King James I during a meeting at Parliament.

What happened at Yorktown in 1781?

The most important battle of the Revolutionary War when General George Washington, with 17,000 French and Continental forces, began the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia, against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and 9,000 British troops. In a matter of three weeks, Cornwallis surrendered and the fighting ended in the American colonies.

What did Lincoln say in his second Inaugural? His first Inaugural? How about his third Inaugural?

As the Civil War neared end, President Abraham Lincoln used his second Inaugural address to call for the nation to bind up its wounds and achieve a just and lasting peace, and to care for the veterans, widows, and orphans of the war.

In his first inaugural address, Lincoln pleaded with the southern states to remain in the union and suggested he would not try to pursue taking away their "property," e.g. the slaves. He said the matter of a union had been settled by the Constitution and it would set a terrible precedent for future states if any state tried to withdraw.

Third inaugural? Lincoln was assassinated six weeks after his second inauguration. Andrew Johnson, who ran with Lincoln on a National Unity Ticket though he was a Democrat while Lincoln was a Republican, was sworn in as president. Johnson was later impeached by the House of Representatives, but survived the impeachment by one vote in the Senate.

Who can tell me one or two of the arguments that are made in Federalist 10? Who has read Federalist 10? What are the Federalist Papers?

Federalist 10, considered the most influential of the 85 Federalist papers, was written by James Madison and argued for a united republic under a central authority, saying it would be better suited to manage the various factions and their tendencies to favor their own interests over the interests of the whole.

The Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Madison under the pseudonym Publius. They are written in defense of ratification of the Constitution and the role of a strong central government to guide the states. The papers were published in newspapers around the country and eventually compiled into one volume.
Score another win for Bernie Sanders.

This time it did not come in the form of a primary or a caucus. He didnt even get any delegates as a result.

But when the U.S. Department of the Treasury short-circuited a much-anticipated merger between two corporate giants, it was exactly the painful blow to big business that the socialist senator from Vermont has been arguing for in his passionate rhetoric of economic populism.

Heres what happened and why it matters.

Last Monday, the Treasury introduced its latest set of regulations aimed at stopping U.S. companies fleeing Americas absurdly high corporate taxes in favor of countries where they would be better treated. The poster child for this was drug company Pfizer, which had aimed to reincorporate in Ireland by merging with Dublin-based Allergan, also a pharmaceutical company.

The move would have made sense. Irelands corporate tax rate is a mere 12.5 percent, while that of the U.S. is 35 percent, which when combined with state taxes comes to 39 percent. Even Britain and Canada tax at lower rates, 20 percent and 26.5 percent, respectively.

A lot of wealth was destroyed by the Treasury that day, and the blame should fall, at least partly, at the feet of three presidential hopefuls, Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump, who each criticized the now-dead deal. Sanders even went as far as to write Treasury Secretary Jack Lew a letter specifically asking for Pfizers plans to be thwarted.

It also shouldnt be a surprise that Lew acted on the Sanders prompt, given that his boss, President Obama, had already described these so-called tax inversions as unpatriotic and most insidious, and reflects his administrations ongoing war with corporate America.

Whats notable is that while such inversion deals would reduce taxes for the corporation, they arent driven by the desire to find cheaper labor, just lower taxes. Its also notable that corporate relocation of factories to countries where labor is less expensive is rarely criticized by this administration.

Treasurys targeting of the Pfizer-Allergan merger isnt an isolated incident. Rather it is just the latest move in the Obama administrations savage anti-business war. On the tax inversion front, Treasury also nixed a 2014 attempt by Chicago-based drug company AbbVie to buy Irish company Shire and relocate headquarters to Dublin.

Other examples of this behavior include the Federal Trade Commissions challenge of the Staples-Office Depot deal; the extra scrutinizing of the Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna mergers as well as the Anheuser-Busch acquisition of SAB Miller. Separately, The Department of Justice has already filed a lawsuit to block Halliburtons acquisition of Baker Hughes. You get the idea.

This time around, Treasury made its new regulations retroactive, changing the rules after the proposed merger had been legally constructed and announced. How can companies continue to confidently operate and invest in the U.S. when such uncertainty exists that the rule of law can be changed on the whim of the president?

High U.S. tax rates, which certainly encourage U.S. corporations to relocate overseas, are just part of the problem which puts American companies at a distinct disadvantage against foreign competitors.

Why? Such punitive taxes lower returns to shareholders. It therefore shouldnt be too surprising that The Economist magazine estimated that up to nine U.S. corporations would try to move for tax reasons this year.

On top of that the United States has a weird idea of how taxes should work. It is one of the few countries that force its companies to pay tax on worldwide income. For instance, a U.S. corporation pays tax in Germany on its income generated there, and then again when the profits are repatriated to the U.S.

Elsewhere, corporate tax is paid only where the income is earned. It would be a double taxation, if U.S. companies were stupid enough to bring the cash home. Instead they leave the money abroad  more than $2 trillion of it.

Thats more than 10 percent of GDP. Imagine what that cash could be used for here in the United States if only the Treasury switched to a more sensible tax regime of taxing by jurisdiction.

These things matter because they are what drive the economy and hence job creation. The current presidential candidates have very different ideas about how they want to govern the U.S. for the four years starting 2017.

Some ideas, like punitive taxes will continue to crush economic growth. Whereas others, like streamlining corporate taxes, will boost it.

Think about that when you go to the polls this fall.
Syndicated columnist and Fox News contributer Charles Krauthammer told "Special Report with Bret Baier" Friday that "somebody is going to have to take a haircut" to resolve the debt crisis gripping Puerto Rico.

The U.S. territory is facing a default next month on a $422 million bond payment, and another $780 million is due to creditors in July.

"Is it going to be the bond holders, the investors, or is it going to be the people of Puerto Rico who would have to chip in by lowering their pensions and other freebies that the government had given out in an extravagant spending spree that it could never afford? Krauthammer questioned.

"The scale of this is huge," he added. "Detroit was $18 billion [in debt when it declared bankruptcy in 2013]. Here we are talking about $70 billion."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has described the situation as "chaos" and said a bipartisan debt restructuring bill needs to pass to keep U.S. taxpayers off the hook. Meanwhile, televison ads are flooding the airways urging lawmakers to oppose a bailout.

"I do not understand the ads that are running about the bailout," Krauthammer said. "That is not on the table right now. It might be, eventually."
The impassioned election-year debate over President Obamas immigration executive actions lands Monday before a short-handed Supreme Court, where justices will consider a fundamental question: how much power does the president truly have?

The justices plan to hold 90 minutes of oral arguments dealing with Obamas bid to spare millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.

A coalition of states calls it an executive power grab. "President Obama's executive action is an affront to our system of republican self-government," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who supports those states.

But the White House contends the presidents authority is clear, and the policies humane and reasonable. Obama has promoted his program as a plan to "prioritize deporting felons not families."

Its a case that will be closely watched in an election season where Republican front-runner Donald Trump has made immigration enforcement a centerpiece of his campaign. The outcome also could have considerable bearing on Obamas legacy, potentially determining whether his lame-duck bid to go around Congress is upheld or ruled an overreach.

At issue Monday is whether as many as 5 million illegal immigrants can be spared deportation -- including those who entered the U.S. as children, and the parents of citizens or legal residents. The programs -- known as Deferred Action for Parents of American Citizens and Permanent Residents (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) -- effectively went around the Republican-led Congress.

Opponents, including 26 states and GOP members of Congress, say the plan exceeds constitutional power.

A federal appeals court earlier had struck down DAPA, which has yet to go fully into effect. The Justice Department then asked the high court for a final review, in what could be a key test of Obama's executive powers his last year in office.

The decision to review the case was welcome on both sides of the aisle.

"The Constitution vests legislative authority in Congress, not the president, said Hatch, urging the justices to rule against the administration.

But the White House voiced confidence the policies would be upheld.

"Like millions of families across this country -- immigrants who want to be held accountable, to work on the books, to pay taxes, and to contribute to our society openly and honestly -- we are pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to review the immigration case," spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said.

The issue of illegal immigration has taken a center-stage role in the Republican primary battle, as Trump calls for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and candidates spar over who is toughest on the issue.

The immigrants who would benefit from the Obama administration's plan are mainly parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said in a court filing that allowing the past rulings to stand would force millions "to continue to work off the books.

Besides immigration, Obama has used his unilateral authority to act on such hot-button issues as gun control, health care and global warming.

However, as with other high-profile Supreme Court appeals this term -- on ObamaCare, abortion rights and affirmative action -- the outcome here likely will be affected by death in February of Justice Antonin Scalia, which left a 4-4 bench split along conservative-liberal lines.

A 4-4 ruling would effectively scuttle the issue until after Obama leaves office in nine months, and mean at least a temporary setback to his domestic policy legacy -- even if the justices punt, and choose to reargue the case when Scalia's replacement is sworn in. The justices also could rule narrowly on procedure, finding a compromise on a technical issue not directly related to the larger policy questions.

On the legal side, the GOP-controlled House filed an amicus brief supporting the states, telling the high court, "the Executive does not have the power to authorize -- let alone facilitate -- the prospective violation of the immigration laws on a massive class-wide scale."

Supporters of the administration vow this issue will resonate in an election year.

"There are millions of families of U.S.-born citizens that live under the fear of separation and deportation," said Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, an Hispanic advocacy nonprofit. "Our community is watching and will hold accountable those who have stood on the way of our families through the ballots in November."

MFV and other immigrant rights advocates plan to march at the Supreme Court around Monday's arguments.

The case is U.S. v. Texas (15-674). A ruling is expected by late June.
Ted Cruz on Saturday won all 14 delegates in the Wyoming GOP convention -- a relatively small number but enough for the Texas senator to declare victory and keep GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump from securing the nomination.

We are likely to have a battle in Cleveland to decide who is the nominee, Cruz told party members before they picked the delegates. If you dont want to see Donald Trump as the nominee,  then I ask you to please vote for the men and women on this slate.

The Wyoming process mirrored that of Colorado, which was engulfed by political controversy after hosting a similar convention last week.

Cruzs campaign ran circles around the Trump operation there, prompting Trump to slam the multi-tiered caucus system as rigged.

Cruz was expected to do well in Wyoming because his campaign had been lining up support there for months, too.

The ground game is starting early and starting at your most local, smallest enclave, said Ed Buchanan, Cruzs Wyoming chairman.

After being tapped by Cruz in February, Buchanan started drafting activists across the state. His efforts were bolstered by two days of Cruz campaign stops in Wyoming last August.

Trump did not actively campaign in either state, while Cruz put in face-time in both.

You are going to hear this from me more and more: We have to bring our country together. We are a divided nation, Trump said at a rally in upstate New York, ahead of the states primary Tuesday in which 95 GOP delegates are up for grabs.

Before Saturday, Trump had 742 delegates, followed by Cruz with 529 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 143. The winner needs 1,237 delegates to win the nomination. (Kasich is running second in the New York primary, according to polls.)

Senior Trump adviser Alan Cobb said about Colorado and Wyoming: "Candidates that have allies that are party insiders have advantages in states that have a pyramid process of selecting their delegates. These folks have worked this process for years."

Mindful of potential accusations, Wyoming GOP leaders are ready. Their message: The rules were set long before anyone announced their candidacy.

Every presidential candidate for the last 40 years has managed this process and has worked through this process and has followed the process that we have in Wyoming, state GOP Chairman Matt Micheli said in an interview with Fox News. We are simply following the rules that are in place and that have been in place for a long time.

Fox News' Dan Gallo, Mike Emanuel and John Roberts contributed to this report.
The speaker of the House flashed frustration as he addressed the National Retail Federation.

I am astonished when I go around the country at the intensity of anger at the IRS, said the speaker. People are determined to get the IRS out of their life. They are furious at the IRS.

We say a tax code should go away, suggested the House Majority Leader during an appearance before the Senate Finance Committee.

We must tear the income tax code out of by its roots so it can never come back again, thundered the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the panel in charge of crafting tax policy.

And nearly 21 years after those remarks by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., then-House Majority Leader Dick Armey. R-Texas, and then-Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, little has changed.

Anger at the IRS has rarely been higher. Politicians gripe about a calcified tax code that Congress hasnt overhauled since 1986. Yet 30 years later, lawmakers get on the stump and campaign about the necessity of renovating the nations tax system.

Change the players and the time and its likely House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.; House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, would all utter similar declarations today as Gingrich, Armey and Archer.

And they have. Especially this time of year with federal taxes due Monday (delayed three days due to Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia).

The IRS is not being led well. I think the IRS misled Americans, said Ryan when asked about an effort by some House Republicans to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. This is an agency that needs to be cleaned up.

What America needs today is a new, 21st Century tax code that is built for growth, said Brady in a speech. I can assure you that Ways and Means Republicans are serious about reforming our broken tax code.

The IRS makes for a great whipping boy this time of year as frustrated Americans rush to the Post Office to file their taxes just before the deadline. Lawmakers offer up political Pablum to exercised taxpayers about changing the tax code and why the tax system is in desperate need of an overhaul.

Yet little changes.

Antagonists are crucial in politics. Politicians need to cast themselves as caped superheroes, warring against the evils of the state. Lawmakers appear to have perfect adversaries in the IRS and an outdated tax code.

Eliminate the IRS and pass tax reform -and suddenly lawmakers are deprived of foes.

As a political issue, it might not be better to change anything. But legislative realities make it very hard to usher tax reform to passage. There are so many shelters. So many interest groups. Its hard to concoct a plan which garners the votes for passage.

If this was easy, Congress would have approved tax reform years ago.

Remember the Republican-controlled House and Senate in the mid-1990s with Newt Gingrich at the helm? They didnt have a Republican in the White House.

But they had as good a negotiating partner as they could ever get at 1600 Pennsylvania in President Clinton. The Democratic president and the GOP Congress got together on welfare reform, entitlement spending and the budget. But no tax reform.

How about President George W. Bush and a Republican House and Senate for most of the early 2000s? Nada on comprehensive tax reform. Nuff said.

Tax reform was not a high priority of President Obama and congressional Democrats when they came to power. Still, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., chaired the House Ways and Means Committee then and designed a tax reform measure.

Then Rangel faced serious ethics issues, lost his chairmanship and the House censured him for his conduct. No tax reform there.

Former Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., took over the gavel of the Ways and Means Committee when Republicans scored the House majority in 2011. Of course, that was back when Republicans were a supposed lock to win the White House and the Senate in 2012. Neither happened. No tax reform then, either.

In 2014, Camp assembled a tax reform proposal to simplify the code and restructure rates for those with higher incomes. When reporters pressed then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, about the blueprint, he dismissed Camps effort out of hand.

Blah, blah, blah, responded Boehner, effectively euthanizing Camps proposal.

Ryan became House Ways and Means Committee chairman in January, 2015.

Tax reform is a 2015 thing for sure, he said last spring. In that remark, Ryan meant it had to move in 2015 before enduring the political winds of a presidential election year come 2016.

It has to be done by the end of the summer  it if goes back past summer, its hard to see how that gets done, he added.

Of course, that didnt come to pass. A couple of months later, during a Bloomberg interview, Ryan was already done with 2015 tax reform opportunities.

That is to me more of a 2017 project in the post-Obama era, he said.

By fall, Ryan traded in the Ways and Means gavel for the speakers gavel. And the calendar flipped to 2016.

Still no tax reform.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., took aim at the speaker and tax reform Tuesday.

Ryan was 11 months Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Hoyer said. He offered no bill. Hes been talking about tax reform for most of the time he was here.

When asked Thursday about the IRS and issues with tax policy, Ryan punted to 2017.

What I think we need to do is win an election, he said. Get better people in these agencies and reform the tax code.

Ryan asserted that the IRS is implementing a horrible tax code.

And thats on Congress, regardless of what year it is.

On Saturday, Ryan published a letter ahead of tax day. It blasted the IRS and its ability to protect taxpayer information from hackers. In a Fox interview, John Koskinen argued its a complicated world when it comes to protecting taxpayers.

Ryans Saturday missive returned fire on Koskinen.

Arent we all sick and tired of these excuses? he asked. The IRS needs to change.

So with tax day upon us, lawmakers are again speaking about the need to alter tax policy.

I think we ought to do comprehensive tax reform, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. We really need to scrub the whole tax code. The chances of doing that now and the end of this presidency are none and slim.

On Wednesday night, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and a host of lawmakers took to the House floor for a fiery set of speeches demanding the impeachment of Koskinen.

Conservatives remain livid over the IRSs targeting of conservative, tax-exempt groups -- ostensibly due to their political views.

The scandal is what led President Obama to tap Koskinen to run the IRS.

The GOP regularly turns up the heat on Koskinen, though the targeting scandal didnt go down on his watch. Still, Republicans think he and others failed to produce documents necessary for congressional oversight.

Thats why we filed these articles of impeachment, Jordan said.

Ryans not game to impeach Koskinen. And tax reform isnt on the table now.

Washington, D.C.s Emancipation Day will again postpone tax day in 2017. April 18 is the deadline.

And with little change coming to the IRS or tax reform, expect a lot of the same rhetoric about taxes come this time next year.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly told the Obama administration and congressional leaders that it will sell billions of dollars in U.S. financial assets if Congress passes a bill to make the Saudi government legally responsible for any role in the 9/11 attacks.

The administration has tried to stop Congress from passing the legislation, a bipartisan Senate bill, since Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir last month told Washington lawmakers his countrys position, according to The New York Times.

Al-Jubeir purportedly informed the lawmakers during a trip to Washington that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell as much as $750 billion in Treasury securities and other American financial assets on the world market, fearing the legislation could become law and U.S. courts would then freeze the assets.

The revelations about the Saudis ultimatum come several days after reports that President Obama will soon decide whether to declassify 28 pages of sealed documents suspected of showing a Saudi connection to the deadly 9/11 terror attacks.

Former Florida Democratic Sen. Bob Graham told Fox News on Tuesday that the White House told him a decision on whether to declassify the documents would be made within 60 days.

Graham helped lead a 2002 congressional inquiry into the attacks.

The Bush and Obama administrations have refused to unseal the documents, arguing their release would jeopardize national security.

Critics claim the reluctance is a calculated move to hide Saudi Arabias involvement in the al Qaeda terror attack that killed almost 3,000 people on U.S. soil on Sept. 11, 2001.

The Saudi government has said it wants the pages declassified.

Obama had come under renewed pressure to release the documents ahead of a scheduled trip next week to Saudi Arabia for a summit of Persian Gulf leaders.

Economists are purportedly skeptical about the Saudis making good on their vow to sell the assets, considering such a move would be difficult to execute and could severely hurt that countrys economy, which depends on the U.S. dollar.

The separate 9/11 Commission essentially found no evidence that the Saudi Arabia government supported the attacks.

However, the commissions narrowly worded finding about having no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization has skeptic suggesting that lesser officials government operatives or were involved.
Nine prisoners from Guantanamo Bay have been released and sent to Saudi Arabia for resettlement, the Defense Department announced Saturday.

All nine are Yemeni but have family ties to Saudi Arabia. None of the men had been charged and all but one had been cleared for release from the U.S. base in Cuba since at least 2010. One was approved for release by a review board last year.

They could not be sent to their homeland because of instability there.

The prisoners include a frequent hunger striker whose weight had dropped to as low as 74 pounds (34 kilograms) at one point.

The interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force reviewed the cases of all nine prisoners, unanimously approving eight for transfer. The ninth was later approved by another government review board.

"In accordance with statutory requirements, the secretary of defense informed Congress of the United States' intent to transfer these individuals and of the secretary's determination that these transfers meet the statutory standard," the Defense Department said in a statement.

"The United States is grateful to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the statement read.

The release announced Saturday in a Pentagon statement brings the Guantanamo prisoner population to 80, including 26 cleared men expected to leave by the end of the summer.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Apple said Friday it wants a New York judge to uphold a magistrates ruling that the government has no authority to compel the companys help to get data from a locked iPhone in a federal drug case.

The tech giant has been locked in a battle with the Justice Department over whether the government can force Apple employees to help investigators open locked iPhones.

The most recent skirmish happed in February after federal authorities wanted Apples help to unlock the iPhone the terrorist involved in the San Bernardino shooting, which left 14 dead. However, they dropped that demand once the FBI found another way into the phone.

A third party helped unlock Syed Farooks phone. The FBI said the technique only works on certain iPhones and cant be used on many others, including the one at issue in a Brooklyn federal drug case.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are seeking a court order to force Apple to help them extract data from an iPhone taken from a drug suspect who has since pleaded guilty, The Wall Street Journal reported. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein ruled in February that the government didnt have the authority to compel Apple to help agents extract data from phones.

The government has utterly failed to demonstrate that the requested order is necessary to effectuate the search warrant, including that it exhausted all other avenues for recovering the information it seeks, Apple said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie. Before the government demands that Apple do the work of law enforcement, the government must offer evidence that it has performed an exhaustive search and that it remains unable to obtain the data it seeks without Apples assistance.

According to The Wall Street Journal, an Apple attorney had previously said the company would try to get the FBI to answer questions about its phone-hacking efforts. However, the company told the court Friday There is no evidence in the record that the government consulted with any other governmental entities or third parties.

The Justice Department is hoping to win more court rulings upholding its authority to compel companies like Apple to assist in investigations by opening devices or decrypting phone data.

The Journal reported that both sides are preparing for the issue to eventually reach the Supreme Court.

This case involves an iPhone5s that was seized in 2014 from Jun Feng as part of a drug investigation. Feng pleaded guilty last year, but both sides agreed the legal dispute over the phone must be solved.

The Justice Department seeks a court order compelling Apple to help DEA agents extra data off the iPhone. Prosecutors want to get into the iPhone because, they say, the phone might contain evidence of additional crimes or suspects.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
Did you miss your flight? Get in line. You just might miss another.

The lines to get through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints in airports across the U.S. are getting longer-- and theres no relief in sight.

On American Airlines alone, nearly 6,800 passengers missed their flights during peak spring break weekMarch 14 through 20-- because of long checkpoint lines. And with summer on the way, the airline predicts things will only get worse.

TSA officials are responsible for screening nearly 2 million passengers every day, plus 1.2 million checked bags and 4.4 million carry-on bags at nearly 440 airports.

"The lines at TSA checkpoints nationwide have become unacceptable," American spokesman Ross Feinstein said in a statement Wednesday. "The result: our customers are waiting in TSA lines greater than one hour.

"As we approach spring and summer, we are concerned that these lines will grow even longer," Feinstein said.

But there are no easy solutions to the problem. The long lines are the result of a perfect storm: Seven percent more people are flying in the U.S. this year  the Department of Transportation expects 699 million people will board planes in 2016  and, thanks to a cap ordered by a budget-concerned Congress, there are only 42,500 TSA officers to screen them.

Thats the lowest level in five years, 12 percent fewer than in 2011.

TSA officials say they, too, are dismayed by the long lines, but their hands are tied. They are responsible for screening nearly 2 million passengers every day, plus 1.2 million checked bags and 4.4 million carry-on bags at nearly 440 airports.

But theres good reason for the scrutiny. This week alone, a man in West Virginia tried to bring a loaded gun in his luggage through a checkpoint. In separate incidents, men carrying loaded semi-automatic handguns were prevented from boarding flights in Norfolk, Va., and New York City. Meanwhile, airports everywhere have dramatically ramped up security in the wake of the terrorist attack that killed 16 people at Zaventem airport in Brussels.

This is one of the highest-volume travel years weve ever seen, TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger said last week. That means were going to have lots of people moving through the airports.

Get to the airports early, because even if I can move you efficiently through the line, youre still going to find long lines there.
Police in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday launched a large scale search for a missing priest, according to reports.

Father Rene Robert, 71, of the Diocese of St. Augustine, was last seen Sunday April 10 and authorities suspect foul play in his disappearance.

Authorities were asking residents and property owners near two interstate highways in Duval County to check their properties thoroughly, the St. Augustine Record reported.

Do not touch or tamper with anything located, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said in a news release Saturday, according to the paper. If you notice any disturbed round or unusual smells, please contact police right away.

Roberts car was recovered in Aiken County, South Carolina, along with 28-year-old Steven Murray, WOKV-FM reported Saturday.

Murray is the main suspect in the priests disappearance.

Before he was caught authorities said Murray was a Jacksonville man with a criminal background whom Robert may have been counseling at the time of his disappearance, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

He was extradited back to St. Johns County Friday, the station reported.

Robert family fears for his safety, the Albany Times Union reported.

I have visions of him laying in a ditch some place or locked in a closet, his half-sister Joan McAndrews told WTEN-TV, according to the paper.
A Michigan judge told a couple Thursday they could get up to 93 days in jail and face a maximum $500 fine for failing to return a Dr. Seuss book and a novel borrowed from a public library.

Cathy and Melvin Duren, of Tecumseh, appeared in Lenawee County court to each face a misdemeanor charge of failure to return rental property. The pair owes about $35 in late fees for The Rome Prophecy, borrowed in April 2015. They lost a Dr. Seuss book their son borrowed for their granddaughter in July 2014.

"I can't image going to jail over it, but I certainly will fight these charges because I'm not guilty," Cathy Duren said.

WXYZ-TV reported the couple admitted they were negligent in returning the books, but think its unfair to each be charged a $105 diversion fee to the Lenawee County Economic Crimes Unit in addition to fines owed to the Tecumseh Public Library.

According to the Associated Press, the Durens received a letter in December advising them to return the books and pay the fees, as well as the replacement costs if they couldnt find the books. The letter also informed them they could be charged with a crime.

In January, the couple was able to find and return "The Rome Prophecy," but they couldn't locate the Dr. Seuss book. The title of the book wasn't known.

Cathy Duren sent a $55 money order to the prosecutor's office to cover the late fees and replacement costs for the lost book. But Cathy Duren said her money order was refused because she and her husband declined to pay the additional $210 in diversion fees to the Lenawee County prosecutor's crime unit.

Cathy Duren said she feels that she's being extorted by the prosecutor's office.

The Durens had to pay $100 bond to avoid going to jail last Friday when they were served with arrest warrants.

The couple said they probably will never check out a library book again.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A veteran Florida zookeeper known as "the tiger whisperer" died Friday after she was mauled by one of the big cats in her care.

Stacey Konwiser, 38, was pronounced dead at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where she had been rushed after the incident at around 1:45 p.m. local time.

Palm Beach Zoo spokesman Naki Carter told WSVN that the 13-year-old male Malayan tiger was not being exhibited when he attacked Konwiser and the public was never in danger. However, the zoo was placed on lockdown and about 25 guests were told to barricade themselves in the gift shop as a precaustion.

Carter said Konwiser was inside the tiger habitat, which is closed to the public, preparing for the zoo's daily 2 p.m. tiger show. It was not immediately clear what caused the tiger to attack her.

The tiger was tranquilized and authorities had to wait until the sedative took effect before they could come to Konwiser's aid, West Palm Beach police spokeswoman Lori Colombino said.

"She is someone that absolutely loved everything that had to do with keeping these tigers and seeing that they were enriched daily," Carter said, "and I know that just her love for them, if you knew her, then you knew about her love for these creatures."

West Palm Beach Police said Konwiser's family had been notified of her death. Carter said Konwiser's husband is also a Palm Beach zookeeper, but would not say whether he was at the zoo Friday afternoon. Zoo officials declined to comment on whether there had been other incidents with the tiger.

Malayan tigers are considered an endangered species, and only 250 remain in the world. The Palm Beach Zoo keeps four Malayan tigers, including the animal that killed Konwiser.

Konwiser's death is being investigated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The zoo is closed until Sunday at the earliest.

Click for more from WSVN.
Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters are attacking Cameroonian troops at a border town with Nigeria, military officers said Wednesday as Nigerian and Chadian jets pursued an offensive that has bombed the Islamic extremists out of a slew of northeastern Nigerian towns.

The attack on Fotocol, in far northern Cameroon, appears to be a response to the air attacks, Nigeria's first major offensive against Boko Haram, the Islamic extremists whose insurgency has spread across borders, prompting international concern.

The fight in Cameroon and the air offensives in Nigeria come as African Union officials meet in Cameroon to finalize a mandate for a 7,500-strong multinational force to confront the extremists who in recent months have seized more than 130 towns and villages across three of Nigeria's northeastern states bordering Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Boko Haram has held many of the towns for months, some since August.

Chadian troops joined Cameroonian soldiers in fierce fighting Wednesday against the extremists at Fotocol, according to Cameroonian military officers who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.

Earlier Nigerian jets started bombing Monday in the Sambisa Forest, where the extremists have camps and first took nearly 300 kidnapped schoolgirls last April, witnesses said.

"At night we hear distant sounds of explosions," Bulama Danbayo said by telephone from Madagali town in Adamawa state. "We were all terrified but some of the soldiers stationed here told us not to be worried, that it was soldiers that commenced bombardment of Sambisa Forest."

Chad's army said its troops were attacked Tuesday in Cameroon by Boko Haram. "Our valiant forces responded vigorously, a chase was immediately instituted all the way to their base at Gamboru and Ngala (in Nigeria), where they were completely wiped out," spokesman Col. Azem Bermendoa said on national television Tuesday night.

More than 200 extremists were killed for the loss of nine Chadian troops, he said.

Nigeria's spokesman on the insurgency, Mike Omeri, said the twin towns were recaptured but gave no credit to Chadian forces.

In a statement Tuesday, Omeri said Nigerian forces this week have "liberated from Boko Haram presence" more than a dozen northeastern towns.

The Defense Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said the presence of foreign troops on Nigerian soil in no way compromises the sovereignty of the West African nation. Nigerian forces have been unable to curb the uprising without foreign help. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation of some 170 million people as well as the continent's biggest economy and biggest oil producer.
Pope Francis made an emotional visit to Greece on Saturday to thank its people for welcoming migrants and meet with refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Greek state television ERT reported that Francis had offered to take 10 refugees  eight Syrians and two Afghans  back with him when he leaves. Asked about the report, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi told The Associated Press: "I have nothing to say at this time."

Asked if he would have an update later, Lombardi said: "Each moment has its significance."

The Vatican is already hosting two refugee families, so the gesture would be in keeping with Francis' call for Europe to open its hearts and borders to those most in need.

Many refugees fell to their knees and wept as Francis approached them at the Moria detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as he passed by. Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet sobbing uncontrollably. A woman told the pope that her husband was in Germany, but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos.

"Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names stories and need to be treated as such," Francis tweeted.

Francis' Alitalia charter touched down at the airport in Lesbos shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met him on the tarmac, along with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the archbishop of Athens, who is the head of the Church of Greece.

During a brief meeting at the airport, Francis thanked Tsipras for the "generosity" shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles and called for a response to the migration crisis that respects European and international law, the Vatican said.

Tsipras, for his part, said he was proud of Greece's response "at a time when some of our partners  even in the name of Christian Europe  were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life."

Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, then traveled to the main detention center on Lesbos to greet some 250 refugees stuck there.

The religious leaders will lunch with eight refugees to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. And then they will pray together, tossing a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didn't make it.

The five-hour visit is meant to show a united Christian response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

The wreath-tossing ceremony scheduled for later Saturday is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe. He made a similar gesture more recently at the U.S.-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the U.S.

"He is slightly provocative," said George Demacopoulos, chair of Orthodox Christian studies at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. Citing Francis' Mexico border visit in February, in the heat of a U.S. presidential campaign where illegal immigration took center stage, he added: "He is within his purview to do so, but that was a provocative move."

The Vatican insists Saturday's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political or a "direct" criticism of the EU plan.

But spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters that Francis' position on Europe's "moral obligation" to welcome refugees is well-known, and that the EU-Turkey deportation deal certainly has "consequences on the situation of the people involved."

The Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, was even more explicit, saying the EU-Turkey plan essentially treats migrants as merchandise that can be traded back and forth and doesn't recognize their inherent dignity as human beings.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.

Human rights groups have denounced the deal as an abdication of Europe's obligations to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the "globalization of indifference" that the world shows the less fortunate.

The trip also has a significant religious dimension.

Lombardi said the ecumenical significance of a meeting between Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the head of the Church of Greece, Athens Archbishop Ieronymos II was "obvious." He credited Greece's politicians with their willingness to let the religious leaders take center stage as an "appreciated" gesture of discretion.
A Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft on Thursday in the latest military provocation by Moscow over the Baltic Sea, the U.S. European Command said Saturday.

The U.S. aircraft, a militarized Boeing 707 jet, was operating in international airspace and at no time crossed into Russian territory, said the Navy, as reported first by The Washington Free Beacon.

On April 14, a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft flying a routine route in international airspace over the Baltic Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez on Saturday told Fox News and other new gathering agencies.

The incident follows Russian jets on Tuesday night reportedly flying very close the to the American destroyer USS Donald Cook in international Baltic Sea waters.

This intercept comes shortly after the unsafe Russian encounters with USS Donald Cook, Hernandez said. There have been repeated incidents over the last year where Russian military aircraft have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns, and we are very concerned with any such behavior."

"This unsafe and unprofessional air intercept has the potential to cause serious harm and injury to all aircrews involved, Hernandez continued. More importantly, the unsafe and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries.
Online Lingerie Market to Grow at 17.25% CAGR Driven by Online Channel and E-Commerce to 2020

ReportsnReports.com adds Global Online Lingerie Market 2016-2020 latest research report, analysts forecast the global online lingerie market to grow at a CAGR of 17.25% during the period 2016-2020.

--

The increasing use of online channel as a key platform for shopping is one of the primary reason for the growth of online lingerie market. Online retailing provides a wide range of discounts, coupons, and offers, either from retailers or manufacturers directly. Hence, it attracts a wide number of consumers. Major players like L Brands provide special offers and discounts on the much sought after brand such as Victoria's Secret.

Complete report on online lingerie market spread across 57 pages, analyzing 5 major companies and providing 25 data exhibits is now available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/524627-global-online-lingerie-market-2016-2020.html.

The global online lingerie market analyst said many established brands such as Victoria's Secret and Calvin Klein have marked their presence online. This online availability is more appealing than brick-and mortar-stores because it makes the stores accessible to consumers while also providing the opportunity to shop in privacy. An online channel not only generates sales via the Internet but also acts as a platform for vendors to display their latest designs.

The use of location-based services (LBS) technology by the websites and the mobile apps developed to assist consumers in purchasing products online is also a major factor driving online lingerie market globally. These websites and apps are incorporated with location detectors such as GPS and BLE (Bluetooth low energy) and NFC (near field communication) technology to locate the customers point of ordering. This software also facilitates the analysis of the consumer data such as the buying details and buying frequency and preferences data of the consumers who visited the online stores.

Inquire for more information @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/contacts/InquiryBeforeBuy.aspx?name=524627.

According to the online lingerie market report, the e-commerce industry has benefitted significantly from this development, and clothing and apparel are important categories that have propelled the growth of the industry across regions. The increasing penetration of mobile devices with Internet access has presented vendors with an active platform to engage with consumers on the go.

Segmentation and Analysis by Product of the Online Lingerie Market - Bras, Daywear, Loungewear, Panties, Shapewear and Sleepwear

In 2015, the bra segment led the global online lingerie market, accounting for the highest market share in terms of revenue generated from the online sales of lingerie products globally. The segment holds the majority in the market because bra is considered not only a daily essential in a woman's wardrobe but also considered a fashion accessory. Order a copy of Global Online Lingerie Market 2016-2020 report @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=524627.

Geographical Segmentation and Analysis of the Online Lingerie Market - APAC, Europe, North America and ROW

In 2015, Europe led the global online lingerie market, accounting for more than 45% of the market share. The sales of premium lingerie brands augmented the growth of the online lingerie markets in this region. The premium-priced and customized lingerie segments in the UK, France, Italy, and Germany contributed to the high revenue shares of this region. The early penetration of tablets and smartphones in this region has also boosted the growth of the market in this region.

The growing e-commerce industry has made online purchasing goods easier, comfortable, and time-saving. Many vendors sell their products not only through their online portals but also through other online portals as well, thus increasing their market share.

Key players in the global online lingerie market: L Brands, Maison Lejaby, Lise Charmel, PVH, and Wolf Lingerie.

Other prominent vendors in the market are: Baci Lingerie, Chantelle, Etam, Hanes Brands, Jockey, Lindex, Triumph, Wacoal, and Wolford.

Further, the online lingerie market report states that despite the availability of numerous apps and other services online, choosing a product with the correct measurements and fit has been a constant cause of concern for consumers. Online purchases of lingerie can be difficult as consumers cannot try on the item before purchasing.

About Us:

ReportsnReports.com is single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 100+ leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets. With comprehensive information about the publishers and the industries for which they publish market research reports, helps in purchase decision by mapping the information needs with the huge collection of reports.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/524627-global-online-lingerie-market-2016-2020.html

Contact Info:

Name: Ritesh Tiwari

Organization: ReportsnReports

Address: UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India.

Phone: + 1 888 391 5441

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/online-lingerie-market-to-grow-at-17-25-cagr-driven-by-online-channel-and-e-commerce-to-2020/110744

Release ID: 110744

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Landmass London Completes Iconic Residential Opportunity On Ladbroke Grove

76 Ladbroke Grove offers a sense of space and light which, from the outside, does not look possible, something which Landmass London specialises in. Landmass London places every importance in maximising a property's space

--

Award-winning residential design and developer Landmass London has recently completed an entirely unique, dimension-defying property on Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, for its Managing Director, Alan Waxman. Bought during a meeting at the exclusive Mayfair club, Annabel's, 76 Ladbroke Grove was a 622 sq ft end of terrace, WWII bomb site ripe for conversion. Today, the five-bedroom home has increased in size five-fold and is an impressive 3,280 sq ft set across five storeys, and is on the market for 6.95m with Rokstone and Domus Nova.

Featuring a light-filled double basement the height of two double-decker buses - complete with gym and media room - 76 Ladbroke Grove signifies the end of an era; it is one of the last projects of its kind in light of the planning permission regulation restrictions being implemented in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea on basement excavations. Likened to a Tardis, 76 Ladbroke Grove offers a sense of space and light which, from the outside, does not look possible, something which Landmass London specialises in. Landmass London places every importance in maximising a property's space, using lightwells and roof glazing to ensure that lights flows to every corner; this type of design, known as "Volumetric Design" has been developed by Alan Waxman and is his registered trademark style. As well as maximising the use of space, 76 Ladbroke Grove is the definition of quality space; in no corner of the property is there a feeling of confinement. For example, rather than squeezing in a further bed-room, the first floor is dedicated to the luxurious master suite, including a grand master bedroom, beautifully presented ensuite bathroom the size of a bedroom, and walk-in wardrobe and dressing area.

A sculptural helical staircase not only provides a stunning central feature, it also allows light to flow all the way from the glazed roof, right down into the lowest floor of the house, making it light-filled even eight metres underground.

In addition to the staircase, there are many other fascinating features at 76 Ladbroke Grove including a charging point in the garage offering owners who wish to consider their carbon footprint the chance to purchase a property which can cater for electric cars. Thought has even gone into incorporating Victorian details of the local architecture which typifies Ladbroke Grove, whilst still creating an extremely modern home which stands out from the rest.

A 76 Ladbroke Grove logo has been developed and appears throughout the property, including on the complimentary bath robes; an indication of the thought and attention to detail that has gone into every aspect of the property.

Alan Waxman, home owner and Managing Director at Landmass London, comments: "I am so proud to present 76 Ladbroke Grove; when I first saw the property, I knew it had great potential to become a fabulous family home and, now that it's complete, I am delighted with what has been achieved. I have been working very closely with my design and architectural team at Landmass London, spending a lot of time, and putting in a great deal of passion, to ensure that it's best of its breed, considering every detail, and the result is something entirely unique for its location. We have used my trademarked "Volumetric Design" to not only increase the area by more than five times, but retain maximum space and light."

Alan adds: "Having originally planned to live there myself, I now hope to see it enjoyed by a family who can really make use of the space - which has been conjured up magically out of a small chocolate box 'housette'."

"When every detail is beautifully executed, although they look subtle and simple, they have been meticulously thought through, and it's the small details which create the sense of luxury which is unique to 76 Ladbroke Grove. When you first walk into the property, your line of sight extends all the way through to the double height void and rear glass box which makes for quite the entrance! Furthermore, the double height void overlooks a subterranean patio, giving the feel that you're on ground floor level, despite being in the basement part of the house."

"When designing 76 Ladbroke Grove, it was important for me to make the staircase sculptural ensuring an interesting focal point for the house; we kept the colour scheme neutral throughout because we wanted the architectural detail of the property to be the main focus, and also allow the buyer to put their own stamp on the property. We wanted space to be paramount at 76 Ladbroke Grove so, to make it feel as spacious as possible, whilst also complying with building regulations, numerous fire curtains were introduced meaning no doors were necessary in the communal areas, allowing open space at every level making for a spectacular house for entertaining." In addition to completing 76 Ladbroke Grove, and with an enviable development pipeline, Landmass London has over 40,000 square foot under their design and management across Prime Central London. Landmass London is working on behalf of private clients throughout Belgravia, Chelsea, Notting Hill, and Little Venice, with a combined GDV in excess of 45million. For further information, please visit www.landmass.co.uk or call 020 7439 8095.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.landmass.co.uk

Contact Info:

Name: Alan Waxman

Organization: Landmass London

Address: 48 Beak Street, Soho, London, W1F 9RL,

Phone: 020 7439 8095

Release ID: 110693

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Gilbert Chocolates Company Returning to Downtown Jackson

The Gilbert Chocolates production facility will move back to downtown Jackson, Michigan, just a few hundred feet from the original factory, founded by John O. Gilbert in 1900. Brian and Sally Krichbaum, current owners of Gilbert Chocolates, are planning a grand opening later this year.

--

The Gilbert Chocolates production facility will move back to downtown Jackson, Michigan this year, just a few hundred feet from the location of the original factory, founded by John O. Gilbert in 1900.

Read more about the century-old gourmet chocolate company here: https://www.gilbertchocolates.com/

Brian and Sally Krichbaum, current owners of Gilbert Chocolates, purchased the vacant building at 233 North Jackson Street this Spring, and have started working with contractors and Jackson's Neighborhood and Economic Operations Department to prepare the building for a grand opening later this year.

"We are bringing a bit of history back to downtown Jackson," explained Brian Krichbaum. The vacant building was previously occupied by a restaurant, and prior to that, CH Hamler Co.

The legacy of Gilbert Chocolates has been preserved through the years by people who believe in the same quality standards as John Gilbert himself. When Gilbert died in the 1960's, Helga Austin purchased the company, and moved the production operations to its current location on Ackerson Lake Drive. Original recipes developed by the founder are still produced there, and will continue at the new location later this year.

Read more about the gourmet chocolate history of Gilbert Chocolates at their website: Gilbert Chocolates

The new facility will undergo extensive remodeling and renovation work in the coming weeks, including restoring the original hardwood floor, restoring the front facade, and building custom-made candy cabinets.

Their Ackerson Lake Drive location has been producing tens of thousands of pounds of chocolate candy each year in only 800 square feet of space, shipping orders across the country every day.

The downtown location will have 2,200 square feet of manufacturing space, 2,000 square feet of non-perishable storage space, and retail space of 800 square feet. The retail space will be larger than either of the existing Gilbert Chocolate retail stores, currently located at Jackson Crossing Mall and Meridian Mall in Lansing.

"We have people reminiscing all the time about how their relatives used to work downtown at Gilbert Chocolates, or how they visited the candy store there when they were very young. We are looking forward to bringing that experience back," Krichbaum said. The business also plans to offer factory tours, with the capacity of up to 30 people touring the facility at a time.

"Gilbert Chocolates is committed to Jackson. Our employees and their families live here. We purchase our ingredients from Dawn Foods, another iconic Jackson Company. Anderson Printing makes our inserts, our candy wrappers, and our flavor guides. Polly Food Stores sell our candy and sells us other ingredients that our customers love to see covered in our fine chocolates," he said.

For more information about us, please visit https://www.gilbertchocolates.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Sally Krichbaum

Organization: Gilbert Chocolates

Address: 273 Ackerson Lake Dr., Jackson, MI 49201

Phone: 517-764-3141

Release ID: 110647

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Brian Webb Legal Eviction Case Gets National Attention

An Interesting Eviction Case Handled By The Law Offices Of Brian Webb Legal, Is Garnering The Attention of Local and National News Agencies.

--

Fox News, ABC News, Fox & Friends, New York Daily News, are just a few of the national news agencies that have started covering an case being handled by Boise based Law office Brian Webb Legal. Local news outlets KTVB News and KIVI News have also covered this eviction case.

Brian and Renea Prindle discovered that a stranger (Debbra Smith) had been living in their Nampa, Idaho home, which they had moved out of and were in the process of selling. When they called the police to have Smith removed from the home, the police were not able to intervene, because Smith claimed that she had a signed lease agreement with a man named Daniel Brink.

Police told the Prindles that the issue was a civil matter, and they weren't allowed to just kick the woman out. Even though the woman was never their tenant and had not paid them any money to stay in the house, the Prindles had to begin a legal eviction process. They hired attorney Tiffany Hales from the Law Offices of Brian Webb Legal to assist in the eviction process.

Attorney Brian Webb had successfully evicted Smith from another home she was renting in Nampa not far from the property in dispute. Smith had a legitimate lease for that property, but was evicted because of nonpayment of rent.

Attorney Tiffany Hales explained that there are two ways to have someone evicted from a property. "The two ways to perform and eviction are via a formal process, or an expedited process. The formal eviction process is often lengthy and can potential take months. An expedited eviction, can be done if there is nonpayment of rent or if the landlord has evidence of a controlled substance on the property."

Hales filed for an expedited eviction because the homeowners presented photo evidence of drug use at the home. Judge Debra Orr determined that they did not meet the burden of proof that there were drugs at the home, because the drugs were not substance tested. Due to Judge's ruling, the homeowners had no choice but to move forward with a formal eviction process.

To see recent updates regarding this story visit the Brian Webb Legal website or Facebook page.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.brianwebblegal.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Brian Webb

Organization: Brian Webb Legal

Address: 839 E. Winding Creek Dr. Ste 102 Eagle, Idaho 83616

Phone: (208) 331-9393

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih5BekZoKDU&feature=youtu.be

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/brian-webb-legal-eviction-case-gets-national-attention/110888

Release ID: 110888

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Military Robots Market to Grow at 9.36% CAGR to 2020 Driven by Rising Demand for Drones

ReportsnReports.com adds Global Military Robots Market 2016-2020 latest research report, analysts forecast the global military robots market to grow at a CAGR of 9.36% during the period 2016-2020.

--

The replacement of soldiers or army troops with humanoid robots is the latest trend in the military robots market. The presence of robots in the infantry reduces human casualties, gathers better intelligence, reduces operational costs (as compared to that of soldiers), improves attack capability, and offers effective surveillance.

Complete report on military robots market spread across 72 pages, analyzing 5 major companies and providing 44 data exhibits is now available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/524640-global-military-robots-market-2016-2020.html.

One of the major driving factors of the military robots market is growing demand for drones. The drones or unmanned systems are smaller in size and cost-effective, as compared to their manned counterparts. They provide secure, reliable, and modernized digital communication with the help of various systems that are equipped with them. These systems include engines, autopilots, navigation systems, sensors, and communication links.

Segmentation by Platform and Analysis of the Military Robots Market - Airborne, Naval and Land-based

The airborne segment will dominate the global military robots market and will retain just over 40% of the market share by the end of the forecast period. Many of these robots are deployed to carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance functions. UAVs are far better for aerial surveillance in remote areas and also maritime surveillance.

Order a copy of Global Military Robots Market 2016-2020 report @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=524640.

Geographical Segmentation and Analysis of the Military Robots Market - Americas, APAC and EMEA

The Americas currently dominate the military robots market and will generate revenues of close to USD 9 billion by the end of the forecast period. During 2014, the US contributed nearly 34% towards the global military spending. In 2015, the US House of Representatives passed a defense budget of $585 billion, through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is likely to account for 54% of the total federal discretionary spending. It allocates the US Navy with a budget of $158.8 billion, followed by the Air Force with $152.4 billion, and the US Army with $147.6 billion. Such high military spending is likely to drive the market in the Americas during the forecast period.

The global military robots market is very competitive due to the presence of some key vendors. Vendors compete for market shares based on factors like cost, quality, reliability, and after sales service. To be able to survive and thrive in such a competitive environment, vendors have to provide cost- effective products made from the latest materials and equipped with the newest technologies.

Inquire for more information @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/contacts/InquiryBeforeBuy.aspx?name=524640.

Key players in the global military robots market: Boston Dynamics, General Dynamics Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., and Thales Group.

Other prominent vendors in the market are: BAE Systems, Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., Saab, and Turkish Aerospace Industries

Further, the military robots market report states that Increasing budget cuts and sequestration in the US military and the economic crisis in some of the major European countries have stalled the development of such military robots due to the anticipated high development costs, which is a major concern in the market.

About Us:

ReportsnReports.com is single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 100+ leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets. With comprehensive information about the publishers and the industries for which they publish market research reports, helps in purchase decision by mapping the information needs with the huge collection of reports.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/524640-global-military-robots-market-2016-2020.html

Contact Info:

Name: Ritesh Tiwari

Email: sales@reportsandreports.com

Organization: ReportsnReports

Address: UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India.

Phone: + 1 888 391 5441

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/military-robots-market-to-grow-at-9-36-cagr-to-2020-driven-by-rising-demand-for-drones/110798

Release ID: 110798

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
100+ Women Who Care NRV Chapter Kickoff Tuesday April 19th

We are a group of women who are interested in supporting the community in the New River Valley. As individuals, it is a challenge to make a meaningful impact in the NRV community, but as a group, the impact is significant and worthwhile. Join Us.

--

BLACKSBURG - For women who like long meetings, have lots of extra spare time, and don't worry about their finances. . .this new group is NOT for them! If, like most of women, they are short on time and also have a budget, then the 100+ Women Who Care may be the perfect way to give back to their community and not over-commit their calendar or wallet. 100+ Women Who Care in the NRV is part of a larger global effort where women in communities work together to support local charities. It is empowering and significant force in many places all over the world-it makes a difference for many organizations and individuals they serve.

"I feel like what I do matters...every time WE get together," says Alexa Casey, one of the co-founders of the group. She is energized by another co-founder, Sarah Black who previously came from a 100+ Women Who Care group in Dayton, OH where they had 220 members. In other words, they donated $22,000 every quarter to local charities. Amazing. Sarah Black, along with Alexa Casey and Beth Parker, another cofounder, are working to launch yet another 100+ Women Who Care NRV in order to contribute to a variety of charities in the New River Valley, Virginia. They are looking to build the group to the minimum of 100, and possibly aim to reach beyond 200 women.

The 100+ Women Who Care meets quarterly, and each meeting is one hour or less. During that hour, any member has the opportunity to drop her name in the hat with the hopes of being one of three drawn to present her charity. Each of the three members has five minutes to sell and promote her charity to be the one to receiving the donation. Women listen, women vote, and they each write a personal check for $100 directly to the organization receiving the most votes. If 100 members are in attendance, the elected not-for-profit would receive a $10,000 donation. Not bad for one hour of fundraising.

100+ Women Who Care NRV's mission is to reach out and help not-for-profit organizations right here in the New River Valley with 100 or more women pledging to each contribute $100 on a quarterly basis to local charities. All charities and organizations up for consideration should be in the NRV area, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) and non-controversial. The goal is to keep it local and have an clear and visible impact in the NRV communities.

Please join 100+ Women Who Care NRV for socializing, networking, and fundraising at the kickoff on Tuesday, April 19th from 6:15pm to 7:15pm at Bull & Bones at First & Main in Blacksburg. Come out and become a member of 100 Women Who Care in the NRV. For more information and to download a commitment form, visit www.100womenwhocarenrv.com or contact any of the co-founders with any questions at nrv100wwc@gmail.com.

For more information about us, please visit http://100womenwhocarenrv.com

Contact Info:

Name: Sarah Black

Email: nrv100wwc@gmail.com

Organization: 100+ Women Who Care NRV

Address: Blacksburg, VA

Phone: +1 937 205 3722

Release ID: 110915

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
T. Scott Jones Named to Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum

T. Scott Jones, co-founder of the law firm Banks & Jones, was recently named to both the Million Dollars Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

--

T. Scott Jones, co-founder of the law firm Banks & Jones, was recently named to both the Million Dollars Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. The group is made up of trial attorneys across the country who have successfully obtained a jury verdict, binding arbitration agreement or settlement for a client in at least one or two million dollars.

"I'm very pleased to have been selected for the group," said attorney T. Scott Jones. "My firm works very hard to obtain verdicts and settlements that will actually compensate our clients for their losses. Some of the victims we have represented face a lifetime of pain and suffering; their whole worlds are ripped apart. We fight for these kinds of compensation awards because our clients need them in order to pay their medical bills and support themselves and their families. This is a real honor, and I am very thankful to have been chosen."

About the Million Dollar Advocate Forum

The Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum were established in 1993 as recognizing litigators who could secure large settlements and verdicts on behalf of their clients: "The common fact is that they have each demonstrated, in an objective and tangible way, their ability to accomplish superior results in complex cases. Certification by the Million Dollar Advocates Forum provides recognition of such accomplishment and a national network of experienced colleagues for information exchange, assistance and professional referral."

In order to be accepted, applicants must

o Currently be a member of the Bar

o Be in good standing by their Bar

o Have served in the role of principal counsel in:

- A court or jury trial

- A binding arbitration agreement

- A settlement negotiation

o Successfully secured an award in the amount of one million dollars or two million dollars (for the Multi-Million Dollar Advocate Forum, specifically) that "must apply to the economic present value of the award, not the overall payout amount"

o Be willing to submit to the verification process by the Forum to ensure that he or she and his or her award do, indeed, fit the requirements

Applicants who have fulfilled the requirements are granted a life-long membership to the Forum(s). The Forum has around 4000 members in its ranks across the country. In total, less than 1% of all US attorneys are selected for the group.

Banks & Jones is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and serves clients throughout the state. The attorneys primarily focus their practice in the areas of:

o Personal injury

o Auto accidents

o Criminal defense

o Family law

o Social Security Disability

For more information about us, please visit http://www.banksjones.com

Contact Info:

Name: T. Scott Jones

Organization: Banks & Jones, Attorneys at Law

Address: 2125 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37921

Phone: (865) 546-2141

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/t-scott-jones-named-to-multi-million-dollar-advocates-forum/110871

Release ID: 110871

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Monsanto's Roundup Cancer Claims are Not Preempted by FIFRA, Judge Rules

A California federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging Monsanto's Roundup caused cancer on the basis of preemption by FIFRA. The widely used weed killer contains a "probable" carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

--

Parker Waichman LLP, a national law firm dedicated to protecting the rights of victims injured by toxic substances, is commenting on a recent court ruling regarding a lawsuit alleging Monsanto's Roundup weed killer is to blame for a man's cancer. According to court documents, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria refused to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis of preemption by the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The case is Hardeman v. Monsanto Company et al., number 3:16-cv-00525, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a man who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2015, allegedly due to longtime use of Roundup. He alleges Monsanto failed to adequately warn about the carcinogenic risks associated with Roundup. In attempting to have the plaintiff's case dismissed, Monsanto argued that the plaintiff's failure-to-warn claims were preempted by FIFRA. Court documents indicate that this argument failed entirely, with Judge Chhabria flatly rejecting the argument. The California federal judge found the plaintiff's failure-to-warn claims valid and not preempted by FIFRA.

According to Parker Waichman, FIFRA established regulations to protect consumers from harmful pesticides. The Act indicates against imposing labeling or packaging requirements that differ from FIFRA requirements. Although Monsanto tried to argue otherwise, the court found the plaintiff's failure-to-warn claims to be consistent with the Act. According to court documents, FIFRA requires pesticide labels to "contain a warning or caution statement which may be necessary and if complied with ... is adequate to protect health and the environment." California law is similar, mandating that manufacturers warn about any known risks or at least those risks that "a reasonably prudent manufacturer would have known and warned about." The order notes that California law may sometimes allow manufacturers to dodge liability when a warning would be unreasonable. The plaintiff's lawsuit, however, stems from FIFRA's stricter provision requiring an "adequate" warning.

Roundup contains glyphosate as its active ingredient. In April 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans." That same year, Roundup was banned in France.

Parker Waichman LLP offers free consultations to individuals diagnosed with cancer, allegedly due to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. For more information, please visit the firm's Roundup Leukemia page at www.yourlawyer.com. Free evaluations are also available by calling 1-800-LAW-INFO.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.yourlawyer.com/long-island

Contact Info:

Name: Parker Waichman

Organization: Parker Waichman LLP

Address: 6 Harbor Park Drive Port Washington, NY 11050

Phone: 516-466-6500

Release ID: 111076

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Appleton Restaurant's Monthly Pairing Dinners Influence Fox Valley Dining Trends in 2016

National restaurant trends continue building toward sustainable practices, local sourcing, ethnic flavors and fresh ingredients. One Appleton restaurant is setting the bar even higher by combining these trends into a unique - and educational - dining experience.

--

The stats are in. According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurant trends focused on fresh ingredients, ethnic flavors, local sourcing and sustainable food-source practices top the list for 2016, and promise to continue as more and more Americans become aware and involved in health and sustainability concerns worldwide.

One Appleton restaurant has set the bar even higher in the Fox Valley dining scene. Since the establishment's inception in 2013, Osorio's Latin Fusion has offered unique monthly pairing dinners, bringing their already fresh-ingredient and ethnic-influenced menu to a new level with lively and creative food and cocktail pairings in a once-a-month event that local patrons have begun to consider a ritual indulgence.

The upcoming April pairing dinner at Osorio's Latin Fusion will feature a four-course menu and an expertly paired selection of wines from the Rioja region of Spain. While the Appleton restaurant began with more traditional wine pairing dinners, the owners quickly realized that there was a unique opportunity to introduce a new kind of dining experience, and now rotate the traditional with the contemporary by hosting trend-leading, regularly scheduled pairing events featuring hand-crafted, fresh-ingredient cocktails in place of wine.

Of the decision to "mix it up", co-owner and general manager, Kim Finnell, says, "We love wine. And wine pairing dinners are a really big trend that also - at least the way we do it - provide the opportunity to educate a little ... perhaps to introduce our guests to something new; to give them some confidence to go out and be daring in their wine selections because we were daring in our food pairings with those wines. BUT, we also love local craft beer, hand-muddled margaritas, house-made sangrias, creative martinis, and scotch ... we especially love scotch."

And so, these "newbies" on the Fox Valley restaurant scene, way back in 2013, made a bold decision. They decided to take the wine pairing trend to a whole new level by introducing an alternative style of pairing dinner, inclusive of entertaining and educational aspects intended to delight and inform a dedicated and eager audience on creative cocktails and cuisine that they may not otherwise have ever discovered. The response has been nothing short of astounding, raising the relatively new Appleton restaurant rapidly to the level of "trendsetter" in the Fox Valley restaurant scene.

Osorio's signature focus is on "International Fare with a Latin Flare," meaning that virtually any palate will find something delightful on the Appleton restaurant's menu, while being delighted with a bit of an ethnic twist on even the most traditional dish. A family owned establishment, consisting of husband and wife team, Kim Finnell and Executive Chef Liborio Osorio, along with brother and manager Edgar Osorio, the Appleton restaurant leads the National Restaurant Association's predicted trends almost inadvertently, with a focus on active and philanthropic activities within the Fox Valley community and an undeniable footing in the "local support" category.

"We've recently partnered with the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities and the Timber Rattlers in the "Home Runs against Homelessness" initiative. It means so much to us, in this community that so readily accepted us and our unique ideas, offering the opportunity for us to thrive as a business, and welcoming us into our new community as friends, to be able to return the favor in kind," says Finnell. Her gratitude is readily apparent.

Osorio's Latin Fusion, with the eager and steadfast support of loyal local patrons ("for which we are continually and immensely grateful," Finnell adds) is expanding in 2016 with the recent addition of off-site catering capabilities.

For more information on off-site event catering, call the Appleton restaurant directly at 920-955-3766.

In addition, Osorio's Latin Fusion has recently joined the Fox Valley music scene, featuring live music every Thursday evening. For a lineup of artists, please visit www.osorioslatinfusion.com.

The April wine pairing dinner will commence on Thursday, April 21st. Reservations are required and can be obtained by calling the restaurant directly. Community and private (limited) reservations are available by request.

To learn more about Homeruns against Homelessness, please visit http://www.housing-partnership.org/index.php/who-we-are/news-and-events.

**Elyse Hoffman is a Wisconsin-based Foodie journalist and enthusiast of unique cocktails and interesting food pairings. Osorio's Latin Fusion is her favorite restaurant in the entire world to date.

For more information about us, please visit http://osorioslatinfusion.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Elyse Hoffman

Organization: Osorio's Latin Fusion



Source: http://marketersmedia.com/appleton-restaurants-monthly-pairing-dinners-influence-fox-valley-dining-trends-in-2016/111071

Release ID: 111071

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Variable Frequency Drives Market Forecast Seeing 6.9% CAGR to 2021

The variable frequency drives market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period (2016-2021) driven by medium voltage variable frequency drives led by Asia-Pacific which expected to have the largest market share to 2021.

--

The global variable frequency drives market is estimated to be at USD 19.38 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach USD 27.11 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2016 to 2021. Energy consumption plays an important role in the overall operating costs of any energy intensive industry. Variable frequency drives, which are primarily used to control the speed and torque of electric motors, provide optimized energy use and reduce maintenance costs of electric motors. The growth of the market is attributed to an increased focus on energy efficiency and growth of the industrial sector in developing countries

Complete report variable frequency drives market spread across 150 pages, profiling 12 companies and supported with 89 tables and 58 figures is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/variable-frequencyspeed-drives-vfdvsd-market-by-type-ac-dc-servo-voltage-range-low-medium-power-range-micro-low-medium-high-and-application-pump-fan-compressor-conveyors-othe-market-report.html .

Medium voltage variable frequency drives are expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The major reason behind the same is low current at a given power output, which makes it a feasible option in the industries. On the other hand, the low voltage segment held the largest share in 2015, accounting for more than three quarters of the global market. Its growth has been attributed to the usage of low voltage motors in various applications worldwide across diverse sectors, such as manufacturing, oil & gas, process industries, and chemicals among others.

Asia-Pacific led the variable frequency drives market in 2015, and is projected to continue to do so till 2021. The market in Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the fastest pace among all regions during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to increasing government mandates to conserve electricity through energy efficiency norms and growing industrialization in the region.

Breakdown of Primaries:

In-depth interviews have been conducted with various key industry participants, subject matter experts, C-level executives of key market players and industry consultants among other experts to obtain & verify critical qualitative & quantitate information as well as assess future market prospects. Distribution of primary interviews is as follows:

By Company Type: Tier 1 - 40%, Tier 2 - 30%, and Tier 3 - 30%

By Designation: C-Level - 30%, Director Level - 20%, and Others* - 50%

By Region: North America - 10%, Europe - 10%, Asia-Pacific - 70%, and Middle East & Africa - 10%

The study has profiled leading market players of the industry, along with their recent developments and other strategic industry activities. Some of the key players include ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Siemens AG (Germany), General Electric Company (U.S.), Eaton Corporation (U.S.), Schneider Electric SE (France), Danfoss Group (Denmark), Mitsubishi Electric Co. Ltd. (Japan), and Rockwell Automation (U.S.). Ask for the discount before order a copy of Variable Frequency Drives Market by Power Range (Micro, Low, Medium, High), Voltage (Low & Medium), Application (Pump, Fan, Compressor, Conveyor, Elevator, Extruder & Others) and Region - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2021 research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/contacts/discount?rname=71797 .

From an insight perspective, this research has focused on various analysis levels--industry analysis (industry trends), market share analysis of top players, supply chain analysis, and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss the basic views on the competitive landscape; emerging and high-growth segments of the variable frequency drives market; high-growth regions; and market drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

On a related note, another research on Solid State Drive Market Global Trend and Forecast to 2022 says, the need for advanced batteries in next-generation electrical devices would drive the sold state battery market. The solid state battery market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 72.33% during the forecast. North America contributes largest market share. Companies like Cymbet Corporation (U.S.), Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (U.S.), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan), Planar Energy Devices, Inc. (U.S.), Sakti3 Inc. (U.S.), Excellatron Solid State, LLC (U.S.), Solid Power, Inc. (U.S.), BrightVolt, Inc. (U.S.), and STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland) have been profiled in this 174 pages research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/solid-state-battery-market-by-type-thin-film-portable-battery-capacity-application-consumer-electronics-electric-vehicles-medical-devices-packaging-rfid-smart-card-wearable-devices-wireless-devices-and-region-global-forecast--market-report.html .

For more information about us, please visit http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com

Contact Info:

Name: Ritesh Tiwari

Organization: RNR Market Research

Address: UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar

Phone: +1-888-391-5441

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/variable-frequency-drives-market-forecast-seeing-6-9-cagr-to-2021/111005

Release ID: 111005

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market Soaring at a CAGR of 7.4% to 2020 Driven by Rising R&D Investments

The market research report for therapeutic drug monitoring market is broadly segmented by product, technology, class of drug, end user, and region with comprehensive information on galley equipment offered by the top players in the global.

--

The therapeutic drug monitoring market is projected to reach USD 2.55 billion by 2020 from USD 1.78 billion in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period (2015-2020).

Complete report on therapeutic drug monitoring market spread across 142 pages, profiling 10 companies and supported with 80 tables and 55 figures is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/therapeutic-drug-monitoring-market-by-product-consumables-equipment-technology-immunoassays-proteomic-technologies-class-of-drug-antiepileptics-antibiotics-immunosuppressants-end-user-hospital-labs-pr-st-to-2020-market-report.html .

North America is expected to account for more than half the therapeutic drug monitoring market share in 2015. It is the prime market for therapeutic drug monitoring due to the high awareness and acceptance of the benefits of therapeutic drug monitoring and growing healthcare expenditure. Europe on the other hand is growing at a slower rate as the healthcare sector is recovering from the economic downturn and healthcare facilities are trying to minimize healthcare delivery costs. Growth in the APAC therapeutic drug monitoring market is comparatively slower due to the dearth of skilled healthcare personnel who can perform therapeutic drug monitoring tests with minimal errors.

From an insight perspective, this research report focuses on the qualitative data, future market size, share, and market potential of various segments and sub segments, competitive landscape, and company profiles. The qualitative data covers various levels of industry analysis such as market dynamics (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) and technological trends in therapeutic drug monitoring. It mainly focuses on the emerging and high-growth segments of the therapeutic drug monitoring market and government initiatives across regions.

The competitive landscape covers the various strategies adopted by industry players to maintain their position in the therapeutic drug monitoring market. The company profiles comprise the basic views on the key players in the therapeutic drug monitoring market and the product portfolios, developments, and strategies adopted by market players to maintain and increase their market shares.

Major players in the therapeutic drug monitoring market include F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Switzerland), Siemens Healthcare (Germany), Thermo Fisher Scientific (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (U.S.), and Danaher Corporation (U.S.). Ask for the discount before order a copy of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market by Product (Consumables, Equipment), Technology (Immunoassays, Proteomic Technologies), Class of Drug (Antiepileptics, Antibiotics, Immunosuppressants), End User (Hospital Labs, Private Labs) - Global Forecast to 2020 research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/contacts/discount?rname=518398 .

This research report has focused on various levels of analysis--industry analysis (industry trends), market share analysis of top players and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss the basic views on the competitive landscape; emerging and high-growth market segments; high-growth regions; and market drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

On a related note, another research on Radiation Monitoring and Safety Market Analysis & Global Forecast to 2020 says, the radiation monitoring and safety market is projected to reach USD 652.8 million by 2020 from USD 512.1 million in 2015, at a CAGR of 5.0% in the next five years (2015 to 2020). The photomultiplier tubes segment is expected to account for the largest share of the radiation monitoring and safety market, by product. Companies like Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (Japan), SensL Technologies (Ireland), KETEK GmbH (Germany), AdvanSiD (Italy), Excelitas Technologies Corporation (U.S.), First Sensor AG (Germany), Hainan Zhanchuang Photonics Technology Co., Ltd. (China), Ludlum Measurements, Inc. (U.S.), Philips Healthcare (Netherlands), and Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. (RMD) (U.S.) have been profiled in this 157 pages research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/radiation-monitoring-and-safety-market-by-product-photomultiplier-tube-silicon-photomultiplier-avalanche-photodiode-by-application- healthcare-biotechnology-homeland-security-automotive-academic-research-st-to-2020-market-report.html .

About Us:

RnRMarketResearch.com is your single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 100+ leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com

Contact Info:

Name: Ritesh Tiwari

Organization: RNR Market Research

Address: UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar

Phone: +1-888-391-5441

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/therapeutic-drug-monitoring-market-soaring-at-a-cagr-of-7-4-to-2020-driven-by-rising-rd-investments/111009

Release ID: 111009

For more information visit r



Recent Press Releases By The Same User

Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)

Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17)
Per Tom Knox of Columbus Business First:"Ohioans who are legally prescribed marijuana to alleviate symptoms for serious illnesses could still be fired from their jobs under both major proposals to legalize marijuana's use as a medicine.Republicans in the Ohio House introduced their medical marijuana bill, House Bill 523, late Thursday. Its an effort for legislators, not outside marijuana advocacy groups, to be in charge of what seems to be inevitable ."The article continues:"House Bill 523 does not require employers to accommodate employees use of medical marijuana, and it doesnt stop employers from refusing to hire or fire someone because of their use of medical marijuana.'A person who is discharged from employment because of that persons use of medical marijuana shall be considered to have been discharged for just cause,' according to the bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City)."Read the full text here
An investment broker who conned wealthy pensioners out of 372,000 by selling worthless carbon credits was jailed for two-and-a-half years today (15 February).

Joseph Emery, 32, set up the boiler room fraud company EM Trade Capital at a plush office in the Tower 42 skyscraper in the City of London.

His sales team repeatedly cold-called victims to persuade them to invest their life savings in carbon credits and rare metals.

When clients tried to withdraw their money or sell the credits they were met with silence and unable to contact Emery.

He was arrested in February 2014 after he moved to another firm and later pleaded guilty to defrauding nine people.

One victim, a retired woman who invested 44,000, told police: This was money I had saved for my retirement and future. This incident has left me in ill health and without future financial stability. This was money I had saved for my retirement and future. This incident has left me in ill health and without future financial stability.

Miss Recorder Sasha Wass QC said she had reduced the sentence from four years to 30 months because of Emerys plea and personal circumstances.

The judge added: There were nine victims and you took away their savings at a time when they were not in a position to earn any more money.

You played a leading role and the total loss is 372,922.

The Old Bailey heard Emery set up the company in late 2011 and carried out the fraud from at least April 2012 until July 2013.

Prosecutor Daniel Benjamin said: The company functioned as a boiler room.

There were a number of sales staff who would cold call potential victims to try to sell them carbon credits.

There was a degree of chasing of customers and customers were send documents relating to the investment.

Once victims had paid for their investments they either received no further contact or were told they had already made money and offered further investments.

It seems whenever an investor asked to withdraw money there was silence at the other end and in mid-2013 Emery proved to be uncontactable.

His nine victims included six retired men and women, a 66 year-old structural engineer and a restaurant owner.

Two of his sales team later gave statements to police.

When he was arrested, Emery told police: I have been expecting this.

Emery made no comment in police interview.

The court heard his marriage has broken down and he has been unemployed for the last five months.

Emery, of Chingford, east London, will face a confiscation hearing later this year to recover the money defrauded from victims.
Farmers concerned about damaging their expensive drone kit in flight could find a solution in the DJI Phantom 4, said to be the first mainstream quad copter to incorporate obstacle avoidance and object tracking.

Stereo cameras and proximity sensors work to detect obstacles so that if anything gets in the Phantoms way  such as an ill-placed tractor or inconvenient barn  it will either stop or find a route around it.

See also: 9 tips for safely flying a drone

The Phantom 4 also claims to have 25% more battery life than the Phantom 3, thanks to better streamlining and a more efficient battery. In fact, it now has 28 minutes worth of flight time.

What can it do? How about 4K video at 30 frames per second, full HD 1,080p video at up to 120 frames per second and 12 megapixel photos?

Flight management modes include a Follow Me option for aerial tracking, a course lock for a strict movement pattern, waypoints to set a course for your drone, a home lock to keep movements tied to a base location and a point-of-interest feature which sets the drone circling a specific area to get a perfect shot.

See also: How to stay legal when flying drones over arable crops

Other tricks include ActiveTrack, which makes it easy to fly while keeping the Phantom 4s camera steady, even when pointed at a moving subject, and TapFly, which allows you to tap your mobile devices screen to move in a specified direction and keep flying by tapping in other locations on the screen.

TapFly also has a return-home feature to bring your drone safely back and there are three modes accessible from the controller  position, attitude and sport.

The Phantom 4 can fly at up to 45mph and its raised motors are said to accurately control the aircrafts movement to make flight at high speeds safer.

Cost is 1,229 plus 70 for a spare battery.
My week of coverage ended with a visit to the Philomath Lions Clubs annual garage sale. I wanted to check it out for any deals I might come across, but also needed another story for the newspaper. The Lions Club members are always very gracious and willing to do interviews with me and I decided to go with an angle about how service organizations in todays world must be aggressive to attract new members.

One of the points that club president Tom Wright brought up is how many people dont realize that women play key roles in the organization. When I returned to my office, I did some quick research and found that Lions Club International voted to allow women into the organization in 1987.

I had actually wondered about this because in 1984, I won a scholarship from the Holdrege (Nebraska) Lioness Club for an essay that I had written (I went to school in a small school located down the road from that community). My family and I traveled to Holdrege one evening and had dinner with three ladies from the club and they presented a certificate to me, which I probably have buried out in a cardboard box somewhere in my garage. Apparently, Lioness Club chapters are still going strong in many areas.
Its an unfortunate reality for law-enforcement veterans and search-and-rescue teams. On missing person operations that continue for a number of days, the conclusion most often turns out to be tragedy.

The Curt Braun missing person case had entered its ninth day Thursday. Although two tips that had been called in sounded legitimate and indicated the 60-year-old Philomath resident was still alive, he could not be found.

The undesired conclusion seemed imminent.

Its one of two bad things that happen nationally  suicide and it happens that we find them, or that the person is a victim of some kind of crime, Philomath Chief of Police Ken Rueben said when asked about prolonged searches. The whole time youre looking at this, youve got to be thinking about that just as a law-enforcement agency.

But on this occasion, the investigation would buck those odds and end with a man home with his family.

Just before 5:30 p.m. Thursday, a Benton County Sheriffs Office deputy was on a routine patrol in the Monroe area when he spotted a red 2000 Ford Explorer. By the time the deputy had confirmed it was Brauns vehicle by running the license plate number, the driver had parked and gone inside Monroes Dari-Mart.

Braun exited the store and the BCSO deputy verified his identity. The search had finally ended.

I was surprised and very happy at the same time, BCSO emergency services program manager Kevin Higgins said. Its really nice closure for the family and all the search-and-rescue folks who spent their time and energy trying to find him. Everybody was so excited to hear that he was OK.

During the conversation in front of Dari-Mart, the deputy determined that Braun was doing fine, perhaps a little dehydrated, but overall in good shape, Higgins said. A routine health evaluation followed at the hospital and Braun was released.

I cant comment on any specific comments he made or medical condition because of HIPPA, said Higgins, referring to the law that protect a persons right to privacy of health information. But the bottom line is hes alive and in good shape and reunited with his family.

His wife, Sheila Braun, had posted information on Facebook with hopes that the public could spot him. She indicated that her husband was battling chronic pain issues.

He left Philomath for a couple errands in Corvallis up by the hospital and the DMV and never came back, she wrote. This behavior is unlike him as he never stays long when hes out because of his severe pain and medical issues.

Several leads had been called in placing Braun anywhere from Portland to California following his last known position at the Towne Pump in Philomath just before noon on April 5.

One tip placed Braun at the Life Bible Church in Harrisburg talking to a pastor on April 7 but the report came in two days later and police were unable to do much with it. At the very least, however, it served as promising news that the man was still alive.

Then came a call to 911 on Wednesday afternoon from a man who had been talking to someone fitting Brauns description at Monroe City Park. The two struck up a conversation and talked about routine things, such as how the Long Tom Rivers water level appeared to be lower than it had been a couple days earlier.

The park visitor headed home but then saw Brauns missing person flyer that had been posted on social media. Higgins said the man raced back to the city park but Braun had left. The call to police came in at around 2:30 p.m.

When we interviewed him on how sure he was that this was Curt, he put it at 100 percent and in the same vehicle, Higgins said. The witness said he even introduced himself as Curt.

Another tip came in early this week from a woman who thought she had seen Braun at the Monroe Dari-Mart, the same store where he was later discovered. Philomath Sgt. Dave Gurski said police were in the process of evaluating the tip Thursday when news came down that he had been found.

Higgins said Braun did not break any laws and will not be charged with anything and will not be expected to pay for the extensive search-and-rescue operation, which in Benton County alone involved 700 man hours searching 4,000 miles of roads and 1,000 miles by air. Searches were also conducted in Lane County, Linn County and Lincoln County.

I put the cost aside and wanted to focus on him and his family being reunited, Higgins said.

Rueben said the operation was a real-world example of how agencies can work together under such circumstances.

All the local agencies really worked together well. The county stepped up, the search-and-rescue guys were great, they rolled in immediately, Rueben said. These things can go bad if you dont coordinate well with other agencies.
Cologne/Bonn Aviation security service sets out to correct flaws found in an EU inspection.

During routine European Union (EU) inspections at the Cologne/Bonn airport, some security deficiencies were found. This was put out in a press release by Kotter Aviation Security on Friday. Kotter Aviation is the service hired by federal police authorities to provide security at the airport. We will of course not comment on the tests run or the content (of the report). However, we reacted quickly and since the EU inspection are working together with federal police and employees quite intensively to train them in further requirements said Klaus Wedekind, Executive Director of Kotter Aviation Security.
'Feels Like Home Season 2' offers something real and tangible to think about; takes home a pertinent point - if your intentions are good, there is nothing in life that isn't achievable.
Pakistan denies involvement in 2009 attack on CIA base

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:1PM

Pakistan has dismissed as "preposterous" US claims that its InterServices Intelligence (ISI) agency helped fund a deadly attack on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) outpost in Afghanistan in 2009.

Seven CIA officers were killed, and six other were injured in the bomb attack inside Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan's Khost province on December 30, 2009.

According to a newly declassified US State Department cable, an unidentified ISI officer paid $200,000 to an extremist group, known as Haqqani network, to facilitate the operation, which was ranked as the most lethal attack against the US spy agency in more than 25 years.

"Allegations in the media on Pakistan's involvement with HQN [Haqqani network] are preposterous," a Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement said on Friday.

"In fact, we were shocked and deeply saddened when precious American lives were lost at the Chapman facility in 2009 in an unfortunate attack that was later claimed by TTP in a publicly available video, featuring the suicide bomber with the leader of the TTP," the statement said, using an acronym for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a terrorist group based in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is determined to eradicate the scourge of terrorism and has taken action against all terrorist elements, without discrimination," the statement added.

The heavily redacted State Department cable was obtained by the National Security Archive, a nongovernmental research institute at George Washington University.

The CIA refused to answer questions about the report's veracity, or whether there is stronger intelligence that concretely holds the ISI responsible for funding the Chapman bombing.

Another State Department cable that was also released on Wednesday under a Freedom of Information Act request stated that the Haqqani network's leaders were holding monthly meetings with the ISI in the capital city of Islamabad as of late December 2009.

The unconfirmed allegations against Pakistan come in a time when according to a recent assessment by Islamabad, most of the Haqqani terrorist network has been obliterated by the country's armed forces.

Sartaj Aziz, an adviser on national security and foreign affairs for Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said in August of last year that most of the Haqqani network's base had been destroyed by an army operation that began in the North Waziristan tribal district.

The Haqqani network has conducted many attacks against US targets, including the 2009 Camp Chapman bombing in eastern Afghanistan, which killed seven CIA agents.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pakistan Rejects Allegation of Plotting Raid on CIA's Afghan Base

by Ayaz Gul April 15, 2016

Pakistan on Friday rejected as "preposterous" allegations that its spy agency had links with the Haqqani network of militants and played a role in the 2009 suicide attack on a CIA base in eastern Afghanistan.

A newly declassified U.S. document says an officer of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, paid $200,000 to the militant network to carry out the deadly bombing on Forward Operating Base Chapman in the Afghan border province of Khost. It was one of the most serious attacks in the CIA's history, killing seven officers and wounding six others.

"In fact, we were shocked and deeply saddened when precious American lives were lost at the Chapman facility in 2009 in an unfortunate attack that was later claimed by TTP in a publicly available video, featuring the suicide bomber with the leader of the TTP," said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Nafees Zakaria on Friday.



He was using the acronym TTP for the anti-state Pakistani Taliban that, for years, harbored members of the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida terrorist network in traditionally volatile tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

A Jordanian doctor who was working as a double agent for al-Qaida and the Taliban was blamed, but Thursday's disclosure suggests Pakistan's spy agency and the Haqqani militant network also played key roles in the plot.

The document, obtained by the non-governmental National Security Archive at the George Washington University through a Freedom of Information Act request, was published online with many redactions.

The public portions of the document allege that an unidentified ISI officer provided funds to the Haqqani network and another man "to enable the attack on Chapman."

The plan was for an Afghan border commander to be given $100,000 for his assistance in the suicide mission; but, that commander, named Arghawan in the document, ended up dying in the attack.

The United States has long accused Pakistan of maintaining ties with the Haqqani network, which has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks against Afghan and foreign troops.

In 2011, the top U.S. military officer called the network "a veritable arm" of the ISI. In 2012, the United States designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organization.

The Pakistani spokesman asserted that, over recent years, his country has "severely damaged and weakened the TTP and other militant and terrorist organizations," through a series of military operations.

He added that terrorist attacks have killed tens of thousands of innocent lives, including 5,000 security personnel in Pakistan and caused "economic losses to the tune of $100 billion."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Brigadier General Charles H. Cleveland, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, Resolute Support Mission; Captain Jeff Davis, Director, Defense Press Office April 14, 2016

Department of Defense Press Briefing by General Cleveland via teleconference from Afghanistan

CAPTAIN JEFF DAVIS: We're pleased to be joined today by Brigadier General Cleveland, coming to us live from Kabul.

General, we'll turn it over to you.

BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES H. CLEVELAND: Great, Jeff. Thank you very much, and good morning to everybody. Again, my name is Charlie Cleveland. I had the chance to meet several of you before I went ahead and deployed out here about a month or so ago. But if I haven't had the chance to meet you yet, I do look forward to it. And overall, I look forward to meeting with everybody.

I am unfortunately beginning to catch a cold, so I hope you'll bear with me as I probably drink more water than I usually would. I hope that's not too much of a distraction.

So, about a week or so ago, I had my first opportunity to sit down really with the Kabul press corps, both the Afghan aspect of it as well as the international piece. And so what I tried to do was really give kind of a comprehensive overview of how we see the threat, as well as what we're doing from a mission standpoint.

And the purpose of all that was really to establish kind of a starting point and kind of a baseline. I don't intend to do that today with you. My sense is it's probably best if we just get to your questions as quickly as possible. But I am certainly willing to either follow up with you here today, or follow up with you later to kind of give you that background, if that's something that would be helpful to you.

So, like I said, I just want to make a couple of quick points, and then we'll open it up for your questions. The first one really is I want to talk a little bit about our U.S. unilateral counterterrorism mission. And as I think you're all very well aware, obviously U.S. Forces-Afghanistan continues to have a mission to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaida. And so we do have the authority to target any Al Qaida member.

In January, of course, that authority, or the authority for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan to begin targeting ISIS was also provided. So, obviously in some areas it's Islamic state, Islamic state -- Khorasan province, and then commonly referred to as Daesh.

So as context, from the first of January until the 31st of March, U.S. forces took just under 100 counterterrorism strikes. The majority of those, probably between 70 and 80, were focused on Daesh, and of those, probably the majority of those, again 70 to 80 percent, were probably focused in the Nangarhar area.

Now, what my hope is as we move forward is to be able to provide you more specifics and more details about that. What I want to be able to do is on a recurring basis, probably every couple of weeks, give you a lay-down of specifically how many strikes we took and when we took it. But I also want to make sure that what we're providing you is consistent with what you've seen from Iraq and Syria, but that it also is consistent with some of the aspects of our mission here that we do want to take into account.

So bottom line is, we will give you more information about that, and I do intend to improve that aspect of it.

The other component of the counterterrorism mission, and this is not unilateral, but it is really our partnership with the ANDSF. And as I think you're all aware, obviously we do have a train, advise and assist mission where we do help the ANDSF at multiple levels. But specific to the CT piece, we are able to partner with them at a very tactical level and specifically with their special operations forces.

And so what we're able to do from an overall counterterrorism aspect is to be able to combine the U.S. unilateral piece as well as the train, advise and assist. And the example I would give you was just over a week or so ago, there was an operation in the district of Kot in Nangarhar. And it was really about a 36-hour operation, maybe a little bit less. But what we were able to do is have U.S. unilateral strikes against Daesh targets, and then the ANDSF, specifically their SOF capabilities, were able to move in and essentially clear part of a valley.

And we do think that it is a partnership as we move forward on all of these counterterrorism operations.

So shifting to the next topic, and I think it segues well. There's always the question about where are we from a status standpoint with Daesh. And I think you're all very well aware of the history, and them raising their flag in January 2015, and some of the gains that they had over the summer and early fall.

And I think the last updates you had were probably within the last couple of months. But our overall view right now is that we are having an effect, and we are putting pressure on Daesh specifically in Nangarhar. And there are a couple of indicators for us. The first one is, again, about three months or so ago, we thought that Daesh was probably in about six to eight districts. Today, we think they're probably in about two to three districts.

And I always hesitate to really kind of give a specific number like that because as soon as I say three districts, somebody pops up someplace else and now they're in four or five. But at the end of the day, we think that we have significantly decreased the footprint that they have in Afghanistan.

The second indicator we see is that we are beginning to see them trying to move into either Kunar-Nuristan or perhaps south down to Ghazni. And we don't think they're moving because they're able to expand, because they've got additional capacity. What we think is that they're trying to survive. And we think that they're under pressure and they're trying to escape from the areas where we have been aggressively targeting them.

And of course, if you go up to Kunar-Nuristan, very difficult area, very difficult terrain, very difficult to conduct operations.

The final indicator for us is, and this is really only anecdotal, but we have seen and it's even been in the press here in Kabul over the last week or so, where you're beginning to see members of Daesh defect. They're either laying down their arms and they're coming back to the government, or else they're trying to get back into the Taliban. And so there have been a couple of those instances as well.

And assuming that that is consistent with things we're not seeing, we do think that that is an indicator that perhaps they are under pressure.

The next topic I just want to touch on very briefly is where we are with the ANDSF. And I think you're all very aware that the ANDSF started their spring offensive about three weeks or so ago. It was announced by Minister Stanekzai, as well as the chief of the general staff, General Qadam Shah.

And without getting into the details of what they intend to do in the future, the overall theme is that they are trying to switch from what was a defensive posture in 2015, into more of an offensive posture in 2016. So what they're really trying to do is they're trying to take the fight to the enemy.

So, we've already seen indicators of that and evidence of that. We've seen them engaging up in northeastern Kunduz, and engaging the Taliban there. We've seen them begin to reestablish their presence in Helmand, and we see them on the offense, particularly trying to clear some areas on the eastern part of Helmand.

And then finally again, as I mentioned earlier, the work that they are doing against Daesh in Nangarhar.

The final component that I want to touch on just briefly, and I'll say upfront, the following two topics probably are not going to be satisfying for anybody in the room, but I first want to touch on General Nicholson's assessment.

And I think you are all well aware that he is in the process of writing an assessment; he has 90 days to do that. We expect that 90 days ends at the very end of May, very beginning of June.

As you can well imagine, and I think for reasons you can all understand, he does intend to keep that assessment very close hold, and the reason for that is he wants to be able to have a very frank and candid dialogue, and a very private dialogue with his chain of command when the time comes.

And so really, the only thing I can say about the assessment right now is that General Nicholson is working it very aggressively, and he is in constant contact with his chain of command as they move forward.

The other area -- and again, I know that this is not going to be satisfying, in fact, perhaps frustrating for many of you -- but it's the topic of the release of the report on the strike on the Doctors Without Borders Hospital up in Kunduz.

As I think you're aware, it has not yet been released; it is still undergoing a security review at this point. We don't know exactly when it is going to be released. We think it is probably sometime in the next two to four weeks, but we are awaiting final word on that.

And so, I really don't have anything new on that topic. Still, the most authoritative description of what transpired really goes back to General Campbell's VTC and press conference that he did at the end of November.

So, with that said, Jeff, let me go ahead and pass it back to you. And for everybody else, I sincerely welcome your questions. My goal with you is to be as transparent as I possibly can.

As you know, there are some things that I'm just not going to know the answer to, and probably part of the new-guy syndrome. And if that's the case, then we'll take it for action, and I'll get you an answer.

And then of course, there's some areas that I just won't be able to talk about. But I'll try to distinguish the two for you as we move forward.

So, again, Jeff, let me pass it back to you. And I welcome your questions.

CAPT. DAVIS: With Tom Bowman, from National Public Radio.

Q: Hey, General. Thanks for doing this.

I'm wondering if can give us an update on how things are going in Helmand Province. Which districts have fallen to the Taliban? Roughly how many American soldiers are out there doing the training mission?

And then you also talked about operations with American S.F. and Afghan special forces going after Daesh.

Talk about, you know, the number of those kinds of operations against the Taliban out in Helmand.

And lastly, it looks like they're not going to eradicate the poppy crop out there this year. Just talk about what impact you think that will have on the fighting, getting more money to the Taliban?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Sure, Mr. Bowman. And if -- first off, thanks for the questions. If I miss one, let me redirect it, and I'll get back to you.

So, the current status in Helmand. You know, there was some reporting over the weekend suggesting that Helmand was about to fall, and that the capital of Helmand, Lashkar Gah is about to fall.

We don't believe that's the case. That said, as has been said several times, Helmand is not a rosy picture right now, it is a difficult, contested area.

And as we see the Taliban really finish the harvesting of the poppy, which again, should happen in the next week to two weeks, we think that the fighting will really increase.

So, from an overall status standpoint, Mr. Bowman, if you can imagine a map of Helmand that really -- and there's kind of an arch. And so, it really starts in the -- central Helmand, middle of Marjah, goes up through Nawzad, kind of cuts east, goes through Musa Qala, and then into Southern Kajaki.

And that really is kind of the zone where we see the most Taliban occupation and where we see their most influence.

The government in the ANDSF fits pretty well in Lashkar Gah and up the east, and that's where they're also working as well. And so bottom line is we don't think that Helmand as a province is about to fall, and we don't think that the capital Lashkar Gah is about to fall.

In terms of the coalition commitment down there, as I think you're aware, we did put additional forces down in Helmand so that they could assist in the train, advise and assist efforts that we're doing. That is ongoing.

And so really what we're doing on a day-to-day basis is a couple of things. I think you're aware, and you've probably heard this in previous briefs, that one of the things that we try to help the Afghans with is pulling some of their kandaks or their battalions off of the line and retraining them. So we do have coalition forces that are providing very hands-on training, everything from shooting rifles to being able to maneuver at the squad and the platoon level. So we're doing those kinds of things.

The other thing that we're focused on is we're trying to provide advice at the corps level. And as I think you're well aware, the Afghans did essentially replace an awful lot of leadership down there in Helmand. There was a new corps commander, all new brigade commanders. And so we've got teams that are trying to help advise that corps commander and his staff and assist them in their fight.

So, in terms of the specific U.S. presence down there, and again the coalition presence, it is a train, advise and assist capability that we're focused on.

I think the final piece you asked, Mr. Bowman, is specific to the SOF or the special operations capability. And as you can understand, I can't get into a whole lot of detail about where we specifically have either Afghan SOF or else U.S. SOF. But what I would tell you is there's a habitual relationship between each corps and its SOF element. And on any given day, the Afghan SOF is out conducting operations within the corps' area of responsibility.

And U.S. SOF or coalition SOF has the ability to choose whether or not they support and go on a mission or not. And so on any given day, coalition SOF may be providing train, advise and assist somewhere in that corps' larger region.

So let me pause there, Mr. Bowman, and make sure that that answers your question.

Q: Just on that last point about the American SOF with Afghan commandos or SOF, I understood that the American SOF were on a counterterror mission. So, if they're going out with the Taliban in that area, going out against the Taliban, I don't see how that makes it a counterterror mission. Or is this something different?

GEN. CLEVELAND: It is something different, Mr. Bowman. So, what it is is, again, the coalition writ large has the ability to provide the train, advise, and assist at a tactical level for both Ministry of Defense special operations capability, as well as Ministry of the Interior.

So when U.S. forces are providing that train, advise, and assist, it really falls under the larger Resolute Support mission set, which again is train, advise and assist.

Does that kind of answer that?

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next to Idrees Ali from Reuters.

Q: Thank you.

Could you give your assessment on how many Daesh fighters there are in Afghanistan currently? Because I -- we've heard a couple of thousand in the past few months, but you've conducted CT strikes. So has that number gone down? And I guess, what is it specifically?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Sure. I don't have a great specific number for you. As you can imagine, it becomes very difficult to provide something as specific as you might be looking for. We still estimate it's someplace between 1,000 and 3,000. It's probably on the lower end of that.

You know, in terms of their composition, what we think is that they are made up primarily of disaffected Pakistan Taliban. We think they are made up of Afghan Taliban that were upset with the way that Mullah Mansour assumed power last summer.

We think that there's some Islamic movement of Uzbekistan IMU people that have joined the ranks. And then we have seen some recruiting of other Afghans.

But it's difficult for us to give you something more specific then probably on the lower end of the estimate of 1 to 3,000.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next to Courtney Kube from NBC.

Q: Hi, General. Can you tell us a little bit about this People's Uprising Program in the east?

How many Afghans have joined it, or been recruited? And what is the -- is the U.S. playing a role in helping to train them, or paying them, or anything? There -- we just don't have a lot of fidelity on it. Can you run us through, please?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Ms. Kube, unfortunately, I don't have a lot of fidelity on it for you.

I did see the similar reporting in the press and the announcement of that aspect of it. It is not something that Resolute Support is supporting. As I think you know, we do have a fairly strenuous process to make sure that anybody we provide support to meets a variety of conditions.

So, although I've seen the same reporting, I just don't have a whole lot of information on what those organizations are, and how they are going about their business.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next to Andrew Tilghman, with Military Times.

Q: Yeah, thanks. Back on ISIS.

You mentioned that it's the lower end of that estimate, in terms of the raw numbers of fighters. And that and some other things that you and others have said have led me to get the sense over the past few months that that ISIS threat in Afghanistan is a little bit more contained than you may have thought maybe four to six months ago.

Is that fair? Do you have the sense that that -- that these airstrikes, and maybe a lack of support on the ground is making that ISIS presence in Afghanistan -- have you modified your sense of that -- of that threat at all in the past few months?

GEN. CLEVELAND: We have. And again, Daesh really does present the potential to be just an enormous threat.

Obviously, we've all seen them, how rapidly they are able to spread in other parts of the world.

Here in Afghanistan, one of the things that does appear to be common to just about everybody is that nobody really wants Daesh in the neighborhood.

And so, whether it's the Taliban attacking Daesh, whether it's locals trying to rise up against them, of course, the ANDSF operations, and now some of our unilateral strikes, we do think that they are being contained more than they probably were last fall.

Again, our concern with them is that they've got the ability to regenerate very quickly, and they've got the ability to catch fire -- as we've seen in other places.

So, we think it's incredibly important just to keep constant pressure on them, and try to get after them at every opportunity we can.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Kasim Ileri from --

Q: Hi, General. This is Kasim Ileri from the Anadolu Agency.

I was going to ask about the operations on Daesh. To what extent these operations, these airstrikes are regular? And can you just give us some kind of round number about how many airstrikes the U.S. has conducted? And how many operations, like, you have conducted over the Nangarhar Province?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Sure. Again, from the first of January until the 31st of March, we took just under 100 counterterrorism strikes. We think about -- and again, this is a little rough -- but between 70 to 80 of those were focused on Daesh. And again, they were primarily in the Nangarhar area.

In terms of the number of operations that the ANDSF has conducted against Daesh, I really would refer you to the Ministry of Defense. They are really in the process of trying to put out more information about that. And they can probably give you better specifics on exactly what they are doing from a ground standpoint with their forces.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next, we have Jeff Sullivan from Voice of America.

Q: General, thank you.

You mentioned earlier on that some of the Daesh folks had either gone back to the government or were going back to the Taliban. What about the dynamic with Al Qaida? To what extent is there a competition in Afghanistan for those people between Daesh and Al Qaida? And how significant is the Al Qaida presence there? It's been described recently as resurgent.

GEN. CLEVELAND: Sure. So, the Al Qaida presence we believe, and I guess let me take a step back. One of the larger concerns we have are obviously the relationships between these various groups. As I think you're probably all aware, today in Afghanistan there are six terrorist organizations that have been designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations.

On top of that, of course, you have Al Qaida and you have some other violent extremist organizations. And one of the challenges that we have to take -- to be candid with you, is determining just how these relationships work with them. In some cases, we see these -- all of these organizations, they'll work together. In other cases, they will conduct their own operations. And then in other cases, particularly with the case of Daesh, we will see them actively engage in hostilities with other organizations.

So from an Al Qaida standpoint, one of our concerns right now is we are beginning to see more of an increased relationship between Al Qaida and the Taliban. The biggest indicator of that, of course, was last August. Al Zawahiri did go ahead and swear allegiance to Mullah Mansour. And we have seen more of a relationship between those types of organizations.

By itself, Al Qaida we don't believe is a tremendous threat to the government of Afghanistan by itself. But where they pose the real threat is often times Al Qaida can serve as an accelerant. And so they've got some very special skills, some capabilities. They can go and essentially assist and train the Taliban so that the Taliban is more effective.

In terms of their relationship with Daesh, obviously they have been at each other's throats for the last few years, starting in Iraq and Syria. We don't see necessarily active fighting between the two, but we certainly do see it in the form of the Taliban engaging Daesh.

In terms of numbers, this is really still a swag. We do think that Al Qaida is probably somewhere between 100 and 300 here in Afghanistan. I think you're probably all aware there's really kind of two components to Al Qaida here. There's core Al Qaida someplace in the region, again led by Zawahiri running their global efforts.

And then the most recent franchise from Al Qaida is Al Qaida in the Indian subcontinent, or AQIS. And we do see a bit of a presence from them. And they are probably more of a threat to Afghanistan and certainly Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, if you will.

And you know, on the top of Al Qaida and the way that they're spread out, what it really does reinforce to us is that going after this terrorism threat really does become a regional issue. And it requires everybody in the region to be focused on it, and everybody in the region to be trying to cut down on these ungoverned spaces where Al Qaida typically thrives, and everybody to essentially be working together to get after what is a joint problem.

CAPT. DAVIS: All right. Next to Luis Martinez, from ABC.

Q: Hi, General. If I could follow up on two points there.

You mentioned there that the Taliban has been taking on ISIS or Daesh in the east. How much of the pressure that you're talking about, that they're -- that they're moving out of the areas because of all the pressure that they're getting, how much of that is due to that infighting versus the Afghan forces taking them on?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Hi, Mr. Martinez. I don't have a good number or estimate. I don't really have a good metric for you.

What I do know is that the Taliban at a local level, and you know, from a district level will engage Daesh. And then of course, on subsequent days, ANDSF will engage Daesh, subsequent days, the U.S. will take counterterrorism strikes.

So, I don't know what is the biggest contributor to that. But again, what we do see, and as you probably know well, Kunar has historically been a safe haven, and a place to escape to and a place to run to.

What we do see is an effort by Daesh trying to escape from the pressure that they're under. I don't know if that answers your question completely, but we just don't have a good specific number for you, or a good specific way to measure who has got more influence.

Q: And those 80 airstrikes that you said have been targeting them since the start of the year.

Are these against large formations, or are these against infrastructure? What are we talking about, here?

GEN. CLEVELAND: It's primarily, Mr. Martinez, against people. And what I mean by that is we want to aggressively target every component of this network that we can.

I think historically, what we found is if you try and focus on leadership, or you try and focus on facilitators and enablers, you miss part of the bigger picture.

And so, what we're trying to do is target every aspect of this network to keep them under constant pressure. And once you keep them under constant pressure, than they're more worried about staying alive than they are about planning their attack. And it also serves as a disrupting function.

So, you're able to keep them under pressure, and you are able to disrupt whatever your future operations are.

Q: I'd like to do one more. In the north, Kunduz was taken by surprise last year because of resurgent Taliban activity there.

How would you assess the Taliban up in the north right now? And is the spring offensive that you mentioned by the Afghan forces, is it targeted in that area?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Yeah, thanks, Mr. Martinez.



I would characterize the Taliban up there as active, there's no doubt about it. They've got a strong presence up there, they have had a focus up there, particularly since they had what I think was kind of an unexpected success for them last September, when they, you know, blew open the prison, and then just kind of stormed Kunduz.

We do think that was somewhat unexpected, but we do think that they're trying to capitalize on that, so they are active.

In terms of the ANDSF operations, again, that kicked off about three weeks or so ago. We do see the fighting up into the northeast, and the intent really by the ANDSF, as I mentioned earlier, is to try and take the fight to the enemy.

And in this particular case, keep them out and keep them from threatening Kunduz.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next to Kasim again, from Anadolu.

Q: Thanks, General.

Do you -- I'm not expecting you to get into intelligence, but in general, do you have any idea what Daesh is doing in the districts that it is controlling right now?

Are they just controlling the territory, or are they imposing certain rules and laws on the public over there? Or are they just militant groups walking around, or traveling around those districts?

Could you just update us if you have any general assessments?

GEN. CLEVELAND: I think it's a combination of everything you've mentioned. In some cases, they are trying to, just as we've seen in Iraq and Syria, they are trying to implement their larger plan in kind of the way that they'll take over areas in terms of the way that they just abuse the local population. In some areas, they're probably looking to be on the offense and trying to look for opportunities to expand.

But I guess, let me pause there. Does that kind of answer your question?

Q: (inaudible)

CAPT. DAVIS: You're getting a partial shake in the affirmative.

(Laughter.)

All right. Next, Andrew Tilghman, Military Times.

Q: General, back on ISIS, you indicated that maybe the commanders there had modified their sense of the threat there a bit over the past few months. I'd like to ask you a little bit about how -- how that's playing into some of the reviews and assessments about the future mission in Afghanistan and future force levels.

I mean, a few months ago, I had the sense that maybe that was going to be -- this emergent ISIS faction was going to be a real significant factor in figuring out what the future plans and trajectory was for the mission.

Can you sort of characterize that? Is that -- is that -- would you say that's a big thing in General Nicholson's thinking on this? Or has it become kind of a peripheral thing relative to the Taliban and some of the other issues in Afghanistan?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Yeah, Mr. Tilghman. If I characterized it that we think the threat from Daesh has been significantly lessened, that's probably not accurate. What I would really describe it as, the capacity of Daesh we believe has been lessened. And their overall footprint in Nangarhar, we do believe has been lessened as well.

But that said, we do think that they still pose a potential real threat. And again, just based on their past performance, they have got the ability to catch fire very quickly. So, we do want to continue to have constant pressure on them.

Regarding General Nicholson's assessment, I would tell you everything for him is on the table right now. So he is looking at all of the threat aspects of it. He's looking at again the mission that he has been giving or given, and he's looking at the resourcing for all that.

So, without giving you any specifics, Daesh certainly does fall under the category of the threat piece. And so that is something he's considering.

CAPT. DAVIS: And back to Tom Bowman.

Q: Hey, General. You talked a bit about Helmand and the challenges there. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about the east. You mentioned Ghazni. It's always been kind of a troubled area. Talk about the Taliban presence in the east. Have they grabbed any more territory or any areas you would call contested?

And also, we were told more than a year ago that the -- the casualty rate among the Afghan forces is unsustainable. I know it's early in the fighting season, but what are you seeing with casualty rates? Are they still pretty high? And also attrition we've always been told is a particular problem. If you could address that as well.

GEN. CLEVELAND: Yeah, Mr. Bowman. So, starting really from Uruzgan. Uruzgan kind of beyond Helmand and the challenges that are ongoing in Helmand. Uruzgan is another concern for us as well. And we do see a concentration of the Taliban. We do see them, you know, from a district level in various areas around Tarinkot, so not specifically in the city of Tarinkot, but really in some of the outlying districts, if you will, we do see a Taliban presence there as well.

Kandahar, by and large has been fairly calm over the last six months or so. And of course, as soon as I say that, you know, we'll see something spectacular. But by and large, Kandahar has not been as much of a concern as it historically has been. Ghazni, as you mentioned, of course, Ghazni always has the potential presence of Taliban and Al Qaida. We do see, you know, we do have concerns about the threat, but by and large, we kind of find that southeast part of Afghanistan -- so the Ghazni and then the Paktia, Paktika, Khost area has not been at the same level of risk that we've seen in Helmand or Kunduz.

So let me pause there and hit the second part of the question. Really, where are we from a retention and a recruiting standpoint? And are the casualties sustainable?

Of course, the ANDSF had a very, very difficult year last year. And they, you know, we think they probably had about in the range of 5,500 or so killed; very difficult for any military to sustain. What we think, though, is when we look at 2015, and despite how tough it was, and despite how they were on the defense, what we really saw too is that the military did not collapse.

While they certainly took some hits, they were able to keep themselves together. So we don't have a Mosul here in Afghanistan. We don't have a Ramadi or a Fallujah or anything like that. This very young military was able to keep themselves together. And essentially, while they did lose some ground, essentially they were able to keep what they had from the beginning of the fighting season.



Recruiting and retention is a challenge for us, and it's an issue. And it's something that the Afghans are very focused on, and we're trying to help them with that as well. As we move into this fighting season, ultimately we do think that they are going to be more successful than they were last year.

First and foremost, they have got another year of fighting under their belt. And again, as you know, Mr. Bowman, very young military; very young security infrastructure. And so they've got another year of experience now under their belt.

The second piece is we have tried to collectively focus their efforts on a few key things. So as you've heard before, pulling them off these checkpoints; trying to get them to the point where they've got a capability in a strong point that they can then launch on the offense. We've also tried, as you're well aware, to really take a close look at the leadership. And kind of at the operational level, at the corps level and the tactical level, the Afghans have really replaced a lot of their leaders.

And then the final piece is they've gotten more capability than they had this time last year. So, I think you're all aware the Afghans now have a total of eight A-29 aircraft to be able to provide close-air support. The first four arrived in January. They've now hit their initial operating capability. And in fact, they are beginning to take their first strikes.

The next four arrive beginning of April. And we think in a couple of months, they will be up and moving. They've also got these MD-530 helicopters that they have been using now to provide fire support. And they've also increased some of their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, where they've just now started employing their Scan Eagles, particularly down in Helmand.

So, I know that's a long way of telling you 5,500 casualties is incredibly difficult and incredibly difficult for any military to sustain. We do think, though, that we will see some improvement in their overall performance based on what I described to you previously.

Does that answer the question?

Q: That's good. And the 5,500 killed, how does that compare to '14? Do you have that figure?

GEN. CLEVELAND: I don't, unfortunately.

CAPT. DAVIS: Excuse me. To Courtney Kube.

Q: So, in addition to Tom's question about the attrition and the casualties of ANDSF, there were some reports this week of several members of ANDSF who left and joined the Taliban, and they took their training and equipment and uniforms and everything with them.

It was -- is this sort of a one-off? Or is this a trend that you're seeing around the country? Do you have any numbers of how many ANDSF troops may actually have turned to the Taliban?

GEN. CLEVELAND: Yeah, I saw the same reporting. I unfortunately don't have any numbers to kind of support that. Obviously, it's more than anecdotal, though. I saw the same reporting I think. And as we know over the last, you know, five, six, eight months, we saw unfortunately a drum beat of one person at a checkpoint turning against his comrades and either murdering his comrades or stealing their equipment.

It is a concern. I know it's a concern for the ANDSF leadership. We do believe that there is a tie back to the concept of having good, solid leadership so that at the very operational and tactical level, they're focused on trying to take care of their soldiers and make sure they get paid and fed and they've got ammunition and fuel.

And when you don't have that, it obviously does provide the opportunity, of course, or at least one motivation for some of those security forces to join the enemy.

So, again a long way of saying I don't have any specific numbers. We do hear those types of reports. But I just don't have a good way to characterize it for you in relation to the much larger security force capability.

Q: So you haven't seen any kind of trends of any Taliban infiltration of the ANDSF that's increased recently? Anything like that?

GEN. CLEVELAND: I haven't seen anything that's increased recently. You know, historically that has been a challenge. And again, sadly, we have seen at these various checkpoints where one person will turn, and then they end up killing their entire team.

But I don't know that I've seen it increase in the brief time that I've been here.

CAPT. DAVIS: All right. Anybody else?

With that, General, we thank you for your time, for your evening, and appreciate you coming to talk to us. We look forward to seeing you again. Thank you.

GEN. CLEVELAND: Great. Thank you very much to everybody, and I do appreciate your time today. And please let us know if we can assist you in any way.

Thanks, Jeff.

-END-

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/721738/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Rice Details U.S. Whole-of-Government Approach to Defeating ISIL

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2016  President Barack Obama's national security advisor spelled out America's whole-of-government strategy against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during a speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, yesterday.

Susan E. Rice told the cadets and faculty that defeating ISIL is "at the very top of President Obama's agenda."

While the terror group is not an existential threat to the United States, she said, it is a danger to Americans and U.S. allies around the globe. Rice pointed to the ISIL attacks in Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, San Bernardino, Jakarta, Nigeria and others. She also highlighted ISIL in Syria and Iraq and the danger it poses to millions of people under its rule.

Dangerous Hybrid

What makes the group dangerous is that "it is essentially a hybrid," the national security advisor said. ISIL is a terror organization that exploited the chaos of civil war in Syria to attack and occupy large swaths of Syria and Iraq. "At the same time, they have harnessed the power of social media to recruit fighters and inspire lone-wolf attacks," Rice said.

ISIL is an enormous danger to civilians in the region and is an incredibly destabilizing force in the Middle East, she said, but members of the group are not 10 feet tall.

"This is not World War III or the much-hyped clash of civilizations," Rice said. "On the contrary, we alienate our Muslim friends and allies -- and dishonor the countless Muslim victims of ISIL's brutality -- when people recklessly and wrongly cast ISIL as somehow representative of one of the world's largest religions."

ISIL is simply "a twisted network of murderers and maniacs, and they must be rooted out, hunted down and destroyed," she said, and all aspects of the U.S. government are part of the process to stop them.

Comprehensive Strategy

"For the past year and a half, the president has been leading a comprehensive strategy to destroy ISIL and its ideology of hate," Rice said. "And, I do mean comprehensive. When we're sitting around the situation room table, we're using all aspects of our power -- military, diplomacy, intelligence, counterterrorism, economic, development, homeland security, law enforcement. Ours is truly a whole-of-government campaign."

And it is a global effort, the national security advisor emphasized. "We've assembled a broad coalition of 66 partners -- from Nigeria and the Arab League to Australia and Singapore," Rice said.

The anti-ISIL campaign represents an evolution in America's broader strategy of confronting and defeating terrorism, she said, noting that since 9/11, the United States has learned that not every conflict requires large numbers of ground troops. "Our fight against ISIL is not like Afghanistan or the Iraq War," she said.

In Syria and Iraq, coalition forces are helping to train indigenous forces, she said. "And, this increasingly dynamic campaign is ideally suited for airpower and the Air Force, utilized smartly in support of our partners on the ground," Rice added.

The counter-ISIL strategy has four facets, she said. First, it calls for attacking ISIL's core in Syria and Iraq. Second, the coalition is targeting ISIL's branches. Third, the coalition is working to disrupt ISIL's global network. Fourth, the United States is working around the clock to protect the homeland.

Substantial Progress

"It is a complex effort," the national security advisor said. "It will not be accomplished fully in just a few weeks or months, or even a few years. But day by day, mile by mile, strike by strike, we are making substantial progress. And  we're going to keep up the momentum."

Rice detailed the coalition's plans to continue the pressure on ISIL, beginning with continuing to hammer at the terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria -- the so-called core ISIL. Coalition forces have conducted more than 11,500 strikes against core ISIL since starting operations in 2014, she said.

"Due, in large part, to our unprecedented visibility of the battlefield, the coalition air campaign is having a real impact," Rice said. "Every few days, we're taking out another key ISIL leader, hampering ISIL's ability to plan attacks or launch new offensives."

The strikes also are squeezing ISIL's finances, which flow from their control of vast oil resources, their extortion and taxation of local populations and their looting and illicit sale of our cultural heritage, she said.

On the Ground

On the ground, the coalition will continue to support local forces in Iraq as they roll back ISIL, the national security advisor said. "So far, they have retaken more than 40 percent of the populated territory that ISIL once held," she said.

"This fight will continue to require the courage and perseverance of the Iraqi people," Rice continued. "It will also require the sustained financial support of the international community. It is not enough to win this fight; we must also win the eventual peace."

Ending the civil war in Syria will go a long way to destroying ISIL, she said. An interagency team of diplomats, military and intelligence officers, working alongside Russia and other international partners facilitated a cessation of hostilities in the country, Rice noted. "This cessation has largely held, but in recent days, we've seen a significant uptick in fighting," she said. "We're increasingly concerned that the regime's persistent violations of the cessation -- and al-Nusrah's hostile actions -- will undermine efforts to quiet the conflict."

Assad Must Go

Syrian President Bashar Assad may continue trying to disrupt and delay the good-faith efforts of the international community and the Syrian people to broker a political transition, the national security advisor said. "But he cannot escape the reality that the only solution to this conflict -- the only way this ends -- is through a political process that brings all Syrians together under a transitional government, a new constitution and credible elections that result in a new government without Assad," Rice said.

But core ISIL is only part of the problem, she noted. ISIL will flourish in fragile states and lawless regions, Rice said, citing ISIL ally Boko Haram in Nigeria and ISIL's branches in Libya, on the Arabian Peninsula, in West Africa, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ISIL has sent envoys "to provide their affiliates with money, fighters  even media training," Rice said.

In Libya, ISIL threatens not only North African stability, but also sub-Saharan Africa and Europe as well, the national security advisor said.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, ISIL has established a branch calling itself ISIL in the Khorasan -- largely composed of former Afghan and Pakistani Taliban members. "They've gained territory in the east and launched attacks in major cities like Jalalabad, though a combination of U.S., Afghan, and Taliban pressure has limited ISIL's gains," she said. "As part of the U.S. counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, President Obama has authorized the Department of Defense to target ISIL in the Khorasan."

ISIL Affiliates in Yemen

In Yemen, ISIL affiliates have taken advantage of ongoing instability to attack mosques and nursing homes. In Saudi Arabia, ISIL has targeted security forces and civilians. "To address these offshoots, we are deepening our security cooperation with countries in the region," Rice said. "When President Obama attends the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh [Saudi Arabia] next week, ISIL will be at the top of our agenda."

The United States is working with countries such as Mali, Somalia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines, which are countries targeted by the terror group, Rice said. "With smart, sustained investments," she added, "we have a chance to prevent ISIL from taking root in these disparate corners by assisting our partners in ways as varied as improving local law enforcement, promoting development and countering ISIL's nefarious narrative."

ISIL's narrative is at the heart of dismantling ISIL's global network, Rice said. The attacks in Paris highlighted the threat of ISIL fighters returning home, she noted. The United States sent "foreign-fighter surge teams" to work with allies as they implement long-term structural reforms to improve intelligence sharing and prevent future attacks, she said.

Homeland Defense

U.S. officials in the homeland are also working to strengthen aviation security and screening, and working with Interpol to share thousands of profiles of suspected fighters, Rice said. "Roughly 45 countries have established mechanisms to identify and flag terrorist travel to Iraq and Syria, and dozens of countries have arrested fighters or aspiring fighters," she added. "Together with our partners, we're slowing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters into and out of Iraq and Syria  including sealing almost all the border with Turkey."

It remains a problem. Since 2011, nearly 40,000 foreign fighters have traveled to Syria from more than 120 countries. "We will continue to do everything in our power to prevent them from returning and launching attacks in our countries," Rice said.

The United Nations has passed a resolution targeting ISIL's abuse of the international financial system. The raid last year against Abu Sayyaf, ISIL's finance chief, yielded a wealth of information on ISIL's financial vulnerabilities: 7 terabytes of flash drives, CDs, papers and other data, she said. "That's more than we got out of the bin Laden raid. And, we're going to continue using that information and other tools to turn off the ISIL funding tap," Rice said.

Hearts and Minds

The battle against ISIL is a battle for hearts and minds, Rice said. She quoted the president saying, "Ideologies are not defeated with guns; they're defeated by better ideas."

The United States is working to expose ISIL's twisted interpretation of Islam and underscore that ISIL not only is not defending Muslims, but also is killing many innocent Muslims, Rice said. But the United States cannot deliver this message, she said. It has to come from Muslims.

U.S. officials are supporting partners across the globe, including in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, to get this message across, the national security advisor said. She praised the State Department's new Global Engagement Center for amplifying anti-ISIL voices internationally, from religious leaders to ISIL defectors.

"Week by week, these voices are eroding ISIL's appeal," Rice said. "A new poll shows that nearly 80 percent of young Muslims  from Saudi Arabia to Egypt to Tunisia  are now strongly opposed to ISIL."

Addressing Conditions

But the president doesn't want to defeat ISIL only to have another group pop up and take its place, Rice said. "To defeat ISIL's ideology for good, however, we must acknowledge the conditions that help draw people to ISIL's destructive message in the first place," she said. "Around the world, countries and communities  including the United States  must continue working to offer a better, more compelling vision. We must demonstrate, as President Obama has said, that the future belongs to those who build, not those who destroy. Where ISIL offers horror, countries around the world must offer hope."

Finally, Rice said, it comes down to protecting the homeland. "We've hardened our defenses -- strengthening borders, airports, ports and other critical infrastructure," she said. "We're better prepared against potential bioterrorism and cyberattacks."

U.S. borders will remain strong, and counterterrorism experts will remain hyper-vigilant, the national security advisor said. "The enduring source of America's strength, however, comes from upholding our core values  the same enduring values embodied in each one of you at this academy," Rice said. "It is when people feel persecuted or disempowered that extremism can take hold, so our commitment to the dignity and equality of every human being must remain ironclad.

"In the face of ISIL's barbarism," she continued, "America must remain resilient and defiant in our freedom, our openness, and our incredible diversity."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taiwan protests Japan's claim to Diaoyutais in diplomatic paper

ROC Central News Agency

2016/04/15 23:25:26

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Taiwan on Friday issued a strong protest over Japan's claim in its annual diplomatic paper that the disputed Diaoyutai Islands are part of its territory.

In a statement, the ministry described Japan's description of the islands in the diplomatic blue book Tokyo released on Friday as "untrue" and reaffirmed the Republic of China's sovereignty over the Diaoyutais in the East China Sea.

Whether from the perspectives of international law, history or geography, "the Diaoyutais are an inherent part of the ROC's territory," it said.

Taiwan will continue to closely follow developments in the Diaoyutais, known as the Senkakus in Japan, the ministry said, and reiterated its appeal for all parties concerned to address territorial disputes through peaceful means to maintain stability and prosperity in the region.

The uninhabited Diaoyutais, some 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, have been under Japan's administrative control since 1972 but are also claimed by Taiwan and China.

(By Elaine Hou)

ENDITEM/ls

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Face-to-Face talks Strengthened US, RAN Maritime Cooperation

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160415-08

Release Date: 4/15/2016 10:49:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian M. Wilbur, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) leaders gathered at U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) headquarters to conduct an Operations Steering Group (OSG) April 14.

Capt. Brett Fullerton, deputy director of plans and policy at PACFLT, participated in the OSG and explained that it is just one piece of the bigger Strategy Dialogues that guide the relationships between the two navies as well as provides a medium for face-to-face engagements.

"When you can look across a table into your counterpart's eye and see their facial expressions, it allows you to better understand what they are trying to convey," said Fullerton. "It certainly behooves us to have more engagements with personal interactions like this."

The OSG supports the development of key bilateral initiatives including improved maritime domain awareness, amphibious warfare, undersea warfare and surface combatant force capability. It is responsible for increasing the understanding of contemporary maritime operational issues and discussing bilateral exercises, training, deployments and engagement opportunities.

"We have been able to gain a keener understanding of the Aussies' goals and objectives to ensure we are conducting operations at the tactical level that will permit greater awareness and assure maritime security," said William Wesley, director of PACFLT's plans and policy.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Afghanistan repels major Taliban attack, 50 militants killed

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:6PM

An operation by Afghanistan military north of the country has left dozens of Taliban militants killed as Taliban's dream for capturing a major city in the area faced a "jaw-breaking" response.

Abdul Wasay Basil, spokesman for the Kunduz provincial governor, said on Friday that more than 50 Taliban militants were killed after the Taliban launched an attack in the provincial capital of the same name.

The official said at least 60 Taliban fighters were wounded and that clashes were ongoing in the city as well as in six provincial districts.

Afghan Army in Kunduz reported attacks on Afghan security forces early Friday morning as part of the Taliban's annual spring offensive which started on Tuesday and normally marks the start of "fighting season" in Afghanistan.

Kunduz governor Asadullah Omarkhil said in a video statement that Taliban "faced defeat by the Afghan security forces," adding that the security situation in Kunduz is "absolutely normal" at the moment.

"They dreamed of capturing the city of Kunduz, but they faced a jaw-breaking answer from Afghan forces," he said.

Taliban briefly captured Kunduz last year, marking the militant group's biggest victory since it was toppled from power in 2001. The blitz had raised serious questions about the capability of Afghan forces in establishing security on their own. Kabul says it lost a total of 5,000 troops in fight against militants last year.

An initiative for holding peace talks between Afghan government and Taliban hit a snag last year after the news broke about the death two years ago of Taliban leader and founder Mullah Omar. Hopes were high that the talks, mediated by Pakistan and attended by the United States and China, could end in a lasting peace in a country reeling from years of war and instability.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Egyptians hold demo over island deal with Saudi Arabia

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:20AM

Egypt's police have "encircled" major routes into Cairo as the government attempts to prevent a planned protest over the decision to hand two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

The Interior Ministry increased security around the capital on Friday to prevent what it called "infiltration of the terrorist group" - a reference to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Though the authorities have accused the Brotherhood of organizing "tendentious" protests, a variety of groups have called for protests.

The ministry on Thursday night put out a statement urging Egyptians "not to get carried away by tendentious calls for protests" and warning against any attempts to break the law.

The statement added that the ministry will take "all decisive legal measures" to maintain security.

Despite the strict security measures, protest marches set out from 30 mosques across the country after Friday prayers.

Protesters vented their anger at President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's decision to give Saudi Arabia control of Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, reports from Cairo said.

"Our right to this land is won by blood, not by documents and maps," organizers wrote on Facebook page of the event.

"We gave more than 100,000 martyrs in our wars with Israel to restore this land. Tiran and Sanafir are our right, Egypt's right, the right of our children and of our ancestors who were killed there. This right must be returned, even over our dead bodies," they added.

Israel briefly occupied Tiran during the Suez Crisis in late 1956, and once more between 1967 and 1982 following the Six Day War.

According to Israeli media, Egypt informed Tel Aviv about its intention to give away the two strategic islands and received the Israeli blessing.

The daily Haaretz said Israel expressed its approval of the give-and-take during talks with the Egyptian side provided that freedom of navigation for Israeli ships through the area were guaranteed.

Israel also demanded that all other commitments undertaken by Egypt under the Camp David peace accord with Tel Aviv be honored, it added.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has said Saudi Arabia "will honor all of Egypt's legal and international commitments in regard to the two islands" in a move seen by Israeli media as an attempt to appease Israel.

Thousands of protesters were anticipated to take part in the mass demonstration, organized by April 6 Youth Movement.

Egypt is reportedly receiving USD 20 billion in aid from Saudi Arabia in return for the move.

Thousands of Egyptians have taken to social media websites over the past few days and accused President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of surrendering Egyptian territory in return for Saudi money.

Sisi has asked his critics to end discussions about the issue, saying "Egypt did not relinquish even a grain of sand. All the data and documents say nothing except that this particular right is theirs (Saudis)."

Tiran Island is located at the entrance of the Straits of Tiran, which separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aqaba. Its strategic significance lies in the fact that it is an important sea passage to the major ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel.

Sanafir Island is in the east of Tiran Island, and measures 33 square kilometers (13 square miles) in area.

Ownership of the two islands was handed to Egypt in 1982, when Tel Aviv and Cairo signed the so-called Camp David peace accords.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Saudi warplanes bomb Yemen in violation of ceasefire

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:28AM

Saudi warplanes have bombarded a number of areas in the Yemeni capital, violating a UN-brokered truce agreement for the fifth day since it went into effect.

Local residents and witnesses said Saudi aircraft on Thursday struck several targets in the Faj Attan district and some other areas across Sana'a.

Muhammad Ali, a Sana'a resident, told Reuters that Saudi warplanes keep pounding Yemen despite the truce.

"I live in Attan. There were airstrikes at dawn this morning and they hit some targets in the area. Warplanes have been hovering overhead around here in Sana'a since the ceasefire took hold," the news agency quoted him as saying.

Separately, Saudi helicopters struck al-Houta, the capital of the southern Lahij Province, killing at least eight people. The aerial raid hit a government building, a stadium and two homes in the region.

Saudi jets have intensified their bombing of Yemeni cities on the weekend, hitting dozens of civilian houses and properties. Riyadh had earlier pledged in a statement that it would honor the ceasefire.

Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement has accused Saudi Arabia and its mercenaries of constantly violating the truce agreement across the country.

The Houthis on Monday recorded 39 violations of the truce by Saudi Arabia and its allies, including attacks in Ta'izz and the central province of Baida.

Three dozen pro-Saudi forces killed

Yemeni military sources said on Thursday that nearly three dozen pro-Saudi militants had been killed in a series of violent clashes with Houthis and allied army units near Sana'a over the past three days.

Saudi Arabia has been waging a war on Yemen since late March 2015 in a bid to reinstate former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. Nearly 9,400 Yemenis, including 4,000 women and children, have lost their lives in the campaign.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






New US strike kills 40 in eastern Afghanistan

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 5:41AM

At least 40 people have been killed in a new US drone strike in Afghanistan's troubled eastern province of Nangarhar.

The aerial assaults took place on Thursday night in the Achin district of the province, which is located 120 kilometers (74 miles) east of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Local Afghan officials said that those killed in the aerial attack were members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which has gained a foothold in Nangarhar in recent months.

Afghanistan, parts of which have long been considered a bastion of Taliban, has recently been seeing the emergence and expansion of Daesh. Nangarhar, in particular, is one area where Daesh has visibly gained a foothold.

Meanwhile, a Kabul-based US military general claimed on Thursday that the nascent presence of Daesh in Afghanistan has dwindled since the US military stepped up strikes on militant hideouts in the troubled region.

"The capacity of Daesh, we believe, has been lessened," Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said, adding, "Their overall footprint in Nangarhar we do believe has been lessened as well."

The US military estimates that between 1,000 and 3,000 Daesh fighters are operating across Afghanistan.

Daesh has been operating mainly in Iraq and Syria.

On June 16, 2015, the Afghan Taliban militant group warned Daesh ringleader, Ibrahim al-Samarrai, also known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, against "waging a parallel insurgency in Afghanistan.

The CIA spy agency regularly uses drones for airstrikes and spying missions in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border. Washington has also been conducting targeted killings through remotely-controlled armed drones in Somalia and Yemen.

The US says the airstrikes target members of Taliban, al-Qaeda and other militants, but according to local officials and witnesses, civilians have in most cases been the victims of the attacks.

The rise of Daesh in Afghanistan and the continued Taliban militancy comes despite about a decade and a half of a US-led war against militancy in the country.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US won't be 'intimidated' by Russia on the high seas: Kerry

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 12:26AM

US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned a "simulated attack" on a US guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea by two Russian fighter jets, saying the American military would have been within its rights to shoot down the aircraft.

Two Russian Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes flew within meters of the USS Donald Cook on Monday, the US military said on Wednesday, calling it one of the most aggressive interactions in recent history.

Russia on Thursday denied its aircraft were engaged in reckless or provocative behavior, saying the fighter jets "turned away in observance of all safety measures" after observing the US Navy warship.

"We condemn this kind of behavior," Kerry said in a joint interview with CNN Espanol and the Miami Herald on Thursday.

"It is reckless. It is provocative. It is dangerous. And under the rules of engagement, that could have been a shoot-down," he claimed.

"People need to understand that this is serious business and the United States is not going to be intimidated on the high seas," the top US diplomat warned.

"We are communicating to the Russians how dangerous this is and our hope is that this will never be repeated," Kerry added.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Su-24 jets were conducting test flights in the area and "having observed the ship, turned away in observance of all safety measures."

"Frankly speaking, we don't understand such a sore reaction from our US colleagues," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in the statement.

"With the US Navy destroyer in operational proximity of the Russian navy's Baltic fleet base, the principle of its free sea navigation does not negate the principle of free air navigation of Russian planes," the statement explained.

A senior US military official told CBS News on Wednesday the incident took place on April 11, when the USS Donald Cook was confronted by two Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes in international waters off Russia.

The warship had left the Polish port of Gdynia and was about 70 nautical miles from Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea and the Russian jets made 20 passes of it while flying within 915 meters (1,000 yards) at an altitude of just 30 meters (100 feet), the official said.

Such close encounters between Russian jets and US warships patrolling near Russian territorial waters are not unprecedented.

Last year the Pentagon said that a close-flying Russian jet flew within a few thousand feet of the USS Donald Cook which was conducting a "routine mission" at the time.

The unarmed Russian plane made at least 12 passes over a period of about 90 minutes. The event ended without incident.

US Army Colonel Steve Warren called the action "provocative and unprofessional."

Also in June 2015, US navy released footage that purported to show a Russian SU-24 flying in close proximity over USS Ross in the Baltic Sea.

Washington believes the overflights breach a 1970s agreement which was designed to prevent such unsafe incidents at sea.

The incidents come as tensions are on the rise between the US and Russia over the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Egypt warns against demos over Red Sea islands handover

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 12:28AM

The Egyptian Interior Ministry has warned of legal action against participants in demonstrations against Cairo's decision to hand over the control of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

In a Thursday statement, the ministry called on Egyptians "not to get carried away by tendentious calls for protests," adding that it would take "all decisive legal measures" against protesters.

Egypt's government has been under fire since it announced in a statement released on Saturday that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia as stipulated in a maritime border agreement signed between Cairo and Riyadh the previous day.

Legal experts and opposition figures, including exiled politician, Ayman Nour, and the country's Muslim Brotherhood, have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the agreement, arguing that relinquishing authority over Egyptian territory is unconstitutional.

Thousands have also taken to online social networks, accusing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of surrendering Egyptian territory in return for Saudi money.

Tiran Island is located at the entrance of the Straits of Tiran, which separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aqaba. Its strategic significance lies in the fact that it is an important sea passage to the major ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel.

Israel briefly took over the island during the Suez Crisis in late 1956, and once more between 1967 and 1982 following the Six Day War.

Sanafir Island is in the east of Tiran Island, and measures 33 square kilometers (13 square miles) in area.

Ownership of the two islands was handed to Egyptian control in 1982, when Tel Aviv and Cairo signed the so-called Camp David peace accords.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






'Refugees have a right to asylum - not bias and barbed wire,' Ban says in Washington

15 April 2016  As the world faces the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated a call to leaders across Europe and throughout the world to show greater solidarity as they strive to combat the deeper roots of conflict and continue to work towards securing human rights for all.

Arriving in Washington, D.C., this morning to attend the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, the UN chief participated in an event on the development challenges of forced displacement.

Recalling his visit in March with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to the Middle East region, including Jordan and Lebanon, Mr. Ban said they heard the stories of thousands of refugees, and he was "deeply moved, especially by the dreams and resolve of the young people."

"Above all, this is not just a crisis of numbers  it is also a crisis of solidarity," Mr. Ban said.

The Secretary-General also underscored that today's internal displacement and refugee crises are signs of deeper challenges that must be resolved  from Syria to Afghanistan to South Sudan.

To that end, he will be convening the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul next month to provide a platform "to put a focus on root causes and prevention, to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development assistance, and to improve our global response to forced displacement."

The World Humanitarian Summit will fuel "much-needed momentum" for the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants, which is scheduled in the UN General Assembly for 19 September.

Mr. Ban also stressed that world leaders must recognize that today's internal displacement and refugee crises are signs of deeper challenges, and show greater solidarity not just through relief, but through resettlement and other legal pathways.

"Refugees have a right to asylum  not bias and barbed wire," he said.

Noting that he, too, was once a displaced person, Mr. Ban also emphasized that refugees bring new skills and dynamism into aging workforces, and are "famously devoted" to education and self-reliance.

"When managed properly, accepting refugees is a win for everyone," he said. "Demonizing them is not only morally wrong, it is factually wrong," he added.

The Secretary-General also spoke at the Inaugural Assembly Meeting of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, which brings together multilateral organizations, governments and the private sector.

He emphasized that it is essential for multilateral financial institutions and the private sector to provide the policy instruments and resources needed to support the transformation to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.

"Markets must play a central role in managing climate risks," the UN chief said. "We must put a price on pollution, and provide incentives to accelerate a low carbon pathway."

Market prices, market indices and investment portfolios can no longer continue to ignore the growing cost of unsustainable production and consumption behaviours on the health of our planet, he said.

Hailing the Inaugural Assembly as an "important step" in consolidating the gains made in the Paris Agreement, the Secretary-General said he was "very encouraged" to see that businesses view carbon pricing as an efficient, cost-effective means of reducing emissions.

"Momentum is building. However, we must ensure the provision of timely and meaningful assistance to developing and vulnerable countries for their mitigation efforts. Promises made must be kept," Mr. Ban said.

"Greater international cooperation is vital for building a low-carbon, climate resilient world," he added.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Afghan Government Seeks Financial Assistance to Bring Refugees Home

by Hasib Danish Alikozai April 15, 2016

The Afghan government is finalizing agreements with some European member states and the European Union to handle the return of Afghan refugees, currently in limbo in Greece.

The full details of the memoranda of understanding have yet to be announced, but Afghan officials have told VOA that the Afghan government will seek support from the European Union, including financial support, to handle the crisis.

"We have been in conversation with our European counterparts and have established a joint technical committee comprised of various organizations and ministries to find a solution to the problem," said Hafizullah Miakhil, spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation.

"Afghanistan has conditions and demands, including assistance with the returnees, assistance with the Afghan government in the provision of security, and employment opportunities in Afghanistan through establishing vocational institutes in some provinces to train those deported," Miakhil said.

Thousands of Afghan refugees are currently in Greece, where they had hoped to continue traveling into Europe. But under an agreement between Turkey and the EU, all migrants who recently arrived in Greece will be returned to Turkey. For every returnee, Turkey will send one vetted Syrian refugee to be settled in Europe.

But the fate of the Afghan refugees is not clear. European governments reclassified Afghans as economic migrants in February, reducing their chances of being able to stay in Europe legally. And Turkey has not said whether it will deport them to their home countries.

The disparity has led to clashes between Afghan and Syrian migrants in Greece.

The Afghan government had earlier stressed that the country would not accept the "forced deportation" of Afghans from Europe.

But Afghan Minister for Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Rabbani told the Afghan parliament recently that efforts were under way to reach an understanding with Europe to slow down the pace and work out a reasonable way for Afghans to return to their country.

Europe's financial agreement with Turkey might have prompted the Afghan government to seek financial assistance in handling the Afghan refugee problem.

Europe has reportedly granted more than $3 billion in aid for Turkey as part of the refugee agreement.

Fleeing insecurity

Afghans have cited insecurity and Taliban threats as their reasons for leaving the country.

"I went to school and university in Afghanistan and had several jobs in the country," Aryan Arya, an Afghan settled in Sweden, told VOA. "The main reason why I left Afghanistan was insecurity. Taliban literally controls 50 percent of Afghanistan, and I know this from my work in the security sector in Afghanistan."

Arya added that he is very happy now, and his brother has recently joined him  coming through the same route he took to reach Europe.

Sayed Zafar Shah Hashemi, a former employee of the Afghan Independent Election Commission, told VOA that growing insecurity in Afghanistan has made Europe an attractive destination for many Afghan people. However, he warns against the dangerous route and its potential risks  including death.

"I have been to the refugee centers and seen Afghans in a very desperate situation," Hashemi told VOA from Austria, where he claimed asylum. "Initially things were good, but now most centers accepting refugees and providing them with welfare have closed."

After Syrians, Afghans make up the majority of refugees in Europe, followed by Iraqis. Miakhil, the Afghan refugee ministry spokesperson, told VOA that in 2015 around 250,000 Afghans reached Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.

"Afghans, along with citizens of countries like Syria and Iraq, make up the bulk of refugees in Europe, and they embarked on dangerous journeys, embracing real risk to their lives," Miakhil said. "Of the 3,400 people that have died on the Mediterranean route in 2015, 12 percent were Afghans."

No sympathy

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani angered many Afghans inside the country and overseas when he told the BBC in a recent interview that he "does not have any sympathy with those leaving Afghanistan."

Criticism was widespread.

"Recent views of the Afghan government, particularly those of the Afghan president, who showed no sympathy with Afghans leaving the country are insulting," said Sayed Maisam Ehsani, a civil society activist in Afghanistan. "Afghans leave the country as a result of the failure of the Afghan government to deliver on their basic promises."

Public outrage has prompted the Afghan presidential palace to release a statement saying that the president is proud of many Afghans around the world who have remarkable stories of success.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






President Thaci: Kosovo Committed to NATO, Euro-Atlantic Mechanisms

by Isabela Cocoli April 15, 2016

Hashim Thaci, who was sworn in April 7 as Kosovo's president, says he remains committed to his country's quick integration into NATO and other Euro-Atlantic mechanisms and to continuing the process of normalizing relations with Serbia and fighting against Islamic fundamentalism.

In his first media interview as president, Thaci told VOA's Albanian service Friday that he will address all the problems cited in the U.S. State Department's recently released human rights report covering 2015, and will work to unify Kosovo and represent all its citizens.

Thaci said he recognized as serious problems the areas of concern highlighted in the State Department report. The report cited the obstruction, sometimes violent, of the country's parliament by opposition deputies who blocked free debate and the passage of legislation; endemic government and private-sector corruption and lack of punishment for corruption; and societal violence and discrimination against members of minority groups.

While Kosovo's legislative branch is now functioning properly, Thaci said, much more needs to be done to address the other two areas. He said he would discuss with experts in Kosovo and abroad the changes to the country's penal code needed to make its judiciary effective in punishing crime.

Countering criticism by his opponents, Thaci said the dialogue with Serbia has been beneficial for both Kosovo and Serbia, as well as the entire Balkan region.

Kosovo's president said an uncompromising fight against Islamic radicalization and all forms of extremism is high on his agenda. In close cooperation with regional and international powers, he said, Kosovo will eradicate such dangerous elements domestically and fight them beyond the country's borders.

Kosovo's parliament elected Thaci, 47, to replace Atifete Jahjaga as president Feb. 26. The vote was boycotted by opposition lawmakers, who had earlier tried to disrupt voting by using tear gas.

Kosovo has established a tradition of new presidents giving their first press interview exclusively to the Voice of America's Albanian Service.

VOA's Albanian Service contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Fighting Reported in South Sudan Ahead of Former Rebel Leader's Return

by Mugume Davis Rwakaringi April 15, 2016

Fresh clashes are being reported between government and opposition forces in South Sudan, just ahead of the expected arrival of former rebel leader Riek Machar in Juba.

A spokesman for the SPLA-In-Opposition (SPLA IO) said government forces attacked its bases in Unity state's Rubkona County. The government acknowledged that fighting took place but blamed the rebels for the clashes.

SPLA IO deputy spokesman Major Dickson Gatluak said government troops attacked the rebel-held area Wednesday and Thursday.

"The government has launched offenses in our defensive position in Rubkona County in a certain area called Turkei," Gatluak said. "They also attacked our defense position in Waak and several areas around the northern part of Unity state."

Gatluak said the government and its allied militias had repeatedly violated the cease-fire stipulated in the August peace agreement.

Army spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang acknowledged the two sides exchanged fire, but said the government was performing what he called its "usual role" of protecting people and their property.

"Some elements from [SPLA] IO went to loot some cattle from a nearby cattle camp at a place called Wicok," he said. "They attacked some cattle owners and they stole some cattle. What we did was respond to the threat. ... We went to the defense of the civilians. That is how it all started."

Koang alleged that rebels stole an unknown number of cattle from the area.

Both Koang and Gatluak said both sides suffered losses, but neither disclosed the number of causalities.

Land-grabbing accusations

Gatluak said government forces were simply trying to grab more land before the peace deal is implemented.

"They are trying to push out our forces from the assembling points, which is unacceptable," he said. "But our forces managed to repulse them back from Wancien where they came from, and also the reinforcement that came out from Bentiu town  we also managed to repulse them back. We really condemn this, because this is one of the stumbling blocks towards the implementation of peace."

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission has reported violations of the permanent cease-fire by both sides since the peace agreement was signed by the leaders of both sides in August 2015.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war. War erupted anew in December 2013, however, after President Salva Kiir's dismissal of his then-deputy, Machar.

Machar, the first vice president-designate, fled South Sudan after being accused by Kiir of plotting a coup. He is due to arrive in the capital, Juba, on Monday.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Erdogan Steps Up Support of Azerbaijan in Karabakh Dispute

by Dorian Jones April 15, 2016

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking a more assertive stance in the Caucasus following the latest fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh.

Perched between the Russian, Ottoman, and Persian empires, Armenia and Azerbaijan have a long history of tension that 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.

Earlier this month, the reopening of the conflict regarding the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh attracted the attention of the international community, with President Erdogan pledging to return the area to Azerbaijan.

Former Turkish ambassador Murat Bilhan, who is the deputy chair of the Ankara-based Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies, says Erdogan's comments reflect Turkish concerns about the recent fighting.

"It has touched a very sensitive chord in Turkish hearts because they are relatives and of course they support Azerbaijan whether they are right or wrong. They are supported," said Bilhan.

Azerbaijan and Turkey are frequently referred to in Turkey as "one people two countries." Support for Azerbaijan is particularly strong among Turkish nationalists and religious Turks, both key bases of support for the president.

Political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Istanbul's Suleyman Sah University says with Erdogan pushing for greater presidential powers through a public referendum, he is looking to secure his voting base.

"The Turkish president is using any and everything to cajole the nationalist voter and on every occasion to use and abuse this nationalist sentiment," said Aktar.

Erdogan has also criticized neighboring Armenia, which he accused of being responsible for the latest clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia is a close ally of Moscow and observers say the Caucasus region could be becoming the latest region to exhibit tensions between Ankara and Moscow.

Erdogan slammed the failure of diplomatic efforts to tamp down an escalation of violence led by Moscow, Washington and Paris. Such statements have been interpreted by the Turkish media as Ankara opening the door to a military solution to the dispute over the enclave.

But Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar of the Carnegie Institute, says that would mark a major change in Turkish policy and would meet with internal resistance.

"It certainly points to a different, more activist direction in terms of what Turkey is willing to do. But it is still quite difficult for Erdogan by himself to change policy in this particular case. Because, at the end of the day, Turkish institutions have been cautious and prudent and do understand the international implications," said Ulgen.

Ulgen points out that Erdogan has, in the past, threatened to intervene in Syria, but was forced to step back in the face of resistance from his generals. However, some observers say, with the Turkish president continuing to secure greater political power and courting his nationalist voting base, a more assertive Turkish foreign policy could be likely.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In Egypt, Tensions Flare Over Red Sea Islands

by Heather Murdock April 15, 2016

Tensions flared in Egypt on Friday as protests over the handover of two islands to Saudi Arabia were dispersed or prevented by security forces with tear gas and military blockades.

Outside the Journalist Syndicate, one of the few places where protesting is still legal in Cairo, police held their ground for most of the day while hundreds of people chanted anti-government slogans.

Protesting the handover of the islands Tiran and Sanafir, activists shouted, "The people demand the end of the regime" and "Awad sold his land!"

The latter chant is an Egyptian proverb expressing shamefulness in giving up land. For many locals, it is considered an undignified denial of identity.

The Egyptian government says Saudi Arabia has legal and historical sovereignty over the islands, and it is simply returning the kingdom's own land.

"We didn't relinquish even a grain of sand," said Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday.

Protesters said that neither the public nor the newly-elected parliament was consulted about the arrangement in advance. Tiran and Sanafir are not only strategically located, they are also part of an Egyptian national park in the Red Sea, famous for world-class scuba diving and snorkeling.

For roughly the past two-and-a-half years, the streets of Cairo have been relatively quiet and opposition voices have mostly been heard indoors.

"The islands are the straw that broke the camel's back," said Mohammad Tarek, a 27-year-old university student at the protest. "We have many problems that have caused us to come out."

Saudi-Egypt bridge

The transfer of the islands clears the way for Saudi Arabia to build a bridge linking Egypt and the kingdom by land, according to analysts.

On a recent state visit to Cairo intended to boost relations between the two Arab nations as Iran grows in geopolitical strength, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud pledged $24 billion in loans and investments to Egypt.

Saudi bids to build the bridge, which would be nearly 15 kilometers long, were part of the deal.

"This is going to be a huge economic boost in the region," wrote Hussein Shobokshi, a commentator for the Saudi Gazette. "It will not only benefit the two countries, but will also help in improving economic ties between the African and Asian continents."

Some officials insist that the transfer of power over the islands is not a prize given to the Saudis in exchange for aid, but a legal obligation.

Saudi Arabia passed its authority over the islands to Cairo in 1950, saying Egypt was better equipped militarily to secure the Straits of Tiran. In 1967, Israel grabbed them after war broke out when Egypt announced plans to ban Israeli ships from passing through the straits.

After the 1979 peace deal between Egypt and Israel, the islands were returned to Egyptian control, along with other lands.

The recent announcement that they will be returned to Saudi Arabia immediately provoked criticism from Egyptian commentators.

Officials said the critique was unfair and could damage relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

"I think that all of these poisonous media outlets should stay silent until all the documents related to this deal come to parliament for discussion," said Alaa Abed, a member of parliament, according to local media.

Volatility at protests

Protesters were warned Thursday not to attend rallies the Interior Ministry said were being staged by terrorists, and promised "all necessary and decisive legal measures to preserve security and stability."

Demonstrators were arrested in both Cairo and Egypt's second city, Alexandria.

Outside the Journalist Syndicate, government supporters and protesters sporadically clashed, mostly shouting and shoving while surrounded by heavily armed police carrying tear gas.

Egypt's newly elected parliament has not yet completed its review of the island handover, but it is expected to approve the deal.

After a meeting Wednesday, parliament members said the transfer of power does not require a public referendum under Egyptian law as some activists suggest, but does require parliamentary approval.

"If these two islands are really part of Saudi Arabia," Abed said, "We will say yes, and if not, we will say no."

Hamada Elrasam contributed to this report from Cairo.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






DPRK's Attempt to Launch Ballistic Missile Fails: Report

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:56, April 15, 2016

SEOUL, April 15 -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday attempted to launch what is believed to be Musudan mobile ballistic missile into its eastern waters early in the morning, but the attempt appeared to have failed, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

A JCS official told Xinhua on the phone that the DPRK tried to launch a missile from its eastern region at about 5:30 a.m. on Friday local time (2030 Thursday GMT) and the attempt was estimated to have failed.

The official declined to explain why Seoul estimated the launch was a failure. Another South Korean military official was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying that the estimate was based on the flight of an abnormal trajectory.

The failed missile is believed to have been mobile Musudan missile, which is allegedly capable of striking parts of the U.S. territory such as Guam and the outer reaches of Alaska.

South Korea's military had dispatched an Aegis-equipped destroyer to the East Sea to detect and track the possible launch of Musudan missile at or around the so-called Day of the Sun.

The Day of the Sun is an annual public holiday in the DPRK that falls on April 15 to commemorate the birthday of Kim Il Sung, founder of the country and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.

The DPRK had reportedly deployed one to two mobile Musudan missiles about three weeks earlier to its eastern Wonsan area.

If confirmed, it would mark the first time that Pyongyang test-fired Musudan missile, though unsuccessfully, and also the first time that the country launched ballistic missiles from a mobile launcher. Pyongyang is known to have deployed around 50 mobile Musudan missiles with a range of 3,000-4,000 km since 2007.

The DPRK has twice launched a three-stage rocket, which was condemned as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology, from a stationary launch pad. The two launches are believed to have been successful.

The latest long-range rocket launch from a fixed site was carried out on Feb. 7, about a month after Pyongyang detonated what it claimed was its first hydrogen bomb on Jan. 6, the fourth of its nuclear test.

Unlike the launch from a stationary site that can be detected by spy satellites as it takes time to prepare, mobile launches are very hard, in case of military conflicts, to spot as the mobile launchers can move to another position before shooting missiles.

From early March, the DPRK had fired a series of short- and medium-range missiles and multiple rocket launchers, heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula amid the ongoing annual war games between Seoul and Washington.

The latest was the launch of three rounds of surface-to-air short-range missiles two weeks earlier.

South Korea and the United States kicked off the Key Resolve command post exercise and the Foal Eagle field training exercise in early March. The former already ended last month, but the latter will last until later this month.

Pyongyang has denounced the spring U.S.-South Korea war games as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.

South Korea's military has also closely monitored a possibility for the DPRK's fifth nuclear test since top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un gave orders on March 15 to test a nuclear warhead and ballistic rockets capable of carrying the warhead.

Pyongyang has claimed that it possessed a miniaturized nuclear warhead and mastered the technology of a re-entry vehicle, key to developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Seoul's defense ministry has said that Pyongyang can conduct another nuclear test at any time when the leadership decides.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






DPRK's ballistic missile firing ill-advised, unwise

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:11, April 15, 2016

BEIJING, April 15 -- The firing of a mid-range ballistic missile on Friday by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), though failed, marks the latest in a string of sabre-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere.

The BM-25 missile, also known as Musudan with a range of 3,000 km, is able to reach the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific, according to the South Korean new agency Yonhap. Although Pyongyang has not confirmed the firing, the timing, selected on the birthday of late DPRK top leader Kim Il Sung, is widely believed to manifest its intrepidity against the ongoing U.S.-South Korea military drills and the latest sanctions brought by the UN Security Council resolution last month.

Solely within 100 days, the DPRK have conducted a nuclear test and a satellite launching, which was widely taken as a disguised ballistic missile test.

Pyongyang's interpretation of the resolution as a sign of animosity is injudicious. Largely wrought by an alarming lacking of trust between the DPRK and the United States, its nuclear show of force has blatantly breached the UN resolution and betrayed the global aspiration to achieve denuclearization in the Korean Peninsula through talks.

Besides, the pertinacious show of force proved counterproductive for Pyongyang's sake.

Firstly, these provocations have played into the meddling hands of the United States and Japan, which have long expected excuses to rock the boat in Northeast Asia by enhancing their military presence. Such prospects will severely menace the DPRK's security and disturb the regional strategic balance.

Secondly, Pyongyang has undermined its credibility by accusing Washington and Seoul for spoiling the atmosphere of dialogue, while coming up with the tit-for-tat response that would create the same effect, fueling the already simmering peninsular situation wrought by its nuclear tests.

Last but not the least, the DPRK's relentless muscle flexing will heighten the vicious circle of provocation and sanction. Nuclear weapons will not make Pyongyang safer. On the contrary, its costly military endeavors will keep on suffocating its economy.

The only viable solution for all parties concerned is to resume the China-proposed six-party talks so as to achieve denuclearization and replace the Korean armistice with a peace agreement. This will meet the interests of all parties including the United States and the DPRK, and by no means give rise to unequal dialogues Pyongyang fears.

Pyongyang's claim that dialogues cannot coexist with sanctions does not hold water either, for sanctions are not the end in themselves but the means to curb the DPRK's repeated violation of UN resolutions and bring relevant parties back to the negotiating table.

It is high time for all parties concerned to realize their due responsibilities and unlease restraint and flexbility so as to achieve denuclearization in the Peninsula at an early date.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






North Korea missile launch fails, US, South Korea say

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:48AM

North Korea has failed in its attempt to launch what is said to be a medium-range ballistic missile, the United States and South Korea claim.

A spokesman for the US Defense Department said Pyongyang tried to launch the missile early on Friday, but it was assessed a failure by the US Strategic Command that detected and tracked the missile.

A South Korean official also said that the neighboring North attempted to test-fire a mobile Musudan or BM-25 missile, but it failed.

The reported launch coincided with the 104th birthday anniversary of the country's founding leader Kim Il-Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.

The missile is believed to be capable of striking the US military bases in Guam Island.

Authorities in Pyongyang have not made any comments on report so far.

On Thursday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited an anonymous Seoul official as saying that the North was preparing to launch mid-range ballistic missiles, and that it had deployed one or two Musudan ballistic missiles around the eastern port city of Wonsan about three weeks ago.

On April 9, Pyongyang said it had successfully tested an engine designed for an intercontinental ballistic missile that will enable the country to stage nuclear attacks on the US.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and carried out four nuclear weapons tests in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2016.

It also launched a long-range rocket February this year, which Pyongyang said was aimed at placing an earth observation satellite into orbit. However, the US and South Korea denounced the move as a cover for an intercontinental ballistic missile test.

The UN Security Council responded to the nuclear tests and missile launches with its toughest sanctions. Under the current UN resolutions, North Korea is banned from using any technology that is related to ballistic missile.

Pyongyang accuses the US of plotting with regional allies to topple its government, and says it will not relinquish its nuclear deterrence unless Washington ends its hostile policy toward Pyongyang and dissolves the US-led UN command in South Korea.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Security Council strongly condemns firing of ballistic missile by DPR Korea

15 April 2016  The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the firing of a ballistic missile earlier today by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and urged the country to refrain from further actions.

"Although the DPRK's ballistic missile launch was a failure, this attempt constituted a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013) and 2270 (2016)," said a press statement issued by the 15-member body.

The members of the Security Council reiterated that the DPRK shall refrain from further actions in violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and comply fully with its obligations under these resolutions.

In light of these recent violations, the Council emphasized the importance of the work of the Security it's Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006), and urged all Member States to redouble their efforts to implement the measures imposed in all relevant Council resolutions.

The members of the Security Council reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in North-east Asia at large, expressed their commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation and welcomed efforts by Council members as well as other States to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue.

The Council agreed that it would continue to closely monitor the situation and take further significant measures in line with the Council's previously expressed determination.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ocean Economy: India Flexing Muscles in Indian Ocean and Beyond

Sputnik News

18:43 15.04.2016(updated 19:40 15.04.2016)

India is increasing its sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean and beyond for geo-strategic and commercial interests. In fact, India is allying with the US, Japan, Australia and other countries to achieve its objective of naval supremacy.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  India has historically been preoccupied by land based threats, be it from China or Pakistan, with whom India has fought a number of wars. India's priority has therefore been primarily to guard its land boundaries. Although India has a strong navy, it never ventured into the arena of becoming a naval power.

But ever since Narendra Modi came to power, he has set maritime dominance as the priority of the government in order to check the Chinese aggressive policy in the Indian Ocean region and in the South China Sea.India has a land frontier of 15,200 km but it also possesses a coastline 7,500 km long with over 1,200 islands and Exclusive Economic Zones of 2 million sq. km. Thus considering the huge coastline, possessing thousands of islands and facing increasing threat from the sea, India is gearing to become a naval power. India's strategy to increase its maritime domain has both commercial as well as strategic aspects. India views the growing civil-military consensus on the importance of the sea for prosperity and security of India.

"The Government of India's initiative to promote maritime activities is important for several reasons. With the onset of globalization world trade is growing faster. Maritime transport handles 78 percent of the world trade by volume and over 70 percent by value. India's sea borne trade is 90 percent by volume and 70 percent by value. So a major effort is required on the part of the government to promote maritime trade so that India gets larger share in terms of its own ships carrying its trade. Because it's also a strategic objective that Indian goods should be carried in the Indian ships," former Indian ambassador to the Philippines and Tajikistan, Yogendra Kumar told Sputnik in an exclusive interview.

The Indian government's strategy is to first develop the ports and coastal areas and make them a hub of commercial activity.

Yogendra Kumar further added "When India wants to play a major role in the maritime world whether in the Indian Ocean or South China Sea or the Mediterranean or Atlantic or the East China Sea or the Pacific; you can do well if your shipping and maritime center is developed well. It will have an impact on the ocean economy. Ocean economy is what you tap the sources of the ocean for economic development."

Apart from India's strategy to economically develop its coastal areas, Indian Navy has also charted out a long term strategy for expanding its sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean and beyond.

"As far the role of the Indian navy is concerned, the maritime border or the maritime balance of forces in the India Ocean suits Indian interests. There are several reasons for that, one is that India's relations with the US are getting closer and the US has a considerable stake in the maintenance of current maritime order. Here the interest of the Indian Navy and the US converge. So that gives the opportunity to share the growth of the maritime order in such a way that we do not fall prey to the growing tension in the South China Sea or East China Sea and now you will find the tension growing in the Mediterranean. There again the initiative can be of many kinds, one being the development of India's naval capacity. Second is the development of Maritime domain awareness. The Indian navy has a surveillance mechanism which tracks the movement of ships and gives an idea of the security situation. Another aspect is the development or the relationship between the Pakistan and Chinese navy so if we develop our capabilities enough that will contain the situation very much," the former Indian ambassador told Sputnik.

Thus, India is flexing its muscles in the Indian Ocean and to a certain extent in the South China Sea to thwart China's strategy. Further, through its naval supremacy India is also trying to become a net security provider to the countries along the Indian Ocean.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Unclear on US Rules, Banks, Corporations Wary of Doing Business in Iran

by Luis Ramirez April 15, 2016

Three months after the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, banks and other corporations are wary of doing business in the country due to concerns over running afoul of U.S. sanctions, especially as U.S. lawmakers ponder a clampdown over Iran's missile development.

The 2015 deal unfroze up to $100 billion in Iranian assets at overseas banks, loosened many restrictions on business transactions with the country, and reconnected Iranian banks to the SWIFT inter-bank global messaging system.

But companies complain they have yet to reap the benefits of tapping into Iran's $415 billion economy.

Among those rushing to make deals in Iran was the aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus, which signed a deal in January for 118 airplanes to help replace the aging fleet of Iran's flag carrier, Iran Air.

"I am very proud of all the Airbus teams who quickly mobilized to propose the agreements and make them happen," said Fabrice Bregier, the company's president said at the time.

Three months later, Airbus has yet to finalize the deal. Analysts and company officials, speaking anonymously, told VOA financing the deals remains a hurdle.

Banking concerns

Banks largely remain unclear on the U.S. rules governing the new relationship with Iran; many corporations fear that violating them may cause them to lose their licenses  and more lucrative business  in the United States.

"On the Iran side they're concerned that international banks are not servicing the transactions. Banks are concerned about running afoul of U.S. sanctions today or in the future. So it's a caution on the part of banks," Mark Fitzpatrick, a non-proliferation analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies told VOA.

By most accounts, implementation of the agreement has gone smoothly, with Iran meeting its obligations to curb development of its nuclear program.

However, Iran's test-firing of two ballistic missiles last month and its destabilizing actions in Yemen and Syria are fueling arguments by politicians in the U.S. to impose new sanctions on Tehran. Adding to the uncertainty are statements by Republican presidential front-runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who have pledged to tear up the nuclear deal if they are elected.

The Obama administration is eager to see the agreement carried through. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has promised that the United States will meet its end of the deal and officials with his department, which is in charge of enforcing sanctions, have assured international banks that the U.S. will not block access to Iranian funds that were previously frozen.

But the United States at the same time has said its restrictions on Iranian transactions via U.S. banks will remain in place.

"We will not provide Iran access to the U.S. financial system and we will not restore the 'U-turn' authorization," Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury Adam Szubin said in Washington this week, referring to U.S. dollar transactions that are temporarily cleared through U.S. financial institutions.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Parliament tensions hindering Iraq's major reforms: Abadi

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:38AM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called on lawmakers to exercise self-restraint amid political tensions at the parliament which have delayed a vote on his cabinet reshuffle.

Abadi warned on Thursday that divisions in the parliament would hinder his efforts to implement reform plans.

The Iraqi parliament has witnessed a tumultuous week amid a political rift which has thrice prevented a vote on the list of new ministers.

On Thursday, the parliament cancelled a vote on the cabinet overhaul and voted to unseat speaker Salim al-Jabouri and his deputies. Lawmakers also appointed Adnan al-Janabi, a senior tribal leader, as the acting head of the parliament.

Jabouri dismissed the session as unconstitutional because he and the premier were not present and the vote had failed to reach the required quorum.

Prime Minister Abadi said the row at the parliament is against the spirit of reforms, which undermines Iraq's unity in the face of its security challenges.

He warned that a political crisis engulfing the country could hamper the war against Daesh militants.

"The conflict has crippled parliament ... and could obstruct the work of the government, impacting the heroic operations to free our cities and villages (from Daesh)," Abadi said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

He called on all political parties to remain calm and pave the way for dialog to help the government move forward with the planned reforms.

The reforms, he said, are only part of a wider reform plan aimed eliminating corruption at state institutions and addressing the country's economic woes.

The parliament voted on March 28 to give Abadi a three-day deadline to present his new government or face a vote of no-confidence.

The premier met the deadline and presented a list of nominees. But he has faced stiff resistance from some parties seeking to maintain their influence in the administration.

Most of those on Abadi's list were later substituted with new names on a second list distributed among lawmakers on Tuesday, triggering a storm and prompting some MPs to launch at a sit-in at the floor.

On Wednesday, a fistfight erupted in the parliament hall, forcing the prime minister to say he would make changes to the disputed names on the new list.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Syria govt. presents amendments to UN document

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 15, 2016 5:59PM

The head of the Syrian government delegation to the peace talks in Geneva hailed Friday his meeting with the UN special envoy for Syria as "constructive," saying he had handed Staffan de Mistura amendments on the guiding principles set in the last round of negotiations.

Bashar al-Ja'afari said his meeting with de Mistura focused on submitting amendments on 12 common guiding principles that were set in a UN document at the last round of talks last month.

He said discussions on those adjustments with the UN are expected to be held on Monday.

The news comes as a new round of UN-brokered peace talks kicked off in Geneva on Wednesday.

Ja'afari hailed the nearly two-hour meeting with de Mistura as "constructive and fruitful." However, he declined to take questions, saying "There is not much to say now."

The last round of the UN-backed peace talks came to a halt on March 24 over disagreements on the role of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's future.

The foreign-backed opposition says Assad must step down before a transitional government can be established.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Wednesday rejected the "dream" of a transitional government without President Assad, saying that such ideas are nothing short of a "coup d'etat."

According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict in Syria has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people since March 2011. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, however, puts the number at about 270,000.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Jaysh al-Islam Leader Denies Using Chemical Weapons in Northern Syria

Sputnik News

11:45 15.04.2016(updated 13:14 15.04.2016)

Leader of Jaysh al-Islam Mohammed Alloush in an interview with Sputnik denied alleged use of chemical weapons in a recent attack on Aleppo's Kurdish-controlled Sheikh Maqsoud district by the Syrian rebel group.

GENEVA (Sputnik)  Last Thursday, a 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 Islamist militants. Jaysh al-Islam took responsibility for the shelling, saying it had used "forbidden" weapons.

"This is really a big lie, which is laughable. We do not have chemical weapons and do not allow its application against anyone, and even more so against our civilians," Alloush, who also heads the Riyadh-backed High Negotiations Committee, said on the sidelines of the intra-Syria Geneva talks.

Instead, he once again accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of using chemical weapons in the country.

"[The information] that this type of weapon has been used [by Jaysh al-Islam] is absolutely wrong. What we used was Grad multiple rocket launchers, it is allowed, these rockets are simple, characterized by low weight and are considered to be defensive rather than offensive [rockets]," he added.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In Race to Capture Syria's Raqqa, Assad May Have Edge

by Jamie Dettmer April 15, 2016

Islamic State-controlled territory in Syria has shrunk by nearly a quarter in the past few months, but Kurds, Syrian rebels and forces loyal to embattled President Bashar al-Assad have all grabbed pieces of the self-styled caliphate.

Undeterred, the terror group's propagandists are maintaining their bravado, recently posting an online "travel brochure" depicting bucolic scenes around their Syrian stronghold in Raqqa and courting visitors.

Earlier this week, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Dria became the first senior official from a member of the U.S.-led coalition against IS to offer a hopeful timetable for the capture of Raqqa, as well as the group's key Iraqi stronghold, Mosul. He said in a speech the two cities "must fall in 2016."

During a visit to Baghdad, Le Drian said this year should be a "major turning point in our struggle against the so-called Islamic State."

'Dismantling' phase

A question being discussed by independent Mideast analysts and at influential Western research firms, however, is who is going to win Raqqa and drive out the jihadists  Russian-backed forces loyal to Assad, or a more Western-tilted alliance composed of Kurdish militiamen and their Arab allies?

Acknowledging that one of the most difficult tasks ahead for the U.S.-led coalition is trying to get opposition forces geared up in the coming months for a push on Raqqa, U.S. officials are reluctant to be drawn into sketching out a timeline.

"We are considering a number of different proposals to accelerate the defeat of ISIL by better enabling local forces, but no decisions have been made," said Navy spokesman Capt. Jeff A. Davis, using a different acronym for the terror group, which is also known as ISIS and Daesh. U.S. officials hope the Syrian Democratic Front, a Kurd-dominated coalition of Arab militias, will be able to do so in the near future.

On Wednesday, Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said phase one of the campaign against IS had concluded with the jihadists weakened and disrupted and unable to seize new territory.

"We believe that by degrading them in phase one and then dismantling them in phase two, we believe that will set us up for phase three, which of course is the ultimate defeat of this enemy," he added.

As far as the fight in Syria is concerned, the second phase, he said, is centered on isolating Raqqa by capturing more nearby villages that take away the terrorist group's "last, best" route to move people, money and supplies in Syria and Iraq.

But the pace is slow.

Key difficulties

Last June, buoyed by Kurdish-led successes in northern Syria along the border with Turkey  including speedily wresting control of the strategic border town of Tal Abyad after just two days of fighting  U.S. officials seemed more confident of swift progress toward capturing Raqqa. The quick advances by Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) appeared to shake up Western military assumptions that pushing back IS from key Syrian strongholds would take months or even years.

Advancing to about 30 kilometers of Raqqa, the Kurds and their Arab allies stopped. IS was expecting an assault on the city, preparing defenses and digging trenches. Mosque preachers in Raqqa told residents in the city to hoard food to withstand a siege, according to local political activists. Months later, though, there has been no movement closer to Raqqa.

One problem, some analysts say, is that Kurd-dominated forces lack the numbers to capture and hold Raqqa. Another problem: anti-IS forces that enter Raqqa, a Sunni Arab city, need to be led predominantly by Sunni Arabs in order to secure the support of local tribes and to avoid the city's recapture being seen as a Kurdish land-grab.

Faced with those difficulties, some analysts question whether the coalition will be ready in time to capture Raqqa before Assad  especially in light of the quick work Russian-backed, mainly Hezbollah, Iraqi Shi'ite militiamen and Iranian revolutionary guards made of regaining control last month of Palmyra, the historic Syrian city that was overrun by IS in May of last year.

"It would be better if Western-backed Kurds and their SDF allies took Raqqa instead of the Assad-allied Russians, who would almost certainly be accompanied by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah, or other Shi'ite militias," said Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.

"Ideally, we should see both the Assad axis and the jihadists lose territory," he added. "But I certainly have my doubts that this could be achieved without serious planning and coordination on the part of the United States and other Western allies. I am not hopeful that this kind of serious planning and coordination is taking place. I would be very pleased to be proven wrong."

There are increasing signs Assad and his foreign backers, Russia and Iran, are considering pushing their fight against IS east of Palmyra and toward Raqqa.

The prize of Raqqa

According to analyst Ross Harrison of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, the war in Syria is at "an inflection point." Writing in the National Interest, he argues, "whoever is successful in liberating territory from ISIS potentially wins the greatest competitive advantages in the broader battle for Syria. The sudden rush to liberate Palmyra from the clutches of ISIS by the Syrian government (with Russian air support) may signal that Assad understands that the power balance is likely to tilt towards whichever side is able to demonstrate the greatest progress in defeating ISIS."

The prize of Raqqa is tempting for Assad, according to Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a Middle east analyst and chief executive officer of Valens Global, a U.S.-based consulting firm that focuses on threats posed by violent non-state actors.

"Russia-backed regime forces taking Raqqa will definitely make it look like Russia is in the lead in Syria," said Gartenstein-Ross. "That will have broader implications for the U.S.-Russia strategic competition. And Assad would definitely be strengthened, certainly perceptually, if his forces take Raqqa. That calculation changes if Assad's men later get sucked into a quagmire in Raqqa or even get booted back out, but the immediate effect would be strengthening Assad."

Overall, Gartenstein-Ross sees Assad and his allies better positioned to secure Raqqa.

"To be clear, he'd also be strengthened if Kurdish forces capture Raqqa," he argued. "The Kurds would have more difficulty keeping Raqqa, and would likely look to hand it off quickly to the regime or local forces."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






WHO: Blockaded Syrians Deprived of Medical Supplies

by Lisa Schlein April 15, 2016

The World Health Organization is urgently appealing to the Syrian government to allow life-saving surgical equipment and medications into besieged and hard-to-reach areas.

The World Health Organization reports Syrian authorities have been removing critical surgical equipment and medicines from relief convoys for years. But, it says this practice is worsening and is becoming more life threatening as people are becoming weaker and sicker after years of conflict.

The WHO notes there were nine incidents last year in which medical supplies were removed from convoys going to battle-scarred people in Homs, Aleppo, and rural Damascus. As a consequence, it estimates more than 100,000 people were deprived of vital medical support.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib says antibiotics and chronic medicines were removed from convoys recently that were going to the besieged cities of Madaya, Zabadani, Kafria, Idlib, and Homs. She says these supplies, which previously had been accepted, were now crossed off the list of approved medications.

"This is worrisome because, as you know, many people, hundreds of people need these antibiotics and medicines for chronic diseasesif not their life is at risk. Many people have diabetes, have cancer, hyper-tension. They can also suffer from asthma and if this medication is missing, their health is at risk," said Chaib.

UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura says he raised similar concerns with Syrian authorities on a recent trip to Damascus. He says he was assured they would allow all items to be delivered to besieged areas, except for surgical ones, atropine, and anxiety pills.

"We are still concerned about surgical items, which are not just for military use, but they can be and should be used for children for instance, which happen to be falling through the rubbles of incidents and would require this," said de Mistura.

The WHO also is calling for permission to organize frequent and lengthy medical assessment missions in blockaded areas. It says such missions would provide a comprehensive overview of the health condition of the people, so appropriate medication and treatment could be administered.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taiwan to send mission to China to deal with Kenya deportation issue

ROC Central News Agency

2016/04/15 13:54:24

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Taiwan's government will send a delegation to China next week to visit a group of 45 Taiwanese fraud suspects, who were sent there from Kenya, and to discuss their release, the Ministry of Justice said Friday.

China agreed Thursday night to the visit by the Taiwan delegation, which is now being assembled by the justice ministry, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Criminal Investigation Bureau, said Minister of Justice Lo Ying-shay ().

She said the delegation will include Chen Wen-chi (), director of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs, and prosecutor Chang Chuen-huei (), who was one of the negotiators in a similar case in 2011, when 14 Taiwan fraud suspects were brought back after being sent to China from the Philippines.

A second prosecutor is also being considered to join the delegation, which will leave for China Monday at the earliest, Lo said.

Since April 8, a total of 45 Taiwanese citizens accused of involvement in telecommunications fraud have been deported to China by Kenyan police, despite Taiwan's strong opposition to such a move.

China has said it has jurisdiction in the case since many of the fraud victims were Chinese citizens who had lost millions of dollars.

(By Page Tsai and Lilian Wu)

Enditem/pc

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Thanks for visiting !

The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy.

We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here.

Thank you for your support!
Low:

The arrest of a former Hargrave Military Academy student on several computer-crime charges  including a threat that supposedly was connected to the Islamic State group  is a frustrating criminal case.

While no one ever suspected an international terrorist group publicly would announce a planned attack on an all-boys military school in Chatham, Virginia, the tragedy of this story is about a young man facing some serious criminal charges.

High/Low:

It appears First Piedmont Corp. is trying to be a good neighbor in Ringgold. The company is working with the state and nearby residents to help identify an odor problem at the private landfill.

The smell out there has been a tremendously terrible odor, nearby resident Scarlett Lowe said.

In response, First Piedmont has been covering trash with more dirt and installing flares to burn away the smell. There also will be a community meeting about the issue next Thursday.

Low:

A long-running dispute between professional and amateur archaeologists was highlighted in a story we published about some work that was done at the Oak Hill Plantation site on Berry Hill Road last January for the Rebel Gold TV series.

The pros make a good argument about the importance of a careful, professional excavation of an historic site.

High/Low:

When we saw lights on inside the White Mill on Memorial Drive, we wondered what was going on. At one time, the hope was the White Mill would be renovated and re-opened as offices for up to 400 people. That never happened, and the project still is stalled  although the lights soon will be turned off.

High:

Averett University is one of three finalists for $40,000 in funding for a yearlong service learning project as part of the Service Year + Higher Education: Innovation Challenge.

Averetts goal as a university is to prepare its students to be catalysts for positive change, and a major component of being a strong hometown university is our commitment to community engagement, Averett president Tiffany Franks said in a news release.

High:

Danville Public Schools has cut $602,000 from its proposed budget but still is asking for $1.98 million more from Danville City Council.

Nothing in this budget is eliminating a need, Superintendent Stanley Jones said. Any option I suggest tonight is still a need.

That tells us the members of Danville City Council need to take a closer look at next years school budget. Council has until June 30 to complete its next budget.

Low:

And finally this week, the on-again, off-again foul smell and taste of Danvilles treated drinking water is on-again. In response, the city has modified the treatment process while applying for grant money to conduct a broad study of what is behind the problem.
When Jimmy Bryant saw the weather forecast for last weekend, he was hit with a sinking feeling.

The National Weather Service warned of a hard freeze and strong winds April 9 and 10, alerting farmers that sensitive vegetation could be killed. As temperatures dropped 20 degrees below average in some places, many in the Roanoke Valley woke up the morning of April 10 to snow flurries and blustery winds. It was an uncomfortable inconvenience for many, but for some farmers it may have been a catastrophe.

Bryant, who owns Bryant Orchards in Botetourt County, said last weekend was one of the worst freezes he has seen in nearly all of his 37 years in operation. On Thursday, he walked through a block of about three acres of apples at his orchard. From afar, they looked vibrant and colorful, but up close, some of the blossoms were dotted brown. The apples inside, no bigger than the eye of a needle, were dead.

Bryant estimated that the freeze killed about 20 percent of the apples in the three-acre block. It will take weeks to figure out how much damage was done to his 200 acres of peaches and apples, but he said he remains optimistic.

Reports of crop damage have been filtering in from all over the state for the past week as farmers evaluate the damage done to their lots. Peaches, apples, grapes and berries were hit particularly hard since they are more sensitive to frost.

A Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Fluvanna County reported an estimated 100 percent loss of the county's peach crops and 50 percent to 75 percent losses for apples, according to a report submitted April 11 to the Department of Agriculture. Similar warnings were recorded all over the state, including Southwest Virginia.

Virginia Farm Bureau spokesman Norm Hyde said it could take about a month to realize how bad things are since it will take time to survey the damage in some large orchards.

"It is a big deal. We are on the edge of our seats, to be honest with you," said Tenley Weaver, co-owner of Floyd County's Good Food Good People, which represents about 50 local producers.

"What I am hearing so far is about the complete destruction of cherries, peaches, nectarines," she said. Weaver works with farmers to collect food for distribution. A 2007 freeze was so bad she had to cancel a Community Supported Agriculture program because of the lack of fruit. She is hoping this bout of foul weather was not as damaging.

"We are personally sitting on the edge of our seat because we have a really big fruit share CSA," she said. If local crops take a hit, fruit from outside the region likely will be brought in to places that contract with local growers. The average consumer will not be without fruit, she explained, but a massive local fruit kill probably will affect prices, especially at small retail markets.

"Locally, I can just about guarantee you that the price will go up," she said.

Bedford County Farm Bureau president W.P. Johnson Jr. also said the recent freeze will affect local markets. He said strawberries and peaches in the area seem to have sustained more damage than apples and other crops. Peaches, he said, are more sensitive to cold weather than apples.

Some farmers he spoke with are looking at losses in the 30 percent to 50 percent range for some of their fruit crops. There is also the potential for another frost, which could be particularly damaging after the one last weekend.

"Most everybody is concerned if we have another event," Johnson said.

"We are still subject to freeze until the 15th of May," he said. "We are still holding our breath and holding on."

The effects of last weekend's freeze were escalated by the unusually warm weather in March, which led to a lot of early blooms. Once the fruits reach bud break, they become more vulnerable to a freeze.

Mark Woods, of Woods Orchards in Franklin County, saw many of his peaches blossom early. When he woke up Saturday morning to snow, he expected the worst.

"When I got up and it was that cold, I knew there wasn't much to check," he said.

He immediately went to look over the damage to his roughly 80 acres of peaches and apples, but he still hasn't been able to realize the full extent of the damage. He and Bryant said some fruit might look fine right now, but later will fall off and die.

"I have I don't know how many peaches left, if any," he said. "We are going to wait until the ones who get killed fall off, and assess. I think it will take about two weeks to really see it."

At Stanburn Winery in Stuart, co-owner David Stanley said he lost all of his chardonnay grapes, about two and a half acres worth.

"We had bud break probably a week and a half earlier than we've ever had it before," Stanley said of the chardonnay. Stanburn grows six types of grapes on about 15 acres, which is distributed or used for Stanburn's own wine production. Other grapes were damaged, but the effect on the chardonnay grapes was the most severe, he said, because they grew so well in the warm March weather.

"We know we won't have enough to sell this year," he said, but he is optimistic. In 2007, the weather killed the entire vineyard, and the grapes are in much better shape than that right now. He said there also time for more fruit growth that could soften the blow. He and other area growers just have to wait and see, he said.
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Apr 15, 2016) - Bacanora Minerals Ltd. ("Bacanora" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:BCN)(AIM:BCN), is pleased to provide an update regarding its recent and forthcoming activities at the Sonora Lithium Project1 in northern Mexico ("Sonora").

These developments are being undertaken in line with the Company's strategy to deliver a two phase open-pit mine and lithium carbonate processing facility with a life of over 20 years as quickly as practicable. The Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") announced on 3 March 2016, which highlights the attractive economics associated with delivering on this strategy (Pre-tax NPV8% of US$776 million and Pre-tax IRR of 29%), has been filed under the Company's corporate profile via SEDAR and will be made available on Bacanora's website, www.bacanoraminerals.com. An amended Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the Cajon Borate deposit in Sonora, Mexico has also been filed on SEDAR. Further details can be found below and the report will also be made available on the Company's website. In addition, the Company has filed an amended Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") for the Sonora Lithium Project (as previously filed in January 2016).

Overview

Discussions are continuing with various Asian offtake partners, banks, debt providers and strategic investors. Bacanora is focused on developing a project financing strategy as well as producing further battery grade lithium carbonate samples for distribution to potential partners in Asia, in Q3 2016 Extensive trenching of the deposit undertaken - over 80 tonnes of mineralized material extracted for processing at Bacanora's pilot plant in Hermosillo and at external facilities Bacanora plans to have offtake and project financing strategies finalized as part of the completion of the Feasibility Study ("FS") in Q1 2017





FS, for which Bacanora is fully funded, has commenced with the following activities undertaken: Drilling contractor is being mobilized to undertake infill reserve drilling - scheduled for Q2 2016 and intended for completion in Q3 2016 Process commenced to appoint international engineering and technical consultants to undertake the geological resource modelling, metallurgical testwork, mine designs and process engineering Process commenced to recruit additional technical personnel with lithium development and operating expertise





Amended MRE incorporates results from metallurgical testwork conducted in Q1 2016 which highlighted that a potassium product can be recovered as a by-product Following this testwork, SRK Consulting (UK) Limited ("SRK") interpolated grades of potassium ("K") into the block model Amended MRE being reported using a cut-off grade of 1,000 ppm lithium (previously 450 ppm), which is confined to a resource pit shell based on updated reasonable optimisation parameters and lithium selling prices, reflecting economic parameters contained within the PFS Amended MRE comprises an Indicated Mineral Resource estimated at 259 Mt averaging 3,200 ppm Li for 4.5 Mt of LCE 2 , in addition to an Inferred Mineral Resource estimated at 160 Mt averaging 3,200 ppm Li for 2.7 Mt of LCE Amended MRE does not impact the attractive economics highlighted in the PFS, which are based on unchanged Probable Mineral Reserves estimates







Further Information

Amended NI-43-101 Mineral Resource estimate for Sonora

The amended report for Sonora, which has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, is entitled, Amended Mineral Resource Estimate for the Sonora Lithium Project, Mexico, April 2016. The lead author of the amended report is Mr. Martin Pittuck (MSc., C.Eng., FGS, MIMMM) of SRK, who is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101 and is independent of the Company. The amended report has been filed on SEDAR and will also be made available for download on the Company's website.

This report provides an amendment to the Mineral Resource Statement given in Baconora's announcement dated 3 March 2016 (as the Li cutoff grade has since changed) and supersedes the previous technical report for Sonora that was released and filed in January 2016. This amended report incorporates the results of the metallurgical testwork conducted by Bacanora, which also highlighted that a potassium product can be recovered as a by-product from lithium carbonate production, along with updated operating cost estimates in early 2016 (subsequent to the release of the January 2016 MRE). Following this testwork, SRK interpolated grades of potassium into the block model and was requested to produce an amended MRE that includes K results. SRK has not received any further drilling data since the January 2016 MRE.

Since the 3 March 2016 announcement, SRK has amended the MRE to reflect the economic parameters contained within the PFS, including slightly lower projected lithium prices and increased processing costs. This has resulted in an amended MRE being reported using a cut-off grade of 1,000 ppm lithium (previously 450 ppm), which is confined to a resource pit shell based on updated reasonable optimisation parameters and lithium selling prices.

The amended MRE comprises an Indicated Mineral Resource estimated at 259 Mt averaging 3,200 ppm Li for 4.5 Mt of LCE, in addition to an Inferred Mineral Resource estimated at 160 Mt averaging 3,200 ppm Li for 2.7 Mt of LCE. Mineral Resources are stated inclusive of Mineral Reserves.

Table 1 SRK Amended Mineral Resource Statement as of 12 April 2016

Classification Clay Tonnes (Mt) Clay Grade Contained Metal LCE attributable to BCN Li ppm K % Kt Li Kt LCE Kt K Kt LCE Indicated 259 3,200 1.4 839 4,463 3,555 3,607 Inferred 160 3,200 1.3 515 2,740 2,130 2,369

Notes:

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate and have been used to derive sub-totals, totals and weighted averages. Such calculations inherently involve a degree of rounding and consequently introduce a margin of error. Where these occur, SRK does not consider them to be material. The reporting standard adopted for the reporting of the MRE uses the terminology, definitions and guidelines given in the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014) as required by NI 43-101 and JORC. SRK assumes the Sonora Lithium deposit to be amenable to surface mining methods. Using results from initial metallurgical test work, suitable surface mining and processing costs, and forecast LCE price SRK has reported the Mineral Resource at a cut-off 1,000 ppm Li (5,320 ppm Li 2 CO 3 ). SRK completed a site inspection of the deposit by Mr. Martin Pittuck, MSc, C.Eng, MIMMM, an appropriate "independent qualified person" as such term is defined in NI 43-101. LCE is the industry standard terminology for, and is equivalent to, Li 2 CO 3 . 1 ppm Li metal is equivalent to 5.32 ppm LCE / Li 2 CO 3 . Use of LCE is to provide data comparable with industry reports and assumes complete conversion of lithium in clays with no recovery or process losses.

The amended Mineral Resource is inclusive of the Probable Reserves, which form the basis of the attractive economics highlighted in the PFS; the Probable Reserves remain unchanged since the 3 March 2016 announcement and are summarized in Table 2:

Table 2: Probable Mineral Reserves: (Cut-off grade of 1,200 ppm)

Classification Tonne Ore (Mt) Li (ppm) K (%) LCE (000t) LCE attributable to BCN (000t) Probable 129.7 3,015 1.28 2,083 1,813

For the Stage 1 and Stage 2 mining design, a total of 52 Mt of ore at a grade of 3,525 Li ppm and 1.49% K and a stripping ratio of 3.1:1 will be mined over the initial 20-year mine life which forms the basis of the PFS economics.

Highlights of Sonora PFS:

The PFS has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and is entitled, Technical Report on the Pre-Feasibility Study for the Sonora Lithium Project, Mexico, 15 April 2016. The authors of the PFS are Ausenco Limited ("Ausenco"), SRK and Independent Mining Consultants Inc. ("IMC"). The PFS has been filed on SEDAR and will also be made available for download on the Company's website.

The PFS comprises a two phase open-pit mine and lithium carbonate processing facility with a life of over 20 years, with the following production profile:

Phase 1: Initial production of 17,500 tonnes per year of battery-grade Li 2 CO 3 , for the first two years of operations;

CO , for the first two years of operations; Phase 2: Expansion to 35,000 tonnes Li 2 CO 3 per year in or around the 3 rd year of operations; and

CO per year in or around the 3 year of operations; and Designed to produce up to 50,000 tonnes per year of potassium sulphate (Sulfate of Potash, K 2 SO 4 ) subsequent to the third year, for sale to the fertilizer industry.

The PFS demonstrates the attractive economics of Sonora and key findings are shown in the table below:

Table 3: Key Results

Pre-Feasibility Study Key Indicators Value Pre-tax Net Present Value $776M Pre-tax IRR (%) 29% Simple Payback (years) 5 Initial Construction Capital Cost $240M Stage 2 Construction Capital Cost $177M Av. LOM operating costs ($/t Li 2 CO 3 ) $2,698 Av. operating costs ($/t Li 2 CO 3 net of K 2 SO 4 credits) $2,100 Post-tax NPV (at 8% discount) $542M Post-tax IRR (%) 25% Av. annual EBITDA with co-products (US$) $134M Av. Annual Li 2 CO 3 production capacity (Years 1 and 2) 17,500 t Av. Annual Li 2 CO 3 production capacity (Years 3 to 20) 35,000 t Av. Annual K 2 SO 4 production (Years 3 to 20) 50,000 t

(* All costs are in US dollars)

Qualified Persons for the PFS and Amended Sonora MRE

Each of the qualified persons below has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this press release pertaining to the Sonora Lithium Project and is independent of the Company. The qualified persons are:

Kevin Scott, P. Eng., of Ausenco, is the Qualified Person responsible for the recovery methods, infrastructure, capital cost and operating cost estimates, and the overall preparation of the PFS.

The amended SRK Mineral Resource estimate was prepared by Mr. Martin Pittuck of SRK, who is an independent Qualified Person, as defined by NI 43-101.

The Mineral Reserve estimate and mine plan set forth in the PFS was prepared by Mr. Herb Welhener of Independent Mining Consultants, Inc, who is an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

The Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource and Probable Mineral Reserve estimates for the Sonora Lithium Project in this press release were prepared in accordance with the CIM "Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" adopted by the CIM Council on 10 May 2014, and the CIM "Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines," adopted by CIM Council on 23 November 2003, in compliance with NI 43-101 guidelines.

Cajon Borates PEA

The Company has also filed an amended PEA on the Cajon Borate deposit in Sonora, Mexico. The amended PEA, which has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, is entitled, Amended Preliminary Economic Assessment for the El Cajon Borate Deposit, Magdalena Basin Project, Sonora, Mexico. The lead author with overall responsibility for the PEA is Carl G. Verley, P.Geo., who is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101 and is independent of the Company. The co-authors of the amended PEA are Geoff Allard, P.E., Rodrigo Calles Montijo, Lic. Eng. and Martin Vidal, MSc, Lic. Geo. The amended PEA has been filed on SEDAR and will also be made available for download on the Company's website. The amended PEA provides clarification concerning the responsible Qualified Persons who authored the report, the dates of their inspection of the property, bulk density data, an expanded life-of-mine cash-flow analysis, as well as information on colemanite price data used in the report. The balance of the information reported remains unchanged. For further details, please refer to the Company's press release of 7 January 2013. The highlights of the amended PEA are reiterated below.

Highlights of the amended PEA (shown in Table 4) for a potential colemanite mine and production facility with a mining rate of 231,100 tonnes averaging 10.5% B 2 O 3 per annum to yield 50,000 tonnes of 40-42% colemanite concentrate per year over a 25 year mine life suggest annual revenue of US$25 million for an IRR of 24.8% with a 4 year pay back. Capital costs are estimated at US$7.25 million and average operating costs at US$170/tonne. NPV of the project, discounted at 8%, is US$113 million, assuming an average colemanite concentrate price of US$500/tonne. The preliminary economic assessment includes forward looking information including, but not limited to assumptions concerning colemanite prices, cash flow forecasts, project capital and operating costs, commodity recoveries, mine life and production rates. Readers are cautioned that actual results may vary from those presented. Further testing will need to be undertaken to confirm economic feasibility of the El Cajon deposit. Readers are further cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Table 4: Preliminary Financial Highlights

Open Pit Mine Production per annum 231,100 tonnes @ 10.5% B 2 O 3 Colemanite concentrate production per annum 50,000 tonnes @ 42% B 2 O 3 Revenue (US$500/tonne of colemanite concentrate) per annum $25 million NPV (8% Discount) US$113 million Internal rate of return (IRR) 24.8% Average Operating costs US$170 per tonne Total Initial Capital Costs US$7.25 million Expected Mine Life 25 years Pay Back of Capital Costs 4 year

Carl G. Verley, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101 who was the lead author with overall responsibility for the amended PEA and review and approval of the relevant technical contents of this news release.

It should be noted that Colemanite is not an exchange traded commodity; consequently, there is no widely quoted or accepted spot price for colemanite concentrates. Concentrate prices are negotiated on a supply-demand basis generally with end-users. In the absence of further definitive colemanite price data, information on colemanite prices was taken from Industrial Minerals, a source that has been in the business of providing insight and analysis on industrial minerals since 1967 and is therefore believed to be reliable. Colemanite prices range from between US$630 to US$730 per tonne for concentrates averaging between 40-42% B 2 O 3 according to Industrial Minerals price reports (Industrial Minerals Magazine, September 2011). The Qualified Person has not verified the reliability of the limited price data for colemanite. Colemanite concentrate prices of US$400, US$500 and US$600 per tonne FOB Guaymas are used in economic analyses of the El Cajon deposit as presented under Item 22.0 of the amended PEA. These price ranges are below those reported in the Industrial Minerals publication and are, therefore, thought to be conservative. However, investors should be aware that the price data used may not be a reliable reflection of current colemanite prices.

Report Filings

All of the technical reports referred to herein (each of which has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101) have been filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and are also available via the Company's website at www.bacanoraminerals.com.

ABOUT BACANORA:

Bacanora is a Canadian and London listed minerals explorer (AIM and TSX-V: BCN). The Company explores and is developing industrial mineral projects, with a primary focus on its lithium project. The Company's operations are based in Hermosillo in northern Mexico. The main assets of Bacanora are:

The Sonora Lithium Project, which consists of ten mining concession areas covering approximately 100 thousand hectares in the northeast of Sonora State. The Company, through drilling and exploration work to date, has established an Indicated Mineral Resource (in accordance with NI 43-101) of 4.46 Mt LCE contained in 259 Mt of clay at a Li grade of 3,200 ppm and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.74 Mt LCE contained in 160 Mt of clay at a Li grade of 3,200 ppm.





The Magdalena Borate Project, covering 16,503 hectares in Sonora state, Mexico, where the Company's main borate zone, El Cajon, has an Indicated Resource (in accordance with NI 43-101) of 1.17 mt of B 2 O 3 , at an eight per cent. cut-off grade. The Company has completed a number of measures to determine the geological and commercial potential of the project and is undertaking a pre-feasibility exercise to determine the economic benefit of developing the mine and constructing a processing plant on site in order to become a supplier of boric acid.





Reader Advisory

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is 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 information in this press release includes, but is not limited to disclosure regarding the anticipated timing for completion of the construction and commissioning of the process plant, capital and operating cost estimates, ongoing discussions with potential offtake partners, banks, debt providers and strategic investors, completion of a feasibility study, future drilling activities, appointment of engineering and technical consultants, the production of lithium and potassium products and the lithium market in general. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: commodity price volatility; general economic conditions in Canada, the United States, Mexico and globally; industry conditions, governmental regulation, including environmental regulation; unanticipated operating events or performance; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, capital, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

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.

1 The Sonora Lithium Project is comprised of the following lithium properties: La Ventana lithium concession, which is 100 percent owned by Bacanora, and the El Sauz and Fleur concessions, which are held by Mexilit S.A. de C.V. ("Mexilit"). The Megalit concession, which is held by Megalit S.A de C.V ("Megalit"), is not included in the Sonora Project Technical Reports at this time. Mexilit and Megalit are owned 70 percent by Bacanora and 30 percent by Rare Earth Minerals plc
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 15, 2016) - Skeena Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") believes the allegations by Eilat Exploration Ltd. ("Eilat") and its affiliated company Arkaroola Resources Ltd., are unfounded and without merit. Eilat filed lawsuits in the Supreme Court of British Columbia over its sale of the Spectrum gold project in northwest B.C. to Skeena pursuant to an asset purchase agreement dated October 28, 2014.

Skeena is not commenting further at this time as these matters are before the courts.

About Skeena

Skeena Resources Ltd. is a junior Canadian mining exploration company involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of prospective base and precious metal properties throughout western Canada. The Company's primary activities at present are the evaluation of the high-grade Spectrum gold project and adjacent bulk-tonnage GJ copper-gold project, located in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern B.C. The Company recently optioned the Snip mine from Barrick Gold Corp., which is also located in the Golden Triangle. Skeena's management includes a highly experienced team of mine-finders, including Ron Netolitzky, Chairman, who was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2015.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

Skeena Resources Ltd.

Walt Coles Jr., President & CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.




TSX.V: GBN |

SASKATOON, April 15, 2016 /CNW/ - Golden Band Resources Inc. ("Golden Band" or the "Company") (TSXV: GBN) announces that it has commenced proceedings to restructure its business and financial affairs by filing a Notice of Intention To Make a Proposal to its Creditors (the "NOI") under section 50.4 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B-3 (the "BIA").

Golden Band has engaged The Bowra Group Inc. ("Bowra") as Proposal Trustee to assist it in developing and presenting its proposal to creditors. The law firm of MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP ("MLT") has been engaged as restructuring counsel to Golden Band. Concurrent with the NOI filing, Mr. Beukman (CFO) and Messrs. Coombes and Attaway (directors) have resigned.

Information relating to the filing and process can be found at www.bowragroup.com. Further information regarding the restructuring of Golden Band will be disclosed in due course. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company will be able to restructure its business and affairs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. "Is Golden Band bankrupt"?

A. No, Golden Band is not bankrupt. To the contrary, the Company is working to develop and present a proposal to its creditors under Division I of Part III of the BIA which will enable it to work through its present financial challenges.

Q. "As a creditor of Golden Band, will I be paid for goods and services that I provide to Golden Band?"

A. Golden Band will pay for goods and services provided to it subsequent to the date of the filing of the NOI (April 15, 2016) on a cash basis or on other terms suitable to its suppliers. Under the BIA, amounts owing by Golden Band to its creditors for goods and services provided prior to April 15, 2016 ("Pre-NOI Arrears") are temporarily frozen and cannot be paid by Golden Band.

Creditors of Golden Band who are owed Pre-NOI Arrears will in due course be asked to file Proofs of Claim and will have their claims for Pre-NOI Arrears dealt with through the Proposal to Creditors to be filed by Golden Band.

Q. "How Long Will This Restructuring Process Take?"

A. As a result of the filing of the NOI by Golden Band, a 30-day stay of proceedings (the "Stay") is in effect (during which creditors may not commence or continue action against Golden Band). The Company intends to seek at least one 45-day extension of the Stay from the Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan. Accordingly, the restructuring of Golden Band will take at least 75 days (and perhaps longer, as circumstances require) in order to be developed and implemented. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company will be able to restructure its business and affairs.

About Golden Band

Golden Band Resources Inc. is a former gold producer operating in the La Ronge gold belt in northern Saskatchewan and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada under the symbol GBN. Commercial production was declared on April 1, 2011. The Company has suspended mining operations (see news release of June 30, 2014) but has been actively exploring the La Ronge Gold Belt since 1994 and has assembled a land package of 870 km2, including 13 known gold deposits and five former producing mines, being Jolu, Decade, Star Lake, EP and Komis (the La Ronge Project area). On April 15, 2016, the Company filed the NOI to assist its restructuring efforts.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Golden Band Resources Inc.,

"Paul Saxton"

Paul Saxton, CEO

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the potential restructuring and financing plans, objectives or expectations of Golden Band Resources Inc. (Company) 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 the Company's plans or expectations include risks relating to the failure to obtain restructuring proposals acceptable to the Company, necessary regulatory or shareholder approvals, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company. The Company makes all reasonable efforts to update its corporate information on a timely basis.

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.

SOURCE Golden Band Resources Inc.
VANCOUVER, April 15, 2016 /CNW/ - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") - (TSXV: WML; Frankfurt: EJZ), announces that, on April 14, 2016, it closed the settlement of $687,000.00 in debt related to certain accounts payable to Cardero Resource Corp. and a portion of the principal sum of certain outstanding loans originally made to the Company in 2011. The Company issued 2,000,000 common shares at a deemed price of $0.21 in settlement of such debt. The common shares issued have a hold period in Canada expiring on August 14, 2016.

The foregoing securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Wealth Minerals Ltd.

Wealth's strategy is to acquire undervalued projects with low exploration risk, attractive grades and potentially low capital requirements. Management insist that projects be located in stable and development-friendly geopolitical jurisdictions and that capital required for development is not excessive within the context of each commodity. The focus over the past few years has been on the acquisition of precious metals projects. The proposed acquisition of Li3 offers a new kind of opportunity where helping to meet emerging lithium demand is expected to create additional value for shareholders. The Company will also continue to move forward with its existing precious metals projects, such as Yanamina (Peru) and Valsequillo (Mexico).

For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's web site (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

WEALTH MINERALS LTD.

"Hendrik van Alphen"

Hendrik van Alphen

President & 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 press release, which has been prepared by management.

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 anticipated business plans of the Company, are forward-looking statements. 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 or any of its joint venture partners 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, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, 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 inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its or their activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from their 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 latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.

SOURCE Wealth Minerals Ltd.
SHARE

By Chad Terhune Kaiser Health News (Tns)

The number of potentially deadly infections from contaminated medical scopes is far higher than what federal officials previously estimated, a new congressional investigation shows.

As many as 350 patients at 41 medical facilities in the U.S. and worldwide were infected or exposed to tainted gastrointestinal scopes from Jan. 1, 2010, to Oct. 31, 2015, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

A separate Senate investigation released in January found 250 scope-related infections at 25 hospitals and clinics in the U.S. and Europe. That probe looked at a narrower period, from 2012 to 2015.

The FDA supplied the new information in response to a yearlong inquiry by U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee.

The FDA says it is not permitted by law to name the medical facilities involved in the 41 incidents it disclosed. But the device manufacturers weren't identified either.

"It's really disturbing that the number of patients harmed and the number of facilities where this happened keeps rising," said Lisa McGiffert, director of the Safe Patient Project at Consumers Union. "It probably indicates the number will continue to increase as authorities dig deeper."

In a Feb. 15 document sent to the House Oversight committee, the FDA listed 404 patient infections and 44 more patients who were exposed to contaminated duodenoscopes. But the regulators warned that these device reports "likely contain duplicate patient reporting" and "we estimate the number of unique patients reported to be 300 to 350" for infections and exposure.

The FDA told the House panel that scope-related infections or contamination occurred at 30 facilities in the U.S. and 11 overseas.

Lieu said the House investigation uncovered significant gaps in existing law that contributed to a series of superbug outbreaks nationwide, including the ones at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Both outbreaks involved scopes from Olympus Corp., a device manufacturing giant based in Tokyo. At UCLA, three patients died and five more were sickened by antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Lieu said he's introducing two bills Friday aimed at improving patient safety in response to the House findings and reporting by the Los Angeles Times on the outbreaks.

"I was surprised at how much larger the number of infections was and it made me even more upset about the harm these device manufacturers have caused," Lieu said in an interview. "There are current gaps in the law we need to close to make sure these situations don't happen again."

Lieu is filing a bill, known as the DEVICE Act, which would impose new requirements on manufacturers. The companies would have to notify the FDA when they issue safety warnings in other countries related to the design and cleaning of their devices. The legislation also would require manufacturers to notify the FDA when they change the design or cleaning instructions of their devices, regardless of whether those changes warrant new government approval.

Lieu will file an additional bill, a companion to legislation that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has already filed. It requires the cleaning instructions for medical devices to be scientifically validated to ensure they actually work.

Meantime, federal prosecutors continue to investigate Olympus and two smaller device manufacturers, Pentax and Fujifilm, over their role in the outbreaks.

The scope infections occurred during a procedure known as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP. Nationally, more than 650,000 ERCP procedures are performed each year, in which a scope is threaded down a person's throat to diagnose and treat problems in the digestive tract, such as gallstones, cancers and blockages in the bile duct.

In January, Olympus began a voluntary recall of its duodenoscopes and pledged to make repairs to reduce contamination risk. The existing scopes remain in use while the company works on those alterations, which it expects to finish by August.

Olympus said it needed time to review the congressional report and legislation before offering specific comments.

A spokesman for AdvaMed, a device industry trade group, also declined to comment until the latest information could be reviewed. In the past, industry officials have said the FDA already has extensive authority to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical technology.

The FDA said it doesn't comment on pending legislation as a general policy.

The legislative fixes seek to address actions taken by Olympus, the leading maker of gastrointestinal scopes in the U.S. and worldwide.

The Los Angeles Times reported in December 2015 that Olympus kept selling its scopes despite warnings from a 2012 superbug outbreak in the Netherlands.

In that case, a mechanical engineer hired by Olympus and a Dutch hospital found that the scope's design could allow blood and tissue to become trapped, spreading dangerous bacteria from one patient to another. In his report, the independent expert called on Olympus to conduct a worldwide investigation and recall the scopes if similar problems turned up.

The company issued an alert in Europe in 2013, but failed to warn U.S. hospitals about the Netherlands findings. The company didn't issue a warning in the U.S. until February 2015, a day after the Times broke the news of the UCLA outbreak.

"Based on the Times reporting it was shown Olympus notified European authorities well before they told the FDA anything. This bill would correct that loophole," Lieu said.

Olympus had redesigned its duodenoscope in 2010 in a way that enabled bacteria to become trapped in tiny crevices at the tip of the device, according to experts and regulators. Later, the FDA determined that Olympus had been selling the device in the U.S. without the necessary government clearance.

Since an FDA warning went out in February 2015, health officials have urged all hospitals to review their cleaning procedures for these reusable scopes and consider additional steps to minimize the infection risk.

In response, many hospitals started testing scopes for contamination after cleaning and holding them in quarantine for 48 hours to check for bacterial growth.

Lieu's legislation would require the FDA to further regulate the rapid-assessment tests that many hospitals now use on medical devices to determine whether bacteria are present.

Experts urged the House panel to pursue regulation to ensure the tests actually work as intended and don't produce misleading results.

"There is no currently available rapid test that has been properly validated that can be used post (high-level disinfection) on duodenoscopes to show that there are no viable bacteria and that the endoscope is safe to use on the next patient," Michelle Alfa, a professor of medical microbiology at the University of Manitoba, wrote to the House committee on Jan. 19.

The ongoing risk to patients was highlighted by a report Olympus filed with regulators in February about another possible outbreak that included two deaths.

The company notified the FDA about eight patients who became infected after being treated with an Olympus scope at an unnamed medical facility. Olympus and the FDA have declined to comment on the specifics of the report.

Device manufacturers are required to file reports to the FDA within 30 days of learning about an injury or death that may have been caused by a device.

That latest report and others submitted by manufacturers since Oct. 31, 2015, aren't included in the tally the FDA gave the House committee.



Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, a service of the California Health Care Foundation.
SHARE

By Dylan Lovan, Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  A huge Noah's Ark attraction nearing completion in Kentucky will soon be searching for hundreds of job applicants to fill food service, ticketing and other theme park-related positions.

They'll be hiring 300 to 400 workers to fill the 510-foot long Ark Encounter before it opens in July.

And all must be Christian.

Ken Ham, founder of the ministry Answers in Genesis, says the workers will be required to sign a statement saying they're Christian and "profess Christ as their savior."

The religious group, which will run the ark's operations, won a federal court ruling in January that clarified that it can make religious-based hires even as it seeks a Kentucky tourism tax incentive worth millions.

"We are a religious group and we make no apology about that, and (federal law) allows us that," Ham said Thursday. "We're requiring them to be Christians, that's the bottom line."

U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove ruled that an exemption to the 1964 Civil Rights Act allows the group to have a religious requirement for employment. The case stemmed from Answers in Genesis seeking a tourism sales tax rebate, estimated to be worth up to $18 million.

Answers in Genesis has rankled educators and scientists with its promotion of a literal reading of biblical stories like Noah's. Its nearby Creation Museum, which opened a decade ago, preaches that the earth is around 6,000 years old and Adam and Eve roamed the earth alongside dinosaurs.

The group Americans United For Separation of Church and State said Judge Van Tatenhove wrongly interpreted the law in his ruling. New Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, a conservative Christian, has said the administration will not appeal it.

Dan Phelps, president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society and a longtime critic of the Creation Museum, wondered if non-evangelical Christians, like Catholics, would be allowed to work at the ark.

"Catholics tend not to be fundamentalist Christians, they don't tend to take things literally," Phelps said.
We've been wanting to remind people of what happened to us and make sure the same hysteria does not overtake the leadership and the communities," Satsuki Ina, shown here in October 2015, said of internment survivors. (Katie Falkenberg/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

SHARE

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske And Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

DILLEY  The metal fence was what she noticed first, miles of tall barrier topped by barbed wire strung across the south Texas pastures  just like the internment camp nearby where she had been held as an infant.

And on the other side of the fence, again, 71-year-old Satsuki Ina saw mothers and children: this time, Central Americans.

"It was like fractured pieces trying to converge  their experience today, my history  being in this place where I had been as a child," Ina said.

Ina returned to Texas to see firsthand the system the U.S. government has created to handle a surge of immigrant families and children across the southern border, many driven here by violence in Central America.

Her visit was months before terrorist attacks in Paris led some American leaders to suggest interning refugees, before Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Muslim neighborhoods should be patrolled and Donald Trump said he wanted to bar Muslims from entering the U.S. and build a wall on the Mexican border.

Unlike the internment camps, which were filled with people singled out for their ancestry, the nation's three family detention centers hold hundreds of adults and children who crossed into the U.S. illegally or are seeking asylum. Still, Ina saw parallels between today and the 1940s, when wartime fears sent Japanese Americans to the camps.

"We've been wanting to remind people of what happened to us and make sure the same hysteria does not overtake the leadership and the communities," she said of internment survivors, noting that the U.S. government later apologized and paid reparations.

As Ina visited the center in Dilley, about 150 miles southwest of Austin, she scrutinized families for signs of trauma she recognized as both a former detainee and a family psychotherapist.

Mothers were issued identity cards, just as her parents had been. They spoke of eating unfamiliar food at mess halls, living under constant observation and stress, never letting their children leave their sides. In the young mothers she met, Ina saw her own.

Ina had produced two award-winning documentaries on internment, "Children of the Camps" in 1999 and "From a Silk Cocoon" in 2005. Now she was discovering a new story to tell.

One Salvadoran mother detained for five months tearfully told Ina through an interpreter that her 8-year-old daughter was afraid to sleep and cried for hours whenever children she befriended at the center left.

Ina asked the girl why she cried. The girl glanced over her shoulder at a female guard before whispering that she feared that the departing children, whose families had fled gangs and violence, were being sent home to their deaths.

Ina asked her why she had trouble sleeping. Again, the girl checked that the guard wasn't listening. Then she said she had been having nightmares about a scary dog  the dog the Border Patrol had used to catch her.

"I recognize that part of her in myself: obeying, of doing what I'm told, of living in fear," Ina said. "The parallels, the resonance, the familiarity of the situation was really clear. What happened in World War II is happening again."

Ina was born at the Tule Lake internment camp near California's northern border on May 25, 1944.

Her father and mother, Itaru and Shizuko Ina, a bookkeeper and housekeeper, had been newlyweds living in San Francisco for less than a year when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

In 1942 they were among 110,000 Japanese-Americans, more than half of them children, sent to internment camps. The couple were held first at Tanforan Assembly Center, a makeshift facility at a San Bruno racetrack; then at the Topaz camp in Utah, where Ina's brother, Kiyoshi, was born; and then Tule Lake.

Ina's parents were Kibei, U.S. citizens born to immigrants but partly raised in Japan. Once detained, they refused to swear their loyalty to the U.S. They considered it a violation of their rights and instead renounced their U.S. citizenship.

After the war ended, her father was transferred to a camp in North Dakota. Ina, her mother and brother were sent to the Crystal City family internment camp in Texas, where the family eventually reunited.

Ina has only two memories of Crystal City: staring up into her parents' frightened faces from a Japanese basket, or korii, and later celebrating on a train as they left in July 1946 with just $25 each.

"I remember swinging from the arms, the row of seats on the train; the freedom, knowing we were leaving," she said.

The family later returned to San Francisco, and Ina attended the University of California, Berkeley, protesting during the 1960s  to her parents' chagrin. Even though their U.S. citizenship had been restored in 1957, they worried that she would face the same backlash they had for speaking out.

Ina wanted to help families like hers who had survived trauma, so she pursued degrees as a family therapist, becoming a professor at Cal State Sacramento.

She came to recognize in herself the aftereffects of internment: an easily triggered startle response, extreme vigilance when she was the only person of color in a room and an anxious need for control in the face of uncertainty.

Her father died in 1977, her mother in 2000. Afterward, Ina discovered her mother's diary, which laid bare the anxiety pervading families in detention.

"I wonder," Shizuko Ina once wrote in Crystal City, "if today is the day they're going to line us up and shoot us."

Satsuki Ina didn't think much about the detention of Central American families until she started seeing reports last year of officials defending conditions at the centers.

Ina thought of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democrat who signed the executive order paving the way for internment camps. Now the Obama administration was defending family detention, noting that detainees received three meals a day and clean housing.

"That's what they said about us, too: You have a roof over your head," Ina said.

Then Carl Takei emailed her last spring. Takei, 35, is an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer based in Washington, whose grandparents were held at Tule Lake. He had visited the family detention centers in Texas and made the connection.

"When we talk about family detention today, we have to consider what its place will be in history," he said. "Everything the families told me echoed so strongly my own family's stories about their World War II incarceration."

He figured that if Ina visited, her background in counseling families would lend credibility to what he saw.

Ina lives in Berkeley and had never returned to Crystal City. It wasn't that she was afraid. For years, she had assumed something would eventually draw her back. Something important.

On a warm afternoon, Ina stood before a crowd gathered along a dusty road outside the barbed-wire fence surrounding the center in Dilley. A spring breeze ruffled Ina's short, salt-and-pepper hair.

"My family was held for four years. Today we stand together with you in unity and solidarity, because incarceration for children and families is not only unjust, it's immoral," Ina told several hundred protesters, some carrying signs that said, "Free the families" and "Children don't belong behind bars."

"Nobody came to protest on our behalf. Nobody, people like you, took the time to protest the unjust incarceration," Ina said. "Let's shut it down." The crowd cheered and clapped.

Ina thought about Crystal City. It's only about 40 miles west, she thought.

And so she drove past oil derricks and natural gas flares. Suddenly there it was: a cluster of monuments in a nearly empty field. A phrase jumped out at her, carved atop a gray stone cube, "World War II Concentration Camp."

"Both national and U.S. citizens alike were abruptly, and without justification, incarcerated in a concentration camp at this location," the inscription said, noting that internees' descendants placed it there in 1985 "as a reminder that the injustices and humiliations suffered here as a result of hysteria, racism and discrimination never happen again."

Ina noticed small pits where the latrines had been. She stood on one of the slabs, remnants of the more than 40 barracks that guards called "cottages."

She was reminded of the families she had just visited in what today's guards call "residential centers."

"It masks and hides the truth," she said.

Last fall, Ina told a crowd at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles what she had seen in Dilley. Family detention had gained more attention as opponents  including virtually all House Democrats  called on the administration to close the centers.

The Japanese American Citizens League had also called for an end to family detention, but Ina knew many were still unaware that the centers existed. That's why she came to speak and screen "Children of the Camps."

"There are women and children from Central America who are being criminalized and detained," she said, noting the Dilley center is "only 45 minutes away from where I was held."

The mostly Asian and white crowd fell silent.

Before the screening, Ina had surveyed a photo exhibit of the internment and found herself transfixed by the picture of a boy being evacuated with his parents and six siblings, tagged like luggage. Harry Kawahara, 84, stopped too. He had also been held at a camp. The two began chatting and discovered they knew the boy in the photo, Tooru Mochida.

Ina told Kawahara about the immigrant families detained. "It's a human-rights issue," she said, adding, "They have cribs in the cells."

Kawahara, who lives in Altadena, shook his head. "Wow. I consider myself a pretty aware person, but I don't know about this," he said.

Ina promised to keep him informed.
Cowboys lean on defense in Prescott's return, top Lions 24-6

The Dallas Cowboys leaned on their defense again in a 24-6 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Associated Press Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. (right) and Hillary Clinton speak during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Thursday.

SHARE

Senator said his wife handles them

By Paul Singer And Cooper Allen, USA TODAY NETWORK

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders bellied up to the podiums for the ninth Democratic presidential debate Thursday, a milestone that seemed inconceivable when she launched her campaign a year ago as the overwhelming front-runner.

Here are a few takeaways from the DonnyBrooklyn:

Bernie makes a bit of news

Sanders, pushed by Clinton to publicly release his tax returns, announced 1) that his wife Jane handles the taxes for the family and she has been really busy, and 2) he will release his most recent tax return Friday, and other years shortly thereafter. "They are very boring tax returns," Sanders promised. "No big money from speeches, no major investments. Unfortunately, I remain one of the poorer members of the United States Senate." Clinton made no comparable news when pressed to release the transcripts of her privately paid speeches to Wall Street firms, repeating her defense that she will only release them when all the presidential candidates agree to release their private speeches.

How many people on stage?

Clinton made every effort to make sure that Sanders was debating not just her but her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and President Obama, her former boss. When Sanders attacked her for having a super PAC supporting her, she said "this is not just an attack on me, it's an attack on President Obama," because Obama also had a super PAC and yet did not kowtow to big donors.

When Sanders said Clinton was soft on climate change, she pointed to her role in Obama's successes. "I'm getting a little bit concerned here because, you know, I really believe that the president has done an incredible job against great odds and deserves to be supported," she said. The former first lady said the crime bill her husband signed achieved some good things, despite concerns that it drove harsh sentences around the country, particularly for non-violent drug offenders. And when asked whether she would apologize for the excessive harshness of the law, she said, "My husband has apologized. He was the president who actually signed it."

Mideast politics

Perhaps the most extended foreign policy exchange of the night was over their approaches to the long-simmering dispute between Israel and Palestine, long a key issue in New York. Sanders, who is Jewish, asserted that Israel unquestionably had a right to defend itself, but he argued for a much more balanced approach to dealing with the region. Clinton cited her past efforts in the region but was much more critical of Palestinians.

Perhaps most noteworthy was Sanders' forceful critique of Clinton for not reaching out more to the Palestinians.

"You gave a major speech to AIPAC, which obviously deals with the Middle East crisis, and you barely mentioned the Palestinians," he said.
SHARE

By Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY NETWORK

LONDON  Belgian Transport Minister Jacqueline Galant has resigned after a European Union report criticized Belgian airport security.

Meanwhile, police in England said that five people from the central city of Birmingham were arrested on suspicion of being "concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism."

Three men and a woman were arrested in Birmingham on Thursday night and a man was arrested at Gatwick Airport, near London, early Friday, the West Midlands police force said in a statement.

Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, of West Midlands Police, said the arrests were part of an "extensive investigation" by the British security officials and international partners including Belgian and French authorities, "to address any associated threat to the U.K. following the attacks in Europe."

"The arrests were preplanned and intelligence-led," Beale said. "There was no risk to the public at any time, and there is no information to suggest an attack in the U.K. was being planned."

Galant's resignation came after a European Union report was leaked in the wake of the terror attacks at Brussels Airport and at a metro station that killed 32 people in the nation's capital on March 22. Sixteen of the dead were killed at the airport.

The confidential E.U. report from April 2015, which was made public by two Belgian opposition parties, said there were serious deficiencies in the way safety checks are managed at Belgian airports.

They included a failure to keep parts of Belgium's national civil aviation security program up to date, such as regarding the use of explosive-detecting dogs, the Financial Times reported.

Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters Friday that Galant "presented her resignation to the King and the King accepted it." Galant had said she had not seen the report, but Michel said "a summary of this report was discussed and sent to the minister's cabinet in June 2015," The Associated Press reported. Michel said he would name a replacement for Galant as soon as possible.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks, as well as the attacks in Paris in November that killed 130 people.
SHARE

We're here to help you, says the Obama administration as it often sacrifices one group to help another group that gets sacrificed, too. In these cases, which are scarcely hard to find, it sometimes acts autocratically and just about always relies less on common sense than on a bundle of progressive pretensions.

Take, for instance, the bureaucratic effrontery of telling public high schools they must let certain anatomical guys into girls' locker rooms and showers or lose federal funding. The purpose, justified by a fantastical misreading of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, is to soothe the feelings of these fellows who think of themselves as girls while simultaneously disregarding the feelings of girls who fear embarrassment.

Yes, let's have empathy for transgender people, treating them with sensitivity as many schools do, but let's have empathy for these equally important girls, too. When you throw out ages-old privacy norms, girls can easily come to see transgender teens more as menaces than anything else, no favor to them, and wonder what their own rights may be. What we have here is political correctness that is glaringly incorrect.

Even more serious lately is the way President Barack Obama has embraced Black Lives Matter, a group that marches around with fury on its lips and T-shirts saying such things as "Murderous Cops." He seems in close agreement with the thesis that racist cops are out there killing innocent blacks but fairly few whites.

With reference to extensive research by The Washington Post and others, Heather Mac Donald of Manhattan Institute points to some pertinent information. Blacks kill cops at more than twice the rate that cops kill blacks. Even the unarmed blacks who get killed are mostly attacking cops.

Blacks also kill other blacks in numbers exceeding the total number of homicides of whites and Hispanics. While 26 percent of police killings are blacks constituting just 13 percent of the population, blacks also commit a disproportionate number of violent crimes, making cop confrontations more likely.

None of this means that indefensible police shootings have never happened or that the vast majority of blacks are bad citizens never faced with demeaning racial attitudes. But policing has been made more difficult and less proactive in some neighborhoods because of the anger stirred up initially by misrepresentation of the Ferguson, Missouri, shooting and all those cheering on Black Lives Matter.

And, says Mac Donald, that in turn has helped propel a two-digit, one-year upsurge of homicides in our largest cities. In other words, many black people are getting killed in part because of this movement divisively encouraged by the president.

Then we get to the president's gun control efforts, which have gun manufacturers down on their knees saying thank you, thank you, thank you. Let him give a speech on the subject, and people fearful this just might be their last chance rush out to make purchases.

Because of his futile pursuit of laws that would likely have been futile themselves, the gun sales during his time in office have been the highest in history, something like 100 million as of calculations last year.

One last topic: The Obama administration is getting tougher on companies that pay some of the highest taxes in the world on their operations in this country and then set up headquarters overseas so their operations there will not be so heavily taxed, too. Most European countries, despite their overblown welfare states, keep their domestic corporate taxes down and wisely do not tax anything made and taxed elsewhere, thus making their companies more competitive.

Our president apparently thinks getting our economy growing more and creating more jobs is cheating, and stands firmly against this last step.

Let's concede some good moves by this administration, but let's agree as well that one way of summing up the legacy will be the word "perverse."

Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Contact him at speaktojay@aol.com.
Planning new Uber services

(TNS) -- When John Bares, director of Uber Technologies research center in Pittsburgh, was asked to update business leaders on the ride-share companys progress and vision for the future in the Steel City, he said he had an easy answer.Im happy to give a talk  I cant say anything; company policy, Mr. Bares quipped as he took the podium Thursday morning at a breakfast briefing sponsored by Huntington Bank. And I cant answer any questions.Though it was an icebreaker that earned a hearty chuckle from dozens of tech industry representatives, Mr. Bares was hitting a key point: For all its disruption, the $50 billion company has kept a relatively low profile at the Uber Advanced Technology Center along the Allegheny River in Lawrenceville.Uber, since moving into Pittsburgh in early 2014, has altered the fundamentals of transportation  enlisting roughly 4,000 drivers to provide on-demand lifts to about 145,000 riders in the area, Mr. Bares said. Along the way, it has clashed with state regulators , pushed Yellow Cab of Pittsburgh to launch a competing app-based service called zTrip and generated controversy by lifting 40 Carnegie Mellon University robotics researchers  including Mr. Bares  for its endeavor into self-driving cars.As one audience member noted during a question-and-answer session, there is a perception that Uber does not share its progress on driverless vehicles as much as other companies. To an extent, Mr. Bares agreed.Googles out there, Teslas out there ... and theyve done a phenomenal job in outreach and showing multiple instances where a self-driving car is better than what a human would have done, he acknowledged. But were one year and two months into our journey. The time will come when were much more open about our results.Uber announced its partnership with CMU to develop self-driving cars in February 2015, and the company this spring is planning test tracks at a site in Hazelwood . Mr. Bares credited Mayor Bill Peduto for being a welcoming figure  Uber CEO Travis Kalanicks favorite mayor, he said  as other cities have been more hostile to Ubers operations.He also said Uber has hired a lot of people in Pittsburgh and moved others here from cities on the West Coast, declining to give a specific number.Were constantly relocating people to Pittsburgh, he said. Ubers here to stay. This is the center of what we do. We will be one of the most formidable teams on the planet developing self-driving vehicle technology.Pittsburghers can expect new Uber services in the near future, though the company said there are no immediate plans to launch. The services include UberRUSH, a delivery service that connects a range of businesses  Mr. Bares suggested local dry cleaners, bakeries, burrito shops  to Ubers fleet to send food and products to customers.Another is UberCOMMUTE, a feature that helps commuting Uber drivers find riders on their way to work. Together with UberPOOL  a similar service that connects several riders who have requested a similar route to one driver  the features advance the companys societal goal of reducing traffic accidents and congestion by taking cars off the road, Mr. Bares said.UberRUSH is available only in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, while UberCOMMUTE is still in a pilot phase in Chengdu, China and Chicago. UberPOOL is in 30 cities worldwide.Uber is lobbying state lawmakers to pass legislation that would give ride-sharing companies, including rival Lyft and YellowCabs zTrip, permanent authority to operate in Pennsylvania. On Monday, the House Consumer Affairs Committee tabled the bill, which passed the Senate last fall.In a statement on Monday, Uber blamed the influence of taxi drivers in Philadelphia. The lawmakers once again bowed to pressure from taxi special interests, wrote Uber spokesman Craig Ewer. We will be educating and engaging the public and make sure House representatives who are sitting on their hands hear from their constituents.
The legislation being hailed as an affront to net neutrality took a step forward in the House on April 15 against the wishes of consumer rights advocates and interest groups.Despite the win for U.S. House of Representatives Bill 2666, a likely presidential veto presents a significant challenge for the bills supporters and their efforts to limit the Federal Communications Commissions oversight of broadband Internet rates.At first read, the so called No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act lays the groundwork to limit the FCCs authority over broadband Internet rates, but opponents say the proposed rule would put the rights of consumers at risk.According to Craig Spiezle, president and founder of the Online Trust Alliance, the legislation would have the potential to create what he calls a privacy divide in the larger telecommunications space.If companies were to offer two sets of rates  one in which lower cost was tied to limited data privacy and another in which higher rate payers were protected  Spiezle said those with less ability to pay could be forced into accepting less in the way of online privacy protection.For Spiezle, the right to information afforded by a reliable and affordable Internet connection has become not unlike the other utilities we rely on for daily life. He likens access to the Internet to the ability to turn on a faucet for clean water.A coalition of at least 30 other organizations feel the same as Spiezle, not to mention the advisors to President Barrack Obama, who believe the president should veto the bill if it reaches his desk for a signature In a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, the group of consumer rights advocates and interest groups said the vaguely worded proposal could put consumer data at risk in exchange for an affordable connection.There is a difference between ensuring that consumers right to control their personal information is not contingent on income level, and rate regulation  setting the prices broadband providers may charge for service. The broad language in H.R. 2666 fails to recognize that difference, putting consumer privacy at risk, the collective wrote on April 13.The Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), who was also a signatory on the letter to House leaders, said in a statement on its website that the legislation would "undermine the authority of the FCC's ability to enforce key net neutrality protections."The problem is that the bill is worded in such a way that it could be used to keep the FCC from enforcing many important protections of users rights. At best, H.R. 2666 is a poorly written bill that brings a host of unintended consequences. At worst, its a calculated attempt to undermine the net neutrality principles weve all been fighting for, EFF wrote.The vote comes roughly a month after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed a rulemaking notice regarding consumer privacy, transparency and choice
.@POTUS is getting tough on cable boxes. Here's how it could change your cable bill  https://t.co/jGdUfVXCmK pic.twitter.com/gbwDVgpwlT  The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 15, 2016

The White House isnt happy with its TV cable box  or the thousands of cable boxes that millions of Americans must pay for each year to watch their programming.In a post and staff brief released on April 15, President Barack Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to open up cable box production to the wider tech industry. The White House decried current offerings from the large telecommunications companies as overpriced and overrated. The administration estimated that on average, citizens pay more than $200 a year to rent the devices from cable and satellite providers.The White Houses Jason Furman, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Jeffrey Zients, director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, voiced confidence in the private sector's ability to create cheaper and higher-functioning cable boxes. In a co-authored blog, they said the tech sector could not only provide boxes that answered cable needs, but also enable advanced functionality.Instead of spending nearly $1,000 over four years to lease a set of behind-the-times boxes, the two said, American families will have options to own a device for much less money that will integrate everything they want  including their cable or satellite content, as well as online streaming apps  in one, easier-to-use gadget.The effort is part of a broader effort by the White House to dislodge traditional or outdated regulatory policies that prevent a competitive marketplace. As part of his announcement, the president gave all federal departments 60 days to investigate and report on potential ways to free companies from similarly encumbering restrictions.As might be expected, the cable industry is still in a state of recoil over the White Houses stance. It argued that the administration is meddling in an independent FCC decision-making process and dismissing the disruptive contractual impacts that such policy changes would inflict upon the telecommunications companies. In a blog post , the National Cable and Telecommunications Association expressed this dismay while alluding to ulterior political motives it did not define specifically."We are disappointed that White House political advisers are choosing to inject politics and inflammatory rhetoric into a regulatory proceeding by what is supposed to be an independent agency," the NCTA said "To see the White House take political credit for the actions of the 'independent' agency and direct it to reach a specific conclusion even before the record has been assembled, shatters that faith and undermines the commissions credibility."The post went on to say that tech providers associated with the White House, like Amazon, Google and Apple, have already been able to create their own competitive offerings without any policy changes on cable boxes  such video services include products like Amazon Prime, Chromecast and Apple TV.Even so, the NCTA did not dismiss the White House claim that the boxes could be manufactured more affordably or improved for consumers.In a tweet, the White House summarized its intentions for overpriced cable boxes in a GIF depicting a hydraulic press crushing a cable box.
The lurid and intricate details of the double homicides of Troy and LaDonna French are catalogued in 35 black binders, each 3 inches thick, that fill a rudimentary bookshelf in a closet of the office of Rockingham County District Attorney Craig Blitzer in Wentworth. The documents that didnt fit onto those three, 3-foot shelves are recorded onto stacks of compact disks too numerous to count. Those CDs contain every photograph and many megabytes of video taken during the countys investigation.



Craig Blitzer Craig Blitzer

Those images show the aftermath of the shootings, of the bodies of the Frenches lying on the floor of their home and of the injuries sustained by Whitley French Alvarez, the couples daughter, during what the Rockingham County Sheriffs Office has called a home invasion. Those files include recordings of re-enactments, surveillance footage and interviews.

All of this has been compiled since the early morning of Feb. 4, 2012, when the Frenches were shot dead by an intruder at their 2-story home on Pinewood Road as Whitley alone watched.



Jose Silvano Alvarez, Jr. Jose Silvano Alvarez, Jr.

Jose Alvarez Jr., 29, the half-brother to Whitley French Alvarezs husband, John Alvarez, sits in the Rockingham County Jail, charged with two counts of first-degree murder in a case that has dominated investigative resources in Rockingham County for more than four years.

The French homicides, involving two respected members of long-time Rockingham families, high school sweethearts and indelible threads of the fabric of their community, have been a source of constant scrutiny and analysis.

Whitley French has said she awoke in her bedroom that fateful morning to a hooded intruder climbing on top of her in bed. When she screamed for help, her parents came running. It was a fatal move for both.

The intruder raced down the stairs and, armed with a 9 mm Hi-Point handgun the family once owned, opened fire on both parents before fleeing into the night, leaving the daughter, then 19, alone in a dark house with her dead parents. She dialed 911 from her cell phone at 2:12 a.m. and in 20 frenetic minutes presented investigators with their first bits of information about what had just happened, the first elements stored in those binders and on those CDs.

Since that moment, four investigators from the sheriffs office  Grey Smith, Tammy Howell, Ben Strader and Marcus Marshall  have, at separate times, led deputies on a search for the intruder who fired those shots. Each has contributed to the lode of information Blitzer keeps in his office.

It was widely-known that Whitley French argued with her parents in the month leading up to their deaths about her significant other, John Alvarez.

Deputies had brought in Whitley French for questioning at least five times, prompting friends and strangers to debate what detectives thought might have happened that night.

Not until Marshall, the lead investigator, breakthrough with DNA evidence collected at the scene were some of the questions of the community and the victims families answered.

Deputies learned in October 2014 that DNA evidence from five drops of blood, found on the staircase in the French house did not match anyone in the extended families of Troy French and LaDonna Moseley French or John Alvarez, Whitley French Alvarezs now husband, there was a possibility that the DNA did match anyone of the extended families of Troy French or LaDonna Moseley French.

Deputies also learned that the DNA did match a relative, even though they didn't initially know the identity of the relative.

Further testing would prove his older brother, Jose Alvarez Jr., did not have the same father as John Alvarez, Jose Alvarez Sr., and that the DNA collected did match that of a person who could be John Alvarezs half-brother.

Jose Alvarez Jr. was charged on Aug. 25, 2015, with two counts of capital murder, which carry with them the possibility of life in prison or death. A grand jury indicted him on Sept. 8.

A death case?

Since Jose Alvarez Jr.s arrest, Blitzer has began analyzing details turned over to him by investigators  and collected by those who preceded him in the DA's office  to determine if the evidence against Alvarez matches the criteria needed to pursue the death penalty.

In North Carolina, 152 convicts sit on death row, including one from Rockingham County. Although the death penalty is legal in the state, legislators in 2006 put a moratorium on performing executions by lethal injection while they reviewed the execution procedures.

The North Carolina Medical Board in 2007 took a position that a physician participating in capital punishment breaches its code of ethics. The state mandates a physician must be present during capital punishment. Thus the boards position has stopped physicians from agreeing to participate.

Regardless, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the medical board could not discipline a physician for choosing to participate.



Vincent Rabil Vincent Rabil

Alvarezs court-appointed attorney, Vincent Rabil, a capital defender based in Winston-Salem, strongly opposes the death penalty, although he has served on both sides of the debate about this issue.

As an assistant district attorney in Forsyth County for 12 years, Rabil helped put Blanche Taylor Moore on death row more than 25 years ago, when she was charged with poisoning her boyfriend, Raymond Reid, with arsenic. Reid died at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.

Only one person has sat on death row longer than Moore.

Rabil was also the first prosecutor in North Carolina to pursue the death penalty in a fatal drunken-driving accident. A jury instead sentenced that defendant to life without parole.

Last December Rabil wrote an opinion piece for the News & Record's Ideas section in which he called capital punishment an archaic practice that needs to be ended. He argued against the death sentence partially because of the high cost to prosecute a capital case and partially because of the number of death row inmates who were later proven not to have committed the crimes for which they were convicted.

Since 1973, there have been nine death row exonerations in North Carolina and 156 nationwide, Rabil wrote.

Now, as an attorney defending a capital murder case, he, too, is reviewing under discovery rules the evidence prosecutors have collected against Alvarez. In September, Blitzer sent him 39 CDs for review. He since has added three files and nine CDs for review. Rabil also has access to a private website where the documents are posted.

In Rockingham County superior court judges rotate among several counties, requiring judges from Guilford, Forsyth and Stokes counties, among others, to preside over Rockinghams court cases.

On Sept. 28, just more than a month after Alvarezs arrest, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Susan Bray delayed, on request by Rabil, a hearing scheduled for Blitzer to announce whether he planned to pursue the death penalty.

In North Carolina, a prosecutor must announce ahead of the trial whether he or she believes the case matches one of the 11 criteria the state requires to pursue capital punishment. That hearing, called a Rule 24 hearing, wouldnt happen until after Jan. 1, Bray ruled. No hearing has been scheduled.

If Blitzer wants to pursue the death penalty, he must prove to a jury, during a trial, that Jose Alvarez Jr. is in fact guilty of one of those 11 criteria set by North Carolina statute required to sentence someone to death. A judge then would approve this path.

Those 11 criteria include whether Jose Alvarez Jr. committed a crime that was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. Blitzer also would have to prove that the accuseds actions set in motion acts of violence against people other than the person he has charged with killing or that he committed the crime for financial gain or that the murders were committed while he aided in or committed a felony including homicide, robbery, rape, sex offense, burglary or kidnapping.

This jury also is required to consider that Jose Alvarez Jr. has no prior criminal activity  which he does not  and eight other factors, including whether he was disturbed emotionally or mentally at the time of the alleged crime or under the control of another person.

Until Blitzer schedules a hearing, Alvarez remains in a cell in the Rockingham County jail that may be as small as 7 feet by 9 feet. Deputies wont say if he is being held in solitary confinement for his own protection because they said that information might compromise his safety.

No bail has been set.

The Moseleys, LaDonna Frenchs parents, have been told that the case is at a standstill for now but havent been given details why.

Blitzer said only that information in those binders and on those CDs is extensive and that he and Rabil are busy reviewing the case.

Friends and foes

Rabil and Blitzer have worked closely on this case. In criminal cases its not uncommon for defendants attorneys and prosecutors to spar  even going before a judge for direction  on documents to be exchanged and how that process is working.

That doesnt appear an issue in this case. Blitzer said he and Rabil have kept details of the case flowing openly, including questions brought forward by reporters.

Blitzer became a prosecutor in 2015. He worked as a private criminal defense attorney for 19 years and participated in more than 100 first-degree murder cases in 17 counties. When its workload became too heavy, Blitzer said the capital defenders office asked him to help out.

Weve known each other for a long time, Blitzer said of Rabil.

Blitzer is also close friends with Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. They have known one another for 20 years. Blitzer said that relationship led Page to consult with him about the French homicide even before Blitzer took office.

Blitzer recalls conversations happening as far back as May 2014, the same month he defeated Melanie Bridge, a former Rockingham County assistant prosecutor, in the Republican primary to replace Phil Berger Jr., who chose to run for Congress instead of re-election. Blitzer ran unopposed in the general election that November and was sworn into office in January 2015.

The sheriff and I were talking about this case before I was even sworn in, Blitzer said.

Those conversations may have violated a state statute that prevents a person from performing the duties of an elected position before being sworn into that office. Someone found in violation of the law could be fined $500 and removed from office.

Blitzer said he hadn't violated any laws because he was elected in May 2014 and was trying to help his friend, the sheriff.

While campaigning, Blitzer had promised the Moseley and French families to make this languishing double homicide his first priority. He promised to bridge a known animosity that existed between Berger and Page and work more closely on investigations with the sheriff's office.

Blitzer began a more intense focus on the case in the spring of 2015, when he first received the report from Marshall University's lab that established John Alvarezs connection to the DNA.

Discovery details

When Berger was the district attorney, he had assigned his chief assistant, Julia Hejazi, to oversee the investigation. Hejazi now works as an attorney for the U.S. Marine Corps in Washington D.C. Berger is an administrative law judge in Raleigh.

Its unclear what work either did on the case. Neither would discuss the investigation or the charges against Jose Alvarez Jr.

Blitzer has taken the lead in prosecuting Alvarez, although his chief assistant, Mark Keeney, represented the state in Alvarezs first appearance.

Like his predecessors, Blitzer declined to answer many questions when interviewed earlier this year for this series of reports.

A question such as, What is on the security footage at McCollums Store?  an item listed in the court records as having been collected by investigators from a store near the scene of the crime  led to a no comment.

He wont discuss whether evidence was lost when a neighbor burned a closet door punctured with bullet holes, when family members scrubbed the victims blood from the floor and walls of the house  deputies would return later to reexamine the crime scene not knowing it was cleaned  or when a deputy touched the familys hide-away key with his bare hands.

The sheriffs office handled evidence perfectly, and I attribute that to how well they are trained, Blitzer said when asked about the latter.

Blitzer was willing to discuss questions about mislabeled warrants and problems he sees in trying to prosecute the case.

Several warrants include inaccuracies, including the wrong name of an officer and a witness and incorrect dates.

A warrant issued in January 2016 misstates that the University of North Texas for Human Identification did much of the DNA lab work, including the test that proved John and Jose Alvarez Jr. are half-brothers.

Both Blitzer and a lab technician said the facility did not do the testing on Jose Alvarez Jr.s DNA.

The district attorney said that lab did work on the investigation but wasnt the one that led investigators to Alvarez.

We received assistance from several labs out of state, Blitzer said.

He refused to name them. But invoices from the sheriffs office do not include the Texas lab at all. They do include a lab, Parabon Nanolabs, Inc. in Northern Virginia and Marshall University Research Corporation in Huntington, W.Va.

Blitzer said as long as the misinformation wouldnt stop a magistrate from issuing a warrant  and he said he doesnt believe any of it would  hes not worried about those inaccuracies.

Not on the scene

Blitzer said the biggest challenge in prosecuting these homicides is that he wasnt at Frenches home at Pinewood Road that Saturday morning after they were shot dead.

If a homicide occurs in Rockingham County, Blitzer said he tries to go out and see where it took place. He said he likes to see everything firsthand, because it helps him to form the narrative he would present to the jury.

It caused me to rely on photographs and videos, which are not bad, but its kind of like listening to a movie critic without watching the movie, Blitzer said. It takes away from what you would see if you had been there.

Blitzer said he has plans to visit the two-story home where the Frenches died. In the mean time, he has told the homeowner not to allow reporters inside.

After Troy and LaDonna French died, their house was foreclosed on by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. In 2013, James Sams bought the property for $141,300.

If Blitzer does go inside, he likely will stand in the living room, where Troy French died, or at the bottom of the staircase, where LaDonna French was shot, or on the staircase, where the five drops of blood linked to Jose Alvarez Jr. were found.

Blitzer will need to take what he learns more than four years after the crime to create a narrative that will convince a jury that those five drops of blood prove Alvarez was in the house that night and that he pulled the trigger of a 9mm Hi-Point handgun, firing the shots that killed the Frenches.

Blitzer has other concerns.

He also knows that the shootings have been the most-talked-about homicides in Rockingham County during those four years. Any jury pool likely would include many people who have discussed the case at length and may have formed their own theories about what happened.

Until his arrest, Alvarez likely was never part of those theories.

But Blitzer said he doesn't have plans to move the case to a different venue. He said that's something the defense attorney might request.

"If he (Rabil) raises that, we'll deal with it," Blitzer said.

Three other large questions hover over this case:

Has a plea deal been offered? Blitzer wouldn't comment.

Has Alvarez confessed to the murders? Blitzer wouldn't say.

Does Alvarez have a motive to kill Troy and LaDonna French?

That last question is one to which he is willing to provide an answer:

"I've been famously quoted for having said, 'I don't need a motive to prosecute Mr. Alvarez.'"
A new report that identifies the most distinctive cause of injury death for each state, compared to national rates, has some findings that might be expected:

Seven states in Appalachia and the Southwest, for example, had unintentional firearms deaths roughly two to four times the national rate. Those states have high gun ownership rates and lack safe-storage laws.

Three states  Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska  had as their most distinctive injury motor vehicle crashes involving passengers. Four safety provisions  primary seat-belt laws, mandatory key ignition locks for drunk drivers, booster seats and nighttime driving restrictions for teens  are absent in Montana, while South Dakota and Nebraska have only one each.

Connecticut had as its most distinctive cause of injury death unintentional suffocation  the only state with that outlier cause. The states rate was 1.3 times, or 30 percent higher than, the national average, according to the report in the journal Injury Prevention, led by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The report analyzed data from 2004-2013 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify one type of injury death for each state that was disproportionately popular  with a rate that was the largest multiple of the U.S. rate.

While the report does not point to factors responsible for Connecticuts relatively high suffocation rate, child health advocates say they suspect unsafe sleeping conditions among infants, which led to a public health alert by the states Office of the Child Advocate in 2014 and other action, may be one factor.

SIDS deaths

Between 2002 and 2010, there were 211 infant deaths in Connecticut classified as due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or other undetermined causes, with at least 140 of those cases associated with unsafe sleep environments, such as infants in bed with adults, older children, or adult pillows and other large items, according to a report by the Child Advocate. In 2013 alone, 18 infants who died of SIDS or undetermined causes were found to have risk factors associated with their sleep environments.

Child Advocate Sarah Eagan said accidental asphyxiation from unsafe sleep practices remains a concern, with the state continuing to see 17 to 23 deaths per year of infants. It remains definitely a high-priority issue, she said. Its still the leading cause of death of healthy infants in Connecticut - higher than child abuse.

Eagan said the state has made strides to better educate parents about safe sleeping  passing legislation in 2015 that requires hospitals to disseminate materials to new parents about safe sleep practices. Also, the state Department of Children and Families for the past several years has instructed workers to counsel parents about safe sleep and distributes Pack N Play cribs to households lacking adequate sleeping arrangements.

Eagan said state agencies have been working recently to more broadly disseminate information on the issue through a variety of organizations.

A 2015 Fact Sheet by the Childrens Safety Network National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Center lists suffocation as the leading cause of injury deaths of children ages 1-4 in Connecticut from 2008-2012. Suffocation also is listed as the fourth-highest cause of death among Connecticut children ages 5 to 9.

Sara Heins, lead author of the national injury study, said the suffocation rates cited in the report represent not just infants, but people of all ages. She noted that not all suffocation deaths are caused by unsafe sleeping, and that not all infant sleep deaths are classified as suffocation.

Heins said that most states have laws designed to reduce the risk of sudden, unexpected infant deaths, through training, raising public awareness and reporting. Many are more stringent than Connecticuts 2015 law.

Drug poisoning

The injury study also calculates the most frequent injury death for each state, based on CDC data counts. In Connecticut and 28 other states, the most frequent cause is unintentional drug poisoning, or overdose. In four states  Alaska, Arkansas, Utah and Wyoming  suicide by firearm is the most frequent cause.

Heins and colleagues noted that while the distinctive injury rates are, by definition, high compared to the national average, they might actually account for a small number of fatalities.

The most frequent distinctive cause of injury death among all states was unintentional death by firearm. Five states clustered in the West  California, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah  had rates of legal intervention deaths  when police kill someone, or officers are killed in the line of duty  up to 3.5 times higher than the U.S. average.

For Maine, Rhode Island and eight other states, suicide  by falls, drowning and other means  was the category with the largest multiple of the national rate.

Rural states in the Midwest and West tended to have higher rates of vehicle, machinery and natural/environmental injury deaths.

Heins said she hoped the findings would help policymakers identify injuries that, while not the most burdensome, may warrant special prevention efforts.

In states where injuries are distinctive due to differences in policy or culture, the results could be a useful tool for advocates who could assert, Not only is this injury a problem, it is a problem that we as a state are distinctively bad at addressing, she said.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org).
HARTFORD The states lowest-performing school districts benefit as much from technical assistance as the extra cash by being part of the Alliance District and Commissioners Network programs, Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell testified Friday in Superior Court in Hartford.

Technical assistance is at least as important as the funding, Wentzell said, continuing a theme she started Wednesday by maintaining that things other than money are keys to helping closing the state achievement gap. That gap, between black, Hispanic and white students, that is larger now than it was five years ago, according to state test results.

If it were only technical support, would it work, Attorney Joseph Moodhe, representing plaintiffs in this state school-funding lawsuit pressed.

I suppose not, Wentzell said.

A key witness for the state as it defends against charges it is underfunding its public school system, Wentzell maintains that all school districts in the state are resourced well enough to move kids along.

It matters what you do with the resources, she said.

She stopped short, however, of saying whether districts have enough to make all students college and career ready, which is a state goal.

I dont know if I have a fully formed view of that, Wentzell said.

The states funding system is being challenged by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education, a broad-based group that claims the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to properly fund Connecticuts public schools. The plaintiffs have offered six underperforming school districts in the state  Bridgeport and Danbury among them  to illustrate its point.

Wentzell has spent four days on the stand thus far. On Wednesday, she agreed with Assistant Attorney General Joseph Rubin that it is the job of superintendents to fight for more funding, no matter what.

On Friday, Moodhe suggested built into her job description was the duty to represent the executive branch.

Dont you have a similar political pressure to keep costs down? Moodhe asked.

There are similarities, Wentzell said. One being that when times are tough, you have to be aggressive about sticking to results-based accountability and making tough choices about what to continue.

In some cases, Wentzell said, there is a reluctance of to let go of unsuccessful strategies that would free up money for more successful ones.

Wentzell also explained how the Alliance District grants and Commissioners Network provide additional funding but also offer different levels of state involvement. With Alliance Districts, the state Department of Education oversees how districts spend a portion of their state school funding allocation, making sure it is focused on improving student outcomes. The Commissioners Network works with 17 schools around the state, offering state Department of Education assistance and support for new approaches suggested by the schools to provide better results.

Wentzell said the most important thing struggling districts should be doing is focusing on how they are teaching reading. In Bridgeport, three quarters of students are not on grade level in reading, according to state standardized tests. In Danbury, more than half below grade level in reading.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher, who is trying the case, at one point remarked that it would seem that based on test scores, basic classroom instruction is not working.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; @lclambeck
GREENWICH  The results of a recent student survey were clear: Greenwich High School teenagers are experiencing significant and sustained stress.

The data should not be dismissed, say mental-health professionals. The kind of pressure reported by students can seriously affect their physical and mental health. But the strain can be alleviated, they said  if students and adults are willing to recognize and do something about the problem.

Whether it is a student or adult, sustained stress is not evolutionarily beneficial, said Jerome Brodlie, chairman of the psychology department at Greenwich Hospital. Its not in our bodies to tolerate. Its going to come out either psychologically or physically.

Effects of stress

More Information On a survey they took in February, Greenwich High School students reported a number of different ways that they cope with stress. They were able to list more than one response. Talk to a friend: 63 percent Smoke/vape: 7 percent Do sports/exercise: 57 percent Think positively: 50 percent Drink alcohol: 8 percent Relaxation/meditation: 35 percent Get counseling/professional help: 11 percent Take illegal drugs: 4 percent Talk to a parent: 34 percent Talk to a school faculty member: 10 percent Talk to another adult: 10 percent Avoid work (procrastinate): 43 percent Watch TV/Netflix or play video games: 70 percent None: 4 percent Other: 7 percent SOURCE: Greenwich Public Schools See More Collapse

Many educators and mental-health providers say students face more stress related to their academics than their counterparts did in earlier generations. They point to greater competition in college admissions, increasing enrollment in advanced classes and the rise of high-stakes school-accountability mandates at the state and national levels as some of the most significant sources of pressure.

Greenwich High students identified homework, tests and college admissions as their greatest worries, according to the survey results.

About half of students reported high overall stress levels and about half said they feel anxious at least several times a week.

The current education climate and context really has put on an additional layer of stress, said Tamika La Salle, an assistant professor in the school psychology program at the University of Connecticuts Neag School of Education. It has all of us more stressed, but we havent provided the scaffolds necessary to deal with it.

How students react to stress can vary greatly, even if they face the same pressures, said local psychologists. Challenges that might not burden one student could contribute to anxiety or depression in another. Genetics play a role in how students respond.

Oftentimes, the students who are the most motivated and successful in the classroom feel the most stress because they set such high expectations for themselves, said psychotherapist Beth OMalley, who has a practice in Old Greenwich.

Half of the teens who come in with symptoms of anxiety and depression  theres no major catastrophe in their life  its just simply theyre living with the stress of school and the academic challenges they face, OMalley said.

Mental-health professionals also see connections between stress and the amount of sleep that students get, an issue which is discussed frequently amid the debate about whether the district should change school start times. On the survey, 97 percent of students reported getting less than the 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on school nights recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

There are children who dont get enough sleep who are much less able to implement their healthy coping skills because theyre too exhausted and irritable, OMalley said. On the flip side, when kids are feeling anxious about school or performance or relationships, theyre waking up in the middle of the night. Its just magnifying their stress because theyre not getting enough sleep.

Brodlie said he worries about an over-emphasis on achievement straining relationships. On the survey, about 40 percent of students scored the stress of their parents expectations about college at least an eight out of 10.

I see countless kids who say that 90 percent of conversations with parents are along the lines of How did you do on that test, dont you have a test today? and very little in the way of conversation about things they should be talking about, Brodlie said.

Despite the high stress they reported, students who took the survey generally did not report using substances to cope. Eight percent said they drink alcohol to relax, 7 percent said they smoke or vape and 4 percent said they take illegal drugs.

Some in the community privately scoff at treating student stress as a major issue, saying that students in an affluent community that has relatively little crime and social instability have little to complain about compared with their peers elsewhere who have to deal with poverty and violence.

La Salle said she does not buy that argument.

To say theyre not valid because students in Greenwich have their life made is a gross under-representation of anxiety and stressors that happen in communities that we would otherwise discount because of socio-economic or financial status, La Salle said. The stressors might be different, but theyre no less valid than they are for anyone else.

Realistic expectations

Educators, parents and students generally agree that some amount of stress in school is inevitable and appropriate. The challenge is to keep it at a manageable level, they said.

We recognize that a challenging workload and its byproduct of stress is a reality for any high school student, said senior class president Joseph Peters. However, due to the vehement concerns from the majority of our student body, we have a responsibility to better understand what students are going through and how the situation can be improved.

Simple measures can help to relieve pressure, said OMalley, who has an 11th-grade daughter at Greenwich High. About 60 percent of students said in the survey that talking with a friend helps them to feel better. And just as they can create stress for their children, parents can also help to relieve it. Thirty-four percent of students said talking with their mother or father is beneficial.

Kids like my daughter are getting together with other kids on the weekend, and theyre doing things like cooking together or theyre going to the gym or going to comedy shows, OMalley said. There are absolutely no illegal substances; theyre just relieving stress by being with friends.

Board of Education Vice Chairman Barbara ONeill, a former teacher and administrator in the district, said reducing students stress will require broad support.

Its not just the schools; its up to the faculty, the parents and the students as well, ONeill said. Everyone has to work together to find a balance.

But school officials and mental-health professionals said they are realistic about the likelihood of quickly changing the stressful environment that defines many students experiences at Greenwich High.

Its a very sad phenomenon thats taking place, Brodlie said. Its sad to see kids like this when theyre at the time in their life when they should be having lots of fun.

pschott@scni.com; 203-625-4439; twitter: @paulschott
The Harbor Management Commission is a group in turmoil, with its members deeply divided by its chairmans leadership and its failure to develop a state-approved harbor management plan, despite two years of work and tens of thousands of dollars spent.

Vice Chairman Steve Kinner unexpectedly resigned in late March from the HMC, just halfway through his four-year term. Having served more than 25 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, the Greenwich middle school teacher brought considerable maritime expertise and experience to the group.

However, after submitting his letter of resignation to HMC Chairman Frank Mazza, Kinner had conversations with fellow commissioner Lile Gibbons and others about staying on and succeeding Mazza as chairman, according to people familiar with the inner workings of the HMC.

Those people said Kinner had grown frustrated with Mazzas unilateral decisions and public representations of the commissions positions on various issues, as well as his inability to build consensus within the seven-member panel. Kinner did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.

The HMC is expected to elect its officers for the coming year at its meeting Wednesday night. As of Saturday afternoon, it was unclear whether Kinner would rescind his resignation and seek the chairmanship. For several months now, several HMC members have been seeking a candidate to replace Mazza as chair.

Kinners resignation comes on the heels of an RTM report that was strongly critical of the HMC and Mazza for its considerable bias against the state harbormaster, and for the HMCs failure to adequately address concerns about governance issues raised by other town agencies with jurisdiction over specific aspects of Greenwich waterfront and harbors. The resignation also follows Greenwich Police Lt. James Bonneys decision to leave the commission when his term expires this month, and First Selectman Peter Teseis decision to replace him with William Ingraham, a close Mazza ally, who had neither served as an alternate nor attended an HMC meeting. Tesei passed over two HMC alternate members to insure more support for Mazza.

The Conservation Commission is one of the town agencies that had serious issues with the draft harbor plan.

If the harbor management plan does not address dock regulations, then regulations remains with the state, and the state is stretched very thin, said Sue Baker, a Conservation Commission member and its ex-officio member of the HMC. All the plan says it that docks will be handled on a case by case basis. That doesnt help property owners know what they have to do, and it doesnt give Greenwich the power to enforce environmental and other concerns.

Right now the state approves docks, and they dont have the manpower to do it. Brian Thompson of the state DEEP has said, Please develop a harbor management plan so that the state can rely on Greenwich agencies to regulate dock installations, Baker said.

However, to win state approval, the towns dock regulations would have to be consistent with state law, and a case by case basis not only provides no specificity, it is an invitation to abuse and favoritism.

As it stands now, the draft harbor plan is more than 275 pages long, considerably longer and more vague than any other Connecticut harbor plan. Plus, it does not include specific mooring regulations and instead of recognizing the state harbormasters authority as established by state law, the plan proposes making all harbormaster decisions subject to review and possible veto by the Board of Selectmen, a deliberate breach of state harbor management law and another provision that could lead to abuse and favoritism.

While the HMC continues its slow slog toward creating an ineffective and unworkable harbor plan, it is vigorously opening new fronts in its efforts to stymie the work of State Harbormaster Ian Macmillan. Chairman Mazza has placed on the HMCs agenda Wednesday night petty and unworkable restrictions on Macmillans use of the Boston Whaler motorboat owned by the Shellfish Commission.

Among the rules are a prohibition against anyone other than the harbormaster or his deputy being on the boat without Mazzas approval. The boat cannot be used to haul or drag for moorings and cannot be used to tow or give assistance unless there is imminent danger to life or property; and the harbormaster must log every detail about dates and times of each trip and submit that log monthly to the HMC.

These guys have no idea what my job is or how I use the boat. Just today (Saturday) I am scheduled to go out on the boat with people from the Old Greenwich Yacht Club who own moorings or are in charge of moorings for club boats. The club owns five sailboats that it wants to move into deeper water to avoid expensive damage to keels at low tide. I need someone to drive the boat, someone to use the GPS and depth sounder, and a third person to pull the mooring chain taut. And Im supposed to ask someone permission to do this? Its my job, Macmillan said.

And in a final, gratuitous insult, Mazza included one final proposed boat rule: Alcoholic beverages are prohibited on the boat.

The need to specifically ban alcohol is meant to imply yet again that Macmillan uses the boat as a personal party platform, which to anyone who has seen the small boat or knows Macmillan is patently absurd. Last year, the HMC posted an unattributed, undated photograph of the harbormasters boat after a long days work dragging for abandoned moorings and other navigational hazards. The photo was accompanied by unsubstantiated allegations by Commissioner Bruce Angiolillo about Macmillans stewardship of the vessel.

At the end of his list of complaints, Angiolillo wrote, And, please take one more look at it (the photo) and note the empty Miller Lite beer can in the drink holder at the helm. The can was full, not empty, and, according to Macmillan, had been pulled from Greenwich Harbor two years earlier during a patrol of the Greenwich Town Party.

Mazza undermines his own credibility by allowing HMC time and town resources to be wasted on his and Teseis longstanding feud with Macmillan. Someone needs to put a stop to this and get the HMC back on track to developing a long-term governance plan for Greenwich Harbor. And that should start with finding a new HMC chairman.

Bob Horton can be reached at bobhorton@yahoo.com.
In numerous industries, including my own, companies are in a mad scramble to get hold of the very best talent. In some cases, even entry-level candidates with the right mix of education and motivation seem in short supply. Ive written before about the importance of developing talent from within ones own company, but there are certainly plenty of instances when the smart move is to cast a wider net. Even better: fishing in pools your competitors havent considered. Or even stocking your own. Id recommend giving the following a try:

The prevailing wisdom among startups these days is that you can either grow fast or die slowly. The difficulty in achieving the former very often comes down to not being able to find the skilled workers needed to propel that growth. That was the situation facing the clients of Andela, a company that supplies businesses with software developers and other in-demand talent. The New York City-based company needed a steady supply of talent, but it wasnt finding it locally. And so it turned its sights on the untapped potential of job seekers across the globe. More specifically, in Africa. The company recruits eager workers in Nigeria and Kenya, tests them for both high-tech aptitude and softer interpersonal skills, and then trains them in the programming languages and other capabilities clients require. Graduates then work remotely for organizations in the US and elsewhere. In explaining the program to Wired, Andela co-founder Jeremy Johnson noted that while brilliance is relatively evenly distributed across the human population, opportunity isnt.

Related: 4 Factors in Hiring Overseas Employees

Grow your own prospects.

Liz Hall, head of recruitment at Fog Creek Software, faced a situation all too common in the tech world: a dearth of female applicants. What impressed me about her solution is that she didnt simply try to channel more women toward her own company; she teamed with code academy Flatiron School on a fellowship program that moves high-performing, female Flatiron graduates into mentored fellowships at top companies in the New York City area. Halls thinking is that after a few years of experience as software developers, some of these women might apply to work at Fog Creekor might recommend it to female colleagues or friends. By encouraging the flow of women into the tech world, shes making it more likely that shell be meeting with highly qualified female candidates down the road.

Related: 4 Tips for Training Your Employees to Think like a CEO

Add the finishing touches.

One of the complaints I hear most frequently from employers is how difficult it is to find candidates with strong analytical skills. (Hence, my advocacy of training in the liberal arts.) At the same time, theres an absolute glut of analytical PhDs on the market who find themselves unable to gain employment in their chosen fields. A London-based startup, ASI, has stepped into the breach, in essence creating a finishing school for PhDs who are lacking some of the non-academic skills that would allow them to transfer over into the business world. The company offers an intensive eight-week post-doctoral fellowship focused on areas such as communication and solving real-world problems. In my view, thats just the sort of training larger companies should be offering. Its almost always better to hire based on attitude and potential and then add the requisite skills.

Related: 6 Strategies to Hire the Best New Graduates

Rethink your ideal.

Ive been a fan of IDEOs innovation mindset for quite some time, and so I was delighted but not entirely surprised to learn they hired a 90-year-old last year. Who better to advise them on product design for the elderly? Thats just one of many examples of companies looking beyond the expected to find just the right mix of talent to help them grow. SAP and Microsoft are among a growing number of tech companies actively recruiting people on the autism spectrum because of the unique aptitudes they bring to the job. Too often, the subconscious parameters we apply to our hiring decisions are far too narrow.

Related: This Is What You Need to Do to Find Awesome Talent Today

Think more creatively about the people youre looking to hire, and you may well find the talent pool is deeper than you realized.

Related:

To Reel in the Very Best Talent, You Need to Work All the Angles

Now Showcase Your Talent with Anil Kapoor Backed Indi.com

Don't Squander Your High Potential Talent: Hack It.



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
 

         

                     ,  ,    ,       ,   .




Haiti - Security : Training to protect the lives of schoolchildren





As part of activities of "Safe School" program of Plan Haiti, funded by the Swedish International Development Agency, was held of training sessions on risk analysis and preparation for the evacuation, with sixty schoolchildren, teachers and school principals in many schools of the Northeast, including the Ecole Nationale mixte, located on the route of the free zone in Ouanaminthe.



Besides the theoretical dimension, this training included a practical phase which consisted of evacuationexercises in case of disaster in the walls of several schools.



Brigadiers of the Civil Protection (DPC) have taught the children to recognize the different emergency alerts (church bell, ambulance siren etc...) in order to conduct a rapid evacuation of schools. In addition, they conducted first aid simulation in case of serious injuries among schoolchildren. They took the opportunity to test the knowledge of children by asking them questions about resuscitation, threats, risks and other aspects, tests the children have successfully passed.



Recall that a thirty schools from the three departments (West, Northeast and Southeast) receive training of Program of Plan Haiti in partnership with the Civil Protection Directorate.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2016/04/16

South Korea's ScreenX returns to CinemaCon in Las Vegas to wow audiences, the Dongyang Arts Center opens in Seoul to screen Chinese films new and old, Inverse has a list of their top 7 horrors from the last decade, and Yeon Sang-ho's third animation ("Seoul Station") has its international premiere in Brussels.

Advertisement

"ScreenX to reveal feature film lineup at CinemaCon"

ScreenX is a cutting-edge technology that has raised the bar on the cinematic experience and will once again be featured at CinemaCon (April 11-14) in Las Vegas: "Since making its CinemaCon debut in 2015, ScreenX has grown its business in Korea, China and the United States. Seven full-length feature films have been released since 2012, including two in the U.S.-Korean hit "The Himalayas" and the Chinese action-adventure film "Mojin: The Lost Legend"". Have you experience ScreenX, yet?

...READ ON FILM JOURNAL

"South Korea's Dongyang Arts Center Opens in Seoul"

Watching both new and old Chinese films in Korea's capital is now a reality as the Dongyang Arts Centre opens its doors in Seoul: "The theater will be featuring oil and new Chinese films daily and can seat up to 220 people. The hall has three screening rooms, with one used as a multipurpose cultural performance hall. It is still under negotiations if they will add an additional 162-seater viewing room". This is great because South Korea is not only actively pushing its own culture around the world, it's also genuinely interesting in supporting other country's culture, too!

...READ ON CHINA CHRISTIAN DAILY

"7 Of the Most Frightening Horror Films From the Last Decade"

Take a look at Inverse's list of the 7 most frightening horror films that have come out over the last ten years. Can you guess which Korean film made their cut?

...READ ON INVERSE

"Yeon Sang-ho's SEOUL STATION Debuts in Belgium"

Fans of Korean animation rejoice! Leon Sang-ho has already delivered two dark and impressive feature-length animations ("King of Pigs" and "The Fake") and his third film, "Seoul Station", recently had its world premiere at the 34th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and will be shown at various festivals later this year. Can't wait to catch this one!

...READ ON KOBIZ
Published on 2016/04/16

See how some Korean businesses are challenging the prevailing top-down culture, discover how Korea's military culture is infused with daily life, Korea's beauty brands are gaining ground in Chinese markets, and note four insights about Korea to avoid any culture shocks.

Advertisement

"Korea Inc ditching job titles to revamp top-down culture"

Korea's work culture has been highly praised by other countries, but it's not without it's problems. One of which is that its top-down culture is facing increasing criticism in light of modern working practices. Just as the times they are a changing, so to is Korea's business culture: "Now, in an effort to revamp South Korea's authoritarian, top-down corporate culture, the country's chaebols, or conglomerates, have decided to eschew the use of job titles".

...READ ON STRAIT TIMES

"Military culture infuses throughout every part of society"

The recent success of the Korean drama "Descendants of the Sun" has brought the topic of Korea's military and its effect on culture at large back into the public sphere: "As the country increasingly embraces diversity, many aspects of the rigid, hierarchical culture have faded in line with the democratic progress following the demise of iron-fisted rule in 1980s. But a military-style leadership still prevails in male-dominant areas. Remnants of military culture may live on in a traditionally Confucian society, some people say, even long after the two Koreas are reunited".

...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD

"South Korean beauty surpasses Western brands for Chinese market share"

South Korea is the place to visit if beauty trends, products, and services are your game. Recently, the country's beauty brands have been so successful that they have now overtaken many Western brands in Chinese markets: "... Western skincare and color cosmetics have seen share erosion while interest in South Korean beauty is skyrocketing, now accounting for nearly a quarter of cosmetic imports to China".

...READ ON LUXURY DAILY

"4 Tips for Navigating South Korean Culture"

Melissa Karlin has four quick tips for approaching Korean culture to avoid 'culture shock' and enjoying yourself: Follow Proper Dining Etiquette, Let Your Feet Breathe, Expect to Get Personal, and Reserve Nighttime Transportation Ahead of Time.

...READ ON TRAVEL AGE WEST
Published on 2016/04/16

Discover what single Koreans eat on "Black Day", The Washington Post explores the foods found at restaurants owned by North Korean defectors, new "yogurt mobiles" are causing a stir, and My Korean Kitchen has steps for making pork belly BBQ.

Advertisement

"A Korean Noodle Dish for Lonely Hearts"

Sam Sifton, writing for The New York Times Magazine, examines what single South Koreans eat when companionship is hard to come by for "Black Day" (14 April): "a celebration of loneliness and sorrow".

...READ ON THE NEW YORK TIMES

"The weird world of North Korea's restaurants abroad"

It seems that more and more North Korean restaurants are popping up despite the fact that defection is rather rare. In this post from The Washington Post, you'll discover a little more about what goes on in a North Korean restaurant and what's on the menu: "As Korean food has risen in popularity around the world, Pyongyang has opened a number of state-run restaurants in other countries. And while these restaurants may function as a form of soft power, promoting North Korea around the world, their immediate aim is more simple: They provide hard cash for the financially isolated Hermit Kingdom".

...READ ON THE WASHINGTON POST

"New Yogurtmobiles in South Korea Cause a Stir"

No, they're not ice-cream trucks, they're yogurt ladies! Around Korea you find women whizzing around neighbourhoods on bikes delivering yogurt directly to residences, but the days of peddling around may soon be over as new "yogurtmobiles" take to the streets. "Whipping up a yogurtmobile wasn't a smooth process, even in a place where innovation is part of the culture. Manufacturers were baffled. Officials couldn't figure out how to classify them. Some of the delivery women didn't know how to drive".

...READ ON THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

"Korean Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal-Gui)"

Oh, Sue, you never disappoint! One of the most popular Korean dishes foreigners rave about is Samgyeopsal-Gui, and in this post on My Korean Kitchen you'll find Sue's simple steps (complete, as always, with stunning images of the process) for making Korean pork belly BBQ: "According to recent research (2016), average Koreans consume 21kg (46 pounds) worth of pork belly meat annually and it accounts for more than 50% of total meat consumption. What's more, there's even a Samgyeopsal day (, March 3rd), which was created to encourage pork belly BBQ consumption in Korea".

...READ ON MY KOREAN KITCHEN
Published on 2016/04/16

Make your own "polygon art" for a unique decoration, explore the ceramic artwork of veteran artist Lee Hun Chung, catch contemporary Korea through the lens of eight Korean photographers, and see one Australian photographer's shots of daily life in Korea.

Advertisement

"PaPa"

A South Korean company has these awesome pieces of "polygon art" to spice up your home. These do-it-yourself decorations look great and could make a fantastic gift, or be just the thing to add something unique to your favourite room. Love it.

...READ ON PAPA COLLECTION

"Lee Hun Chung ceramic art furniture"

Browse some ceramic art furniture crafted by South Korean artist Lee Hun Chung who is famous for is work with ceramics, concrete and other forms of installation art: "Lee creates modern day pieces using techniques and colors dating back to the Joseon Dynasty".

...READ ON I LOBO YOU

"Modernity through eyes of 8 South Korean photographers"

This post is from a few years ago but I still wanted to share it with all you art lovers out there. Here you'll find images from eight modern Korean photographers with their take on South Korea in the twenty-first century, including Koo Sung Soo, Hein-kuhn Oh, In Sook Kim, Kwang Mo, Dorothy M. Yoon, Duck Hun Hwa, Won Seoung Won, and Sang Hyun Lee. Enjoy!

...READ ON ART RADAR

"An Outsider's Perspective On South Korea"

Kate Molenkamp, an Australian documentary photographer, "focuses on the observation of custom and ritual in the urban life and landscape of the monocultural society through a foreign lens", and in this post you'll find sixteen images of daily life in South Korea from an outsider's perspective.

...READ ON IGANT
Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby.

09:00, 23 OCT 2022
By Kaitlan Morehouse

Do you need positive reinforcements? Visit the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum on Friday, April 29, and you can get just that! BRAHM will host Lloyd Arneach, who will help you find the best lesson and positive outcomes through his Cherokee storytelling.

BRAHM will host An Evening of Cherokee Stories with Storyteller Lloyd Arneach in the museums atrium for adults and teens from 7:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday, April 29.

The presentation will be $10 for members and students and $15 for nonmembers.

Arneach tells stories that are humorous, gentle, informative and moving.

His stories include old stories of the Cherokee, tales and legends from many different Native American tribes, contemporary Indian stories that he has collected, ancient creation stories, behind the scenes of the film Dances with Wolves and inspirational stories of great Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life as he celebrates those who have triumphed over adversity.

Leila Weinstein, the BRAHM Education and Outreach Director, said that Arneach will transport you through other times and places with his concert-style performance.

Arneach will help you find the best lesson, the positive outcomes and the real gifts within the tales.

Stories help us get at deep human truths in a gentle way. They can pass on lessons: of caution, of morality, of humor, of the human condition. They help us empathize with others and prompt us to ask questions, Weinstein said.

The Watauga County Arts Council and grassroots funds of the North Carolina Arts Council will fund the program.

BRAHM will also sponsor a program with Arneach at the Blowing Rock Elementary School for fourth and fifth grade students.

For more information, contact Leila Weinstein at 828-295-9099 ext. 3006 or [email protected] or visit the museum online.

About Arneach

Lloyd Arneach, born and raised in Cherokee, North Carolina, is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Arneach learned his first legend at a young age from two storytelling uncles. His father was also Vice-Chief of the Eastern Band, his mother the first woman elected to the Tribal Council and his Grandmother Lula Owl Gloyne a Beloved Woman of the tribe.

Since his reservation days, Arneach has traveled throughout the state of Georgia as he lectured on Cherokee history and culture and worked at AT&Ts computer department in Atlanta. Once he added storytelling to his lectures, he made the lectures and stories a full-time career.

He has lectured in schools, universities, libraries, museums, historical societies, civic groups, Pow-Wows, theaters and festivals, as well as the Kennedy Center, National Follie Festival, the National Museum of the American Indian  all three in Washington, D.C.  the Winnepeg International Storytelling Festival (Canada) and the Discovery Channel.

You can find Arneachs CD Can You Hear the Smoke? and published books, such as The Animals Ballgame, Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee.

He has been featured in the 2010 winter issue of the American Indian Magazine by the National Museum of the American Indian and the fall/winter 2012 issue of the Cherokee Edition of the Foxfire Magazine.

In September 2011, he received the Mountain Heritage Award from Western Carolina University.

Visit http://www.arneach.com for more information on the storyteller.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Reddit

Pocket


Crowd rallies against HB2

Protesters hold signs expressing their oppositon to HB2 Friday at the Historic Courthouse.

Nearly 200 people gathered at the Historic Courthouse downtown Friday afternoon in a spirited protest against HB2, the state law on sexual-orientation discrimination that has sharply divided North Carolina voters and provoked vocal national opposition.

The Rev. Jim McKinley, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Hendersonville, urged the protesters to set aside the language of opposition and focus on how they can change things by showing up and making their voices heard.

I want to think the sponsors of House Bill 2 for all theyve done to awaken our awareness of transgender concerns and LGBT rights in North Carolina, McKinley said.

Sponsored by the Campaign for Southern Equality and theHenderson County chapter of the NAACP, the rally aimed to stoke opposition to HB2 but also to explain its broader implications. Organizers handed out copies of the bill in an effort to show that it was broader than just a "bathroom bill" affecting transgender men and women.

We want to give the community a chance to protest against this bill, which is about discrimination against many people including the GLBT community, PFLAG chapter president Jerry Miller said in advance of the protest. Prohibiting people from using the bathroom of the gender to which they identify is just one small part. To name a few others  it prohibits communities from passing ordinances which affect wages, and other working issues.

The most personal appeal came from Archer Faust, a transgender male.

There was a lot more to it that I was very angry about, he said of the bill. The whole bathroom issue was just the first page or two. There are more sections covering employment and public employees. I was very upset to learn that now that HB2 had passed it was considered a religious freedom bill.

Theyre using fear of trans people and Im upset that theyre using that, he told the crowd of 175 people. Theres nothing to be afraid of. Were just people, right?

The crowd cheered and applauded.

He called on the audience and other speakers to send a message: We wont tolerate hatred. We wont tolerate it in Henderson County or anywhere else.

Repeal that law, the crowd chanted as the next speaker, Rabbi Phil Bentley, came to the lectern.

Bentley read a letter he said rabbis all over the state had signed opposing what it called state-sponsored discrimination.

We will not stand idly by as the North Carolina Legislature weakens the legal protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters, Bentley said. Our prayers are with the thousands of North Carolinians whose humanity is under attack. We stand with them and against those who would strip them of their legal guarantees under the law.

I just got back from a family event in New York, Bently told the crowd. North Carolina has become a national joke.

The most personal appeal came from Archer Faust, a transgender male.

There was a lot more to it that I was very angry about, he said. The whole bathroom issue was just the first page or two. There are more sections covering employment and public employees. I was very upset to learn that now that HB2 had passed it was considered a religious freedom bill.

Theyre using fear of trans people and Im upset that theyre using that, he added. Theres nothing to be afraid of. Were just people, right?

The crowd cheered and applauded.
A Dutch national was arrested in Dublin during a search carried out as part of an operation targeting "the Kinahan organised crime gang", a court has heard.

Naoufal Fassih (35), who is of Moroccan origin, was refused bail by a judge after gardai said a passport and identification card he produced were false.

Judge Cormac Dunne deferred a decision on legal aid after hearing that the 2,900-a-month apartment he was arrested in contained three watches worth more than 80,000 and 13,000 in cash.

Dublin District Court was also told that the runners he was wearing in court were worth at least 800.

Judge Dunne remanded him in custody to appear in Cloverhill District Court next Friday.

Mr Fassih is charged with having a false Dutch passport and presenting it to gardai as being genuine.

He is also accused of having a false Belgian ID card and a small quantity of cannabis and faces two immigration charges.

The offences are alleged to have happened at an apartment at Baggot Street Lower on April 7.

The passport he offered gardai had a false name on it, the court heard.

Gda Eoin Kane said he charged the defendant at 10.30am yesterday and he made no reply after caution.

Objected

Gardai had asserted at a previous court hearing that the passport and ID card were false and the accused's solicitor had made his own inquiries about this.

"That would appear the case," solicitor Niall O'Connor said.

The court heard that gardai had objected to bail on the basis that they believed Mr Fassih to be a flight risk.

Defence barrister Keith Spencer said that now the accused's identification had been "crystallised", he wished to continue with his bail application.

"It has crystallised because of the garda detection of his false identity on the passport," the judge said.

Judge Dunne said he was not satisfied to defer the decision on bail and formally refused it.

He remanded the defendant in custody for the directions of the DPP to be made available.

Mr Spencer made a legal aid application, but Gda Kane said that found in the apartment were 300 (378), 12,825 in cash, one Rolex watch worth 8,350 and another worth 35,000. A third limited edition Audemars Piguet Royal Oak limited edition Michael Schumacher watch was worth 40,000.

"The runners he is wearing are worth upwards of 800. This gives an example of the means of this man," said Gda Kane.

Mr Spencer said he did not think it had been suggested that the items in the apartment were the accused's, and he thought it had been asserted that the apartment owner was the owner of the watches.

The court heard Mr Fassih had refused to answer any questions that were put to him.
She's known for her rigorous workouts and enviable toned physique.

However, model Madeline Mulqueen has revealed that she struggled after dropping to below seven stone following an accident.

Madeline, from Limerick, is a trained personal instructor and has been showing off "proud" photos of her progress in the gym in recent months.

However, the 26-year-old said that only last summer her weight plummeted to seven stone, which affected her mental health.

The accident saw her being knocked unconscious by a fire door while moving into her Wicklow home with her movie star fiance Jack Reynor.

"Last year I had an accident and ended up getting whiplash," she said.

"I dropped to under seven stone and I was unhappy in myself physically and even more so mentally."

The bubbly brunette said she was out of work and unable to train for months after the accident, which left her with a bruised face and neck injuries.

It was a gradual path back into training for Madeline, who started working out again ahead of her charity trip to Africa at the end of last summer.

She said her inactivity gave her a bad dose of cabin fever, which left her feeling "really low".

Toned

However, Madeline spoke this week about her transformation and her toned muscles, which she credits with consistent training and eating more.

"I couldn't gain weight for months after my accident, but after just eight weeks of consistent training and upping my meals I'm finally getting those gains," she said.

Madeline, who is signed to Distinct Model Management in Dublin, also regularly attends Pilates sessions.

She was delighted this week after her fundraising dinner at Swords restaurant Indie Spice Grill helped pull in 3,300 for the Zamda charity that helps young people in Zambia.

Madeline showed off her figure when she stepped out in a floor-length red gown to support her other half at the Iftas in the Mansion House last weekend.
A 'Judas' hitman, who botched a murder for the Kinahan cartel and fatally shot an innocent man, was offered over 100,000 to kill his intended target, it has emerged.

The Herald has learnt that the 24-year-old gangster is friendly with many main players in the Hutch mob, including intended target Keith Murtagh (32).

It is not known if he was paid any of the cash upfront for Wednesday's shooting, which resulted in the murder of tragic dad Martin O'Rourke (24), who had no involvement in the deadly feud between the cartel and associates of slain Gary Hutch.

Sources are also unaware whether the 24-year-old will now become a cartel target himself after the botched assassination.

"He is being called a Judas because he is actually mates with many of the main players in the Hutch gang, but yet he took up the offer of money to kill Keith Murtagh," a source explained.

"He would have known these fellas since he was a kid."

Murders

The development comes as it emerged that a close associate of David Byrne, who was shot dead in the Regency Hotel gun attack, is now the driving force behind the cartel's operations.

A source said that this notorious Crumlin-based thug is the person who is "offering up the cash for the next murders", which includes this week's atrocity.

It can also be disclosed that crime godfather Christy Kinahan has ordered his son Daniel to "step back" from the bitter feud that has now claimed five lives, because it is extremely bad for the cartel's drug-trafficking business.

The chief suspect for the murder of Mr O'Rourke left the scene on a bicycle and then dumped his handgun in a bin as he fled.

The gunman has been arrested twice by Tallaght gardai investigating the cartel- sanctioned slaying of Michael 'Mad Mickey' Devoy in January, 2014.

'Mad Mickey' (41) was murdered shortly after his release from Portlaoise Prison. The main theory is that he was shot dead because he was the gunman for a botched murder attempt on heroin trafficker and cartel figure Greg Lynch three months earlier outside a northside pub.

Gardai believe that the north-inner-city criminal, who was being hunted last night, also set up Devoy to be murdered on behalf of the cartel.

It is understood that the killer was friendly with Ballymun criminal Devoy, but betrayed him for a cash reward.

A senior source told the Herald: "This 'gun for hire' is involved in extortion, debt collection and is associated with Provos in the north inner city."

The Herald has also learnt that the north-inner-city-based criminal is closely connected with a dangerous gang of young thugs who are based in the Darndale and Coolock areas of the capital's northside.

A key member of that gang was previously jailed after being arrested in a major operation by the gardai's Organised Crime Unit.

Sources say the young criminal is one of several young thugs who are prepared to kill for money for the Kinahan cartel.

Shooting

The intended target of Thursday's shooting, Keith Murtagh, was understood to be still in hiding last night.

Murtagh was jailed for eight years in 2010 for his role in a botched cash-in-transit robbery in Lucan in May, 2009, in which Murtagh was shot by gardai and seriously wounded, while fellow criminal Gareth Molloy (27) was shot dead by a detective from the Garda Emergency Response Unit in the same incident.

Tensions remain extremely high in the capital this weekend after the tragic murder of Mr O'Rourke, which has led to an increase in armed patrols in the city.

Gardai believe "that it is only a matter of time" before the north-inner-city Hutch mob will strike back after four of the five murders were carried out by their bitter rivals.

"The obvious concern is that they could go for a spectacular attack again like what happened at the Regency Hotel in February, something like even a grenade attack," a source said last night.
Jerry Adamson and I were college roommates. Jerry knows things about me that will remain unmentioned. I know things that he wants kept confidential. We have a friends forever, now adventurous husband and wife, shall we say  mutual blackmail society. Its often that way with best friends and former roommates.

Jerry has been a good friend for years. He was a groomsman in our wedding. I may have been a groomsman in his first, but I dont have any pictures to prove it. We served together on staff of a church. He has been guest speaker and gospel magician in churches where I was pastor. Sometimes we burn up our phones just checking up on each other.

Janet met Jerry many years before I did. Jerry and Janet grew up in the same neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, attended school together from kindergarten through high school and graduated together. They were friends, but never dated. They were married, but not to each other. They saw each other at class reunions. They were friends, but not close friends.

A few years ago Janets husband died. About the same time, Jerrys wife chose to leave him for a life alone. Neither had any outside romantic interest; it just happened. A few years later, Jerrys first wife finally chose to divorce him. His children suggested that he date, but he hardly knew where to startthen he remembered Janet.

So he called her up. Hey Janet. This is Jerry Adamson. Id like to take you to dinner to seek your Godly counsel.

His adult children all approved of this, but one said, DAD! That is the worst pick-up line I have ever heard!

I agree it is a horrible pick-up line, but knowing Jerry as I do  he was being sincere.

Now, to the point, Jerry and Janet dated a short time (as my wife advised him, Youre not getting any younger, buddy. If you love each other, you better get on with it.) He proposed in a very romantic setting, and they were married Easter Weekend in Louisville.

On their honeymoon, they came through Bristol to visit old friends (us) and hike a section of the Appalachian Trail. They left their car in Damascus and we dropped them off in the wilderness to wander back to civilization. Thats what friends are for  right?

As darkness fell in the mountains, my son and I were finishing dinner with our families, and he asked when I had been in contact with Jerry and Janet. Well, you know how cell service is on the A.T.  or at least you can imagine  we had not heard from them in hours.

Dad! Stephens face mirrored the concern I had tucked away for a couple of hours. Dad, if you do not hear from them by 9 p.m., call me. Were heading for Damascus and calling the Virginia State Police.

I agreed. But fortunately my phone rang a few minutes later and I heard Jerrys cheerful voice, Yall been trying to call us? Were fine! We can see the lights of Damascus from where we stand.

They were not out of the woods, yet  pardon the pun  but by 10 p.m. we were at Cracker Barrel, laughing with a couple of soar-legged, old, kids and listening to their adventures.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5)

Go thy way  with a merry heart (Ecclesiastes 9:7)
Imagine that there is an active Catholic layman named Bob, and that his complicated life has included a divorce or two.

But there is no one person named Bob. Instead, there are legions of Catholics whose lives resemble this case study. Bob was described by Father Dwight Longenecker in an online essay responding to Amoris Laetitia (On Love in the Family), a 60,000-word apostolic exhortation from Pope Francis.

The fictional Bob is a 1960s survivor and has lived that way. His first wedding was on a beach, after he and his lover got high  and also pregnant. A few years later, Bob married a rich older woman. After she died, Bob became a Christian in an evangelical flock, where he met Susan  a lapsed Catholic.

This is where things get complicated.

Bob and Susan married outside the church, but then Susan rediscovered her Catholic faith and she and Bob started going to Mass, wrote Longenecker. Then Bob converted to Catholicism in a liberal parish where the priest waved a hand and said he didnt need to worry about all that annulment stuff.

So Bob became a Catholic and now 20 years later, he and Susan have six kids, a great marriage and are active members in the parish, goes the scenario. After a chat with a new priest they discovered that, under church law, they were living in an irregular relationship. Bobs second wife  the elderly widow  was dead, but he reckoned his first wife (the hippie who was married to him for less than a year) was still living somewhere, but Bob has no idea where she might be.

Whats a priest supposed to do?

This by no means far-fetched case is one jagged piece of the jigsaw puzzle of modern marriage that Pope Francis tried to address in Amoris Laetitia, said Longenecker, pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

Longeneckers own story is also quite complex. He was raised as a fundamentalist Protestant, graduating from Bob Jones University in Greenville. Then he studied theology at Oxford University and became an Anglican priest. Eventually, he and his wife and children were drawn to Catholicism and, in 2006, he was ordained under the pastoral provision for married former Anglican clergy.

While media debates rage about what Amoris Laetitia does or doesnt say, Longenecker said the key is that it fully affirms the traditional teaching of the church regarding marriage while making a valiant attempt to deal with the messiness of real life. As he says, parish priests and pastors are the ones who deal with the real-life situations of ordinary people. Were the ones who have to help them match up their lives with the teachings of the church.

As always, Pope Francis assumes that confession and repentance are part of the path to Gods mercy, said Longenecker in an interview. But the pope knows that bishops and pastors work in radically diverse cultures and that there is no way he could create some kind of step-by-step general rule that would work for everyone, everywhere.

In his introduction, Pope Francis noted: I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it. ... Each country or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs.

So what is a priest supposed to do with the Bobs of this world, and other sinners who are suffering?

Truth is, the real stories of real people in real life are often even more complex and heartbreaking, said Longenecker. At the ground level, he said, modern marriages and families are being torn apart by mobility, no-fault divorce laws, economic challenges, cohabitation, promiscuity, pornography and other global changes.

I relate these stories to remind readers that for many complicated reasons, marriage in our society is a shipwreck, he said. Its hit the iceberg and gone down long ago. ... The pope has made a good effort to help us sort through the wreckage, salvage what we can and build a raft to sail on.
Insider: A QB change won't save IU's season. It's already lost.

IU quarterback Connor Bazelak's struggles have IU fans suggesting change, but at this point change might not make much difference.
India-Pakistan atmospherics can sour quickly. The exuberance seen during the meeting of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif at Lahore in December has now given way to passive-aggressive exchanges by diplomats.

The April 7 press conference of Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit is a case in point. The envoy maintained that there shouldnt be any doubt that Pakistan wants a peaceful relationship with India but quickly said that cherry-picking (of issues) cannot lead to peace. He said Jammu and Kashmir is at the root of distrust and declared the dialogue suspended since dates for foreign secretary talks were not materialising. He also indicated that a visit to Pakistan by Indias National Investigation Agency to probe the Pathankot attack was in doubt. India coolly replied that the agreed terms of reference specified a return trip by the NIA after Pakistans joint investigation team visited India.

Read | India-Pak in touch? Basits suspension of talks may be false alarm

Many construe such chilly exchanges as progress in itself when compared to the public recriminations seen in the past. Some say Basits views do not chime with Pakistans foreign ministry, which reiterated on April 14 that secretary-level talks would take place once the modalities were worked out.

This will be cold comfort to Indian conservatives, who will instead note Pakistan army chief Gen. Raheel Sharifs remarks on April 12, when he spoke of foreign forces trying to destabilise Pakistan and the China-Pakistan economic corridor project. For many in New Delhi this  combined with Chinas blocking of Indias attempt at the UN to proscribe Jaish-e-Mohammeds Maulana Masood Azhar  is proof, if any was needed, that the Pakistan army has decided to stall progress and that it expects PM Sharif to comply.

The lack of prospects should not surprise us, given the state of both polities and the way the dialogue was structured in the current context. Engaging India is said to have a measure of public support in Pakistan but the specifics of dialogue is a contested issue for the latters political class. PM Sharif has not had the authority to fast-track bilateral progress and is further weakened by revelations in the Panama Papers that his children owned expensive properties in London. In any case, he was never in a position to deliver what India wanted, i.e. prosecution of terrorists plus the winding down of militant infrastructure. And New Delhi, on its part, was not yielding on discussing Kashmir or Siachen.

Read | Prepare the bhakts: PM Modi must use Pak policy to moderate BJP

There is also the complication that even if the people of India and Pakistan want better ties, the most powerful political entities in both countries have little incentive to relax hardline stances. An anti-Indian posture serves the Pakistan army well, consolidates its hold on key institutions and reinforces its importance in the popular imagination. Likewise, a peace agenda with Pakistan does not sit easily with the BJPs aggressive anti-minority posture in India. There is an inherent tension between Modi the aspiring statesman and Modi the election-winner for the BJP, which plays out in ties with Pakistan. As PM he will see the point of greater connectivity and trade, but as a politician he has to make that deliverable contingent on narrowing the scope of dialogue, which Islamabad cannot accept for its own domestic reasons. Political calculations generate competing choreographic preferences. India wants some demonstrable action on terrorist groups to move ahead; allowing Masood Azhar to be listed as a terrorist at the UN would have been a useful step but evidently Islamabad is unwilling to do so without getting its issues of concern on the bilateral agenda.

Hence the difficulty of scheduling foreign secretary talks but keeping up appearances. The point of high-level contact, via national security advisers, seems to be to avoid terror attacks and manage their fallout. Many consider that a perfectly acceptable outcome. Both countries look inward, pursue growth and deal with neighbours only when necessary. There are two problems with this. As Kashmir has shown this week, no region remains calm for too long. Two, ideological forces create consequences and events  and we have plenty of motivated actors on both sides. Governments need to prepare for instability and one way of doing that is to thicken institutional contact, not merely personalise it.

Lastly, Pakistani analysts say that Nawaz Sharif is the best bet for India, since it is unclear what kind of an actor the system will throw up later  a point the Pakistan army and the BJP ought to note, however self-serving that advice may appear to be. Civility may be useful now but India and Pakistan cannot let serious scenarios emerge while their governments and societies avoid each other.

Read | Now, Pakistan says door open for dialogue with India

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
In an unprecedented move, the Election Commission decided to put Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondol under 24-hour surveillance over concerns stemming from his controversial past.

A magistrate will shadow Mondol in addition to the central forces that will surround him wherever he goes.

Every movement of Mondol would be video-graphed, according to the poll panels decision on Friday.

Mondol, Trinamool Congress Birbhum district president, has courted controversy over his remarks and speeches.

He was at one point heard asking party workers to hurl bombs on police in earlier elections. He has already been show-caused and censured by the ECI during the run up to the assembly polls.

The ECI has directed that a magistrate and central force personnel would shadow Mondol round the clock from Friday. All his movements would be watched and video-graphed till the poll ends, said a senior official of the poll panel in Kolkata.

The move came within 24 hours after chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi hinted legal action against Mondol in Kolkata on Thursday.

The poll panel is yet to clarify whether this is the legal action which Zaidi had promised or more actions would follow.

The number of central force personnel that would shadow Mondol would depend on the availability. But there would be at least four to eight personnel. Opposition parties welcomed the move but said that it would have been better had Mondol been arrested.

At least it would tighten the noose and we hope that it would help in checking the rigging. But we wish he is better kept out of polls altogether, said Sidharth Nath Singh BJP national secretary.
Residents of the erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves in West Bengals Cooch Behar will now be able to vote in the assembly elections underway in the state.

Enclave-dwellers were given their EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card) on Friday which will enable them to participate in the electoral process for the first time since Independence after living a state-less existence for 68 years.

Its a moment of great joy, said Joynal Abedin, 22, a resident of Madhya Mashaldanga in Dinhata. Three generations of his family  grandfather Asgar Ali, 104, father Belal Hosain, 45, and Abedin himself  got their EPICs on the same day.

For Belal Hosain, the identity card means nothing less than Independence. Think of a person who has no identity card. It is difficult for him to travel, get his children admitted in schools and apply for jobs. You live under constant fear, Hosain, who was one of the leaders of the enclave dwellers movement demanding citizenship and basic rights, told HT.

In all, 15,786 persons from former Bangladeshi enclaves in India and Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and Indian enclaves in Bangladesh became Indian citizens eight months ago when India and Bangladesh swapped territories. Of them, 9,776 are voters and the EPIC is their proof of an Indian citizenship. These first-time voters will cast votes at 41 polling stations spread across four Assembly constituencies of Dinhata, Sitalkuchi, Mekhligunj and Sitai on May 5.

Residents of former Bangladeshi enclave in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, who became Indian citizens in November last year, get their photo voter ID cards on April 15, 2015. (HT Photo )

Apart from giving them voting rights, these cards will be useful in other ways, too.

We could not even be admitted to hospitals earlier, said Rousan Sarkar, a resident of Dinhata.

Sarkar could get admission in a college because his father had used the address and photo of his namesake living in a neighbouring Indian village to forge a birth certificate for Rousan. Getting fake birth certificates with names and addresses of fathers namesake was a common practice among enclave dwellers to avail health and education services.

Now, no one can call us Bangladeshis and deprive us of our fundamental rights, Abid Ali of Tin Bigha said.

Another recipient of the EPIC card is Usman Gani.

It feels great to be a voter. It gives a sense of empowerment, said Usman Gani, who moved to Cooch Behar from an Indian enclave in Bangladesh last November.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
At the height of anti-alcohol protests in Tamil Nadu last year, Sasi Perumal went up a telephone tower with a can of kerosene, threatening to set himself on fire unless a local liquor shop was closed. As police tried to persuade him to come down, Perumal appeared to suffer a fatal cardiac arrest.

The 59-year-old campaigners death marked a turnaround in the debate over prohibition in the state, with all political parties promising to ban or restrict alcohol if voted to power in elections next month.

The Tamil parties are the latest to back prohibition in India, where a growing number of grassroots movements are pushing local governments to ban drinking. But more than any moral force, politicians appear to back such calls because they dovetail into the rights of women, a substantial vote-bank in any state.

Read: Prohibition looms over Tamil Nadu as Jaya crashes anti-liquor party

There is rich political dividend to be had from supporting prohibition, Suhas Palshikar, professor of politics and public administration at the University of Pune, told Hindustan Times.

The promise to introduce prohibition is seen as one of the reasons Nitish Kumar may have received wide support among women voters in last years elections in Bihar.

Indias experience with prohibition is patchy. In the 1990s, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu briefly swore off the bottle before a cash crunch drove the states to see alcohols revenue-earning power. Bihar experimented with prohibition in the 1970s but lax enforcement saw the ban being eventually lifted.

Two years ago, Mizoram lifted prohibition after almost 20 years. Today, Gujarat, Nagaland, Bihar and parts of Manipur remain dry, although the ban is observed more in the breach. Kerala too is on its way to banning drinking.

Much of the moral weight of prohibition comes from Mahatma Gandhis injunctions against alcohol as well as a constitutional desire to ban a habit seen as hobbling the countrys fight against poverty, especially in the countryside. Womens groups say alcohol fuels domestic violence and encourages men to fritter away meagre family incomes on the bottle.

A measure of prohibitions political appeal is evident in Nitish Kumars move. His supporters say his decision is linked to political plans beyond the state, especially after he emerged as the nucleus of anti-BJP politics following his resounding victory last year.

There is no denying that his image has got a further boost after this decision and this happens with any positive work anybody does, said Shivanand Tiwary, a former associate of Nitish Kumar and former Rajya Sabha MP.

In Gujarat, where a drinking ban has been in force for half a century, the governments partial easing of prohibition for visitors is now a potential election issue.

The powerful Kshatriya-Thakor community in North Gujarat is cranking up its campaign, unhappy over the Anandiben Patel government issuing new liquor shop licences and its inability to tamp down on country-made alcohol.

Read: No words to thank: Poor women celebrate Bihar liquor ban

They warn the BJP government to act fast or lose their support, although many believe such threats have more to do with extracting from the government more concessions for the community than any desire to fight drinking.

Every year thousands of people die after consuming locally brewed liquor. This is an important issue for the next elections, said Alpesh Thakor, convener of Kshatriya-Thakor Sena.

Similar calls for an alcohol ban are being given out in Jharkhand and Rajasthan, leaving many analysts to predict prohibition will only climb on the list of politicians popular policy choices.

Prohibition is marketed a policy that empowers women, a policy that preserves the idea of a happy family life, said Pune Universitys Palshikar.

So, its quite natural it will find a sympathetic response from a large section of the society, mainly women. Political parties want to encash this.

(Additional reporting by Hiral Dave in Ahmedabad, Vijay Swaroop in Patna and KV Lakshmana in Chennai)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Bollywood veteran Dilip Kumar, who was admitted to Mumbais Lilavati Hospital on Friday night, is stable, wife Saira Banu said in a statement. The actor was admitted at the hospital after he complained of breathing trouble.

The actors recovery has come as a relief to his legion of fans. The actor was brought to the hospital late on Friday night after he complained of trouble in breathing.

Banu said in her statement, which was posted on Twitter, Dilip Sahab was admitted to Lilavati Hospital for treatment of high fever and chest infection on April 15 night. He was advised intravenous administration of antibiotics for speedy recovery. Oral drugs would not act as fast as the IV injections, the doctors advised. Hence it became necessary to shift him to a hospital. He is recovering well and is stable by the grace of God and the care of the doctors treating him. He is in a room and in the hospital and not in the ICU as spread by rumours.

Earlier a doctor had said that the actor would kept under observation for 72 hours. I got a call that he was unwell. He had fever and had vomited a few times. He was suffering from pneumonia as well. His white blood cells had shot up. We thought it would be better to admit him to hospital, Dr Jalil Parkar of Lilavati Hospital said.

A file picture of Union home minister Rajnath Singh presenting Padma Vibhushan to Dilip Kumar at his residence. Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao (r), chief minister Devendra Fadnavis (l) and Kumars wife Saira Banu are also seen. (IANS)

Dr Parkar added that the 94-year-old actor is not in ICU. Now, a source has said that the actor would be discharged either on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. He faced trouble in breathing due to which Sairaji (Saira Banu, his wife) rushed him to the hospital, where doctors immediately attended to him. He is fine now and is likely to get released from the hospital either tonight or tomorrow morning, the source said.

His wife and other relatives are at the hospital. Thankfully, he is physically fine and has no other health troubles. He should get better soon, adds the source.

The thespian was born as Mohammad Yusuf Khan but adopted the screen name Dilip Kumar. In a career spanning over six decades, the actor gave hits like Madhumati, Devdas, Mughal-e-Azam, Ganga Jamuna, Ram Aur Shyam, Karma and others. He was crowned as the tragedy king for playing a doomed lover in films like Andaz, Baabul, Mela, Deedar, Jogan and others.

He was last seen in the film Qila in 1998. Kumar was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2015. Earlier, he was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.
Despite being busy with his Indian and international projects, as well as brand endorsements, Irrfan Khan ensures that he takes time out to read all the scripts that are given to him. A source close to the actor says, Irrfan receives a lot of scripts throughout the year, and he goes through each one of them. Even when he is shooting for a film, he reads scripts after the shoot or in between shots.

Read: Indian directors should head to Hollywood: Irrfan Khan

The source says that the actor, who currently has six Indian and three international projects in hand, does so because he doesnt like to keep film-makers waiting. Irrfan finishes reading the scripts in time because he doesnt want anyones schedule to get affected or delayed because of him, adds the source.

Read: I am not an intellectual person, says Irrfan Khan

Apparently, after going through the scripts, the actor reaches out to the makers with his suggestions. Even if he isnt keen on taking up a role, he shares his feedback on the script with every film-maker, says the source.

Irrfan Khan and Tom Hanks in a still from the upcoming Inferno.

Read: 4 times Irrfan Khan turned down Hollywood

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Maneesh Sharmas directorial venture, Fan, starring Shah Rukh Khan in a double role, released on Friday and the film has impressed critics and audience alike. We have now learnt that Gaurav Channa, the crazy fan in the movie, is to some extent inspired by a real-life fan of SRK!

Read: Fan review

Shah Rukh Khan with his fan Gaurav Kalra.

The actor incorporated the Delhi accent and a few other mannerisms of his fan, Deepak Kalra, in his performance. Deepak said a dialogue to me and the way he spoke impressed me. I have used a few personality traits of his for Gauravs character in Fan, especially the way he makes the sound of opening a bottles cap and kissing towards the end, Shah Rukh said.

Read: Meet 10 fanatics who took their celeb-craze a bit too far

The Bollywood star thanked Deepak and said, He was really inspiring. Thank you Deepak, may God bless you. Deepak also appears in the opening sequence of Yash Raj Films Fan where hes essaying the role of a comic Superman.
A new book also highlights the role of women like Durga Devi Vohra, who not only helped Bhagat Singh escape British intelligence but also participated in action. An excerpt...

While in recent analyses much emphasis has been put on Bhagat Singhs infamous getaway disguise as an Anglo-Indian or a sahib, complete with that hat, it has rarely registered that he was also specifically disguised as a married man, a measure intended to confound the police who were on the lookout for unencumbered youths. Being seen in the company of HSRA member Durga Devi Vohra and her young son placed him in an altogether different register, as a family man.

Read: Politics on Bhagat Singh insulting his legacy

Durga Devi, popularly known as Durga Bhabhi (sister-in-law, or more precisely, the wife of ones elder brother), is remembered as one of the few women to feature in the machinations of the HSRA. In a scene invariably depicted in comic books, documentary and filmi accounts, Durga Devi poses as Bhagat Singhs wife, and with her three-year old son Sachi, the family neatly evades the police cordon set up to capture Saunders assassin. Yet this was not Durga Devi Vohras only contribution to the HSRA. Few are aware that she was involved in a range of activities, and even led an action, shooting at a British policeman and his wife in October 1930.

In popular renditions of revolutionary nationalist activities, the roles of women have been largely obscured, with the ongoing use of the epithet Bhabhi (generally not an empowered role in the extended family) further reducing her subjectivity. An appreciation of the role of women in the HSRA has been further precluded by conventions which imagine politics to be a male arena of activity, and by history writing practices that read violent responses to colonialism as the product of an ultra-masculine or gendered agenda. However, women were active on the fringes of the inner circle of the HSRA, and both despite and because of prevalent conceptions of femininity in north Indian society at the time, their roles were vital. As the HSRA was depleted of manpower as inner party members were progressively arrested, women such as Durga Devi began to take more prominent roles in party machinations.



Women in the HSRA



In 1932 intelligence authorities discovered a lengthy HSRA manifesto which they attributed to Bhagat Singh. It contained extensive ideological ruminations, including an incisive Marxist analysis of the state of colonialism in India. The document mapped out opportunities for the revolutionaries to intervene in the Congress-dominated political landscape, and while disclaiming that no artificial barrier is recognised between men and women, it also noted that there was, practically speaking, less scope for women to undertake military training. However, it explicitly included roles for women in the party, particularly in intelligence-gathering, fundraising and espionage. The particular utility of women in these roles becomes apparent in Durga Devis story.

Read: The Bhagat Singh you didnt know

Durga Devi Vohra

Durga Devi Vohra was the only child of a Gujarati Brahmin couple settled in Allahabad. Her mother died when she was young and her father took vows of sannyas, leaving her to be brought up by her aunt. She studied up to Class V, and married when she was eleven. She first came into contact with the revolutionaries in Lahore through her husband, Bhagwati Charan Vohra (19031930), the son of a wealthy Gujarati, Shiv Charan Das, who worked for the railways and was honoured with the title of Rai Sahib. Bhagwati Charan studied at National College, Lahore, where he met Bhagat Singh, who became a frequent visitor to the family home, as did Yashpal and Sukhdev. Bhagwati Charan was involved in student politics, becoming an active member of the NJBS, which functioned (among other things) as a recruiting ground for HSRA members. Bhagwati Charan was relatively wealthy and was able to dedicate much time and money to social and political work. Additionally, he had no family opposition to his politics; his father had died in the early 1920s, and his mother when he was a child. On account of his wealth, party members regarded his initial interest in the HSRA with suspicion, and it took some time to refute allegations that he was not a CID informer. By late 1928, he and Durga Devi were incorporated into the party and he became one of the primary ideologues of the HSRA, officially serving as the Propaganda Secretary, writing a history of the revolutionary movement, and treatises such as The Philosophy of the Bomb, which was drafted as a riposte to Gandhis 1929 critique of the revolutionaries, The Cult of the Bomb.

Posters like Desh Chintan (Concern for the Country) depicted women as passive worriers. However, some of them played a more radical role. (Photo courtesy: Kama Maclean)

Durga Devi gave birth to a son, Sachinanda, in 1925, but she remained committed to teaching and continued to work in a girls college in Lahore until she was forced to go underground in 1929. In a studio photograph from around 1927, she is well turned out, elegant in a silk sari gathered at her shoulder with a brooch. She appears relaxed, confident, with Sachi sidled up to her, clasping something precious to his chest (Figure 23).

Bhagwati Charans radical political activities brought him to the attention of the CID, and the couple were aware of being monitored, suspecting that their driver was a plant. In 1928, Bhagwati Charan rented a property at the behest of Sukhdev, the mastermind of the Lahore Conspiracy Case, to be used for party activities  including the manufacture of bombs. Durga Devi supported her husbands political activities and, according to Kumari Lajjawati, her one motive was to do whatever her husband did  she said, Ill do whatever Bhagwati Charan says. Her thoughts on being a revolutionary were to develop as she was increasingly drawn into the party. 

In early December, Bhagwati Charan left Lahore to attend the annual meeting of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta, leaving a large sum of money with his wife in case of emergency  four or five thousand rupees, as she recalled. After Saunders assassination, Sukhdev and Bhagat Singh came to Durga Devi for help, bringing with them Rajguru. She had heard of the murder  all of Lahore was abuzz with the news, following the HSRA posters that boldly claimed responsibility. She implicitly knew that Bhagat Singh was involved, yet consistent with party protocol, she did not ask any questions, presuming that Rajguru, whom she had never seen before, was a servant.

Read: The story of Indias independence

As is memorialised in filmi accounts, she readily gave over the sum of money her husband had left, and rather daringly, given social conventions of the time that constrained contact between men and women who were not married, agreed to pose as Bhagat Singhs wife in order to help him escape Lahore. Taking Sachi, and accompanied by Rajguru (pretending to be the young familys servant), they passed unencumbered though a police cordon and boarded a first class train carriage for Lucknow, where they changed trains for Calcutta. Azad also escaped Lahore in the company of women. Disguised as a panda and wearing a ramnami angochha shawl, Azad travelled with Sukhdevs mother and sister, as though he was escorting them on a pilgrimage.

From Lucknow, Bhagat Singh sent a telegram to Bhagwati Charan, informing him that he was coming to Calcutta with Durgawati. Bhagwati Charan received this with great surprise: Who is this Durgawati? The party arrived at Calcutta, where Bhagwati Charan was staying with his sister, Sushila, who was also to become a prominent woman revolutionary. It was with an element of surprise that Bhagwati Charan learned of his wifes role in helping Bhagat Singh and Rajguru escape: he was very happy. Then he complimented his wife; I have not recognised you until now; today I can understand that I have got a revolutionary wife.

After attending some sessions of the Calcutta Congress, Durga Devi returned to Lahore with her son. Bhagwati Charan, who had learned how to make bombs from revolutionaries in Calcutta, was drawn into the preparations to launch the attack on the Legislative Assembly. In early April 1929, Durga Devi was summoned by her husband to Delhi to bid farewell to Bhagat Singh. Travelling with Sushila, she arrived in Delhi to meet her husband, Azad and Bhagat Singh in Qudsia Park, where they picnicked, feeding Bhagat Singh his favourite foods, sweets and oranges. Again, no words were spoken of the plan to bomb the Assembly; it was simply understood that he was going to perform some action, and that he may not survive it. Sushila made an incision in her thumb, and gave Bhagat Singh a protective tika of her blood. When Bhagat Singh left the picnic, he went directly to the Assembly, where with B.K. Dutt he set in motion the events that would lead to his execution. Azad slipped away, and the remainder of the party  Bhagwati Charan, Durga Devi and Sushila  hired a tonga, and began to circle the Assembly, anticipating the drama unfolding within. As the police were taking Bhagat Singh away, young Sachi recognised him and impulsively called out Lamba Chacha! (Tall Uncle!) to Bhagat Singh, who could not stop himself, he looked up, but the police were in a great hurry, and so missed an opportunity to arrest his accomplices.

In the following months, police began to close in on the revolutionaries. In Lahore, investigators discovered the HSRAs bomb factory in Kashmir House, rented out in Bhagwati Charans name, arresting Sukhdev, Jai Gopal and Kishori Lal. Bhagwati Charan was not on site at the time of the raid, and went into hiding. Durga Devi was forced to engage a lawyer in an attempt to forestall police attempts to seize the family home on the basis that her husband was an absconder in the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Comrade Ram Chandra, a family friend and fellow traveller, noted that during this period she continued to support the families of revolutionaries in Lahore, and acted as a post box, receiving mail for absconding revolutionaries. She was also involved in the procurement of weapons for the party around this time. In early 1930, J.N. Sahni, the editor of the Hindustan Times, saw her in a secret meeting in Delhi with pistols sourced from the NorthWestern Frontier Province, which she kept concealed under her clothes.

Read: Six years of jail for Tilak

In 1929, Bhagwati Charan plotted and carried out an attempt to bomb the Viceroys train with Yashpal. Subsequently he became involved in a plot with Azad, Yashpal, Vaishampayan, Sukhdevraj, Sushila and Durga Devi to free Bhagat Singh from prison, by raiding a police van during his transfer from Borstal to Central Jail in Lahore. On 28 May 1930, Bhagwati Charan died. He was testing a bomb in woodland near the Ravi when it exploded prematurely in his hand. His accomplices went for help, but by the time they returned to collect him it was too late. His body was later discovered by police in a shallow grave nearby. Durga Devi was now a widow, and it is here that her role in revolutionary politics is often thought to have ended. She bore her widowhood, according to Kumari Lajjawati, with mute bravery. Restrained by the need to remain silent in their Lahore hideout, she didnt even shed a tear when she was told the news. She summed up what she did next in her interview:

I fled after that. I sent the boy to someone in Allahabad. There was a warrant against me so I threw myself fully into my work. I was not a born revolutionary, but one who becomes a revolutionary with the maturity of ideas. More and more, an individual thinks, understands, reads and writes, his ideas change, they become stronger, its not about being emotional. The first phase is emotional. And I believe that 99 per cent of our comrades were those who had come from an emotional phase, educated themselves, and then became genuine revolutionaries. Of course there are exceptions, such as my husband. Such as Chandrashekhar Azad. I told Azad that I wanted my full share of revolutionary work.

Following Bhagwati Charans death, Durga Devi stayed with Kewal Kishan Engineer before moving with her sister-in-law Sushila to the home of Rana Jang Bahadur Singh, a journalist for the Tribune in Lahore, where she hid for three weeks. Shortly after, Durga Devi left Lahore, disguised in a burqa. She went to stay with Sridevi Musaddi and her husband, and remained there for a month, at the same time as Azad. Her activities and whereabouts following this are somewhat unclear, other than that she was constantly on the move, staying one step ahead of police. In July 1929 she was seen back in Lahore, holding a placard with Bhagat Singhs photograph and leading a procession on Bhagat Singh and Dutt Day, and weeks later she was named as a member of the ladies procession mourning Jatindranath Das.

The Lamington Road Outrage: What Durga Bhabhi Did Next

At midnight on 8 October 1930, Durga Devi shot at a European couple standing outside the police station in Lamington Road, a prominent thoroughfare in South Bombay, in what would later be described as the first instance in which a woman figured prominently in a terrorist outrage. The Times of India recorded that this was an ominous development, the first outrage of its kind in Bombay in recent years, and is reminiscent of the anarchist outrages of Bengal.

Read: Tryst With Destiny speech

The victims of the shooting, it turned out, happened to be a police sergeant and his wife. They had a miraculous escape; Sergeant Taylor had a bullet pass through his hand, and Mrs Taylor suffered three wounds on her leg. The shots were fired by more than one weapon from a passing car, with witnesses reporting that they saw three assailants. A trace on the cars licence plate quickly led the police to the driver, J.B. Bapat, who after five days of intense questioning gave the startling revelation that one of the assailants was a Gujarati woman disguised in male attire. The police went on to make suppositions that with her in the car was her husband and her 8 year old son, which was of course incorrect. This began a search for a suspect described as a young, fair, goodlooking woman, dressed in khaddar, who went by the name of Sharda Devi.

Durga Devi, Prithvi Singh and Sukhdevraj had hastily conceived of the action at Lamington Road to commemorate the death sentence of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, handed down the previous day. Technically, the action was in contravention to party policy which stipulated that permission for actions could only be granted by Azad. Because they felt the need to act quickly, so that the authorities would interpret the attack as a distinct response to the death sentences, Azads permission was not sought. Prithvi Singh and Durga Devi had set off in a car driven by Bapat in the early evening. Their initial target was the Governor of the Punjab, Sir Geoffrey de Montmorency; however security around the house where he was staying in Malabar was such that they could not approach it. Frustrated, they decided to target a police station instead, and finally saw two Britishers standing near the police station on Lamington Road. According to Durga Devi, as the car crept past the pair, Prithvi Singh cried Shoot! and together they leaned out of the windows and opened fire; she recalled firing three or four times.

Durgawati Devi, an Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter. (HT Photo)

Following the successful precedent that had convicted Bhagat Singh and his comrades in the Lahore Conspiracy Case, the prosecutors of the Lamington Road Outrage decided to argue that it was a part of a broader conspiracy in the Punjab and UP. While there was reason to suppose this was true, there was insufficient evidence to prove it in court, with only the testimony of one approver. This confession was judged unstable and the attempt to make a gigantic superstructure on the flimsiest grounds failed. There were no convictions; those arrested were released. Meanwhile, Durga Devi had escaped capture, able to use the days it took for the police to realise that a woman had been an assailant to slip out of Bombay undetected.

The Party as Family

From this incident it is clear that gendered roles ascribed to Durga Devi as a mother, wife and later a widow gave her a unique disguise. The mandarins in Indian Political Intelligence had connected the violence movement with young, unencumbered and energetic bachelors. Because this was largely true of inner circle members, the strategic use of the wives of married party members could lend subversive operations a sheen of respectability. Women were the perfect front.

Read: 127-year-old Mother Dutch last witness to Indias freedom struggle



While Durga Devis motherhood of a small child might have been thought to preclude her from revolutionary activities, in fact it provided a foil for them. On the day of the Lamington Road attack, she had left Sachi with Babarao Savarkar  the brother of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar  with instructions that if anything untoward happened he should be sent to an HSRA member in Punjab, Dhanvantari. When Savarkar read about the action in the newspapers the following day, he panicked  he was engaged at the time in secretly printing copies of his brothers banned book, The War of Indian Independence, and was naturally keen to avoid attention. He sent Sachi to the home of Bapat, the driver in the action, who had already been arrested; the boy was then redirected to Vaishampayans residence; he too had been arrested. Durga Devi began to frantically search for her son, and by fate or whatever you want to call it, she finally found him on the street near Prithvi Singhs akhara [gymnasium], holding the hand of one of Prithvi Singhs friends. Durga Devi gratefully swept him up and caught a train to Kanpur, where Azad was based at the time. He was angry that party protocols had not been followed, but soon calmed down as she explained their haste. As the case went to trial in February 1931, the prosecutors were still trying to pin down the exact identity of the mysterious person with long hair. It was not until the very end of the court case that the wanted woman was identified as Durga Devi of the Lahore Case.

Durga Devis widowhood did not drive her into melancholy seclusion; if anything, she became more active than before. By failing to behave in a culturally conscribed manner befitting a mother, wife and later a widow, she confused the intelligence and police networks who sought to anticipate and capture her. As the newspaper coverage of the Lamington Road Outrage demonstrates, the investigators presumed the gunmen were men; and when witnesses statements suggested otherwise, they guessed that the woman must necessarily be married to one of the men in the car. This too was flawed and informed a search for a fugitive couple, which was ultimately fruitless. A daring lone woman, let alone one with a young child, was simply unimaginable.

In the final months of Bhagat Singhs life, Durga Devi became a prominent member of the Bhagat Singh Defence Committee, formed to lobby for legal and financial support; to collect signatures to appeal the death penalty; and ultimately, to take his case to the Privy Council. Interestingly, this was largely organised by women, headed by a dedicated Peshawar-born Congress worker, Lajjawati. 

Durga Devis activities supporting Bhagat Singh in jail were enabled by her capacity to manipulate gendered forms of anonymity that provided, literally, the perfect cover for revolutionary work. By wearing a black veil and assuming the persona of a lady in purdah, she was able to attend court proceedings and visit Bhagat Singh in jail, which she continued to do even while he was on death row, confidently gliding past jailors to deliver him letters, books and foodstuffs. Several other girls who were trusted by the revolutionaries posed as sisters or nieces of the accused men and visited them regularly carrying messages to and from them. No male absconder would dare to do this. Little wonder that by 1933, the wearing of disguises was made a criminal offence, so that men and women  could not evade police detection by dressing as women and men, respectively, and Hindu men and women were prohibited from masquerading as Muslims.

Women as Intermediaries

Being generally held above suspicion, women were the ideal conduits between the revolutionaries and the Congress movement. While the two movements were discrete, many of the north Indian revolutionaries had been active Congress members in the early 1920s, as I shall demonstrate in the next chapter. Bhagwati Charan was still a paid-up Congress member in 1929. In a meeting organised by a Delhi Congress leader, Raghunandan Saran, Durga Devi called upon Mahatma Gandhi, who was staying at the home of Dr Ansari in Delhi during the GandhiIrwin talks in February 1931. Attended by Sushila, she first was introduced to Jawaharlal Nehru, who by his own account was excited to meet them. Their subsequent meeting with Gandhi, to appeal to him to include a clause in the pact with Irwin to save the condemned trio, did not fare so well. Gandhi had presumed that, tired of living the life of an absconder, she had come to surrender herself to him and he advised her to do so; she refused, made her case to Gandhi, and left.

Read: Indias powerful women

The early 1930s in general marked an increase in the politicisation of women, especially with the onset of civil disobedience. The large numbers of women taking part served, among other things, to make the work of the police particularly unpleasant. When Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed on 23 March 1931, mass protests across India included an unprecedented and unexpected number of women, even in areas known for conservative restrictions on womens movement. 

Durga Devi was eventually arrested in Lahore on 14 September 1932, and although she did not much elaborate on this in her testimony, Ram Chandra records that she actually invited the police to arrest her, writing a letter to them alerting them to her address. Manmohini Zutshi recalled the excitement when Durga Devi was delivered to the Lahore jail where she was being held as a satyagrahi, surmising that with many of her comrades dead or in jail, Durga Devi had simply lost heart: she was not very communicative, though we all tried to engage her in conversation.

A Political Whos Who compiled by the government of the United Provinces noted that Durga Devi was detained in jail for two months under the Special Powers Ordinance from 2891932; [then] released and restricted to Lahore for a further twelve months under an Act which allowed for preventative detention of suspects. By 1935, she had returned to her studies and matriculated, and in 1936 began to work as a teacher in the Pyare Lal Girls School, Ghaziabad, after an amnesty was extended to political prisoners, and charges against her were dropped or had expired.

With the revolutionary movement largely suppressed, Durga Devi Vohra began to take part in Congress politics. She served as president of the Delhi Congress Committee in 19378, and assisted in organising a reception for the freed prisoners of the Kakori Conspiracy Case. She was arrested again, this time in her capacity as a Congress worker for her involvement in a hartal in 1938, and was imprisoned for a week. In 1940, she set up and dedicated all her energies to a Montessori school in Lucknow, and she was still engaged in this when she was interviewed in 1972. When she died in 1999 her funeral rites were performed by Sachi on the banks of Hindon river, celebrated with full state honours.

Revolutionary Women

That women took up revolutionary roles at all was frequently construed in the 1930s as an indication of how oppressive the government had become, that they were willing to flout or depart from their expected roles. Who could imagine, wrote the journalist-agitator Chaman Lal, that those quiet and humble goddesses of piety and sweetness would turn out to be real warriors in the cause of their country? 

Read: The real Bhagat Singh

Inciting men to violence was one thing; but taking it up, as did Durga Devi in the Lamington Road Outrage, was another. British intelligence networks struggled to understand the phenomenon of women joining the revolutionary movement, reasoning that it was an outcome of the growing trend towards co-education, particularly in Bengal. As Purnima Bose has noted, the phenomenon of Indian women committing acts of violence against European men challenged and complicated understandings of Indian women as backward and submissive in comparison with their European counterparts.

It was, however, a willingness to manipulate such suppositions that ensured that activism by women such as Durga Devi Vohra became an indispensable element of clandestine revolutionary operations. Moreover, it is evident that revolutionary organisations conceded this, even as they were a product of a society where conservative views on the roles of women were in a state of flux, as women and girls began to take up roles in the broader nationalist movement. It was with an element of surprise that British observers noted that during the Civil Disobedience Movement unexpected assistance came from women. Thousands of them  many being of good family and high educational attainments suddenly emerged from the seclusion of their homes, and in some instances actually from purdah, in order to join Congress demonstrations. But as Tanika Sarkar concluded, in Bengal, Gandhian radical nationalist and terrorist leaders alike consistently harped on the supreme relevance of traditional roles and values for modern Indians, in which there was little room for feminist sensibilities.

In the case of the HSRA, reservations about the roles of women in the inner party circle existed, but were negotiated, with women such as Durga Bhabhi and Sushila Didi being absorbed into the familial party structure. Nonetheless, Durga Devi paid a price for her politics. Neighbours in Lahore, unappreciative of her personal and social radicalism, primly observed her interactions with the other male revolutionaries and, according to Yashpal, gossiped about her. Peripheral party members made assumptions about her failure to live the life of a widow, and published scandalous allegations about her, which she strenuously denied. 

The HSRA came to a position of recognising no artificial barrier between men and women, with Bhagat Singh urging from jail the formation of a womens committee whose primary duty would be to revolutionise the womenfolk and select from them active members for direct service. Initial reservations about womens participation gave way to a pragmatism towards meeting larger goals. The revolutionaries found that defying gender conventions was an effective means of operating below the radar of the disciplinary machinery of the state, and extended these opportunities to women who wanted them. These women simultaneously defied and appropriated norms and ideals around contemporary concepts of womanhood and it was precisely this that made them such useful operatives.



Many other women were drawn into the activities of the revolutionary movement in north India. Intelligence files describe the shady activities of several women involved in the NJBS, including Nikko Devi of Peshawar, the mother of terrorists, whose work included supplying bombs and arms to unnamed persons in Karachi and Lahore. Other examples include Suhasini Nambiar, who presided over the 1929 NJBS meeting in Lahore, held alongside the Congress; and a sari-wearing, Urdu-speaking woman of Irish birth, who adopted the name Savitri Devi (also known as Mrs Jaffar Ali and Alyce Nisbet Wright), known to be working with Yashpal engaged in writing party propaganda.

Read: Gandhi followed the policy of divide and rule

Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkerts research makes it clear that a number of women supported their revolutionary husbands, not simply by keeping their homes, but through illegal activities such as procuring and hiding guns and ammunition. The extent to which women participated in the revolutionary movement, particularly in supportive roles (meaning those who provided shelter, food and cover, carried messages or arms, or instilled a passion to serve the country among their children, telling them about the heroes and martyrs who had sacrificed their lives for the countrys freedom), is ultimately unquantifiable. Many women shrouded their actions in supporting the revolutionary movement with silence, as they feared that their activities would be associated with terrorism, which continued to be stigmatised in the aftermath of independence.

Durga Devi was the most celebrated of these women, made infamous as Durga Bhabhi in Bhagat Singh films, documentaries and comics. And yet, as one newspaper wrote in her obituary, while her earlier life reads like a thriller, her later years were spent in exclusion and relative anonymity. It is telling that many of her surviving male colleagues wrote and published memoirs about their revolutionary lives, some more than one, but she did not. Coaxed to record her testimony by the oral historian Manchanda, it becomes clear that the level of her involvement as a revolutionary has been vastly under-appreciated. That the twists and turns of her story are still largely unknown is a reminder that popular depictions of the revolutionaries have become hegemonic. An immersion in the archives, drawing on governmental, oral and proscribed visual sources, shapes a much more detailed and often complex narrative.

A Revolutionary History of Interwar India: Violence, image, voice and text

Kama Maclean

Penguin

Rs 599

PP 305
Private spaces within the public sphere have always been important, which accounts for the significance of literary salons within a society. Kashmir, engulfed by war for decades, has lost the space for discussion. In the years leading up to the 1990s, people often sat for hours outside shop-fronts, on hills and in clearings talking about life and politics.

These places of contact were intellectual forums in a traditional form. Later, as crackdowns, curfews and shootouts became regular, people thought twice before venturing out.

Read: Kashmirs disturbing new reality

Today, social media has largely replaced those points of contact. However, Peer GN Suhail, a Beijing-educated Kashmiri, now hosts a forum that encourages intellectual dialogue, and the exchange of ideas. Peers organization, the Centre for Research and Development Policy (CRDP), runs Kehwa Talk, a unique platform that acquaints people with the work of others, and dwells on issues of public concern.

A collection of these talks entitled Breaking Mazes, edited by Peer, was launched in Srinagar this New Years Eve to celebrate the forums first anniversary. Brought out by a local publisher, each of the essays in the 223-page book, that evolved from actual talks, focuses on a subject important to Kashmir.

Religious nationalism, the forgotten political history of the Muslims of Jammu, the gradual erosion of the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indus water treaty and hydropower politics, employment history, language and identity, gender and politics, and trauma are all discussed. Written by journalists, academics, historians, poets and experts, these seventeen essays are the result of Kehwa Talks conducted in cafes, and at colleges and schools. A significant collection with diverse content, the platform has reintroduced dialogue.

Young people do discuss these issues but usually only within their small bubbles. To move beyond the conventional and to think in a broader form, it is important to be exposed to the ideas of thinkers. Stepping back and looking at society as a whole also involves looking at ourselves in the mirror. Until an individual does that, he has little scope to improve life.

Read: How 12-year-olds have taken to streets in Kashmir

Last year, I attended a few of the initiatives talks where kehwa, the popular Kashmiri drink, was served and felt joy that an unsettled and disjointed society had come up with something new. Kashmir has myths and conspiracies about almost everything. In a torn region, rumours spread like wildfire. To exchange ideas is to lay down the concrete basis for an enriched society. The highlight of this constantly-improving forum is that it invites speakers from varied fields and regions. Some cliches do persist, but Kehwa Talks is only a year old and one hopes those things will change.

The limitations of such initiatives are abundant: How does the outcome trickle down from top to bottom? Do common people know what is being discussed? Does it reach their ears? After all, it is these people who have an impact on society. If the result of something like a Kehwa Talks does not reach them, it would remain an exercise for a particular section. As with many events in Kashmir, the same speakers and the same audience (most of them actual journalists, fake journalists and omnipresent typists) turn up at the usual venues. After a point, such events become cliched and it is clear they have a negligible impact.

Read: 1000 non-Kashmiri NIT students leave campus

That is why it is important to spread the word about such initiatives, not just in Kashmir but outside too. The written word is growing increasingly important for Kashmirs narrative. Breaking Mazes must be taken home and read, talked about. Kehwa Talks should not be a one-off venture but should take over the void that has developed in Kashmir and yes, invite fresh minds and common people to participate. It doesnt take resources to discuss and write. All it takes, really, is to believe in what poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz said: Speak up, for your lips are not sealed.

Are we speaking out loud enough? Do we have patience and tolerance? Perhaps.

Breaking Mazes

Edited by Peer GN Suhail

Ali Mohd & Sons/ AM Heritage Series

Rs 200

223 pp

Fahad Shah reports from Kashmir and New Delhi. He is the editor of the anthology Of Occupation and Resistance: Writings from Kashmir and the founding editor of the magazine The Kashmir Walla.
The area outside the runway teems with visitors waiting for the doors to be thrown open. When they swarm in there is a moment of collective surprise, as they take in the setup.

The ramp has embroidery machines placed along the sides. Karigars sit at them, creating fine surfacing detailing on fabric. You can walk up to them; touch, feel and interact with the handiwork of the craftsmen, and appease your curiosity of what goes in the making of a Rimzim Dadu ensemble.

Dadu, the orchestrator of this unique fashion installation, is a petite person you can easily miss in the crowd. Her personal style is the understated kind, casual even. It extends to her 2016 Autumn/Winter collection  simple dresses that you can zip up and be done with, she says. The silhouettes are uncomplicated, the collection very approachable, but look closer and youll know what sets her creations apart.

Pushing Outwards

Born in a family of garment exporters in Delhi, Dadus favourite hobby as a kid was to dash to the garment factory in the basement of their house upon returning from school. Growing up, she accompanied her father all over the world for international trade shows. Theyd also visit little-known boutiques and offbeat flea markets. Fashion designing was thus, a natural progression for her.

Since debuting on the ramp in 2007, Dadu has gained recognition for creating her own textiles and transforming the character of fabrics. She says, Im not a cut-and-sew designer. I can never pick fabric off the shelf and make something out of it.

She now intends to, in my own small way, push the boundaries of fashion, which she says is a very non-transparent industry, where everybody wants to keep their techniques and artisans secret. I wanted my show to be an anti-thesis to fashion. Dadu thinks its unfair that the artisans who work day in and day out behind every collection are left out of the picture at the end. Which is why, at the recent Amazon India Fashion Week in Delhi, Dadu relocated her karigars, their tools and machines from the studio to the show space, thus creating a live installation in the process.

Rajesh Bharadwaj has been working as a karigar in the industry for 12 years, since he moved to Delhi from Lucknow. I have been backstage doing fittings at every fashion week since it started, but this was the first time I was in the front, showcasing what we do, right on the ramp! he says.

Dadus contemporary Anand Bhushan says that many designers have talked about credibility to artisans before. But Rimzim managed to bring them to the forefront beautifully with her runway showcase, and not just with a special mention or by putting up photographs of craftsmen at work, he says.

Its In The Details

A grey maxi skirt gleams, changing shade from off-white to black as its shape catches the light. On closer inspection, its surface reveals hair-fine thin metallic wires embroidered all over.

These are actually plastic yarns treated to look metallic, and then sewn on fabric, says Dadu. She also experiments with tie-dye on faux leather, which is then cut into fine specks and hand-sewn back on fabric. We disintegrate a material and put it back together. The effect that we get is like marble and rust. Then theres the 3D applique technique, where karigars cut out fine motifs of birds, leaves, flowers and painstakingly stitch each piece back on fabric.

Its this surface detailing and texturing that sets Dadus collection apart. There is a certain contradiction in her garments  with the simplicity of their silhouettes and the complexity of their textures, says veteran designer Arjun Saluja. And that really shines through in her collection; the outcome is beautiful.

As Coco Chanel once said, Those who create are rare.

From HT Brunch, April 17, 2016

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch
When Gaggan Anands Bangkok restaurant was rated as Asias Top Restaurant on the influential but slightly absurd San Pellegrino list of Asias 50 Best restaurants last year, you could hear the gasps of astonishment around the continent.

The global list of the worlds best restaurants is routinely derided (each year, when the names are announced, the London critics compete to see who can make the most fun of it) and is hated by the French (who feel, accurately, that it is biased against them). But despite the foodie scorn, that list has the power to transform a chefs future.

The Asia list is much less influential and amateurishly put together but, outside of India and Japan, where nobody takes it seriously, it still has the power to put restaurants on the global foodie map. And because so many of the restaurants on the list feature chefs who are not natives of the country they cook in (around 35 per cent or so of the list usually comprises expatriates of one sort or another), it is read within the global chef community.

But what neither the World nor Asia lists have ever done properly is to give India its due. (Or Japan either  according to this list, the city of Singapore alone has more great restaurants than the whole of Japan!)

So it came as a huge surprise to Indians when, a few years ago, Gaggan first made the list. Then, last year, Gaggan was rated as Asias Best Restaurant, an accolade that put him ahead of all the great chefs of China and the Japanese masters (for the record, Tokyo has more Michelin stars than any other capital city and more three-star restaurants than Paris). Next, he turned up on the global list in the Top Ten.

At Meatlicious, almost everything is cooked on an open fire

Most people (myself included) believed that Gaggan would not make it to the top of the list this year. We were wrong. For the second year in a row, Gaggan is Asias best restaurant, which more or less guarantees that he will be back in the global top ten once again.

A place on the list ensures commercial success. The first time most people heard of Rene Redzepi was when Noma topped the list. So it has been with Gaggan. He is modest about the accolade and says that all lists are subjective.

But for all his modesty, the ranking has translated into massive commercial success. His Bangkok restaurant is booked out months ahead and nearly every major chef in the world has heard of him.

Because Gaggan is now such a great brand, he could open branches in say, Hong Kong, Singapore or Tokyo and mint money. In fact, friends have encouraged him to strike while the iron is hot. His brand is never going to get any bigger so why not cash in now? Why not create a global Gaggan empire? Why not conquer New York when the going is good? At least, open in India: in Bombay or Delhi, perhaps.

I watched Gaggan grapple with these issues and suggestions for all of last year and was impressed by how stubbornly he stuck to his stand. There would be only one Gaggan, he said. He could guarantee the quality of his food only if he controlled the number of guests. So he would not make his kitchen cater to more than 20 guests at a time. Over a full dinner service that meant around 60 guests a night. And that would be it.

As for franchising the name, he refused point blank. He would have to be in control of anything that bore his name. Yes, he was willing to experiment with a second brand that took inspiration from his menu. But he would not call it Gaggan.

And then, he made a couple of moves that took me  and everyone else, I imagine  by surprise.

The Mizayaki beef specialties are priced at nearly half of those at other Bangkok steakhouses

His second restaurant had nothing to do with Indian food. He opened a steakhouse called Meatlicious, in the trendy Ekkamai district of Bangkok and put his Thai wife, Pui, in charge.

Being Gaggan, he couldnt let it be just another steakhouse. Instead, he insisted that almost everything should be cooked on an open fire, either in a large oven (a little like a pizza oven) or on a grill. Then he decided to import extremely high quality beef (Miyazaki with the highest level of marbling) from Japan along with excellent Australian beef. He put steaks cooked from this exceptional meat on the menu at nearly half the price charged by Bangkoks other steakhouses, arguing that he would make up in volume for what he lost in mark-up.

I went there for dinner earlier this month and ate at the counter while Gaggan stood in the centre of the open kitchen, personally checking each plate as it went out. The steaks were excellent but the two best dishes were not beef. There was a brilliant foie-gras creme brulee and an Iberian suckling pig that had been rubbed with Jamaican-style spices before it went into the oven.

The restaurant was jumping and though prices were reasonable, the parking lot told its own story  it was packed out with BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes and Porsches.

In a sense the food was the antithesis of the cuisine on which Gaggans reputation is based. It wasnt just that he had moved away from Indian. It was also that, for a man who made his reputation using technology in the kitchen, this was as simple and primitive a cooking style as you could imagine: just meat and fire.

And it was every bit as good as the food at Gaggans.

But that is not all that Gaggan has been up to. Last autumn, Thomas and Mathias Suhring got in touch with him. The Suhrings are identical twins who cooked with great distinction for many years at Mezzaluna at the Lebua hotel. (I have often written about their food before.)

The Suhrings had left Lebua to start out on their own and had found a beautiful old house in the Sathorn district for their restaurant. As the project grew, they needed investors. They asked Gaggan if he would like to come in.

Gaggan teamed up with twin chefs Thomas and Mathias Suhring for their eponymous restaurant in Bangkok

Gaggan had always partnered with the Kewalramani brothers, who were his initial investors so he consulted with them. When the Kewalramanis agreed that this was a risk worth taking, they agreed to become more or less equal partners with the Suhring twins and the restaurant opened quietly a couple of months ago.

Despite the absence of any publicity, Suhring was packed out the night I went. It is a lovely restaurant  one of the prettiest in Bangkok  and seems much more suited to the talents of the twins than the bland hotel restaurant surroundings of the original Mezzaluna.

I know the Suhring brothers food reasonably well, having eaten it often at Mezzaluna. However, for this new venture, though they have stuck with Modern European, they have approached it from a Teutonic perspective (they are Germans, after all) rather than the Italian approach they preferred at Mezzaluna.

Most of what I ate was terrific  and deceptively simple. A langoustine was seared on one side and paired with pork. An unlikely combination of roast beef, herring, egg and beetroot worked surprisingly well. German noodles (spatzle) were garnished with crisp onions and mountain cheese.

The best dish, however, was the simplest. It consisted of excellent sour dough bread (baked in the restaurant) with a sort of pate made from aged Camembert and a bowl of rendered pork fat with onions. The twins served it with German beer, pickles and ham but I dispensed with all that and asked for a glass of red wine, instead. It was outstanding.

Suhring is already doing well. I imagine it will become a destination restaurant. It is certainly the best European food I have eaten in Bangkok.

The Suhring twins picked a beautiful old house in Bangkok for their new restaurant, which specialises in European fare

Gaggan has other plans. Rajesh Kewalramani and he have long planned to open a curry house on the other side of the road from the main Gaggan restaurant. It will be simple Indian food but just as Meatlicious is much more than a simple steakhouse, this will have Gaggans twists on the old dishes.

And no, he hasnt forgotten all his molecular wizardry yet. There are plans for a lab on the terrace of Gaggan where the experiments with foam, shape and taste will continue.

Does all this mean that Gaggan will remain in Bangkok? My guess is that he prefers to do new things rather than recreate Gaggan in new cities. Almost every great chef who opens a second restaurant does some variation of the food that made him famous. But Gaggan has done something diametrically opposed to the style of his main restaurant.

Read: Meet the most influential Indian chefs on the global food scene

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
There couldnt be a more apt name for the building Sanjay Leela Bhansali calls home: Magnum Opus. The Latin phrase that translates as great work is used to describe larger-than-life epics, and for nearly two decades now, that has been the phrase used to describe Bhansalis films.

Its been four months since Bajirao Mastani released  the stunning love story of the Peshwa warrior Bajirao I and his second wife Mastani. Here is some more math: Bhansali had been trying to make the film for 12 years. He managed on the third attempt. After that, it took him a year to make the film, with his team working 20 hours a day. Bajirao Mastani cost Rs 140 crore and earned Rs 357 crore. It won seven National Awards.

So you expect to meet Bhansali glowing with satisfaction. Instead, he looks more tired than ever. We worked like absolute mazdoor class  how else do you make a film of this scale in a year? he says, as we settle down at the dining table. To his back is a small balcony, and across the balcony is the sea. I worked so hard even after the release that Ive fallen sick.

Hard work is a recurrent theme in this conversation  it is the answer Bhansali resorts to with nearly every question. I shoot like Im never going to take another shot after that. Every centimetre, every millimetre of that screen frame matters to me.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Bhansalis career as a filmmaker. In 1996, his directorial debut film Khamoshi, although critically acclaimed, flopped. So I shifted gear and did Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999). This is the film that is now considered the prototype of the Bhansali school of filmmaking: opulent backdrops, rich costumes and a story filled with longing  presented like high art to mainstream audiences.

When Im making a Bajirao, I know its going to be grand. But Ram-Leela was also grand. And Black was also grand, says Bhansali, unable to explain his grandiosity. After Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, when Bhansali first ventured to make Bajirao Mastani, Salman Khan, who was supposed to play the lead, had date issues.

So I thought Id make a small film  but Black became big. Maybe thats my perspective on life. Maybe its what I see through the camera. Maybe because I grew up in a small house, Ive always wanted things large.

But could he make small budgets look grand? Can anyone? You need to have a budget. People accuse me of wasting money. But you must know how to appreciate fine things. There are so many art forms that come together in a film  theatre, dance, music, painting, poetry  how do you put them all together to create a cinematic experience?

All of Bhansalis films are anachronistic love stories, about a kind of love that no longer exists. (Prabhat Shetty)

I willed all of this

Sanjay Leela Bhansali grew up in a small one-room house in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai. Its a fear I grew up with: that the walls are going to fall, am I going to fall? Im sitting across that aunt whos sitting on that balcony, is that balcony going to fall? We were all at the edge of existence.

Bhansalis father Navin was a failed producer, an alcoholic who lost all his money. In earlier interviews, hed spoken about creditors knocking on the door, and how his family hid under the bed. Leela, Bhansalis mother (whose name he has adopted as his middle name) raised the children almost single-handedly. She scraped up enough money, insisted they were educated at English-medium schools.

But I never could pay much attention in school. I was in a la-la-land. I never liked being told what to do, so even in school plays, I never liked being an actor, he says. After school, young Sanjay would come home, turn on the radio and my mind would picturise the songs. I naturally understood a film space.

He was barely eight or nine when his father took him to a film set where a cabaret was being shot: a girl was eating an apple, a semi-clad girl with horns on her head was jumping on a semi-clad man. This was the moment he learned his calling. This was the place I was destined to be I knew Id be making films that nobody had made, that would be way bigger than I could think of.

Many well-known people have said the same thing: that even as children with seemingly average or even bleak futures, they felt as though theyd make it big. Oprah Winfrey said she knew she was destined for greatness, Dan Brown had epiphanies of himself on stage, and closer home, Sabyasachi Mukherjee knew he was going to be Indias most successful designer.

Youre asking me how could I ever know that I would be here? says Bhansali. I was a middle class boy in a chawl in Bhuleshwar. I willed this.

I didnt get love  so neither do my characters

Bhansalis work is autobiographical in many ways: the alcoholic Devdas was inspired by his father; Seema Biswass door-to-door salesmanship in Khamoshi was inspired by his mother; the fact that love in his films is nearly always (for at least one person) unrequited, or unfulfilled, or unfinished is from his own life.

I fell in love, and I never fell out of it. Therefore what I did not get, my characters also dont get in my films, so they always have to part in the end. That will always remain one of the recurring motifs in my films. He bangs the table for emphasis.

If audiences understand my films, Ill make Rs 500 crore

In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (and in Ram-Leela), Bhansali showcased Gujarati culture (he is Gujarati). In Devdas, he portrayed Calcutta (because that is where the novel is set). Bajirao is a display of the culture of the Marathi Peshwas. Khamoshi was set in Catholic Goa. But none of this has been conscious, he says. People say, arre aapne woh film toh Gujarat mein banai thi, then you went to Calcutta. Arre yaar. Im only doing what comes to my heart. Im not designing trilogies. Im not designing culture shows, he says. Ask him about his method  his daily working routine  and hell tell you its all a vision, that he is unaware of the creative process almost as if films just somehow make themselves. It is a lot of hard work, he says, but finds it impossible to describe just how hard it is, or what the work entails.

He doesnt like to talk about his life anymore because I dont have much of a life. And when I did, I succumbed to talking about it a few times and did not like it. But if you do want to get to know him, he says, I reveal myself in my movies. I take up only those stories, which are able to express a part of myself that is still lingering and not expressed.

But isnt the whole point of art that the viewers should be able to see themselves in it, not the creator? No, he says. The day my audiences fully understand my work, Ill make Rs 500 crore.

I work like a dog, I do not know how to use a computer

You have to present yourself, sell yourself. You have to find your own people who get their own people who together form a clique and try to achieve something together, he says. At this point in the conversation, Bhansali finally seems comfortable, hes talking about the way Bollywood works. But within a microsecond, the spell has broken: he catches himself just in time, and emphatically declares, Ive never formed a clique. I was an outsider, and I have remained an outsider.

This is a strange response from a man who has spent more time in Bollywood than out of it. At 53, Bhansali has been part of the film industry for about three decades. He has worked with almost everyone (except Aamir, because he has a different school of thought).

He tries to explain again, but were back to talking about how hard he works. Despite never having to sell myself, I reach out to people because they are good artists and they reach out to me because they respect me. Ive been comfortable with my relationships in the industry because I work like a dog. I work like no one works in the industry, the hardest.

But perhaps he wouldnt know if others did work harder. Bhansali doesnt like watching other Bollywood films. I get jealous. A good story told well upsets me. I was very upset with Shoojit Sircar when I watched Piku. I called up Deepika and I said, I hope his mind stops working! Im upset with Juhi [Chaturvedi] for having written it.

What Bhansali is known for is being a hard taskmaster. In an interview with Bhansali, film critic Rajeev Masand mentioned stories about mobile phones being smashed if they rang during the shoot, for instance. Bhansali admits he is now more difficult to work with than ever. When youre making a film, he says, Youre imprinting something for a lifetime. If you dont understand the importance of that moment, you shouldnt be on my set.

When Bhansali writes, he refuses to go out of the house till he has finished. I dont know how to use a computer  to switch on the laptop. Email, Facebook and Twitter  I dont understand any of it, and Im not interested also.

Aishwarya was my muse. Deepika is getting there

Twelve years ago, Bajirao was supposed to be played by Salman Khan, Mastani by Aishwarya Rai, and Kashi by Rani Mukerji. Then the potential cast changed to Salman and Kareena Kapoor, but that didnt work out either.

Apparently, the original idea was shelved after the very public Salman-Aishwarya break-up. Then, Bhansali himself shelved the film when Salman and Kareena signed on Kyon Ki (2005) because he wanted to introduce the pair first.

Its a better film now than it would have been then, he says. Im subtler today. I find more in silences. Ten years ago, there were dramatic outbursts. In Devdas, for instance, the scene where Devdas is arriving goes like this: Devdas is arriving, Devdas is arriving, Devdas is arriving, Devdas is arriving. There were four scenes of Devdas is arriving. Now, I would finish it in one scene.

Its the job of a filmmaker  to change a film according to the times, even if it is a historical film. But, a large part of the Bajirao script remained as it is. When Rani Mukerji was supposed to play Kashi, shed keep coming to Prakash bhai [Prakash R Kapadia, who wrote the film] and say, achha ab Kashi ke scenes padhiye aap. Those were beautifully written.

In 2007, Deepika Padukones debut Om Shanti Om was pitched against Sonam and Ranbir Kapoors debut Saawariya  both released on the same day. Om Shanti Om became a runaway hit, Saawariya became the butt of jokes at every film award show. So when Padukone began her career, she began it in the other camp.

Deepika came to audition for Saawariya, and she said, you let me know and Ill choose right now. But by then Id finalised Sonam who I love immensely also.

They got to work together only when Kareena Kapoor walked out of Ram-Leela. The set was made already, and it was shocking: her exit 10 days before shooting, says Bhansali. So, I went to Deepika. She was unwell and she had fever, and she was beautiful. The neck was so long and those watery gorgeous eyes! I thought, what is this girl all about?

This is in many ways how Bhansali once talked about Aishwarya. One has done three films with me, one has done two films with me. But both are beautiful, both are from Mangalore, both are wonderful girls, both are my friends he ticks off all the diplomatic boxes in the Aishwarya-Deepika checklist.

Aishwarya was my muse. I could look at her and she would understand what Im saying. Deepika has really evolved as an actor. What shes given me, I dont think anybody else will. Mastani was too special.

Im pursuing modern love

All of Bhansalis films are anachronistic love stories, about a kind of love that no longer exists. But what about modern love?

Love is timeless, he says grandly. Sure, now the changeover is faster. Its not just about loving a person, its about loving yourself and so many things but abhi bhi gile shikwe hote hain

And this  modern love  is whats keeping Bhansali occupied: Thats precisely what Im pursuing, to change gears, and create a newer way of telling a story.

First Things on SLBs Mind

* One actress you havent worked with but would like to... Two: Vidya Balan and Alia Bhatt

* One actor you havent worked with but would like to...

Two again! Irrfan Khan and Naseeruddin Shah

* A yesteryear actor youd like to direct: Sanjeev Kumar, if he were alive

* A Hollywood classic youd like to remake: Citizen Kane

* Ranveer Singhs biggest strength: He understands nuances

* And his biggest weakness: Hes too energetic

* Your biggest insecurity as a filmmaker: To get my shot right.

* On set, one thing that makes you really mad: Incompetence or indifference

* Also on set, one thing that makes you really happy: Peanuts, and my bowl of channa. If those are there, Im very happy.

Photographs shot exclusively for HT Brunch by Prabhat Shetty

saudamini.jain@hindustantimes.com

Follow @SaudaminiJain on Twitter

From HT Brunch, April 17, 2016

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch
Whatsapp went ahead and encrypted all forms of messaging that you exchange. Messages, voice calls, images, videos and pretty much anything else that you send out. With a state-of-the-art level of encryption, the encryption and decryption is device to device (sender and receiver). So anything or anyone in-between, including WhatsApp or its servers, have no idea whats being sent. And all of this happens automatically without you having to do anything. With more than one billion users of the service, this just became the single largest encryption and privacy rollout in the world. Awesome, right? Well...

Apple versus FBI

In recent months, the FBI versus Apple battle has made headlines and split the world between those who advocate citizen privacy over any form of security and safety and those who think otherwise. The dilemma can be brought down to a single hypothetical question. If a phone has information on it that could save lives, does hacking into it justify disregarding privacy? Let me paint this in more detailed strokes. If an investigating agency or government knows for sure that a device has exchange of information between terrorists that could save an entire city from being bombed, should a company that can break into that device refuse to do it on the basis of a citizens privacy stand? Which way you answer this determines which side of the divide you fall into.

Double the dilemma

Apples answer was fairly simple. They couldnt assist in breaking into an iPhone because creating a master-key like that could lead to future abuse of other users. Apple suddenly became the poster boy for upholding the rights of privacy all across the world. It also became the most hated company for those that thought they were posturing and using it as a massive PR and publicity campaign and ignoring public safety. WhatsApp just took that huge Apple versus FBI headline and made it look like a small footnote. WhatsApp encryption opens up an all-new Pandoras box of problems. A huge box!

(Getty Images)

Privacy or activism?

WhatsApps encryption is partly a privacy feature but mostly a stand taken against the massive snooping and surveillance activities of governmental agencies. WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum, along with activist and cryptographer Moxie Marlinspike, have basically shown a collective middle finger to any agency that may come knocking on their doors to decrypt messages in the future. They simply cant do it anymore as they have none of the codes or a backdoor to pull it off. And while this is great for us common folk, its even better for those that are planning nefarious activities and need to communicate with each other to make it happen. That terrorists use all forms of online messaging to plan and execute bombings and other such events is common knowledge. If theyll now move to the worlds most private and encrypted messaging system is a no-brainer. Remember, they now have safety in numbers (a billion users), awesome privacy, guaranteed anonymity for all communication, plus a one hundred per cent assurance that even a court of law cant force WhatsApp to break through the very encryption system they created in the first place.

The shocker

WhatsApps run-ins with law enforcement agencies are not new. Theyve had multiple situations where it has been pointed out that the service has apparently been used to plan acts of terror, including the attacks on Paris. A Brazilian court had even ordered a shutdown of WhatsApp in the country for similar reasons. Thus this omnipotent and omnipresent encryption is a clear message for the future. For WhatsApp, its always going to be privacy over security. Its even more shocking that WhatsApp was able to pull it off despite being part of the worlds largest and more profitable data mining company. Facebook lives and breathes on the data we generate and sells that to its army of advertisers. To give away a gold mine of messages and media data that was being exchanged on WhatsApp is quite a decision. The mind boggles to think how Facebook will recoup its US$19 billion buyout of WhatsApp now.

No easy answers here

Is this encryption eventually a good thing for us? In this privacy versus security debate, the right answer is almost impossible to arrive at. Whatever feel-good this evokes within us about our right to privacy being safeguarded, may just get thrown out of the window when the next terrorist act takes down half a city, and it gets proven that it could have been thwarted if certain messages had been hacked into. Like I said, no easy answers here. Till then, enjoy this awesome encryption and send out a few extra messages and your latest collection of nudes to celebrate. Remember, absolutely no one knows or can see what youre sending!

From HT Brunch, April 17, 2016

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch
The New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS countries has handed out $250 million to Indias Canara Bank for renewable energy projects as part of its first set of loans amounting to more than $800 million.

The financial assistance of $811 million has been given to Brazil, China, South Africa and India. Along with Russia, all four countries are founding members of the bank.

The money, to be disbursed in a staggered manner, will be used to support renewable energy projects with a capacity of 2,370 MW in the four countries. These projects will lead to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 4 million tonnes a year, the NDB said.

The first tranche of $75 million will be given to Canara Bank for on-lending to projects for generating 500 MW additional renewable energy capacity. The clean energy generated by the projects in India is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 815,000 tonnes.

NDB president KV Kamath said by disbursing the first loans, the bank has met the timeline drawn up by member countries.

With this we embark on a journey to provide speedy assistance to projects across developing nations. We are pleased that the projects deal with green and renewable energy and hope they will act as catalysts for development in our member states, he said.

In an interview to Hindustan Times in August, a month after he assumed the presidents post, Kamath had said the first loans would be disbursed in April and would focus on clean energy.

The projects were presented at the fifth meeting of the board of directors in Washington on the sidelines of meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

A bank in Brazil, a new energy company in China and the largest producer of electricity in South Africa, Eskom, are other recipients of NBD loans.

The five founding NDB members brought in capital of $1 billion as the initial contribution.
A United States federal jury fined Indias largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Rs 6,200 crore ($940 million) on Friday for what it said was stealing trade secrets owned by competing American firm Epic Systems.

TCS denied the charge, saying it did not misuse or derive any benefit from alleged downloading of Epic Systems software. The Indian firm said it will defend its position vigorously in appeals to higher courts.

The jury decision in a Wisconsin court against TCS and its subsidiary Tata America International Corp is yet another hurdle for the $109 billion Tata Group, grappling with a probe into fraud charges against its British steel company, Tata Steel UK.

This comes days after the conglomerate said it plans to sell Tata Steel UK due to prolonged losses.

The decision is also likely to hurt the Tata brand that was ranked as Indias leading and the worlds 65th most valuable in 2015 by Forbes.

In the short term, the indictment can impact outsourcing as companies will now be reluctant to share trade secrets. This needs to be treated as a wake-up call for Indian companies to implement stringent compliance norms, said Pawan Duggal, cyber law expert and advocate, Supreme Court.

The decision comes a day before TCS is scheduled to announce its fourth quarter earnings where analysts expect the company to report a 2.6% rise in quarterly net profit to Rs 6,273 crore. TCS said the development will not have any impact on its earnings.

The jury decision calls for Tata Group to pay Rs 1,600 crore ($240 million) for the allegedly stolen software and about Rs 4,600 crore ($700 million) in punitive damages.

Healthcare software major Epic sued Tata in 2014, alleging the Indian company wrongfully accessed the American firms proprietary database and downloaded data containing documents, confidential information and trade secrets.

The alleged infringement happened while TCS was doing consulting work for a common client, US health insurance major Kaiser Permanente.

Epic Systems says its software UserWeb contains the healthcare records of around 169 million patients and is used by an estimated 281,000 physicians worldwide.

Much of the data wrongfully taken from Epic, if used improperly, would provide an unfair development and design advantage for TCSs competing medical management software called Med Mantra, the American firm alleged.

Court records showed Tata unsuccessfully moved the court to dismiss Epics case.

The jury indictment is significant but not surprising. The US has a distinct focus on protection of intellectual property, said Duggal.

A TCS statement said the trial judgment will be entered in the case in six to eight weeks, following which parties can file an appeal within 30 days after the judgment is filed.

While TCS respects the legal process, the jurys verdict on liability and damages was unexpected as the company believes they are unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial, said the TCS statement.

On April 8, the UK Serious Fraud Office started a probe into Tata Steel UKs speciality steels unit on charges of a lapse in procedures. Tata Steel said the probe was initiated after Tata Steel UK itself apprised the Serious Fraud Office of the results of an internal audit.
Man-made disasters and elections make for an incendiary combination, though mercifully such occurrences have been few and far between. But here we have two major accidents in two poll-bound states within a span of a very short time. So, it is no surprise that politics came to be enmeshed in both. First there was the flyover collapse in Kolkata and immediately there were accusations and counter-accusations, the spark for which was lit by none other than the fiery chief minister of West Bengal herself. In the Kerala fire tragedy, in which more than 100 people perished, politics was less pronounced. Perhaps because the magnitude of the tragedy was far greater in Kerala, which had a sobering influence on our political stars. But it is a question of how long it stays that way. Already the CPI(M) has asked for the resignation of Kerala home minister Ramesh Chennithala.

Read: As assembly polls near, Oppn takes on Kerala govt over temple tragedy

First things first  how did the fire tragedy happen? Consider the initial reports. There was an unauthorised, yes, unauthorised, fireworks display at a temple, which is supposed to be centuries-old. That led to blasts and a blaze when a burning cracker fell on a storeroom that was full of powerful fireworks, all illegal and worth Rs 10 lakh. More than 10,000 people had gathered in and around the shrine on the last day of a seven-day festival honouring goddess Bhadrakali, the equivalent of goddess Kali of Bengal.

Action taken? Five people have been detained while the police are still searching for temple officials against whom a case of culpable homicide has been slapped. Seven office-bearers of the Puttingal Devi temple were taken into custody by the police on Tuesday.

The temple may be centuries-old but for how long has the fireworks display  illegal and unauthorised  been going on? As expected, there is no clarity on this, though it has come to light that two competing groups had taken part in it. But one thing is certain. It may be almost a reflex action to have the local administration over a barrel whenever there is a catastrophe such as this, but this time it was alert and alive to the dangers of the situation. The Kollam district collector, A Shinemol, had denied permission to this. So did the additional district magistrate. But the temple managers threw their order to the wind and found a handy, religious and power-packed justification for doing so. None of the two administrators is Hindu.

If you have read the above description with a discerning eye you have already formed a line of investigation to pursue if put in charge of probing the matter. There are a lot of loose ends. The question as to how long this penchant for fireworks has been going on is meaningful if one were to ask the administration why it did not put in place enough forces to prevent the display. If banned chemicals were used in the production of the fireworks, where were they produced and who was in charge of the production? And how many such tragedies are waiting to happen? For the answer to the last question, you can turn to the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages about 1,255 temples in the state. Even in this hour, when the Kerala High Court had first proscribed such activities during the night, the board has the gall to say it was not for a complete prohibition on such displays.

Read: SC view on Sabarimala triggers debate, TDB to oppose women entry

Prayar Gopalakrishnan, president of the board, is against the ban on religious grounds. In many temples, bursting firecrackers is a part of rituals and we cannot ban it, he said. But it should be as per the restrictions of the government and court orders with sufficient safety measures. One is tempted to recall Bob Dylan: How deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? Finally Gopalakrishnan has managed to have his way. The same court has allowed a conditional display in Thrissur today.

Read: Kerala temple blaze: HC imposes conditional ban on fireworks in temples

The rules of the government and those of religious organisations tend to pull in different directions. How many religious organisations in India follow the safety procedures that Gopalakrishnan has in a moment of high-mindedness said that all should pursue? How many of them are mindful of fire hazards, until such a tragedy happens? Has it always not been a case of herd instinct, combined with abysmal crowd management and equally abysmal logistics, that has led to temple stampedes, the latest of which took place in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, in July last year? In the Sabarimala temple stampede of 2011, disaster struck almost before anyone could react. When questioned about the lack of preparedness, then chief minister VS Achuthanandan, who is breathing fire and brimstone now, pleaded helplessness and excused himself on the grounds that the State could not interfere too much in the religious beliefs of the people. We are extremely fortunate that we have not yet heard of elephants causing stampedes or ploughing through people during temple festivities. Elephants are temperamental and can go wild when there is too much noise or when there are crackers bursting. Let me remind you that the famous Guruvayur temple in Kerala has nearly 60 captive elephants.

Governments react mostly after a tragedy has happened, as in Datia, Madhya Pradesh, in 2013. More than 20 officials were suspended after the temple tragedy and a judicial enquiry was ordered, though the report has not been made public so far. At the same spot in Datia more than 50 people were washed away by a river tide in 2006 and the state government had then erected a bridge, on which the stampede took place seven years later. However, certain factors responsible for such tragedies came to light, like people pressing over each other for a good position to have a clear view of the deity; temporary structures erected to allow people to pass coming apart; rumours of fire or terrorist attacks; or the tendency of people to make a quick exit after their religious fervour has been sated.

Read: Kollam tragedy: The right to pray in safety

So what is the upshot of this discussion? Is our state system weak in the face of religion? It is easy to take action against those supplying inferior material to build the flyover in Kolkata, but can the temple authorities who went ahead with their illegal plans despite prohibitory orders be proceeded against? Had this been the India of 30-35 years ago, I might have said yes. But today I am not so optimistic. Not that all was hunky-dory in India then. But one thing was there  it was the fear of the State and the administration. And religion had not emerged as a powerful force in the way it is now. Now somehow people connected with religion feel it in their bones that the present ruling dispensation is there to lend them a helping hand even in their perceived wrong-doing. I hope they are proved wrong, else this cavalier attitude to the loss of lives in the name of tradition will not be easy to change.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A group of students in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Friday organised a religious gathering in the premises of one of the hostels.

The students group Hindu Jagran Abhiyan that organised Ram Navami and Navratra celebration in the campus said that they gave a prayer call to eliminate anti-nationals of India and to purify the university.

Hinting at the February 9 event in the campus that marked the death anniversary of Afzal Guru and worshipping of Mahishasur in the past, the student organisation in a statement said: After denigration of Maa Durga and anti-national slogans in JNU, Hindu Jagran Abhiyan and Hindu Vidyarthi Sena of JNU organised Ram Navami Puja and Bhagwati Puja on occasion of Ram Navami and Navratras.

A prayer and call will be made to the lord to eliminate all anti-nationals of India and purify the university and country from people having impure thoughts, and bring harmony and peace, the statement added.

Around 100 students attended the event which was organised in the lawns of Mandvi hostel.

Read: Beyond Kanhaiya: 10 people involved in the JNU sedition row

Ajay Gautam, religious preacher, activist, former spokesperson of Shankaracharya Swarupanand Maharaj and Swami Nandkishore Mishra, a Hindu Mahasabha leader were the chief guests of the event.

A section of students have criticised the prayer meeting saying that there is no place for such religious activities in an academic institution where religious leaders are invited to talk.

Read: The JNU crackdown could be the BJPs undoing
At a time when the government is spending crores of rupees for the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modis pet project Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, students at a government girls school in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Madhya Pradeshs Rewa district are forced to live with herds of pigs and other stray animals.

The pre-middle school (Class 1 to 8) run by the Rewa Municipal Corporation (RMC) is being run in extremely unhygienic conditions, despite being located in the vicinity of the Rewa district hospital in Ward No. 44-Topkhana locality.

The all- girls school where classes for 160- plus students are being run in four classrooms by five teachers (including head master Sandip Bhalla) has no protective boundary wall, which provides free entry for pigs and other stray animals inside.

Read more: Cleanliness is crucial and we cant wash our hands off it

Weve become habitual to a drove of pigs from neighbouring slums routinely loitering inside the school, Class 5 student Ranjana Adiwasi said.

The 10- year- old girl said a peon at the school could often be seen chasing out pigs trying to venture into classrooms.

Class 6 student Anchal Vishwakarma said, While the peon manages to prevent the pigs, dogs and cows from entering the classroom, the stray animals, particularly the pigs, hover around the kitchen where the lunch is cooked.

Read more: As dump yard and school share same space, villagers fail to imbibe lessons in cleanliness

A scared Class 7 student Ranjana Saket claimed that often the pigs attempted to eat into the students lunch plates if they went out of class to have lunch. We cant dare to have food outside the class, even on a sunny day in winter, she said.

Even the hand pump from which the kids draw water is surrounded by pigs and cows, but by sheer providence no untoward incident has been reported till now.

Helpless in the matter, headmaster Sandip Bhalla said he had raised the matter with authorities several times in the past, including with RMC officials, but the menace remained unattended.

When contacted by Hindustan Times on Friday, the Rewa municipal commissioner Karmaveer Sharma expressed ignorance about the matter.

The school head master might have complained about the matter to the sanitation department of the RMC. Ill personally look into the matter and ensure that the problem is addressed at the earliest, Sharma said.
Jamia Millia Islamia is introducing new courses from the academic session 2016-17. These include MA (politics: international and area studies); MA (Arab-Islamic culture); MTech (computer engineering); MTech (electronics and communication engineering); MA (social exclusion and inclusive policy); certificate in Chinese language (part-time); diploma in Chinese language (part-time); intensive diploma in Chinese language; and BA LLB (hons) (self-financed).

There will be a common entrance test for admission to diploma courses (regular and self-financed) of University Polytechnic, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, JMI. BA with computer application has been merged with BA programme and its total intake has been increased to 65. Candidates are required to register themselves on official website. The last date for online submission of application forms is April 21, 2016. Visit the university website for more information and eligibility details.
I am about to get married. Please pass me (in the MP Board examination), because if I fail my mother-in-law will taunt me, a class 12 student wrote on her answer sheet.

The fear of failure is so high among students writing the Madhya Pradesh Classes 10 and 12 board examinations that some of them have turned to desperate measures like requesting evaluators to pass them. Last year evaluators had found Rs.100 and Rs.500 notes attached to some answer sheets.

An examiner in Seonis School of Excellence examination centre said he got an emotional note with an answer sheet of a student saying, My life is in your hands. The Class 10 student also left requested the evaluator to pass him in the examination.

Evaluation of Class 10 and 12 board examination commenced on March 20. Evaluators have so far completed examining 70% copies and expect to complete the process by April 30. The MP Board results are likely to be announced by second week of May.

Evaluators say the messages left behind by students are at times funny, but a few are more serious and emotional.

These notes reflect the fear of failing in examinations among students. Anxiety has forced students to resort to such methods, said evaluation centre superintendent RP Borkar.

Read more: UP board examiners get requests, bribes, threats for pass grade

I have asked examiners to inform me at the earliest after such a note is foundI have also asked them not be careless while correcting the copies. But numbers and grades will be given on the basis of performance only, he said, adding that he may even consider to file an FIR if more such messages crop up.

Three similar cases have been reported from Bhind and Seoni last year, where students left Rs100 to Rs 500 notes in between answer sheets. In 2014, a B Ed students of Indores Devi Ahilya University also left a Rs. 500 note inside the answer sheet to bribe the examiner. The university administration had filed an FIR against two students on the basis of their roll numbers on the answer sheet.

Over 30 students have committed suicide across the state this year allegedly to the fear of failure in examinations. In several cases students left behind suicide notes saying they were taking the step for fear of failure. On March 5, Abhishek Sahu, 17, left behind a note saying: Sorry, mummy-papa, I cannot do physics. I dont want to fail in the examination, before hanging himself at his house in Hoshangabad district.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Scholarship applications are open for the Charpak Exchange Programme 2016 (autumn session). This programme, organised by Campus France, is designed for exchange students for a period of one to four months (duration of an academic semester) at the bachelors or masters degree level. The benefits include student visa fee waiver, monthly stipend of 615 euros for up to four months, medical insurance coverage (around 300 euros/year) and affordable student housing guaranteed, to be paid from the stipend.

To be eligible, you must be an Indian national and reside in India and not more than be 30 years old at the time of application. You must be currently enrolled at an Indian institution of higher learning that has a tie-up with the French institution where the applicant will pursue an exchange semester. Your application will be selected on the basis of your academic excellence, as well as the consistency and quality of your statement of purpose. There is no CGPA/percentage cut-off for the scholarship. Knowledge of French will be an asset but is not mandatory.

Read more: 3 Indians selected for Gates scholarship at Cambridge

Your statement of purpose should explain why you chose the French institution to which you have applied or been admitted, as well as your future plans upon completion of the course. Explain why you would be a worthy candidate. The application deadline is May 15, 2016. Click here for details.
The Avengers and Mission Impossible star Jeremy Renner thinks being a parent trumps everything and is the most important thing in his life.

The Bourne Legacy actor is devoted to three-year-old daughter Ava, who he has with his former wife Sonni Pacheco, and says she will always be his top priority.

Read: Jeremy Renner slips secret Captain America: Civil War details

Fatherhood is the most important thing in my life, Renner told eonline.com.

Though the 45-year-old star has shared occasional photographs of Ava on Instagram, he never shows her face because he doesnt think it would be fair on her.

Set visit. Daddy daughter day. #read #write #bellylaugh #lovemyjobbut A photo posted by Jeremy Renner (@renner4real) on Apr 6, 2016 at 9:11am PDT

I still dont expose my babys face, just to protect her or anyone in my family (whos) a minor, Renner said.

Read: Captain America: Civil War reviews are here to wash away that BvS taste

I just think thats not my decision to make. You know what I mean? You dont need to be world famous just because your jackass dad is, he added.

Adventures continue #daddytime #blessed #andwereoff A photo posted by Jeremy Renner (@renner4real) on Dec 28, 2015 at 1:24am PST

Follow @htshowbiz for more
As Austrian prosecutors probe Pakistani national Muhammad Ghani Usmans alleged links to recent attacks in Paris and the 2008 assault in Mumbai, officials here have said at least three fugitives with similar names are wanted by Pakistani authorities in connection with the 2008 assault.

We are gathering more details about Muhammad Ghani Usman who has been picked up in Austrias Salzburg on the charges of being involved in an IS-linked terror plot in Europe, said an Indian central counter-terror official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Usman, 34, has been described by sources close to a multinational investigation as a terrorist linked to the Mumbai attacks who had joined the Islamic States to commit atrocities in Europe. Investigators said they suspected Usman was a bomb maker for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

He was arrested in the western Austrian city of Salzburg in December and Islamabad has not yet responded to Viennas request for information on him, according to media reports.

The website of Pakistans Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) lists two fugitives named Muhammad Usman and one named Muhammad Usman Zia who are wanted in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. All three are members of the LeT.

The two men named Muhammad Usman are aged 34, according to their year of birth on their national ID cards. They belong to Punjab province and were members of the crew of the boats Al Hussaini and Al Fouz, which were used by the 10 terrorists involved in the assault on Indias financial hub.

Muhammad Usman Zia, whose date of birth is not listed in the FIA website, is wanted for financing the attacks.

Pakistan arrested seven men, including LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, after the Mumbai attacks and put them on trial for allegedly planning, financing and executing the assault.

The Pakistani man arrested in Austria arrived in Europe with two terrorists who blew themselves up outside Stade de France during the Paris attacks in November that killed 130 people.

Muhammad Ghani Usman travelled to Europe by posing as a refugee. He was arrested in Greece after police found out his passport was among a batch stolen by the Islamic State but he was later released.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
As political pressure mounted on Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah over nepotism charge, his son has resigned from a firm that was given a contract to set up lab and diagnostic facility at a government-run hospital here.

Amid Opposition attack and advice from the Congress high command, the chief ministers doctor son Yathindra Siddaramaiah tendered his resignation as director of Matrix Imaging Solutions India Private Limited.

Yathindra said in a message to the media, By the way, I am quitting Matrix (Imaging Solutions India).

The resignation comes amid reports that the Congress high command was unhappy with the development, which was snowballing into a major controversy with the Opposition questioning the contract to the company owned by Yathindras friend, a pathologist, in which he is a partner.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, had openly said on Friday that he had suggested to Siddaramaiah that his son quit the company.

Singh had, however, maintained that the entire process was totally transparent with the contract given to the lowest bidder.

He had denied reports that he had asked the chief minister to order an enquiry into the matter.

I have only advised that he withdraws. It is not an order, but an advice. Legally, the son does not have to quit. As a (matter of) propriety, he may, Singh had said.

Unfazed by the controversy, both Siddaramaiah and Yathindra had been maintaining that there was no wrongdoing on their part.

Yathindra had alleged that a group of doctors at government-run Victoria Hospital, where the facility was to come up, were raking up the controversy as it would cause a loss to those who were sending the patients for outside reference to get commission in cash.

He had also maintained that his company did not put any pressure on hospital authorities to follow procedures that suited them in order to win the contract.

Siddaramaiah had said that his son was a doctor who was a director in a company owned by his friend.

They had participated in the tender. They are the lowest bidder. It is for service to the people, there is no money involved from the government, he had said.
Amid allegations of amassing a multi-crore empire spanning mines in Indonesia, sugar mills in Nasik and several real estate companies, now former public works minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his family face accusations in a land grab case that left the real owners, a Catholic family from Santacruz, locked out of their family home and denied of its ownership for more than a decade.

For the past three years, Bhujbals family, including his nephew Sameer, were staying in the nine-storey Solitaire building in Santacruz (West) built on a plot that did not belong to them.

The building was constructed after the demolition a bungalow, La Petite Fleur or The Little Flower, belonging to Francis Fernandes and his heirs.

The property card of this plot, however, continues to be in the name of the late Fernandes and his eldest daughter. In exchange for the plat, all the family has got so far was a cheque of Rs 1 lakh that they claim has not been cashed yet.

How did Parvesh Constructions - both Sameer and Pankaj (Bhujbals son) were directors of the firm - get this prime real estate plot in Santacruz? The answer is a classic story of land sharks, middlemen and those in power bending rules to grab realty in Mumbai.

The story began unravelling only when both Sameer and Chhagan Bhujbal were arrested, after Claude Fernandes - Franciss son - deposed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the anti corruption bureau (ACB) against Parvesh Constructions over February and March.

When our bungalow was demolished in 2005, we were not even informed. We were kept in the dark when the rights of redevelopment were passed over to Parvesh Constructions, via a middle man, from the original developer we had signed up with. They registered a supplemental agreement that does not bear our signatures. Over the past 10 years, a nine-storey swanky building was constructed where our bungalow stood. The Bhujbals lived in the top six floors, even as we, the rightful owners, ran from pillar to post to get some share of our home, said Doreen Claudes wife.

Claude and Doreen, both senior citizens, are the only surviving members of the family in Mumbai. Claude, a consulting engineer, was born and brought up in this family home and was to promised a 958 sq ft independent flat after the redevelopment.

He has been waiting for this flat for the past two decades.

We met Sameer Bhujbal three or four times, through one of his cronies, but got nothing but empty promises in the last ten years, the couple said.

The redevelopment issue is just skims the surface of the problems the family has faced.

It was in 1994 that the family, represented by its eldest daughter Sheila Athayde - in whose name the property rights were - signed an agreement with M/s Palm Shelter Estate Development Pvt Ltd (part of the K Raheja Corp), transferring to them the power of attorney to redevelop the property.

In total, the family was promised 3,600 sq ft of built-up space, Rs 30 lakh in cash and two flats on of 850 sq ft on tenancy basis in this agreement.

This redevelopment, however, did not take place for ten years and the developer allegedly claimed the size of the plot was smaller. The family had got one cheque of Rs 1 lakh from Palm Shelter.

Fed up with their plot not being developed, Claude met and placed trust in a former neighbour and secretary of the Bombay Catholic Cooperative Housing Society, Frederick Noronha of M/s Frest Investment and Leasing Co. Pvt Limited, who promised to assist them in the redevelopment.

In his written complaint to the ACB in the current probe, Claude pointed out Noronha took their signatures on several documents but cheated them, got Parvesh Constructions into the picture and made a supplemental agreement between Palm Estate and Parvesh Constructions in 2003.

The couple first filed a complaint with the Santacruz police station in 2005, on realising this supplemental agreement did not have their signatures and had been registered without their knowledge. They also sent a complaint to the sub-registrars office and later to the Mumbai crime branch, with copies of the letter to everyone, including the then chief minister.

The complaint fell on deaf ears. They have now been instructed by investigating officials to lodge a criminal complaint with the ACB. The ED has already noted preliminary investigations show Bhujbals were living in the building illegally.

When HT contacted Pankaj Bhujbal, he said, I dont want to go into details of this, as the matter is in court. But with regards to this property, certain legal processes and permissions were pending so it took time. We had every intention to give the owners their due. Pankaj admitted the family was living in the Solitaire building for some time.

The middleman, Fredrick Noronha claimed, They [the Fernandes family] have been making allegations and sending complaint letters, instead they should have just moved court. The agreement they have with Parvesh is legal and binding and the firm has to give them the promised flats.

A spokesperson for Palm Shelter Estate Development Pvt Limited, in an email response to a questionnaire sent by Hindustan Times, said: The allegations made against us are mischievous and denied. There were other considerations payable and costs incurred in addition to Rs 1 lakh. Additionally, transfer of development rights to Parvesh Constructions was done at the instance of the owners and their representatives, and documents were executed by owners in favour of Parvesh Constructions.

The owners had made the original agreement with this firm for the redevelopment.

Amid allegations of amassing a multi-crore empire spanning mines in Indonesia, sugar mills in Nasik and several real estate companies, now former public works minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his family face accusations in a land grab case, which left the real owners, a Catholic family from Santacruz, locked out of their family home and denied of its ownership for more than a decade.

For the past three years, Bhujbals family, including his nephew Sameer, was staying in the nine-storey Solitaire building in Santacruz (West), built on a plot that did not belong to them. The building was constructed after the demolition the bungalow La Petite Fleur or The Little Flower, belonging to Francis Fernandes and his heirs. The property card of this plot continues to be in the name of the late Fernandes and his eldest daughter. For the plot, all the family has got so far is a cheque for Rs 1 lakh that they claim has not been cashed yet.

How did Parvesh Constructions  both Sameer and Pankaj (Bhujbals son) were directors of the firm  get this prime real estate plot in Santacruz?

The answer is a classic story of land sharks, middlemen and those in power bending rules to grab realty in Mumbai.

The story began unravelling only when both Sameer and Chhagan Bhujbal were arrested, after Claude Fernandes  Francis son  deposed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the anti corruption bureau (ACB) against Parvesh Constructions over February and March.

When our bungalow was demolished in 2005, we were not even informed. We were kept in the dark when the rights of redevelopment were passed over to Parvesh Constructions, via a middleman, from the original developer we had signed up with. They registered a supplemental agreement that does not bear our signatures. Over the past 10 years, a nine-storey swanky building was constructed where our bungalow stood. The Bhujbals lived in the top six floors, even as we, the rightful owners, ran from pillar to post to get some share of our home, said Doreen, Claudes wife.

Claude and Doreen, both senior citizens, are the only surviving members of the family in Mumbai. Claude, a consulting engineer, was born and brought up in this family home and was promised a 958 sq ft independent flat after the redevelopment.

He has been waiting for this flat for the past two decades.

We met Sameer Bhujbal three or four times, through one of his cronies, but got nothing but empty promises in the last 10 years, the couple said.

The redevelopment issue just skims the surface of the problems the family has faced.

It was in 1994 that the family, represented by its eldest daughter Sheila Athayde  in whose name the property rights were  signed an agreement with M/s Palm Shelter Estate Development Pvt Ltd (part of the K Raheja Corp), transferring to them the power of attorney to redevelop the property.

In total, the family was promised 3,600 sq ft of built-up space, Rs 30 lakh in cash and two flats on of 850 sq ft on tenancy basis in this agreement.

This redevelopment, however, did not take place for 10 years and the developer allegedly claimed the size of the plot was smaller. The family had got one cheque of Rs 1 lakh from Palm Shelter.

Fed up with their plot not being developed, Claude met and placed trust in a former neighbour and secretary of the Bombay Catholic Cooperative Housing Society, Frederick Noronha of M/s Frest Investment and Leasing Co. Pvt Limited, who promised to assist them in the redevelopment.

In his written complaint to the ACB in the current probe, Claude pointed out Noronha took their signatures on several documents but cheated them, got Parvesh Constructions into the picture and made a supplemental agreement between Palm Estate and Parvesh Constructions in 2003.

The couple first filed a complaint with the Santacruz police station in 2005, on realising this supplemental agreement did not have their signatures and had been registered without their knowledge. They also sent a complaint to the sub-registrars office and later to the Mumbai crime branch, with copies of the letter to everyone, including the then chief minister.

The complaint fell on deaf ears.

They have now been instructed by investigating officials to lodge a criminal complaint with the ACB. The ED has already noted preliminary investigations show the Bhujbals were living in the building illegally.

When Hindustan Times contacted Pankaj Bhujbal, he said, I dont want to go into details of this, as the matter is in court. But with regards to this property, certain legal processes and permissions were pending so it took time. We had every intention to give the owners their due. Pankaj admitted the family was living in the Solitaire building for some time.

The middleman, Fredrick Noronha claimed, They [the Fernandes family] have been making allegations and sending complaint letters, instead they should have just moved court. The agreement they have with Parvesh is legal and binding and the firm has to give them the promised flats.

A spokesperson for Palm Shelter Estate Development Pvt Limited, in an email response to a questionnaire sent by Hindustan Times, said: The allegations made against us are mischievous and denied. There were other considerations payable and costs incurred in addition to Rs 1 lakh. Additionally, transfer of development rights to Parvesh Constructions was done at the instance of the owners and their representatives, and documents were executed by owners in favour of Parvesh Constructions.

The owners had made the original agreement with this firm for the redevelopment.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that his party will tackle the issue of drug abuse in Punjab within months of forming a government.

Gandhi is in the state to meet party workers and discuss issues related to the upcoming assembly elections and the Congress preparedness. He will meet almost 2,000-2,500 party members including sitting MLAs, MPs, ex-MLAs, block presidents, and other office bearers.

The Congress leader slammed the ruling SAD-BJP government, saying it does not want to focus on the problem of drug abuse in the state and is not working effectively to root out the menace.

The present government in Punjab has been ignoring the drug issue. The drug problem will be solved in months if our party comes to power in the Punjab assembly elections, Gandhi said.

He said that the ruling government had mocked him for raising the sensitive issue.

Drug problem has always been a very serious issue in Punjab. I raised this issue several times earlier, but Akali Dal made fun of me. We want to give a new kind of government in Punjab, one that is sensitive to people, he said.

Punjab is the heart of the nation and nobody can insult it. Punjab gives life to the country. I have a special place for Punjab in my heart and all I want is to help the people of the state. (Punjab ko koi badnaam nahi kar sakta, Punjab is desh ka dil hai. Punjab desh ko zindagi deta hai. Punjab ke liye mere dil mein jagah hai aur mai Punjab ki madad karna chahta hun), he added.

The Congress had faced defeat in the 2007 and 2012 Punjab assembly polls and aims to wrest power in 2017.

The meeting, organised by poll strategist Prashant Kishors organisation Indian Political Action Committee, assumes significance as the state Congress, which faced factionalism, wants to put up a united face to take on SAD-BJP alliance and emerging AAP in the polls.

Senior Congress leaders Jagmeet Brar and Bir Davinder Singh were suspended for their outbursts against party leaders, especially Amarinder Singh.

Gandhis visit is being seen as an indication of the partys aggressive tone for the polls, especially three days after the Baisakhi political conference at Talwandi Sabo where senior leaders, Punjab campaign committee in charge Ambika Soni and state affairs in-charge Shakeel Ahmad, asked the party leaders to accept Captain Amarinder Singh as their leader or face expulsion from the party.

Kishor, who played a key role in victories of Narendra Modi-led BJP in the general elections and JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar, will help Congress in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, where elections are scheduled for next year.
People in Uttarakhands capital woke up on Saturday to posters saying BJP needs three MLAs on sale with a caricature suggesting the nine Congress rebel legislators were puppets whose strings were being pulled by BJP president Amit Shah.

The posters, which were removed later in the day, prompted the Bharatiya Janata Party to file an FIR against deposed chief minister Harish Rawat and state Congress president Kishor Upadhyay.

Uttarakhand has been in a political limbo since a series of developments that began with the 9 MLAs rebelling against then CM Rawat culminated into a Presidents Rule.

Rawat on Saturday hit back at the BJP-led NDA government accusing it of conspiring to arrest.

The way officials are being repeatedly asked to look for some evidence of wrongdoing under my government shows they are out to put me in jail, he said. The recently deposed CM said he is ready to go to jail provided the policy decisions taken by his democratically elected government are not changed.

An FIR was filed by the Dehradun city BJP president Umesh Aggarwal at Dhara Police post against Harish Rawat, Congress president Kishore Upadhyay and four others. It was a cowardly act by them when Congress leaders have lost the moral courage to face the BJP and its charges on corruption after being exposed in a sting CD, BJP spokesperson Munna Singh Chauhan told HT.
Embattled businessman Vijay Mallya may face deportation to India if he fails to respond to the government suspending his diplomatic passport for a month. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), that is investigating Mallya for money-laundering in the Rs 900 crore IDBI bank loan fraud case, has moved a special court seeking a non-bailable warrant against him, and the matter is expected to come up for hearing on Saturday.

Mallya failed to appear before the ED in Mumbai despite three summons, leading to the central agency seeking the revocation of his passport.

Responding to the request, the ministry of foreign affairs on Friday temporarily suspended the diplomatic passport of Mallya, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, seeking a response in a week.

Failing this, the ministry said Mallyas passport would be revoked under Section 10(3)(c) of the Passports Act, 1967, opening doors for the ED to get a non-bailable warrant and have him apprehend him anywhere in the world.

If he fails to respond within the stipulated time, it will be assumed that he has no response to offer and the foreign ministry will go ahead with the revocation, ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said in a statement on Twitter.

Mallya is being prosecuted for loans taken to fund Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) that was grounded in 2012. The former liquor baron first took loans from IDBI bank in 2006. In 2009, he also received loans from a consortium of 17 banks. However, the loans were never repaid, with the banks terming Mallya a wilful defaulter.

As the consortium sought to recover the dues, Mallya left the country on March 2, and is believed to have gone to the UK. The business also informed ED investigators that he will be unable to depose in the case personally as he also had legal proceedings in the Supreme Court over settlement of a loans case.

On March 30, Mallyas counsel told the Supreme Court that he offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore to settle outstanding dues against the grounded KFA on account of loans extended by the consortium, headed by the SBI. The banks however turned down Mallyas offer.

(With PTI inputs)
The Union government will launch a publicity blitzkrieg hinged around success stories of people who have benefited from its schemes to mark its second anniversary, sources said.

Farmers and job-seeking youth have been identified by the Prime Ministers Office as the key groups that the government wants to reach out to, sources said, and directions have been sent out to ministries to focus on such individuals and bring their success stories to light.

The idea, as one official put it, is to put a face to the governments schemes that have worked.

The government is under attack from the Opposition over a range of controversies such as the issues of intolerance and nationalism and the second anniversary of it coming to power  May 26  will see its rivals mounting a counter-campaign highlighting the failures of the ruling coalition.

According to sources, the government has approached the advertising responsible for the BJPs 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign for an informal arrangement to help draw up the publicity drive.

Representatives from the agency were present in some of the meetings of the informal group of ministers formed to firm up plans for the governments second anniversary celebrations. The group is headed by parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu, said a source.

Ministries have been told to give success stories which should have the following components -- name of beneficiary, his/her locality, village town, specific address and details regarding benefits and implementation.

The idea is to have a face behind each of the schemes, a government official said.

Also, the government does not want to goof up like its predecessor, which had done a similar exercise with its Bharat Nirman campaign but ended up putting up old pictures of beneficiaries. In the run up to the celebrations, the PMO has asked ministries to share their success stories with the MyGov portal, the nodal point to showcase the governments feat.

Focus is also on flagship schemes  such as soil health card, Jan Dhan Yojna  and other high-beneficiary programmes such as the scholarship for minorities.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley believes Vijay Mallyas financial troubles regarding his long-defunct Kingfisher Airlines may have been caused by a flawed business model.

I am not giving a final opinion on it. It could be attributable to the business model of a particular company, Jaitley told reporters in response to a question about Mallyas airline.

All other airlines, he added, made it through the bad times faced by the aviation sector some years ago, and they are doing fine now. Jet is now making profit(s). Indigo has made huge profits throughout. Spice Jet is making profit(s). Go Air is making profit(s).

Read more | ED seeks non-bailable warrant against Mallya, hearing likely today

Jaitley is in Washington for the annual spring meetings of the World Bank group, and the annual economic and financial dialogue with the US.

Kingfisher Airlines shut down in 2012, leaving more than $2 billion in debt, more than 1,000 employees jobless and unpaid salary of more than Rs 100 crore, according to a media report.

Asked if the government could have anticipated Mallyas problems, Jaitley said: I dont think it had anything to do with the government because of a lot of his cases were locked up in courts. When he was in India, I understand from the banking sector that almost every recovery, every step, was challenged in court.

Mallya has left India and the external affairs ministry on Thursday suspended his diplomatic passport, which was issued to him as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
The Jammu and Kashmir high court on Saturday asked police to cite the law under which they have detained a 16-year-old girl whose alleged molestation triggered violent protests in the Valley that have left five people dead since Tuesday.

As the Centre rushed more security personnel to the valley bristling with tension, the girls mother also said police had pressurised the school student to give a statement denying molestation. The Army had released the video of the girls statement to counter criticism.

The incident and subsequent violence has come a big test for the BJP-PDP alliance government which was revived after months of uncertainty. The latest death of a 17-year-old youth on Friday came a day after chief minister Mehbooba Mufti asked security forces not to harm civilians.

Read: Mother says cops forced Handwara girl into giving statement

Besides issuing notice to the state, justice MH Attar directed the Handwara superintendent of police and station house officer to inform the court under which law they have detained the minor girl, her father and aunt since the incident on April 12.

The court order came after girls mother Taja Begum sought release of her daughter and two other relatives from illegal detention of police, the petitioners counsel Parvaiz Imroz said.

He said the court also directed the police to present the girl before the chief judicial magistrate of Handwara for recording her statement.

The court has said that the father and aunt of the girl cannot be forced to appear before print or electronic media, Imroz said. The case will be heard on April 20.

Imroz also submitted before the court that the petitioner apprehends that the life of her minor daughter, husband and sister is in jeopardy.

Violent protests rocked north Kashmir Handwara town on Tuesday following the alleged molestation of the girl by a soldier.

Three persons were killed in security forces firing on protesters that day. Another youth was killed on Wednesday at Drugmulla during protests against the earlier killings while another youth was killed during similar protests in Nathnusa area of Kupwara on Friday.

Read: Central govt sends more forces, asks J-K to ensure no loss of lives

Police maintain that the family was under preventive custody and was in the police station on their own.

The mother of the girl said on Saturday that she was pressurised into giving the video statement.

My girl is just 16 years old and was alone in the police station when her statement was recorded. She was pressurised by police to give that statement, her mother said.

A civil society group scheduled a press conference for the family but it was not allowed by police.

The girls mother alleged that police detained her daughter without informing the family and revealed her identity by recoding the video statement without covering her face.

We have approached court and demanded an independent inquiry into the incident. We do not want police or Army, those who have done this, to inquire it, she said.

In Delhi, the Centre decided to rush 3,600 additional paramilitary personnel to the Valley and asked the state government to ensure that there is no further loss of lives.

Read: HC queries J-K police on detention of girl, kin in Handwara

The decision to send more forces was taken at a high level meeting here where situation in Jammu and Kashmir was discussed extensively.

Curfew-like restrictions continued for the fourth day in parts of Kashmir following the violence.

While 12 companies of paramilitary personnel will reach the state on Saturday, 24 more companies will reach there by Sunday. One company of paramilitary comprises of about 100 personnel.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party said there seems to be a deliberate and sinister attempt by vested interests to destabilise and subvert the local economy by fuelling violence.

PDP youth president Waheed Para, who was advisor to former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, said all right-thinking people must close their ranks to prevent such vested interests from carrying out their nefarious designs.

Para was at the centre of a controversy after he reportedly blamed youth for attacking an army camp that led to death of one person and injuries to three others in Nathnusa area of Kupwara.

Para, however, denied the statement attributed to him.

(with agency inputs)
Eyebrows creased up when veteran author-journalist Ram Bahadur Rai, who was part of Jai Prakash Narayans anti-Indira Gandhi movement in the 70s, was made head of an organisation launched in memory of the late Congress Prime Minister.

The Congress naturally took affront, alleging that the BJP-led NDA government was trying to undermine institutions formed to preserve art and culture.

But the new chief of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), who is known for his pro-RSS moorings, dismissed the allegations on Friday and promised to be neutral.

I have earned the reputation of being politically neutral in my years in journalism and I will ensure that it remains intact, he told Hindustan Times. So far, my interests were limited to reading and writing. The IGNCA is a national body. I will have to understand how it functions to comment on it.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi launched the IGNCA as an autonomous organisation on November 19, 1985, and named it after mother Indira.

Rai is a native of Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh and cut his teeth in student politics in the 70s during the JP movement that was launched to oust then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was part of an 11-member coordination committee of the movement.

Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad were together with me in the coordination committee that had representatives from all student organisations and unions, Rai said.

But his brush with politics happened when the Lal Bahadur Shastri-led Congress government in 1965 tried to drop the middle word from Banaras Hindu University.

The government had to drop the plan because of protests, especially from students. My association with the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarhti Parishad began then and it continued till 1979.

The ABVP is the student wing of the RSS.

Rai shifted to journalism in 1979 and joined Hindi daily Jansatta when it was launched in 1983.

He came to know about his new appointment  as IGNCA chief, when a senior government official rang up about 10 days ago.

I know Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 1970-71 and used to meet when he came to Delhi. But I didnt meet him when he went to Gujarat and later returned as the PM, said Rai, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.

The author has three books to his credit  Rahbari Ke Sawal (an account of 35 years of politics of former Prime Minister Chandrasekhar), Manjil se Jyada Safar (on former Prime Minister VP Singh) and a biography on freedom fighter JB Kriplani.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
An animated reboot of the Jungle Book may be a roaring success at cinemas but the Pench Tiger Reserve that inspired Rudyard Kiplings classic is facing its toughest battle yet to save the big cat.

A tiger has died every 10 days this year in the land of Mowgli that spans Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Experts blame the deaths on rampant construction, poaching and a lack of new habitat for the tiger whose population in the reserve grew almost 40% in the past five years.

Alarm bells set off last week when tigress Bhaginnala  a tourist draw whose photo adorns Penchs main gate  died of poisoning, underlining how lax rules and bureaucratic apathy are hurting Indias conservation efforts.

On a visit to Pench, HT found the tiger population density coupled with lack of monitoring, illegal fishing and construction activities inside the core area were wreaking havoc with conservation efforts.

In addition, villagers are allegedly poisoning tigers to aid poachers  who pay them handsomely - and steal tiger body parts believed to bestow wealth, according to local traditions in the drought-hit region.

This comes at a time when global tiger numbers are up for the first time in decades with India accounting for over 75% of the increase.

Tiger population density coupled with lack of monitoring, illegal fishing and construction activities inside the core area were wreaking havoc with conservation efforts. (Hindustan Times)

A tiger reserve is divided into a core  where no human activity is allowed and a buffer  where villages are situated but need to be relocated. Forest departments of the two states havent identified a new habitat for Penchs 60-odd tigers  around 45 in the 411 sq km core area and 16 in the buffer zone.

This is proving fatal for tigers as Pench has fragmented linkages with other reserves especially Kanha in MP, thereby restricting tiger movement to new areas, Pench director Shubranjan Sen said. Tigers become easy target for poachers and villagers with whom they come in conflict, he said. Sen admitted it was impossible to provide security cover to each tiger that ventures out into buffer, where villages are situated.

Villagers in buffer sometimes poison water sources or an animal carcass or use urea mixed with flour and mahua flowers for meat, said Sagnik Sengupta, a local wildlife conservationist. State forest officials admitted enforcing strict conservation norms will not be possible until all villages inside the buffer are not relocated.

Bhaginnalas death on March 28 was attributed to labourers or local villagers poisoning the water source. She died due to endosulphan pesticide poisoning and one of her two cubs who were shifted to Kanha died of infection. Three villagers were arrested for poisoning a water source but forest officials are clueless about who killed her.

A local guide said the park feels gloomy without Bhaginnalas roar. Something terribly wrong is happening here, he added.

Authorities allowed loaders and bulldozers, tractors and labourers into the core area where Bhaginnala and her four cubs stayed, hinting at poor conservation and lack of coordination between government agencies. Local residents said most tigers were victims of poisoning and electrocution.

HT found entering the core area wasnt difficult with many villagers illegally fishing in the Totaladoh dam. Many unauthorised fishing boats were stacked on the banks of the half-dry reservoir. In the core, where you cannot cut a leaf without permission, how come illegal fishing goes on without the knowledge of officials? questioned Narendra Kumar Dubey, president of Pench Gypsy drivers Association.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Negotiations for India to buy 36 French Rafale fighter jets are almost at the close, the defence ministry said, with sources saying the price will be set at around $9 billion (approx Rs 65,000 crore).

Both sides had hoped to wrap up the strategic order during President Francois Hollandes visit for Indias Republic Day celebration in January, but hard bargaining on price stalled a final result.

Read more | Rafale deal in final stage; France, India narrow down differences

In April last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in Paris that India would buy the French fighter jets under a government-to-government deal, scrapping the original plan to buy 126 Rafales after commercial negotiations with plane-maker Dassault Aviation collapsed.

Heres a quick take on the deal.

What is Rafale?

 France launched the Rafale programme as it wanted to deploy an omnirole fighter to replace seven different types of combat aircraft operated by it.

 The twin-engine warplane is capable of carrying out a variety of missions  ground and sea attack, air defence and air superiority, reconnaissance and nuclear strike deterrence.

 India will be the third country to buy the Rafale after Egypt and Qatar. The plane has seen combat in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali.

Why Rafale?

 India desperately needs to upgrade its ageing Soviet-era fleet plagued by engine troubles and poor availability.

 The Indian Air Force projected a requirement for medium, multi-role combat aircraft back in 2001 to replace ageing Soviet-era fighter jets in its fleet. India floated a global tender in August 2007 to buy 126 modern combat planes to boost the IAFs offensive capabilities.

 Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the Rafale fighters emerged as the frontrunner for the contract in January 2012 over five international rivals. However, the tender stood cancelled when Modi announced India would buy 36 Rafales under a government-to-government deal.

 India requires 45 fighter squadrons to counter a combined threat from China and Pakistan, but it has only 34 squadrons with about 18 planes each. Also, 14 of these squadrons are equipped with vintage MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighter planes.

The Rafale specs

Wing span: 10.90 m

Length: 15.30 m

Height: 5.30 m

Overall empty weight: 10 tons

Max take-off weight: 24.5 tons

External load: 9.5 tons

Service ceiling: 50,000 ft
India and the US, which are close to inking the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) has a request and acceptance clause that would give them the right to refuse any request inimical to ones interests.

The pact, negotiations for which are almost over, would primarily operate in the realms of humanitarian assistance and disaster management, training and joint military exercises, sources have told HT.

The logistics agreement has already drawn flak from both the Congress and Left who accused the National Democratic Alliance government of heading towards becoming a military ally of the US.

The government, however, said it believed that the allegation was far from the reality of the text of the agreement being given final touches and the criticism was politically motivated.

The request and acceptance clause gives India the right to reject any request from the US, sources pointed out.

Apart from that clause, the agreement also includes regulating financial credit, accounting and other arrangements. To put it simply, for example, the Indian ships would get more time to foot the bills of American services instead of making upfront payments.

Another favourable aspect for India would be receiving spares easily for the US platforms it uses such as the C-17 and C-137 military aircraft.

In a joint press conference with US defence secretary Ashton Carter, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said on Tuesday that the countries had agreed in principle to conclude the agreement soon. They, however, clarified that the pact would not result in US troops being deployed on Indian soil.

As our engagement deepens, we need to develop practical mechanisms to facilitate such exchanges, Parrikar said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The body of Major Amit Deswal of the 21 Para, who died in an encounter with Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) militants in Manipurs Tamenglong on Wednesday, was cremated at his native village of Surehti in Jhajjar district on Friday with state honours and 21 gunshots.

Major Deswal, 31, was born on Army Day (January 15) and had followed in the footsteps of his father, Subedar Major Rishi Ram Deswal (retired), to join the Indian Army. He sustained six bullet injuries during combing operations, the postmortem report revealed. Due to dense forest area, the army faced a challenge in recovering his body, and later due to bad weather, the body had to kept in Assam on Thursday night.

Read: Born on Army Day, Jhajjar major always wanted to don olive green

Major Deswals body reached Delhi on Friday morning where army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag paid tributes to him. Earlier on Thursday, Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh reached the army unit in Jorhat to pay tributes to the soldier. From Delhi, Major Deswals body was brought to his Sector 6 residence in Jhajjar where people paid their last respects to the braveheart. Major Deswals body was then taken to his native village, where he was cremated with full military honours.

Thousands of people, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, newly-appointed director general of police KP Singh, state legislator from Jhajjar Geeta Bhukkal, Rohtak inspector general of police Sanjay Kumar and Jhajjar superintendent of police Jashandeep Singh, thronged the village to pay tributes to Major Deswal. From the army, Lt Colonel Taruvesh Bhanot, Lt Col Deewan Singh and Lt General Raj Kadiyan (retired) paid their last respects to Major Deswal.

Haryana agriculture minister OP Dhankar attended the funeral on behalf of the state government. He presented a pushpa chakra to the martyr and announced Rs 50 lakh besides a government job for his kin.

We are proud of soldiers like Major Amit Deswal, who, without caring for their own safety, protect citizens of this nation by standing alert on the borders, said Dhankar.

Major Deswal is survived by his wife Neeta and three-year-old son Arjun. Neeta was a teacher at Sehwag International School in Jhajjar and had recently quit her job. She, along with her son, had accompanied Major Deswals father to visit him in Manipur where he was posted for Operation Hifazat-2. Amit has two siblings: an elder sister and a younger brother. He had last visited his home on February 16 for one week for his younger brother Sumit Deswals wedding.

Major Deswal was commissioned on June 10, 2006, in the regiment of artillery, from where his father retired in 2009. After several successful operations, he was selected for the special forces and later entered the elite unit of the army in 2011. He was given an important role in Manipur for Operation Hifazat-2 in January 2016. Major Deswals brother Sumit told HT that he had received a Commander Dagger during the Ghatak course. After Capt Pawan Kumar, who was killed in Pampore, Major Amit Deswal is the second army officer from the state born on Army Day and killed fighting militants in the past two months.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A group of JNU students on Saturday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against the killings in Handwara town of Kashmir and demanded that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) be repealed.

Carrying placards saying Kashmiri lives matter and down with AFSPA, end state sponsored violence, the students belonging to left-backed All India Students Association (AISA), who were joined by members of All India Progressive Womens Association (AIPWA), held the protest amid minor disruptions from some people believed to be from right-wing groups.

Some people shouted slogans like Bharat Mata ki jai and Vande Mataram. However, policemen deployed on the spot controlled the situation.

Handwara town in Kupwara district of Kashmir is facing a tense situation since last four days in the wake of death of five persons in firing by security personnel during violent protests against alleged molestation of the girl student by an army man.

Later a video of the girl was also released, where she is seen denying allegations against the army man. However, today the girls mother claimed that she was pressurised by police to give the statement.

The Handwara episode is also a lesson in how the laws are openly violated with impunity. In a shocking violation of the law, a video of the minor girl complainant was uploaded and circulated on media and social media, exposing her identity, said women activist Kavita Krishnan, who is Secretary, AIPWA.

Among those, who were a part of the protest were students from Kashmir.

There is no place for people like Rohith Vemula, Irom Sharmila and Soni Sori in the country. For them, the idea of India is only limited to their Bharat Mata, which is women like Maya Kodnani and Smriti Irani, said JNUSU vice president Shehla Rashid Shora.

Criticising the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), she said, Innocent civilians that are getting killed in the name of AFSPA and then they tell us that people are throwing stones. But who forces them to do this.
The family of the girl, whose alleged harassment led to a spate of violence in Kashmir, claimed on Saturday that she was pressurised into giving a video statement denying she was molested and has approached court seeking an independent probe into the incident.

My girl is just 16 years old and was alone in the police station when her statement was recorded. She was pressurised by police to give that statement, her mother claimed.

A civil society group scheduled a press conference here for the family but it was not allowed by police.

Talking to reporters, the girls mother alleged that police detained her daughter without informing the family and revealed her identity by recoding the video statement without covering her face.

When the girl was returning home after school on Tuesday, she went to a bathroom and was followed by an army man. When she saw the army man in the bathroom, she raised an alarm, attracting attention of the nearby shopkeepers. The policemen also came to the scene but the army man fled.

She was then taken to a police station without our knowledge, the mother said.

We have approached court and demanded an independent inquiry into the incident. We do not want police or Army, those who have done this, to inquire it, she said.

Five persons have been killed since Tuesday after violence broke out following allegations that the girl was harassed by a soldier.

Were not allowed to meet our girl. Her father and aunt were also detained. We do not have any information of our arrested daughter for the last five days, she alleged and accused the police of defaming her daughter by revealing her identity to the media.

Read: Shutdown in Kashmir, tension simmers after death of fifth civilian
A court in Mumbai on Saturday reserved its order on a non-bailable arrest warrant against embattled businessman Vijay Mallya till April 18.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating Mallya for money laundering in a Rs 900-crore IDBI Bank loan fraud case, moved the special court seeking a warrant against him.

The government has already suspended his diplomatic passport for a month.

Mallya, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, failed to appear before the ED in Mumbai despite three summons, leading to the central agency seeking the revocation of passport.

Read: Why did the Centre allow Mallya to leave in the first place: Congress

Mallya is being prosecuted for loans taken to fund Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) that was grounded in 2012. The former liquor baron first took loans from IDBI bank in 2006. In 2009, he also received loans from a consortium of 17 banks. However, the loans were never repaid, with the banks terming Mallya a wilful defaulter.

As the consortium sought to recover the dues, Mallya left the country on March 2, and is believed to have gone to the UK.

On March 30, Mallyas counsel told the Supreme Court that he offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore to settle outstanding dues against the grounded KFA on account of loans extended by the consortium, headed by the SBI. The banks, however, turned down Mallyas offer.

Read: Govt had nothing to do with Mallyas case, says Jaitley
Cautioning against judicial activism leading to the dilution of powers, president Pranab Mukherjee advocated for a balance between the judiciary, executive and legislature organs of the state.

Speaking at the fourth Retreat of Judges of the Supreme Court at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal, president Mukherjee emphasised that the Constitution is supreme, and advocated restraint in dealing with situations.

Each organ of our democracy must function within its own sphere and must not take over what is assigned to the others. The balance of power between the three organs of the state is enshrined in our Constitution. The equilibrium in the exercise of authority must be maintained at all times, he said, adding that the Constitution was a living document, a magna carta of socio-economic transformation.

Holding the judiciarys role as sacrosanct, he hailed it for expanding the common law principle of locus standi, a legal premise by which one may pursue a case, but said judicial activism should not lead to the dilution of separation of powers.

It has been made possible for courts to permit anyone with sufficient interest and acting bona fide to maintain an action for judicial redress, and to activate the judicial process. This has helped to bring justice closer to the common man. The faith and confidence people have reposed in the judiciary must always be maintained.

At the same time, he stressed on the importance of a quick delivery for efficient jurisprudence. Justice must be accessible, affordable and quick. He also expressed concern over pendency of a huge number of cases in courts, and said courts were being overburdened by these.

The pendency of cases was also dependent upon the number of vacancies in the courts.

Since the start of the year, as many as 145 appointments have been made as on April 12, 2016 by the Collegium, the President said, and complimented the efforts of Chief Justice of India, Justice TS Thakur, for speedily filing up the vacancies in the high courts and the Supreme Court.

He also congratulated judges for organising the Retreat which, he said, would provide a forum to discuss contemporary challenges the country is facing.
Stringent security measures are in place at the Taj Mahal for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middletons visit to the monument on Saturday.

The couple is expected to arrive at the iconic monument of love late afternoon, at around 3:45 pm, and will fly to Delhi post dinner. The Taj Mahal will remain open to public during the royal visit.

Archaeological Survey of India officials said due to exemption under protocol, the royal couple and their entourage will neither be required to purchase tickets nor undergo frisking at the entrance. They will use a separate pathway to Taj, where they will stay for about two hours.

While officials in-charge at the Taj speculated closing the monument to the public during the royal viewing, it was decided to keep it open. District magistrate Pankaj Kumar said all required security arrangements were in place.

Read: British royal couple hikes to mountain monastery in Bhutan

The monument is closed off on Fridays but hosts additional crowds over weekends. Zayareen (pilgrims) returning from Ajmer also camp in Agra, and often visit the Taj Mahal too.

We have sufficient manpower and the state police will assist us, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) commandant at Taj, Sudhir Kumar said. Arrangements are being made keeping in view the volume of the crowd.

The internal security of Taj is assigned to the CISF which will be assisted by state police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC). As a precaution, security personnel will be posted on roof tops in the localities around the Taj Mahal.

The Duke and Duchess have been on a week-long tour to India from April 10, their first official visit to the country, and travelled to Mumbai, Delhi and Kaziranga National Park. The royal couple also flew to Bhutan on an invitation from King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. The trip to Agra is enroute their way back to Delhi where the couple will conclude the seven-day trip.

In pics: Kate Middleton, William attend a royal Bollywood reception

To mark the Duke and Duchess visit to Agra, a local cafe is serving a special complimentary coffee, the Royal Duchess coffee to customers. The Sheroes Hangout cafe is run by acid attack survivors.

Post Independence, the Dukes grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip visited Taj Mahal in 1961. Both of Prince Williams parents also came to see the Taj Mahal  Prince Charles in 1982 followed by Lady Diana in 1992, exactly a decade later.

Of the visits, Lady Dianas visit remains most memorable, with her photograph sitting at a marble bench in front the Taj becoming iconic. Till date, the bench is called the Diana seat.

Read:The Duchess of style: Kate Middletons dress is a hit with designers

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Curfew-like restrictions will continue in parts of Srinagar city and north and south Kashmir areas as fresh tension gripped the Valley on Saturday a day after the death of a 19-year-old student in a firing by security forces, officials said.

The death of a fifth civilian this week has sparked fresh anger amid violent protests over four similar deaths since Tuesday in Kashmir Valley.

Arif Hussain Dar was killed and four others were injured allegedly in a firing by soldiers as angry residents clashed with security forces and tried to storm a Rashtriya Rifles camp in Natnusa village on the national highway after Friday prayers.

Authorities said 60 people, including 40 security men, were injured in clashes in north Kashmir. Violence also spread to other areas of the Valley, including Baramulla town and other parts of central and north Kashmir.

Read: Fresh protests after 5th Kashmiri dies in weeklong clashes with army

To maintain law and order, restrictions will continue in areas falling under Rainawari, Khanyar, Nowhatta, MR Gunj, Safa Kadal, Kralkhud and Maisuma police stations in Srinagar, Srinagars district magistrate Farooq Ahmad Lone said.

Similar restrictions have been imposed in Baramulla town in the north and Pulwama town in the south.

Authorities have also decided to continue the suspension of mobile internet services in the Valley on Saturday.

Mobile internet services have been suspended to prevent the spread of rumours by anti-social elements, a senior police officer said.

Separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik and others, have called for a Valley-wide protest shutdown on Saturday against the killing of the teenager in army firing.

The board of school education and the University of Kashmir have postponed all exams scheduled for Saturday.

Train services between north Kashmirs Baramulla town and Banihal town in the Jammu region have also remained suspended since Wednesday.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who expressed anguish over the death of the teenager, is likely to visit Kupwara district later in the day.

The incident is being seen as an embarrassment for Mufti, who has directed security agencies to not harm civilians during protests.

Read: Handwara minor in protective police custody, activists protest

Governor must keep a watch

The Congress termed the conditions in the state as volatile and said the there should be caution and circumspection.

Ever since PDP-BJP government has taken over, incidents are taking place which clearly demonstrate that the government is not in control of the situation. As Jammu and Kashmir is a frontline border state, it is imperative that the governor keeps a close watch on the situation, party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters on Friday.

Since it is beginning of the summer and already the way situation turns out to be, it seems to be at least volatile if not anarchic. Keeping in view the totality of situation, we would like to stress and urge that there should be caution and circumspection and a very close watch on the situation be kept, he added.

Violence erupted on Tuesday in Handwara  85 kilometres from Srinagar  when police fired on a mob that had gathered following allegations that an army personnel had molested a local girl.

The army has since then released a video of the girl where she allegedly denies the molestation charge.

Authorities clamped a curfew in the region and suspended mobile internet services but struggled to contain protests over the death of Mohammad Iqbal, Nayeem Qadir, Raja Begum, and Jehangir Ahmad Wani.

The state government is under pressure after social media erupted in condemnation of the spate of killings and questioned the way security agencies were dealing with crowds.

Read: J-K: Girl says soldier didnt molest her as tension stalks Handwara

Read: Two men killed after soldiers fire at protesters in Kashmirs Handwara

(With IANS inputs)
Days after a 32-year-old student was killed by a speeding Mercedes in North Delhis Civil Lines area, a speeding BMW allegedly knocked down four people in Noida on Saturday afternoon.

The BMW was allegedly being driven by a resident of Mayur Vihar and the car was registered in the name of a woman from Haryana. According to the police, the speeding car first hit another car near the Adobe crossing in sector-22/24 and later hit two people on a bike. Later the car hit the wall of a nearby house and came to a halt.

The driver fled leaving the car behind. We have seized the car and also registered a case under proper IPC sections at sector-24 police station. During the initial investigation, it has come to light that the BMW was being driven by a gym owner who operates the facility at sector-22. However, the information is yet to be verified, said Dr Gaurav Grover, assistant superintendent of police (city) at Noida.

The injured were identified as Gulfam and Anwar, both aged around 20. They work as AC mechanics and were riding the bike. Two others, Prem Kumar and Jogendra Bhandari were also injured. They have been admitted to private hospitals. Gulfam who has suffered severe head injuries is likely to be shifted to the capital for better treatment, the police said.

The complaint in the case was filed by Gulfams brother. Gulfam was returning with Anwar on the bike after completing their work, a police officer said.

Following the incident, there were speculations that two BMW cars were racing and trying to get ahead of each other and that led to the accident. After the incident, the errant driver allegedly took out a pistol and escaped in the second BMW car.

These theories have come to light but are yet to be verified. We do not have confirmation on whether there were two BMW cars or not. We are trying to ascertain the sequence of events from the footage of nearby CCTV cameras. So far, we have not found any CCTV footage that can confirm the same. We are yet to confirm the events that led to the incident and the manner in which the driver fled from the spot. He will be arrested soon and the vehicle has been seized, Grover added.

Read | Delhi Mercedes hit-and-run: Teen driver charged with culpable homicide
Several parts of Kashmir were rocked by clashes on Saturday, leaving two people injured, even as chief minister Mehbooba Mufti sought to control the situation by visiting the area and assuring justice to families of five people killed in firing by security forces since Tuesday.

Curfew-like restrictions continued in several parts of Kashmir and mobile internet services were snapped throughout the Valley.

A spokesperson said Mehbooba met the victims families to offer her condolences and interacted with locals over the matter. Speaking on the occasion, Mehbooba Mufti made it clear that no civilian should come in the harms way while dealing with law-and-order situations, the spokesperson added.

Read: HC questions cops on Handwara girl detention, Centre sends more troops

The mother of a girl allegedly molested by a soldier in Handwara town, the incident that triggered the violent protests in the Valley, on Saturday approached the state high court maintaining that her daughter was being held in unlawful confinement by the state police.

The Jammu and Kashmir high court asked police to cite the law under which they have detained the 16-year-old girl.

Two youth sustained injuries when security forces fired pellet guns to disperse stone-pelting protestors in Trehgam area of Kupwara district, a police officer said.

Authorities had imposed restrictions in Kupwara district and several areas of Srinagar after a 19-year-old school boy died on Friday in fresh firing by security forces during a protest.

Despite the restrictions, widespread protests were held across north Kashmir. In Bandipora, angry protesters set ablaze a police post. A police official said the post was empty when it was set on fire.

Mufti was accompanied by deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh.

The chief minister said the state government would ensure that anybody found guilty of having violated the standard operating procedure (SOP) during Tuesdays incident would face the law.

I had wanted to visit Kupwara with a special economic package, but it is unfortunate that I had to come to console the bereaved families, Mufti said.

She also promised ex-gratia relief to the next of kin of the slain youth.

The central government is concerned over the loss of human lives in J&K during the last four days. It was decided to send additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to strengthen the security grid in the Kashmir Valley, a home ministry statement said.

The statement said the ministry has assured full cooperation and support to the government of J&K to ensure that there is no further loss of lives.

With inputs from agencies
Last year was frantic for Hardik Pandya. His blitzkrieg knocks for Mumbai Indians in the 2015 IPL got him instant recognition.

Since then, his career has seen an upsurge. He made his T20I debut at the start of the year in Australia and followed it up with another round of impressive performances against Sri Lanka. He was included in the Asia Cup and World T20 squads.

While he did well in the Asia Cup, his performance in the World T20 was inconsistent. He bowled the match-winning last over against Bangladesh in Bangalore. But Pandya was criticised for his below-par effort in the semi-final against West Indies.

With Mumbai Indians

The 22-year-old played as a finisher for MI last season. But this time, he has been handed a greater responsibility of batting at No 3. So far, he has disappointed in both matches. Pandya could not get into double digits. Even his bowling seemed to come apart.

The Baroda lad, who considers himself more of a batting all-rounder, will have to pick his game up.

While MI recorded their first win against KKR at Eden, it was largely because of skipper Rohit Sharma, who led with an unbeaten 84.

MIs batting, especially in the top, looked shaky and if not for some lusty hits by Mitchell McClenaghan and Jos Buttler, who batted around Sharma, the result could have been different.

The team is still behind Pandya.

He is a quality player. He had a great time in the domestic T20 batting at No 3 for Baroda. If he is batting at 3 it gives the team a very good balance. It gives Ambati Rayudu, (Kieron) Pollard and Buttler a platform to launch, said Parthiv Patel.

Jadeja out

On Saturday, Pandya will take on his state side Gujarat Lions, who have won both their matches. The Lions would be missing Ravindra Jadeja, who is getting married on April 17.

Guptill available

New Zealands Martin Guptill, who replaces the injured Lendl Simmons, will be up for selection against Gujarat Lions. If selected, it will be his IPL debut.
For Kevin Pietersen, outspoken to a point that he ruffled feathers, being unassuming seemed strange. Maybe the happenings of 2014 --- when he was thrown out of the England side, taught him to be gentle with words.

Previously, a query on the struggling Kings XI Punjab would have evoked some wit from the Englishman, but on Saturday he chose to focus on the prowess of Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and David Miller. He did go on to add that any team could look good on paper but needed individuals to perform.

For Rising Pune Supergiants, finding match winners isnt a problem, they have plenty in the XI and few on the bench, so skipper MS Dhoni will be looking to find the best combination.

With three international skippers Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis and Pietersen  apart from Dhoni, leadership and experience isnt a problem, and Pietersen pointed out that everybody was at peace with their roles.

Its fun because you are able to draw on resources and experience. No one pushes to do anything or strives to be the best leader, we just go out and play. MS is the skipper, he makes all the decisions. All we can do is hand out information that he can use if he wants and we back whatever decision he makes.

Kings XI are once again off to a disastrous start, having lost two games on the trot. With one win and a loss, Pune will look to get back to winning ways. After the loss to Gujarat Lions, Dhoni said he would look at the team composition and instead of wholesale changes, there might be some changes.

RP Singh and Ishant Sharma might give way to Albie Morkel or Ishwar Pandey, both known to hit the deck hard and generate extra bounce.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
In their endeavour to educate their children, April is the month when parents are subjected to a hard lesson of their own  being forced to buy books and stationery at rates that carry a mark-up of at least 30% over and above the profit margins of both the publisher and the seller.

The cost pinches, and parents let their anguish be known with sporadic protests against booksellers, and silently cursing schools for prescribing a math book that costs Rs 250, when another with the same content published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is available at Rs 50. HT decided to tackle the matter only to discover that as against the perception of booksellers fleecing parents  though that remains true too  the fleecing equation also allegedly involves schools. But, such is the fear of harassment that parents refuse to come on record, even though visits to bookshops reveals the nexus in its full glory.

How it works: Recommendation and commission

The sellers allege that schools charge a commission  usually 30%  for recommending a specific publisher. The publisher factors this into the cost and we have a situation where parents shell out Rs 250 for a book of alphabet. Commission is also charged on the stationery that is usually dumped on to parents, along with the book set, said a member of the Chandigarh Bookseller Association, though he did not want to be named yet, fearing consequences from the publishers and schools. Hardeep Kaur of Surya Book Depot in Sector 38 further told HT, I am a smallscale wholesaler. I cannot afford to supply books to private schools as they ask for a huge commission. Even if we do get to sell for a private school, the publisher gives us a discount of only 25% against the normal 40%.

What schools say

No good school entertains booksellers, but parents prefer those schools which exploit them in the name of books and admission fee, remarked Rakesh Kapoor, director, Bal Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37. These days getting a medical seat is very expensive; the media should check corruption from top to bottom and not only schools, he advised.

ABS Sidhu, director-principal, Saupins Schools, said, Parents are free to buy books from wherever they choose. The book list is available on our website and is prominently displayed at the premises. We do not entertain such publishers and never approve overly priced books, said Geetika Sethi, director, The British School, Panchkula. The good old publishers are not involved in the nexus; but new players in the market are increasing the prices.

Loophole with book lists

Interestingly, parents are given the list of books prescribed - at best only a week before the new session starts - creating an artificial scarcity of time and pressuring parents to finally approach the recommended bookseller only. Parents of a child studying at a prominent school in a northern sector told HT, again on the condition of anonymity, I have had to buy stationery worth Rs 1,500 as even that is prescribed from a particular shop of a particular brand by the school. If we do not do that, even the children face harassment in school at the hands of staff.

Govt schools have this too

In government schools, for subjects like languages and computers, private publishers supply books and claim to be paying 10% commission to officials of the education department for inclusion of their book on the final list. This is vehemently denied by all officials in the education department. The money to be deposited in the account of the students (to buy books) and books supplied in schools are deliberately delayed by the education department to promote books of private publishers, alleged a member of Chandigarh Bookseller Association who did not want to be named, adding that government schoolchildren were thus left to study without books for months.
The Sangrur police claimed to have busted a gang that used to slaughter cows for food and commercial purposes at Katron village in Sangrur district, on Thursday night.

The police, following a tip-off from state cow protection society chief Satish Kumar, raided the house of Satar Ali, a resident of Sherpur, and arrested six people, including a woman. The police are yet to confirm the exact figures of the carcasses recovered.

SSP Pritpal Singh Thind, at a press conference on Friday, said they were informed by Kumar about a month ago. However, we had to raid with full preparation. On Thursday night I, along with Dhuri DSP Nahar Singh and SHOs Pushpinder Singh and Satpal Singh raided the place and nabbed the accused, Thind said, adding that there were over 25 people involved. However, a few of them were not present there, while a few others managed to escape, he said.

Those arrested are Satar Ali, wife Maante Bhappi and Rinku Singh, residents of Sherpur; Dilshad Mohammad, a resident of Ramnagar Channa; and Khushi Mohammad and Mohammad Haleem, residents of Malerkotla.

Thind said the cow-slaughter used to take place in the house owned by Satar Ali at Katron village. He said, These people used to slaughter cows and store the beef underground. The beef was sent in a truck to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The police have recovered the truck from the site, Thind said, adding that they used to get around Rs 8 lakh for slaughtering a truckload of cows.

The police said they had recovered the beef stored in the refrigerator at Satars house and the veterinary doctor, who was part of the raiding team, said the beef recovered was of three cows. The police said they had been digging at the house and the recovery of beef was on.

The police have registered a case under Sections 295-A (outrage religious feelings of a class), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion), 429 (mischief by killing cattle) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against the accused. Thind said police teams had been sent to nab the other accused.
Massive stocks of food grain that Punjab procures is allegedly missing from godowns, forcing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to delay Rs 20,000 crore cash-credit limit (CCL) which the Parkash Singh Badal government has sought for wheat procurement.

In principle, the value of physical food stocks in the godowns should match with the money Centre pumps in through the banks for procurement of food grains under the sanctioned CCL. But there is a yawning gap between the existing stocks and the money shown to have been spent on procurement. This gap has been widening alarmingly every year, especially under the regime of Akali Dal- BJP coalition government which has been in power since 2007. This mismatch in the food stocks and outstanding CCL is at the root of the RBI delaying the CCL sanction and seeking records of the stocks during every procurement season.

Till Friday evening, the government was awaiting RBIs CCL nod even as the wheat procurement began on April 1. Even in 2014, the Centre withheld the CCL release asking Punjab to first settle over Rs 40,000 crore accounts of previous years with the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

It is learnt that the Badal government on Friday sent a report to the central authorities about the status of the existing food stocks along with the relevant records which the RBI and the Centre had sought.

We are expecting the CCL sanction soon. They needed some record of 2015-16 fiscal. The State Bank of India is satisfied and has written to the RBI to release the CCL, SK Sandhu, principal secretary to the chief minister told HT.

The issue stands resolved. We have sent the status report of the stocks etc and the accounts sought by the authorities, secretary food Raj Kamal Chaudhay said.

Meanwhile, in an unusual stance, as per a report in The Economic Times, the RBI has asked different banks to classify Rs 12,000 crore given to Punjab as bad loans. The RBI took this stand after findings that food grain procured with bank funds have vanished from godowns in Punjab.

There is no disappearance of stocks as stated in a section of the media. All food grains procured over the years have been duly accounted for and handed over to the FCI, through well-documented audited transactions, a government spokesperson countered.

Sources say the government functionaries went into a huddle after the RBI sought immediate report about the status of the food stocks and refused to give CLL sanction until past accounts were cleared. Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also held meeting on this issue.

Something is seriously wrong somewhere in our food stocks the CCL delay is worrying as over 10% of wheat has arrived in the market, a senior Akali Dal leader told HT.

Read: AAP for SC judge probe

Mismatch during Congress rule

This gap in food stocks that indicates a scam of sorts and has a potential to snowball into a major controversy also existed during the 2002-07 Congress rule, a well-placed source said. But a tough-talking and straightforward bureaucrat had taken necessary steps to set the records straight despite nonchalant stance of the Congress leaders.

In April 2004, a source said, there was a gap of Rs 4,500 crore between the procured food stocks and the money spent. In other words, food grains of Rs 4,500 crore were missing.

The finance department had flagged the issue before the RBI as well as the Union government. Officers held meetings with the RBI and the Union ministry of finance to take remedial steps. The state government finally took Rs 4,500 crore clean loan at 8.5% interest and paid it in 60 instalments to match the gap in stocks and money spent on procurement and cleared the account books.

But after the Rs 4,500 crore loan was paid by 2009, this gap began rising again in food stocks, a source in the FCI said.

Now this gap is a whopping Rs 20,000 crore. What the RBI is trying to figure out is: Is there a diversion of money or plain embezzlement?

Grain drain

Govts claim

No misuse of funds Funds used for food procurement in national interest No disappearance of food grain stocks Food grains procured duly accounted for Payments released directly to banks by the FCI Queries raised by FCI have been answered Gap in stocks result of the difference between actual cost and reimbursements by the Centre/FCI

Whiff of a scam

The FCI procures only 20% of food grain while five state agencies procure the remaining stock The RBI sanctions cash-credit limit Consortium of banks led by State Bank of India sanctions funds Reasons behind missing stocks are multiple: Stocks in transit; decay; gap due to filing of claims and outstanding; claims admitted but payments in process; and worse, due to diversion of money

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A 33-year-old Indian-origin Sikh woman and her seven-month-old daughter were found dead at their house in Malaysia.

The police have arrested her husband, a media report said on Friday. Kamaljit Dorairaja and her daughter Ishlyn Kaur were found lying dead inside their house in Rawang town of the countrys Selangor state on Thursday, the police said.

The deceased are believed to have either been strangled or smothered to death though the exact cause behind their death was not immediately known, Malay Mail Online reported. The two were first spotted by her father-in-law who raised the alarm.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested Dorairajas husband, a lorry driver in his early 30s, in connection with the double murder after initial investigations.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday said a sitting Supreme Court judge should investigate the matter in which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had found food stock worth Rs 12,000 crore missing from the storage units in Punjab.

AAP state affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh issued a statement here that the food-grain supposed to have been bought with bank money had vanished from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouses in the state. A special investigation team (SIT) headed by a Supreme Court judge should look into the role of the Akali government, the BJP-led Union government, and the banks, who were aware of the missing stock, he said.

AAP MP Bhagwant Mann said the party was worried that if the Parkash Singh Badal government in Punjab couldnt repay bank loans, how would it be able to pay farmers for their wheat crop, the procurement of which was on.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar has said that no manuscript or written material missing from Sikh Reference Library of the Golden Temple here since Operation Bluestar in 1984 was ever returned.

He made this claim on Saturday, while answering the media queries on the statement of former army chief general JJ Singh (retd) that the army had returned all the literature to the SGPC. Our repeated requests to the Defence Ministry and other central government departments for this precious treasure have gone unheard. Even the Akali-BJP government has had no success with them, he said.

The SGPC took up this matter with the current army chief, general Dalbir Singh, when he paid obeisance at the Golden Temple last month. The general asked the committee to put in a written request with the Defence Ministry for him to be able to look into the matter. However. he also claimed that as far as he knew, no such literature was with the army.

During the June 1984 military operation to flush out armed militants from the Golden Temple, many rare manuscripts, including handwritten birs of Guru Granth Sahib went missing from the library and while the SGPC put the blame on the army, the Defence Ministry said all material seized had been handed over to intelligence agencies, which have denied any knowledge of it.

No to printing copies of holy book in Pak

Commenting on the Pakistan Sikh Gurdara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) move to print and publish the Sikh holy book in Pakistan, Makkar said: The sole publishing rights are with the SGPC. This work is done based on the Sikh maryada (religious code), at Gurdwara Ramsar in Amritsar.

The Pakistani committee had stated recently that Pakistan Waqf Board was ready to print birs of the Sikh scripture. The Akal Takht, highest temporal seat of Sikh faith, also has banned the printing and publishing of the scripture by any individual or printing house except the SGPC. A couple of years ago, even the Punjab government had passed an Act to this effect.

Patits cant vote in SGPC polls

Makkar took strong exception to the statement of Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu in the Lok Sabha that Patit (fallen) Sikhs (with shorn hair or trimmed beards) be given the right to vote in the SGPC general elections.

The Sikh Gurdwara Act allows only saabat soorat (baptised) Sikhs to vote in the SGPC polls, he said, accusing Bittu of trying to divide the Sikh community. Makkar also said he had a grand plan for observing the 300 years of the martyrdom of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur (a follower of Guru Gobind Singh, who took on the Mughals and chased them out of Sirhind and some other parts of Punjab) from May.
Members of Amritsar Vikas Manch, along with other social activists, on Friday staged a protest at Bhandari Bridge against the Union civil aviation ministry for stopping direct international flights to and from Guru Ram Das International Airport.

The protesters said authorities of the ministry had not only stopped the flights, but also refused to give nod to more international flights which are need of the hour.

Since the control of Indra Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, was given to a private company, direct flights to and from UK, Canada and USA from city were stopped to benefit the company. It has caused a huge lose to Amritsar airport as well as local traders and industrialists, Daljit Singh Kohli, a member of the organisation.

Another activist Sushil Gupta said, Now, Chandigarh airport has started and lobbying has begun shift some more flights from Amritsar to Chandigarh. For instance, Amritsar-Singapore flight was to start from May 23 this year, but now it is being talked that it will be shifted to Chandigarh.

Requests for more international flights from Amritsar had been sent to the ministry, but there was no reponse, said Parshotam Kumar, one of the protester.

Activists of Vigyan Samati, Mission Agaz, Voice of Amritsar, Lok Kalyan Samati, Anti-Terrorist Association, Global Institute of Disabled Children and Pollution Control Committee also participated in the demonstration.

The demonstrators warned of taking legal measures if their voice went unheard. They also urged local MLAs and MPs to take up the issues with higher authorities.
Ruling out a pre-poll pact with any political party for the Punjab assembly elections, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi sees the Shiromani Akali Dal, not the Aam Aadmi Party, as his partys key challenger in the high-stake state electoral battle slated by January.

The Akalis are a formidable machine. The contest will be between us and them, Gandhi said in an informal interaction with journalists here on Saturday. He declined to give any weight to the Arvind Kejriwal-led rookie party thats being increasingly seen as a third player in the Punjab power sweepstakes.

The AAP is only creating hype about itself in Punjab by lavishly spending out of the Rs 600-crore publicity budget of the Delhi government, he said.

Gandhis latest visit is part of the Congresss aggressive strategy to galvanise the party rank and file in Punjab. To this end, he met frontline leaders, including state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh, and addressed workers at Zirakpur.

Read also: Raising drug issue, exposing Akalis inaction not against Punjab

Drugs to be poll issue

Calling the rampant addiction to narcotics in Punjab a deep and debilitating problem, Gandhi said the Congress would make it a poll issue and work according to a plan to rid the state of the menace if voted to power. The Akalis have destroyed Punjab and they are actually a beneficiary of the drug culture, he alleged.

Gandhi, who was flanked by Capt Amarinder Singh and party spokesman Randeep Surjewala, said that he was ridiculed by both the opposition and the media when he had first pointed out three years ago that 70% of Punjab youth had taken drugs at some point of time. Now I have been proved right, but it has taken 10 years for the Akalis to accept this (the drug problem).

To the Akalis charge that the opposition was defaming Punjab and Punjabis by exaggerating the drug issue, Gandhi said, We are not bashing Punjab; we are rather trying to save it.

No, was Gandhi firm and quick response when asked about the chance of the Congress stitching up a pre-poll alliance in Punjab on the lines of Bihar and West Bengal. The Congress, he said, stands for certain ideas and an ideology and would forge an alliance only in case these premises are strengthened. Thats not happening here.

Congress V-P Rahul Gandhi with party leaders Shakeel Ahmad, Ambika Soni and Captain Amarinder Singh during an interaction with party workers and leaders at Zirakpur on Saturday. Charanjit Singh Channi, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, is on the dais. (PTI Photo)

Says Sonia, Manmohan have already regretted 84 events

He replied in the negative when asked if there was an overhang of tragic events of 1984 on the Congresss poll prospects in Punjab. We have been in power here thereafter, he said.

Asked if he would apologise for Operation Bluestar and the anti-Sikh violence, Gandhi said both the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) and then prime minister Manmohan Singh had already regretted what had happened in 1984. We have done that, he insisted and refused to be drawn into a regret versus apology debate. Even I have been to the Golden Temple, he said, side-stepping a question asked in the context of the Canadian prime ministers statement last week that he would apologise in Parliament for the Komagata Maru episode in which the Canadian government had violently barred Indian migrants, mostly Sikhs, from anchoring their ship at Vancouver in 1914.

Gandhi declined comment on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal issue, terming it a sub-judice matter.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Punjab is not keen on being a part of the e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) platform, an online system launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, connecting mandis across the state for sale of agricultural produce.

At the onset of the scheme, 21 mandis in eight states have been connected, but Punjab, the main foodgrain-producing state, so far has not thought about it despite a communique from the Union agriculture ministry.

The neighbouring Haryana that has a similar cropping pattern has accepted the scheme connecting mandis in Karnal and Ellenabad to the portal.

In the long run, e-NAM entails linking of Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in the country. The APMCs control mandis in the state. Punjab has 151 APMCs of which the majority has a seasonal business during wheat and paddy harvests.

Discussion on issue

A formal discussion on the issue is expected to take place in a meeting chaired by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday, but according to agriculture minister Tota Singh, Punjab has nothing to do with it.

The eight states that have opted for the scheme so far are Gujarat, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Of these states, so far only 21 mandis have been connected to the newly launched portal for sale of agricultural produce. Besides, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh have agreed to be part of this and offered to connect 344 mandis to the portal.

Punjab Mandi Board vice-chairman Ravinder Singh Cheema told HT that wheat and paddy comprised 95% of the crops grown in the state, which are covered under the minimum support price, so the scheme did not suit Punjab.

The board maintains 1,800 mandis in the state and monitors procurement of wheat and paddy in rabi and kharif crops, respectively. Cheema said the state farmers would not benefit from the scheme and in case the government wanted to help farmers all mandis in the country were to be connected to the portal, which would entail a huge expenditure.

He said, There is not much enthusiasm for the scheme as only 21 mandis have been hooked to the portal, with each state offering to connect only two to three mandis.

According to Tota Singh, the portal will be useful to the state only when it grows commercially viable crops such as vegetables and fruits. Why would a farmer whose produce is procured by government agencies try to sell it online? he asked.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
It is not just Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh who is donning the aam aadmi tag as Punjab gets battle-ready for the upcoming assembly polls.

Congress poll strategist Prashant Kishor is giving Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too an image makeover as he scripts the partys poll strategy ahead of elections.

To make Rahul more accessible, the party announced a helpline number (9878985019) at an interaction of MLAs, former MLAs, district presidents, block presidents and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) office-bearers with the Congress vice-president at a marriage palace at Zirakpur on Saturday.

The Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) --- the team of Kishor --- held the interaction through a draw of lots among the nearly 2,500 Congressmen to ensure fair play and Rahul walked up to the person asking a question or giving suggestion.

Read also II Punjab election fight between Cong, SAD: Rahul rejects AAP

He welcomed the suggestion from a district president that the party should announce its candidates at least six months in advance and all sections --- youth, women and communities --- should get due representation.

Congress V-P Rahul Gandhi interacting with party workers and leaders at a programme in Zirakpur near Chandigarh on Saturday. Party leaders Shakeel Ahmad, Ambika Soni and Punjab unit head Captain Amarinder Singh are also seen. (PTI Photo)

Not only is IPAC liasoning with media in Punjab for managing Amarinders campaign, Kishor ensured that Rahul held informal interaction with editors of media organisations earlier in the day and later with reporters.

The corporate-style management of the workers meeting did not go down well with some senior leaders, who had to get registered after dialling a number at the entry gate of the venue with the IPAC team member. However, winds of change are blowing in the grand old party as many leaders thronged the selfie corner for pictures.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
In the last leg of his youth interaction programme Coffee with Captain in Patiala on Friday, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh said if voted to power, his government would enact a law in the Vidhan Sabha to stop auctioning of farmers land by financial institutions.

Amarinder said he recently met families of farmers in the Malwa belt who committed suicide after receiving bank notices that their land would be auctioned if they failed to pay loan instalments.

It is a serious issue as several farm suicides have taken place due to pressure from banks and other financial institutions. We will stop this legally and will not allow any agency to auction farmers land. We will also create a mechanism in coordination with banks to resolve debt crisis, he told a youth at Yadavindra Public School, who posed him several questions on his plans to resolve the farm crisis, besides his vision for states economic overhaul.

Responding to a query, Amarinder assured the youth of forming start-up policies with government funds for those who want to start their small enterprise in the state. They will be given subsidies for initial sustainability, he said, adding that his focus will be to bring back the industry here, especially information technology which, he said, had shifted base due to wrong policies of the present government

Will solve drug menace in a month

Amarinder got a round of applause when he said that there were no prizes for guessing who all were behind spreading the killer synthetic drugs in the state.

On being asked how he will tackle the problem in a month, which he assured after taking over as the Congress chief PPCC in Bhatinda, he said: I will solve the drug menace even before a month as it is possible with right enforcement. Policemen know who is involved in the illegal trade but they cant take action under political pressure. We will support them from day one.

AAP drama will not last long

Taking on the Aam Aadami Party (AAP), Amarinder flayed Delhi chief minister and AAPs national convener Arvind Kejriwal for wasting Delhi tax payers money on media advertisements in Punjab despite having no achievements to show. If he becomes the chief minister here, he will do nothing but waste the taxpayers money in other states as he is doing with the Delhi people, he added.

On being asked whether he would remain accessible if elected the chief minister, Amarinder said: I will be among all of you not only through such meetings but also through the social media.

With several questions revolving around states poor health and school education, he assured the crowd that he would ensure opening of more super-specialty hospitals and quality education in government schools. He also announced that he would stop the practice of hiring school and college teachers on contract.

The Congress chief also demanded an inquiry into the Rs 12000-crore food scandal. He said due to this, the Centre refused to release Rs 25,000 crore grant to the state to lift wheat in the ongoing procurement process. This was the reason why commission agents are protesting against the government for delay in payment.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
One of Tuscanys most famous villas is up for sale with its owners hoping to be smiling all the way to the bank thanks to its links to the Mona Lisa.

The Villa Antinori was once owned by the family of silk merchant Francesco Del Giocondo, whose wife Lisa Gherardini is widely believed to have sat for Leonardo da Vincis world-famous portrait.

Villa Antinori, which boasts a chapel, extensive grounds and a vast lemon grove, lies some five kilometres (three miles) from the Tuscan capital and was owned by the Del Giocondos from 1498 to 1517. (AFP)

Located in the hills outside Florence, the villa is priced at over 10 million euros ($11.3 million), but may well go for much more, a press officer for the Lionard Luxury Real Estate company told AFP.

Villa Antinori, which boasts a chapel, extensive grounds and a vast lemon grove, lies some five kilometres (three miles) from the Tuscan capital and was owned by the Del Giocondos from 1498 to 1517.

Read: Mona Lisa might be a Chinese slave, suggests Italian historian

At the end of the 19th century it was sold to Tuscan wine masters Antinori, and it was Nicolo Antinori who decided to put a drawing of the property on the familys Villa Antinori wines. The move was a challenge to wine rivals in France, with Antinori reportedly saying: they have their chateaux, we our villas.

Most historians believe Lisa Gherardini, who was born in 1479 and died in 1542, modelled for the Mona Lisa, which was painted between 1503 and 1506, when the Del Giocondos owned the villa.

Located in the hills outside Florence, the villa is priced at over 10 million euros ($11.3 million). (AFP)

Some art sleuths think, however, that da Vinci might have used a male model for the Mona Lisa -- or that the sly grin is because the painting is a self-portrait.

In September last year, Italian archaeologists trying to solve the mystery of the models identity said they had found bits of bone which could have belonged to the real Mona Lisa -- but had failed to find the DNA to test it against.
Most actors find it demanding to play famous personalities as opposed to fictional characters. TV actor Ashish Sharma, however, has done both. After having garnered fame as Major Rudra Pratap Ranawat in the television series, Rangrasiya he is currently playing the lead in Siya Ke Ram. So, is this more challenging than acting in a daily soap? I wouldnt say that its difficult, but its different, he says.

Read: Siya Ke Ram or Ramanand Sagars Ramayan? Heres a test by fire

However, he adds that actors who play mythological characters have additional responsibilities. Mythology is a sensitive subject. And in India, one has to be extra careful. You dont want to hurt peoples feelings, says the actor.

Ashish Sharma in a still from Siya Ke Ram. (Hotstar)

Ask him if he thinks mythological shows are gaining popularity, and he says, These days, you see the same kind of content in every show. So, after a point, people need a break from whatever they are watching. I believe that mythological and periodic characters have always worked, especially in India. He states that this is the case because Indian society is greatly influenced by the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Read: Ashish Sharmas illness brings out new subplots for Rangrasiya

Ashish further talks about television as a medium, expressing his displeasure with the way it is perceived. I fail to understand why television is looked down upon. Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan are taking time out to come on TV. They do this because they are aware that television increases their fan base, he says.

Watch a clip from Siya Ke Ram here

The actor, who started his career with the 2010 film, Love Sex Aur Dhokha, maintains that he is on the lookout for good opportunities  be it in films or on TV. I will take up any medium that gives me a good opportunity. The medium does not matter; the work does, adds Ashish.

Read: Ashish Sharma is a responsible citizen
Bangladesh police on Saturday arrested a well-known magazine editor for sedition, officials said, the latest in a series of detentions of pro-opposition journalists that has sparked fears of a crackdown on the press.

Three plain-clothes officers entered 81-year-old Shafik Rehmans home in Dhaka in the early morning claiming to be from a private television station and took him away, his wife Taleya Rehman said.

Police later announced Rehman, who is also a British citizen and was formerly a speechwriter for the Bangladeshi prime ministers arch-rival, had been arrested for sedition.

Officers also said they had found evidence linking the editor to a conspiracy to murder Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy.

He has been arrested over sedition charges filed by police in Dhaka in August 2015, police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder told AFP.

Police found connections in a conspiracy to abduct and murder the premiers son, according to MR Khaled, a deputy police commissioner.

Rehman is the third pro-opposition editor to have been arrested by the government of Hasina, triggering repeated calls by rights groups for their release.

Two other top journalists, who edit the countrys leading Bengali and English newspapers, have also been charged in criminal lawsuits including dozens of defamation and sedition cases.

Rehman was a long-time editor of Jai Jai Din, a mass-circulation Bengali daily. He now edits a popular Bengali monthly magazine called Mouchake Dhil.

He previously served as a speechwriter for opposition leader Khaleda Zia, a two-time former prime minister who is involved in a deeply bitter ongoing feud with the current premier.

In recent months, Rehman became the convenor of the international affairs committee of Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and headed a pro-opposition think-tank named G-9.

Last week, Bangladeshs high court suspended 72 defamation and other criminal lawsuits filed by government supporters against Mahfuz Anam, the editor of The Daily Star newspaper, over a challenge to their legality.

Human Rights Watch is among those which have slammed the lawsuits against Anam, saying they are part of a larger, organised assault on independent media.

It comes amid widening fears for freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority nation, which has seen a spate of Islamist killings of secular bloggers and publishers.
Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon said on Saturday that a significant part of the Muslim population celebrated attacks, blaming the countrys policies for failing to integrate migrants into society.

He did not, however, explicitly refer to last months jihadist attacks on Brussels airport and metro system that killed 32 people

A significant section of the Muslim community danced when attacks took place, Jambon said in an interview with the Flemish-language De Standaard newspaper.

The Belgian minister also accused Muslim residents of Brussels largely immigrant Molenbeek neighbourhood of attacking police during an operation last month to arrest a suspect in connection with the deadly attacks in Paris last November.

They threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. This is the real problem. Terrorists we can pick up, remove from society. But they are just a boil. Underneath is a cancer that is much more difficult to treat. We can do it, but it wont be overnight, he said.

Jambon, whose New Flemish Alliance party has been a key part of Belgiums ruling centre-right coalition since 2014, previously offered to resign in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

In todays interview he said that the danger linked to the radicalisation of youth from third and fourth generation families is too deeply rooted in some areas because Belgium have for many years ignored the warning signs.

Following the November 13 attacks in neighbouring France, Jambon sparked controversy when he promised to clean Molenbeek when it emerged that several of the attackers had links to the impoverished district of the Belgian capital.
The engagement between India and Canada has been kept robust by a series of visits by local leaders, who have added fresh layers that allowed the relationship to sidestep changes in government in both nations.

While the focus has been on high-profile contacts such as the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, visits by premiers of Canadian provinces and mayors of key cities too have played a key role.

The latest in the line of local leaders to go to India will be the mayor of Canadas capital Ottawa, Jim Watson. He will arrive in New Delhi on Sunday to kick off a five-day visit that will also cover Mumbai and Bengaluru.

While Watson has led two similar Team Ottawa Missions to Beijing, this will be his first India-focused delegation.

The purpose is to sign agreements that we have in place but, in addition to that, to really plant the Ottawa flag in India which is a new market for us. It shouldnt be, but it is, he said in an interview.

The focus will be on three broad areas: technology, especially clean energy, tourism, and education. Nearly 30 business leaders and officials of agencies such as Invest Ottawa and Ottawa Tourism will accompany Watson.

He hopes to sign MoUs and contracts while in India, describing it as a win-win partnership.

Over the past 18 months, premiers of the provinces of British Columbia (BC), Saskatchewan, Ontario and Prince Edward Island have travelled to India. This year, BCs premier Christy Clark is expected to make another trip, while the mayor of Toronto and the premier of Quebec too are planning visits.

Indias high commissioner Vishnu Prakash said, One thing were very pleased about is the relationship is quite bipartisan on both sides. I do see a consensus across the spectrum. Visibility is important and high-level visits are welcome on both sides.

Watson added, If you think back 40 or 50 years, it was really only the federal government that would be engaged in these kinds of foreign relationships. Over the years, more and more provinces have established offices.

Subsequently, we have also seen many more municipalities and mayors engaged in these kinds of delegations because cities are the economic engine of the country.

While Ottawa is in Ontario province, Watson said he wasnt part of premier Kathleen Wynnes visit in February this year (which included two other mayors) for fear of his city being overshadowed. He felt it would make sense to do something on our own.

These new layers in the bilateral relationship should keep the business of regional and urban heads of government taking their sales pitch to India booming

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
German police say three people have been injured in an apparently deliberate explosion at a gurdwara in the western city of Essen.

A spokesman for Essen police told The Associated Press that a masked person is reported to have fled the scene shortly after the blast at 7:00 pm Saturday (1700 GMT). Spokesman Lars Lindemann said the explosion was quite violent, blowing out several windows. One of the injured was said to be in a serious condition.

Lindemann says police are working on the assumption that the explosion was caused deliberately but that there are no indications it was a terrorist incident. He says the gurdwara had hosted a wedding earlier in the day and those injured are believed to have been among the guests.
A Moroccan man and a Spanish woman with links to Islamic State were arrested in the southern Spanish port of Algeciras on Saturday as they were trying to leave for Morocco with their young son, the interior ministry said.

The couple were part of a group that supported and recruited Islamic State fighters, including individuals that had carried out suicide bomb attacks in Syria, a ministry statement said.

The mans brother had recently died in a suicide bomb attack and that was why the couple were travelling to Morocco in a hurry, the ministry said without giving further details.

Their son has been put in care, it said.

Authorities are searching the couples house in Granada and the investigation remains open.

Spain has arrested 18 people so far this year on charges of being linked to Islamist militants.
Three Canadian families are suing a sperm bank and its distributor, alleging they were given sperm from a convicted felon diagnosed with multiple mental disorders - but told he was a genius.

At least 36 women in Britain, Canada and the US are believed to have been inseminated with the donors sperm over the past decade, resulting in pregnancies.

Its horrifying, lawyer James Fireman told AFP on Friday. These couples were seeking assistance to build a family and were very vulnerable, they put their faith in the (cryobank) industry, and this happens.

In a claim filed this week, the families allege Xytex Corp, based in the US state of Georgia and Ontarios Outreach Health Services, misled them.

The plaintiffs are seeking 15 million Canadian dollars ($11.7 million) in damages. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

They allege the companies fabricated the donors IQ, and said the man was extremely healthy and working towards a PhD in neuroscience engineering.

The families - who each had one child using the mans sperm - learned his true identity only when Xytex inadvertently included his contact information in an email to them.

A quick Internet search and a subsequent investigation revealed the donor was actually a 39-year-old Georgia man who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, narcissistic personality disorder, drug-induced psychotic disorder and significant grandiose delusions.

He had been jailed for burglary and other crimes and dropped out of university 20 years ago, although he eventually returned and last year graduated with a bachelors degree.

According to the claim, the companies continued to sell his sperm even after being informed of the discrepancies in 2014.
Pope Francis on Saturday told refugees trapped on the Greek island of Lesbos that they are not alone in their plight, and called on the world to respond with common humanity to the migrant crisis.

You are not alone... do not lose hope, the pope said as he visited Lesbos with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, calling on the world to respond to the tragedy in a way worthy of our common humanity.

The three religious leaders then signed a joint declaration that calls on the international community to respond with courage in facing this massive humanitarian crisis and its underlying causes through diplomatic, political and charitable initiatives.

The pope, who is next scheduled to say a prayer at Lesbos harbour for the hundreds of people of all ages who have died in the Aegean trying to reach Europe, expressed a desire to take to the Vatican some refugees after his five-hour visit, according to an official from Greeces state refugee coordination agency. The Vatican later confirmed that 12 Syrian refugees, all of them Muslim, are travelling with the pope back to Italy from Greece, AP reported.

We are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived, he said before his arrival on Saturday.

There were emotional scenes as the pope visited the migrant facility of Moria, greeting unaccompanied minors, women and small children who gave him over a dozen drawings.

One man broke into tears as he knelt at the popes feet, requesting his blessing. Another woman got around security to approach the pontiff, also breaking down in tears as he paused to listen to her.

Other migrants detained at Moria, unable to reach the pope, shouted and whistled.

Some held handmade signs that read We want freedom, Let my people go and Papa cherche a nous sauver (Pope, try to save us).

The pontiffs landmark visit comes amid controversy over a deal last month to end Europes refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.
Pope Francis' visit to the island of Lesbos in Greece on Saturday saw a number of dramatic events, from refugees falling at the pontiff's feet to the pope delivering a powerful speech that targeted Europe's developing stance on the migrant crisis. Perhaps most notable, however, was the conclusion of Francis' visit, which featured the Holy See quite literally rescuing a number of refugees himself.

As the pope left the island, he took 12 Syrians from three families with him. Half of those he rescued were children, whose houses had been destroyed by the unrest in the Middle East. The 12 refugees would be cared for at the Vatican, a spokesman said.

Pope Francis' visit only lasted a few hours, but during that relatively brief period of time, he was able to reach out to a pretty large number of migrants, visiting the Moria detention facility, where thousands of migrants are being held. The island recently became the place for hundreds of deportations amid a new immigration plan by Europe.

Addressing the people in the camp, Pope Francis told them that they were not alone in their plight.

"I want to tell you, you are not alone. As people of faith, we wish to join our voices to speak out on your behalf. Do not lose hope!" he said.

Further emphasizing the grim migrant situation in the region, Pope Francis addressed the large number of migrants who had been killed on the way to the island, which is largely seen by migrants as a pivotal first step towards starting a new life in Europe.

"This is a trip that is a bit different than the others. This is a trip marked by sadness. We are going to encounter the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since World War Two. We will see many people who are suffering, who don't know where to go, who had to flee," Francis said.

"We are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people died there. This is what is in my heart as I make this trip."

The pope also encouraged world leaders to resist the temptation to build more walls, emphasizing that "barriers create divisions instead of promoting the true progress of peoples."

Despite most of the migrants in the area not being Catholic, the pope was nonetheless welcomed very warmly. During the pope's five-hour visit, a number of migrants wept at his feet and kissed his hand, and children gave him several drawings. He was also greeted by loud cheers as he made his way into the camp.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
After a lengthy silence, Lupe Fiasco came out of hiding earlier in the week to reveal his three-album plan had changed slightly. Fans may recall that Lupe teased three different titles for albums hed be releasing one after another this year, ending with the final release of his career, Roy. Roy has now apparently been scrapped, and in its place well be receiving an album titled DROGAS light*. DROGAS light* serves as the second of the three-album rollout, sided between DROGAS and SKULL SKULL being his last album.

Now that the album roll out is sufficiently clear, Lupe has decided to tease the DROGAS project with the release is CONVERSATIONS #1, and according to his Soundcloud, it will be a series, thus we can likely expect CONVERSATIONS #2 to hit shortly. Its not new music, to be clear, and according to the artwork, its was recorded live on the scene back in 2013. In the conversation, Lupe talks with various members of the community, mainly consisting of L.O.T.U.S. (Lifting Ourselves Through US) members, about the medias affects on their children and the community as a whole for example, theyre advocating for less explicit content to be played on radio.

If you have ten minutes to spare, click play below.
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.
A Workplace Demographic Shift Will Change the Way HR Needs to Attract and Develop Leaders The bad news: The talent acquisition world is about to get much more competitive and complicated. The good news: Those who are prepared will be able to stay ahead of the curve when attracting and retaining the best and the brightest. The biggest shift that HR and talent acquisition experts should prepare for is a talent shortage. According to McKinsey's 2015 Global Growth Model study, from 2005-2015 there were three times as many workers as retirees. By 2025, the ratio of workers to retirees will be 1:1, making the candidate pool much smaller. Couple that with a need for specialized employees, especially in the technology and life sciences fields, and it is clear candidates are in the drivers seat. This raises the question of how to win when recruiting. The answer in part depends on the generation of the employee. For example, a February 2016 Korn Ferry Futurestep executive survey found that nearly 50 percent of respondents said the ability to make an impact on the business was the top reason a Gen X candidate (born 1965-1980) would choose one job over another. Interestingly, a February 2015 Futurestep survey asked the same questions about Millennial candidates (born 1981-1995). That survey found that visibility and buy-in to the mission/vision of the organization is the top reason people of this generation wou...
When Yelp fired the infamous 25-year-old (Talia Jane) who wrote an open letter to her CEO complaining about her hourly wage and benefits, it was celebrated by many on social media. While some business leaders considered this a win for their side,this unfortunate incident can also be a teachable moment for all parties in the workplace. Had the employee been able to launch a subtle or artful attack, it is entirely plausible that she would been able to engender public support for her wages and put a great deal of pressure on Yelp, who reportedly earned more than $550 million in revenue in 2015. This incident, therefore, should serve as an opportunity for business leaders to examine how they can make employees feel valued, even if they cant give them huge pay increases. This is especially important to Millennials. With 83 million members, Generation Y now already makes up the largest sector of the U.S. population, and by 2025 will make up 75 percent of the workforce. Failing to appeal to what is also the most educated segment of the workforce could expose your company to ridicule, like we saw from Talia Jane,and perhaps more importantly, mean you miss out on the talent that will help your company achieve its corporate objectives in an economy that is increasingly global, mobile and social. As the CEO of Peak Sales Recruiting, I have witnessed world-class clients invest substantial time and resources to appeal to the next generation ...
Bra companies, your chesty patrons have a message for you.

YouTuber Charde Heremaia launched into a rant as she shopped at her local Kmart in New Zealand. Heremaia went through rack after rack of bras, and struggled to find one that would fit her double-F chest, much less a pretty one.

The comedy vlogger held up one that looked like it may be her size, and pointed out that it was "f*cking ugly."

Advertisement

Heremaia combed the store, and by the end of her minute-long video, could not find her size at all, let alone one that was affordable or a pretty colour.

"Some of us ... we like to be a bit of a saucy minx every now and again."

"Some of us young ones [with big chests], we like to be a bit of a saucy minx every now and again," she pleads, holding up a bright blue, embellished B-cup.

A fed up Heremaia posted the video to YouTube and her Facebook page, Memoirs of a Maori, where it's received more than 760,000 views combined.

There are literally thousands of user comments, many of them which identify with Heremaia's struggle. These complaints are hilarious, and also right on the money.

Advertisement

In 2010, Le Mystere design director Jessica Pfister told The Cut that it takes her three-person team about two years to develop a bra that can support a 44H chest.

Another plus-size bra company president, Linda LoRe, told The Cut that it seems many bra companies don't want to take the gamble on something so pricey and time consuming.

But for LoRe's company and Le Mystere, larger sizes made up 70 to 80 per cent of their sales.

Now years later, there are plenty of options online, but still few on display in stores, and most cup sizes lager than DD are much more expensive.

Just last year Victoria's Secret was criticized for charging customers more for bigger bras sizes, still only in the D to DDD range.

Also on HuffPost

Underwear Woes And How To Solve Them See Gallery
OTTAWA  Anthony Housefather was already under pressure when he was elected as the Liberal member of Parliament for the Quebec riding of Mount Royal.

His predecessor? Irwin Cotler, a parliamentarian widely respected for his advocacy on justice and human rights who held the riding for 16 years.

Housefather knew he had big shoes to fill, even though, as he jokes, Cotler only wears a size eight.

But the task ahead is also pressure packed  Housefather is chair of the House of Commons justice committee, soon to start studying the Liberal government's polarizing assisted suicide bill.

Advertisement

Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather is trying to keep a study on doctor-assisted suicide as free from partisanship as possible. (Photo: CP)

Making sure everyone feels their voice has been heard in the ensuing debate will be a challenge, he said.

"There are a number of values that are involved and some of them may be conflicting," he said.

"It's our job as parliamentarians to make sure we work them out, and in respect of the court decision and the charter  and my goal is that our committee will come out with everybody feeling that that's what we did."

Advertisement

Housefather has yet to hang a single picture in his ground floor office on Parliament Hill and it's unlikely he'll have much time to decorate now. It's expected to be May before the committee receives the bill and they are facing a tight deadline  the new law must be in place by June 6 to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling striking down the existing ban on medically assisted death as unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court of Canada has given the government until June 6 to draft legislation on assisted suicide. (Photo: CP)

Late nights, early mornings, meetings five times a day  all are on the table, Housefather said, in an effort to make that deadline.

Another goal is keeping the study as free from partisanship as possible. One way is to have a witness list created collaboratively, not by each party submitting their own slate, he said.

Advertisement

"My hope is we can all come together, understanding what everybody thinks and if you don't achieve a consensus at least you've tried and you understand why you haven't and you respect each other's point of view," he said.

Housefather, 44, has a wide smile and bouncing energy.

"I think the goal for me is that very few people will ever want to make this right available to themselves because we've created a system of medicine and palliative care that ensure there are people that are not living in constant pain as they live out their natural life."

He tries to work out 90 minutes a day and is an avid swimmer, having competed in his youth and more recently in a Jewish multi-sport event held every four years in Israel known as the Maccabiah Games.

But his cheerful tone drops an octave when asked about his personal belief on whether a person should have a legal right to get help ending their life.

"I do believe in the autonomy of individuals and I do believe in a general sense, individuals should have a right to control their lives and in certain, specific, limited cases, their death," he said.

Advertisement

"But I think the goal for me is that very few people will ever want to make this right available to themselves because we've created a system of medicine and palliative care that ensure there are people that are not living in constant pain as they live out their natural life."
Some of the worlds largest oil producers are scheduled to meet in Doha, Qatar on Sunday to address the global oil oversupply, but hopes of a deal to cut production have fallen apart even before the meeting began.

With a day to go to the meeting, Iran has announced it will not attend, and Saudi Arabia is openly musing about flooding the world with desperately unneeded oil.

Advertisement

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg his country could immediately ramp up production by a million barrels per day, to 12.5 million barrels, if we wanted to. He also suggested the country has the capacity to nearly double its oil production, to around 20 million barrels per day.

I dont suggest that we should produce more, but we can produce more, the prince said.

Analysts suggest the world is currently overproducing oil by 1-2 million barrels per day.

The thinly-veiled threat is aimed squarely at Iran, Saudi Arabias regional rival and a new competitor in the oil market. Iran recently began selling oil into the global oil market after the international community lifted sanctions.

Middle East politics could once again trump oil economics. -- BofA Merril Lynch

The two are involved in a price war. The Saudis cut their oil export price by 10 cents per barrel this week and Iran followed, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Analysts say the apparent collapse of the Doha talks could send oil prices back down to around the US$30-per-barrel mark, from its current levels around US$40.

Advertisement

Middle East politics could once again trump oil economics, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said this week.

But what the Doha talks cant accomplish, U.S. energy producers just might. Shale oil producers in the U.S., who have made the country once again the worlds largest producer of oil, are cutting back on production amid prices that are below production cost.

The International Energy Agency said this week it expects that the shrinking production levels in the U.S. will ease the oil glut by the second half of this year.
I was glad to see the Government writing to universities and colleges this week to encourage student voter registration, as I have been asking them to do for months.

Unfortunately, this action comes far too late, with just days left for people to register to vote for the all-important elections in May - and the letter makes no mention of the deadline on Monday, focussing solely on the later deadline for the EU referendum!

I'm delighted the Government have finally changed their minds on communicating with universities and colleges, after months of pressure by Labour.

Advertisement

Cabinet Office Minister John Penrose didn't agree to this in his reply to my letter, urging him to give universities guidance on how to register their students. He has completely ignored the letter I sent him way back in February, asking for action to help schools, colleges and universities register their students.

And the Prime Minister has still not responded to the letter I sent him well over a month ago, calling for more to be done in schools, universities and colleges to help young people register.

This letter was signed by 16 organisations passionate about young people's right to vote, including NUS, Universities UK, Bite the Ballot and many more besides, who will share my frustration that nothing has been done sooner.

I'm so disappointed that colleges and universities will only be receiving Government guidance just days before the deadline to register for next month's crucial elections. Given we know that university towns have seen the biggest drop off in voter registration, the Government should also have issued support on how to register their students to vote when they enrol on their courses, which has been proven successful in places like Sheffield and Cardiff.

Advertisement

And still nothing has been done about the 40% of 16 and 17 year olds who have fallen off the register due to the Government's rushed changes to voter registration last year - despite our calls for the Schools Initiative.

Even though the Government has left it lamentably late for the May elections, let's make sure that young people get their say in the biggest decision of their lifetimes - the referendum on our EU membership.

Come on Prime Minister - if you don't want to reply to me, at least have some respect for the sixteen organisations representing young people, headteachers, lecturers and school teachers who want to hear from you about your plans to support them in getting the next generation on the electoral register.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 14: Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at the 2016 annual New York State Republican Gala on April 14, 2016 in New York City. Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio take part in a fund-raiser for the state Republican Party, being the first time they are seen together since they decided to abandon the so-called loyalty pledge they signed last year to support whoever becomes the party nominee. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

The Emerson College poll released this week confirmed once again why the Republican Party is so eager to topple the Donald Trump bandwagon. Among the poll sampling of 1,043 likely voters that mirrored the turnout profile from the 2012 general election, the New York billionaire and reality TV star was viewed unfavorably by more than 60 percent of the electorate. Matched against his favorable rating of 34.5 percent, the Emerson College poll suggested that Trump has a "fav-unfav" rating of negative 26.1.

The fav-unfav rating, like the right track-wrong track rating, has long been a key metric in political polling. A high net favorable rating is a strong indicator of electoral performance, a high net negative bodes the opposite. Opposition research is critical in politics for the simple reason that it is often easier to increase the negative perception of your opponent than to increase the positive perception of yourself.

Advertisement

Over the past month, the Never Trump movement has catalyzed around Ted Cruz as its knight in shining armor to take down the Donald, or at least to keep him from winning a first ballot nomination in Cleveland. The motivations behind the Never Trump movement are myriad; its coalition partners begin with establishment Republicans and major donors and extends in any and all directions from there. There are those who simply believe that if nominated, Trump will be pummeled in the fall by Hillary. There are those who dread the down ballot impact, the prospect of losing the Senate, and -- God forbid -- the House. There are the movement conservatives who decry the fact that Trump is not a conservative in good standing, or perhaps not even a Republican at all. There are the neoconservatives who fear Trump's appeal to isolationism and apparent willingness to cede regional hegemony to Russia and China. And then there are those who simply believe that, on his own merits, Donald Trump is an odious candidate.

With Trump's loss to Cruz in Wisconsin, the Never Trump movement had come close to accomplishing its purposes. In the intervening days, it has become the new conventional wisdom that even with strong performances in New York and states across the northeast over the next several weeks, Donald Trump cannot achieve a first ballot victory in Cleveland, and that if he fails to win on the first ballot, he has no prospect of winning the Republican nomination.

Just as it is on the cusp of achieving its goal, participants in the Never Trump movement are about to come face-to-face with its unintended consequences. And thus will be born the Never Cruz movement. Even as the GOP establishment moved against Trump, the fear of an empowered Ted Cruz must have loomed in the darkest reaches of their fevered imaginations. Never Trump was a practical imperative, but Never Cruz remains the deeper, far more personal passion. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for example prefers not to have Trump on the ticket -- he wants to hold onto his job, after all, and losing the Senate would cost him dearly. But President Ted Cruz? Dante Alighieri could have imagined no greater torment for McConnell and his caucus.

Advertisement

The irony buried in the cross tabs of the Emerson College poll is that in Ted Cruz, the GOP may have turned to a candidate that may yet make Donald Trump look like the safer choice. While the Emerson College poll suggests that Trump is viewed unfavorably by 60.6 percent of the likely voters, Cruz is viewed unfavorably by 70.3 percent. Where Trump is viewed favorably by 34.5 percent of the likely voters, Cruz is viewed favorably by only 22.3 percent. Trump's fav-unfav rating of negative 26.1 looks positively sunny compared to Ted Cruz's rating of negative 48.0.

According to RealClear Politics, which tracks these things over time, Donald Trump's average favorable/unfavorable rating is -35.1, or somewhat worse than the Emerson College rating. If you look back over the nine month arc of the primary season, Trump's rating has been consistently negative. When he first announced his candidacy, he came out of the gate at a negative 49, and since then hast tended to hover in the range of -15 to -35.

Not so with Ted Cruz. He started out the gate in slightly positive territory, and over the ensuing months hovered in slightly negative terrain, -5 to -15, for most of the campaign. This seemed to be a remarkably positive rating for a man who was uniquely reviled among his peers in the U.S Senate. As one Republican commentator suggested when asked about Cruz's relatively sanguine net unfavorability rating, give it time, voters just haven't gotten to know him yet. Indeed, over the past month or so, as Cruz has moved to center stage, his net negative rating has steadily declined into the -25 to -35 range. At -48, the Emerson College rating could be an outlier, or it could be a signal of worse things to come for the Texas senator.

Even as they have endured the turmoil of their own nomination fight, Republicans have been salivating at the prospect of running against Hillary Clinton in the fall. Clinton is widely viewed as a weak general election candidate, for reasons that have become evident in Bernie Sanders' successful challenge. She has problems with trust and honesty--two factors reflected in the fav/unfav metric--and, like Cruz, her standing in the public eye has deteriorated over the course of the campaign. A year ago, Clinton's fav/unfav ratings were consistently strong, in the range of positive 15 to positive 35. Then, in the face of continued attacks from the GOP over her email and Benghazi, and not doubt in large measure due to Sanders' (+5.3 fav/unfav, btw) unrelenting assault on her character, her fav/unfav rating as gone south, and now has settled into solidly negative terrain, in the range of -10 to -15.

But, notwithstanding Hillary's problems, the success of Never Trump and the rise of Cruz appear to have distinctly benefited Democrat prospects in the fall, if prediction betting sites are to be believed. For months, predication sites held steady at giving the Democrats a 60-65 percent chance of winning in the fall. With the advent of Never Trump and the rise of Ted Cruz, even as Hillary's negative rating settled into negative territory, the odds turned steadily stronger in Democrats favor. Since the beginning of March, the odds of a Democrat victory in the fall have increased steadily to nearly 75percent. It should be small comfort to Democrats, however, that they appear to have the upper hand while their candidate is viewed increasingly unfavorably across the voting public.

Over the past several months, the focus of the GOP establishment has been on stopping Donald Trump. Those efforts bolstered Ted Cruz's prospects of winning the nomination, and since the beginning of March, the likelihood of Cruz winning the nomination, as measured by online prediction sites, rose from 15 percent to over 40 percent. But as the stop Trump phase of the primary campaign comes to an end, a new story line will likely emerge. It has been barely a month since the Never Trump forces coalesced, and yet very soon many of those who joined the fray under the banner of Ted Cruz to stop Donald Trump will turn against their white knight. This is the fairy tail scenario that John Kasich -- with his +10.8 fav/unfav rating -- believes will carry him to the nomination. A Kasich victory in Cleveland seems unlikely, but so does the prospect of anyone but Trump or Cruz winning the nomination, lest total havoc ensue.

Over the past week or so, the prospects of Ted Cruz winning the nomination, as measured by online prediction sites, soured a bit, falling to 31 percent. Donald Trump, meanwhile, got some of his mojo back. After falling to below 50 percent in the wake of his Wisconsin defeat, the likelihood of a Trump nomination as suggested by prediction sites is back up to 60 percent. For his part, Kasich is at 8 percent, while Paul Ryan, who tried best this week at a Shermanesque disavowal of his interest in the nomination, is at 83 to 1, or barely 1 percent. Marco Rubio is hanging in there at less than 1 percent, or 166-1 odds. Mitt Romney, for those who care, is at 250-1.

While Donald Trump's high negatives have been a continuing topic of conversation over the course of this election season, fav/unfav ratings have not been discussed as a determinative factor as much as they were earlier on in the campaign. Perhaps that is because the focus on Trump and his remarkably high negatives distracted attention from the strongly negative fav/unfav ratings garnered by other candidates. But as the spotlight has swung to Ted Cruz, his net negative fav/unfav rating has crept up into Trumpian territory.

Advertisement

In contrast with her prospective GOP rivals, Hillary Clinton's negative fav/unfav rating, as bad as it is, just doesn't yet seem to be as much of a factor. It is an odd way to view a campaign, but as the online prediction sites seem to suggest, Hillary's prospects of winning in the fall can remain high even as her fav/unfav rating remains negative, as long as the candidates that she is prospectively running against are viewed more negatively by the voting public than she is.
Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, which transcended into a bitter civil war, many questioned the viability and feasibility of Syrians living together under the same government, flag and values again. Suggestions and proposals for separation have made their way into news channels and to world leaders' "potential solutions" agendas. However, these suggestions have never come from Syrians, not the regime nor the opposition, not even from terrorist groups.

Syrians had grew to despise the idea of division and separation. For years, they lived with hopes of a potential Arab unity. However, after the civil war, no one in Syria enjoys the idea of union among Arab states anymore, mostly due to the dysfunctional Arab response to the Syrian crisis that proved the fundamental shortcomings of all Arabic-speaking countries united under one country, yet the feelings and emotions against separation and division - as concepts - have remained intact.



The premise of a united strong Syria has never been questioned by Syrians, the fight is currently about who will "win" the war and lead the whole of Syria, so the biggest question would be whether Syrian citizens can live together after the war? If so, how?

My answer is yes, they can, and undeniably so. History is full of examples of divided nations that were able to reconcile their differences and work together towards a prosperous future. Germany, now the strongest economy in Europe, was once at war and divided and many were asking the exact same question and saying that it would never be possible. The list goes on; Bosnia, South Africa, America, Kosovo and Ireland.

Advertisement

The two main drivers of long term sustainable reconciliation are first, stimulating enough economic activity to create inclusive prosperity that benefit each community and second, enforcing and preserving the nation's identity. Both are challenging but doable.

The economy is the single force that can make or break a nation. When the economy is going well people tend to be better-off, more satisfied, and less concerned about politics. Syria had been turned into a jungle, long before the war because of corruption, systematic stealing of resources, limits on trade and cronyism among other factors. All this led to people fighting for the limited resources left for ordinary citizens, which led over time to rebellion and further, a sectarian divide among Syrians.



When you live in a jungle, you eat what you kill and isolate yourself with "your" people in order for your "group" to have a bigger slice of the pie. This divide could be racial, ethnic, sectarian, urban, or suburban. In the Middle East, the strongest of division tend to be on religious grounds as people went inwards forming tight knit groups with their fellow believers. However, if markets are free and economic opportunities are vast then people will stop looking into differences and start looking into similarities. This will stop us building walls and start us building bridges in every possible way. Strong trade relations will make differences disappear and new social norms based on social and economic situations will emerge.

Therefore first step in reconstructing the Syrian society, after the war ends, is creating a sustainable open economy that applies free trade concepts coupled with giving fair shot for every person who is willing to work. Welcoming foreign investments which are essential to initiate change and for that we should ensure safety and work on increasing security, Bringing refugees back is very important to benefit from their accumulated skills in the West and newly acquired "Western" values. The system should be just and reward hard work and innovation, and simultaneously corruption should be denounced and fought with an iron fist.



Second driver to ensure a sustainable reconciliation is enforcing Syrian identity, through art, media, education, history and folklore. We have to rework on the Syrian identity and promote a more diverse, resilient, open and tolerant one. We can enforce that by a strong constitution, stronger civil society, technology, media, and diplomacy.



People must be informed about their heritage and history, away from politics and religion. Let them know their roots, take pride in the bright periods of their history and learn from their ancestors' historical lessons. Let them conclude that what brings them together is significantly stronger than what sets them apart. Let them understand their differences yet see the common thread which is their Syrian identity.
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks during a campaign stop, Thursday, April 7, 2016, at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Convention in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In 2003, while I was teaching at Davidson College in North Carolina, I saw an ad in the local newspaper announcing a "Going Out of Business" sale of Utica Linen products. The mill that had been making these linens was closing and relocating to Asia where they would be able to pay lower wages. When I saw that ad, I thought back 50 years ago to when that same company's mills had first moved to North Carolina after shutting down operations in Utica, my hometown. They did so to take advantage of North Carolina's cheaper non-union labor.

What I remember most about that period wasn't just how the factories emptied out leaving parts of Utica looking like a ghost town, it was what the closures and loss of thousands of jobs did to my community and my neighbors. Those mills had defined life in Utica for generations. And then they were gone. The stress of mass layoffs created tensions that tore families apart. One third of the population was forced to leave in search of employment. In short order, Utica went from being a vibrant city to a depressed town with dilapidated neighborhoods. And now a North Carolina town was going to suffer as Utica did--for much the same reasons.

Advertisement

A few months ago, I endorsed Bernie Sanders for President. There were many reasons, which I will describe in a moment, but high on my list is that I never forgot what happened to my hometown and so many other American cities across the Northeast and Midwest. Sanders earned my support because he understands what bad trade deals and corporate greed have done to our communities. While some politicians have paid lip service to consequences of factory closings and the exporting of jobs to Asia, Sanders in the only one who has addressed the issue forcefully and pledged decisive action to protect American workers and their communities. I realize, of course, that Sanders isn't going to bring back the Utica of the 1960's, but what he has done is shine a light on the corporate greed that continues to put their interests ahead of their responsibility to be fair to those who have given their lives to build their businesses--opening a national debate on this important concern.

I have also been impressed with the way Sanders speaks the unvarnished truth about other long-ignored critical issues facing the country--issues like: income inequality, the corrupting role of big money in politics, and the need for universal health care coverage. By demonstrating a fierce determination to raise these issues, he has the opened space making them a part of our political debate.

Equally impressive is the way young voters have responded to Sanders. Early on, polls were showing that younger voters had grown disenchanted with politics as usual. Unwilling to just settle, they have been inspired by Sanders' passion and authenticity and have become engaged in the process. Millennials have an instinct that can sniff out phonies. In the exit polls in state after state, Sanders overwhelmingly wins the support of voters under 35. And by a 70-point margin, young voters say that they trust Sanders more than his competitor. They see him as authentic and this has moved them to support his candidacy.

Advertisement

I have also been impressed by Sanders' opposition to committing US troops to fight in reckless wars and by his smart and courageous call for balancing concern for Israelis with concern for the Palestinians and by the compassion he has demonstrated for the suffering the Palestinian people have endured living under occupation. On this critical issue, Sanders not only has the best position of any candidate in the race--he has the best position of any major party candidate in decades. This came through so clearly in this week's Democratic debate in Brooklyn, NY. When asked why he had accused Israel of using disproportionate violence, he stood his ground calmly explaining his position to the cheers of his supporters.

Finally, I am deeply moved when I hear Bernie Sanders speak with a sense of awe at the trajectory his life beginning with his father's immigration to the US, his family's hard work to succeed in this New World, all leading to his run for the presidency. It is a classic American story that resonates in so many ways. The fact that Sanders carries this story with him speaks volumes about the man, how grounded he is, and the source of his commitment to fighting for immigrants and the needs of working people. In many ways, he is the embodiment of the American Dream.

Early on, Sanders candidacy was ignored by the press. Even now, his chances of winning the nomination are cynically dismissed. Through it all, this 74 year old Brooklyn born son of a Polish immigrant continues to rack up victories while transforming our politics for the better. As another New Yorker once famously said, "it ain't over till it's over". Stay tuned.
Iran's major state-owned newspaper, Keyhan, in which its editor-in-chief is the representative of the Supreme Leader Khamenei, proudly outlined on its first page that Iran received the first delivery of the formerly-forbidden advanced missile defense system, the S-300 system, from Russia this week.

The Islamic Republic also blatantly rejected the regional proposal by OPEC members and other major oil-producing nations to join and freeze oil output in order to address a global surplus.

Iran will not accept such proposals to cut oil output in order to rebound oil prices anytime soon. In fact, according to Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, Iran has the total potential to ramp up oil export to 4 millions barrels a day. This will have a significant negative impact on oil prices, not only impacting the regional countries' revenues, but also the global market.

Advertisement

For Iran, the cash is flowing. Iran's oil revenue has currently increased approximately 90%, in only a few months after sanctions were lifted, from $12 billion per year to $21 billion per year. This revenue is based on the current low prices of oil, and selling roughly 1.7 million a barrels a day. Approximately 29% of Iran's crude oil is being exported to European countries including Spain, Greece, and France. The export to European nations will definitely increase as Iran expands its output.

This means that, even at the current low oil prices, Iran's oil revenues will be around $50 billion a year, almost 500% of Iran's oil revenue of pre-sanctions.

The Cash and Western Support

Unshackled from the United Nations Security Council sanctions, Iran is only warming up to fully exert its influence in the region, change the political chessboard of the Middle East further, and tip the regional balance of power in its favor.

For over three decades, the Islamic Republic preferred to employ soft power rather than hard power, in order to insert its influence in other Sunni Arab nations. Over the three decades, Iran infiltrated almost every Middle Eastern country by building alliances with the Shiitte communities, or by arming, training, financing and giving birth to Shiite militias or oppositional groups.

Advertisement

Iran's foreign policy has been unique in that regard; Iranian leaders' geopolitical, ideological and regional hegemonic ambitions have been consistent since the establishment of the Islamic Republic.

Nevertheless, having been previously alienated regionally and globally as well as chained with the shackles of international sanctions, Iran's ruling clerics did not have any option other than to hide their imperialistic intentions, employ soft power and deny any intervention in other nations.

Liberation, Imperialism, and the West's Confinement

Through the nuclear deal, once Iran is liberated from the confining bars of international sanctions, there is no need for Iranian leaders to hide their intentions anymore.

This is due to the notion that the nuclear deal not only meant the liberation of Iran's ruling clerics, but also the confinement of the US and Western powers to re-punish Iran. As the Persian Saying goes: We tied their hands and feet together.

As a result, it is not Iran that is chained anymore by its nuclear program, but it is the US that is being handcuffed with the nuclear deal.

Advertisement

From the perspectives of the Iranian leaders, it does not make sense anymore to geopolitically and ideologically employ soft power rather than hard power.

The Islamic Republic is cognizant of the fact that, first of all; Tehran has the West off its back- because the West want to do business with Iran (mainly oil and gas), fight the Islamic State through Iran, and the West knows that it can not anymore reverse the nuclear deal due to Russia and China's veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

Secondly, the cash is flowing in Tehran and Iran is aware that it enjoys the support of two major global powers, Russia and China. Third, Tehran knows that its children, the Shiite militia across the region, are being empowered day by day, and they are absolutely loyal to the ideological principles of the Islamic Republic, and that they will fight for Iran to the end, in any country including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, etc.

The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, and the senior cadre of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) analysis indicates that it is totally in their interest to show the region Iran's military capabilities, such as Iran's Quds force, on the ground in other Arab countries. For the ruling Iranian politicians, it is currently in their interests to shift tactics and publicly launch ballistic missiles, in violation of the UN resolution, to publicly support Bashar Al Assad who has killed tens of thousands of his own citizens, and to publicly acknowledge the IRGC role in Iraq, Yemen, and other countries.

Being cognizant of all the aforementioned assets, Iranian politicians view it in their parochial interests to publicly pursue their Islamic-Persian imperialistic ambitions, regional hegemonic and ideological objectives by ostentatiously and overtly attempting to tip the regional balance of power in its favor, by publicly provoking other countries in the region, and by challenging other nations.

Advertisement

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an American political scientist, business advisor and the president of the International American Council on the Middle East. Harvard-educated, Rafizadeh serves on the advisory board of Harvard International Review. An American citizen, he is originally from Iran and Syria, lived most of his life in Iran and Syria till recently. He is a board member of several significant and influential international and governmental institutions, and he is native speaker of couple of languages including Arabic and Persian. He also speaks English and Dari, and can converse in French, Hebrew.

You can sign up for Dr. Rafizadeh's newsletter for the latest news and analyses on HERE. You can also order his books on HERE.

You can learn more about Dr. Rafizadeh on HERE.
I'm just returning from Costa Rica, where I co-facilitated the closing session of the Global Wellbeing Lab. The lab was co-founded by the German Government's GIZ, the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Center in Bhutan, and the Cambridge (MA)-based Presencing Institute (PI) in order to innovate beyond GDP by advancing new ways of generating and measuring well-being for all.

The participants are a group of 25 remarkable change-makers from all sectors of society (business, government, civil society) and seven geographic regions (South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, the U.S., the EU, Bhutan, and Vietnam). The conversation we had in Costa Rica felt like deja vu: it was a lot like the conversation I'd been having in my own head for months as I've traveled between Asia, Europe and the Americas. Here are some of the themes that emerged from our Global Wellbeing Lab circle that resonate so well with many of my other recent experiences:

1.We live in a period of duality and disruption.

Terror. Trump. Tax evasion. Tensions and polarization. European Central Bank running out of options to steer the financial system away from deflationary risk. The next financial disruption apparently just around the corner.

Advertisement

But then, in the midst of all these ailing or failing systems, we also see new seeds sprouting. For example, the widespread compassionate response of hundreds of thousands of volunteers in Germany, Sweden, and many other countries to the millions of refugees streaming in from Syria and other regions.

It seems to be a signature of our time that old-style nation-states built on mono-ethnic and mono-cultural contexts are being infused with ethnic and cultural diversity from around the world--thus prompting countries like Germany to shift their national identity from shared blood to shared ideas.

The Germans who applauded the arriving refugees from Syria at Munich's train station last year were not singular outliers on a late-summer party weekend. They expressed a genuine feeling that exists in most parts of the country (except in some of the Eastern parts of the country that had been isolated from the rest of the world for too long by Soviet style socialism). That positive feeling, in spite of the exhaustion that has also started to kick in, is still there.

Go to any town or city in Germany today and you'll find countless volunteers doing an amazing job to welcome and support the newcomers. The same is true in Sweden and other countries, which continue to welcome arriving refugees. It's so common that many journalists are no longer even writing about it.

Advertisement

The other side of the story, of course, is how right-wing extremists try to prevent the construction of, and even destroy, new buildings and shelters for refugees. The rise of the populist right-wing extremists is also real and of course needs to be covered appropriately by the media.

Figure 1 sums up these two forces: as disruptive changes keep coming our way, we see two very different responses from communities: opening up (by activating curiosity, compassion, courage) and closing down (by activating prejudice, blame, and fear).

As discussed earlier, its easy to become trapped into the cycle of absencing (prejudice, blame, fear).

2.Media as an echo chamber for prejudice, blame, and fear.

Because they benefit from doing so, corporate media tends to over-report and amplify the story of closing down while under-reporting the story of opening up. But it's not just corporate media: social media also greatly magnifies this problem. The recent so-called Facebook revolutions, from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street to demonstrations in Istanbul, Kiev, and Hong Kong, all failed to sustain a positive momentum. Tom Friedman asked in the New York Times recently whether social media might be better at breaking things than at making things. He cites Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian Google employee whose Facebook post helped to start the Tahrir Square revolution in 2011, and who, in a recent TED Talk, linked the failed Facebook revolutions to the structure of social media that favor broadcasting rumors and divisive echo chambers over reflection, consensus building, and generative dialogue.

3.The shadow brings the light

"The shadow brings the light" said Louise van Rhyn, an education activist from South Africa and fellow member of the Global Wellbeing Lab, about her experiences with disruptive change. It reminded me of how Mephisto introduces himself in Goethe's Faust: I am the force which always wills evil and always effects good. We all know that the presence of a huge shadow--such as a terrorist attack--can make us stop, slow down, connect to each other, and respond from a different inner place, in service of a more compassionate future. But is that an automatic mechanism? Apparently not.

Think about George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's disastrous response to the 9/11 attacks, which led to the Iraq war. Think about the rise of extremist right-wing parties and politicians across Europe and the United States. Donald Trump (and his European predecessor Silvio Berlusconi) is one embodiment, but not even an outlier of that phenomenon. Whenever we face disruption, both of these responses are available to us: closing down (regression through prejudice, blaming, and fear) and opening up (evolution through curiosity, compassion, and courage).

What is the inner capacity that allows us (a) to notice and (b) to make that choice? That inner capacity is called awareness, consciousness, or self-knowing. It is, in my view, the single most important leverage point of our time for advancing positive change.

4.Energy follows attention

Energy follows attention. Wherever you put your attention as a leader, that's where the energy of your team tends to go. Put differently: Form follow consciousness. It's the quality of your awareness that co-shapes what happens around you. I pay attention this way, therefore it emerges that way. Marian Goodman, my Presencing Institute colleague from South Africa, summed up much of the circle conversation of the lab by remarking that the noise around us will not stop, it will keep increasing. But then, she asks, how do you cultivate the inner sources of stillness as a way of dealing with the ever-increasing noise? How do you actually do that? What does it take?

It takes a journey. You need to take entrenched stakeholders on a journey where they experience a situation without their usual armor of habitual judgments. You go on this journey in order to practice deep listening to each other, to the whole, and to what is emerging from oneself. It's these practices of deep listening and stillness that often have the biggest transformative impact.

Advertisement

Here's one example of how this works in practice: Last month I attended a week-long workshop in Shanghai with a group of city and provincial government leaders and their stakeholders across sectors. At the start of the week, the group shared experiences and learnings they had with each other since this process started in October 2015. We also went on a joint learning journey where we visited a research university that specializes on TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) - an eye-opening experience for all of us. Mid-week we moved into a space of deep reflection and stillness in the form of silent solo time in nature. Luckily, the smog over the city cleared for that day. Sun and blue sky emerged. At the end of the day the group reconvened and shared their experiences. Everyone felt moved to a different inner place. As one government official put it:

"I, for the first time in many years, noticed the moon during daytime. Usually I am so busy. I keep my head down and attend to meetings or to my digital devices. In normal life I would never raise my head to see the moon. I wonder, what would it take to give permission to the heart of the collective to see the moon that rises over our city?"

You could hear a pin drop after he said that. I love the way he phrased it: give permission to the heart of the collective to see the moon. In every process of transformation that I have had the privilege to witness over the past few years, this has always been one of the single most important turning points: activating the intelligence of the heart, not only in the individual, but also in the collective.

Another turning point during that week was a practice we at the Presencing Instittue call 4D Mapping, where the group embodies stakeholder relationships using a process that combines mindfulness, co-sensing, and theater. Stage 1 of that mapping represents the current reality of a given situation. Stage 2 represents possible futures. One of the rules in this mapping is that you cannot embody your own role, you have to step into the role of another stakeholder.

Advertisement

What this 4D mapping, combined with the solo reflection in nature, does is that it makes a social system sense and see itself. And that is, in my view, the single most important leverage point for systemic change. When you witness a system beginning to sense and see itself, you see a shift of consciousness in the social field in real time-that is, the quality of listening and interaction amongst the stakeholders. From where to where? From ego-system to eco-system awareness, that is, from a silo-view to seeing the situation from the whole.

Next week I will post part II of this column that features some hands-on stories from participants of the lab that exemplify key aspects of this subtle field shift on different levels of scale.
Governor Bruce Rauner's refusal to compromise and agree to a state budget is tearing at the fabric of our state's human service and higher education infrastructure. Families, children, students and seniors are suffering. They're collateral damage in Rauner's crusade to eliminate the unions through which working people have a voice, exercise their rights and raise their standard of living.

The governor is taking the same his-way-or-no-way approach to a new union contract for public service workers in state government. In January his administration broke off talks, walked away and has since refused to even meet with our union bargaining committee.

Instead of negotiating, Rauner wants to force state workers to accept his demands. They include doubling health care costs, going four years without any pay increases and ending safeguards against irresponsible privatization deals.

Advertisement

If the state labor board paves the way for Rauner to impose these harsh terms, employees' only means of resistance would be to go out on strike. Everyone would feel the pain of a statewide shutdown: Who would protect children from abuse, care for veterans and people with disabilities, provide food stamps and Medicaid, or maintain state parks? Meanwhile, state employees on the picket line would be deprived of their livelihoods.

Unfortunately, this is the scenario Bruce Rauner promoted starting on the campaign trail when he promised to "shut down state government" in order to "re-do everybody's contract". State employees, on the other hand, want to do everything possible to avoid a strike. They're committed to the public services they provide and the citizens who depend on them.

With the governor's brand of demolition politics hurting Illinois, state employees can't just roll over to his damaging demands. With no protections against privatization, state services could be contracted out for private profit, without regard to quality, efficiency or jobs lost. And the ability of employees to bring home family-sustaining wages would be hit hard. Under Rauner's terms, every state and university employee would lose $10,000 over three years from paying double health insurance premiums.

That's not fair, it's not affordable for families, and it would have a profoundly harmful effect on local economies. Just in the greater Springfield area, Rauner's cuts would reduce families' income by more than $167 million. That's money that could no longer pay bills or support small businesses.

Advertisement

Instead of trying to cut the income of working people, harming their families and communities, Governor Rauner should stand up to the big corporations that get more than $2 billion in tax giveaways from the state of Illinois every year. He should support changing the state income-tax structure that now allows millionaires to pay a lower effective rate than average working families.

But since the governor persists in picking on the little guys (and gals) instead of standing up to the big boys, our legislators must act. House Bill 580, the fair arbitration bill, would provide every state employee with the same dispute resolution procedures that Illinois correctional officers, state troopers, firefighters and police officers already have. That's the ability to involve a neutral arbitrator, an independent third party, to help reach a contract settlement without a strike.
The India Today Group via Getty Images INDIA - JANUARY 13: Nana Patekar, actor addressing the press meeting at Theater Utsav in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (Photo by Bhaskar Paul/The India Today Group/Getty Images)

Nana Patekar is not your average armchair actor-activist. The National Award winning actor has been relentless in his critique of governments, political parties and the common man who seem to have turned their backs on farmers from drought-hit Marathwada. Apart from that, he has taken resolute steps to do his bit to alleviate the misery of farmers, some of who resort to suicide, burdened with debts and crop failure.

Speaking to NDTV, Patekar, known for his films such as Prahaar: The Final Attack (1991) and Natsamrat (2016), said that it was a crime see others' plight and yet choose to remain silent.

Advertisement

"People are concerned. But they haven't seen it first-hand. They must come to Marathwada. People must question the system. It is a crime to be silent. Are we blind that we cannot see people are dying," he asked.

Patekar, who had started an NGO called NAAM Foundation in 2015 in association with noted Marathi actor Makrand Anaspure to help drought affected farmers and widows of farmers who committed suicide, explained in his usual straight-forward manner:

"A massive migration is taking place to cities. And I want to tell everyone: if someone knocks at your car window, don't treat them like beggars. They are farmers.They are helpless. They need food, water and access to toilets. Let's take responsibility for one person each. It's not hard."

Advertisement

Noted for being apolitical, this time, however, Patekar said that it was society's collective failure that had compelled the farmers to migrate from villages to cities.

"The next two months are going to be tough for the farmers in Maharashtra. And I think it is our failure, our government's failure that we haven't been able to harvest or store the rainwater properly. It's not a matter of one or two years. We've been failing our farmers since the last sixty-eight years," he told NDTV in an interview.

Nana Patekar is real Bollywood Hero. He helped widowed wives of Indian farmers with sewing machines #farmersuicidepic.twitter.com/57Q2Gddd7N  Indian Eagle (@indianeagle) March 16, 2016

He added: "When I see the farmers, I don't see them, I see myself. I understand why take such drastic steps. I can see that they cannot afford to buy medicines for their family, food for their children, hay for their cattle...I can see their hopelessness, their shame in it. And for a man, that is a horrible feeling. He feels as if there's nothing left for him. He feels helpless, and that's when his hand goes towards the noose..."

Explaining his involvement in the issue Patekar said, "Marte damm tak jeene ki vajah mil gai hai mujhe." (I have found a reason to live, till I die.)

Advertisement

In an earlier interview, Patekar had suggested price regularisation for the farmers' produce. "Farmers will not see good days unless their produce gets a guaranteed price. A notebook, a pen or even a bar of soap has price printed on it, but the milk that the farmer sells does not have any price," the Patekar had said.

2015 saw the highest number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra since 2001. Around 2,590 farmers ended their lives between January to October 2015, reported The Hindu.

As of March 1 this year, as many as 57 farmers have already committed suicide in Maharashtra in 2016 due to agrarian reasons.

According to the India Meteorology Department, Maharashtra is set to see above-average rainfall this year.

Advertisement

Contact HuffPost India

Also On HuffPost:
ASSOCIATED PRESS India's ruling Congress party president Sonia Gandhi's popular daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra waves during an election rally at Musafirkhana, in Sultanpur district, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. India's biggest state, Uttar Pradesh will go for polling in seven phases starting from Feb. 8. 2012. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Who knew Priyanka Gandhi was just like us? You know, the kind who would have nightmares about paying rent on time? After all, she hails from one of the country's most powerful political families and is married to a prosperous business family as claimed by her husband.

Yet, she found it difficult to pay a rent of over Rs 50,000 for a Delhi property which measures nearly 2,700 square feet. A report on The Times Of India says, "The late PM Rajiv Gandhi's and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra proved to be a tough negotiator 14 years ago, getting the Vajpayee government to pare down the monthly rent to her sprawling 2,765.18 sqm house in Lutyens' Delhi from Rs 53,421 to a mere Rs 8,888. She said it was "beyond her capacity to pay the high amount". Rs 8,888 was the special licensing fee for the bungalow and was a part of the rent.

Advertisement

In May 2002, Priyanka Gandhi had appealed to the Vajpayee government that she was not staying in the government bungalow on Lutyens out of choice, but because of security concerns. She also said that most of the house was occupied by Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel and not her family. In view of that, she requested the government to exempt her from paying a revised rent of Rs 53,421 for the bungalow.

The information was acquired by Noida resident Dev Ashish Bhattacharya through an RTI application.

File entries from the ministry of urban development's directorate of estates documents a request from Gandhi from 14 years back, saying, "continue to pay rent at the earlier rate of Rs 28,451 per month, instead of the increased rate of Rs 53,421 per month".

Gandhi, along with three other individuals - Punjab DGP KPS Gill, All India Anti-Terrorist Front chief M S Bitta and Punjab Kesari editor Ashwani - had been extended government accommodation on security considerations. Gandhi currently pays a rent of Rs 31,300 for a type VI government bungalow.

Advertisement

"The house was allotted to Priyanka, a private citizen, on the recommendations of the SPG, cabinet secretariat and the home ministry in 1997," the report states.

It also says that the rent of the house on 35 Lodhi Esatate that Priyanka Gandhi occupies, is over Rs 80,000 according to a very conservative estimation. Houses in Jor Bagh area - in the vicinity of Lodhi Estate - don't come for anything less than Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 4 Lakh a month as rent.

In May 2014, shortly after Narendra Modi was elected as the Prime Minister, Priyanka Gandhi had famously asked the government to withdraw the no-frisking privileges she enjoys at airports. Gandhi's declaration came after reports in the media suggested that the new government was considering withdrawing her husband Robert Vadra's name from of the list of individuals who can skip security checks at airports. She had written to the SGP appealing them to withdraw similar privileges extended to her family. She also reportedly asked for her security cover to be withdrawn.

However, the government refused to do any such thing and senior officials told the media that the Gandhi family members continuously remain under serious security threat.

Advertisement

Contact HuffPost India

Also see on HuffPost:
Gert Kromhout/Stocktrek Images via Getty Images January 18, 2010 - Dassault Rafale B of the French Air Force off the Normandy coast. These Rafales carry AASM Hammer bombs.

India is about to ink a deal with France to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets. After prolonged negotiations, reports suggest that the two countries have agreed on a price amenable to both.

According to NDTV, India will buy 36 Rafale planes from France for $8.8 billion or approximately 58,653 crores. The agreement will be signed within three weeks and it will take at least 18 months for India to get the first lot of aircraft.

Advertisement

The Deal

In April 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in Paris that India would buy the French fighter jets under a government-to-government deal.

And finally, during French President Francois Hollande's visit to India in January this year, PM Modi announced that they had completed an inter-governmental agreement for the purchase of 36 Rafales, 'with the exception of the financial aspects'.

While most of the financial details, delivery schedules, add-ons had been decided upon at the time, they could not agree about the 50 per cent offset clause which India wanted, to help its domestic industry as part of its 'Make In India' programme. According to The Indian Express, France had argued that there was no mechanism for offsets in inter-governmental deals such as Rafale.

The Cost

Advertisement

The defence ministry originally had sanctioned the purchase of 120 medium range multi-role aircraft, but the deal was scaled down dramatically after both sides were unable to agree on the price of aircraft and the assembling of the planes in India.

The initial price quoted, as per the tender, came to a little over 65,000 crore. This included the cost involved in making changes India sought in the aircraft, including Israeli helmet mounted display and some specific weaponry, among others, reported PTI.

After negotiations, however, the deal has been sealed for approximately 58,653 crores or $8.8 billion, which will now be signed within three weeks.

The Planes

Rafale is a multi-role twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation of France.

According to Hindustan Times, the Indian Air Force has stressed that it needs to start replacing its ageing jet fleet starting 2017 to effectively counter a combined threat from Pakistan and China.

Advertisement

Comparing the Rafale to other fighter plans, website AxleGeeks writes that the Rafale is, "Is $76,000,000 more expensive at $101 million."

Apart from that, the plan can do the following:

Can fly 1,131 nautical miles farther at 2,000 nautical miles.

Can cruise 8,000 ft higher at 50,000 ft.

Can reach a 464 knot (534 mph) higher max. cruise speed at 750 knots (863 mph).

The Indian Air Force (IAF) at present has 34 squadrons, with about 18 planes each. 14 of these squadrons are equipped with vintage MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighter planes. The IAF is also eagerly awaiting the delivery of its first squadron of indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft.

Apart from India, the Egyptian Air Force, and the Qatar Air Force will be using the Rafale. The plane has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.

However, this article notes that some countries have also rejected purchase of the plane. Those countries include Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

Advertisement

Competition

In the meantime, India, world's largest buyer of foreign arms, who bought only 36 planes instead of 126, has generated a lot of potential from prospective sellers.

For example, according to Reuters, Lockheed Martin Corp pitched its F-16 Fighting Falcon and Boeing Co its F-18 Super Hornet to Indian officials before US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's recent trip to New Delhi.

Both Boeing as well as Lockheed Martin are offering to transfer production to support Modi's 'Make In India' drive to boost India's industrial base and reduce its import needs.

(With inputs from agencies)

Advertisement

Contact HuffPost India

Also On HuffPost:
Hindustan Times via Getty Images MUMBAI, INDIA - JUNE 17: Auto-rickshaws parked along a road as they went on day-long statewide strike called by the Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen's Union (MAU), demand ouster of call center-operated Uber and Ola cabs besides revocation of Maharashtra government's decision to scrap the Hakim panel on auto and taxi fares, at Bandra on June 17, 2015 in Mumbai, India. MAU, the largest auto union in the city, has appealed to 15 lakh autorickshaw men across the state to join the stir, which may hit lakhs of commuters as it claims to have 95% of the auto owners under its wing. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

We all have our auto-rickshaw horror stories. From Mumbai autos stopping by you and driving off the moment you tell the driver your destination to ones in Delhi, Bangalore which flatly refuse to run by the meter, finding a good auto driver is a matter of sheer luck. However, one Mumbai woman was absolutely not prepared for the treatment meted out to her by a auto driver.

It was reported in Mumbai Mirror a couple of days back that a 30-year-old real estate agent was asked to get off an auto by the driver because she was 'fat'. Asmi Shah, however, was not one to take the insult lying low. She tweeted about her ordeal, tagging several news agencies and the Mumbai Traffic Police in her tweets. Her story got covered by several media houses in Mumbai and elsewhere. Taking heed of her complaint, the transport department of Mumbai swung into action and cancelled the permit of the vehicle. The driver's licence was also suspended.

Advertisement

Asmi Shah.

Transport commissioner Shyam Vardhane told Mumbai Mirror, "We have suspended the permit of the auto driver under Sec 53/1D of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. The vigilance squad has been directed to confiscate the said vehicle."

Vardhane also said that the transport department is keen on cracking down on errant auto and cab drivers and urged commuters to report them more frequently.

According to Mumbai Mirror, Shah boarded the auto from Santa Cruz. She told Mirror, "He started the auto and after we had travelled a few metres, he asked me to sit in the middle of the seat instead of the corner. I obliged. Since I had to pick up my mother on the way, I asked him to stop at a point. He then asked me if the person who I was picking up was as fat as me. I was shocked and told him not to be so rude and mind his language. He then told me that "main mote logon ko apne auto mein nahi bithata (I don't let fat people sit in my auto) I was stunned by his behaviour."

Advertisement

"I am very happy that justice has been done. It was nice of the transport department to take such prompt action. I had in fact lost hope on this. They should learn to respect ladies and not judge anyone by their appearance. We are paying for their service and they should keep that in mind," Shah told the tabloid after the auto driver's licence and permits were suspended.

Contact HuffPost India

Also see on HuffPost:
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.
IND vs PAK: 'It Has to be One of India's Best Knocks Not Just His' - Rohit Sharma Hails Virat Kohli

'He Is a Big Player Because He Overcame That Pressure'- Babar Azam Praises Virat Kohli After India's Win

'It Was Undoubtedly the Best innings of Your Life': Sachin Tendulkar on Virat Kohli's Knock Against Pakistan

Watch: Rohit Sharma Lifts Virat Kohli After India's Nerve-shredding Win Over Pakistan in T20 World Cup
IMF Survey : Fiscal Capacity Development Can Boost Inclusive Growth

Demand for capacity on taxation and spending on the rise

Efficient public spending promotes inclusive growth

International engagement and partnerships key to boosting capacity

Capacity development is essential for helping countries build strong fiscal institutions that are capable of supporting sustainable, inclusive growth and development, a recent seminar emphasized.

2016 IMF-WORLD BANK SPRING MEETINGS

Panelists at the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings seminar Collect More and Spend Better: The Role of Capacity Development called for heightened partnerships among all stakeholders to respond to the growing demand for capacity development among many developing countries that seek to improve fiscal policy.

In opening remarks, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde highlighted the importance of building institutional capacity for stronger economic policies, inclusive growth, and rising living standards as the global community pursues the post-2015 development agenda.

Last July at the Addis Ababa Summit, participants rallied behind the concept that domestic revenue mobilization was one of the most powerful ways to improve collections, improve sovereignty, and make sure that revenues were there to face the needs of public spending, she said.

Cooperation, coordination, and partnership

All panelists recognized that the most effective response to the growing demand for capacity development was what IMF Deputy Managing Director Carla Grasso termed cooperation, coordination, and partnership across all stakeholders, including implementing countries, strategic development partners, and thought leaders.

Panelist Eric G. Postel of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) considered capacity development an underinvested area, given the high demand for technical assistance and training by developing countries.

We have to do more and you can see the benefits of doing more, he said.

Klaus Rudischhauser, Acting Director General of the European Commissions Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) highlighted the importance of the European Commissions Collect MoreSpend Better Agenda in supporting developing countries in strengthening their public finances and achieving progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On the revenue side, he pointed to the need for stepping up support on fighting tax evasion, tax avoidance, and illicit financial flows. On the expenditure side, he outlined the work that needs to be done in strengthening aggregate fiscal discipline, as well as capacities for strategic resources allocation and the efficient and effective use of resources. In this context, he also pointed to the importance of strengthening economic management institutions and the related human capacity development needs, and the role of the Commissions strategic cooperation on capacity development with the IMF; he indicated that DG DEVCO will further strengthen this strategic partnership by contributing about 200 million to IMF capacity development initiatives.

Promoting equity

Nancy Birdsall of the Center for Global Development challenged the panelists to address the concern that domestic resource mobilization initiatives sometimes amount to taxing the poor. While recognizing the positive effects the IMF and its partners have on capacity development, she observed most developing countries had difficulty implementing tax systems that focus on getting more from corporate taxes and the wealthy.

Vitor Gaspar, Director of the IMFs Fiscal Affairs Department, explained that the IMF program on capacity development was about equity. He noted that some countries subsidized energy products, which benefits the rich, and that this was most prevalent in countries where the state had low institutional capacity. On the contrary, he noted, strong tax compliance and capacity building under the domestic resource mobilization agenda allowed taxpayers to demand accountability on the use of resources.

When you have governments that are accountable to the people, what you see politically is that distribution becomes more prominent and the poor in general get better protection, said Gaspar.

Country experiences

IMF research shows, Gaspar noted, that countries should strive for a tax-to-GDP ratio of at least 15 percent, the minimum level necessary to support sustainable growth and development. Countries that collect above this threshold have a greater chance of triggering a virtuous circle of development as they build capacity, he said.

But approximately half of all low-income and developing countries fall below this 15 percent threshold, he added. This is why the issue of taxation is at the core of our capacity development.

Panelist Alonso Segura Vasi, Perus Minister of Economy and Finance, noted that his country has a tax-to-GDP ratio of about 20 percent, which is relatively low for a middle-income country. He described Perus recent efforts to carry out a comprehensive tax administration reform, involving strengthening the power of the tax authority to reduce tax evasion. Peru also introduced significant reforms to the taxation of mining companies, leading to an additional 1.5 to 2 percent of GDP in revenues. With the commodity price drop, that gain has unfortunately been wiped out, he saidbut the improvements to Perus tax system remain.

Panelist Amadou Ba, Senegals Finance Minister, told the audience about his countrys recent experience with fiscal reform, which was implemented with IMF assistance. Getting policy recommendations is easy, he notedits the how of carrying them out that matters. He discussed his countrys successful experience with peer learning, in which he and his staff apply the lessons from other countries experiences with reforms to their own situation.

Peer learning helps you learn about the obstacles you might encounter as well as the measures that you must take to ensure the reforms success, Ba said.

Domenico Lombardi of the Center for International Governance Innovation moderated the seminar.

Left to right: Panelists Amadou Ba, Klaus Rudischhauser, and Vitor Gaspar
Imperial Valley News Center

2016 Food Tank Summit

Washington, D.C. - Food Tank, in partnership with American University, will hold a two-day summit, Wednesday, April 20, 2016 and Thursday, April 21, 2016 from 9AM-5PM. The Summit will take place at the Greenberg Theatre.

The event will bring together more than 75+ expert speakers who are among the top leaders across all sectors of the food industry, including business, government, and elected officials; nonprofit groups; farmers organizations; unions; funders; chefs; and more. Each panel will be moderated by an expert journalist or food advocate.



The entire two-day event will be live streamed on www.FoodTank.com. Follow along with #FoodTank on social media.

Researchers, farmers, chefs, policy makers, government officials, and students will come together for interactive panels on topics that include Uncommon Collaborations, Improving Nutrient Density, Protein for the Planet, Investing in the Food Movement, Legislating Change in Agriculture, Chefs Leading the Food Movement, Innovating and Adapting to a Changing Food System, Food Security and Conflict, among other topics.

Confirmed speakers include (in alphabetical order):

Dr. Silvia Abel-Caines DVM PhD, Ruminant Nutritionist, Organic Valley

Deb Atwood, Executive Director, Meridians AGree: Transforming Food and Ag Policy

Allison Aubrey, Food Journalist, NPR

Behtash Bahador, Finalist, Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) Young Earth Solutions competition

Monifa Bandele, Senior Campaign Director, MomsRising

Eliza Barclay, Science and Health Editor, vox.com

Leslie Barcus, Executive Director, VegFund

Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director, Organic Trade Association

David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World

Regina Beidler, Organic Valley Farmer-Owner, Beidler Family Farm

Charles Benbrook, Research Consultant, Benbrook Consulting Services

Claire Benjamin DiMattina, Executive Director, Food Policy Action

Michael Berger, Founding Partner, Elevation Franchise Ventures

Ali Berlow, Author, The Food Activist Handbook

Jane Black, Food Writer, Washington Post

William Burke, Research Scholar, Center on Food Security & the Environment, Stanford University

Tim Carman, Food Writer, Washington Post

Jason Clay, Senior Vice President, Markets; Executive Director, Markets Institute, WWF

Mitchell Davis, Executive Vice President, James Beard Foundation

Niaz Dorry, Coordinating Director, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance

Jeff Dunn, President, Campbell Fresh Division

Rodney Ferguson, President and CEO, Winrock International

Pam Fessenden, Director, Office of Market and Partnership Innovations, Bureau for Food Security, USAID

Kimberly Flowers, Director, Global Food Security Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Holly Freishtat, Food Policy Director, City of Baltimore

Sam Fromartz, Editor-in-Chief, Food & Environment Reporting Network

April Fulton, Contributor, National Geographic

Dan Glickman, Vice President, Aspen Institute; Former Secretary of Agriculture

Eileen Gordon, Founder, Barnraiser

Roger Gordon, Founder, Food Cowboy

Danielle Gould, Founder and CEO, Food + Tech Connect

Dana Gunders, Staff Scientist, Food and Agriculture Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

Diane Hatz, Founder and Executive Director, Change Food

Wenonah Hauter, Founder and Executive Director, Food & Water Watch

Cullen Hendrix, Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

Devin Henry, Energy and Environment Reporter, The Hill

Lauren Herzer Risi, Program Associate, Environmental Change and Security Program, Wilson Center

Jason Huffman, Agriculture and Trade Editor, POLITICO Pro

Allan Jury, Vice President of Public Policy and Senior Advisor, World Food Program USA

Eric Kessler, Founder, Arabella Advisors

Dan Kish, Senior Vice President  Food, Panera Bread

Ashley Koff RD, The Better Nutrition Simplified Program

Dr. Carlo Leifert, Head of Unit, Nafferton Ecological Farming Group; Professor of Ecological Agriculture, University of Newcastle

Jeremiah Lowery, Political Appointee, D.C. Food Policy Council

Evan Lutz, Founder, Hungry Harvest

Riana Lynn, Founder and CEO, FoodTrace

Johanna Mendelson Forman, Scholar in Residence, School of International Service, American University

Spike Mendelsohn, Chef; Chair, DC Food Policy Council

Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, Executive Director of Sustainability, George Washington University

Alexander Muller, Study Leader and Steering Committee Chair, TEEBAgFood

George Naylor, Family Farmer; Former President, National Family Farm Coalition

Regina Northouse, Executive Director, Food Recovery Network

Ari Novy, Executive Director, U.S. Botanic Garden

Amanda Oborne, Director of Food and Farms, Ecotrust

Ray Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America

Shepherd Ogden, Farmer; Founder and President, The Cooks Garden

Patrick ONeill, CEO, Amp Your Good LLC

Raj Patel, Research Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs; Author; Activist

Chellie Pingree, U.S. Congress (D-ME)

Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, Global Alliance for the Future of Food

Stephen Ritz, Founder, Green Bronx Machine

Nancy E. Roman, President and CEO, Capital Area Food Bank

Sara Roversi, Co-Founder, You Can Group, Future Food Institute; Executive Director, Food Innovation Program

Rodney Scruggs, Executive Chef, Occidental Grill

Simran Sethi, Author, Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love

Greg Sewitz, Co-Founder, Exo Inc.

Lauren Shweder Biel, Executive Director, DC Greens

Rhea Suh, President, Natural Resources Defense Council

Bill Telepan, Chef, Telepan Restaurant; Executive Chef, Wellness in the Schools

Roger Thurow, Senior Fellow, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Baldemar Velasquez, President and Founder, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), AFL-CIO

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Karen Washington, Urban Farmer and Activist; Co-Founder of Black Urban Growers and Rise & Root Farm

Ben Wenk, Seventh Generation Farmer and Partner, Three Springs Farm

Paul Willis, Founder, Niman Ranch Pork Company

Ulises Zatarain, Program Director, Washington Youth Garden

Sponsors include: Almond Board of California, Annies, Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition, Blue Apron, Chaia, Chipotle, Clif Bar, Conflict Cuisine, Driscoll's, Edible DC, Elevation Burger, Fair Trade USA, Farmers Fridge, Food and Environment Reporting Network, Global Environmental Politics Program of the School of International Service at American University, Greener Media, Inter Press Service, Leafware, Niman Ranch, Organic Valley, Panera Bread, Republic of Tea, ShopHouse, VegFund, and Vigilante Coffee Company.

Last years Food Tank Summit in partnership with the George Washington University brought together 400 in-person attendees (completely sold out) from more than 25 states and waiting list of more than 1,500 people. There were an additional 15,520 livestream participants from more than 125 countries. 70+ expert speakers in food and agriculture presented and 11 top food journalists were stage as panel moderators from major media outlets including National Public Radio, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Voice of America, Politico, and more. This year, Food Tank is quadrupling our reach by hosting additional summits in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Chicago, IL, and Sacramento, CA.

75 expert speakers who are among the top leaders across all sectors of the food industry

Two-Day Summit hosted by Food Tank and American University

Wednesday, April 20, 2016 and Thursday, April 21, 2016 from 9AM-5PM. For more information: http://foodtanksummit.com/dc/

Greenberg Theatre 4200 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington, D.C. 20016

About Food Tank: Food Tank (www.FoodTank.com) is focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. We spotlight environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty. Food Tank also creates networks of people, organizations, and content that push for food system change.

About American University: American University creates meaningful change in the world. With highly ranked schools and colleges and internationally recognized faculty, AU offers a balance between class time and career-advancing experience in Washington, D.C., and beyond. Its students, among the countrys most politically active, distinguish themselves for their service, leadership, and ability to rethink global and domestic challenges and opportunities.
Imperial Valley News Center

United States to Announce $25 Million in Funding for World Bank's New Financing Initiative

Washington, DC - Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken will announce $25 million in intended U.S. funding for the World Banks new financing initiative to support the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region today at World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. The initiative aims to assist MENA countries affected by the Syrian refugee crisis, conflict, and economic instability by providing much needed access to additional financing.

Conflicts across the MENA region have created a crisis with global implications as refugees flood to neighboring states and beyond. Jordan is host to more than 638,000 Syrian refugees, as well as a longstanding population of two million Palestinian refugees and thousands of refugees from Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, and other countries. Lebanon is currently hosting more than one million refugees from Syria, as well as the longstanding Palestinian refugee population and those displaced from Iraq. With so many people on the move in the Middle East and around the globe, the international community is facing the worst forced displacement crisis since World War II. This is not only a humanitarian crisis but also a development challenge, affecting the development plans of host countries as they endeavor to provide food, shelter, jobs, and services to refugees, internally displaced persons, and the communities hosting them, often for protracted periods of time.

This issue demands a global response and this is why President Obama will host the Leaders Summit on Refugees on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September, with the aim of expanding the humanitarian safety net and creating more long-term, durable opportunities for refugees.

The United States has provided over $5.1 billion in humanitarian assistance to help individuals impacted by the crisis in Syria, both those displaced inside Syria and those who have fled to neighboring countries - making the United States the largest single donor responding to the crisis. The World Bank concessional finance facility would provide financing on discounted terms to countries currently ineligible for concessional loans through donor contributions to a multi-donor fund. The U.S funding for this initiative is subject to congressional notification.
Imperial Valley News Center

Obama Administration Takes Action to Ensure Fewer and Better Tests for Students

Washington, DC - Building on President Obamas Testing Action Plan, the U.S. Department of Education today released a series of case studies with examples of work states and districts are doing to ensure fewer, better and fairer tests for students. The examples are part of the Departments continued efforts to lift up promising practices and provide information to states and districts about thoughtful ways to reduce and improve testing.

As part of that work, the Department also today outlined proposed priorities for applicants of the Enhanced Assessment Grant, a competitive grant program for states and consortia of states to improve state academic assessments. Through a notice published in the Federal Register, the Department is proposing three additional priorities for applicants: developing innovative assessment item types and design approaches, improving assessment scoring and score reporting, and conducting an inventory of state and local assessment systems to eliminate unnecessary, redundant or low-quality tests.

Done well, assessments are tools for learning and promoting equity. Done poorly, in excess or without clear purpose, they take valuable time away from teaching and learning, draining creative approaches from our classrooms, said U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. Across the country, educators are leading the way on innovative ideas to strike the right balance on testing. Were committed to supporting that work.

These steps build on an October 2015 announcement by President Obama of a set of principles promoting a smarter approach to student assessment, aimed at reducing the amount of time spent on standardized testing and providing support for states and school districts to develop and use better, less burdensome assessments. The Obama Administrations Testing Action Plan outlines that assessments must be worth taking and of high quality; enhance teaching and learning; and give a well-rounded picture of how students and schools are doing.

Earlier this year, the Department released guidance on how states and districts can use federal dollars to eliminate unnecessary, redundant or unhelpful tests. The guidance also includes ideas on how to revise assessments that are already given to ensure they are as high quality as possible. In the summer, the Department will release proposed regulations to provide clarity to states on exercising the new authority in the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for states to pilot innovative assessments. The President signed ESSA into law last December.

The grants  amounting to $9 million  will be awarded to states later this year.

Todays report, Testing Action Plan: State and District Profiles, was released by King during a visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he joined Tulsa Superintendent Deborah A. Gist in a roundtable discussion with members of a local committee that looked at testing in the district, and efforts aligned with the Presidents Testing Action Plan to eliminate unnecessary testing;
CDFA Integrated Pest Control Branch is announcing one vacancy on the Beet Curly Top Virus Control Board

Sacramento, California - The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Integrated Pest Control Branch is announcing one vacancy on the Beet Curly Top Virus Control Board. This advisory board makes recommendations to the CDFA Secretary on all matters pertaining to the Beet Curly Top Virus Control Program.

The term of office for a board member is unlimited. Members receive no compensation, but are entitled to payment of necessary traveling expenses in accordance with the rules of the Department of Personnel Administration. Members are considered public officials and must be willing to comply with necessary disclosure requirements.

The vacancy is for Southern California, District I; representing beans, peppers, spinach, sugar beets, and/or tomatoes. Individuals interested in being considered for the board appointment should send a brief resume by September 1, 2016 to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Integrated Pest Control Branch, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, California 95832, Attention: Patrick Akers.

For additional information, visit the branch's web page at: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ipc/curlytopvirus/ctv_hp.htm; or contact: Patrick Akers, Branch Chief of the Integrated Pest Control Branch at (916) 262-1102, by fax (916) 262-2020, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
California Man Pleads Guilty to Manufacturing Guns and Dealing in Firearms and Possession of a Machinegun

Sacramento, California - Daniel Albert Crowninshield, 45, of Sacramento, California, pleaded guilty today to unlawfully manufacturing and dealing in firearms and possession of an unregistered machinegun, announced U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner for the Eastern District of California.

In his plea agreement, Crowninshield, who was also known by his online moniker Dr-Death, admitted that he operated an unlicensed firearms manufacturing business out of C&G Tool, a metal shop in North Sacramento. Using sophisticated computer controlled machines, Crowninshield manufactured lower receivers for AR-15s and other firearms. Crowninshield did not conduct background checks, enforce waiting periods, or complete firearm transaction paperwork.

Crowninshield advertised such services on at least one online firearm enthusiast forum. This website mainly consists of forums where people ask and answer questions related to firearms. Crowninshield, using the moniker Dr-Death was a prolific poster on the website. Additionally, other members frequently posted about Dr-Death, including review of service provided and recommending that other users visit his shop.

The manufacturing and unlicensed sale for profit of high-capacity firearms is a serious threat to public safety, said U.S. Attorney Wagner. We will continue to vigorously investigate unlicensed gun dealers and prosecute violations of the federal firearms laws.

Daniel Crownshield aka Dr. Death owned and operated a machine shop where he allowed customers with unknown backgrounds to use his machinery to unlawfully manufacture firearms for profit, said Special Agent in Charge Jill A. Snyder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). ATF regulates the firearm industry and it is illegal to manufacture and sell firearms without possessing a federal firearms license and without conducting background checks. ATFs goal is to keep firearms out of the hands of prohibited individuals and prevent violent crime.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the California Department of Justices Bureau of Firearms, with the assistance of the Sacramento Police Department, Sacramento County Sheriffs Department and California Highway Patrol. Assistant United States Attorneys Justin Lee and Matthew Yelovich are prosecuting the case.

Crowninshield is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Judge Troy L. Nunley for the Eastern District of California on June 30. Crowninshield faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
Consumers Union Urges Lawmakers to Support Bill Requiring Doctors on Probation for Serious Offenses to Notify Patients

Sacramento, California - Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports, is urging state lawmakers to support SB 1033, which would protect Californians right to know about doctors who have been disciplined by the state medical board for a history of misconduct. The bill requires doctors on probation for serious offenses to inform their patients and will be voted on today by the Senate Business and Professions Committee.

Californians have a right to know whether their doctor has been put on probation for behavior that could endanger their health, said Lisa McGiffert, manager of Consumers Unions Safe Patient Project. This bill will ensure that patients arent left in the dark and get the notice they deserve when their doctors have a history of serious misconduct.

Under Senator Hills bill, doctors would be required to notify their patients when they have been put on probation for serious offenses, including gross negligence, repeated acts of inappropriate or excessive prescribing of medication, sexual misconduct, and drug or alcohol abuse that threatens the doctors ability to practice safely. Doctors who are repeatedly on probation will also have to notify their patients. The bill requires doctors on probation to obtain a signed receipt from patients verifying that they have been informed. Additionally, SB 1033 requires the Board to include in each order of probation, and other communications to the public, a plain-language summary describing why the doctor has been disciplined, the length and end date of the probation, and any practice restrictions that have been imposed.

Approximately 600 doctors in the state are currently on probation, many for a variety of serious offenses. While these doctors are required to disclose their probationary status to hospitals where they work and malpractice insurers, they have no obligation to inform their patients. SB 1033 was introduced after the Medical Board turned down a similar proposal by Consumers Union to require patient notification in such cases. A recent Consumer Reports survey found that 82 percent of consumers are in favor of requiring doctors to tell their patients if they are on probation and why.

Notifying patients is particularly important since many doctors who have been disciplined turn out to be repeat offenders. The California Research Bureau found that doctors who have been sanctioned by the Medical Board for serious offenses are far more likely to be disciplined in the future than doctors who have not been sanctioned. Indeed, the Medical Boards own research reached the same conclusion. It found that 17 percent of the 444 doctors who were actively practicing while on probation during FY 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 required additional discipline or surrendered their licenses while on probation. By comparison, similar research has found that less than 1 percent of doctors who were unsanctioned were subsequently disciplined during a follow-up period studied.

For a list of California doctors on probation as of September 29, 2015 compiled by the Medical Board of California and obtained by Consumers Union in accordance with the California Public Records Act, see California Doctors on Probation. In addition to the physicians listed in this spreadsheet, an additional 48 physicians were issued probationary licenses by the Medical Board and continue to be on probation as of September 29, 2015.
Increased use of type of diagnostic test poses challenge to tracking of foodborne illness

Washington, DC - Changes in the tests that diagnose foodborne illness are helping identify infections faster but could soon pose challenges to finding outbreaks and monitoring progress toward preventing foodborne disease, according to a report published today in CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Week Report.

Culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) help doctors diagnose infections quickly because they provide results in hours instead of the days needed for traditional culture methods, which require growing bacteria to determine the cause of illness. But without a bacterial culture, public health officials cannot get the detailed information about the bacteria needed to help find outbreaks, check for antibiotic resistance, and track foodborne disease trends.

In 2015, the percentage of foodborne infections diagnosed only by CIDT was about double compared with the percentage in 2012-2014.

Foodborne infections continue to be an important public health problem in the United States, said Robert Tauxe, M.D., M.P.H, director of CDCs Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases. We are working with partners to make sure we still get important information about harmful bacteria despite the increasing use of diagnostic tests that dont require a culture.

The increased use of CIDT could affect public health officials ability to monitor trends and detect outbreaks. In the short term, clinical laboratories should work with their public health laboratories to make sure a culture is done whenever a CIDT indicates that someone with diarrheal illness has a bacterial infection. For a long-term solution, CDC is working with partners to develop advanced testing methods that, without culture, will give health care providers information to diagnose illness and also give the detailed information that public health officials need to detect and investigate outbreaks.

Limited progress in reducing foodborne illness

The report included the most recent data from CDCs Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, or FoodNet. It summarizes preliminary 2015 data on nine germs spread commonly through food. Overall, progress in reducing rates of foodborne illnesses has been limited since 2012, according to the report. The most frequent causes of infection in 2015 were Salmonella and Campylobacter, which is consistent with previous years.

Other key findings from the FoodNet report include:

The incidence of Salmonella Typhimurium infection, often linked to poultry and beef, decreased 15 percent from 2012-2014 levels. This decline may be due in part to tighter regulatory standards and vaccination of chicken flocks against Salmonella.

The incidence of some infections increased: Reported Cryptosporidium infections increased 57 percent since 2012-2014, likely due to increased testing for this pathogen. Reported non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections increased 40 percent since 2012-2014. Quicker and easier testing likely accounted for some or all of this increase.



FoodNet has been monitoring illness trends since 1996. FoodNet provides a foundation for food safety policy and prevention efforts because surveillance data can tell us where prevention efforts are needed to reduce foodborne illnesses.

CDC is working with federal, state, and local partners, and the food industry to improve food safety. New regulations and continuing industry efforts are focusing on challenging areas. USDA has made improvements in its poultry inspection and testing models and has tightened standards for both Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry.

In 2013, we launched a series of targeted efforts to address Salmonella in meat and poultry products, known as the Salmonella Action Plan, and recent data show that since then the incidence of Salmonella Typhimurium infection has dropped by 15 percent, said USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety, Al Almanza. However our work is not done. The newly published performance standards for poultry parts will lead to further Salmonella reductions and fewer foodborne illnesses.

In 2015, FDA published new rules to improve the safety of the food supply including produce, processed foods, and imported foods.

Dr. Kathleen Gensheimer, MD, MPH, director of the FDAs Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation team and Chief Medical Officer, Foods and Veterinary Medicine Program, said, We want to respond quickly to foodborne illness, but our true goal is to move forward with preventive measures that will be implemented from farm to table. In addition to collaboration with other government agencies at the local, state and federal level, the rules we are implementing under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act will help the food industry minimize the risk of contamination to our food supply.

For more information on avoiding illnesses from food, please visit www.foodsafety.gov.

About FoodNet

FoodNet collects information to track rates and determine trends in laboratory-confirmed illnesses caused by nine germs transmitted commonly by food: Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing O157 and non-O157, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia. Annual data are compared with data from the previous three years (2012-2014). Since 2010, FoodNet has been tracking the increasing use of CIDTs used by clinical laboratories for diagnosis of bacterial enteric infection.

FoodNet is a collaboration among CDC, 10 state health departments, the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the FDA. FoodNet covers 48 million people, encompassing about 15 percent of the United States population. The sites are the states of Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, and selected counties in California, Colorado, and New York.
Former Guatemalan police officer arrested as a suspect in a deadly robbery in his home country

Albany, New York - A former Guatemalan police officer, who is wanted by authorities in his home country for homicide and aggravated robbery, stemming from his alleged role in a fatal 2012 holdup in Jutiapa, Guatemala, was arrested Wednesday by officers and special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), ICEs Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Kenedy Agileo Pineda-Morales, 41, was arrested by authorities without incident April 13, in Saratoga Springs, New York. A preliminary investigation determined that Pineda-Morales was living under an assumed name in the area. Authorities confirmed his true identity using biometric information and photos.

According to Guatemalan officials, Pineda-Morales, acting in his official capacity as an officer with the Guatemala National Civil Police, allegedly confronted a cattle farmer and his wife in December 2012 at their residence in Jutiapa, Guatemala, where he shot and killed the husband and robbed the couple of 5,000 Quetzales (approximately $650.00 USD). Pineda-Morales was reportedly acting on information that the pair had recently sold a head of cattle. Following the shooting, Pineda-Morales then fled Guatemala to avoid prosecution.

On January 11, 2013, a judge in Guatemala City issued a warrant for Pineda-Morales arrest for the offenses of homicide and aggravated robbery.

Working closely with our federal partners, this arrest exemplifies ICEs commitment to ensuring dangerous fugitives dont use the United States as a safe haven from their crimes in other countries, said Michael Phillips, field office director for ERO Buffalo. Arrests like this immeasurably enhance public safety.

ICE issued Pineda-Morales a notice to appear before an immigration judge. He is currently being held in ICE custody without bond.
Special Representative for International Labor Affairs Sarah Fox Travels to Kuwait and Qatar

Washington, DC - On April 17, Special Representative Fox will visit Kuwait where she will meet with senior government officials and civil society representatives to discuss labor rights, including for domestic workers.

On April 18-20, Special Representative Fox will travel to Qatar where she will meet with a broad range of government, private sector, and civil society representatives to discuss labor rights and protections for migrant workers. She will also participate in the UN Business and Human Rights Asia Regional Forum.
'We Got Robbed': Pakistani Twitter Had a Meltdown Over 'Controversial' No Ball to Virat Kohli
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Among the large number of enjoyable Nineties family films, one that stands rather tall is the Robin Williams fantasy film Jumanji which naturally means it's been targeted by Hollywood for remake purposes.

In 2015, Sony released its upcoming slate of films which had a previously announced Jumanji film lined up for a Christmas 2016 release - a date that ended up being pushed back when Star Wars: Episode VIII was moved to the same week.

No actors have yet been announced to star but according to Variety, the studio is lining up two comedy big hitters: namely Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart

Both are reportedly in the process of working out their busy schedules - Johnson is pretty much in everything coming out between now and 2019, remember.



Johnson and Hart, who will star alongside one another in upcoming comedy Central Intelligence, hosted the MTV Movie Awards together earlier this month.

With proven bankability, it's no surprise that Sony feels safe with the two heading up its 'reimagining' of a film so close to people's hearts.

The orignal, released in 1995, was directed by Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) and starred Williams as Alan Parrish, a man released from a board game having been trapped inside for 26 years. Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst and Jonathan Hyde co-starred.

Jumanji is now set to be Sony's big summer 2017 release with Jake Kasdan directing (that's right: the man behind Sex Tape). Fortunately, the screenplay is based on an idea conceived by the original film's writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.

It better have a Van Pelt cameo.
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

March was the hottest month on record based on global average temperature, according to Nasa statistics.

Data from the US space agency shows that the average global temperature was 1.28C above the 20th Century average.

It is the 11th time in a row the global temperature has smashed the record set by the previous month.

It comes after statistics released by Nasa earlier this year showed that 2015 was also the hottest year on record.

While some of the temperature rise has been put down to the El Nino effect - a weather phenomenon which leads to areas of high and low pressure which cause high temperatures and heavy rainfall - many scientists believe it is yet more evidence of the effect climate change is having on the environment.

It comes after scientists reported that Greenlands ice sheet has melted three months earlier than usual due to climate change.

On Monday and Tuesday, about 12 per cent of the ice sheet surface area  656,000 square miles, or 1.7 million square kilometres  showed signs of melting ice, according to Peter Langen, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute.

That smashed the record for early melting by more than three weeks. Such a melt is normal for late May, not mid-April, Dr Langen said.

Before now, the earliest Greenland had more than 10 percent surface area melting was on May 5, back in 1990. Even in 2012, when 97 percent of Greenland experienced melt, it didn't have such an early and extensive melt.

Climate change protests around the world Show all 25 1 /25 Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Climate change protests around the world A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters Climate change protests around the world People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP Climate change protests around the world Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland Climate change protests around the world Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaia, Yemen Climate change protests around the world Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece Climate change protests around the world A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA

Although the melting was a natural part of the weather cycle, Dr Langen said it demonstrated that climate change was making the phenomenon more extreme.

He said: "It's nothing for July, it's huge for April.

"Something like this wipes out all kinds of records, you can't help but go, 'This could be a sign of things we're going to see more often in the future."'

Nasa ice scientist Walt Meler said: "Things are getting more extreme and they're getting more common".

Additional reporting by AP
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Vodafone, EE and Lebara are the worst mobile phone providers in the UK, according to a survey by consumer watchdog Which?

Giffgaff was the highest-rated, with a customer satisfaction score of 79 per cent, followed by Asda Mobile (72 per cent) and Tesco Mobile (70 per cent).

Giffgaff is a budget, pay-as-you-go operator which runs on O2s network. It has no shops or customer service telephone line, but uses online agents to address customer issues.

Lebara, which offers low-cost international calls, came bottom with a customer satisfaction score of 46 per cent, while Vodafone and EE trailed close behind on 49 per cent.

Mobile phone users lose 5.4bn annually, Which? claimed, by being on a contract less than optimally priced for their usage patterns.

Read more: Compare contract providers and find the best deal for you with our Mobile Phone Deals page

Two of the top three mobile providers use O2s network infrastructure, while four of the bottom five providers use Vodafones network.

Vodafone is the most complained about pay-monthly mobile provider, according to Which?, while one in ten EE users rated customer service as poor or very poor.

Recommended Read more London revealed as one of the worst cities for mobile signal

We have cut our customer complaints in half over the last year to outperform the industry average", an EE spokesperson said.

"Ofcoms recent reports have recognised our continued improvement."

The Which? survey asked more than 4,000 people in the UK to rate their provider on qualities such as value for money, ease of contacting and customer service.

 Friend Request Clip - Internet Addiction

Major mobile providers are still failing on the basics of customer service, Which? director of campaigns and communications, Alex Neill, said in a statement.

Telecoms are an essential part of modern life and so providers need to start delivering for their customers.

In a separate survey on broadband internet providers, Zen Internet came out on top, scoring more than double that of the worst provider, Talk Talk. BT and EE Broadband were also rated poorly.

"We recognise that the end of last year was a time of great uncertainty for TalkTalk homes", a Talk Talk spokesperson said.

"Levels of customer satisfaction have increased in recent months."

A Lebara spokesperson said: "Whilst we continue to expand, our customers remain at the heart of our business as we also continue to make improvements to our offerings and contact centre capabilities."

Vodafone and BT have also been contacted for comment.
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

An audience member at a Vote Leave rally interrupted a live Channel 4 News broadcaster after being encouraged by Boris Johnson.

The bizarre moment was captured live on Friday evening as presenter Michael Crick reported on the Manchester rally to the news studio.

Mr Johnson was giving a speech when he seemingly grew irate at Cricks report taking place at the back of the room.

Boris Johnson (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Some chap from the media is trying to do his piece-to-camera. Shut up. Can someone go and interrupt Crick at the back there?" Mr Johnson bellowed to a generous applause. Tell Crick, you can do your piece-to-camera when Ive finished.

A supporter did as he was told and marched up to the journalist, grabbing him by the arm and telling him to be quiet, the guys trying to talk and youre interrupting.

Im just trying to explain whats going on here, Crick tried to explain before the audience member stood in front of the camera half blocking the veteran reporter from viewers screens.

People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.

After the incident prompted numerous comparisons to behaviour more akin to US Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, Crick told his Twitter followers this was unfair as the Conservative MP is a very media-friendly politician.

He also explained its sometimes difficult to hear the volume youre talking at when you have an earpiece in.

The Manchester rally was part of Mr Johnson's 48-hour "Brexit blitz" in which he spearheads a number of speeches across the UK over the weekend. He is expected to continue his call to leave the EU in Leeds and Newcastle on Saturday.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A suspicious substance has been found at a house linked to an investigation into a suspected British terror cell.

Four men and a woman from Birmingham remain in custody today after being detained in an operation involving MI5 and authorities in Belgium and France.

West Midlands Police said specialist officers were sent into a property linked to the inquiry as a precautionary measure while it was searched.

Police officers patrol Gatwick Aiport's south terminal shortly after the Brussels attacks (Getty Images)

During a search of an address in connection with the counter terrorism arrests in Birmingham a suspicious substance was found, a spokesperson for the force said.

There was no immediate danger to the public and it was not necessary to evacuate any homes.

The force would not give a description of the substance or respond to rumours it could be hazardous or explosive in nature.

Detectives detained three men, aged 26, 40 and 59, and a 29-year-old woman in Birmingham on Thursday night, while a 26-year-old man was arrested at Gatwick Airport in the early hours of Friday.

In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man carries an injured person in Brussels Airport, after explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Travellers get to their feet in a smoke filled terminal at Brussels Airport after explosions In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man is wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A man speaks on a mobile phone in Brussels Airport, after the explosions ripped through the departure hall In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Belgian police officers detain a man at the Gare du Midi train station in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A police officer stands guard as people are evacuated from Brussels airport, after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People stand near Brussels airport after being evacuated following explosions that rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Crew and passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after an attack in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers gather near Brussels airport in Zaventem, following its evacuation after blasts rocked the main terminal of Brussels airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Two women wounded in Brussels Airport in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People are evacuated from the scene after two explosions were heard at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Brussels Airport after evacuation In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People leave the airport area after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Passengers comfort each other as they are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People react as they walk away from Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services attend the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Injured people at the scene at Brussels Airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport People wait outside of the Zaventem airport after two explosions were heard PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Brussels Airport In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A view of the scene after the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Emergency services at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels Reuters In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The aftermath of the explosions at Brussels airport PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport The view of the Brussels airport after the explosion PA In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport Smoke is seen at Brussels airport in Brussels AP In pictures: Terror attacks at Brussels airport A photo shows cars on a blocked highway near Zaventem, Brussels National airport, after two explosions rocked the main hall of Brussels Airport Getty Images

They are being questioned over possible links to the network of Isis militants who carried out the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels.

French and Belgian officials would not confirm any link to their own investigations when contacted by The Independent but West Midlands police said the arrests formed part of an extensive inquiry into any associated threat to Britain following terrorist atrocities in the French and Belgian capitals.

Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said a number of properties in Birmingham were searched after the pre-planned and intelligence-led arrests.

"This action forms part of an extensive investigation by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, together with the wider counter terrorism network, MI5 and international partners including Belgian and French authorities to address any associated threat to the UK following the attacks in Europe, he added.

"There was no risk to the public at any time and there is no information to suggest an attack in the UK was being planned."

All five people arrested were held on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

 Paris attacks: Abrini arrested

It comes just a week after the arrest of Mohamed Abrini, who admitted being the "man in the hat" pictured alongside two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels Airport last month.

Some 32 people were killed and nearly 300 were injured in suicide blasts at the airport and the city's Maelbeek Metro station.

Abrini was the last identified suspect still at large following the 13 November attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.

He was an alleged accomplice of Salah Abdeslam, who is also in custody after being found hiding in Brussels months after aborting his own suicide bombing mission in the French capital.

West Midlands Police has previously refused to confirm reports that images of landmarks in Birmingham, including a shopping mall, were found on a mobile phone belonging to a ringleader involved in the Paris atrocities.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Feminists have attacked an invitation to non-men by the young womens arm of the Green Party.

Women/non-men who are Young Greens can find and join our Facebook group 'Young Greens Women', they tweeted on 26 March.

Green Party Women, whose stated aim on Facebook is to advance gender equality both within and outside the Green Party, defended their sister group's comment, saying Green Party Women, as a whole, are happy with terms such as 'non-men' to be used.

But on Friday Ms Criado-Perez, who led the campaign to keep a woman on English banknotes and co-founded feminist media website The Women's Room, called the Green Party Women's response "the most anti-woman anti-feminist ignorant bulls*** I have seen in some time".

"Women are not "non-men", she tweeted, urging the Greens to "sort your s*** out". "You do not include people by establishing men as default human," she added.

The Young Greens Women responded in a statement "to reassure any members or supporters that we by no means intend to erase women by defining them in relation to men, and we do not believe that the terms "non-male" and "woman" are synonymous".

Ms Criado-Perez later took to rephrasing well-known feminist texts.

Rewriting Simone de Beauvoir's famous sentence, she tweeted "one is not born but rather becomes a non man".

"For most of history, anonymous was a non man", she added, recasting Virginia Woolf.

Under the hashtag #greenpartyfeminism, other Twitter users joined in, substituting "non-man" for "woman", "girl" and "mother" in famous song lyrics.

"'I'm every non-man' well said by that famous non-man, Chaka Khan", tweeted Vicki Swanton.

"You make me feel like a natural non-man..." quipped Jean Hatchet.

And Young Greens Women responded to criticism in a series of tweets.

We currently use 'non-male' because this is inclusive of other non-binary genders which have a place in our group, the group wrote.

"However we understand why people may have issues with language that defines us in relation to men.

We are currently discussing within the group if we can/should change the language we are using.

"Rest assured that we are always striving to practice correct intersectional feminism and to be as inclusive as we can."

The Green Party Equalities (Women) spokesperson Sarah Cope later said in a statement: "Language is all-important."

"It was never the intention of the Young Green Women to use the term "non-male" to describe women, and this has now been clarified."

"What Young Green Women were doing was being inclusive not just to women, but also to individuals in the party who perhaps identify as non-binary or gender queer, as befits a party with a proud history of inclusivity."

"The Green Party is a truly feminist party."

Scarlett Brown, PhD gender reseacher at King's College London, told The Independent: You can interpret the tweet in two ways. Firstly, that they are emphasising, without even realising it, that we live in a society that defines by not being a man. That's been a big feminist critique for a long time."

"It depends on what you determine the slash [between women and non-men] to mean. If you think women and non-men are the same thing, thats not on. Thats what most of the criticism is about.

"But if you read it as the people we want in our group are women and non-men', then what theyve done is include a non-binary category. If thats the case, thats an important thing and I fully support that. Its just theyve done it clunkily and haphazardly.

"Ironically theyve ended up highlighting a much wider problem in society, that we define women by being non-men."

Ms Brown said that the reaction on Twitter was a humorous way of mocking "how the world works" and the attitude that "if you're a woman, you're less than a man, that the male norm - everything else is a lack of that".

"But I don't think for a second they were saying that being a woman is being not-a-man," she said. "They were trying to include the non-binary."
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The most senior Catholic cleric in England and Wales has given the strongest possible indication that he backs remaining in the EU, saying that a vote to leave would result in Britain facing more complex problems with greater difficulty in finding our role in response to them.

Speaking on the day of the launch of the official campaign for the referendum on 23 June, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said: Theres a long tradition in Christianity and in Catholicism in particular of believing in holding things together. Theres a strong tradition in the Catholic vision of life that to start down the path of division almost inevitably leads to further division So the Catholic instinct is to look for the whole  thats exactly what the word means. And therefore the Catholic stance towards an effort such as the EU is largely supportive.

Asked how he would feel if Britain voted to leave the EU, Cardinal Nicols said: If the vote was to leave Europe, I think we would be facing more complex problems with greater difficulty in finding our role in response to them, than we would by playing an active and vigorous part with partners, with the EU.

Cardinal Nichols was careful to differentiate between his approach to the question as a citizen and as a pastor.

But he was speaking after the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales produced a resolution on the EU referendum after gathering for a conference in Leeds this week.

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.

As is always the case when it comes to giving guidance in elections, the bishops do not instruct people how to vote. Instead, the Cardinal was emphasising the values which should guide what the Church calls discernment.

The resolution states: Reflecting on the forthcoming vote, we recognise the historic nature of this referendum and its implications for future generations. The outcome will have consequences for the future not only of the United Kingdom, but for Europe and for the world.

It paid tribute to the contribution of the European project to peace in Western Europe and emphasised that this referendum ...is about much more than economics.

The resolution added: We all have a responsibility to keep the dignity of the human person at the forefront of the debate. We must ask ourselves, in the face of every issue, what will best serve the dignity of all people both within Europe and beyondWe must not forget the profoundly religious roots of European nations; that Europe has a two thousand year-old Christian culture that has shaped the continent and is a dynamic spiritual, moral and intellectual resource as we address the future.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A protest calling on David Cameron to resign brought thousands of people onto the streets of London.

The March for Health, Homes, Jobs and Education was organised by activist group the People's Assembly. The demonstrators called for an end to austerity, and demanded the Prime Minister quit over the revelation that he profited from his father's offshore investment fund.

It was estimated around 50,000 people attended the demonstration.

Before setting off, the crowd was addressed by Dianne Abbott MP and junior doctors involved in organising strikes against the new contract that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is seeking to impose.

Ms Abbott said: "I'm so glad to be here to pass on Jeremy Corbyn's absolute support for this demonstration. There couldn't be a more important movement and demonstration than this one today.

Anti-austerity protesters in Trafalgar Square, London, call for David Cameron to resign (Lamiat Sabin)

"Austerity is a threat to the National Health Service and to our public services. We must unite to defend them."

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, union chief Len McCluskey and Green Party leader Natalie Bennett also took part in the march.

Speaking in Trafalgar Square, Mr McDonnell said: "Alongside courage and determination, we need solidarity. The workers united will never be defeated."

He added later: "I think Cameron should go, but I think he should take his party with him. His Government is now bankrupt in terms of political ideas, and bankrupt in terms of what they have done with the economy as well.

"On every front now we are seeing the Government in disarray - in terms of the economy we are slipping backwards instead of growing."

The People's Assembly used the protest to make "Four Demands". With regards to health, they called for an end to Government spending cuts and the alleged privatisation of the NHS. The protestors' demand over housing included rent controls and the protection of social housing.

On jobs, they called for a universal living wage and the scrapping of the Trade Union Bill, and they also demanded an end to student tuition fees and "the marketisation of education".

Probation worker Michaella Hagger, 27, said: "I'm here because I hate David Cameron. It's all about the cuts, tax dodging, and the NHS for me. They are ruining people's jobs and making it impossible for everyone."

Also on the march was feminist protest group Sisters Uncut. They said: "Sisters Uncut are marching with student nurses for a society in which everyone has a secure livelihood, and no one is financially dependent on an abusive partner."

The march was supported by trade unions and a number of activist groups. The Radical Assembly organised a "No Jobs" bloc calling for "full automation" of the economy and "an end to the 'paid work is good for you' culture", while a delegation from the Fire Brigades Union drove a fire engine along the protest route playing disco music.

Last week, 1,000 protesters gathered outside 10 Downing Street for a spontaneous demo demanding Mr Cameron's resignation over the Panama Papers scandal.

:: This article was updated on 21 April
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The international community has agreed to draw up a blacklist of tax havens to help target sanctions against countries facilitating tax evasion, George Osborne has said.

The Chancellor said ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Washington that countries that refuse to play by the rules would have action taken against them.

The agreement comes after a week of turmoil since the leak of the so-called Panama Papers, which shone a light on the scale of offshore tax arrangements by wealthy individuals.

Recommended Read more HMRC only investigates 35 wealthy individuals each year

Mr Osborne himself, as well as the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, released details of their own tax affairs after coming under pressure to do so.

We've got international agreement to a black list of tax havens and that means we can get global action against those who don't play by the rules, the Chancellor said late on Friday.

The world is getting a much colder place for the hotspots of international tax evasion.

Mr Osborne, along with counterparts from Germany, France, Italy and Spain, had written to his G20 counterparts to urge international action.

Which countries would be included in the blacklist is likely to be a matter of heated debate, however.

George Osborne with the Prime Minister, David Cameron (Getty)

David Cameron said at Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday that the UK supported the principle of tax haven blacklists but that countries should not be added to it only on the basis of being a low or zero-tax jurisdiction.

Were happy to support blacklists but we dont think we should draw up a blacklist solely on the basis of a territory raising a low tax rate  we dont think thats the right approach, he said.

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 PM also argued that British Overseas Territories accused of being tax havens  such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Cayman Islands  had in recent months agreed to cooperate in key areas.

The BVI itself was at the centre of the Panama Papers controversy after it emerged that the majority of offshore shell companies set up by Panamanian lawyers had been based there.

Both the BVI and Cayman were included on a European Commission blacklist of tax havens released in June last year. That list of 30 territories was based on countries being individually blacklisted by at least 10 individual EU member states

The European Union has now moved onto a new regulatory system which would require countries to report where profits were made and taxes paid within the EU and within a new blacklist of tax havens.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Nearly half the population think David Camerons management of his financial affairs has been morally repugnant  and that all tax returns should be made public.

In a ComRes poll for The Independent, 49 per cent of people said that the tax returns of all citizens should be published, with just 31 per cent saying they disagreed with the idea.

This open approach is the law in Sweden, Finland and Norway, where each persons annual financial details are available online in a searchable database.

However, not everyone is a fan of such rigorous transparency  30 per cent of people admitted that they have used cash to pay a builder or other tradesperson to avoid VAT.

Only 31 per cent of people thought that the Prime Minister had been honest and open following his involvement in the Panama papers leak.

And 44 per cent of people agreed that morally repugnant, a phrase used by George Osborne about tax avoidance, describes Mr Camerons management of his financial affairs.

The survey found that 59 per cent of people believe that the Conservative Party "only represents the interests of the rich  an increase of 8 points since three years ago  and just 23 per cent say that the Government has a good record of tackling tax avoidance and evasion.

But so-called Dodgy Dave was still the number one choice of politician to manage respondents financial affairs, winning 36 per cent of the vote compared with Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon, both at 19 per cent.

Labour voters are less loyal to their leader than their Conservative counterparts, with 42 per cent saying they would trust Mr Corbyn to manage their financial affairs, compared to 71 per cent of Conservative voters who would entrust their accounts to Mr Cameron.

When asked with which politician they would most like to have a meal, 38 per cent chose Boris Johnson  a clear favourite ahead of Mr Corbyn and Ms Sturgeon, at 18 per cent each.

Only 12 per cent said they would most like to share a table with David Cameron.

Mr Johnson was also by far the most popular politician to go on a summer holiday with, be a contestant on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here with and to have on a pub quiz team  but just 19 per cent say they would like to see him leading the country.

More than a third of people thought the current Prime Minister should keep the top job, while 24 per cent said they would choose Mr Corbyn instead.

The Prime Minister published a summary of his tax returns last weekend, sparking controversy over inheritance tax after it was revealed that he inherited 300,000 from his father and received a 200,000 gift from his mother.

Other party leaders including Mr Corbyn and Ms Sturgeon have since followed suit.

A large majority of voters  72 per cent  said that the UK should take direct control of its overseas territories which could be used as tax havens, following the furore over the tax affairs of the rich and powerful caused by a huge leak of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Show all 10 1 /10 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Luxembourg There are an estimated 2.5 trillion shares of mutual funds registered in the Grand Duchy, 1 trillion of which cannot be traced to an owner 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands contain 6% of the world's total banking assets, but just 0.000008% of its population 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Isle of Man David Cameron has said the Isle of Man, where there is no corporation, capital gains or inheritance tax, should not be considered a tax haven 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Jersey There are over 3.5 billion assets per square mile on the self-governing Channel Island 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Ireland Ireland made headlines last year when it emerged Apple was registered in the country in order to dodge over 40bn in taxes 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Mauritius The Mauritian government notionally charges corporation tax, but companies can easily make this back through generous tax credits for foreign businesses 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Bermuda Google holds more than 30bn in offshore cash reserves, primarily via Bermuda 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Monaco A popular domicile for super-rich private individuals, Monaco has the most expensive property in the world. 1 million will buy just 225 square feet 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Switzerland Switzerland has such secretive banking laws that it took until the 1990s to secure the release of Nazi cash reserves 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Bahamas David Cameron's father ran an offshore fund which hired Bahamas residents to complete paperwork, thus dodging British tax bills

The survey also asked about the European Union, revealing widespread Eurosceptic views  53 per cent of voters disagree that all citizens of other EU countries should have the right to live and work in the UK. However, this represents a fall in opposition to the free movement of EU workers since 2013, when it was opposed by 57 per cent. Support for free movement has risen from 23 per cent three years ago to 31 per cent.

ComRes interviewed 2,036 GB adults online on 13 and 14 April 2016. Full details here and here; tables on the ComRes website.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Anti-arms trade campaigners have put pressure on the Government to act after officials' business-as-usual response to a court ruling warning that illegal arms could be changing hands at at London arms fair.

Yesterday a judge ruled that there was compelling evidence to suggest unlawful activity was occurring at the bi-annual DSEI gathering that takes place in Londons docklands.

Acquitting eight protesters who had blocked a highway with the aim of shutting down the event, Stratford Magistrates Court heard that clear evidence of wrongdoing that was not appropriately investigated by the authorities.

Recommended Read more Protesters who blockaded London DSEI arms trade fair acquitted

Asked by the Independent whether an investigation would be launched into activity at DSEI, officials at the business department, which regulates arms control, gave no indication that one would go ahead.

The Metropolitan Police, which has jurisdiction over the area and polices the event, meanwhile said it was still considering the judgment.

We are always being told how rigorous and robust the government's arms export criteria is, but this judgement makes clear that nothing could be further from the truth, said Andrew Smith from Campaign Against the Arms Trade.

Despite the Government's rhetoric about supporting human rights, the UK routinely arms some of the most oppressive regimes in the world, and events like DSEI are crucial to that."

The judgement was very clear and its findings must be followed-up and investigated. It would not be the first time that the law has been broken at DSEI. It is the arms dealers and weapons fairs that needs to be stopped, not peaceful protesters."

All arms exports from the UK must be explicitly signed off by the Government under a licencing system.

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

But ministers have continued to allow the sale of munitions to Saudi Arabia despite credible allegations of war crimes being committing in the course of the countrys campaign in Yemen.

The court also heard how British munitions played a role in internal repression of protest in Bahrain and of Turkeys Kurdish minority group.

Asked whether a Government probe into the event would take place, a spokesperson for the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills told the Independent: BIS worked with Clarion in advance of this exhibition to agree a Memorandum of Understanding setting out Clarions roles and responsibilities, as well as those of exhibitor companies, regarding UK export control legislation.

Weapons are displayed at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair at the ExCeL centre in east London (Getty Images ) (Getty Images)

We helped Clarion to ensure goods and literature that breached export controls were not displayed by exhibitors. HMRC, which is responsible for enforcing export controls, maintained a presence at the exhibition.

The Government takes its responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust and transparent arms export control regimes in the world. A licence for military or dual use exports will only be granted if the proposed exports meet the strict conditions of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: The Metropolitan Police Service are considering the judgment, and will discuss it with the Crown Prosecution Service.

A spokesperson for DSEI said yesterday that it complied with all relevant arms control regulations in 2015, that it allowed government agencies full access to its premises, and that it was constantly tightening its compliance procedures.

All our exhibitors are contractually bound to ensure that they exhibit at DSEI in a manner which is compliant with all relevant arms control legislation. We are explicitly clear that any exhibitors or individuals found to be in breach of compliance regulations at DSEI will be immediately ejected, a spokesperson said.

DSEI is held every two years in Londons docklands and facilitates deals between arms buyers and sellers. In 2015 it was attended by 34,000 delegates and 1,600 suppliers from 54 countries.

Attendees included top level international military staff, major procurement officials, and the entire industry supply chain, from large prime contractors to supplying companies, according to its website.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A civil rights group in Kenya has filed a case in the countrys high court in a bid to end the criminalisation of same-sex relations.

The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is challenging a Kenyan law which makes "carnal knowledge... against the order of nature" an offence, punishable by 14 years in prison, along with "gross indecency with another male", which carries a maximum sentence of five years.

The Kenyan state prosecuted 595 people for their sexuality between 2010 and 2014.

The Commissions legal challenge, due to be heard in October, is being led by the groups leader, Eric Gitari, who launched a previous successful challenge against the government in order to have the group officially registered.

The countrys laws against same-sex activity are criminal punishment of Kenyan adults who consent to engage in mutually desired same-sex activities with their partners", the Commission argued.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

They added that the laws degrade the inherent dignity of affected individuals by outlawing their most private and intimate means of self-expression and stand in stark contrast to the Kenyan constitutional values of democracy, equality and the rule of law".

The Commission also said the legislation also made persecution, intimidation and blackmail of LGBT people seem socially acceptable.

A letter posted on the Commissions Facebook page said business would be temporarily halted and the security situation would be monitored to defend against any unprecedented events while work on the lawsuit takes place.

Kenya, like many African countries, suffers from deeply rooted homophobic attitudes. President Uhuru Kenyatta once told Barack Obama that working towards gay rights was a non-issue.

The Commission spends much of their time dealing with the fallout from anti-gay violence.

Recommended Read more Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta clashes with President Obama

"We have been dealing with a lot of cases of violence, of people beating up people because they disagree with their sexual orientation," Mr Gitari told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, referring to some of the Commission's legal aid cases.

"Our clients are not willing to follow up these cases with the police because they don't know how to explain to the police what they were doing with other men in the privacy of their bedrooms without admitting to committing offences."

Human Rights Watch has criticised Kenyas treatment of LGBT people and is especially concerned about pervasive homophobic violence in the countrys coastal region.

For many LGBT people in the coast region, safety is a daily concern, said Esther Adhiambo, executive director of gay rights foundation PEMA Kenya, who worked with Human Rights Watch.

While police treatment of LGBT people has improved in recent years, discrimination remains a major problem. LGBT peoples justified fear of reporting hate crimes to the police means that violence continues with impunity.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

An alleged paedophile has been arrested in Mexico after footage of him purportedly molesting a four-year-old girl circulated online.

The footage, filmed by a waitress, allegedly shows the man groping the girl under the table as she sits on his lap in a restaurant in Villahermosa, Tabasco.

The footage ignited a national manhunt after the waitress shared it online. In the aftermath of its release many names purporting to be that of the man circulated the internet and even the online activist network Anonymous participated in the search, according to the Mail Online.

Police have announced they have now arrested the alleged perpetrator, who is understood to be the girls father.

Juan Vicente Hernandez Leon, 48, was captured by police before boarding a bus to Mexico City.

Earlier this week Tabasco police tweeted: Juan Vicente Hernandez Leon, the alleged paedophile relating to the case of a video in a restaurant in which he was seen with his hand under the clothes of a minor, was arrested on the afternoon of April 11, when he was travelling by bus.

Video footage appearing to show Hernandez Leon being arrested has been uploaded online.

In a press conference, prosecutor Fernando Valenzuela Pernas said the four-year-old has been taken into care after undergoing medical checks.

Since Hernandez Leon's arrest, another video of a woman claiming to be his wife has been circulated by the Mexican press.

The woman, Silva Algomeda, shared the video on Facebook, in which she defends Hernandez Leon and says the girl has suffered psychological damage as a result of being separated from her family.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A New York student has said he is suing the city over an incident in which he was apparently repeatedly struck by a police officer inside his school.

Video footage shows teenager Yordy Aragonez being hit by the officer using his baton. The footage also shows the officer cursing at the student in front of other pupils.

I was scared. It was a police officer cursing at me, hitting me, and I thought, Oh my God, he is never going to stop and nobody is even trying to break it up, 18-year-old Mr Aragonez told NY1.

The teenager says he is suing the city (NY1)

Mr Aragonez said NYPD Officer Kareem Phillips, who was assigned to the School Safety Division, hit him twice with a baton at Progress High School in Brooklyn. He said the officer intervened after he had become involved in a fight with another pupil.

I was on the floor, and then he comes in the classroom and slams me into a desk. And I was already on the floor. He was just hitting me. I wasn't even trying to get up or nothing, he said.

The incident happened in December, and the teenager said he suing the officer and the city for assault and more training for officers placed in schools.

If believe you have probable cause to arrest him, then place him in handcuffs and take him away, said Gabriel Harvis, Mr Aragonezs lawyer. But what you see on the video is simply an effort to sort of, I don't know what, put on a show for these poor kids that have to watch this officer brutalise young Yordy.

Mr Phillips, 41, has spent most of his 13 year career assigned to the School Safety Division. He was not available for comment on Saturday but he has previously said he was defending himself.

The New York Police Department has said the incident is being investigated.

As officers attempted to break up the altercation, an officer used a baton, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

As a matter of practice, the incident is under review by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A student who said she was raped has launched a petition to fight back against her university for punishing her after she reported her alleged attack.

Madi Barney, a student at the religious Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah, United States, said that the university is investigating her over the circumstances of the alleged rape and had put her academic future on hold.

Ms Barney, who waited four days to report the crime for fear of how the university would react, now wants the institution to introduce regulations which would better protect victims of sexual violence.

The case is reportedly being taken seriously by police; a suspect has been charged and the case is going to trial, Ms Barney wrote in a description of the petition. However, the university, which operates a strict honour code of rules, has apparently not been as helpful.

BYU has made it clear that victims will be punished if they report sexual violence. I dont deserve punishment for choosing to report my rape to the police, she wrote.

But now I have to deal with a criminal trial and an honor code investigation. I dont want anyone to have to go through what I'm experiencing now. That's why Im insisting BYU creates a way for victims to come forward without being reported to the Honor Code Office.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Brigham Young University is a private institution owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The honor code includes rules such as: be honest, use clean language, "abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse and participate regularly in church services. Homosexual behaviour is described as inappropriate and violates the Honor Code.

As part of the university application process, all students must agree to these rules, which also include a clause which says students must live a chaste and virtuous life, forbidding premarital sex.

Ms Barney said the Honor Code Office of BYU launched an investigation against her over suspicions she violated the code in the circumstances of her assault, which she claims let to her being subject to a hostile and re-victimising atmosphere. These circumstances are not specified by Ms Barney, but could include breaking curfew, dressing the wrong way, using drugs or alcohol or consenting to sexual activity prior to the attack.

Ms Barney also claimed she has been barred from registering for classes at the university, putting a halt to her academic career.

In response, Ms Barney has insisted that an immunity clause be added to university regulations to protect victims of sexual assault from Honor Code procedures.

Her petition has now recieved over 21,500 signatures.

Ms Barney, whose reported experience and sentiments have been echoed by numerous other students in local media, also said she suspected fear and shame among female BYU victims of alleged sexual assaults was the reason for what she described as its inaccurately low rape and sexual assault figures.

I can only imagine how many rape survivors have not gotten justice or help to heal because it might hurt their academic standing, she added.

Brigham Young University has not yet responded to a request from The Independent for comment. However, its website has a page dedicated to its Sexual Misconduct Policy.

The page said the university is committed to promoting and maintaining a safe and respectful environment for the campus community and will not tolerate sexual harassment, sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking.

It continued: The University will take immediate and appropriate steps to stop Sexual Misconduct, prevent its recurrence, and address its effects.

In a statement to the Salt Lake Tribune, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins denied the Honor Code further victimised people who have been sexually assaulted and said allegations of sexual violence would be dealt with separately from the sexual misconduct allegation.

However, Ms Barney disputed this. "'Separate.' That's the word they constantly use to justify sending victims to the Honor Code, she said.

You can't just chop up the rape into little pieces and take out the parts you want to punish people for.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Bernie Sanders is tirelessly consistent. He says he stands with the workers and this week he did just that, stepping out with picketing employees of Verizon, never mind the corporate ire he would attract.

On the trail, he speaks up for Palestinians under Israeli oppression, and he did so again in Thursday nights debate with Hillary Clinton before millions, never mind that New York has its primary on Tuesday.

But he is also tirelessly angry. There was a reason that after he and Ms Clinton went full bore at their debate trying to diminish the other and burnish themselves they called it the Brawl in Brooklyn.

He hammered and she hammered back. He questioned her judgement, she questioned his record. They shouted over one another. But Bernie was the bitter one, red faced and glowering.

Ms Clinton had resisted having this debate at all  the ninth between them - seeing little upside in giving oxygen to the Senator from Vermont, who, in spite of scoring a string of big victories in recent state contests, needs a breakthrough more than she does. And that must come in New York next week.

Probably, their two-hour match did little to change the dynamic of the race, which is bad news for Mr Sanders who remains the underdog in New York and, whether his supporters like it or not, remains seriously adrift in the race to win delegates before the nominating convention in July in Philadelphia.

The reviews, when they came, were not kind to him. He had had a chance to show he can be more than the angry candidate and had flunked it. Luckily for him, he surely missed most of them, because he was busy being the consistent candidate again.

He had flown overnight to Rome to address a social justice conference at the Vatican  just his kind of thing  and he had accepted. It was another risk he was willing to take. Which other candidate would vanish form the campaign with hours until polling time?

When I received this invitation it was so moving to me, that it was something that I just simply could not refuse to attend, he explained to a scrum of reporters under the Italian sun. On the trail, Mr Sanders has repeatedly cited Pope Francis, notably his words on the idolatry of money and on climate change.

 Bernie Sanders Sticks It To Corporate America in New York Rally

Credit is due Mr Sanders for something else  expanding the boundaries of ordinary American politics. What more jarring an event than to see a leading politician from the United States appearing in Europe to question the morality of free-market capitalism?

At a time when so few have so much, and so many have so little, we must reject the foundations of this contemporary economy as immoral and unsustainable, he told the conference.

Or what could be more electrifying than a candidate for president standing on a debate stage with his rival and squarely speaking up for the innocent Palestinians killed and wounded during what he called the disproportionate Israeli assault on Gaza in 2014?

The gasps of the Jewish lobby might have changed the tide cycle of New York Harbour for good. It is an unwritten rule of New York politics that you never, ever criticise Israel openly. And surely not when you are days from an election in the state.

And yet here was Mr Sanders declaring: "We are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all the time," referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Nothing stops Mr Sanders from pushing those boundaries - and pushing Ms Clinton. Still on foreign policy, he assailed her for her role in the toppling by the allies of Muamar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011, pointing to an admission made by President Barack Obama this week that not planning properly for what was meant to happen the day after in Libya may have been the biggest mistake he made in office.

 Clinton in race row

The Senator also managed to elicit from the former first lady what may be her most explicit expression of regret yet for having back her husband in passing a savage sentencing law in 1994 that led to an explosion of black incarceration.

I am sorry for the consequences that were unintended and had very unfortunate consequences for peoples lives, she offered.

Ms Clinton resorted to blaming Mr Obama, saying he was the one who took the decisions, both there and where the ongoing catastrophe of Syria is concerned. This was rich given that she had spent much of the rest of the debate trying to don Mr Obamas coattails, aware that he remains popular with many New York voters and certainly its minority populations. She actually drew the first boos of the night when she tried to suggest that any time Mr Sanders attacked her he was in fact attacking Mr Obama.

Ms Clinton was hardly meek. She speared Mr Sanders on his patchy support for gun control and he struggled to offer a serious comeback. Few topics will stir more emotion in Brooklyn than the scourge of gun violence. And she also very effectively and consistently tagged Mr Sanders as a dreamer with ambitious ideas that he would never have any hope of actually implementing.

Its easy to diagnose the problem she said over and over, its harder to solve the problem.

She may be right. But the question New York Democrats will surely ask themselves when they vote on Tuesday is will they play safe and settle for Ms Clintons pragmatic incrementalism, or let their hearts steer to Mr Sanders who makes no bones about what he is after: a political revolution. If their hearts dont shrink before all that anger.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Bernie Sanders has revealed he earns $205,000 dollars (145,000) a year, after being challenged by Hillary Clinton to publish his tax returns.

Mr Sanders' annual income, which is shared with his wife, is less than his multimillionaire rival made for three recent speeches delivered to Goldman Sachs employees.

The banking giant paid Ms Clinton $675,000 (475,000) for the appearances. She and her husband have an estimated net worth of $110m (77m), far surpassing the Sanders, who are worth around $300,000 (210,000).

Income inequality has been a key plank of Mr Sanders' campaign, leading Ms Clinton to challenge him to publish his earnings. On Thursday, she said: "I've released 30 years of tax returns, and I think every candidate, including Senator Sanders and Donald Trump, should do the same."

 Bernie Sanders Sticks It To Corporate America in New York Rally

The veteran Senator rapidly fired back, saying: They are very boring tax returns. No big money from speeches, no major investments.Unfortunately, I remain one of the poorer members of the United States Senate.

Ms Clinton generally commands a minimum of $225,000 per speech, or over four times as much as the $52,000 (36,000) the average American citizen earns in a year. She once pocketed $315,000 for a 20-minute address to Ebay staff.

Mr Sanders' income, by way of contrast, is largely derived from his $175,000 Senate salary. His wife, Jane Sanders, makes $5,000 annually as a radioactive waste disposal commisioner, and the couple also receive social security benefits and a small annual pension.

With an estimated wealth of around $3m, the average US Senator is worth 10 times as much as Mr Sanders. While his income puts him in the top 5 per cent of US earners, the Vermont senator is one of the poorest 20 per cent of members of the Senate.

In pictures: US Elections 2016 Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: US Elections 2016 In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters after rival candidate Hillary Clinton was projected as the winner in the Nevada Democratic caucuses Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes photos with workers at her campaign office in Des Moines, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, second from left, prays before lunch with supporters at Drake Diner in Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland Governor. Martin O'Malley, speaks during a campaign stop in Waterloo, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks, as his wife Jane OMeara Sanders looks on, at a campaign event at Iowa State University Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio speaks at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at a campaign event at Fireside Pub and Steak House in Manchester, Iowa. Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum visiting supporters at a house party in West Des Moines, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Ted Cruz campaigns at Greene County Community Centre in Jefferson, Iowa AP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Senator Rand Paul speaks during a Caucus rally at his Des Moines headquarters in Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Republican candidate Jeb Bush speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa AFP In pictures: US Elections 2016 Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin introducing the arrival of Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Reuters In pictures: US Elections 2016 A portrait of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders at his campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa Getty In pictures: US Elections 2016 Campaign badges on sale ahead of a Trump rally at the Ramada Waterloo Hotel and Convention Centre in Waterloo, Iowa Getty

He also has tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, a rental property in Vermont capital Burlington and a condo in Washington, DC.

Mr Sanders has raised nearly $140m to support his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, without recourse to big business or Super PAC backing. His campaign is almost entirely funded by an estimated three million small donors.

All 10 companies cited by Mr Sanders as "America's biggest tax dodgers" have donated directly to Ms Clinton's $220m campaign or the Clinton Family Foundation.

Neither Mr Sanders nor Mr Clinton, however, come close to matching Donald Trump. The tycoon has not published any tax returns, but is believed to be worth somewhere between $3bn and $10bn.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Ted Cruz is hitting the ground in Wyoming in an effort to secure a near clear sweep of its delegates and close the gap with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

Republicans in the state are gathering over the weekend to pick the 14 delegates they will send to the partys summer convention to vote for a presidential nomination.

Party members, rather than ordinary voters, will elect the delegates in a process that mirrors what happened last week in Colorado, which was at the centre of controversy after Mr Cruz out-operated Mr Trump. Mr Trump was so angry that he described the multi-tiered caucus system as rigged.

Mr Cruz, who has had his staff working in Wyoming for months, is expected to do well there. Mr Trump, who did not campaign in Colorado, also failed to make any appearances in Wyoming.

I dont want to waste millions of dollars going out to Wyoming many months before to wine and dine and to essentially pay off all these people because a lot of it's a pay-off, Mr Trump told Fox News on Saturday.

You understand that, they treat them, they take them to dinner, they get them hotels. I mean the whole things a big pay-off, has nothing to do with democracy

Mr Cruz is due to address state-level delegates in the city of Casper on Saturday. Ed Buchanan, Mr Cruzs state campaign chairman, said volunteers spread across each of Wyomings 23 counties had been tracking the process since last autumn

We send them letters, call them and to try identify who might want to be at-large delegates, he told ABC News, adding that nearly 100 volunteers had been part of the ground effort on a weekly basis here.

Since so many Cruz-pledged hopefuls are trying to go to Cleveland, the Cruz campaign is circulating a list of Cruz-preferred delegates to consolidate support for the 14 available delegate slots.

If youve got a clear majority of the delegates and they stick together to these 14, you should get all 14, said Mr Buchanan.

Mr Trumps campaign has admitted it expects to do poorly in the Western state. It is instead focussing on upcoming primaries in states such as New York and Pennsylvania, which have more delegates and where the tycoon hopes to perform better.

Expectations are low here, said Alan Cobb, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign in Casper. These narrow party processes dont favor our campaign.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

An Iranian refugee housed by the Australian government on the island of Nauru has been found guilty of attempting to kill himself.

Sam Nemati was fined A$200 (110) and threatened with a jail sentence, in a move prosecutors said was meant to "deter other offenders who resort to self-harm... to get what they want".

While awaiting the verdict, he was separated from his eight-year-old daughter, Aysa.

Prior to his arrest, Mr Nemati had been held in the Nauru Regional Processing Centre for two years, before being released into the community.

In January, Mr Nemati moved to another area of the island where there were more children for Aysa to play with. Nauru police attempted to seize his belongings and forcibly return him to his original facility, causing Mr Nemati to become distressed and attempt to take his own life.

In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing for food at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees' tents at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Oxy transit camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos The graves of drowned refugees in Mytilene, Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos A building used to house unaccompanied children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing to register at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees arriving on smugglers' boats from Turkey in Lesbos

He was taken to hospital before being charged and transferred to a detention centre to await his court case. During the three months he was incarcerated, he was not able to see his daughter.

Along with witchcraft, sorcery and fortune-telling, attempting suicide remains an offence under Nauru's 19th-century criminal code.

The crime comes with a recommended sentence of "imprisonment with hard labour for one year", and prosecutors had unsuccessfully pushed for a custodial sentence.

In a statement, the Nauran government said: "Written submissions were made by the prosecutor to impose a custodial sentence of between one and two months to deter other offenders who resort to self-harm to avoid lawful actions against them or to get what they want.

"We are concerned this method is being used and want to stamp out this practice."

 Border tensions: Macedonian police fire tear gas at refugees

Magistrate Emma Garo said her sentence would give Mr Nemati "the opportunity to prove to himself that life is worth living, but with a responsibility to be thoughtful and considerate of others in the community,

All asylum-seekers travelling by boat to Australia are turned away, or detained in refugee camps in Nauru or Papua New Guinea to await processing. Even if found to be legal refugees, they are not allowed to permanently resettle in Australia.

Bona fide refugees, such as Mr Nemati, often spend years in detention in offshore camps where human rights abuses are allegedly rampant.

Staff members have described the detention centre as "like a concentration camp" and signed an open letter alleging repeated sexual assaults on detainees by guards.

An independent review found evidence of "sexual favours being exchanged for marijuana" and the rape of detainees, including children.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hundreds of vulnerable, lone children in Greece are being detained in "dirty" police cells because of a severe shortage of designated shelters, a childrens charity has warned.

More than 1,500 unaccompanied child refugees have nowhere safe to stay, and many are being held in detention centres and police cells for long periods of time, according to Save the Children.

There is a severe shortage of accomodation. The shelters deisgned for unaccompanied children are full to capacity, but lone young refugees are still arriving, the charity's Sacha Myers told The Independent.

The law says a child can only stay in a detention centre for 25 days and then need to be moved to a more permanent shelter, but because theyre full, the children are either staying in detention or being moved into police cells.

We do not have access to these children. They are not getting support they need. We believe the conditions in this section are very dirty and are not cleaned properly. There arent enough beds so children are sleeping wherever they can.

In the past week, 57 unaccompanied children who have arrived in the country have been put in a section of police-run Moria detention centre in Lesbos.

There are an estimated 2,000 unaccompanied child reguees currently in Greece, but only 477 shelter spaces available for them.

Since the borders were closed under a deal between the European Union and Turkey last month, the Greek authorities have been overwhelmed.

We estimate that there are at least 2,000 unaccompanied children in Greece  we know there are hundreds potentially thousands more, said Ms Myers.

Many unaccompanied children are not properly registered when they arrive because of the lack of resources here in Greece, meaning they dont have the access to protection and other legal services that other children do.

The majority of unaccompanied child refugees in Greece are boys between the ages of 10 and 14 who have made the journey alone.

Some have relatives in Europe who they hope to join, but the process of reuniting unaccompanied children with relatives in Europe can take months or drag on indefinitely.

Lots of children are scared to say give their true age or admit they are alone because they are scared of being locked away," said Ms Myers.

"But then the risk is that they end up sleeping outside, exposing them to risks including emotional and physical abuse, as well as trafficking.

These children are distressed because they are carrying the weight of responsibility. In many cases their families have given a lot to send them to safety. In other cases they have lost their parents. Now theyre locked inside a detention centre and dont know how long theyll be there."

In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing for food at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees' tents at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Oxy transit camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos The graves of drowned refugees in Mytilene, Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos A building used to house unaccompanied children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing to register at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees arriving on smugglers' boats from Turkey in Lesbos

A 17-year-old Syrian, given the name Salim by Save the Children to protect his identity, has been sleeping outside on Lesbos. He was sent by his parents to make the journey to Europe because of concerns for his safety after he was jailed for three months in Syria.

When the boat landed on the coast in Greece, I felt sad, he said. I was without my family, all alone. I thought of them back in Syria. I think of my family more than I think of myself.

At the start I slept in the big tents, then for a few days I slept outside in the rain, in the water and mud. I dont want to think about the situation here. I want to stay busy, to stop thinking about all that has happened to us.

Salim is now staying in a shelter set up by Save the Children in partnership with local humanitarian organisation Praksis, which provides an alternative to detention and accommodation for unaccompanied children in Greece.

The conditions for all refugees in Greece have deteriorated since the border closure, putting childrens health and safety at risk.

Families are living on top of each other. There are no beds, just large mats on the floor. Were seeing a lot of children getting sick, said Ms Myers.

I spoke to a Syrian mother and an Iraqi mother this year, both with babies under one year old, and they both had diarrhoea and fever. Lots of children are also coughing and are developing chest infections."

Children in the detention centres are also getting caught up in violence stirred up by the frustration and fear among refugees.

"Many of these people have given up everything," Ms Myers added. "Theyve sold their homes and everything they own just to seek safety. This has led to an increase of violence and protests, which is also putting children at risk."

Save the Children spoke out as Pope Francis visited Lesbos and went to the Moria detention centre where there are more than 150 lone children are being held.

Save the Children's team leader in Lesbos, Amy Frost, said: The Pope and Patriarch's example and gesture of solidarity in travelling to Lesvos should be followed by Europe's leaders.

"Instead of resorting to expulsions and detention centres, they should be sharing the responsibility of helping families and children  particularly children traveling alone  who are fleeing violence and destruction.

The EU has let down children travelling alone and has abandoned its obligations by rushing to close borders and implement the EU-Turkey deal without ensuring that legal safeguards are in place."
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A refugee child prostrated herself at the Popes feet on Saturday, begging him to help her family leave a detention centre on the Greek island of Lesbos.

She is among thousands of asylum seekers being held in Moria waiting for authorities to decide whether they will be granted the right to stay or be deported back to Turkey.

Her family were not among the 12 Syrians, including six children, taken back to Italy on Pope Francis plane as a gesture of welcome.

 Refugees welcome Pope Francis

The pontiff was making his way through the detention centre, greeting migrants as he passed, when he was stopped by a small child kneeling at his feet.

Her mother and sister broke down in tears as she pleaded for help, before the pontiff gently raised her to her feet and patted her on the head.

It was one of many emotional scenes during his five-hour tour of Lesbos, which has seen the highest number of refugees arriving out of any island in Europe.

One man wept uncontrollably as he knelt down before Pope Francis on Saturday, saying: Thank you, God. Thank you! Please Father, bless me!

Pope Francis blesses a man kneeling in front of him as he meets migrants and refugees at the Moria detention centre (AFP/Getty Images)

Several children offered him their drawings, with him praising them and handing them to his staff to be taken back to the Vatican.

Passing over a little girls picture, he said: Don't fold it. I want it on my desk.

As he walked past lines of refugees, shaking hands with the men and bowing to the women, the refugees shouted out their homelands of Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and other nations as protesters chanted for freedom outside.

Some asylum banners. We are tired of fake promises, said one, while another asked: What is my crime? I escaped from Isis.

Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 16, 2016. (Reuters)

Pope Francis met asylum seekers and local people alongside Catholic and Orthodox leaders, who joined him in a memorial service for the hundreds of migrants who have drowned attempting to teach Europe.

I want to tell you that you are not alone, he told hundreds of gathered asylum seekers and volunteers in Moria.

You have endured much suffering in your search for a better lifeI have come here with my brothers, Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, simply to be with you and to hear your stories.

We have come to call the attention of the world to this grave humanitarian crisis and to plead for its resolution. We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity.

The Ecumenical Patriarch and the archbishop of Athens signed a joint declaration calling on the international community to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need.

Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at Moria detention centre on the Greek island of Lesbos, 16 April 2016 (Reuters)

The declaration also called on political leaders to use all means to ensure that everyone, particularly Christians, can remain in their homelands and enjoy the fundamental right to live in peace and security.

The world will be judged by the way it has treated you, Bartholomew told the refugees. And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from.

Earlier on Saturday, the Pope had met Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and thanked him for the generosity shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles, the Vatican said.

The visit comes as thousands of asylum seekers continue to be detained in walled camps, which were urgently spruced up ahead of his arrival.

In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing for food at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees' tents at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Oxy transit camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos The graves of drowned refugees in Mytilene, Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos A building used to house unaccompanied children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing to register at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees arriving on smugglers' boats from Turkey in Lesbos

Council workers were also seen scrubbing graffiti reading Papa dont preach that had been sprayed on walls and buildings in Mytilene, the capital, overnight.

The Vatican said the five-hour visit to Lesbos was purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political, but the Popes message to Europe was clear.

Appearing to refer to border closures and fences erected across the continent during the refugee crisis, he said the world needs bridges, not walls to make us feel safer.

Barriers create divisions instead of promoting the true progress of peoples, and divisions sooner or later lead to confrontations, he added.

Controversy continues over the situation in Lesbos, which is now subject to the 18 March EU-Turkey deal.

A group of Syrian refugees arrive to board a plane with Pope Francis on April 16, 2016 in Lesbos (AFP/Getty Images)

It stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in the country.

For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe but other nationalities make up more than half of those arriving.

In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.

Despite the measures, condemned by human rights groups as shameful and inhumane, desperate asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution in the Middle East and Africa continue to arrive.

Frontex, the European border agency, intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos, three hours before the Popes arrival.

Additional reporting by agencies
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Three families of Syrian refugees have been taken to Rome with the Pope after he offered them a place on his plane.

They were among thousands of people trapped on the Greek island of Lesbos following the controversial EU-Turkey deal, under which all asylum seekers arriving over the Aegean are detained as they await their fate.

Syrian refugees board the Pope's plane in Lesbos yesterday (AFP/Getty Images)

A statement from the Vatican said 12 people, including six children, were taken as part of a gesture of welcome regarding refugees during Pope Francis' tour of the island on Saturday.

Their homes had been bombed during the Syrian civil war: two families came from Damascus and others escaped Isis territory in Deir ez-Zor.

Footage showed them lined up on the tarmac of Lesboss main airport as Pope Francis said his farewells to Catholic and Orthodox leaders who accompanied him on Saturdays tour of the island.

One woman, wearing Western clothing, was unable to contain her grin as she stood next to her husband, carrying their sleeping son.

Next to them, another mother wearing a headscarf played with her daughters hair while her husband and teenage sons watched the preparations to the waiting plane excitedly.

In the third family, a father held his young childrens hands as they were fussed by relatives.

Pope Francis greets migrants at Moria detention centre on Lesbos (Reuters)

Their unexpected flight to Europe is a provocative move for the pontiff, coming amid continued protests over measures seeing all asylum seekers arriving clandestinely over the Aegean detained.

The Syrians taken back to Rome all arrived before the 20 March deadline, meaning they are not subject to the new rules.

The Vatican said it will take responsibility for supporting the families, who will initially be settled by the Catholic Sant'Egidio community.

The Popes initiative was brought to fruition through negotiations carried out by the Secretariat of State with the competent Greek and Italian authorities, a spokesperson added.

All the members of the three families are Muslims. Two families come from Damascus, and one from Deir ez-Zor, in an area occupied by Isis. Their homes had been bombed.

Pope Francis had visited the Moria detention centre, where almost 3,000 people are being held in conditions described as appalling by charities.

In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing for food at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees' tents at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Oxy transit camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos The graves of drowned refugees in Mytilene, Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos A building used to house unaccompanied children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing to register at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees arriving on smugglers' boats from Turkey in Lesbos

He also visited the islands capital of Mytilene for a prayer service to commemorate the hundreds of migrants who have died attempting to reach Europes shores.

In a speech, he told refugees they were not alone and urged them not to lose hope.

We have come to call the attention of the world to this grave humanitarian crisis and to plead for its resolution, he added.

We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity.

The Vatican said the five-hour visit to Lesbos was purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political, but the Popes message to Europe was clear.

Appearing to refer to border closures and fences erected across the continent during the refugee crisis, he said the world needs bridges, not walls.

Pope Francis greets migrants and refugees at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 16, 2016. (Reuters)

Barriers create divisions instead of promoting the true progress of peoples, and divisions sooner or later lead to confrontations, he added.

Controversy continues over the situation in Lesbos, which is now subject to the 18 March EU-Turkey deal.

It stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in the country.

For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe but other nationalities make up more than half of those arriving.

In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.

Despite the measures, condemned by human rights groups as shameful and inhumane, desperate asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution in the Middle East and Africa continue to arrive.

Frontex, the European border agency, intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos, three hours before the Popes arrival.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Pope is reportedly planning to take 12 refugees back to the Vatican as he urges Europe to relocate the thousands of asylum seekers trapped in Greece.

A local official confirmed the plan to the AFP news agency as Pope Francis started his tour of the Greek island of Lesbos with Catholic and Orthodox Church leaders.

His plan is not thought to violate the terms of the controversial EU-Turkey deal as the migrants chosen arrived before the deadline of 20 March.

Pope Francis, greeted by Archbishop Ieronimo, arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos on 16 April 2016 (Reuters)

Greece's national broadcaster reported that eight Syrians and two Afghans would be taken on the Pope's plane when he departed Lesbos, but a Vatican official later put the number at 12.

While Syrians have been prioritised by relocation schemes across Europe, Afghans have been excluded from most programmes and barred from crossing borders as they are not automatically considered refugees, despite making up around a quarter of those arriving on the continent's shores.

Pope Francis is expected to call on European countries to relocate thousands of refugees trapped in Greece by shut borders across the continent.

The Vatican previously said the five-hour visit to Lesbos was purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political, and wasn't meant as a criticism of the deportation programme seeing some asylum seekers sent back to Turkey.

Pope Francis said he intended to express closeness and solidarity both to the refugees and to the Lesbos citizens and all the Greek people who are so generous in welcoming (refugees).

 Amid deportations, refugees scramble to reach Europe

Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories, and need to be treated as such, a tweet from his official account said as the visit began.

The pontiff has been outspoken in calls for greater compassion and international co-operation in the refugee crisis, denouncing the globalisation of indifference during a trip to Lampedusa  another migrant hotspot.

Controversy continues over the situation in Lesbos, which is now subject to the 18 March EU-Turkey deal.

It stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in the country.

For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe but other nationalities make up more than half of those arriving.

In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.

In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing for food at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees' tents at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Oxy transit camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos The graves of drowned refugees in Mytilene, Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos A building used to house unaccompanied children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing to register at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees arriving on smugglers' boats from Turkey in Lesbos

Despite the measures, condemned by human rights groups as shameful and inhumane, desperate asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution in the Middle East and Africa continue to arrive.

Frontex, the European border agency, intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos, three hours before the Pope was due to arrive.

He landed at the islands airport at around 10am local time (8am BST), being greeted on a red carpet by the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and a delegation of Catholic and Orthodox Church leaders.

The pontiff was due to visit Moria, a refugee camp-turned detention centre currently housing almost 3,000 migrants.

The delegation will have lunch with refugee representatives and make a joint declaration, before heading to the islands capital for a prayer service in memory of the many asylum seekers who have drowned attempting to reach Europe.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

German police have revealed that three people have been injured in what was apparently deliberate explosion at a Sikh temple in the western city of Essen. The attack happened as a celebration was being celebrated at the temple, or gurdwara.

A spokesman for Essen police told the Associated Press that a masked person was reported to have fled the scene shortly after the blast at 7pm.

Spokesman Lars Lindemann said the explosion was quite violent, blowing out several windows. One of the injured was said to be in a serious condition.

Local media subsequently said that three people had been arrested and were being questioned in connection with the incident.

Sikh groups said the incident took place as people were celebrating the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi. Celebrations taking place inside the gurdwara and children's classes were also taking place.

Mr Lindemann said the police were working on the assumption that the explosion was caused deliberately but that there are no indications it was a terrorist incident.

He says the temple had hosted a wedding earlier in the day and those injured are believed to have been among the guests.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The man who recorded the moment an Israeli soldier shot a disarmed Palestinian man in the head says he has received death threats and abuse for exposing the killing.

Imad Abushamsiya was having coffee with his wife at their home in Hebron on the morning of 24 March when he heard gunshots outside.

I took my camera and the first thing I saw was a young man on the ground, wearing a black T-shirt and black trousers, he told The Independent.

I heard voices and a second young man further up the hill, bleeding and surrounded by soldiers and settlers.

Israeli soldiers stand near the body of Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif, 21, who was shot and killed by a soldier while laying wounded on the ground in Hebron (AP)

Both young Palestinians had been shot after stabbing an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldier in one of many similar attacks in the city.

Ramzi al-Kasrawi, further up the hill, was already dead but 21-year-old Abdel Fattah al-Sharif initially survived his gunshot wounds.

The footage shows him lying incapacitated in the middle of the road, moving his head listlessly from side to side as a crowd of soldiers, paramedics and armed settlers move around him, appearing to make no attempts to check his condition.

Behind him, the injured soldier sits up on a stretcher as he is helped into an ambulance for treatment.

The situation appears calm until another soldier shouts stand back! and shoots Mr al-Sharif in the head at close range.

An Israeli soldier at the scene in Hebron (AFP/Getty Images)

When I saw the soldier shoot (him) and I saw part of his head destroyed by the bullet, his brains on the floor, I felt terrified, Mr Abushamsiya said.

I was completely and utterly shocked.

The camera shook in the following seconds but he managed to keep recording as Mr al-Sharifs blood started running down the road, with the surrounding soldiers and settlers appearing to pay the killing little notice.

Mr Abushamsiya's footage was published by the Palestinian Human Rights Defenders group and shared by Israeli human rights group BTselem, which condemned it as an extrajudicial street killing.

Within hours it had been picked up by news outlets around the world, sparking international condemnation and a rare statement from the Israeli authorities criticising a grave breach of IDF values, conduct and standards of military operations.

Mr al-Sharif is just one of almost 200 Palestinians killed since an intensified wave of violence started in October. During the same period, 28 Israelis and two Americans have been killed.

Palestinian protesters throw stones during clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Hebron in October (EPA)

The IDF has said the majority of those shot dead were carrying out or attempting stabbings but opponents have called the killings, including those of children and teenagers, disproportionate and the circumstances are often contested.

Recommended Read more Israelis march to support soldier suspected of shooting Palestinian

The 19-year-old soldier who shot Mr al-Sharif dead is to be charged with manslaughter but has reportedly told military police he did nothing wrong.

According to a transcript obtained by Israels Channel 2, the unnamed man told investigators he believed the Palestinian was wearing an explosive vest and was still a threat.

Its logical that a terrorist who comes to murder must die, he added.

Mr Abushamsiya said that if a suicide vest was considered a possibility the area should have been evacuated, rather than risking the lives of soldiers and civilians standing metres away with a gunshot.

The Israeli soldier is lead in to the Castina Military Court near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon (AP)

Nobody was at risk, he added. There was no danger and Abdel was on the groundnobody reacted. Nobody did anything because they were Palestinians.

The shooting has generated fierce debate in Israel, with protesters rallying to support the soldier and human rights groups protesting about the deaths of Palestinian.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, urged soldiers to behave with composure, while his defence minister Moshe Yaalon said a loss of control must not be allowed.

But there is discord even in the highest levels of government, with education minister Naftali Bennett writing on Facebook: The soldier is not a murderer. Have we lost our minds? We are at war, a war against brutal terrorism."

On the other side of the debate, Dr Jawad al-Awad, the Palestinian minister of health, called the shooting a war crime and Arab List politician Dov Khenin condemned the terrible reality of killings by the armed forces.

A protest in support of the soldier who was filmed shooting a Palestinian man dead in front of the Israeli Army Justice court in Kiryat Malakhi on March 29, 2016 (AFP/Getty Images)

Amnesty International was one of numerous human rights organisations to demand action, calling any shooting of an incapacitated person a potential war crime, regardless of their previous actions.

Mr Abushamsiya said he was shocked at the level of reaction to his video, claiming that similar incidents happen on a daily basis in Hebron.

It is a surprise to us that people care now, he added. What would have happened if I was not there to film?

He lives with his wife and children in Hebron, which sees frequent clashes between Palestinians, settlers and security forces. Housing sensitive religious sites including the Cave of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque, it is divided between Israeli and Palestinian Authority control, with numerous military checkpoints around Jewish settlements in the Old City.

Mr Abushamsiya, who is part of Hebrons Human Rights Defenders group, said he has trained his whole family to use cameras so they can document any outbreaks of violence.

He records clashes regularly but said the 24 March shooting was undoubtedly the most important incident he has ever filmed.

The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Getty Images The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child

The accused soldier blamed the media reaction to the footage for the decision to charge him, reportedly telling investigators that prosecutors were scared of what the newspapers and of what the world will say.

Palestinians have flooded Mr Abushamsiya with messages of support, but Israeli settlers have also allegedly distributed his photo on posters calling for his death.

I live only 100 metres from the settlers and I am scared for my and my family's safety, he said, adding that his activism has previously seen him beaten and have his equipment destroyed.

He is not optimistic about any lasting changes in IDF policy, which has recently prompted concern by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights over excessive use of force.

Cecile Pouilly, a spokesperson for the UN body, called for all cases of death or injury by police and the military to be subject to be subjected to prompt, independent and impartial investigations.

Mr Abushamsiya said he believes the killing has changed some perspectives internationally but added that widespread Israeli support for the soldier showed there was little possibility of change.

 Israeli soldier released to 'open detention'

It has made clear to us  and we hope to the wider world  just how much Israel has devalued Palestinian lives, he added.

The video has demonstrated to the world what we in Palestine have long known about Israel's human rights values.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in London denied his allegations.

The military investigation and subsequent decision to prosecute, reflects the gravity with which the incident was viewed, he said.

The claim that similar incidents happen regularly is baseless, as is the assertion that the video instigated the investigation.

In fact, the IDF began to investigate based on reports by commanders at the scene, prior to the surfacing of the video, as has been reported widely.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Officials in Saudi Arabia have reportedly told the Obama administration they will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars of American assets if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible for any role in the September 11 assaults.

On the eve of President Barack Obamas visit to Saudi Arabia, the New York Times said the White House had been lobbying Congress to block the bills passage and that the threat from Saudi Arabia had been the subject of intense talks.

It said that Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdoms message last month during a trip to Washington, telling legislators that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750bn in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.

A 28-page section of the report was never made public (AP)

Fifteen of the nineteen men who hijacked four planes and flew them into targets in New York and Washington in 2001 were Saudi citizens, though Riyadh has always denied having any role in the attacks.

A US commission established in the aftermath of the attacks also concluded there was no evidence of official Saudi connivance. However, the White House has been under pressure to declassify a 28-page section of the report that was never published on the grounds of national security.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has read the report, and Senator Bob Graham, who co-chaired the joint congressional inquiry, have said the victims families deserved to read the report before Mr Obama visits the Middle East next week.

The families have been trying to use the courts to hold responsible members of the Saudi royal family, Saudi banks and charities. Yet these efforts have been largely blocked because of a 1976 law that gives foreign nations some immunity from lawsuits in American courts.

The newspaper said the Senate bill was intended to make clear that the immunity given to foreign nations under the law should not apply in cases where nations are found culpable for terror attacks that kill Americans on United States soil.

If the bill were to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the president, it could clear a path for the role of the Saudi government to be examined in the September 11 lawsuits.

President Obama will arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday for meetings with King Salman and other Saudi officials and attend a summit with other leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Thursday. It is unclear whether the dispute over the September 11 legislation will be on the agenda for the talks.

Earlier this week, US officials briefing reporters on the president's visit, said Saudi Arabia was a key regional ally despite the relationship coming under pressure in recent years as the US has sought to reset its interaction with Iran

As youll hear more coming out of the summit, theres been agreements reached to increase our cooperation on counterterrorism, streamlining the transfer of critical defense capabilities to our GCC partners, bolstering GCC ballistic defensesystems, and defending against the cyber threat, said Rob Malley, a senior adviser to Mr Obama on the Middle East.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

British warplanes engaged in the fight against Isis have only carried out three or four airstrikes against the group in Syria since the beginning of March, figures released by the Ministry of Defence show, undermining claims by David Cameron that UK forces would play a vital, battle-winning role in the conflict.

The latest statistics show a marked decline in the number of attacks against Isis positions and strongholds in the country since Parliament gave the go-ahead for British airstrikes in December.

In January the UK participated in 14 strikes against Isis in Syria, but this fell to seven in February and just four in March. No strikes took place in the first week of April  the latest period for which figures are available.

Significantly, there has not been a single strike using the British Brimstone missile system  which David Cameron cited as a key strategic reason for the UK to extend its campaign into Syria  since February 18.

British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria Show all 10 1 /10 British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria A Tornado jet takes off from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, as RAF Tornado jets carried out the first British bombing runs over Syria British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria Pilots and ground crew prepare combat aircraft Panavia Tornados at RAF Marham at RAF Marham, UK Getty British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria A Eurofighter Typhoon jet takes off from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, as RAF Tornado jets carried out the first British bombing runs over Syria British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria A RAF Tornado arrives at RAF Akrotiri to begin operations in Akrotiri British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria A Tornado jet ahead of taking off from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, as RAF Tornado jets carried out the first British bombing runs over Syria, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The air strikes were carried out within hours of a vote by MPs in the Commons to back extending operations against Isis from neighbouring Iraq British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria Personnel work on a British Tornado after it returned from a mission at RAF Akrotiri in southern Cyprus British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria Two RAF Tornado GR4's, both with remaining weapons ordnance, approach RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, as they return to the base after carrying out some of the first British bombing runs over Syria British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria A RAF Tornado takes off from RAF Akrotiri, on the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria A Tornado jet leaving RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland British jets prepare for air strikes in Syria AKA RAF Tornado arrives at RAF Akrotiri to begin operations in Akrotiri, Cyprus. The RAF has sent two further Tornado aircraft and six Typhoons to bolster aircraft now flying sorties to both Iraq and Syria

There has also only been one incident since the start of March of the UK providing close air support to Syrian or Kurdish fighters taking on Isis.

In December, David Cameron said this was one of the primary reasons for British involvement in the conflict.

We believe there are around 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters who do not belong to extremist groups, he told the House of Commons.

They are ground troops. They need our help. When they get it, they succeed. So in my view we should do more to help them from the air.

But the only strikes since March have been:

An airstrike on a terrorist truck concealed in an orchard that was struck by a Reaper unmanned drone.

An attack on an Isis weapons storage facility at a site south-east of Raqqa. Eight Paveway bombs destroyed the main warehouse and three support buildings.

And a Reaper drone using a Hellfire missile to demolish a Daesh storage building near Ukayrishah.

 Fresh fighting in Syria threatens Geneva talks

The only evidence of RAF planes supporting rebel fighters appears to have been on 2 March when an RAF Reaper provided air support to Syrian Democratic Forces south-west of As Shadadi. But it was unclear whether an actual airstrike was carried out and the drone appears to have been providing intelligence support.

A senior Labour source suggested that the drop-off in attacks supported their position in the House of Commons vote on extending airstrikes. Labour argued that such a move was largely symbolic rather than being driven by an operation need as claimed by Mr Cameron.

Yet again this is evidence of Cameron being tactical rather than strategic and doing something without thinking through whether it was actually necessary, they said.

Yet again it is the poor RAF who have been left to fill in the gaps.

The source, who did not want to be named because of the splits within Labour on the vote, suggested the figures showed that Jeremy Corybn had been right to oppose extending military action.

In part it shows the success of our policy, they added. Clearly they dont want to attack civilians or engage in anything which could later come back and damage them. The trouble is there are no easy targets in Syria."

 Palmyra after Isis

The SNPs Defence spokesperson, Brendan OHara MP, questioned why the figures were being slipped out on the internet without ministers making a full statement and explanation to Parliament.

If the UK government are tailing off air-strikes in Syria  why havent they told us? he asked.

The SNP has repeatedly called on the UK government to update Parliament on the coalition air-strikes. We were promised updates on the UKs bombing campaign by the Prime Minister last December and were still waiting.

The House of Commons voted to give the green light for military action with key questions unanswered and without any comprehensive plan for peace and reconstruction.

There is a shared commitment to destroying Daesh but we remain unconvinced that airstrikes will achieve this goal.

But an MoD spokesman insisted that the UK was one part of a broader coalition against Isis that spanned operations in both Syria and Iraq. RAF Tornado, Typhoon and Reaper have conducted over 700 strikes in Iraq and Syria. Only the US has carried out more strikes against Daesh in Syria since we began military operations there, he said.

But we make no apology that our focus has been helping recapture key Iraqi cities such as Ramadi and Hit. Iraq and Syria are one battlefield in this fight and our planes will operate wherever they can be best used.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

As the battle continues between Heathrow and Gatwick over the next runway, the airport that was a laughing stock in the Seventies is going global. Luton airport, mocked in a Cinzano commercial featuring Lorraine Chase, is now building its status as a gateway to the world.

Next month Luton will become the sole European airport to serve St Helena - the British possession in the South Atlantic. The islands new airport is due to be officially opened by Prince Edward on 21 May, and within 48 hours the first charter from Luton is scheduled to touch down.

A new start-up carrier called Atlantic Star Airlines will fly the route, which includes a refuelling stop at Banjul in Gambia. The airlines co-founder, Richard Brown, told The Independent: We chose Luton because the team there were keen to support the service and add St Helena to their route portfolio.

LLA has revealed its all new brand identity (London Luton Airport)

The Bedfordshire airport, owned by Luton Borough Council, has had a chequered history. The former RAF fighter base grew rapidly in the 1960s and early 70s as package-holiday charter flights expanded. Monarch, launched from the airport 48 years ago this month, remains its most loyal carrier.

In the 1980s Luton was briefly the UK base for Britannia Airways charter flights to Australia, and the first British airport for a tiny Irish airline called Ryanair. But the airport was eclipsed when expensive new facilities opened at Gatwick and Stansted - both offering express trains from central London.

Luton airport appeared moribund until a Greek shipping magnate, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, chose it as the base for his new no-frills airline, easyJet. In November 1995 easyJet flights were launched to Glasgow and Edinburgh, followed by links to Aberdeen, Amsterdam and Nice.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, more slots became available at Gatwick; easyJet switched its main base to the Sussex airport, which it now dominates.

A business-class only airline, Silverjet, started flights from Luton to New York in 2006 and expanded to Dubai. It went bust in less than two years. Yet despite predictions that a similar fate awaited the French all-business airline, La Compagnie, it will celebrate its first anniversary on the transatlantic route a week this Sunday.

London is the world hub of aviation, with more than 150 million passengers flying in or out in a year. Luton remains a distant fourth behind Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, with 12.3 million passengers handled last year - just 8 per cent of the capitals total. But it is the fastest growing of the major airports, putting on 40 per cent more passengers in the past five years.

Lutons advantage over its bigger rivals is the relatively easy availability of slots. Even though it remains an important base for easyJet, Ryanair and the eastern European carrier, Wizz Air, there is room for expansion. Vueling, the low-cost sibling of British Airways, is moving in this summer, with services to Amsterdam, Barcelona and Zurich. The Spanish airline is even running a series of flights between Bedfordshire and Tuscany, with departures to Florence scheduled for May and June.

Thomas Cook Airlines is due to start flying four routes from London Luton Airport from Summer 2017 (London Luton Airport)

With the news that Thomas Cook Airlines has launched its first flights from Luton to Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Corfu, the airport is set to become the location for some fierce fares wars. Already, competition between easyJet and Ryanair to Copenhagen has reduced fares to ridiculously low levels; a test booking later this month to the Danish capital reveals plenty of seats on the Irish airline at 10 return, including all taxes and fees.

The aviation analyst John Strickland told The Independent: Luton is not trying to be some sort of upmarket airport but has played to its strengths by attracting airlines offering a growing range of destinations at affordable prices. Thanks to its large catchment area, this is proving to be a successful formula.

The airports Achilles heel remains its poor surface connections compared with other London airports. While the Parkway rail station has improved access, it still requires a bus connection with added cost and time. This weekend Nick Barton, the airports chief executive, announced plans to build a new 24-hour light-rail link between Luton Airport Parkway station and the airport terminal. He called the new service, due to open in 2020, the first step towards creating a world-class air-rail service. But it remains to be seen if Luton airport can build the critical mass required for a major aviation hub in the 21st century.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Q We booked flights to Brindisi back at the end of last year. There has recently been a flight change and there is now only 1 hour connection between Heathrow-Rome and Rome-Brindisi. This leaves very little time to make the connection. We are also on the last flight of day out of Rome, which doesnt help either - since if we end up stranded we would end up having to write off a day of hire car and hotel.

Kelly Woodhead

A I urge you to relax - not least because there is nothing you can do about it. An hour is a legal connection. That means Alitalia expects you (and your luggage) to make the onward flight, even allowing for a certain amount of queuing. Given the strife and expense of failing to connect, if the airline believed there was a significant chance of you being stuck in Rome then it would allow longer.

The most likely cause of a misconnect issue is if your flight to Rome arrives late. The airlines staff are keenly aware of the number of connecting passengers, and therefore will be focused on an on-time (or even early) arrival.

If an event such as an air-traffic control delay causes you to miss the connection, then the airline must provide meals and accommodation, and put you on the next available flight - and possibly pay you 400 in compensation for an arrival delay of three hours or more, if it is something within the airlines control, such as a technical issue.

If you booked a package holiday through Expedia - i.e. with a hotel and/or car rental as well as your flight - and things do go wrong, you may be able to claim some compensation based on the proportion of your trip that was lost.

All other things being roughly equal, I always try to fly direct rather than connect - especially at a big hub such as Alitalias home base of Rome Fiumicino. Besides the annoyance of a misconnect, many cases of lost or delayed baggage are triggered by a failure to transfer bags at the hub. Ryanair flies non-stop from Stansted to Brindisi.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles readers' questions. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Post Office Travel Money has released the findings of its latest Holiday Costs Barometer, revealing the cheapest beach destinations for a summer break in Europe.

The tenth annual survey is based on the total cost of ten typical holiday expenses in 20 European beach resorts, ranked from the most to the least expensive.

Holiday items considered in the survey include a cup of coffee, suncream, insect repellant, and a three-course meal with a bottle of wine for dinner.

Prices for each item were sourced from national or regional tourism offices, where possible. Costs for Bulgaria were provided by budget holiday booking company Balkan Holidays and the low-cost airline Monarch supplied prices for Turkey, while additional online research was conducted to verify prices.

Though British travellers have plenty of affordable beach holiday options to choose from, the Sterling has fallen from its seven-year high against European currencies, according to a press release from Post Office Travel Money.

There is no escaping the fact that sterling is weaker this year than last, resulting in price rises in 80% of resorts surveyed, Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said in the press release.

 Grey seals take foam baths on Welsh beach

However, looking back to previous years, European resort costs have still fallen quite significantly in the longer term.

With that in mind, check out the cheapest destinations to visit, along with a breakdown of holiday costs, below.

13. Menorca, Spain  74.40

Menorca, Spain

Cup of coffee: 1.15

Bottle of local beer: 1.64

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.72

Glass of wine: 1.64

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.33

Suncream: 4.92

Insect repellent: 2.46

English tabloid newspaper: 1.48

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 24.61

Three-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 34.35

Discover the latest prices for the best Menorca hotels on booking.com | Expedia | hotels.com

12. Corfu, Greece  72.26

Corfu, Greece

Cup of coffee: 2.05

Bottle of local beer: 2.87

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 2.05

Glass of wine: 2.87 ($4.07)

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.49

Suncream: 6.97

Insect repellent: 4.10

English tabloid newspaper: 1.64

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 16.41

Three-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 32.81

Discover the latest prices for the best Corfu hotels on booking.com | Expedia | hotels.com

The most expensive holiday destinations in the world Show all 19 1 /19 The most expensive holiday destinations in the world The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 19. Shanghai 131.90 ($186.18) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 18. Moscow 133.45 ($188.37) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 17. Paphos, Cyprus 135.73 ($191.59) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 16. Malta 138.25 ($197.19) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 15. Los Angeles 138.91 ($198.13) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 14. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 139.78 ($199.38) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 13. Rome 152.14 ($217) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 12. Paris 153.38 ($218.77) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 11. Dublin 156.15 ($222.72) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 10. Lima, Peru 158.90 ($226.65) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 9. Cancun, Mexico 172.79 ($246.46) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 8. Caracas, Venezuela 172.79 ($246.46) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 7. Singapore 183.87 ($262.26) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 6. London 191.50 ($273.15) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 5. Sydney 203.06 ($289.63) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 4. Marrakesh, Morocco 223.44 ($318.70) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 3. Botswana, Africa 225.07 ($321.03) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 2. New York City 256.80 ($366.29) The most expensive holiday destinations in the world 1. Dubai, United Arab Emirates 278.92 ($397.84)

11. Marmaris, Turkey  70.81

Marmais, Turkey

Cup of coffee: 1.57

Bottle of local beer: 2.62

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.83

Glass of wine: 2.88

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.39

Suncream: 7.07

Insect repellent: 2.62

English tabloid newspaper: 2.09

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 10.47

Three-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 39.27

Discover the latest prices for the best Marmaris hotels on booking.com | Expedia | hotels.com

10. Kefalonia, Greece  68.49

Kefalonia, Greece (Shutterstock)

Cup of coffee: 1.64

Bottle of local beer: 3.28

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.48

Glass of wine: 2.46

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.59

Suncream: 3.28

Insect repellent: 2.46

English tabloid newspaper: 3.28

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 20.51

Three-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 29.53

Discover the latest prices for the best Kefalonia hotels on booking.com | Expedia | hotels.com

9. Porec, Croatia  65.19

Porec Croatia

Cup of coffee: 1.14

Bottle of local beer: 1.70

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.70

Glass of wine: 1.70

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.45

Suncream: 6.25

Insect repellent: 3.41

English tabloid newspaper: 3.41

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 13.63

Three-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 31.80

Discover the latest prices for the best Porec hotels on booking.com | Expedia | hotels.com

8. Zante, Greece  64.65

Zante Greece

Cup of coffee: 1.23

Bottle of local beer: 1.44

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.23

Glass of wine: 1.44

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.25

Suncream: 7.38

Insect repellent: 2.05

English tabloid newspaper: 2.05

2-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 21.33

3-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 26.25

Discover the latest prices for the best Zante hotels on booking.com | Expedia | hotels.com

7. Crete, Greece  63.16

Crete, Greece

Cup of coffee: 1.64

Bottle of local beer: 2.05

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.80

Glass of wine: 2.46

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.25

Suncream: 5.58

Insect repellent: 1.80

English tabloid newspaper: 1.64

2-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 19.69

3-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 26.25

Discover the latest prices for the best Crete hotels on booking.com | Expedia | hotels.com

6. Costa Blanca, Spain  62.29

Costa Blanca, Spain

Cup of coffee: 0.66

Bottle of local beer: 1.80

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.23

Glass of wine: 1.64

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.33

Suncream: 9.84

Insect repellent: 5.27

English tabloid newspaper: 2.30

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 14.77

Three-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 24.61

Discover the latest prices for the best Costa Blanca hotels on Trivago | Expedia | booking.com

5. Gijon, Spain  61.01

Gijon, Spain

Cup of coffee: 0.98

Bottle of local beer: 1.80

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.64

Glass of wine: 1.80

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.41

Suncream: 7.38

Insect repellent: 5.25

English tabloid newspaper: 1.80

2-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 10.66

3-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 29.29

Discover the latest prices for the best Gijon hotels on Trivago | Expedia | booking.com

4. Costa del Sol, Spain  52.65

Costa de Sol, Spain

Cup of coffee: 0.98

Bottle of local beer: 1.64

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 0.98

Glass of wine: 1.44

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.31

Suncream: 4.06

Insect repellent: 2.26

English tabloid newspaper: 1.60

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 14.77

Three-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 24.61

Discover the latest prices for the best Costa del Sol hotels on Trivago | Expedia | booking.com

3. Limassol, Cyprus  51.82

Limassol Cyprus

Cup of coffee: 2.05

Bottle of local beer: 1.44

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 1.44

Glass of wine: 2.46

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.27

Suncream: 5.73

Insect repellent: 1.39

Discover the latest prices for the best Limassol hotels on Trivago | Expedia | booking.com

2. Algarve, Portugal  47.04

Algarve Portugal

Cup of coffee: 0.62

Bottle of local beer: 0.98

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 0.82

Glass of wine: 1.23

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.30

Suncream: 5.88

Insect repellent: 4.31

English tabloid newspaper: 1.72

2-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 13.95

3-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 17.23

English tabloid newspaper: 1.76

Two-course prix-fixe lunch for two: 13.95

Three-course evening meal for two with a bottle of wine: 21.33

Discover the latest prices for the best Algarve hotels on Trivago | Expedia | booking.com

1. Sunny Beach (Slanchev Bryag), Bulgaria  41.55

Sunny Beach, Bulgaria

Cup of coffee: 0.87

Bottle of local beer: 0.65

Bottle/can of Coca-Cola: 0.87

Glass of wine: 1.74

1.5 litre bottle of mineral water: 0.39

Suncream: 3.92

Insect repellent: 2.18

English tabloid newspaper: 2.18

2-course prix-fixe lunch for 2: 6.97

3-course evening meal for 2 with a bottle of wine: 21.78

Discover the latest prices for the best Sunny Beach hotels Trivago | Expedia | booking.com
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

One moment David Cameron was the hero winner of an unwinnable election, the next he was staring at the all-too-likelihood of being a former prime minister with no obvious achievements to his name, who didnt even last as long as John Major, the comma in recent British history.

Cameron deserved more credit than he was given for winning last years election. It wasnt possible, they said, for a governing party to increase its share of the vote. The opinion polls said so too. He showed steel, focus, self-belief and a deep understanding of the British people. He earned the right to impose his vision on the country and, at last years Conservative party conference, he set out a programme that seemed to answer the moment: an all-out assault on poverty, on mental illness and on a prison system that only turns soft criminals into hardened ones.

Six months later and triumph is about to be swallowed by disaster. I wont predict the result of the EU referendum  we sayers of sooth have learned our lesson over the past year  but I think a vote to leave the EU is more likely than people think. Certainly, the Prime Minister is worried. He fears that Labour voters are not much motivated to turn out on 23 June.

That was why Jeremy Corbyns speech on Thursday was so important. I thought he made a clever and effective speech. He softened his opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the free-trade deal being negotiated between the EU and the US. Which is just as well, because, even if you think TTIP is an oppressive capitalist conspiracy, which it isnt, no EU member state has to accept it, so it isn't much of an argument against EU membership.

Instead, Corbyn praised the virtues of the EU as protector of workers rights and a bulwark against the worst excesses of Tory rule. He delivered a cynically partisan warning that, if we left the EU, it wouldnt be a Labour government negotiating a better settlement for working people with the EU  it would be a Tory government, quite possibly led by Boris Johnson and backed by Nigel Farage. Farage has nothing to do with it, but he is more alarming to Labour activists than Johnson.

As a political obsessive, I enjoyed the skill with which a lifelong Eurosceptic managed to make the opposite case in a way most likely to appeal to his own side. But as an obsessive, I am liable to exaggerate how much Corbyns anti-EU past has confused Labours referendum message. Among those who think they know, voters divide about four to one in believing both Corbyn and the Labour Party to be on the side of Remain rather than Leave. The problem is that 40 per cent say they dont know. One of the aims of the Remain campaign over the next two months is to inform them that Labour supports staying in the EU.

When it comes to it, though, the Prime Minister is still relying on Labour supporters to come out to vote for the option he, a Tory retoxified by the Panama Papers, advocates. Which might work if the arguments for staying in the EU were as compelling as he thought they were.

I was struck by a poll carried out last month by James Morris of GQRR for the Fabian Society. Olivia Bailey of the Fabians reported: After voters are exposed to detailed arguments on both sides of the debate, the race shifts in Leaves favour. By asking how people intended to vote at the start and the end of the survey, it found a two-and-a-half-point swing to Leave after respondents were shown the main arguments from both campaigns.

Never mind the headline figures suggesting a close result  those are not worth much at this stage  that is the kind of finding to get Cameron thinking of getting Samantha and the children into the gallery of the House of Commons to witness what might be his last Prime Ministers Questions on 20 July.

He had been banking on the fundamentals of the economy to win through this time, as they did in the Scottish referendum and in the general election. But those fundamentals may not be the same this time, as he is posing abstractions such as GDP and inward investment against people's personal experience of the free movement of EU workers.

Why, he must be asking himself, did he promise the referendum in the first place? But he knows the answer to that better than most: because he couldnt have won the 2015 election unless he had done so. It bought him unity in his own party, and stemmed the loss of votes to Ukip (which ended up taking nearly as many votes from Labour as from the Tories), just enough to get him across the line.

So that could be the end of him, in just 10 weeks time. If he loses the referendum, he would "not last 30 seconds" as Prime Minister as the pro-EU Kenneth Clarke put it on Friday, let alone the two years it might take to negotiate Britains separation from the EU. His party wouldn't have him. There would be no time to start his all-out assault on poverty, let alone to finish it; and he would have served six years and one month as Prime Minister against Major's six and a half years.

He would be cut down in his prime, not yet 50, with a caretaker record as the Prime Minister who managed to close only 63 per cent of the post-crash deficit; who fought a war in Libya that made things worse, like Iraq but smaller; and who kept Scotland in the UK only to see it gearing up for a second referendum, this time to break away to rejoin the EU.

The cruelty and caprice of politics is quite something.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The creeping death of capital punishment in America is now becoming as ghoulish as the death penalty itself.

No longer is the debate about the basic merits of a practice that has been abolished either de jure or de facto by three quarters of the countries on the planet. Its about whether the companies and pharmacies that provide the drugs used for lethal injection - in effect the sole method of execution used here - should have their identities protected by law to spare them public protest and commercial embarrassment.

Take the latest convoluted turn of events in Virginia. This one-time cornerstone of the Confederacy has traditionally been an enthusiastic practitioner of capital punishment. But Virginias machinery of death  to use the term coined by Harry Blackmun, the great Supreme Court justice who in the 1990s turned from acquiescence to outright opposition to the death penalty  is now paralysed by the difficulty of obtaining the drugs, and by the arguments over a shield law for suppliers.

As a result Virginia has managed to put only one person to death in the last three years. And other death penalty states like Arkansas, Ohio and Missouri are being forced into similar legal contortions, as they seek to get hold of the drugs while concealing the source of them.

This week, Governor Terry McAuliffe tried to cut the Gordian knot. McAuliffe, it should be noted, is a Democrat and a Catholic who personally opposes capital punishment. But Virginias legislature is Republican-controlled and in favour of the death penalty, and McAuliffe has said he will abide by its wishes. So he came up with a compromise.

He vetoed a Republican bill that would have simply ordered that if drugs couldnt be found for a lethal injection, then the electric chair, Virginias former method of execution, should be used instead. The chair, McAuliffe said, was reprehensible and inhumane. Instead, he put forward an amendment to the bill, requiring that the names of drug suppliers should be kept secret, even in the event of a botched execution.

McAuliffe will probably have his way. Liberal Democrats are furious that he's maintaining capital punishment, but the Republican majority in the states Assembly has little choice but to go along if it wants a death penalty at all. And thereby hangs (if you pardon the pun) a larger problem. America, slowly but surely, is turning towards getting rid of it.

The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners Show all 21 1 /21 The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657587.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657108.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657109.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657110.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657111.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657112.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657113.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657114.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657115.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657116.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657117.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657118.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657119.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657120.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657121.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657122.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657123.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657124.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657125.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657126.bin The last testimony: The final words of Texas death row prisoners 657127.bin

In its latest report into the death penalty worldwide, Amnesty International stated that 1,634 known judicial executions took place in 2015, a jump of over 50 per cent in a year. But the vast bulk were in three countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.

Then of course theres China, which releases no figures, but whose total might well double the Amnesty figure. The US, however, is now a very modest contributor to the total.

In 2015, only 28 people were executed here, the fewest in a quarter century (and one of them after a 36-year wait on death row.) Moreover, all but four died in just three states: Texas, Georgia and Missouri.

Of the 50 US states, 34 havent executed anyone over the last five years, and soon South Carolina, another historical bastion of the death penalty, will join them.

Juries too are handing down far fewer death sentences, only 49 in 2015. Texas, long Americas chief executioner, was responsible for only two of them. For the first time in decades, the death row population has dropped below 3,000  and only a relative handful of them will actually meet their end in the execution chamber.

Nowhere is the situation more absurd than in California, where the machinery is so rusty it's falling to pieces. Its death row, housing 743 inmates, is the most populous of any state, and no wonder. Since California re-instated the death penalty in 1978, just 13 people have been executed, the last of them a decade ago. And all this at a cost of no less than $4bn in taxpayers' money. In economic terms alone, capital punishment is a lousy deal.

But thats far from the only reason the tide is turning. The biggest one is the near certainty, as DNA evidence has become more conclusive, that innocent people have been put to death.

Last year alone, six death row inmates were exonerated. Its anyones guess how many more wrongly convicted murderers are still there, victims of tampered evidence, over-zealous prosecutors and clueless, ill-paid defence lawyers. Small wonder a majority of Americans, when offered the choice, prefer life imprisonment without parole to the lethal injection gurney.

Thus far the demise of the death penalty has been gradual and incremental. McAuliffes manoevring is part of the process  and it too could come to grief as journalists use the freedom of speech provisions of the First Amendment to identify suppliers of the drugs, and condemned inmates seek the latters names, arguing a constitutional right to do so.

But everything could soon change. The ultimate arbiter is the Supreme Court, which during a quarter century of conservative control has merely chipped away at the death penalty, for instance by barring the execution of minors and the mentally incompetent. Otherwise it has deferred to the states.

It has shied clear of reviewing the underlying constitutionality of the death penalty, not only under the 8th amendment barring cruel and unusual punishment, but also the 14th, that stipulates equal protection of the laws for all.

In reality the ultimate punishment is disproportionately reserved for blacks and Hispanics, and its imposition is a lottery. The death penalty is supposed to be for the worst of the worst  but in one state, even one county of the same state, you could be sentenced to death, but in another state or county receive 20 years for an identical offence. So much for equal protection.

Now, however, the Supreme Court that Blackmun once graced could be transformed, should Democrats win back the presidency and control of the Senate (as polls suggest they will, if Donald Trump or Ted Cruz is the Republican nominee.) Right now there is a vacancy on the nine-person bench, meaning an equal split between four conservatives and four liberals.

But a new Democratic president could, and surely would, choose a liberal, meaning there would be a majority ready to accept a case challenging the very constitutionality of capital punishment. And if the Court were to agree, not only would Terry McAuliffe be off the hook. America would be a better place.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Have you ever identified yourself as something, lived and breathed it all your life, and then told youre not really what you believe yourself to be?

Ive always called myself a Muslim, but recently the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) made a statement about me, saying the beliefs I follow mean I cannot be eligible for affiliation with the Muslim Council.

Whats my offence - am I neglecting my prayers, or not eating halal meat? No: Im a member of the Ahmadiyya community.

Ahmadiyya Muslims believe their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was Islams Messiah and Mahdi, who came to revive Islam, reform Muslims and bring humanity back to God. But because other Muslims will not accept any more messengers, the MCB have declared me and fellow Ahmadiyya Muslims as non-believers.

I know what I am. As a young boy, I regularly went to the mosque, and often made the call to prayer. I loved attending religious classes and was addicted to reading about Islam, especially the life of the Prophet Muhammad. I was in secondary school when my father wrote a response to Salman Rushdies The Satanic Verses and other books that vilified the Prophet. This inspired me to write about my faith too, and defend the Prophets honour whenever and wherever he was insulted.

Soon after graduating, I got married to my wife, who has always proudly worn the hijab. We have three beautiful children and continued the same tradition as our parents in raising them - teaching them the Quran and Islamic etiquettes, and going to the mosque. My eldest son has already decided that he wants to become an imam!

All my life, I have believed in the five pillars and six articles of faith. Furthermore, my community requires me to make the Quran and hadith my guiding principles, to invoke blessings on the Prophet, and to put Islam above everyone and everything. Whenever I leave the house, I wear a ring with the inscription Is Allah not sufficient for His servant?

However, while I fulfil all the descriptions of a Muslim given by Allah and the Prophet, the MCB says that Muslims should not be forced to class Ahmadis as Muslims if they do not wish to do so. But their own criterion for who is and isnt a Muslim has no basis in the primary Islamic sources. Its also inconsistent with the belief of the majority of Muslims, including their own affiliates that Jesus - a Prophet - will come again in future.

Why should this even matter to an outsider? The MCB has for long been a credible organisation, representing several mosques and Islamic groups, and done a lot of valuable work on behalf of Muslim communities across the UK. But their recent statement has wider, and potentially dangerous, implications for us all.

When Muslims start playing God in this way, religious prejudice, bigotry and hate will inevitably rise  including here in Britain. The MCB claims to be committed to pluralism, peaceful coexistence and extend a hand of friendship and cooperation for the common good of all, but seems to have a different rule when it comes to Ahmadiyya Muslims.

They appear content to regard extremists like the murderer of Asad Shah and hate preachers as among their co-religionists, but not those who live by the motto love for all, hatred for none.

Whatever the theological differences, no individual or institution has any authority to dictate what anyone else can and cannot call themselves. My faith is a matter between me and my Maker.

Freedom of belief and the right to self-determination are among the cornerstones of any progressive society. The Prophet Muhammad certainly stood up for those rights - one hopes bodies like the Muslim Council of Britain does too.
State owned AIB could face fines potentially amounting to 260m if a whistle-blowers claims that the bank exaggerated its success in dealing with problem loans are confirmed.

On Friday, RTE reported that an unnamed whistle-blower had contacted the Central Bank claiming that AIBs progress on restructuring problem loans had been exaggerated.

If true it would cast a big doubt over the financial position of the bank, and particular paper profits known as write-backs generated over recent years, as it prepared for a stock market sale.

AIB is undertood not to have been aware of the claims before being contacted by RTE.

The case is the first in Ireland to be investigated under the authority of the European Central Banks (ECB) new single supervisory mechanism.

If it finds breaches the ECB can impose penalties of up to 10pc of a banks annual turnover in the preceding business year. AIBs operating income last year was 2.6bn.

Alternatively fines can be double the profits gained as a result of any breach.

It is understood that the whistle-blower, who has not been named, did not use the banks internal complaints processes before contacting regulators.

While the investigation that has now been launched will run under the authority of the ECB its likely that work on the ground will be carried out by staff from the Central Bank of Ireland, reporting to Frankfurt.

A key issue for investigators is whether the banks valuation of its loans resulted in AIB reporting higher profits through so called write-backs.

Write-backs occur when a bank adjusts-up the valuation of previously identified problem loans.

Its a paper exercise, but the difference between the old and new valuations is counted as profit by the bank.

AIB, and other Irish banks, generated substantial profits through write-backs as the economy recovered.

Last year, AIBs annual profit of 1.9bn included 925m of loan write-backs.

The same annual results showed that AIBs impaired loans dropped from 21.8bn at the end of 2014 to 13.1bn last year.

Any improvement in a banks balance sheet frees up capital  because less cash has to be set aside to cope with potential losses.

Valuing loans is notoriously tricky. Two years ago the Central Bank warned lenders to be cautious in reading across from recovering house prices to the value of their books of mortgages. However, even the regulator has no fixed formula for valuing loans.

According to RTE, the AIB whistle-blower worked as a manager in the banks Financial Solutions Group which manages problem loans mostly linked to businesses.

The allegations are understood to include that some loans were moved out of the problem unit altogether, when they should not have been, and that others were classed as better performing than the reality, so that cash set aside to cover losses from 100pc of the loan value in some cases reduced to two thirds of the value.

The ECB investigation will initially have to establish the facts of the case. If it finds grounds for further action it will be referred on to the Enforcement and Sanctions Division for follow-up, so the duration of a probe is difficult to predict.
The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan has confirmed that more than half of NAMA's debtors with debts of 18.5bn have exited the agency.

NAMA initially paid 31.8bn to acquire a 74bn loan book, comprising of 779 debtor connections.

In a series of written Dail replies to Paul Murphy TD (Anti Austerity Alliance) on NAMA's operations, Mr Noonan said that at March 31 this year, "442 debtor connections with a par debt of 18.5bn had exited NAMA".

"This comprises debtor connections that reached a final agreement with NAMA and debtor connections whose loans were sold," he said. "Forty four debtor connections have repaid their par debt in full. I am further advised that the 442 debtor connections have repaid 9.6bn to the Agency.

"NAMA is on track to recover all of the 31.8bn it paid to the banks, including the 5.6bn in State aid and the 4.5bn of further value declines to the end of 2013.

"In addition, NAMA expects, based on current projections, to generate a surplus of up to 2bn by the time it completes its work after all its financial obligations have been repaid."

On NAMA's progress in building homes to assist the housing market, Mr Noonan said the agency is already making significant progress.

He said that since 2014, NAMA has funded the construction of 2,700 new residential units in Ireland on residential development land within its portfolio; a further 3,300 are under construction of which 2,700 are in the Dublin area and planning permission has been granted for an additional 4,800 units of which 4,200 are in the Dublin area.

He said that planning applications have been lodged for 4,300 units of which 3,500 are in the Dublin area and that new applications will be lodged within the next 12 months for 7,237 units of which 5,800 are in the Dublin area.

The minister said he hoped local authorities would be able to reduce barriers to further development by progressing the necessary infrastructure such as roads, water sewerage, transport and schools

Minister Noonan also stated that NAMA has also advanced over 250m in capital expenditure to facilitate the provision of office space to meet demand from both domestic and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) employers.
NTR is focusing its activities on European wind energy assets, and particularly on Ireland and the UK.

Irish renewables firm NTR plc has returned almost 132m to shareholders after completing a share redemption.

It leaves the Roche family's Dreamport investment vehicle in control of 96.1pc of NTR plc. The family had previously indicated it would not be taking part in the share redemption.

About 400 shareholders who didn't did take part in the redemption now retain 3.9pc of NTR between them.

The redemption scheme had been unveiled last year by NTR, coupled with a demerger process.

That saw its European wind energy assets hived off into NTR plc, while the legacy assets including interests in a water utility and road concessions, remained with the existing NTR company.

That NTR firm has been renamed Atlas Investments.

Atlas is being chaired by former INM chief executive Vincent Crowley. It's likely its assets will be sold off over time.

One51, the environmental and plastics group, owned 24pc of NTR. A vehicle controlled by businessman Nick Furlong, Pageant Holdings, owned 9.2pc. Both One51 and Pageant have been vocal critics of NTR in the past. Both took part in the redemption scheme.

NTR is focusing its activities on European wind energy assets, and particularly on Ireland and the UK.

In February, NTR closed a 250m wind energy equity fund, and was in talks with a number of financial institutions about debt-funding possibilities.

Of the 250m fund, 50m had been raised from Strathclyde Pension Fund, and 35m from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency.The Strathyclyde Pension Fund is one of Europe's top 50 pension funds.

Legal & General Capital has a 47pc stake in the NTR fund, while NTR has itself invested 50m.

NTR said yesterday that since the announcement in February, it has secured 79m in debt financing to finance two wind projects, Ora More in Northern Ireland, and Quixwood Moor in Scotland.

The company is targeting a total windfarm investment on the island of Ireland of at least 300m over the next couple of years, equating to about 100 megawatts of energy output in the single energy market.
Trans-Atlantic relations inched dangerously close to the precipice this week after Brussels threatened to reimpose visas for American holidaymakers and business travellers.

It's unlikely the EU will ever make good on its threat, given the tourism, trade and diplomatic costs, but the incident is just one of several ostensibly isolated issues that are testing diplomatic ties.

The US this week refused to waive visas for citizens of Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Cyprus and Poland - despite enjoying visa- free access to those countries. (Canada did the same for Bulgaria and Romania.)

The EU is within its rights to retaliate, but stopped short of doing so on Tuesday over fears it would prompt a tit-for-tat move across the pond, which could cost EU holidaymakers up to 3bn more in visa fees and cost the EU tourist industry at least 1.8bn. Ireland is not affected as it's not part of the EU's visa system.

EU migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos said the issue would remain "high on the agenda of our bilateral relations" and that he was seeking "a balanced and fair outcome" by 12 July, after consulting EU governments and MEPs.

The visa skirmish is just one of the many flashpoints in EU-US relations that, taken together, could add up to something more serious.

Ireland's deep ties to US business, especially on tax, means this country risk being caught in the cross-fire. A probe by Margrethe Vestager, the Danish competition commissioner, into the taxes paid here by Apple has now been running for two years, with the Irish and US governments pitched on the same side as Apple chief executive Tim Cook in the row with Brussels.

"If the visa issue were to come to a head that would not be good for EU-US relations right now," said Sudha David-Wilp, a senior fellow with the Berlin-based German Marshall Fund. "There are so many things at stake."

One of those is a deal on transatlantic data transfers, known as Privacy Shield.

EU privacy watchdogs refused to sign off on the deal this week, warning that it fails to protect EU citizens from "massive and indiscriminate surveillance" by US national security services.

It leaves EU and US data transfers in legal limbo, with massive implications for tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and others.

The European Parliament has had a long-running beef with the US over data protection, and has repeatedly refused to sign off on bank transfer agreements (Swift) and airline passenger name records (PNR).

Under pressure to help intelligence services after the Brussels terror attacks, MEPs adopted a new PNR agreement this week, but only alongside strict data protection rules they say will give citizens control over their personal information.

"Transatlantic relations are so multifaceted," said Ms David-Wilp. "In the post-Cold War period there was a tendency to focus on security relations, but we should not forget that commercial relations between the EU and US are also vital."

Trade has been a barometer of EU-US relations as both sides seek to ink a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), a vast, 24-chapter deal to reduce tariffs and harmonise standards in sectors as diverse as food, cars and medical devices.

Since the deal was launched three years ago, talks have repeatedly broken down, most recently over the arcane issue of investor protection in disputes with foreign states.

US President Barack Obama is travelling to Germany at the end of April, where he will open the Hannover trade fair, while the 13th round of TTIP talks kicks off in Washington the same week.

But negotiators will have to work hard to ensure the deal does not fall victim to US campaign trail politics, with Republic front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders both criticising free trade as anti-American.

German MEP David McCallister, who heads the European Parliament's US delegation, says EU-US relations will be "further tested" by the UK's EU referendum.

President Obama's second and last stop on his European tour is the UK, betraying the significance of the vote for transatlantic relations.

But Heather Conley, director of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, says the US weighing into the debate could do more harm than good.

"It is an enormous risk," she said this week. "I mean, if you can imagine if David Cameron would come to the United States and tell us there's no way we should vote the way we're voting because it's illogical and irrational  We would tell them to get lost, right?"

It wouldn't be the first time President Obama has insulted his European allies.

In a recent interview in 'The Atlantic' magazine, he referred to France and the UK as "free riders" on US defence spending during the 2011 Libya campaign.

He has urged EU countries to boost defence budgets for Syria, to help defeat the Islamic State, author of the recent Paris and Brussels terror attacks and reason for the massive refugee surge into Europe.

Then there is Ukraine, where an EU-brokered ceasefire is once again faltering. The EU will decide by July whether to extend economic sanctions on Russia as a result.

The European Council on Foreign Relations says all of this demonstrates "a dramatic shift in the agenda of EU-US relations", with the US "relatively insulated from the costs of sanctions, refugees, and terrorism, while Europe is in the firing line".

The EU and US are also divided over debt relief for Greece, while the bloc's state aid chief has had to defend herself against US accusations that she is "disproportionately" targeting American multinationals such as Apple, McDonald's, and Starbucks.

With so many different flash points to contend with, it is difficult to see where the endgame is for EU-US relations.

"We have in general a reasonably good relationship," says MEP Marian Harkin. "If we fell out amongst ourselves, it would only benefit the Putins of this world."
The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir has signed a deal with Decca Records

The NHS Choir has signed a deal with the same record label as Justin Bieber.

The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS choir won the battle for the Christmas number one against the Canadian pop star last year after he urged his fans to support them.

He called on his fans to "do the right thing" and help the charity single get to the top spot, saying that "for one week it's okay not to be number one".

Following the success of their song A Bridge Over You, they have been signed to Decca Records who will release their debut album titled Something Inside So Strong.

Choir co-ordinator Caroline Smith, who works as a children's physiotherapist, said: "I'm delighted to be able to represent and support the NHS with such a special album.

"When everyone comes together in the choir it's really powerful, I've never experienced anything quite like it."

Decca is a part of Universal Music which represents big-name artists such as Bieber, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and more.

The choir is made up of around 30 members of staff from across the NHS workforce.

The album is due for release in May and is described as being "a collection of uplifting classics from those at the heart of the NHS".

It will also be a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the passing of the NHS Act of July 1946.

Royalties will be paid into the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and will be used to provide services that "enhance patient experience or staff working lives".

There is no mention of a cover of a Bieber song, but the track list does include popular songs such as Bill Withers's Lean On Me , Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud and Carole King's You've Got a Friend.
After months of speculation, Louis Walsh has finally confirmed he's gearing up for an X Factor comeback.

Speaking on the Late Late Show on RTE One on Friday he said, "I might be [back] and I should be and I probably will be but I actually haven't signed my contract yet."

Louis revealed he had met with Simon in LA last week while Simon filmed America's Got Talent with Howie Mandel and Heidi Klum.

The Mayo music man had a year off from the show after being axed ahead of last year's disastrous series which instead featured Nick Grimshaw on the judging panel with Cheryl Fernandez Versini, Rita Ora, and Cowell.

Expand Close Louis Walsh on the Late Late Show / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Louis Walsh on the Late Late Show

On Cheryl's recent announcement that she won't return this year, he said, "I didn't say I'm delighted but she's gone. Grimmy's gone - he didn't really work out."

Louis revealed that neither he nor Sharon Osbourne have signed their contracts yet for the upcoming series although he says the reality show star and wife of Ozzy Osbourne will be back.

Sharon judged on four series of the show until 2008 when she was replaced by Cheryl.

"I had a good year off," said Louis. "I think the best year was to not be there and be missed. It was a really good move. Grimmy didn't work, let's be honest.

"I think they want the fun back and I think Sharon and I bring a lot of fun. She's not afraid of Simon. There's always tension between those two. He cannot control her because she doesn't know what she's going to say herself until she's on it."

Auditions for X Factor take place at the 3Arena in Dublin next Sunday and Louis says he's hoping to find Irish talent to take through to the live shows.

"I want to get somebody great from Ireland this year. I want to find somebody great from Ireland and get them on the show."

Video of the Day

Read More

Louis speculated that Rita Ora may return to the judging panel or she should be replaced by Nicole Sherzinger who previously judged on the panel alongside Louis and Sharon.

With Nick, Olly, Caroline, and now Cheryl Fernandez Versini all bowing out after what was deemed a hugely disappointing series last year, it looks like Cowell is getting back to basics.

The room auditions will also return this year, saving auditionees the trauma of having their first audition in front of a baying arena audience. However, it is expected that the controversial Six Chair Challenge will remain.
Matt LeBlanc shared a picture of him filming for the upcoming series with rapper Tinie Tempah (BBC/PA)

Matt LeBlanc with a new Rolls-Royce Dawn, during filming for the new series of Top Gear

Matt LeBlanc has taken the wheel of the new Rolls-Royce Dawn and put it through its paces around Ireland's Ring of Kerry.

Viewers of BBC Two's new series of Top Gear will see the former Friends star driving around Co Kerry's scenic route in the luxurious convertible (or drophead).

The name Dawn was previously given to just 28 drophead models between 1950 and 1954.

Fine Gael politician Brendan Griffin praised the show's Irish adventures earlier this week, saying he was "delighted".

Expand Close Matt LeBlanc filming Top Gear in Kerry. PIC: BBC Pictures / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Matt LeBlanc filming Top Gear in Kerry. PIC: BBC Pictures

He revealed he had contacted the popular motoring show two years ago to invite them to film in Kerry and the Wild Atlantic Way.

"I believed that the landscape, the roads and the people would be a perfect fit for the programme," he said.

Expand Close Matt LeBlanc filming Top Gear in Kerry. PIC: BBC Pictures / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Matt LeBlanc filming Top Gear in Kerry. PIC: BBC Pictures

He added that a visit would expose the area to a "whole new audience and will present a massive opportunity for tourism".

One lucky fan has already snapped a selfie with Matt LeBlanc in Killarney ahead of Top Gear filming this weekend.

Expand Close Louise O'Donoghue and Matt LeBlanc PIC: Kerry's Full Breakfast, Facebook / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Louise O'Donoghue and Matt LeBlanc PIC: Kerry's Full Breakfast, Facebook

Louise O'Donoghue sent her selfie and a pic of his autograph to Kerry's Full Breakfast on Radio Kerry.

She bumped into new Top Gear presenter Matt in The Killarney Oaks Hotel on Thursday night.

Expand Close Matt LeBlanc's autograph. PIC: Kerry's Full Breakfast, Facebook / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Matt LeBlanc's autograph. PIC: Kerry's Full Breakfast, Facebook

Speaking to Ray D'Arcy on his RTE Radio One show, Louise said she was an "obsessed" Friends fan.

"I was going in [to The Killarney Oaks] for a pint after work and he was there," she said.

Looks like an awesome drive. https://t.co/zuKbBP04Lv  Matt LeBlanc (@Matt_LeBlanc) April 14, 2016

Video of the Day

"He was sitting behind me and I started freaking out. I went up to the bodyguard. Nobody was going up to him, so I went up and asked if it was okay if I got an autograph and a picture, if he didn't mind.

"He was having dinner but after I got an autograph, hug and pictures. I was so happy. I was like a little girl!"

LeBlanc, fellow host Chris Evans, and the Top Gear crew are in the Kingdom this weekend to film two segments for the upcoming new series.

Speaking on his BBC radio show on Wednesday, Evans revealed they would be hitting Dingle and Killorglin.

"Matt and I are going to Ireland on Friday to make a couple of Top Gear films that will be combined. We're thinking of going to the Dingle area," he said.

Evans spoke to his newsreader, who is of Irish stock, about where to visit and asked her about Dingle.

She said, "It's beautiful, wonderful food, lovely pubs".

"We won't have time for any of that!" he replied, "Technically we'll be working. We'll try and eke out some time for a bit of socialising."

Evans also mentioned visiting the neighbouring village of Killorglin and asked about driving further south along the coast.

"We don't want to go inland, we want to go on the coast road. It's better for shots," he said.

Netflix confirmed that the new series will be streamed internationally and it will premiere on BBC One in May.
Yard of Peter Kingston's farm in Nohoval, co. Cork where an auction was held to sell the fan dairy herd Pic: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

A bank-ordered auction of one of Ireland's top dairy herds because of a 2.4m farm debt was thrown into chaos after it emerged more than half the animals purchased will now have to be re-sold.

The auction on Tuesday of more than 1,000 pedigree dairy animals on Peter Kingston's farm at Nohoval, Co Cork made national headlines after an injunction was sought to prevent land rights and debt relief campaigners from preventing the sale, arranged by Cork Sherrif Sinead McNamara, from proceeding.

Mr Kingston wept as his animals were sold, with buyers attending the auction from all over Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.

The Craden Hill farm was established by his father, George Kingston (77), in 1972 and it was developed into one of the top dairy operations in Europe.

The farm was established by the Kingston family thanks to the profits from their bee hive operation. However, in a startling development, auctioneer Denis Barrett confirmed last night that more than half the herd will now have to be re-sold after buyers failed to comply with the specific terms of sale.

"The sales agent, Denis Barrett, acting on behalf of the Cork County Sheriff representing creditors who are owed a significant level of debt by Peter Kingston, wishes to state that it is with regret that approximately 500 animals that were bid upon at a pedigree herd auction, held earlier this week at a farm in Nohoval, Kinsale Co Cork, must now be resold due to a failure to receive payment," a statement released last night confirmed.

Expense

"A significant number of animals, many of which were expected to achieve the highest prices on the day, were bid upon by two parties who have failed to comply with the terms and conditions in relation to payment.

"It is with regret, added expense and frustration that the sales agent must now proceed with an online tender process for the resale of the animals when legitimate bidders lost out on the opportunity to acquire the animals in question at the auction."

It is understood the bulk of the animals involved were the dairy cows which were the highlight of the auction.

Mr Kingston described the auction last Tuesday as "absolutely heartbreaking".

He said he had made five offers to his bank in a bid to resolve the debt impasse without success.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is examining a "substantial file" in relation to the death of a teenager whose mother believes was cyberbullied.

Darren Hughes Gibson (17) was found dead at the Stephenstown Industrial Estate in Balbriggan, north country Dublin, on August 23, 2012.

He had been reported missing by his mother, Elaine Hughes after he failed to return to the family home at New Haven Bay the previous night.

The file that gardai submitted to the DPP contains 2,500 pages of documents obtained from Facebook through mutual assistance between Irish and US authorities.

Det Insp Kieran Holohan of Balbriggan Garda Station told Dublin Coroner's Court that "a substantial file has been submitted to the DPP".

"The material obtained from Facebook in the US forms part of the file and the issue is now with the DPP," Det Insp Holohan said.

Elaine Hughes asked a number of questions relating to the file. "What kind of file has gone in? Is there any specifics in it?" she asked.

"It's a very difficult situation," Det Insp Holohan replied. "The file consists of all the issues we could generate," he said.

The family met privately with gardai after the hearing.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said he was glad the information had been obtained from Facebook, and apologised to Ms Hughes for the ongoing delay.

"You have always been very helpful, I don't mind about the delay, I have nothing but time," she replied.

At a previous inquest last January, Ms Hughes called on gardai to bring charges in relation to her son's death. She said her son had been bullied throughout his life for the colour of his skin and because he wore a hearing aid.

Facebook made more than 2,500 pages of messages sent to and from Darren's account available to gardai. The information provided by Facebook includes messages that were deleted after the teenager's death and messages that include inferences of harassment and bullying.

Dr Farrell adjourned the inquest until August 16. It's expected a decision from the DPP will be forthcoming before the next hearing.
The "crushing cost" of High Court litigation needs to be tackled, according to a senior judge hearing a whistleblower case being taken by Cork-based training firm Euro Safety against State agency FAS.

The comments by Justice Max Barrett were made as he refused a request by FAS, now known as Solas, to force Euro Safety to provide a substantial security deposit for costs that the latter would incur if it was to lose the litigation.

Euro Safety is suing FAS for alleged acts of negligence and malfeasance. The firm claims it had been "victimised and blacklisted" for reporting activities of some FAS staff.

Euro Safety provides training for construction workers, including the 'Safe Pass' scheme.

The firm claimed that in 2002 it told FAS of alleged "unauthorised activities" being undertaken by a rival training firm and FAS employees.

The following year, the so-called Spollen Report - drafted as a result of the Euro Safety allegations - highlighted failures in FAS safety training in the construction industry.

The report warned top FAS executives that the matters raised were of a "very serious nature".

In 2012, Euro Safety filed a claim for damages against FAS. Euro Safety maintains that the result of the alleged 'blacklisting' is that it has suffered a loss of reputation and consequent financial losses to its business, and will continue to do so.

Last year, FAS asked the High Court to force Euro Safety to hand over hundreds of thousands of euro by way of a security deposit for the case.

FAS accountants have estimated the case will cost it 600,000 to complete and Euro Safety could have to pay the FAS costs if the Cork firm loses.

"To put matters differently it would take roughly 20 times the current median annual salary and about 30 times the present minimum annual salary to take the present proceedings from start to finish," Justice Barrett said. "This level of costs is now (regrettably) typical and inevitably throws up dilemmas of the kind now presenting."

That 600,000 is just the forecast legal costs for FAS. The total legal bill for both sides could approach 1m, but in reality is likely to be considerably less, given that the case won't probably last as long as the 20 days FAS envisages it will.But there is likely to be a huge amount of discovery necessary in the case, which might not be heard until 2019.

Justice Barrett said that Euro Safety believed the case would "die a death" if it was forced to pay a security deposit. It did not have such funds available. He said the Euro Safety case is a matter of public interest.

"At a more general level the case highlights, yet again, the need for a systemic solution to the present crushing cost of High Court litigation," he added.

How the legal bills add up

Accountants at FAS reckon the cost of completing the Euro Safety case will bejust over 600,000.

The total cost for both sides could approach 1m. The reality is that it will probably be considerably less, but still so much that it could dissuade those without deep pockets.

The 600,000 projected by FAS for its owns costs includes 220,000 in solicitors fees and 180,000 in total for both senior and junior counsels fees.

But that anticipated cost is based on a trial that might run for 20 days. Justice Max Barrett doesnt think it will last that long, but said that even if an unscientific 50pc was knocked off the estimated trial costs presented by FAS, Euro Safety would still face considerable difficulty in meeting the level of costs then arising if it lost.

Solicitors professional fees 220,000

Postage and sundries 2,500

Senior Counsels fees 108,500

Junior Counsels fees 71,150

Expert witness expenses 35,000

Shorthand writer 45,000

Solicitor outlays 1,500

VAT (on fees @ 23%) 109,744.50

Total estimated costs 601,394.50
Two Dublin men appearing at an out-of-hours sitting of the Special Criminal Court this evening have been charged with possession of 150kg of explosives.

The men were also charged with IRA membership.

John Brock (43) and John Roche (52) were arrested this afternoon by members of the Special Detective Unit as part of ongoing investigations into dissident republican activity.

Mr Brock, with an address at Cushlawn Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24, and Mr Roche, with an address at Bridgefoot St, Dublin 8, were both charged with possession of 57kg of homemade explosives, consisting of ammonium nitrate fuel mix, and thirty-eight 2.5kg rolls of Kemegel industrial explosives at Naas Rd, Dublin 12, on April 13th, 2016.

Both men were also charged with membership of an unlawful organisation, styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA, on the same date.

Detective Garda Dermot Bolger, of the Special Detective Unit, told State Solicitor Michael O'Donovan that he arrested Mr Brock under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act at 3.15pm today on St Ronan's Avenue, Clondalkin.

He said he explained to Mr Brock the reason for his arrest in ordinary language and cautioned him.

Mr Brock made no reply, the court heard.

The detective garda detained Mr Roche in Ronanstown garda station before transporting him to the Special Criminal Court, where he showed the charged man a copy of the original charge sheet, to which Mr Brock again made no reply, the court heard.

Detective Garda Deirdre Ryan, also of the Special Detective Unit, told the court that she arrested Mr Roche this afternoon at Rossmore Avenue, Ballyfermot.

She explained to Mr Roche the reason for his arrest in ordinary language and cautioned him, to which Mr Roche made no reply, the court heard.

The detective garda said that she then detained Mr Roche in Ballyfermot garda station before transporting him to the Special Criminal Court, where she showed the charged man a copy of the original charge sheet.

Again, Mr Roche made no reply, the court heard.

When the registrar read the charges to the men, neither of them stood up.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Paul Butler, sitting with Judge Alison Lindsay and Judge Martin Nolan, remanded both Mr Brock and Mr Roche in custody until next Thursday morning, April 21, when bail applications are expected to be made.
Detectives have three main strands of key evidence in the gun murder of Martin O'Rourke which will help them press charges.

Sources have revealed that gardai have "excellent quality" CCTV of the gunman immediately before and after the broad-daylight shooting of the innocent father-of-three on Dublin's Sheriff Street.

Gardai also recovered the gun used in the murder and the bicycle the killer escaped on within minutes of him firing the fatal shots.

Bin

They will provide vital forensic and ballistic evidence for the officers based in Store Street Garda Station who are investigating the fifth murder linked to the Kinahan cartel-Hutch gang feud.

A small black handgun, suspected of being used to murder Mr O'Rourke, was found in a bin on Sheriff Street Lower, only a few metres from where the murder happened outside Noctor's pub.

Intended target Keith Murtagh is understood to have left the pub at the same time as Mr O'Rourke was passing on the street.

It is thought that both men ran for cover when the gunman approached and that Mr O'Rourke may have ended up stuck between his killer and Murtagh.

It is understood that after the shooting a friend of Murtagh contacted gardai and asked them to provide an escort out of the area.

Witnesses saw the gunman flee the area on a bike. He travelled down Sheriff Street Lower in the direction of Seville Place and Guild Street.

He then abandoned the bike at the lower end of Sheriff Street Lower before exiting on to Seville Place, which runs from the Five Lamps to the Samuel Beckett Bridge.

Gardai have appealed for any witnesses to the incident - the shooting took place in a busy area of the city, behind Connolly Station and in broad daylight - to come forward to help them trace the killer's movements.

Supt Kevin Gralton, who is leading the investigation, said any such information would be treated in complete confidence.

"Sheriff Street, Oriel Place and Seville Place is an area that we patrol extensively. It gets very good coverage. An innocent bystander getting shot, if that is the case, of course it's a low," he told a press conference on Thursday.

"But that, when these shootings are being carried out, is always a risk."

Supt Gralton said officers believe the victim tried to escape from the gunman but was shot at up to six times.

Running

"The victim was alone. The indications thus far was that he was seen running, but that has yet to be fully established," he said.

Intended target Murtagh is very well-known to gardai because of his involvement in crime. He is best pals with jailed killer Derek 'Del Boy' Hutch, the brother of feud victim Gary Hutch.

Sources have revealed that Murtagh is "very friendly" with some of the criminals who are suspected of carrying out the Regency Hotel gun attack in which Christy Kinahan cartel member David Byrne was shot dead.
Hospitals in the UK are embarking on an intensive recruitment drive for Irish nurses with incentive packages of up to 10,000 - more than six times the HSE's offer of 1,500.

NHS hospitals, which need another 23,400 nurses, will be among 55 international health employers competing to recruit nurses and other staff at the Health Sector Expo in Dublin's RDS next Saturday.

It comes as hundreds of nursing jobs in Ireland are vacant, with knock-on effects for waiting lists and emergency overcrowding.

A spokeswoman for the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust confirmed they will be trying to woo 30 Irish nurses to their hospitals with a package worth up to 10,000 (8,000).

This is intended to cover items such as travel, legal fees, estate agent fees and other expenses linked to moving and house sales.

The nurses will also get two days' paid leave to move.

The HSE's incentive package, launched last July to woo 500 nurses back from the UK, amounted to 1,500 upfront.

However, new figures obtained by Fianna Fail Dublin West TD Jack Chambers, reveal just 83 nurses have accepted the offer.

Deputy Chambers said: "The figure is very disappointing. Clearly, we need fresh ideas on how to attract nurses here.

"They are essential if we are to improve services in hospitals which are under so much pressure. Patients will lose out unless we all work more constructively to deliver better care."

Stephen McLarnon of Health Sector Jobs, a leading provider of healthcare recruitment solutions in Ireland and the UK, which will host the fair, said: "Officially, there is a one-in-one-out recruitment policy, but HSE employers around the country are reporting a three-out-one-in recruitment policy, which is particularly bad news if Irish employers are trying to recruit and retain nurses and doctors.

"In the first instance, there could be an exodus of Irish freshly qualified student nurses heading overseas in a couple of months' time.

"This is despite Taoiseach Enda Kenny's commitment that there would be jobs for all student nurses in Ireland if they wanted them."

He added: "This month sees between 55 and 60 Irish, UK, Australian and Singaporean employers looking to recruit directly at the fair - that is more than double those recruiting last October.

"Overseas hospitals are very happy to snap up Irish-based nurses and doctors, and will compete with our system to attract talent, especially since the HSE has reintroduced the recruitment restriction for frontline healthcare professionals."

Among the top UK executives will be Brid Johnson, a native of Nenagh in Tipperary who is now with the North East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Ms Johnson had to leave Ireland 20 years ago for a career in nursing.

"I had to leave Ireland as there was a strict number of places in nursing college in Ireland. I received my nursing training in Essex, England, and worked my way up through the ranks.

"All healthcare providers are now trying to recruit from the same pool, be it local, national or international," she added.

How the Irish and UK nurse packages compare

HSE offer to woo home Irish nurses in UK:

 Salary from 27,483-43,800 depending on length of experience;

 Relocation allowance of 1,500;

 Nursing registration fee of 100;

 Funded post graduate education;

 Incremental credit for experience gained outside Ireland;

* Permanent contract of employment;

 Opportunities for continuing professional development;

 Thirty-nine hour week and generous annual and public holiday leave; and

 Excellent public-service pension.

Offer from NHS hospitals to attract Irish nurses to UK:

 Relocation package of between 6,300 (for renters) to 10,000 (houseowners);

 Two days paid leave is allowed to move;

 Salary: 27,582-35,832 (Band 5) 33,113-44,347 (Band 6);

 37.5 hour week;

 27 days holiday, plus eight general and public holidays; and

 Annual personal development reviews.

(Nurses will also take into account rental, mortgage costs and taxation)
The makers of popular pasta sauce, Dolmio, have warned the public not to eat some of their products more than once a week.

Products that are particularly high in salt, sugar or fat, including Dolmio meal kits, will come with a label advising "occasional" consumption.

Such "occasional" items include creamy lasagne sauces, classic basil pesto and Macaroni and cheese oven bake kits.

The company, who also produce Uncle Ben's sauces, will now break their products down into the two categories '"occasional" and "everyday".

The company have stressed that most of its products would still be for consumption every day.

The move is part of a five-year global health initiative by food giant, Mars Food.

Expand Close Dolmio: manufacturers limit / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Dolmio: manufacturers limit

The company will reformulate many of its products to reduce fat content and boost the use of whole grains and vegetables.

Mars Food has also pledged to reduce salt by an average of 2pc by 2021 and reduce added sugar in a limited number of sauces and light meals by 2018.

The company said the move is designed to help families by giving them easier-to-understand nutritional information as well as a wider range of healthy choices.

Mars Food website will be updated over the coming months with the separate list of products and how often they should be eaten.

The plan, however, does not extend to Mars' chocolate or sweets businesses, whose brands include M&M's, Snickers and Starburst.

Some countries, including Britain, France and Mexico, have announced levies on sugar-sweetened drinks.

"Rising obesity levels are a real concern and a range of initiatives are needed to change behaviour and reverse the current trend. We believe it is important to provide people with the facts," a spokesperson for Mars Food said.

Adults are recommended to have 70g fat a day, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar and 6g salt per day.
A desperate mother is pleading for help to stop her 14-year-old boy killing himself through cocaine and other drugs.

Arlene Shannon says that her son's life is in imminent danger because of the lack of help for children with drugs and mental health problems.

Her son Liam is in a psychiatric unit, but Arlene claims that the treatment he is receiving is "totally inadequate".

Three days ago the teenager raided a medicine cabinet in the unit, overdosed with prescription drugs and then ran off into the city centre, his mother said.

Arlene put out frantic messages on social media in a bid to find him.

Liam was later apprehended by a passersby.

The police then took him to A&E at the Mater Hospital, but he escaped from there.

He was eventually detained, handcuffed and returned to the Beechcroft psychiatric unit in south Belfast

In an exclusive interview with the Belfast Telegraph in her home, Arlene said: "I am at my wits' end. The system is failing my son. He needs put in a locked, secure unit but the health authorities won't do that.

"If nobody will take responsibility for saving Liam's life, then they will have to take to responsibility for his death.

"I am speaking out today because if my son doesn't get the help he needs the next time I see him he will be in a body bag."

Arlene claimed that her son had started taking cocaine last year and, since then, he has abused other illegal narcotics and prescription drugs, which are freely available on sale on the streets.

She said that Liam had tried to take his own life many times.

The young mother-of-three expressed her fury at the glamorisation of drugs mule Michaella McCollum.

"I am sickened at how she has been treated. My family's story is testimony to the ugly reality of the drugs trade. Ardoyne is awash with drugs. It's like a tsunami has hit this community. There are up to 10 dealers in some streets," Arlene said.

SDLP councillor Nichola Mallon, who has been trying to help the Shannons, said: "The family want Liam put in a secure, locked unit but I've been told no such thing exists in Northern Ireland.

"Some health professionals say that locking him up would be counter-productive anyway, but his family believe it's the only way to help him.

"This is a heartbreaking case and somebody must do something before this young boy's life is lost."

Ms Mallon added: "I don't doubt that health professionals are trying their best but clearly the system cannot cope. Children and families who find themselves in these horrific circumstances need more support. Liam's story is by no means unique.

"I know other parents equally terrified of losing their children. There is a drugs epidemic and its child victims are getting younger and younger.

"Our healthcare system isn't changing quickly enough to meet their needs."

The Belfast Telegraph asked the Department of Health for comment, but at the time of going to print the department had not responded.

Arlene said Liam's first experience of drugs was taking a legal high when he was just 12.

"His behaviour started to change. He became introverted and anxious.

"He'd come into my bed at night because he was scared to sleep alone.

"He became paranoid. He wouldn't leave the house even to go to school.

"If he went to school, he'd suffer panic attacks and I'd be called to come and collect him," she explained.

Arlene said the family GP referred her to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

"They said he was too young for them to treat him and he was referred to child psychology in the RVH.

"We waited a year for that appointment. He was seen just a week before his 14th birthday and they only saw him once, as they said they only deal with under 14s."

Arlene said that Liam's behaviour became increasingly erratic last summer when he "started going out but was moody and bad-tempered at home".

She bought a drugs test on eBay and made him take it. Liam came up positive for four different drugs.

"He told me that he had taken only cocaine, so it must have been cut with different substances," she added.

The family GP again referred them to CAMHS. "But CAMHS passed us onto DAMHS (Drug and Alcohol Mental Health Service), and DAMHS referred us to DAISY (Drug and Alcohol Intervention Service for Youth).

"Liam saw DAISY twice and we never heard anything after that," Arlene said.

In January she found her son lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. He had taken drugs and sliced his arms.

"I contacted CAMHS again and they put me in touch with CAIT (Crisis Assessment and Intervention Team). CAIT medicated Liam with anti-psychotic drugs," she said.

"Liam's school then referred us to FASA (Forum for Action on Substance Abuse) on the Shankill. Liam was getting on well there, he had great relationship with his counsellor, but then FASA closed and our lifeline was gone."

Arlene said that Liam overdosed last month.

"He went crazy. We had to hold him down in the hall. He must have banged his forehead off the floor 100 times. He tried to bite and swallow his tongue.

"The police had to put him in hand and legcuffs to get him into the ambulance," she said.

Liam was admitted into Beechcroft psychiatric unit as a voluntary patient.

Arlene added: "He has sliced himself with blades. He has tried to enter the kitchen area to get a knife. He has kicked down doors to get out.

"The staff at Beechcroft are brilliant but the regime just isn't stringent enough for Liam. He has been given day and weekend passes and, when he's got out, he's taken drugs. Once when the police found him after he went AWOL he had taken prescription drugs.

"They took him to the RVH. He was then sent back to Beechcroft but a few hours later he absconded and the police caught him wandering in front of traffic."

Arlene insisted that her son urgently needed put in an ultra-secure unit and given intensive therapy.

"I've been told by medical professionals that children have rights, but what use will rights be to my child if he is dead?" she said.

Arlene, who is a school dinner lady, said: "I am a good mother who has tried to do everything right but the system isn't supporting me.

"I can't sleep at night because I'm so sick with worry. I haven't been able to work in weeks. I am 35 but I feel 100 years old. I don't know what more to do. I am crumbling as a human being."

The mother-of-three said that her 17-year-old son Brendan and her six-year-old daughter Alex were also enduring "an emotional nightmare".

Arlene described the drugs problem among young people in Ardoyne as "heartbreaking".

She said: "I see other mummies with their perfect wee four-year-old boys and girls walking into P1 and I think: 'God love you. In a decade or less, you could be me'."

If you are having a crisis contact Samaritans on 116 123.
Cork plans to celebrate its first ever scheduled airline services to the United States this summer, with Norwegian Air International (NAI) poised to receive a long-awaited permit from US authorities to fly to America.

The news is a major boost for locals, businesses and tourism in the region. A route to Boston - with up to five flights a week - is due to be launched first by NAI, followed by a service between Cork and New York next year. NAI is an Irish subsidiary of the airline Norwegian Air Shuttle.

The Irish unit is based in Dublin Airport, and already has an Irish air operator's certificate. However, there has been a two-year wait so far in its application to US authorities for a foreign carrier permit to be decided upon.

That delay has been prompted by intense opposition from US aviation unions to NAI being allowed to fly from Ireland to the US.

But political pressure brought to bear on the United States by Irish and EU officials appears to have paid off.

The US Department of Transport said yesterday that there is "no legal basis" to deny NAI's application to fly to the United States and said it has tentatively agreed to issue the required permit. Norwegian Air Shuttle already flies to the US, but the Irish subsidiary does not.

Norwegian Air Shuttle chief executive, Bjorn Kjos, said the decision is a "win-win" for consumers.

NAI had originally intended to commence flights between Cork and the US next month, but it now intends to launch them during the summer.

The US Department of Transport said that it "went to great lengths" to consider a number of issues raised by opponents to NAI being granted a permit, including labour concerns.

"The provision in the US-EU agreement that addresses labour does not afford a basis for rejecting an applicant that is otherwise qualified to receive a permit," it said.

A 21-day consultation period has begun that allows objections to be made to the tentative order to grant a permit, with replies to those objections due by May 13.

A final decision will then be made, but it's believed the permit will be secured.

Conor Healy, the chief executive of Cork Chamber, said the decision is a "major milestone" for the area.

He added that the US routes would "transform opportunities for businesses and tourism in Cork".

The managing director of Cork Airport, Niall MacCarthy, described it as "fantastic news" for the airport, the airline and the region. "We have worked so hard to make this happen over many months in both Washington and locally," he said.

Kevin Toland, the chief executive of the DAA, also welcomed the news.

"This is excellent progress and a very positive move," he said. "We are looking forward to getting the pathway cleared so that tickets can go on sale as soon as possible for flights from Cork to Boston."
The hired hitman who accidentally shot the wrong man this week was offered more than 100,000 to kill his intended target, it has emerged.

The 24-year-old gangster is a hired gun who is actually friendly with many main players in the Hutch mob, including intended target Keith Murtagh (32).

However, on Thursday he headed to Sheriff Street in Dublin's north inner city to carry out a planned hit on Murtagh.

Instead, tragic Martin O'Rourke (24), who had no involvement in the deadly feud, was caught in the crossfire and suffered fatal injuries.

The father of Martin O'Rourke's partner paid tribute to him, while castigating the people behind his killing.

Read More

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Larry Power - the father of Martin's partner Angelina - said the young man was an innocent victim murdered by "stupid fools".

"He wasn't an angel. He had a few minor charges for theft and that, but he deserved in no way to be fired at the way he was.

"He was an innocent victim. The people who did this, sending a stupid fool out to shoot an innocent man to death, they have caused nothing but pain.

"These gangs, they would do anything for the right price. Life means nothing to them. Three young children are now without a father. I don't know how Angelina is dealing with it at the moment, I can't imagine."

He also said Mr O'Rourke was trying to turn his life around.

"People are trying to make out that he was a junkie, he wasn't. He didn't have an addiction. He had it tough but he was turning his life around, looking after his family. Now my daughter and three young babies are left without a father. We're still coming to terms with it, I don't know what to say."

The chief suspect for the gruesome murder of Mr O'Rourke left the scene on a bicycle and dumped his handgun in a bin as he fled.

Gardai believe forensic evidence from the discarded weapon and getaway bicycle will help them "nail" the contract hitman.

Ballistic tests are being carried out on the gun, which was thrown into a bin by the fleeing gunman after he had fired six shots outside a Dublin inner city pub on Thursday.

Sources are unsure whether the 24-year-old hitman will now become a cartel target himself, after the botched assassination.

Players

"He is being called a Judas because he is actually mates with many of the main players in the Hutch gang, yet he took up the offer of money to kill Keith Murtagh," a source explained.

"He would have known these fellas since he was a kid," the source added.

The development comes as it emerged that a close associate of David Byrne, who was shot dead in the Regency Hotel gun attack, is now the driving force behind the cartel's operations.

A source said that this notorious Crumlin-based thug is the person who is "offering up the cash for the next murders", resulting in this week's atrocity.

Crime godfather Christy Kinahan has ordered his son Daniel to "step back" from the bitter feud that has now claimed five lives because it is bad for the drug-trafficking business.

The hired gunman has been arrested twice by Tallaght gardai investigating the cartel-sanctioned slaying of Michael 'Mad Mickey' Devoy (41) in January, 2014.

Gardai believe that the north-inner-city criminal, who was being hunted last night, also set up Devoy to be murdered on behalf of the cartel.

Sources say the young criminal is just one of a network of young thugs who are prepared to kill for the Kinahan cartel.

The intended target of Thursday's shooting, Keith Murtagh was understood to be still in hiding last night.

Murtagh was jailed for eight years in 2010 for his role in a botched cash-in-transit robbery in Lucan in May, 2009, in which Murtagh was shot and seriously wounded. Fellow criminal Gareth Molloy (27) was shot dead by an armed detective during the attempted heist.
Independent TDs want five Cabinet posts - but they will not get this unless all 14 who have been involved in talks sign up to a minority government, Fine Gael sources have said.

Cold water has been poured on Independent Alliance TD Finian McGrath's suggestion that five or six ministries should go to non-party deputies as part of a deal to return Enda Kenny as Taoiseach,

A senior Fine Gael source said that many Cabinet posts would be too many for Independents to expect, unless all 14 are involved in a new administration.

"It all depends on the size of the government," said the source. "If we only reach 58 TDs it'll be less, but if we end up with 65-plus then more Cabinet seats would be shared out. Those kind of things are impossible to quantify until people sign up."

Dublin Bay North TD Finian McGrath outlined the main issues of concern to his group.

They include that there would be an agreement for the government to last at least three Budgets, and that there would be "full parity of esteem" for Independents taking part.

RTE radio presenter Sean O'Rourke asked how many non-Fine Gael ministers should be in Cabinet and Mr McGrath replied "a third" saying that five "would be a minimum" and he later suggested the number could be as high as six.

Mr McGrath added that his group aren't just talking about "bums on seats and Cabinet seats here. What we're trying to do is we're trying to bring in new politics into the new government."

Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice told the Irish Independent that agreeing programme for government was more important that who got Cabinet posts.

He said if Independents are going to help people in their constituencies and the country as a whole, then a programme for government that would do that is important, "not Mercs and perks".

Asked if he would take a Cabinet position if offered, he replied: "I don't know too many that would ever refuse it. But I would refuse it if I didn't agree a programme for government."

He said "probably agriculture or rural affairs" would be his preferred choice.

Galway East TD Sean Canney, another, said that the number of Cabinet posts being sought hasn't yet been discussed by the group.

He also said the "most important thing is getting policies right", and listed the homeless crisis and health among issues that need to be tackled.

He didn't rule out accepting a ministerial job - but also did not specify which position he would prefer.

'Rural Five' Independent deputy Dr Michael Harty said he thought Mr McGrath's figure for Cabinet seats was "very generous".

He said he would expect the number or ministries to be broadly proportionate to the number of Independents signing up to government with "a slight tweaking in favour of the Independents".

He said his group will need to see a written agreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail before committing to a minority government including that it would last three Budgets.

The Clare TD said he has "not given a whole lot of thought" to a Cabinet job. He said that if that were offered one he'd be interested in areas he is knowledgeable in like health or rural affairs. "I couldn't see myself being the junior minister for finance," he said.

Dublin Central Independent TD Maureen O'Sullivan said that "in principle" she believes there should be Independents in Cabinet.

She said it could be "difficult" to take a ministerial job because she has been "very critical of Fine Gael's economic policies" but that she will continue with talks and isn't "ruling anything out or in at this point".
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has hit out at Sinn Fein's "utterly crazy" economic plans, claiming he would emigrate if the party taxed the "super rich".

Instead, Mr O'Leary called for "sensible policies".

"I don't want to pay 80pc tax. I'll simply move, I'll emigrate," he said. "Most of the super rich in Ireland, that they talk about, don't live here so we can't tax them anyway.

"It's all populist nonsense what you get from the Shinners nowadays.

"They might be effective on the ground but they don't have sensible economic plans," he told RTE Radio One's 'Countrywide'.

Mr O'Leary called for "sensible parties" to take power and criticised the electorate for producing an inconclusive Dail result, saying he "felt sympathy for politicians".

"I want to vote for sensible people, not a bunch of lunatics saying they'll get rid of water charges."

Mr O'Leary said he did not believe Independents could be effective in Government, saying "ultimately Independents do nothing".

"The worst Governments have been held to ransom by one or two Independents, " he added.
Rashel Winn pictured with her father Eric (right) and her husband Seamus on her wedding day

An award-winning Dublin Barista has tragically passed away at the age of 28 following a battle with cervical cancer.

Rashel Winn had been diagnosed with cancer in April last year and last month her father Eric revealed that her condition had deteriorated due to an infection.

Eric flew from Seattle to Dublin to spend time with his ill daughter after the city's coffee community raised funds for his trip.

Speaking last month, he said, To be a parent watching your kid go through this, it is unimaginable and horrible. You think you would die, but now I find myself in the midst of it."

Love Supreme Cafe in Stoneybatter and 3fe on Grand Canal Street were among the businesses that donated all proceeds towards Rashel's campaign, with money going towards further treatment.

3fe Owner Colin Harmon described Rashel as "one of the most charismatic and warm people I've ever met".

Many friends paid tribute to Rashel on Twitter today following the sad news.

"Sending out love to @rash3l Rashel Winn and family today. Such tragic news. She worked in @BlockTcoffee and was a beam of light. RIP Lovely" wrote Block_T.

Clement & Pekoe added, "Our thoughts are with Rashel Winn's family and many many friends today. Such sad news. Her smile will forever be remembered".

"So very sad to hear of the passing of Rashel Winn. Remembering the smiles in Ranelagh and the smiles on Clanbrassil St. Her effervescence" wrote Ellen Lunney.

Dublin Barista School added, "We're deeply sad for the loss of our colleague Rashel Winn. Our prayers are with her family, everyone at First Draft Coffee and the entire coffee community of Dublin."

Rashel is survived by her husband Seamus Lawlor and family.
The key to Los Angeles lies in its neighbourhoods, says our Travel Editor. And DTLA is one of the hottest in America.

2016 is a big year for Irish travel to LA.

Ethiopian Airlines is flying direct from Dublin, Aer Lingus resumes its direct service in May, and WOW Air is offering one-stop fares via Iceland.

There are lots of reasons to visit - from iconic draws like Venice Beach and the Walk of Fame to Universal Hollywood's new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

But a neighbourhood focus is required to get the best out of this sprawling city, and the first neighbourhood you hit should be Downtown.

Gritty and gentrified, full of soaring skyscrapers and Skid Row warehouses, a hot restaurant district and home to the swanky Walt Disney Concert Hall, DTLA is having a moment, and this is an intriguing time to visit.

Join Pol O Conghaile in our video to find out why!

Watch more Travel TV:
Premium

John Downing Opinion Pension reforms are dicey territory  but grand plan by minister Heather Humphreys just might win through

Pension system changes all across the western world have a great propensity to infuriate those most feared by politicians: the grey brigade. And when the oldies take to the streets, they usually play for keeps.
The eye-watering potential legal costs outlined in the dispute between Euro Safety Training Services Ltd and the former State training agency FAS are further proof - not that it was needed - of the huge fees earned by the legal profession.

Thanks to a judgment from Mr Justice Max Barrett we have learned that a 20-day trial in the High Court would cost around 600,000 to bring to completion.

Some 220,000 of this would go on solicitors' professional fees.

Senior counsel fees would be 108,500, while junior counsel fees would amount to 71,150.

A short-hand writer would be paid roughly 2,250-a-day.

It is difficult, by any rule of thumb, to justify such fees.

Mr Justice Barrett said the figures highlighted the need for a systematic solution to "crushing" litigation costs.

The case highlights how massive legal costs have become a serious barrier to justice in this country. But the dogs in the street have been barking about this issue for several years.

Anyone attempting a trip down to the High Court either requires very deep pockets or must be willing to risk losing their home.

Mr Justice Barrett noted it would cost 30 times the current annual minimum salary to pay for the proceedings from start to finish. His words draw into focus how much of a missed opportunity the economic crisis was.

When Troika officials visited Dublin during the bailout they expressed amazement at how sheltered the legal services in this country were.

Recent figures published by the Government's competitiveness adviser suggest little has changed, with legal services costs back up around Celtic Tiger levels.

Unfortunately, there are not too many reasons to believe this situation will improve any time soon.

A new regulator is promised but there is considerable scepticism at EU level as to whether this will bring about the increased competition needed to bring down costs.

The European Commission has been studying the topic closely and says it will continue to do so.

It has noted with concern how the ambition of legal services reform in Ireland has been tamed.

Significant concessions were made to the Law Society and Bar Council before the bill allowing for the setting up of the regulator was passed.

The new regulator will need strong leadership if it is to successfully grapple with vested interests and bring about a system where access to justice doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Eileen Pollock (left), Michael Staunton and Mary Berkery at the Dundalk Rotary 50th Anniversary Luncheon held in the Ballymascanlon Hotel

A total of 14 Rotary clubs from throughout Ireland joined local members in Ballymascanlon house hotel on Saturday to celebrate 50 years of Rotary in Dundalk.

Among those in attendance for a golden jubilee lunch was district governor Declan Tynan and his wife, Marie; from Cork.

One man who received a pleasant surprise was Paddy Williams. Next May marks 40 years of loyal service by Paddy in the Dundalk club, and in recognition of that feat, he was presented with a Paul Harris sapphire.

Harris, a Chicago lawyer, founded Rotary International in 1905.

Honorary membership of the Dundalk club was bestowed upon Ravensdale native, Niamh Mulholland, president of the Dublin central club.

Two years ago, Niamh was district secretary, the first female to hold that office in Ireland.

One-hundred-and-fifteen guests gathered in the hotel for a reception prior to the lunch, and there was wholesome praise for the beef and salmon which was served up.

Afterwards, everyone was entertained regally by an eleven-strong group from Kilsaran, to which Dundalk rotary club gave a generous subscription, which the group is passing on to charity.

Dundalk president Gay Berkery recalled some of the outstanding projects undertaken by the club.

They included providing ambulances for the Order of Malta and St John of God's, Drumcar; and the appeal, co-ordinated by Michael Mullally, at the time of war in Bosnia and Croatia which resulted in seven juggernauts departing with food and clothing, under the direction of Irish Red Cross.

Mr Berkery noted that Dundalk Rotary started meals on wheels in the town in 1972, and is still delivering 60 meals exclusively on Mondays.

He also made mention of the five in-calf heifers for Malawi sourced and delivered to Shannon airport by Frank McArdle, during Oliver Nixon's term as president; and the success of Fergus McArdle's Shrove Tuesday breakfasts.

Ten new members have joined in the last two years, and on 1 July, Barry Oliver takes over as president.
Tesco is calling on shoppers and burgeoning bakers in Louth to show their support for the Temple Street Great Irish Bake by popping in to their local Dundalk store to buy a sweet treat this Friday, April 15th.

To raise much needed dough for the children's hospital, Tesco will be hosting Ireland's Largest Bake Sale, with every store countrywide putting on a mouth-watering spread of culinary treats for one day only. Shoppers can help their local store colleagues in their effort to raise hundreds and thousands in funding by making a small donation in return for some home-baked goodies from buns and brownies, to masterful cake creations.

Denise Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, Temple Street Fundraising explains; 'We're delighted that Tesco are on board again this year as sponsors of the Great Irish Bake. Tesco colleagues have been incredibly supportive of the hospital and we can't wait to see what they've planned for their bake sales on April 15th.'

Christine Heffernan, Corporate Affairs Director Tesco Ireland added: 'We're really proud to be sponsoring the Great Irish Bake for the second year running.

Last year the effort that Ireland's bakers went to was amazing and we're delighted to again back this fantastic fundraiser. Aside from the obvious appeal, these bake sales really do go a long way in helping the little patients at Temple Street and make a huge difference to the hospital's fundraising efforts.'
Dundalk Men's Shed was officially opened in September 2011 and among the dignitaries was Barry Goulding, patron of the Australian Men's Sheds where the worldwide movement started.

Now, Dundalk Shedder, Tom Kerr, has made the return visit and travelled to the organisation's roots where he addressed his counterparts down under.

In Louth, Mr Kerr told the Australians, Men's Sheds have gone from strength to strength and there are around 120 members from different professions and skills.

The Shedders are a great team to be a member of and are known for being very pleasant and skilful. Quizzes and outings are a must and a Valentine's party for sure - one Shedder remarked that the meal was better than a Christmas dinner; another remarked it's like starting your apprenticeship years.

Dundalk Men's Sheds said: 'It's great to be a member. It will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face and improve your outlook on life in every way with an extension to your life and a great possibility of being in line for the president's cheque'.

Shed West in Australia welcomed Tom who dropped in while visiting relatives locally. Tom, with his distinctive Louth accent, entertained the Aussies with stories of Ireland and the Dundalk shed and twinning was favourably discussed.

Tom said: 'Thanks to the courtesy and vision of our co-ordinator Eva Beirne - she keeps the wheels in motion. She is the lady that leads the way and the health and well-being of the members are her first priority'.

For more information on Men's Sheds in Louth contact 9327652.
On Saturday next in Creative Spark, Ruby Bell is hosting a coffee morning to help her raise the rest of the money needed to cover costs before she heads to India as a volunteer.

The 17 year-old lives in Glasgow, and in her own words is 'half Irish'.

'I have strong Dundalk and Blackrock connections. My mum is Ruth Bell, from Blackrock, and I am the grand-daughter of the late Freddie Bell, a well-known figure in education who was Head Teacher at the Redeemer Boys' School for many years.'

Ruby is in her final year at secondary school, and has been accepted to study International Relations in the University of St. Andrews.

'However, before I go to university, I want to share what I have learnt at school with others who are less fortunate than I have been.

'I have been selected by the Scottish charity Project Trust to teach English as a volunteer in poorly resourced schools in India.' Project Trust is an educational charity founded in 1967. Each year it sends around 300 17-19 year-olds from across the UK and Europe to volunteer in year-long teaching and social care projects in Asia, Africa and the Americas.

India is estimated to have one-third of the world's poor, leaving many with poor quality of life and little chance to change it.

Being able to speak English gives children in India the chance to change their life prospects and improve their quality of life. 'This is how I hope to make a difference.

'As Project Trust is a charity I have to fund my year in India myself. To cover the costs of the year I must raise 6,200. To date I have raised 4000 through many fundraising events at home in Scotland, such as a primary school reunion, a David Bowie tribute night and a ceilidh.

'As this is an international project I feel that it is appropriate to involve a community with which I am so familiar.'

Hence, the coffee morning which starts at 11am on Saturday, 16 April.

All funds from the event will go towards Ruby's teaching project in India. There will be tea coffee and fantastic home baking!

If you can't make it to the coffee morning but would still like to donate, you can support the work of Project Trust through her Virgin Money Giving Page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=RubyBell
Gabriel Vaithute and Guoda Gerofenko at the presentation of Lithuanian Children's books to the County Library by members of the Lithuanian community to mark International Children's Book Day

Amanda Branigan, Senior Executive Librarian with Andreas Visockis, Second Secretary Lithuanian Embassy, EJ Vaitkus and Sigita Janluinaite, Dundalk Lithuanian Community at the presentation of Lithuanian Children's books to the County Library by members of the Lithuanian comminity to mark International Children's Book Day

Dundalk Lithuanian community, along with Louth County Library in Dundalk celebrated International Children's Book Day and Hans Christian Andersen's birthday.

A short presentation was held in Louth County Library which was followed by an opening of a Lithuanian book shelf. The members of the Lithuanian community were kindly greeted by chief librarian Amanda Branigan.

'Reading is the best human invention', said Andrius Visockis, the deputy for the Lithuanian Embassy in Ireland in his speech which he gave on the day.

He also expressed his gratitude to Louth County Library for the opportunity to open Lithuanian book shelf.

Rita Kundrotaite, a teacher of children's music group 'Ladybirds' from Drogheda, surprised everyone with a theatrical narrative reading from Kostas Kubilinskas book for children 'Agee the Liar', which was followed by a few up songs.

Poet and writer from County Armagh, Irena Ziurauskiene, presented her poems and short stories for children.

The presentation was finished with few thank you words from the Lithuanian Community chairman Egidijus Vaitkus, after which everyone enjoyed a nice and warm afternoon atmosphere.

Mr Vaitkus said: 'We would like to say a big thank you to both Louth County Library, and its staff for the warmest welcome and service'.
Plans are in place for Dundalk to look its very best this Christmas

Dundalk BIDS (Business Improvement District Scheme) is forging ahead with plans to bring new Christmas lights to the town.

As the people of Dundalk and visitors have been celebrating St Patrick's Day and more recently the 1916 centenary commemorations, BIDS is looking even further ahead and want to have the town looking its best for Christmas this year.

BIDS manager Martin McElligott has put together a comprehensive plan for replacing seasonal lighting with the latest in energy efficient, lightweight illuminations which he hopes will make the town a festive-feeling destination for everyone.

Issues arose with town centre lighting last year, with parts of Dundalk without any Christmas illumination at all and business owners explaining how it was left to the same people every year to pay for the lighting.

Martin said, 'I have very fond memories and have always been filled with pride at Christmas in our town. After consulting with many businesses on the subject, I was happy to see we all shared that common ground.

'It became clear that we need to take a huge jump forward while still taking into account the historic values of the streetscape and the town centre as a viable well-illuminated Christmas destination.'

But, he added, there needs to be 'full support' for the new lighting scheme.

He said: 'What has been clearly unfair in the past is that the cost of running the Christmas lights has been down to the very generous contributions of a certain percentage of business owners in this town, while other retailers and business owners had shown apathy and a disappointing lack of interest in paying any monies towards their Christmas lights.

'I have met with Christmas illumination specialists with experience in town and city centre lighting and have come up with extensive visual impressions of the Dundalk streetscape.

'You only have to look at these to see how fantastic our main streets would become.

'The project would be led by ourselves in Dundalk BIDS, on behalf of our town businesses, and assisted by Louth County Council and Dundalk Chamber of Commerce. When ordered, they could arrive here well in time for Christmas 2016'.

Martin added that he would like to see those who had not contributed, now stepping up to play their part.

He said: 'BIDS will be contacting all relevant business owners to ask them to join with us all in paying for the lights. There has to be fairness for all concerned.

'Dundalk did not look its best last Christmas, and understandably people were fed up paying so much for lighting while others did not.

'Retailers who I have mentioned this to are very optimistic about our proposals as this way we can have quality lighting, with an equitable and affordable system of payment'.
It is not planned to introduce a trial period of half-price pay-parking for Dundalk on Saturdays.

Cllr John McGahon suggested a three-month trial period, in a bid to attract more people into the town centre.

However, in a written reply, officials said the scheme adopted provides for reduced fees at holiday periods but not for Saturdays.

'Such a provision would require an amendment to the scheme which would necessitate a full review using the statutory process.

'Pay-parking has proved an effective measure in ensuring that parking spaces are turned over and that all-day parking in premium locations is prohibited, and on that basis it is not recommended that the scheme be reviewed at this time.'

Councillors were also informed there is a financial implication to the motion.

The problem of parking meters not working, was raised by councillors Peter Savage and Jennifer Green.

Director of service Frank Pentony said the meters are 'clapped out and was past their sell-by date.'

The next phase of the scheme is to look at replacing the machines.

However, Mr Pentony pointed out some people deliberately jam the machines.

He added there is a man on the ground, available within the hour, if a report of an out-of-order meter is made.

Cllr Marianne Butler said a smart parking payment solution is required, rather than be 'fiddling around' looking for coins.

She doesn't want to end up 'with the chaos of Ardee' where pay-parking was done away with.

Cllr Savage agreed no pay-parking made Ardee worse.

He didn't think reducing rates would work, as there would be less availability of space.

Mr Pentony remarked he didn't disagree on smart parking, and wanted to remind motorists that parking on Saturdays is available at the back of the town hall, though it's not free!
The directorial debut by Bray filmmaker Hannah Quinn will be part of the 166th Belfast Film Festival.

'My Bonnie' will screen at the Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast on April 22. The 16th Belfast Film Festival promises its biggest programme ever, with over 133 films from 30 countries due to be screened during 10 days from April 14 to 23.

The line-up includes the best of world cinema and documentaries, quirky events, and an exciting mix of newcomers and more established filmmakers in competition for the Belfast Film Festival Shorts Award.

A hen with a beak injury, a tongue-fixated psychopath, a military operation to raid an orchard, and a hyper-intelligent mosquito called Anabel are amongst a plethora of tales that will delight, frighten, thrill and entertain.

The films include talent from throughout Ireland and feature Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones), Stuart Graham (Hunger) and John Connors (Love/Hate), as well as directors such as Michael Lennox, already a BAFTA winner for his short film Boogaloo and Graham.

Also among the Shorts competition is Hannah Quinn, who has worked for over 20 years as an Assistant Director.

'My Bonnie' was adapted from a play called Sanctuary written by actress Liz Quinn (Hannah's sister-in-law).

It was first performed as part of the Tiny Play series by Fishamble Theatre Company in Dublin. Liz Quinn and Tom Sullivan play the embittered couple trapped on an Atlantic rock at high tide, who have to face the distance that has grown between them.

Cinematographer Tim Fleming (Hannah's husband) and a small crew of technicians gave generously of their free time and went to Connemara for four days to shoot the film at the magical times of sunrise and sunset in July 2014, even swimming to set one day!

Carraig Leathan or Wide Rock is on a beach called Ciaran Beag near Carraroe in Connemara. It is cut off by the tide twice a day and is a childhood swimming spot for Hannah and her siblings.

It premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival, California in April 2015, where it won the honour of 'Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking'. It went on to win the 'Donal Gilligan Award for Best Cinematography' at the Galway Film Fleadh, 'Best Irish Narrative Short' at the Kerry Film Festival and 'Best Short' at the Mongolia Film Festival. Download the full programme at www.belfastfilmfestival.org.
'I made everything in this room,' says Maeve Hunter, sitting in the front room of her discreet Carnew bungalow.

And it is true that practically everything except the furniture has been produced by the owner of the house. The first things that callers notice is the collection of hand painted silk panels on display in the window. Above her head as she sits on the sofa is a representation of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh hanging on the wall.

This reminder of her fondness for Africa was made with papier mache which she finds a very practical medium for expressing her ideas. And the same flexible material was used to create lamps and decorative knick-knacks. Also on show are various drawings and paintings that flow from her enduring passion for all things artistic.

Though she is principally known for her work in textiles, she has proven herself a dab hand in many genres. Maeve is an all-rounder, proud to be pursuing her creative dream into her later years after a delayed start. She did not complete her art degree until she was 40 years of age and then followed up with a master's degree, which was only completed a couple of years ago.

She jokes that, at this rate, she will be 90 when she is awarded her PhD - though in reality she has no immediate plans along such lines. Her principal current role is as an education and outreach officer with the Courthouse arts centre in Tinahely. She is employed under a community enterprise scheme and remarks wryly that the salary going with the job does not pay all the bills. Nevertheless, the centre is an inspirational place and she has ambitious plans to work with youngsters from the area who want to be creative.

'I am trying to start an art club for teenagers,' she explains, concerned that sport should not be the only recreational outlet for adolescents. 'In rural areas, if they are not into GAA then there is not much for them.' The idea is that the Courthouse will allow the club members to have some studio space and the education officer will provide some expertise.

But she hopes that they will seize the initiative and run the club themselves and express their feeling on canvas or in sculpture. Such an approach was pioneered in Scotland and she firmly believes that there is scope for it to be a success in South Wicklow too.

Now in her sixties, Maeve Hunter grew up in Dalkey on Dublin's south side and spent much of her life in the capital, only moving to County Wicklow in 2003. She always loved art and dabbled in painting from an early age though rearing a family took her away from any immediate prospect of a full time career.

Still she kept her dream of being a painter alive, finally making a successful application to enrol as a mature student with the National College of Art and Design in her late thirties, while her offspring Sinead and Cian were still teenaged. The college decided that she must specialise in textiles rather than painting, so that she became well versed in the skills of dyeing and printing on fabric.

'They were not used to mature students,' she reckons, 'but I stuck at it and I learned loads.' She went on to take a further qualification in art education and has since picked up work in various schools. Her familiarity with textiles also proved to be her ticket to the world of movie making for a while.

She found that she could adapt her profession to become expert in the costume department. The high point of her Hollywood career was a series of 14-hour days on the set of 'Saving Private Ryan'. The re-creation of the Normandy D-Day landings on Curracloe beach on Wexford's east coast required her to adapt uniforms so that they looked as though they had really been lived in, and fought in.

Maeve makes no pretence of being on first-name terms with Steven Spielberg as a result of the gig. But she can claim to have sung 'Happy Birthday' to Tom Hanks and to have dyed the great man's buttons!

Through the Ardmore studio in Bray she also contributed to the Irish epic which is 'Michael Collins'. However, it is now many years since she jumped to the command of the likes of Steven Spielberg or Neil Jordan.

Much of the time in recent years has been spent teaching, an activity which tends to divert her from her own art, though she never landed a full-time job in any school. Still she has a room which she calls her studio at the house in Carnew. At present the converted bedroom is so chock-a-block with the material from various projects that she prefers to retire to the kitchen table whenever inspiration strikes.

Since moving from Dublin, she has been an active member of the Tinahely Art Group, which allowed her to exhibit examples of her textile genius, notably at the TAG 'Revolution' show last year.

She has also had the privilege of a couple of forays to Africa, spending time in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Namibia. Sierra Leone was an eye-opener, bringing a group of young ladies from the Saint Joseph of Cluny school in Killiney to a country which was emerging at the time from a savage civil war.

The contrast with Ireland helped to make it an enriching experience for all involved.

The Kenyan adventure might have put someone of more nervous disposition off the Dark Continent for life as the place where she stayed was raided by machete waving robbers.

She showed that she was made of stern stuff when she was prepared to return to Africa as she responded to an advert on Facebook seeking an artist to come for three months to Windhoek to live and work. She found the capital of Namibia in south west Africa to be a very congenial place, while the John Muafangejo art centre allowed their Irish visitor times and space to follow her muse in wall hangings, water colours and papier mache.

'It was so warm that the papier mache was drying out as I did it - I would go back in the morning if I had the money or could get another residency.' The facilities for textile studies there were a far cry from those at the NCAD in Dublin, with classes conducted in a space with no sink and no window. However, the Irish visitor was granted use of a beautiful room in which to stage her own very successful show of the work that she produced during her time in Windhoek. It was entitled 'Under The Namibian Sun'.

'I am always making something and I love teaching,' Maeve remarks. 'I do so many different things,' She also enjoyed a cosmopolitan experience closer to home recently which made its mark on the city of Cork. She attended a week long 'Creativity and Change' workshop on global citizenship with fellow artists from several countries including, Britain, Hungary and Italy, run by Crawford College.

The organisers of the event on Leeside gave the participants a wall to decorate as they wished, so they dreamed up a vibrant mural which remains on show on the campus.

'It was brilliant,' she says of the experience, wondering if she could adapt the exercise for schoolgoers at Colaiste Bhride in Carnew - if she can find an appropriate wall. In the meantime she is due to direct a costume design event with a transition year class there next month.

She confesses that she scarcely knew where Carnew was before she found a house there that she could afford. More than a decade after she made the move into the hills, she is part of the local artistic establishment, having contributed to the work of the Carnew musical society and Kilrush drama group. Her only regret at moving is that Carnew is considerably further from the sea than Dalkey where the beach was always only a short walk away, rather than a 20-plus minute drive.

Her present artistic preoccupation requires little or no space, a growing collection of water-colours which illustrate the life of a beloved granddaughter, all assembled in one notebook. The little girl will be blessed to have such an original record of her childhood.

Her grandmother remains relentlessly on the artistic prowl, whether in the Courthouse or on the kitchen table. Maeve's latest venture is on to the internet, offering her creations on an Etsy store: 'I am not hard to find.'
Should we be concerned that our frontline Gardai receive weather alerts, but not potential terror alerts? Such claims bring into sharp focus our level of preparedness in dealing with the sort of horrific attacks on human life seen perpetrated by radicalised groups across Europe. Reports this week that frontline Gardai are being left in the dark when it comes to training and intelligence here must therefore be taken very seriously indeed.

At the recent conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, President Antoinette Cunningham said only specialised units of An Garda Siochana are currently equipped to deal with terror threats but that rank and file Gardai are not.

This is a worrying development for our towns and villages and we must redouble our efforts to avoid lapsing into a state of inertia when it comes to the potential of radicalised groups operating here.

While not seen as a key target, Ireland is nevertheless the exact kind of Western democracy that exercises the hatred of Islamist jihadis. Our Gardai are on the ground day after day providing an active presence in the community. How then can they possibly be excluded from the kind of intelligence gathering techniques required to spot the danger signs of extremism?

Leading political and social experts across Europe have openly admitted to past failures in gathering intelligence on nascent terrorist cells in Muslim neighbourhoods.

Ireland must learn from the past mistakes of our European neighbours amid a vastly changing demographic here.

We have the advantage of being able to implement a positive integration strategy across every new community, including Muslim ones, at a time when they are still in their infancy.

Our Garda force has to be central to this strategy. Despite its abysmal treatment by the government in terms of resources in recent years, it continue to serve with distinction as a protector of society.

During the '70s and '80s, it was rank and file Gardai who successfully upheld state security from those intent on threatening its institutions and while this subversive threat has thankfully, to a large extent, been absorbed, we could be facing a far more menacing threat from potential jihadis operating here.

Throughout history, Ireland has always served as a 'backdoor' threat to Britain's enemies and even if we successfully repel the threat of attack on Irish soil, we also have a duty to assist in cutting off Ireland as a springboard for attacks elsewhere in the UK and Europe.

The process of social integration and education should be our first line of defence against a festering form of jihadism emerging here, but such a tactic can only flourish with the input, assistance and intervention of our local Gardai as it is they alone who operate on the frontline, and it is they alone who are entrusted with protecting us in our homes, streets and countryside. Isn't it only natural then that any emerging threat to society should wholeheartedly involve their invaluable expertise?
On February 16 renowned Cork military historian and author Gerry White delivered a public lecture in the Hibernian Hotel.

It was organised by Mallow Field Club and was kindly sponsored by Cork County Council and the State's 1916 Commemoration Fund.

The lecture, whose title is a quote from Terence MacSwiney, was breathtaking in its detailed, accurate account of the sequence of events which led to the confusion that followed Eoin Mac Neill's attempt to cancel the revolution, Roger Casement's capture and the sinking of the Aud with its cargo of arms.

The result for Co. Cork was a non-rising. Over 1,020 volunteers were in readiness in the county, including the 222 who assembled in Bweeng from many parishes in North Cork (including Mallow) on 23rd April 1916, and who received the bad news there of Casement's capture from MacSwiney, MacCurtain and Thomas Kent.

Gerry White's lecture was very well illustrated with slides and documents, posters and letters and the appreciative audience was treated to archive film footage of the funeral of O'Donovan Rossa in Glasnevin Cemetery in 1915. Numerous questions and a lively discussion followed.
A 49 year old woman has been returned for trial by judge and jury charged in connection with a road traffic collision in which a 41 year old motorcyclist lost his life near his home in North Cork last year.

Jennifer Connery appeared at Fermoy District Court last Friday where she was charged with careless driving causing the death of TJ Sweetnam at Ballinrush, Kilworth on August 22, 2015.

Sgt John McNamara gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told the court that Ms Connery made no reply to the charge when it was put to her after she was arrested and cautioned.

Insp Tony O'Sullivan told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed that Ms Connery be tried on indictment on the single charge at circuit court level before a judge and jury.

Sgt McNamara then served the book of evidence in the case on Ms Connery, whom court heard had travelled from the UK where she lives at Wills Crescent, Whitton Park in Hounslow in London.

Insp O'Sullivan said the DPP consented to the matter being sent forward for trial at the next sittings of Cork Circuit Criminal Court, commencing on April 19 and he applied for a return to that date.

Judge Brian Sheridan granted the application and remanded Ms Connery on her own bond of 500 to appear at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on April 19 after hearing gardai had no objection to bail.

Ms Connery's solicitor, Kieran O'Keeffe, said that his client was reserving her position with regard to free legal aid to defend and Judge Sheridan acknowledged his submission on the matter.

The late Mr Sweetnam was a mechanic from Ballinrush, Kilworth and was close to home when he was fatally injured in a road traffic collision near the Corbett Court Restaurant on August 22 last.

A motorcycle enthusiast who worked at Cavanagh's in Fermoy town, the late Mr Sweetnam is survived by his mother, Anne, sisters, Liz and Georgina and brothers, Richard, Liam and Peter.
It was all they could have asked for and more.

Some months ago, groups of dancers from the Moneymore area of Drogheda and would be dance kings and queens from the Togher area, gathered in rooms and began a journey.

For some it was a first step into such a journey - how to dance in front of the public in just a matter of months!

Daunting yes, but a thrill and a unique challenge at the same time.

Last Saturday saw two shows take place - one at the Barbican, the other in the TLT.

And both were thrillers that Michael Jackson would even have been proud of.

The Moneymore crew were simply magical, the hours and hours of hard work paying off and a tidy sum heading towards the creche facility that provides such a wonderful service for so many in that part of north Drogheda.

Over the TLT, the Naomh Fionnbarra and St Anne's camogie crew were giving it plenty of leg, arms, heads, the lot.

Their aim was to raise money to further develop their community role and provide a wonderful outlet for boys, girls, men and woman.

This week, the stars of the stage can take a well earned rest and maybe look back on the journey and smile.

YES, you did it!
The deadline for booking places on the four-day visit to Belgium next year for the centenary of the death of Slane poet Francis Ledwidge is just days away and those intending to travel should move in putting down deposits.

The visit will include a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of Lewidge at the Artillery Wood cemetery.

The visit has the backing of the Ledwidge Museum Committee and bookings have been strong. However, there are just a few days left to the deadline for booking and people intending to travel should now ring Catherine at GTI travel (01 8434734).

The visit will take place over four days (3 nights) from 29th July to 1st August 2017. Included in the tour will be a visit to the Ledwidge grave and memorial at the Artillery Wood cemetery on the day of the centenary. Wreaths will be laid and Ledwidge's poems will be recited at the graveside.

The visit includes return flights from Dublin to Brussels, professional guide and tour manager for the duration of the visit. The cost of the tour is 673 per person but this will reduce to approximately 598 depending on the numbers booking.

The Francis Ledwidge Museum Committee is anxious to stress that individual bookings will have to be made with GTI (the group travel specialists). Deposits of 250 will have to be made by Friday 22nd April this year (2016).

Further information can be obtained from the Ledwidge museum at 041 98 24544 or info@francisledwidge.com
A review of Garda Districts is under consideration at government level, a local councillor has claimed.

At present, part of Drogheda and all of East Meath is handled by the division from Ashbourne.

However, many feel that increased resources in Drogheda and taking in East Meath would be a better and more workable system.

"I have been concerned about Garda resources locally in East Meath for some time," Councillor Sharon Tolan stated. "With new large residential developments coming on stream, along with the changing age profile in the area, it is clear that the current policing structure is not sufficient.

"I have been in direct contact with officials at the Department of Justice, who confirmed that the acting Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald TD is proposing a review of Garda Districts, which will be considered as part of ongoing Government talks.

"I outlined our situation in East Meath and am confident that this anomaly will be looked at,' she added.

"Laytown-Bettystown is currently served by the Ashbourne District, despite Drogheda being the closer station. Our proximity to good road infrastructure is making sitting ducks of the residents. There has been a recent spate of crime in the Duleek area that is of huge concern. In addition we have underage drinking, drug and anti-social incidents in Laytown-Bettystown, which are not being properly addressed.

"We have the lowest number of Gardai per head of population in Meath and this is something that must change, now that Garda numbers are increasing," the Councillor concluded.
A public meeting has been called for this Wednesday evening, April 13, (8pm) in O'Reilly's guesthouse in Laytown to discuss the planning application that will see Aldi open a store in the village.

The Drogheda Independent reported three weeks ago that Aldi were looking at developing the former Creevelea Nursing Home into a new store. Last Friday, the company lodged their application with Meath Co Council.

Local councillor Tom Kelly has called Wednesday's meeting after receiving a number of comments from local residents.

'I think people want to know what happens next and what their options are. We'll see what the meeting brings,'he stated.

Meanwhile, local Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan and Sinn Fein Cllr Eimear Ferguson, have united to oppose the development.

"This application has not come as a shock, there has been talk locally for some weeks now. A commercial development of that size and nature is just not suited to that seaside location" Cllr Tolan said. "Myself and Cllr Ferguson have been working together since elected to the Laytown-Bettystown Municipal District, on a number of projects such as the Beach Management Plan, with a view to improving amenities for both local residents and visitors to the area.'

They fear traffic chaos as a result of the new centre.

Due to the surrounding bridge heights, delivery trucks for this shop will have to come down the Colpe Road, passing many residential areas and several schools in Donacarney and Laytown as well as the church and local playgrounds.

"Cllr Tolan and I have already received many representations on the issue, and we will be holding a public meeting to outline the plans from Aldi, and to discuss with the community a course of action. We are united on this issue and will do all we can to ensure it does not go ahead." Cllr Ferguson commented.

"While neither of us are opposed to either Aldi or progressive development, we also feel that placing a retail store of this size with the potential of creating large volumes of extra traffic on Strand Road, in a predominantly residential area, is wrong. It is also opposite to a particularly busy beachside recreational area with a pedestrian entrance to the beach which will cause havoc, especially in the summer months" Cllr Ferguson added.

"As a Director on the Board of Meath Tourism, we have been working to position Meath as the gateway and birthplace of Ireland's Ancient East. A development of this nature in this location would ruin the seaside village feel of Laytown" Tolan added.
A man has avoided a jail sentence for taking advantage of an Ulster Bank computer failure which allowed customers to withdraw unlimited amounts from ATMs.

Babatunde Fagbule (46) visited several ATMs around Dublin and Meath on June 22, 2012 and made thousands of euro in withdrawals. By the end of the day the account, which belonged to his wife, was overdrawn by 8,315.

Fagbule of Insebay, Laytown in Meath pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 13 counts of theft from Ulster Bank at various ATM location in Artane, Finglas and Bettystown on June 22, 2012.

The court heard Fagbule had no right to withdraw more money than was in the account as it did not have an overdraft facility.

However because of a massive IT failure which affected all ATMs in the Royal Bank of Scotland group, including Ulster Bank, computers temporarily failed to reduce customer's balances when they withdrew money.

Fagbule used the money to refurbish his home and make purchases in Ikea.

His defence counsel David Staunton BL said he stopped withdrawing the money "of his own accord" that day while other customers only stopped when the ATMs ran out.

Counsel said Fagbule, who used to work for Bank of New York in Ireland, had since repaid the money in full.

Prosecution counsel Lisa Dempsey BL said the account was set up in Fagbule's wife's name and that it was used as a joint account. Ulster Bank shut it down after the thefts came to light and reported the issue to gardai

Fagbule's wife was interviewed but said she knew nothing of the withdrawals. Her husband was arrested shortly afterwards and made full admissions.

He said he stopped withdrawing the money because he knew his wife couldn't have that much in her account.

He said he was sorry and intended to repay it in full.

Mr Staunton said it was a very crude and opportunistic crime and that his client had never been in trouble before.

He said Fagbule came to Ireland from Nigeria 15 years ago and worked for Bank of New York until 2010.

He was currently studying financial services in Griffith College.

Judge Melanie Greally called it a serious offence but noted Fagbule's previous good character and his repayment of the money.

She imposed an 18 month sentence suspended for two years.
County Wexford headquartered Datapac, Ireland's leading ICT solutions provider, says it has successfully implemented a new ERP system for Italicatessen, a Wicklow-based Italian cuisine specialist.

The integrated system gives Italicatessen increased visibility and control of its business processes, saving the company time and offering better oversight.

Founded in 2002, Italicatessen employs 36 people and imports and distributes a range of Italian-made products to restaurants, stores and other wholesalers across Ireland.

The company is in a continuous growth phase and required an integrated and efficient ERP solution that would accommodate this and streamline all processes including purchase and sales orders, customer receipts, stock taking and financial details.

Having considered a number of different providers and solutions, Italicatessen chose Datapac to design and install a scalable and adaptable ERP solution. Datapac considered Italicatessen's business objectives and implemented a Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution to meet their evolving needs.

The NAV solution has led to a number of benefits for both Italicatessen and its wholesale customers. The system has improved the speed of all operations - from processing transactions to stock taking - freeing up time for staff to focus on the core business. The scalability of the solution means that it can grow with Italicatessen as the company expands. NAV also allows customers to easily compare receipts and invoices, and plan for future deliveries.

'We were using systems that were all access-based and didn't integrate with each other. The more we grew, the more the system didn't suit our future growth plans and our day-to-day processes. We needed everything to fit together under the same umbrella, and this was our core focus as we went to market to find a provider," said Padraig McDermott, financial controller, Italicatessen.

'Datapac made it clear that Microsoft Dynamics NAV was the best fit for our company, and their customised solution has transformed and simplified the way we do business. The ongoing support and knowledge that we receive from Datapac is incredibly valuable too.'

Richard Murphy, head of business solutions division, Datapac, said: 'As a growing business, Italicatessen needed a modern ERP system that would give them control by managing all of their systems.'
A devastated mother has launched a desperate appeal to reunite her with her stolen laptop.

Barbara Sinnott of Hazelwood, Gorey was in bed asleep with partner Neville Sexton when thieves broke into their home in the early house of last Sunday morning.

Initially she thought it was her son Dean stirring restlessly in his own room but quickly realised that there were people downstairs.

'I thought it was Dean at first but then I realised it was a different sound and that there was someone downstairs. I woke Nev and we went down. Nev stopped me from going into the sitting room and we saw them running out the back. I went out the front door and saw a guy jumping into a silver car.

'I chased after him and begged him for the laptop because it has all the pictures and videos we have of our late son Craig who died in 2006. I didn't care about anything else they had taken. I just wanted the laptop.

'He drove at me going about 120kmh and I had to jump out of the way.

'Nev heard me scream. He hadn't realised I had gone out the front door and thought I was still in the house. Then the driver tried to run over Nev before they left our cul de sac.

'The thieves got in through the patio door and we think they lifted it to gain entry. I was completely dazed after what happened. We were so lucky that Nev was there because sometimes he could be done to work by that stage.

'I just kept thinking what they could have done to me and Dean if we had been home alone. That's what scares me most. I'm nervous now all the time in the house. I'm scared they will come back.'

Barbara and Nev have been devastated by the robbery not only in terms of the invasion of privacy, the fear of what could have happened but also the loss of a personal laptop containing precious photos and videos of both their sons, Craig and Dean. However the loss is even more poignant because the couple lost their eldest son Craig to cancer almost ten years ago.

'I just want my laptop back', said a distraught Barbara. 'All our photos of the boys were on it and video. All our photos, our memories, our videos, that's what so devastating. I'd love to get them back. Things like the television and computer games can be replaced over time but the personal information on the laptop is irreplaceable and it's no good to anyone only us.

'We had only transferred all the photos from our phones to the laptop a couple of months back to keep them safe and back them up.'

Barbara said the thieves had other items in the house earmarked to take with a number of items moved onto the table during the robbery to be retrieved after putting the first lot of stolen items in the car. My handbag was moved to the table and a work phone belonging to Nev.

'We obviously disturbed them. I'm a very light sleeper. Since Craig died my own health hasn't been great and as a result I don't sleep very well. I heard stuff being dropped and that's what woke me.

'When the gardai arrived they told me I was either a very brave woman or a silly girl for chasing after them. But I just didn't think. I was so desperate to get our precious pictures. I do think that the driver would have ran me over though if I hadn't gotten out of the way.'

Anyone with any information can contact Gorey Gardai.
Radio presenter and television host Ivan Yates is hanging up his microphone to travel around America with wife Deirdre.

The Enniscorthy man announced last week that he is taking a year off from his various media roles to travel around the States. Best known for presenting the Breakfast Show on Newstalk with Chris Donoghue the former Agriculture Minister said that he will be finishing up his media roles in July.

In addition to presenting Newstalk's Breakfast Show Yates also presents Sunday AM on TV3 with Anna Daly and also works as a columnist with the Irish Independent. He will also be standing down from these roles come July.

Mr Yates has presented the Newstalk programme since 2009, apart from his 16 months in Wales when he emerged from bankruptcy. The former Fine Gael TD will be stepping back from public life and travelling around the US with his wife, Deirdre, for a year.

But Mr Yates has categorically denied his departure is related to his wife's financial difficulties after AIB secured a 1.6m debt judgment against her.

'I am saying categorically this is completely unlike my departure to Wales and which was quite brutal. This is absolutely by choice,' he said. On whether this departure was down to Deirdre's finances and if she was now seeking bankruptcy, he said this was 'absolutely' not the case.

The case against Deirdre Yates arose out of a guarantee she gave on April 13, 2010, towards 6.7m in loans for the expansion of the Celtic Bookmakers chain, which was run by her husband. In January 2011, the bank appointed a receiver over Celtic, which went into liquidation.

Mr Yates was later declared bankrupt in the UK, having lived for 16 months in Wales to qualify under that country's more relaxed bankruptcy laws.

AIB said that as Mrs Yates was a majority shareholder, director and company secretary of the bookmakers, it was entitled to recover from her 1.6m arising out of the single guarantee that she signed on her husband's debt.

Mrs Yates, a primary school teacher, claims that when she signed the guarantee she did not receive, and was not advised to receive, legal advice about the implications of doing so.

Mr Yates said he will be making the move this summer. 'From early July, I have decided, in a considered way, to take a step back from public life,' he said.

'I've been presenting since April 2009. I never thought I would be getting away with it for this long. I have decided it is time to take a break,' he added.

He does not rule out working with any of the media organisations in the future.

'Who knows? I may reconnect again or that may not happen,' he said. 'My decision to step back from working in the media is a personal one and I remain a committed supporter of Independent Radio and Newstalk in particular.

'I will miss working in Newstalk's innovative and creative environment and hope that I will have the opportunity to return at some stage in the future.'

Mr Yates will spend the time travelling. 'I will be more out of the country than in the country. I am going to be 57 in October. I have been working for 40 years. I owe it to my wife,' he said.

Yates and co-presenter Chris Donoghue had entertained and enlightened the public on weekday mornings with the quick banter and insightful analysis and Yates said that long-suffering Chris can only benefit from his departure.

'Like every sucker, he deserves an even break. He'll finally get someone to treat him with a bit of respect', he said.

Mr Yates returned to his media roles in 2013 following his filing for bankruptcy in the UK on foot of the collapse of his Celtic Bookmakers chain. He spent 16 months living in Swansea to complete the terms of the bankruptcy.

Newstalk said Mr Yates had notified the station of his departure prior to making his announcement.

'He has made a decision to withdraw from all of his media commitments for the foreseeable future due to personal reasons,' the station said.

Newstalk said changes to the programming schedule will be announced at a later date. The search is now under way for a successor and the station is believed to be looking at a number of high-profile broadcasters.

His Sunday AM co-presenter Anna Hayes said she is devastated with the news.

Anna said that she loved working with Ivan on the show and that his irreverent attitude was a refreshing change.

'He's just hilarious. He doesn't give a hoot what he says. As a presenter I found him so generous.

'I'd never experienced someone with that kind of recklessness and that really entertained me.

I'll really miss him. He'll be a hard act to follow.'
Coolgreany native Tom O'Toole, has launched Ireland's first ethical bottled water company, 'ONE Water' which donates 100% of its profits to charities that build clean water projects in the developing world.

Tom (48) set up the company six months ago having been made redundant from facilities management two years earlier.

'I bought a bottle of 'ONE Water' in the UK and loved the concept of a company donating all its profits to the poor and decided to bring this idea home to Ireland,' he said.

Dublin-based Tom says he sources the water in Tipperary and bottles it with partners C&C/Gleesons and has already got bottles on the shelves in over 120 independent coffee shops, delis and restaurants nationwide.

As the sole employee he hopes ultimately to make a wage from the business but as a start-up Tom is now receiving support from the Social Welfare's Back To Work Scheme as well as his local Enterprise office.

'I spend no money on advertising and distribute the water in small independent outlets as well as in corporate head offices such as Twitter in Dublin and in Ashford Castle,' he said.

'My biggest start-up costs would have been those associated with bottling, warehousing, distribution and back office support. However when our bottling partner, M&J Gleeson and their parent company the C&C Group, learned about what we do they actually took us under their wing as part of their coporate social responisbility programme and helped us to get up and running without any major up front start-up costs. Without the support of the C&C Group I would have struggled to get this far,' he said.

By the end of 2016, Tom aims to make and donate 50,000 to the Irish-based charity 'Plan International Ireland' which will bring clean water to some 10,000 people in Ethiopia.

Tom explained that while the brand name 'ONE Water' and concept behind the bottled water is shared with UK and even Australian companies, the companies themselves are separate entities.

'We are all separate companies but we share the same ethos, so all the profits in the UK go to UK companies and all the profits I make will go to Irish-based charity, 'Plan International Ireland' who organise where the wells will be drilled in the developing world,' he said.

In the future Tom hopes to launch 'ONE' branded food products with Plan International Ireland that will aim to feed Ireland's homeless.

Tom is the son of the late Tom O'Toole of Millfarm, Coolgreany who ran a schooling track for greyhounds and was vice president of the Castletown Liam Mellows GAA club in 2003. 'One Water' is for sale in Gorey at 'The Bookshop Cafe'. For more information check out http://onedifference.org/ireland/.
Wexford-based Emergency Medicine Consultant, Dr Mick Molloy, is hoping to be elected as an Independent Senator to the NUI Panel.

The father of three, an Emergency Consultant at Bon Secours Hospital, Tralee, and Wexford General Hospital says health policy has been an passion of his for the past 20 years and 'we do need public representatives who focus on the issues which the populace are most concerned about and which impacts them the most, both positively and negatively'.

Among the issues he says need tackling to bring about change are protecting the Education System that helped deliver Irish prosperity with specific emphasis on children with additional/special educational needs, promoting effective patient centred reform solutions and implement a new prescription for health in this country, rejuvenating the Seanad's unique potential by delivering meaningful reform of the entire political system and delivering professional regulation reform to enhance the potential of Irish graduates

To vote for Dr Molloy, you can join the Seanad Register by following the link www.nui.ie/elections, although inclusion on the Seanad Register does not happen automatically.
Zurich Farm Insurance and Farming Independent are calling on Wexford farmers to make sure they're in the running for the 3rd annual national Farmer of the Year Awards, due to take place in Dublin's Ballsbridge Hotel on Friday, May 20.

The Awards recognise excellence in the Irish farming industry and shine a light on one of the most successful and important sectors within the Irish economy.

There are eight categories available for entry, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Grand Prix Award for the overall Farmer of the Year for 2016. Award winners will also share a prize fund of 20,000.

Michael Doyle, Head of Sales & Agri Business for Zurich Insurance said that with a wide a wide range of categories, the awards are designed to recognise the diverse achievements and contributions of Ireland's farmers.

The Awards are free to enter and farmers can nominate themselves or be nominated by a third party. Full details of categories and how to enter are available at www.farmeroftheyear.ie
Cork man Eugene O'Riordan enjoyed his 100th birthday celebrations at his residence in Middletown Retirement Village in Ardamine last Thursday.

Middletown Retirement Village hosted the event for the lively centenarian and some 70 family members and friends were there to mark the occasion, some even flying in from Chicago.

Lorraine Marshall of Middletown Retirement Village said Eugene entertained his guest by singing 'My own Lovely Lee', and recited poetry. The great grandfather has 48 great grand children, 24 grandchildren and seven children and is pre deceased by his wife Margaret Gascoine.

'He has a three day birthday celebration planned in Blarney this weekend with a long list of activities and a barbeque,' she said. The former Engineer moved to Ardamine just 2 years ago to be near family, and has travelled the world and has plans to visit Tuscany this May. Eugene lives life to the fullest enjoying yoga, painting, dance and politics.
History students from Gorey Community School, pictured with their teachers before they set off to Poland

A group of 44 history students from Gorey Community School spent an interesting four days over the Easter break in the medieval city of Krakow in Poland.

They were accompanied on the trip by teachers Liz Russell, Derville O'Malley-Moore, Catherine O'Brien and Pat Hegarty. The trip began with a visit to the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. This was a powerful and emotional experience for students and teachers alike. They said that it was harrowing but necessary to see, in order to keep the memory of this awful period alive.

Auschwitz of course was more than a concentration camp; it became an extermination camp when taken over by Nazis Himmler and Hoss and it is here that more than 1.2 million people were murdered.

The Gorey group saw the dreadful conditions; they heard how cattle trucks were unloaded; and hundreds of thousands of people, deemed 'unfit' were sent to 'shower rooms' - gas chambers which killed up to 2,000 people at a time.

The remaining days included: a walking tour of the highlights of Krakow's old town; a trip to the world-renowned salt mines; and a museum, located in a former factory belonging to Oskar Schindler, dedicated to the history of the city and country during World War II.

They also enjoyed an evening's bowling, the Easter market, and shopping.
Greetings from Berlin. Some weeks ago I was invited to attend Josi and Andreas' 25th wedding anniversary. I had officiated at their wedding in Berlin.

The three of us got to know one another while I was a Catholic chaplain at the universities in Berlin. During one summer break approximately 15 of us set off on our bicycles from Berlin and cycled from Dun Laoghaire to Dingle.

Tempus fugit. There is no ferry service now at Dun Laoghaire and probably of more historical importance there is no high concrete wall surrounding the western section of Berlin. That former enclave for the 'alternative scene', 'drop-outs', those who refused to do military service, the city to which no Aer Lingus plane ever flew, is now the new German capital, changing its face every day with a bigger, brighter and better infrastructure. Indeed, before the unification and while it was still under the control of the four powers, theoretically a person could have been shot on sight on the streets of Berlin.

Have you ever found yourself meeting a group of people you have not seen in 25 years? It really is extraordinary. When I arrived in the hall a man and woman were on the stage introducing people. I immediately recognised Josi but did not know the man standing beside her until I was told it was her husband, Andreas. And then within the next 10 to 15 minutes his face became clearer. The face, the voice of 25/30 years ago. And so it was with others in the hall: some I recognised at once, others took some time for me to put shapes and names on them.

They are all now in their mid-50s with families and children. We sat down and recalled events of 25/30 years ago. Some remembered certain events and others had no recollection. Strangely, I had no recollection of being at the wedding 25 years ago but I distinctly remember Andreas fixing a puncture on our arrival in Tallaght from Dun Laoghaire. With promptings, events sprang back to memory, things I had long forgotten.

After the initial introduction, we all moved to the church, where we had a religious service. Andreas is a member of a choir in Berlin and they sang at the service. It was a lovely, inspiring church service with prayers and music. I have never seen such a religious service in Ireland. Or more accurately said, I have never been at such a service in Ireland.

So much has changed in the city since the Wall came down. But there are those who might say Berlin has lost much of its quirkiness. Before it was tucked away, had few enough visitors and there were always rumours of intrigues and conspiracies.

Before the Wall came down West Berlin paid East Berlin to take its waste. The Eastern communist authorities simply dumped it in the ground and now with no Wall the rubbish the West paid to get rid of is back. In fact, close to Schonefeld Airport there is a hill to be seen - thereunder lies much of the old West Berlin rubbish.

We are toying with doing that cycle again. Yes, we are all older but this time it would be from Dingle to Dun Laoghaire - we'd have the prevailing wind on our backs. And no doubt the rain and wind would still be a talking point. It was 30 years ago.
Kerry pilgrims enjoying the atmosphere of Lourdes on their recent trip with the Irish Pilgrimage Trust

The worth of that old maxim 'a break's as good as a rest' was re-established by a group of Kerry children and teenagers as they thoroughly enjoyed a week-long pilgrimage to Lourdes.

The joy on their returning faces said it all about the importance of the group that brought them out to the famous site of worship in France - The Irish Pilgrimage Trust (IPT).

Drawn from all across the county, the children and teenagers joined with counterparts from the rest of the country and from as far afield as Scotland, England and Wales for their wonderful week of rest, prayer and fun.

The IPT brings children with a range of needs, from emotional to physical, to Lourdes each year and at no cost to their families.

"It might be children coming a background involving some trauma or with special physical needs, but all find extraordinary healing and joy in Lourdes which I've seen on so many occasions myself," Asdee native Mairead Hanlon - who volunteered with the IPT for many years on the pilgrimage - said.

Mairead's children Anthony and Miriam last week presented 2,382 they raised in funds to the group leader with the Kerry IPT branch Ashley O'Connor - going towards the overall 14,000.

"The IPT really does fantastic work that often goes under-noticed, bringing groups out accompanied by doctors, nurses priests and helpers to allow them experience the fantastic atmosphere of Lourdes surrounded by care," Mairead said.

"Everyone comes home with a new lease of life from the peace, tranquility and prayer."
Barely a week at the helm of the AIB in his home town and former Kerry star Stephen Stack pulled out all the stops in support of another All-Ireland winning entity in a brilliant community evening.

Listowel Tidy Towns were the heroes and heroines of the hour at the AIB on Friday evening as new AIB Listowel branch manager Stephen Stack, assistant manager Linda Prendiville and fellow staff helped galvanised the business people of the town behind the 2016 Tidy Towns campaign.

Listowel succeeded last year in pulling off the near Holy Grail - being named the best small town in Ireland. The incredible performance in the national competition saw town just one point off the overall winner.

Friday saw the Tidy Towns under chairperson Kieran Moloney calling on the hundreds of business people and community figures gathered in the AIB to continue striving for greatness in the hopes of Listowel pulling off the big title come September.

"The work the Tidy Towns in Listowel achieve is phenomenal and I thought it fitting that the AIB would come in behind them to get out the support as Listowel chases the ultimate prize.

"We've seen just a handful of overall awards in Kerry down through the years and, in fairness, it's so important to communities it is like winning the All-Ireland," Stephen Stack told The Kerryman following Friday's great celebration.
A Listowel man who was nominated for the President's Gaisce Award while serving a 14-month prison sentence has told a court that he is hoping to gain a place at Art College in Dublin.

Joey Costello of 8 Dirrha Cottages has 29 previous convictions ranging from theft, burglary and criminal damage to drugs, minor assault and possession of weapons.

He appeared in court on Thursday on two further trespass and criminal damage charges,.

The first incident occurred between April 17/18 when he trespassed at a property at 13 Court Hour Road and damaged a window and a heater.

Also, on a date between April 14 and 19, he was charged with entering a property at 44 Lartigue Village and causing damage to the window and damaging a wall with graffiti.

Solicitor, Padraig O'Connell, said that his client - who he described as having very serious medical problems, primarily ADHD - had undertaken a FETAC course while in prison and was nominated for a President's Gaisce award for his work in the prison.

Mr Costello told Judge O'Connor that he had applied for an Art course in Dublin and was hoping to be accepted. His solicitor said that Mr Costello had handed over 200 to cover the cost of the damage to both properties and insisted that both had been vacant on a long term basis.

Judge O'Connor remanded Mr Costello on continuing bail until December 1, but warned that should there be any misbehaviour in the interim he will be looking at another 14 month jail term.

If he stays out of trouble, Judge O'Connor said he will be facing a conviction and fines.
Friday, April 22 next will see the launch of what's expected will prove a landmark work on the history of the Kerry experience of the 1916 Rising.

Encompassing all aspects of the Kerry Rising, from Ballykissane to the Aud to the extraordinary roles played by natives of this county elsewhere in the country, it is the result of painstaking research by editors Owen O'Shea, Dr Mary McAuliffe of UCD and Bridget McAuliffe.

Kerry 1916: Histories and Legacies of the Easter Rising - A Centenary Record presents the full account of the Kerry Rising between the covers of a single volume for the first time.

That's why interest is intense ahead of its launch in The Rose Hotel (Fels Point) on Friday next, April 22 (8pm).

Drawing on the personal testimonies of combatants, a plethora of pictorial and documentary material gleaned from relatives of those involved and much, much more, Kerry 1916 makes for a gripping read.

Take the word of one of the nation's most respected historians, Professor Joe Lee:

"[Its contents] are not only of intense interest in themselves, but often base important original research on indispensable local knowledge. Editorially augmented by often elusive biographical information on important personalities, they further enhance this significant volume for students not only of Kerry history but of those numerous aspects of the history of Ireland which have been enriched by Kerry's contribution."

Among the highlights of the work are its lucid overview of how key incidents in Kerry impacted on events in Dublin and beyond as well as the stories of the 150 Kerry men and women arrested over their involvement in the conflict - printed in a single account in Kerry 1916 for the first time.

"From an early stage, Kerry was singled out for involvement in the Rising given its republican traditions, its peripherality and the loyalty and organisational strengths of figures like Austin Stack and Paddy Cahill, from Tralee, Killarney's Michael Spillane and Michael O'Sullivan, An Seabhac from Dingle, future minister Ernest Blythe who lived in Kerry at the time, GAA stars Dick Fitzgerald and Pat 'Aeroplane' O'Shea and many others, all of whom were destined to become key contributors to events," co-editor Dr Mary McAuliffe said.

"It is no accident that Patrick Pearse and other leaders like James Connolly and trade union organiser William Partridge were regular visitors to Kerry in the weeks and months prior to the Rising.

"Kerry was chosen as the destination for the landing of the guns and ammunition aboard the Aud - those guns were to be distributed across the southwest and west by Kerry Volunteers. The failed attempt to land those arms; the arrival of Roger Casement, Robert Monteith and Daniel Bailey at Banna Strand on Good Friday; the arrest of Casement and Austin Stack later that day; and the drowning later that night near Killorglin of three men - Con Keating, Daniel Sheehan and Charles Monahan - who had been tasked with seizing radio transmitters from Caherciveen, all combined to force Eoin MacNeill's hand in calling off the Volunteer manoeuvres which had been planned for Easter Sunday," she said.

Dr Mary will chair a special panel discussion on the whole subject at the launch of the work in what's sure to make for a compelling night for anyone with any interest in the history of 1916 here.

Extract reveals how Jim Riordan fired the only shots of Rising here

"In stark contrast to the bloodshed and mayhem on the streets of Dublin, Kerry was almost entirely spared the horrors and the fatalities which beset the capital city in the week following the declaration of the Republic.

This may be partly due to the explicit instructions-regularly and rigorously reinforced to the rank and file of the Volunteers on the ground in Kerry by Austin Stack and other local leaders-that nothing to arouse the suspicion of the authorities in advance of the rebellion was to take place.

There was to be no engagement with the RIC or the military until explicit instructions were received from Dublin. When no such orders came, even after the insurrection got under way in Dublin, and following the botched attempt to land guns at Fenit and the drownings at Ballykissane, the rank and file returned to their homes but remained in a state of military readiness, under arms and awaiting orders.

The confused situation and the absence of instruction from headquarters did nothing, however, to quell the 'state of siege' which-according to two of the participants in events in Kerry-existed, and all those who had been lying low were 'keyed up' amid an 'air of war' in the county. It was in this context that Volunteer Jim Riordan went into Firies village near Farranfore to buy a newspaper on the morning on Saturday 29 April, less than a week after the Rising had erupted in Dublin and at the same time as its besieged leaders were contemplating surrender in a house on Moore Street.

Jim Riordan was born at Longfield, Firies, in 1898 to a strongly republican family and in a parish where, one report suggests, 'the tradition of disloyalty in the district was too strong and deep-rooted'. Aged sixteen, Riordan joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 and soon rose to the rank of lieutenant of the Firies Company. His brother, Patrick (Paddy) was also a member. By the beginning of 1916, the Firies Company was actively drilling and arming itself and boasted a membership of 75 men.

Soon after midnight on Easter Monday 24 April, the company assembled at the church in the village and marched to nearby Currans to join the company there. They marched on to Castleisland as the designated meeting point for companies in the Castleisland battalion where battalion officer, Dan O'Mahony, was in command.

Amid confusion and the lack of receipt of any further instructions, the local companies decided: 'To disband temporarily, to meet every night during the week in their respective areas, all Volunteers to hold themselves in readiness for immediate mobilisation, one Volunteer to be appointed on full-time duty by each company to receive and deliver urgent communications when required, and, lastly, each Company Captain had to pledge himself that no untoward incident as regards attacks on armed enemy forces would be permitted.' The final element of that decision was to be sorely tested in Firies a few days later.

Jim Riordan volunteered to act as the member on duty during the remainder of Easter Week. He oversaw the assemblies each night and waited as the train arrived each morning at Molahiffe railway station, in anticipation of a dispatch or orders from Dublin.

An account published many years later claims that Riordan, in full Volunteer uniform, visited the railway station on the morning of Saturday 29 April where local RIC members taunted him, saying, 'We'll strip that uniform off you before the night, Riordan' to which he replied, 'I would like to see you try it'.

According to his brother Paddy, Riordan walked from his home at Longfield at 11 o'clock that morning to purchase a newspaper to see if there was any information about what was taking place in Dublin. He met two local men named Costelloe and Donoghue. The three saw two RIC officers-Michael Cleary and Thomas McLoughlin, who were based at Farranfore-dismount from bicycles before putting up a notice in the window of the post office announcing the introduction of martial law. Paddy Riordan noted that Costelloe or Donoghue made a remark within earshot of the RIC men about Jim Riordan giving up his arms, to which the officers replied, 'These damned Shinners should give up their arms'.

One account says that Jim Riordan went over to read the notice and ripped it down in full view of the constables. As Riordan tried to pass Cleary and McLoughlin, one of the constables made to open his holster and the other started to unsling his carbine. Riordan produced his Webley gun and fired at the policemen, wounding them both.

The Irish Independent records that Cleary was shot in the left thigh and McLoughlin in the left arm."
Kerry is the main attraction in the latest charity fundraising drive being run by the makers of the Star Wars movies.

Since 2014 Disney Lucasfilm - the producers of the multi billion dollar science fiction franchise - have been running the 'Force for Change' charity program which aims to use the film series' global popularity to raise money for good causes.

In two years Force for Change has raised over $10 million from Star Wars fans and the latest Force For Change fundraising bid focuses on Kerry and more specifically Skellig Michael.

Fans worldwide are asked to donate money in order to be in with a chance of winning a trip to Kerry to visit the Skelligs, which provided the backdrop to the closing scenes of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Disney Lucasfilm will match every dollar donated up to $1 million.

Meanwhile preparations for the Star Wars Episode VIII shoot at Ceann Sibeal in west Kerry are gathering pace.

The headland will double for Skellig Michael during the two week shoot which is due to begin around May 20. Some preliminary shooting at the headland, expected to involve aerial shots, will take place before the main shoot starts.

Work on the Ceann Sibeal set appears largely complete. Several stone huts - similar but larger to those at Skellig Michael's Monastery - have been built near the cliffs.

Similar mock ups of the Skellig beehive huts have also been built at Pinewood Studios near London.

Episode VIII will be released in December 2017.
This past weekend will be one that many people will remember and cherish for a very long time to come after they left the warmth of their beds and homes and braved the very worst of the elements on Saturday morning to take part in the 'Banna Beast Challenge'.

The challenge, organised by the CrossFit R560 Gym in Monavalley, was a military style obstacle course which saw competitors take on over twenty different obstacles over the course of a 7km or 12km route along Banna Strand.

It was the first year that this event was being held and it certainly proved to be quite the draw as over 700 competitors came from far and wide to take on the challenge of unleashing their own 'inner beast'.

The daunting course included bales of hay, nets, a climbing wall, monkey bars, a bouncy castle and many more before competitors faced off with the dreaded and infamous 'wall climb' which was the final obstacle that they would face on the course.

There were smiles of relief, tears of pride and looks of sheer exhaustion galore to be seen at the finish line as each participant gratefully received their medals before turning to hug their friends, family and fellow runners who had all gathered to see them home.

In a great sign final act of sportsmanship, many competitors chose to stay behind to help each other up and over the final hurdle and to the finish line and bring a fitting end to one of the highlight sporting events in Kerry so far.
Alice Mary Higgins reaffirms the adage the 'apple doesn't fall far from the tree'. With her burning dedication to equality, she is certainly her parents Michael D and Sabina Higgins' daughter. But judging from a meeting with The Kerryman at the IT Tralee this week, it is clear this woman intends to plough her own furrow, just as she has done over the past fifteen years as a social campaigner.

The UCD English and Philosophy graduate is visiting Kerry as part of her 2016 Seanad bid, contesting a seat on the National University of Ireland's panel. Her credentials are solid. Since leaving college, she has perused avenues that have led to academic and advocacy work with Comhlamh, Trocaire, Older & Bolder and the National Women's Council of Ireland, to mention but a few.

"It's lovely to be in Kerry again," she smiled. "I remember being in Tralee when I worked with Older and Bolder, the organisation that champions equality for the elderly, and I was really heartened by the crowds that turned up for our meetings. The Active Retirement Group has a great spirit here." She said.

Having grown up accustomed to the glare of the public eye, I asked if she thought her unique personal experiences would be an asset if she secured a seat in the Seanad.

"My main principle, one I've had my whole life, is equality. It's inherent in me. And people have a stronger interest in equality than they might think. We all look for it; in our friends, our relationships, among our family members. I think the Seanad is a good place to tackle these kinds of issues."

Ms Higgins has previously stated that she would like to close the gender pay and pension gap, repeal the eighth Amendment and tackle violence against women. But she has also said her concerns were wider then gender alone.

"Equality covers many areas, from national social issues to International climate change. If we have environmental sustainability, we will have social sustainability." She told The Kerryman.

This whistle-stop trip to Kerry isn't all business for Alice Mary. She is taking the opportunity to visit with her old friend Gisele Scanlon from Lisselton, author of the international-bestselling The Goddess Guide.

"We used to come to Waterville on our summer holidays. Tonight I'll stay in Listowel and catch up with my old friend Gisele."
Ivan and Deirdre Yates, at the Wexford launch of Ivan's book 'Full On' in 2014

Ivan Yates, with Newstalk colleague Chris Donoghue, pictured in February unveiling the station's 'Battle Bus' for the general election

Radio presenter and television host Ivan Yates is hanging up his microphone to travel around America with wife Deirdre.

The Enniscorthy man announced last week that he is taking a year off from his various media roles to travel around the States. Best known for presenting the Breakfast Show on Newstalk with Chris Donoghue the former Agriculture Minister said that he will be finishing up his media roles in July.

In addition to presenting Newstalk's Breakfast Show Yates also presents Sunday AM on TV3 with Anna Daly and also works as a columnist with the Irish Independent. He will also be standing down from these roles come July.

Mr Yates has presented the Newstalk programme since 2009, apart from his 16 months in Wales when he emerged from bankruptcy. The former Fine Gael TD will be stepping back from public life and travelling around the US with his wife, Deirdre, for a year.

But Mr Yates has categorically denied his departure is related to his wife's financial difficulties after AIB secured a 1.6m debt judgment against her.

'I am saying categorically this is completely unlike my departure to Wales and which was quite brutal. This is absolutely by choice,' he said. On whether this departure was down to Deirdre's finances and if she was now seeking bankruptcy, he said this was 'absolutely' not the case.

The case against Deirdre Yates arose out of a guarantee she gave on April 13, 2010, towards 6.7m in loans for the expansion of the Celtic Bookmakers chain, which was run by her husband. In January 2011, the bank appointed a receiver over Celtic, which went into liquidation.

Mr Yates was later declared bankrupt in the UK, having lived for 16 months in Wales to qualify under that country's more relaxed bankruptcy laws.

AIB said that as Mrs Yates was a majority shareholder, director and company secretary of the bookmakers, it was entitled to recover from her 1.6m arising out of the single guarantee that she signed on her husband's debt.

Mrs Yates, a primary school teacher, claims that when she signed the guarantee she did not receive, and was not advised to receive, legal advice about the implications of doing so.

Mr Yates said he will be making the move this summer. 'From early July, I have decided, in a considered way, to take a step back from public life,' he said.

'I've been presenting since April 2009. I never thought I would be getting away with it for this long. I have decided it is time to take a break,' he added.

He does not rule out working with any of the media organisations in the future.

'Who knows? I may reconnect again or that may not happen,' he said. 'My decision to step back from working in the media is a personal one and I remain a committed supporter of Independent Radio and Newstalk in particular.

'I will miss working in Newstalk's innovative and creative environment and hope that I will have the opportunity to return at some stage in the future.'

Mr Yates will spend the time travelling. 'I will be more out of the country than in the country. I am going to be 57 in October. I have been working for 40 years. I owe it to my wife,' he said.

Yates and co-presenter Chris Donoghue had entertained and enlightened the public on weekday mornings with the quick banter and insightful analysis and Yates said that long-suffering Chris can only benefit from his departure.

'Like every sucker, he deserves an even break. He'll finally get someone to treat him with a bit of respect', he said.

Mr Yates returned to his media roles in 2013 following his filing for bankruptcy in the UK on foot of the collapse of his Celtic Bookmakers chain. He spent 16 months living in Swansea to complete the terms of the bankruptcy.

Newstalk said Mr Yates had notified the station of his departure prior to making his announcement.

'He has made a decision to withdraw from all of his media commitments for the foreseeable future due to personal reasons,' the station said.

Newstalk said changes to the programming schedule will be announced at a later date. The search is now under way for a successor and the station is believed to be looking at a number of high-profile broadcasters.

His Sunday AM co-presenter Anna Hayes said she is devastated with the news.

Anna said that she loved working with Ivan on the show and that his irreverent attitude was a refreshing change.

'He's just hilarious. He doesn't give a hoot what he says. As a presenter I found him so generous.

'I'd never experienced someone with that kind of recklessness and that really entertained me.

I'll really miss him. He'll be a hard act to follow.'
Irish Water is due to announce a sewage plant for the Duncannon area in the coming months, with a start date on its construction anticipated for 2017.

The company has completed a manhole survey of the village which is being reviewed presently.

Director of Services for Water with Wexford County Council Eamonn Hore said Irish Water is prioritising sewage treatment plants near bathing waters.

Mr Hore said: 'Duncannon is one of 18 locations that Irish Water have prioritised where sewage is being discharged into the water affecting rivers and streams.'

Mr Hore said the company is carrying out a study on the 18 areas across the country which is due to be completed in June.

'I would expect Duncannon to come sooner as it has been identified as a priority. Previous results haven't been good and the main reason is the lack of a treatment plant. If the 2015 results was taken in isolation Duncannon would have had a good result.'

Mr Hore said Wexford County Council has been highlighting the need for a new treatment plant for Duncannon at every meeting it has with Irish Water. He said work is due to start on the plant in 2017.

A site has been suggested to Irish Water by Wexford County Council at Mersheen, Duncannon.

Mr Hore said: 'They might come up with a site that is more appropriate than Mersheen or individual plants for Duncannon, Ramsgrange, Ramsgrange and Ballyhack. They are looking at the best location possible. It is proposed that the plant would service Duncannon, Arthurstown, Ballyhack and maybe even Ramsgrange. Everything going to plan work will start in 2017. '

Wexford County Council will continue to monitor water quality in Duncannon this summer, he added.

'We've put in whatever we can to improve the situation. We'll monitor the two streams that flow into the bathing waters. We found that disinfecting the effluent wasn't the best way to go because of the impact on shellfish in the harbour area with methane gases. We have to wait until the plant is built. Even though the results are not great the 2015 results are better than in previous years .'

People will be advised online on the local authority's website and at the beach in notices not to swim, but no signs prohibiting swimming will be erected.

Mr Hore said Wexford County Council Environment staff have been in ongoing discussions with some local residents about the water quality and treatment plant.

Plans for a temporary wastewater treatment plant for Duncannon near the pier floundered last Spring after strong opposition was voiced by local fishermen.

Wexford councillors had voted in favour of a temporary wastewater treatment plant, a primary settlement tank, a final effluent clarifier and a disinfection facility and all associated interconnecting pipe work, sewers and services at Duncannon at a special meeting of the local authority.

Three submissions arising from an engineer's report were submitted against the proposal by some local fishermen, Harbour View residents and Deputy Liam Twomey, along with one individual submission from a local resident, while the HSE made a submission favouring the plant.

Concern was expressed about noise, a possible smell from the plant and that it was a waste of money. Mr Hore said at the time that the location at Rockwell, Duncannon, was the only suitable site to enable the council to have the plant up and running by early June of last year.

Mr Hore said 'for very good reasons' the fishermen have decided not to give up their lay down area for their equipment.

He said both the fishermen and Duncannon's residents would prefer a permanent treatment system, which would be based close to Arthurstown.
A group of 30 Wexford students proved that they have the answers when they took part in the UCD Innovation Academy Disruption Event in The National Opera House.

The students, who are undertaking the Springboard-funded Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise, staged five presentations of solutions to organisations they were asked to solve problems for. In the spirit of innovation and thinking outside of the box, they came up with creative ideas for host companies JFK Trust, Trudie's Kitchen, Done Deal, The Wexford Opera House and Scurri.

Representatives from each of the companies attended the event, along with Mayor of Wexford Cllr Ger Carthy. All were very impressed with the way that the students handled the real life problems and the manageable solutions that they provided for them.

This was the first time that the UCD Innovation Academy facilitated the 18 week course in Wexford. According to Teaching Facilitator for UCD Alison Coleman, it has been very well-received in the county so far.

'The aim behind it is to encourage the students to engage with local entrepreneurs, as well as advise them on setting up their own business,' she explained. 'We have a wide mix of people including those who have been made redundant, those who are looking to retrain, people who are changing careers and others who are relocating back to Ireland. We had everyone on the course from bank managers to artists to engineers. All of them are looking to get back into employment.'

Owing to the success of the first Wexford course, Alison said that it is likely that another will be held in the county. However, it is unlikely to take place until next year.

'There is one starting in Waterford at the end of April that anyone can apply for,' she said. 'During our last course in Waterford, 30 per cent of the students were actually commuting from Wexford.'

The course is open to all jobseekers who currently hold a degree or relevant work experience. It has already proven to be a great success nationwide, with 800 graduates and a 75 per cent employment rate post course.
Wexford Chamber will host the South East Business Finance Expo on Friday, May 6, in Wexford County Hall.

This event is sponsored by Wexford County Council and is supported by Chambers throughout the South East.

A recent Central Bank survey found that 39 per cent of SMEs still consider access to finance as a 'high' concern and this is a sentiment which has been echoed by the members of Wexford Chamber.

As a result, Wexford Chamber has organised the South East Finance Expo, which will introduce business owners to the entire spectrum of funding options and growth supports.

Speaking about the background to the event, Karl Fitzpatrick, President of Wexford Chamber said, 'since 2008, the Irish Banking sector has experienced a period of unprecedented change and what has emerged is a smaller banking sector, containing fewer active players with a limited capacity to lend and a reduced appetite for risk'.

'A credit gap now exists and as a result, 40 new finance providers have entered the Irish market, who, whilst they have a greater appetite for risk, are largely unknown to SMEs,' said Mr Fitzpatrick. CEO of Wexford Chamber Madeleine Quirke previewed the type of businesses that would be exhibiting at the event. 'From term loans through to asset finance, information on every category of funding will be available on the day and the pillar banks, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, Microfinance Ireland, members of the Independent Finance Providers of Ireland and government agencies will all be on hand.'
The wheels are in motion and the scene is set for the arrival of a showcase with a difference as Wexford Quayside will be transformed into a spectacular backdrop for a display of trucks, HGVs and all associated with the Haulage Sector on the weekend of April 15 and 16.

As one of the country's key port counties Wexford has a long association with the Haulage Industry and will rolling out the red carpet for all those involved with the sector.

Wright Insurance Brokers has a long standing association with the transport sector and has been providing insurance solutions to the haulage community for over 30 years.

Presently Wright Insurance Brokers handle the insurance requirements of approximately 30 per cent of the sector nationally.

Selected as Wexford's Large Company of the Year in the Wexford Chamber Awards, Wright Insurance Brokers will play a key role in welcoming members of the haulage community to Wexford.

This welcome includes a Marquee on the Quay at which invited guests will enjoy the finest Wexford hospitality combined with a special performance by nationally acclaimed local band, Corner Boy. The Marquee will also hold the official launch of the new HGV Driver Apprenticeship Programme, an initiative undertaken by the IRHA to develop professionalism and excellence in driving amongst Irish fleet drivers and which is being heavily supported by Wright Insurance Brokers to secure insurance industry backing.

Tony Wright, CEO, Wright Insurance Brokers said: 'We are proud to be associated with the Irish Road Haulage Association in what has been a challenging time for the industry.
Some of the attendance at the Youth Summt in Ramsgrange Community Development Centre

The first ever youth summit of its kind in Ireland on increasing the jobs skills of teenagers was held at Ramsgrange Community Development Centre last week.

Addressing youth unemployment in the country, the summit brought together 35 students aged between 15 and 18 from across the south of the county.

A Ramsgrange Community Development Centre spokesperson said: 'With the level of youth unemployment in County Wexford we have a peer support platform for people to speak about it. It's not just about education, but communication and decision making skills. It makes participants more competitive. We used the summit as a starting point and these people were interested in it.'

Participants were taught how to expand their skill base in the summit which was funded by the Community Foundation for Ireland.

'It's the first time they have ever funded this type of initiative and we were very happy to get the funding at Youth West Wexford Family Resource Centre.'

A youth participation panel was involved in the day and there was team building at Shielbaggan Outdoor Education Centre, while there was an indoor discussion in the afternoon.
Ballymote's Family Resource Centre has proved to be a vital component in the community ever since its development.

Over 100 communities in Ireland are served by family resource centres, and Ballymote was identified one of four areas in Sligo that required one.

"The whole idea of a Family Resource Centre is to cater for the needs of the community from the ages of zero to one hundred," explained Francis Moyles of the Ballymote Family Resource Centre.

"We aim to cater for specific family supports.

"We are a community based operation and we focus on community development and reaching out to members of the community."

But since the crash, there has been more focus on poverty in the area.

"Our focus since 2009 really has been on poverty, but Ballymote was a recognised area of poverty when Family Resource Centres began.

"There were even a lot of lone parents too, and things like that meant that a Family Resource Centre was needed, so it was set up here.

Family Resource Centres were first established in 1994, and have grown in numbers significantly since then.

Ten centres were initially given funding, and by 2006, 100 centres were receiving funding.

They are now funded by Tusla, the child and family agency.

"We've started using social media quite a lot to get the news out there about what's happening in the Family Resource Centre," said Francis Moyles.

"We send community notes to local media regularly, we release a bulletin every quarter or so and that can be found in doctor's surgeries and places like that.

"We've found that the fastest way to get a response is to put something up on social media.

"But for people from an older age group, they may not use social media so we have to get the word out there."

The Ballymote Family Resource Centre runs a huge variety of classes each week.

From yoga and computer training to counselling and Weight Watchers meetings - the Family Resource Centre aims to cater to the needs of everyone in the community, regardless of age, gender or interests.

Keep up with what's happening at the Ballymote Family Resource Centre by checking out the Facebook page at 'Ballymotefamily Resourcecentre', or call the centre on 071-91-97818.
Nicholson' Pharmacy on Stephen Street held a recent "Caring for your skin" sun awareness weekend. A Vichy and La Roche-Posay Consultant was in store offering expert advice on how to protect your skin against sun damage.

Last Friday the Marie Keating Foundation Mobile Unit called to the pharmacy with a specialist nurse who gave advice on how to reduce the risk of skin cancer and how to spot skin cancer early.

The pharmacy continues to offer free skincare advice to all our existing customers and new customers. This includes the following 'SunSmart Code:' Always wear sunscreen, wear protective clothing, a hat, and sunglasses, choose a sunscreen that has a high protection against UVA rays as well as a high SPF, never use Sunbeds and avoid the sun between 11am and 3pm.
Irish Rail have ignored a letter sent by the Council a year ago suggesting a new customer car park be opened to the rear of MacDiarmada station.

Councillor Seamus Kilgannon, who tabled the original motion a year ago, was given an update on the matter at this month's meeting.

Council Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes said he wrote to Irish Rail following a discussion on the issue last year but "no response was received." "We can again write to Irish Rail on the matter," he told the meeting.

"Parking has to be found at the train station. Number one, it would accommodate customers and number two, it would alleviate the traffic in Sligo town," said Cllr Kilgannon.

"Parking can be backed up as far as Scoil Ursula. I'll have to get on to our new TDs about the problem," he added.

Cllr Declan Bree suggested the Council request Irish Rail to send a representative to meet councillors.

Ciaran Hayes agreed to write to Irish Rail requesting that they attend the next meeting of Sligo Municipal District.
The long awaited Lough Talt water scheme has been given the go ahead with work to start in May.

Irish Water confirmed an investment of 1.9 million in the Lough Talt Regional Water Supply Scheme on Monday.

The project will deliver significant improvements in network performance and customer service in terms of supply pressure, security of supply and water pressure.

Shareridge Ltd will carry out this work on behalf of Irish Water.

Work will begin in May and is expected to take one year to complete.

This project will involve the rehabilitation and replacement 17km of water mains in Curry, Quarryfield, Killavel and Oldrock, primarily located through private lands, with 24km of new polyethylene water mains to be located primarily on public roads.

This will reduce the need to extract and treat 5.3 million litres of water every month from Lough Talt, enough to fill more than two Olympic size swimming pools.

This project will benefit customers by strengthening and reinforcing the networks in these supply areas, reducing disruptions in supply and improving overall water quality.

The works will also include service connections to properties currently served by water mains located in backyards and private properties in Curry, Quarryfield, Killavel and Oldrock. This will involve laying a new main in the public road, adjacent to the property, and connecting the main to the property with a new individual private service connections.

Contractors working on behalf of Irish Water will be contacting residents in the coming weeks to arrange surveys of properties supplied by backyard services.

Irish Water says its staff and contractors will always present their identification and will only enter homes at a time suitable to householders.

The purposes of these surveys will be to plan proposed service replacement works in detail and address any concerns residents may have regarding the proposed works.

Declan Cawley, Water Network and Rehabilitation Programmes Regional Lead at Irish Water explained: "The proposed works will be carried out in sections to minimise impact on residents, businesses and road users.

"The works will involve some short-term water shut-offs for a number of hours over a day or two in each area when the new pipes are being connected to the existing network.

"The project team will ensure that householders and businesses are advised of any works in their area in advance and will be given 48 hours prior notice of any water shut offs." Irish Water invested over 363 million during 2015 and plans to spend 532 million on water services in 2016.
A controversial plan to shift the Council's focus from the County to the City gave rise to heated debate at this month's Council meeting.

Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes presented a plan to restructure the Council to "appropriately position" it to deal with the main urban issues.

He plans to do this by establishing a City Centre Committee which will put together a City Centre work programme.

Mr Hayes also wants a theme for Sligo that will inform shopfront and public lighting styles, citing Stratford-on-Avon and Bruges as good examples.

"The public realm needs to be enhanced to bring O'Connell Street bac k to it's former glory," he told councillors.

Rural-based Sligo Councillors expressed dismay at the proposal. "As a rural councillor I'm shocked this has come before us today," said Cllr Margaret Gormley. "If it's good for the urban area, it's good for the rural area," she said. "I don't see anything in this document about rural areas. The farming community are completely ignored. I'm absolutely disgusted with this," she added, calling for a rural plan to be drawn up as well.

"Cllr Gormley has a point," agreed City-based Councillor Seamus Kilgannon. "What is happening with the Centre Block? Parking in Sligo town is a disgrace. The sooner somebody builds a multi-storey car park the better," he said.

"Today is only the start of the debate. To be fair, Sligo is our main town and we have to develop it in a responsible manner," he said.

"I think the Chief Executive is right. Sligo town does need a facelift," said Cllr Michael Clarke.

Cllr Jerry Lundy said they also needed to develop a Sligo rural area plan. Cllr Keith Henry said Ballymote and Tubbercurry also needed a facelift. "I worry a divide will be created," said Leas-Cathaoirleach Cllr Paul Taylor.

"It's vital that the rural areas are also looked at," said Cllr Thomas Healy.
She's known for her rigorous workouts and enviable toned physique.

However, model Madeline Mulqueen has revealed that she struggled after dropping to below seven stone following an accident.

Madeline, from Limerick, is a trained personal instructor and has been showing off "proud" photos of her progress in the gym in recent months.

However, the 26-year-old said that only last summer her weight plummeted to seven stone, which affected her mental health.

Expand Close Madeline Mulqueen - instagram. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Madeline Mulqueen - instagram.

The accident saw her being knocked unconscious by a fire door while moving into her Wicklow home with her movie star fiance Jack Reynor.

"Last year I had an accident and ended up getting whiplash," she said.

Expand Close Madeline Mulqueen - instagram. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Madeline Mulqueen - instagram.

"I dropped to under seven stone and I was unhappy in myself physically and even more so mentally."

The bubbly brunette said she was out of work and unable to train for months after the accident, which left her with a bruised face and neck injuries.

Expand Close Jack Reynor and Madeline Mulqueen. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jack Reynor and Madeline Mulqueen.

It was a gradual path back into training for Madeline, who started working out again ahead of her charity trip to Africa at the end of last summer.

She said her inactivity gave her a bad dose of cabin fever, which left her feeling "really low".

Video of the Day

However, Madeline spoke this week about her transformation and her toned muscles, which she credits with consistent training and eating more.

"I couldn't gain weight for months after my accident, but after just eight weeks of consistent training and upping my meals I'm finally getting those gains," she said.

Read More

Madeline, who is signed to Distinct Model Management in Dublin, also regularly attends Pilates sessions.

She was delighted this week after her fundraising dinner at Swords restaurant Indie Spice Grill helped pull in 3,300 for the Zamda charity that helps young people in Zambia.

Read More

Madeline showed off her figure when she stepped out in a floor-length red gown to support her other half at the Iftas in the Mansion House last weekend.
New Top Gear presenters Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans are in Kerry to film the hit BBC show. Photo: BBC Top Gear/Gus Gregory

Matt LeBlanc driving a new Rolls-Royce Dawn around Ireland's Ring of Kerry (BBC/PA)

Matt LeBlanc happens across a hen party in Kerry. PIC: Lisa Marie Keane Twitter

He said he'd have his first pint of Guinness tonight. Well it seems former Friends star Matt Le Blanc has gone one step further.

The actor, who is in Kerry filming an episode for BBC's Top Gear, pulled his very own pint as well.

Matt was photographed behind the bar of Florry Batt's bar in Kenmare, and he looked more than pleased.

The actor also found some time to surprise a hen party.

One lucky Irish woman got a special surprise yesterday when her hen party was gate-crashed by TV star Matt LeBlanc.

He was spotted earlier in the day around Killarney and kindly posed for some selfies with local fans (and TV presenter Kathryn Thomas), and later found some time to surprise a hen party in Kenmare.

Read More

The group were kitted out in novelty police gear to celebrate bride-to-be Sarah Jayne Murphys big day, and were driving through the town when the actor rolled up behind them.

One of the hens, Lisa Marie Keane, shared her delighted snap on Twitter, writing: Thanks for making our hens day!!! #kenmare #topgear.

Expand Close New Top Gear presenters Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans are in Kerry to film the hit BBC show. Photo: BBC Top Gear/Gus Gregory / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp New Top Gear presenters Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans are in Kerry to film the hit BBC show. Photo: BBC Top Gear/Gus Gregory

LeBlanc will be joined by his new co-host Chris Evans today as they begin shooting their first instalment of the hugely popular BBC show.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, gestures towards Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at the start of a break during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Thousands of people attend a rally for Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in New York City's historic Washington Square Park. Photo: Getty Images

The rallying cry reverberated around the packed Manhattan square, bouncing off the imposing buildings that frame Washington Square Park and echoing into the chilly night.

"Twenty seven!" the crowd chanted, waving their banners in delight. "Twenty seven! Twenty seven!"

Bernie Sanders, the Democrat presidential challenger, beamed.

It was a well rehearsed-routine, played out for months across the United States - and on Wednesday night in New York 27,000 people knew the answer when their political hero asked them: "Do you know what my average campaign donation is?"

For Mr Sanders, the hoarse, wire-haired senator from Vermont, the humble sums donated to his campaign are a badge of pride. Almost seven million individual campaign contributions have been received - most of them sums under $200 - meaning that, as he proudly proclaimed, "more people have donated to me than any other candidate in the history of this country".

The 74-year-old is challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination and his passionate grassroots campaign is the foundation of his movement - unlike, supporters say, Mrs Clinton's well-oiled vast political machine.

On Tuesday, New York voters will choose their candidate in the most hotly contested primary in decades - normally the path is cleared long before April.

And Mr Sanders is hoping that these grassroots activists (pictured) will, against the odds, propel him to a sixth consecutive victory, and keep his campaign alive.

Mr Sanders has strong support among the young, consistently beating Mrs Clinton in the 18-29 age range.

According to exit poll data, Mrs Clinton won this age group in only two states: Alabama and Mississippi. On average, Mr Sanders is winning these young voters by 41 points.

And as a result of his youth following, he has a strong online presence.

Some would describe it as fanatical. His supporters have been accused of trolling Super Delegates - voters, normally current and former Democrat politicians, who can go to the Convention and support whoever they want, potentially swinging the election.

According to NBC News's latest count, Mrs Clinton has the support of 460 Super Delegates compared with 38 for Mr Sanders. One of Mr Sanders' supporters, Spencer Thayer, published online a 'hit list' of Super Delegates known to support Mrs Clinton - "aimed at harassing Democratic Super Delegates". He urged his followers to help "turn the tide".

Bob Mulholland, a Clinton-supporting Super Delegate from California, published an open letter criticising the tactic, describing harassing emails, Facebook postings and phone calls - "even to one woman at 10.30 at night from some of your supporters demanding that we support you."

He added: "We would expect this type of bullying tactic from Trump supporters."

Mr Sanders apologised for some of his supporters getting carried away - something which has in fact happened to most of the candidates.

"We have many hundreds of thousands of supporters, and some of them have gone over the edge," he said. "I apologise for that."

Given Mr Sanders' comparable lack of campaign infrastructure, he has been forced to rely on social media to spread his message. And in this, he has been immensely successful.

Mr Sanders declared his intention to run for the presidency on April 30. Three days later his presidential Twitter account had 25,140 followers compared with Mrs Clinton's 3.46 million.

Today, Mrs Clinton has 5.95 million, having multiplied her following by 1.7.

Mr Sanders has 1.96 million - a 77-fold increase. And it is a vital part of gaining support, spreading the message, and generating momentum.

Online efforts alone, however, are not enough. Mr Sanders' backers have taken it upon themselves to organise their own campaigns - going door to door to drum up support. And, born in Brooklyn, Mr Sanders has a fervent following in the district.

Maricela Sanchez, a 35-year-old anaesthetist, has volunteered to help the campaign in Flatbush - only a mile from the six-storey brick tower block where Mr Sanders spent his childhood, living with his parents and brother in a three-room council flat.

She compiles clipboards full of names and addresses of people who have expressed an interest in voting for Mr Sanders, ready for canvassing.

The building is in an area with a strong Afro-Caribbean neighbourhood - Haitians, Jamaicans and Barbadians live side by side with Latinos and Jewish families installed for decades.

Ms Sanchez will send out troops of volunteers to knock on doors and ensure support for their candidate.

"I've never seen a candidate with this bold a vision for change before," she said. "We have so many people coming through the doors asking how they can help - it's exciting."

"We need all the support we can get," she said. "And those who are perhaps put off the traditional politics we've seen so far are really open to Bernie's ideas."

The Democratic primary in New York is showing voting patterns familiar from prior contests, with independents, liberals and younger voters lining up behind Mr Sanders, and Mrs Clinton dominating among life-long Democrats.

Mrs Clinton, who was twice elected to represent the state in the Senate, has a big advantage in New York City and the surrounding suburbs, while the race is effectively deadlocked upstate.

Nevertheless, Mrs Clinton remains the favourite for Tuesday's vote, with the most recent poll showing 57pc of support compared to 40pc for Mr Sanders.

But Mr Sanders is keeping faith.

"Eleven months ago, we were 60 points behind Hillary Clinton," he told the crowd in Washington Square Park on Wednesday night - a crowd that even outnumbered Barack Obama's celebrated 2008 rally.

In the last two weeks, two polls have put us ahead. And national poll after national poll has me beating Donald Trump.

"It's not just about winning," he said, over the chants of "27!" "It's about creating a political revolution." ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
When Trygve Lie, the first secretary-general of the United Nations, met his successor Dag Hammarskjold in 1953, he greeted him thus: "Welcome to the most impossible job on this earth."

Lie's words have since passed into UN lore but many would say the job description is even more fitting today in a world pummelled by multiple crises, including numerous wars, massive human displacement and climate change.

With current secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's second five-year term ending on December 31, the race is on to find his replacement as the world's top diplomat.

Since the founding of the UN in 1945, the secretary-general's role has changed significantly, not least because of how the organisation has grown over the decades. Today, the UN chief works with 193 member states and oversees 40,000 staff and some 30 UN programmes, agencies and funds.

The power of the secretary-general is greatly dependent on the power of his or her (though no woman has yet held the post) moral voice, with which they can help mediate an end to conflicts and call on governments to meet their responsibilities on issues from human rights to gender equality and sustainable development.

Some previous UN chiefs have been larger than life - Kofi Annan springs to mind - while others like the incumbent Ban, a diplomat from South Korea, have been more low-key.

According to the UN charter, the secretary-general is chosen by the 193-member general assembly on the recommendation of UN's main decision-making body, the 15-member security council. In practice, this has meant that the council's five permanent members - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - have power of veto over the candidates in an opaque process that involves no little horse-trading in the corridors of the UN headquarters in New York.

This time, however, in an effort to inject some transparency into the process and engage the general public, contenders are presenting their case to the UN general assembly and taking questions in a session broadcast live on the UN's website in what the organisation has described as a "job interview in front of the whole world".

There are currently nine candidates vying to succeed Ban. Four are women. Many believe the next secretary-general should be a woman, a historic first. With no deadline for candidates, others can join the race in the months to come and rumours swirl that German Chancellor Angela Merkel could throw her hat in the ring. The UN also has an unwritten rotation system in which the post has moved among regions. Previous UN chiefs have come from Asia, Africa, Latin America and western Europe. It is widely speculated that the next secretary-general will come from Eastern Europe. Given all that, Bulgaria's Irina Bokova, currently head of the UN's educational and cultural agency Unesco and the first woman to hold the post, has emerged as one of the favourites.

Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who heads the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is also considered a strong contender.

The live interview sessions this week saw the hopefuls quizzed by diplomats but also by a child who asked via video-link what the candidates would do to ensure countries take actions to stop what was described as "catastrophic climate change".

In between questions on human rights, sustainable development and UN peacekeeping, Brazil, Germany, India and Japan - countries which aspire to become permanent members of the security council and together comprise what is known as the Group of Four (G4) - asked candidates how they would reform the security council. This is a perennial question when it comes to the future of the UN, as many believe the security council's current permanent make-up no longer reflects global realities.

UN general assembly president Mogens Lykketoft, who oversaw the question-and-answer sessions, said he was "very inspired" that 227,000 people from across the world watched the webcast. He said the candidates broadly shared the view that while the UN has achieved successes with a new raft of global development goals, an agreement on climate change and some progress on Iran and Syria, there was a need for the body to be more pro-active in conflict prevention and human rights protection. They also agreed that the vexed question of reforming the UN's bloated bureaucracy should be prioritised to make the organisation more efficient and nimble.

Whoever takes office as the UN's new secretary-general on the first day of next year will face the increasingly complex challenges of a rapidly changing world. Now more than ever, the job might indeed appear the most impossible on earth.
Blown out windows are seen at Zaventem Airport in Brussels after coordinated bomb attacks on the airport and the Metro system brought terror to the Belgian capital.. Photo credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Detectives are continuing to question five people detained in the UK after an inquiry into a suspected terror cell reportedly linked to the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Four men and a woman from Birmingham were arrested on Thursday and Friday after an investigation involving MI5 and authorities in France and Belgium.

West Midlands Police said the arrests formed part of an extensive inquiry into "any associated threat" to Britain following terrorist atrocities in the French and Belgian capitals.

Detectives detained three men, aged 26, 40 and 59, and a 29-year-old woman in Birmingham on Thursday night.

A 26-year-old man was arrested at Gatwick Airport in the early hours of Friday.

Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, of West Midlands Police, said a number of properties in Birmingham were being searched after the pre-planned and "intelligence-led" arrests.

Mr Beale said: "This action forms part of an extensive investigation by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, together with the wider counter terrorism network, MI5 and international partners including Belgian and French authorities to address any associated threat to the UK following the attacks in Europe.

"There was no risk to the public at any time and there is no information to suggest an attack in the UK was being planned."

All five people arrested were held on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

It comes just a week after the arrest of Mohamed Abrini, who admitted being the "man in the hat" pictured alongside two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels Airport last month.

Some 32 people were killed and nearly 300 were injured in suicide blasts at the airport and the city's Maelbeek subway station.

Abrini was the last identified suspect still at large following the November 13 attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.

West Midlands Police has previously refused to confirm reports that images of landmarks in Birmingham, including a shopping mall, were found on a mobile phone belonging to a ringleader involved in the Paris atrocities.
Chancellor Angela Merkel granted Turkey's request to prosecute a German satirist who derided President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a decision that exposed a rift in her government and risked a backlash among the German public over press freedoms.

The episode, which began with a lewd joke directed at Erdogan on national television last month, lays bare the pitfalls in Germany's dependence on Turkish help to tackle the region's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

While Merkel left the legal fate of the comedian, Jan Boehmermann, in the hands of the country's courts, she said her government will seek to scrap the law in Germany's criminal code that penalises insults against a foreign head of state.

"In a state governed by the rule of law, it's not the domain of the government, but rather the prosecutors and the courts, to weigh individual rights," Merkel told reporters in Berlin yesterday, reading from a prepared statement.

The chancellor both lauded Germany's cooperation with Turkey and condemned its government's crackdown of media organisations as a matter of "great concern".

The decision blew open a divide in her Christian Democratic-led government, with ministers among the junior-partner Social Democrats dissenting, just one day after announcing an agreement on refugees meant to end bickering over the matter within her coalition.

Merkel took the final decision herself to allow the probe after failing to win consensus with the SPD.

"I believe this decision is wrong," SPD parliamentary caucus leader Thomas Oppermann told reporters. "Prosecution of satire because of 'lese-majeste' is not compatible with democracy."

The furore has centred on Boehmermann, a comedian with public broadcaster ZDF who two weeks ago recited a poem about Erdogan that plumbed the depths of bawdiness in an effort to test the boundaries of acceptable satire under a law protecting foreign heads of state from libel.

Merkel says her decision wasn't a prejudgment on the satirist's culpability.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the German comedian had committed a "crime against humanity" by insulting the Turkish head of state. "No one has the right to insult" Erdogan, Kurtulmus told reporters. Erdogan himself also filed a complaint with German prosecutors seeking legal action.

The spat has spilled into the controversy over the European Union's refugee agreement with Turkey, the centrepiece of Merkel's response to the biggest migration crisis in Europe since World War II.

The pact, which entails sending refugees seeking illegal passage to Greece back to Turkey, has been criticised by human rights groups as impractical and legally suspect and denounced elsewhere because of Erdogan's efforts to censure the press and quash dissent.

"Merkel now has to live with the accusation of bending to Erdogan," Anton Hofreiter, a parliamentary opposition leader with the Greens, told reporters.
US President Barack Obama will put himself in an unusual, and risky, position next week in London: smack-dab in the middle of the heated British debate over whether to remain part of the European Union.

The White House believes the UK is better off economically and politically if it stays part of the EU - a candid argument Obama will likely make during a news conference and a town hall meeting with young Britons.

The White House normally goes out of its way to avoid the appearance of meddling in other nations' elections when scheduling visits abroad and in Washington. But just two months ahead of the June 23 referendum on Britain's possible exit, dubbed 'Brexit', and with Britons evenly split, Obama will appear next to his friend and ally, Prime Minister David Cameron, who is leading the 'In' campaign.

"We have no closer friend in the world, and if we are asked our view as a friend, we will offer it," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, referring to Britain, told reporters on Thursday.

"But he'll make very clear that this is a matter that the British people themselves will decide when they head to the polls in June," Rhodes said.

The visit's timing is a sign of how much Obama feels is at stake. The International Monetary Fund warned this week that a Brexit could deal a blow to the fragile global economy.

The White House is also concerned about the impact a UK departure would have on the EU as it grapples with migration and counterterrorism issues, said Charlie Kupchan, Obama's senior director for European affairs.

"We would not want to see a Brexit that could potentially damage the European Union and increase the challenges that it faces," Kupchan said.

A YouGov poll for 'The Times' newspaper on Thursday showed 39pc of voters on the 'Out' side, 39pc backing 'In', and 17pc undecided.

But polling data also reveals 'Out' supporters are more "fired up" and motivated to turn out to vote, said Chris Jackson, a vice president at Ipsos Public Affairs.

Obama, who is popular in Britain, could potentially craft a powerful emotional argument to reframe the debate and motivate potential 'In' voters, Jackson said.

Polls show young voters in particular are more pro-European, but less inclined to vote. Obama will speak directly to young Britons in an informal yet high-profile question-and-answer style event.

"If he can help energise that part of the electorate, I think it would be really powerful," said Karen Donfried, a former adviser to Obama on Europe.

But London Mayor Boris Johnson, who is campaigning for the 'Out' side, has already railed against the "outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy" of Obama's impending visit.

That shows the risk in Obama's visit, said Desmond Lachman, a former IMF official. "Oftentimes, the British aren't too keen about having foreigners telling them what to do," he said. .
A boy holds a sign reading "Let me go to dad please" at the Moria refugee camp

Pope Francis meets migrants at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos (AP)

Pope Francis brought 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europe's migration crisis.

Refugees on the overwhelmed island fell to their knees and wept at his presence.

Some 3,000 migrants on Lesbos are facing possible deportation back to Turkey under a new deal with the European Union, and the uncertainty has caused heavy strains.

Francis decided only a week ago to bring the three refugee families to Italy after a Vatican official suggested it. He said he accepted the proposal "immediately" since it fit the spirit of his visit to Lesbos.

"It's a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same," he said of his gesture, quoting one of Mother Teresa's phrases.

During the five-hour trip, Francis implored European nations to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity".

The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its beaches and rocks in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece. They came to give a united Christian message thanking the Greek people for welcoming migrants and highlighting the plight of refugees as the 28-nation EU implements a plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Francis insisted his gesture to bring the 12 refugees to Italy was "purely humanitarian," not political. But in comments on the flight home, he urged Europe to not only welcome refugees but better integrate them into society, so they are not left in ghettos where they can become prey to radicalisation.

Many refugees wept at Francis's feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention centre on Lesbos, where they greeted 250 people individually. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as they passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. The pope also blessed a man who wailed "Thank you. Please Father, bless me."

The Vatican said the three Syrian families, including six children, who came to Rome will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italy's Catholic Sant'Egidio Community. They were treated to a raucous welcome on Saturday night in Rome, with drummers thumping, a crowd applauding and the three mothers receiving a single red rose.

"I thank you for what you have done," Nour, a mother of a two-year-old, said of the pope. "I hope this gesture has an effect on refugee policy."

Nour and her husband, Hasan, are both engineers who lived in Zabatani, a mountainous area near the Lebanese border that has been bombed. Another family with two children hailed from Damascus and a third family with three children came from Deir el-Zour, a city close to the Iraqi border that the Islamic State group has been besieging for months, leading to malnutrition.

Two of the three had their homes bombed, said Sant'Egidio's refugee chief, Daniela Pompei.

She said the three families had been given Italian humanitarian visas and would now apply for asylum. Francis said they were selected not because they were Muslim, but because their papers were in order. They had arrived on Lesbos before the EU deportation date.

"It's a small gesture," he said. "But these are the small gestures that all men and women must do to give a hand to those in need."

In perhaps a first, a baby's cry could be heard aboard the papal plane as Francis spoke. The 12 refugees sat right behind the papal delegation on the aircraft, and Francis greeted each one on the tarmac in Lesbos, again on the tarmac in Rome, and during the flight, said Ms Pompei.

Francis seemed particularly shaken by the trauma the children he met at the detention centre suffered as a result of their experiences. He showed reporters a picture one Afghan child gave him of a sun weeping over a sea where boats carrying refugees had sunk.

"If the sun is able to weep, so can we," Francis said. "A tear would do us good."

Hundreds of migrants have drowned so far this year in the waters between Greece and Turkey.

At a ceremony in Lesbos to thank the Greek people, Francis said he understood Europe's concern about the migrant influx. But he said migrants are human beings "who have faces, names and individual stories" and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

"God will repay this generosity," he promised.

In his remarks to refugees, Francis said they should know that they are not alone and should not lose hope.

Human rights groups have denounced the EU-Turkey deportation deal as an abdication of Europe's obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands since March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe.

In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up.
Police in South Korea are braced for protests on the second anniversary of a ferry disaster

Thousands of South Koreans have participated in memorial events for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago.

Hundreds of people waited in long queues at a square in the capital, Seoul, to place flowers on a makeshift altar near where relatives of the victims had camped out for months in protest.

Seoul police were expecting nearly 5,000 people to participate in the event, with speeches, concerts and film screenings planned. Police were also preparing for the possibility of the gathering turning into an anti-government march, but the event was proceeding peacefully at the start.

Hours earlier, about 2,500 people, including grieving family members and government officials, gathered for an event at a memorial altar in Ansan, where most of the victims lived. There were other memorial events around the country, including a gathering at a small island port near the site of the accident, where relatives had spent months waiting for divers to return with the bodies of their loved ones.

A total of 304 people, most of them students from a high school in Ansan, died when the ferry Sewol sank off South Korea's south-west coast in April 2014 in a disaster partially blamed on official incompetence and corruption.

Divers recovered 295 bodies from the ship's wreckage and nearby seas before the government stopped underwater searches after seven months. Nine victims remain missing.

The tragedy touched off an outpouring of national grief and soul-searching about public safety. The relatives of the victims, angry that higher-level officials haven't been held accountable, have been calling for a stronger investigation into the government's responsibility for the disaster.

"We really want to move on," Jeon Myung-sun, the father of one of the student victims, said during a speech in Ansan. "We would be able to go back to our ordinary lives if the people who are responsible are held responsible, and after finding out why (the accident) happened and why our children had to die."

South Korea's top court in November last year upheld a life sentence for the ferry's captain. The court concluded that he committed homicide by "wilful negligence" because he fled his ship without giving an evacuation order.
PHOTOS BY CHARMAINE SMITH-MILES/INDEPENDENT MAILMembers of the community and the congregation of Fort Hill Presbyterian Church in Clemson listen to the Rev. Rodney Sadler Jr. talk about how certain Biblical texts have been interpreted through the years to justify slavery and other racist attitudes and institutions.

By Charmaine Smith-Miles of the Independent Mail

Some people sat listening intently while others kept popping their hands up Monday at Fort Hill Presbyterian Church in Clemson as the Rev. Rodney Sadler Jr., talked to them about how Christians have contributed to racism in the world over the centuries.

He focused on texts in the Bible's book of Genesis that were often used, over the years, to justify a belief that blacks were inferior to whites.

He had the church's pastor, the Rev. Laura Conrad, read from the chapter 9 of Genesis, where Scripture states, "When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, 'Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.'"

This text, among others that mention slaves, were often used to justify slavery and to convince people that there are differences in people based on their skin color, Sadler said.

"This text has been used to oppress people," said Sadler, who is an associate professor of Bible at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Laws were written using this text. The church has fostered the racial divide in America that we still see today. Because of these interpretations, we still look at people of differing skin colors as lesser people. We need to get rid of this skeleton."

Sadler was part of a three-day lecture series at the church, called Seminary at the Fort. Sadler also helped teach some of the church's young people, answering some of their questions about difficult pieces of Scripture and talking with them about how the Bible was put together.

He led worship on Sunday and then spent two more days talking in greater detail about how the church has helped contribute to the underlying attitudes that give rise to racism. He also talked about the church can, and should, be the place where those attitudes begin to change.

All of the work has been part of the Clemson church's focus on racism in America in the wake of a shooting and subsequent riots that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri, last year when Michael Brown, a black man, was killed by a white police officer, Darren Wilson.

The Rev. Mary Morrison, an associate pastor at the Clemson church, said the church's staff were working on bringing in Sadler last year, in response to the unrest in Ferguson, when nine black people were shot at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston.

Morrison said the congregation at Fort Hill Presbyterian Church has committed to looking at issues affecting the world, at large, and how they can respond faithfully to those issues.

Before Sadler's visit, the congregation participated in an 11-week Bible study series about racism, Scripture and the church. And they do not plan to stop their work on the issue now Sadler's lectures have concluded.

"He pushed us deeper to think about race and racism and how, in the church, there have been layers of cultural impressions placed on the Biblical texts," Morrison said. "But he also helped us to see how the church can build bridges."

After hearing from Sadler, one idea that they may look at more in-depth in the future is justice, from a Biblical standpoint, and how that differs from our idea of justice. She said Sadler presented the church with ways that the Charlotte faith community has helped promote justice, equality and a better understanding among different people and religions.

"We may look at this question of justice and what that means," Morrison said. "How do we, as the church, go about addressing justice from a systematic standpoint and not just a charity standpoint?"

Follow Charmaine Smith-Miles on Twitter @Charmaine_AIM
KATIE MCLEAN/INDEPENDENT MAIL Lt. Vincent Smith of the Anderson Police Department works at his desk Friday.

SHARE

By Mike Ellis of the Independent Mail

Law enforcement agencies in the Upstate do not reflect the diversity of their communities, and leaders are struggling to fix the problem.

Upstate police chiefs and sheriffs said a shrinking pool of applicants is complicating their work to diversify what has been decades of overwhelmingly white and male police forces in the Upstate.

The most diverse cities in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties are the ones furthest away from representing their communities in race and gender.

Overall, 80 percent of the officers in the three counties are white men. Most of the departments have forces that are 90 percent male, and most are 90 percent white.

It's not ideal, said Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw, whose police force is more racially diverse than his county but is still 93 percent male.

He said the original "Star Trek" TV series had a great team with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov.

They represented different cultures, skills and backgrounds pulled together, Crenshaw said.

"I realize the need for diversity in the workplace has never been clearer," he said. "I need people around me that have a variety of skills and knowledge and think differently than I do."

Hiring representative police forces is on the mind of every chief and sheriff and all the administrators who hire, said Ryan Alphin, executive director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers' Association.

He said it's a challenge, and it's getting harder because there are fewer applicants even as the public is clamoring for more diverse police forces and higher-quality officers.

"It's always been a huge problem in the police force," Alphin said. "The people who go into law enforcement traditionally are males, so it's not only a racial divide but a gender divide. You have to look at who is applying and who is recruited, and you'll find the data shows white males are predominantly the ones who apply. To fix that you have to start going after and aggressively recruiting across racial and gender divides, and departments are actively doing that."

It's a lot easier said than done, said Doyle Burdette, who is starting a small police force in Pendleton from scratch.

He said the applicant pool is the biggest challenge to having diversity in a police force.

"Everyone wants a representative police department," Burdette said. "At the same time, it's extremely difficult to get that ratio almost unless you luck out, because you can't consider race in hiring. If you go looking for that, you're violating the law."

The most diverse deparment

Tony Taylor didn't realize when he was hired as police chief that he was the first black man to hold the top law enforcement job in Williamston.

And not just in Williamston, Taylor's hometown, but in Anderson County.

Taylor realized he had made history the day after he was introduced to the community in January 2013, an introduction that got moved from a small council chambers to a gym a few doors down because so many people came.

In the years since, he has remade the department.

Taylor began by having everyone reapply for their jobs. He also focused on skills, including speaking Spanish and using technology. Above the rest of the skills, he said, were "people skills" and the ability to talk to members of the community, including blacks and Hispanics.

"We didn't set out to have a diverse department," Taylor said. "We're real happy we do, but that wasn't the goal in and of itself. When I came here we may have had one, two African-American officers in 20 years."

The Williamston Police Department is now the most diverse police department in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties.

The department, with 14 people, is 78 percent white. The town is 83 percent white.

Taylor said he believes that being a minority in charge of a department has brought a more diverse pool of applicants.

"Going into our fourth year, we've done well by changing law enforcement culture away from the way things were done for many years and toward a community policing model," Taylor said.

He took direction, he said, from Williamston Mayor Mack Durham, who wanted a police force reflective of the community. Taylor also looked for people who wanted to be part of a community policing model.

"When we respond, I don't care if they're Hispanic or African-American or white or live in the housing or mill village or upscale areas; they all want their problems solved," Taylor said. "And I think my officers have been good at moving beyond whatever the color is to, "You know what, let's help these people and solve their problems.'"

Melissa Eddleman, a Williamston Police Department sergeant and one of four women in the department, said being a woman hasn't affected her on the job.

She said the city's emphasis on community policing means officers introduce themselves to everyone so everyone knows their names.

Then people don't complain, or compliment, them as a woman or by their race but by their name, and that extends to the all-important effort to help solve crimes in communities, Eddleman said.

Diverse towns don't have diverse police forces

With nearly 390,000 people, Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties have 21 police agencies.

The two most diverse cities in the counties are Anderson and Seneca, and they have the biggest racial gap between the population and the police force.

Nearly 30 percent of Seneca's population is black, yet 95 percent of the police force of 36 is white, and there are no black officers in the city.

"While it is obvious that a diverse police department blends and serves a diverse public more adequately, that desired goal often does not happen in the reality of selecting new officers," Seneca Police Chief John Covington wrote in an email. "When our department hires a new officer or support staff employee, the primary goal is to select the most qualified candidate every time, regardless of race or any other factors."

The city of Anderson has a police force of 90.5 percent white officers and a population that is 59.5 percent white.

Most departments are far closer than Seneca and Anderson to matching the demographics of their communities.

Some of that is dealing with cities that have greater populations of minorities, said Anderson Mayor Terence Roberts. Anderson's police force has the same proportion of white officers as the Oconee County Sheriff's Office, 87 percent, but because the city is far more diverse, there's a bigger gap between the community and the officers.

Having police forces that reflect communities has long been an elusive goal, said Seth Stoughton, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

A former Tallahassee, Florida, police officer, Stoughton has studied how departments can match the demographic makeup of communities and has advised cities on how to make changes.

Stoughton said there are advantages to a diverse force, but not in the ways most people assume.

"One of the more commonly-held beliefs is that diversity changes the way policing is done in the short term, so black officers for instance would be better able to distinguish between people in a certain community," Stoughton said. "But the research doesn't bear that out."

Minority officers, he said, are just as likely to be good officers, or bad officers, as whites."It's not that this officer deals differently in their situations because they know the community and the people, but it's that the larger picture is that all officers change by knowing more diverse officers," Stoughton said. "The best we have is history, and we know that the more diverse agencies, over the long run, have more of a good relationship with their community. We also see perceived effects, which can be very important. When a community believes there is more diversity, they will be more likely to have a moderating effect. That perception is really important because perception drives public cooperation, and that's key to good policing."

Perception of policing

Policing still attracts the same types of people it has for generations, several of the Upstate chiefs said.

"It's people with a servant's heart; people who want to serve; people whose family has served in law enforcement; people who return from tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and still want to give more," said Burdette, the Pendleton police chief.

But the career is attracting fewer people to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, Alphin said.

All of the law enforcement officials interviewed said they have fewer applicants now than in the past, and they believe it is directly tied to increasing scrutiny of officers through social media and officers being killed in the line of duty.

In 2016, there have been 16 officers shot and killed in the line of duty nationwide, including Greenville police officer Allen Lee Jacobs, who was shot and killed March 18.

Beyond the danger, the hours are long, often 12 hours or more on a shift.

"Back in the day all the little kids wanted to be police officers or firemen or soldiers," Burdette said. "It's not like that anymore."

How to diversify

Recruiting officers is the biggest hurdle to having a diverse police force, said Chief Jim Stewart of the Anderson Police Department.

He said it's hard to attract people to join a career that's dangerous, demanding and offers low pay.

Starting salaries in the state are generally in the low $30,000s, said Alphin, the head of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association.

Williamston officers start out at $31,000, Seneca officers start out at nearly $32,000, and Oconee County Sheriff's Office deputies start out at $29,000.

It's a challenge to recruit from out of state because the pay is comparatively low, even if the cost of living is far less, said Capt. Kevin Marsee, a Williamston Police Department supervisor who is in charge of hiring.

So to expand the applicant pool, law enforcement leaders recruit at job fairs and build relationships with universities and community colleges, Marsee said.

Crenshaw said he is working to get the pay scale in Oconee raised by the County Council there.

Stewart said his department's long-term plan, the kind USC professor Stoughton supports, is to change perceptions of the department to get a better applicant pool years down the road.

Roberts, Anderson's mayor, said diversity is a city goal.

More than a year ago, City Councilwoman Bea Thompson started a group, the Law Enforcement and Community Relations Task Force in an effort to avoid civil unrest that happened in Ferguson, Missouri.

The task force linked clergy, law enforcement and a few wild cards, including former criminals.

The group meets with teens to try to get them interested in law enforcement as a career choice.

Thompson said it helps by leading to better relations today, which increases cooperation with law enforcement, and can change long-term perceptions.

Roberts said Stewart and Thompson have been able to make progress with young people, such as 16-year-old Westside High School sophomores Trez Floyd and Devin Jeffries.

The two teens spoke with the group last month and said just having police listen to them made a difference.

"We should be conscious of and trying to reach a certain level of diversity," Roberts said. "Law enforcement is a tough job. This group, with Dr. Thompson, I think is the key to us getting there. That's a goal I can definitely live with. I don't know if that's a five-year thing or a 10-year thing. But we want to have that kind of a department, and we're working to get there."

Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @Mike Ellis_AIM
Below are Clemson President Jim Clements' Thursday statement to the students sitting in at Sikes Hall, and their response Friday.

Student statement:

UPDATE: Response to Administration | 4PM | 4/15/16

Following an open conversation with members of the community involved with our cause, we, representatives of the community, have the following feedback to give you in regards to your response to our grievances and concerns:

Your response fails to acknowledge just that  it was a response. An e-mail with the subject "Diversity Update" does not recognize that the response to your headers within the e-mail  which are phrases directly related to our grievances and concerns  are in fact in reply to the demonstration at Sikes Hall. This is important, as it does not promote honesty, transparency, nor does it resonate with the request of a clear line of communication between administration and students.

Your response, although directly relating to the demands presented to you, fails to adequately address your specific plans, programs, and steps of implementation to solve these issues. There are two key themes missing that the community continued to highlight during the conversation for every individual response. The first of those is the failure to establish a timeline and benchmarks for your goals. The response gives us an idea of what you've done so far, are doing currently, and plan to do, but it does not acknowledge a clear timeline regarding when you plan to accomplish your goals. Additionally, the response fails to provide accountability for who is responsible for ensuring these goals are accomplished and your plans in the event these goals go unmet. There is no way to know whether these goals will actually be accomplished by administration because we do not know who, specifically, is even responsible for carrying out the plans you address, and therefore there is no one, specifically, to be held accountable. These are serious issues.

Our further actions will be determined by your response, or failure to respond.

Until then, Sikes Hall will be Clemson University's new Political and Multicultural Center. We plan to continue conversations here with the larger campus community about these and the many other issues that exist within the so-called Clemson Family.

We submit this response respectfully.

Thank you.

Clements statement:

Dear Clemson Family,

This week has seen positive activities regarding Diversity and Inclusion at Clemson University. This past Saturday, a $1 million dollar gift by Trustee Mark Richardson and his family along with a $5 million dollar challenge gift to support the Emerging Scholars Program was announced, this was followed by a week-long recognition of PRIDE week activities, and Tuesday marked a historic day with the unveiling of historic plaques marking the importance of African Americans and Native Americans in this university's past.

Let me take this opportunity to recap a number of other initiatives that have taken place and continue to occur at Clemson University. This is only a subset of a number of activities taking place.

Funding for Student Organizations  The Interim Chief Diversity Officer, Vice-President of Student Affairs, the Provost and I have funded over $100,000 per year for travel and special events involving minority students or student organizations whose primary constituencies are under-represented groups. The Administration will collaborate with Student Government leaders to review the funding process for organizations to insure that the process is equitable and clear for all applying for funding.

Recruitment  Since 2013, we have seen an increase of nearly 13 percent in our African-American undergraduate enrollment and an increase of nearly 31 percent in Hispanic undergraduate enrollment.

In the graduate school, we have seen African- American enrollment increased more than 7 percent and Hispanic enrollment more than 36 percent.

From Fall 15 to Fall 16, we are up 30 percent in African American enrollments and 16 percent overall.

Funding for scholarships aimed at diverse student recruitment has increased dramatically:

 FY 2013-14 = $0

 FY 2014-15 = $540,000

 FY 2015-16 = $1.5 million

 FY 2016-17 = (projected) $2.2 million

This year we raised a record amount in private funds for need-based scholarships and programs targeting under-represented populations and diversity initiatives.

In the request for future funding from the state of South Carolina, Clemson requested additional funding from the state for Call Me Mister and Emerging Scholars, two programs focused on minority student development and recruitment that have national stature.

And recently the Provost re-envisioned and planned a new Career Workshop to help minority student prospects prepare for national tests (ACT and SAT). He provided an initial budget of $24,000.

Increases in People of Color among Faculty and Administrators  My Executive Leadership Team now includes two African Americans and one person from western Asia. Between 2013 and 2015, the proportion of minority (non-white) faculty has increased from 15.1 percent to 18.8 percent of the total. Funding for programs aimed at recruiting faculty of color has increased by more than $350,000 per year with further increases being planned. Faculty recruiting to support a Provost Fellow in the Office of Equity and Inclusion, four postdocs in a special postdoc to faculty hiring program, and to support the Pathways program to help diverse Ph.D. students find employment opportunities at Clemson and elsewhere have been initiated.

Multicultural Center  Changes were made to the existing Gantt Center space in fall 2014, however it remains crowded and is located in a building that will eventually be torn down. In spring 2016, the Gantt Center was offered space in the building that houses the library archives and Strom Thurmond Institute, but the Gantt staff believed the location was too far from the center of campus to work. The administration has been actively seeking other spaces on campus for temporary expansion of the center, and it is committed to a dialogue with the Gantt Center and a representative cross-section of students to plan for a long-term home for the Center.

Building Names  The Clemson Board of Trustees passed a resolution stating that "Benjamin Tillman was also known to be by his own admission an ardent racist and led a campaign of terror against African Americans in South Carolina that included intimidation and violence of which he boasted about publicly; and for some members of our university family Benjamin Tillman's legacy included not only contributions to Clemson University but also oppression, terror and hate." And resolving that "The sense of the Board of Trustees is that such actions and views of Benjamin Tillman are repugnant to our values and our fundamental purpose of being a high seminary of education." The Board developed a series of recommendations based on the work of a History Task Force. These recommendations are intended to tell the complete, though imperfect, story of Clemson  beyond renaming historical campus buildings, such as Tillman Hall  in which the authority rests with the South Carolina General Assembly via the Heritage Act.

Communications  Monthly student dialogues were initiated in spring 2015. These activities bring small groups of minority and majority students together to bridge gaps and learn more about each other. The President's Leadership in Diversity Lecture Series was launched in fall 2015. Significant changes in content and in volume have occurred for the marketing of diversity with the university website, publications and content on ClemsonTV. We continue to denounce hateful speech that is divisive to our community.

Enhancing and Broadening Diversity Training  To date, more than 500 faculty, staff, and administrators have completed a day-long civil workplace training program. Student training currently occurs in orientation, the CU 1000 course, resident halls, Greek life, and other venues. The university is committed to have all faculty, staff and administrators complete the civil workplace training program. It is also committed to seek feedback from students regarding the current student programs, and to work to increase their effectiveness.

Diversity as a Central Value for Clemson  The Dean of Undergraduate Studies is currently reviewing and revising the CU 1000 course to include more emphasis on diversity and a discussion of the university's history. The Provost and Vice President for Student Affairs are considering additional course content related to diversity and inclusiveness for sophomore, junior and senior courses.

While this provides a brief summary of a number of issues regarding Diversity and Inclusion at Clemson over the recent past, more work remains.

On Monday, April 18th, we welcome the addition of our new Chief Diversity Officer, Mr. Lee Gill, to assist us in our efforts to move forward. I want the entire campus community to know that I remain committed to improving the efforts of diversity and inclusion at this university. Please join me in these efforts to make Clemson a more supportive and welcoming environment for all.

Go Tigers!

Jim Clements

James P. Clements, Ph.D.

President

Clemson University
SHARE

By Nikie Mayo of the Independent Mail

A young man and a teenager died Friday after their car struck a building in Donalds. The crash marks a deadly period on Abbeville County roads, where four people died in less than 48 hours.

Phillip Calhoun Jr., 20, of Donalds was driving south on S.C. 184 just after 1 a.m. Friday when he lost control of his Toyota Camry, according to Abbeville County Coroner Ronnie Ashley and Trooper Billy Elder of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Ashley said Calhoun struck a vacant brick building that is believed to be part of an old train depot.

Both Calhoun and his passenger, 17-year-old Brandon Causey of Ware Shoals, died at the scene of the crash. Ashley said Causey just moved from Loris to Ware Shoals last month.

The coroner also disclosed Friday the identities of a couple who were killed late Wednesday night in a fiery crash near the city of Abbeville.

Gary Dale Spinks and Ruby Wertz of Abbeville both died when their Ford pickup collided with a truck driven by Ray Deberry of Iva. Ashley said the couple were on their way back home after visiting Wertz's grandmother in Alabama when their truck collided with Deberry's.

That crash happened on S.C. 28 around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. The collision caused the Ford to veer off the road, strike several trees and catch fire. Ashley had to wait for dental records to confirm the identities of Spinks and Wertz.

Deberry, 30, was flown to a hospital for medical treatment. His condition was not available Friday.

Both of the Abbeville County crashes remain under investigation by the highway patrol.
PHOTOS BY KATIE MCLEAN/INDEPENDENT MAIL Jessica Ambrose, 10, a homes-schooled fourth-grader, stands with re-enactment soldiers in Anderson as they demonstrate how Civil War-era troops would have wielded their guns.

SHARE Students observe Civil War-era guns displayed on a Confederate flag at the Battle of Anderson education day. Students look at Civil War-era money at the Battle of Anderson education day. Students run toward a re-enactment station at the Battle of Anderson education day Berlin Owen (right) of Rosman, North Carolina, shows students around a display of a Civil War-era campsite at the Battle of Anderson education day.

By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

HONEA PATH  The number of students who attended the Battle of Anderson education day on Friday nose-dived compared to last year.

Darlene Dowdy, the event's coordinator, said between 400 and 500 students attended last year's education day. On Friday, she said, about 100 home-schooled students showed up to learn about Civil War history.

Dowdy said she was disappointed that no public school students turned out this year. In the past, she said, fourth-graders from the three elementary schools in Iva-based Anderson School District 3 had gone to the Battle of Anderson education day.

"This year it just has been total no-go with public schools," she said.

Dowdy questioned whether the drop in attendance indicates that school administrators are worried about being "politically correct" after two high-profile events last year. She was referring to the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston and the subsequent removal the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds in Columbia.

Harold Campbell, interim superintendent of Anderson School District 3, said a communications snafu was the reason that students from his district did not attend the event.

"I will take full blame for that," said Campbell, who started work in March after former Superintendent Mason Gary stepped down. "It was definitely not anything political."

The students who did attend the education day learned about Civil War-era weapons, camps and medical care.

"I learned that the basic first-aid that we have today is more than they knew back then," said Jacob McNeil, a 14-year-old home-school student from Abbeville.

Luke McNeil, 9, said it would have been scary to be a wounded Civil War soldier.

"Especially when they had to cut off your limbs," he said.

Wearing period clothing, Dowdy told students about the different roles that women played in the Civil War as nurses, disguised soldiers and spies.

She also explained how women who lost loved ones in the war would dress entirely in black during a full year of mourning. These women often covered their faces in black veils to hide their grief because "mourning was a private thing."

Many homes dealt with "mourning in the North and South," she said.

Dowdy has served as the education day coordinator for the past five years.

"I try hard to present balanced, true facts of the 'war between the states,'" she said.

A re-enactment of the Battle of Anderson, which was the last Civil War skirmish east of the Mississippi River, will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The event also will feature historical military encampments, artillery demonstrations and the traveling exhibit of the H.L. Hunley, which was the world's first successful combat submarine.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
Move aside Khans, Kapoors, Singhs... Here's the new cover man! Irrfan Khan, who is now hailed as the latest romantic star, has himself gracing the cover page of the latest issue of Society (April 2016). The cover story includes "An Intense And Profound Chat" with the actor.

Year 2016 is a busy one for the actor with releases including Songs of Scorpion with Iranian actress-musician Golshifteh Farahani and Madari which will be releasing in June. With this he will also be seen sharing screen space in Hollywood movie Inferno with Tom Hanks expected to release in October 2016, making him a perfect face for the Cover of Society Magazine for their April 2016 issue.

Irrfan Khan is an actor who is critically acclaimed and also loved by the audience for his unique choice of roles never failing to wow us with his acting capabilities across genres. The actor is currently shooting for a bilingual international movie 'No Beds of roses' in Bangladesh and also rumored to be a part of 'Gustakhiyan' which would be produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.


Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors.

KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary.

No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account."

www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others.
Micromax inaugurated its newest manufacturing facility in Telangana on April 14. The plant was inaugurated by Sri K T Rama Rao, Minister for IT and Sri P Mahendra Reddy, Minister for Transport in the presence of other senior State dignitaries. The Telangana manufacturing facility has been made operational from scratch in flat six months and will have the capacity to manufacture one million Mobile Phone devices per month. The facility currently employs 700 people and will increase the number to 1000 employees in the next two months, boosting employment opportunities in the State.K T Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Telangana said, Telangana Government strongly believes in the vision of Make in India and has always encouraged corporates to establish their factories and R&D centres in the state. We are very happy that Micromax who has been a front runner in demonstrating technological prowess by bringing future disruptions at affordable price points and has chosen Telangana as the destination for setting up its manufacturing facility. We believe this partnership will provide new opportunities to youth of the state and develop an electronics manufacturing ecosystem of global standards in Telangana.The minister added that the government has always encouraged corporates to establish their units in the state. The government has enacted TS ISPASS act which has been appreciated by the industry. A total of 1691 units have been sanctioned with an investment of Rs 20,347 crores creating 36691 jobs. Of these about 840 units have already commissioned production. The fact that more than 50% of the approvals have already commissioned production in less than a year speaks about the ease of doing business.Elaborating the salient features of the ease of doing business under the TS ISPASS, the minister said that all the line department portals have been integrated with TSSIPASS under a single portal. The registration, renewal and inspection module is being done online. Least possible turnaround time for consent of establishment and consent for operation anywhere in the country. Single helpline number (7306600600) has been introduced. Reduction in number of mandatory documents by combining common features across departments has been introduced in the act, the minister added.Referring to the labour and factories reforms, the minister said inspection schedules have been computerized and the inspection report to be uploaded by the inspecting officer within 48 hours. Joint inspections will be carried under 10 acts which is a major relief to industries. Licenses for factories can be renewed in one go with a validity up to 10 years which is a major relief to units. Voluntary self certification scheme has been introduced in the act, the minister added.The minister also spoke about the reforms relating to fire, registration, commercial tax and pollution control board departments which include stamp duty payment for property registrations have been made online and through eSTAMP. A single Tax ID for filing of returns, of all the taxes, registrations can be done online and returns can be filed online through e-payment. Exemptions to green industries from any inspections. Renewal period increased from 1 year to 5 years through auto renewal mode. Third party certification introduced for medium risk industries and self certification for low risk industries.P Mahendra Reddy, Minister of Transport, Telangana mentioned that, In a very short span of time since its formation, Telangana has emerged as one of the fastest growing states with immense focus by the Government on public-private partnership for the growth and prosperity of the state. With inception of Micromax plant, the company will focus on integrating product design capabilities with efficient manufacturing processes which will help in economic development of the state.Telangana has the advantage of having good connectivity with rest of the country and major global hubs. Government of Telangana is also focused to provide trained manpower to various sectors including electronic sector through the newly constituted Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK). A large number of ITI, diploma and degree institutes are already functional in the state which provide requisite manpower to the sector.Commenting on inauguration, Rajesh Agarwal, Co-Founder, Micromax said, By 2017, we aim to be Indias first and largest indigenous phone manufacturer. We have been the front runners for the 'Make in India' initiative, by assembling the products locally and quickly ramping up and building capacity of complete manufacturing in close partnership with the Government. We are grateful for the support of government of Telangana for providing a slew of incentives, provisioning of all approvals and compliances in a time bound manner and providing necessary infrastructure and conducive ecosystem for conduct of business. It is primarily due to the industry friendly approach and forward thinking policies of Government of Telangana, that we could set up the plant here in a record time of six months.The latest plant at Hyderabad promises not just state-of-the-art manufacturing unit of high-tech products but will also bring in the much needed employment and economic growth to the region creating thousands of jobs for the local citizens. The company has already invested over 100 crores in the project in the first phase.The ESDM sector is receiving highest attention by Government of India and Government of Telangana is also supporting this effort by manufacturing this import substitution product thereby reducing outflow of forex from the country.
Orange Renewable, a 100% subsidiary of Singapore based AT Holdings Pte Ltd, has signed Power Purchase Agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of IndiaLimited (SECI) onfor development of 100 MW solar power project in Maharashtra under JNNSM Phase- II, Batch  III Scheme. , a 100% subsidiary of Singapore based AT Holdings Pte Ltd, has signed Power Purchase Agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of IndiaLimited (SECI) onfor development of 100 MW solar power project in Maharashtra under JNNSM Phase- II, Batch  III Scheme.

SECI has been designated as the nodal agency of GOI for implementation of MNRE schemes for developing grid connected solar power capacity. MNRE has revised the cumulative targets under National Solar Mission from 20 GW to 100 GW by 2021-22 which has given a big boost to the Indian Solar sector and has made India the preferred destination for investors.

Orange Renewable has won this contract through a competitive bidding process followed by online live reverse auction conducted by SECI on TCIL platform. In the reverse auction processonly 8 bidders were able to bag the projects where Orange Renewable emerged as one of the largest capacity off taker in this bidding.

Total tendered capacity was 450 MW and the projects fall under a Non-Solar Park Scheme. Orange Renewable will receive an average power tariff of INR 4.43 per kilowatt-hour for the next 25 years from commercial operation date of this project which is scheduled in 2017.

Speaking on the development, Naresh Mansukhani, Country Head (Solar) at Orange Renewable, said, "The agreement with SECI is the first footstep of Orange Renewable towards the companys Solar Energy portfolio expansion strategy in India.

Mr. Ashvini Kumar, Managing Director, SECI; Mr. Ramesh Kumar, General Manager (Solar), SECI; Mr.Naresh Mansukhani, Country Head (Solar) Orange Renewable ; Mr. Ashman Gautam, Manager Business Development, Orange Renewable were present at the signing ceremony.
Today, Indian banks are embracing the social media platform in a big way. They are not only using the social media platform to promote their products, but are also using this space to promote their events, let their customers know about the latest developments at the bank and announcing the bank progress. Social networking sites are also used, in a big way, to resolve customer queries, customer grievances, for customer satisfaction, improve branding, analysing customer needs, and offering facilities like real-time banking and money transfers.Most of the banks today have advertised heavily on Facebook and have managed to gain a huge fan base, along with decent amount of interaction on the Facebook platform. Competition within banks has intensified. Banks are helping in resolving customer queries, customer grievances and satisfying customers. Axis Bank, on its page, says the customer query would be responded to within an hour of posting it, while ICICI Banks says that the bank would reply to the queries within a few hours.Going by the numbers, today, leading private sector entity, ICICI Bank, has a large fan base of over 47 lakh fans, as against 35 lakh fans, in May 2015. Axis Bank has almost 32 lakh fans today, as against 30 lakh fans last year, in the same period. The countrys largest bank, State Bank of India, too, has seen a rapid rise in its fan base on the Facebook platform in the last one year. Interestingly, the banks fan base has more than doubled in the last one year. The bank has 52 lakh fans today, as against 24 lakh fans same time last year.SBI carries different tabs on its home page, such as a live webcast of press and analysts meet, along with other tabs like SBI Quick, SBI offers, photos, videos, corporate website link, SBI ATM Locator, SBI Branch Locator, Tools & Calculators, YouTube, Savings Account and SBI Mingle. Similarly, ICICI Bank, too, has some interesting features like Expression App, EMI Personality Quiz, Photos, Videos, Charge In, Bank on-the-go, Testimonials on 24x7 branches, Personality Quiz, Customer Care numbers, Product Suite, 1 Minute Challenge, milestones, events held and Fan of the month.Banks not only promote themselves through the Facebook channel but on Twitter as well. The countrys largest bank, SBI, has 569k followers on the twitter handle @TheOfficialSBI. It provides daily updates on the banks products, services, initiatives and tips from experts. Similarly, by starting a twitter started in November 2011, ICICI Bank has 87.4k followers on the twitter platform, @ICICIBank. Recent developments, product offerings, offers, campaigns and financial education is given out through this twitter handle. It has a separate handle for service queries for customers, @ICICIBank_Care.Smartphones have indeed led to an increase in the use of social media sites. The value of transactions on the mobile device has seen a phenomenal increase, thanks to the rise in the number of smartphones in the country. Mobile banking has seen a rapid increase in recent times, with more and more retail customers coming forward to transact on the mobile phone. Banks also find it easier to tap Gen Y on social media sites today than at bank branches. In order to keep pace with these changes, Indian banks are increasingly coming up with technology innovation with the help of mobile, analytics and social media, to suit their customer needs and serve them more efficiently. Youngsters find it more convenient to transact on their smartphones than visit a bank. According to data from RBI, the value of mobile banking transactions touched Rs 49,029 crore in December 2015.In a recent development, ten of the country's biggest banks, along with the Reserve Bank of India have launched a Unified Payments Interface (UPI), an app that will reduce the cost and time taken for making simple payments.Indian banks have also launched a banking service by which you can transfer funds using the social media platform. This means you can send money to anyone with a bank account, if you know the other persons mobile number or email address, or if the person is your friend on Facebook or a follower on the Twitter platform. For instance, ICICI Bank came up with a mobile banking service called Pockets, aimed at the youth. Anyone, need not be a customer of the bank, can easily download the e-wallet from Google Playstore, fund it from any bank account in the country and start transacting immediately. The wallet allows users to instantly send money to any email id, mobile number, friends on Facebook and bank account. The users can pay bills, recharge mobiles, book movie tickets, order food and send gifts using this e-wallet. Users can choose to add a zero-balance savings account to the wallet, which will allow them to earn interest on their idle money. For each transaction, there is a unique dynamically generated OTP (One Time Password) that is sent to the senders mobile number, registered with ICICI Bank, to verify that the transaction is initiated by you.Axis Bank too unveiled Ping Pay, a unique multi-social payment solution to enable customers, specially the youth and smart phone users, to transfer money and mobile recharge, person-to-person, including to non-Axis Bank account holders, using social and messaging channels like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, email and phone contact lists. The person-to-person fund transfers through Ping Pay would happen via NPCIs Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and currently the transaction limit is at Rs 50,000 per day.
On 16th April 1853, at 3:35 pm, India's first train, with 14 carriages and 400 guests ran from Bombay's Bori Bunder to Thane after a 21-gun salute. The 21-mile-long historic journey that took about forty-five minutes to complete was hauled by three locomotives - Sultan, Sahib and Sindh.

imgur

Trains had been running even before 1853, but were mostly used for transporting raw materials. This was the first commercial passenger service in India.

mid-day

In 1835, a short rail line was laid out near Chintadripet (Chennai). Some believe this used to be the practice line for the Red Hill Railroad line. While the line was intended for carrying granite stone, by 1845, a railway line was built to carry stone and construction materials for irrigation works and a dam over Godavari.

imgur

India had to wait for eight more years for the first passenger line. Interestingly, none of the guests actually bought the ticket. All 400 of them were invited. Native lords from around the country came to witness the inauguration ceremony.

indianrailways.gov.in

British engineer Robert Maitland Brereton was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. The Calcutta-Allahabad-Delhi line was completed by 1864. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway opened in June 1867.

irfca.org

Brereton was responsible for linking this with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km (4,000 mi). It had now become possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta via Allahabad. Opening on 7th March 1870, it is said that this line partly inspired French writer Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days.

wikimedia

163 years later, the Indian Railways has become the biggest government entity of the country. Today, there are more than 11,000 trains transporting over 2.5 crore passengers daily. It is also the largest employer of the country, employing more than 1.4 million people (as per 2015). This also makes it the third largest employer in the world, right after the State Grid Corporation of China and the China National Petroleum Corporation.

irfca.org

Wow!
Did you think that with a pantheon of 33 million Gods, worship could not be fun? Take a cue from the tribals of India and fling a coconut, dance like a local, plant a tree and discover a world of mesmerising rituals. Did I mention the variety of food?

Take a look at some of India's most beautiful tribal festivals.

Kailpoldu, Kodava Tribe, Karnataka

Kodavu

The Kail Poldu festival is celebrated in Coorg. The Kodavas are a warrior tribe and this festival is held to worship their weapons. The festival is usually held between September 2-4. The festival serves as a clarion call for the Kodavas to bring out their weapons and to prepare for guarding their crop from wild boars and other animals. On the Kailpoldu day, the weapons are taken out of the puja room, cleaned and decorated with flowers. The villagers gather in the meadows where shooting competitions are held. Earlier, hunting and cooking of the wild animals were part of the celebration, but these days the shooting skills are tested by firing at a coconut target in a tree.

Sarhul festival, Jharkhand

explorejharkhand.blogspot.com

This is the main festival of the tribal population of Jharkhand. The verbal meaning of Sarhul is worship of the Sal tree. Sarhul can also be redefined as worship of nature in which local people worship Sita, the wife of Lord Rama as 'Dhartimata'. They also worship the Sal tree, which is believed to be the abode of Goddess Sarna who protects the village from all kinds of natural calamities and disasters.

Thisam Phanit, Naga tribe, Manipur

e-pao.net

Thisam festival is observed for twelve days in January. There is a strong belief that the souls of the dead do not leave the world until a farewell ceremony is performed. From the day of their death till the farewell ceremony, it is believed that the dead soul joins the family at every meal. For that purpose Thikhong, meaning plate for the dead, is placed with a clean sheet of cloth on the Naga stool as on a raised wooden platform. When all these formalities are performed, the dead are seen off, known as kazei kata.

Bhoramdeo Mahotsav, Chhattisgarh

thewanderingsoul.in

This festival is celebrated each year in the last week of March within the premises of the Bhoramdeo temples located at a distance of about 135 km from Raipur. The famous king Ramachandra of the Nag dynasty, who married Princess Ambika Devi of the Haiya dynasty, is credited with the construction of this beautiful temple. The festival is held to honour the King.

Karama festival, Odisha

oriyaonline.com

In this festival the presiding deity is either 'Karam', a God, or 'Karamsani', a Goddess, who is represented with a branch of the Karam tree. It is celebrated sometime between the months of August and September, on the eleventh day of the bright fortnight. In the ritual, people go to the jungle and cut a few branches of the Karam tree. The branches are carried by unmarried girls who bring them to the village and plant them on the ground decorated with flowers. A tribal-priest (Jhankar or Dehuri) offers germinated grams and liquor in propitiation to the deity, who grants wealth and children.

Baneshwar Festival, Dungapur, Rajasthan

riseforindia.com

This is celebrated in the month of January and February by the people of the Bhil tribes living in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, among others, at the confluence of the Mahi and Som rivers. The festival sees the worship of Mahadev (Shiva) as well as Kalki (Vishnu). From ritualistic singing of praises of the Gods to gravity-defying acts, this festival displays the very magic of a colourful Rajasthan.

Marriamman Thiruvizha, Andaman Islands

pangunipongal.blogspot.com

The festival is to celebrate the Goddess Arulmigu Mariamman who is believed to be the guardian of these islands. Her temple is located at Astinabad village, which is approximately six kms from Port Blair bus terminus. A famous lore is that when the Dhannikari Dam was being constructed, it could not be completed successfully until the project in-charge prayed to Goddess Mariamman. After the completion of the dam, he constructed a temple and left money for the daily conduct of pooja and maintenance. Apart from the locals, even tourists are advised to pay their respects to the Goddess before leaving.

Folk Dance Festival, Daman and Diu

Yahoo

The festival is a significant part of the cultural life of Daman and Diu. Drawing inspiration from the neighbouring state of Gujarat, the colourful attires come out for the Folk Dance Festival of Daman. The dance forms associated with the Folk Dance Festival in Daman and Diu are Mando Dance, Verdigao Dance and Vira Dance. People of all age-groups take part in the Folk Dance Festival.
Street art is not new to us. Even cavemen left their mark on walls. With time, the relevance of the writing has changed. In the later years of the last century, graffiti or street art became the voice of the oppressed. Since then, victims of violence, the oppressed and the wronged, have taken to the streets leaving behind clear messages. From the Berlin Wall to three-dimensional art in San Francisco, the painting on the wall escalated into a strong weapon of the people as well as the open air canvas for expression of art.

Graffiti in India

From being India's underground, graffiti has now turned into India's foreground, attracting the attention of international and domestic visitors alike. Delhi saw the first impressions in the early 90s when a wall was signed by the German artist Bond, which has become, over time, the initiation ritual for graffiti artists from Delhi and beyond.

Naman Sariya

The recently concluded Street Art Festival in New Delhi was one of epic proportions, clearly establishing the capital as India's graffiti centre.

Artists from several nations came together to participate in what has now become a government-approved festival, across a specially demarcated Art District in Lodhi Colony as well as Asia's largest inland cargo hold at Tughlakabad in the city.

Ruby Singh

Kochi shot into the limelight two years ago when wall art by unidentified artists surfaced on its walls.

The identity of the artist remains a mystery although we strongly suspect a Delhi-based graffiti artists' influence in a new avatar.

Guess Who

Street art has been a staple in Pune as well with the Pune Street Art Project of 2012 making headlines in the city and giving the artists their fair share of recognition.

Bhanu Pratap

After the success of the first edition of the St.Art Festival in New Delhi, the artists from India and abroad sought new walls in the country.

The Rishikesh Street Art Festival gave artists the opportunity to create "hidden" artworks in a holy setting.

Susmita Mukherjee

Most of the art still stands unlike the several masterpieces lost in Shahpur Jat, New Delhi, to rapid construction needs of the urban village.

nowdelhi.tv

It is interesting to note that while the Indian graffiti rage started with taking art out of the galleries and making it more accessible to the people, instigating everyday life in art with noted artists leaving their signatures on public dustbins, graffiti has now become quite an elitist form in itself with stencils of the artworks being put up for sale at a lofty price.

Susmita Mukherjee

Anti-social in Delhi's posh Hauz Khas Village is an example of how street art has been able to generate a good market price. Using the money made through the sale of these stencils among other artworks, visiting artists have been travelling through India to find new walls to paint on

www,openwallsgallery.com

The Street Art festival touched upon Mumbai with some outstanding samples "hidden" in the alleys of Bandra among many other unusual places.

thatandthisinmumbai

A colourful makeover awaited the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi.

Visitors thronged to watch international painters leave their messages along the banks of the river while some artists painted their minds in the dead of the night.

www.goseefeel.com

While we await the arrival of the European graffiti guru Banksy, whose legendary artworks through Europe and America has inspired several Indian artists, to sign on the famous "wall" in New Delhi, it helps to keep a weathered eye out for a fresh coat of paint around the corner.
There's a major problem with the way we humans function. We lose patience way to often over things. Of course, there are the smarter ones who keep calm and go all the way, but the majority of us end up being the riff-raff. Calling Ronald Wayne riff-raff would be foolish. It's what he did though, that will go down as one of the dumbest things anyone could ever have done. Ever.

Washington Post

In case, you don't know who Ronald Wayne is

Most don't know this, but Apple Computers was formed by three people, not two. There was Steve Wozniak. There was, of course, Steve Jobs. And there was Ronald Wayne.

Ronald Wayne was responsible for the company's logo back when Apple started out. He wrote Apple 1 computer's user manual and drafted the company's original partnership deal. But in less than a couple of weeks with Apple, he, for some reason, pulled out of the company. On April 12th, 1976, Wayne sold his 10% equity in the company for $800. A price that was a lot back then, especially for a company that was just starting out. What Wayne didn't realise was how revolutionary Apple would turn out to be in the field of technology. Today, his 10% stake in the company stands at a jaw-dropping $62.93 billion!

Pause, take a deep breath and let that sink in. From $800 to $63.93 BILLION!

One doesn't know for a fact why Ronald decided to sell. It wasn't like he wasn't important to the company. In Steve Wozniak's autobiography titled "iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It", he said, "Ron ended up playing a huge role in those very early days at Apple."

3.bp.blogspot.com

True, the early days in Apple were quite all over the place. The partners were clearly not on the same page, but even at a stage like that, one needs to learn how to rationalise in a calm and practical manner, and think about the future. Not getting emotional is very difficult, and comes to us naturally but it's one of the main things that goes against us.

richestnetworth.org



Opportunity doesn't knock on our door twice

Wayne is now 83 years old and spends "a couple of days a week to try his luck on the video poker machine."

He was once a part owner of what's possibly the biggest jackpot in corporate history, but sadly now, he's trying to win one.

Never ignore something thinking it's not worth your while. You never know when it might turn into gold for you.

With inputs from the Washington Post.
Even as Latur and the entire Marathwada region are reeling under a severe drought, 10,0000 litres of water were wasted there on Friday to create a makeshift helipad for the arrival of relief and rehabilitation minister Eknath Khadse to the district. The waste of water attracted considerable criticism from activists as well as the opposition.

dnaindia

Khadse, who was in Latur to receive the third water train from Miraj, travelled from there to Belkund, which is only 40 minutes away from Latur city by road, to inaugurate a water supply project. However, instead of taking the road, he took a helicopter, for whose landing a temporary helipad had been built by using 10,000 litres of water.

"He could have easily taken the road to reach Belkund, but in order to save 15-20 minutes of his time, he decided to fly and waste a lot of water," said state Congress spokesperson Sanjay Sawant.

dnaindia

Khadse said that it was not true that 10,000 litres of water had been used. "The amount of water required for the helicopter to land safely was only used," said Khadse in a press statement. Sawant said on the one hand, the government was sending water trains to meet the villagers' needs, and on the other, the minister was using it to fly to Belkund in order to take credit for a water supply project.

indianexpress

Experts said the amount of water wasted in creating the helipad would have sufficed the drinking needs of an entire village.
A BJP worker, Rupesh Pandey's attempt to seek publicity by creating a poster depicting party's state president and MP, Keshav Prasad Mourya, as Krishna, and opposition party leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati, as Kauravas, attempting to disrobe Draupadi (UP State), may have done the trick for him but has created a stir in the political circles in UP.

TOI

Pandey, who hails from Varanasi, has plastered the walls around his office and home with his controversial poster and has also circulated it on the social media by posting it on his Facebook page. The 'cheer haran' poster shows Rahul, Mayawati, Akhilesh, Asaduddin Owaisi and Azam Khan pulling the sari of 'Draupdi' (UP state) and a smiling Keshav, with sudershan chakra, looking upon them.

"My regret is that I could not get a hoarding made for this poster before Keshav ji's visit to Varanasi today", said Pandey. Claiming that he had presented the "real picture" of UP through his poster, Pandey said, "Keshav means Krishna and he will free UP from the prevailing anarchy (arajakta) of SP, BSP, Congress and the likes of Owaisi".

"I've appropriately given titles to the loose ends of the 'sari' by what these political parties represent in reality", said Pandey adding that while corruption is synonymous with BSP, poverty and unemployment is linked to Congress, communalism to Azam Khan, goondaraj to Akhilesh and anti nationalism to Owiasi.

Dubbing the poster as a "cheap publicity" stunt, Congress's UP vice president, Upendra Singh, said it actually exposes the mental bankruptcy of the BJP and its workers. "Keshav is a criminal with nearly 15 cases pending against him and yet he is being projected him a Krishna", said Singh while adding that the poster is an attempt to draw the public attention away from real issues, including Modi's promise of 'acche din'.

The SP too hasn't taken the poster lightly with party's spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary dubbing it as an "insult to god". He said for political gains BJP is insulting gods and are making a mockery of democracy.

When contacted Keshav claimed that he hadn't seen the poster so he could not comment on it. "I have heard about it but haven't yet seen it", he said.

The social media too hasn't taken too kindly to the poster, which has attracted over 100 likes, 7 shares and 45 comments on Pandey's Facebook page. Taking a jibe at BJP, a Facebook user has asked Pandey as to what his party has done for woman security, except making a "10th pass" woman a minister. Another user has said that it was only the SP that had started 1090 women's helpline to help women in distress.
A farmer who lost his four acre of crops can be adequately compensated with Rs 81, at least that is what the Surguja district administration in Chhattisgarh feels.

ANI

Jairam, a farmer who lost crops worth Rs 1 lakhs got a cheque of Rs 81 from the district authorities. After receiving the cheque, the distressed farmer said that what would he do with the meagre amount.

ANI

Should I repay loan that I had taken, with this amount or commit suicide, Jairam said.

What appears to be a cruel joke also comes at a time when thousands of farmers across the country are taking their lives after their crops failed due to drought.

Farmers have for long complained that various governments have failed to provide them any proper relief or adequate compensation for their losses.
Nearly a month after a disturbing visuals of an unidentified man stabbing puppies outside a metro station in Delhi emerged, police have nabbed the culprit.

You Tube

The suspect is a resident on Lucknow and the knife he used to butcher the dogs has also been seized. He has been booked under sections 428 and 429 related to causing mischief by killing or maiming animals.

Police had launched a massive manhunt for him after the CCTV footage showing the man brutally killing the dogs went viral.

You Tube

Three dogs and a puppy were found lying in a pool of blood near the exit gate of Green Park metro station in March.

A Delhi-based NGO had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for helping in identifying the accused.
Delhi resident Bobby Joshi, who reportedly witnessed the attacks on women in Murthal during the Jat quota agitation, said on Friday he has received a death threat for speaking up.

youtube

The Haryana government, which had earlier denied the Murthal attacks, has, after a rap from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, filed an FIR based on Joshi's statement.

Read Also: Delhi Woman Alleges Gang Rape In Murthal During Jat Agitation, FIR Filed By Haryana Police

bhaskar

The state had set up a special investigation team (SIT) after a media report alleged women were dragged out of cars and raped on National Highway-1 in Murthal in the early hours of February 22. It later told the court that no such sexual assault had taken place, but has now started another investigation into the case.

"I got a call four days ago from a private number. The caller spoke in a Haryanvi accent. He said, 'Tu zyada jaaton ke khilaf bol raha hai. Tere ko dekh lenge' (You are saying so much against the Jats. We will see you). After that, he disconnected the call," Joshi told.

hindustantimes

Read Also: More Eyewitnesses Emerge In Murthal Gang Rape As Police Forms Special Probe Committee

SIT chief Mamta Singh reveals that Joshi's call records were being checked. "Joshi is yet to give us a formal complaint about receiving a threat call. We are probing (the allegation), and I have asked the DCP to provide him security," she said.

According to him, around 1.30 am on February 22, he saw a mob of around 40 men chasing women who had been forced out of their cars on NH-1. According to him, the mob also beat up women with sticks and tore off their clothes. The case comes up for hearing in the HC again on May 4. Haryana Police have added gang rape charges to the FIR after three women filed complaints claiming they were raped in Murthal.

Read Also: Police And Army Deny Mass Gang Rape At Murthal, But Witnesses Claim They Saw Women's Clothes Being Ripped Off
On the 27-28th of April, the Somali Ministrys London hosted the 1st International Forum for Oil, Gas & Mining in Somalia, organised by the Energy Exchange. With over 150 decision makers, over 10 hours of formal and informal networking and an expert speaker panel, the event was a great success.

Highlights of the 1st International Forum for Oil, Gas & Mining in Somalia included:

His Excellency Mohamed Mukhtar Ibrahims first international address on the Ministrys commitment to its energy industry

Soma Oil & Gas announcing the termination of its 2D seismic surveying

Dr. Abdulkadir Abiikar Husseins speech detailing Somalias geological potential, and the Ministrys commitment to reaching it

The Energy Exchange is looking forward to the 2nd International Forum for Oil, Gas & Mining in Somalia which will take place on 26th- 27th April 2016, which will cover:
President Muhammadu Buhari, Friday in Guangzhou, China, said that his administration will take urgent steps to restructure Nigerias economy by encouraging new investments in mining, agricultural and manufacturing.

Speaking at a reception in his honour by the Communist Party of China, President Buhari said that Nigeria will welcome the support of the Chinese government, foreign investors and local businesses for efforts to diversify the nations economy.

The President noted that the diversification of the Nigerian economy was long overdue as continued reliance on crude oil exports had always made the economy vulnerable to shocks.

This time we will be more deliberate. The government and businesses will be involved, President Buhari said.

In his remarks, the Secretary of the Communist Party, who is also the Governor of the Guangdong Province, Mr. Hu Chinhua, pledged that the region will support the implementation of all the bilateral agreements reached with the Chinese government during President Buharis visit.

President Buhari also visited the Sino-Singapore Knowledge City in Guangzhou, which showcases advancements by China in medical, science and technological inventions.
Punch

The National Identity Management Commission on Friday said there were no plans to replace voter cards issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission with the electronic national identification cards.

Vanguard

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, says Nigeria will overcome its economic challenges without taking loan facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Thisday

President Muhammadu Buhari returned to the country in the early hours of today after a six- day official visit to the Peoples Republic of China to strengthen bilateral and economic relations between Nigeria and China.

The Sun

A Chairmanship Aspirant of Gombi Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa state under the plat form of All Progressives Congress, (APC) Alh.Hammadu Mai Kano has lamented that the fate and destiny of Gombi Youths is in serious shambles as a result of insurgents attacks in the area.

Daily Times

Thirty-one inmates of Ikoyi Prison were, on Thursday, set free, as a part of the amnesty programme by the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Oluwafunmilayo Atilade.

Guardian

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, has urged his officers and men to exercise regularly as this would make them physically and mentally alert to their responsibilities.

Daily Trust

Some protesters yesterday blocked the National Assemblys gate in Abuja, demanding that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, swore-in Christian Abah, as member representing Ado/Ogbadibo/Okpokwu federal constituency of Benue State, in accordance with the Appeal Court ruling of February 8.

Tribune

More than six months into the lingering fuel crisis and in spite of assurances of availability, the product still sell for as high as N300 per litre within the Port Harcourt metropolis in Rivers State.

The Nation

The Central Naval Command (CNC) of the Nigerian Navy at the weekend, re-echoed the warning of the Federal Government against economic sabotage saying it was determined to crush pipeline vandals and oil thieves within its Areas of Responsibility (AoR).
The fates patients on admission at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital are now hanging in the balance owing to a strike embarked on by members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) because of unpaid four months salaries.

When journalists visited the university teaching hospital on Saturday, some of the patients complained that the doctors had practically abandoned their duty posts since Monday April 11 and this had deprived them of efficient medical treatments.

Some of the patients, who spoke under anonymity , said those diagnosed for critical ailments had pressed for referral to private hospitals and Federal Teaching Hospital , Ido Ekiti, to prevent sudden death.

A top member of the hospitals management team who reacted to the strike under anonymity because he was not authorized to speak said:

We are speaking to the striking doctors , but it seems as if they are recalcitrant , they didnt want to bow to pressure at all.

Source:Thisday
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed satisfaction with the outcome of his visit to China, which has yielded additional investments in Nigeria exceeding $6 billion.

President Buhari believes that the several agreements concluded with the Chinese during the visit will have a huge and positive impact on key sectors of the Nigerian economy including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation.

In the power sector, North South Power Company Limited and Sinohydro Corporation Limited signed an agreement valued at $478,657,941.28 for the construction of 300 Mega Watts solar power in Shiriro, Niger State.

In the solid minerals sector, Granite and Marble Nigeria Limited and Shanghai Shibang signed an agreement valued at $55 million for the construction and equipping of granite mining plant in Nigeria.

A total of $1 billion is to be invested in the development of a greenfield expressway for Abuja-Ibadan-Lagos under an agreement reached by the Infrastructure Bank and Sinohydro Corporation Limited.

For the housing sector, both companies also sealed a $250 million deal to develop an ultra modern 27-storey high rise complex and a $2.5 billion agreement for the development of the Lagos Metro Rail Transit Red Line project.

Other agreements announced and signed during the visit include a $1 billion for the establishment of a Hi-tech industrial park in Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone in Igbesa, Ogun State.

Furthermore, the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone and CNG (Nigeria) Investment Limited also signed an agreement valued at $200 million for the construction of two 500MT/day float gas facilities.

An agreement valued at $363 million for the establishment of a comprehensive farm and downstream industrial park in Kogi state was also announced at the Nigeria-China business forum.

Other agreements undergoing negotiations include a $500 million project for the provision of television broadcast equipment and a $25 million facility for production of pre-paid smart meters between Mojec International Limited and Microstar Company Limited.

About 100 Nigerian businesses and 300 Chinese firms participated in the Nigeria-China business forum which took place a day after President Buhari began his visit to China.
At least 30,000 civilians have fled camps for displaced people in northern Syria after they were overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to Human Rights Watch. The US-based rights group urged Turkey to open its border to the civilians fleeing fighting between ISIL, also known and ISIS, and opposition rebels.

Human Rights Watch also accused Turkish border guards of shooting at some of those displaced in Aleppo province as they approached the frontier. Turkey has, however, denied the accusation.

Civilians were trying to flee but some were met with gunfire or told they would not be able to enter, Nadim Houry, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa division, told Al Jazeera from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon on Friday. Those people need to be allowed with safety. The whole world is talking about fighting ISIS, and yet people who are escaping them are not welcomed anywhere.

Turkey allows Syrians who are in urgent need of medical care to enter the country. A senior Turkish official denied the claims of border guards opening fire at refugees. The official told Al Jazeera that sometimes smugglers and armed men infiltrate groups of refugees, so they are firing at them, not refugees. Aid workers told Human Rights Watch that three camps  Ikdah, Harameen and al-Sham  near the town of Azaz were completely empty after attacks by ISIL. The head of Ikdah camp, on the Turkish border, said ISIL had taken over the camp early on Thursday, firing shots in the air and telling residents to leave.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was extremely worried about the security of those displaced and access to healthcare. The surge in violence came as representatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime arrived in Geneva on Friday for the latest round of talks aimed at ending the war.
Drunk drivers in Thailand could be sent to work in morgues under a new plan to cut the countrys dismal road safety record, officials say. It is aimed to be a deterrent, a way to discourage people, police colonel Kriangdej Jantarawong said. New Year celebrations start on Wednesday, with many people travelling long distances to visit family.

About 24,000 people die each year on Thai roads, according to the World Health Organization. Only Libya has a greater number of fatalities per capita from road traffic accidents. The government already sends some drunk and reckless drivers to work in hospital wards, Nontajit Netpukkana of the department of probation said.

But authorities decided that the intensity of morgue work would help give offenders a more explicit idea of the consequences of their actions, he said. The cabinet approved the plan last week. Courts will be able to decide who deserves the punishment, the Bangkok Post reports. Thailands annual three-day New Year festival, known as Songkran, sees revellers throughout the country take part in water fights.

The government has assured tourists that despite severe drought the event will go ahead as usual. Heavy drinking is common and the week of the festival is nicknamed the Seven Deadly Days because of a spike in road accidents. The government earlier this year said the cars of drunk drivers could be impounded for the duration of the holiday.

BBC.
An Amedeo Modigliani painting worth as much as $25 million was reportedly seized this week from a unit at Rodolphe Haller SA, a Geneva self-storage facility specializing in fine art. Swiss authorities raided multiple facilities as part of a criminal investigation into the ownership of Seated Man with a Cane, which Modigliani painted in 1918. The artwork was originally stolen by Nazis from Paris art dealer Oscar Stettiner during World War II but was never recovered by the family.

When Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca leaked millions of pages of documents last week known as the Panama Papers, the current ownership of the Modigliani work was disclosed as being the International Art Center (IAC), an investment firm owned by art collector David Nahmad, according to a Bloomberg report.

Stettiners grandson, Philippe Maestracci reportedly tried to sue the Nahmad family in 2011, but the suit was withdrawn when the family denied a connection to the artwork, claiming it was owned independently by IAC, according to The Art Newspaper. The Stettiner estate sued again in 2014, claiming IAC was an offshore entity used by the Nahmad family to hold their art investments, most of which are stored in the Geneva storage facility, according to Bloomberg.

This is a major victory for our client in his years long struggle to recover a valuable work of art he rightfully owns, said James Palmer, founder of Mondex Corp., the Toronto-based art-recovery firm acting on behalf of the Stettiner estate. In a released statement, Palmer indicated the current ownership of the painting is illegal, and Mondex will work with Swiss authorities to recover the artwork, returning it to its owner.

Court filings indicate IAC acquired the work at a 1996 auction at Christies in London for $3.2 million. It was exhibited in 2005 at the Helly Nahmad Gallery and offered at auction in 2008 by Sothebys but failed to sell, according to Bloomberg. Sothebys valued the painting at between $18 million and $25 million.

According to Maestraccis lawsuit, Stettiner left the painting behind when he fled Paris in November 1939. His art gallery closed in 1940, and the Germans auctioned the work in 1944. Stettiner subsequently filed a claim in 1946 but apparently couldnt find the artwork. The lawsuit also claims the auction sale from Christies was allegedly done with inaccurate provenance, Bloomberg reported.

Rodolphe Haller is a storage and transportation business dating back to the 1930s. It became active in moving and storing fine art in the 1970s and specializes in secure, climate-controlled units, according to the company website. The company operates about 12,000 square meters of secured storage between its facilities in Geneva and Luxembourg.
Almost 19 years ago, after a summer in Berkeley, where I had studied for a year, my college friend Laura and I moved from the Bay Area to New York. It was not an auspicious start. Laura accidently lost the tickets when she threw them out with the garbage. This was before the days of iPhones and electronic ticketing, so we had to stay a few extra days at her ex-boyfriends apartment and arrange for a new flight.

Fast-forward some two decades. I just returned to New York this month from a three-month fellowship with the University of California, living in San Francisco. It is curious seeing a city close up after 20 years  especially one undergoing such a massive change as San Francisco. The long-standing San Francisco  the one of hippies, artists and liberal politics but also homelessness, drug addiction and other social problems  still exists. But much has been replaced by a shiny new city: one of tech bros and the start-ups, sky-high housing prices and ridiculously elaborate coffee culture.

In a time when social networking site Facebooks market capitalization has surpassed that of energy company ExxonMobil and institutional investors are putting record amounts of money into venture capital, tech is in the ascension. Yet many wonder how long this boom can last. In a December 2015 survey, seed-stage venture firm First Round Capital found that of the 500 venture-backed entrepreneur respondents, 73 percent said they thought the venture economy was in a bubble.

There are ominous rumblings out of nearby Silicon Valley about so-called unicorns, companies with a valuation in excess of $1 billion, seeing valuation write-downs and a slowdown in deal activity. New Yorkbased Tiger Global Management, one of the hedge fund firms to have successfully bet on tech in recent years, lost 22 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The palpable feel of a bubble about to burst does not lessen the day-to-day intensity inside the tech economy. In San Francisco there is an app for almost everything a middle-class, middle-age worker might want. Need a dog walker? There are apps for that. Want to order takeout? Sure. There are online food delivery services like GrubHub and Eat24. But in a foodie town like San Francisco, why roll the dice on takeout? I give you Munchery.

Recommended to me by our apartment building doorman as a popular delivery service, San Franciscobased start-up Munchery allows customers to order precooked, high-quality meals made by the companys own network of chefs through the web or via a downloadable app. As the founders explain in the web sites About Us section, We got our start back in 2010 as a couple of busy new parents desperate for an easier answer to whats for dinner? So far, according to published reports, the firm has raised $117.2 million from 21 investors and has a valuation of around $300 million. Munchery is one of hundreds of start-up companies vying to use apps and web-based technology to provide consumers with an elegant life hack.

To anyone who remembers the last tech collapse, it feels as if weve hit the candy bardelivery point of the cycle. Back in the late 1990s, start-up Kozmo.com made a name for itself by promising to deliver candy bars, coffee, DVDs and other sundries within an hour. The economics of a business delivering 80-cent Hersheys chocolate bars to hungry office workers are dubious. The eagerly hyped and venture-backed firm was among the victims when the tech bubble burst in 2001, and it became the subject of the documentary about dot-com folly, e-Dreams. (Perhaps not surprisingly, in 2013 Wired reported that Kozmo.com might be staging a comeback. Its web site today is tantalizingly cryptic.) Today the firm is a cautionary tale in VC circles.

While in San Francisco, my boyfriend and I relied on public transport and on Lyft, the friendlier, pink competitor to ridesharing app and taxi service disrupter Uber. Talking to these drivers was interesting. Lyft and Uber rely on contract drivers who use their own cars. The 20-something who drove my boyfriend to SF International Airport one February morning for a short trip back to New York worked for Lyft part of the year and then spent the rest of his time as a rock climber. One driver I spoke to had emigrated from Hong Kong with his parents when he was 14. Now in his 50s and a professional photographer by day, he became a Lyft driver to top up his income. Another driver was deaf.

The shared economy  which offers the opportunity to make money through the resources that one has, be that a car to drive; an apartment to let on Airbnb; or the desire to work as a part-time cleaner, dog walker or other contractor  is working for some. But not all. One driver of a traditional taxi cab we spoke to pointed out that neither Uber nor Lyft requires commercial auto insurance, meaning that the costs of an accident fall on the driver, who often has to take out special insurance coverage. A Lyft driver told us that after 35 years in the U.S., he was leaving the Bay Area and returning to his native Czech Republic because he could no longer afford the cost of living in California.

The income inequality in Northern California has been well documented: The city currently has close to 7,000 homeless residents, many of whom suffer from mental health problems or are grappling with substance abuse issues. Seeing it firsthand is shocking, nonetheless. For all its wealth generation, San Francisco feels like a broken city: one where the very rich rub shoulders with  but do not see  the poor and the homeless. During the second month of my stay, there was Internet outrage after a tech bro wrote an insensitive rant as an open letter to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the chief of police, about the citys homeless and drug problems. This was just the latest flare-up in an ongoing war between the people on the Google employee buses and those throwing rocks at them.

Of course, not every rich person in the Bay Area is immune or insensitive to the poverty existing in their backyard. Groups such as the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in Palo Alto do a lot of great work on these issues. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and first employee Jeff Skoll both have set up foundations that are central to the social venture movement, which seeks to use business and innovation to solve social problems.

Muncherys own effort to tackle San Franciscos obvious homeless problem is that it makes a donation to a local food bank for every order. Its something. But such buy-one-give-one models have long been criticized in social impact circles. In addition, although encouraging healthy eating practices is a general social good, the changes required to our food system extend far beyond better takeout.

My real beef with Munchery is not that it exists. Its a smart idea. Youd just like it if two people with BS degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT and Berkeley, which is what the two co-founders have between them, could come up with a better problem to put their collective energies behind a bigger question than whats for dinner? Yet its exactly this type of low-cost-capital, easy-to-scale start-up business that the VC community rewards. So these are the types of businesses being dreamed up in coffee shops all around San Francisco.

There are real problems that need to be solved: climate change, income inequality, global poverty  the list goes on. Institutions such as the University of California have some of the resources and ideas to solve them. But the start-up culture fostered by the present tech boom is too focused on the short term  on app-based fixes to everyday inconveniences  while the get-rich-quick culture exacerbates many of the problems society most urgently needs to tackle.

Yet there is money to be made in these bigger problems, which after all account for far more of the economy than takeout. Take Climate Corp., where one of my San Francisco friends works. Founded by two former Google employees, the firm helps farmers adapt to the changing weather patterns caused by climate change. In 2013 the agriculture conglomerate Monsanto acquired Climate Corp. for approximately $1.1 billion. Now thats a unicorn come to life.

I actually came away from my three months in the Bay Area a believer in the power of venture capital and innovation. I just think it is being misapplied. If and when the current tech bubble bursts, my hope is that well see more capital flow into areas like climate technology and sustainable agriculture.

As for my college friend Laura, she now lives in Los Angeles, where she is in the process of selling her first film script. We no longer put her in charge of any travel plans. Fortunately, there are apps for that.

Follow Imogen Rose-Smith on Twitter at @imogennyc.
Making headlines this week, the CEO of a well-known Aussie broker steps down, two major international brokers reach a court settlement worth more than $40 million and two international players team up on cyber insurance.The CEO of Whitbread Insurance Brokers has stepped down to pursue other opportunities, it has been announced,Stephen Jones was in the role for two years and the business will now be co-directed by Angela, Claire and John Paul Whitbread.The firm also announced that Michael Giansiracusa will take on the newly created role of general manager, strategic alliances and Ben Bowen will become general manager, broking. JLT and Willis reached a settlement in a case set to be heard by the High Court in the United Kingdom over the alleged poaching of staff.JLT will take a hit of approximately $41 million (22 million) in its second quarter results as a condition of the settlement.Finally, Munich Re and Beazley have announced that they will team up to offer a cyber insurance solution.The major international players will offer tailored solutions in the cyber market with maximum cover of US$100 million.It is very rare that people will provide that level of capacity for cyber coverage, Paul Bantick, head of cyber at Beazley told The Financial Times.
E sufficiente entrare in un bar o salire su un autobus per sentire i commenti delle persone sul no dei dipendenti al referendum sul piano industriale di Alitalia. Nella maggior parte dei casi prevale lo sconcerto, quando non la vera e propria indignazione. Che e poi quello che si e potuto leggere ieri sui vari quotidiani, sia pure con toni e accentuazioni diversi. Durante la conferenza stampa di presentazione del messaggio della Cei sul 1. maggio, mons. Galantino ha affermato che razionalmente non si comprende ma bisognerebbe conoscere le motivazioni di chi ha votato no. E quello che ha cercato di fare In Terris, intervistando un pilota, dietro garanzia di anonimato, visto che in passato qualcuno e stato licenziato per un commento su Facebook. Un pilota con una presenza decennale in Alitalia e migliaia di ore di volo di esperienza alle spalle.

Qual e lo stato danimo dopo questo risultato?

Ci sentiamo comunque delusi, amareggiati, traditi, calpestati. E faccio notare che questa volta non hanno sparato a zero sulla categoria dei piloti privilegiati perche il no e stato generale. I dirigenti non si aspettavano uno schiaffo del genere.

Ma cosa vi ha spinto a respingere laccordo? In fondo un taglio dell8% dello stipendio e una perdita di meno di mille posti a fronte di un possibile fallimento sembrava una proposta dolorosa ma accettabile.

E invece volevano prenderci per il collo. Quello dell8% per il personale viaggiante e un taglio solo apparente. Non e una bugia ma e una mezza verita: ci sono altre voci che avrebbero portato la riduzione media al 25 e in alcuni casi anche al 30% dello stipendio. E attenzione, non parliamo piu degli stipendi di una volta. Il personale di terra avrebbe perso poco o niente ma li avrebbero massacrati con i licenziamenti. Inoltre e chiaro che il piano industriale non avrebbe rilanciato lazienda, perche non la rilanci mettendo a terra gli aerei. Si puntava solo a tirare avanti un altro po in vista di non so cosa. Probabilmente si cercava di alleggerire il costo del lavoro per rendere la compagnia appetibile per eventuali acquirenti. Questa volta abbiamo avuto un guizzo dorgoglio. Il ragionamento e stato: rischio di perdere il lavoro ma a testa alta, alla dignita non rinuncio.

Non erano sacrifici sopportabili?

Noi eravamo disponibili a farli ma perche riguardano solo i lavoratori? Lo scorso anno Alitalia ha avuto circa 600 miloni di perdita che e la stessa cifra di otto anni fa, allepoca del primo fallimento. Con la differenza che avevamo 200 aeroplani rispetto ai poco piu degli attuali 100, 20.000 dipendenti contro circa 12.000 e il prezzo del petrolio era molto piu alto. I privati sono arrivati spavaldi due anni fa e ci hanno chiesto il sacrificio delle tredicesime. Trenta milioni di taglio altrimenti non sarebbero entrati nella societa. I sindacati accettarono. Quando poi si sono presentati hanno affermato che i soldi erano lultimo dei problemi. A maggio dello scorso anno (in occasione della presentazione delle nuove divise, ndr) hanno dichiarato che il bilancio era in linea con le previsioni, che lazienda puntava a fare utili nel 2017 e a ottobre non cerano soldi per pagare gli stipendi. Qualcosa non quadra.

Dunque puntate lindice contro il management?

Una sola considerazione. Lamministratore delegato Cramer Ball si e fatto quadruplicare la buonuscita in caso di licenziamento o dimissioni da 6 a 24 mensilita. Parliamo di 2,5 milioni di euro circa mentre ai dipendenti venivano chiesti sacrifici enormi. Penso che se fossero stati azzerati i vertici il referendum avrebbe avuto una minima possibilita ma in queste condizioni Ecco le cause dellamarezza dei dipendenti.

E le perdite?

Bisognerebbe chiederlo ai dirigenti. Il compito di un pilota e portare un aereo da uno scalo allaltro con la massima professionalita e sicurezza, negli orari fissati e magari, se e bravo, risparmiando qualche chilo di carburante. Ma se laereo viaggia semivuoto di chi e la colpa? Perche lazienda ha decine di velivoli in leasing (circa due terzi del parco, secondo una recente inchiesta del Corriere della Sera, ndr) pagati piu del prezzo di mercato? Nessuno si fa queste domande?

Ora cosa vi aspettate? Lo Stato ha gia speso tanto per Alitalia e la gente non comprenderebbe lo stanziamento di nuovi fondi per ripianare i debiti.

Non lo so. Il governo ha detto che la nazionalizzazione e impossibile. Spero che questo clamore serva a svegliare i dirigenti dal torpore e che ci sia una via duscita, anche se faccio notare che tutte le grandi compagnie europee hanno una partecipazione statale.
Panoramica privacy

Questo sito web utilizza i cookies per fornire all'utente la miglior esperienza di navigazione possibile. L'informazione dei cookie e memorizzata nel browser dell' utente, svolge funzioni di riconoscimento quando l' utente ritorna nel sito e permette di sapere quali sezioni del sito sono ritenute piu interessanti e utili.
What Are Voting Shares?

Voting shares are shares that give the stockholder the right to vote on matters of corporate policymaking. In most instances, a company's common stock represents voting shares. Different classes of shares, such as preferred stock, sometimes do not allow for voting rights.

Key Takeaways Voting shares give investors a say in how a companys corporate policy is made, including the election of the board of directors.

Voting shares also approve or reject a major corporate action, such as a merger.

Companies can offer different classes of shares, some with voting rights and others without voting rights.

Google and Berkshire Hathaway are two notable examples of companies that offer voting and non-voting stock.

How Voting Shares Work

The holders of voting shares have the ability to weigh in on decisions about a companys future direction. For instance, if a company is considering an acquisition offer by another company or a group of investors, the owners of voting shares would be able to cast their vote on the offer.

Shareholders who own voting shares typically receive regular communications from the company regarding matters that would require a vote for the organization to act. The decision to vote or not vote on such issues does not directly affect their ownership of shares or their value. However, there may be subsequent actions that result from the votes that affect the company's market value.

Special Considerations

It is not uncommon for so-called activist investors to encourage the owners of voting shares to cast their votes in favor of an action or decision the activist investor wants the company to pursue.

Hostile bids to acquire a company may see the prospective buyers campaign to the holders of voting shares in the hopes of gathering enough support to effect a new direction at the company. This may include a change of the current board of directors, which would allow for further changes at the organization, such as the removal and replacement of executive officers of the company.

If the board of directors agrees to the sale of the company, the approval process for the deal includes a vote among shareholders who own voting shares. The owners of voting shares could reject an offer if they believe the bid does not meet their valuation of the company.

Types of Voting Shares

Depending on the types of shares issued, shareholders may have varying levels of voting power. For example, a company may reserve a class of shares for the founders, upper management, and early employees of the company that grants each of them several votes for each share they own.

Management might issue additional voting shares that carry just one vote per share. Shares that hold no voting power may also be issued.

Such an arrangement would grant a segment of stakeholders greater individual voting power for the decisions that shape the organization. The different types of voting shares might also have a different market value, particularly if new shares are offered through a stock split.

Example of Voting Shares

Google is one of the most notable companies with multiple classes of shares. There are shares that trade under the ticker symbol GOOGL, which are Class A shares with voting rights, and there is a class of shares trading under the symbol GOOG, which are Class C shares without voting rights. Google also has non-traded Class B shares. These shares are held by company insiders and carry supervoting privilegeseach Google Class B share counts as 10 votes.

Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway also has multiple share classes. The companys Class A shares trade under the ticker symbol BRK.A and have voting rights. Alternatively, investors can purchase Class B Berkshire shares for a fraction of the cost but with barely any say on how the company is run.
Political volatility is always a potential pitfall of investing in emerging markets. Currently, South Africa is reminding investors of that fact. The iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (EZA), the largest South Africa-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF), is up 8.9 percent year to date, which sounds impressive until acknowledging that the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is higher by 13.3 percent. South Africa is the sixth largest country weight in the index, which is a widely followed emerging markets benchmark.

Investors have reasons to be concerned about the possibility of EZA and South African stocks not only continuing to lag the MSCI Emerging Markets Index but faltering as well. Late Thursday, South African President Jacob Zuma removed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, a news event that roiled financial markets. EZA fell 1.8 percent yesterday on volume that was slightly above the daily average, underscoring the point that investors were not pleased with news of Gordhan's removal. (See also: EZA: iShares MSCI South Africa ETF.)

"The South African Communist Party, an ally of the governing African National Congress, had earlier lodged a formal objection to plans to dismiss Mr. Gordhan, who is widely respected internationally," reports the BBC.

South Africa's equity markets and EZA have been largely bolstered this year by rising precious metals prices. The country is a major gold producer along with being the largest platinum producer and second largest palladium-producing nation. Additionally, of the platinum group metals (PGM) mined by South Africa, 10 percent is rhodium, one of this year's best-performing commodities. Interestingly, EZA is not overtly reflective of South Africa's status as a major metals producer. The materials sector is 6.2 percent of the ETF's weight. Financial services and consumer discretionary stocks combine for about two-thirds of EZA's roster. (See also: A Primer on Palladium.)

The news of Gordhan's departure is ill-timed for another reason. South Africa, Africa's second largest economy behind Nigeria, has a tenuous grasp on an investment-grade credit rating, having narrowly dodged a downgrade to junk status by Standard & Poor's late last year. S&P and Fitch Ratings currently have BBB- ratings on South African sovereign bonds, the lowest investment-grade rating. (See also: Fitch Downgrades South Africa's Outlook.)

South African stocks are usually more volatile than broader emerging markets indexes. EZA has a three-year standard deviation of 22.2 percent, which is 600 basis points above the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
The story of Enron Corp. depicts a company that reached dramatic heights only to face a dizzying fall. The fated companys collapse affected thousands of employees and shook Wall Street to its core. At Enrons peak, its shares were worth $90.75; just prior to declaring bankruptcy on Dec. 2, 2001, they were trading at $0.26.

To this day, many wonder how such a powerful businessat the time one of the largest companies in the United Statesdisintegrated almost overnight. Also difficult to fathom is how its leadership managed to fool regulators for so long with fake holdings and off-the-books accounting.

Key Takeaways Enrons leadership fooled regulators with fake holdings and off-the-books accounting practices.

Enron used special purpose vehicles (SPVs), or special purpose entities (SPEs), to hide its mountains of debt and toxic assets from investors and creditors.

The price of Enrons shares went from $90.75 at its peak to $0.26 at bankruptcy.

The company paid its creditors more than $21.7 billion from 2004 to 2011.

1:41 Why Enron Collapsed

Investopedia / Source Data: Forbes / Created using Datawrapper

Enrons Energy Origins

Enron was formed in 1985 following a merger between Houston Natural Gas Co. and Omaha, Neb.-based InterNorth Inc. Following the merger, Kenneth Lay, who had been the chief executive officer (CEO) of Houston Natural Gas, became Enrons CEO and chair. Lay quickly rebranded Enron into an energy trader and supplier. Deregulation of the energy markets allowed companies to place bets on future prices, and Enron was poised to take advantage. In 1990, Lay created Enron Finance Corp. and appointed Jeffrey Skilling, whose work as a McKinsey & Co. consultant had impressed Lay, to head the new corporation. Skilling was then one of the youngest partners at McKinsey.

Skilling joined Enron at an auspicious time. The eras minimal regulatory environment allowed Enron to flourish. At the end of the 1990s, the dot-com bubble was in full swing, and the Nasdaq hit 5,000. Revolutionary Internet stocks were being valued at preposterous levels and, consequently, most investors and regulators simply accepted spiking share prices as the new normal.

Mark-to-Market

One of Skillings early contributions was to transition Enrons accounting from a traditional historical cost accounting method to a mark-to-market (MTM) accounting method, for which the company received official U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval in 1992. MTM is a measure of the fair value of accounts that can change over time, such as assets and liabilities. MTM aims to provide a realistic appraisal of an institutions or companys current financial situation, and it is a legitimate and widely used practice. However, in some cases, the method can be manipulated, since MTM is not based on actual cost but on fair value, which is harder to pin down. Some believe MTM was the beginning of the end for Enron, as it essentially permitted the organization to log estimated profits as actual profits.

Enron Hailed for Its Innovation

Enron created EnronOnline (EOL) in October 1999, an electronic trading website that focused on commodities. Enron was the counterparty to every transaction on EOL; it was either the buyer or the seller. To entice participants and trading partners, Enron offered its reputation, credit, and expertise in the energy sector. Enron was praised for its expansions and ambitious projects, and it was named Americas Most Innovative Company by Fortune for six consecutive years: 19962001.

Blockbusters Role

One of the many unwitting players in the Enron scandal was Blockbuster, the former juggernaut video rental chain. In July 2000, Enron Broadband Services and Blockbuster entered a partnership to enter the burgeoning video on demand (VOD) market. The VOD market was a sensible pick, but Enron started logging expected earnings based on the expected growth of the VOD market, which vastly inflated the numbers.

By mid-2000, EOL was executing nearly $350 billion in trades. When the dot-com bubble began to burst, Enron decided to build high-speed broadband telecom networks. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on this project, but the company ended up realizing almost no return.

When the recession hit in 2000, Enron had significant exposure to the most volatile parts of the market. As a result, many trusting investors and creditors found themselves on the losing end of a vanishing market capitalization.

The Wall Street Darling Crumbles

By the fall of 2000, Enron was starting to crumble under its own weight. Skilling hid the financial losses of the trading business and other operations of the company using MTM accounting. This technique measures the value of a security based on its current market value instead of its book value. This can work well when trading securities but can be disastrous for actual businesses.

In Enrons case, the company would build an asset, such as a power plant, and immediately claim the projected profit on its books, even though the company had not made one dime from the asset. If the revenue from the power plant was less than the projected amount, instead of taking the loss, the company would then transfer the asset to an off-the-books corporation, where the loss would go unreported. This type of accounting enabled Enron to write off unprofitable activities without hurting its bottom line.

The MTM practice led to schemes designed to hide the losses and make the company appear more profitable than it really was. To cope with the mounting liabilities, Andrew Fastow, a rising star who was promoted to chief financial officer (CFO) in 1998, developed a deliberate plan to show that the company was in sound financial shape despite the fact that many of its subsidiaries were losing money.

How Did Enron Hide Its Debt?

Fastow and others at Enron orchestrated a scheme to use off-balance-sheet special purpose vehicles (SPVs), also known as special purposes entities (SPEs), to hide Enrons mountains of debt and toxic assets from investors and creditors. The primary aim of these SPVs was to hide accounting realities rather than operating results.

The standard Enron-to-SPV transaction would be the following: Enron would transfer some of its rapidly rising stock to the SPV in exchange for cash or a note. The SPV would subsequently use the stock to hedge an asset listed on Enrons balance sheet. In turn, Enron would guarantee the SPVs value to reduce apparent counterparty risk.

Investopedia

Although their aim was to hide accounting realities, the SPVs were not illegal. But they were different from standard debt securitization in several significantand potentially disastrousways. One major difference was that the SPVs were capitalized entirely with Enron stock. This directly compromised the ability of the SPVs to hedge if Enrons share prices fell. Just as dangerous was the second significant difference: Enrons failure to disclose conflicts of interest. While Enron disclosed the SPVs existence to the investing publicalthough its quite likely that few people understood themit failed to adequately disclose the non-arms-length deals between the company and the SPVs.

Enrons management believed that its stock price would continue to appreciatea belief similar to that embodied by Long-Term Capital Management, a large hedge fund, before its collapse in 1998. Eventually, Enrons stock declined. The values of the SPVs also fell, forcing Enrons guarantees to take effect.

Jim Chanos Short Trade on Enron

Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates is a well-known short seller. At a SEC-led roundtable on hedge funds in May 2003, Chanos said that his interest in Enron and other energy trading companies was piqued in October 2000 after a Wall Street Journal article pointed out that many of these firms employed the gain-on-sale accounting method for their long-term energy trades. According to Chanos, his experience with companies that had used this accounting method was that management had too great a temptation to be overly aggressive about making assumptions regarding the future, and earnings could effectively be created out of thin air if management was willing to push the envelope by using highly favorable assumptions.

Chanos also noted that Enrons cost of capital was closer to 9% and likely above the 7% return on capitala widely used profitability metricthat it claimed to have, which meant that it was not really earning money despite reporting profits to its shareholders. Chanos said that this mismatch of Enrons cost of capital and its return on investment became the cornerstone of his bearish view on Enron, and his firm began shorting Enrons common stock for its clients in November 2000. This short trade netted Chanos and his Kynikos firm hundreds of millions in gains when Enron went under.

Arthur Andersen and Enron

In addition to Fastow, a major player in the Enron scandal was Enrons accounting firm, Arthur Andersen LLP, and partner David B. Duncan, who oversaw Enrons accounts. As one of the five largest accounting firms in the United States at the time, Andersen had a reputation for high standards and quality risk management.

However, despite Enrons poor accounting practices, Arthur Andersen offered its stamp of approval, signing off on the corporate reports for years. By April 2001, many analysts started to question Enrons earnings and transparency.

The Shock Felt Around Wall Street

By the summer of 2001, Enron was in freefall. Lay had retired in February, turning over the CEO position to Skilling. In August 2001, Skilling resigned as CEO, citing personal reasons. Around the same time, analysts began to downgrade their rating for Enrons stock, and the stock descended to a 52-week low of $39.95. By Oct. 16, the company reported its first quarterly loss and closed its Raptor I SPV. This action caught the attention of the SEC.

A few days later, Enron changed pension plan administrators, essentially forbidding employees from selling their shares for at least 30 days. Shortly after, the SEC announced that it was investigating Enron and the SPVs created by Fastow. Fastow was fired from the company that day. Also, the company restated earnings going back to 1997. Enron had losses of $591 million and $690 million in debt by the end of 2000. The final blow was dealt when Dynegy, a company that had previously announced it would merge with Enron, backed out of the deal on Nov. 28. By Dec. 2, 2001, Enron had filed for bankruptcy.

$74 billion The amount that shareholders lost in the four years leading up to Enrons bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy

Once Enrons Plan of Reorganization was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the new board of directors changed Enrons name to Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. (ECRC). The companys new sole mission was to reorganize and liquidate certain of the operations and assets of the pre-bankruptcy Enron for the benefit of creditors. The company paid its creditors more than $21.7 billion from 2004 to 2011. Its last payout was in May 2011.

Investopedia

Criminal Charges

Arthur Andersen was one of the first casualties of Enrons notorious demise. In June 2002, the firm was found guilty of obstructing justice for shredding Enrons financial documents to conceal them from the SEC. The conviction was overturned later on appeal; however, the firm was deeply disgraced by the scandal and dwindled into a holding company. A group of former partners bought the name in 2014, creating a firm named Andersen Global.

Several of Enrons executives were charged with conspiracy, insider trading, and securities fraud. Lay, Enrons founder and former CEO, was convicted on six counts of fraud and conspiracy and four counts of bank fraud. Prior to sentencing, he died of a heart attack in Colorado.

Fastow, Enrons former star CFO, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and securities fraud for facilitating Enrons corrupt business practices. He ultimately cut a deal for cooperating with federal authorities and served more than five years in prison. He was released from prison in 2011.

Skilling, Enrons former CEO, ultimately received the harshest sentence of anyone involved in the scandal. In 2006, Skilling was convicted of conspiracy, fraud, and insider trading. Skilling originally received a 17-year sentence, but in 2013, it was reduced by 14 years. As a part of the new deal, Skilling was required to give $42 million to the victims of the Enron fraud and to cease challenging his conviction. Skilling was originally scheduled for release on Feb. 21, 2028, but was instead released early on Feb. 22, 2019.

New Regulations After Scandal

Enrons collapse and the financial havoc that it wreaked on its shareholders and employees led to new regulations and legislation to promote the accuracy of financial reporting for publicly held companies. In July 2002, then-President George W. Bush signed into law the SarbanesOxley Act. The act heightened the consequences for destroying, altering, or fabricating financial statements and for trying to defraud shareholders.

As two researchers state, the SarbanesOxley Act is a mirror image of Enron: the companys perceived corporate governance failings are matched virtually point for point in the principal provisions of the act (Deakin and Konzelmann, 2003).

The Enron scandal resulted in other new compliance measures. Additionally, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) substantially raised its levels of ethical conduct. Moreover, company boards of directors became more independent, monitoring the audit companies and quickly replacing poor managers. These new measures are important mechanisms to spot and close loopholes that companies have used to avoid accountability.

What exactly is the Enron scandal? Enron was one of the fastest-growing and supposedly innovative companies in the United States in the 1990s. However, the entire edifice was based on massive accounting and corporate fraud that eventually came to light and resulted in Enron declaring bankruptcy in December 2001the biggest corporate bankruptcy in the world at that time.

Why were top Enron executives subsequently derided as the smartest guys in the room? The term smartest guys in the room is a sarcastic reference to top Enron executivesincluding its former chairman Kenneth Lay, CEO Jeffrey Skilling, and CFO Andrew Fastowwhose hubris in perpetrating the massive fraud at Enron led to its eventual downfall. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room was also the title of a book by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, published in 2003, that was later made into an award-winning documentary film of the same name. Co-author McLean was among the first to be skeptical about Enrons inflated claims when she wrote an article titled Is Enron Overpriced? in Fortune in March 2001.

Who is Sherron Watkins? Sherron Watkins, a vice president at Enron, wrote a letter to Lay in August 2001 warning that the company could implode in a wave of accounting scandals; a few months later, Enron had collapsed. Watkins role as a whistleblower in exposing Enrons corporate misconduct led to her being recognized as one of three Time Persons of the Year in 2002.

Does Enron still exist? Enron no longer exists. It sold its last business, Prisma Energy, in 2006.

What was Enrons role in the California energy crisis of 200001? In December 2000, a bill that deregulated energy commodity trading in California was passed, allowing Enron to operate an unregulated power auction called EnronOnline that rapidly gained control over a large share of the states electricity and natural gas market. After the bill was passed, California endured an acute electricity shortage that caused as many as 38 rolling blackouts by June 2001, compared with only one in the six-month period preceding the bill. Subsequent investigations by state and federal officials concluded that power generators and power marketers intentionally withheld electricity to create artificial shortages and increase the cost of power. As Enron was one of the main players in such market manipulation, its energy traders were able to sell power at multiples of normal peak power prices. Enrons new, unregulated power auction led to revenues at its Wholesale Services business quadrupling to $48.4 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2001 compared with the year-ago period.

The Bottom Line

At the time, Enrons collapse was the biggest corporate bankruptcy to ever hit the financial world (since then, it has been surpassed by the bankruptcies of other former giants, including Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, WorldCom, and General Motors). The Enron scandal drew attention to accounting and corporate fraud as its shareholders lost $74 billion in the four years leading up to its bankruptcy, and its employees lost billions in pension benefits.

Increased regulation and oversight have been enacted to help prevent corporate scandals of Enrons magnitude. However, some companies are still reeling from the damage caused by Enron. Most recently, in March 2017, a judge granted a Toronto-based investment firm the right to sue Skilling (the former Enron CEO), Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, and Bank of Americas Merrill Lynch unit over losses incurred by purchasing Enron shares.
The term broadband refers to always connected high-speed internet access at data transfer rates above those afforded by telephone lines. Since 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has defined broadband as providing download speed of at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) and a minimum upload speed of 3 Mbps, though critics have called those minimum speeds inadequate.

The lack of affordable access to broadband is a major problem in the United States. It creates a gap between those with access to high-speed internet and others, often the residents of rural and low-income areas, who lack that access. This gap, known as the digital divide, has prompted government and private programs aiming to make a fast broadband internet connection available to everyone at an affordable price.

Key Takeaways Broadband internet refers to "always on" high-speed internet access.

DSL, fiber, cable, wireless, and satellite are the main broadband access technologies.

The relatively high cost of high-speed internet access has exacerbated the so-called digital divide, which describes the inadequate internet access available to residents of many rural areas, as well as low-income households nationwide.

Government and private programs are available to provide Internet access subsidies and discounted plans for those who qualify.

Why You Need Broadband

Early internet access relied on dial-up connections, obtained by dialing a phone number from the home landline and using a modem to connect one's computer to an internet service provider (ISP). For technical reasons, dial-up connections are limited to a top speed of 56 Kbps (kilobits per second), a rate workable these days for retrieving email but little else.

According to the FCC, students and those who work from home (telecommuters) require download speeds of 5 to 25 Mbps at a minimum. The digital divide exists because, in many areas, such download speeds are either not available or unaffordable.

Main Types of Broadband

Broadband delivery technologies include the digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modem, fiber, satellite, wireless, and broadband over powerlines (BPL). Each has advantages and disadvantages, but all are many times faster than dial-up.

DSL (digital subscriber line), like dial-up, uses phone landlines at download speeds up to about 115 Mbps. Since DSL relies on phone lines, it is widely available even in rural areas.

Cable internet uses coaxial cable from a cable service provider and delivers download speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), although 100+ Mbps is more common. Cable internet is widely available except in rural areas.

Fiber uses tiny glass and plastic (fiber optic) lines to transmit data at speeds of up to 1 Gbps). Unfortunately, availability is limited.

Satellite has one huge advantage over all other types in that it is available no matter where you live. The internet is beamed to your computer or smart device from a satellite. Unfortunately, satellite download speeds are much slower than for other broadband types, maxing out at about 25 Mbps. However, they are improving significantly and, even at that rate, comfortably outperform dial-up.

Wireless internet users deploy a home antenna to link a home computer's router to a cell tower, providing speeds of up to about 25 Mbps in most cases. The service was available in about half of the U.S. as of 2020.

Broadband over powerlines delivers speeds comparable to cable modems through the electricity provider's wires. Because the electric grid is widespread, broadband over powerlines shares the advantage off satellite and wireless of wide access for a low up-front investment. It is an emerging technology with extremely limited availability.



Availability of Broadband Internet Where You Live

Aside from satellitewhich, as noted, is available anywhereavailability of other types of broadband depends on where you live and the availability of service providers. Fortunately, most areas have multiple options, depending on the speed you need and the price you are willing or able to pay.

Two tools can help you find out whats available in your area:

The FCC Fixed Broadband Deployment website lets you plug in your ZIP code or address to generate a list of broadband providers, the type of broadband offered, and the speeds available.

The Broadband Search website asks for your ZIP code and then generates a list of prices and maximum speeds available in your area.

Not all ISPs listed for your ZIP code may serve your address. You may have to call or visit a service provider's website to find out if the service is available where you live.

Average Broadband Costs

Generally speaking, the higher the broadband speed, the higher the cost. Other factors come into play as well, including the connection type (DSL, cable, etc.) and your location.

According to Reviews.org, the average monthly cost of internet connections in 2021 was $51, $51, $64, and $86, for DSL, cable, fiber, and satellite respectively. Generally, fiber is the fastest option, though its availability is limited, particularly in rural areas. Those living in remote locations may have no choice but to opt for satellite, even though it offers significantly slower download speeds and costs more.

Programs to Help Pay Your Broadband Bill

Fortunately, government as well as ISPs sponsor programs designed to make internet service more affordable for those who qualify. These programs are a big part of the effort to eliminate the digital divide discussed earlier.

In November 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the historic $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In addition to providing funds for roads, power grids, water supply, and so forth, the ambitious bipartisan legislation also set aside $65 billion to improve internet access in rural areas and among low-income families.

From that pot, $2.75 billion will go for digital literacy training, $42.5 billion to supply high-speed internet to unserved areas, and $14.2 billion to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)

At the end of 2021, the ACP replaced the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, enacted as a temporary COVID-19 pandemic relief measure to help low-income households pay for internet access.

In contrast with the EBB, the ACP is a long-term program offering smaller monthly subsidies. It provides up to $30 per month toward qualifying households' internet bills, less than the monthly payment of up to $50 from EBB. The maximum monthly benefit for households located on tribal lands remained at $75.

How to Get Broadband for Free In May 2022, the Biden administration announced commitments from 20 broadband providers including AT&T, Comcast, Spectrum, and Verizon to offer ACP-eligible households high-speed internet plans with download speeds of at least 100 Mbps for no more than $30 per month, making them free with the maximum ACP subsidy. It also launched a new website with information about those plans and instructions for qualifying for ACP at GetInternet.gov.

To qualify for ACP, households must meet any one of the following criteria:

Have income of no more than 200% of the federal poverty level (EBB was set at 135%)

Receive benefits from one of the following federal assistance programs: Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA), or Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit

Be enrolled in the free and reduced-price lunch program or the school breakfast program



Receive a federal Pell Grant during the current award year

Live on tribal lands and participate in Bureau of Indian Affairs general assistance, Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or, on an income basis, Tribal Head Start.

ACP applications may be filed online at AffordableConnectivity.gov, sent in by mail, or made through one's service provider if the provider participates in the program.

While more than 11.5 million households had signed up to participate in ACP by May 2022, the Biden administration estimated 48 million householdsnearly 40% of the U.S. totalare eligible to receive the benefit.



Lifeline

Lifeline is another government program backed by the FCC. It provides a monthly phone or internet service discount of up to $9.25 (up to $34.25 per month for households on tribal lands).

There are two ways to qualify for Lifeline:

If your income is 135% or less of the federal poverty level

If you or someone in your household participates in one of the following programs: SNAP, SSI, Veterans and Survivors Pension benefits, FPHA, Medicaid, and Tribal Programs for Native Americans

If you qualify, choose a participating provider in your area and sign up. Youll have to provide proof of eligibility and renew your Lifeline subscription every year. You also must choose between a phone, internet, or bundled service subsidy.

If you qualify for Lifeline, you automatically qualify for the ACP and can receive both benefits at the same time.

Low-Income Internet Options

Several ISPs also offer broadband plans specifically for low-income households. To qualify for one of these attractively priced deals, you'll need to be eligible for, or a recipient of, a specific government assistance program.

Below you'll find a list of some low-income internet plans currently on the market:

Optimum Advantage Internet

Cable service provider Altice runs the Optimum and Suddenlink ISPs. Customers with access to either one can sign up for Optimum Advantage Internet, which was previously known as Altice Advantage Internet and offers internet speeds of up to 50 Mbps for $14.99 per month.

To qualify, applicants must meet one of the following criteria:

Live in a household with a student that qualifies or participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or a New York resident attending a New York City public school

Be age 65 or older and eligible foror receivingSupplemental Security Income

Be a veteran receiving state or federal public assistance

The Optimum Online plan offering download speeds of up to 100 Mbps was available for $30 per month, making it free after the ACP subsidy.

AT&T Access

AT&Ts Access program has been upgraded to offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps (from 25 Mbps previously) for $30, the amount of the monthly ACP subsidy.

AT&T is also continuing to offer Access plans with speeds of 10 Mbps or less for as little as $5 per month.

Xfinity Internet Essentials

Xfinitys Internet Essentials program lets ACP recipients purchase a plan with speeds of up to 50 Mbps for just $9.95 per month, or to bundle that Internet access with a mobile phone line for $24.95 per month before fees and taxes. You can also apply for Internet Essentials Plus, which offers 100 Mbps for $29.95 per month.

Apply on the Internet Essentials website.

Spectrum Internet Assist

Spectrum's ACP plan offers customers download speeds of up to 100 Mbps for $30 per month for two years as a promotional rate, after which standard rates apply.

The Internet Assist program offers speeds up to 30 Mbps for $14.99 per month for new customers with household members enrolled in the national school lunch program or eligible for it because the live in a low-income community, as well those 65 and older receiving Supplemental Security Income (which is not the same as Social Security benefits).

You can apply online; by downloading, completing, and mailing an application; or by contacting your local Spectrum office.

How Can I Get Free Broadband Internet? Low-income households may qualify under the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) for subsidies of $30 a month, which can cover the full cost (in some cases before taxes and fees) of high-speed internet access from 20 providers, which together serve areas with 80% of the U.S. population.

How Much Is the Average Internet Bill Per Month? Internet costs vary depending on your location, required speed and connection type, and competition in the market. The average monthly cost of internet connections in 2021 was $51, $51, $64, and $86 for DSL, cable, fiber-optic, and satellite respectively, by one estimate.
The book Dead Funny traces the funniest gravestone epitaphs in Ireland. The Irish have long been known for their love of the macabre and humor, even in death.

Here are my top ten entries:

1. From Northern Ireland:

Erected to the memory of JOHN PHILLIPS, accidentally shot as a mark of affection by his brother.

2. Belturbet, County Cavan:

"Here lies John Highey, whose mother and father were drowned in their passage from America. Had they both lived they would be buried here.

3. Belfast City Cemetery:

" DUFFY: In loving memory of beloved Gerald, husband, father, Died 30th November 1989 aged 65 years: I told yous I was sick."

4. Larne, County Antrim:

"At the grave of a man hanged for sheep stealing:

Here lies the body of Thomas Kemp, lived by wool died by hemp."

5. Belfast:

"Beneath this stone lies Katherine my wife

In death my comfort, and my plague through life

Oh liberty! but soft I must not boast

Shes haunt me else, by jingo ,with her ghost."

6. Dublin:

"Here lies the remains of John Hall, grocer. The world is not worth a fig. I have good raisins for saying so."

7. Youghal, County Cork:

"Here lies poor but honest Cecil Pratt. He was a most expert angler until death, envious of his merit threw out his line and hooked him."

8. Waterford:

"Here lies the body of Anthony Reynolds, who although a miller was an honest man.

9. County Clare:

"This stone was raised to Sarah Ford, not Sarahs virtues to record - for theyre well known to all the town. No Lord; it was raised to keep her down.

10. Mallow, County Cork:

"Here lies the body of Edmund Spenser, great great grandson of the poet Spenser, unfortunate from his cradle to his grave.

The book written by Allen Foster ,a freelance writer, can be purchased at www.gillmacmillan.ie.

Read more: The truth about the Irish wake: lewd songs and pranks

*Originally published in 2010.
The options for direct, affordable travel between the US and Ireland keep getting better and better.

Yesterday, the US Department of Transport gave tentative approval to Norwegian Airs application for a foreign carrier permit, which will allow it to begin offering international service to the US, including the first-ever direct route between Boston and Cork.

A final approval, based on the Open Skies Agreement between the U.S. and EU, will be win-win for consumers and the economy on both sides of the Atlantic. It will allow Norwegian to expand our U.S. operations. Our continued presence in the U.S. will create thousands of jobs and generate tens of millions of dollars of economic activity for the Groups U.S. destinations, Norwegian Group CEO Bjrn Kjos said in a statement.

It also noted that, despite accusations that the Norwegian carrier license would not create any US jobs, "Norwegian intends to continue hiring hundreds of American-based crewmembers, bring hundreds of thousands of European tourists to the United States, continue to offer the American people affordable fares and efficiently utilize an $18.5 billion order of planes from American manufacturer Boeing."

Norwegian Airs Irish subsidiary, Norwegian Air International, applied two years ago for its US foreign carrier permit, but faced significant protest from American aviation bodies.

But, as the Irish Independent reported, months of negotiations and input from Irish and EU officials led to yesterdays breakthrough.

The application will be open to motions of support and opposition from relevant parties for 21 days, after which time the DOT will have seven days to review all materials and issue its final decision.

The airline had initially planned to roll out flights on the Boston  Cork route next month, but the launch has been set back by the drawn out application process. If the approval is granted in 28 days as expected, the flights will be slated to begin this summer.

We are heartened by the decision of the US Department of Transportation to announce that there is no legal reason not to award Norwegian Air International a license to commence its Cork  Boston route. Today marks a step change in this process and brings us even closer to a significant milestone in the airports history, said Niall McCarthy, Cork Airports managing director.

This is absolutely fantastic news for the airport, the airline and the region. We have worked so hard to make this happen over many months in both Washington and locally.

The news was also greeted enthusiastically by Shannon Airport, which has also been in talks with Norwegian Air for a route deal pending US approval.

The decision by the US authorities to give preliminary approval for permits for Norwegian International Airlines Limited brings us one step closer to Shannon having a new carrier on its runway. We now have to wait for a 21 period for final submissions on this matter, with a decision to follow shortly after this, said a Shannon Airport spokesperson.

Having commenced discussions with the airline in 2014 and subsequently agreed a deal pending permit approval, we are hopeful of a positive outcome to this application and realizing a really excellent opportunity for Shannon to strengthen its transatlantic operations.

Read more: $300 round-trip to Ireland cheapest ever offered says Norwegian Air

Would you be excited about Norwegians Boston to Cork route and additional flights from the US into Shannon? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
The Australian government is warning its citizens about traveling to Ireland due to political tensions surrounding the centenary of the Easter Rising.

Its online travel advisory said "tensions between dissident republicans and unionists have increased in the lead up to the centenary of the Easter Rising.

It said citizens should avoid protests and demonstrations, and warned that those associated with Northern Ireland "may turn violent.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade published the advisory in its Irish travel advice section on Monday.

In its UK section, which was last updated on 17 February, the government warned tourists traveling to Northern Ireland "to avoid all protests and demonstrations.

"Instances of civil disorder can rapidly escalate into violence," it said.

"You should avoid them wherever possible, including by carefully monitoring the media and following the advice of local authorities."

Citizens were also told "to avoid parades during the marching season.

"We advise you to avoid the annual parades which occur in Northern Ireland during the months of April to August, especially the weeks leading up to the 'Twelfth' (also called Orangemen's Day) on 12 July when tensions may be heightened.

"These parades may turn violent with little warning. Australians could inadvertently be caught up in violence directed at others."

A spokesperson for the Republic of Ireland's Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport told the BBC that it does not comment on "the travel advice of other governments to their citizens.
New York and its surrounding region will celebrate the centenary of the Easter Rising on Sunday, April 24 with a day-long series of events in Manhattan hosted by the Irish government.

According to a press release issued by the government this week, the United States 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.

On 24th April, we will remember the events of 1916 and we will honor the people whose courage and idealism inspired the Irish nation, the release says.

The program of events will take place from 11 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. in Wagner Park, Battery Park City, a location with deep historical resonance for the Irish American community. The Irish government and Irish community official commemorative ceremony will take place at 11 a.m., involving 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.

A star-studded music and cultural program, entitled Welcoming Ireland!, will follow immediately after the ceremony at Wagner Park (capacity 6,000) and the nearby Pier A. The very best of Irish music, dance, theatre, poetry and more will be on offer.

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 Sundance TV 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.

Full program, including registration for (free) Pier A tickets, can be found at www.Ireland2016NY.com.

This is 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, the governments press release says. The events organized for April 24 in Battery Park City form the centerpiece of a rich, on-going centennial program in the New York metropolitan region.
U2 bassist Adam Clayton has battled demons in the past, but these days hes a much happier bunny thanks to seeking mental help.

Clayton is fronting a new Irish social media campaign, #MindYourSelfie, which encourages people to reach out for help if they are feeling a little bit strange, Clayton says.

Clayton, 56, knows what he speaks. Alcohol was his crutch for many years, hes freely admitted in the past, but he turned the corner and all is good in his world.

We live, he says, in a very complicated world where we get it wrong sometimes.

"I've certainly got it wrong in my own life and relied too much upon alcohol and other things to get me through something," he told Irelands 2 FM last week. "That was a diversion in my own life that I wish I hadn't taken. But it got me back and I am where I am now."

Clayton made changes when he couldnt stand his life anymore.

"I was fed up of the way I felt constantly," he said. "In my particular case it was difficult for me not to go, 'Well, you've got an amazing life. What's wrong with you? What are you on about?' Eventually I just got fed up of feeling fed up."

Those with mental issues need to know that help is out there, Clayton says.

"It is not something that you have to live with for the rest of your life. It is not something that will stop you being part of the workforce. But you do have to talk to people about it and you do have to get help. And you can recover, he says.
Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich has rejected a proposal made by his opponent Ted Cruz to immediately deport the undocumented Irish in the US.

Speaking at a campaign event in New York five days before the states primary on April 19, the Ohio governor said he would instead offer the undocumented a path to legalization but not to citizenship.

In February, Texas senator Cruz vowed to deport the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently living the US, using a story of Tommy OMalley from Co. Cork as an example of the way in which hell use Immigration and Customs Enforcement to track down illegal immigrants in their homes.

The vow showed a remarkable toughening of the first-time Senators stance on immigration. Previously Cruz, who has Irish roots on his mothers side, stated that the rounding up of all the countrys undocumented was impractical and authoritarian.

Read more: Ted Cruz vows to deport undocumented Irish if elected

Speaking in Jericho, NY after recording a town hall interview for MSNBC, Kasich stated that although he would not grant a means to citizenship to those who had broken US immigration law, he disagreed with the methods of deportation proposed by his rival Cruz, that would see an estimated 11 million undocumented, including 50,000 Irish, removed from the country.

Im not rounding anybody up. That is not my view, he said.

Theyre going to pay back-taxes and maybe other fines. We want to give them a path to legalization, not to citizenship.

The second-term governor, who is trailing far behind his two remaining rivals, Cruz and Donald Trump, disagreed, however, that to offer undocumented immigrants a path to legalization but not the opportunity to gain citizenship would create a tier of second-class citizens.

Well, the fact is they came here illegally and you dont want to reward somebody who jumps the line, he said.

Despite admitting that the process through which an illegal immigrant would become legal still needed to be worked out, he went on to say that there was absolutely no doubt that such a proposal could be brought through Congress.

Speaking on the Fox News program The OReilly Factor earlier this year, Ted Cruz took a page out of the controversial immigration policy of billionaire GOP front-runner Donald Trump by announcing that he would not allow those who had previously lived in the country illegally to re-enter the US by legal means after their deportation.

He was pressed further by OReilly, with the Fox commentator asking Cruz to clarify his position using the story of fictional Irish man Tom OMalley.

So Tommy OMalley from Co. Cork in Ireland is over here and he overstays his visa and he has got a couple of kids and he has settled into Long Island. And you, President Cruz, are going to send the Feds to his house, take him out and put him on a plane back to Ireland?

You better believe it, Cruz replied.

Cruz continued, Right now, we actually cant do that because we dont have a biometric exit-entry system so we dont know when, in your example, Tommy goes home, he explained before pledging that if elected President, he would introduce a system by which authorities would be informed as soon as an immigrant overstayed his visa.

Kasich completely rejected Cruzs stance on Wednesday evening, however, during an MSNBC interview which will be broadcast on Thursday night.

Were not going to go yanking them out of their home and deporting them, said the governor, the most moderate of the three remaining GOP candidates in terms of immigration reform.

Kasich is currently running ahead of his rival Cruz in polls in New York, although he is still 32 points behind native New Yorker Donald Trump.

Earlier in the year, Cruz courted controversy when he referred to New York values during a Republican debate.

In what he hoped would be a direct attack on Trump, Cruz stated: Listen, there are many wonderful working men and women in the state of New York, but everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal, claiming that the city is full of those who are pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and focused around money and the media.

H/T: Irish Times
You never know what you might find! A diver from Offaly recovered a Bronze Age sword from the Shannon River in 2014, and it is believed to be approximately 3,500 years old.

Michael ORuiarc of Shannonside Sub Aqua Club, a native of Banagher, Co. Offaly where the 1050 BC sword was found, stumbled upon the precious artifact during a routine search and recovery exercise.

Dr. Andy Halpin, assistant keeper of Irish Antiquities at the National Museum, confirmed the swords age.

We know that there is a lot of historical evidence of Viking activity on the Shannon in the 9th and 10th centuries, however from the 10th century onwards, there is also evidence that Irish kings especially Brian Boru had ships on the Shannon, Halpin told the Irish Independent.

Divers of the Shannonside Aqua Club had recovered Celt and Viking swords from the Shannon in the past, but it was ORuiarcs first time recovering such a striking artifact that is such an important part of Irish history.

Two of my diving buddies who are also members of Shannonside Sub Aqua Club have recovered period swords from the river Shannon over the last number of years, so Im delighted to have eventually found one myself, he said at the time.

The National Museum of Ireland collection includes a 1,000 year old Viking sword which was found in the Shannon in 2012.

We struck lucky again! the diving club posted to Facebook. The National Museum should really consider giving our divers a full time position in their underwater unit.

* Originally published in 2014.
Legendary Irish writer Brendan Behan was a Dubliner through and through, as well as a poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright.

Born to a Republican family in Dublin on February 9, 1923, Behan became a member of the Irish Republican Armys (IRA) youth organization Fianna Eireann at the age of 14.

There was also a strong emphasis on Irish history and culture in the home, which meant he was steeped in literature and patriotic ballads from a tender age. Behan eventually joined the IRA at 16, which led to his serving time in a borstal youth prison in the United Kingdom and was also imprisoned in the Republic of Ireland.

During his time in prison, he studied and become a fluent Irish speaker, writing his works in both Irish and English. He was released from prison as part of a general amnesty given by the Fianna Fail government in 1946, Behan moved between homes in Dublin, Kerry, and Connemara and also resided in Paris for a period.

In 1954, Behan's first play The Quare Fellow was produced in Dublin. It was well received and the 1956 production of the same play at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in Stratford, London, gained Behan a wider reputation.

In 1958, Behan's play in the Irish language An Giall had its debut at Dublin's Damer Theatre. Later, The Hostage, Behan's English-language adaptation of An Giall, had great success internationally. Behan's autobiographical novel, Borstal Boy, was published the same year and became a worldwide best-seller.

He married Beatrice Ffrench-Salkeld in 1955.

His reputation also grew due to a famous drunken interview on BBC television, however. Behan was known for his drinking problem, which resulted in him suffering from diabetes, which ultimately resulted in his death on March 20, 1964. He was given an IRA guard of honor who escorted his coffin and it was described by several newspapers as the biggest funeral since those of Michael Collins and Charles Stewart Parnell.

Read more Brendan Behan discovers New York City

In celebration of the birth of one of Ireland's greatest characters, here are some of Brendan Behan's best quotes:

1. It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.

2. I am a drinker with writing problems.

3. The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink, and somebody to love you.

4. There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.

5. The big difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money usually costs a lot less.

6. Other people have a nationality. The Irish and the Jews have a psychosis.

7. I have never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse.

8. One drink is too many for me and a thousand not enough.

9. New York is my Lourdes, where I go for spiritual refreshment ... a place where you're least likely to be bitten by a wild goat.

10. What the hell difference does it make, left or right? There were good men lost on both sides.

11. I am a daylight atheist.

12. If it was raining soup, the Irish would go out with forks.

13. Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.

14. It is a good deed to forget a poor joke."

* Originally published in 2014. Updated in 2022.

IrishCentral History Love Irish history? Share your favorite stories with other history buffs in the IrishCentral History Facebook group.
Chernobyl Children International founder Adi Roche is set to make history at the United Nations later this month.

She will become the first representative of an NGO to be granted the honour of speaking of the UN General Assembly during a countrys allocated time when she makes her address on behalf of Belarus.

Roche, the voluntary CEO of the charity, will be speaking at a special session of the UN General Assembly on Chernobyl in New York on April 26, convened to mark the 30th anniversary of the nuclear accident.

The Belarusian government made the unprecedented move recognition of the international role Ireland and the Chernobyl Children International charity has played in helping the victims of the catastrophe.

Ms Roche described the invitation as "the greatest possible honour to speak on the highest world stage about an issue that has been my lifes work.

She is set to give her own first-hand account of the impact the worlds worst nuclear accident has had on millions of people in Belarus and neighbouring countries.

Chernobyl Children International is the only UN-recognised NGO working in the area.

She will draw particular attention to the heroism, the plight and the continuing needs of the 700,000 Chernobyl Liquidators.

These were the soldiers and civilians; the helicopter pilots, the firemen; the miners and the engineers - who were sent to Chernobyl to undertake the deadly task of trying to contain the leaking radiation from the crippled nuclear reactor.

Many died; others have had to live with radiation induced lifelong illnesses and almost all struggle with medical, psychological and financial difficulties.

During the General Assembly session, she will make a special appeal for additional global support to help meet their ongoing health care needs.

Ms Roche will also press for the speedy completion of the $1.5bn sarcophagus that is being built to make Chernobyl safe for the next 100 years.

Ireland has contributed 8m to this fund. Forty countries and international agencies are funding this massive project, which has been delayed many times.

On this the 30th anniversary of the worst nuclear disaster in history, it is a chilling reminder that the effects of this catastrophic nuclear accident are far from over. The radioactive contamination is still having an adverse effect on the lives and health of the people of the Chernobyl regions. For many people 30 years ago is like reading ancient history, however for the victims it remains an unfolding tragedy, Adi Roche said.

New research released shows that far from the Chernobyl crisis being over the rate of thyroid cancer has almost doubled since 2000 among Children of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe 30 years after the disaster, according to researchers in the Ukraine.

"Children exposed to radiation in 1986 still have a high risk of cancer and need continued observation," said Dr Sergiy Cherenko, MD, of the Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Centre of Endocrine Surgery in Kyiv.

"Children were most at risk at the time of the disaster as they absorb 5-6 times more radioactivity than adults due to their smaller weight, height and more active metabolisms.

Adi Roche added: Chernobyl is not something from the past; Chernobyl was forever, Chernobyl is forever; the impact of that single shocking nuclear accident can never be undone; its radioactive footprint is embedded in our world forever and countless millions of people are still being affected by its deadly legacy."
A group of unaccompanied children greeted Pope Francis as he arrived at the Moria migrant detention centre on the Greek island of Lesbos.

The teenage boys who have made the perilous journeys from their homelands to Greece alone were lined up at the entrance, shaking the hands of the pope and two other religious leaders. Some were holding a Syrian flag.
Eugene McErlean  an authority on the corporate and mortgage arrears crisis in Ireland who has written extensively for the Irish Examiner  said yesterday that regardless of the veracity of the claims by the unnamed whistleblower, the process for dealing with all types of arrears across all the banks was defective.

Mr McErlean said that Irish banks have been given too much freedom in driving the process internally and that the supervisory oversight by external regulators should be tightened considerably.

RTE first reported the whistleblower had alleged the bank made its progress in restructuring bad loans appear more impressive than the situation is in reality.

It is understood the Central Bank of Ireland and European Central Bank (ECB) were contacted by the whistleblower in recent days.

AIB has been able to reduce the amount of money earmarked to deal with bad loans in recent years which has helped its improving profitability.

The whistleblower, however, alleged that the bank misled both the Central Bank and ECB in relation to its restructuring targets, RTE reported.

The whistleblower has reportedly worked in a division of AIB which handles bad loans.

Mr McErlean said that the problem affects arrears on both corporate and mortgage loans  and the spotlight needs to be more sharply focussed on the number of borrowers that fall back into arrears following some sort of restructure.

At the heart of the system, is a defective system which fails to assess the value of the loans in arrears by the lenders because the process supervised by the regulators is defective, he said.

For the size of the country, Ireland suffered arguably one of the worst banking collapses in world history eight years ago and regulators have still not got a full grip on the problems, Mr McErlean said.

The Central Bank said that regulators were first told of the AIB whistleblowers allegations on Wednesday through a whistleblowers system.

A spokesman for the Central Bank said that the ECB is looking at non-performing loans on banks loan books across the eurozone, including those in Ireland, and that dealing with non-performing loans was a key priority for the ECB.

Any correspondence received by the Central Bank through its protected disclosure channel is treated seriously and examined thoroughly. We cannot comment in relation to any specific correspondence, the spokesperson added.

AIB said it was not aware of the allegations when contacted yesterday.

The ECB yesterday declined to comment on the matter.

Since 2014, the ECB has held overall responsibility for supervision of Irish banks.

Domestically, politicians expressed concern over the allegations.

Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said it was deeply worrying that allegations such as this one seem to be continuously missed by the regulator.
In an unprecedented move, the Belarusian government is to provide speaking time to Ms Roche, the voluntary CEO and founder of Chernobyl Children International (CCI), in recognition of CCI and Irelands role helping the victims of the accident.

It is the first time an NGO has been given a countrys allocated speaking time at the assembly. CCI is the only UN-recognised NGO working in the Chernobyl-affected areas.
The DoT issued an order yesterday proposing to grant a foreign carrier permit to Norwegian Air International (NAI), the Irish subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, to fly to the US. The DoT said NAI appears to meet its normal standards for awarding the permit under the terms of the EU-US Open Skies deal, and there appears to be no legal basis to deny NAIs application.

The DoTs show cause order invites observations by May 6, with any responses due by May 13.

A DoT spokesman said it will review those submissions before issuing a final order. But its ruling effectively clears the way for a permit to be issued.

Norwegian announced plans last September to operate a low-fare Cork to Boston service, and a Cork to New York service next year. It also plans to operate a Cork to Barcelona service.

Niall MacCarthy, Cork Airport managing director, said the DoT ruling was fantastic news for the airport, the airline and the region.

We have worked so hard to make this happen over many months in both Washington and locally, he said. I acknowledge the great support received from our local business stakeholders, local politicians and the Irish government. I would particularly commend Cork Chamber for their solid support in these efforts.

The DoT ruling brings to an end a protracted two-year process during which several US legacy airlines and labour unions objected to NAIs application. And it came just weeks after the culmination of an intense lobbying campaign by the Government, DAA, and Cork Chamber, targeting Boston and Washington around St Patricks Day celebrations.

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe welcomed the announcement, describing it as an important breakthrough in the process to allow the airline commence services to the US.

Conor Healy, CEO of Cork Chamber, said: This move is a major milestone and gives great encouragement in respect of a final approval, which will transform opportunities for business and tourism in Cork.

Meanwhile, Cork Airport has installed a 450,000 airbridge to help deal with passenger growth. The airbridge has been installed at aircraft parking stand 8 and will be operational over the coming weeks.
It is thought the hitman panicked and made a poor attempt at disposing of the weapon in a wheelie bin and the getaway bike in a nearby street after realising he had shot the wrong man.

Gardai said: A number of items have been found that we are currently examining as part of the investigation.

Mr ORourke, a 25-year-old homeless man who had been using emergency accommodation services, died of multiple gunshot wounds after being mistaken for a gang figure at Sheriff Street in Dublin on Thursday.

The intended victim is believed to have been Keith Murtagh, an associate of the Hutch gang which is engaged in a bloody feud with the Kinahan drugs gang.

Murtagh, 32, was only released from prison in the latter half of last year after serving a lengthy sentence for his role in the attempted robbery of a security van during which gardai shot both him and his accomplice, his accomplice fatally.

Mr ORourke, who was a father of three, had a history of drug abuse and had been in prison for minor offences but campaigner for the homeless, Fr Peter McVerry, described him as a harmless, lovable young fellow.

He had used the drop-in centre run by the Fr McVerry Trust and the priest said he had tried to address his drug problem, managing to get clean a few years ago before relapsing.

Fr McVerry told RTE the latest shooting  the fifth in the feud  is a very worrying development as there seems no chance of mediating between the gangs.

This particular gang feud is especially dangerous because it has become extremely personal. Its not about money, its not about gang territory. Its become very personal and it doesnt seem that theres any way of stopping it.
Bush fires, flash floods, and fatal mosquito-borne diseases are just some of the highlights of the Department of Foreign Affairs travel advisory for Australia.

Communication difficulties are also on the danger list with warnings the police are not big on exercising discretion with lawbreakers and dont appreciate a roadside comedy act.

What might pass in Ireland for friendly banter may be interpreted in Australia as a refusal to follow the orders of a police officer.

And those are minor worries for theres also the possibility of terror attacks. The Australian government terrorism public alert level is at probable, the department points out.

The same day Australia updated its travel advisory on Ireland, it also published its Improvised Explosive Device Guidelines for Places of Mass Gathering to help Australians be prepared for bomb attacks in crowded public areas such as transport hubs, shopping centres, and sporting arenas.

Suddenly, a warning to avoid protests associated with 1916 commemorations sounds very tame.

But tourism interests here arent interested in a tit-for-tat war of warnings  they just want to get the record set straight on Irelands safety as a destination.

Eoghan OMara Walsh of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, said the warning was surprising. There is no increased security risk relating to Australian visitors. No other country and no other department of foreign affairs has any concerns, he said.

I wouldnt mind seeing the intelligence behind it because it could certainly be argued against.

Some 210,000 Australians came here last year and it is a growing market. Failte Ireland said its sister agency, Tourism Ireland, would work on the ground in Australia to counter any negative publicity.
Garda Brian Hanrahan, who was robbed and shot in the chest and leg while holidaying in New Orleans in January 2015, was one of 20 gardai who responded to the violent clashes, which broke out at a Traveller suicide awareness meeting at the Rathkeale House Hotel.

Yesterday, four men from the Travelling community appeared at Limerick District Court, charged with violent disorder.

The court was told that 20 gardai responded to the hotel, where six security staff were on duty, when violence broke out around 10.45pm.

Garda Tom Flavin from Croom Garda Station told the court there were in excess of 100 members of the Harty family at the event, organised by the HSE, and West Limerick Resources.

There is an ongoing feud in Askeaton involving the Hartys. It was extremely volatile last night, Gda Flavin alleged.

He alleged that two gardai received injuries during the violent clashes.

One was taken to hospital with two fractured fingers, and the other is off duty with a leg injury, he said.

The court heard there were numerous other males injured.

Edward Harty, aged 23, and Jimmy Harty, aged 20, both with addresses at Lisheen Park, Patrickswell, Co Limerick; and Michael Harty, aged 20, of Ballingrane, Askeaton, Co Limerick, were all charged with violent disorder.

Edward Harty was also charged with refusing to give Gda Hanrahan his name and address. Larry OConnor, aged 27, of Holycross Place, Charleville, Co Cork, was also charged with violent disorder.

Despite Garda objections, Edward Harty and Larry OConnor were remanded with consent to bail on a number of strict conditions.

Michael Harty was remanded in custody and did not apply for bail, and Jimmy Harty was granted bail by garda consent.

Judge Marian OLeary remanded the four to appear before Newcastle West District Court next Thursday.
The Mourneabbey family said they had received thousands of mass cards, flowers and wreaths from all over Ireland, Scotland and beyond.

Today marks the first anniversary of the discovery of Ms Buckleys body in a farm at High Craigton, north of Glasgow. She was aged 24.

The parents of Karen Buckley, along with her extended family attended mass at Analeentha, Co Cork yesterday evening to remember the one year anniversary of her death.

She had been murdered by 21-year-old Alexander Pacteau, who pleaded guilty to killing Ms Buckley at the citys High Court last August.

Around 200 parishioners attended the church mass, where Ms Buckley made her Holy Communion and Confirmation as well as where her requiem mass was held.

Fr Joe OKeeffe described Karen as a gentle soul who touched the lives of everyone she met.

He went on to say that remembering Karen brought her into the present and he also called on those present to pray for her parents, John and Marian and all those who mourn Karen.

"It was a horrific and callous murder. Our Lord Jesus Christ passed from death to life. We are confident that our sister Karen who believed in Christ has done the same. In this hope we pray."

In an acknowledgement in todays Irish Examiner, the Buckley family express their sincere gratitude to the very many people who went out of their way to help and support us at the time of her death and ever since.

It was, and continues to be, very much appreciated by all of us and our extended family, the family said.

We are indebted to the professionalism and great courtesy of the Scottish police and our own Garda Siochana for all the help we received in coping with the terrible tragedy; to the Scottish people who held a vigil for Karen in Glasgow and prayed with us, the acknowledgement reads.

Neighbours, friends, and a number of organisations that assisted the family are also thanked.

A special word of gratitude to our local priest, Fr Joe OKeeffe, who has been a rock of support as well as a true friend throughout the trauma of the past year.

To everybody who has shared our terrible loss please accept this acknowledgement of our profound gratitude, the Buckleys said.

The weekly Friday Mass the familys home church, St Michael the Archangel at Analeentha, outside Mallow, was dedicated to her memory last night.

It follows a private memorial service which was held by her friends and classmates from the School of Health and Life Sciences in Glasgow last Tuesday, a year to the day since she was murdered by Pacteau.

Ms Buckley was reported missing by her friends after she left them at the Sanctuary nightclub in Glasgow city centre and failed to return home.

Her disappearance sparked a massive search across Glasgow which eventually focussed on the area surrounding Pacteaus Dorchester Avenue apartment after police used CCTV footage to trace the man seen leaving the area with Ms Buckley the night she disappeared.

Despite Pacteaus original claims that Ms Buckley walked home from his apartment, forensic evidence eventually established that he had killed her in his car just moments after meeting her outside the Sanctuary nightclub.
The worlds most famous Irish-American, a self-made man worth an estimated 247m, has constant physiotherapy and is facing several more operations (he wont disclose exactly what for), but he wouldnt have it any other way.

My body isnt great at the moment, but Im not for complaining, he smiles.

It was my dream to do what I do and did, and I will just get on with it. There are brighter skies ahead. Yes I am an eternal optimist; it has been said to me that I am a hopeless optimist.

Its been reported that the discs in his spine need readjustment twice a week, and that he has persistent problems with his right calf muscle since an incident 20 years ago. His hamstrings and lower back are also in bits and a fractured bone in his right foot can make even walking nightmarish.

Doctors had begged him to retire for years but he only took off his professional dancing shoes for the last time on St Patricks Day in Las Vegas as the 57-year-old Chicago-born son of an Irish immigrant believes he was born to dance.

Neither retirement from dancing nor pain have slowed him down for a second though. His dancing extravaganza, Lord of the Dance  Dangerous Games has been a huge success in the US and weve had standing ovations every night.

Cork audiences will get to see the show for the first time when it and its 40 dancers come to the Marquee for four shows on June 16, 17 and 18. It will move on, then, to the Bord Gais Theatre from June 21-25 before continuing to Germany, Austria, and Belgium.

So what can Irish audiences look forward to?

First off, I hope they will all be entertained. Its big, bright and fast and very entertaining, he said.

Michael wont be dancing in the show obviously but he can still be felt right from beginning to end.

He gushes about the new Lords: James Keegan, from Manchester; and Fergal Keaney, from Galway. They are described by his publicity machine as his protegees but he talks too about Jamess brother, Cathal.

The Keegans, two brothers, both dancers and both both fabulously talented. Then theres Tom Cunningham, the skipper, from Monaghan; a terrific talent. These are all men cut out of stone  when they dance they mean it, he says, in a way that makes Irish dancing sound strangely menacing.

When we speak, Michael, his wife Niamh, and son, Michael St James, are in Cork for the weekend at his 18th century Castlehyde home, outside Fermoy.

The fish are jumping, the sun is shining down here and its just magnificent today.

But as much as loves Castlehyde (he says he had some of the best times of his life, including getting married there), he put it on the market last year because he is so busy, was so spending little or no time there, and possibly too because it held too much memories of time spent with his beloved father, Michael Sr, who died just over a year ago.

He also has homes in Barbados and Monaco. He tells me there are two interested parties but that he is in not in any hurry to sell.

I love Ireland, I can never get back to Ireland enough, but my business is based in London, he explains.

Aside from running the enormously successful Lord of the Dance, which he directs, choreographs, and designed, Flatley says he has his fingers in a few pies, other project that he wants to power with his legendary drive. Not least of these is his art. It was only in recent years that we found he had converted a stable at Castlehyde into a studio where he tap dances on paint-spattered canvas.

His debut exhibition of his expressionist art in London generated sales of 1m, and earlier this week, he presented one to President Michael D Higgins. Ive great admiration for him, he has spent his life pushing boundaries, he says.

And of course in recent months, Michael Flatley also danced, played flute (he is a master flautist) and spoke on the The Rising song; the video of which is coming out today.

In the meantime, he just wants to continue to heal his broken body and enjoy time with his wife and his son. Hes flying back to London tonight, though, for a show that he wouldnt miss for the world  Michael St James school play.
Jeremiah Mathis Thede was accused of acting in a manner likely to negligently endanger an aircraft. Jurors took less than an hour to find the Californian innocent.

The United Airlines flight from Rome to Chicago landed in Belfast after crew became concerned.

Mr Thedes solicitor, Patrick Madden, said: The prosecution case and the decision to divert the flight was all based on information which is inaccurate from the cabin crew, it was based on speculation, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation.

In fact there was simply no credible evidence in this case to suggest that Mr Thede had acted in any way to endanger this flight.

Mr Thede denied being aggressive towards cabin crew after they refused him pre-flight crackers. His barrister saidwitnesses at his trial in Antrim Crown Court had contradicted each other and added they had over-reacted to a series of relatively minor events.

The service diverted to Belfast after staff became worried and said they had been approached by passengers  some even moving children away from the agitated accused.

Mr Thede had previously described how he was down to his last dollars following a long European trip and problems with a credit card and had eaten only an apple during five hours waiting in Rome airport for the delayed flight home.

He has said he requested crackers immediately upon boarding, then repeatedly during the flight, because he was hungry. Unable to sleep, he proceeded to repeatedly go to the bathroom and search through his luggage while organising contacts from his long European trip.

Attendants claimed he left his meal tray obstructing the aisle and alleged that his behaviour was odd.

Mr Thedes barrister, Aaron Thompson, quipped that the whole trial was a bit crackers.

Judge Desmond Marrinan had told jurors it would be a fatal flaw to just take the crews word for it and counselled the panel to avoid rumour or speculation.

He said the key issues had included Mr Thedes alleged failure to obey staff and whether passengers were likely to take matters into their own hands  which may have led to trouble.

A relief pilot earlier told the trial that Mr Thede was unpredictable and his behaviour was odd.
Nurse Elizabeth Yvonne Williamson, nee Claffey, who is the subject of the hearing, yesterday admitted to one factual allegation, and that it amounted to professional misconduct.

Ms Williamson is facing allegations of professional misconduct and non-compliance with the code of professional conduct at a fitness to practise inquiry.

Specifically, it is alleged while working at the Bloomfield Care Centre in Rathfarnham, Dublin, she used an ATM card without the consent of its owner, a resident with prostate cancer.

Ms Williamson allegedly withdrew more than 5,300 between October 10, 2011, and May 8, 2012.

It is also alleged the nurse, known as Yvonne Claffey during her time at Bloomfield, retained the money for her own use and benefit. It is further alleged that, in April 2012, she used the residents card without his consent to make a purchase of just over 250 while shopping.

Shortly before lunchtime yesterday, Ms Williamson admitted through her barrister that she did use the residents card without his permission for the transaction in Asda, in the North, an act that amounted to professional misconduct.

Roger Smith, deputy CEO and financial controller of Bloomfield Health Services, gave evidence yesterday. He described the resident, referred to as KD, as a frail, elderly gentleman with significant physical health problems. He had cancer and subsequently received palliative care.

Mr Smith said he reviewed KDs bank statements after concerns over potential unauthorised withdrawals were raised.

The amounts were the first indication that something unusual was happening, said Mr Smith. These were unusual because theres no obvious need for KD to be withdrawing these amounts of money.

The gardai were informed. Mr Smith said he was at a meeting where a garda informed KD that Ms Williamson had admitted to taking funds  but only with his permission.

Mr Smith said KD appeared surprised and shocked, and said he had not given anyone permission to withdraw money. KD later decided not to pursue a case through the courts.

KD expressed reluctance in being involved with a court case, saying he did not wish to see Ms Williamson again, he told the inquiry.

Healthcare assistant Shirley OToole, who worked with Ms Williamson at Bloomfield, praised the nurse in evidence. It was brilliant working with Ms Claffey, Ms OToole said. She was an excellent boss.

In October 2012, while checking KDs chart, Ms OToole saw some of KDs bank statements and noticed a number of large withdrawals from the account. As KD did not often leave the premises, Ms OToole believed the high number of withdrawals meant that someone else had access to his account. Ms OToole brought this to the attention of a senior colleague.

In October 2012, Ms OToole brought KD to his bank in Rathfarnham , in order to go over his bank transactions. The following month, KD received his bank statement. The man was in shock, she said, when he realised how much money had been withdrawn.

The inquiry will continue at a later date.
The Cork Prison officers made their comments during the second day of an inquest yesterday into the death of Roy ODriscoll, 25, from Summerhill, Mallow, Co Cork, in a cell in Cork Prison on May 10, 2013.

Mr ODriscoll had been serving a seven-year sentence for assault, and was transferred from Portlaoise Prison to Cork on May 1.

He was classed by medical staff in Portlaoise as at an unprecedented risk of suicide just days beforehand. Mr ODriscoll was transferred without their knowledge. He was found unresponsive in his cell in Cork Prisons D-unit on May 10, 2013, and was pronounced dead a short time later.

The inquest previously heard that Dr George OMahony GP assessed him the day after his arrival in Cork Prison and, amid concerns for his mental health, directed he be placed in one of D-units three medical observation cells. Prisoners in these cells get a daily GP visit and twice daily nursing visits. They also have access to a prison-issue bedsheet and towel.

Following visits from consultant psychiatrist, Dr Eugene Moran, over the following days it was determined that Mr ODriscoll should remain in this cell for continuing observation. But D-unit prison officers told Cork City Coroners Court yesterday that the only information they had about Mr ODriscolls condition was that he was under special observation.

Class officer Brendan Conroy said he knew the prisoner was involved in a fight in Portlaoise before his transfer.

He said Mr ODriscoll displayed all the signs of an inmate finding it hard to adjust to prison life and do his time.

There was no indication the man was highly suicidal. Had we known, we wouldnt have had him in a cell with bedding and a suspension point. Had we known he was suicidal, he wouldnt have been in that cell. I have replayed this in my mind so many times  what did I miss? he said.

Fellow prison officer, David Keogh, said: If there was a high risk, he wouldnt have been in that cell.

Another officer, Liam Sweeney, said the only thing he knew about Mr ODriscoll was that he was on medical observation, and vulnerable. They all said there was nothing unusual about Mr ODriscoll on the day of his death.

Mr Sweeney said he checked Mr ODriscoll through the cell door hatch at 2pm and saw him sitting on the bed and everything seemed normal. Mr Conroy said he looked through the hatch at 2.09pm and saw the prisoner sitting on his bed.

But by 2.25pm, officer David Keogh, raised the alarm when Mr ODriscoll was found lying unresponsive in his cell .

Prison staff administered CPR for 18 minutes but Mr ODriscoll did not respond.

Cork Prisons chief nursing officer at the time, Joe Faulkner, said he made the decision to cease resuscitation efforts before paramedics arrived.

I made the decision to stop CPR based on my own clinical experience, he said.

The inquest has been adjourned until June at which point former Cork Prison governor, Jim Collins, is due to give evidence.
The Circuit Civil Court was told Sile Boland had been pregnant with Fachtna when his father died prior to his birth. Judge John Aylmer heard that Kevin Boland and his wife, Cecilia, adopted Fachtna and reared him as their own son and as Siles brother.

Fachtna Boland had asked the court for a possession order against his mother of a chalet in which she now resided beside his house at Farmers Vale, Cruise Rath, Rathcoole, Co Dublin. Sile Boland opposed the application.

He said in evidence that he was a teenager before he discovered that Sile Boland, 56, who now lives in the chalet adjacent to his home, was his mother and not his sister. The court also heard that Sile had been adopted by the minister and his wife.

Fachtna told his counsel James Dwyer SC, who appeared with barrister Fergal Fitzgerald Doyle, that the 10 acres comprising Farmers Vale had been transferred from previous owners in 1990 to his grandparents and himself as joint tenants.

The court heard Kevin Boland died in 2001, followed by Cecilia in 2005, and her last will stipulated that Fachtnas natural mother, Sile, would have a right of residence on the lands for as long as she wished.

Fachtna said that, in 2008, he signed an agreement to a registration of Siles right of residence, but had later found out that a pre-existing conveyance trumped this bequest in his grandmother Cecilias will.

He claimed that, due to a clerical error in the land registry, only Kevin and Cecilia Boland had been registered as full owners of the lands in 1990 and that he was therefore now entitled to full ownership without any encumbrances including the right of residence of his mother, Sile.

The court heard that he had been living on the lands with his grandparents and Sile had moved into the chalet in 1998, when she became a full-time carer for her aging parents.

Fachtna said his relationship with his mother, Sile, broke down around 2008, after he had signed the agreement. He said he had felt under pressure at the time he signed it.

He told Judge Aylmer that Sile had refused to give up possession of the chalet and to consent to the cancellation of the folio of her right of residence. Fachtna also claimed that the manner in which Sile used her right of residence was a nuisance and interfered with his and his wife Siobhans enjoyment of the property.

Following a full-day hearing and an adjournment of the court, Mr Dwyer told Judge Aylmer that the parties had reached a settlement whereby title of the lands could be rectified on order of the court.
Speaking in New York, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said the sports premier organisation had always run towards regulation and were happy to meet the Irish authorities to discuss standards and guidelines.

Its kind of been our mantra, we run towards regulation. We would love to be able to work with the authorities in Ireland so that, not just our events, but all of the events are properly regulated.

I dont know exactly what happened in that event [Total Extreme Fighting], obviously, everybody is still trying to figure that out , but thats the reason we want regulations so that there are standards that are the same everywhere and we would certainly think that that would be a good idea,he said.

His comments come in the wake of the death of Portuguese MMA fighter Joao Carvalho following an event in Dublin last weekend. He died late on Monday night after being in a critical condition for 48 hours at Beaumont Hospital.

The IMMAF yesterday urged the Governments to support the Irish Amateur Pankration Association and make a sincere commitment to putting structures in place that create a consistent and safe environment for all. It said MMA bouts should be regulated by law as they are in the US and Sweden.

Earlier this week, Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy said MMA has no place in Ireland unless it implements rules planned by his organisation.

If we bring forth guidelines and theyre not followed, well I dont think theres any place for it in Ireland. Its as simple as that, he said.

The sport currently does not receive any government funding as it is not recognised by Sport Ireland. It is overseen by the Irish Amateur Pankration Association, which is recognised as the governing body for MMA in Ireland by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation.

Mr Treacy also warned organisers and promoters of MMA to think very carefully before putting on any more events in Ireland.
The new terms for the pre-1996 staff were due to come into effect this Monday but have now been delayed until May 16.

However Mandate, the biggest union in the supermarket giants operations representing 12,500 staff, said it was determined to protect the terms and conditions of the workers.

A ballot, counted yesterday, yielded a 99% vote in favour of strike if the company cut wages and terms without agreement.

The union is also unhappy a Labour Court recommendation in February which recommended all staff receive a 2% pay increase as well as a 1.5% share bonus scheme payment, will not be applied to the pre-1996 staff.

The union says those workers will have to take a pay cut of at least 15%. The company has said the share bonus increase is not being applied to the long-serving staff as their contract gave them an automatic entitlement to a 5% award which was honoured in 2015.

Yesterdays Mandate ballot result emerged as the company accepted an invitation to enter talks on the matter at the Workplace Relations Commission.

Gerry Light, Mandates assistant general secretary, said: Weve now served notice on the company that our members intend to strike in the event the company proceeds with their plans to cut wages or alter the contracts of employment without agreement.

Its a pity it took until the declaration of our ballot before the company accepted the invitation to attend the WRC, especially when you consider we wrote to the company more than a month ago. It seems the company was waiting for the result of the ballot before they agreed to engage, but better late than never.

The company said it was disappointed with the result of the Mandate ballot.

We have proposed a generous compensation offer including a voluntary redundancy scheme at five weeks per year of service uncapped and compensation of 2.5 times annual loss of earnings for colleagues moving to our main contract, said a Tesco spokeswoman.

We are proposing to move these colleagues to our main contract, which already covers the vast majority of our workforce, as the pre-1996 contract means we have too many colleagues working during the early quieter times of the week and not enough during the busiest.

Meanwhile, psychiatric nurses have threatened industrial action over staffing numbers. The Psychiatric Nurses Association said up to 1,000 nurses will be needed to fill up to 600 current vacancies and forecasted retirement just to maintain current levels of staffing.

Delegates at the PNAs annual delegate council voted to put a proposal for a ballot on industrial action on the staffing shortage to a special meeting of its national executive council on May 10.
ON a hot day during a Spanish holiday, a Dublin-based GP watched her 13-year-old daughter stand shivering beside the pool.

The young teen  who once swam like a dolphin  was skin and bone, due to an eating disorder that had begun over a year earlier.

She couldnt get into the pool because she was so cold.

And then the anxious mum saw the turning point shed longed for, saw the moment when her beloved daughter started to get unstuck from the disordered thinking around eating that had plagued the family for months.

She said This is horrible. I dont want this, I dont want to live like this.

It had been a long journey to this moment. Distraught and panicked, Catherine had watched her bubbly, extrovert girl become unrecognisable, had seen her life shrink to a tiny existence that centred on food, weight and shape.

Along the way, the frantic mum met Professor Janet Treasure, a specialist in treatment of eating disorders at the South London and Maudsley Hospital, where work had been done on family-based therapy.

They produced evidence that family-based therapy actually works.

Crucially, Catherine learned that her daughter didnt choose to have an eating disorder.

Its a biologically-based mental illness. There are genetic factors and personality predispositions.

"Parents dont cause it  they can in fact be a powerful force in a loved ones recovery.

Catherine did several workshops in the New Maudsley Approach, which trains carers to be compassionate, calm and consistent. She quickly realised theres no negotiating with an eating disorder.

Theres no negotiating with food and mealtimes. Food is medicine. Id say to my daughter: this is what were having for dinner today.

"Im making it. Were all eating it. I will support you if you have difficulty eating it until you finish it. Its about being compassionate.

Her daughter wanted to talk about food all the time.

Instead we agreed wed talk about it for a [designated] amount of time each day  10 or 30 minutes.

Happily, the now 15-year-old has her weight restored, is healthy, full of joy and has very good emotional regulation.

But Catherine wishes family-based therapy was more known in Ireland and that parents were professionally supported in training to re-feed their child.

Theres a sense here that we wait for the child to want to change themselves and meanwhile their weight is dropping and theyre getting more disordered in their thinking.

Co Down woman Debbie Howard, a 34-year-old psychotherapist, along with another eating disorder sufferer Tori Shaw and their parents set up CARED (Caring About Recovery from Eating Disorders) in Northern Ireland three years ago.

Debbie Howard on her wedding day.

CARED teaches the New Maudsley Model, a world-renowned carers course designed to support, educate and empower families of those suffering from an eating disorder.

During a two-day workshop (theyre about to run their fourth workshop in Dublin next weekend), carers are taught about eating disorders, enhanced communication skills, psychology of change and how to promote recovery in their loved one.

Debbie, a former gymnast, who competed in the Commonwealth Games at 16, recalls her body always being under scrutiny for how she looked and what she weighed.

On an intense training regime, shed skip breakfast, train for three hours and then eat a piece of dried toast and a fat-free yoghurt.

Then Id go to bed because of the hunger pains, after which Id train for another three hours.

Debbie Howard as a champion teen gymnast.

Following university, living in London, Debbies eating disorder ran riot I hit rock bottom.

She made a desperate call to her mum, who sourced therapy for her in London.

I was in therapy for four years. It was a slow process of building up my self-esteem. First I wanted to get better for others. Halfway through I thought maybe I should get better for myself.

"There was no real light-bulb moment. Its always a work in progress but the eating disorder no longer rules my life.

During her illness, Debbie says her parents  like many parents  did the wrong thing out of love and terror.

They shouted at me. We had hour-long stand-offs at the dinner table. They pleaded, bribed and guilted me.

CARED teaches parents about the eating disorder voice in the sufferers head that constantly tells you youre fat, weak, disgusting, dont listen to them because theyre trying to make you fat.

CAREDs aim, says Debbie, is to teach parents/carers to draw their loved one away from the eating disorder, not push them further into its arms.

Its about supporting parents to find ways to help their child make healthy choices without resorting to shouting or other negative behaviours.

The parent might say, Is there anything I can do to make eating your meal easier? And the sufferer might say, I find it hardest after eating because I feel so guilty  maybe you can distract me, maybe we can go for a walk.

Susan (not her real name), another Dublin-based mum, whose daughter, in her early 20s, continues to battle her eating disorder, found CARED workshops hugely supportive.

I realised what an eating disorder isnt.

It is not attention-seeking. It is not about losing weight. Its not about a choice the sufferer has made.

"CARED made us realise that an eating disorder can control the whole family if we let it and that if we fight with our daughter about eating, we fuel the eating disorder.

Now, if Susans daughter decides she wants to go to the gym and Susan doesnt think its a good idea, theres no rowing.

I say do you think its a good idea that you go now, seeing as youve been there already and youve done a lot of exercise? She might say Id like to go. And Id say OK, you make that decision. And she might or might not go  but were not fighting anymore.

* CARED will hold a New Maudsley course at the Clayton Hotel, Leopardstown, 9.30am-4.30pm, on April 23 and 24. 50 per family.

Email: caringaboutrecovery@gmail.com

Another workshop is planned for May.

FACT FILE

* Approximately 200,000 people in Ireland are affected by eating disorders. About 400 new cases emerge each year, representing 80 deaths annually.

* Estimates say 10% of anorexia and bulimia cases are male, though more recent studies suggest this figure could be as high as 25%. Binge eating disorder is more equally divided, with up to 50% of cases occurring in men.

* In 2014, almost 14% of all admissions for under 18s to Irish psychiatric units/hospitals had a primary diagnosis of eating disorders. Females accounted for 93% of the eating disorder admissions.

* In 2014, 15% of calls to Bodywhys helpline related to 10 to 14-year-olds and 22% of calls involved 15 to 18-year olds.

2014 saw an 84% increase in attendance at the Bodywhys online support group for 13 to 19-year-olds.

* Bodywhys has recently run a free four-week evening course  PiLaR (Peer Led Resilience)  in five locations through Ireland.

It supports parents in dealing with issues such as anger, managing mealtimes, knowing when to step in, keeping lines of communication open and distinguishing between child and eating disorder. More courses are planned.

* Contact Bodywhys ( www.bodywhys.ie ): 1890 200444 or alex@bodywhys.ie

Also visit www.thenewmaudsleyapproach.co.uk and www.feast-ed.org
ANYBODY feel like staying up all night? There will be music, dancing and plenty of stimulants. Or should I say stimulus, in the form of debate, discussion and something thats completely absent these days  a vision for the future.

That might not be enough to entice everyone but, right now, Id go a very long way for a bit of inspiration.

There hasnt been too much talk of Nuit Debout, the citizen-led movement where people all over France have been gathering peacefully at night to talk about everything from tax evasion and inequality to work and the failures of politics.

Ive found myself following on social media and welling up with an unfamiliar feeling  hope. At times, the hairs on the back on my neck stand on end, but then talk of a reinvigorated political landscape will do that to you in this government-less country.

Part of the surging emotion is seeing so many people gather in one place, united in their purpose. The fact that the nocturnal vigils began in Place de la Republique in Paris, where the victims of the November 13 terrorist attacks were honoured and remembered, has added to the emotional charge.

But there is more to this. The French are inveterate demonstrators, but this time its a little bit different. On March 31, the protesters who gathered to object to President Francois Hollandes proposed new labour laws just didnt go home.

They stayed put all night, despite the torrential rain. The next day, they came back for more. And they have been coming back for more than two weeks now: students, workers, parents with babies and pensioners have joined the ranks of a movement that has no official leaders and no official aim.

Every night, a microphone is passed around so that everyone can have their say. They said things like: Politics feels broken. We want a society built on something more than just profit and money-making. Never before have I felt so involved in democracy. It does feel like a living utopia and, yes, we have been here before. Remember the Occupy initiative in 2011, which brought together hundreds of thousands of people around the world in a call for global change? That movement illustrated clearly how difficult it is to harness the energy and enthusiasm of a mass protest into political action.

But sometimes the fever on the streets can translate into parliament seats. In Spain, for instance, the Indignados movement produced a new political party Podemos (We Can), which went on to win 46 seats in the 2015 Spanish general election. However, many say Podemos stopped working as soon as it joined the establishment and all the democracy-stifling trappings that goes with it.

Who knows what Nuit Debout will bring as it expands? At last count, there were more than 120,000 people taking part in 60 French cities and towns and the protests were spilling over into Spain, Belgium and Germany.

The French government is rattled  it has already announced 500m in subsidies to appease students and workers. The police are on edge too and, on Monday, they dispersed the crowd, but the crowd is not for turning. The gatherings continue to grow and with them the seductive notion that something might finally give.

And somethings gotta give. If theres one word that captures the spirit of these nightly sit-ins  actually stand-ins is a better translation as Nuit Debout literally means Night Standing Up  it is ras-le-bol (fed-upness).

Now theres a word that will strike a chord with just about everyone in Ireland. Who isnt fed up to the back teeth with the pathetic attempts to get the 32nd Dail up and running?

When  or if  a programme for government is finally agreed, will anything really change?

Some politicians claim to be able to read the recent election results  the electorate voted to boot out the Fine Gael/Labour coalition; they voted against austerity; they backed Fianna Fail; they voted for change. In truth, if they can be read at all, the results show a deep level of disaffection and distrust which has left us with a political fragmentation and disparateness that we have not had to deal with before.

This new political formation calls for politicians adept at connecting rather than excluding. We need our elected representatives to come together and do business with people of deeply divergent views. Thats the problem politics is meant to solve.

Unfortunately, it doesnt look as if its going to solve it any time soon. So what can we do?

Id love to reunite the thousands of people who protested against water charges and pass the microphone around. Lets hear from the anti-austerity protesters too. I, for one, would like to know what those people who came from all over the country to say enough is enough have to say about what should happen now.

But, for once, why not take the anti out of it  its too easy to go all Joe Duffy and say what you are against. Its much harder to say what youre for and how that might be achieved.

If we were to hold a night-time rally in Ireland  and lets hope we do  there is one recent political movement that did much to inspire. The campaign to pass same-sex marriage last May was a unique moment in Irish political life: it united people from a range of backgrounds and politically motivated people, many for the first time.

Some of them are still politically active, working in some small way to invent a different kind of society.

There must be others out there too who want to try, at least, to turn that deep-rooted fed-upness into something positive. Its easy to by cynical about those all-nighters with their high ideals and revolutionary slogans, but maybe, just maybe, its time to think about setting up a nocturnal movement here.

Eiri Amach na hOiche, perhaps? Ill bring the bullet-proof coffee and the microphone. Any takers?
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 sceptical 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 characterisation isnt 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 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.

Chinas proposed anti-terrorism alliance is the latest iteration of this kind of Great Power Foreign Policy. If formalised and constituted, the alliance would focus on sharing intelligence and co-ordinating 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-fisted and over-reaching when dealing with countries China regards as junior partners in a project.

However, the proposal follows Chinas recent $70m (62m) grant to Afghanistan to help with anti-terror efforts, as well as broader Chinese commercial diplomacy in the region, notably involving Xi Jinpings 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 Co-operation Organisation, for the last 15 years.

This organisation, 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, IS 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 mobilise and agitate against Chinese rule before, and its possible that they will again, given Beijings 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 finalised 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 Peoples 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 defence.

This pattern of Chinese behaviour is not lost on Moscow, which has been historically very uncomfortable with foreign involvement in what Putin often calls Russias near abroad, including Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

A major X factor in any possible Sino-Russian showdown in Central Asia is the US. After nearly 15 years of military involvement in Afghanistan, the US has a great deal of direct interest and experience in the regions 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 US to co-operate with Russia, if it considers Chinese efforts more suspect than Russian ones in the region, or indeed possibly the converse, with China and the US jointly resisting Russian pressure. It could also set the stage for a Mexican standoff, if Washington decides it isnt comfortable with either countrys presence.

Ultimately, though, the Chinese alliance remains at this point a proposal. Russia, China and the US often need each other as much as they distrust each other in foreign policy. For that reason, they may choose not to square off in Central Asia  at least for now.
Saturday, April 16th, 2016 (8:17 am) - Score 1,830

The cross-party British Infrastructure Group (BIG), which is led by Grant Schapps MP, has announced the launch of a new campaign that aims to change the scandal of how most ISPs advertise broadband speeds that only 10% of the fastest customers can actually achieve.

At present the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) requires that an ISP should be able to demonstrate that its advertised speeds are achievable by at least 10% of users (details) and providers are also required to supply customers with a typical speed range to help reflect that every line is different (this is usually supplied and personalised to individual subscribers) and that some people will receive a maximum speed that is much lower than the advertised rate.

On top of that Ofcoms voluntary Broadband Speed Code of Practice allows consumers to exit their contract at any time if their service speed falls below a designated Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed (MGALS), which reflects the speed achieved by the slowest 10% of the ISPs customers (e.g. its around 0.8Mbps for ADSL2+ packages; variable between ISPs). However ISPs are given a chance to resolve such complaints before that happens, although if the problem is related to infrastructure then simply swapping providers wont always help.

The ASA recently reported that all of these measures have caused consumer complaints about broadband speed to drop by half (here), although this is also partly because many ISPs have stopped promoting service speeds in their adverts. Never the less Grant Schapps and 50 cross-party MPs believe that the old 10% rule is a scandal and so today theyve launched a new British Broadband Rip-Off campaign to stop it.

Grant Schapps MP said (Telegraph): Its a scandal that official watchdog rules allow Internet Service Providers to claim download speeds which only 1 in 10 of their customers actually receive. Consumers expect refunds when their trains are late or a flight is delayed, yet there is no similar compensation for lousy internet services which fail to deliver the speeds advertised. Given that a decent broadband connection is viewed as the fourth utility by many British families, this overcharging and under-delivery is a scandal every bit as big as PPI miss-selling and the VW Exhaust emission scandal.

Earlier this week the Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, similarly described the current way in which broadband speeds are advertised as misleading and ridiculous. The idea that if you can deliver to 10% of houses the broadband speeds you are advertising on a large billboard and get away with it seems to be a complete and utter joke, said Vaizey.

Frustration over the culture of so-called up to speeds is of course nothing new, although it is often the nature of many networks that speeds can fluctuate due to all sorts of reasons, such as traffic management policies, long copper lines, peak time network congestion and sometimes even issues like slow home WiFi or poor home wiring that ISPs cannot control.

Funnily enough we note that some ISPs, such as Sky Broadband, have now removed the up to prefix in front of the broadband speeds shown on their website and now just list a single download rate of 17Mb or 38Mb alongside their ADSL and Fibre (FTTC / VDSL) packages, but other ISPs do still seem to use it. We also note that very few ISPs show their upload speeds, which are usually slower than the download rate and its absence can cause additional confusion for consumers.

In fairness most providers (except Virgin Media and FTTH/P, Satellite or Wireless providers) would complain that they are beholden to BTOpenreachs national copper network and its many limitations that can impact connectivity performance, although sadly Openreach are not directly held to account by related rules and so only the ISPs suffer the main punishments for performance problems. Despite this the new campaign has suggested several changes for ISPs.

Recommendations from the Campaign * Mandatory refunds for anyone who has been mis-sold a broadband contract. * Consumers should have the power to leave contracts if they are found to have been misled. * Regulators should have greater powers to step in and take robust action against ISPs found to be misleading customers.

Mind you Ofcoms recent Strategic Review has already proposed that residential ISPs should introduce automatic compensation when things go wrong (details), such as due to a loss or reduction of service. However this is a feature that used to only be offered alongside business products and it could be expensive to implement, especially if the measure only hits ISPs and Openreach arent required to share some of the responsibility where appropriate.

Likewise Ofcoms voluntary code already allows consumers to leave their contracts penalty free, although the rules could conceivably be tightened so that they applied more widely or were perhaps made mandatory for all providers. But generally it seems as if the regulators are already working on the very areas where the new campaign seeks improvement (easy political victory?).

UPDATE 18th April 2016

The ISPA UK (Internet Service Providers Association) has today issued its response to the new report, which warns that it is too early to conclude on exactly what steps need to be taken.
Major: Communication

Hometown: Brazil, IN

Student Media Involvement: Syc Creations

Favorite Food: Burgers with everything but mustard

Fun Fact: He really loves superhero movies, and wants to make his own someday
Global mobile satellite telco, Inmarsat, the worlds leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, has announced the granting of full Type Approval for Skywares ATOM 99 terminal, for use over Inmarsats high-speed, globally available Global Xpress broadband service.

Skyware says its ATOM 99 terminal will enable media and broadcasters to take the new lightweight, portable receiver dish to where the news is happening anywhere in the world, providing high quality live broadcast capabilities in even the most inaccessible regions.

The terminal, which is manufactured by Skyware Technologies, features a receiver dish measuring 99cm in diameter, making it the most-powerful portable Global Xpress (GX) terminal for the Enterprise market to date.

Billed as being rugged build and lightweight, and featuring an easily transportable design, coupled with pointing assistance for repaid satellite signal acquisition, Skyware says this makes it ideal for quick deployment to deliver high speed broadband access anywhere it is needed.

In addition, the terminal can be set up and online in minutes and can be assembled without the need for any tools or specialist training. Skyware also states that the ATOM 99 features a dual-offset antenna which, alongside its 99cm reflector, provides maximum efficiency and best possible radiation characteristics for improved data throughput and availability.

More below, please read on.

Greg Ewert, President, Inmarsat Enterprise said: Inmarsat is pleased to confirm the addition of the ATOM 99 Global Xpress terminal to its portfolio.

Skywave Technologies terminals are a key part of making our Global Xpress service a success and I foresee a considerable appetite for this terminal in many of the market sectors we serve, but particularly from media and oil and gas customers.

Oliver Kroner, CEO, Skyware Technologies said; The Atom 99 completes Skywares offering of fixed and flyaway terminals for Inmarsats Global Xpress satellite service.

It uses the same Ka- band transceiver designed and manufactured by Skyware Technologies as our two existing flyaways  the Atom 65 and Atom 65 Auto Acquire  and benefits from all the advantages of being fanless and highly integrated for greater efficiency and ease of deployment and use.

The Atom range of GX terminals, uniquely in GX, all employ a dual reflector design, which means they offer the performance advantages of larger single reflectors, whilst remaining compact and lightweight. I consider the Atom 99 to be a key terminal for Inmarsats GX success and predict rapid and significant deployment on a global scale.

Inmarsat says it will be showcasing the ATOM 99 terminal at stand SU11003CM in NAB, Las Vegas next week, along with live demonstrations of the broadcast quality of Global Xpress with an outside broadcast from Rio de Janeiro.
Microsoft's decision to take on the U.S. government's habit of stamping "Secret" on court orders demanding data stored on the company's servers was largely motivated by business concerns, a legal expert said Thursday.

The Redmond, Wash. firm also implied that business reasons drove it to ask that a section of a 1986 law be declared unconstitutional.

"The government's secrecy orders forbid cloud service providers from letting businesses know that the government has obtained their data," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's chief legal officer, in a post to a company blog yesterday. "Not surprisingly, business customers regularly convey to us their strong desire to know when the government is obtaining their data. And not surprisingly, they want the opportunity for their own lawyers to review the situation and help decide whether to turn over information or contest the issue in court."

In too many instances, that's not possible, Microsoft argued Thursday when it sued the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

The lawsuit asked for a judgment declaring unconstitutional part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), a 30-year-old law that government agencies increasingly cite when forcing email, Internet and cloud storage service providers to hand over data to aid criminal investigations.

Smith in his post, and Microsoft in the complaint filed with a Seattle federal court, alleged that the government has been routinely putting gag orders on data demands. Of the 5,624 federal requests over the last 18 months, 48% were accompanied by a gag order that forbid Microsoft from informing customers that their data had been given to authorities. More than two-thirds of the gag orders did not have a fixed end date.

"This means that we effectively are prohibited forever from telling our customers that the government has obtained their data," Smith said.

While Smith characterized the lawsuit as an attempt to restore "our customers' constitutional and fundamental rights -- rights that help protect privacy and promote free expression," the battle was also fought because Microsoft is concerned that the government's actions risk its fastest-growing businesses, its cloud-based Azure platform and Office 365.

Microsoft's motivation came from business customers who worry that their cloud-stored emails, documents and other data are being accessed without their knowledge, said Michael Carroll, a professor of law and director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at the American University Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C.

"'What does it mean when I move my data to the cloud?'" Carroll said, taking the role of a business that has, or is considering, migrating some or all of its on-premises infrastructure to Microsoft's data centers. Uncertainty about who accesses data, and when, generates what Carroll called "business blowback," and hesitancy to shift to the cloud.

"Businesses want a more certain legal environment," said Carroll. "Having the secrecy [of the gag orders] as a standard part of data requests is not going to work for them."

By taking the government to court, Microsoft is trying to clarify that "legal environment" for its customers, said Carroll.

While Carroll and other legal experts who spoke to Computerworld declined to predict the outcome of Microsoft's lawsuit, they all agreed that the company forced the issue to roll back the habitual use of gag orders.

"Microsoft is signaling that there's a problem that needs fixing," said Carrol. "The signal is to both Justice and Congress."

"In the cloud environment, where data is stored with a third party, obviously Microsoft gets notice when the warrant is served, but that's not good enough," echoed James Dempsey, executive director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. "Constitutionally, the person whose privacy has been infringed deserves to see the notice. [But the law] is out of sync with how people use cloud services today."

Not surprisingly, that was a large part of Microsoft's argument.

"The transition to the cloud does not alter the fundamental constitutional requirement that the government must -- with few exceptions -- give notice when it searches and seizes the private information or communications of individuals or businesses," Microsoft's complaint stated. "People do not give up their rights when they move their private information from physical storage to the cloud."
The CEOs of Oracle and Google met for six hours on Friday but failed to reach a deal to end their massive copyright lawsuit over Google's use of Java in Android.

"After an earlier run at settling this case failed, the court observed that some cases just need to be tried. This case apparently needs to be tried twice," Magistrate Judge Paul Singh Grewal, who mediated the talks, noted on the court's docket.

Oracle accuses Google of illegally copying a key part of the Java platform into its Android operating system, making billions in profit for Google and, according to Oracle, crushing Javas chance of success in smartphones, tablets and other products.

Google denies any wrongdoing. It argues that its use of Java is protected by the legal doctrine of "fair use," which permits copying in some circumstances.

The two sides have already been to court over the matter once, but the jury failed to reach agreement on fair use. A new trial is scheduled to begin next month.

Oracle plans to tell the jury it's entitled to $8.8 billion in damages, based on profits that Google has made from its use of Java in Android, mostly from ads sold against mobile searches.

Google is fighting to get that figure reduced before the case comes to trial, however. Lawyers for the two sides appeared before trial Judge William Alsup this week, arguing over which arguments each side should be able to make to the jury.

At the close of Thursday's hearing, Alsup reminded the companies' lawyers of the risks they bear in taking such a high-stakes case to trial.

At the end of the trial, one of you  I dont know who  will go walking through those double doors with your arm around the client, explaining why you lost, Alsup said, motioning to the back of his courtroom on the 19th floor of the federal courthouse in San Francisco.

One of you is going to be in that position at the end, he said. Theres always appeals, but nevertheless youll have to go through those double doors with your arm around your client, who will be in shock that they didnt win, and youll be having to try to comfort them and comfort yourself.

Thats a hard moment for a trial lawyer, to be in that position, he said.

It wasn't enough to push the two sides into a settlement.

"However unsuccessful, the court appreciates the parties' settlement efforts earlier today -- especially those of Ms. Catz and Mr. Pichai," the magistrate judge wrote, rerferring to Google's Sundar Pichai and Oracle's Safra Catz.

The two sides spent a total of six hours in court, the magistrate judge noted, and no further settlement talks are scheduled.
As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience  the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.

Close
Microsoft's Project Madeira exist within Microsoft Outlook, allowing for users to access them without the hassle of opening another application.

The Project Madeira is a business app that works with Windows, iOS, and Android. It exists within Outlook. Thus, picture it like this: Outlook app for iOS and Android with a calendar; however, that calendar portion is not a separate application.

According to PC World, "Microsoft defines Project Madeira as a public cloud service (or software as a service) for Windows, iOS or Android devices, running on top of Microsoft Azure. It just happens to run within Outlook."

The services offered by Madeira are for small businesses with employees between 10 to 100 employees. The Madeira will include features that can be used for dimensions, financials, inventory, sales and purchase management, multi-currency, CRM, and business insight.

At present, the Project Madeira exists as a "public preview." Microsoft said that the service will, however, become available first in the U.S. during the second half of 2016.

The Microsoft Office has become a platform equipped with business-intelligence tools integrated in the software. For instance, there is already the Microsoft PowerBI running on top of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft's Delve and Outlook Groups with Outlook. Now, here comes Madeira, which is armed with set of tools running on top of Outlook, purposely built to accomplish the task at hand.

Project Madeira is defined as "new multi-tenant, public cloud business management service (SaaS). It is a separate release from Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which is on track to ship v.next in the second half of CY 2016."

It is interesting to note, however, that Madeira does have its roots in Dynamics NAV. Dynamics NAV Most Valuable Professional Erik Hougaard said, "NAV has always be able to detach business logic from technology and this has enabled Microsoft to move the NAV application into the cloud, the result Madeira. This is not quite NAV, but a version of NAV tailored to a 'cloud first, mobile first' world."


ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

Well, it finally happened. The pope felt the Bern.

Against expectations, Pope Francis and Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democrat candidate for U.S. president, met privately today in the Vatican hotel where the pontiff resides and where Sanders was staying as a guest.

Bernie Sanders was in Rome for the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences meeting to discuss his economic, environmental and moral concerns (as summed up in Sandersown words during the press scrum that followed).

The Pontifical Academys meeting was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of John Paul IIs Centisimus Annus, arguably the most pro-market encyclical in the history of Catholic social teaching published in 1991 on the 100th anniversary of Leo XIIIs 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum which also praised private property rights, the value of personal liberty, and likewise denounced Marxism on grounds of mistaken anthropology.

Sanders put his own socialist spin on Centesimus Annus while in Rome.

News reports say the meeting between Sanders and Francis only lasted for 5 minutes. According to a Reuters report published on Religion News Service:

Pope Francis met U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in the Vatican on Saturday morning (April 16) and the two discussed the need for morality in the world economy before the pontiff left for a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos. Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs told Reuters that the meeting took place in the Vatican guesthouse where the pope lives and where Sanders had spent the night after addressing a Vatican conference on social justice. The Vatican had said that a meeting between the two was not planned, and Sanders said he did not expect to meet the pope during his trip.
RALEIGH  North Carolina legislators violated the constitutional rights of veteran teachers by taking away job protections they had already earned, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday.

The court said the General Assembly couldnt retroactively repeal protections that veteran teachers had been promised for more than 40 years, though new teachers could be stopped from earning the same type of benefit. The justices ruled that a 2013 state law violated constitutional rights that protect contracts.

Ronda Gordon, the president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators, said the decision was an important one for local teachers but that the fight isnt over.

You cant just take away something that someone earned, Gordon said. Im glad the court agreed, but thats just half the battle. The other half is getting due process rights for those who were hired after the cutoff.

Since 1971, North Carolina has offered so-called career teachers extra protection from firings that they said can sometimes involve malicious schoolhouse politics. The states career status law now protects teachers approved for that status after at least four years in a school system. Earning that tenure means that teachers can be fired or demoted only for outlined reasons that include poor performance, immorality and insubordination. Teachers also have the right to a hearing to challenge their firing or demotion.

Republican legislators argued that ending those protections would improve classroom performance by making it easier to get rid of bad teachers.

No evidence indicates that such a problem existed, Justice Robert Edmunds Jr. wrote for the court.

Teachers and school administrators testified that there was nothing impeding the dismissal of inadequate educators, Edmunds wrote. Legislators also had other options, such as giving school boards more flexibility or sharpening teaching expectations, the court ruled.

We fail to see a legitimate public purpose for which it was necessary substantially to impair the vested contractual rights of career status teachers, Edmunds wrote.

The court said affected teachers said they relied on the promise of job protections as a benefit that helped offset low salaries, now averaging near the lowest in the country.

Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, expressed approval that the ruling means tenure was ended for teachers who had not earned it and future educators. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said in a statement that he wanted policies that allow local school administrators to remove teachers that consistently underperform.

Gordon said that securing due-process rights for those teachers will continue to be a priority.

Its a good feeling, but now weve got to move on to the other half of that equation, she said.

The N.C. Association of Educators and five tenured public-school teachers  including Annette Beatty, a teacher at Clemmons Elementary School, and Stephanie Wallace, an English teacher at East Forsyth High School  challenged the law and won two lower court decisions.

Career status is an important tool to recruit and retain quality educators, just like fair compensation and working and learning conditions that lead to student success, said Rodney Ellis, the president of the state educators association..
Overlooking Lake Michigan in Mequon, Concordia University seems from all outward appearances to be a classic liberal arts college with a compelling waterfront view. On closer inspection, the picture emerges of an entrepreneurial campus tied to the economic future of the Milwaukee region.

Concordia is an example of how colleges and universities in southeast Wisconsin are stepping up efforts to produce students who can take ideas and help turn them into products and companies. It's a process that engages other universities, public and private, as well as businesses and institutions with a stake in expanding Wisconsin's start-up culture.

Overnight success isn't the goal, but long-term progress in building a supply of innovative workers and entrepreneurs is within reach.

During a recent campus visit by members of the Wisconsin Technology Council, Concordia's "CULaunch" program was described by Daniel Sem, a pharmacy professor and business school dean who has started his own companies in California and Wisconsin.

The program, which is also offered at Concordia's sister campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., mentors students on the basics of starting and building a business. Through workshops, networking events and competitions, CULaunch helps students write business plans, follow "lean start-up" principles, prepare investor pitches and more. Concordia also offers a master's in business administration degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

It's aimed at contributing to what Sem calls the larger "entrepreneurial ecosystem" in the Milwaukee area, a region that didn't have much of a start-up culture of any size 15 years ago.

Milwaukee doesn't have a single research university the size of UW-Madison, which routinely ranks among the nation's top five academic research centers. However, the region is home to about two-dozen public and private campuses that grant four-year and two-year degrees and spend about $300 million per year on research. They range in size and scope from UW-Milwaukee, the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University to smaller, often more specialized, campuses.

Increasingly, those schools recognize the value of entrepreneurship and innovation to the economy as well as educating students who can succeed in that world. It's a necessity in an era when job creation is being driven by younger companies.

While no single college or university in the region is large enough to shoulder that burden alone, there is strength in numbers. The area's higher education institutions collectively educate about 180,000 students across a spectrum of disciplines, including virtually all of the so-called "STEM" fields  science, technology, engineering and math  needed in today's innovation economy.

Concordia is a member of The Commons, a collaboration of area colleges that provides students with chances to work with area businesses in real-world settings. It has space in the UW-Milwaukee Innovation Accelerator, works with private accelerators such as gener8tor, and turns to groups ranging from SCORE to the Small Business Development Centers for mentoring. Its business plan contest is modeled after the Governor's Business Plan Contest, which is produced by the Tech Council.

While the effort by Concordia and other campuses is substantial and growing, a natural question is to what end? Are campus-based efforts in the Milwaukee area contributing to the region's economic stability, diversity and growth?

The early and tentative answer is "yes." At schools such as UW-Milwaukee and Marquette, larger partnerships with companies such as GE Healthcare, Johnson Controls and ABB are helping students, faculty and the companies.

At Concordia, CULaunch has attracted 44 potential start-ups with ideas that range from restaurants and a party bus to computer apps, a compounding pharmacy and psychiatric counseling services. Participants in CULaunch attend a nine-month program through which they receive training and mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs. They also can compete for seed funding for their business ideas.

Campus-based entrepreneurs at the Medical College, UW-Milwaukee and elsewhere also are competing at a higher level. For example, the list of finalists in this year's statewide business plan contest includes a dozen companies from southeast Wisconsin, more than in any of the previous five years. A number of the 2016 finalists are current or just-graduated students.

Milwaukee has yet to match Madison as a start-up hub, but many of the ingredients are in place for steady progress. If just 1% of the students currently enrolled in a Milwaukee-area college or university started businesses close to home, that's more than 1,500 new firms. That's a source of economic dynamism not to be overlooked.

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Its Wisconsin Innovation Network meets in Wauwatosa. Contact him at news@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.
Cielo CEO Sue Marks says it is important for CEOs to be confident and humble. Credit: Rick Wood

In their bestselling 2005 business book, authors Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim outlined the "Blue Ocean Strategy."

Having interviewed Mauborgne a few years back, I can summarize the concept like this: Too many companies are content to fight in the same red ocean, which is colored with the blood of competitors fighting for market share in the same ocean of limited capacity. Breakthrough companies find a way to swim into a blue ocean, creating a different business model that is not limited and cannot be duplicated by competitors.

Sue Marks has a knack for swimming into the blue ocean. For the better part of three decades, she has been finding ways to differentiate her businesses from the red ocean that is the human resources and staffing industry.

Marks sold her first businesses, ProStaff and HRfirst, to a Fortune 500 staffing company in 2000.

In her next venture  Pinstripe  Marks and her team pioneered technology enablement and deployed the industry's first fully integrated platform for employee acquisition and retention, bringing together recruiting, hiring, on-boarding, orientation and off-boarding practices into a complete outsourced talent solution for companies.

Along the way, Pinstripe received investment from Baird Venture Partners, the U.S.-based venture capital affiliate of Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.

Accel-KKR, a private equity firm in Menlo, Calif., acquired a majority stake in Pinstripe in 2012.

Pinstripe then merged with London-based Ochre House in 2013, and the combined company became Cielo. Cielo is Spanish for "sky." As in no limits.

The company's global headquarters remain in Brookfield, and Marks is still finding the blue ocean, growing Cielo into a "tech-enabled" global Recruitment Process Outsourcing firm, or RPO.

"With RPO, we become a corporate recruiting department. I absolutely thought of it as a blue ocean," Marks says. "We become our client's corporate recruitment department. We are a strategic partner. It is indeed so true that how we do what we do matters more than just what we do. And the why, the why makes it sing."

Believe it or not, the processes and techniques for recruiting top-level corporate executives and talented front-line employees such as nurses are quite alike, Marks says.

"The same principles apply. We look in different places, of course, but the process is very similar," Marks says. "We have to recruit the best recruiters."

With Marks as its CEO, Cielo has grown to have annual revenue of $150 million to $200 million. It serves more than 100 clients across 68 countries in 26 languages.

Marks recently spoke to an auditorium of budding entrepreneurs at a Scale Up Milwaukee "Masters Series" seminar at the Global Water Center in Milwaukee.

The attendees asked Marks how she grows her companies.

"We hire happy, friendly, smart people who walk fast," Marks told them.

As they have merged and grown, Marks says it was crucial that the combined company retained and protected her corporate culture.

"We brand from the inside out. That's important," Marks says. "We have a lot of smart people solving problems. We have a small rearview mirror, and we put our pedal on the metal."

It is important for CEOs to at once be confident and humble, Marks says.

"What drives me as an entrepreneur is building a great company where great people can grow and do great things. Seeing people grow and take bigger roles in our company is very gratifying," Marks says. "We want to be the only ones who can do what we do for our clients."

That would keep them in the blue ocean.

Steve Jagler is the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Send C-Level ideas to him at steve.jagler@journalsentinel.com.

Steve Jagler is the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Send C-Level ideas to him at steve.jagler@journalsentinel.com.

Sue Marks, CEO

Company: Cielo

Her greatest challenge: "Early in my career, one of my former businesses expanded rapidly, growing almost 400% in revenues and from one location in one city to four locations in two cities in a 21/2 year period. With that growth came a myriad of what I'll now call 'growing pains.' They included the need to step up the level of experience and sophistication in our advisers, our team, our systems and most importantly, myself. So I guess I'll say the biggest 'growing pain' was really me and how I needed to 'step up' as a CEO and leader! I've never forgotten that lesson as we've navigated the tremendous, sustained growth we've experienced with Cielo."

Best advice ever received: "Don't take 'no' from someone who can't tell you 'yes.'"

Best advice for young professionals starting their careers: "Don't. Ever. Settle."
Packers lose third straight game, falling 23-21 to Commanders

Green Bay appears to be in disarray after falling to 3-4 and losing to a Washington team that was using its backup quarterback.
SHARE

By of the

A former Kenosha police officer has pleaded guilty to felony misconduct in office for planting evidence during a homicide investigation.

Kyle Baars, 29, was charged last year after he admitted to investigators he had left a .22-caliber bullet and an ID card at a scene that was searched in connection with a 2014 homicide.

Milwaukee prosecutors investigated and filed the case against Baars, who entered his plea Thursday; his trial had been set to begin Monday. A misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer was dismissed.

One of three suspects in the shooting, Markese Tibbs, was also being investigated by Baars in a liquor store robbery weeks earlier. After questioning Tibbs, Baars had kept his ID, then put it and a bullet into a backpack and left it in a house that was being searched as part of the homicide investigation.

Detectives collected it and only later learned that Baars had placed it in the house. The bullet didn't match the caliber used in the homicide, and neither it nor anything else left in the house by Baars played a role in the homicide case.

Tibbs pleaded guilty to his role in the 2014 homicide in February 2015, but Baars' strange role in the case wasn't revealed until the trial of a co-defendant a month later.

Defense lawyers complained that Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf should have told them about Baars' failed evidence planting as soon as he learned of it.

That led to unusual hearings last summer when Tibbs' attorney questioned police officials and Zapf about when and what they knew concerning Baars' behavior to determine whether Tibbs might want to withdraw his plea.

In the end, Tibbs decided to stick with his original deal and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, but his attorney filed an ethics complaint against Zapf over how the whole matter was handled.

Baars, formerly of Racine and now living in Illinois, resigned from the Police Department in January 2015. He faces up to 18 months in prison at his sentencing June 1.
SHARE

By of the

The city's decision to move forward with the state-mandated sale of vacant or surplus Milwaukee Public School buildings to competing operators will hinder the district's own reform efforts and its ability to serve returning students when private voucher and charter schools go belly-up, an MPS spokesman said Saturday.

The common council on Friday  acting under a threat of a lawsuit by school choice proponents  set the stage for the sale of as many as seven buildings, under a procedure dictated by a new state law.

"We are disappointed and concerned that this latest development may limit our ability to continue to grow programs with a track record of success that families in our community are seeking," MPS spokesman Tony Tagliavia said in an email to the Journal Sentinel.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative public interest law firm that had threatened to sue the city if it did not comply with the statute, issued a statement lauding the vote.

"We are glad to see the city do its job," the firm said.

MPS had earlier sought to block the sales, filing a letter with the city asserting interest in all of the school buildings. But City Attorney Grant Langley issued an opinion saying the district did not have standing under the statute to do so.

MPS, which is traditionally represented by Langley's office, has retained outside counsel to advise it on the issue. But MPS President Michael Bonds insisted last week that it has no intention of suing the city.

All Milwaukee Public School buildings are owned by the city for the benefit of the district.

As required by the law, the common council on Friday designated five entities that have voiced interest in buying buildings as "educational operators": two local private voucher schools; a California charter school company; and church and a non-profit children's services organization, both of which are planning to open schools. It also created a building proposal review committee, which would evaluate proposals in cases when providers compete for a single building.

The council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee had recommended approval of the five. The committee had rejected a bid from a California investor who was looking to create a school for college-age foreign students. (The law was explicitly drafted to cover k-12 operators.) And it took no action on the MPS letter, based on Langley's opinion that it does not qualify as an educational operator under the law.

Tagliavia said Saturday that MPS has reopened closed schools in recent years to expand or replicate some of its more popular and successful programs, including Golda Meir School, Carmen Schools of Science and Technology, Reagan College Prep High School; the Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School and others.

He said the sales limit the district's ability to partner with the city in revitalizing neighborhoods, pointing to the transformation of Jackie Robinson Middle School into senior housing in Sherman Park. And he said the district needs space to accommodate students when charter and voucher schools go under. Since August, at least four such schools have closed or announced they intend to close.

The sale mandate is part of the Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program, one piece of the Republican-led school reform agenda inserted into the 2015-'17 biennial budget.

As required by the statute, MPS last summer identified 10 buildings it considered vacant or surplus, but said some of those were already targeted for sale or redevelopment.

The providers approved Friday are:

Penfield Children's Center, a longtime provider of early childhood services for mostly low-income children, many with disabilities, would open a new Montessori school at the former Wisconsin Avenue School at 2708 W. Wisconsin Ave.

 Risen Savior Lutheran School, a longtime participant in the Milwaukee Parental Choice voucher program, which would expand into the former Fletcher Elementary School at 9520 W. Allyn St.

 Right Step Inc., a military-style voucher school, which has expressed interest in three schools in four buildings  the former 37th Street, Carleton, Centro Del Nino and Phyllis Wheatley schools.

 Rocketship, a California-based charter school operator that runs a school on Milwaukee's south side, is interested in two schools  37th Street and the former Frederick Douglass School at 3409 N. 37th St.

Pilgrim Rest Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, 3737 N. Sherman Blvd., also voiced interest in Frederick Douglass.
So many schools have come and gone from the Milwaukee scene. For many, their departure was more of a public service than their opening.

The Urban Day School story is different. The school is a significant and honorable part of Milwaukee history. For many, including me, feelings about its impending departure include a strong element of sadness.

About 10 days ago, school leaders announced Urban Day would close at the end of this school year. By the end of last week, it was not resolved what was really going to happen at the building at W. Vliet and N. 24th streets, the school's principal facility, after June. At least one school organization and possibly more are considering taking over in a way that could be seen as carrying on the mission of Urban Day.

On the other hand, more than 20 schools, school networks and Milwaukee Public Schools itself took part in events Thursday at Urban Day to recruit students or hire teachers for next year. The process of dispersing the school's most valuable assets  kids and teachers  was underway.

Whatever emerges, Urban Day as it has been known appears to be coming to an end.

A nutshell history: By the mid-1960s, the state of education for African-American children in Milwaukee was not good. Black kids were segregated within Milwaukee Public Schools, there weren't many nonpublic options, education outcomes were not good, and both the black population and advocacy for better schools for black students were rising.

In 1967, a Catholic school at St. Benedict the Moor Church at N. 9th and W. State streets closed. Out of that, several people joined to form the first nonsectarian private school serving low-income children in Milwaukee  in fact, it has often been called the first such school in the nation.

Gerald Schaefer, one of the founding board members, told me last week that the idea was that Milwaukee Country Day School was a high-expectations school generally for well-to-do kids in the suburbs and there ought to be an Urban Day School with high expectations for city kids. Enough money was raised to allow students to attend without paying tuition.

Urban Day was a success and, to many people, a spur to do better and offer more, especially to African-American children. The school gained national attention, including visits from prominent political figures and a segment by famed news reporter Mike Wallace on the CBS program "60 Minutes" when that show was a ratings leader.

Keeping the school going without tuition was not easy as enrollment and costs rose.

Voucher program emerges

In 1990, Milwaukee became the first city in the nation where public funding was available to support low-income students attending private schools. Vouchers were limited then to nonreligious schools. In that first year, seven schools and 341 students took part. (More than 27,000 students in more than 100 private schools, the large majority of them religious, are taking part in Milwaukee this year.)

It's interesting to look at the list of those first seven schools, in large part because none remain in the voucher program. Three were small and didn't last long. Of the others, Harambee was a strong school with a lot of support, but it developed major internal problems and closed about a half dozen years ago.

Bruce-Guadalupe and Woodlands School have both been longtime successful schools, although both switched years ago to being charter schools since neither is religious and per-student payments were higher for charter schools.

And then there was Urban Day. Best as I could tell, it kind of went up and down in terms of quality. Enrollment grew to more than 600 in the kindergarten through eighth grade school and more than 300 in a Head Start early childhood program that Urban Day also ran. The school operated at two locations on the north side and seemed stable. It too switched to being a charter school six years ago.

In 2013, federal officials cut off Milwaukee's Social Development Commission from its major role in controlling Head Start programs in Milwaukee. With that, Urban Day lost its Head Start funding. That had big financial implications and led to the loss of students and staff reductions in the grade school, school leaders say.

By this year, enrollment was down to 423 (it was 628 three years ago). Private donors were not supporting the school the way they once did. And the school, which receives $8,079 per student in public funding, was feeling financial stress.

Furthermore, student success was not as strong as anyone wanted. It wasn't the worst around, but the percentage of students rated as proficient or better in the state's tests last year was below the MPS average.

John Ridley, a long-term member and former president of the Urban Day board, told me Friday that the school was not bankrupt and it could have continued. But, he said, board members concluded "we would have been existing for the purpose of existing, knowing that we were not serving our students the best that they deserve.... We felt the right thing to do was recognize this and close."

Driving a school to high levels of success, especially in high-poverty neighborhoods, is very hard work. Urban Day, over its history, spurred educators and schools to pursue such success, oftentimes in other schools.

But eventually, the school seems to have run out of gas and couldn't offer that success itself.

I hope other schools, perhaps one, perhaps many, step in to serve the Urban Day kids well. I hope the number of high-success schools in all sectors in town grows.

Urban Day deserves a respectful farewell, even as it shows that for schools, there often is a time to be born and a time to die, and that the Milwaukee school landscape continues (sing along, if you choose) to turn, turn, turn.

Alan J Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette University Law School. Reach him at alan.borsuk@marquette.edu.
Carl Zimmermann retired from WITI-TV in 1986 after a half century in news. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

SHARE

By of the

Carl Zimmermann, the south side boy who became the silver-haired dean of broadcast news in Milwaukee after half a century in radio and TV, died Friday. He was 96.

Zimmermann, credited as having had the longest on-air career in Milwaukee broadcasting, died of heart problems and pneumonia at the Milwaukee Catholic Home, where he had lived for the past eight years with his wife, Doris.

"Carl was a champion of the little guy and gal," said Jill Geisler, who was hired by Zimmermann as a reporter in 1973 at WITI-TV (Channel 6), where Zimmermann spent much of his career.

Throughout his work in broadcasting, she said, he was guided by his investment in Milwaukee, where he had grown up.

"Carl wasn't just performing for it, or passing through," she said.

"In Milwaukee, we give an extra measure of respect and affection to accomplished people whom we consider down to earth," she added. "Carl earned that distinction. He was blessed with an uncommon ability to communicate and a wonderfully common touch."

Zimmermann's parents were German immigrants. His father, John, was a carpenter who made root beer and dandelion wine at home.

One of four children, young Carl began his radio career at their Lapham St. home, at age 12, when he "broadcast" a newscast in his family's upstairs living room. His father critiqued his performance. When Zimmermann was 13 his father died, and he tried to support the family by getting a job as a radio announcer but was turned down. When that didn't work, "Carl supported the family doing every odd job he could find at 13," said his son, Jack Zimmermann, of Waterloo. "He pulled a wagon and rode a bike everywhere. They were very poor."

While a student at South Division High School  class of '37  he got a part-time job at WEMP-AM. That job eventually became full-time, and Zimmermann attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee extension on the side.

He met Doris Ann Loftis when she walked into the radio station where Zimmermann was working.

"I met her when she came to my station to hear Liberace rehearse," Zimmermann said in a 1986 retirement interview. "I made a date, and she beat me at bowling." He added, "She raised our kids alone when I was doing the 6, 10 and late news live, and working 60 hours a week."

The couple married just a week before he shipped overseas during World War II, his son said. After a one-week honeymoon  they didn't go anywhere, no time or money, their son said  Zimmermann would be gone for several years serving in the Army, which he entered in 1942. He was commissioned after attending officer training school.

It was in the service that Zimmermann first earned fame in broadcasting, as an Army combat correspondent. He worked with early broadcasting giants Edward R. Murrow and Eric Sevareid, according to his son.

Zimmermann's reports were broadcast on all four American radio networks from near the front lines. He was heard regularly on NBC's "Army Hour" from North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany, and the show was carried by WTMJ back home in Milwaukee. He broadcast the liberation of Rome and set up the first live broadcast of an Army landing, in southern France.

He met Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein at a bar in Paris. In 1944, he received the Bronze Star for front-line reporting.

He was discharged in 1945 and returned to WEMP as program director. He later became station manager at radio stations WFOX in Milwaukee and WRAC in Racine.

He was called up to serve again, for three years, in Korea. He and his wife by then had two children, and his service in Korea all but drained their savings, he once said. But it also put him into television. Zimmerman helped produce "The Big Picture," a combat film that was telecast nationwide.

Back in Milwaukee, he returned again to WEMP, then served as station manager at WISN radio for a couple of years, and after brief stints again at WFOX and WRAC, he joined WITI in 1959.

Zimmerman hired Lil Kleiman, who was working in radio at the time. Together, they built the newsroom.

"It was just the two of us, and two contract photographers who shot the film and processed it," Kleiman said. "And we did everything else  all the writing, the film editing. I didn't know how to do any of that when Carl hired me. He really took a chance."

He was good at that, said Kleiman, who worked as a reporter, assignment editor, managing editor, assistant and news director. She was interim news director when she left in 1998.

"He could spot people who were dedicated to journalism, and who wanted to learn," she said. "He had good intuition about people. Journalists left our newsroom better journalists than when they came. And that was because of Carl. Great teacher."

Zimmermann was a serious newsman who ended up working with Albert the Alley Cat, a wise-cracking puppet. Albert wasn't his idea, Kleiman said, and she can't imagine that he was thrilled with it, though he never voiced criticism.

"As long as they kept Albert in his place, it was OK," she said. "He didn't intrude on the news part of the newscast."

In the early years, Zimmermann worked long hours but had one rule  he always went home for dinner after the 6 p.m. newscast, Kleiman said. He'd head home to Wauwatosa from the station, which was then at N. 27th and W. Silver Spring Drive, and go back for the late newscast.

At Channel 6, Zimmermann quickly established himself as a trusted voice.

"People knew this wasn't a guy who was going to get a better offer from another market and leave. He was just a Milwaukeean," said Kleiman, of Mequon.

In a 1965 profile, the Milwaukee Journal wrote, "On the air, Zimmermann has the sincere, straightforward demeanor that has worked so well for NBC's Chet Huntley and former CBS newscaster Edward R. Murrow. ... He intones the news with a deep, resonant, clearly enunciated style. Zimmermann has the honest look of a solid citizen."

At Channel 6, he worked as an anchor, reporter, news director and director of communications. Over the years he was offered positions in larger markets and even considered a run for Congress, his son said, but enjoyed life in Whitefish Bay.

"He did not want to disrupt the family," his son added.

Zimmermann's editorials were plain-spoken and to-the-point, and he wasn't afraid to change his mind.

"Carl loved underdogs," said Geisler, who rose to news director at the station and is now a senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute for journalism. "He kept a close eye on public safety, social justice, education and government  always with a 'how does it affect the average Joe and Jane' in mind."

She added, "He used his radio background to write for the ear, so his language was clear, spare and conversational. Then he delivered those words with that wonderful, authoritative voice and charismatic presence. He could have read a phone book out loud, and every name would sound important."

Several times he called on Police Chief Harold Breier to resign. Years earlier, he had written an editorial endorsing Breier for chief.

He won a slew of awards over the years, including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation award for creative editorial writing.

In the end, Zimmermann was old school, chafing at the glitz factor involved with TV news. When he won an excellence in journalism award shortly before his retirement, he said:

"Edward R. Murrow would not like to see journalists caught up in urgent electronic music, the glitter, the flashing lights, the coiffures on the 6 and 10 o'clock newscasts. He would question the insistence that no story exceed 90 seconds, and the aversion to talking heads, no matter whose head, and what it is saying."

After a half-century in the business, he said, he realized what an unusual relationship he had with viewers.

He said at the time, "Journalists are always in a delicate relationship with people, telling them things they don't want to hear, exploding myths and invading lives. No wonder the people sometimes feel we're distant and superior...."

One myth fizzled before viewers' eyes. For years, Zimmermann was under orders not to allow his gray hair to show, but that changed in the late 1970s when a white-haired Hank Davis took over as general manager. The move "allowed Carl to put away the Grecian Formula," one columnist wrote, and virtually overnight, it seemed, Zimmermann's hair turned white.

Zimmermann retired in 1986 as director of communications at Channel 6. In retirement, he appeared in commercials, as a spokesman for a bank, and he continued community service work  the Milwaukee Boys & Girls Clubs, the Salvation Army, St. Francis Children's Center, the governor's advisory board for the Association for Children with Disabilities.

"This business has been very good to me," Zimmerman said in an interview when he retired. "I've thoroughly enjoyed working with all kinds of people, presidents to average folks."

And his proudest moment? "Beating Channel 4 in the ratings for the first time."

Besides his son Jack, he is survived by his wife; sons Scott Zimmermann and Richard Zimmermann; daughters Mary Beth Nichols and Susan Klein; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Facebook: fb.me/jan.uebelherr

Twitter: twitter.com/janueb

Carl Zimmermann

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Feerick Funeral Home, 2025 E. Capitol Drive, Shorewood. The funeral will be at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Holy Family Church, 4825 N. Wildwood Ave., Whitefish Bay.
SHARE

By

Last month, I wrote a letter to Gov. Scott Walker asking him to veto Assembly Bill 839. Mothers Against Drunk Driving believes strongly that AB 839 would weaken Wisconsin's drunken driving law and erode the significant progress already made in protecting innocent people from those who selfishly choose to drive impaired.

AB 839 offers repeat drunken driving offenders a choice between an ignition interlock and other programs that might help the offender but fail to ensure public safety on our roads when those offenders choose to drive drunk again.

There should be no choice: All drunken driving offenders should be required to use an ignition interlock for at least six months to protect the public and stop the revolving door of repeat offenses. MADD cannot support any legislation that would offer a drunken driving offender an alternative to an ignition interlock. These in-car devices are the only proven technology that prevent a car from starting if alcohol is detected on a driver's breath. The response is immediate. The result is lives saved.

No other program or technology can produce the same real-time deterrent to drunken driving. As a mother who suffered the unimaginable pain of losing a child to a drunken driver, I want this for other families to protect their sons, daughters, parents, brothers and sisters. No one should lose a loved one to this completely preventable crime.

In February, I had the privilege of unveiling MADD's first-ever ignition interlock report, which details how many times ignition interlocks have prevented drunken drivers from starting their cars. The numbers are startling: Across the nation, 1.77 million attempts to drive drunk  with a .08 blood alcohol content or higher  were stopped only because of an ignition interlock. In Wisconsin since July 2010, these devices stopped 156,860 attempts to drive drunk. At the same time, according to Wisconsin Department of Transportation, alcohol-related deaths, injuries and arrests all have decreased by about 30%. MADD doubts that these decreases are coincidence.

Imagine how many more drunken drivers would be stopped if Wisconsin expanded its ignition interlock law to all offenders who choose to drive during a license suspension period. Currently, Wisconsin requires these devices for repeat offenders and first offenders with a 0.15 BAC  nearly twice the legal limit in all 50 states.

As part of MADD's Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, our goal is for every state to enact laws that require ignition interlocks for every drunken driving offender. Twenty-five states have these laws. All residents in Wisconsin should be asking their legislators why they aren't protected from drunken drivers. Every citizen should ask his or her legislator to strengthen drunken driving laws, not weaken them.

Studies compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show ignition interlocks are 67% more effective than license suspension in preventing repeat drunken driving offenses. Even after the device is removed, those who used an ignition interlock are 39% less likely to reoffend compared to offenders who received only a suspended license. MADD expects even better results as states enact laws that allow removal of the interlock only after a period of clean tests.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the CDC, MADD, AAA, every other major traffic safety organization and even segments of the alcohol industry have endorsed requiring ignition interlocks for all convicted drunken drivers.

If Wisconsin's goal is to truly protect its citizens from drunken drivers, then ignition interlock laws should be made stronger. We've come so far in our battle to eliminate drunken driving, and yet 166 people still died on Wisconsin's roadways in 2014 because someone chose to drink and drive. Let's make sure that not one more parent gets a late night knock on the door like I did. Wisconsin should pass an ignition interlock law for all offenders as soon as possible. But first, Walker should veto AB 839.

Colleen Sheehey-Church is National President of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
SHARE

Earth Day and climate

Not many of us plan to do anything for Earth Day coming up on April 22, and of those who do, not many are aware of the connection between that day and the relatively recent fundamental shift in human thinking that is responsible for the worst of our problems to date.

Early humans learned to see themselves as participants in what we today know as a vast, worldwide (if not cosmoswide) infinitely interwoven, working ecological system.

But as it became clear that the human brain was much superior to that of all other sentient creatures on Earth, we arrogantly assumed the role of "owners," free to use "our property" in any way we felt necessary  or profitable.

Facts, however, remain facts: We are still only participants. It may be a stretch to believe, as ecologists tell us, that when a butterfly in Japan flaps its wings it can cause a tsunami in New Jersey. But their point is clear: Anything we undertake to do, anywhere on the planet, has to affect, to some degree, our working ecology's balance. The weird, sudden climate changes we're having worldwide have been traced by 95% of our scientists back to what we've been doing with that "property" we think we own to satisfy what we've come to feel is our right to comfortable lifestyles.

Shrinking such hubris back to size to fit back into our niche as responsible humans in the environment is no longer a choice for deliberation, but an imperative for survival.

S. Stillerman

Milwaukee



Truly honor Earth Day

While I definitely appreciate learning about upcoming Earth Day activities in our area, I hope the day means more than picking up litter, ridding public places of garlic mustard and other such invasive species or checking to see if our laundry detergent fits in the "green" category, important as these activities are.

We walk the same land as Gaylord Nelson (Wisconsin senator, founder of Earth Day) and Aldo Leopold (authored "Sand County Almanac;" initiated idea of land restoration). What led them to do what they did was their love of natural beauty in our picturesque state.

What if we spent Earth Week following in their footsteps by visiting Lake Michigan or one of our rivers or hiking the Ice Age or Hank Aaron trails? Or lolling around in one of our city parks and falling in love again as they did with nature? Then we might feel like investigating an issue of concern such as sand fracking in the western part of our state or global warming and its effect on animal and plant species in our area.

Or, in this election season, checking out what each presidential candidate has to say about the environment as indicated on their websites. Let's truly honor Earth Day.

Suzanne Moynihan, SSND

Milwaukee



Promoting religious agenda

So Waukesha businessman Gus Ramirez is moving forward on developing an eventual $80 million private religious school on Milwaukee's south side ("School teams with big names," April 13).

Does anyone but me see what is wrong with this idea? Taxpayers paying to promote one man's religious agenda. This can't be true.

While it might seem innocuous, it is the continued erosion of blending public money into private endeavors. While gladly taking taxpayer money with no accountability to us, these private businesses take that money and further harm public schools funding.

Interestingly, the accompanying aquatic center will be open to other private schools and, as a footnote, public school students on an availability basis.

It is time once and for all to address this taxpayer funding. This man with his religious agenda is promoting a certain lifestyle better called missionary work. This type of work generally is done with donated money, not government funds. I would rather have my taxes go for the general good.

Gregory F. Johnson

Milwaukee



Preventing train disasters

Grassroots Tosa is extremely concerned about the train derailment in our community the evening of April 10 at N. 124th St. and Capitol Drive ("Freight train derails in Tosa").

As we've warned at least twice in the past,  at our demonstration last summer along the State St. railroad tracks around 68th St. and at our train safety forum just a month ago  the astronomic increase in rail traffic, especially for risky oil tankers, poses a real threat to public safety in Wauwatosa and neighboring communities.

Nationwide, tank loads of crude oil have increased by more than 50-fold  from about 9,500 tank loads in 2008 to about 493,000 tank loads in 2014  and that was two years ago. Those stats hit close to home, too. In 2013, a train carrying Bakken crude oil from North Dakota exploded in Quebec, killing 47 people. That train had passed through Milwaukee and downtown Wauwatosa before making its way to Lac-Megantic, Quebec.

Though the April 10 derailment fortunately did not include oil tankers or any injuries to railroad workers or people near the scene, we still take this incident very seriously. According to news reports, Union Pacific Railroad staff will investigate the incident. What they will not do, however, is share the results of that investigation with Wauwatosa's first responders, our fire department.

Administrative Fire Chief Jim Case told us in an interview Monday that railroad companies "do not typically" share that information with the department because "there were no spills or injuries. We haven't had any before, so I can't say for certain, but we have a pretty good relationship with [the railroad companies], so I feel pretty confident they would do so if there were."

We don't think that's good enough. We urge the citizens of Wauwatosa to call their Common Council representatives and ask them to do what they can to require railroad companies to make all accident investigation reports available to our elected and public safety officials. If those reports are filed with state or federal officials, then our representatives need to demand that those officials share the reports with the communities where railroad accidents occur.

Oil trains roll through our village every day. Let's do what we can to prevent a potential disaster.

Craig Wentzel

Greg Walz-Chojnacki

Joanne Shansky

Peter Abbott

Steering Committee, Grassroots Tosa

Wauwatosa



Voter ID law attacks democracy

As a poll worker last Tuesday, I was instructed to check the photo, the name and the expiration date on photo IDs, and not the address.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's timely editorial critical of the law mentioned that some voters might have been inconvenienced by having changed their address was incorrect; proving address was only for registration and not for voting ("Voter ID law exposed," Crossroads, April 10).

The voter ID law is a direct attack on our democracy and should be called out as such. The paper's assertion that citizens were not disenfranchised wasn't backed up by facts, such as how many stayed home for lack of ID.

Thanks for your good work in exposing Rep. Glenn Grothman and his fellow Republicans.

Darron Lillian

Waukesha



Voter ID law unfair

How would you like to be an upstanding American citizen all your life and then, when you're in your old age, become disenfranchised?

As poll workers, we were instructed to check "acceptable photo IDs" which, for the most part, turned out to be driver's licenses on which we needed to view the photo and expiration date.

There were long lines. An elderly couple, obviously struggling physically but wanting to do their civic duty, came up to vote. The man was able to vote, but his wife's driver's license had expired. We sent her to the chief inspector's table. After some time she returned to our table and told us, "I'm not allowed to vote. I voted here for years."

Same thing occurred with another elderly couple where the wife's driver's license had expired. So sad. They made the effort, their ID pictures matched their faces, we sent them away.

Robert Van Eerden, in a letter claims, "Voter ID law worked perfectly" (Letters, April 13).

Yes, it did, for some people. But, unfairly, it left some good people disenfranchised.

Doris Kaun

Elm Grove



Blame same-day registration

This letter is regarding the letter, "Suppressing the vote" (Opinions, April 10).

Steve Stein's letter mostly complained about the length of time to vote, and that early voting was allowed only weekdays between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the city of Milwaukee. His letter states he lives in Oak Creek, yet all his complaints dealt with the city of Milwaukee's rules for voting.

My humble opinion on the long wait times was that they were caused by people registering the same day as the vote, not from anybody suppressing the vote. The long wait times were from people being too lazy to get out and register prior to election day.

Early voting and same day registration are not allowed in all states. Early voting is allowed in 37 states, must be done in person or by mail (in some states) by a registered voter and no reason need be given to vote early. Also, early voting lasts for two weeks.

Same-day registration is only allowed in 11 states. Stein should be glad he lives in Wisconsin.

Charles Rotramel

Milwaukee



Did you like the long lines?

For those who thought voter ID is no big deal because you had a driver's license, how did you like standing in a long, slow line waiting for poll workers to laboriously verify everyone's ID?

Not only is that two hours of your lives you aren't getting back, imagine the fun in November when turnout will be even higher.

The thousands of wasted hours spent longer than necessary to vote far exceeds the voter fraud, which has never been proven to exist.

Keith Schmitz

Shorewood



Bad choices

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, John Kasich. With a population of 315 million people one would think that the United States could come up with some better candidates.

Why does every election boil down to electing the least objectionable candidate?

Ron Sayles

Milwaukee



Answers needed on electric cars

I think it is time for the average person to get some answers about the electric car and the push to sell them ("Electric vehicle sales get a jolt," April 12).

When these charging stations are installed at colleges or on city property, are they used for free? If so, who pays for that electric use? Another thing to consider is the idea that these owners will not be paying for street repair because they will not be paying gas taxes. Are these electric car owners willing to pay a yearly fee for street use?

Our representatives surely can't raise the license fee to cover the lost revenue, because then all of us will be subsidizing these electric car owners again. We need some answers now, before it's too late.

Linda Dlugi

Franklin



What's happened to America?

Has America become the land of the special interests and home of the double standard?

Let's see, if we lie to Congress, it's a felony and if Congress lies to us, it's just politics. If we dislike a black person, we're racist, and if a black person dislikes whites, it's that person's First Amendment right. The government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals, yet does almost nothing for victims. In public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word of God in the process.

You can kill an unborn child, but it's wrong to execute a mass murderer. We don't burn books in America, we rewrite them. We got rid of the communist and socialist threat by renaming them "progressives." We are unable to close our borders with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea. If you protest against President Barack Obama's policies, you're a terrorist, but if you burn an American flag or George Bush in effigy, it's your First Amendment right.

You can have pornography on TV or the Internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas, sorry, I mean National Winter Holiday. We have eliminated all criminals in America because they are now called sick people. We can use a human fetus for medical research, but it's wrong to use an animal.

We take money from those who work hard for it (me) and give it to those who don't want to work. We all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology. We still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct.

Parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games, creating mind-numbed robots. The land of opportunity is now the land of handouts. The similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.

And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who is at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes and tells us the problem is solved so politicians can go back to their re-election campaigns.

What's happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Jim Stein

Sussex



Crime should be top priority

New Milwaukee Bucks arena: estimated cost $500 million. New streetcar network: estimated cost $125 million. Repairs to the Mitchell Park Domes: estimated cost $75 million.

Juvenile detention and rehabilitation facility  estimated cost unknown.

With the number of violent crimes involving repeat juvenile offenders escalating daily, the top priority is blatantly obvious and, unfortunately, blatantly ignored.

Greg Zaharias

Greenfield
Credit: Donna Grethen

SHARE

By

Angelicia Rathell knows there's no such thing as a get-out-of-jail card in life, but the Milwaukee mom credits a local school voucher program for keeping her boys on a path toward success and away from bad choices.

"If they would have stayed in public school, they certainly would have stayed in trouble because there was so much fighting in their school," Rathell said of her two sons, Dustin and Donovan. "I think they would have had a chance of dropping out and doing stupid things. Now, one is about to go to college and the other will enroll in college next year."

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, a voucher first enacted in 1990 for families earning 175% of poverty level or less, enabled her sons to attend Milwaukee Lutheran High School, where discipline and academics are a deep part of the school culture. She said her children now have great aspirations, unlike many of their peers. "They are going to turn out great in life," Rathell said.

Sadly, that's not the case for far too many students of color like Dustin and Donovan.

According to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, black students represent 16% of student enrollment, but 27% of students referred to law enforcement and 31% of students subjected to a school-related arrest. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics has reported that the incarceration rate for African-Americans is six times as high as the national average, and in 2010 nearly a third of black male high school dropouts aged 25 to 29 were imprisoned or otherwise institutionalized.

These dramatic numbers are a reality despite the fact that the United States spends billions each year on social and school programs designed to help low-income, minority families break the cycle of poverty and crime.

Fortunately, there now exists evidence that educational choice  like the Milwaukee program that empowered Rathell's sons and similar state and local programs across America  may be an easier and more affordable solution than many of these federally administered programs.

According to new research, exposure to private school through parental choice lowers the rates of crime among low-income African-Americans as young adults.

Corey DeAngelis and Patrick J. Wolf of the University of Arkansas just released a report that examines Milwaukee's Parental Choice Program and found that those students who used it through high school had a 5% to 7% decrease in misdemeanors compared to their peers who attended public schools, as well as a 3% reduction in felonies. Among all crimes, the drop ranged between 5% and 12%. The longer students stayed in private school with the voucher, the less likely they were to become involved in criminal activity.

Currently, Milwaukee's voucher program supports 27,000 students who attend 110 private schools.

Research has shown that other forms of school choice also have had positive effects on minority students. A 2011 study, for example, found that high-risk students who won a charter school lottery in Charlotte-Mecklenberg County in North Carolina had a significantly decreased risk of committing a crime.

We know from our own research that parents across America, particularly those in urban areas, are clamoring for access to charter schools, private schools and other school choice options. They tell us they don't just want their child to get a better education in a better academic environment; they want their children to be in safer schools that emphasize discipline. Some of them are even willing to risk going to jail for lying about their address to get their kids a seat in a better school.

Without access to a quality education, these students are likely to fall behind and may wind up as expensive statistics in our criminal justice system. Educational choice lowers that risk by empowering families to send their children to schools that meet their needs.

For low-income families across our nation, the American dream doesn't look like a Norman Rockwell painting. Rather, it's the opportunity to succeed, to break down barriers and to move forward. The best way to accelerate that trajectory is ensuring students are well-educated.

As Rathell of Milwaukee said of her two sons: "They have a great future."

That's what we all should want for our students, and we should empower more families with the options to help them get there.

Virginia Ford, who serves on the D.C. Advisory Committee of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, is a board member of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. Robert Enlow is president and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her arrival at the APEC summit in Vladivostok, Russia, in September, 2012. Credit: Associated Press

SHARE

By

How would President Hillary Clinton conduct foreign policy? After decades of public exposure, including four years as secretary of state, one would think the answer to that question would be obvious. But it isn't entirely clear.

Perhaps that's because Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom she debated Thursday before the New York primary, has tried to paint her as Hillary Hawk by constantly harping on her Senate vote for the Iraq war (while punting on most foreign policy questions.) Clinton has apologized for backing the 2003 war.

Or perhaps it's because her role as secretary was constrained by the fact that, during her tenure, foreign policy decision-making was closely held by the Obama White House. We don't know what Clinton would have done had she been given the leeway of a James Baker (who held the post under President George H.W. Bush).

We do know that Clinton's instincts were more muscular than those of her boss. In the summer of 2012  before the Islamic State terrorist group, when senior Syrian military defectors were looking for help in organizing a secular rebellion  she urged President Barack Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels. This position was also adopted by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, CIA head David Petraeus and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey. Obama demurred.

When I asked a senior aide how she would differentiate herself from Obama, he replied, "They are two different people with two different styles and temperament (and differences in) how they think of America in the world."

Clinton sees America as the leading global actor, without apologies, and wants to use all the tools of American power  including force, in collaboration with allies, if there is a compelling national interest and all other tools have failed.

Whereas an aide famously described Obama as "leading from behind," Clinton is clearly eager to lead from the front.

But, during a conference call with The Philadelphia Inquirer's Editorial Board this week, when I asked her to describe her foreign policy philosophy, her emphasis was on diplomacy. "When I became secretary of state," she said, "I chose to say I wanted to practice smart power, meaning I wanted to elevate diplomacy and development (alongside) defense, because I thought the Bush administration militarized our foreign policy to our detriment."

A perfect example of "slow, patient diplomacy," she said, was the Iran sanctions. As secretary, she put together the international coalition, including Russia and China, that imposed the toughest ever sanctions on Tehran, which finally brought the ayatollahs to the bargaining table. Clinton started the negotiations for the agreement that was completed by Secretary John Kerry.

I asked her views on use of force, and whether she regretted her advice to Obama to intervene in 2011 to prevent Moammar Gadhafi from massacring people in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton insisted she acted only after urgent requests from the British and the French, as well as the Arab League, and after the U.N. Security Council had called for measures to protect civilians. U.S. military involvement was limited, in support of NATO partners and the Arabs.

To be fair, had Obama not intervened, the Libyan situation might have turned out like Syria, with a dictator clinging to power as civil war raged and terrorist groups took root.

Clinton seems on firmer ground when speaking of Syria, where she says diplomacy must be accompanied by "intensifying our military actions against (the Islamic State)."

I have my doubts about her call for a "no-fly zone" in the north of Syria to train and equip those fighters. With Russia involved, and Turkey at odds with the Kurds, I doubt such a zone is possible, but Clinton says she would push it in talks with Moscow and Ankara.

However, events in Syria are moving so fast, no one can predict the situation when the next president is sworn in.

What one can say is that Clinton has far more foreign policy experience and a deeper network of advisers than any of her competitors. And the foreign policy alternatives to her candidacy are slim.

Obama once said his organizing principle was "don't do stupid stuff." Clinton aides say her organizing principle is this: "The United States must be aggressive in leading, in pulling friends together and creating disincentives for our adversaries." In this strange election year, that looks like the best foreign policy mantra we can get.

Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Email: trubin@phillynews.com.
Melynda Treu is pictured with her husband, Andy Phillips, and her nephew Eric Treu. Erics father died of an overdose in January. Melynda and Andy are now raising the 7-year-old. Her mother, Robin, died from a heroin overdose in 2009. Credit: Family photo

By of the

To Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, the salient issue raised in Wisconsin by the nation's heroin and opioid epidemic is one of public safety.

"Our borders are not secure," said Johnson, who as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs held a field hearing on Friday at Waukesha County Technical College.

"If our borders remain porous, as they are today, supply will continue to increase, prices will continue to fall, and Wisconsinites will continue to use these deadly narcotics," he said in his opening statement.

To Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who as a member of the committee also attended the hearing, the issue looks more like public health.

"We are now in the midst of a public health emergency, and we have a responsibility to guarantee that our communities and families have the resources they need to fight this," she said in her opening statement.

To Melynda Treu, who has never voted in a Senate election and wasn't planning on watching the hearing, the heroin epidemic is about personal devastation.

Her mother, Robin, died from a heroin overdose in 2009. Her brother, Erick, died of an overdose in January.

Treu said her mother, during the years of her addiction, drifted in and out of her family's life, and that at an early age she took responsibility for her younger brother.

Now she is raising that brother's 7-year-old son.

"It has changed my whole life," she said, sitting on a couch in the living room of her St. Francis home. A pendant, shaped like an angel's wing and containing a pinch of her brother's ashes, hung from her neck.

She said she hasn't had the time or energy to think about the politics of the heroin epidemic  the question of whether it's perceived through the lens of border security or prevention and treatment.

"It's just a lot of political banter, just stances in order to get votes," she said.

Several who did attend the hearing would have understood Treu's pain.

Among those to testify was Lauri Badura, whose son Archie died in 2014 of an overdose at age 19. Her voice cracking with emotion, she noted that more than 47,000 people in the United States died of drug overdoses in 2014.

"We have lost our children to this epidemic," she said.

Badura has founded an advocacy group, Saving Others for Archie, through which she tells her son's story and supports other parents who have lost a child.

"Funeral homes have begun to give out my phone numbers," she said.

And there was Tyler Lybert of Hartland, a recovering addict who started taking heroin when he was still a teenager and nearly destroyed himself and his family.

"I was an angry, violent monster," he said. "The only thing that mattered to me were drugs."

State Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) spoke about his daughter's struggle with addiction; Rep. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) spoke of his brother's lifelong struggle with drugs, which ended in January at the age of 52.

"This is not a Republican issue; this is not a Democratic issue," Nygren said. "When people contact my office and bare their souls about their personal stories, we never ask what their party affiliation is."

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said the problem was big enough to accommodate anyone's political perspective.

"Ask any law enforcement officer, here in this room or anywhere, what is the worst problem you've seen in the last quarter century, this is it. This is the one."

He agreed with Johnson, saying the ease with which heroin is brought across the border and transported into the state has made it cheaper and, because it doesn't need to be cut, more powerful.

But, he said: "This is an all-hands-on-deck answer we need to have. Law enforcement will not do this alone. Treatment will not do this alone. And prevention won't do it alone. It will take all three."

Federal money is needed, he said, to block the source, protect the public and treat the addicted.

Treu ended up watching the hearing on her phone.

Some things she agreed with. Some she didn't.

It lacked the reality of the note her 7-year-old nephew had written on a marker board attached to the refrigerator.

In a child's hand, decorated with tear-shaped circles, he had copied out the beginning of his father's death notice:

"In loving memory of Erick Frederick Treu."
The Eldorado Community Center was overflowing with concerned citizens Dec. 7 over the proposed placement of a convicted sex offender with a violent past in the Town of Eldorado. Credit: Justin Kabbes

SHARE

By ,

Sean Erickson is a convicted sex offender who cannot escape his past.

The 44-year-old Fond du Lac man served five years in prison for sexually assaulting a former girlfriend in 1991. He was 19 years old when he forced her to have sex with him, court records indicate.

Erickson said the incident started as an argument, then took a terrible turn.

"At that age, and the way I was thinking at the time, I only knew one way of trying to gain control," Erickson said. "I wanted to see my daughter and basically gave (the woman) an ultimatum."

Twenty-five years later, the shadow of the incident still darkens his life. Being labeled a sex offender has hurt his relationships, employment opportunities and caused him deep despair.

Erickson is now married but does not live with his wife, even though the Department of Corrections has placed no restrictions on where he resides other than reporting his address. The mobile home his wife owns is located on rental property, and the landlord allows Erickson only to visit, not reside there, because of his criminal past.

"People don't see me," Erickson said. "All they see are the words 'sex offender' and they judge me. Employers hold it against me. How can I get a chance to show people I have changed? I am a different person now."

Equally aggravating for Erickson and others on the sex offender registries is that, besides being stigmatized for a lifetime, the chance that a convicted sex offender will re-offend after prison is less than 5 percent, a rate lower than any other type of criminal offender, according to a recent study.

"We let our emotions take over and people have gone overboard thinking that every sex offender is a boogeyman," said Joe Harber, a state-licensed independent counselor who has worked with some 9,000 sex offenders over the past 25 years.

Labeled for life

The crimes of people on the sex offender registries vary extensively. On the list in which Erickson's name appears are teenagers convicted of consensual sex with an underage partner (known among caseworkers as "Romeo and Juliet" cases), perpetrators of violent sexual crimes in which a person tried to kill his or her victim, serial pedophiles and people convicted of date rape after a he-said-she-said jury trial.

Once on the list, offenders can expect police in many communities to send out a media release stating where the offender lives if he or she is new to a community  information that is often reported by local media. Citizens and employers also can view the registries online.

Most of these people remain under scrutiny the rest of their lives, and lately in Wisconsin, state services have struggled to find areas to place them after they have served their time. Many state officials have passed ordinances restricting sex offenders from living in cities and counties.

In 2014, Milwaukee passed an ordinance that limited where they could be placed to a handful of pockets in the city. With few areas in Milwaukee open to offenders, officials started looking to other Wisconsin counties for placement.

Read more:Towns brace for Milwaukee sex offenders

Over the past two years, the state has initiated 11 statewide searches to place the offenders, nine of whom lived in Milwaukee County before serving time, according to the Department of Health Services. Nearing the end of their sentences, the offenders are legally designated as violent and must live in a supervised setting.

Placing Milwaukee County offenders in other Wisconsin counties is a new phenomenon. In the four years preceding 2014, no statewide searches were conducted, according to the DHS.

Placing offenders in counties

Last November, placement of two high-risk sex offenders in Brownsville near a home where two young children live caused an uproar and packed a town hall meeting. Residents in Brownsville, backed by Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt, were so up in arms a judge reversed the decision and removed the sex offenders from the home.

Read more:Uproar over sex offender release

Four months later, no viable options have been found in Dodge County for housing the two men.

In December 2015, Manitowoc and Two Rivers approved ordinances that ban the placement of sex offenders who lived outside the cities before they were sentenced. The move came after Mark R. Rickert, a Milwaukee-area offender, was placed in Manitowoc the month prior.

Also that month, Fond du Lac County Sheriff Mick Fink fought against the placement in the Town of Eldorado of Clint Rhymes of Milwaukee. He is 51 and was convicted in 1988 of raping a woman, beating her with a tire iron and leaving her for dead.

About 200 citizens packed into the town's community center to voice disapproval of his living in the area.

"I can't guarantee your safety," Fink told an agitated crowd. "On a good night we have six deputies on patrol. I can't promise you anything."

The sheriff was so incensed, he was ready to take a busload of residents to a Milwaukee courthouse to fight the decision. Around the same time, the Town of Eldorado board quickly passed an ordinance prohibiting placement of sex offenders who weren't residents of Fond du Lac County.

Once again, a judge reversed the order. Rhymes is still awaiting placement.

Read more:FDL Sheriff opposes sex offender placement

Fink has no problem having sex offenders from Fond du Lac County placed back in the county after prison. Also, he said, it wasn't sex offender hysteria or fear that drove his reaction to the potential Eldorado placement of Rhymes.

"Of course we will take our own because they have done their time," Fink said. "I have always said that and sometimes it did not make me popular. But we don't want somebody else's. That's what caused the dust-up."

Offender recidivism

Sex offenders are generally placed on extended supervision, parole or probation after release. Services available may include offense-related counseling, employment services and other programs that have the overall goal of reintegrating them into society and minimizing recidivism, said Jeff Grothman, director of legislative affairs for the DOC.

A September 2015 DOC report of sex offender recidivism rates indicates a 40 percent decline between 1992 and 2010, which might be due to better rehabilitation programs. Moreover, their recidivism rates are lower than the overall offender population, such as people who committed robbery or assault. The report looked at 12,849 sex offenders during that time period and found that 4.9 percent ended up re-offending sexually.

Harber, the state-licensed counselor, believes that when communities tell an offender he can't live there, it adds gasoline to the fire. Currently, there are 3,000 homeless sex offenders in the state because of prohibitive ordinances.

"How safe is that? I would rather have a sex offender living in a supervised location, getting the support they need, than living out on the street angry, with no hope," Harbor said. "Lifting restrictions can help them be empowered to change their life."

After conducting a study of his own Milwaukee program over 10 years, Harber found a 2.6 percent recidivism rate. Most sex offenders knew their victims, he said, don't have significant criminal histories and are not pedophiles.

"Some I know have committed crimes when they were 14 years old, and that is ridiculous to label them for life," Harbor said.

Under Wisconsin's Chapter 980, people like Rhymes, convicted of a sexually violent crime, are committed to DHS supervised care at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston. Those who complete treatment and are deemed safe for release are placed in supervised-housing communities, which include GPS monitoring and constant supervision, even when offenders leave the house.

Between 2009 and 2013, a total of 114 offenders were released from involuntary commitment at Sand Ridge, according to a Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism analysis. The increasing number of individuals on supervised release is explained in part by recent research that has determined that certain types of offenders are less likely to commit additional sexual crimes.

From 1994 through March 2010, the state discharged 67 sex offenders from Sand Ridge. Of these, 49 did not commit new crimes within three years, the standard time used to track recidivism, a state audit found. Of the 18 people who did re-commit crimes, five were sexual in nature.

Regarding the Rhymes case, Fink said, "A lot of experts have different opinions on whether or not you can cure a sex offender. I wasn't given enough information about whether or not I thought (Rhymes) would re-offend, and it wasn't about him personally. It was on principle."

Eugene Nell, 85, lives on a mile-long rural road in Eldorado, a few houses down from a mobile home shrouded by tall evergreens. Rhymes was going to be placed there with other offenders in a supervised-housing setting.

Men have been living there for several years, Nell said, but he hasn't seen or heard any trouble. Sometimes people in state-owned cars park in front of his house and appear to watch the residence, he said.

"It really doesn't bother me," he said, before adding that sometimes he's concerned for the children living in the house next door.

Another neighbor, Nancy Carroll, said that, though she never sees the mobile home residents or has been given any reason to fear them, she still wrote a letter last year to the Milwaukee judge deciding on Rhymes' placement.

Carroll took action because there are many senior citizens in the area with visiting grandchildren, she said.

Starting fresh

Sean Erickson of Fond du Lac checks in with his probation officer on a regular basis and has found a part-time job to help support his family. He wants a normal life without being held back by something terrible he did a quarter of a century ago, he said.

Currently, he's speaking with lawyers about the property manager refusing to allow him to live with his wife in her home. But so far nothing has changed, he said.

"By the time I had notified the state of my plans to move in with my wife, and was ready to fill out an application with the landlord, she had already received a notice in the mail saying she was going to be evicted for having a sex offender living with her. She has so far gotten three letters in the mail," he said.

According to Louise Gudex, executive director of the Fond du Lac County Housing Authority, landlords can refuse to rent to registered sex offenders. In fact, the U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development prohibits sex-offenders from living in HUD-owned properties. When contacted, the property owners for the land where Erickson's wife's home is said there are strict policies in place for applicants, including criminal background checks.

In an email to the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Friday, the property owner said Erickson didn't go through the application process to live on the premises.

The owner also said that while a felony conviction does not automatically disqualify someone from living on the property, convicted felons are a legitimate safety concern.

"The distortion out there is that there is no hope for these men, that they are social outcasts," Harber said. "Our goal in treatment is to give them hope. A more common-sense approach on where they can live is needed."

Reach Sharon Roznik at sroznik@fdlreporter.com or 920-907-7936; on Twitter @sharonroznik.
Reddit Email 0 Shares

By Michael Degerald | ( History X ISIS ) |  

It might seem strange to open this essay by speaking about circulation and vitality in regard to Daesh [ISIS, ISIL]. Yet when we think of a nation-state, circulation is rarely the first thing that comes to our minds. Imagine a room where air doesnt circulate well. Think of that stale, musty smell. Perhaps blood flow in the body might best encapsulate the importance of circulation, for once blood stops flowing the person will die. In a more tangible sense, states deliberately construct and maintain infrastructure to facilitate circulation of goods and people- think railroads, freeways, and postal systems, among others. Despite this importance, circulation is rarely part of how states are analyzed. Instead, territory, language, shared history, culture, religion, and central governments have all been part of how we most often try to think about nations and nation-states. But is Daesh a state, you ask? While many have been loathe to recognize it as such, the way it conducts itself inside the areas it governs cannot be called anything but a state. As Leif Stenberg pointed out in a seminar I was part of at the CMES Lund University, the Islamic State is perhaps more of a state right now than either Iraq or Syria.

It is not just among scholars and journalists that questions of statehood and territory have been important. Jihadists have been arguing vehemently amongst themselves for years about these very questions. Since the mid 90s, many jihadists were eager to seize territory, some were actually willing and able, while others remained convinced it was a bad idea if they couldnt actually hold it. This split arguably was central to the difference between ISIS and Al-Qaeda: where Al-Qaeda veterans were often unwilling to seize territory and pointed to the failures to govern or hold territory, ISIS refused to listen, seized territory, and declared the caliphate to much success. Al-Qaedas approach most definitely changed after the emergence of Daesh, as can be seen in Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. Recently released documents show that Osama Bin Laden remained against seizing territory up until his death and warned an Islamic State would fail. Instead of asking about how ISIS views the concept of seizing territory, in abstract, I want to explore the reality on the ground, especially through the lens of circulation- who moves in Daesh territory? How do they do it? What kinds of movement does Daesh facilitate and what kinds does it control? While the groups motto of sorts is   , meaning remaining and expanding, the issue of circulation is seemingly ignored. I will argue that Daesh must prioritize circulation because of structural constraints on its ability to act like a state in the international arena.

Daesh Statebuilding: A lot of scraps, necessary imports, heavy doses of violence

First, Daesh isnt building a state from scratch. They arent even building institutions from square one, but rather drawing on a wide variety of existing institutions and infrastructure. Some of these include dams, roads, oil fields, schools, prisons, and border crossings. Daesh has benefited handsomely from seizing military materiel and arms too. Since it grew in strength in fog of the Syrian War, especially in late 2013 and early 2014, Daesh has been successful at attacking and seizing many of these kinds of existing infrastructure. It has destroyed others, and it has strategically withdrawn from territory when necessary. The group also has benefitted from a lot of institutional knowledge, getting key individuals to bring their skills from the Iraqi state with them. We need to be willing to place ourselves in their shoes to try to understand their approach, and I definitely dont mean that to justify the way they treat people, but rather their strategic thinking. Rather than a set blueprint based on ideology, Daeshs actions fit a very different template, one that is primarily geared toward ensuring circulation. I mean that Daesh seems to have sized up what already existed in terms of assets and infrastructure, and made decisions about what territory it could go after and why, rather than attempting to seize as much land as possible. Daesh especially valued roads which are vital to its ability to move goods and people.



map courtesy of IHS Janes

Beginning in early January 2014, while Daesh was increasingly operating in Iraq to seize areas in Anbar, it had to withdraw from multiple regions of Syria during intense fighting with other rebel factions. Daesh lost control of multiple municipalities in these first two weeks, but made efforts to hold on to Raqqa (Lister 2015, 90). It likewise concentrated efforts on keeping a number of areas close to the border with Turkey, like al-Bab, Jarablus and Manbij (Lister 2015, 194). These three are marked in the interactive map below.

While there were strategic withdrawals at this time, Daesh also succeeded in capturing all of Raqqa in January 14, forcing Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham out of the city after intense fighting (Lister 2015, 195). By mid-March 2014, Daesh had withdrawn from Latakia, Idlib, and western Aleppo (Lister 2015, 208), concentrating as mentioned before in Manbij, Jarablus, and Raqqa. It would not give up on the areas it withdrew from, apparently aiming to connect territories it had conquered. It largely conquered the areas between Raqqa and Deir al-Zour, and on towards the border town of albuKamal. Its seizure of Mosul in June 2014 shocked the world, but apparently it shouldnt have. As has been shown throughout the conflict, the border with Turkey is a real lifeline for the group. If Daesh was truly unable to benefit from circulation of goods and people through this border, it would shrivel and eventually die. It would have to establish a second major supply route, and its not clear where that would come from in its immediate vicinity. Mountainous territory to its north and east combined with harsh deserts to the south west are formidable barriers to effectively moving goods or newly-arriving jihadis. But what about inside the areas it has consolidated? How does the organization manage the movement of people and goods?

Circulation and Distinction inside Daesh Territory

Inside of Syria and Iraq, there have been movements of people brought about by the extreme violence since the arrival of Daesh. In Syria, many fled areas gripped by war and went either to areas captured by Daesh or areas under firm control of the regime. We shouldnt assume this split follows religious or ideological lines, most likely moved as quickly as possible, seeking shelter and stability. Daesh actually claimed that many farmers came to its territories because they were escaping the violence and robbery that plagued them outside. In doing so, it explicitly presents itself as a place of refuge for Muslims. That theme stretched more broadly to other propaganda released which denounced refugees who fled the war for Europe or other parts of the West, since Daesh wanted them to come join the Caliphate. Their unwillingness to do so doesnt reflect well on the image Daesh works so hard to polish and present, a key part of attracting more recruits from abroad. Finally, Daesh has equated moving out of the territory with apostasy, so people literally have to escape clandestinely. Whereas the organization is willing to strategically withdraw from territory when necessary, it has shown itself unwilling to let those who have joined leave with their lives, if it can help it.

To operationalize this control of movements in and out of the territory they occupy, Daesh has a department that specifically handles questions of border management. The organization controlled the Tal Abyad border crossing for some time, and it made it far easier for them to facilitate passage in and out. Several bus companies based in Raqqa and Mosul opened up which serviced this route. Asma, interviewed in the NYT, described her role in the Al-Khansaa Brigade, where she would travel to the border to meet new female recruits and bring them back to Raqqa. Women experience significant limitations on their movement. It has been decreed that women are not to travel without a male guardian, or mahrim.

Checkpoints distributed throughout Daesh territory serve to control internal movement, and passes have been developed to regulate the differential ability of some individuals to move more freely, or even leave the territory without being labeled an apostate. For example, one citizen of the Caliphate got this permission slip to travel to Kuwait ( see Tamimi Archive, 2J). Another document demonstrates official permission given to a member of the Shaitat tribe to return to his home. This needs to be read in the context that Daesh seizes the property of those who flee, and also in light of the revolt by this tribe which was crushed by Daesh, resulting in the deaths of several hundred of its members. As the document is undated, it is unclear if it predates or postdates the Daesh massacre of members of the same tribe. In this same vein, Daesh did not want its soldiers moving around as they please, so it posted this sign telling truck drivers NOT to give them rides:

No matter how much they might deny it, there is something very imposed and foreign about Daesh. In a weird reversal, the foreigners inside Daesh territory have status and power. This is part of a peculiar hierarchy inside the organization, where many of the top echelon are all ex-Bathists, but besides this, foreigners generally enjoy a privileged status inside the Caliphate. Several interviews with people who left have all testified to this hierarchy, and it apparently privileged foreigners in things as diverse as salary, internet access, and freedom of movement. A recent report from Mosul described how a foreign fighter in Daesh accosted an old Iraqi man for having trimmed his beard too short, and the man was in no mood to listen, shouting back. Six Iraqi Daesh fighters intervened on the old mans behalf, and beat the foreign fighter who had accosted him, throwing him into their car and driving away. Daesh also took steps to keep the two groups apart:

But both within their unit and more broadly across Raqqa, the Organization had issued a strict decree: No mingling between natives and foreigners. The occupiers thought gossip was dangerous. Salaries and accommodations might be compared, hypocrisies exposed. (NYT -ISIS Women and Enforcers in Syria Recount Collaboration, Anguish and Escape 11/21/15)

Daesh did attempt to paper over this division by getting some new arrivals to symbolically burn their passports upon arrival. Afterwards, however, they seem to have realized the value of these passports and they stopped burning them, and instead kept them at the HR department. Just as happens in other parts of the world, it is far easier to use a real passport of someone you resemble than it is to counterfeit it completely. Especially for countries with chips that scan digitally, producing fake passports can be very difficult. Reports have also emerged that Daesh has the ability to make new Syrian, Libyan and Iraqi passports, though this comes from government sources who have provided no independently verifiable proof this is true. Circulation needed to be facilitated in ways beneficial to the state, and controlled in those it deemed dangerous. At the same time Daesh must facilitate the movement of oil both within and outside of its territories. These exports are vital sources of revenue. The map in this report by FT about the Daesh oil trade is the best one I have seen, and it shows the supply routes the oil follows in detail. Finally, a great new investigation about the supply chains of parts used by Daesh to make car bombs shows just how globalized it really is, drawing on 51 companies from 20 countries.

It All Comes Back Around to Circulation

After the key victory in late 2015 which saw the Kurdish YPG retake control of Sinjar, Daesh struggled to continue to move goods and people as it had before. Daesh immediately began trying to create a new connection, not only by fighting to regain control but by building a new road. A new path through the desert was actually found by truck drivers, reconnecting Mosul with Raqqa, showing the vital importance of this connection to Daesh and the people who live in Mosul, especially. There is no other major trade route to get basic goods into Mosul because of how it is isolated from Baghdad, and Daesh is dependent on the Turkish border as has been outlined.

Most recently, Daesh lost control of Shadadi in northeastern Syria, another key city linking Syria and Iraq. As can be seen on the map it is due west of Sinjar. Not long after the ceasefire was implemented across Syria, Daesh tried to seize the Tal Abyad border crossing between Syria and Turkey which it lost to the Kurds. Because of the long and porous nature of the border between Turkey and Syria, goods from Turkey have not been completely cut off to Daesh, as smugglers find other ways, but control of that central artery clearly helps facilitate circulation. Daesh still controls some of it to the west much closer to Aleppo, but the Kurds have control of the border on the Syrian side in the entire northeast of the country. Blood is still moving in the Daesh circulatory system, but not as efficiently as before. There have been rumors that Daesh actually wants to seize parts of northern Lebanon (Akkar) to access the Mediterranean, something that American and Lebanese military planners are anticipating and planning for. If Daesh could operate a functioning port, it would fundamentally change what it can get to its territories and spread the clashes between its fighters and foreign nations onto the Mediterranean Sea.

A Permanently Incomplete State?

At this point, some of you might be thinking, everyone wants to control supply routes during a war. Nations and their borders are born out of wars and violence that break down and reconstitute networks of violence. The networks that are successful in establishing a hegemony on the use of coercive violence in a territory can potentially solidify into a state. Isnt that what youre outlining here? Yes, yes and yes. The difference is that at this point, Daesh is stuck in an in-between state- it constitutes a state in important ways but doesnt (and cant any time soon) in other crucial ways. Its not an army fighting on behalf of a state to preserve an existing state, but rather one trying to leech vital elements out of two crumbling states (Iraq and Syria) and cobble them together into a new one. They produce tons of shiny propaganda in a litany of languages to draw new fighters, because thats necessary. Just as they need a flow of goods from outside, they need a constant, renewing flow of fighters. They have been pushing fighters NOT to have kids; the organization worries that theyll be unwilling to carry out suicide missions if they get attached to new families. Thousands of their jihadis have died and others have left, disillusioned. They can tax the population heavily in the areas they control, but they cannot effectively conscript them. Where other nation-states are dependent on migration for labor, Daesh depends on it for fighters, because it exists in a constant state of war. Moreover, many fighters are killed or incapacitated and the state experienced significant brain drain, especially among doctors. All of these issues compound the fact that theyre limiting expansion of the population through birth control. Daesh needs new fighters and skilled workers to travel to join them, and this movement can only effectively come from Turkey south into Syria.

The problem with all of the above is that Daesh remains too unstable to begin policies meant to stimulate any growth in the manner other states can. These battles to control key arteries will only keep circulation flowing, they will not stabilize the caliphate. As pointed out above, Daesh apparently has the ability to make Syrian and Iraqi passports, but not their own that will be recognized internationally. This is representative of where they stand, effectively constituting a state but unable to finalize a number of details that other states can to participate in the global economy. Just as it struggles with passports,neither can it make an internationally recognized currency, despite its attempts to do so. A currency that cannot be exchanged for other currencies is fatally fragile. I think that was exactly why they insisted on using gold and silver, because those metals have value independent of the state.

Yes, they claimed it was about undermining Western economic hegemony, but I think it was much simpler than that. Their minting of coins apparently fell apart after its presses were seized (in southern Turkey no less) and reports since have no more use of the gold and silver coins. That means it remains dependent on foreign currencies, especially American dollars, Iraqi dinars, and Syrian dinars to use as currency in its territories. This dependency is demonstrated in an administrative decree from 30 September 2015 where Daesh informs all shopkeepers not to accept or circulate new 500 and 1000 Lira notes from the Syrian government. It seems to me, again, to be a feeble policy meant to control money supply in a state that cant actually print its own money. Absent these abilities, Daesh is even more dependent on circulation it can facilitate of goods and fighters.

Thus, the unique situation of permanent war circumscribed by a variety of factors fundamentally limits Daesh in Iraq and Syria. Even if they can keep circulation flowing and new recruits coming, it is an unsustainable venture as is. I have no way of predicting how long it will last, I dont think anyone does, but absent a fundamental transformation in the factors described above, I dont see any way Daesh can overcome these limitations. More broadly, they can potentially develop statelets in other parts of the world, as they are already beginning to, but I dont see those becoming anywhere near as developed as the base in Syria and Iraq.

I would like to thank Spyros Sofos for expanding my thinking in regard to these topics! The quick discussion of the argument inside Al-Qaeda about seizing territory is a nutshell distillation of William McCants work, find my full review of it here.

Via History X ISIS
Reddit Email 2 Shares

Arun Gupta | ( TeleSur ) |  

To compete on a national level the Republican right is creating a system of intersectional apartheid.

No matter what happens with Donald Trumps bid for the presidency, the Republican Party has a bright future as a party of patriarchal white nationalism.

Its grip on white support in the South and much of the West is unassailable, but to compete on a national level the right is creating a system of intersectional apartheid. In this context, the recent spate of legislative attacks on LGBT rights and womens health care is far more than a culture war sideshow. Its an attempt to deny rights, deny public services, and in the case of transgender people, deny their right to exist.

At the same time, the right is appealing to heteronormative whiteness. That is more an ideal for families battered by global capitalism to strive toward than an actual possibility. Working-class whites are told the failure to have an economically stable male-centered household is the fault of Mexicans, Muslims, liberals, gays, and feminists, and not Wall Street and the one percent. The strategy responds to the chaos unleashed by capitalism by posing the past as the solution to all national problems. It is the essence of Trumps Make America Great Again, a revival rather than a new chapter.

The growing parade of group hatred points to the rights long-term project. Republicans have been anti-worker since the late 19th century. With Barry Goldwaters opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, they embraced a rejection of social progress as a defining strategy as well. Over time, the rights targets expanded from demonizing Blacks, as with Richard Nixons Southern Strategy and Ronald Reagans Welfare Queen, to George W. Bushs religious-motivated bigotry against women and the LGBT community to the trend today of scapegoating Muslims and Hispanics.

The Republican strategy worked until the early 90s. As America browned and Democrats swung to the right, that party secured a lock on the oval office, winning the popular vote in five of the last six contests. Voter turnout data from the last 10 presidential elections reveals the shifts. Foremost, the non-white share of voters has doubled since 1992. While African-Americans have been solidly Democratic for decades, Republicans received about 14 percent of the Black vote in the 1970s. Today, its a paltry 6 percent. As Hispanic and Asian communities grew rapidly, they fled the GOP with both groups voting nearly three-to-one for Obamas re-election. The growing gender gap favoring Democrats, 11 percent last time, will become a chasm if Trump is the nominee. In one poll, unmarried women favor Clinton over Trump by a staggering 52 points.

Whites still accounted for 72 percent of voters in 2012, meaning Republicans can compete for the presidency, even if its an uphill climb. Mitt Romney tallied 47 percent of the vote with whites comprising 90 percent of his support. Trumps lead for the Republican nomination is slipping away not because he relies overwhelmingly on white votesall Republicans dobut because his vulgar and mercurial character has alienated so many voters.

As Democrats break new ground with the image, though not substance, of its presidential nominees, the rights unrelenting obstructionism makes sense. The Republicans refusal to consider a Supreme Court nominee has not cost the party despite the unprecedented tactic of blocking a new justice for a president with almost a year left in office. But the intransigence also means Republicans must veer ever more to the right to distinguish themselves from Democrats.

The Republicans descent into fanaticism means their likeliest nominees, Trump and Ted Cruz, are the most despisedeven within the party. If Trump is nominated, the party royalty will leave him to whither on the vine in the general election. If Cruz snatches the crown, Trump is likely to stalk off with many supporters. In either case the Republicans will emerge bloodied from the convention in July rather than united.

The rights fallback plan is to consolidate power at the state and congressional level as a bulwark against the presidency and now the courts if a Democrat picks the Supreme Court nominee. After Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994, the hard right drove the political agenda under Bill Clinton. When Obama swept into power in 2008 with a congressional supermajority, the right resorted to obstructionism once more. They midwifed the Tea Party and flipped the House of Representatives and 22 state legislatures the GOPs way in 2010. That allowed Republicans to entrench power in state legislatures and Congress through redistricting. Then in 2014 they nabbed a majority of the U.S. Senate and reached 31 governorships.

Add to this a political system that favors regressive forces beholden to the wealthy. The U.S. Senate tilts heavily toward states with small populations. Six senators from Texas, California, and New York represent as many people as 62 other U.S. senators. The same phenomenon operates at the state level. Typically, state populations are concentrated in a relatively few counties. All but one state has a senate, which are often dominated by sparsely populated counties reliant on one employer or extractive industries like mining, energy, logging or farming. This creates a bias toward reactionary, pro-corporate politicians. Its why Republicans control nearly three times as many state legislatures as Democrats.

Where Republicans rule unchallenged, as they do in 22 states, there are few barriers to extremism. Mississippis anti-LGBT ordinance puts the beliefs of religious zealots above the law. North Carolinas LGBT law is a Trojan Horse, sneaking in language eliminating the right to sue in state courts for discrimination and banning municipal increases in the minimum wage. The blizzard of anti-abortion laws combined with efforts to undermine public services and wage gains trap many women in dead-end circumstances and abusive relationships. These states often have pre-emption laws that prevent big cities from raising wages or protecting renters on their own. (Pre-emption laws exist in true blue states such as Oregon and New York, but both recently passed significant minimum-wage increases.)

The outcome is a class-based apartheid that intersects with social identity. The stunning finding that the life expectancy of middle-aged working-class whites is declining is an indictment of 40 years of neoliberal economics. Some right-wingers were quick to blame the victim. National Review spun a narrative of the white working classs dysfunction. It echoed Daniel Moynihans 1965 report that blamed the pathology of Black family structures for the impoverished state of Black America. The difference is working-class whites are now being treated as disposable as well.

For the right, to bind white workers to the Republican Party even as the working class as a whole is being beaten down, its logical to double-down on decades of bigotry. Attacking Muslims, Mexicans, gays, and feminists creates an image of male-centered whiteness under siege from nefarious forces. Undermining working-class solidarity and consciousness makes it harder to organize against the ruling class. It is a dicey strategy given how Trump harnessed popular anger against the establishment. But Republicans have few other options. Any attempt to appeal to groups theyve abused for decades would be laughed at. Their fusion with scorched-earth capitalism leaves little space for social welfare for whites, which Trump flirted with. Neoliberal policies are ideologically exhausted, and Democrats have proved better managers of capitalist globalization than the right. Culture wars alone dont work at a national level as America diversifies.

But pushing targeted groups to the social margins combined with erecting barriers to vote can work for Republicans. Denying undocumented immigrants citizenship, stripping millions of formerly incarcerated Blacks of the right to vote, instituting ID requirements that reduce voting among the poor, and making daily life hard to navigate for the working poor, women and sexual minorities all suppress left-leaning voting blocs.

This differs from the Jim Crow era. Segregation today occurs through policies and technology shaping market forces and outcomes, rather than overt legal structures. Class-based discrimination is becoming more prevalent along with race. And its creating regional divides. Coastal states account for most U.S. economic activity, are generally more socially liberal and have modestly better policies and programs for workers and the poor. Republican-controlled sections of the country will continue to defund public education and attack workers to keep them poorly educated, insecure, and anxiety, and then use group antagonism as a focal point of white rage.

The rights strategy could not succeed without Democrats doing much of the heavy lifting: passing free-trade deals, punishing unions, trimming rather than expanding social welfare, and protecting the one percent and breathtaking corporate criminality. Its a grim future, but its one thats increasingly likely unless well-organized mass movements can popularize a vision of a just and egalitarian society rather than one based on inequality and hate.

Arun Gupta is a co-founder of The Indypendent and the Occupied Wall Street Journal.

Via TeleSur



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Press TV from 2 weeks ago:  Protesters slam Trump for racist comments in Wisconsin
Reddit Email 0 Shares

Maan News Agency |  

BETHLEHEM (Maan)  A meeting of a Knesset committee held Wednesday debated the issue of segregation between Palestinian and Jewish women in Israeli maternity wards, following media reports and allegations of racial discrimination in Israels hospitals, according to a Knesset press release.

A recent report by Israel Radio exposed various Israeli hospitals that segregate Palestinian and Jewish women in their maternity wards  a policy the hospitals denied, though some acknowledged they accommodate requests by women for separate rooms.

Though not an official policy in Israeli hospitals, testimonies documented by Haaretz describe women being directed to separate rooms either automatically or at their request as an attractive bonus for those who choose to give birth in a hospital.

Chairwoman MK Aida Touma-Suleiman of the Joint List said at the committee meeting the discussion surrounding the phenomenon has exposed a difficult reality  not only the segregation in hospitals, but the entire issue of segregation based on nationality and race which exists in other places. The health system can and should be an island of sanity.

She criticized Jewish Home Party MK Bezalel Smotrichs inflammatory tweets in reaction to the media reports, which said: My wife is really no racist, but after giving birth, she wants to rest and not have a party like Arab women do after giving birth.

In another tweet, he said, Its only natural my wife would not want to lie next to someone who just gave birth to a baby that might murder her baby in another 20 years.

In spite of the outrage the tweets garnered from across the political spectrum, MK Ahmad Tibi, also of the Joint List, pointed out Smotrich merely verbalized already commonly held racist views and thanked Smotrich for placing a mirror in front of the ugly face of Israeli society.

Smotrich and his wife have apparently not read Jewish history. I suggest that he go back a few decades, so hell know where these words originate from, because in German it sounds more authentic, Tibi added.

Former health minister MK Yael German of the Yesh Atid party brushed off accusations of racism saying that Israels health system is a model of coexistence and noted that the percentage of Palestinian employees in the health system is higher than in any other government system, because there is no discrimination in this system.

For Zionist Camp MK Yael Cohen Paran, segregation came down to business. The fact that [pregnant] women shop around for maternity wards creates a situation where hospitals try to attract them. Hospitals offer private rooms and a private midwife for money. This is what ultimately creates the segregation.

CEO of the Rabin Medical Center Dr. Eran Halpern defended the ethical soundness of Israels medical system as the cleanest system in the country, remarking on cases where Palestinian doctors treated Israeli soldiers and Jewish doctors treated terrorists.

Our situation is good, Halpern said, and went on to favorably compare Israels hospitals to those in the United States by saying a black man in Chicago will not receive the same treatment he would receive at the Soroka or Rabin medical centers.

Dr. Sigal Taub of the Health Ministry attested to the homogeneousness among hospital patients in Israeli hospitals, dismissing allegations of segregation as false.

Two other Israeli doctors addressed the committee insisting that separation in maternity wards is not racist, saying that Palestinians also sometimes ask to be separated, and that haredi women might be separated from secular women who have tattoos or speak on their cell phones during Shabbat.

In response, MK Yousef Jabareen of the Joint List said cultural and social compatibility cannot defend racist positions. A distinction must be made between practical compatibility  such as religion and keeping the Sabbath  and racist positions.

Dr. Lina Qassem from Physicians for Human Rights  Israel (PHRI) said that during her time as an intern at Shaare Zedek hospital she regularly witnessed explicitly racist attitudes among midwives.

There, women are not called by their names, but are referred to as the Ethiopian, the Arab, or the Russian.

(Palestinian) women from occupied East Jerusalem are treated with disrespect and prejudice, Qassem added, and are placed in the corridor, (which has) medical repercussions as well. When a midwife brings an Arab baby to the nursery, workers tell her: What, you brought another terrorist?

Tamar Doron, a former nurse and PHRI member told the committee that midwives are instructed to only put Jewish women in the spacious rooms.

MK Touma-Sliman concluded the meeting saying, This meeting is particularly important today, when the atmosphere in the country is becoming more and more racist, calling on the Health Ministry and hospital directors to lead a policy which respects the state law which forbids discrimination.

At the end of March, Touma-Suleiman charged other parliament members of using incitement and racism for political gain, referencing a recent poll conducted by the Coalition for the Fight against Racism reporting that 52 percent of Israelis believe Israeli society is becoming more racist.

If we do not find ways to change this reality, we will find ourselves in a serious problem, Touma-Suleiman said in her address.

Unfortunately, there are MKs who use incitement or racism against the Arab population, against asylum seekers, and against other groups within society, only for the sake of political gain and to get more votes.

Via Maan News Agency



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Press TV: Hospitals improperly segregating Israeli, Palestinian moms
Reddit Email 0 Shares

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Thousands of Egyptians came into the streets Friday in the first major demonstrations in 2 and a half years, to protest the bestowal of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir on Saudi Arabia. Many Egyptians believe that the islands belong to Egypt, and it is unconstitutional for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to relinquish them to Saudi Arabia. Many believe that the Saudis paid a bribe for the islands to officers of the high state Establishment. I wrote about the controversy earlier this week in The Nation.

Youth protests in Egypt have died down not only because of the Draconian anti-protest law decreed by the military junta in fall of 2013, but also because the youth despaired of getting real political and economic change through protests after the officer corps counter-revolution. Many also, rightly or wrongly, fear the Muslim Brotherhood, which the army overthrew, as a secretive cult bent on turning Egypt into another Iran (ruled by clergy). They therefore dont want to rock the boat so much that the Brotherhood returns to power.

Ahmad al-Bardini and al-Sayyid `Ala report in Shuruq that clashes broke out between state security peace and protesters in front of Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque, and that a massive crowd gathered in front of the building of the journalists syndicate.

The slogan of the demonstrators was that Land is honor, in protest against the agreement to draw a formal border between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which leaves the two islands on the Saudi side of the border.

In the tony Mohandissin district, police deployed force to disperse hundreds of protesters who had gathered after Friday prayers. They had gathered in front of the mosque. They chanted slogans against what they called the cession of the islands. (The Saudi government maintains that they were always its but had been leasing them to Egypt).

After only a few minutes, the central security forces attacked the protesters. The protesters stampeded, hoping to get away and avoid arrest.

By Shuruqs count, some 30 were arrested and sent to the court at Dokki. But late Friday most of those arrested were released.

About 150 men left Friday prayers in Giza to demonstrate without a permit. In Maidan Giza, outside Upright Mosque, clashes broke out between regime critics and supporters. They chanted They sold the land to Saudi Arabia, Egypt isnt for Sale, Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian, and Still the Revolution continues.

State security police fanned out through Cairo.

Arrests were also made in other Egyptian cities. Altogether hundreds were arrested.

Late on Friday afternoon, before the state security police could be deployed effectively, demonstrators began dispersing, with plans to return on April 25.

Well see, whether these are one-off protests, or whether a cascade might be beginning against the military-backed government>



Related video:

CCTV: Egypt police disperse protest against Saudi island deal
A long-awaited bill [text] legalizing physician-assisted suicide was introduced before the Parliament of Canada [official website] on Thursday and is now awaiting passage through the House of Commons and the Senate. This development [NPR report] comes over a year after the Supreme Court of Canada [official website] struck down a ban [JURIST report] on the practice, and after emotional advocacy by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau [official website]. Trudeaus father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau [Britannica profile], died in 2000 of prostate cancer and Parkinsons disease. Trudeau stated his father would have liked to end his life with dignity. The bill labels the practice as medical assistance in dying, as opposed to suicide and primarily targets the incurably ill. It requires medical approval, mandates a 15-day waiting period and lists eligibility criteria. Among other things, the person applying for medically assisted death must be or would soon be eligible for government-funded health care, must be mentally competent adult of 18 years of age or older, must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition and must give voluntarily informed consent for medically assisted death. The Supreme Court had initially given a one-year deadline to enact the law but the previous conservative government did not make much progress. It will now go through the parliament before final enactment.

The aid-in-dying movement has garnered substantial legal debate around the world in the past few years. In the US, four states currently have legislation that allow physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to some patients: California, Oregon, Washington and Vermont. In Montana the states highest court has ruled that assisted suicide is not explicitly banned [JURIST report] by state law or public policy, meaning consent could be raised as a defense in a potential prosecution of a physician. In July California lawmakers ended a previous legislative effort [JURIST report] to enact similar legislation, as the former right-to-die bill had been amended several times over the previous year. The law was hotly debated when 29-year-old Brittany Maynard [CNN backgrounder] moved from San Francisco to Oregon, which allows physician-assisted suicide, so that she could die on her own terms after being diagnosed with brain cancer. In June the European Court of Human Rights [official website] upheld [JURIST report] a French courts decision allowing Vincent Lambert the right to die, stating it did not violate article 2 of European Convention on Human Rights. In May a Dutch court acquitted [JURIST report] a man of all criminal charges for assisting his 99-year-old mother in committing suicide. Also that month, an 84-year old attorney, businessman and political candidate filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in Tennessee, challenging a law that makes it a felony for a doctor or another person to help someone commit suicide.
Ge Yongxi, a civil rights defense lawyer, was detained and released late Friday by Chinese authorities for posts on social media that poked fun at President Xi Jinping in relation to the Panama Papers. Ge posted an image of the president on WeChat, a messaging service, along with Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin in a body of water with the words, The Panama River, It is really deep, So easy to get drowned, and Dont be scared, I have a brother-in-law. The presidents brother-in-law, Deng Jiagui, was namedalong with a handful of elite Chinese citizensin the data leak from a Panamanian law firm that exposed offshore accounts held by prominent politicians and others across the globe. Information about the Panama Papers has been censored [advocacy website] across China with websites in that country forbidden [Daily Signal report] from publishing material about the subject. Ge was also detained [BBC report] 10 months ago for defending another lawyer and questioned by authorities for being involved in a lawyers rights movement.

Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiangon announced Wednesday that his license to practice law was revoked [JURIST report] by the judicial bureau. Chinese lawyer and professor Chen Taihe fled China [JURIST report] in March and arrived in San Leandro, California, after he was detained last July as part of a crackdown on rights lawyers. The crackdown culminated in at least 242 people detained or questioned throughout the country. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein expressed concern [JURIST report] in February over Chinas recent crackdown on lawyers and activists. In January Chinese authorities arrested [JURIST report] high profile human rights lawyer Wang Yu and her husband on charges of political subversion.
[JURIST] Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana [official website] on Friday accused [PublicNews story, in Spanish] former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina of accepting part of a $25 million bribe while in office. Perez Molina, who is already awaiting trial on conspiracy charges filed after he was forced out of office in 2015, stands accused of accepting a bribe in exchange for helping Terminal de Contenedores Barcelona (TCB), a Spanish company, win a 25-year contract to operate a container terminal in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Along with Perez Molina, authorities arrested former Vice President Roxana Baldetti, TCBs Juan Jose Suarez and eight other Guatemalan former government officials.

In December, Perez Molina was charged [JURIST report] by prosecutors, suspected of illicit association, customs fraud and bribery. Perez Molina was jailed [JURIST report] pending investigation in September following an indictment over corruption charges. Also in September, Perez Molina sent [JURIST report] a letter [El Periodico materials, in Spanish] to both the Guatemalan congress and reporters announcing his resignation and his intention to stand before justice. The day before his resignation, Perez Molina was stripped of his presidential immunity [JURIST report] by a unanimous vote by congress. After Perez Molina announced [JURIST report] in August that he had no plans to resign, Guatemalas Supreme Court approved [JURIST report] prosecutors requests to impeach the president.
Several aid organizations urged EU leaders on Thursday to stop deportations of migrants from Greece to Turkey and to stop detaining asylum seekers. Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council and Solidarity Now [advocacy websites] took part in the joint letter. The deportations are part of a deal [JURIST report] struck last month between Turkey and EU leaders in which all migrants crossing the Aegean into Greece would be sent back to Turkey. The rights groups report [press release] that thousands of migrants are being held in detention camps in Greece and many are returned to Turkey without proper asylum hearings. The fast-track expedited asylum hearings adopted by Greece are also of concern, they say, because important decisions and examinations concerning asylum are made by understaffed agencies in only one day. The rights groups are also calling for EU to open all camps housing asylum seekers, increase the number of asylum officers in Greece and improve security in the facilities.

The rights of migrant populations has emerged as one of the most significant humanitarian issue around the world. Last month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged [JURIST report] world leaders to accept more refugees and to combat the growing international anti refugee sentiments. An independent UN human rights expert in March encouraged EU leaders to remain [JURIST report] steadfast in their obligations to handle the recent influx of migrants to the EU and to avoid making Turkey the gatekeeper. Also in March Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] Executive Director Kenneth Roth urged EU leaders [JURIST report] to reject a proposed EU Joint Action Plan with Turkey to handle the influx of migrants due to the disregard for international law covering the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants.
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, told the UN Security Council [official website] on Friday that Yemen is at a critical crossroads as peace talks between the government and the Houthis are scheduled to begin this Monday. Ould Cheikh Ahmed says he hopes the talks will lead to an agreement [UN News Centre report] and an end to violence in the country. Last week, both parties agreed to a cessation of hostilities and Ould Cheikh Ahmed hopes this will create a good environment to agree to end the conflict and resume inclusive political dialogue. The UN Envoy urged all parties to support the work of humanitarian agencies, which he says will continue to provide assistance in the area. He also commended the government of Saudi Arabia for their role in encouraging the parties to stop hostilities and in agreeing to settle border disputes. Over 6,400 people have died so far in the conflict and over 2.8 million people have been displaced.

The rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen has sparked significant international concern. Last month UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein criticized [JURIST report] the Saudi Arabian coalition forces in Yemen for the more than 3,000 civilian casualties resulting from the conflict in just the past year. Also in March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned [JURIST report] that the use of cluster bombs by the Saudi-led coalition against neighborhoods in Yemen may amount to a war crime. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said [JURIST report] that the civilian death toll in Yemen had reached nearly 2,800. In January the UN World Food Programme appealed to all the parties involved in the Yemen conflict to allow the safe passage of food [JURIST report] to the city of Taiz. In October Amnesty International called for an [JURIST report] independent investigation into possible war crimes surrounding the destruction of a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Yemen.
A delegation from the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) [official website] called on [press release] the Chilean government Thursday to establish a national independent body to monitor places of detention. The SPT monitors how states are meeting their treaty obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and was in Chile between April 4 and 13 for that purpose. Chile ratified the OPCAT in 2008 and should have set up a monitoring body known as a National Prevention Mechanism within a year. The experts expressed concern over the delay and visited police stations, public and privately-run prisons, detention cells in the tribunals, facilities for juveniles and a psychiatric hospital. The experts held confidential and private interviews with detained people, law enforcement officials, and medical staff. Although the delegation expressed that the creation of a national independent body was the first step to preventing torture and ill-treatment in detention, the delegation recognized that the country has been promoting technical assistance for the ratification and implementation to states of the Convention against Torture.

Chile has served as a model for Latin America in regards to human rights and social policy innovations. Earlier this month though, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, called on [JURIST report] Chilean authorities to implement a sustainable model to education. Chile has also begun the process of drafting a new constitution in order to reflect the ideals of democracy and not its dictatorship when the current draft was written. The process began [JURIST report] in October, and the new constitution will be presented to Congress in the second half of 2017. In March 2015 the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights warned [JURIST report] that poverty in Chile remained under the radar for many policy-makers in the country.
Two independent human rights experts called upon [press release] the UN Friday to put into motion a plan [text, PDF] to redress damages suffered by internationally displaced persons who were exposed to lead poisoning at camps settled by the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) [website] in 1998 and 1999. Special Rapporteurs Rita Izsak-Ndiaye and Chaloka Beyani [official profiles] also urged the UN to take responsibility for its actions leading to noncompliance with international obligations. When the UNMIK first found high levels of lead among those living in the camps, it failed to adequately remedy the situation and did not evacuate the camps of vulnerable people until 2004. The camps were set up for people displaced by armed conflict in the region and were established too close to a mining operation, which led to the contamination. Originally, the facilities were intended to last for months, but ultimately lasted for years and often times lacked basic resources. The experts recommend that the UN acknowledge their failures and make a public apology.

Kosovo has been confronted with numerous lasting effects of the Kosovo War since declaring independence from Serbia beginning in 1998. Relations between Serbia and Kosovo remain strained. 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. In February the Basic Court of Pec, a region in western Kosovo, issued an indictment charging 14 Serbians in the region with committing war crimes in 1999 [JURIST report]. 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. War crimes committed during the Kosovo War have been prosecuted in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the establishment of a Kosovan war crimes court in The Hague was announced [JURIST report] in January.
UN experts commended [press release] Tunisia Friday on the implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), a torture prevention body, and recommended that officials ensure that the delegates are well-resourced and able to function in the shortest time possible. The experts visited the country from April 12-14. Tunisia has been taking steps toward creating the commission since 2011 when the nation ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) [text]. The experts expressed concern over receiving adequate financial aid to sustain the operation, as well as concerns about how the body will integrate with other government bodies and practices. Hans-Jorg Bannwart, the lead expert on the UN mission to Tunisia said, [t]his engagement and commitment from all parties involved in this process is hugely encouraging. Tunisia is the first nation North Africa and the Middle East region to implement an NPM as part of ratifying the OPCAT.

In 2013 Tunisia adopted the Instance Nationale de Prevention de la Torture, which is the required legislation the nation needed to begin the process for forming the NPM. The law establishing the organization was passed unanimously [JURIST report]. At that time, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said [press release], The adoption of this law is an important milestone during the ongoing transition in Tunisia, and in particular in the effort to bring the country in line with international rule of law and human rights norms and standards. Tunisia has faced political turmoil since president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali [BBC profile] left office amid nationwide protests in 2011.
[JURIST] The United Nations Security Council [official website] on Friday strongly condemned [UN statement] the Democratic Peoples Republic of Koreas (DPRK) attempt to fire a ballistic missile in clear violation of UN resolutions. Referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Security Council renewed its commitment to continue to closely monitor the situation [in the DPRK] and take further significant measures in line with the Councils previously expressed determination. Those determinations come in the form of a host of prior resolutions [sanctions committee backgrounder] seeking to limit the nations tactical capabilities, including an export ban and asset freeze applied in March.

North Korea has been UN radar over the past few months over both its missile tests and its human rights violations. In March, North Korea defied UN and US sanctions [JURIST report] by firing a medium-range ballistic missile into the sea. In February, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon condemned [JURIST report] North Korea for violating international obligations after another missile launch was conducted. In January the US House of Representatives approved [JURIST report] legislation that would increase sanctions against North Korea for its continuation of nuclear testing. In November Japan and the EU circulated [JURIST report] a draft UN resolution condemning North Koreas human rights abuses and encouraging the UN Security Council to refer the country to the International Criminal Court, noting reports of torture, limits on freedom of mobility, restrictions on freedom of speech, restrictions on freedom of religion, privacy infringement, arbitrary imprisonment, prison camps and more. The year before, the UN Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman said that there is enough evidence to hold Kim Jong-un responsible [JURIST report] for massive human rights atrocities committed in the country.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) [official website] expressed concerns [press release] on Wednesday over the fighting between Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel forces, which has caused tens of thousands of people in the eastern DRC region to become intentionally displaced. Between late March and late last week, approximately 36,000 people were forced out of the Mpati, Kivuye, Nyange and Bweru sites, three of which were managed by UNHCR through a local partner in the Masisi district of DRCs North Kivu province. While many have found refuge in other UNHCR-supported sites for internally displaced people (IDP), some are still camping in schools and churches and sleeping in banana fields near the vacated sites without adequate shelter. According to UNHCR, there are approximately 1.5 million IDPs in DRC, including more than a half-million in North Kivu. UNHCR is further worried that additional sites may be affected as the DRC army continues operations against the rebel FDLR and allied armed groups. UNHCR Regional Representative Stefano Severe urged the authorities and the rival parties to ensure that the basic human rights of displaced people are respected and that they are found safe alternative shelter. Severe stated that Many are extremely vulnerable and were living in extreme poverty and expressed his concerns over lack of food and access to health care for the displaced.

The DRC and surrounding regions have seen a high level of conflict in the past several decades contributing to increased concerns about human rights abuses and displacement of civilians. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein [official profile] and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] expressed concern [JURIST report] Friday over reports coming out of the DRC regarding an apparent government security operation in an area of southern Brazzaville known as the Pool. In January Ban urged African leaders to avoid using loopholes and undemocratic constitutional changes to cling to power [JURIST report]. In October voters in DRC approved an amendment to the Constitution [text, PDF, in French] to allow President Denis Sassou Nguesso to extend his term in office [JURIST report]. The amendment allows presidents to renew [JURIST report] their term twice and removes the age limit for presidential candidates, currently set at 70. Nguesso, who is 72, would have been ineligible for the presidency without the amendment. The constitutional amendment was marked by protests and demonstrations [JURIST report] in January 2015 across the DRC and the government was accused of using excessive force against these protesters. In October 2014 the UN issued a report [JURIST report] that addressed the human rights violations taking place in connection with Operation Likofi. In July 2014 UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict [official website] presented a report outlining the situation of the child in the DRC, which found the recruitment of child soldiers [JURIST report] persists.
Well, heres some good news for a change. Out in Washington state, at Sammamish High School, the staff has hit on something that really works : theyve changed their approach to teaching students and are getting great results. Heres how the Seattle Times describes it:

About six years ago, Sammamish High School teachers decided to take a risky departure from how they had been teachingproviding fewer lectures and more opportunities for students to work together applying what they were learning to real-world problems. The teachers hoped the hands-on approach would make learning more relevant and memorable, and help more students succeed in challenging classes.

Did I read that right? This seems like everything those rumpled up, out of touch, theory-obsessed professors of education are always talking about: try to move away from talking at your students and toward helping them apply what you want them to knowand what they already knowto problems that actually have some meaning in their lives. Get them involved in problem solving. Be more hands-on but dont forget to be minds on too. Make learning relevant, memorable, and challenging.

I cant tell you how many times Ive heard people say that teacher education is not practical enough precisely because education professors spend too much time, were told, emphasizing things like thiscrazy theories like students learn more when you connect the things you teach to their lives and students actually come to school with a lot of knowledge about the world already that would never work in the real world of classrooms. At Sammamish, the teachers started by redesigning a few Advanced Placement courses with the help of researchers the University of Washington, but quickly realized that things were going even better than they thought they would. Kids even did better on their tests because of the way they were taught, if you can believe that.

Thats right, folks: good teaching is not an impediment to high test scores. You dont have to teach to the test for kids to pass it.

And it gets better. As soon as everyone started to notice that teaching this way worked for the AP kids they had another brainstorm: if its good enough for them, why wouldnt it be good enough for everybody? There are 46 languages spoken at Sammamish, but that didnt deter the teachers and staff from trying to change the way they do things. My favorite part of this story comes about halfway through when the reporter, John Higgins, says that this effort is an example of how teachers can dramatically change their school from the ground up. That emphasis on teachers is mine.

School reform led by teachers? How about that.

This school improved its entire academic program not because some state board of education or governor or legislature stepped in and told it what to do. The school wasnt shut down and made into a turnaround school. It was not converted to a charter. Maybe most miraculously, not a single teachers career was harmed in the making of this reform. Were not hiring a new staff, were using who weve got, science teacher Suzanne Reeve reports. Were not getting rid of the union. Were not becoming a magnet and attracting different kids. We are who we are.

Did you catch that? We are who we are, she said. What a terrific thing to say.

I cant help thinking that wed all be better off if we would simply allow ourselves to live by this maxim: we are who we are. Instead of trying to copy systems in other countries or radically rework ours with nuclear options that do more harm than good, maybe we could take a step back and recognize that we are who we areand who we are may not be as bad as who we thought we were. And just think of the implications here. Apparently, you can change a school and get dramatic results and still have a union. And you dont have to fire the teachers? And no bureaucrats got in the way? Amazing.

There are other lessons too. One important one is that this wasnt cheap, but it also wasnt prohibitively expensive either. The changes were made with the help of a $4 million federal grant, put together with the help of the University of Washington and even an evil corporate entity, Microsoft. (I say that in jestnot because I think Microsoft isnt evil, one way or the other, but because sometimes these kinds of partnerships can actually be beneficial if wed let them be.) Most of that money was spent to hire substitute teachers to allow teachers to work together on the reform. It wasnt, it should be noted, spent on fancy new technology or outside professional development or administrative costs of any kind. So Sammamish received multiple layers of help focused on a single-minded goal, but no one was telling them what to do. True philanthropy is handing over the money and trusting the people you give it to with the responsibility to spend it wisely. This project was locally owned and it was locally driven, the science teacher, Reeve, says in the article. A top-down mandate would not work.

The only thing interrupting the uncharacteristically warm, fuzzy feelings I had when I read this article was the headline: Risky Change in Teaching Pays Off at Bellevues Sammamish High. That one word, risky, sums up eloquently what seems to prevent schools from making these kinds of changes. Why is that? Whats risky about working together to make school better for students (and teachers)? Whats risky about applying the volumes of educational research indicating that problem-based learning pays tremendous dividends for both students and their teachers? Whats risky about teaching better so students will learn more?

I think I know. Its hard to change, and I dont blame teachers for feeling a little insecure about making big changes like these. But the real risk of this kind of reform isnt a risk for teachers and students in schools at all, at least not as long as teachers believe in themselves and their students. The risk this kind of change poses is to the outsiders so heavily invested in reshaping schools in ways they have already decided will work in spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary.

In other words, the risk here was not that Sammamishs curriculum overhaul wouldnt workthe risk was that it would. If more schools like Sammamish managed to find this kind of success theyd provide incontrovertible evidence that the existing levers of schools of reform we keep pulling are the wrong ones. I dont know about you, but thats a risk Im willing to take.
LINCOLN (AP)  Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts vetoed a bill Friday that would allow work in more than 170 professions for immigrants who are granted temporary lawful status after coming to the country illegally.

The Republican governors announcement sets the stage for a veto override vote in the Legislature next week. Lawmakers approved the measure with a veto-proof 33-11 vote, although the governor said his staff was still talking with senators to try to draw more to his side. At least four would have to break ranks for the veto to stand.

Ricketts argued that the proposal would allow young immigrants to bypass the traditional immigration process and undermine the rule of law.

The bill would allow certain immigrants to receive professional licenses in health care, education and a variety of other fields.

It would apply to youths who came or were brought into the country illegally but received lawful status under President Barack Obamas executive action allowing them to stay in the country. Nebraska had nearly 5,200 youths with so-called deferred-action status as of December, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The bill also would allow licenses for people who have a pending or approved application for temporary protecting status and those who have a pending application for asylum.

Ricketts argued against the bill while flanked by two Nebraska residents  one from Ghana and the other from Brazil  who entered the country legally and have navigated the formal citizenship process.

Lawrence Asare-Danquah of Omaha, who moved to Nebraska from Ghana in 2002, said he completed the very, very hard process of becoming a citizen and didnt achieve the status until 2010.

I feel like its unfair for people who follow the rule of law to be penalized, he said.
KEARNEY  A wish came true, a star was born.

Nearly 500 people turned out at The World Theatre to see the film debut of Arthur Zamudio-Ortiz of Lexington Friday evening.

My favorite part was seeing all these people, Arthur said in an interview. It was amazing.

Arthurs red carpet premiere was a surprise organized by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

This is awesome. I like this day. I think Im going to remember it, Arthur said.

Arthur, who loves to draw, wished to turn his drawings into an animated film. Make-A-Wish partnered with Red Orchid Productions to turn Arthurs drawings into a short film.

Arthur thought that he would be meeting with Red Orchid Productions to get a DVD of the final cut of his film. Instead, he got the red carpet treatment.

The premiere was complete with a limo after dinner, an escort from the Kearney Police Department, and throngs of people packed in front of The World Theatre.

Plans for a helicopter escort that would spotlight Arthur had to be canceled because of high winds.

Arthur emerged from the limo with an ear-to-ear grin. Fake paparazzi shouted out questions as Arthur signed autographs all the way down the red carpet.

His film, UGS Arthurs Day Off, was about five minutes long, but included extra content such as outtakes and pre-recorded messages from Walt Disney animator Darrin Butters and screenwriter Jon Bokenkamp, both Kearney natives.

The film was based on characters drawn by Arthur and animated by Red Orchid. Arthurs family made up the characters, and did their own voiceovers for the film.

Arthurs film was a family adventure type spy movie, in which he and his family rescue people from evil Ninjas  kicking butt all the way to Brazil.

The animated short drew laughs from the crowd and kept that ear-to-ear grin spread across Arthurs face. It stayed there after the movie, while people congratulated him.

Im really happy with how it turned out, Arthur said.

Arthur, 12, lives with Kawasaki disease, which causes inflammation of the blood vessels. As a baby, complications hit Arthur hard.

His parents said they began seeing symptoms a few weeks after birth. He was having trouble breathing and having fevers and high blood pressure. Then came the heart attacks.

When he was 4 months old, he had four heart attacks, his mother, Dahicy Zamudio, said.

Those heart attacks caused severe damage, meaning that only about 25 percent of Arthurs heart works.

Doctors told the family that Arthur was unlikely to live long enough to see his first birthday.

Hes 12 years old now. Were really lucky to have him for this long and, hopefully, we can have him for a long time, his father, Jorge Zamudio said.

Though Arthurs heart is damaged, his spirit is not.

Hes always happy, Dahicy said.

Hes a loving boy. Hes understanding, hes outgoing, hes funny. Overall, hes a wonderful child. Hes got a lot of dreams, Jorge added.

Maria Muhlbach, regional program and events coordinator for Make-A-Wish, said that she had never seen a wish like this in Kearney.

I dont think weve ever seen a wish like  the community coming together, random people off the street coming to see what was going on, Muhlbach said.

I am so impressed with Arthur. This was a long process, Parker Loghry of Red Orchid Productions said.

He added that he was impressed that Arthur chose a wish that didnt provide immediate gratification.

Loghry noted that Arthur had been fun to work with throughout the animation process.

He would giggle when his ideas came to reality, Loghry said.

Tory Hooton, owner of Red Orchid Productions, said the production team photographed Arthurs drawings, traced those out on an iPad, and added to it in Adobe Illustrator.

All the characters are drawn by Arthur, though Red Orchid Productions built sets and environments for the characters.

Hooton credited Make-A-Wish with embracing the surprise and waiting to see the film with Arthur.

Make-A-Wish is awesome, Hooton said. I delivered the final film, and they told me they didnt want to see it. They wanted to wait and be surprised. I think thats really remarkable that theyre willing to be surprised with Arthur.

Lori Marshall and John Rickard, wish granters for Make-A-Wish spent more than a year meeting with the family to grant Arthurs wish.

This particular wish has been a long process. Its been over a year that weve been working on it, Marshall said. This one took a little bit longer because hes been so involved with it.

In a Hub interview before the event, she predicted that Arthur would be grinning from ear-to-ear the whole time. Her prediction was correct.

Rickard was once on the other side of granting wishes. At age 6, Make-A-Wish helped to build a game room in his basement.

Rickard suffered from a rare vitamin B1 deficiency that required a tracheotomy that prevented him from spending much time outdoors.

That was right when Nintendo first came out, so I got one of the first Nintendos and all the cool Duck Hunter games and stuff like that, he said.

Rickard said that gave him a place to be a kid, to be himself. Now he gives back to Make-A-Wish by volunteering as a wish granter.

He added that many children ask for trips, which makes Arthurs wish unique.

His wish was something that we have never  as Make-A-Wish of Nebraska  tried to do, Rickard said. Theres a lot of different people involved in it, and every single one of those people are playing an intricate part.

@JoshMoodyKHUB
LITCHFIELD  Gracia Sue Gillming, 63, of Litchfield died Friday, April 15, 2016, at her home.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Faith Lutheran Church in Hazard with the Rev. Dean Hanson officiating. Burial will be at Sweetwater Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the church.

Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services in Kearney is in charge of arrangements. Memorials are suggested to the family or to Faith Lutheran Church in Hazard.

Visit www.hlmkfuneral.com to leave a tribute or message of condolence.



Gracia (Fox) Gillming was born Nov. 14, 1952, in Kearney to Verle and Mardell (Larsen) Fox. She graduated salutatorian from Ravenna High School in 1970, went on to attend Dana College in Blair and graduated in 1974 with her bachelors degree in education.

She married Michael D. Gillming on Dec. 29, 1974, in Hazard, and to this union two daughters were born, Tenise and Christal. Mike and Graci made their home in Litchfield.

Graci was a homemaker and cared for other children while Tenise and Christal were young. Once the girls reached school age, Graci worked at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and most recently for the past 19 years at Educational Service Unit 10 in Kearney. Graci enjoyed working with area teachers on improving the use of technology in the classroom.

Graci battled a rare form of ovarian cancer for the past nine months. She found her peace in the Lord and said many times she felt she was being carried in the palm of His hand. Gracis cancer walk and faith journey became contagious for all who followed it, This story for His Glory. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 became her theme verse. Graci never questioned why. She always knew God was using her sickness to draw others closer to Him.

Graci was a member of the Ravenna Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and lifelong member of Faith Lutheran Church in Hazard where she taught Sunday school and facilitated many Bible studies. In her community, she also dedicated her time to Girl Scouts and led high school youth groups. She loved spending time with her husband, daughters, grandchildren, extended family and friends.

Gracis infectious smile and spirit of the Lord radiated through her generous acts of kindness and gentleness. She was a friend to all and will be greatly missed by many.

Survivors include her husband, Michael Gillming of Litchfield; daughters and spouses, Tenise and Richard Bogus of Ord and Christal and Eric Kaczor of Lincoln; grandchildren, Carissa, McKenna, Morgan and Isaac Bogus, and Adalynn and William Kaczor; sister, Cindy and husband DuWayne Johnson of Lincoln; stepfather, Byron Broek Broekemeier of Ravenna; stepsisters, Deb Rouse of Greeley, Colo., and Cindy and husband Al Monaco, and Kerri Stoetzel, all of Omaha; stepbrother, Karl and wife Kim Broekemeier of Odessa, Mo.; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Memorials are suggested to the family or to Faith Lutheran Church in Hazard. Visit www.hlmkfuneral.com to leave a tribute or message of condolence.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
China's Internet censors have ordered the country's social media companies to block further sharing of a viral video that shows a toddler threatening members of the notorious urban management police squad with a long pole, telling them to leave his grandmother alone.

The officers are members of the Chengguan, charged with enforcing petty regulations and notorious for their violent tactics, which include beating a watermelon seller to death with his own weights. Controversies about the Chengguan include the murder of two officers during an interrogation, with the murderer becoming a folk-hero after his execution.

The child in the video is holding a metal pole twice his height, shouting "Don't touch my grandma! Go away, don't touch my grandma!" Onlookers laugh at the spectacle.

Chengguan local law enforcement officers have long been the target of public scorn for their tendency to use excessive force. In December 2013, four officers were sentenced in connection with the notorious case of street vendor Deng Zhengjia, who was allegedly beaten to death with his own measuring weight. Chengguan brutality has also incited violence from the public, for example when Ji Zhongxing set off an explosion at the Beijing Capital International Airport; Ji had for years sought compensation for a beating that left him paralyzed, and his disgruntled act of violence attracted widespread support online.

Minitrue: Don't Hype Video of Toddler Battling Chengguan

[Josh Rudolph/China Digital Times]





(via Dan Hon)
The way most of the world knows about Niue, a 100 square mile island in the south Pacific with a population of about 1,100, is because of its country-code top-level domain (CCTLD), which is the ubiquitous .nu.



Selling the rights to .nu to international domain registrar bought the county's population unlimited access to a satellite Internet connection that downlinked to a free wifi service that had run since 2003, making Niue the first country in the world to extend free Internet to all its residents. The early rollout of projects like One Laptop Per Child ensured that the people of Niue were able to take advantage of the service. Niue is the country with the highest per-capita Internet penetration in the world.

But last month, Rocket Systems, who administered the .nu deal and the free Internet connection, announced that they would be shutting down the free link and replacing it with a paid one, because the .nu royalties had been cut. Under the new mandate, the 75% of people in Niue who relied on the service will begin paying an eye-popping NZD50/10gb to access the service. This is moderately competitive for satellite data, but by the standards of the developed world, it's amazingly expensive, especially given the country's low median per capita income.

I can't locate an explanation for the royalty decrease, but I imagine it has to do with the proliferation of new generic TLDs, from .day to .dentist to .esq to .sex to .sucks to .yoga. The artificial scarcity of names online created Niue's free Internet, and the end of that scarcity banished it.

I can't help but wonder if this couldn't have been foreseen and forestalled by using the money from the royalty to lay a transoceanic cable (very, very expensive, but then, so is unlimited satellite access), which would have had far lower operating costs once it was amortized. But hindsight is, as always, 20-20.

Emani Lui of Rocket Systems said that subsidy had been reduced and the company now had to charge for the service. But he said it would mean a more comprehensive service which people had long sought. "Knowing that we couldn't deliver that service because it was free. But now that we are able to charge for our services they have been forthcoming with encouraging feedback. Some have been a little bit hesitant."

Niue to get better internet service  at a cost

[Radio NZ]





(Image: Classroom in Niue, Dr Brains, CC-BY)
SHARE

So, how was Taste Washington this year? In a word  grand. There were so many wines to taste and bites to match. So, to be organized, a plan was made. But like a dog after a squirrel, I got distracted and gave chase to the bottle nearest to me.

The plan was to taste chenin blancs the first hour and then on to the more unusual red varietals, like carmenere, tempranillo, mourvedre, petite verdot, barbera, dolcetto or nebbiolo.

Chenin blanc is probably the world's most versatile grape variety. It's capable of producing some of the longest-lived sweet wines, and with its naturally high acidity, it's easily the most balanced of wines. This high acidity is also quite useful for a range of sparkling chenin blancs.

I thought exploring these grapes at wineries I hadn't even heard of would be more educational than visiting the usual suspects. After all, there are over 900 Washington wineries today.

Chenin blanc was first planted in Washington in 1948 from UC Davis stock. My love affair with it began when Pontin del Roza released its second vintage in 1985.

The story of how Scott Pontin's high school FFA project culminated into a successful estate winery is amazing. Here's a kid making wine and not even old enough to walk into a bar.

However, his family has been farming since 1954. They began as turkey farmers, and then planted concord grapes and sold the juice to Yakima Valley Grape Producers. The family also farmed wheat, mint, potatoes, sugar beets and apples.

This pioneering family came to the Yakima Valley and planted the terraced vineyards just as their Italian ancestors had done for centuries.

The 2014 chenin blanc has 13.6 percent alcohol and residual sugar of 2.8 percent. There are aromas of lemon zest and melon leading into peach and pineapple that paired wonderfully with Salty's on Alki's lobster gyoza with red curry.

Ancestry Cellars in Woodinville was offering up its Le Cortege 2014 Columbia Valley chenin blanc. The wine is refreshing with lemon, green apple and honey flavors and aromas of honey and white flowers. It has great weight for an off-dry style and has a fair amount of acidity. The grapes are sourced from the 30-year-old vines at Bella Terra Vineyard. It was fermented in stainless steel for a crisp, fresh wine with a residual sugar of 1.67 percent and alcohol at 13.3 percent. It was awarded a Double Gold at the Seattle Wine Awards.

On a hillside overlooking the Wenatchee River Valley, Silvara Vineyards is Leavenworth's newest winery. It recently garnered a Gold Medal at the Washington Wine Awards for its chenin blanc. It has the sweetness of melon, apricots and honey with a hint of effervescence. Very impressive for this young winery. The drawback is no distributor. To get a bottle of this wonderful wine, call 509-548-1000 or email info@silvarawine.com. It's worth it!

At this point, the plan began to unravel. Blame it on the freshly shucked oysters. I had to have some of the Chinook 2014 sauvignon blanc and Palencia's albarino, two of my all time favorite wines.

My nose led me to Urbane Restaurant's smoked salmon cake, with Savage Grace next door. Their riesling vineyards on Underwood Mountain are on a steep hillside high above the Columbia River Gorge. The climate is a natural for riesling. Flavors of tangerine and lime with wet stone combine to make this delicious riesling that paired well with the smoked salmon cake.

Convergence Zone Cellars is a family-owned winery in Woodinville. The grapes are sourced from some of the best vineyards in the Red Mountain, Snipes Mountain and Columbia Valley AVAs. Their Dewpoint is an off-dry riesling with aromas of lemon zest, lime and peach. It has bright peach, green apple, and lemon flavors. The juicy fruit and crisp acidity is balanced, and paired perfectly with the Kalaloch Lodge's Dungeness crab with jalapeno aioli crostini.

We're big fans of Treveri Cellars, a family-owned sparkling wine house that produces some of the best Washington sparklers. They are producing a bevy of sparkling wines, including syrah, riesling and Muller-Thurgau. We tasted the blanc de noirs made with 100 percent pinot noir, which had a hint of strawberries and brioche with crisp acidity with a creamy finish. It was en tirage, which is French for fermenting in the bottle, for 23.5 months. Swiftwater Cellar's duck confit with Asian plum sauce was just the ticket to pair with this bubbly.

A reminder that the Yakima Spring Barrel Tasting is next weekend. You can sample a new vintage straight from the barrel, enjoy cooking demonstrations, winemaker dinners, vineyard tours and other educational experiences on April 23-24.

Bainbridge Island wineries have scheduled a special event for April 23 and 24. You'll taste locally made cheeses with locally made wine. More info at www.bainbridgewineries.com/winerytours.

April 29 through May 1 is the Gorge Wine Experience. This three-day series of events is geared to wine enthusiasts to learn more about Gorge wine and meet the winemakers. There are over 20 wineries with activities throughout the Gorge. Visit http://columbiagorgewine.com/gorgewineexperience/ for more information.
SHARE

Ann Welsh, Port Orchard

Bond eats away at my income

I was doing our income taxes the other day, and had placed all our needed documents together, including that lovely pink envelope from Kitisap County, with the various IRS forms required.

With the SK bond once again up for a vote, I was curious what our "schools" portion would be (in the future) with the added "only 99 cents per $1,000" of value. Almost half of the total property taxes would now be dedicated to schools.

Our children are grown. We have no grandchildren. We have always supported the schools in all the years our children were students. And long after. However, this bond just feels "off" with us. Should it pass, we will vote "no" on future levies.

Many seniors may not qualify for the tax break the county offers. Personally, I feel there should not be an income limit to qualify, however, I do not make the rules.

For some, that average $20-25/month in property tax may be an evening out to the movies. With less disposable income, that means less revenue for the business, which means less hours available for employees. Which in the private sector equates the loss of a job.

Higher home values are something every homeowner wants to see. Higher home values also mean higher property taxes, and that "only 99 cents per $1,000" becomes "only" a few dollars more. Which equates to even less disposable income for all.

Some military families in support of another high school won't even be stationed here once the building is complete. Those of us here, whether we vote no or yes, with or without a fixed income, with or without kids benefitting, will all see a bit more of our disposable income taken from our wallets.
SHARE

Karsten Boysen, Port Orchard

Yes, we can support a new school

Neighborhood schools are the bedrock of our communities, our economy and our future success. Our children deserve to have the best opportunity available in the South Kitsap School District.

The McCormick Woods, Sunnyslope, and South Kitsap areas deserve to have a new high school that avoids overcrowded and antiquated facilities. For too long portable classrooms have been "temporary" solutions in the South Kitsap School District.

Yes, we can afford the new high school. Yes, we can afford to have the same wonderful school as the state-of-the-art North Mason High School. Yes, we can afford to help our teachers with new facilities and technology to meet future challenges.

As a former school board president, teacher and professional journalist, I thank goodness that my parents supported the new schools I needed growing up. Yes, we can have the schools necessary for our children, our grand-children, and our great-grand-children. Can we as parents do anything less?

Please, join me and pick up that pen and vote "yes" on that ballot in front of you for the South Kitsap bond issue April 26th. Yes  you can.
The Herald reports:

Auckland councillor for Manurewa-Papakura Calum Penrose and journalist Duncan Garner have also called for the banning of pitbulls specifically.

Mr Penrose said to RNZ on Sunday: theres too many young ones across the country  and particularly in Auckland  that are getting mauled by these dogs.

On Monday Garner penned an opinion piece which ran on Radio Lives website, saying they were a horrible breed.

However Hazels owner, Alanna Gracie of Cambridge, says banning pitbulls is an impractical solution and unfair to the breed, which she believes have a bad rap they dont deserve.

Cross breeding means it would be practically impossible to enforce such a breed ban, as purebred pitbulls are already banned in New Zealand.

Where do they draw the line, she asked.

Theyre just going off their opinion of what a pitbull is. What I think a pitbull looks like and what you think a pitbull looks like could be completely different.

In the past, dobermans, rottweilers and German shepherds had been singled out for banning, and now it was pitbulls turn, she said.

Owners should be held responsible for dog attacks no matter what the breed.

It was concerning to Ms Gracie that a dog could attack someone, be put down and then its owners could by a new dog the very next day.

The solution was not to ban breeds but to restrict dog ownership, Ms Gracie said.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Windy with a few showers developing after midnight. Low 57F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph..

Tonight

Windy with a few showers developing after midnight. Low 57F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph.
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.
Randy Boyd, commissioner of Economic and Community Development for the State of Tennessee, speaks with his wife Jenny by his side, at the dedication ceremony of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the Haslam College of Business on Friday, April 15, 2016. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL)

By MJ Slaby of the Knoxville News Sentinel

In a crowded room of University of Tennessee and state leaders, UT dedicated the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research on Friday.

Researchers at the center, which is based in the Haslam College of Business, focus on economic analysis and policy considerations.

Earlier this month, the UT Board of Trustees approved the re-naming of the existing UT center so it would honor UT alumni Randy and Jenny Boyd.

Randy Boyd is the state Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and founder of Radio Systems Corporation, which produces pet products under the brands PetSafe, Invisible Fence and SportDOG. He also was a special advisor on higher education to Gov. Bill Haslam and helped develop Drive to 55 and the Tennessee Promise.

During the dedication, Haslam praised the Boyds for their generosity, selflessness and impact on the state. And he said the center re-named in their honor is also crucial to the state and is used often by government leaders.

"Ninety-eight percent of the data we use at the state of Tennessee comes from right here," Haslam said.

The dedication also included the announcement of a new Boyd Professorship, which was awarded to Bill Fox, the director of the center.

Randy Boyd told the crowd that if philanthropists want to make the biggest difference in the world, "the best place you can invest is in education."

And he said it's his personal bias that they should invest in business education so there are more people interested in helping advance economic development.

"If you are in Tennessee, you'd want to invest in the best college of business in the state," he said about the Haslam College.

UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said he's looking forward to seeing how the center will grow with the Boyds.

"They believe in education's power to change students' lives," Cheek said.
SHARE

Upcoming programs at Writers' Guild

Local humor author, Judy DiGregorio, will speak at the May 5 meeting of the Knoxville Writers' Guild, sharing light verse and favorite stories from her three humor books published by local group, Celtic Cat Publishing. Her books include, "Life Among the Lilliputians," "Memories of a Loose Woman," and "Tidbits: Light Verse and Observations."

DiGregorio has been recognized twice at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, featured on WBIR-TV's "Your Stories," and on WDVX-FM's "Tennessee Shines." Her humorous essays and light verse have appeared in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines including New Millennium Writings and the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books.

The event is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in Central United Methodist Church's Fellowship Hall at 201 E. Third Ave. Attendees should enter off of the large parking lot behind the church. A $2 donation is welcome at the door. Accessible parking is available.

Info: http://judyjabber.com.

Kim Travathan, outdoor writer and columnist for the Knoxville Mercury, will teach an outdoor writing workshop to outdoor enthusiasts on May 21. Writers will learn how to construct outdoor adventures and how to multipurpose the content for different genres.

Trevathan is author of "Paddling the Tennessee River: A Voyage on East Water," "Coldhearted River: A Canoe Odyssey Down the Cumberland," and "Liminal Zones: Where Lakes End and Rivers Begin." He also teaches writing at Maryville College. His books will be available to purchase at the workshop and one will be raffled off to attendees.

The event, open to the public, will be from 10 a.m. to noon at Central United Methodist Church, 201 E. Third Ave. Cost is $35 for KWG members, $45 for nonmembers, $15 for students. To register, visit http://knoxvillewritersguild.org/events/outdoor-writing-workshop-im-not-fishing-im-working or send a check to KWG Workshops, P.O. Box 10326, Knoxville, TN, 37939-0326.

UT Libraries seeks writer in residence

The University of Tennessee seeks candidates to serve as the Jack E. Reese Writer-in-Residence for the UT Libraries. The residency program is intended to provide a positive and encouraging environment for one Knoxville area writer. Space and equipment are made available to enhance the literary productivity of the incumbent. A one-year residency is offered with the possibility of renewal. No state benefits, insurance, or compensation are provided.

Benefits include an $8,000 stipend, office space, and library use privileges. Responsibilities include serving as the public face of the UT Libraries for literary events, consulting with student writers, coordinating and hosting the Writers in the Library reading series, and managing social media.

Interested writers should send a letter of application describing how the candidate might curate the series, a resume or CV highlighting publications and writing accomplishments and one writing sample of no more than 10 pages to Margaret Lazarus Dean, Director, Creative Writing Program, 301 McClung Tower, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-0430 or mdean4@utk.edu by April 25.
Imagine that there is an active Catholic layman named "Bob," and that his complicated life has included a divorce or two.

But there is no one person named "Bob." Instead, there are legions of Catholics whose lives resemble this case study. "Bob" was described by Father Dwight Longenecker in an online essay responding to "Amoris Laetitia (On Love in the Family)," a 60,000-word apostolic exhortation from Pope Francis.

The fictional Bob is a 1960s survivor and has "lived that way." His first wedding was on a beach, after he and his lover got high  and also pregnant. A few years later, Bob married a rich older woman. After she died, Bob became a Christian in an evangelical flock, where he met Susan  a lapsed Catholic.

This is where things get complicated.

Bob and Susan "married outside the church, but then Susan rediscovered her Catholic faith and she and Bob started going to Mass," wrote Longenecker. Then Bob converted to Catholicism in a liberal parish "where the priest waved a hand and said he didn't need to worry about 'all that annulment stuff.'

"So Bob became a Catholic and now 20 years later, he and Susan have six kids, a great marriage and are active members in the parish," goes the scenario.

After a chat with a new priest, they discovered that, under church law, they were living in "an irregular relationship. Bob's second wife  the elderly widow  was dead, but he reckoned his first wife (the hippie who was married to him for less than a year) was still living somewhere, but Bob has no idea where she might be."

What's a priest supposed to do?

This by no means far-fetched case is one jagged piece of the "jigsaw puzzle" of modern marriage that Pope Francis tried to address in "Amoris Laetitia," said Longenecker, pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, S.C.

Longenecker's own story is also quite complex. He was raised as a fundamentalist Protestant, graduating from Bob Jones University in Greenville. Then he studied theology at Oxford University and became an Anglican priest. Eventually, he and his wife and children were drawn to Catholicism and, in 2006, he was ordained under the pastoral provision for married former Anglican clergy.

While media debates rage about what "Amoris Laetitia" does or doesn't say, Longenecker said the key is that it "fully affirms the traditional teaching of the church regarding marriage" while making a "valiant attempt to deal with the messiness of real life." As he says, parish priests and pastors are the ones who "deal with the real-life situations of ordinary people. We're the ones who have to help them match up their lives with the teachings of the church."

As always, Pope Francis assumes that confession and repentance are part of the path to God's mercy, Longenecker said in an interview. But the pope knows that bishops and pastors work in radically diverse cultures and that there is "no way he could create some kind of step-by-step general rule that would work for everyone, everywhere."

In his introduction, Pope Francis noted: "I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it. ... Each country or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs."

So what is a priest supposed to do with the Bobs of this world, and other sinners who are suffering?

Truth is, the real stories of real people in real life are often "even more complex and heartbreaking," said Longenecker. At the ground level, he said, modern marriages and families are being torn apart by mobility, no-fault divorce laws, economic challenges, cohabitation, promiscuity, pornography and other global changes.

"I relate these stories to remind readers that for many complicated reasons, marriage in our society is a shipwreck," he said. "It's hit the iceberg and gone down long ago. ... The pope has made a good effort to help us sort through the wreckage, salvage what we can and build a raft to sail on."

Terry Mattingly is the editor of GetReligion.org and Senior Fellow for Media and Religion at The King's College in New York City. He lives in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
State Rep. Eddie Smith (Shawn Millsaps/Special to the News Sentinel)

Americans for Prosperity, a national organization with a Tennessee presence that opposes a gas tax increase, supports a reduction in the Hall tax and seeks paycheck protection laws, will have volunteers knocking on doors today in Knoxville's state House 13th District represented by Republican Rep. Eddie Smith.

Democrat Gloria Johnson, who is running to represent the district again after being defeated by Smith two years ago, believes she's really the target in the upcoming elections.

Andrew Ogles, who directs the AFP in Tennessee, said the group has been door-knocking all over the state in recent weeks and targets population densities, not legislative districts. He said they were focusing on issues being addressed in the Legislature at this time.

"I've had friends in Old North (Knoxville) and Sequoyah who have told them to get off the porch," Johnson said Friday.

When Ogles checked with Rachel Cross, an AFP field director assigned to Knoxville, on where some 20 volunteers would be today, he reported back, "Whatever suburbs are in Eddie Smith's district."

Johnson has been preparing for the AFP, which receives funds from the conservative David and Charles Koch brothers, to be in the 13th District handing out literature. The group maintains its focus is on issues, not candidates, but Johnson believes voters can read between the lines.

"I'm going to educate the people in the district," she said.

A recent Johnson solicitation for donations said, "The Koch Brothers have already started knocking on doors in our district. The Koch Brothers, the voucher advocates and the GOP will be calling me an 'extremist.' "

Smith said he did not know AFP was working in the 13th District.

"I know they have a representative and have been pushing issues," he said.

Smith has supported some of the issues, but not all. He didn't support a paycheck protection law for teachers when it came up in an Education Committee because of the way the teachers would have had to pay dues to organizations, he said. Such laws are designed to prohibit public employee labor organizations from using dues for political contributions without the employees' consent.

While an increase in the gas tax was not presented to legislators this year, Smith said he feels a long-term solution needs to be sought to have revenue for roads and maintenance.

Smith supported a 17 percent reduction in the state's Hall tax on income on stocks and bonds, which is in the $435 billion annual spending plan for the 2016-17 state budget.
SHARE Mike Starrett, Jacksboro Police Department detective critical injured Jan. 23, 2014, in a traffic accident. (JACKSBORO POLICE DEPARTMENT)

By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

The University of Tennessee Medical Center is accused in a lawsuit of killing a beloved Jacksboro Police Department detective via an overdose of pain medication while he was being treated for injuries suffered in a car crash.

Attorneys Gregory P. Isaacs and Chris Coffey on Friday filed in Knox County Circuit Court a wrongful-death lawsuit against UT Medical Center and University Health System Inc. on behalf of widow Geraldine Starrett in the Jan. 30, 2015, death of Detective Mike Starrett.

The lawsuit seeks $7.5 million in damages. UT Medical Center was served with notice in July of the possibility of legal action pursuant to the state's requirements under medical malpractice laws.

"While we are not able to comment on pending litigation, we were deeply saddened by the passing of Detective Starrett and our thoughts remain with his family," hospital spokesman Jim Ragonese said.

Mike Starrett, 54, was recuperating from injuries suffered in a work-related crash when he died suddenly. According to the lawsuit, the widow was told the cause of his death likely was an "embolic event," whereby a clot obstructs blood flow.

But Knox County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan determined following an autopsy and toxicology testing that Starrett "had lethal levels of narcotic pain medication at the time of his death" and died from oxycodone intoxication, the lawsuit stated.

The level of oxycodone in Starrett's blood was so high Mileusnic-Polchan ordered additional testing, which confirmed her earlier result, and alerted law enforcement to investigate whether the overdose might have been an intentional act related to his job as a detective, the attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. That probe found no evidence that anyone other than medical staff and Starrett's loved ones had access to the detective during his hospital stay.

Starrett's widow did not learn of the true cause of her husband's death until nearly three months after he died, according to the lawsuit.

"The plaintiff would show that at all times herein material the patient, Michael Starrett, was under the exclusive care and control of the employees of the defendant hospital," the lawsuit stated. "Additionally, the narcotic pain medication was under the exclusive control and administered solely by the employees of the defendant hospital."

Starrett had responded to the scene of a fatal car crash in Caryville, Tenn., on Jan. 23, 2015, in which Bobby L. Coker Jr., 44, and his son, Skyland Coker, 6, were killed when the father's car ran off the road and struck a tree. Starrett was in his unmarked cruiser at the crash site when driver David Muse struck the detective's vehicle head-on, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report. Muse said he was unable to stop soon enough to avoid the collision and was cited on various traffic offenses.

Starrett, a 12-year veteran of the Jacksboro Police Department, suffered massive injuries that included broken bones in his upper and lower body. He underwent several surgeries and began receiving pain medication while recovering in the hospital's intensive care unit, according to the lawsuit.

He was "progressively recovering" when he suddenly died, the lawsuit stated.

Starrett's death rocked the tiny community of Jacksboro, chiefly because of the detective's philanthropic work. He founded the Sons of Justice Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club, which helped raise money for a "Shop With a Cop" program Starrett initiated in which law enforcers take needy children on shopping sprees for Christmas. Starrett and the motorcycle club also held fundraisers for the creation of the Campbell County Children's Center, which provides care, counseling and advocacy for child abuse victims.

Starrett's badge was retired after his death, and a room at the Campbell County Courthouse named in his honor.

"(Starrett's widow) would show that he was  industrious and enjoyed generally good health, and that he was a respected and beloved member of his community  caused to suffer unnecessarily prior to his death," the lawsuit stated.
Bob Coker

SHARE

By Don Jacobs of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Knox County E-911 Executive Director Bob Coker, who since 2005 has commanded the emergency call and radio dispatching center, is expected Monday to announce his resignation.

In addition, the E-911 Board of Directors could vote Wednesday to end the two-year stalemate that has arisen over selecting a vendor for a new digital radio system. If the E-911 Center can buy its own master controller site, the board is expected to approve joining the Motorola-equipped Tennessee Valley Regional Communications System based in Chattanooga, authorities said.

The regional system has been operational since 2010. It serves emergency providers in a dozen counties in East Tennessee and northern Georgia and has about 12,000 radios on its system.

Coker, the fourth director of the E-911 Center that was created in 1985, is expected to release a negotiated settlement that pays him three months' salary.

The personnel committee of the board of directors is slated to meet 2 p.m. Monday at the emergency center on Bernard Avenue.

Coker was paid about $130,000 annually.

The agenda for Monday's personnel meeting lists one item: "Follow-up from the meeting between personnel chair and Director Coker."

Knoxville Fire Chief Stan Sharp, who serves on the E-911 board and as chairman of the personnel committee, met with Coker last month to discuss the results of an employee survey that revealed a lack of confidence in the director. Board attorney Don Howell also attended the meeting.

Sharp would not divulge what occurred during his discussion with Coker.

Coker has not publicly commented on his plans. He did not return calls Friday.

Whatever agreement Sharp, Coker and Howell reached will have to be ratified by the 11-member board of directors at the board's 8:30 a.m. Wednesday meeting at the E-911 Center.

According to sources, the board on Wednesday is expected to name Alan Bull, the E-911 Center technical services manager, as the interim director.

Bull, who has worked at the emergency center since 1986, confirmed Friday he had been asked if he would serve if nominated as interim director. He would not say who approached him, but Bull said he agreed to fill the position if asked.

"If that should occur," said Bull, 65. "I'm going strictly on rumors, as far as that goes. I don't know what is going to happen."

A vote Tuesday among officials that govern the regional system could decide whether the Knox County E-911 Center will join the group.

Hugh Holt, Knox County's director of purchasing, has been laboring since January to gather pricing information for equipment if Knox County opts to join the regional system. The E-911 board at its January meeting tasked Holt with compiling the information to help the group decide on a future radio system.

Even if Knox County joins the regional system, the county would have to spend millions of dollars to replace the 30-year-old Motorola system with digital equipment. After the installation of a new system, each emergency agency would have to pay an annual fee of $42.80 per radio to the regional system for each of the 6,000 radios in the Knox County system.

"It's totally up to the board," Holt said. "I'm just presenting the board with the pricing information so they can make an educated decision."

Holt said the regional system's advisory committee and executive committee are slated to meet Tuesday in Cleveland, Tenn. The two governing bodies will vote on allowing Knox County's E-911 Center to install a master controller site.

Current master sites for the regional system are in Chattanooga and Nashville.

A master site allows "you to run your own system," Holt said.

"A lot of this hinges on if they'll allow us to have a master site," he said. "You control your own destiny as far as a radio system."

If Knox County had a master site, the E-911 Center could control which radios are active on the system, when a radio should be removed and other operational management. Knox County's master site also could serve as a backup in the event of interference with the site in Chattanooga.

Colin Ickes, director of the Knox County Emergency Management Agency who also serves on the E-911 Center's user committee, said he expects Knox to join the regional system if a master site is approved Tuesday.

"I think the biggest concern was the lack of local control," Ickes said. "I think a lot see the master site as a compromise that they can get on board with."

Ickes said Pat Rollins, director of the regional system, attended a users committee meeting Monday to answer any questions from the group.

Rollins did not return a call seeking comment about the Tuesday vote.

Ickes said the user committee members polled themselves on which radio system would best serve their agencies.

"There was a lot of support for the valley system," he said.

Coker has been embattled for two years since the board of directors balked at accepting the radio system vendor selected from among three bids. The proposal from Harris Corp., with a bid of $8.9 million for a new digital radio system that offers Project 25 compatibility, was selected by the E-911 Center's evaluation committee as the best submission. The committee noted the Motorola bid of $8.2 million was unresponsive to the radio system specifications mandated by the bid process.

A new system with P25 capability would allow all emergency providers, no matter which agency they work for or brand of radio they use, to communicate with one another.

Not only has the board refused to accept the recommendation of its own committees to buy the Harris Corp. system, but the board also is ignoring the recommendation of an independent consultant.

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones and Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch have led the opposition to the Harris system. Both administrators said their agencies didn't have sufficient input in the selection process, although their representatives on the users committee supported the Harris system.

In hopes of breaking the board's logjam on selecting a vendor, the group authorized a $40,000 study by Blue Wing, a radio consulting firm, to compare and contrast the Harris system and the regional system. Blue Wing concluded in a November 2015 report that joining the regional system would cost Knox County nearly $3 million more than sticking with the Harris proposal. The report authors also warned the regional option was a minefield of hidden costs that Motorola could impose after Knox committed to the regional system.

"It is our recommendation to Knox County that the Harris county-owned radio system option best meets the requirements of the (request for proposals) and is the best value," the report concluded.

The sheriff and police chief were not convinced by the study.

The Blue Wing report noted the consultant was unable to obtain pricing from Motorola on several dozen items. Holt said he has been negotiating with Motorola a price for those items, including a master site that normally costs about $1.7 million. He expects to present the cost results of his negotiations at the Wednesday meeting.

Coker last year blamed a negative campaign by Motorola for his "average" performance evaluation assessment by the E-911 board. For the first time since he was hired, the board in 2015 refused to award Coker a bonus, saying just doing the job didn't warrant reward.

Coker said Motorola's failure to win the contract prompted company representatives to apply political pressure on board members.

After the board's annual evaluation, Coker was faced with the lack of confidence voiced by employees in the first employee satisfaction survey conducted during his tenure.

"In general, employees feel the director is not as engaged as he once was, and they expressed concerns that he spends the majority of his time outside the center, smoking and reading the paper," according to a summary of comments submitted with the survey questions.

The five-page survey was conducted in November 2015. Results were released in February. In 10 questions covering Coker, respondents gave the director eight negative ratings.

Board member Brad Anders, who also serves on the personnel committee, requested the survey during a May 2015 board meeting. Anders also is a lieutenant with the Knoxville Police Department and an elected member of the Knox County Commission.

Anders said a survey was warranted because he had been contacted by several E-911 employees about work conditions, morale and dissatisfaction with a new $6.2 million computer-aided dispatch system.
Spectators take photos as the Navy "Leap Frogs" parachute team and Aeroshell Aerobatic's AT-6 Texans perform in the opening of the Smoky Mountain Air Show at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base on Saturday, April 16, 2016. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE A Navy "Leap Frogs" parachutist performs during the Smoky Mountain Air Show at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base on Saturday, April 16, 2016. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) A squadron of F-18 Blue Angels perform a Loop Break Cross during the Smoky Mountain Air Show at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base on Saturday, April 16, 2016. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) Navy Cmdr. Ryan Bernacchi, left, leads a squadron of Blue Angels F-18 Hornets in formation during the Smoky Mountain Air Show at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base on Saturday, April 16, 2016. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) A Navy "Leap Frogs" parachutist performs during the Smoky Mountain Air Show at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base on Saturday, April 16, 2016. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) Related Photos Photos: Smoky Mountain Air Show thrills over 100,000

By Mike Blackerby of the Knoxville News Sentinel

All eyes were trained on the skies above McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base on Saturday, and the Smoky Mountain Air Show delivered with a jaw-dropping five-hour program of aerial stunts, precision and speed.

And yes, it was as loud as advertised.

Earplugs were mandatory, especially when the Navy's Blue Angels squadron fired up their powerful F-18 engines and took to the air.

An estimated audience of 75,000-100,000 people found prime viewing venues wherever they could  at and near McGhee Tyson Airport  as Knoxville hosted its first air show since 2000.

The air show returns for an encore performance on Sunday.

Becky Huckaby, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, said the 14,000 parking passes at $40 each were almost sold out early Saturday morning.

Crowds were largest on the air base side of the airport, but viewers in lawn chairs and on blankets staked out viewing areas along Alcoa Highway and elsewhere.

"Since we haven't had an air show in 16 years, it is really difficult to predict the number of people," Huckaby said. "We sold 14,000 parking passes, and there's about three or four people per car, so that's 40,000 to 60,000 people just there."

Renee Shiflet of Speedwell, Tenn., claimed her viewing spot on the air base side just before 8 a.m.

"We got up at like 5 a.m.," said Shiflet, a longtime admirer of the Blue Angels. "They were so awesome  and they got so close. Everything our military men and women do is so exciting. It's an adrenaline rush, for sure."

The legendary Blue Angels wowed the crowd with their litany of signature maneuvers, formations and tradition, but the air show featured performances of all kinds.

Members of the Navy Parachute Team, the "Leap Frogs," jumped out of a C-130 Hercules aircraft to open the program.

Navy Seal Trevor Thompson unfurled an American flag, much to the delight of the crowd, on his jump from 2,500 feet.

World-renowned air show performer and aerobatic instructor Greg Koontz pulled off a seemingly impossible feat as he landed his Xtreme Decathlon aerobatic trainer on top of a moving pickup.

There was the raw power of the window-rattling F-16 Fighting Falcon, "The Viper," as Maj. Craig Baker pulled the throttle back on the fighter plane capable of Mach 2 speeds.

"The power of these jets is unbelievable," said Knoxville's Will Todd, who brought sons Bladen and Kobi along. "Just being able to see the patriotism and power of the U.S. military is pretty impressive."

In addition to the air show, there were more than 20 static and vintage aircraft on display, vendors, exhibits, music stages featuring military bands and even an appearance by the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Courtney Trail of Jefferson County took pictures of her nephew, Hayden Trail, as he climbed aboard a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

"It's awesome," Hayden said. "I like war stuff that has guns in it."

All proceeds that remain after the costs of the air show will go to HonorAir Knoxville, which gives World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans free trips to Washington to visit war memorials.

For more information about Sunday's show, visit https://smokymountainairshow.com/.
Vice Chancellor Rickey Hall takes notes at the UT Diversity Matters coalition's second meeting with administrators at the Frieson Black Cultural Center at University of Tennessee on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE UT Diversity Matters students march across campus to the 5th floor of Andy Holt Tower where Chancellor Jimmy Cheek's office is located, in response to his absence at the groups meeting, scheduled to be held in Thomposn Boling Arena's dining area on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL) Related Coverage UT diversity director leaving for Washington job

By MJ Slaby of the Knoxville News Sentinel

University of Tennessee Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Rickey Hall, who has been at the center of controversy and calls to defund his office, has been a job finalist at three other universities.

Hall is the first person to serve in his UT role and has been on campus for just under three years. He's spent the academic year as the recipient of wide support from students and criticism from lawmakers.

Hall's office came under fire from legislators following web posts about gender-neutral pronouns and inclusive holiday parties over the fall semester.

At times of tension, including calls for his resignation, Hall has repeatedly told students to not worry about him and his future.

Hall is a candidate for chief diversity officer at the University of Northern Iowa and was expected to attend a campus forum on Thursday, The Courier, a newspaper in Waterloo, Iowa reported.

Hall grew up in Iowa. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Iowa and was the director of student diversity programs and services at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, from 1995 to 1998, according to UT.

He also is a finalist for vice president of minority affairs and diversity and chief diversity officer at the University of Washington, according to that university's website.

He will interview at the Seattle campus on April 28 and 29, according to the website.

Last month, Diverse Issues in Higher Education reported Hall was a finalist for chief diversity officer at San Jose State University. However, a Tuesday press release from San Joe State said Kathleen Wong, who was previously at the University of Oklahoma, was selected for the job.

Hall came to UT in June 2013 from the University of Minnesota, where he was assistant vice president for equity and diversity.

This academic year has been filled with rallies and letters of support for Hall and the diversity office from students, faculty and staff. Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and President Joe DiPietro have also met with lawmakers to defend the office, as various bills to change or defund the office were proposed in Nashville.

On Monday, a bill to redirect funds for the office is on the state House regular calendar. Its corresponding bill is on the state Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar.
SHARE

By Gerald Witt of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Some West Knox County residents are expressing opposition to a proposal to rezone land for a medical clinic at Northshore Drive and Choto Road.

Knox County Commission will see the rezoning plan on April 25 for what some neighbors fear could be a narcotic addiction treatment facility.

Dr. Kerri Bentley wants to open a family medicine office, according to the rezoning application.

Opponents said she has connections to other family medical practices in the state that handle addiction treatment, which is concerning.

The President of The Mill at Choto homeowners association, Phyllis Trento, in particular fears that prescriptions for the narcotic addiction treatment Suboxone could be written out of the proposed medical office.

The property originally was a part of the subdivision, but was sold to a developer years back. It fronts a roundabout at the busy intersection next to a convenience store.

"If (Bentley) opens an office for a family medical practice, that drug, under the zoning ordinance  she can prescribe that drug," Trento said. "Nothing prohibits her from doing that."

Some of the county's most valuable residential real estate is in the area, along the waterfront of Fort Loudoun Lake.

Commissioner John Schoonmaker said bad information was circulated among homeowners groups and on Facebook about the proposal. The facility won't be a pill mill or pain clinic, he said.

"The assumption was that I was in favor of a pain clinic," Schoonmaker said, which is not true. "I would be in favor of a family medical office," he said.

"A family doctor's office, just like what her grandfather had," Schoonmaker said. "Just like what she was familiar with when she was growing up."

The location cannot be a pain clinic or methadone dispensary. That requires another level of scrutiny and approval by the county's planning board and Commission.

Bentley lives in West Knox County with her family, according to her attorney, and wants to open a practice near her home.

The doctor did not return a phone call from the News Sentinel Friday, but her attorney Arthur Seymour said the zoning she's seeking would allow her to only open a medical practice.

"It's not a pill mill. It's not a methadone clinic," Seymour said. "Knox County ordinance would prevent them."

Seymour said the medical office would be intended for local urgent and family care.

"It's a family practice," he said. "She lives in the neighborhood. If a kid cuts themselves, she can do stitches there  bandage them."

Schoonmaker said the rumor mill got out of hand after he attended a March meeting at a nearby fire hall with some members of the Mill at Choto HOA. In the meeting, Schoonmaker recalled, he told the gathered that Commission can only vote on the zoning but not the specific use.

He said that the office zoning being sought could house a law firm, financial service or medical clinic, to name a few. The site, for example, would not be appropriate for a fast food or oil-and-lube garage, he said, which the office zoning would prevent if granted.

Based on inaccurate information from the March meeting, Schoonmaker said, many in 5th District of Southwest Knox County have emailed and called asking why he would support a pill mill. That's not the case.

But if the people don't want to have that corner of land rezoned for office use, then he'll oblige.

"I'm their representative," he said. "I'm going to vote for what they want."
The nation's largest conglomerate Samsung Group reduced its number of employees by the largest margin among the country's top 30 business groups last year, data showed Saturday.

As of end-2015, Samsung's total workforce came to 222,821 workers, down 5.8 percent or 13,636 workers from a year earlier, according to data from CEO Score, a market research firm.

Samsung was the only one among the country's 30 largest conglomerates to have laid off more than 10,000 employees in 2015.

Such a large cut was partly attributed to a landmark deal, in which Samsung handed over four defense and chemical units to Hanwha Group, along with their 5,000 plus employees.

Still, the market research firm noted the cut in the overall number of Samsung employees may indicate a general downward trend in the number of what it called quality jobs, especially for younger workers.

The country's youth unemployment rate came to 11.8 percent in March, down from an all-time high of 12.5 percent posted in the previous month but still marking the highest reading for March in the country's history.

The large layoff by Samsung has also led to a drop in the number of people employed by the top 30 conglomerates, which came to 1,017,661 as of the end of last year, down 0.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data. (Yonhap)
By Choi Sung-jin



A new "it" word among the domestic food industry is "Purple Ocean."



Like you can get the color purple by mixing red and blue, a Purple Ocean is turning a Red Ocean (a saturated market) into a Blue Ocean (a new, uncompetitive market). Well, almost.



As the business slump continues, companies are reluctant to release completely new products at the risk of having them flop but will alter the existing products by adding or modifying functions or tastes, industry analysts say.



A good example is the banana-flavored choco pie. It is the first sister product of Choco Pie -- a snack cake consisting of two small round layers of cake with a marshmallow filling and a chocolate coating  first marketed by Orion in 1974.



According to company officials, Orion began to discuss possible changes to its decades-old hit product in 2013 when its sales noticeably sagged. The 10-member task force decided to maintain the cake's characteristics, such as its round shape, chocolate coating and marshmallow filling. "It was difficult to add new taste while keeping its shape and original ingredients," one member said.



So the team experimented with 20 different flavors, including banana, hazelnut and strawberry, and finally picked banana, which earned 13 points out of 15 in various tests, including consumer surveys. It then increased the portions of milk and egg to add a smoother texture to the cake. The strategy has proved a success, selling 14 million cakes since marketing began on March 7, the company officials said.



The chocolate-covered cake was particularly popular in Russia and among the North Koreans who worked at the now-closed Gaeseong Industrial Complex.



CJ Cheil Jedang made a similar success in its dumpling product. While most other companies grind the meat and vegetables to make their stuffing, CJ started cutting them with knives, which enriched the taste of its dumplings by keeping the original texture of the vegetables and meat rolled up in the dumpling, while increasing its size to nearly three times larger than before.



This particular dumpling product recorded monthly sales of 10 billion won ($8.7 million), or annual sales of 120 billion won last year, the first time for a single brand out of the 400 billion-won market. Bolstered by this product's success, the market share of CJ Cheil Jedang's dumping products jumped nearly 20 percentage points to 43.8 percent in 2015.



Nongshim and Ottogi, the two largest makers of ramyeon, or instant noodles, also made big hits by releasing upgraded products of two Chinese-style ramyeon  jjajangmyeon (black bean-sauce noodles) and jjamppong (spicy seafood noodles). Haitai Confectionary added sweetness to the normally salty taste of potato chips and its Honey Butter Chip enjoyed explosive sales.



"Even if one company develops a Blue-Ocean product, others will copy it in no time," said an industry executive. "In times of a protracted business slump like these, companies had better try to differentiate their products in the existing market rather than developing new ones at high risks."



The food industry is not alone in seeking to swim in a Purple Ocean instead of the risky Blue, industry experts said, citing the examples of smartphone makers. Samsung Electronics' latest Galaxy S7 model, for instance, is not a completely new product but a modified version of its previous model, Galaxy S6, mostly by enhancing its performance, they said.












/ Yonhap



"Gangnam Style," a mega-hit song by K-pop star Psy, returned to Seoul on Friday in the form of a giant landmark sculpture.

The sculpture was unveiled to the public in an opening ceremony at 7 p.m. on the eastern patio of COEX, a multi-cultural complex in the Gangnam Ward of southeastern Seoul. The event was hosted and organized by the city's Gangnam Ward Office.

The bronze sculpture, five meters high and eight meters wide, is modeled after the signature reins-holding horse-riding hand motion of the Gangnam Style dance. Looked at from above, the giant hands appear to cover a globe. When sensors around the statue detect human motion, the landmark automatically turns on flashing lights and plays the Gangnam Style song.

The construction of the Gangnam Style sculpture came as a result of the district's increasing calls for a landmark with indigenous culture and history on par with the Charging Bull of Wall Street in New York City and Piccadilly Circus in London.

Gangnam Ward plans to have cultural celebrations every July in commemoration of Gangnam Style honoring the world hit song's contribution to the proliferation of Korean pop culture around the globe.

From May 4-8, the district administration is slated to hold a "C-Festival" with large-scale concerts and will decorate the ward's special tourist zone. In October it will host another round of musical events, tentatively named the "Gangnam Festival."

"I will make the (Gangnam) special tourist zone a must-visit destination for travelers from all around the world," Gangnam Ward chief Shin Yeon-hee was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

"They say Paris set a goal to attract 100 million tourists. Gangnam Ward is not after the old 10 million by 2018' goal any more. Reaching 50 million will only be a matter of time," she added.
By Choi Sung-jin

North Korea's state media outlet reported about the parliamentary elections in South Korea for the first time on Friday, saying the ruling party suffered a humiliating setback.

"South Korea held the parliamentary elections on Wednesday," said the (North) Korean Central News Agency. "The ruling Saenuri Party suffered a crushing defeat, losing many seats to its political opposition, such as the Minjoo Party of Korea and the People's Party."

The KCNA added that the election made MPK the largest party, and the Saenuri leadership acknowledged defeat and offered to resign en masse.

It was the first time that the North's government media reported about the South's parliamentary polls. The state news agency, however, delivered only the facts in four sentences without carrying analysis or interpretation.

A spokesman of the North's federation of educational and cultural workers, a pseudo-governmental group, issued a statement and said, "The Saenuri Party's humiliating setback was the South Korean people's stern judgment on Park Geun-hye and her treacherous followers, who suffocated progressivism, democracy, justice and truth by wielding the sword of fascist oppression," the KCNA reported.

Earlier, a pro-North daily published in Japan also said, "The Park Geun-hye administration, which is in crisis because it has failed with the economy, popular livelihood and the inter-Korean relationship, attempted to win the election by raising inter-Korean tension under the pretext of North Korea's hydrogen bomb test and launch of its artificial satellite, but the South Korean people dealt a stern judgment to the politics of treason."
No South Korean victims have been reported so far in a deadly earthquake that struck southern Japan, a South Korean official said Friday.

The 6.4-magnitude temblor hit Kumamoto Prefecture and the surrounding areas on the island of Kyushu at around 9:26 p.m., Thursday, leaving at least nine people dead and hundreds injured.

"We have not received any reports yet of South Koreans being harmed in the earthquake," Park Ki-jun, deputy chief of the South Korean consulate general in Fukuoka, told Yonhap News Agency by phone.

An emergency task force has been set up at the consulate general to determine whether any Koreans were among the victims. Late Thursday, the consulate general assisted some 50 South Korean tourists who were taking cover at a parking lot outside a Kumamoto hotel.

In Seoul, the government said it has sent text messages to South Korean tourists and residents in the quake-affected areas, urging them to stay safe. (Yonhap)
Police believe a woman found dead on Jeju Island this week is from China or Southeast Asia after they examined the body of the homicide victim, they said Friday.



The dead woman is most likely in her 30s and was discovered near a barley field in the city of Seogwipo on South Korea's largest island of Jeju on Wednesday. When a man gathering bracken found her body, it was partially covered by grass and soil and badly decomposed.



The Seogwipo Police Station began to distribute leaflets to ask the public for any leads to identify the victim.



In the leaflets, the police give a description of the woman. She was 163 centimeters tall, had curly blonde hair, and wore a striped sweater, a blue skirt and black leggings that are sold in Chinese shopping malls. She wore black semi-boots with the words "Design By Korea" on the sole, it said.



The police, who do not discount the possibility that the victim is a South Korean, are working to identify her by her fingerprints, but no South Korean has yet to match them.



Investigators have also sent DNA samples taken from her body to the National Institute for Scientific Investigation to see if she was sexually assaulted.



The results of an autopsy conducted the previous day showed that the victim sustained a total of six wounds to the neck and chest, which were all made with a sharp weapon.



As the body was badly decomposed, the police have failed to determine when she was killed. But they believe she has been dead for less than four months, because the owner of the barley field did not see the body when he planted barley seeds in the field between December and January. (Yonhap)




Myanmar's new government, installed through elections in November, has begun spring housecleaning by beginning to free the country's political prisoners.



The first wave freed were students, jailed more than a year ago for protesting modifications by the then military government to higher education that the students saw as infringements on academic freedom. Their public complaints, supported by Buddhist monks, were deemed anti-government protests and they were imprisoned. The new government, headed by President U Htin Kyaw and led by Aung San Suu Kyi, newly named state counselor acting as an equivalent prime minister, has made the freeing of political prisoners its leading item of business.



Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy triumphed with 77 percent of the vote in what were relatively free elections. They were held under a constitution that still gave a disproportionate amount of influence in the form of seats in the parliament and the guarantee of ministerial posts to the Myanmar military. So far, however, the constrained military has not interfered with the NLD government's exercise of power.



Former President U Thein Sein, an ex-general, in a typically Myanmar move shed his military role and was ordained as a Buddhist monk.



There remain in Myanmar prisons at least 526 other prisoners, deemed political, jailed by previous military regimes. It will be a valid test of the credibility of political change in the country to see whether the new government will be able to free them as well without interference by the military.



The United States and the rest of the world will be watching closely.



This editorial appeared on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.




North Korea threatened Friday to take actions against the United States as Washington's condemnation of the North's human rights situation points to its hostility toward Pyongyang.

North Korea continues to control political activity and ban or limit political opposition while maintaining a network of political prison camps, the U.S. State Department said in its annual human rights report on Wednesday.

The North called the U.S. move to slam its human rights conditions sinister acts to disgrace the communist country and overthrow the North.

"There are no such things as prison camps, summary execution or human trafficking in North Korea. Everything mentioned in the report is a big lie," a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.

The North threatened to take actions to make the U.S. bitterly repent what it did, without elaborating on what measures it will take, it showed.

North Korea has long been labeled as one of the worst human rights violators in the world. Pyongyang has bristled at such criticism, calling it a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime.

The communist regime does not tolerate dissent, holds hundreds of thousands of people in political prison camps and keeps tight control over outside information.

In December, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution for the second consecutive year that calls for referring the North to the International Criminal Court for human rights violations. (Yonhap)
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

Read more
PRESS RELEASE

Peabody Coal, Two Other Fuel Firms Declare Bankruptcy; U.S. Power Sector Sinks, Junk Energy Debt Soars

April 14, 2016 (EIRNS)Yesterday, Peabody Energy, the largest U.S. coal mining company, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The immediate circumstances are part of Obamas "Clean Power," anti-fossil fuel version of Londons global warming genocide schemes. Peabody could not meet a debt service deadline this month, because cash from a pending sale of certain coalfield assets fell through, after Wall Street kiboshed financing for the buyers, under its policy of no funding for fossil fuels.

Peabody, major supplier to electric utilities, has at stake operations in 26 mines in the United States and Australia, and some 8,000 jobs. Nationwide, mine sector jobs have plunged 33% from 89,000 in 2012, to 59,000 now. U.S. coal output has plummeted.

Peabody Coal was by far the largest, but only one of three U.S. energy/mining companies which declared bankruptcy April 13. The other two were Energy XXI Ltd., which went into bankruptcy and wrote off $2.8 billion in debt; and Gulf Keystone Petroleum, although its default has only been on $26 million so far.

These events are the latest in the ongoing disintegration in the U.S. energy system. For example, the Obama shale oil booma disaster in itselfhas now busted to the point that U.S. shale oil production has dropped significantly, by about 25%, and it is half of U.S. total oil production. The United States is the only world producer actually producing much less, going into the Doha oil-producing countries meeting.

The U.S. "energy junk debt" is a lit fuse on the entire bankrupt Wall Street system. For Energy XXI, Ltd. and Gulf Keystone Petroleum, the debt of both was substantially held by Wells Fargo Bank and Citibank, the two SIFIs (systemically important financial institutions) with the most exposure to energy junk debt. Wells Fargo just acknowledged in its quarterly financial report that of its $40 billion in loans and bond debt in the U.S. shale sector, $32 billion is junk debt. Just as important was the leap in the "classified loans" portion of that $40 billion, from 38% at the end of 2015 to 57% through the first quarter of 2016. "Classified" means in danger of default.

Against this dramatic deterioration in debt, Wells Fargos combined debt write-offs and increased bad loan provisions were only about $400 million. Classified loans should have a loss reserve provision of 25-50% of the total of the endangered loans, according to sound banking practice; but none of the SIFIs are making anything like such provisions as the "junk energy debt" collapses.

Citibank has $57 billion in U.S. shale debt exposure, but does not provide information on how much of that is junk; it clearly could be $40-50 billion.

In the Peabody Energy Chapter 11, the largest lender for the $6.3 billion in debt that Peabody is likely to write off, is Franklin Templeton Investments, one of the worlds biggest mutual fund operators. It also had the largest holdings of Ukraine debt, even larger than Russia; and is a substantial creditor of Puerto Ricos municipal bonds. Franklin Templeton demanded the Peabody bankruptcy in order to avoid a complete loss of the entire debt.
When co-working firm Cross Campus opens an office in downtown Los Angeles next month, its tenants will include the typical start-ups looking for collaborative work environments, shared coffee bars and the flexibility of a short-term lease.

But the 33,000-square-foot location on Wilshire Boulevard also will house businesses of a less typical variety, including real estate developers, legal firms and FactSet Research Systems Inc., a publicly traded financial data company out of Connecticut with more than 8,000 employees worldwide.

Long the domain of tech start-ups and individual workers, large companies such as FactSet, Delta Air Lines and home builder Lennar Corp. are now leasing co-working offices. And many are looking to do so for the same reason start-ups find the concept attractive: a hip environment and the lack of commitment a short-term lease offers.

Advertisement

The corporate world is starting to look at this, said Ronen Olshansky, chief of executive of Cross Campus, a Santa Monica-based co-working company. They value the flexibility.

The growing demand has helped companies like Cross Campus expand across Los Angeles and the nation, filling vacancies and lifting rents for all players in the commercial real estate market.

The companies offer tenants a private, often glass-walled office on a floor with other firms that share amenities such as pool tables, coffee bars and meditation rooms. They also might host events such as Bloody Mary brunches and speeches from business leaders.

A firm, or individual entrepreneur, can also simply rent a desk, if they dont need or cant afford an office of their own.

Co-working  which has exploded in the past decade amid the latest tech boom  has given new options to large companies that have contract jobs or are launching operations in new cities.

Typically, they would have hunted for short-term deals or put employees in executive suites  a more corporate version of todays co-working hubs, said John Zanetos, a senior vice president with real estate services firm CBRE Group Inc.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

Elizabeth Brennan, a vice president at FactSet, said co-working allows the company to enter a market without making a big financial commitment in an area thats often unfamiliar. At the same time, employees get a hip, cool place to work.

The Cross Campus location in Santa Monica that FactSet is currently in, for example, offers on-tap complimentary craft beer, artisanal coffee and the ability to bring your dog to the office.

Those are all key to keeping employees happy, said Brennan. We are interested in workspaces that not only allow us to do great work and innovate, but also places where you want to go to work.

In coming weeks, the data firm plans to move from its Santa Monica space into Cross Campus upcoming downtown location, where it will have about 10 employees, who will still have access to the Westside conference rooms and communal space should they want to hold a meeting there.

That is very helpful, because we have clients downtown; we have clients closer to the beach, Brennan said.

Indeed, the regions vast distances and distinct business districts make the L.A. Basin prime for co-working growth, said Jamie Hodari, co-founder of Industrious, a firm that plans to open a downtown co-working location this summer and counts Lennar as a tenant in other parts of the country.

More than anywhere else to have offices in multiple parts of the city, is just too appealing, he said.

The costs can be less than a typical office lease, because less direct space is needed, conference rooms can be shared and amenities and furnishing are typically packaged into the price.

For example, a report by CBRE estimates a traditional lease for 10 employees in Washington, D.C., would require between 1,400 to 1,900 square feet and would cost between $72,000 and $97,000 a year on average, including configuring the space to the tenants needs. A co-working office for 10 people, meanwhile, would run between $52,000 and $84,000.

The same dynamics are at play in the Los Angeles area.

At Cross Campus Santa Monica location, a 10-person office starts about $4,500 a month and includes desks, drinks, valet parking and access to shared conference rooms.

With an average lease rate of $4.53 per square foot a month on the Westside, a 1,500 square-foot office would run $6,795 a month  and thats before a company pays for desks and any changes to the configuration, such as installing a conference room.

Meanwhile, the co-working firms can turn a profit, because they can charge more on a per-square-foot basis than the market rate, while packing multiple tenants onto a single floor, Zanetos said.

Among the leading co-working company nationwide is New York based WeWork, a venture backed company valued at $16 billion that has more than 75 locations across the United States and worldwide.

WeWork opened a 91,000 square-foot location in downtowns Gas Company Tower in February, adding to another hub downtown, two in Santa Monica and one in Hollywood. Offices in Pasadena, Culver City, Playa Vista and Irvine also are on the way.

In Santa Monica, WeWork tenants include Delta and cloud storage firm Dropbox Inc., said Jon Slavet, WeWorks West Coast general manager.

Elizabeth Wolf, a Delta spokeswoman, said the company is using WeWork as a temporary home for a few members of our team while we grow in LA and look for new permanent office space in the city.

Another new wrinkle in co-working is tenants that are signing multi-year deals because they like the atmosphere of working amid other companies  something that cant be created by the tenants themselves, Slavet said.

People historically viewed us as a month to month community and that is changing, he said.

Brennan of FactSet said the firm will likely outgrow Cross Campus one day as well, but she doesnt expect to soon given the co-working firms size.

Even with the most robust growth, I expect we will be there for several years.

By that time, the company will have a better idea where in Los Angeles it wants to put down roots.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

Twitter: @khouriandrew

ALSO

San Francisco will require Uber and Lyft drivers to register as businesses

Snapchat, Faraday Future faced questions on diversity before landing tax credits

California minimum wage hike hits L.A. apparel industry: The exodus has begun
After Ronald Reagan became Americas most recognizable Alzheimers patient, well-meaning friends, relatives and even strangers would routinely stop his daughter, Patti Davis, to ask: How is he doing?

Only occasionally would someone ask, And how are you doing?

Its understandable, of course, to focus on the patient. But Davis experience during her late fathers years-long battle led her to form a free weekly support group  Beyond Alzheimers. The nearly 5-year-old group moves next month from UCLA to St. Johns in Santa Monica but continues the same mission: to care for the caregivers.

Advertisement

People come [to the support group] for the first time and theyre armed with all these facts about their mother or their father. They say, Theyre on this medication, they were diagnosed on this date, and their doctors say this and that. And then I say to them, How are you doing? And theres this moment where they have to process the question and, almost inevitably, thats when the tears come. It might be the first time in a year or more or ever that theyve been asked, But how are you doing.

More than 5 million Americans live with Alzheimers, and the numbers may only get worse as baby boomers age. We asked Davis for some advice for the sandwich generation, those run ragged as they are caught between raising kids and caring for aging parents, not to mentions career demands. Heres what she had to say:

Why is this disease especially grueling for caregivers?

Caregiver stress is a very real thing. The person who has Alzheimers, they dont experience stress in the same way that a caregiver does. For them, every moment is new. The caregivers are the ones that worry about the future and worry about the past and worry about the present. Theyre constantly worrying about finances, what is going to happen next, it never lets up. But they feel like, I dont have the disease, Im not entitled to the attention. They start to feel less important, less significant. On an airplane, when they give you the lecture about the oxygen mask, youre told to put on your own mask first before you help a young child or the elderly or the disabled. And I use that analogy a lot. Caregivers have to take care of themselves first. They are entitled to have their feelings understood and nurtured and discussed.

Patti Davis, 63, is the founder of the Beyond Alzheimers support group that is currently held at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica but will soon be moving to St. John Providence Health Center. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

There is also another kind of guilt. There are difficult things that come up that other people just dont understand. Sometimes caregivers are dealing with someone who can no longer speak or is bedridden. And they wish it would be over, theyre wishing that death would come. They feel really self-conscious about admitting this to anyone else. Someone on the outside would say, Thats terrible, thats a terrible thing to say. But [inside the support group], we all get it. That wish for it to be over. Were a safe place where you can admit that.

You say the earlier stages of the disease are actually the most difficult for caregivers. That seems counterintuitive, what does that mean?

They are the most difficult stages. The person who has the disease knows theres something wrong with them and they are terrified. They are losing their grip on everything that they know that is familiar. I remember my father standing in the living room of my parents home and saying, I dont know where I am. It was devastating. Its another oddity of this disease that as it progresses and gets worse for the patient, things can actually get easier on the caregiver, but that also comes with its own type of guilt for the caregiver.

Because thats when people may have to decide to place a loved one in a facility?

Yes, and its one of the most wrenching decisions that anyone will have to make. People say, I cant do that, Ill be abandoning them. And I say, No. If you took them out to the Mohave Desert and threw them out of the car and drove away, that would be abandonment. Putting them someplace where they will be cared for 24/7, with structure  which is very important for Alzheimers  and access to medical care at all times  is one of the most loving things you can do.

What is an average meeting like? Why do you hold this at a hospital? Isnt that the last place people want to go do?

I wanted to do it at a hospital because its symbolic. The family members and caregivers should be treated as patients. It adds a lot of power to that message if youre physically sitting at a hospital.

I run the meetings with a co-facilitator, usually a neurologist or a neuropsychologist or another guest speaker. We offer perspectives and other information for a few minutes. And then we go around the table and each person can talk about what they are going through. Or they can opt not to talk. We go in an orderly movement around the table. Sometimes people have practical suggestions. A common issue [with Alzheimer patients] is not wanting to bathe. So someone might have a suggestion on how they dealt with that.

What toll does this take on you?

In all the years Ive been doing this, I only missed one night, and that was because I was in the middle of moving. I think its so important. I feel like Im on a mission, but I also get something out of it too. When I share experiences that I had with my father, it helps me too. But the idea that people can come here and feel less alone and feel less isolated and get some really good feedback is just so gratifying to me.

The Beyond Alzheimers support group will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at St. Johns Health Center in Santa Monica starting May 3. Call (310) 829-5511 for location.

rene.lynch@latimes.com
Good morning. I'm Paul Thornton, The Times' letters editor, and it is Saturday, April 16. There are only 205 days until election day, so let's resume the conversation on presidential politics in earnest.

Neither you nor I am Donald Trump. The same can be said for almost everyone. Ted Cruz is not Donald Trump, but in his case, that might be enough for the Republican Party to nominate him for president.

In his most recent weekly L.A. Times column, Jonah Goldberg once again bears the #NeverTrump standard and writes of the GOP's growing acceptance of Cruz, so unloved as he is by members of his own party, as an alternative to delegate-leader Trump. Goldberg has this to say about the Republicans "falling in like" with Cruz:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) used to say choosing between Donald Trump and Cruz was like choosing between being shot or poisoned. Graham chose his poison. He's out there raising money for Cruz. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose hatred for Cruz was the stuff of Sicilian blood feuds, seems to have reconciled himself to the fact that Cruz is the only person who can stop Trump. McConnell's definitely not in love, but he recognizes that these are the cards we've all been dealt. Team Cruz fears that people like McConnell will use the convention in Cleveland this summer to reshuffle the deck and get a new deal  a new candidate more palatable to the establishment. There is still distrust over whether or not the party is actually willing to accept Cruz as the nominee or if they're using him to shut down Trump only to then stab Cruz in the back come summer, Erick Erickson, a conservative talk show host and Cruz backer, told the Washington Post. The concern is understandable, but overblown. Although a contested election is likely, the white knight scenario is not. ... The most likely scenario is that should Trump lose on the first ballot, Cruz will win on the second or third. In fact, some see a path where Cruz cobbles together his delegates, unbound delegates and, say, Marco Rubio's delegates and wins on the first ballot. He's that good at working the system. There's some irony here, of course. Cruz spent years building his reputation as the guy who wants to tear down the system, and now it's the system, not necessarily the voters, that may put him over the top. Nervous Republicans should find this reassuring. Yes, in a normal year, failure to win a majority of votes in the primaries would present a serious PR problem. But this isn't a normal year. Meanwhile, Cruz is demonstrating, yet again, his ability to do what is required to win. That's a skill set that will be much needed come the fall.  Click here to read more.

If you don't eat at Applebee's, watch TV or drink cheap domestic beer, you're probably shocked by Trump's rise. That's because you might be living in a bubble, far away from the folks whose anger has buoyed the Republican front-runner, writes columnist Meghan Daum. She concludes: "As we're seeing in this campaign season, we lose touch with a wider reality at our peril. Finding a community of likeminded, forward-thinking enlightened souls is great. Never watching shows like 'Scandal' or 'The Voice' is perfectly acceptable. But forgetting there's a bigger world out there  one in which people feel so forgotten by the establishment that they'd vote for someone like Trump  is the opposite of enlightened." L.A. Times

On the other side, things don't look good delegate-wise for Bernie Sanders. But that's OK. Columnist Doyle McManus writes that defeat in the Democratic Party won't end the Sanders revolution, an outcome that the Vermont senator himself discusses openly: "If Clinton wins the nomination, Sanders has said he will endorse her and urge his supporters to vote for the Democratic ticket. But he will also try to turn his campaign into a more durable movement to move the Democratic Party to the left." L.A. Times

No sane judge would pass President Sanders' litmus test for the Supreme Court. Republicans who insist that potential justices commit to overturning Roe vs. Wade are wrong, and so is Sanders for pledging to vet court nominees based on their willingness to overturn the Citizens United case. Michael McGough writes: "There's a big difference between choosing a nominee you suspect might share your views about Roe vs. Wade or Citizens United and demanding a promise that the nominee would vote to reverse a ruling. The latter approach is not just politically stupid; it undermines the independence of the judiciary." L.A. Times

Be a good patriot and ask for a more powerful IRS. Tax day is right around the corner and now is probably not the time most of us would think to say thanks to the federal bureaucracy responsible for collecting a sizable portion of our income, among other things. But the reviled IRS has had an increasingly difficult time ensuring that all Americans are paying their citizenship dues, something Alexander Hamilton called the "vital principle of the body politic." L.A. Times

Rules that protect veteran teachers aren't optimal, but that doesn't make them unconstitutional. The laws on teacher tenure, which education reformers say illegally harm California's public school students, ought to be changed  but that's the job of state legislators, not the courts. That's why a state appeals court made the right call in overturning a lower court ruling in the Vergara case that had invalidated teacher tenure rules, says The Times' editorial board. L.A. Times

Send me feedback: paul.thornton@latimes.com
My California tale of beauty and the beast began last week near Half Moon Bay, followed by a stop in Bodega Bay.

Thats the beauty part of the story.

Then I went to a California Coastal Commission hearing.

I think you catch my drift.

My first stop was at Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay to do some reporting for an upcoming column on a long-running dispute there. A Silicon Valley billionaire owns this dreamy stretch of coast and has been sued for blocking access to a beach the common folk enjoyed for decades before his ownership.

For $30 million, he has told the state, hell open the gate.

I dont think so.

Farther north, I hiked the trail at Bodega Head, hugging the cliffs edge for an awe-inspiring view. Steep slopes, bursting with wildflowers in bloom, cascade down to rocky crashing surf.

Advertisement

But there could soon be an access problem here too, because state parks officials want to hit motorists up to park at this and seven other locations.

That very issue was on the agenda at the coastal commission hearing in Santa Rosa on Wednesday, and hundreds of parking fee foes showed up to make their case.

But they had to wait a while.

Among the items that came first was an update on the need to find a successor to Executive Director Charles Lester, who was fired by the tone-deaf commission in February, on the same day hundreds of coastal stewards praised Lesters work. Youd think commissioners might have charted a clear course by now, but some of them dont always seem to have two oars in the water.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

Now that Im a regular attendee at coastal commission meetings, I can tell you this crew has lost the trust, if not the respect, of many devoted protectors of the coast. They say this commission is more subject to political manipulation from Sacramento than past commissions and more inclined to challenge what appear to be solid, science-based staff recommendations.

But the problems dont end there.

Commissioner Wendy Mitchell voted last year on a Santa Barbara project involving one of her consulting company clients. She also posted a Facebook photo of herself with David The Edge Evans, U2s guitarist, in which she apologized for how long it took the commission to approve Evans controversial five-mansion development on an undeveloped ridge in Malibu.

Commissioner Mark Vargas attended a U2 concert in Ireland last fall and met with Evans mere days before voting to approve the same project.

Commissioner Erik Howell is the subject of a Fair Political Practices Commission complaint over his support of a Pismo Beach project two weeks after receiving a campaign donation for his Pismo Beach City Council campaign from an employee of the projects lobbying firm.

Commissioner Martha McClure accepted a campaign donation to her Del Norte County supervisorial campaign from the same employee.

Commissioner Greg Cox has agreed to pay a $3,000 fine for voting on a Sea World permit when his wife owned stock in the San Diego theme park.

Some of these people shouldnt be put in charge of the bumper car concession at the Santa Monica Pier, let alone 1,100 miles of the greatest beaches in the world.

Now lets get back to parking fees.

The state parks department is underfunded and under-maintained, so it wants to charge as much as $8 a day  for starters  for parking at Sonoma beaches that have no staff and no amenities other than bare-bones bathrooms.

Not a good idea, said the coastal commission staff, which recommended against fees. Low-income residents would be unduly affected, said the staff, and some drivers would probably park along Highway 1 and create traffic hazards.

At Wednesdays meeting, the parks departments first move was to present a long-winded history of state parks.

Guess what.

Nobody in the audience came to hear what amounted to a filibuster, and after about 40 minutes, some turned their backs on the speaker.

They know and love their parks, and they had never wanted the coastal commission to involve itself in what should have been a county decision.

Reno Keoni Franklin, tribal chair of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, testified that the fees would constitute a pay to pray policy for his people, who visit sacred sites at those beaches. Others argued that full access to public beaches is a point of great passion in Sonoma County, which spawned the coastal protection movement and the commission itself, back in the 1970s.

Others said the governor and legislators should find statewide solutions for adequate funding of parks rather than arbitrarily nickel and diming taxpayers.

This went on for hours, and you could almost see Janelle Belands blood boil. Shes the non-voting member of the commission and Gov. Jerry Browns undersecretary of Natural Resources, which oversees the parks department.

Beland supports parking fees, but one after another, Sonoma residents urged an ixnay on that and exposed holes and inaccuracies in the parks departments report.

What to do?

Take the meeting into the hall, so to speak. I saw Beland talking to the commissions chairman and vice chairwoman, Steve Kinsey and Dayna Bochco, as well as staff.

Maybe theyre crafting a graceful retreat, I thought, so they dont reject the wishes of hundreds of people like they did when they dumped Lester into Morro Bay.

But if a Plan B was in play, it didnt seem fair. Hundreds of people came to what they thought was a public meeting, and most didnt know about the private confab just out of sight.

In the end, the commission cast an 11-1 vote.

To punt.

Theyve got to take a closer look at this, commissioners said, and get everyone together to work out a plan.

Nonsense.

They should have said it isnt the coastal commissions job to solve the parks departments budget problems, or Jerry Browns, or the Legislatures.

But thats not the end of the story.

On Thursday, Chairman Kinsey reopened the meeting with a scolding of the previous days crowd.

There was an injustice in this hall yesterday that I found unacceptable... he said. The entire speaking public ignored its own self-interest in having state parks in Sonoma... and not a single individual expressed appreciation for what the park system provides.

We must have attended different meetings.

Its not the parks they take issue with; its the parking fees, said Cea Higgins, a volunteer with the local Surfrider Foundation chapter.

We have decades of history of supporting ... parks through land dedication, partnerships, funding and fundraising, volunteer efforts to do clean-ups, trail restoration, running docent programs for whale watching and harbor seal colony protection, and maintaining their visitor center and bathrooms, Higgins said.

If the coastal commission keeps the fee proposal alive, Higgins said, this only blocks opportunities to push for statewide funding.

As I tour the coast in the state I was born in, I only have more appreciation for this great treasure and more doubts about the people whose job it is to protect it.

At the end of Wednesdays 12-hour meeting, a man was ejected from the auditorium for blowing a whistle.

As he was escorted into the lobby, he said:

Someone has to blow the whistle on these people.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

@LATstevelopez

ALSO

L.A.'s effort to equip officers with body cameras stalls

L.A. releases addresses of 13,500 apartments and condos likely to need earthquake retrofitting

This L.A. County panel is facing scrutiny for reinstating a social worker later charged in a boys death
A Civil Service Commission decision allowing a Los Angeles County child welfare manager to return to his job just months before he was charged with falsifying records in the torture death of a child is placing new scrutiny on the panel.

The supervisor, Gregory Merritt, was charged in the high-profile case of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, who died three years ago. His mother and stepfather are accused of torturing and killing the boy.

County officials wanted to fire Merritt and three other social workers who authorities said had missed repeated signs of abuse in Gabriels case. But the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission voted unanimously to reinstate Merritt to his $116,000-a-year job, saying his actions did not merit termination.

Advertisement

Now, some county officials are calling for changes to the five-member commission, which is appointed by the Board of Supervisors to handle appeals when employees want to challenge a disciplinary action.

For decades, governors from both major parties, legislators and taxpayer watchdog groups nationwide have taken aim at civil service commissions, contending that they are too soft on employee discipline.

In Los Angeles County, the commission has been a frequent target of criticism by county department heads who accused it of thwarting their efforts to get rid of problem employees.

At Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, managers claimed that the commission kept them from firing or effectively disciplining staff, including nurses accused of contributing to patient injuries.

Supervisors at juvenile detention facilities said the commission blocked their efforts to deal with workers accused of abusing detainees. The U.S. Department of Justice eventually placed the county under federal oversight.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

In 2011, an internal county review found 15 instances in which children died of abuse due to egregious errors by childrens services staffers. Sometimes the same social workers were involved in multiple fatalities. One employee involved in those 15 fatalities was fired. The report blamed poor performance evaluations and Civil Service Commission rules for the fact that more workers were not disciplined.

Some of the decisions that the Civil Service Commission has made over the years have been the source of very deep frustration to the board and to the public, former county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.

But others strongly defend the commission, saying it provides a strong check on unfair discipline and petty politics on the part of county managers.

Bob Schoonover, president of the union representing L.A. County social workers, said county leaders are using Merritt as a scapegoat rather than address the real systemic issues facing the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services.

Philip Browning, the department head who fired Merritt, said he was puzzled by the commissions decision to reinstate Merritt.

When an employee challenges a disciplinary action, the commission assigns the case to one of its hearing officers before going to the full panel.

Jeffrey E. Hauptman heard Merritts appeal. In a decision that was later affirmed by the commission, he wrote that in the final analysis [Merritt] bears some culpability for lax supervision but not to the extent to justify his discharge after nearly 24 years of unblemished service.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said the commissioners  who work in law, county lobbying, political fundraising and human resources  were wrongly advised by county lawyers that they could not impose punishment worse than the 30-day suspension Hauptman had recommended.

They could, in fact, have voted to rehear the case themselves and make an entirely new decision on Merritts fate, she said.

After Merritts reinstatement, Kuehl said she identified several areas that she believes require policy changes.

Cases like Merritts often hinge on complex employment law, Kuehl said, yet there is no requirement that hearing officers have any legal training.

She said she was troubled to learn that officers are not assigned to specific county departments, which would let them develop deeper understanding of specialized jobs.

The county, she added, needs to consider creating special units of hearing officers to handle reviews for social workers, sheriffs deputies and others who deal with life-and-death decisions and are governed by a complex set of rules.

Supervisor Hilda Solis said she disagreed with her appointees decision to reinstate Merritt, adding that reform most definitely has to happen. The current process is antiquated and it has to change.

Some states, including Georgia, Indiana and Colorado, have phased out of civil service commissions entirely for many employees, making it easier to fire workers.

Defenders argue that the commissions protect workers from nepotism, political patronage and discrimination.

Hauptman is not a lawyer, but he said he was well-equipped to handle Merritts case. He noted he has worked in human resources at the county for decades, including six years as the interim human resources director for the Department of Children and Family Services.

The supervisors, he said, are taking a lot of political heat because of the bad situation at DCFS, but my decision is based solely on the testimony and evidence at the hearing, and I stand by my decision.

Hauptman also rejects criticism by friends and family of Gabriel that the Civil Service Commission is too friendly to employee union interests.

The hearing officers certainly are not in the pocket of anyone, but I might say some members of the Board of Supervisors might be because of the political contributions they receive from the unions, he said.

Officials at the social workers employee union, SEIU Local 721, said they expect the commissions decision will be vindicated when a criminal court acquits the social workers, who were charged with child abuse and falsifying public records. The four have not yet entered pleas.

I understand people are making an emotional argument against the Civil Service Commission, but its fair to say that we believe in the process and that it should be followed, said Najeeb Khoury, deputy general counsel for the union.

Veronica Luna, a social worker in the Pasadena office of DCFS, said at a rally this week that this incident that happened in the Palmdale office could have happened in any office because we dont have enough workers and caseloads are too high.

garrett.therolf@latimes.com

Twitter: @gtherolf

ALSO

The breakthrough thats leading to a new golden age of space travel

Coachella promoters look to book Dylan, Stones, McCartney and Young for mega-concert

California minimum wage hike hits L.A. apparel industry: The exodus has begun
Los Angeles much-touted plan to equip thousands of police officers with body cameras has stalled amid controversy at City Hall over the programs price tag and whether the Police Department got the best deal possible.

Delays have derailed Mayor Eric Garcettis pledge to provide nearly every officer with a camera by the end of this year, an ambitious proposal that garnered national attention and would make the LAPD the largest law enforcement agency in the country to use the devices on a widespread scale.

LAPD officials do not expect to finish outfitting 7,000 officers until the fall of 2017 at the earliest. And a new proposal, they say, could push the completion date back another year.

Advertisement

The head of the councils public safety committee now wants the LAPD to start over and accept new bids from camera manufacturers.

This is too big to get wrong, said Councilman Mitch Englander, who told The Times he plans to introduce a formal proposal next week. Its more important that we get it right and not just do it quickly.

Despite the initial fanfare, the camera plan came under scrutiny at City Hall over its costs  $57.6 million over five years  with one council member saying he was experiencing sticker shock. In addition, competing technology companies complained they were unfairly left out of the LAPDs selection process, which relied in part on a separate search for body cameras for the much smaller Kern County Sheriffs Department.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

Body cameras have been hailed as a key tool for improving oversight of officers and building community trust in police. Garcetti unveiled his initiative in late 2014 following nationwide protests over the way police officers use force, particularly against African Americans.

Three of Garcettis appointees on the Board of Police Commissioners voiced alarm about Englanders proposal, saying the LAPD had already followed proper contracting procedures and found the best product at a good price.

This is not good for police transparency, accountability or keeping a commitment to our police officers and community members, commission President Matt Johnson said.

Commissioner Steve Soboroff, a longtime advocate for the camera technology, said city lawmakers are horribly underestimating the ramifications of delaying the body camera initiative. Having the LAPD ask camera companies to send in new proposals could drag out the process further, resulting in years of additional challenges and procedural delays by competing firms, he said.

This is an unequivocal disaster for public safety in Los Angeles, Soboroff said.

Garcetti struck a more diplomatic tone, saying through a spokesman that he hoped the council would act as quickly as possible.

The LAPD already has about 860 cameras, purchased through private donations. Last year, the LAPD negotiated a contract with Taser International to provide thousands more as well as replacement equipment, digital storage of the recordings and thousands of Tasers.

Weeks later, the council balked at approving the $31.2-million contract with the Scottsdale firm, sending the proposal back for more deliberations amid concerns over the initiatives overall cost. Council members voiced dismay that the initiative would require scores of LAPD officers to review camera footage, ensure officers were using the devices properly and other tasks. (The LAPD later revised its plan to include more civilian staffers.)

A new vote was never scheduled, and on Friday, council members voted to temporarily use some of the citys camera funds for housing programs.

Englander, perhaps the biggest champion of the body camera program on the council, repeatedly argued last year that the council should push ahead with the Taser contract. But he came under fire from critics who said he should not have accepted $8,400 in campaign contributions from a dozen donors affiliated with the company.

On Friday, Englander said his decision to change course had absolutely nothing to do with those donations. Starting a new competitive process, he said, would allow the city to answer the complaints of rival companies who say they were excluded from the LAPDs search.

The market, he said, has changed dramatically in recent years. He said he also wanted the city to analyze the effect body cameras could have on costly police-related litigation.

We will be the biggest department in the country to deploy them, and making sure and ensuring we do that openly, transparently and correctly is important, he said.

Council President Herb Wesson  who sets the agenda for when and how major issues are decided  said he was comfortable with Englanders approach.

This allows us to start anew, or fresh, if you will, he said. The only thing I would insist is that we try to fast-track this. Because the commitment is there to make sure we have body cameras in place.

Wesson said through a spokeswoman that he hoped a search for a camera vendor would last three to six months. But an LAPD official said it would probably take longer, even if the effort was accelerated.

Maggie Goodrich, the LAPDs chief information officer, said the process of seeking bids, negotiating a deal and finalizing a contract typically takes a year. The department might be able to shave one to three months off because officials already know what theyre looking for in a body camera, she said.

If the council requires new bids, Goodrich said, the complete rollout of the cameras could be delayed until the end of 2018.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said he expected officers to eventually get the body cameras. But starting the contract process over, he said, was not ideal

If thats what we need to do to get this through, then thats what well do, he said.

The delays are reminiscent of the problems the LAPD has faced when putting cameras in the departments patrol cars, a decades-long effort hampered in part by a lack of funding. The LAPD launched its most recent attempt to install those cameras in 2008, but is still working to complete the citywide installation.

Police Commissioner Robert Saltzman said he worries the same could happen to the body camera program if the contracting process was restarted.

I fear a delay in implementation of the on-body cameras now will begin another troubling and unnecessary multi-year process that will be similarly embarrassing for the city, he said. Delaying it now will undermine its likelihood of success and would be regrettable.

kate.mather@latimes.com

Twitter: @katemather

David.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @davidzahniser

ALSO

Man charged with killing his nephews in Arcadia is extradited from Hong Kong

L.A. City Council votes to stop doing business with North Carolina and Mississippi over LGBT laws

Santa Clarita couple accused of sexually abusing children charged with additional felony counts
An appeals court decision this week upholding Californias teacher tenure and seniority rules leaves school reform forces at a crossroads as they press for changes across the nation.

The movement had made the Vergara case  which would have thrown out the nations most generous teacher employment protections  a centerpiece in their effort to remake schools.

Despite the defeat in California, nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups have scored victories in other states. But experts say making inroads has become harder recently as teachers unions have flexed their muscle locally and nationally.

Advertisement

The Vergara decision came just weeks after another major victory for teachers unions. The U.S. Supreme Court was set to review a California case, which could have prevented unions from collecting dues from employees who didnt agree to become members.

Some observers believed the conservative court would rule against the unions. But the court deadlocked 4-4 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.

Chester Finn, a former Reagan administration education official and senior fellow at the conservative-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute, acknowledged that teachers unions have racked up significant victories. The two big courtroom centered strategies for weakening teacher union power both kind of bit the dust in the last few weeks, he said. If I were the head of one of the unions, I would be gloating with satisfaction that my side prevailed and that these bad guys havent done any serious damage to me.

But he and others believe reform efforts can move forward from the defeats, noting they continue to be well-funded and well-organized.

In California, backers were looking for the silver linings in the Vergara defeat while also noting they were appealing the case to the California Supreme Court.

I think where the movement goes is where its been going for the last two years  people are suddenly paying attention to the impact of ineffective teachers on students, about evaluation, about dismissal policies, said Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University who testified on behalf of the Vergara plaintiffs.

Ben Austin, an official with Students Matter, the nonprofit Silicon Valley group sponsoring the Vergara plaintiffs, agrees: I can remember not that long ago when these issues were untouchable; you just couldnt mention them without getting laughed out of the halls of Sacramento.

Unlike in many other states, California lawmakers refused to mandate the use of student test scores as a significant portion of a teachers evaluation. Traditional teacher job protections are probably the strongest in the country: an instructor earns tenure safeguards after two years,; the dismissal process is longer and more complex than for other state employees, and layoffs are based primarily on seniority rather than performance.

The Vergara lawsuit, to supporters, represented a way around the political stronghold. They argue that its far too difficult to remove bad teachers and that this hurts students.

Unions and their supporters said eliminating tenure and seniority would result in a lower-quality teaching corps and cause the profession to attract and retain fewer talented people who have other career options.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers union, hailed the Vegara ruling.

Weingarten acknowledges that the current tenure laws are problematic, and said that the state of California should work together to improve them.

You cant fire your way to a teaching force, she said.

Reform forces scored big wins in North Carolina, which virtually eliminated tenure. And in Wisconsin, union political funding has largely dried up because of laws that limit the collection of membership dues.

Currently, there are two similar lawsuits that target tenure in New York and Minnesota, and backers say those are moving forward despite Vergara.

But the environment has been more challenging elsewhere. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has been pushing back against reforms embraced by predecessor Michael Bloomberg.

Still, one advantage the reformers still retain is money. The movement is backed by some of the nations wealthiest foundations and philanthropists, including Bloomberg and the heirs to the Walmart fortune.

They have a huge reservoir of money, said retired California teacher Anthony Cody, who has become a leader of a group opposing the reformers. And they will keep trying to find avenues to break unions wherever they can.

joy.resmovits@latimes.com

howard.blume@latimes.com

sonali.kohli@latimes.com
There are signs that deaths connected to fentanyl, a powerful painkiller tied to a string of fatal overdoses in Northern California, are on the rise in the Los Angeles area, law enforcement and health officials said this week.

The drug, an opiate used on patients after surgery thats up to 100 times stronger than morphine, is appearing now more than ever in overdoses in California as a prescription drug abuse epidemic evolves nationwide.

Deadly in small doses, drug dealers and producers are using the opiate to either spike doses of heroin for greater potency at a cheaper cost or as a counterfeit for another drug like Norco, according to Sacramento County health officials.

Advertisement

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Countys Department of Public Health announced that while fentanyl-related deaths hovered around 40 a year between 2011 and 2013, deaths jumped to 62 in 2014, about a 50% increase. Data for 2015 and 2016 were not available.

The uptick, along with a string of 51 overdoses, 11 of them fatal, in the Sacramento County area over the last month, triggered an alert from the California Department of Public Health.

The state has requested that health officials report any suspected fentanyl-related overdoses or deaths and to warn people with a history of substance abuse about the wave of recent incidents.

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

Obviously its been big on the East Coast and Midwest, its possible that it could be coming this way, said John Martin, special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Francisco.

Fentanyl is a new wrinkle in the drug trade, he said. Approximately 700 people died from fentanyl and its analogs nationwide between late 2013 and late 2014, according to a recent report from the DEA.

Past investigations have revealed that Mexican cartels are purchasing fentanyl produced in China then using traditional trafficking routes to bring it into the United States. In 2014, DEA officers seized 26 pounds of fentanyl in a stash house in Los Angeles.

A few grains of the odorless white powder, often called China white or Apache, can be enough to kill.

Prescribed to cancer patients for decades, fentanyl is the most powerful painkiller available for medical treatment. Its typically administered as a lozenge, patch or injection to patients with severe pain.

In February, agents at the U.S.-Mexico borders Otay Mesa Port of Entry caught a man attempting to smuggle in about 1,200 tablets of fentanyl labeled as oxycodone. Fentanyl is 25 to 50 times more potent than heroin and can be absorbed through the skin, authorities said.

The arrests were the first time authorities found fentanyl masked as oxycodone at the passing through the Mexico border, authorities said.

This is just another face of the opioid epidemic, said Dr. Caleb Alexander, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness.

The demand for fentanyl will remain strong until the prescription drug epidemic is under control, he said.

Do we need to be worried about it? Yes, Alexander said. But I dont think ... these deaths can be separated from the surge in overuse of prescription opioid. Its part and parcel of the same problem.

Staff writer Soumya Karlamangla contributed to this report.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.

ALSO

Victorville teen accidentally shoots, kills friend, officials say

L.A. Councilman Bonin names Venice sites for homeless housing, bathrooms and storage

Santa Clarita couple accused of sexually abusing children charged with additional felony counts
A man charged with killing his two teenage nephews in their Arcadia home returned to Los Angeles on Friday after being extradited from Hong Kong.

Deyun Shi, 44, boarded a plane to Hong Kong hours after the boys were killed in their beds with a bolt cutter early on the morning of Jan. 22.

Shi has also been charged with attacking his estranged wife with a maul before he allegedly broke into the boys home while they slept.

Advertisement

He arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday afternoon, escorted by sheriffs deputies and FBI agents, and will be arraigned Monday, officials said.

Shi did not fight the extradition, but the proceedings took almost three months.

To ensure Shis return, prosecutors assured Hong Kong authorities that they would not seek the death penalty, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorneys office said Friday.

Hong Kong does not have capital punishment and might have stopped Shis extradition if execution had been a possibility, officials said.

Shi is a wealthy Chinese businessman who moved to the San Gabriel Valley with his wife and two sons about a year ago.

His attorney, Barry Greenhalgh, said Shi has family and business interests in Asia, so he had reasons to travel there and was probably not attempting to flee.

According to Chinese media accounts, Shi was a central figure in at least four bribery cases in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Two Shenzhen officials were sentenced to 10-year prison terms for accepting bribes from Shi, who has not been charged with any bribery-related crimes, the Chinese media reports said.

In the Arcadia case, Shis wife, Yujing Lin, had filed a temporary restraining order against Shi and was seeking to divorce him, according to court records.

Shi had moved out of the familys La Canada Flintridge home but allegedly returned on the night of Jan. 21, breaking in and attacking his wife with a maul, which is similar to an ax and used to split wood, according to Los Angeles County sheriffs detectives.

The boys parents went to the hospital to pick up Shis wife, leaving the brothers asleep in their beds. Sometime between midnight and 5 a.m., investigators allege that Shi broke in and killed his nephews, who died of blunt-force trauma to their upper torsos.

Lt. Eddie Hernandez said there is a lot of forensic evidence  including blood and blood smears, linking Shi to the deaths. The victims, William and Anthony Lin, were both students at Arcadia High School.

After returning from the hospital, the boys parents went to bed, thinking their sons were also asleep. Several hours later, the father, David Lin, left to run an errand. The mother was alone in the house when she discovered the bodies.

Detectives found evidence that Shi had left the country and rushed to obtain an arrest warrant before the plane landed. Hong Kong police took Shi into custody.

1 / 8 Hundreds attended a memorial for William Lin, 16, and Anthony Lin, 15 at Arcadia High School. The two were allegedly killed by their uncle. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 8 Candles spell out a heart at the memorial. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 8 Hundreds of students and staffers attended the memorial for the slain brothers. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 8 Holding flowers, mourners pay their respectst to William and Anthony Lin. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 8 Mourners hold their candles at the vigil for the teenage brothers, who allegedly were beaten to death by their own uncle. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 8 Arcadia High School students and staff mourned the deaths of teenage brothers William and Anthony Lin. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 8 Arcadia High School students read messages to William and Anthony from mourners. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 8 Flowers are piled on a table in memory of the slain brothers and Arcadia High School students. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Rose Tsai, an attorney for the Lin family, said the boys parents had helped the Shis settle in when they first came to the United States. The father continued to help his sister  Shis wife  as she dealt with marital problems.

Mr. Lin acted out of pure love and care for his sister to try to help in a difficult situation with the domestic dispute with her husband, Tsai said. And the ending was never expected.

William Lin, 16, was a student of music and tae kwon do who volunteered at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. He competed in Science Olympiads and hoped to become a doctor.

His younger brother, Anthony, who was 15, was known for cracking jokes and volunteered at the local food bank.

Relatives said that both boys liked to cook, making Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for their family.

At a news conference at Sheriffs Department headquarters on Friday, their father thanked law enforcement officials for bringing evil back here to face justice.

Day and night, every moment is pain for us, David Lin said. We spent our effort and used our love to raise these two boys. In just one night, they are gone, they are gone forever.

cindy.chang@latimes.com

@cindychangLA

ALSO

Victorville teen accidentally shoots, kills friend, officials say

Manson followers chilling murder description: We started stabbing and cutting up the lady

Santa Clarita couple accused of sexually abusing children charged with additional felony counts
The University of Californias student association late Friday called on UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign amid revelations that the university paid to remove Internet references to a 2011 incident in which police pepper-sprayed students.

The group is the latest to join a growing call for Katehi to step down.

It was disclosed that UC Davis paid at least $175,000 to clean up its online reputation.

Advertisement

Newly released documents obtained by the Sacramento Bee show the university was determined to improve both its image and that of Katehi.

In one case, UC Davis worked with Maryland company Nevins & Associates on a six-month contract that paid $15,000 monthly, according to a copy of the document. The deal was signed in January 2013, just a few months after University of California regents agreed to pay a settlement to 21 UC Davis students and alumni who sued the university.

Nevins & Associates said it would work to remedy the venomous rhetoric about UC Davis and the chancellor through strategic placement of online content.

That included an aggressive and comprehensive online campaign to dilute negative search results with positive stories.

In June 2014, the university awarded an $82,500 contract to the public relations firm Idmloco to design a comprehensive search engine results management strategy. The documents outlining the contracts were released to the Sacramento Bee in response to requests filed under the California Public Records Act.

Idmloco vowed to achieve a reasonable balance of positive natural search results and identify key messages and themes that would be useful.

The company was awarded two more contracts last year  one for $8,000 a month up to a limit of $96,000 and another for $22,500 a month, or a maximum of $67,500.

Under those contracts, Idmloco was to assess and revamp the universitys social media messaging.

In a statement Thursday, UC Davis officials defended the efforts as an important part of an overall communications strategy.

It is important that the excellent work underway at UC Davis with respect to educating the next generation of students, pursuing groundbreaking research, and providing important services to the state is not lost during a campus crisis, including the crisis that ensued following the extremely regrettable incident when police pepper-sprayed student protesters in 2011, the statement said.

Police at first contended that pepper spray was the most appropriate tool on hand to deal with what they described as an unruly mob encircling the officers. At the time, the Occupy Wall Street movement had spilled onto college campuses, combining with student anger over rising tuition and cuts to higher education to spur protests and sit-ins.

However, a UC report in April 2012 declared that the pepper spraying violated policy and that school leaders bungled how it handled the protest. The report from a task force appointed by Katehi and then-UC President Mark Yudof strongly rebutted campus police claims that the Occupy demonstrators who had pitched tents on a UC Davis quad posed a violent threat.

In 2013, John Pike, the former UC Davis police officer who pepper sprayed the campus protesters, received $38,055 in workers compensation after claiming he suffered depression and anxiety as result of the public outcry.

Pike, who had filed for the compensation from the University of California system, also cited stress from death threats he received after the incident. Pike was fired in July 2012 after being on paid administrative leave for eight months.

Attempts by UC Davis officials to control negative Internet memes are not surprising because of the sheer volume of people who surf the Web, said Ira Kalb, an expert in branding, image creation and marketing at USC. Managing these reputations and protecting them from being hijacked is a growing field, he said.

Software enables firms to pick up feeds from social media and analyze whether mentions are positive or negative.

Its very important to manage a reputation, and people often dont realize that, Kalb said. So many companies have been seriously damaged for not having a strategy for handling this.

The UC Davis revelations come as Katehi has drawn increasing criticism  and calls for her resignation  for other actions such as accepting paid outside board positions, including serving on the board of John Wiley & Sons, a college textbook publisher, from 2012 to 2014.

On Thursday, Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) said Katehi should resign.

The chancellor serving on the board of a textbook company was sufficient enough grounds to suspect that the best interests of the students werent being served, Gatto said in a statement. But the recent disclosure that the university made substantial, questionable PR expenditures cemented it in my mind.

Emily Breuninger, a graduate student in sociology, said she wasnt surprised the university spent money to polish its reputation.

Ive been disappointed with this administration since I got here, said Breuninger, one of dozens of protesters conducting a sit-in outside Katehis office. The university keeps repeating how much they value free speech and public discourse but they are actively trying to stamp out the publics ability to know whats going on.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

Twitter: @sarahparvini

Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.
Jeremiah A. Smith was fresh out of prison, having done five years for robbery, burglary and assault. It took him just 12 days to get locked up again, this time on suspicion of first-degree murder.

Police said the 26-year-old broke into a tattoo and head shop in Spokane, Wash., and shot Ceasar Medina in the neck and chest. Medina, 17, was watching the shop that May night in 2015.

Trouble is, Smith shouldnt have been out on the streets. He had been mistakenly released three months early because of a state computer glitch.

Advertisement

Ninety more days behind bars might not have turned around Smiths life. But it might have saved Medinas.

Smiths case is part of a broader breach at jails and prisons across the U.S. in which computer glitches, clerical errors and other breakdowns have opened the cell doors for thousands of convicts to walk free before their sentences have been fully served.

In Michigan, 62 sex offenders were mistakenly released in 2009 because of clerical errors; all were later rearrested.

A computer error in the California prison system resulted in the early release of 1,450 inmates in 2010 and 2011 as part of an effort to ease overcrowding (none could be returned to custody, having been handed irrevocable paroles).

See more of our top stories on Facebook >>

And Nebraska prison officials mistakenly used a flawed formula that shaved 750 years off the collective sentences of 200 of the states worst criminals in 2014.

The state of Washington, though, set what appears to be the high-water mark by mistakenly releasing 3,300 inmates, an exodus that continued for 13 years before it was corrected.

Even when state Department of Corrections officials learned that a computer problem had been prematurely springing inmates for a decade, they failed to fix it for three more years. It was during this stretch that Smith was freed.

Twenty-nine other inmates, also wrongly released during the 13-year period, committed an assortment of felonies and misdemeanors during the time they should have still been in prison.

The series of errors, of omission and commission, combined for tragic results.  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who apologized to victims families and the public for the mistaken release of prison inmates

There were systemic errors over several years that undermined the core mission of DOC, which is to protect the public, said Gov. Jay Inslee, who apologized to victims families and the public for the early releases. The series of errors, of omission and commission, combined for tragic results.

Last week, as the state continued to calculate the full effects of the 13-year breakdown, state Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson issued an internal report that lays much of the blame on flawed advice given by one of his assistants.

In an assessment of the damage done, Assistant Atty. Gen. Ronda Larson wrote that if a wrongly released inmate should immediately go and kill the victim of his earlier crime, the likelihood that DOC will be sued and lose in a tort lawsuit is unreasonably high. Yet, the report shows, she didnt press for an instant software fix, or a hand calculation of sentences.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

The miscalculations surfaced after the family of one victim contacted the Department of Corrections to complain that the perpetrator in their case was being freed too soon.

Officials checked to see whether other inmates had been mistakenly scheduled for premature release, leading them to the programming problem. The error had been entered into the system as officials attempted to adjust the formula for giving prisoners credit for good behavior, a task made necessary by a 2002 court ruling. But the Department of Corrections took no immediate action while the unearned good time credits continued to pile up.

When word of the glitch finally reached Inslees office last December, he ordered state officials to make a correction and to review individual sentencing records of the entire 12-prison, 18,400-inmate system to determine whether some inmates should be put back behind bars.

The latest update, in March, showed that more than 1,000 of those released early from 2011 through 2015 had since earned enough community credits  by staying out of trouble  to complete their sentences. But 116 were rearrested and returned to prison to finish out their terms. On average, sentences had been incorrectly reduced by 55 days.

Inslee also brought in former federal prosecutors Carl Blackstone and Robert Westinghouse to examine the problem from start to finish. They determined that the delay in correcting the problem can be traced to Larsons 2012 memo stating it was unnecessary to calculate sentences by hand.

Although this will result in offenders being released earlier than the law allows for the time being, until the software is fixed, she wrote, the DOC has been releasing them earlier for a decade and a few more months is not going to make that much difference.

She figured a fix would be completed soon. Another top official estimated six months.

I was told that not many inmates would be affected if the computer change wasnt immediately made, Larson said in an interview. The second incorrect thing is that we thought [the glitch] would be fixed in two months. Given what we know now, those assumptions were wrong. Garbage in, garbage out.

What followed was 36 months of scheduling  and scuttling  the computer reprogramming effort. Investigators said they found no persuasive explanations for the repeated delays.

It was clear, they added in their 52-page report, that Larson understood that if DOC released one defendant earlier than the law allows, this could potentially cause harm to a victim and significant liability to the taxpayers. The early release of hundreds of inmates would greatly increase the odds that innocent people would be victimized and the taxpayers would be compelled to pay significant damages.

But the issue was kept from higher-ups, including the attorney general, governor and prisons director, investigators said.

A month after Inslee was told of the glitch, it was fixed. A month after that, Larson resigned amid a public uproar and political accusations, joining three other top officials who left the attorney generals office and Department of Corrections as a result of the scandal.

They included Dan Pacholke, appointed just months earlier to head the Department of Corrections. It is my hope that with this resignation, he said, the politicians who would use this tragic event for their political purposes will have satisfied their need for blood.

As for Smith, there are probably no more early releases in his future. He was convicted of murder and is facing life in prison.

Anderson is a special correspondent.

ALSO

The breakthrough thats leading to a new golden age of space travel

Coachella promoters look to book Dylan, Stones, McCartney and Young for mega-concert

California minimum wage hike hits L.A. apparel industry: The exodus has begun
In L.A., Hillary Clinton lauds California values as American values

Hillary Clinton, traversing across California for fundraisers, lauded the state on Saturday for what she called leadership on a host of issues, including raising the minimum wage and increasing compensation for those taking paid family sick leave.

Clinton, the favorite to win New Yorks primary on Tuesday against her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, noted that New Yorkers recently passed similar measures.

Lets take California values and New York values and put them to work for American values, she said to thunderous applause from dozens of supporters packed into a library at Los Angeles Southwest College.

The line from Clinton played off comments from Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who has assailed so-called New York values as those of liberal politicians.

Clintons visit to Southern California is part of a two-day swing through the state. On Friday evening, she attended a high-dollar fundraiser in San Francisco hosted by Amal Clooney and her husband, actor George Clooney. Shes scheduled to attend another fundraiser hosted by the Clooneys on Saturday night, where some tickets cost $33,400 to dine with the former secretary of State.

In her remarks on Saturday, Clinton offered several nods to Californias June 7 primary, noting that she will be here often, working for the support of voters in a state where 172 delegates will be up for grabs.

I love coming to California. ... We need to get to work for a big victory in California, said Clinton, who has the backing of prominent politicians such as Rep. Maxine Waters and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Though Clinton clearly would prefer to have the nomination sewn up by June, Sanders staying power is making it increasingly apparent that California will be more meaningful than in past presidential contests.

On Saturday, Clinton took aim at Sanders for his support of a bill to vote to give gun makers and sellers immunity from liability if their firearms are used in a shooting.

No matter how often hes asked by family members of those who have been murdered, he sticks to his talking points, Clinton said.

Some of those who attended Clintons event at the community college said it was time for Sanders, who trails Clinton by nearly 200 pledged delegates, to exit the race.

He needs to leave the race. Its over for him, Its about math, and its not on his side, Linda Slauson, 63, a marriage and family therapist from Long Beach, said as she waited in line on the manicured grounds of the college. Its time for us as Democrats to unite.

But first, Clinton will fight to win California.

I cant wait to be here campaigning in this great state, she told supporters.
A half-ton bull bleeds steadily, growing weaker as a large crowd of onlookers cheers the animals increasing agony and exhaustion. After enduring taunts and repeated pricks by human performers, the coup de grace is delivered by knife.

This is an art form?

More than 130 readers took issue with a Monday front-page headline on bullfighting in Tijuana describing it as such. As of Friday, letters expressing outrage at the article were still streaming in. Here is what a handful of those writers said.

Animal rights activist Patty Shenker worries that most readers wont get much farther than the headline:

Advertisement

For The Times to call bullfighting an art form on the front page of the paper was really unnecessary and subtly implies your acceptance of it. This is not art; this is horrific animal abuse and the promotion of violence in a world that knows far too much of it.

This bullfighter is not an artist; hes a sadist. People like him may call it art, but The Times certainly should not have.

Reporter Nigel Duara gave a good description of the gruesome, heartless practice, but I fear most readers dont get that far.

Kathleen Barnard of Norwalk, Ohio, writes that bullfighting is increasingly unacceptable even in Mexico:

Somebody was time traveling back to Hemingways specious machismo on some vicious Kool-Aid when he or she came up with that headline.

This bullfighter is not an artist; hes a sadist. People like him may call it art, but The Times certainly should not have.  Animal rights activist Patty Shenker

The article itself reported that 80% of the people in Baja California oppose the sadistic ritual. About 100,000 people marched against the corrida last year in Spain.

Torturing an innocent animal to death has no place in a modern civilized society. The Mexican people are better than that. Let the die-hard aficionados investigate the art in pulling each others fingernails out and leave the helpless creatures alone.

Writing from Tijuana, Erika Valdes says bullfighting sickens society:

Bullfighting it is not an art form; its barbaric. We citizens of Tijuana hate this activity because of its cruelty to animals and because it promotes violence in our society.

We believe that the crime we suffer in our streets and the bullying in our schools happens because of a lack of empathy and compassion. Bullfighting teaches children not to feel compassion for a suffering creature.

Our government is corrupt, and we are fighting against that too. Because 80% of Baja Californians are against bullfighting but our government apparently is fine with it, we have to fight so we can be fairly represented.

San Diego resident Mike Schooling takes issue with referring to bullfighting even as a sport:

Torturing a bull is not an art. It is not a sport either.

A sport means that either side has at least a 50% chance of winning. The fact that the bull only rarely leaves the ring alive means that it is not a sport.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
To the editor: Thank you for your excellent editorial demonstrating that idealism and pragmatism are not mutually exclusive in American politics, especially as they relate to the Democratic contest between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Campaign 2016: Idealism battles pragmatism in the Democratic Party, editorial, April 13)

Sadly, this message has been often lost in the current presidential primaries, where personal and ideological attacks often reign supreme and discussion of vital issues often takes a back seat to delegate counts and poll projections.

From the perspective of a civic educator, I worry about what effect all of this is having on children and students throughout the country, who are just developing an understanding of politics and participation in civic life. Our next generation of citizens needs to witness and learn how to discuss controversial issues in a constructive way, understand how government works, think critically and form evidence-based opinions on public policy issues. These are key components of high-quality civics learning and must be a part of every childs education if our democracy is to survive and thrive.

Advertisement

A little modeling from the candidates, their campaigns and those who cover them would be much appreciated.

Marshall Croddy, Los Angeles

The writer is president of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes civics education.

..

To the editor: Your editorial referred to Abraham Lincoln but missed the opportunity to cite the ultimate example of compromise by the ultimate politician  and thereby failed to expose the fatal flaw in Sanders candidacy.

The Emancipation Proclamation loftily orders that all persons held as slaves  shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. But, well, not exactly: Only the slaves in states rebelling against the Union would be free. Slavery was still just peachy in border states like Kentucky, which had not seceded.

Lincoln knew if he outlawed slavery nationwide, Kentucky would join the Confederacy and the Union would lose its full control of the Ohio River, and the war would be lost. A lovable, well-meaning, impractical idealist like Sanders probably would have outlawed slavery everywhere from the get-go. Hed have been the darling of the abolitionists while losing Kentucky and the United States along with it.

Russell S. Kussman, Pacific Palisades

..

To the editor: The editorial repeats the superficial comparison between idealistic Sanders, the naive candy man, and pragmatic Clinton, the voice of reason.

Far better is Isaiah Berlins comparison of the fox, who knows many things, and the hedgehog, who knows one big thing. There is a place for both, but at present realism points to the big thing stressed by Sanders and ignored in the editorial.

Grotesque inequality and the inevitable corruption that it brings have so distorted our politics that even clever foxes cant achieve much. When their intelligent proposals offend the corporations, they will be blocked or amended to uselessness by members of Congress reciting lobbyists talking points and terrified of primary challenges.

The fox may at least stop things from getting worse and will likely get my vote (Im being realistic). But Sanders the hedgehog is the more pragmatic choice for these times.

Allan Stewart-Oaten, Santa Barbara

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Long lines of idling cars waiting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border are a part of life in San Ysidro.

Concerned about the neighborhoods proximity to the worlds busiest land port of entry, a local community development agency has launched a study to analyze the health risks associated with air pollution at the border.

Casa Familiar, which provides services and programs for residents of south San Diego County, has begun a two-year project funded by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. It aims to examine the effects of exposure to pollution from idling vehicles at the port of entry and the migration of pollutants from Tijuana.

Advertisement

The agency will deploy data sensors in 12 locations across San Ysidro to measure how air pollution changes over time and space and determine the areas that are most affected.

A lot of people have of course placed their concern on the actual port of entry, the border crossing, simply because they equate vehicle idling to a lot of exhaust emission, said David Flores, community development officer for Casa Familiar.

The state has allotted $225,000 for the project, which will be divided among the partnering agencies. Casa Familiar was given $49,000 for community outreach and participation. Scientists with San Diego State and the University of Washington are assisting in the effort.

We feel that being on the border results in the community being exposed to some pollutant concentrations that would not be faced by communities away from the border, said Penelope Quintana, a professor at San Diego States Graduate School of Public Health and a principal investigator.

In a 2014 study published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, Quintana and other scientists sampled pollutants related to traffic  black carbon and ultrafine particulate matter  at four rooftop locations in San Ysidro. Results showed higher daytime pollutant concentrations near the point of entry. Pollution concentrations were higher during low wind speeds or when the wind was blowing from the port of entry toward San Ysidro.

As part of the new project, Quintana and her team also will analyze the utility and accuracy of the monitors being used.

Casa Familiar hosted two community workshops in recent weeks, in which residents were asked about the citys air quality. With that feedback, a committee of residents will determine where to place the monitors. The organization expects to have the monitors up by the summer, Flores said.

Bertha Ruiz attended both workshops. She said she notices smog building up each morning, particularly between the hillside and freeways.

Our environment is extremely important, especially knowing that we have so much contamination on our community, she said.

tatiana.sanchez@sduniontribune.com

Sanchez writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

ALSO

The breakthrough thats leading to a new golden age of space travel

Coachella promoters look to book Dylan, Stones, McCartney and Young for mega-concert

California minimum wage hike hits L.A. apparel industry: The exodus has begun
La Canada residents recently weighed in on possible measures to be included in a climate action plan that will help city officials draft policies to lower greenhouse gas emissions generated by the community.

Their input, along with correspondence received by residents before the end of a June 9 public review period, could bring big changes to La Canada in the coming years, including a switch to a single-hauler citywide waste removal contract and a potential carpooling system for student pickup and drop-off.

NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in your community >>

In a meeting held April 7 at City Hall, participants reviewed more than 100 possible actions that could be taken pertaining to water and energy conservation, solid waste reduction, transportation and urban greening.

Within each category were several suggestions that could someday be used to guide lawmakers toward legislation that would bring the city of La Canada Flintridge further into compliance with state and federal emission reduction targets slated for 2020 and 2035.

Our goal tonight is to bring to you what weve developed, explained Christina McAdams of Rincon Consultants, the group advising staff on the plan thanks to a $75,000 Southern California Assn. of Governments grant. We want to show you what we have and get your feedback.

A recently released Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory showed that in 2014, La Canadans used approximately 203,775 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e). More than half of those emissions came from vehicle trips beginning or ending inside city limits, while emissions resulting from the use of electricity and natural gas in commercial and residential accounted for about 33%.

Possible measures under review at last weeks meeting ranged from expanding the citys use of recycled water and implementing a ban of plastic bags and other single-use items to building more bike and pedestrian areas in town and traffic flow improvements that would keep cars from idling too long.

We all have seen the traffic along Foothill Boulevard has just skyrocketed in the last two or three years. Bike paths (alone) arent going to solve that.  Alan Hoffman, La Canada resident

While some measures have been previously identified by the city as areas to focus on, others were collected from residents in previous workshops held monthly since February. Those indicated as high priorities will be studied further and their potential impacts on emission reductions enumerated for further public review, McAdams said.

La Canada resident and solar panel owner Alan Hoffman expressed concern about suggestions conflicting with one another, such as measures calling for more shade trees thwarting solar panelists need for maximum sunlight, and marked several transportation-related measures as priorities.

We all have seen the traffic along Foothill Boulevard has just skyrocketed in the last two or three years. Bike paths (alone) arent going to solve that, Hoffman said.

Carol Caley, who submitted suggestions at a previous meeting, said she was interested in the planting and maintenance of trees in town, while JPLer Beth Fabinsky asked pointed questions about the emissions-reducing impact of the measures.

Deputy Community Development Director Susan Koleda said a draft of the climate action plan will be presented to the La Canada Flintridge City Council for review in a May 17 meeting.

After that, one more public meeting will take place at City Hall on Thursday, May 19 at 6 p.m., to allow community members every opportunity to provide input before the June 9 public review period ends.

Hoffman said while he was in favor of collecting suggestions on how to lower greenhouse gases, seeing how legislators applied them would be key.

It looks good on paper  even the bullet train looks good on paper. But the real tough thing is the implementation, he said.

Anyone unable to attend the meetings in person may direct comments and questions to Christina McAdams at cmcadams@rinconconsultants.com. For more information, call Deputy Director of Community Development Susan Koleda at (818) 790-8881. Documents can be viewed online at www.lcf.ca.gov/planning/climate-action-plan.

--

Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine

--

ALSO:

Most local water users meet March savings goal

La Canada Educational Foundation executive director to step down

La Canada City Council welcomes new mayor in dais shuffle
On a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos  the front line of Europes biggest refugee crisis since World War II  Pope Francis chided the continent for its treatment of refugees and migrants.

Then, leading by example, he flew back to the Vatican with 12 Muslims from three Syrian families under his protection.

The five-hour visit Saturday was meant to call attention to the crisis. More than 1.1 million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa have arrived in Europe since the beginning of last year. In recent months, several countries have closed their borders. About 50,000 migrants and refugees have been stranded in Greece.

Advertisement

See the most-read stories this hour >>

I have wanted to be with you today, the pope told people living at the Moria registration center, which has become a detention camp. I want to tell you that you are not alone.

Young men there shook his hand or bent to kiss it. Some took photos with their phones that had helped guide them to Europe. One man sobbed as he asked for a blessing. A young girl fell at the popes feet in tears.

Citing the tale of the good Samaritan, the pope called on the world for a compassionate response to the crisis: May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history.

At the port, Francis led a memorial service for the thousands who have died in the Mediterranean Sea trying to cross from Turkey to Greeces islands.

Wake us from the slumber of indifference, open our eyes to their suffering, and free us from the insensitivity born of worldly comfort and self-centeredness, he said in Italian before a minutes silence.

A crowd waved Greek and Vatican flags as a coast guard boat patrolled in the background.

A total of 4,400 people  including hundreds of children  have died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of last year, according to the United Nations.

Lesbos is now the focal point of a controversial deal reached last month between the European Union and Turkey that is meant to deter any more people from crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands  the porous frontier of the European Union.

Since midnight March 20, any migrant or refugee arriving on a Greek island is detained, quickly evaluated for asylum and, if not approved, returned to Turkey.

Under the deal, EU member states must resettle one Syrian refugee for every Syrian returned to Turkey. Turkey, in turn, will receive billions of dollars to help care for its refugees.

Human rights groups have criticized the detention of women and children and others in need and the lack of healthcare, sanitation facilities and legal aid in the camps, as well as the policy of returning people to Turkey.

The Vatican did not violate the agreement in bringing the 12 Syrians back with the pope. These are all people who were already in camps in Lesbos before the agreement between the European Union and Turkey, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

The Vatican will take care of the families  two from Damascus and one from Dair Alzour, in the area occupied by Islamic State militants. Their homes had been destroyed in bombings.

Francis said Europes worries about the refugee influx were understandable and legitimate.

But he added: We must never forget, however, that migrants, rather than simply being a statistic, are first of all persons who have faces, names and individual stories. Europe is the homeland of human rights, and whoever sets foot on European soil ought to sense this, and thus become more aware of the duty to respect and defend those rights.

In a short meeting with the pope, Greeces prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, said he was proud of how Greece had dealt with the influx of more than 1 million refugees over the last year even as others, indeed, in the name of Christian Europe, raised walls against them.

Ieronymos II, the archbishop who heads the Orthodox Church of Greece and accompanied Francis in Lesbos, told reporters that Europe has displayed a bankruptcy of humanity.

I take pride in the Greeks, who even though going through their own struggles, are helping the refugees make their own calvary a little less ponderous, their uphill road a little less rough, he said.

Also joining the pope was the ecumenical patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Bartholomew I, an ethnic Greek with citizenship in Turkey, where he is based.

The visit was only the second by a pope to Greek territory since the Great Schism of 1054, when what is now the Orthodox Church broke away from the Catholic Church.

Petrakis is a special correspondent.

ALSO

The breakthrough thats leading to a new golden age of space travel

Coachella promoters look to book Dylan, Stones, McCartney and Young for mega-concert

California minimum wage hike hits L.A. apparel industry: The exodus has begun
Donald Trump is now hitting record high support in his run the 2016 Republican nomination, and now leads Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by 18 points in their race for the Oval Office.

A new Fox News national poll now has Trump registering 45 percent support among GOP voters and leading Cruz 45 percent to 27 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich closely trials Cruz at 25 percent.

Trump's widening lead comes just three weeks after the same poll found him leading Cruz by just three points at 41 percent to 38 percent. The 41 percent he registered last month previously stood as his highest level of support.

Trump's Biggest Support Comes From non-College Grads

A deeper analysis of the data finds Trump's most ardent support comes from GOP voters without a college degree. A robust 54 percent of all such voters openly voice their support for Trump. In addition, 50 percent of voters who self-identify as "very conservative" insist they plan to support the New York City real estate mogul and political neophyte. ...

Just as Trump's lead has grown wider, pollsters found the race between Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has tightened.

Clinton, Sanders Race Grows Tighter

According to the poll, Clinton now leads Sanders 48 percent to 46 percent. Just last month, before Sanders ran off eight wins in nine primaries, Clinton led Sanders 55 percent to 42 percent.

Researchers found the biggest shift in the trajectory of that race comes from among female voters, where Clinton's support has recently declined by 11 points and Sanders' has surged by nine.

When it comes to potential general election match-ups, Clinton leads Trump and Cruz by an average of four points, but trials Kasich 49 percent to 40 percent.

Meanwhile, Sanders leads Trump and Cruz by an average of 13 points, but that lead shrinks to just four points when he is pitted against Kasich.

Yet, when asked which Republican has the best chance of knocking off Clinton, GOP voters pick Trump first at 42 percent, followed by Cruz at 24 percent and Kasich at 20 percent.

"When it comes to electability, the disconnect between what Republicans think and what polling data show is astounding," said Republican pollster Daron Shaw.

With voters set to go to the polls in New York on April 19, a recent Baruch College poll shows Trump now hitting 60 percent support and leading Cruz by a stunning 43 points.
Back in January, the Social Market Foundation, a think tank, established its cross-party Commission on Inequality in Education. It wants to tackle the disparity of attainment and break down barriers it identified relating to where you live, your familys income and your ethnicity.

Yesterday, Nick chaired a meeting of the Commission at Sheffield Hallam University.

Nick said:

On launching the commission, our research showed that where young people live now has more impact on their performance at school than used to be the case. It is not just the relative wealth of parents that holds lots of bright kids back: it is postcode inequality too. What part of the country a child grows up in has a real impact on their life chances. Some places have been better than others at breaking that link between disadvantage and doing badly at school. But parts of Sheffield are struggling. We think that problems in hiring and then keeping hold of good teachers are a big part of what drives these differences. This is why were bringing together a group of teachers and school leaders from across the city to talk about the challenges they face and what needs to change.

The Commission will make its recommendations early next year.
Owen Jones in the Guardian recently wrote an article entitled: I signed an open letter to Donald Trump, and you should too:

Trumps unapologetic embrace of racism, xenophobia and misogyny vindicates all of those ugly prejudices the world over. And millions of Americans are horrified about Trump. They deserve our solidarity and support. There is, after all, another United States, one forged by immigrants and transformed by courageous Americans who fought racism, sexism and homophobia. That is a United States millions of us believe in. And that is why we should sign this letter.

I wont be signing this letter. I remember 2004 and the Guardians Operation Clark County too clearly (which to be fair Owen Jones also does). That was when the Guardian urged its readers to write letters to residents in a key swing county in the USA (Clark County, Ohio) to ask people not to vote for George W Bush in order to save the world. (In retrospect, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz make George W Bush look like Goofy).

The operation was quite sophisticated. You went onto a website and were designated the name and address of a voter in Ohio. Then you wrote a letter to them, as a concerned global citizen, asking them not to vote for George W Bush. I wrote such a letter. In retrospect, how ridiculous it must have seemed to the person who received it!  Receiving a letter out of the blue from some twit in England. Indeed, the Guardian even recruited noted luvvies such as John le Carre, Lady Antonia Fraser and Richard Dawkins to write such letters.

I cannot help creasing up with laughter when I imagine the reaction of some blue collar worker in Springfield, Ohio as they opened a lavender envelope from Lady Antonia Fraser and read the first few lines quoting from Ogden Nash (who at least had the advantage of being American):

O duty Why hast thou not the visage of a sweetie or a cutie  ? Why art thou so different from Venus? And why do thou and I have so few interests in common between us?

The reaction of Clark County residents to this avalanche of Guardian attention can be gauged from these reactions, perhaps beautifully epitomised by this one:

KEEP YOUR FUCKIN LIMEY HANDS OFF OUR ELECTION. HEY, SHITHEADS, REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDNT WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE, THATS WHY WE KICKED YOUR ASSES OUT. FOR THE 47% OF YOU WHO DONT WANT PRESIDENT BUSH, I SAY THIS  TOUGH SHIT!

PROUD AMERICAN VOTING FOR BUSH!

It was even suggested that the Guardians campaign helped swing the election to Bush (It was the Guardian wot won it).

So, no, I wont be signing an open letter to Donald Trump.

The photo above shows George W Bush speaking in Springfield, Ohio (part of Clark County) during the 2004 presidential election campaign.

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
AUTHOR Colum McCann is to launch a new global HQ for international arts education organisation Narrative 4 based in the city centre this Sunday.

McCann, co-founder and president of the New York based group, which promotes social change through storytelling, will preside over the launch alongside Hunt Museum chair John Moran, former secretary general in the Department of Finance, who is a board member of the project.

Narrative 4, which is backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Star Wars director JJ Abrams  among many others  is to take over the building at 58 OConnell Street for its global HQ.

Originally founded by more than 100 artists from around the world, including Salman Rushdie, Sting and Ian McEwan, it is also supported by several high-profile Irish and American business people, including Loretta Brennan Glucksman.

Moves to open an office in Limerick have been some time in the making. During City of Culture, Narrative 4 ran a pilot programme in a number of city schools, the first time it had participated in an international story exchange. The team was convinced by the enthusiasm shown for the scheme and, McCann said, that it was not only needed in the city (but) could be a real success story.

Executive director Lisa Consiglio said Narrative 4 was based on the simple idea that by knowing the story of another, we are able to better understand each other.

Limerick City and County Council is supporting the scheme by providing the office space in the former county library building, while UL is also a key supporter. John Moran, who has been a prime mover in bringing Narrative 4 to Limerick, said the organisation was about action.

We find that when people exchange stories, they go out into the world and change things. We're delighted that Limerick will be the focal point, he said.

Ms Consiglio said Limerick was the natural choice for our first global headquarters.

Ireland is steeped in storytelling. The country has given birth to some of the world's finest storytellers, and we are pleased to call it home as we carry out our mission to build a community of empathic global citizens who are improving the world through the exchange of personal narratives.

Narrative 4 will hold its global summit in Limerick, Dublin and Belfast in June. Among the participants will be several Irish and international authors as well as Senator George Mitchell.
A LIMERICK software developer has created a unique, internet-monitored doormat device to help families who are caring for loved-ones with Alzheimers disease.

Entrepreneur Thomas Bibby, from Farranshone, who runs a business in the city centre, developed the mat for his friend, who is caring for her father with Alzheimers.

One of the challenges she faces is not being able to go out with her husband for a drink after he has gone to bed, in case he wakes up confused, explained Thomas.

I put together an internet-connected mat to place outside his door which would notify her phone if he left his room. This allows them to go and have an hours break, secure that they will be notified if her dad has any disturbances, he said.

Mr Bibby, 36, was able to develop this by connecting a small computer  called a Raspberry Pi  to a pressure mat, which is then placed underneath a regular doormat.

The computer, through coding, is then connected to a server, which then connects to a mobile device. In this case, he was able to connect the mat to a watch and a mobile phone.

Mr Bibby, who is CEO of Reg Point of Sale, on Mallow Street, published a detailed step-by-step on how he created the product, via www.thomas.bibby.ie.

According to his post online, he said that he would like to develop on the idea in the future. He said that the Raspberry Pi computer can be battery-powered, and will not need trailing wires.

He added that, with further development, the programme will be able to show how often night interruptions are occuring with the person.

A lot of people have said that they see commercial potential in the idea, and its something I may look at in the future, but for now Im just happy to have helped out a friend and to have released the code for anyone to use, said Thomas.

He said that he was delighted to be included in the Sunday Business Posts recent Hot 100 Start-Ups list.
ANALOG Devices is to transform its manufacturing operation in Limerick to respond to new advances in technology.

Two of the most senior figures at the firm  which is marking 40 years in Limerick this month  have revealed plans to move from manufacturing regular circuit boards, to making sensor boards. Leo McHugh, the vice-president of instrumentation, avionics and space at Analog Devices says he expects the firms expansion in Limerick to continue as a result of this.

We hire graduates through good times and bad times pretty much every year. We are hiring as many as we can locally, and we source from across the world too. We have increased our headcount pretty steadily over the years, and we expect that to continue.

Analog opened in Limerick in April 1976, and has grown to become one of the citys largest employers with 1,100 staff on its books in Raheen.

Now to make it best placed for the future development of the Internet of Things  a term which broadly means the ability of people to control systems remotely  the firm is changing.

Denis Doyle, vice-president and general manager in manufacturing, said: On the manufacturing side, we are definitely going through a major transition. We have an expansion plan for the back where we are transitioning from manufacturing integrated circuit boards to sensors.

He added: These are the larger systems which we need to be supplying a lot more functions to. We need all our specialists basically together to develop these. Sensors which are the size and price of a chip are vital for this Internet of Things.

Mr Doyle says the company, as a result of the fast-moving world of technology, has to predict what the customer wants years in advance.

We need to be ahead of where the market is going to be, he said, You cannot sit back in this industry. We are at a hugely disruptive time in terms of semi-conductors, but also in the electronics industry.

The type of technology we have will be more in demand than ever. But the difference is we cannot only supply the silicon chip. You have to supply the full solution.
A local woman is all set to launch her debut novel this week as she and members of her family descend on Longford for the 1916 Commemorations.

Bernadette Maclean (Nee Clarke) who is a native of Edgeworthstown emigrated to London in the 1960s where she studied nursing and went on to work in a psychiatric hospital for over 35 years.

Bernadettes first novel entitled 'Next of Kin' has been described as a delightful and complex story of village life in Ireland.

The story begins with the funeral of one of the villages most valued members.

Once the funeral is over, the villagers are desperate to know who will inherit Lukes fortune. Bernadette takes a humorous look at the events leading up to this moment through the novels flawed yet interesting characters.

It is a humorous and well-written account of life in a small Irish village and keeps readers entertained throughout.

Next of Kin offers a descriptive setting of rural Ireland  informed by the authors upbringing in Co Longford and comprises a complex and well-written plot and range of inventive characters.

Prior to leaving for the UK, Bernadette worked as a bookkeeper and also had a dancing school where she taught Irish step dancing.

She was also involved in amateur dramatics, performing in such plays as Noreen Bawn and Autumn Fire.

After she retired from nursing, Bernadette started writing songs and poetry and their popularity among her friends and family led to her embarking on writing this, her first novel, which is dedicated to her late husband Iain.

He found great pleasure in reading the initial drafts and together with her family and friends, Bernadette will launch the novel at the Park House Hotel in Edgeworthstown on Saturday April 16 at 6pm.

On the day, local historian Matt Farrell will take Bernadette and her family on the towns literary trail which commemorates the great literary heroine Maria Edgeworth.

This will kick off at 3pm and everyone is welcome to come along and join in the festivities.
Receiving her accolade for one of the People of the Year Awards at the Longford Association in Dublin event on Saturday night, Tess Murphy noted that neither she nor Elsie Moxham, the joint winner, were natives of Longford.

However they were both clearly honoured to receive recognition from the Dublin Association for their work in founding Longford Womens Link twenty-one years ago. In their speeches, both women remembered their co-founder Mary OHara who passed away in 2005.

Tess and Elsie met through the ICA and the organisation was out in force in Dublin on Saturday night to support the two women. Coincidentally, Gertie Egan from Kenagh was involved in the early days of Longford Womens Link and her husband Paddy also received an award on Saturday night - the associations Special Recognition Award.

In his acceptance speech, he spoke warmly of the ICA while joking that it was the only organisation I was never let into! While Gertie could not attend the awards on the night, a number of their daughters were there including Norah who had flown home from the US that morning for the event.

The Longford Association in Dublinhad return ed to the Red Cow Moran Hotel for their annual awards and this years event was another lively affair with Longfordians from near and far in attendance.

Speaking on the night, the Association President Liam Caldwell acknowledged the upcoming celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Longfords National League win.

He spoke of the many events that had been organised by the Dublin Association 50 years ago to celebrate Longfords victory.

He highlighted the roles of many Dublin Association members in the team of that golden period in Longford GAA history. It was a timely reminder of the binds that have tied the Dublin Association to Longford life for the past six decades,

There was sadness too on the night. Committee stalwart Gerry Quinn had received the sad news that morning that his sister Bridie had passed away in New York and Gerry, and his family, were remembered at the event.

Once the meal and the speeches were over, The Outlaws took to the stage and the floor filled up within minutes, with the ICA ladies leading the dancing in style, putting those of us with two left feet to shame.

Photos on page 38
Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com

Columnists Press Releases
The Danish Maritime Authority has  in cooperation with a number of business organisations  drawn up three short guidelines on the regulations on the determination of the weight of packed sea containers.



In February, the Danish Maritime Authority informed about future regulations on the verification of the weight of packed containers. The regulations apply to ships that initiate an international voyage after 1 July 2016.



The Danish Maritime Authority and a number of business organisations have  in close cooperation  drawn up three short guidelines describing how to implement the provisions.



"The guidelines have been developed in a very constructive cooperation that has made it possible to unite the various interests ashore and at sea. I hope that the guidelines will help especially shore-based companies to incorporate the new regulations in their operations," says Senior Adviser Steen Nielsen from the Danish Maritime Authority.



At the same time, he stresses that the determination of the weight is an important part of the efforts made to promote global safety in connection with the carriage of containers by sea. The hope is that it will help prevent accidents such as, for example, the loss of the container vessel MOL COMFORT.



Methods for determining the weight;

There are two methods for determining the weight of packed sea containers. The packed container can either be weighed or the individual items in the container can be added to the container's own weight.



The guidelines are available here:

Overview of Future Regulations

\Method 1: Guidelines

Method 2: Guidelines
Vedanta Limited, Indias only diversified natural resources company today received the Letter of Award for Redevelopment of Berth No.8, 9 and Barge Berths at Port of Mormugao, Goa (Project) on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) Basis.



It was handed over to Vedantas Iron Ore business CEO, Mr. Kishore Kumar by I.Jeyakumar, Chairman  Mormugao Port Trust in the presence of Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari at the Maritime India Summit (MIS), 2016 being held at Mumbai.



Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Gadkari said, Vedanta must use this opportunity to upgrade the Mormugao Port and invest in inland waterways so that it can be used for trade extensively he said.



Mr. Kishore Kumar stated, We are excited about the project and the opportunity to partner with the Government of India. The redevelopment of the Mormugao Port is essential for Goa as modernisation and improvement of the port will bring a cascading of larger vessels giving it the necessary impetus for enhancing and stimulating growth of maritime traffic, enhanced efficiency and create sustainable ports infrastructure. It augurs well for Vedanta which is a diversified natural resources company with its operations close to ports and has the domain expertise to address the challenges in the maritime industry for the beneficiation of resources.



"Vedanta is the largest exporter of iron ore from Goa and this project would provide logistic integration to our iron ore business apart from handling other cargo. The ramp up of the Goan iron ore industry beyond 20 million tons through this port will be a significant gateway for the mining industry in the state giving them the added advantage of end to end scale of operations in terms of cargo movement and consolidation. This Public Private Partnership enables Vedanta partner in the growth story and vision of building a progressive India through innovation.



The Project will be handled by Sterlite Ports Limited (Sterlite Ports) a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Vedanta Limited (Vedanta). Vedanta, through one of its subsidiary, currently owns and operates a 14 MMTPA capacity fully mechanized coal terminal in Visakhapatnam Port, Andhra Pradesh.



The Project has been awarded through a competitive bidding process on DBFOT Basis for the 19 MMTPA capacity multi-cargo Port terminal in Mormugao Port, Goa. The re-developed berths are planned to handle all type of cargo including iron ore, coal, limestone, bauxite and general cargo with an expected capacity of 19.22 million tonnes per annum. With this Vedantas Sterlite Ports will have a strategic presence on both West and East Coasts in the traditional iron ore and coal hubs respectively.
Recovery operations to retrieve wreckage from a January 14, 2016 aviation mishap involving two CH-53E helicopters and 12 U.S. Marines from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 have been concluded.



The 12 Marines serving as air crew on the helicopters were officially announced deceased on January 21 by Marine Corps officials. They had been previously been listed as duty status whereabouts unknown (DUSTWUN) while the U.S. Coast Guard searched for the missing helicopters.



The human remains discovered during the search and rescue operations and during the subsequent recovery and salvage operations led to positive identification of nine of the 12 Marines involved in the incident. Remains of Sgts. Dillon Semolina and Adam Schoeller, and Cpl. Christopher Orlando were not recovered.



Significant wreckage from both helicopters has been recovered. The recovery operations were conducted primarily by the USNS Salvor (T-ARS 52), a rescue and salvage ship from Military Sealift Command, a Remotely Operated Vehicle Detachment from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Navy divers attached from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1 and Marine Aircraft Group 24. Various echelons of command within the U.S. Pacific Command assisted in the planning and execution of the recovery. The USNS Salvor used sonar, video cameras, and a submersible deep-dive remotely operated vehicle to search while utilizing cranes to retrieve found items.



A systematic mapping of the known wreckage site began immediately after the conclusion of search and rescue operations on January 19. Although weather and sea states delayed the USNS Salvors port departures, a thorough mapping and detailed recovery effort was conducted with 24-hour operations while on station. Before concluding recovery operations, the USNS Salvor and attached units twice swept the entire debris field, the surrounding area, and the flight path from the debris field back up to the initial aircraft collision site.



The USNS Salvor supported recovery and salvage operations for a total of 13 days, with the recovery team conducting 24-hour operations and completing more than a hundred dives on the site.



There is the chance that some small debris not recovered may eventually wash ashore; should any member of the public find such a piece of debris, they are asked to contact either the Honolulu Police Department at (808) 529-3111, or the Marine Aircraft Group 24 Duty Officer at (808) 590-6961.



Aviation Mishap Board (AMB) and Judge Advocate General Manual (JAGMAN) investigations into the cause of the crash continue.
Mark Whisnant got emotional because it meant so much to him to receive the Be A Shield Award for the volunteer with the most hours of service in 2015 at The Salvation Army Annual Dinner Thursday night at New College Institute.

Whisnant volunteered 32 hours, said Lt. George Keith, who along with wife Lt. Ruby Outlaw-Keith are co-commanders of the local Salvation Army.

Herschel Michaels received the Be A Shield Award for the volunteer with the highest kettle total raised during the bell-ringer campaign. He raised about $710.

Broad Street Christian Church received two Be A Shield Awards  for the church with the highest kettle total ($757.68) and the church with the most volunteer service (45 hours).

The Martinsville HOSA Club (for future health professionals) received the Be A Shield Award for the organization with the most hours of volunteer service (16 hours).

Martinsville Rotary Club received the Be A Shield Award for the organization with the highest kettle total ($621.20).

Employee appreciation awards went to Angela Smith, for 13 years of service with The Salvation Army, and Carla Hairston, for three years of service with The Salvation Army.

A new award, the Christmas Spirit Award  in memory of lifetime Salvation Army board member William Banks Peterson, was presented to Dr. Doug and Sandra Christman.

Certificates were given to paid bell ringers. Volunteer bell ringers and members of the board of advisors also were recognized.

Annual report highlights were given. They showed, among other things, that:

--The Salvation Armys social services programs served 3,292 people. These items or services were provided, among other things: 4,577 meals, 759 grocery orders, 60 lodgings (non-Salvation Army), 50 housing assistance, 185 energy assistance, 114 furniture orders, 20 personal comfort kits, 5,256 clothing items distributed, 12 home-delivered meals, and 96 other. About 800 children attended character-building classes.

Revenue contributions totaled $243,948 for the year ended Sept. 30, 2015, and total support and revenues totaled $649,045. Expenditures totaled $719,170. There was a deficit of $70,125. The cash balance at the beginning of the year was $16,029, and the cash balance at the end of the year was $5,059.

In her remarks, advisory board member Linda Pulliam gave two examples of people being helped through Salvation Armys social service programs. In one case, a couple were brought here and set out, with no money. A police officer took the couple to a fast-food restaurant and out of the officers own pocket paid for their coffee, etc. until the warming shelter opened. They stayed there, but transportation was secured to get them to a longer-term shelter. Also, clothes were provided.

Pulliam also told how the Salvation Army helped a man with heart problems who was sleeping on a pallet on a basement floor.

She quoted 1 John 3:17-18. That passage says, in the King James Version: 1 John 3:17-18 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

About 130 people attended the event, which was at NCIs Building on Baldwin.
Isaiah Thomas

Boston Celtics' Isaiah Thomas (4) shoots a 3-pointer during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans in Boston, Wednesday, April 6, 2016.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

ATLANTA -- Good and bad, Isaiah Thomas typically notices what people say about him. The Boston Celtics star reads the newspapers. He stays active on social media. He occasionally responds to talking heads who question his credentials.

Not anymore, though. Not during the playoffs. After some advice from Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul, Thomas said goodbye to Twitter and has vowed to shut down his social media presence for Boston's postseason run.

"I'm just trying to really lock in and have no distractions," Thomas said Saturday morning before a Celtics shootaround to prepare for Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks. "Social media, you can have a big game and they love you; have a bad game, they'll tear you apart. I just want the least amount of distractions for myself. And just try to really lock in and stay in the moment."

After getting swept in his first playoff series last season, Thomas has taken advice from several accomplished players. Jason Terry recently sent a text message advising the Celtics guard to "stay in the moment" and Thomas has echoed the sentiment since. When Paul suggested getting off social media, Thomas smiled, "I guess I just copied him."

"Just take away all the distractions and just try to stay in the moment," said the Celtics guard, "and worry about this series and worry about this team."
BURLINGTON



Burlington Police

are investigating a shooting at the Burlington Mall Thursday night after a man reported the incident from his hospital bed.

The Lowell Sun reported that the 28-year-old victim told police he was shot in the parking lot of the mall just before 9:30 Thursday night. He was transported by private vehicle to the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington for treatment of a gunshot wound to the arm. He is expected to survive.

Investigators said in a statement that they do not believe the shooting was a random act.
LYNN

 A Malden man police accuse of shooting at two Salem officers during a traffic stop was arrested Friday afternoon following a coordinated effort by several police forces.

Itemlive.com reported that Jeremiah Wooden, 22, was arrested by a task force of Massachusetts State Police troopers, and officers from the Lynn and Salem police departments in a Lynn apartment.

Salem police said Wooden was in a car stopped by two Salem officers just after 6 p.m. Thursday after they recognized him and knew that he was the subject of numerous outstanding arrest warrants.

During the stop, police allege that Wooden struggled with officers, then pulled a handgun and fired at them as he ran from the scene. No one was injured in the shooting.

Wooden is homeless with no fixed address officers could expect to find him, so police tracked his cell phone to an apartment at 40 Park St. in Lynn.

Members of the State Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit, the Lynn Warrant Task Force and Salem officers stormed the apartment and took him into custody without incident.

Wooden is being held in the Essex County Jail pending arraignment in Salem District Court Tuesday.

He faces charges of armed assault with the intent to murder, assault and battery on a police officer and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, among other charges.
SPRINGFIELD  More than two dozen Muslims and Christians came together at the city's Mason Square Library Saturday to learn about their respective faiths and celebrate their common beliefs.

The afternoon event, sponsored by the Al-Baqi Islamic Center for Human Excellence, sought to help build bridges between the two communities -- specifically the African-American community -- in Springfield, said Resident Imam Rasul Seifullah.

"We know alone we can't solve the problems, so you need to get as many people as possible with all their resources and focus that on stopping the problems that face us," he said in an interview. "We need to be active outside the walls of the church and the mosque and not just speak to the choir."

Seifullah stressed that such solidarity between the two faiths is important given the level of rhetoric and Islamophobia that has surfaced in recent months, including in the 2016 presidential campaign.

"I think Donald Trump is good for us," he said referencing the GOP front-runner's call to temporarily halt Muslims from entering the U.S. "Let me explain that, I'm not talking about his philosophy or his political stand, but what he's been able to show us is that we still have problems here in America."

Contending that the problems extend beyond racial tensions and exist on both sides of the political aisle, Seifullah said the Muslim community needs to step up and address these concerns.

"I believe that one of the first things we need to do is to get the people out there to get to know us as Muslims one-on-one, then they'll realize that we're no different than they are," he said. "And when people throw stones at Muslims, they'll be able to say, 'Well, I know some Muslims, they're not like that.' That could be their rebut."

Mujahid Aleem, an assistant of Seifullah, agreed, saying people, especially in the Jewish and Christian communities, won't know what Muslims are about unless they reach out to them.

"We have a very good relationship with many of them in other parts of the city and in many other cities, but we don't have a very good relationship with the black ministry and so we felt that we would take particular interest in this particular community because this is where we originated," he said.

Aleem said he hopes that non-Muslims who attended the event will carry their message to other parts of the community.

"We're not looking for grand numbers, we suspect that with the climate being what it is, it's going to be hard to get large numbers of people together," he said. "But, our hope is to kill the ignorance with the light of understanding. You can't do anything about falsehood until you hear it."

Seifullah, who said crowd was primarily Muslim despite invitations made to African-American pastors, however, noted that the responsibility cannot rest on his faith alone.

"We're doing what we're supposed to do and that's reaching out," he said. "If they don't want to grab a hold of a hand, if they don't want to build bridges that's on them. But we feel like they're functioning out of ignorance, so as long as we understand that, our job is to what? Educate them, which we're doing here. We have the same beliefs."

Despite the low turnout, Seifullah acknowledged the challenges that face his effort to bring the two communities together and said he will continue holding such events.

Pastor Amos Bailey, of the Christian Faith Baptist Church in Springfield, said it was important for him to attend the event because he believes the Mulism and Christian communities don't know each other very well at the faith-level.

"(There's) misconceptions that I think need to be understood personally one-on-one. We can dialog a lot of opportunities that we have, but until we meet, until we talk, until we sit and have a cup of coffee or tea, or whatever, we really don't get to know each other," he said. "That's why I came."

Bailey said he hopes to take the message of unity back to his church and to encourage his parishioners to partake in such events.

"I have really been preaching this and living this kind of life for 40 years and when I was approached by Imam Seifullah I found that we were on the same page," he said. "So this is something I've been doing practically all my life...so it's kind of like affirming and reaffirming what we're all about."
There continue to be great strides achieved by Business for Montanas Outdoors, some of which many of you have been involved with. With new priorities on the radar, and exciting partnerships forming with other advocacy organizations around the state, I wanted to reach out with a few highlights to share, as we head into some exciting endeavors.

Our membership is up to 129, including for profit businesses, non-profit organizations, university departments, conservation coalitions, and economic interest groups. Its an impressive number, but one that still has great potential to grow and gain more strength, and diversity. Remember that your referrals for additional business members is always welcomed, and I am happy to reach out in person to communicate with folks that you feel should be involved, or at the table for the variety of initiatives that we work on.

In addition to ongoing outreach and communication with members, partners, and decision makers, here are some of the initiatives that BFMO has been engaged with, and some of the priorities we will continue to work on:

Yellowstone Gateway Business Coalition: Business for Montanas Outdoors has been partnering with this newly formed coalition of nearly 200 businesses throughout Park County and around our gateway communities, to oppose the proposed gold mining operations by Crevice Mining Company.The message is that mining has a place in Montana, but it is not at the doorstep of Yellowstone. We were instrumental in helping with their launch event in Livingston, as well as coordinating media and publicity, and creating additional business interest for the group. Feel free to visit the Coalition website http://www.yellowstone-gateway.com/ , and if you havent seen any of the press, here are a few articles to note:

Coalition launch event:

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/economy/more-than-businesses-against-two-paradise-valley-mines/article_0e734267-2bf9-5a99-bfe7-e92c3106e190.html

DEQ response to mine application:

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/environment/company-asked-to-resubmit-mining-application-on-yellowstone-border/article_67a85cf1-343d-57f0-b51a-08cdd7a642a8.html#utm_source=bozemandailychronicle.com&utm_campaign=morning_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

Montanans for Healthy Rivers: We have been approached by this group, who is working diligently on wild and scenic designations for some of Montanas most treasured waterways. We have supported them loosely in their past work, and will now engage more significantly by endorsing their work on behalf of protecting our rivers in Montana. They would like very much to gain additional, individual business support from folks involved with BFMO, so if you are interested, you can find more information on the Montanans for Healthy Rivers website http://www.healthyriversmt.org/ . I have also attached more information on specifics about their work, and the proposed rivers they are working on designation for. There is a good chance I will be making a trip to DC in early June to participate in conversation with our delegation about this and other public lands priorities.

Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project: Another potential collaborative project, this work is primarily being done by the Montana Wilderness Association, with a great interest in our support, and endorsement. The role of BFMO in this legislative project has yet to be determined, though we feel strongly that the business voice has an appropriate place in this dialogue. Similar to our past support in policy pieces like the Rocky Mountain Front and Heritage Act and Testers Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (of which this is a previous piece), BFMOs role will focus on the value of our natural assets to our economies in this region of the state, and lending a business perspective. More information can be found on their website http://www.blackfootclearwater.org/about .

Additional efforts include keeping our pulse on the discussion of the transfer of public lands, forest management, and timber reform, all of which seem to be bundled into a variety of messaging points from our contacts in DC, and which are keeping our delegates in the headlines.

Our understanding is that there will also be a public lands event headlined by Governor Bullock in June; when more information is available on that event, I will be sure to pass along the details, as BFMO will certainly play a role, at least in attending.

If you have any questions, or comments, please always feel free to reach out with an email or phone call. I am happy to discuss these or other potential priorities with any and all of you. I am continually grateful for all of your support and participation in opportunities that have presented themselves, and will continue to reach out with ways in which we can keep our strong business voice and the perspective of our public lands value alive, and well.

Many Thanks,

Marne

Marne Hayes

Business for Montanas Outdoors

http://www.businessformontanasoutdoors.com

406.570.7938

Preserving Our Outdoor Assets for Tomorrows Entrepeneurs
Researchers have pinpointed the compound in breast milk that supplies the nourishment needed for the development of a neonates gut microbiota, and they have shown that it can be obtained from cows milk. The findings are published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Share on Pinterest Breastfeeding contributes to a healthy gut microbiome. The term gut microbiome refers to trillions of microbial cells that live in community in the digestive tract. Recently, studies have revealed that this community of bacteria has a profound impact on human physiology, metabolism, nutrition and the immune system. An unhealthy gut microbiota has been linked with a number of diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis. A neonate has no gut microbiota, but development starts at birth and continues to establish itself over the first few years of life. Medical News Today previously reported that infants born by Cesarian section may lack essential gut microbiota, but that vaginal swabbing can help to make up for this. The first exposure, and accumulation, of gut microbiota comes from the mother. Research has shown that it starts with the birthing process and continues its early development as the child feeds, benefitting particularly as the mother breastfeeds.

Glycoproteins in breast milk nourish the gut microbiome Now, scientists from the University of California-Davis have revealed how breast milk contributes to the process. Fast facts about breastfeeding In 2011, 79% of newborn infants started to breastfeed in the US

49% of infants born in 2011 were breastfeeding at 6 months

27% were still breastfeeding at 12 months. Learn more about breastfeeding While infants are nursing, their gastrointestinal tracts become enriched with specific protective microbes. Breast milk guides the development of a newborns gut microbiome. It nourishes a very specific bacterial population, and this, in turn, provides nourishment and protection for the child. In previous studies, the authors of the current research showed that the source of this nourishment is the glycoproteins that are present in milk. These glycoproteins comprise protein as well as molecules containing multiple sugars, called oligosaccharides. Prof. David A. Mills, PhD, who is the Shields Endowed Chair in Dairy Food Science, and colleagues had also discovered that the infant-associated subspecies of a particular bacterium, known as Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis, or B. infantis, produces a particular enzyme known as endo--N-acetylglucosaminidase (EndoBI-1). EndoBI-1, which was identified by Prof. Mills team, can separate the oligosaccharides from the milk glycoproteins. In the current study, Prof. Mills and coauthors hypothesized that these oligosaccharides were the food source for B. infantis. The researchers have demonstrated that not only can the enzyme break down glycoproteins and release the oligosaccharides from the mothers milk, but that it could do the same for cows milk. They showed that released oligosaccharides are a substrate for the growth of B. infantis, but they also found that the oligosaccharides do not nourish adult-associated bifidobacteria. The Oxford Dictionary defines a substrate as the surface or material on or from which an organism lives, grows, or obtains its nourishment.
Among stable families, the health and well-being of children raised by parents of the same sex are no different to that of children raised by parents of different sexes. This is the conclusion of a new study published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.

Share on Pinterest The health and well-being for children raised in same-sex parent families is no different to those raised in different-sex parent families.

The number of same-sex parents in the US has increased significantly in recent years. According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, there are currently 594,000 same-sex couple households in the US, of whom around 27% have children.

Most studies investigating the health and well-being of children within same-sex parent families have found they fare just as well as children from families with different-sex parents.

However, the researchers of this latest study  including Dr. Henry Bos of the University of Amsterdam  note that the results of many of these studies relied on convenience samples and/or fertility recruitment, causing many people to question their accuracy.

Furthermore, many individuals continue to believe that children fare better when being raised by parents of different sexes, despite evidence to the contrary.

For their study, Dr. Bos and colleagues analyzed data from the National Survey of Child Health, from which they identified 95 female same-sex parent households and 95 different-sex parent households with children aged 6-17 years.

Both groups were matched for parent and child characteristics, and the families were considered stable, meaning they had no history of family instability  such as divorce or separation  since the birth or adoption of their child.

The team notes that male same-sex parent households were excluded from the analysis due to an insufficient sample size; only eight could be identified.
Advertisement

The government was given until June 6 - including an extension - to draft new legislation that would permit consenting adults with serious health problems to end their suffering. However, the protocols are much less comprehensive than proposals put forward by a parliamentary special committee formed to study the hugely controversial issue."Personally, I believe we need to provide the most comfort to people when they are nearing the end of their lives, whatever form that takes," Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told a press conference."The proposed legislation would allow competent adult patients who are suffering intolerably from serious medical conditions to apply for a peaceful death instead of prolonged, frightening, painful or undignified deaths that they may otherwise face."The Supreme Court's ruling declaring unconstitutional the denial of an assisted death option reversed its own 1993 decision. At that time, the court expressed concern about protecting vulnerable persons, but in its February 2015 ruling pointed to changed Canadian social values."We know that some groups will say that we have not gone far enough with this legislation and we know that some groups will say we have gone too far," Health Minister Jane Philpott said. "To me this underscores just how personal and sensitive an issue like this is for Canadians. As minister of health I believe this is the right approach for Canada."The government said it would also boost funding for palliative care and further study the parliamentary special committee's other recommendations.Among those 21 recommendations was a proposal urging that physician-assisted suicide be available to competent minors and people with mental illness. A person diagnosed with a serious health problem could also make arrangements in advance to die, in situations where dementia or other illness could prevent them from making the decision later, the panel suggested.Opposition Conservatives on the committee challenged the recommendations, saying they went far beyond what the court had ordered. But the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association - a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case - said the government's bill falls short."It leaves out entire categories of suffering Canadians who should have a right to choose a safe and dignified assisted death," the group said in a statement.It remains unclear whether the draft legislation in its current form will pass before the court's June deadline. After much back and forth, political parties have said members of parliament will be free to vote their conscience for or against the bill.Source: AFP


Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested

You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends.

Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice.
Advertisement

"(Of) six confirmed cases, four have died, one was discharged after recovery and the sixth is still here," said ALIMA emergency co-ordinator Solenne Barbe. Barbe attributed the high mortality rate to the fact that the recent patients arrived too late to be treated with a good chance of survival.The newest confirmed case is an elderly man from Macenta prefecture to the north of Nzerekore, she said, thought to be a healer visited by one of the dead while still alive and infected with the virus. According to health authorities, that deceased man's wife and her children crossed the border into Liberia before she too succumbed to the virus. One son also died while another remains under treatment in Monrovia.In a rare piece of good news since Ebola's reappearance, an 11-year-old girl left the center on April 8, 2016, after a successful recovery, according to ALIMA.The World Health Organization was first alerted to the reappearance of Ebola symptoms in a Guinean village near the Liberian border on March 16, 2016, the same day it declared a similar flare-up over in Sierra Leone. Since then eight people have died, all in the same area, while the country's Ebola response unit confirmed Thursday that more than 1,700 people have been vaccinated against the virus.The WHO has said Ebola no longer constitutes an international emergency, but the announcement of new cases in west Africa has demonstrated the difficulty of managing its aftermath.Source: AFP
Advertisement

Under the terms of the agreement, British patients will travel at their own expense to France but the NHS will pay for the surgery."The Calais hospital is now affiliated to the NHS -- it's as if a British patient was in England," said Thaddee Segard, a businessman who acted as the go-between for the hospital and the NHS.The other hospital covered by the agreement, l'Institut Calot in nearby Berck-sur-Mer, is renowned for its treatment of neurological and orthopedic conditions."It is about patient choice, it's not about cutting waiting lists. There are no set targets, '50 people by the end of May' or anything like that," NHS spokesman Steve James told AFP.A spokeswoman for the Calais hospital said however that it was confident of slashing waiting times for British patients."For example, our first English patient, who came on Thursday, would have waited at least 18 weeks to have his gall bladder removed compared to two to three weeks here," she said.She could not resist a jibe at British hospitals, saying: "The state-run hospitals in England are not as good as ours. There are wards with six beds, shared toilets and a high rate of hospital-acquired infections."Segard said the deal benefited everyone and would bring much-needed visitors to Calais, which has lost business since thousands of migrants set up camp there as they try to cross to Britain in search of work."It allows British people to reduce their waiting times, it allows France to demonstrate the quality of its hospitals, it helps the town of Calais to improve its tarnished image in the eyes of the English and it helps the hospital, which is able to absorb the costs through higher fees (than can be charged for French patients)."The Calais hospital spokeswoman said its operating theatres were under-employed and dismissed suggestions that the presence of migrants had added to its workload."We have very few visits from migrants to our casualty department," she said.Source: AFP
If youre someone who is big on dance clubs and knows all about the latest dance gigs in the city, you know all about who Candice Redding is. But, for those of you who dont know, heres a little backgrounder! Youve probably seen her at Sunburn, turning up the volume, the bass and the heat. Youve also probably seen her at the Axe Boat Party, if you were lucky enough to be there. Basically, Candice is a French-Canadian born in South Africa and who is currently residing in India and giving us all a reason to frequent clubs more!

 Candice Redding

We caught up with her at The Big Irish BeatTrip held at The Irish House in Bandra on Thursday, where she had the crowd throwing hands up, jumping and taking in the music. Its great that theyre venturing into dance music so avidly with 8 venues6 in Mumbai aloneat once, she exclaims excitedly.

The Big Break

When I was asked to be the official DJ for the IPL 2012

Earliest Musical Memory

I was 3 years old; just about started talking and I pestered my dad to take me to a record store to buy the new (at that time) Roxette CD.

 Facebook

On The Meaning of Music

Music is my language. Its how I express myself physically, emotionally and even spiritually. Its my way of expressing who I am and how Im feeling without so much as a word.

On Modelling

Miss Redding comes from a modelling and singing background, both of which she left for DJing. Modelling was long and tedious! Youre constantly expressing someone elses vision. You cant be yourself, and you cannot change the world by being a model, she confesses.

 Facebook

And Singing

I was very young, I used to love singing as a child. Id frustrate the hell out of my parents because Id never shut up. Id even sing to my pets! My mum recognized my passion and signed me up for singing lessons followed by which I started to perform at little festivals and competitions, she reminisces.

Artist Inspirations

Eric Prydz, Variety, Flume, Max Alto, Eekkoo and Deadmau5. Theyre experimental and think out of the box and they put on a performance that completely consumes youeverything from the sound to the visuals. They dont just play music, they create an experience.

 Vh1

Contemporary Admiration

Nicolai Lugansky, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and Monique Haas.

Work Peeves

When people get on the stage/console and interrupt me while Im performing! Also, song requests and not being able to find my mic when I need it.

 Facebook

Work Love

Whatever I put out there, I get back tenfold. The enthusiasm, energy, love, happiness; its almost ethereal.

About India

Ive travelled all over the world and there is no culture as diverse and unique as that of India. Ive never faced a problem with social acceptance; no matter where I go, Im always treated with kindness and appreciation. Same goes for my work.

 Facebook

On Men

The dance music industry is very male dominant, were always competing with men.

On Pickup Lines

1. Can I have your number for work purposes?

2. Aside from being sexy, what do you do for a living?

3. Theres something wrong with my phone Your number isnt in it.

And Im not kidding; people have actually said these things to me!

 Festival Sherpa

Your Playlist

Love in me - Maceo Plex

Our Love -Solomun

Midnight Gardens Squire ft. Forrest

Level 7 -Dixon

Roses  The Chainsmokers (Candice Redding remix)

B61  Eekkoo

Dropout - Slowly (Two Friends Remix)

Tiger -R3hab v/s Skytech

Know Me - Meramek

All Over The World  Above and Beyond Ft. Alex Vargas
Arjan Singh Aulakh, Marshal of the Indian Air Force was born on 15th May 1919 into a family of army men. His great-grandfather had enlisted in the army in 1854 into the Guides Cavalry and also served in the 1857 war. His father too was in the army and retired as Risaldar of the Cavalry serving as ADC to a Division Commander. Therefore, it was a no-brainer that Arjan Singh too had an inclination for enlisting into the army and serve the country.

 Facebook

Singh graduated from the RAF College Cranwell as a pilot officer in 1939 and led the No.1 Squadron of Indian Air Force during the Aarakan Campaign in 1944. For his bravery in the campaign Arjan Singh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in that year. He was no doubt one of the most skillful cadets of RAF College who never bowed down to pressure. One of the stories which have become some sort of a legend in the Indian Air Force involve Arjan Singh conducting a low level air pass over a house in Kerala to raise the morale of a trainee pIlot only to be later reprimanded for disobeying orders and breaking protocol. He was a born daredevil who looked to break barriers, whether in training or in the battlefield.

After Indias independence Arjan Singh rose through the ranks of Indian Air Force and became the Chief of Air Staff in 1964. During the Indo-Pak war of 1965 Singh displayed acute commanding skills to submit the enemy into remission and because of Air Forces contribution in the war his post was upgraded to that of Air Chief Marshal, a first in Indias military history. Later on, in 1965 he was also awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in the country.

 Reuters

After he retired at the age of 50, Arjan Singh was appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Switzerland in 1971. He was also the member of the National Commission for Minorities from 1975-1981 and the Lt. Governor of Delhi from 1989-1990. Arjan Singh was made Marshal of the Air Force in January, 2002 and after the death of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in June 2008, Singh is the only living Indian military officer with a five star rank. We salute this brave officer of the Indian military for dedicating his life to the country and making us proud in the battlefield!
JOURNALIST: Is the climate in Europe starting to change for Greece with regard to the refugee issue?



N. KOTZIAS: At this time last year, I tried to convince my European colleagues that, with the policy they were making, they didnt see the waves of refugees that were coming. For example, they cut the money for the refugee camps in the region around Syria. Today, at long last, the EU is shaping a policy for supporting Jordan and Lebanon. I am asking that this be upgraded to a strategic relationship. They now see that we have better knowledge than many of the region and its states. And they are clearer on the fact that we are not the cause or agents of the war. I think that, in the end, life imposes corrections. The more work we have done previously, the faster and more successfully it imposes these corrections.



JOURNALIST: Is the refugee crisis  beyond being a major problem  an opportunity for closer cooperation between Athens and Berlin, Paris and Brussels?



N. KOTZIAS: The contradictoriness of life necessitates our discovering its contradictions: our looking without fear at the risks, as well as at the opportunities. As long as economic aspects of the crisis were dominant, relations with geo-economically powerful EU countries were extremely difficult. Some wanted and want us to be a debt colony. On the refugee crisis, the power relations are different, as it is an issue dominated by geopolitics and flows of people.



JOURNALIST: Do the recent developments in Idomeni make relations with FYROM more difficult, and how much more difficult?



N. KOTZIAS: FYROM used disproportionate means to deal with the refugees. It violated international law on multiple counts. We recommended that it reflect on what it is doing and the consequence this will have for its future relations with the European institutional system. Also bearing responsibility are those EU member state that, despite their presence in FYROM, did not avert this conduct.



For our part, we are dealing with such matters soberly and responsibly. Those who think we will stop taking initiatives and exercising a proactive foreign policy are fools. Those who cant bear the difficulties of foreign policy and lose their composure need to take a good look at themselves.



JOURNALIST: What is the Foreign Ministrys assessment of the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement?



N. KOTZIAS: Time is needed to assess the implementation. In any case, it has to be promoted on the basis of international law and human rights. Of course, for the rights to exist, a democratically structured society  rather than a disorganized one  has to be present.



History has shown that there are no rights where the sovereignty of the nation state is not safeguarded outwardly and the sovereignty of society is not ensured domestically. Lets not forget that the refugees are refugees precisely because these two sovereignties were lost in their homeland. Thus, rights and sovereignty are not antithetical.



JOURNALIST: What are the conclusions thus far from the NATO action? Is the plan being implemented? Is it getting results?



N. KOTZIAS: First, so far NATO has not fulfilled the duties assigned to it. While, second, it was shown that we were dealing with the matter correctly, without fear syndromes. Our national sovereignty wasnt abolished, nor was control of the Aegean lost. The ones who exhibited fear syndromes were the Turkish military, who impeded the implementation of the agreement in a variety of ways. Perhaps our neighbours military considered the agreement to be a negative choice of the politicians, and thats why they seem anxious.



JOURNALIST: The main opposition party is leveling accusations with regard to your policy on Turkey.



N. KOTZIAS: The main opposition party is unable to think and to confront Turkish challenges with composure. The worst? In order to oppose patriotic foreign policy, they excuse every Turkish challenge. It is a natural extension of the support they provided for the IMFs blackmailing of Greece and for anyone who closed their borders in Europe. It is no coincidence that the main oppositions partys people extol the president of FYROM for his anti-Greek rants. Perhaps they like the fact that he gave amnesty to corrupt politicians and other criminals.



JOURNALIST: The prime minister has said that leaks regarding the IMF on WikiLeaks create a geopolitical issue. What is your assessment of them?



N. KOTZIAS: The more general position of the Left was proven to be correct; a position also believed in by Athenian democracy: that there are no apolitical technocrats. Behind the technocratic numbers and proposals there are interests. The leaking of the discussions among IMF personnel showed that there are those who want to destroy Greece, to lead the U.K. out of the EU. To create an atmosphere of conflict between the European capitals. It was also shown that, here in Greece, there are forces that not only consider the IMF the end-all and be-all, but have also chosen to see the extremists within the IMF as new evangelists.



JOURNALIST: The leak about the IMF brings back the major issue of the role of supranational decision centers, non-elected, that influence, if not determine, our lives.



N. KOTZIAS: In the Athens of Pericles, specialists contributed to the drawing up of proposals. But they didnt choose them. They implemented the democratic decisions. Since then, a fundamental problem of democracy is whether there are sectors outside of democracy. Today these sectors are multiplying and concern, above all, the core of life and of power. And we need to fight back against this.



JOURNALIST: What is Greek diplomacy planning, implementing and expecting in 2016?



N. KOTZIAS: We are promoting a package of solutions on the pending issues with Albania. We put together a special relationship with Bulgaria, and we are promoting the confidence-building measures with FYROM. We set out a new doctrine with regard to the Cyprus issue. We developed multiple facet and levels of our trilateral relations with Bulgaria and Romania, with Cyprus and Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon. We want to do this with Palestine as well. After the summer we will sign a number of agreements with Italy. With the latter, as with China, Germany, France, Russia, we are in the process of agreeing on the putting together of an action programme in all possible sectors. We created new Joint Interministerial Committees (JICs) on economic cooperation with third countries, and we activated older ones that had been dormant for as long as two decades. We now have JICs with a total of 32 states.



On 14 April we held the first trilateral meeting on the refugee issue with Albania and Italy. On 21 and 22 April, in Thessaloniki, we are hosting a quadrilateral meeting with the Foreign and Interior Ministers of Bulgaria, FYROM and Albania, on cross-border cooperation. In the first week of September, following an initiative from us, a big meeting is being held of five European states (Slovakia, as the Presidency of the Council of the EU, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Cyprus) and five Arab countries of the Eastern Mediterranean. The goal is to shape a structure of stability and security in the region. We are promoting a number of legislative initiatives. We are planning the intensification of our proposals on the European stage, as well as regarding the Gulf countries. I mention all of these as examples, because it would take at least a dedicated interview to set down all of our initiatives, if only in outline form.



JOURNALIST: Is there a realistic prospect of the Cyprus issues being resolved?



N. KOTZIAS: We are working steadily and in depth for the resolution of the Cyprus issue. We are helping and supporting the Republic of Cyprus in this effort it is making. A realistic effort, on condition of the end of the system of guarantees and the withdrawal of all of the occupation force. The occupation is the essence of the Cyprus problem, and there is no solution without removal of the cause that created the problem.



With regard to the guarantees, I reiterate: Our government, like the majority of the Cypriot people, considers them to be a decisive criterion in the evaluation of any agreement. We will not participate in any agreement that does not provide for their irrevocable elimination. Anyone who thinks that everything else can be agreed first, and afterwards, at the end, we can by blackmailed into maintaining the status of guarantees is mistaken.



JOURNALIST: The main opposition party has asked for elections. Will the governing coalition last? Is it in our national interest to go to elections now?



N. KOTZIAS: We will certainly last. We need to last. It is our patriotic duty to last.



As for the main opposition party, one day its leader proposes the extension of the term of governments from four to five years, and the next day he asks for elections. The reason? The leadership of the main opposition party is suffering from a policy impasse, prisoner to the depraved past of a system of decadence that it serves and to which it belongs.
Charlie Storey, the president of Boston's Harpoon Brewery, wrote a letter to Harvard's student newspaper defending the school's social clubs for refusing to accept women. He was writing as graduate president of the Porcellian Club, a storied Harvard club that formed in 1791 and is known for its long tradition of secrecy.

The Porcellian Club, whose past members include Theodore Roosevelt, is among several so-called final clubs that are under scrutiny from Harvard's administration for refusing to accept women. In March, a university task force accused the clubs of having "deeply misogynistic attitudes" that have fueled sexual misconduct.

Storey pushed back against the report in his letter, saying that sexual assault hasn't been a problem in the Porcellian Club.

"Forcing single gender organizations to accept members of the opposite sex could potentially increase, not decrease the potential for sexual misconduct," he wrote, adding that his club "is being used as a scapegoat for the sexual assault problem at Harvard despite its policies to help avoid the potential for sexual assault."

Calls to Storey's office weren't returned. A man who answered the Porcellian Club's phone number declined to comment.

On social media, the letter sparked criticism from figures including Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat.

"Or, instead of blaming women, you could focus on teaching members of your club to NOT sexually assault people," Clark wrote on Twitter.

McCray wrote on Twitter that if clubs refuse to accept women because they might be sexually assaulted, "intervention is needed."

In response to Storey's letter, Dean Rakesh Khurana of Harvard's undergraduate college said in a statement that the attitudes and behaviors of single-gender clubs "remain at odds with the aspirations of the 21st century to which the college hopes and expects our students will contribute," and that the college has a responsibility to protect students.

By Wednesday evening, Storey had posted an apology on Harpoon Brewery's website, saying his letter was misinterpreted.

"Unfortunately, I chose my words poorly and it came out all wrong," he wrote. "I take the issue of sexual assault extremely seriously, and I am truly sorry to those I have offended."

He added that his comments "in no way reflect of the values and views of Harpoon Brewery."
HARBOR BEACH  Officials say safety wont be sacrificed in the Coast Guards plan for seasonal closings at the Harbor Beach station.

On Friday, Coast Guard officials met with Harbor Beach city leaders and first responders. The staff of 15 at the Harbor Beach Coast Guard station will be moving to Port Huron in the next few years, but there will be crews in Harbor Beach 24/7 during the boating season, generally from May to September, according to Coast Guard spokesman Marvin Kimmel.

That wasnt the best news, City Director Ron Wruble said. (But) theyre still going to have a big presence in Harbor Beach, thats the silver lining.

Outside the boating season, a lingering concern is ice rescues. The new plan calls for having the station manned if people can launch in early spring or late fall, which gave us a little reassurance for protection for the boating public, Wruble said.

That was good, he said.

The Coast Guard says it will have four boats available: two 25-footers and 24-foot and 45-foot vessels. The Huron County Sheriffs Office recently got a new 20-foot airboat for ice operations, and has a larger 31-footer. The Saginaw Coast Guard station has an airboat and a helicopter is always sent during ice rescues anyway, said Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson.

If it looks like theres going to be boating traffic, someones going to be there, Hanson said, adding his office is well equipped.

In my opinion, it went pretty good. We didnt want to lose them  (but) it wasnt as bad as we originally thought it would be, he said of the Coast Guards proposal.

Hanson said his office wouldnt need to make any changes in response to the plan.

Since 2005, Coast Guard search and rescue cases have decreased 63 percent across the Great Lakes, according to the Coast Guard. The sheriff recalled only one major incident since taking office in 2009. Kimmel said others at the meeting hadnt known of incidents in decades.

Earlier this week, county commissioners inked a resolution to support the Harbor Beach Coast Guard station maintaining a status quo operation and the station continuing at its current capacity. Closing or curtailing services would be an immense disservice to residents and the countys 93 miles of shoreline, the resolution states. It passed unanimously.

Wruble says they talked briefly on these concerns.

I dont think well see a whole lot of difference than what we have now, he said.

Kimmel says the Coast Guard wouldnt have moved forward with the proposal without doing a lot of research and prioritizing safety.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  A judge has dismissed a Nebraska inmate's lawsuit that claimed he was denied his right to worship the divine Flying Spaghetti Monster, and that he was mocked and faced discrimination for his faith.

Stephen Cavanaugh sued the Department of Correctional Services and penitentiary officials in 2014 seeking $5 million and a court order mandating that inmates who practice FSMism receive the same rights and privileges as inmates who practice other religions.

U.S. District Judge John Gerrard dismissed the lawsuit on Tuesday. He said in his ruling that "FSMism" is not a religion as outlined by federal law, but "a parody intended to advance an argument about science, the evolution of life and the place of religion in public education."

Gerrard said those issues are important and that FSMism contains a serious argument, "but that does not mean that the trappings of the satire used to make that argument are entitled to protection as a 'religion,'" the Lincoln Journal Star (http://bit.ly/1SCqb7C ) reported.

He also said Cavanaugh, 24, didn't sufficiently back up claims that he had been prevented from exercising his religion while serving time in the Nebraska State Penitentiary on assault and weapons charges.

Cavanaugh claimed prison staff discriminated against him by refusing to allow him to meet for worship services and classes, to wear religious clothing and pendants and to receive communion. He said staff mocked and insulted his faith.

Gerrard determined that prison staff considered Cavanaugh's request in good faith "and concluded, reasonably, that FSMism was satirical and required no accommodation."

"This case is difficult because FSMism, as a parody, is designed to look very much like a religion," he said.
At a five-hour hearing she described in detail how she descended from an idyllic childhood into psychedelic drug use and eventually found Manson, whom she described as a "Christ-like man that had all the answers" for a young woman whose parents' divorce had left her feeling abandoned and angry.

On Thursday she convinced the state panel that the murderous young woman she had been was a long-distant memory and that she was now fit to be paroled. She has completed college degrees and been a model inmate.

"Your behavior in prison speaks for itself. Forty-six years and not a single serious rule violation," Commissioner Ali Zarrinnam told Van Houten at the close of her 20th parole hearing.

The decision will now undergo administrative review by the parole board. If upheld it goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has final say on whether Van Houten is released.

The now-66-year-old Van Houten was "numb" after the panel announced its decision, said her attorney Rich Pfeiffer.

"She's been ready for this for a long time," Pfeiffer said outside the prison. "It really should have happened a long time ago."

Van Houten participated in the killings of Leno La Bianca and his wife Rosemary a day after other so-called "Manson family" members murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in 1969.

Thursday's decision makes her the first Manson follower involved in the Tate or La Bianca killings to reach this stage in the parole process. Family member Bruce Davis, who was not involved in those killings, has been recommended for parole, but it was blocked by the governor.

At 19, Van Houten was the youngest Manson follower to take part in the killings after she joined the cult in the 1960s.

At the hearing, she described in graphic detail for the panel how she helped secure a pillow over the head of Rosemary La Bianca with a lamp cord and hold her down while another member of the Manson family began stabbing the woman in her home.

Van Houten said she had looked off into the distance until another Manson follower told her to do something and she joined in the stabbing.

"I don't let myself off the hook. I don't find parts in any of this that makes me feel the slightest bit good about myself," she told the panel.

The La Biancas were stabbed numerous times and the word "WAR" was carved on the stomach of Leno La Bianca.

After her arrest, she said at the hearing, Van Houten heeded Manson's calls to disrespect the court during trial, and took LSD on death row in the early 1970s, imagining she was breaking down her molecules so she could exit the building.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office vehemently opposed Van Houten's release. After the decision, District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement she would evaluate how to proceed.

Louis Smaldino, nephew of Leno La Bianca, pleaded with the panel not to release Van Houten after the horror she and the others inflicted by taking a carving knife used at annual Thanksgiving dinners to mutilate his family.

"The Manson family are terrorists, albeit homegrown," he said. "They're long before their time. What we're seeing today, these people were back in the 60s."

Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings.

During the penalty phase of her trial, she confessed to joining in stabbing Rosemary La Bianca after she was dead.

Van Houten's conviction was overturned on appeal. She was retried twice and convicted in 1978 of two counts of murder and conspiracy.

Manson, 81, and other followers involved in the killings are still jailed.

Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson have each been denied parole multiple times, while fellow defendant Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009.
"For a lot of people, I think they hear south-central and they think, 'Oh no, you gotta duck down,'" Elena Ramirez said.

Police helicopters show up regularly over the densely populated 51 square miles, she said. Hundreds of thousands live in the region, mostly low income. More than half are Latino and nearly 40 percent are black.

But what the neighborhoods do have in common is what brought Ramirez to Logansport this week: A need for immigration legal services.

She and six other people from around the nation are in training this week at The Bridge Community Church's immigration legal clinic, The Bridge Immigrant Connection, preparing to start similar legal clinics in their own cities.

The small Wesleyan church along the Eel River at the intersection of Linden Avenue and Sixth Street opened a low-cost immigration services clinic in summer 2014 and has since handled more than 600 cases for clients seeking documented status or working toward naturalization as a U.S. citizen.

It's now one of 15 similar clinics in Indiana and was the first of the Wesleyan denomination's network of similar clinics. It has served as a training ground for 60 or more people seeking licensure through the federal government as accredited immigration legal representatives.

With 10 clinics in the Wesleyan network, it's become the largest such network in the nation, according to the church's pastor and accredited legal representative, Zach Szmara. Another dozen clinics are finishing the approval process and are expected to open in the next three months or so.

On Wednesday, the trainees huddled around computers, stacks of immigration forms and reference books as thick as your fist. They're required to accumulate about 40 hours of real-world clinic experience to achieve their accreditation as an immigration legal representatives.

"There's no offices around, so they're all here," Szmara said.

Ramirez has already helped her parents and in-laws navigate the complicated world of immigration and naturalization paperwork, a process that helped convince her she wanted to assist others the same way.

Wednesday afternoon, she worked alongside Abby Miller of Salem, Massachusetts, a low-income suburb of Boston where more than half of the residents are immigrants. They were handling cases of clients who'd visited the Logansport clinic, sometimes troubleshooting immigration appeals that had been rejected for things as simple as a missing signature.

"We're actually getting real cases," Miller said. "That's extremely helpful."

While most trainees are part of the Wesleyan denomination, about a third are not. Miller's church isn't Wesleyan  it's part of the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination, she said. She learned about the training through the denomination's connection to the Immigration Alliance, a network of several Christian denominations pooling resources to assist immigrants.

"We're looking to start the first site for that denomination," Miller said. The church is working with the North Shore Community Development Coalition, an organization focused on serving low-income and distressed neighborhoods, to open a clinic late this summer in offices the North Shore CDC is providing.

One of this week's trainers, Katie White, was herself the first trainee at The Bridge in Logansport. She helped open another church-based clinic in 2015 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which has since handled cases for more than 200 clients in over 40 countries.

"There's such a high demand" for low-cost legal help navigating the immigration and naturalization processes, she said. The Pew Research Center indicates Michigan receives the fifth largest number of refugees out of all U.S. states in 2015. Two other nonprofits run immigration legal clinics in the city, White said, but their waiting lists are months long.

White and Jim Wood of Olathe, Kansas, came to Logansport to help Szmara so trainees would learn a variety of different ways people run such clinics.

Szmara anticipates increased demand over the next few months, saying a pending U.S. Supreme Court case could spur thousands of Logansport residents to seek immigration appeals or naturalized citizenship.

The court is expected to hear arguments this spring in a case surrounding President Barack Obama's executive actions expanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents initiatives. Those initiatives let noncitizens with family and community ties to the U.S. get temporary, renewable deferrals of deportation, according to the American Immigration Council.

Szmara will be ready, he hopes. The church hired an assistant in February for the immigration clinic and is preparing to open a branch clinic in Noblesville in a few months to serve clients who are already driving up from that area.

He expects to remain a training ground for directors of other clinics, too.

"I want to help as many people as I can," he said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

CASEVILLE  The doors may be closed, but the place is hoppin  literally.

Brewers at Thumb Brewery are hard at work whipping up new batches to get the taps flowing by Friday, April 22, when the brewery will reopen for its third year of business.

But it wont be business as usual.

Its a lot like our grand opening because weve made such big changes, said Yvonne Stacherski, who co-owns Thumb Brewery with husband, Scott.

Theyre anticipating 28 beers on tap, 12 of which to be made in-house  there were only four of their own on tap last year.

In the past we werent a real brewery,  Stacherski said. But this year were going to really represent ourselves. Well actually have real menus. Were stepping up our game.

Heeding a downturn in customer reviews due to a small selection, the owners hired another brewer to boost capacity. Theyve turned out lighter beers to convert regular beer drinkers not accustomed to craft beer, and plan to bottle their own for guests to take home in a six-pack.

Beer not your thing?

This is our first year were going to bring liquor in as well, Stacherski said.

Brewers are getting creative with beers and liquors to create really fun beertini cocktails  like the Homemade Hooch, Stacherski said.

Were the only people in town being able to do this with beers, she said. Initially we wanted to focus on doing beer well. But this year weve decided to utilize our liquor license. Theres been a guest demand on the liquor front.

A full wine menu also returns this year.

Were pretty pleased with that, Stacherski said.

Jamieson Hanna joins brewer Nick Bowlby as Thumb Brewerys newest. Hanna, 28, says he didnt start drinking until turning 21.

Im a big beer guy, he said.

Hanna, of Troy, says he attended school in Hawaii and travelled around a bit before landing back in Michigan. An ad posted for a brewer caught his eye while in Mayville and he says he drove up to the brewery during a February snowstorm, talked to the owners, brought them a sample beer and got the ball rolling from there.

I got into home brewing about five years ago and it just kind of stuck with me, Hanna said. Weve been brewing our butts off to have a full supply and have it aged properly.

New beers include an IPA, red, Saison, Maibock, Hefeweizen, German pilsner, smoked porter, amber lager, Kolsch, German Gose  and a stout that packs 22 percent alcohol by volume the brewery plans to serve in 4-ounce glasses.

Were doing a lot of specialty batches for pale ales and IPAs, he said. One beer I really enjoyed doing was the Gose. Its got sea salt and coriander, and is slightly sour. Its a very unique style. Its very light and refreshing.

Both Stacherski and Hanna say theyre trying to appeal to locals who favor Bud Light and other light, crisp and clean beers.

If a beer is clean and crisp and good, its a sign of your ability to brew, Hanna said.

But many are open to tastes outside the norm.

Theyre being more experimental I think than you might expect, Stacherski said of craft beer drinkers.

One of the brewerys signature drinks is its Quinns Irish Red, named for the Quinn family that lived in the home before it was turned into a brewery. The family was a staple in the community, and its a beer thats well balanced and not too dark or light, according to Stacherski. Another is the oatmeal stout.

Contributing to the 16 guest taps are national and international beers, like Guinness, as well as Michigan-based Shorts, Founders and Bells.

Still, catering the suds to local tastes ranks high on the priority list.

Were looking to entice locals to fall further in love with us, to make us part of their routine, Stacherski said.

Theyd also like to keep business routines local.

Hanna says the brewery is sourcing some hops  the ingredient that gives beer a bitter and tangy flavor  from farms in Goodrich and Empire. Families in the Thumb area also have reached out to the brewery to see about using malts theyre growing, he said.

We definitely want to have a focus on having a lot of Michigan ingredients, he said, adding the brewery is reaching out to Motor City Brewing in Detroit, which he says sources grains from the Thumb.

Were really amped up and ready to get the doors open.

Stacherski says the goal is to keep the doors open year-round. She knows it may take some effort for that to happen  especially in a rural area that sees many people leave for the winter. And the craft beer boom across Michigan and the entire country has seen a slower adoption in the Thumb, she said.

The thing about locals is theres not a lot, Stacherski said. But we think were leading the charge on (craft beer) in the Thumb.

The owners want to do more outreach to places like Bad Axe, Pigeon and Elkton.

Those communities are not that far away and they dont know about us, she said.

Enter Beerucation  an effort to educate the community on the craft of breweries, the creation process and beer styles. In ramping up its social media presence, the brewery, on its Facebook page, has posted photos and descriptions of new beers and menu items the past weeks.

The owners have also reworked the food menu. Stacherski says it will be more local, fresh and prepared in house. New items include the crushed garlic bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes, mango salsa and toasted crostini, grilled chicken hummus wrap, improved flatbread pizzas and new vegetarian options. And a few guest-requested surprises Stacherski says she prefers to keep under wraps until the opening.

To offer the same great service and family-friendly atmosphere, Stacherski says there will be improved outdoor seating with an extended covered patio.

If you go

Thumb Brewerys re-opening is set for Friday, April 22. Address is 6758 Pine St. in Caseville.

Spring hours are set for Friday through Sunday from about 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Stacherski says the brewery will probably be open seven days a week starting Memorial Day, staying open to 11 p.m. or midnight through Labor Day.
The International Monetary Fund is urging countries to launch a new round of public works projects to improve roads and other types of infrastructure in hopes the higher government spending will boost growth. But in an era of high budget deficits, that call has not met with much support.

The discussions are being held as part of the spring meetings of the 189-nation IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank. Leaders of both institutions are sounding the alarm about the need for greater efforts to boost growth to make sure the world economy does not topple back into recession.

The Group of 20, representing the world's biggest economies, is wrapping up two-days of talks on Friday with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen representing the United States. Those talks will be followed by meetings Saturday of the policy-setting panels of the IMF and World Bank.

Lew met on Thursday with his counterparts from China and Japan.

In a statement, the U.S. side said that both Lew and Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei had discussed the importance of China moving toward a market-determined exchange rate in an "orderly and transparent way, while clearly communicating its policies and actions to the market."

China's government roiled markets in August and again in January with actions that raised worries that the world's second largest economy was slowing more sharply than had been forecast, a development that raised concerns about the economic fallout on other nations.

In opening news conferences on Thursday, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim stressed the need for stronger policies to combat the growing risks.

The two officials sought to address the political backlash against globalization, which has helped propel the presidential campaign of Republican front-runner Donald Trump in the United States and has triggered an upcoming vote in Britain over whether that country should exit from the European Union.

Both Lagarde and Kim said the answer to stagnant wages in many industrial nations and complaints about jobs being lost to trade competition was to pursue growth-oriented policies such as a boost in government infrastructure spending.

Kim rejected the idea that countries can boost stagnant wages by raising trade barriers. He said that lowering trade barriers had helped lift millions of people around the world out of poverty.

"This movement toward isolationism and the movement away from trade is very bad for poor people," Kim told reporters. "It is very bad for our efforts to reduce poverty."

Lagarde said that the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and the deep recession that followed was still "too slow and too fragile." She noted that the IMF has once again had to reduce its estimate for global growth, cutting the projection to 3.2 percent for this year, down from a 3.4 percent forecast made just three months ago.

Lagarde said growth at this rate was not enough to lift living standards or create sufficient job opportunities for the nearly 200 million around the world who are officially unemployed and looking for jobs.

And she said anemic growth puts added strains on middle-class families and the poor and "emboldens the voices of protectionism and fragmentation."

Asked about the leaked documents from a Panama law firm that have revealed details of offshore financial accounts, Kim said such tax havens can have a devastating effect on global poverty by reducing government resources.

The finance ministers of five leading European nations  Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain  held a joint news conference Thursday to call on the international community to do more to fight tax fraud and money laundering by sharing ownership and tax data, helping establish the true beneficiaries behind companies and other entities and prevent the use of tax havens.

"No single country can tackle international tax evasion alone," Britain's Treasury chief George Osborne told reporters Thursday. "Strong words of condemnation are not enough, populist outrage doesn't by itself collect a single extra pound or dollar in tax or put a single criminal in jail. What we need is international action."

But Susana Rice, a tax policy expert with the international aid group Oxfam, said the proposal did not go far enough because the shared information would not be released to the public.

"If the proposed registry of beneficial owners of companies and trusts is hidden from the public, how can we know who is hiding their profits and fortunes and trying to avoid paying their fair share," Rice said.
HURON COUNTY  A recent announcement by the Drug Enforcement Administration could change the federal status of marijuana in the first half of 2016, which some see as beneficial, but could create issues for others.

Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law and is considered to be, the most dangerous  with no currently accepted medical use. The change the DEA is considering would be to remove marijuana from Schedule I and list it as a Schedule II substance.

Voters in 23 states have passed legislation to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Colorado, for instance, legalized the substance for recreational purposes in 2014, and has since seen a drop in crime and increased tax revenue from its purchase.

If the DEA were to lower the drugs schedule, it would allow researchers to study it more and create marijuana-based medicines for patients.

Schedule II drugs  which include cocaine, Adderall and Ritalin  can be prescribed by doctors because they have been proven to have medical purposes.

State Rep. and physician Ed Canfield, R-Sebewaing, said the advantages he sees, if the change took place, would be experimentation with marijuana  in other words research with the product.

With it being a Schedule I, you have to go through loops for research, Canfield said.

Two problems he currently has with the states medical marijuana laws include: marijuana still being federally illegal and the only way it can be used is through smoking.

Canfield co-sponsored a bill introduced in February 2015 to create the Medical Marijuana Provisioning Center Regulation Act. Combined with other bills in the package, it would allow the states Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to regulate and tax the production and sale of medical marijuana. The House passed the bills in October, with each getting at least 95 of a possible 106 votes. The bills were referred to the committee on judiciary but have not seen action since October.

Those (bills) would improve dosing, Canfield explained. You cannot determine a dose youre going to get by smoking marijuana.

Marijuana dosages  how much a patient must use to treat their illness  have not been determined and its another flaw Canfield has with the law.

The bill Canfield co-sponsored would allow for dispensaries and marijuana-infused products, such as edibles, to become available for its patients. If dosages were available, it could open medical marijuana to a wide-variety of patients.

I see a real problem with folks my parents age, Canfield said regarding patients switching from prescription drugs to medical marijuana as a treatment option. Theyre not just going to light up a doobie.  But if they had a prescription with a dose amount, they might be more open to the idea.

I dont think our current system is a great system so I dont prescribe it, Canfield added. I would improve the law based on  a need for a better dosing method for it (marijuana use).

Paul Armentano, deputy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation, was pleased when he heard the announcement, but felt marijuana still isnt treated properly.

Our (NORML) position at this time is that cannabis ought to be descheduled and removed from the Controlled Substance Act altogether and regulate marijuana just as they would alcohol and tobacco, Armentano told the Tribune.

Its not fair to say that rescheduling marijuana alone is going to bring in federal changes to advance medical research, but its a great start, he added.

Although the push for marijuana to be removed as a Schedule I drug has been ongoing for a number of years, law enforcement continues to battle the war on drugs. Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson believes marijuana is currently ranked appropriately as a Schedule I substance.

I certainly know there is debate that can be made, but that is my opinion, Hanson said regarding marijuanas current status. Marijuana is, in most cases, the beginning of further drug experimentation amongst younger adults and teenagers. Thats my feeling.

Its being viewed as its not all that bad of a substance, Hanson added. I disagree, because I believe in most cases its the beginning of further experimentation with drugs.

The sheriffs department handles tips that come in on marijuana quite often, but dont have the resources to follow up on all the leads that come in.

Unfortunately, we have to prioritize what were working on, he said. When were dealing with intravenous drugs that are of harder content, for lack of better words, that people have actually died from overdoses of, we certainly have to prioritize and deal with that, more so than being able to have the time to follow up on all the marijuana leads that we get.

Huron County Drug Enforcement Deputy Ryan Swartz said the top Schedule I drug the department encounters is heroin.

We still deal with many marijuana cases, we still work them, but if I have a choice to work a heroin case or marijuana case, obviously were going to prioritize the heroin, Swartz said. However, we definitely still are working the marijuana cases.

Along with the sheriff, Swartz also believes marijuana is classified in the right category.

... Ive been working dope for four years and do I think its a gateway drug? I do, Swartz added.

From the prosecutions perspective, it would mean a number of court-related changes taking place. Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski said most drug investigations in the county include heroin, cocaine, prescription pills and methamphetamine.

With the change of the schedule drugs, what will happen is the state Legislature would have to change the charges as it relates to marijuana, Rutkowski told the Tribune. Just from the cases that this office has dealt with in the last three to four years, cases of delivery of marijuana are not cases we have had much of.

Its difficult to determine what types of changes would occur because the switch is still in the discussion stage.

A Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan report shows the states prison population in 2013 was 43,704 inmates incarcerated. Out of those inmates, 3,351 were housed for drug offenses  and out from that number, only 37 prisoners were serving time for manufacturing marijuana.

Its not to say we dont have marijuana cases, Rutkowski said. Its just that more cases have dealt with meth, heroin and cocaine.

In 2014, the number of heroin-related deaths reported in the United States was 10,574, while an average of 88,000 alcohol-related deaths have been reported each year since 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of deaths caused by marijuana sits at zero.

Tribune staff writer Seth Stapleton contributed to this story.
The Athens Banner-Herald reports that a woman told officers 20-year-old Blake Leland Zengo sprayed her in the face with a product designed to smell like flatulence.

An Athens-Clarke County police report says several people left the bar Saturday, citing the foul smell inside.

Officers say Zengo slurred his words as he told police he never sprayed anything inside the bar.

Zengo was charged with disorderly conduct, public intoxication and underage consumption of alcohol. The woman declined to press charges.

It's unclear whether Zengo has an attorney.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the proposed settlement could amount to up to $180 per copy for dental businesses that claimed Indiana-based Zimmer Dental Inc. sent the unwanted faxes.

Zimmer sells dental implants and other products. The company denies any wrongdoing as part of the settlement of the 2015 lawsuit filed by a dental office in the St. Louis suburb of Sunset Hills.

As part of the settlement proposal, the plaintiffs' lawyers will receive more than $533,000.

U.S. District Judge Ronnie White told attorneys during a hearing Thursday that he'd take the settlement under advisement.
One month later, Sablina accidentally discovered from a forensic report that six of her 19-year-old daughter's organs, including her heart and kidneys, had been removed for transplant.

"I was shocked that organs were taken from my child without my permission," Sablina told The Associated Press.

Yet all of that was legal. Russian law explicitly allows doctors to take organs from deceased patients without informing their families. Sablina sued for damages in five Russian courts and has lost every challenge. In frustration, she recently filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, contending that the removal of her daughter's organs violated several articles of Europe's Human Rights Convention. Sablina also hopes her daughter's case will prompt a change in Russian law.

"(Doctors) just came with a briefcase and took what they wanted," said Sablina, who said she would not have agreed to the donation even if asked. "Who gave them the right?"

More than a dozen countries in Europe, including Russia, have a "presumed consent" donation system, where, in an attempt to boost the number of available organs, the government assumes people will be donors unless they specifically opt out. Others, like England, require people or their relatives to provide permission before anything can be taken.

In some countries with presumed consent, including Spain and Belgium, doctors still consult family members before removing organs. But in Russia, doctors don't always seek the family's permission beforehand.

A recently proposed amendment, however, would require Russian doctors to inform a patient's relatives within 12 hours of their loved one's death of any intention to remove organs or tissue, giving the family time to object. But the amendment does not make it mandatory for doctors to obtain the family's consent before taking organs. The proposal is still awaiting approval and there is no timeline on when Russian lawmakers might debate it.

Still, that would only be a partial solution, critics say, since Russia still lacks an organ donation infrastructure, including a viable way for people to opt out.

After her daughter's accident in Moscow, Sablina and her husband flew from their home in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg to be with her at the hospital. The doctors told them to prepare for the worst. After five days, Sablina said the doctors said they were too busy to talk, that she and her husband could not see Alina that day and asked them to leave.

The following morning, Sablina got a telephone call from a funeral home informing her that her daughter had died. She inadvertently discovered the organ removal as she reviewed a criminal case file against the driver implicated in the fatal collision.

One doctor had removed her daughter's heart while another took her kidneys. Doctors also cut out part of her aorta, her adrenal gland and a piece of her right lung. Sablina sued the hospital and two other institutions involved. Her lawyer, Anton Burkov, said Russian law gives doctors a disturbing amount of discretion.

"Every single act of organ removal is conducted without any permission from the relatives," he said. "Doctors can freely ignore the families since it is completely legal to harvest organs in secrecy."

Burkov said they have requested priority status with the European Court but that a judgment could still take two to four years. A similar case filed by a Latvian mother resulted in a ruling against the country and a modified law.

The Russian ministry of health did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the case.

Alexei Starchenko, chairman of Russia's National Patient Safety Agency, said every hospital that performs organ transplants has its own waiting list, describing the system as "corrupt" since there is little transparency to explain how organs get distributed, unlike the clear criteria used by most other Western countries.

Russian lawmakers say the taking of organs without permission is partly out of consideration for grieving families. In a 2003 ruling upholding the law, the Constitutional Court said it is "inhumane to put the question of harvesting organs or tissues to a person's relatives at practically the same time as they are notified of his death."

Some experts backed Russia's approach, saying it ultimately serves a greater good.

"My sympathies lie more with the governments that are trying to save lives through transplantation of healthy organs that are absolutely of no use to the deceased or their families," said Robert Wintemute, a professor of human rights law at King's College London. "If we stop and ask whose organs these are, they don't really in any sense belong to the family."

Others said stronger safeguards were needed in Russia.

"To behave as the doctors in Russia behaved, is totally unacceptable," said Dr. Roberto Cacciola, a transplant surgeon at The Royal London Hospital in Britain.

In England, he said, multiple doctors and nurses must ensure consent has been obtained from the family before removing any organs.

For Sablina, the lawsuit in the European Court is an attempt to honor her daughter's memory.

"If I don't start to fight against such an inhumane, cruel law, if I just stop and forget about it, I will betray my girl," Sablina said. "This law should be changed. The law should be humane."
Sorry...

..An error has occured:

If you have any queries about this error, try emailing feedback@mirror.co.uk and we'll do what we can to help you.

ZID:308457493
Retired Military Officials Are Finding High-Paying Jobs With the Saudi Government and Can Make up up to 7-Figure Salaries Working for Other Foreign Governments

Retired U.S. military personnel cannot receive consulting fees or jobs from foreign governments without expressed approval...
Former_Bakers_Square.jpg

Ypsilanti Township may rescind a liquor license it approved for La Fuente Mexican Restaurant location.

(Tom Perkins | For The Ann Arbor News)

Nearly four years ago, Ypsilanti Township approved a new Class C liquor license for the owners of La Fuente Mexican restaurant.

The owners planned to use the license in a building they were renovating in the Paint Creek Shopping Center, but the project is unfinished and the license unused.

In January, the township began the process of taking back the idle license, and on April 5 the process continued with a hearing in front of the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees.

Township officials say there's no timeline for La Fuente to complete work, and it's time for the restaurant to give up the license so another business can use it.

Michigan municipalities are allotted a limited number of licenses by the state, and Ypsilanti Township has turned away other restaurateurs who requested licenses over the last several years.

The MLCC requires several steps before the township can rescind the license, including the hearing. The board will make a final decision at its Tuesday meeting.

"Because all this time has passed, and because remodeling is not complete, and because it's not close to complete, and because other applicants came forward and applied but can't get a license because this applicant has one and won't use it, we thought it appropriate to ask the Board to consider this," said Mike Radzik, the township's director of the office of community standards.

At the hearing, he testified that the restaurant completed work without proper permits, approvals to site plan changes, and approval from the Planning Commission. The township has twice issued stop work orders because permits weren't pulled.

Radzik said the building has been condemned and cited for multiple code violations, and other business owners have complained to the township about trash, broken windows, tall weeds and other blight around the structure, which sits in a busy shopping center.

La Fuente opened 11 years ago and currently operates in a unit behind the new building. It also holds a liquor license in that location and could, in theory, transfer it to the new location.

Over the last two years, La Fuente management has repeatedly told the township and The Ann Arbor News that it plans to finish the project within several months. That hasn't happened.

No one from La Fuente returned calls from The Ann Arbor News.

According to township records, La Fuente bought the property in March 2012 for $685,000. Prior to that it was owned by a Kerby's Koney Island. Kerby's went out of business in 2011. Ram's Horn and Baker's Square each previously operated stores at the location.
403 Forbidden 403 Forbidden Code: AccessDenied

Message: Access Denied

RequestId: 366DF51EE0CCC36B

HostId: /9T4pQUl67aXtU2uB4iLtr9r1s+H4Oj/xPVxyOVGEJJ0Vo1P+U2L4xsuVPREjdGxG9MV6iukPGc= An Error Occurred While Attempting to Retrieve a Custom Error Document Code: AccessDenied

Message: Access Denied

ANN ARBOR, MI-- On May 9, 1963, when 10-year-old David Downey came home from Burns Park Elementary School, he was told that his father Headly Downey, an Ann Arbor police detective sergeant, had a bad day at work, and was not going to come home. David was devastated.

More than 50 years later, Ann Arbor police Officer Elizabeth Cornell contacted David Downey. She asked if she could participate the 2015 Police Unity Tour in honor of his father. David was thrilled.

The tour is a 3-day, 300-mile memorial bicycle ride from Florham Park, N.J. to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. Every police officer who participates rides in honor of a fallen officer.

Team Michigan, a group of officers from the Ann Arbor, Chelsea and University of Michigan police departments and the Michigan Department of Corrections, hosted its first charity event, 2016 Wheel and Wags on Saturday morning at Gallup Park.

The events welcomed community members to join for a bike ride, dog walk around the park with police officers. The event also serves as a fundraiser for the upcoming 2016 Police Unity Tour in early May.

"On average in the last ten years, one law enforcement officer is killed every 60 hours," University of Michigan Police Detective Paula Williams said. "One is too many. We just want to bring this awareness out there."

This year, the members of Team Michigan will be honoring these fallen officers during the Tour: Headly Downey; Clifford Stang of the Ann Arbor Police Department, who died March 21, 1935; Kenneth Payne of the Ann Arbor Police Department, who died June 4, 1946; Scott Flahive of the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety, who died Dec. 12, 1994; Sgt. Dennis Finch of the Traverse City Police Department, who died May 13, 1998; and Larry Nehasil of the Livonia Police Department, who ended his watch Jan. 17, 2011.
The government of Ghana is determined to support the creative arts industry to help modernise Ghana and create jobs. In line with this, management of NAFTI has been urged by Hon. Dr. Edward Omane Boamah to continue to position the Institute as the best higher educational institution in film, television and creative arts training in Africa, in order to enhance the quality and professional basis for the industry.

Hon. Dr. Omane Boamah, Minister of Communications, Guest of Honour at the 13th Congregation of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) said this at the ceremony held on Friday, April 15, 2016.

The graduation ceremony was for twenty-three students who had satisfied the requirements for their courses of study in various specialisations in the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree Programme offered by NAFTI. Also graduating were, 85 students who had satisfied the requirements for their courses of study in the Certificate Programme.

According to Hon. Dr. Omane Boamah, his ministry will continue to support NAFTI to ensure its significant contribution to the growth of the creative arts industry in Ghana. He said, Indeed, it is gratifying to note the significant role graduates of NAFTI are beginning to wield in the film and television industry, by the high quality of productions that they turn out.

On the transformation of NAFTI into a Creative Arts Institution, the Minister said, We are working hard, together with the Ministry of Education, on the Cabinet approval to transform NAFTI and move NAFTI under the Ministry of Education, to ensure that the Institute enjoys the same attention that public tertiary institutions of higher learning enjoy in this country.

Addressing the congregation, Prof. Linus Abraham, Rector of NAFTI, said that it has recently become fashionable to blame NAFTI for the ills of the film/video industry in Ghana. According to him, it is often asked where the NAFTI graduates are, and why they are not seen in the industry. He noted that, In a backhanded way, this points to the importance of NAFTI as a training institution for the professional development of the media industry in the country.

Prof. Abraham stated that in terms of the upper echelons of cinematic film making, where the Kwaw Ansahs and King Ampaws put Ghanaian film making on the global map, NAFTI is making an impact in producing the next generation of filmmakers who will build and sustain Ghana as a cinematic giant on the continent.

Prof. Abraham added that, Two graduates of NAFTI, Ms. Shirley Frimpong-Manso and Ms. Juliet Asante, both received multiple nominations for the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA). The AMVCA awards has become the most prestigious film awards on the African continent, beamed to about 55 million people across the continent and in the west.

Ms. Asante received three nominations for her film Silver Rain -- Best Movie (Africa), Best Costume Designer, and Best Movie (West Africa). Ms. Frimpong-Manso received two nominations for Rebecca -- Best Director and Best Picture Editor. Ms. Frimpong-Mansos film received the award for Best Picture Editor. Ms. Frimpong-Mansos film, Contract also garnered the most awards at the 2014 AMVCA; her film Contract received awards for Best Movie, Best Movie Director, Best Writer (Drama) and Best Video Editor.

The Rector said the current crop of NAFTI graduates are also following suit, with films such as Kalybos in China and Amakye and Dede receiving critical reviews and drawing huge crowds across the nation.

Addressing the graduands, Mr. Kwaw Ansah, CEO of TV Africa, said the graduands can make themselves important if they consider the industry they are entering as important. The role of the filmmaker is very important in recording and preserving history.

Your classes, first class, second class, etc. will be more relevant if you help to record the history of Ghana and the African continent as a whole. Africa suffers from the lack of a record of our history, please join in the crusade for the sake of posterity, said Mr. Ansah.

Also speaking to the graduating class, Ms. Juliet Asante, CEO of Eagle Productions said there is no point in Africans trying to tell the story of the American, because there is absolutely no way a Ghanaian can tell the story of an American better than the American.

We have stories waiting and begging to be told. The world is hungry for your stories. Go out there and tell it. Fortunately, you have the requisite training from NAFTI to close the gaps that exist with filmmakers without training in film and television production, Ms. Asante stated.

According to Ms. Asante, NAFTI has done well by introducing courses for persons who have the desire to enter the film industry, but do not have the required formal training. She added that it is her hope that in three or four years, the current graduands will be standing on this same platform agreeing with her and repeating all she just said because of their experiences after school.
As the holy book, the Bible has stated, 'God loves a cheerful giver', Ghanaian Favorite actor, comedian cum musician Kwadwo Nkansah known as Lilwin has done a free will donations to the Ashan Orphanage home as he turn 29-years old.

To make it a memorable one and to celebrate his life and success, Lilwin taught it was best to donate to the Orpahnge home at Kordie Offinso in the Ashanti Region.

.

The items donated include bags of rice, sugar, toilet rolls, biscuits, boxes of soaps, cooking oil, indomine, assorted drinks and an undisclosed sum of money.

He also gave them an amount to help support the building of a hospital at the orphanage home.

In attendance were head of brands manager, Amanziba, Razack also Lilwin's manager, Okyeame the public relations officer, Big Akwess and the boss nation crew.

Kwadwo Nkansah , born on the 15th April 1987 turned 29 years today
HIPLIFE artiste Okyeame Kwame will be organising a musical concert to raise an amount of $40, 000 to assist the Paralympics Team of Ghana as part of activities to celebrate his birthday.

According to the award-winning artiste, proceeds from the fundraising will be donated to the team ahead of the 2016 Paralympics Game in Rio, Brazil, as they will be on their way to USA for the qualifiers, commencing on May 1.

Dubbed 'Stripped Concert', the event will take place at the +233 Jazz Bar on the Ring Road Central in Accra on April 22.

It will feature some of the country's finest artistes such as Pozo Hayes, Kwabena Kwabena, Wiyaala, Mz Vee, flow King Stone, XO Senavoe, Ogo, among others

The gate proceeds go directly to support the team. I promise nothing but magic during the event, patrons should prepare themselves for a surprise, Okyeame Kwame said.

He has appealed to various organisations to support the Paralympics Team of Ghana to make it to the RIO 2016 Paralympics Games.

BY George Clifford Owusu


A company is giving its employees a half-day off on April 24  so they can stay up late and watch the Game of Thrones premiere.

The tech company, +rehabstudio, surprised its United Kingdom staff earlier this week when it announced they would get next Monday morning off.

Were always trying to look after our guys and make sure were giving them the best work environment and social life as well, said the companys founding partner Tim Rodgers.

The sixth season of HBOs hit show premiere next Sunday and airs in the US at 9 p.m., but it doesnt make it overseas until 2 a.m.

Many of Rodgers 68 employees at the Belfast office are obsessed with the award-winning series, especially because parts of it are filmed in Ireland.

They are massive fans, he said.

The half-day is now included in the companys official holiday policy in its handbook, which was shared on LinkedIn by London operations director Emma Willis.

The announcement has caused some friendly banter between the overseas offices and those back in the US, who are planning their own watch parties with their co-workers, Rodgers said.

And the policy has been good for business, too, with a 20 percent increase in job applications this week following the news of the GoT perk.

Looking after what you have and bringing great people in is super important to us, Rodgers said. We have a work hard, play hard atmosphere.
Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL.
IOM rapid response teams are addressing the humanitarian needs of crisis-affected populations outside of displacement sites in South Sudan. Expanding the reach of lifesaving aid is crucial as the two-year conflict continues to increase vulnerability among internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities across the country.

In Aweil West County, IOM recently completed a measles vaccination campaign after the Ministry of Health and the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported five cases of measles and officially confirmed an outbreak.

In partnership with Concern Worldwide and the Ministry of Health, IOM vaccinated an estimated 30,000 children under five years of age against the disease. The health rapid response team has now moved to Aweil South County to support an integrated polio and measles vaccination campaign, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and WHO, to be undertaken from 1216 April.

Expanding the reach of health services outside of displacement sites is critical, as the conflict and displacement have reduced access to basic services across the country. Children are extremely vulnerable to disease outbreaks, particularly in areas with low immunization coverage, explains IOM Migration Health Programme Manager Kelsi Kriitmaa.

In March, IOM conducted a two-week health rapid response mission to Weichdeng, Ayod County, where health care services are dire for both IDPs and host communities. An estimated 4,100 IDPs arrived in Weichdeng in late 2015 and early 2016 from Old Fangak and Piji Canal counties, according to local authorities.

The response supported emergency health care efforts of COSV, the main health care provider in the area. IOM health staff conducted nearly 2,000 medical consultations, providing curative care, vaccinations, maternal care and nutrition screening and treatment. The response team also delivered nutritional supplements to help treat cases of acute malnutrition.

IOM is also responding to shelter needs in Mundri West County, where civilians were cut off from humanitarian assistance for much of 2015. After distributing 1,500 survival kits in March, IOM returned to Mundri with national NGO Lacha Community and Economic Development (LCED) to assess current needs and plan for additional relief distributions in the area.

As part of an effort to provide assistance to areas surrounding the UN protection of civilians (PoC) site in Bentiu, IOM recently distributed shelter and relief items in Guit County. The distribution is part of a strategy to provide aid to vulnerable populations where they live, to reduce their need to travel to the congested PoC site, which is protecting an estimated 120,000 IDPs.

Since the war erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, more than 1.69 million people remain displaced internally and 706,600 people have fled to neighbouring countries. More than 200,000 IDPs are sheltering in UN displacement sites, while the majority have fled to remote areas across the country.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Mr. Bert Koenders, will visit Ghana from 15to 16 April 2016 on behalf of the High Representative of the European Union for ForeignAffairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, FedericaMogherini. Mr. Koenders will lead a team to discuss with Ghanaian counterparts issues inthe framework of the Ghana-EU High Level Dialogue on Migration.

As part of his visit, Mr. Koenders will meet with Ghana's Minister of the Interior, Mr. ProsperBani and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Hanna Tetteh.

The High Level Dialogue meeting in Accra follows the Africa-EU Valletta Summit onMigration in November 2015, the Meeting on the Implementation of the Valletta Action Planby ECOWAS Member States in February 2016 and recent technical and preparatory meetingsbetween Ghana and the EU. The Dialogue will build on the recently launched NationalMigration Policy for Ghana and will focus on the implementation of the five pillars of theValletta Declaration and Action Plan.
Least developed countries (LDCs) on 13 April called on WTO members to ensure the implementation of recent decisions favouring LDC goods and services exports as they are experiencing falling commodity export revenues and widening trade deficits.

Doing so will support poorer countries in diversifying their exports away from commodities and also help them climb up the value chain in manufacturing and services, several members said at the first meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs since the 10th Ministerial Conference (MC10) held last December in Nairobi.

Many MC10 outcomes are of critical importance to LDCs, Uganda, speaking on behalf of the coordinator of theLDC group, said at the meeting.

Members had delivered, as part of the Nairobi Package, several decisions to make it easier for LDC exports toqualify for trade preferencesand also enjoypreferential treatment for their servicesfor a longer period.

Members must now ensure that their national regulators recognize these agreements for preferential treatment for LDCs, Uganda said. The LDC Group would also like members to provide them assistance in availing of trade preferences for services. Members were also asked to develop or expand their respective rules of origin, which provide the criteria for whether a good qualifies for preferential entry into a foreign market, in line with the agreed guidance from Nairobi.

These are mandates given by our ministers and should therefore be achieved. The group urges WTO members towards the realization of these comprehensive objectives, Uganda said.

Furthermore, members were requested to step up their contributions to theEnhanced Integrated Framework(EIF)'s activities to bolster LDC trade, as pledges so far only make up roughly a third of the intended budget.

Current developments in the world economy pose significant challenges for LDCs, the chair of the sub-committee, Ambassador Roderick van Schreven (Netherlands), said. LDCs face an increased need to diversify their exports, he said.

There is a risk of a continued decline in prices of commodities, which many LDCs produce, as world demand slows, according to an update on LDC trade trends delivered by the WTO Secretariat at the meeting.

Meanwhile, LDC imports continue to grow, which widens trade deficits and threatens macroeconomic stability, the Secretariat's update stated.

Nevertheless, there is a positive trend of LDCs increasing their participation in the world trade of services and also in the exports of manufactured goods, both of which are labour-intensive and thus could have a positive development impact.

Several LDCs then called for substantive support to help them diversify their exports and address trade deficits, noting that the Nairobi decisions are an opportunity to assist in this area.

Besides these discussions, the Sub-committee considered a secretariat note relating to follow-up of WTO decisions taken in favour of LDCs(WT/COMTD/LDC/W/62)and a received a briefing from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on the LDC Ministerial Conference held last November. It also was briefed on the key findings of a study on how issues concerning sanitary and phytosanitary standards are covered in diagnostic trade integration studies as part of the EIF process.
The US Ambassador to Ghana has rejected suggestions that the presence of the two Guantanamo detainees could be a reason for the increased threat of terrorism in Ghana.

Speaking at his first media round a table dominated by issues relating to peace and security, Ambassador Robert Jackson says Ghana and US security forces are set to being a series of training to prevent a terrorist threat.

Ambassador Jackson revealed that Ghanaian security officials are set to benefit from a collaborative training program with the US to further guarantee stability and security in the country.

This first media roundtable marks 90 days of the new Ambassador's starting work in Ghana. The coming week and a half will see the start of a training program dubbed Epic Guardian by the embassy.

It will strengthen bilateral relations and emphasise the US's long-term commitment to supporting Ghana. Ghanaian officers from the police Counter Terror Unit and military will train with US Special Forces over 8 days.

The program will improve the capacity of the Ghanaian officers in areas of communications logistics, intelligence gathering and analysis, crisis planning and response.

.

He also revealed that NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo was consulted two weeks before the arrival of the two detainees and Mr. Akuffo-Addo expressed reservation about the decision by the Mahama administration.

However in a statement released in reaction to the US ambassador's comments, Akuffo-Addo's communication team denied this.

For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to reiterate our earlier stated position that at no point during the transaction between the two governments was Nana Akufo-Addo consulted, and the facts of the matter speak clearly for themselves, the statement said.

Ambassador Jackson also disclosed that he consulted the Catholic Bishops Conference, the [President of the National association of Charismatic and Christian Churches] and other civil society groups after the arrival of the detainees to explain the US position and collaboration with the Ghana government for the decision.

On Ghana's quest for free, fair and violent-free elections, the US is committing some 4.5 million in support.

Some 1.5 million will go to the EC while another 1.5 million will go to the national peace council with other groups such as the media also receiving support in the form of training.

-myjoyonline


Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, has accused some government officials including a Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, of plotting to disrupt a lecture that was to be delivered by her at the University of Ghana campus on Friday.

The leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP) specifically mentioned the name of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in an interaction with Citi News' Duke Mensah Opoku.

The programme dubbed 'Time With Legon, was being organised by the University of Ghana SRC, the Commonwealth Hall JCR and the Graduate Students Association of Ghana, GRASAG.

According to Duke Mensah Opoku, the programme that was scheduled to start at 5:00pm was delayed for about an hour after school authorities called in to say they were unaware of the event.

The organisers received a call from the Dean of Students who said he did not have information about the programme although the management of Commonwealth Hall had previously agreed for the programme to be held at the Observatory.

According to the Dean, the programme could not be held at the venue which is an open place due to the personalities involved. The organizers according to Duke, asked the authorities to allow the programme to take place at the conference room but that also was turned down.

The programme eventually came off after the venue was shifted to the Amphitheater.

.

The President of the Legon branch of GRASAG, Raymond Ayilo expressed his disappointment at the turn of events saying Nana Konadu was only invited to inspire graduates as they prepare to face the world.

Organisers disappointed

Our concerns are that, of late student programmes have faced a lot of frustrations on campus. This programme was scheduled to bring the former First Lady to come and inspire the students of the school on current issues of Ghana and motivate them to take up their role after graduating. There is no intention to this programme apart from the fact that we see her role in Ghana's democracy as one who has played a role as a former First Lady and has inspired several women including the young people and so we felt it was wise to bring her to inspire students as we go out of this University to also contribute our quota to the development of this country. But now we are not being allowed to have the programme and Nana Konadu is here with us and the media is here with us witnessing all that is happening. All attempts to get management to understand the situation have failed.

According to Mr. Ayilo, they had to make do with another space for the programme to go ahead only because the former First Lady was on campus already and so the programme could not be cancelled.

The idea was completely to stop the programme from happening so we met with the hall master of commonwealth hall since the First Lady was already on Campus. So we were directed to wherever we want to host at the back of the hall and that's what we did.

Bawumia's lecture allegedly stopped by gov't

The running mate to the Flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamoud Bawumia, has recently accused government elements of frustrating his lecture at some tertiary institutions, by ensuring that authorities of the school denied him access to their premises.

-citifmonline


World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, says a weakening global economy threatens progress toward ending extreme poverty by 2030.

The Bank has downgraded its global growth economic forecast this year to 2.5 percent from 2.9 percent.

"In the global economy, there are not many bright spots around the world -- the United States is one among the developed economies and India is another among the middle-income countries. Growth remains weak in Europe and Japan, and among emerging economies, Russia and Brazil are projected to post negative growth once again", said Mr. Yong Kim.

He was addressing the 2016 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, USA.

The Bank at its last meeting in Lima announced that for the first time the percentage of people living in extreme poverty around the world was projected to fall under 10 percent globally in 2015. Today, about 700 million people live in extreme poverty  a reduction of more than 1 billion people than 15 years ago.

The World Bank President says more than $25 billion will be provided in loans this year to middle-income countries  $10 billion more than the Bank had projected.

Including this years projections, World Bank lending will top $150 billion dollars in the last four years  more than any other four-year span in the World Banks history in a non-crisis period.

"This increased demand underscores the importance for donor countries to support our replenishment this year for the International Development Association, or IDA, which gives low-cost loans or grants to the poorest countries," said Mr. Yong Kim.

IDA helps developing countries enact policies that promote inclusive economic growth, attract private sector investment, and invest in peoples education and health.

"A strong IDA replenishment this year will be essential for us to work on our goals to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity, to continue our intense focus on the poorest countries in the world including in Africa and South Asia, and to broaden our work to tackle these global challenges," he noted.

In this period of global economic slowdown, the World Bank President forced displacement, climate change and pandemics are other major challenges which, he says, the Bank is "working urgently and in new ways with partners to find solutions to these issues that affect all of us".

On climate change, Mr. Yong Kim said "we must deliver on the promises of the Paris climate agreement, and yet were seeing countries around the world about to sign agreements for the dirtiest source of energy, coal. So were working with countries right now to piece together deals that would make renewable energy cheaper than coal."

Meanwhile, the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance met to collectively address economic and financial responses to climate change as a rapidly growing threat to growth and prosperity.

The V20 called for an economic and financial revolution compliant with the new 1.5 degrees Celsius and global adaptation goals as enshrined in the UN Paris Agreement reached in December 2015 that was strongly welcomed by the Group.

We welcome the new World Bank Climate Change Action Plan and are requesting additional concessional finance in the context of debt sustainability to help realize our ambitions and scale up our own contribution," said the V20 Chair, Cesar Purisima, Secretary of Finance of the Philippines. "We are encouraged by the progress we've made on climate accounting, risk pooling mechanisms, carbon pricing, and expanding financial access. We likewise expect developed countries to make good on their climate finance mobilization commitments".

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/in Washington DC
16.04.2016 LISTEN

The 12th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Partnership Platform (CAADP PP) drew to a close with the reaffirmation of agricultures vital role in Africas development.

The meeting sought to identify the capacity needs and the necessary partnerships at all levels to finance agricultural transformation and enable the implementation of the Malabo Declaration, for attaining sustainable agriculture growth.

If we have to successfully move from Maputo to Malabo1, we need to focus on developing appropriate financing mechanisms, to support industrialisation-led agriculture for the transformation of the continent, said Dr Hamady Diop, Programme Manager of Natural Resources Governance at the NEPAD Agency.

The importance of the CAADP PP and its role in collating collective and mutual responsibilities among partners was addressed.

It was agreed that addressing food security and agricultural development requires significant levels of public investment to address the public good dimensions but also requires significant private sector investments and participation.

As African smallholders start to produce food for the global market, there is a need for greater investment to meet the needs of this shift. It was hence concluded that Africa can only make things happen if the continent collectively innovates and creates fit for purpose instruments for finance and risk management that speak to its unique requirements.

In her remarks, youth representative Nkiruka Nnaemego called for more inclusive credit instruments for young farmers to contribute more along the agricultural value chain.

In closing, the meeting reaffirmed the indisputable role that agriculture has in leading Africas development and serving as a catalyst in meeting the socio-economic needs of youth and women.
The office of New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has refuted new US Ambassador to Ghana's claim that he was 'consulted' two weeks before the arrival of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana.

In a statement signed by his Press Secretary, Eugene Arhin said, "For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to reiterate our earlier stated position that at no point during the transaction between the two governments was Nana Akufo-Addo consulted, and the facts of the matter speak clearly for themselves."

Ambassador Robert Jackson rejected suggestions that the presence of the two Guantanamo detainees could be a reason for the increased threat of terrorism in Ghana.

Speaking at his first media round a table dominated by issues relating to peace and security, Ambassador Jackson said Ghana and US security forces are set to have a series of training to prevent a terrorist threat.

He revealed that NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo was consulted two weeks before the arrival of the two detainees and Mr. Akuffo-Addo expressed reservation about the decision by the Mahama administration.

Also, Ambassador Jackson disclosed that he consulted the Catholic Bishops Conference, the [President of the National association of Charismatic and Christian Churches] and other civil society groups after the arrival of the detainees to explain the US position and collaboration with the Ghana government for the decision.

Below is the statement

AKUFO-ADDO WAS NEVER CONSULTED ABOUT TRANSFER OF GITMO-2 DETAINEES

The attention of the Office of Nana Akufo-Addo has been drawn to a news item on some online media portals and on social media to the effect that the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party was consulted before, to quote the news item, the infamous transfer of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana.

According to the story captioned Nana Addo was consulted before GITMO 2 Transfer  US, the new US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, in a meeting with some editors on Friday, April 15, is alleged to have said that the Foreign Minister and this Embassy consulted about informing other stakeholders and so we did talk to Akufo-Addo before the transfer happened.

These statements by the Ambassador, therefore, create the impression that Nana Akufo-Addo was consulted and thereby had foreknowledge of the transfer of the Gitmo-2 detainees.

For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to reiterate our earlier stated position that at no point during the transaction between the two governments was Nana Akufo-Addo consulted, and the facts of the matter speak clearly for themselves.

On January 5, 2016, the Deputy Chief of Mission/Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Ghana, then acting as Chief of Mission, Melinda Tabler-Stone, called on Nana Akufo-Addo at his Nima residence to inform him, with the consent of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, about the impending arrival into the country of two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al Dhuby, as a result of discussions between the US and Ghana governments. The day after this visit, on January 6, it was announced that these Guantanamo detainees had been admitted into Ghana upon the authority of the President of Ghana. It would appear that at the time Melinda Tabler-Stone spoke to Nana Akufo-Addo, the two Gitmo-2 detainees were either on their way to Ghana or had arrived in the country.

It would be an unusual use of English, in these circumstances, to suggest that Nana Akufo-Addo was consulted. At best, what can be said is that he was informed of the transaction as it was being implemented, in other words he was presented with a fait accompli, not a consultation.

These are the bare facts of this matter.

signed

Eugene Arhin

Press Secretary

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim | Email: [email protected]
The Amasaman District Police Command has apprehended five suspected land guards who allegedly molested four soldiers on a parcel of land and burnt a vehicle in the course of their operation at Amasaman.

The notorious suspects, who have been operating in the area for some months now, usually use lethal weapons such as pump action guns.

The suspects are Ibrahim Quansah, 28, Samuel Ametepe, 32, leader of the gang, Odartey Laptey, 21, Michael Abbey, 21 and Ofori Annan.

Weapons retrieved from them included a locally manufactured single barrel gun, a pump action gun with 21 cartridges, two machetes and a cudgel.

The items were put in a fertilizer bag hidden in the boot of a Toyota Corolla they allegedly used for their operations.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE, DSP Elvis Bawa Sadongo, the Amasaman District Police Commander, said the suspects were arrested on April 11, 2016 around 9:30am at Sonitra, near Amasaman.

The Amasaman police patrol team spotted a Toyota Corolla taxi cab with registration number GS 8299-12 with the five men on board and stopped them.

When a search was conducted in the boot, the fertilizer bag with the guns and the other ammunitions were retrieved.

During interrogation, the five men admitted that they were land guards who had been directed by one Asafoatse Shadow of Gbawe to protect a land at an area called Okushibeade.

Suspects were immediately conveyed to the station for further interrogation.

Investigations revealed that the five suspects were all from Gbawe and worked for the said Asafoatse Shadow. They said the weapons belonged to the said Asafoatse Shadow. The police discovered that the suspects assaulted four soldiers in January, this year over a parcel of land at Obaa Krowa, near Amasaman. In the said operation, the suspect burnt a Nissan Urvan mini bus after torturing the soldiers. Fortunately, a Voter's Identity Card of Samuel Ametepe, the leader together with his bank booklet, was discovered at the scene after their escape. Some of their victims, who also heard of their arrest, trooped to the police station to give their statements to the police when the paper visited the station yesterday. DSP Sadongo said the five suspects would be arraigned before court after police investigations.

BY Linda Tenyah-ayettey ([email protected])
The Trial of five persons believed to have trailed and robbed Lydia horsu, the marketing staff of the Koala Shopping Centre, could not proceed yesterday at an Accra Circuit Court.

This, according to the prospection, was because Stanley Obaliko aka Mohammed Sulemana had been rushed to the hospital few hours into the trial.

The prosecutor, Chief Superintendent Duuti Tuaruka told the court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh that he was informed of the situation by the investigator.

Hearing was consequently adjourned until April 18.

State prosecutors were expected to bring a fourth witness in the case.

So far the state has produced three witnesses- Lydia, Nana Kwame, the cabbie and Mohammed Ali Khadil, Branch Manager of Koala to give testimony in the case.

Khadil, the last witness, in his evidence to the court, said that Lydia was not mandated to collect money for the company.

He emphatically stated that the victim did not come for money on the fateful day under cross-examination by George Asamaney, lawyer for Michael Edoe Ahiataku and Gilbert Osabutey aka Obolo.

However, the lawyer insisted that Lydia, in her evidence to the court, said that on the day of the incident, she saw Obolo and conversed with him.

But Khadil said he was not at the shop at that time and as such could not tell whether or not the two had engaged in any conversation prior to his arrival.

Sulemana and Okoe are also standing trial for intentionally and unlawfully causing grievous harm to Lydia.

The four others are Michael Edoe Ahiataku, Gilbert Osabutey aka Obolo, a shop supervisor, Frederick Sedro Kwame, aka Fred, a private security guard and Okoe Quarcoe, unemployed. The five men reportedly trailed and robbed Lydia at about 8am on January 9, this year of her Nokia phone worth GH800, a black ladies' bag valued at GH200, a Koala ID card, invoices and GH100. Sulemana is facing an additional charge of possessing one automatic MAB foreign pistol no PA151674189, six 9mm ammunition and five empty cartridges.

BY Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson

[email protected]


FOUR Persons on Thursday night sustained injuries after a Toyota land Cruiser with registration Ge 2686 -14 traveling in President mahama's convoy during his tour in the afram Plains of the eastern region was involved in an accident.

The four accident victims believed to be part of the communication bureau at the presidency in the convoy heading from Donkorkrom to Agordeke on the Volta Lake, were treated by the President's medical team after the incident and later continued the journey to commission the ferry.

The accident reportedly occurred at an area between Donkorkrom and Adiembra en route to the Afram Plains at 7 pm.

President Mahama, last Tuesday, stormed the region to begin the second phase of his Accounting To The People tour to inspect and commission some projects his administration has undertaken in the region.

President John Mahama who commissioned a new ferry and a water taxi for residents of Agordeke in the Afram Plains North District at 11:50 pm on Thursday night, said Agordeke, the fishing community, is among one of the busiest commercial communities in the district but has almost become a ghost town when the pontoon broke down for the past ten years.

President Mahama said, government noted the negative effect the absence of the ferry had on the people hence the provision of a new one and a water taxi.

The President also added that, the facilities would help reduce the disturbing news of boat accidents on the lake, and assured the residents that the Donkorkrom to Agordeke road would be rehabilitated. Residents in the area, expressed gratitude to the President for the facilities provided.

Eastern University

President John Mahama assured also that the sod cutting for the construction of the Eastern University will commence soon. As part of sharing the national cake to all regions and constituencies, the government of Ghana led by President Mahama promised to bring one university to the Eastern Region which will be located at Somanya he stated. He added that experts that will be produced by the Eastern University will help train the local farmers in agriculture, which is the mainstay of the people in the area.

From Daniel Bampoe, Donkorkrom


16.04.2016 LISTEN

WETLANDS ONEof Mother Nature's idle-looking yet critical features play important roles in our lives. They are lands saturated with water either permanently or seasonally with special features which set them apart from the rest of the ecosystem.

In Ghana, the Sakumono Wetland, one of the Ramsar Sites in the world is under threat from unscrupulous developers who could not care a hoot about the effects of their greed-driven activities in some cases.

We should be proud about the international recognition accorded this feature of our country and support the efforts of the Ramsar Convention.

The Sakumono Ramsar Site, as such natural sites are labeled, is an important part of the ecosystem which when disturbed in whatever form would spell telling effects on the environment.

Unfortunately subtle efforts are under way to rob the country of this important natural asset: a story in yesterday's edition of this newspaper says it all about the threat being posed to the Sakumono Ramsar Site even as those in charge of protecting such places sleep on their jobs.

Information gleaned so far suggests that it is a done deal that segments of the wetland have been sold already. Otherwise why would earth moving equipment be sitting comfortably on the site and trees being felled? The human activities on the wetlands is a sorry testimony about how we have little or no regards for these critical features of our environment.

The role of wetlands in the management of floods besides serving as habitat of rare fauna and flora cannot be brushed aside. Perhaps we lack knowledge about how such features and their interface with mankind impact our lives.

The impression of the civilized world about us when the silent sale of the Sakumono wetland is completed and the place replaced by high rise buildings would be anything but complimentary.

There are various types of wetlands in the world, marshlands, swamps and others, each spotting different features of fauna and flora.

International conservationists have engaged myriad efforts at protecting these portions of the world through collaboration with countries.

It is worth-noting that the Sakumono is the only site in the country identified for its importance among the membership of the Ramsar Convention which is today over four decades old.

The Ramsar Convention which seeks to ensure that its membership adhere strictly to its terms which by and large entail protecting these wetlands from human activities which have the potential of destroying them, must have taken notice of the encroachment on the Sakumono Wetland.

That the site has been labeled a Ramsar Site suggests that Ghana is a member of the convention and should not be seen to be closing her eyes on the degradation of the Sakumono Site. It is one of the sites on the world map of wetlands with its special fauna and flora mentioned. It is regrettable therefore when we fold our arms as greedy developers land their building equipment on the site and deny the special species of animal forms their natural habitat.

Wetlands are part of nature's means of flood control and stabilizing the shoreline; they also serve as a water reservoir whose benefits at times of shortage cannot be underestimated.

Floodwaters are spread over this waste-like looking land thereby controlling the dangers posed by the uncontrollable flow of water especially during the rainy season. Even with this feature we have had challenges with flood control: when they are gone as the Sakumono one is about to, unless something is done, our problems would be more compounded.

Conservation of these geographical features should be taken more serious than we are witnessing under the current arrangements which are largely dormant. Our membership of international organizations charged with the protection of nature among others are hardly seen beyond attending international conferences. When it comes to protecting the Sakumono Ramsar Site through implementable legislation, the excuses are many.

It would not be surprising when after this article there is a certain kneejerk reaction from the relevant state agency in response to the developments. When that happens, we can only ask whether it had to take such an article for those in charge to discover the ongoing degradation.

It has been a long time since formal efforts were put up to educate the populace about the importance of protecting our environment. Today it would seem that the status quo remains, we have no appreciation for wetlands. Otherwise why would the Sakumono Ramsar Site marked for its special place in the world of wetlands be left at the hands of people who have nothing to do with wetlands.

Conservationists and scholars of nature think that wetlands are the most biologically diversified ecosystems of the world. They contain various species of fauna and flora which cannot be found anywhere safe these places. An assortment of reptiles and other life forms live here. Wetlands provide the incubating and hatching sites for some life forms such as turtles. Some migratory birds come to this part of the world away from harsh temperate conditions. This is nature's way of managing the ecosystem and the world in general.

The Millennium Ecosytem Assessment initiative believes that the degradation of wetlands surpasses all known forms of environmental abuse by man.

Ramsar Sites

A Ramsar Site is a wetland ear-marked for protection under an international convention, the Ramsar Convention. Sakumo Ramsar Site now under threat is made up of, according to the definition of conservationists, a coastal brackish-saline lagoon and the surrounding floodplains, freshwater marsh, coastal savannah grasslands with thicket vegetation, and a narrow sand-dune connection to the sea. They add that it is home to over 70 water bird species made up of 30,000 individuals all of which depend on the Site's resources during migratory and reproduction periods.

Notable species include waders such as the spotted redshank and common greenshank among others. It is host to sandpipers, curlew, little stint Calidris minuta, the black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa and the blackwinged stilt.

The Sakumono Wetland also houses marine and fresh water fish types among them the blackchin tilapia. The current threat posed by developers adds to others such as toxic effluence from both domestic and industrial sources.

BY A.R. Gomda


THe 2012 presidential candidate of the Progressive People's Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has questioned the source of funding of President John Mahama's numerous campaign tours across the length and breadth of the country.

The President is currently campaigning under the guise of an 'Accounting to the people tour' in all 10 regions of the country using state vehicles, security and other resources.

Apart from telling the people what his government has been doing for almost eight years that his ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been in power, he has also used the opportunity to make numerous promises to chiefs and people and solicited votes ahead of the November 7 general election.

Dr Nduom, who is also lacing his boots to contest the upcoming elections, raised questions about the use of taxpayers' money to propagate the campaign message of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to him, Those who cheat to come to power also cheat when they get the power.

Dr Nduom said that the President had deceived Ghanaians because he was using state resources to fund his campaign and roll out advertisements.

Should our tax be used to fund the NDC's political campaign? he asked in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Our President, John Dramani Mahama, is off and about touring the 10 regions, campaigning, touting his record, asking to be returned to office. Who is funding this campaign trip?

There is a difference between official duties of a President, Ministers of State and DCes and political campaign activities that should be private and self-funded. Why are Ministers of State and government officials using official vehicles that belong to the State plus fuel to follow the President? he quizzed. Who decided to put the President in an electoral Commission (eC) advertisement and why did he not see anything wrong with it? Who paid for it? There are advertisements on radio, TV, newspapers, social media about the 'Transforming Lives' agenda of the NDC. Who is paying for them? Where did the money come from? he probed further. Dr Nduom added, Where is the electoral Commission on this? When will we have this Commission probe how political parties fund their campaigns?

BY Charles Takyi-Boadu


16.04.2016 LISTEN

A First-time visitors to Lagos about 10 years ago were warned, This is Lagos. That meant that you should not expect help from anyone  but brace up for hard times ahead. n oft-told tale of Lagoss once-notorious traffic jams is that of a taxi passenger stuck in a snarl-up who left the vehicle, wandered into a roadside restaurant to eat, drank a beer, took a nap and returned to the vehicle that had not moved an inch. He reached his destination several hours later.

Fast-forward to 2016 and the traffic congestion, high crime rate, clogged gutters and roads filled with garbage could soon become just a bad dream. These days Lagosians still regale each other with anecdotes of the dystopian city even as positive changes can be seen in Africas most populous city, with 21 million people. These days the greeting Welcome to Lagos portends better news.

Transformation foundation

The transformation of Lagos started during the tenure of Bola Tinubu, Lagos State governor from 1999 to 2007. Mr. Tinubu set forth a rescue operation that his successor, Babatunde Fashola, later continued.

There were political and economic benefits for such efforts. Lagos is Nigerias richest state, producing about $90 billion a year in goods and services, making its economy bigger than that of most African countries, including Ghana and Kenya, notes the Economist.

A fast-growing population (600,000 people added annually), without commensurate improvements in social services such as housing, water and transportation, had pushed Lagos to the cliffs edge.

Manhattan rises offshore

There have been impressive infrastructural developments, but the plan to create a new city at the edge of Lagos is probably the most audacious. Dubbed the Manhattan of Africa, Eko Atlantic on Victoria Island consists of 10 million square meters of land reclaimed from the ocean and protected by an 8.5 km seawall. Construction began in 2008, and it consists of seven districts along the oceanfront, including a business district that is expected to host major banks and insurance and oil companies, as well as the Nigerian stock exchange, once construction is fully completed.

Lagoss government reduced crime rates by providing logistical support to the police force run by the federal government. It installed closed-circuit television in most parts of the city and established skills acquisition programmes for the area boysyouths, mostly jobless, who extort money from drivers and passengers. It also set up mobile courts to summarily try cases.

Oshodi market, located about five miles from Murtala Mohammed International Airport, used to represent the good, the bad and the ugly of Lagos: thousands of people to-ing and fro-ing; a cacophony of voices at the highest decibels; rickety buses meandering through a sea of human beings; pickpockets on the prowl; people fighting at one end, others dancing to loud music at the other end. Currently, most of what used to be Oshodi market has been demolished, to make way for a world-class bus terminus, according to government officials.

The place [Oshodi] was harbouring criminals and a number of untoward activities, said Steve Ayorinde, the current Lagos state commissioner for information and strategy, according to the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard. Mr. Fashola himself regards Oshodis transformation as a watershed moment. During his tenure, he often reminded Lagosians that, having transformed Oshodi, there was nothing they couldnt achieve.

Lagos is becoming a clean city. Thousands of workers can be seen late every night sweeping the roads and taking away the dirt. An efficient garbage collection service supports the cleaning efforts. More than one million tons of waste was deposited in public landfills in 2015, up from 71,000 tons in 2004. About 72% of Lagos residents currently use a government-regulated waste disposal service; in 2005 only 42% used such a service.

Nigerians are generally in disbelief regarding the new Lagos. This is not the Lagos I used to know, says Sanusi Turay, who manages a private security firm in the city. The new Lagos is a bit of an anomaly, Mr. Turay explains, with a tinge of sarcasm. But, honestly, we are very happy things are changing for the better.

Just before Mr. Tinubu took over as governor in 1999, the BBC reported that the realities of Lagos may thwart Mr. Tinubus ambitious plans; the city is collapsing as fast as it grows, disappearing under a mountain of rubbish. But after 15 years of painstaking efforts, that image of Lagos is slowly changing.

Fasholas strategy

After Mr. Tinubu exited, Mr. Fasholas strategy was focused on three fronts. First, he solicited citizens support for a new vision of Lagos. The slogan Eko o ni baje (Lagos must not spoil) rallied Lagosians against the status quo. Second, he reformed the tax system, which resulted in an increase in tax revenues to $115 million per month in 2015, up from $3.2 million in 1999. Tax compliance increased to 80%, up from about 30% in 2005. Third, Mr. Fashola used the tax revenues to undertake ambitious transportation and sanitation projects, including the creation of a rail network, bus lanes and a waste collection system, as well as massive road rehabilitation.

Under the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, Lagos transportation became faster, safer, predictable, relatively cheaper and more comfortable, reported Vanguard. The BRT itself created jobs for 2,500 people. Most of Lagos notoriously old and dangerous commercial buses, called Molues, were replaced by swanky new ones that use designated bus lanes. With support of private operators, the government procured about 1,300 taxicabs to run in the city.

In addition, an ambitious multibillion-dollar light rail project that began in 2010 is set to be completed by December of this year. The project consists of seven lines, which, on completion, will further ease Lagos city traffic.

The journey is not finished

Nowadays Mr. Fasholas efforts have won bipartisan praise, a phenomenon rarely seen in Nigeria. Nobel laureate and social critic Wole Soyinka says, Fashola diagnoses the problems and goes at it like a skilled mechanic.

There is no finish line in this journey, says Mr. Fashola, whose term expired in 2015 and who now oversees Nigerias federal ministries of energy, works and housing. Both he and his predecessor Mr. Tinubu set a high bar. The jury is still out on the current governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who took the reins in May 2015. But for Lagos, the city of the late Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti and the city from which Africas richest person, Aliko Dangote, manages his business empire, the mantra continues to be Eko o ni baje indeed.

Africa Renewal
Joan Clos is the Executive Director of the Nairobi-based United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). In this interview with Newton Kanhema for Africa Renewal, Dr. Clos talks about the effects of urbanization in Africa and the forthcoming Habitat III, a major UN conference on housing and sustainable urban development to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. The following are excerpts:

Africa Renewal: What are the consequences of Africas fast-growing urbanization, and should Africa control this phenomenon?

Joan Clos: The share of the population living in African urban areas now is about 30%, but will rise to 50% in a very short period of time. That will present several challenges in both governance and the capacity of cities or even national government to react. Its important to have a national urban policy which can be transformed into local initiatives. Urbanization is more of an opportunity than a challenge because it goes in parallel with development. If governments plan and design urbanization well, they will enjoy the benefits that urbanization brings to a society. Urbanization will be a big opportunity for Africa in the coming years.

So what you are saying is that urbanization can bring benefits?

Yes. In the way and pace that African societies are going, urbanization is a consequence of development and also the driving force for accelerating this development.

Many African governments tend to develop new megacities in order to decongest existing cities. Is this sustainable or a fire brigade solution?

Megacities tend not to be sustainable but they are good evolutions for economic prosperity if they are well planned. In fact, there are many big cities around the world that are much bigger than the megacities of Africa. Tokyo, for example, has more than 35 million people, compared to some of Africas megacities that have around 10 to 12 million people. The question is not the size but the capacity of the cities to develop, not spontaneously but in a well-designed and well-planned manner. The problem is not the emergence of megacities, but the lack of planning. The challenge is how to transform megacities so they can be productive without accumulating the problems of unplanned urbanization.

What kind of support does UN-Habitat provide to national governments to develop environmentally sustainable human settlements?

We provide advice to member states on strategies that can be applied to urbanization to increase efficiency and productivity. This includes suggesting a national urban policy composed of three pillars. The first pillar is rules and regulations; this is important because urbanization is about the rule of law. The second pillar is about the quality of urban design, and the third is financial planning. Urbanization is a costly exercise which requires a lot of resources.

New cities are springing up in Africa but so too are slums. What kind of policies should African governments adopt to address the proliferation of slums?

Slums are a natural consequence of spontaneous urbanization. In that sense they should be considered a temporary outcome of development. In order to prevent the slums, we need to accelerate development. Slums should be integrated in a much better manner with proper rights to housing. You cannot fight slums in an isolated manner. What you need is an integrated policy that addresses the livelihoods of people, such as employment, income, training and human capital. Authorities need to provide affordable houses for the middle class. Its a long and difficult process; theres no radical solution.

Are there best practices in the world that African countries can adopt? What can we learn from Kigali or Lagos?

Well, there is a lot of experience in and outside the region. There are no easy and quick solutions to urbanization because it is a process of transforming a society and it requires time. What is important is to approach the question with a good strategy and a midterm and long-term vision. And this is what we providea framework of ideas that address different problems that cities face. We are helping Kigali to introduce new concepts for city extension, well-planned urbanization, quality public spaces and a balance between public spaces and buildable plots. In Lagos we have a very interesting case of a big city that, although its mentioned as one of the mega-capitals of Africa, has the capacity to initiate policies that can generate income, sustain domestic services and transform the wealth of its habitants. Lagos is a good example of the approach other African cities should adopt.

The major event on your calendar this year is Habitat III. How significant is this event for the African continent?

This is a very important meeting taking place in Quito, Ecuador, 20 years after Habitat II, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey. Habitat III will be a review of urbanization over the past two decades. It will also be the beginning of a process to implement agreed strategies on urbanization for the next 20 years. There is no doubt that urbanization is going to accelerate over the coming years and Africa will experience the most rapid pace in the world. I am happy that African leaders are mobilizing their governments for Habitat III, as they will be actively participating, engaging and deepening the debate on urbanization over the coming years.

What outcome can African leaders expect from Habitat III?

Habitat III would provide an important opportunity for African leaders to share experiences on transforming urbanization as a tool for development. Very often we approach urbanization as a problem of poverty, lack of services, etc., and not as an opportunity to accelerate the pace of development. Habitat III will align urbanization as a development tool with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Many African countries face huge urbanization problems. Without resources, how can such countries implement policies that provide for adequate human settlement?

The issue of financing urbanization is a very complex one but economists say the wealth that urbanization generates is much more than the cost of urbanizing. The question is how to share the wealth created by urbanization among all stakeholders. One of the tricky points that need to be addressed is that urbanization is not just building buildings, but finding a balance between the art and science of building cities and building buildings.

Are there elements of the recently signed Paris agreement on climate change that illuminate the work that you do?

Yes, climate change is important to urbanization. This is particularly so in the developed world, where cities are a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the effects of climate change are most felt in the cities that do not have sufficient infrastructure. Its a complex equation that needs to be addressed globally. It means taking measures to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and helping cities that suffer from the consequences to adapt to new conditions. In some parts of the world cities are the main emitters of greenhouse gases and in others cities suffer the worst from climate change.

Lastly, what is your message for Africa?

Africa has a huge opportunity to address the new challenges of urbanization. Its a wave and its a process. They should devise strategies that focus on the capacity of urbanization to generate prosperity. The big question is how to direct this process, and with which objective and vision. I urge people in Africa and their governments to take urbanization as an opportunity and as a tool for development.

Africa Renewal
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust [SSNIT] has extended its benevolence to Creating New Beginnings Charitable Organisation by expanding its facilities and providing quality care and training to autistic children in the country.

Mrs. Victoria Gifty Abaidoo, Acting Director of the Corporate Affairs Department, SSNIT, presented a cash cheque of GHc50,000 as part of its efforts in supporting the charitable organisation which is providing humanitarian services to the needy in the society.

She stated that SSNIT want to associate itself to this great course because SSNIT stands for helping workers in Ghana. And by so doing , we go beyond by giving back to society. We are giving back to society because if the society grows and become an enlightened society, we are going to have a lot of people contributing to the scheme to make it more sustainable.

Mrs. Victoria G. Abaidoo added that the donation which forms part of the Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR] is to ease the difficulties and challenges that the organization goes through in delivery quality care and training to autistic children.

She noted that the donation will also go a long way to provide a peace of mind particularly to members and staff of SSNIT who may have children suffering from similar illness by employing more people into the facility to provide special care and training to their autistic children.

Seth Yeboah Ocran, Director, Creating New Beginnings, a charitable organization assured SSNIT that the organisation will make judicious use of the funds to achieve its intended purpose of expanding its facilities that will enable them to enroll more autistic children in the country.

According to him, the future of these autistic children is very bright especially in the area of IT as many of them begin to show more interest by developing their skills in computer and internet usage.

He urged government to support autistic children who are suddenly beginning to develop the greater urge for IT in their daily activities.

Mr. Ocran appeals to parents and wards of these children to provide moral support by making time of their busy schedules to visit the school their wards at the boarding facility.

He concluded by encouraging corporate organizations and philanthropists to realize the future of autistic children by providing more support that will train them to become more beneficial to the country.
16.04.2016 LISTEN

If a lady wants a man she fancies, she displays behavior typical of all animals in the kingdom to get noticed. Once she is sure that the attention is secured, she plays hard to get. She expects him to come after her before she gives in. Some ladies may boldly initiate romance. Dominated female world include Aka of Congo, Masuo China, Sworn Virgins Albania and Indias Meghlaya.

There are many characteristics females display in the animal kingdom to get chased. One of the most beautiful displays of animal behavior is that of the avian species with beautiful rainbow feathers spread to attract attention of the opposite sex. It is also natural in human behavior. Yet, ladies tell us most of the time that she just wants to look good to please herself. Cosmetic display has gone crazy these days. Some are actually overdone and scary to some men.

Usually ladies are trained not to give in easily to men because once they mate, mens attention span is less than that of a boy. So in order to get their maximum attention, let them sweat for romance. More ladies actually believe that the longer men wait, the more attention they get from them. The problem is if you play too hard to get, you may lose out to competitors that are ready. Not only for romance but also for family. Note career ladies want to wait a little longer.

After romance at the earliest or marriage at the longest, women have to chase after their men to retain their attention. It sometimes goes both ways but as usual, it is more beneficial for the adult in the relationship, mostly women to keep their men focused. Again ladies have been told never to lose sight of their men. After getting attention and being chased, the role is reversed.

Black mens appetite for curvaceous buttocks as bootylicious has created market for designers selling clothes to shapely and sexually attractive ladies with more than just bones on the body. Pretty ladies that have been shunned in the past as too fat, now feel very proud in their skin. It has always been the case in Africa and African communities in Diaspora. It is a new fad though for white or Asian ladies expressing their black genes clearly in leotards and skintight clothes.

Of course women do not wear tight to be sexually attractive, they wear it to please themselves. So they readjust it for girl-watchers! It seems that some women do not know when to stop and hand over to younger ladies. Even the skintight clothes do not look good on every lady. Some women are better off in flowing clothes leaving the rest to suspense in imagination. But when ladies force themselves into clothes that do not argument their bodies, they look unattractive.

Designers sell artificial padded butts and boobs. One cannot but wonder what happens when a lady captures a man and takes off her artificial padded stuff. The clever ones would postpone eventuality claiming they want to get used to the boyfriend. Brazilians would go to doctors clinic for quick operations to add body fat. Just like face lift, some of them have turned awry.

Other cultures have their way of attracting men that may not be appreciated elsewhere. They apply different colors, painting of the body, scarifications or tattoos. Sometimes cultures may have a subculture within, each frowning on the designs of the other. Generally initiation of sexually attractive display suggests certain amount of maturity and age. But some younger girls have defied their parents because they cannot wait to be seen as matured and older.

We have very successful ladies that wished they had gotten hooked earlier, if they had to do it all over again. The choice between career and family could be tough for ladies. Most attractive ladies get snatched first and may lose out on their careers, unless they had decided to work on it later. We have very supportive men that have encouraged their wives in that direction after she had supported them to facilitate his career by staying home.

There were very strong women like Mrs. Ransome Kuti, Fela Anikulapo Kutis mother that broke every rule in her days. She never stopped after having her children. Her life was a whole story by itself. She will always be known as a pioneer of Womens Movement in mens dominated world before her contemporaries in the Western world gain attention and recognition.

Africas first lady Prime Minister of Liberia Helen Sirleaf, married at the age of 17, before her long career in politics unlike many African women. United States former Speaker, Nancy Pelosi reminded the press that she started her career late after supporting her husband and children. So she was not retiring anytime soon. So was Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher of England.

However Hear Word an African play featuring Joke Silva, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Bimbo Akintola, Rita Edward, Omonor, Elvina Ibru, Ufuoma McDermott, Zara Udofia-Ejoh, Adenike Odetola-Odeleye and Debbie Ohiri directed by Ifeoma Fafunwa told ladys deeply emotional, disturbing yet funny stories. But for ladies that fought back in the play to standing ovation at Harvard few men might have lost oyinbo wives. Romance is equally pleasurable for ladies and inevitable for procreation

The crude habit of genetic choice of male over female has consequences not only in Africa but worldwide. It is the root of indignities ladies encounter in male dominated world. It is very disturbing and may predict the end of procreation, as we know it. Arrival of designer babies is just like going to show rooms to choose a car. The next generation may be able to choose the gender, eye and hair and skin color of their children, leaving romance by the way side.

Moreover some crazy scientists were speculating about the time ladies would not need men for procreation anymore since other means could be used to stimulate the eggs for fertilization. Nature has a way of disposing our proposals by the law of unintended consequences. It will deprive us of the joy of romance, courting, all the cultural ceremonies, hide and seek that go with mating. A different type of world that most of us would not desire or enjoy might emerge.

If ladies and gentlemen can no longer look forward to the moment they can romance, get one another into the sack, there would be a great deal of behavioral changes and wonders about what else to do. Pursuit of happiness by the way of coupling, hugging, entertaining and eating together make up most of our world. Other important activities like working is to provide for the families by making ends meet. One without the other may be worth very little.

Romance revolves around a couple as a company of each other; and by the time children are introduced, they become a crowd that can throw a party and enjoy themselves within.
The New York University Africa House has honored Ghanas Minister of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts, Hon Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare for her leadership and dedication towards the promotion of sustainable tourism in Ghana at their inaugural Africa House Gala in New York.

The New York University Africa House-Partnership Award was held to reward partners of NYU who have played diverse roles in their pursuit of sustainable tourism in Africa and the world.

The Inaugural Gala brought together the academia, business leaders, opinion leaders, and politicians to celebrate the achievements of NYU/CTED.

The accompanying citation read  Your dedicated vision, leadership, and collaboration with Africa House over the years have been inspiring to NYU Faculty and students and the greater New York Community. We commend you for your significant service and achievements in developing and promoting sustainable tourism in Ghana, and hope our partnership will continue to grow in scope and have a long-lasting impact on the tourism sector and people of Ghana.

Receiving the award, Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare expressed her appreciation to NYU-Africa House for the recognition and dedicated the award to President John Mahama and the hard working staff of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts.

She said, the collaboration between Ghana and New York University -Africa House will go a long way to improve the lives of people who live in the rural community. She added that the vision of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts is to promote sustainable tourism for development.

She paid glowing tribute to Prof Nyarkoh, Director of New York University (NYU) Africa and his team for the enormous work they are doing in Kumawu. Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare said, their work will help in the promotion of tourism in Ghana and the partnership between Ghana and New York University Africa House grow even much stronger.

Other recipients on the night included the Kumawu Community, which was received by the queen mother Ms. Theresa Effia Atta, Ms Amran Hussein; parner Paul Weiss, rifkind, and Ms Alisa laGamma, PHD.
16.04.2016 LISTEN

The desecration of Islam has taken a new turn under the NDC. Actually, this attack on Islam is constantly metamorphosing, shifting strength, direction, and speed as NDC's necessity demands. The government of John Mahama has allowed the phenomenon of forced Islamophobia to creep into Ghana under the noses of the voiceless and visionless Muslims of that party. The last straw to break the camel's back came when an ignoramus of latter day evil and Minister of the Brong Ahafo Region, Eric Opoku Manu, picked up verses from the Quran to maliciously misinterprete and distort the sacred book, calculatedly. Unfortunately, our Muslim brothers and sisters of the NDC will not take notice of this most outrageous happening within their parameters because their addiction to the government's theft and embezzlement has cast a slur on their integrity and adherence to their religion.

They couldn't even make a lazy protest when they had turned a deaf ear to the utternaces of their comerade, Fiifi Kwertey, who told the whole world that a Muslim could never become the President of Ghana, and that it was a taboo for Ghanaian Christians to vote for a Muslim. Please click on this link for fiifi kwertey's most scandalous blunder:

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/WikiLeaks-Muslims-can-t-be-President-Fiifi-Kwetey-218080:

There is a chapter in the Holy Qur'an which is titled, "Surattul Fil" or "Chapter of the Elephant". It tells the story of a how a blasphemous infidel, Abraha, from Yemen was detroyed together with his military when he attempted to attack the holy Kaa'ba (the stone house that is adorned with a black cloth in Mecca). He had a formidable military carried on elephantback. Eric Opoku Manu, NDC Minister of the Brong Ahafo Region, sought to infer from that chapter that the elephant was cursed because it tried to pull down an Islamic holy site. He connected that with today's politics, claiming that the Muslims in the NPP were blasphemous for following the elephant party.

The short chapter reads as ffs:

"Bismillahi Alrahman Alraheem (In the name of ALLAH, most Gracious, Most Merciful) Alam tara kaifa fa'ala rabuka b as-habil fil (Have you - O Mohammed - not seen how thy Lord did with the companions (owners) of the Elephant; Alam yaj'al kaidahon fi tadlil (Did HE not destroy their plots); Wa arsala alaihem tayran abaabeel (And HE sent upon them birds in flocks); Tarmeehem b hijaraten min sejjeel (Pelting them with stones of petrified clay); Fa ja'alahom ka asfen ma'koul (And HE made them like chaff of dried stalks)."

This verse was not targetted at any elephant or whatever the miscreant, Eric Opoku Manu, said in a full declaration of his stupidity. He can't really be blamed when the NDC Muslims, affected by the rabid effusions of this lunatic, cannot so much as raise a protest. The scholars who were at the occasion where this unholy creature made the blasphemous pronouncements did not stand up to his lies and distortions all due to fear or in the name of scoring hellish points against the NPP at the expense of their own religion, Islam, albeit in futility.

On behalf of the muted scholars and blinded brethren who are so meek, indolent and lame as a toothless geeko, I wish to state and declare same to be true: "That the Quranic chapter in discussion rather makes heroes of elephants because when the matriarch, mounted by Abraha got to the periphery of Mecca, it refused to forge forward and pull down the Kaa'ba until ALLAH (GOD Almighty) sent the flock of birds laden with stones of petrified clay to pelt the unbelievers and destroy them. It was said that the pelets were very tiny but grew heavier as they descended until they weighed nearly one tonne at the point of impact.

With reference to the current staus quo in which we find ourselves governed by the greatest curse a society could ever be afflicted with, the NDC and John Mahama's government, a plausible suggestion from this chapter can be deduced to speak directly to the scandalous absence of able leadership in this country. A friend enlightened us with inferences from the verses of the elphant chapter. He stated that the elephant, today, symbolises "Absolute Power", and the cruel leader symoblises our supercilious leadership. President John Mahama is using the absolute power at his disposal to steal the mandate of our people by coersion, chicanery, cronyism and favoritism in collusion with the EC and the state security apparatuses. To achieve this aim, he is misapplying the nation's money while the poor majority are left to their fate to deal with the crescendo of problems bedevilling them. Is it any wonder that school children at the President's hometown of Bole sit on bare ground to learn, suffering stomach crumps and ailments while the President's children and those of his cronies are well covered and taken care of in the best schools ever? Besides, what does Eric Opoku Manu speak of our neighbour, the Ivory Coast, that uses the elephant as its sign, emblem and totem? Does this mean that the Ivorians are cursed?

I beseech the Muslim brothers and sisters from the NDC camp to redeem themselves while they can, because the instance that Ezraeel (the angel of death) comes calling when the moment of reckoning is nigh, neither John Mahama nor lunatic asiedu nketia et al, will do them an iota of good. In fact, it is more conceivable to imagine that a dinosaur that became extinct some 140 million years ago could come back to life than to hope for a bail out at that point as one exits this world. What face would one stand with before ALLAH? Imagine how one would suppurate at the unfathomable might of GOD's glory when their imperious ways have become useless. Your objects of might will let you down because ALLAH (GOD) has ordered them to, just like the elephants that refused to obey Abraha's orders.

On the day that you will say, "Ya laitaha kanatil qadiya (Would that it was the final blow), ma aghna anni maliya (my wealth cannot buy me anything - ref to money can't buy paradise), halaka anni sultaniya (and I have been stripped off my authority); "suratul Haqqa"
16.04.2016 LISTEN

Electioneering year is here and the political cacophony is seemingly alarming and I believe it will be worst in the few months to come. I believe that our minds and ears will soon be full after listening to the mouth watering promises of people who aspire to capture political power, particularly, the various political parties who are very desperate to capture political power.

I have my personal qualms about the way we do our politics. We cannot move a step in this country if we don't change our attitude.

Power should not be hunted like an antelope in a deep forest without recourse to our fundamentally democratic and cultural values which include; respect, tolerance, honesty, peace loving among others. Indeed, I feel sad when politicians use this season to cause panic and fear among the ordinary citizenry who have no other place to go should there be any mayhem.

At this juncture in a political season, I expect that, manifestoes of the various political parties should have been out. It is rather unfortunate that political parties usual present their policy outlines so late in the year such that discerning Ghanaians cannot dissect and digest them before making an informed choice.

Is it the case that political parties want to smuggle their policies through, though unexamined? I believe they want us to know that what they present are simply the usual rhetorics and empty political words?

It is unfathomable how a developing democratic state like Ghana is being oblivious of pertinent democratic elements.

All the political parties do is, ask their representatives to blow the airwaves with vulgar and abusive language that has the propensity to spark off political genocide in this country. They shamelessly insult one another with impunity.

I keep asking myself this question " whether our laws do not work during election years".

The political discourse is adulterated with insanity and that speaks ugly of our cherished democracy.

I have said without number that " democracy is competition of ideas and not competition of insults" but the same cannot be spoken of our unfortunate situation.

We must understand that, peace is a collective responsibility and not that of government or the security agencies. It is our responsibility to contribute solidly to consolidate our democratic gains by ensuring peace and encouraging responsible leadership.

What is the essence of democracy if it does not guarantee peace and unity, tolerance and consensus building?

Interestingly, power has become our national goal yet we claim to be a star of democracy in Africa. I think we are selling the pride of our country for power and not for the interest of its citizenry. People shamelessly discredit our nation internationally for reasons best known to them yet they claim to be the panacea to our numerous development challenges. Very laughable indeed. Is this not parochialism and self centeredness? Frankly speaking, our style of partisanship is as bad as faeces. Are we leaving under curse or we want to experiment a civil war in this country? If you have ever seen war and its dire consequences, you will never pray, your enemy fall a prey.

More importantly, elections should never be considered a do or die affairs because it is rather about the choice of the people. The mandate can never be bought and neither can it be conquered in a war. Political parties must concentrate on selling their policies and not selling their ignorance and needless penchants to capture political power by hook and sinker. Policy credibility and feasibility are what discerning Ghanaians should be interested in and not the usual wanton deception. I have keenly observed how some politicians turn to have solutions to all problems during election years. Perhaps the political leadership spirit comes once in every four years hahaha......

I urge all and sundry particularly the youth to avoid been used by unscrupulous individuals to cause any crime or violence in this country. The future belongs to us and we must jealously protect it. Let's be positive minded and engage in politics of development and not politics of violence. I have very close friends who believe in different political ideologies yet our relationship remains solid.

Say no to violence.

The writer is a youth activist and student of the University of Education, Winneba, Kumasi.

Denis Andaban.

[email protected]

0549734023.
Beginning April 26, 2016, the governments of the United States and Ghana will launch Epic Guardian 2016, an 8-day joint readiness exercise. Epic Guardian is a regularly scheduled training exercise held in Africa and designed to increase the effectiveness of U.S. and African government entities and security forces in responding to international threats such as trafficking and terrorism.

Previous exercises of Epic Guardian were held in Malawi, Cameroon, Djibouti and the Seychelles. A separate portion of Epic Guardian 2016 will involve similar coordination between the United States and Cabo Verde.

The U.S. government has been working directly with the government of Ghana to plan Epic Guardian 2016. The exercise will take place primarily on Ghanaian military premises. Personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces will participate and will be joined by units from United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA).

The training will involve personnel reacting to a simulated crisis and will cover a broad range of topics, including theater-strategic planning, intermediate support, logistics, intelligence, and strategic communications among others. Training will consist of staff crisis action planning, deployment of forces, completion of field exercises, and redeployment of forces.

International threats require international solutions, said U.S. Ambassador to Ghana Robert P. Jackson. Epic Guardian is an opportunity to strengthen our bilateral relationship and to demonstrate our long-term commitment to supporting Ghana as it works to counter international threats and ensure stability and security for Ghanaians.

The training will increase Ghanas capacity in areas such as communications, logistics, intelligence gathering and analysis, crisis planning and response, and inter-operabilityall with the goal of providing for greater security and stability for Ghana and the region.

The U.S. government is committed to supporting partner nations and regional allies in Africa and is proud of our robust and wide-ranging partnership with Ghana. Ghana has previously hosted many joint and multilateral exercises, including Western Accord 13 and Obangame Express 2015.

Security cooperation is a vital part of the U.S.Ghana partnership, said Jackson. We thank the government of Ghana for its ongoing cooperation to help increase regional security and we will continue to work together with African partners to promote stability on the African continent.
Pope Francis is visiting a detention camp on the Greek island of Lesbos to show support for refugees who are trying to reach northern Europe.

The Moria camp holds more than 3,000 people, some of whom may face deportation to Turkey.

Francis said his Greek trip was to witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War.

Thousands are now stuck on Lesbos after last month's EU-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow of migrants.

The Vatican insists that the Pope's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature and should not be seen as a criticism of the deportations.

However, the Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, has said the EU-Turkey plan treats migrants as merchandise and fails to recognise their dignity as human beings. 'A cemetery'

Dozens of refugees lined up in the Moria camp to see the Pope, some holding banners asking for help.

On his plane journey to Lesbos, the Pope told reporters: This is a voyage marked by sadness We will witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War.

We will see so many people who are suffering, who are fleeing and do not know where to go. And we are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived.

.

The Pope was met at Lesbos Mytilene airport by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians, and Archbishop of Athens Ieronimos II.

At the Moria camp, the Pope will also observe a minute's silence for those who have died making dangerous sea crossings in search of a better life.

Greece's ERT state television reported that Pope Francis had offered to take 10 refugees back to Italy with him. Vatican spokesman Rev Federico Lombardi said he could not comment.

On the eve of the visit, one Syrian attempted to kill himself at the camp after being told he would be deported back to Turkey but was prevented by police.

Migrants later demonstrated, demanding better treatment and to stay in Europe.

Some Syrians on Lesbos say they are terrified by the thought of returning to Turkey because of reports that hundreds of Syrians have been forcibly returned from Turkey to Syria .

Turkey has denied sending back any refugees against their will.

Refugees and migrants also complain of overcrowded conditions and a lack of food.

Pope Francis visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 to show similar support for migrants after dozens died trying to reach it.

-bbc


The office of New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has refuted new US Ambassador to Ghana's claim that he was 'consulted' two weeks before the arrival of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana.

In a statement signed by his Press Secretary, Eugene Arhin said, For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to reiterate our earlier stated position that at no point during the transaction between the two governments was Nana Akufo-Addo consulted, and the facts of the matter speak clearly for themselves.

Ambassador Robert Jackson rejected suggestions that the presence of the two Guantanamo detainees could be a reason for the increased threat of terrorism in Ghana.

Speaking at his first media round a table dominated by issues relating to peace and security, Ambassador Jackson said Ghana and US security forces are set to have a series of training to prevent a terrorist threat.

He revealed that NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo was consulted two weeks before the arrival of the two detainees and Mr. Akuffo-Addo expressed reservation about the decision by the Mahama administration.

Also, Ambassador Jackson disclosed that he consulted the Catholic Bishops Conference, the [President of the National association of Charismatic and Christian Churches] and other civil society groups after the arrival of the detainees to explain the US position and collaboration with the Ghana government for the decision.

Below is the statement

AKUFO-ADDO WAS NEVER CONSULTED ABOUT TRANSFER OF GITMO-2 DETAINEES

.

The attention of the Office of Nana Akufo-Addo has been drawn to a news item on some online media portals and on social media to the effect that the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party was consulted before, to quote the news item, the infamous transfer of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana.

According to the story captioned Nana Addo was consulted before GITMO 2 Transfer  US, the new US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, in a meeting with some editors on Friday, April 15, is alleged to have said that the Foreign Minister and this Embassy consulted about informing other stakeholders and so we did talk to Akufo-Addo before the transfer happened.

These statements by the Ambassador, therefore, create the impression that Nana Akufo-Addo was consulted and thereby had foreknowledge of the transfer of the Gitmo-2 detainees.

For the avoidance of doubt, we would like to reiterate our earlier stated position that at no point during the transaction between the two governments was Nana Akufo-Addo consulted, and the facts of the matter speak clearly for themselves.

On January 5, 2016, the Deputy Chief of Mission/Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Ghana, then acting as Chief of Mission, Melinda Tabler-Stone, called on Nana Akufo-Addo at his Nima residence to inform him, with the consent of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, about the impending arrival into the country of two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al Dhuby, as a result of discussions between the US and Ghana governments. The day after this visit, on January 6, it was announced that these Guantanamo detainees had been admitted into Ghana upon the authority of the President of Ghana. It would appear that at the time Melinda Tabler-Stone spoke to Nana Akufo-Addo, the two Gitmo-2 detainees were either on their way to Ghana or had arrived in the country.

It would be an unusual use of English, in these circumstances, to suggest that Nana Akufo-Addo was consulted. At best, what can be said is that he was informed of the transaction as it was being implemented, in other words he was presented with a fait accompli, not a consultation.

These are the bare facts of this matter.

signed

Eugene Arhin

Press Secretary

-myjoyonline


President Barrack Obama and Fidel Castro of Cuba

16.04.2016 LISTEN



PRESIDENT BARACK Obama has shown remarkable courage in visiting Cuba and holding frank discussions with the Cuban government on how to improve relations between the two countries at a practical level.

Cuba and the US used to be very good friends. Havana harbour was once the yacht-parking-lot of the rich and famous in America. Ernest Hemingway wrote The Old Man And The Sea with the salty air of the Cuban beach in his nostrils.

But beneath the glamour, there was enormous corruption, and one young man and his band of guerrillas decided that the regime of Fulgencio Batista must go. This was Fidel Castro, and he launched a revolution from the Sierra Maestra mountains that propelled him to power on New Year's Day in 1959.

Despite the romantic manner in which Fidel and his little band of revolutionaries achieved power, the bearded cigar smokers meant business. Seriously. American companies that had served as Batista's pay-masters were given short shrift. But, they had clout in Washington, and they got President Dwight Eisenhower to impose a trade embargo on Cuba.

However, some in the Eisenhower administration did not think the trade embargo went far enough and they authorised the CIA to assemble an army, recruited mainly in Miami, Florida, and trained in Guatemala, to invade Cuba. The invasion occurred on a beach called Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) on 17 April 1961. But, the operation was monumentally botched by the CIA. The anti-Castro band found itself marooned and about 1,200 of them surrendered. 100 were killed.

The Bay of Pigs attack convinced Castro that the US would not rest until it had overthrown him. So, willy-nilly, he signed up to a full alliance with the Soviet Union. In 1962, he agreed to station Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.

The US hit the roof. It sent an armada of warships to quarantine Cuban waters. Their orders were to turn back Soviet ships that were en route to Cuba with missiles! This created the worst confrontation between the two world super-powers since World War II.

It looked indeed as if the world was headed for World War III a thermonuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union. However, at the last minute, good sense prevailed. The Soviet Ambassador in the US got together with President John F Kennedy's younger brother, Attorney-General Robert Kennedy, and made each other understand that neither country wanted war. An agreement was hatched that saved the faces of both countries. And thus, the Cuban missile crisis came to an end  not one minute too soon.

But from then on, the US tightened the economic noose around Cuba's neck. It prevailed on its allies to join it in imposing a more hefty trade embargo on Cuba. The Soviet Union did its best to help Cuba out, but the provision of consumer goods had never been a priority in the USSR itself, and Cuba ran short of many essential goods that had previously been imported from the US and other Western countries.

Nevertheless, despite the hardship it was enduring, Cuba provided military assistance to many African liberation movements, including the MPLA in Angola and FRELIMO in Mozambique. It was Cuban assistance to the MPLA in Angola that enabled the party to claim power after Portugal withdrew from Angola in 1975. On the surface, the MPLA was fighting for control of Angola against Jonas Savimbi's UNITA movement and Holden Roberto's FNLA. However, these two organisations were actually the creation of the US and the South African Defence Force  the apartheid government's regular army. So, in fighting them, the MPLA was fighting both South Africa and the USA.

Eventually, the South Africans began occupying Angola towns. Castro reacted by sending a huge number of Cuban soldiers  estimated at 36,000 altogether  to help the MPLA. In November 1987, a fierce battle occurred between the Angolan/Cubans, and the South Africans, in the southern Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale. The Angolan/Cuban side won.

On his release from prison on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela recalled hearing about the Cuban victory in Angola. He said: I was in prison when I first heard of the massive aid that the internationalist Cuban troops were giving to the people of Angola.. We in Africa are accustomed to being the victims of countries that want to grab our territory or subvert our sovereignty. In all the history of Africa, this is the only time [that] [foreign people have risen up to defend one of our countries.

For the great feat of putting the South African Defence Force to flight alone, Cuba would merit the undying gratitude of the people of the entire African continent. But, that is not the only service Cuba has rendered to Africa. An American publication gives perhaps the best testimony about this aspect of Cuba's relationship with Africa.

According to Time Magazine,

http://time.com/3556 670/ebola- cuba/

QUOTE: As the first nation to dedicate hundreds of healthcare workers to West Africa, Cuba is an unlikely hero in the Ebola outbreak.

In spite of not being among the wealthiest countries, Cuba is one of the most committed when it comes to deploying doctors to crisis zones. It has offered more than 460 Cuban doctors and nurses to West Africa, and currently, [November 2014] 165 are working there under the direction of the World Health Organization (WHO). More than 50,000 healthcare workers from Cuba are working in 66 countries around the world.

Cuba is worldfamous for its ability to train outstanding doctors and nurses, said WHO Director Margaret Chan in a Sept. [2014] press conference announcing Cuba's surge of healthcare workers.

But, why is Cuba so uniquely prepared to treat Ebola? It comes down to a national priority that even has its own name, coined by academics: Cuban Medical Internationalism.

Cuba's global health crisis response system is a Doctors Without Borderslike program, but instituted by the government. When Cuban doctors graduate medical school, they are given the opportunity to volunteer to be called upon for medical missions, like an Ebola outbreak or a natural catastrophe. Often, these are one to two-year commitments. To prepare for something like Ebola, healthcare workers not only undergo aggressive training for the specific disease they are treating, but they also take courses on the region's culture and history as well.

Gail Reed, co-founder of Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC) says: It's coming from a commitment to make healthcare a universally accepted right. . It started around 1960, shortly after the Cuban Revolution. A massive earthquake killed up to 5,000 people in Chile, and Cuba sent healthcare workers into the disaster aftermath. A few years later, a medical team of more than 50 people went into war-torn Algeria.

In 1998, Cuban medical teams discovered that they were treating a lot people who had never before had access to doctors, and they decided that leaving the healthcare systems as they found them was irresponsible. So, Cuba founded the Latin American Medical School (ELAM) which offers scholarships to lowincome students from around the world with the expectation that they will graduate and return to their home countries as health workers. More than 23,000 physicians from low-income communities in 83 countries (even the U.S.) have graduated from ELAM, and nearly 10,000 are currently enrolled.

Not surprisingly, Cuba's leadership in the current Ebola epidemic has become political in the U.S.Republicans are angry that a CDC worker recently went to Cuba for an Ebola meeting The very fact that Cuba is the only other nation than the United States to contribute human resources to the Ebola crisis in a big way, creates enormous international political capital, especially when most nations are unwilling to send their own people into the centre of the calamity, says Robert Huish, an assistant professor of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University in Canada.UNQUOTE.

Altogether, Cuba has more than 50,000 doctors and nurses posted in 66 countries around the world, including more than 4,000 in 32 African countries. To continue to benefit mankind in this way, Cuba has to become economically strong and that can only be done if she is able to trade without any restrictions. Apart from consumer goods for its people, Cuba must import the machinery necessary to turn it into an industrial power. For if Cuba can do what it has done while fettered by an embargo, what can it do when it engages in industrial production without hindrance? That is why the world must encourage President Barack Obama to work hard to achieve success in his discussions with the Cuban authorities during his visit to Cuba. Success at the talks will be one of the legacies he can leave to the world as the first black President of the United States. For why should a country's internal social policy be used to prevent it from contributing its utmost to mankind? Noone can question Cuba's credentials in that regard  as recognised by Time magazine.
The final funeral rites of the late Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North constituency, Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu took place at the forecourt of the State house today [Friday], April 15.

Among the dignitaries and statesmen present at the funeral was the flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo who delivered a heartfelt tribute to the late MP.

Find below Nana Addo's tribute:

Devastated, shocked  these are the words that commonly attend news of a death, even of an old person. They mirror, though, my exact feelings when I heard the dreadful news of J.B's murder. The day before the awful end he had been in my house. He had led his wife and her family to come to inform me formally, in the Ghanaian customary manner, about the death of her aunt, Mrs. Sylvia Robertson, an elegant lady whom I had known very well. Despite its sombre purpose, J.B's usual effervescent persona lit up the visit. We took the opportunity to talk a little politics, because, in recent times, he had become an important advisor. Imagine my shock and horror when I heard the next day of his brutal killing.

The sudden, tragic death of a person in his or her prime challenges one's faith in an acute and disturbing fashion. So it is with J.B. Danquah-Adu's death. It appears, as I write, to be a deed with no rhyme or reason. We must, nonetheless, continue to believe that there is a higher reason known to the Almighty. It cannot, however, diminish our grief or sense of loss.

I first met his elder brother, Frank, in the late 1980s in the presence of the late Okyenhene, Osagyefo Kuntunkununku. It was he who, in the early period of Kufuor's rule, introduced me to his younger brother, J.B. Soon thereafter, Abuakwa constituency, which I represented in the 1997 and 2001 Parliaments, was divided into two  South and North. J.B, native of Tafo, decided to go for the Abuakwa North seat and entered Parliament in 2005 as its MP. From then, as representatives of the two Abuakwa seats, we were, perforce, thrown together to work for the NPP project.

I found him charming company, convivial and gay, with an inimitable smile. He was intelligent, well-organised and fully committed to the values of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition. He was emphatic on the critical importance of the pivotal role of the Ghanaian private sector in promoting the social and economic transformation of our society, which is our goal. His own successful business career as an industrialist was eloquent testimony to his deeply held beliefs.

.

He was immensely proud of the historic name that had been conferred on him. He had no doubt that his great ancestor, whose name he bore, Joseph Boakye Danquah, had the best blueprint for the rapid transformation of our nation, and that Ghana's continued failure to make the quantum leap to prosperity, despite all its abundant riches, was as a result of the failure to apply that blueprint. He was going to do his best to remedy that failure. That was why he was in politics.

He became a valued and trusted counsellor, with sharp insights into the political process. He had a bright future, both as an entrepreneur and a politician. Our party and nation have lost a positive spirit, who had much to contribute to the future of our country. I will miss him sorely.

My wife, Rebecca, and I extend our deepest condolences to his young widow, Ivy, and their children, his sister, Magma, brothers, Frank and George, and the entire family.

J.B., rest in perfect peace. God bless you.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

Accra, 8th April, 2016.

-citifmonline


According to Guy Wilkinson, the Managing Director of Viability and a hospitality and real estate consultant based in Dubai, an estimated 191 international hotel projects were in the pipeline for 2015. These remarks which he made during the Hospitality Roundtable 2015 , are a clear indication of a flourishing hospitality industry in Africa, which has brought about stiff competition in the sector.

As the continent increasingly becomes a desired destination for millions of local and international travelers, hotel owners have incorporated innovative ways of staying afloat the industry, by using distinctive building styles and architecture that by themselves are an attraction.

With no particular order, Jovago.com , the Africa-wide digital platform that promotes thousands of hotel options, lists some of the most uniquely built hotels in Africa, some of which are part of its inventory of more than 25,000 hotels across the continent.

Enashipai Resort & Spa, Kenya



Enashipai Resort & Spa is a luxurious resort situated in Naivasha, in Kenyas Great Rift Valley. With its name meaning a place of happiness in Masai, Enashipai is built in a style rarely common in the construction industry. A touch of modern yet ancient-like finishing on its exterior, gives a mystery worth exploring by any guest.

Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, Tanzania



Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, Tanzania is an absolutely unique property sitting on the brim of the glorious Ngorongoro Crater, the eighth wonder of the world. The lodge is built from local river stones and camouflaged with indigenous vines, designed to blend completely into the landscape.

The Kampala Serena Hotel, Uganda



Uganda also takes pride in having one of the most uniquely built hotels. The Kampala Serena Hotel, Uganda boasts of a water-themed architecture (reflecting Ugandas abundant lakes and rivers), flamboyantly polished and blended with the natural rocks around it.

Hippo Point, Lake Naivasha, Kenya



Hippo Point is a uniquely built private wildlife conservancy, located on a peninsula between Lake Naivasha and Lake Oloidien in Kenya. A 115-foot Cypress clad tower known as Dodos tower, is an irreplaceable piece of architecture that gives a blending feel with the nature and especially the tall Acacia trees that surround it. A touch of European decor and locally handmade furniture, complete the intricately built tower. Here, guests wake up to a cool morning with the chirps of birds and roars of wildlife; marked by a dark archipelago of hippos in the lake shore water.

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Tanzania



Located in Ngorongoro Conservancy in the East African country, Tanzania, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is built in a traditional style, depicting idiosyncratic thatched rooms. The rooms are well placed on the very rim of the crater, overlooking its floor. The luxury and comfort here are embedded by all that nature has to offer, including wild animals such as buffaloes that wander around.

Kasbah Du Toubkal Hotel, Morocco



Oh, a spectacular masterpiece only made possible by a creative human mind. Once the home of feudal caid (a local baron), the hotel maintains its traditional blend with the Atlas Mountains in Toubkal National Park, Morocco. This secluded property is just the perfect fit for hikers.

Singita Sweni, South Africa



You would be forgiven to mistake this for a birds nest lost in the woods. Overlooking the Sweni River in the northern Kruger region, South Africa, Singita Sweni Lodge is entwined with wild bushes, giving a rich luxurious sensation of a treasure land. Its opulent suites are concealed by the river banks, which are also home to intermittent bird species as well as water antelopes. The open plan design of the 6 suites connects the interior to the outside natural surroundings.

Grand Daddy Hotel, South Africa



An 1895 hotel on Long Street in Cape Town, South Africa, Grand Daddy Hotel is an incredibly original work of workmanship with a memorable archetypal shape. According to the hotels website, this is where business and pleasure meet in breathtaking fashion.

Marataba, South Africa



Remember the Stone Age era when man lived in caves? Now imagine a cave refurbished into a simple but modern finish. This is exactly what you find at Marataba Safari Lodge, nestled with the natural environment beyond its walls.

Essque Zalu Zanzibar



With a triple pyramid-like structure as part of its distinctive design, Essque Zalu in Zanzibar is intertwined with the blue reflection from the water and the sky. During the night, the spectacular view is nothing less than a heavenly creation; a paradisiac intimate sensation. The thatched hotels suites are also crafted with local artwork, a perfect honeymoon getaway.

Mara Serena Safari Lodge, Kenya



Do not be mistaken, these are not some sort of abandoned booths in the bush; but the structures that make up Mara Serena Safari Lodge. Located in Kenyas Masai Mara, the lodge is themed in reflection to the circular traditional Masai manyatta (traditional houses). Their rich and bold organic green color patently blends it with the rich natural surroundings, overlooking the famous Mara River.

The Manta Resort, Pemba Island, Tanzania



For water lovers, The Manta Resort, Pemba Island, Tanzania is the perfect escape from civilization to a serene place with close encounters with the waters nature. Floating in water and with an underwater room, this adventurers resort is the kind you only come across in the movies. Dive, swim and stay in close contact with all that the waters of the Pemba Island have to offer.

Mumbo Island Camp, Malawi



In preserving the ecosystem, Mumbo Island camp is constructed from timber, thatch and canvas. It rests atop high rocks and overlooks the sparkling water which magnificently reflect its image. The surrounding vegetation goes a long way in making the atmosphere clean and unforgettable. Its seclusion provides privacy in the well secured Island.

Hotel Sidi Driss, Tunisia



Located in Matmata in Tunisia, Hotel Sidi Driss is a centuries old Berber house, famous for filming of several movies including the Star Wars. The hotel is made up of pits; four of them with rooms and the fifth, the Star Wars pit, hosting the hotel's restaurant (which remains a dining area just like in the film).

Dar Hi, Tunisia



Visiting Dar Hi is like commencing on a discovery journey of your inner being. The hotel is a contemporary architecture made from huge concrete apartment blocks. The craftsmanship however, retains a close relationship with the locals as well as the environment.

Credit: Jovago
It was a day of fun, sharing ideas and interactive learning at MoneyGram 3rd FLA Conference held over the weekend for MoneyGrams top transacting front line agents (FLA's) in the country.

The FLA Conference which was started a small programme in 2013 is now a big event with agents being rewarded for their hardwork, diligence and compliance to MoneyGram service level agreement.

150 front line Ambassadors from over 20 banks qualified for 2016 FLA Conference. Mrs. Kemi Okusanya, MoneyGram Regional Director for Anglophone West Africa expressed MoneyGrams gratitude to all Ambassadors for working to achieve increased transaction volume in 2015. She mentioned that the Ambassadors are key in delivering quality service to customers and help to increase MoneyGrams transaction volumes. She promised to continue supporting partner agents and ambassadors to achieve their remittance goals.

During an interactive session, the Ambassadors shared ideas and views on improving MoneyGrams service and compliance regulations. MoneyGram Executive Team promised to revert on some of the issues raised at the programme with the individual banks.

Mrs. Grace Boateng of Global Access Old Tafo branch was adjudged the Best MoneyGram Ambassador. Grace was very excited and promised to retain her position come next year. Four other Ambassadors from Ecobank, SG, GCB & ADB were awarded for their contribution to MoneyGrams success in 2015.

Access Bank which joined the MoneyGram train some few years ago, won two awards  Best Compliance Support Partner & Best Marketing Support Partner . Global Access won the won the Top Location in Ghana award; while GCB won the Most Activated Agent Location .

Stanbic Bank also won the Fastest Growing Agent Award .

MoneyGram offers worldwide money transfer services in more than 200 countries and territories through a global network of 350,000 agent locations, including retailers, international post offices and banks.

In Ghana, MoneyGram can be received from over 2000 locations including all its 22 Partner Banks and their sub agents.
By D.I. Laary, GNA

Accra, April 15, GNA - The National Communications Authority (NCA) has unveiled an emblem to mark its 20th Anniversary on the back of the application of a robust regulatory framework to spur the growth of the telecom sector.

It also announced a series of activities for a year-long anniversary celebration, at the launched on the theme: 'NCA: Twenty years of Progressive and Dynamic Regulatory Achievements.'

The planned activities include: Digital Family Forum, an ICT School Essay Competition to be held on regional basis, communications fun games, and Corporate Social Responsibility activities and the launch of an industry report launch and a magazine.

An anniversary dinner dance and interdenominational thanksgiving service have also been planned to climax the celebration.

Mr William Tevie, the Director-General of NCA, said the Authority had grown into one of the most forward-looking and innovative Communications Regulatory Authorities in the Sub-region, and attributed its expansion to commitment and diligence.

He described the NCA's history and achievements as 'a milestone and an institution keen to leave an impression on stakeholders'.

The anniversary celebrations would include a two-day international symposium.

'Our anniversary celebrations will underscore the fact that the NCA has become one of the best known premier destinations for industry benchmarks,' Mr Tevie said.

'Our regulatory output have helped to improve the service quality of telecommunication users in Ghana, this also shows that our obligation for the future is fully in line with our mission,' he stated.

Mr Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, the Board Chairman of the NCA, lauded accomplishments of the Authority and efforts of the previous board of directors to lay a solid foundation over the past 20 years.

He said the board had developed new vision and mission statements that envelop its new core values with the acronym 'TACTIT' interpreted as Teamwork, Accountability, Consistency, Transparency, Innovation and Trust.

Some of the landmark achievements of the NCA include the introduction of mobile number portability, digital terrestrial switchover project, harmonised short codes, broadband wireless access license in the 2500 - 2690 MHz and guidelines for the deployment of masts.

Others are the erection of towers as well as decentralisation of operations, reclassification of FM stations and the Interconnect Clearing House.

GNA
By Prosper K. Kuorsoh, GNA

Wa, April 15, GNA - The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has appealed to the media to prioritise the hinterlands in the coverage of issues related to the November 7 General Election to inform it about any challenges for speedy redress.

Hajia Sa-adatu Maida, the Commissioner in-charge of Upper West Region, made the appeal at a capacity building workshop for media practitioners in the region on election reportage and the highlights of Constitutional Instrument (C. I.) 91.

She said vibrant media coverage of the remote communities would be of tremendous help to the EC as it would be notified of the challenges across the nation to enable it to quickly mobilise to address them.

'The focus on the urban centres is too much and I want to plead that this time round you try and focus more on the remote areas to so that we can speedily attend to their problems too,' she said.

Hajia Sa-adatu, however, urged the media to avoid mischief in their reportage but rather they should report with the intention of helping to correct or enhance the electoral process.

This way, she said, the media would be contributing towards a free, fair, transparent and peaceful election that would further enhance Ghana's democratic credentials.

Hajia Sa-adatu also appealed to the media to guard against the declaration of election results in both the Presidential and Parliamentary contests.

It said the declaration of results was the sole prerogative of the EC and not the media or any institution, organisation or political party.

She said the practice of declaring results ahead of the EC, apart from being unlawful, also stood the chance of throwing the country into chaos.

'You can report the provisional figures from the polling stations and constituencies as they are, but you must try as much as possible to desist from declaring that candidate A or B has won the election when the EC has not officially said so,' she emphasised.

On the purpose of the training, Hajia Sa-adatu said it was important to always keep the media abreast with activities of the EC to enable them to understand and help educate the public.

This has even become more important, especially when sections of the public continued to question the credibility of the current voters' register based on statistical inconsistencies.

'It is therefore crucial that in an effort to address this concern and ensure that the voters register do not become the focus of dispute in the 2016 general elections, the EC has accepted to undertake a validation of the register as part of the exhibition exercise,' she said.

Hence, the EC with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organised the training workshop to update media practitioners in the Region.

Participants were taken through various topics such as, 'The Role of Media in Elections', 'Election Monitoring and Observation', 'Election Language/Terminologies', and 'Public Election Regulations (Voter Registration) C. I. 91'.

Hajia Sa-adatu said the image of Ghana as a beacon of democracy in the Sub-region must be maintained, and this could only be achieved through fair and balanced reportage.

GNA
By Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, April 15, GNA - Mr Robert P. Jackson, the United States Ambassador to Ghana, has called on all political parties in the country to make pledges to ensure a peaceful election in November.

He said political parties must be focused on getting their messages across to Ghanaians, for them to be voted into power.

Mr Jackson made the remarks in Accra during a roundtable with the press to mark his 90th day upon his assumption office in Ghana.

He said the US Government would support Ghana's electoral process with $ 4.5 million, as part of its contributions towards ensuring peaceful and transparent elections.

Mr Jackson said that one-third of the assistance would go to the Electoral Commission to assist with its strategic communications and to assist in voter education.

Another one-third, he said, would be allocated through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the Ghana National Peace Council in its activities towards the elections.

He said as part of the programme, the Embassy would be organising additional training for journalists.

Mr Jackson lauded the National Peace Council and the UNDP for having come out with a map of potential conflict areas; stating that experts on election security would be in the country to validate that work and hold discussions with the EC and civil society.

He commended the Daily Graphic for having a hashtag on peaceful election.

On the issue of the two Ex-Guantanamo Bay Detainees who were accepted by Ghana, earlier this year, the Ambassador said there had been no money changing hands or bribes and that it was basically diplomatic negotiations.

Ghana in January accepted the two ex-detainees from the US Detention Camp in Guantanamo Bay, namely, Mahmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef (36 years) and Khalid Shayk Mohammed (34 years) both Yemen nationals.

He said following the diplomatic agreement, the US assistance to Ghana of $145 million a year had neither increased nor decreased.

'I want to be very clear that there had been no exchange of money, as far as I am concerned,' he said.

He said that his government was responsible for their accommodation and upkeep in Ghana for two years; adding that the duo do not pose any threat to the country.

He said before the ex-detainees were brought into the country, the Embassy took time to brief Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party on it, but he (Nana) had his reservations.

'I do not think that, this is being a guff. We are asking countries around the world to take these ex-detainees. And I think it had become a political issue here and I regret that,' Mr Jackson said.

'I think foreign policy should fundamentally be apolitical,' he said.

On the issue of the present of the two ex-detainees being in Ghana serving as a platform for terrorist attack, the Ambassador debunked it, saying that Mali, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast did not accept them yet they experienced terrorists' attacks.

He said the two were Yemen nationals, who were born in Saudi Arabia and were captured in Afghanistan during a war.

He said the US had a legislation that bars it from allowing such people to live within its borders and Yemen was at war, hence the need to look for a third country.

He expressed the US Government's gratitude to Ghana Government for accepting the duo.

GNA
16.04.2016 LISTEN

By Kodjo Adams, GNA

Accra, April 15, GNA - The Africa Food Prize geared towards inspiring innovations in food production and security has been launched in Accra, with an amount of 100,000 dollars award package for the winners.

The Africa Food Prize is the pre-eminent award to recognize outstanding individuals or institutions whose contributions in African agriculture have forged a new era of sustainable food security and economic opportunities for all Africans.

The Africa Food Prize was announced at the 12th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program Partnership Platform which is seeking new sources of investment and financing for African farmers and agriculture businesses.

The prize was first established in 2005 funded by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and Yara International ASA (Yara), a global manufacturer of fertilizer delivering crop nutrition programmes and sustainable solutions for agriculture.

Now after ten years, Yara decided and agreed with AGRA to transform the prize into an African agriculture and food security prize more fully embedded within the African continent.

Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, launching the programme urged African governments to fully implement the Malabo Declaration on agricultural growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods.

'We want to celebrate individuals and institutions that are changing the reality of farming in Africa, from a grueling struggle to survive to a profitable family business that thrives,' he said.

The former Nigeria President said the Prize was another way Africans can drive a search for solutions to fundamental problems, such as chronic lack of financing, that prevent African farmers from achieving their potential.

He expressed optimism that the award would grow in stature and prestige to celebrate Africans.

Mr Strive Masiyiwa, Board Chair of AGRA, said the initiative would bring a spotlight on bold initiatives and technical innovations that can be replicated across the continent to eliminate hunger and poverty and provide a vital new source of employment and income.

Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA, said the winners would be chosen by the Africa Food Prize Committee, which will include other distinguished leaders in African agriculture.

The winners will be announced annually during a prize ceremony at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), starting with the 2016 AGRF slated for 5-9 September in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr Kalibata, who is also the past prize recipient, said the new African agriculture and food security prize would continue to embody the values established by the Yara Prize, which has become a powerful beacon for attracting global attention to the impressive women and men who are forging a new future for African agriculture.

She said African agriculture sector is growing faster than any in the world, but its progress is far from sufficient, and envisioned a prize that can raise the bar for what Africans can achieve in all the value chains.

GNA
16.04.2016 LISTEN

Agona Swedru, April 15, GNA - Two persons have been arrested by the Apam Police for attempting to smuggle 37 bags of a substance suspected to be Indian hemp to Ivory Coast.

The suspects are Kofi Gyamfi, driver of a Kia Truck and Isaac Amanor, the driver's mate who are currently in police custody at Apam pending further investigations.

Police Chief Superintendent Ahmed Issah Yakubu, the Agona Swedru and Gomoa Dawurampong Divisional Commander, made this known to the press at Agona Swedru.

The KIA truck and 37 bags of suspected Indian hemp have also been impounded by the Police.

Chief Supt. Yakubu said the driver and his mate were transporting the leaves from Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region to Gomoa Dago concealed under a truck loaded with sachet water.

Chief Supt. Yakubu said the plan of the driver and his mate was to pretend to supply water to their clients in the Gomoa Dago area.

The Divisional Commander said upon a tip-off , the Apam Police intercepted the Kia Truck between Gomoa Apam and Gomoa Dago where they were about to be transported to Ivory Coast.

According to him when the Police arrested Gyamfi and his mate, they mentioned one Joe as the owner of the substance and said he hailed from Winneba in the Effutu Municipality and resident in Ivory Coast.

According to the Divisional Commander the two would be arraigned before court when investigations are completed.

GNA
By Joyce Danso, GNA

Accra, April 15, GNA - The health condition of one of the accused persons in the Koala Shopping Centre robbery on Friday compelled the court to adjourn the matter to Monday, April 18.

The court was informed that Stanley Obaliko, who sustained injuries during the robbery, had been rushed to the hospital in the morning.

Prosecuting, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Duuti Tuaruka, who informed the court, said they would be calling three more witnesses to testify.

The victim, Ms Lydia Horsu, and a driver whose media name is Nana Yaw who rescued the victim and knocked down two of the robbers, and Mr Mohammed Ali, a Manager at Koala Shopping Centre, have so far testified.

The accused persons, Gilbert Osabutey, Michael Edor Ahiataku aka Old soldier, a private security man, and Frederick Sedro Kwame, who have been charged with conspiracy to rob, have pleaded not guilty.

Appearing before the court, Obaliko and Okoe Quarcoe, who sustained injuries during the robbery, have pleaded guilty to the charges of robbery.

However, the court, after listening to their explanation, entered a plea of not guilty on their behalf.

Chief Supt Tuaruka said the complainant in the case is Lydia Horsu, a Marketing Administrator with the Shopping Centre, who went round daily to collect the previous day's sales to the head office.

On January 6, this year, Osabutey, Ahiataku and Kwame hatched a plan to rob the Shopping Centre and sought the assistance of the two others, now at large, who also recruited Obaliko and Quarcoe to carry out the plan.

The prosecution said on January 8, this year, around 2000 hours, all the accused persons met at the Koala Shopping Centre at Cantonments and Osabutey, who was a supervisor at the Cantonments Branch, briefed them about the movement of the complainant.

The prosecutor said the accused persons agreed to rob the complainant the following day.

On January 9, at about 0800 hours, the complainant went to the Koala Shopping Centre, Cantonments, but she decided to pick the company's invoice and voucher to audit them and left for the head office at the Airport.

On seeing the complainant leave the office, Osabutey alerted the accused persons through phone calls and Obaliko and Quarcoe boarded a BMW motor bike and moved closer to the Koala head office.

Obaliko and Quarcoe trailed the complainant to a point near the American Embassy at Cantonments.

The prosecutor said Obaliko who was then the pillion rider alighted, drew out a pistol at the complainant and ordered her to surrender her handbag to him.

Chief Supt Tuaruka said Ms Horsu refused to comply and raised the alarm.

He said this infuriated Obaliko who pushed the complainant down and shot her twice in her thigh and calf after which he (Obaliko) and Quarcoe sped off.

A taxi driver, who witnessed the incident, chased them with his vehicle and hit their motor bike.

Police investigations, however, led to the arrest of the rest of the accused persons.

Chief Supt Tuaruka said the victim, who was shot twice by the accused persons, is on admission at the 37 Military Hospital, responding to treatment.

GNA
By Ken Sackey, GNA

Accra, April 16, GNA - A state funeral and memorial service for the late Joseph Boakye Kyeretwei Danquah Adu, former Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North was on Friday held at the Forecourts of the State House in Accra.

The MP's funeral attracted large crowds of mourners including President John Dramani Mahama and His wife Lordina, Vice President Kwesi Amissah Atta, who were there to pay their last respect to the politician who was stabbed to death by a suspected assailant Daniel Asiedu, on February 9, at his Shiashi residence in Accra.

Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, Former President Jerry Rawlings and wife Nana Konadu, former President John Kufuor and Chief Justice Georgina Wood were all present to grief with the august House, the family and Ghanaians on the loss of the legislator who colleagues and other testified to his affability, generosity, sharp mindedness and high sense of duty.

Other high profile personalities present were Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, Presidential Candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic party (NPP) in election 2016, his Vice presidential Candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Acting Chairman of the NPP Mr Freddy Blay, as well as the embattled Chairman, Mr Paul Afoko, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, suspended General Secretary of the NPP, Mr Alan Kyeremanteng, a leading member of the party.

There were other mourners from the leadership and membership of Parliament, from across the political divide, including government functionaries and past government officials, as well as the clergy and traditional rulers and people from all walks of life, who paid their last respect to the 51 year old politician who left behind a wife and two girls.

The sense of loss was expressed in the wearing of deep black cloths with red and white overlays by mourners who filed past the body of the murdered MP that laid in casket bedecked in garlands of flowers and wreaths mostly in white with green colours below.

The ceremony was solemn, as mourners observed in silence the proceedings, with tearful tributes by the wife, and the leader of his political party, the NPP, his elder brother, Frank Adu, the State, by Mr Mahama Ayariga, on behalf of President Mahama, and that of Parliament, read by Mr Joe Ghartey, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

As the tribute poured in, the atmosphere became emotional with wails, tears and dirges recounting the loss of the gentleman who served in the Kufuor administration in 2005 as the Deputy Minister of Women and Children Affairs and known to have impacted many lives with his generosity and care for the under-privileged, especially in his constituency.

In an emotional tribute, the wife of the late MP, Mrs Ivy Boakye Danquah Adu said that barely 20 months into their marriage, her husband decided to enter into politics.

"I prayed, fasted, wept and pleaded with him not to. I employed all my wisdom and naughty tricks to stop him but to no avail.

'I had to live with the reality of sharing him and I learned to value the little time I spent with him as he has ceased to be ours alone. He lived for his people. His country was his raison d'etre. JB believed in Ghana just as his grandfather Dr J.B. Danquah, the doyen of Ghanaian politics.

'JB believed he had a divine calling to serve his motherland and he was happy to go any distant in that quest. His greater good of his constituents was momentous and his services to Ghana were paramount," she said.

"Kofi, as we lay you to rest, we bury only your body. Your spirit, your soul and your amazing ability to give selflessly will continue to live with us," she added.

Mr Ayariga, on behalf of the President Mahama, said the late MP represented the promise of the youth combining active politics with entrepreneurship.

According to the Minister, the late MP was a decent and reconciliatory character who was admired by all, adding that the nation appreciated his contribution to nation building and wished that the good Lord gives him good rest.

Nana Akufo Addo in his tribute said the late J.B Danquah was a firm believer in the Busia/Danquah tradition and committed himself to every cause of the NPP.

"The party has lost a positive party spirit," he said, pointing out that his sudden demise is a big blow to the party.

"J.B. was not only intelligent but was a strong advocate for private sector development," he noted.

He however said there is bright future for the party despite such a big loss.

Mr Ghartey, flanked by Majority leader Alban Bagbin and Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, said the late MP who was a distinguished statesman would always be remembered by Parliament as somebody who was primarily concerned about nation building.

"J.B. was a strong advocate for a transformational change and saw this as a condition precedent to sustainable growth and development and therefore called for consistent and sustained effort in this regard,' he said

Reverend Dr Jonahtan Ayitey Mensah of the Ridge Church in Accra who officiated the memorial service, was at a loss why the late politician's life would be nib in the bud in a gruesome way, and asked the government ensure that justice would be done to the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

"I know God is in control and He will strengthen the widower, his children, family members and also beloved ones who have converged on the State House to pay their last respect".

The cleric called on politicians to emulate the selfless and honest life of the late J.B. Danquah, saying, "I want our politicians to always identify themselves with suffering masses as J.B Danquah did."

Wreaths were laid on behalf of the government and people of Ghana, the party, the family and well-wishers.

After the burial service, the body was put in a hearse and sent to his factory premises in Tema for his workers to also pay their last respect.

He was buried at Akyem Tafo after which traditional funeral rites were held for him.

GNA
Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA

Sekondi, April 16, GNA - The Western Regional Office of the National Disaster Management Committee is to organise a simulation exercise along communities where industrial chemicals from the Takoradi port are transported to their destination.

These chemicals, often toxic and meant for oil, mining and other industries are transported during the day along the major Takoradi-Abidjan road without proper protection, which may cause human defects and deaths in the event of spillage.

Mr Kofi Koranteng Abrokwa, Director of Training at the Headquarters of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), told the Ghana News Agency at a Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction meeting, that chemical spillage is a challenge to the Region in particular, which calls for preparation to mitigate its effects.

He said the Regional Platform members chaired by Professor Frank Eshun, Rector of the Takoradi Polytechnic, have visited communities and interacted with some opinion leaders to integrate their concerns in the process.

Mr Abrokwa said the Platform would help in testing the preparedness, response and coordination among agencies in response to disaster management.

GNA
Achiabukorpe (GAR), April 16, GNA - A Community-based Health and Planning Services (CHPS) compound has been provided at Achiabukorpe, near Adjen Kotoku of the Ga West Municipality.

The CHPS compound, which cost the Municipal Assembly GH300.000.00 would help the people of Achiabukorpe and its surroundings to access health delivery at their doorstep.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Mr Kojo Fynn, the Common Fund Administrator of the Assembly said the amount spent on the construction of the compound was part of the assembly's funds.

He said the facility would have two resident health professionals and CHPS officials, a dispensary, clinic, consulting room and boreholes.

Mrs Felicia Dapaah, the Coordinating Director of the Assembly said the CHPS compound would save the people, especially pregnant women and children of Achiabukorpe and its environs from travelling long distances to get health attention.

She said the project would be soon inaugurated and advised the inhabitants to take good care of the building by always keeping the environment clean.

Mr Emmanuel Mawuli Amuzu, the Assembly Member for Akotoshie, commended the Assembly for the construction of the CHPS compound.

He said the provision of the facility would lessen the health delivery burden of some communities like Achiabukorpe, Egakope, Wudukope, Akoekope, Akekope, Nsumia, Chinto and beyond.

GNA
Communication Consultant at the National Health Authority, Eric Ametor Quarmyne has praised the High Court ruling ordering the Attorney General to give all relevant documents on the bus branding to the Citizen Ghana Movement.

According to him, the courts ruling makes it possible for journalists to access information from public officials.

On April 13, the Human Rights Court in Accra, gave its ruling on the controversial case brought by the Citizen Ghana Movement asking it to compel the Attorney-General to submit to the pressure group the contract and other documents relating to the transaction with Smartty's Productions..

A branded Metro Mass bus

Delivering his judgment, Justice Anthony Yeboah made it clear that citizens are entitled to access information from public officials.

According to him, because the bus branding issue is of public interest, members of the public have the right to request for information.

He ordered the Attorney-General (A-G), who was the respondent in the case, to make all documents with regards to bus branding contract available to the group with the exception of documents regarding trade secrets and national defense.

Member of Citizen Ghana Movement, Kofi Bentil

Mr. Yeboah further directed that all questions posed by the group be answered by the A-G within 14 days of service of the entry of judgment.

Speaking on the Joy FM/MultiTVs news analysis program, NEWSFILE, Mr. Ametor Quarmyne said: I am happy about this ruling adding it helps to push the public interest.

He, however, cautioned that the ruling is likely to make public officials and public institutions to tacitly hold to information until there is a court order.

He questioned the motive of the group in taking the matter to court since government had taken steps to retrieve the excess payments following the public outrage over the expenditure.

Some 116 buses were branded at a cost of 3.6 million cedis caused public outrage compeling government to retrieve 1.5 million cedis from the company that executed the contract, Smartty's Management and Productions Limited.

A number of citizens, dissatisfied with the steps taken by government, went to court demanding full disclosure.

Commenting to the court ruling, private legal practitioner, Egbert Faibille Jr. described the judgment as groundbreaking.

He said the direction of the judgment was expected, adding the right to information law is not even necessary given the rights granted Ghanaians in Article 41 of the 1992 Constitution.

Kindly watch video below



Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected]
Private legal practitioner, Egbert Faibille Jr. says the method the Electoral Commission (EC) employed in getting its new logo designed was not transparent.

According to him, as a public institution, the EC was supposed to adopt a competitive process by inviting individuals who are interested in the competition to send their own designs but this was not done.

Mr. Faibille said the act of springing up a logo on Ghanaians by the Commission contradicts the rules and regulations requiring public institutions to make their operations transparent.

The Commissions new logo has generated some heated debates in the public about whether it was necessary to change its logo in the first place.

Some opposition political parties such as the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) have expressed their misgivings the logo.

Brand experts have also said the new logo does not send any message to Ghanaians with regards to the core function of the Commission.

Speaking on the Joy FM/MultiTVs news analysis program, Mr. Faibille described the ECs new logo as an invitation for a needless acrimony.

What is the rationale behind the EC changing its logo?, he asked. He believes the Commission ought to concentrate on the November 2016 polls.

He explained that because officials of the Commission are unelected representatives of the people of Ghana, they have to act in the best interest of the people.

Commenting on the design of the logo, Mr. Faibille said the new logo has nothing to show the work of the Commission.

Drawing a sharp contrast, he said the previous logo detailed the coat of arms of Ghana which many people were able to connect to it easily.

Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Malik Kweku Baako Jr. called on the Commission to be prudent as far as the spending of public funds is concerned.

He said the way officials of the government are trying to fend off opposition to the ECs logo amounted to building a Chinese wall between the EC's conduct of elections and the manner in which it spends public money.

Mr. Baako called on Ghanaians to show interest in the issues surrounding the Commission ahead of the November 2016 polls and how they would be resolved.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected]
An economist at the University of Ghana has criticized the Public Utility Regulatory Commission over its decision to maintain utility tariffs at the first quarter rates.

Professor Godfred Bokpin is not convinced about the decision announced by the regulator that prices will remain unchanged after the first quarter because factors considered in the automatic adjustment formula have been stable.

On April 15, Director of Public affairs at PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah hinted the Commission was not going to increase utility tariffs in the country.

According to her, after the Commission applied the Tariffs Automatic Adjustment Formula (AAF) - a system used in the calculation of utility tariffs in the country, it realized there was no cost to be passed on to consumers.

Speaking to Joy News, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Stanley Martey welcomed the announcement as good news.

He said considering the public dissatisfaction and debate the December 2015 tariffs increment generated in the country, it will be unfortunate for the PURC to increase tariffs again.

Mr. Martey said Ghanaians should be given some period of time to adapt to the last increment before an addition is made.

But speaking to Joy News, Prof. Bokpin contended PURC was pressured to arrive at that decision.

The economist said he sees the possibility of the regulator imposing hefty tariffs on consumers in the foreseeable future
Although little discussed, one of Europes greatest achievements was the successful imposition of Christianity on the people it conquered, enslaved and colonized in Africa.

Just think about it: How did Europeans managed to convince the people they tricked, bought, branded, chained, enslaved, worked like mule and traded like cattle, to believe in their god?

It is strange that little credit is given to European Christian Missionaries who so successfully sold the world the fiction that the god Europeans worship, is a Universal God of all mankind. It is a triumph of incomparable proportions.

It is pure magic to successfully convince a people that the supposed Son of the god of your very cruel master, who treat you like a chattel beast, who beat you at will, rape your wife and daughter whenever his libido stirred, and sold you off like a cattle whenever he needed spare cash is your Saviour.

That was one of the magic European missionaries wrought in Africa, and one for which Africa continue to pay a terrible price today.

Here is what the late Kenyan Independent leader, Jomo Kenyatta, said of the Missionaries: When the Europeans came, we had the land and they had the Bible. They asked that we close our eyes in prayers. By the time we open our eyes, they had the land and we had the Bible.

Most of Africa regain independence some six decades ago, but the unviable states into which European colonialists sundered Africa continue to grapple with the deleterious effects of slavery and colonialism.

This is another topic Europeans do not want to talk about. Since many European schools refuse to teach any subject of history that did not seek to praise or justify Europe, many Europeans remain ignorant of how much they contributed to the large mess we see daily on the African continent.

Take the case of Western-styled democracy that was imposed on Africa on the eve of independence. It surprises greatly that many European commentators who condemn the failure of the system in Africa, and blamed Africans for being incapable of self-government, never questioned whether or not the socio-cultural experiences of the Africans was ever taken into consideration when the system was imposed on them.

If, as attested to by failing voters turnout in most western countries, democracy is failing in Europe, why then do we expect it to work in Africa? There are ample historical evidences that pointed to the fact that Africans evolved sophisticated political systems before the European incursion/imposition  there were noted Kingdoms and great Empires (Ghana, Mali and Songhay). Many parts of Africa still practice their ancient political systems that stretches back into antiquity. That the traditional system of government clash, sometimes violently, with the imposed system, should not surprise any honest analyst. But that is a story for another essay.

We can conjecture that it is in the sphere of religion that the Europeans wrought the most grievous and enduring havoc on the African psyche. The imposition of Christianity totally stripped the African of his very humanity, as he no longer can relate to his own god in his own image.

As the great Kenyan nationalist, Oginga Odinga, rightly pointed out in his classic, Not yet Uhuru, the colonialists sought out the most loyal and pliable of local elite to whom they handed over power. The trick was to ensure that European culture, privileges and interests will be maintained even in an ostensibly independent nation.

Of course, European colonial administrators employed and promoted only those natives that were deemed to be loyal to the empire, and are deemed to have best assimilated the colonisers language, culture, mannerism and religion. This created a class of Africans totally alienated from Africa, who look up to Europe for validation and, invariably, looked down on their more traditional fellow Africans.

The result is the creation of Africans who are more loyal to Metropolitan Powers than to their native lands.

In countries like Ghana, almost all the post-independent leaders were Christians and Christians hold most of the important civil service jobs. These leaders were products of mission schools and they have imbibed the culture of the colonial power.

It is difficult to point out where things went awry, but along the road, Christianity in Africa lost its innocence. The traditional Christian sects  Roman Catholicism, Anglican and Methodist were pushed aside by a more ferocious form of fundamental Pentecostal Christianity. Unlike the Old-School church leaders who were contended to keep a low profile, the new Priests were as aggressive as they are garrulous. Unlike in the Old churches where Missionaries live frugal lives and were contented to be accepted to evangelise, helped to build schools and clinics, todays religious have no interests in such mundane stuffs.

The Old church believe in giving unto Caesar what is Caesars, and unto god what is god; the new ones refused to make a distinction between Here and There. Not for them the idea of waiting for a Kingdom of God in heaven; you must create your Heaven on Earth. Before long Pentecostal churches sprang up all over cities, town and villages preaching the Gospel of Crass Materialism. The new priests have absolutely no compunction in breaking laws in proclaiming their Gospel of Prosperity. Whereas the Old Priests frown on materialism, the New Pastors believe in loudly proclaiming their new-found affluence. They brazenly jettisoned the teachings of Jesus Christ that rich people will have hard time entering the kingdom of god, and loudly brandishes their palatial mansions and big jeeps. With wealth came acceptance, so much so that the very rich ones among the pastors became laws unto themselves. They put up church buildings wherever the wish. They break laws, rules and regulations at will. They can stop traffic to hold jamborees. They care little for laws and hold all-night vigils at residential areas, where they keep citizens awake all night with their loud music.

Because they hold sway over thousands of Congregants, many of the Pastors become very powerful people in society, and become friends with political leaders. Presidents and Ministers courted them assiduously.

It is difficult to know whether it was religion that corrupted politics in Africa or the other way around, what is not debatable today is that Christianity has indeed become an Albatross that is strangling the life out of Africa. Religion has turned many Africans into unthinking Zombies who, with childlike helplessness, wait for the intervention of gods for the supply of basics like water, food and electricity. Citizens have been persuaded not to hold elected officials responsible for their inactions to provide basic services. Because of religion, leaders no longer feel any need to fulfill election promises made to citizens. All they need to do is to turn citizens eyes into the sky, to await the interventions of the gods.

Sample

Praying for Ebola: Few years ago, the dreaded EBOLA disease ravaged the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The last two countries were just emerging and recovering from devastating wars. With much of the health infrastructures destroyed by the conflict, they clearly lacked the capacity to cope with a fast-spreading epidemic. That was understandable. What was difficult for citizens of Liberia to fathom was the declaration by their president, Madam Helen Johnson Sirleaf, of seven days of fasting and prayers.

Many asked what exactly Madam President expected to happen after the fasting and praying pyrotechnics. Luckily, the international community mobilized to help the affected countries.

Praying for Zambian Kwacha: Liberia was not the only African country where leaders seek divine intervention in the affairs of man. The meltdown in the global economy resulted in the collapse in demand for Zambian main export, Copper. With the capacity to earn foreign exchange greatly reduced, the value of local currency, the Kwacha, collapsed.

To appease the lamentations of citizens, the president called for three days of prayers to help shore up the value of the sinking currency. Many Zambians were not amused.

Praying for Fuel Scarcity: Nigeria is Africas largest producer of crude oil. The country derive more than half of its income from the export of crude oil. Yet, for some unfathomable reasons, Nigeria periodically suffer from fuel scarcity. So acute was the latest bout of scarcity that a leading Pastor called on Nigerians to close shop and hold special prayer to help with the fuel scarcity. The pastor refused to say whether he expect crude to rain down from the sky or for angels to repair the countrys three refineries.

Christian leaders in Africa have become so emboldened that they have no compunction whatever to make the wildest claims of supernatural powers. No problem is too big for them to tackle. They not only mesmerize their congregants in churches, but they feel so powerful that they take to the airwaves to loudly proclaim their paranormal powers. Here are samples of some of some posters found in Ghana and Nigeria:

Figure 1 Bottled Blood of Jesus for every ailment



Figure 2 Special Prayers for winning Elections



Figure 3 5 days of Bringing Heaven to Earth



Figure 4 Supernatural Powers to solve any problem



Figure 5 No problem is too big to be solved by spiritual power

Figure 6 I Smell America - special prayers for those eager to travel to the USA

Figure 7 Special prayer to destroy enemies



Figure 8 Special prayers to change fortunes



Figure 9 Special prayers if you don't want to leave Lagos a poor person

Figure 10 Special prayers for those in need of a Spouse

Figure 11 Prayers to cast out spell and allow one to buy and drive a car

Figure 12 Prayers for those tired of misfortunes in life

Figure 13 Prayers to kill your enemies before they kill you.

Figure 14 Special channel to Jesus



Figure 15 Non-stop prayer Gym



Figure 16 Religious Leader receiving supplications



Figure 17 Casting Holy Spirit Fire against Ebola
The Progressive People's Party yesterday took their "Awake and Vote for Change" tour to the Atwima Mponua constituency in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The National Chairman, National Secretary together with the Regional Executives visited seven communities in the Atwima Mponua constituency as follows:

Mpasatia Nyinahini Akoraborkrom Abofrem Ahyeresu Sreso Anansu

The PPP National Chairman, Mr. Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond bemoaned the state of infrastructural development in the community. He was shocked at the state of cocoa farmers whose produce generate most of the revenue for the government yet they receive a little of those resources to develop their environs. He criticized the NDC & NPP governments for shirking their responsibilities in the provision of social amenities. He asked the people of Atwima Mponua to change their vote to reflect the worsening condition of their lives.

The National chairman introduced the Regional and National Parliamentary Campaign Committees to the Chiefs and people of Atwima Mponua. He also introduced Mr. Eric Ninson Arthur, who is the Parliamentary Candidate of the PPP in Atwima Mponua and charged the people to vote massively for him come November 7, 2016.

The National chairman took the opportunity to preach to the people of Atwima Mponua the task ahead of a PPP government. He spoke about separating the Attorney General from the Ministry of Justice to enable the Minister focus on executing his functions well. He spoke of the need to assure our parents free and compulsory education from Kindergarten to Senior Secondary for their children.

The National Chairman sought their votes to help ppp win power to end institutional corruption by giving power back to the people through the election of their Chief Executives, separate the Attorney General from the Minister of Justice, and to end MPs serving as Ministers of State.

PPP promised to ensure employment for all able bodied Ghanaians, and guaranteed basic quality education from Kindergarten to SHS for all.

Chairman Nii Allotey thanked the Chief's and People of Atwima Mponua for their time and support.

Mr. Eric Authur Ninson thanked the people and asked for their votes. He told the gathering that the current MP (Isaac Kwame Esiama) of the area had taken them for granted because, as voters, they have refused to change their voting pattern over the years. He promised to serve them well when they vote for him as their Representative in Parliament.

Murtala Mohammed

National secretary
In recent times, there have been calls by various stakeholders on the need to ensure peace and tranquillity before, during and after the November 7th general elections.

Ghana, our motherland has been the beacon of hope and the citadel of democratic governance in Africa since the inception of the fourth republic and has always led the crusade against electoral violence in any form.

It is worth noting that, for there to be a peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the general elections, there is the need to uphold certain key elementary principles such as TOLERANCE, FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS, ISSUE BASED CAMPAIGN DEVOID OF PERSONAL ATTACKS AND VILIFICATION , AVOID CHARACTER

ASSASSINATION and Most importantly the need for proper regulation of media reportage..

It is pertinent to note that, most countries where elections brought about war and insecurity such as Liberia, Ivory Coast, Kenya and the likes have since known no peace there after, it is a collective responsibility to ensure that this country is not plunged into chaos because peace is an indispensable commodity and a prerequisite for economic, social, religious and political development.

I must be quick to add that, political parties, civil society organizations and citizens have an instrumental role to play in ensuring that the 2016 elections will not be characterize by violence, mayhem and disregard for the laws that we seek refuge from.

Furthermore, there is the need to resource the various state security agencies to meet the demands of modern trend of combating election related crimes and its rippling effects in Ghana and the continent at large. Intelligence gathering is one of the key strategies that must be adopted by the security agencies in flushing out the bad nuts within and beneath our political discourse.

Greater Accra NASPA remains resolute and committed towards building a resilient and robust political, social and religious economy.

It will therefore continuously do its best even if it means cracking the whip by descending so hard on potential perpetrators of political violence in whatever form or shape because the service personnel would not enjoy a serene working atmosphere which will bring about high productivity if anything untoward happens.

In conclusion, we call on all stakeholders peace loving citizens and well meaning Ghanaians who have the nation Ghana at heart to be circumspect and willing to condemn in no uncertain terms the act of violence and utterances that have the propensity of causing an atrocity.

SAMUEL KOJO DANQUAH AMANING

NASPA PRESIDENT

GREATER ACCRA REGION

(0274710215/0546751934)
16.04.2016 LISTEN

Ho, April 16, GNA - Mr Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, Deputy Minister of Defence has asked security services in the country to share intelligence to avert possible aggression and attacks on the country.

He said it is important for them to work together and put measures in place to forestall or minimise any security threat ahead of the November polls.

Mr Adjei made the request a durbar to climax activities marking the golden jubilee celebration of 66 Artillery Regiment (Volta Barracks) in Ho.

He said the safety of the nation is in the hands of the security services and tasked them to rise to that responsibility, in view of recent terrorist attacks in neighbouring countries.

Mr Adjei urged the security services to maintain good relationship with the civilian population and be extra vigilant in their operations.

He commended the 66 Artillery Regiment for protecting the Eastern border and advised the officers and men of the Regiment to guard the tradition and customs that made the Volta Barracks one of the best in the Ghana Armed Forces.

Major General Carl Coleman (Rtd), President of Ghana Artillery Officers Association noted that 66 Artillery Regiment carved a niche for itself through discipline and professionalism and implored the soldiers to maintain the standard and work hard in support of national aspirations.

Lieutenant Colonel Selorm K. Amengor, Commanding Officer, 66 Artillery Regiment said past commanders built the Regiment on solid foundation and pledged to add to their successes.

Colonel Ekow Jones (Rtd), First Commanding Officer of the Regiment was honoured at the durbar.

The 66 Artillery Regiment came into existence on April 16, 1966 as the medium Mortar Regiment, a name it retained until June, 3, 2002, when it was re-designated the 66 Artillery Regiment.

The object of the formation of the then Medium Mortar Regiment was to increase the supporting fire power potential of Ghana Army, as hitherto, its only existing fire support had come from 81mm mortars.

GNA
By Regina Benneh, GNA

Odumase, April 16, GNA - Ms Agnes Kusi , Sunyani West District Chief Executive (DCE) has appealed to the public to stop the stigma attached to persons with disabilities and their families.

According to her the problem has shocking consequences, including confinement and torture.

She made the appeal when she gave out GHa 14, 200 to 76 members of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisation (GFD) within the district as part of this year's Disability Fund at Odumase near Sunyani.

Ms Kusi stated that physically- challenged persons are more talented and very intelligent when they are taking well care for and are educated.

She entreated the physically-challenged people not to think because of their conditions their lives are over but try to create happiness and joy in their lives.

Ms Kusi observed that many disability persons are living in abject poverty because they have not yet recognise who they are and what they are capable of doing.

She asked them to make good use of the amount received to take good care of themselves and their families to enhance their living conditions.

Ms Kusi stated that many beneficiaries of the fund have set up their own business and others also educated themselves and their children.

She announced that 30 communities in the District have now been added to the LEAP programme to better the living conditions of the poor in the society and asked the physically- challenged people of the area to take advantage to access the fund to improve their lives.

Ms Kusi advised the people to contribute to the sustenance of peace in their area in this year's general election since it is children and the physically-challenged persons who suffer mostly during wars.

Mr Isaac Owusu Ansah, chairman of the GFD on behalf of the people thanked government and the Assembly for the fund.

He urged members to desist from begging especially on the streets to disgrace themselves but to make good use of the little amount they receive to set up their own businesses.

GNA
By Edmund Quaynor, GNA

Koforidua, April 16, GNA - The Eastern Regional Minister, Ms Mavis Ama Frimpong has told women that, they could achieve all their dreams that they have for their families, communities and society only when there is peace in the country.

She has therefore urged Christians women to join other peace loving people of Ghana to talk to their husbands, children, members of their community and in their work places about the need for the country to work and ensure peaceful elections in the country in November.

Ms Frimpong was speaking at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Susana Wesley Auxiliary of the Adweso Calvary Methodist Church near Koforidua.

She said government alone cannot ensure peaceful elections without the cooperation of all Ghanaians and therefore called on Christians to join government to ensure peaceful elections for the country to continue to enjoy peace after the elections.

Ms Freda Janet Asare Bediako, immediate past Lay Chairperson of the Koforidua Diocese of the Methodist Church, called on the members of the Susana Wesley Auxiliary to extent their service to all members of the church.

She expressed regret that in recent times, people are resorting to cursing with the slightest provocation and urged the Auxiliary to preach against the practice.

In a report, the Secretary of the Adweso Calvary Methodist Church branch of the Susana Wesley Auxiliary, Ms Sedem Afriyie said, for the past 10 years, the Auxiliary had made various donations to the church and supported needy persons as part of the support of members towards the evangelism of the mission.

In a closing remarks, Mrs Gertrude Arthurst who chaired the function, called on the members of the Auxiliary to focus on the education of their children for them to have a positive impact on the society.

GNA
16.04.2016 LISTEN

Akim Ofoase (E/R), April 16, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama has assured the people of Akyemansa District that they would benefit from more development projects as they renew his administration.

The President gave the assurance when he inaugurated the district assembly block and an Information Communication Technology centre at Akim Ofoase as part of his 'Accounting to the People tour', in the Eastern Region.

President Mahama inspected ongoing road projects at Ofoase, Brenase, Kotokuom and Chia.

He commended Mr Tom Budu, the District Chief Executive for the numerous projects he had completed so far.

The projects are classroom blocks, rice mill factory, markets, oil palm processing factory, extension of electricity and an office for Ghana National Fire Service.

President Mahama urged the staff of the assemblies to be patriotic, optimistic and confident in the way they handle affairs in their offices for the citizens to have trust in the assembly concept.

Oberempon Boakye Akoto, the Chief of Kotokuom expressed gratitude to the President for the visit to the area and appealed to him for the provision of a health facility and equipment for the people.

GNA
By Edmund Quaynor, GNA

Oyoko (E/R), April 16, GNA - The Lay Chairperson of the Koforidua Diocese of the Methodist Church, Ms Florence Leonie Gyabi-Twum has called on Christians to pray and preach for peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections on November 7.

She said, it is only God who would choose the appropriate leader for the country through the electorate and he never a make mistake.

Ms Gyebi -Twum was speaking at the Ninth Biennial Connexional Holiday Camp of the Methodist Guild of Ghana at Oyoko in the New Juaben Municipality, which is being attended by more than 1,200 delegates from all over the country.

Ms Gyabi-Twum explained that, a true Christian would not go out to fight his fellow Christian for the sake of politics and then come back to meet with the same fellow in a congregation to worship God.

The Bishop of the Koforidua Diocese of the Methodist Church, Right Reverend Michael A. Bossman, called on the members of the Methodist Guild to make an impact on the communities where they worship and help the church to identify the needy for support.

He called on the members of the Guild to learn the Methodist hymns and use them in their evangelism because they have healing and motivational powers.

Nana Adjei Boateng, Member of Parliament for New Juaben North called for peaceful elections in November and explained that, elections are an expression of opinion and choice.

She urged Ghanaians not to allow elections to divide the country.

The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Kwabena Okyere- Kussi called for the strengthening of the Guild to serve as a training ground for the youth of the Methodist church.

He appealed to the member of the Guild who have attained 18 years and those to register when the National Voters Register is reopened to enable them to vote during the November elections.

GNA
By Edmund Quaynor, GNA

Koforidua, April 16, GNA - A number of placard bearing members of the Methodist Guild had marched through the principal street of the New Juaben Municipality calling for peaceful elections in the country on November 7.

The group attending the Ninth Biennial Connexional Holiday Camp of the Guild at Oyoko started the two and half peaceful demonstration from the Oyoko Methodist Senior High School to the Koforidua Jacksons Park.

They presented a resolution calling for peaceful elections to the President which was received on his behalf by the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Kwabena Okyere-Kusi.

Some of the placards read: ' Ghana needs peace,' ' Stand up for Jesus, stand up for Ghana,' 'EC listen to all the political parties,' ' Ghana needs bold and dedicated leaders,' and ' One nation, one people.'

Before presenting the 11 points resolution of the Guild to the president, the National President of the Guild, Mr Jonathan Bassaw read out the resolution in which the Guild called on all political leaders in the country to use their political platforms to explain their intended policies and programmes for the country and avoid personal attacks and the use of intemperate language.

The Guild observed that despite the praises showered on the country as the beacon of democracy in Africa, at every election in the country, there always are some violent skirmishes in some polling stations and constituencies.

He therefore called on the youth of the country not to fall in to any inducement from any politician to indulge in violent activities that could affect the poor innocent citizens of Ghana.

The resolution called on the media to be fair to all political parties and avoid using some stories to fan political conflicts.

Mr Bassaw urged serial callers to stop taking advantage of the public and adhere to speak the truth at all times.

The Guild called on the security agencies to be professional on issues connected with the elections and urged the Electoral Commission to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

The Guild also called to an end to the political tagging of some ethnic groups in the country and treat all citizens of the country as one people with one common destiny.

The Connexional Chaplain of the Methodist Guild, Very Reverend Seth Aful Sackey called on Ghanaians not to take the peace the country is enjoying for granted and work to ensure that the Ghana continue to enjoy peace .

He warned that all Ghanaians stand to lose if we allow some politicians to put their selfish interest above the national interest.

Very Rev. Sackey said, God had always chosen the right leader for the country and urged all Ghanaians to trust God that he would never fail the country.

GNA
16.04.2016 LISTEN

Accra, April 16, GNA - The Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) - Ghana, a non-governmental organisation into fight against tobacco use, has commended Kenya for its victory over British American Tobacco.

It therefore urged African governments to emulate the example of the East African nation.

The commendation was made in statement signed by Mr Labram Musah, the Programmes Director of VALD- Ghana and copied the Ghana News Agency.

'We wish to commend the Kenyan court ruling rejecting British American Tobacco (BAT) petition to stop the adoption of regulations that will facilitate the implementation of Kenya's Tobacco Control Act 2007 and that Ghana and other countries on the continent must be guided by the Kenyans victory,' the statement said.

The BAT Kenya Limited filed a petition at the Constitutional Court in the High Court of Kenya, Nairobi in April 2015 asking it to declare that the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 developed by the Ministry of Health to facilitate the implementation of Tobacco Control Act 2007 was null and void.

The VALD said 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 were therefore unconstitutional.

It said the regulations had been tabled in Parliament on December 5, 2014 and gazette as was required and were to take effect on June 5, 2015.

The VALD said the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance and the Consumer Information Network got enjoined in the case as interested parties.

On June 4, 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 statement said.

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.

The VALD said 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.

The court 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.

The VALD advised that the Kenyans must be on the watch out in order to preempt any move by the BAT, possibly an appeal 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.

In a reaction to the ruling, VALD's Executive Director, Mr Issah Ali said: 'This ruling is victory for the Kenyan people and an indication that they refuse to be intimidated by the tobacco industry.'

He said despite BAT arm-twisting through the suit, the Kenyan 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.

Mr Ali said, as Ghana's Parliament and the Health Ministry head towards the adoption of the Tobacco Control Regulations for implementation of the Tobacco Control Measures of the Public Health Act of 2012, it must be noted and guided by the 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 company's antics aimed at continuing the marketing of its deadly wares on the continent 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."

Mr Ali said as Ghana prepares itself for the adoption of the Tobacco Control Regulations, which has been anticipated this year, the government and the Ministry of Health would act swiftly without delay to avert any industry interference.

'The Kenyan litigation should serve as eye-opener for 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,' he said.

GNA
By Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, April 16, GNA - MAC Ghana, the official and exclusive dealers for General Motors and Isuzu, has officially launched its service centre and showroom at 105, Spintex road, Accra.

The new service centre is to bring the Company's services closer to the door steps of its numerous customers.

It has an area of 4000 Square Metres, with vehicle sales, service and spare parts under the same roof and this would offer customers general maintenance, express repairs and other related services.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Raman Malhotra, the Country Head, MAC Ghana, noted that the company would continue to bring its services closer to its customers, as a means of upholding the standards of the company.

He said MAC Ghana began its operations in the country in Accra, in August 2014, with their first 3S (sales, service and spares) facility.

He explained that this was because Ghana is amongst one of the fastest growing economies in Africa and the third biggest automotive market in entire West and Central Africa.

The Country Head said the company made a remarkable presence in Ghana in 2015 delivering 168 units and growing the business multifold over 2014, since its inception.

'In this short period we have laid down the foundation for building strong brand equity for both Chevrolet and Isuzu through investment in world class facilities, people and processes,' he added.

Mr Malhotra said due to management's hard work MAC Ghana was awarded the 'Most Promising Auto Company of the Year' in the recently happened Automotive Awards in Accra.

He stated that as part of its ongoing strategy for Ghana, the company has planned initiatives to grow the business in 2016 through expansion of its retail facilities in Kumasi.

He said MAC Ghana would open a second showroom in Accra, in the second half of 2016.

The Country Head told the media, the company also plans to have its footprints in Takoradi and Tamale; stating that expansion would begin early 2017.

At the event, MAC Ghana also unveiled the Q and N series range of trucks as well as the new Chevrolet Cruze MY- 16.

Mr Adel Khadr, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mansour Automotive said, in this long journey extending more than 40 years, the company had become Egypt's single largest and most reputed automotive company with annual sales of over 80000 units and also recognized as one of the leading corporations in the region as well.

He said at Mansour it was not just about business only; but that as a core group corporate philosophy, they also make humble contributions through the Monsour Foundation, supporting the development of communities in which they operate.

'We have always regarded and believed Africa as the land of unprecedented opportunities and great potential', he noted.

MAC Ghana is a part of Monsour Automotive Company, celebrating its 40th anniversary and the largest and most reputed automotive distribution in Egypt.

It is the exclusive dealer for entire range of Isuzu Trucks (3.0 Tons to 15 Tons and other special purpose trucks); Isuzu Pickups (D- Max 2.5 Lit and D- Max 3.0 Lit, 4x2/ 4x4 with the option both Manual and Automatic Transmission in the 3.0 Lit) and Chevrolet Passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

GNA
Accra, April 16, GNA - The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has urged all sub-metros to intensify their efforts at monitoring sanitary conditions to forestall re-occurrence of cholera outbreak this year.

They have been also asked to enforce the relevant bye-laws for food vendors to comply with proper and hygienic handling of food.

Numo Blafo Omeatu III, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the AMA gave the directive in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency.

He said the assembly has intensified its education on sanitation to help eliminate cholera.

He said the education also focuses on factors that militate against the development of the metropolis.

Numo Blafo said the observation of basic personal hygiene such as boiling of water before drinking, eating of cooked food while hot, avoiding food being sold along gutters and thorough washing of fresh fruits and vegetables are all in the best interest of the people.

He said the AMA has requested the Ghana Education Service to ensure that all children are taught to wash their hands thoroughly before eating and after visiting the toilet.

Numo Blafo appealed to the communities to be proactive to the current unhealthy practices associated with indiscriminate defecating and dumping of refuse into drains.

'The AMA will ensure that all refuse contractors collect refuse regularly from every community whilst residents are advised to register with the accredited waste contractors in their sub-metro for the collection of their solid waste to avoid arrest and prosecution,' he said.

The PRO said even though the rains have not set in and there is no reported case of cholera, 'we cannot be complacent about it as it could happen and spread faster, hence the need for effective sustainable awareness as well as the promotion of hygiene among the people to take proper food preservation seriously in homes and other places'.

Numo Blafo said the AMA has a strong commitment, effective and sustained hygiene education to change the behaviours of the people to enable each of them become a little more sensitive and conscious about his or her environment to avoid frequent visit to hospitals.

GNA
16.04.2016 LISTEN

Accra, April 16, GNA - Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, the Commandant of the Uganda Peoples' Defence Force and Staff College (KIMAKA), has praised Ghanaians for their peaceful co-existence.

'Ghana is not like other countries on the continent where the people are fighting and killing themselves, but are living peacefully and going about their activities in a serene atmosphere,' he said.

Lt Gen Gutti made the commendation when he led a delegation of 10 officers and 40 students of the Uganda Peoples' Defence Force Senior Command and Staff College, to pay a courtesy call on the Osu Traditional Council.

They were received by the Osu Mantse, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, also the President of the Traditional Council.

Lt Gen Gutti said they were in Ghana to learn the experiences of the citizens and to send them back to their country to practice.

Nii Kwabena Bonnie V, the Osu Alata Mantse in an address explained that the peace in the country is due to the understanding among the people who believe in unity of purpose for the progress of the nation.

Nii Kinka Dowuona said another factor is inter-marriages, saying: 'I believe the people marrying among themselves has brought about co-existence and peace and it is a good thing to do as one people and common destiny.'

He told the delegation that Osu has been a fishing community, but currently it has become a business centre of Accra with the state-of-the-art buildings all over.

He said Osu has attracts big investors and creates job opportunities to the citizenry.

GNA
Moroni (Comoros) (AFP) - Comoros Vice President Mohamed Ali Soilihi, the ruling party's presidential candidate on Saturday contested the vote results which gave victory to Former coup leader Azali Assoumani.

"I do not recognise these results, which according to me are only partial, " said Soilihi, who is known as Mamadou.

The Comoros archipelago, situated between Madagascar and Mozambique, has been plagued with coups and political instability.

Colonel Assoumani, 57, won 40.98 percent of Sunday's vote, narrowly ahead of Mamadou with 39.87 percent, according to the provisional results announced Friday.

The outcome from the second-round vote was announced two days after the expected date.

The team of third-placed presidential candidate Mouigni Baraka, governor of Grande Comore island, who won 19 percent of the votes cast, also rejected the elections results demanding "the annulment, pure and simple, of the presidential election".

Polling day was peppered with incidents, notably on Anjouan, including broken ballot boxes, interruptions in the voting, accusations of ballot stuffing and acts of violence.

Mamadou claimed that 23 of the 400 polling station on Anjouan, one of the three Comoros islands, were yet to announce their results, adding that the ballots cast there were likely to favour him.

Mamadou called for fresh elections in the affected areas.

- 'Some irregularities' -

The pre-election campaigning was marked by personal attacks and allegations of corruption between Mamadou and Assoumani, who was boosted by the support of the opposition Juwa party, which had no candidate in the second round.

Mohamed El-Has Abbas, the minister in charge of elections, admitted to AFP that there had been "many incidents at Anjouan that had marred the voting, "but added that it was the job of the constitutional court to deal with any complaints and pronounce on the legality of the election.

However Assoumani campaign director Said Ali Chayhane said the second round vote had gone well "despite some irregularities in some (polling) stations which did not put the election results in doubt".

Assoumani first came to power in 1999 after ousting acting president Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde in a coup.

He then won the presidential election three years later, stepping down when his term ended in 2006.

The first-round vote took place only on Grand Comore island, in line with electoral rules to choose the president on a rotating basis from the three main islands.

Comoros' system was established in 2001 after more than 20 coups or attempted ones, four of which were successful, in the years following independence from France in 1975.

The three islands that make up the Comoros -- Anjouan, Grand Comore and Moheli -- have a population of just under 800,000 people, nearly all of whom are Sunni Muslims.

The fourth island of Mayotte voted against independence and is still governed by France.

The islands export vanilla, cloves and ylang-ylang perfume essence, but suffer widespread poverty.

Assoumani takes over from outgoing President Ikililou Dhoinine, who completed his five-year term in office.
Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II has urged government to consider giving tax incentives to private tertiary institutions in the country.

According to him, this form of support will help private tertiary institutions to expand their facilities in order to admit more qualified students who are sitting home.

Otumfuor was speaking at the first congregation and inaugural ceremony of the Christ Apostolic University College in Kumasi.

He also used the opportunity to appeal to proprietors of private tertiary institutions to make their tuition fees affordable for many Ghanaians to attend.

Touching on the relevance of education, Otumfuor said: The legacy anybody can leave with his or her children is education.

He encouraged Ghanaians to, as a matter of urgency, prioritize the education of their children in order for them to have a brighter future.

Otumfuor also charged private tertiary institutions to ensure that graduates who pass out of their schools are people with multiple and relevant skills who can easily be employed.

I wish to emphasise on the need for present-day institutions to tailor their programmes to produce graduates with the vocational and entrepreneurial capability to enable them to set out their own businesses after graduation, he said.

He called on government to consider making entrepreneurship a course of study in the "many programmes in our tertiary institutions to prepare students to venture into areas with confidence.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected]
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Calling the situation in Burundi "alarmingly precarious," UN chief Ban Ki-moon is proposing three options for a new UN police mission there, ranging from a full force of 3,000 officers to a light dispatch of 20 to 50.

The options were detailed in a report to the Security Council obtained by AFP on Saturday, two weeks after the council agreed to send a police force to the African country to help quell a year of violence there.

In the report, Ban said dispatching a police force of up to 3,000 was "the only option that could provide some degree of physical protection to the population" but that the mission would take months to prepare and present logistical challenges.

A second option would be to send 228 UN police officers to work with human rights officials and possibly with African Union monitors to provide early warning, but it would not offer any protection to civilians.

The secretary-general said the council could also decide to send a group of 20 to 50 officers who would assess the Burundi police force and "help bring about concrete and measurable improvements in the respect for human rights and rule of law."

The council is under pressure to take action in Burundi where the descent into violence has raised fears of mass atrocities, similar to those that convulsed neighboring Rwanda in 1994.

Burundi has been in turmoil since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans in April last year to run for a third term, which he went on to win.

Violence has left more than 400 dead and driven more than 250,000 people across the border.

Diplomats said the proposed force of 228 police appeared to be the best option, but it remained unclear if Bujumbura would accept that many officers.

The government has told the United Nations that it was ready to receive some 20 unarmed police experts, but would oppose any "large" UN police presence.

Ban's proposals followed the adoption earlier this month of a French-drafted resolution that called for the deployment to monitor the security situation and help promote human rights.

"The security situation in Burundi remains alarmingly precarious," Ban wrote in the 11-page report to the council sent late Friday.

"Even as hand grenade attacks on public venues peaked in late February, attacks targeting military and police personnel, including assassinations and abductions, have increased."
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.

LOOKING FOR HELP?

100% Confidential. Thousands Helped. No upfront fees
you are here:
business TCS Q4 net seen up 2%, dollar revenue may grow 1.4%: Poll According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, TCS Q4 dollar revenue is expected to increase 1.4 percent at USD 4205 million compared to USD 4145 million on sequential basis. In rupee terms, revenue may grow 3.6 percent at Rs 28345 crore versus Rs 27364 crore quarter-on-quarter. Revenue is seen up 1.7-1.8 percent in constant currency.
September 12, 2012 U.S. Ambo in Benghazi Killed In AQ Operation The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, has died from smoke inhalation in an attack on the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, security sources have said. An armed mob attacked and set fire to the building in a protest against an amateur film deemed offensive to Islam's Prophet Muhammad, after similar protests in Egypt's capital. Three other members of Stevens' staff This news is still developing but we can already say that it will have consequences for the further U.S. involvement in Syria and elsewhere:Three other members of Stevens' staff were killed together with Chris Stevens and the circumstances of their death are still a bit murky. There are unconfirmed pictures floating around that could be consistent with a public lynching. Last year Chris Stevens was very active in helping the Salafist rabble from Benghazi to overthrow the Libyan government: Chris Stevens, a former U.S. Embassy official in Tripoli and the highest-ranking U.S. representative to travel to Libya since the uprising began, will explore ways to open the funding spigots for an opposition movement that is desperately short of cash and supplies, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday. Were well aware that theres an urgency, spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. The Transitional National Council does need funding if its to survive, and were looking for ways to assist them. When the job to overthrow and kill Gaddhafi was done Stevens was When the job to overthrow and kill Gaddhafi was done Stevens was named U.S. ambassador to Libya. Last night he was killed by exactly those lunatics, who are a disgrace to Islam, Gaddhafi had warned of and had kept under tight control. Such riots do not come out of nowhere. Allegedly these people were incited by the deeds of some other murky lunatic, now in hiding, who is working to create a "clash of civilizations" in the hope that his tribe will benefit from it: In Benghazi, Libya, several dozen gunmen from an Islamist group, Ansar al Sharia, attacked the consulate with rocket-propelled grenades to protest the film, a deputy interior minister for the Benghazi region told the Al-Jazeera network.

...

The film's 52-year-old writer, director and producer, Sam Bacile, said that he wanted to showcase his view of Islam as a hateful religion. "Islam is a cancer," he said in a telephone interview from his home. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie." Mr. Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors, whom he declined to identify. But that stupid hate-speech movie was likely only the pretext for yesterday's riots and the attacks on U.S. embassies and consulates. The real reason, though unmentioned yet in the media, was likely this: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a video coinciding with the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, confirming for the first time the death of his deputy, US monitors said. The 42-minute video is Zawahiri's first release in three months, and confirms that Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal area on June 4, according to SITE and IntelCenter. Yesterday's confirmation of Abu Yahya al-Libi's death seems to be a much better explanation for yesterday's raising of al-Qaeda's flag in front of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and the deadly attack on the consulate in Bengahzi. The AQ people in the area certainly had an urge and a plan to avenge al-Libi (the Libyan). That this happened on the anniversary of 9/11 is, as the Zahwahiri tape demonstrates, NOT a coincidence! These people used the movie story only to raise additional rabble to cover for them: Al-Libi was a citizen of Libya, who was captured by ISAF forces in the Invasion of Afghanistan a year after 9/11 (Pakistani authorities and turned over to American authorities, who eventually put him in the Bagram prison.) and was held in extrajudicial detention in the Bagram interim detention facility. [...] Al-Libi was one of several high-profile Bagram captives who escaped on the night of July 10, 2005. Al-Libi had one interest in common with Chris Stevens: On March 12, 2011 al-Libi urged his countrymen to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi's regime and establish Islamic rule, expanding the terror network's attempts to capitalize on the wave of unrest sweeping the region. The U.S. went to Afghanistan to fight Al-Qaeda. There it also captured and tortured one Abu Yahya al-Libi before he fled from Bagram. The U.S. was also working with Gaddhafi in Libya to keep Jihadis like al-Libi down. But in 2011 the U.S. suddenly changed course and Chris Stevens and others worked in lockstep with al-Libi and Salafi forces in Libya to overthrow Gaddhafi. Now, as these forces are out of control, the powers the U.S. unleashed in Libya are coming back to haunt it. Those lovable rebels that heroically dragged Gaddhafis body through the streets of Libya's are now "thugs" for doing the same to the U.S. ambassador. This is obviously a self inflicted wound.

Al-Libi had one interest in common with Chris Stevens:The U.S. went to Afghanistan to fight Al-Qaeda. There it also captured and tortured one Abu Yahya al-Libi before he fled from Bagram. The U.S. was also working with Gaddhafi in Libya to keep Jihadis like al-Libi down. But in 2011 the U.S. suddenly changed course and Chris Stevens and others worked in lockstep with al-Libi and Salafi forces in Libya to overthrow Gaddhafi. Now, as these forces are out of control, the powers the U.S. unleashed in Libya are coming back to haunt it. Those lovable rebels that heroically dragged Gaddhafis body through the streets of Libya's are now "thugs" for doing the same to the U.S. ambassador. This is obviously a self inflicted wound. As ambassador Chas W. Freeman explained in a speech last week: The so-called global war on terror or militant Islam, as so many now openly describe it, has become an endless run in a military squirrel cage that is generating no light but a lot of future anti-American terrorism. It turns out that all that is required to be hated is to do hateful things. Ironically, as we search abroad for monsters to destroy, we are creating them  transforming our foreign detractors into terrorists, multiplying their numbers, intensifying their militancy, and fortifying their hatred of us. The sons and brothers of those we have slain know where we are. They do not forget. No quarter is given in wars of religion. We are generating the very menace that entered our imaginations on 9/11. The killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya will make further U.S. support for the insurgency in Syria, which is also supported by Al Qaeda and by Libyan Salafist fighters, more unlikely. One might even hope that this incident will lead to a complete turn around of current U.S. policies towards Syria. Hillary Clinton's and the other state department furies who had urged the U.S. to attack Libya and who are also behind the drive against Syria are now confronted with the ruins of their policies. They carry at least some blame for yesterday's deaths. The killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya will make further U.S. support for the insurgency in Syria, which is also supported by Al Qaeda and by Libyan Salafist fighters, more unlikely. One might even hope that this incident will lead to a complete turn around of current U.S. policies towards Syria. Hillary Clinton's and the other state department furies who had urged the U.S. to attack Libya and who are also behind the drive against Syria are now confronted with the ruins of their policies. They carry at least some blame for yesterday's deaths. Posted by b on September 12, 2012 at 10:52 UTC | Permalink Comments
Mexico will put some of its shale fields out for auction this year, part of an attempt to buoy the countrys faltering oil production and open it up to foreign investment for the first time in 75 years.

Will anyone bid?

Its a question shadowing this aspect of Mexicos historic energy reform. Oil prices tanked 18 months ago, natural gas prices are in a years-long slump and shale drillers in the U.S. are losing billions.

If shale drilling is going to move across the Rio Grande anytime soon, it will have to be on better terms than companies can get in Texas  where the cost of doing business has been dropping as fast as the price of oil, the regulators are friendly and there are no security issues with drug cartels.

Speakers at the second annual Mexico Gas Summit at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, a two-day event delving into the details of the reform, said theres a phenomenal opportunity in Mexican shale.

Mexicos state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, has controlled nearly every aspect of the nations oil production and distribution since 1938, but Mexican officials decided in 2013 to end the monopoly. Mexicos Energy Ministry estimates there are 60.2 billion barrels of prospective resources in its various shale fields, all untapped. But its going to be an expensive puzzle to solve.

Glenn Hart, CEO of Laredo Energy, called Mexico a treasure chest of opportunity.

But Hart also said the security risks are almost unquantifiable. There are practical concerns, too. Getting roads, gathering lines and pipelines into remote, undeveloped fields can cost tens of millions  an infrastructure expense that doesnt include the cost of drilling and completing wells.

It can be staggering on the front end, Hart said.

The geology of the Eagle Ford Shale field, which pumps more than 1.2 million barrels per day, extends into Mexico. But all shales vary, and U.S. drillers have found wells even within the same ranch can produce a range of results.

Were talking about stepping across the river, said Bob Watson, president and CEO of San Antonio-based Abraxas Petroleum Corp. What works here in the Eagle Ford may not work there in the Eagle Ford.

The Eagle Ford oil patch as it crosses the Rio Grande sits at the same depth as wells in northern Karnes County, the sweet spot of the field. But does everything else fall into place? Watson asked.

Companies in Texas mostly have drilled the lower section of the Eagle Ford. But the lower part of the shale formation appears to thin out near the border. Its the upper Eagle Ford thats thick going into Mexico. Mexicos national oil company Pemex has drilled some shale wells there, some money losers and some money makers. But it hasnt released all of the production data, making U.S. drillers wary.

Watson said the Eagle Ford in Mexico requires more experimental wells.

Its yet to be proven whether it can be extended economically or not, Watson said.

To get the attention of independent drillers in the U.S., who are experts in shale drilling, contract terms with the Mexican government would have to be sweetened, Watson said.

Benjamin Holliday of Mazurek & Holliday PC, said companies drilling in Mexico will have to deal with as many as 20 regulatory agencies. In Texas, there are two  the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Companies also face a higher cost of doing business in Mexico than in Texas.

Steve Baldwin, chief operating officer of PetroRock Energy, said service companies  the ones that do everything from supplying water or chemicals to fracking wells  have had the luxury of long-term contracts with Pemex and havent had to compete with each other for business in Mexico. He said service companies will have to drop their costs, as they have in the U.S. with falling oil prices.

Lets say they had a nice run for a lot of years, Baldwin said.

Though Mexico has deep water, shallow water, conventional onshore and unconventional shale fields, the lower crude prices have dampened the expectation that foreign companies will rush into Mexico to drill. Deep water is considered the untapped crown jewel of Mexican oil, while shallow water and onshore conventional fields are well understood and likely to draw investors. Shale, about which relatively little is known, represents the biggest geological and financial risk for companies.

Marco Cota-Valdivia, general director of exploration and production at Mexicos Energy Ministry, said Wednesday that some blocks in shale fields will go out for bid as soon as the country finalizes regulations specific to shale drilling. Cota-Valdivia said he wants to know which blocks U.S. drillers are most interested in.

Hart said that so far, Mexican officials have answered every question and jumped every hurdle thrown in front of them to make energy reform happen.

Thats been the most impressive thing, Hart said.

The Eagle Ford isnt the only shale field in Mexico.

The Chicontepec Basin northeast of Mexico City has perhaps the countrys biggest, untapped resource, said Read Taylor of Sierra Oil & Gas, who spoke at the conference Wednesday.

Taylor compared Chicontepec to the Spraberry field in the Permian Basin in West Texas, and said its a puzzle no one has solved yet. Sierra has spent about a year and a half looking at it, but Taylor said the company still is struggling, and that it will take many companies to make the field profitable.

Pablo Medina, an analyst with the firm Wood Mackenzie, noted that Mexicos national oil company Pemex invested $2 billion to $3 billion into Chicontepec only to produce just 40,000 barrels per day in conventional wells.

Taylor said he thinks the deep shale in Chicontepec will be successfully developed before the more shallow, conventional sandstones, someday, not at these prices.

If that happened, it would be the opposite model than in the U.S., where conventional fields largelywere tapped out before the more complicated and expensive shale drilling started
Nations representing almost 60 percent of the worlds oil production will gather in Doha on April 17 to discuss freezing their output at January levels in an effort to stabilize prices. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela made a preliminary deal in February and are seeking to add more producers and extend the recent price recovery.

Q: Whos going?

A: In addition to the four signatories to the preliminary deal, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman and the United Arab Emirates will attend.

Q: Whos not attending?

A: Some of the worlds biggest producers including the United States, Canada, China, Brazil and Norway wont be showing up. Among the 13 nations in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, only Libya -- whose output is crippled by conflict -- has ruled out going to Doha. The key OPEC member resisting a production freeze is Iran. While it will send a representative to observe the discussions in Doha, Iran has insisted it wont constrain production before restoring output to pre-sanctions levels.

Q: How likely is an agreement?

A: Forty traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg this week were evenly split on whether there will be a deal. While Russias Energy Ministry is optimistic and Qatars has a positive feeling, Saudi Arabia has said it will only cap its output if Iran follows suit -- a notion Tehran has dismissed as ridiculous.

Q: What impact would a freeze have on oil prices?

A: Crude has rallied more than 30 percent to above $40 a barrel since the preliminary freeze accord in mid-February prompted a shift in market sentiment. A final accord could lock that gain in place, or even extend it to $50, said Bank of America Corp. Yet a freeze will do little to mop up the glut because Saudi Arabia and Russia -- the worlds biggest crude producers -- are already pumping near record levels. Morgan Stanley said our downbeat oil view is unchanged by the prospects of a freeze.

Q: How much oil supply is at stake?

A: Producers that have confirmed they will consider joining the freeze produce about 47 million barrels a day of crude. Many of those nations were already pumping flat out in January, with little scope for increasing output. Russia and Saudi Arabia both held production steady this year, even before a final agreement to freeze.

Production from the 11 members of OPEC that are backing the agreement is already almost half a million barrels a day lower than January.

Q: Would the freeze make a difference?

A: With most Doha participants already expected to keep output steady, much more important for the oil market will be what happens in the U.S. and Iran. Declining shale oil production is expected to make up the lions share of the 710,000 barrel-a-day reduction in output from non-OPEC countries this year, according to the IEA. Iran plans to increase production by about 700,000 barrels a day this year from the 3.3 million pumped in March.

Q: What would the accord mean for U.S. producers?

A: Any deal that pushed up prices would be self-defeating because it would allow a revival of drilling by U.S. shale producers, who can return to work at $55 a barrel, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. That would only postpone the supply curbs analysts say are needed to re-balance overloaded global markets.

Q: How would the freeze be monitored and enforced?

A: During previous supply cuts, OPEC monitored members compliance using data on their production provided by external sources such as news agencies and tanker-trackers. It has no mechanism to punish countries that flout their limits and members habitually exceeded the groups quotas, before production targets were effectively abandoned in December.

Q: What happened when OPEC last made a deal with non-members?

A: OPEC has grounds to doubt the sincerity of its partners. The last time it struck a deal with rival suppliers was in late 2001, when Russia, Mexico, Oman, Angola and Norway promised to cut supply by a combined 500,000 barrels a day.

Yet by the middle of the following year, Russia had actually increased output and the only production declines were in Mexico and Norway.

Q: What if theres no deal?

A: With expectations growing over the past week, oil traders embarked on a buying spree that pushed crude to a four-month high. If ministers fail to reach an accord, prices will see a severe negative impact, Citigroup Inc. predicts. OPECs refusal to cut output in 2014 prompted calls to write the groups obituary, and an inability to finalize the freeze might see those epitaphs being carved. The ensuing disappointment could drag prices down to $30 a barrel, said Saxo Bank A/S.
Chris Sevier says hes being denied his right to marry  his computer.

The persistent Tennessee lawyer  who has carried his challenge to same-sex marriage to courthouses across the nation has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Houston saying he and his 2011 MacBook were rejected for a marriage license in Harris County.

He is suing the Harris County District Clerk, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, saying his 14th Amendment right to marry is being denied.

Sevier has filed similar challenges for the right to marry a machine in Tennessee and Utah.

Paxtons office, however, is asking U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett to hit the delete button on the lawsuit.

His office filed court papers asking that the lawsuit be dismissed, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark Obergefell decision in June allowing same-sex marriage does not extend to man and machine.

The right to marry ones computer is not an interest, objectively, deeply rooted in the nations history and tradition such that it qualifies as a protected interest, Paxtons brief argued.

For now, the suit is spinning its wheels  buffering, perhaps  in federal court.

Last week, Bennett ordered Sevier to limit his pleadings to 20 pages and denied a motion asking that Seviers $400 in court costs be covered.

On Wednesday, he denied a request from Sevier to reconsider those two rulings.

Sevier, who describes himself as a Christian who makes his living producing electronic music, insists he is not being silly or satirical in his quest.

He said he believes the Constitution is being hijacked by giving same-sex couples the right to marry.

Sevier said he will continue to file his lawsuits in hopes of getting two federal appeals courts judges to disagree
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
Someone should sue the President for ...
Medical Exam Devices View Photos

An informal myMotherLode.com poll asked Are You Designated As An Organ Donor Through The DMV? The results were 55 percent Yes and 43 percent No. Over 590 votes were made over the two day poll. A related news story was posted before the poll ran noting that District 8 Republican Senator Tom Berryhill not only supports California making April Donate Life month he is also a heart donor recipient. His blog about the approved resolution is here.

Donate Life California, the nonprofit, state-authorized organ, eye and tissue donor registry reports, Despite the vital need, only about 40 percent of adults in California are signed up to be organ, eye and tissue donors, putting California well below the national average of 50 percent. It goes on to say that each day in the U.S., 21 people die waiting because the organ they needed did not come available in time. Organs needed for transplant are heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas or intestine. People of all ages, ethnicities and medical histories can register to be organ, eye and tissue donors. Tissues for transplant include cornea, skin, heart valves, bone tissue, tendons, veins, ligaments and cartilage. More than a million tissue transplants are done each year, and the surgical need for tissue has been steadily rising. Corneal transplants restore sight to nearly 50,000 people each year.

There is no age limit for organ and tissue donation. Anyone age 13 or older can register online at anytime, although the final decision is that of the legal guardian(s) until age 18. Conversely, no one should rule themselves out because they are too old. There has been a 93-year-old kidney donor and a 99-year-old cornea donor!  See more at: http://donatelifecalifornia.org/education/faqs/myths-debunked/#sthash.QDhkHIZS.dpuf
San Francisco, CA  A new Field Poll ranks those Presidents all with nearly the same approval rating during their last year in office, but Congress gets failing marks along with George W. Bush.

President Barack Obamas job performance remains very positive in his final year with a 59 percent approval rating by California registered voters, while 38 percent disapprove. Those numbers nearly mirror the high marks given to Presidents, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan as they headed out of office compared to a 25 percent approval rating for George W. Bush.

The U.S. Congress is not fairing much better with voters giving just a 15 percent approval versus an 80 percent negative rating. A lingering bone of contention for voters is the lack of action taken by Capitol Hill over Obamas eight years in office. The latest example of inaction noted by voters relates to filling the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by the sudden death of Antonin Scalia in February. Obama has tapped District of Columbia Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland but there has been no action taken by the Senate. That has prompted a greater than two-to-one margin (64% to 29%) calling for a hearing and vote instead of waiting for the next president to take office.

This phone poll was taken March 24-April 3.
Stock Photo Gas pump View Photos

Sacramento, CA  A new bill would disclose the added price consumers pay per gallon of gasoline for Californias Cap and Trade Program.

Legislative Analysts Office, a non-partisan organization, recently estimated that consumers are paying a collective $2 billion per year in higher prices due to the Cap and Trade Program. While federal and state per gallon gas tax amounts are posted at gas pumps, the estimated cost of the states Cap and Trade Program on the price of a gallon of gas is not disclosed. Authored by Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), AB 2066 would require gas stations in the state to post at the pumps the approximate 11 cents per gallon and 13 cents for diesel fuel in extra costs that drivers are paying for gasoline. We need to be honest with people when the government asks them to pay higher prices, said Assemblyman Lackey. This bill would bring some much needed transparency to the Cap and Trade Program.

The bill passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee with bipartisan support this week and moves on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Proponents of the bill are supported by a broad coalition of gas station owners, small businesses, manufactures, food processors and taxpayer advocates.

To check local gas prices anytime, click here, or go to the myMotherlode.com home page and click on traffic.
Wesley Bennight has his eyes on you.

And that's one of the reasons why he's now only the second Wal-Mart driver to have logged 3.5 million accident-free miles in the corporation's history.

The only other driver to reach that milestone is Warren Greeno of Loveland, Colo.

"I've gotten to the point where I can look at a car and read the driver's mind," Bennight explained during a come-and-go luncheon and reception in his honor Wednesday in the dispatch center at the Plainview Distribution Center. "You have to size them up and understand what they are likely to do, and not to do."

Bennight, who completed his 25th year with Wal-Mart in April, was the first local driver hired to work at the local distribution center. He spent his first six months with the company in Bentonville, Ark., before the Plainview facility opened.

"Not only do you have to read the other drivers," Bennight explained, "you have to always be aware of the road conditions and remain alert to what's going on around you at all times. A good driver just has to be cautious and never - not for even one second - let your guard down. After a while too many motorists get complacent and take driving for granted. That's when you're likely to get stuck every time."

Ted Baker, general transportation manager in Plainview, echoed those sentiments while saluting Bennight and his fellow drivers. "We have a pretty reliable bunch here that never take things like safety for granted."

He noted that the 230 drivers at Plainview's distribution center together log about 2 million miles each month or roughly 25 million miles per year.

"Wal-Mart has 13 3-million-mile drivers," Baker said, "and we (Plainview) probably have half of them. We have a very local bunch here with an extremely low turnover rate."

To put Bennight's rare accomplishment in perspective, Baker explained that an average motorist drives approximately 12,000 miles per year. At that rate, it would take about 125 years to reach the 3-million-mile mark. Bennight has done that, and more, in just over 25 years with Wal-Mart Transportation, and all without a traffic mishap.

"There's no other company that is so committed to safety education and training," Baker noted, including annual defensive driver training, regular safety rollouts and the installation and use of new safety features throughout the Wal-Mart Transportation fleet. "The equipment stays up to date on everything. Wal-Mart has a strong commitment to safety. Others may do it if it's convenient, but safety is never sacrificed at Wal-Mart."

Baker added that newer Wal-Mart trucks are coming equipped with the On Guard anti-crash system designed to prevent collisions. "Previously this system was only available in high-end luxury cars," he said. "If the sensors detect another auto or possible hazard, then the system will automatically apply braking."

"It's not just in the front, but on the sides as well," Bennight added. "There's a safety barrier all around the truck."

Mike Gibbs, safety manager, added, "The commitment level for safety has always been high at Wal-Mart, since the early days with Mr. Sam (Walton). And we continue to see results, particularly with the help of the drivers. Because of their unique perspective, driver feedback continues to be instrumental in continuing to improve our level of safety. Part of that is being able to visit with every driver in person."

Bennight, 63, grew up in Hart and began driving a truck in 1972. Through the years he drove for Jimmy Dean Meat Co., Steere Tank Lines and Xcel Beef Packers where he hauled swinging beef. He also farmed in Hart until 1980.

In past years, Bennight and his fellow drivers in Plainview often hauled loads to stores as far away as Arizona. These days, Bennight has a fairly routine schedule. He works five days a week and logs 580 miles per day, making one round trip to Dumas and another to Midland each day.

And he gets to drive his own special-edition truck fitted with a TV, refrigerator with built-in ice maker and an automatic transmission.

Bennight received the truck - an International ProStar - on Jan. 28, 2007, as a reward for driving 3 million accident-free miles. He and Baker traveled to Canada to watch the truck being assembled at the Nav astar International factory.

In the 3 1/2 years since it has been in service, Bennight has put 450,000 miles on the odometer. "Trucks in the regular fleet are traded when they hit 600,000 miles, but I plan to keep this one a lot longer than that."

Looking ahead, Bennight said he might retire in another six or seven years. Then again, he might not.

"We probably have 24 or 25 drivers who are past 70 and still going strong," he said.

There's a large group photo in the truck dispatch center taken on Sept. 15, 1986, showing 32 drivers surrounding the first loaded truck about to leave the then-new distribution center. Many of those drivers, including Bennight, are still on the job.

To comment:

dmcdonough@hearstnp.com

806.296.1350
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Thomas Jefferson has long been a lightning rod, but the past year has been tougher on him than usual. Protesters on college campuses have plastered Jefferson statues with Post-it notes reading racist and rapist. And on Broadway, the musical Hamilton has deliciously skewered him as a flamboyantly scheming hypocrite.

Still, on a recent afternoon, there was Americas third president, standing serenely on his pedestal in front of the Columbia School of Journalism, flanked by Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf, the authors of the latest book to plumb the mysteries of his character.

Onuf arrived wearing a Jefferson-themed tie, which seems appropriate for a scholar who holds the imposing title of Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation professor emeritus at the University of Virginia.

But dont take his and Gordon-Reeds book, Most Blessed of the Patriarchs : Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination, as a defense of the man  or an attack, for that matter.

Every Jefferson biography on the shelf is a polemic, one way or another, but we wanted to get beyond that, Onuf said.

Gordon-Reed, a professor of history and law at Harvard and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Hemingses of Monticello, seconded the point.

More Information 'Most Blessed of the Patriarchs': Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination ByAnnette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf Liveright, $27.95 See More Collapse

People read history the way we watch movies, where you have a good guy and a bad guy, she said. Whats the point of even going to the library to do research if you already know what you think?

Most Blessed of the Patriarchs, is the latest entry on the vast shelf of books trying to untangle the contradictions of the man who wrote the Declaration of Independences soaring rhetoric about equality and railed against the corrupting evil of slavery while also owning hundreds of human beings.

In the preface, the authors sum up their mission: to bring complexity to a conversation that tends to swing between Jefferson the God and Jefferson the Devil, and instead try to understand Jeffersons actions in terms of how he saw himself.

But the book also represents the fruits of two decades of conversation and friendship between two researchers whose work has reshaped scholarship on Jefferson, even as they have approached the man from different sides of the intellectual street.

Theyre sort of the dream team, said David Waldstreicher, a historian at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the author of several books about slavery and the nations founders. They each bring such different strengths  command of the archives and of social history for Gordon-Reed, expertise in political thought for Onuf  and theyve been listening to each other for 20 years.

The two first met in the mid-1990s, when Gordon-Reed, then a little-known professor at New York Law School, was circulating the manuscript for her book Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, which took generations of historians to task for systematically discounting evidence of Jeffersons relationship with Hemings, a slave at Monticello.

I was looking for people who might be hostile to it, she recalled. There was no point in sending it to people who would agree.

Onuf had already ruffled some feathers by organizing a conference for the 250th anniversary of Jeffersons birth that put uncomfortable questions of race and slavery front and center. Far from hating Gordon-Reeds book, Onuf recommended it to the University of Virginia Press, which published it in 1997.

Since then, most historians have been persuaded that Jefferson fathered Hemings six children, a belief bolstered by the results of DNA testing, announced in 1998. More broadly, Gordon-Reeds work has helped scholars focus less on the gap between Jeffersons public philosophical statements and his private life, emphasizing instead how the two sides of the man fit together.

Onuf, a native New Englander who describes his own sensibilities as left-Federalist, said he used to tease Annette that she likes Jefferson too much.

Gordon-Reed, who, as a bookish young girl in Texas became fascinated with Jefferson, clarified that she liked Jefferson as a subject.

The fullness of it, the breadth of his interests, keeps him interesting to me, she said. We cant understand who we are without dealing with him. Not just on race and slavery, but on so many other things.

As for the often polarized conversation surrounding Jefferson, she said, If you arent constantly on the attack, people think youre an apologist.

Most Blessed of the Patriarchs dispenses with a traditional biographical approach in favor of a series of thematic chapters  Home, France, Politics, Privacy and Prayers and so on  that trace how Jeffersons philosophy was shaped by his experiences, in particular his complicated family life at Monticello.

Slavery, both as a political and moral issue and as embodied by the enslaved people whose lives were deeply enmeshed with his, isnt relegated to a single chapter, but woven in throughout.

Jefferson, the liberty-extolling slave owner, is often denounced as a hypocrite  a word, Onuf said, he discouraged in his class discussions. Who isnt one? he said, adding that the charge was boring, because it pre-empts further investigation.

In their book, he and Gordon-Reed depict Jefferson as holding true, in his own mind at least, to a lifelong patriarchal republican faith.

True democracy, he believed, was ultimately grounded in a mans dominion over his own home  an idea, the authors argue, that promoted liberty in the public realm but protected, justified and perpetuated slavery in the private one.

You might call it integrity, if youre feeling good about it, Onuf said. Or you might call it self-delusion.
He used excessive force, so there was no way Officer Joshua Kehm was going to be allowed to keep his post.

He was an authority figure, trained to subdue the unruly with a minimum amount of force. He was an officer sworn to protect students at school from each other and from themselves. He was a white officer working in a mostly Hispanic area at a time when technology has presented the public with evidence of police officers using excessive force in dealing with people of color.

And, most important, he was an adult working at a school.

So, when the San Antonio Independent School District officials made the call to terminate Kehm after video of him slamming 12-year-old Janissa Valdez on the ground became a national headline, it was no surprise.

SAISD made the right call; there is no way a grown man trained to deal with troublemakers can justify forcefully slamming a preteens face into the ground  especially since district officials only found out about the incident after the so-called Ghost-O posted it on YouTube.

SAISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez told the media that when Kehm finally filed a report, he said Janissas fall was accidental. The explanation, Martinez said, didnt match the video.

Maybe Kehm saw an unruly troublemaker instead of a 12-year-old girl. Many agree with that logic. But the body slam was a bad choice, and thats why he lost his job.

It was especially bad on a middle school campus, a place packed with students no more than 36 months away from having been little boys and girls in grade school, the youngest of whom are tweens who have never faced repercussions worse than losing their phone privilege until Dad cools down.

Many of them still find their jeans in the little kids section, but many are the same size and shape as their parents.

Though their brains are still sponges, they often absorb more from SpongeBob reruns than from their homework.

Many of them forget the rules they learn in first period but remember the fight-me bluster they see on TV.

One minute theyre flirting with classmates theyre plotting to kiss, the next week theyve demoted the same classmate to a twerp worthy of little more than insults and spit wads.

There is a false sense of invincibility that comes with being 12.

In the past few weeks, as Janissas story went viral, two 12-year-olds disappeared from school in the Stone Oak area and were found huddled in an alley the next morning as authorities and their scared parents formed a search party.

Another 12-year-old lost her life when she was struck by a car while crossing the street without waiting for the light to change. And none of those little girls  and they are little girls  saw it coming.

But when you are around 12 years old, you learn that youre finally old enough to get into real trouble. Really bad things can happen. And it only takes a second to make a bad decision.

Sometimes if youre 12 and lucky, you get a second chance. If youre 12 and smart, you learn quickly that life can be unforgiving.

Adults, especially those who work at a school, dont get the same slack.

mariaanglin@yahoo.com
What Cameron Todd Willingham lost  his life, taken by the state  can never be restored. But, thankfully, there is some effort to make sure his case is accorded some measure of justice.

Given the evidence brought to light by the Marshall Project, a nonprofit group that focuses on the U.S. criminal justice system, and efforts by the Innocence Project, the State Bar of Texas was correct in filing a formal accusation of misconduct against the prosecutor in that case, John H. Jackson, on March 5.

This case begs for official examination by officials. This formal accusation, in fact, is likely not enough examination.

Since Willinghams execution by Texas in 2004, for the arson murders of his three daughters, re-analysis of that evidence  using more reliable tools  points to no arson at all. And other developments cast serious doubt on the significant other piece of evidence against him  testimony by a jailhouse informant.

The informant, Johnny E. Webb, has recanted testimony that Willingham told him he committed the crime. He told the Marshall Project that his testimony came in return for favors  reducing his sentence on an aggravated robbery charge. Later, a local wealthy rancher gave money to Webb, which the former informant said was also payment for his testimony.

Jackson has denied misconduct, saying he acted to protect a witness threatened by other prisoners.

The State Bar, filing with the court in Navarro County, accuses Jackson of obstruction of justice, making false statements and concealing evidence favorable to Willinghams defense.

The disciplinary petition says that Jackson failed to make timely disclosure to the defense details for favorable treatment for Webb, an inmate, in exchange for Webbs testimony at trial for the State.

The petition alleges that Jackson told the court that he had no evidence favorable to Willingham. That statement was false, it says.

This is a civil proceeding that could result in disbarment. But if a court finds the allegations about Jackson to be true and disciplines him, perhaps that shouldnt be the end of the matter.

We note that Ken Anderson, the prosecutor who won a conviction that sent Michael Morton to prison for 25 years in 1987 for a murder he didnt commit, was subject to criminal prosecution in Williamson County for withholding evidence.

Morton was accused of bludgeoning his wife to death. Another man was later convicted after a bandanna that the DA long refused to test was finally tested, exonerating Morton. Unfortunately, that evidence implicated a man in another murder two years after Christine Mortons murder  while Michael Morton sat in jail.

Another prosecutor, Charles Sebesta of Burleson County, accused of misconduct in the conviction that sent Anthony Graves to prison for 18 years for a crime he didnt commit, lost his appeal of his disbarment in February. Graves spent 12 of those years on death row. He was accused of killing six in 1992.

In the Morton case, Anderson agreed to 10 days in jail, disbarment and a $500 fine in 2013  for contempt of court.

Yes, we know. That penalty doesnt quite stack up against 25 years in prison. And, in the Graves case, disbarment doesnt quite match those prison and death row years. But its something.

Simply, prosecutors who knowingly and willfully withhold evidence and otherwise commit misconduct to win convictions should be held as accountable as the people they prosecute.

As in the Morton case, there was enough faulty, nonexistent or withheld evidence in the Willingham case to have at least won him a new trial. Instead, then Gov. Rick Perry refused to grant him a stay of execution, though he was presented an independent arson experts conclusion that there was no evidence of a fire intentionally set.

Since the execution of Willingham  who maintained his innocence to the end  the evidence that he was telling the truth has continued to mount. This was strong enough that we called on Perry, who once called Willingham a monster, to consider a posthumous pardon.

We now urge the same of Gov. Greg Abbott no matter how Jacksons discipline case turns out. The evidence that Willingham didnt get a fair trial is just too compelling  thanks largely to the Marshall and Innocence projects.
The media is not my friend. Theyre not anybodys friend.

Nico LaHood, Bexar County District Attorney, April 4.

It was a gratuitous throwaway line in an otherwise informative talk at a luncheon hosted by the Lighthouse Group, an organization dedicated to helping the African-American community stay abreast of community affairs.

The event was videotaped and posted on Youtube by Sakita Kathleen Martin, a local artist and activist, an act deserving of thanks. Thank you.

LaHoods remarks were prefaced by No shot at you Bruce. Thats Bruce Davidson, Express-News editorial page editor. He took me to the event. The remark rolled off the boss back. Such remarks do for most journalists. They come with the territory.

But, these days the territory is saturated with MIPOM  the media is picking on me  land mines. There is firmly rooted out there a new class of victims.

Its practitioners include Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and even President Barack Obama. It taps into a popular narrative of the big, bad, biased mainstream media.

So, we had Cruz during one of the GOP debates say, This debate illustrates why we cannot trust the media, as if all media are alike  Fox News the same as MSNBC, the same as CNN, all pundits the same and blogs, the Wall Street Journal or New York Times all the same.

And there was Trumps war on Megyn Kelly for asking perfectly legitimate questions.

It isnt as if media cant make errors or cant be unfair, as when commentators ding Clinton for shouting or not dressing in a certain way. Um, guys (yup, mostly guys) thats sexist.

And Sanders had a point  a very small one  when he walked back a remark that Clinton was unqualified to be president and blamed it on a Washington Post headline and story that said she had first said that of him.

Had he gone directly to her statements he would have heard her hinting broadly, but saying no such thing about him in that interview. She said he hadnt done his homework after his now infamous appearance before the New York Daily News Editorial Board.

In any case, no one had a gun to Sanders head forcing him to equate policy differences  on Wall Street, the Iraq War  with disqualification, though that war vote was a doozy. Its just that she wasnt alone in that among Democrats, including then-Sen. Joe Biden. But I do wish shed release transcripts for those speeches to Wall Street and banker types.

Back to LaHood. This Editorial Board, on which I sit, didnt recommend him for his current office. It was an assessment of the experiences of the two candidates  a judgment call with which enough voters didnt agree. But I wonder if LaHood felt we were unfriendly when we wrote an editorial lauding his Conviction Integrity Unit, which seeks out wrongful convictions?

Maybe LaHood really meant that no shot at you, Bruce. Maybe metro columnist Brian Chasnoff was the target. I just reread some of those columns on LaHood, and for the life of me I cant question the journalism in any of them. They told readers helpful stuff about LaHood pre- and post-election.

Fairness is often in the eye of the beholder and those being written about critically  by news or opinion journalists  often behold in a certain way. Please keep that in mind when MIPOM remarks are floated.

I, too, tend to ignore them. But there was something about how LaHood constructed this one.

Sir, the media arent supposed to be your friend. Our job is to watch you. And, nobodys friend? A lot of solid investigative reporting here and elsewhere says otherwise.

One part of the media  newspapers  are struggling as they ride a technology tsunami amid changing news consumption habits and a related need to rework an aging business model. And no doubt, that big, bad, biased mainstream media narrative  public officials mining it for all its worth  represents a big headwind. We have to address it. But maybe its not by ignoring those MIPOM remarks.

God help us if newspapers or the reporting they do go away. Thats when well really be friendless. All well have are elected officials, unwatched.

o.ricardo.pimentel@express-news.net

Twitter: @oricardopimente
In a post earlier this week about Merkels escalating problems, Mathew D. Rose mentioned that something that would seem to be beneath her notice, an obscene satirical song that made fun of her putative ally, Turkeys Erdogan, was adding to her headaches:

Then came the satirists. It all began with a political programme, Extra 3, in state television that produced a critical song about Erdogan. The German ambassador in Istanbul was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry to explain how such a piece deprecating the great leader could appear in German television. The affair was apparently so embarrassing for Ms Merkels government that at an ensuing press conference the spokesperson of the German government tried to avoid using the word summons with regard to the ambassadors dressing down, speaking first of a invitation then a serious appointment.

The Germans loved the song. They might be causing ineffable suffering for hundreds of thousands of war refugees and their leader brown-nosing what German press calls the half dictator Erdogan, but werent they plucky little democrats demonstrating their love for freedom of the media with their little Erdogan song. Even the German government was posturing, claiming its determination to defend freedom of expression.

This sort of German hypocrisy is the sort of stuff another satirist, Jan Bohmermann, thrives on. During the Greek crisis of 2015, as Germany beat Greece into financial submission, Bohmermann produced brilliant pieces lambasting German policy and the complicity of most Germans, as well as their aggressiveness toward Greek society. Now he did the same with an abusive poem (Schmahgedicht). Had this been about Vladimir Putin, Bohmermann would have been the darling of the nation, but its subject was Erdogan. Before he presented his poem in German state television Bohmermann explained to his audience that it violated German law and then read on.

The contents were well and truly insulting and obscene, apposite for a dictator of Erdogans standing. It was also highly political. Still, the poem was pulled from the television archives shortly afterwards  that is one of the perks of the state owning television channels  and Bohmermanns next show was cancelled.

Boehmermann is no fool. He is well aware that there is a German law from the nineteenth century, which explicitly forbids insulting foreign heads of state. Such archaic and authoritarian laws are not unusual in Germany. Many statutes created by the Nazis are still existent. There is one catch however. The German government has to explicitly give permission for charges to be lodged, which puts Ms Merkel and her government under a great deal of pressure following its grand declarations concerning the freedom of the media, should Turkey ask Germany to prosecute Bohmermann. Ms Merkel made one of her increasingly typical gaffes, when she let it be publicly known that she had informed Erdogan that the poem was intentionally insulting, thus interfering with the due course of law. Erdogan, thus encouraged by the Chancellor, had his ambassador file a legal complaint.

Ms Merkels press spokesman had implied that the German government would reach a decision concerning the issue on Wednesday  that was yesterday. There has been no decision. One can only assume that some sort of solution is being sought to get around this. There may be additional billions on the way to Erdogan. He in the meantime has filed a personal lawsuit against Bohmermann.
SHARE An employee walks through an inner courtyard of Arthrex's main campus Wednesday. An view from the road outside of Arthrex's main campus Wednesday April 13, 2016 in Naples. The Naples-based medical device manufacturing company offers a superb benefits package, a laid back environment for it's employees, even free lunch Monday through Thursdays but is still having a difficult time filling the 250 vacancies the company currently is searching to fill. (Luke Franke/Staff) An inner courtyard can be seen inside of Arthrex's main campus Wednesday April 13, 2016 in Naples. The Naples-based medical device manufacturing company offers a superb benefits package, a laid back environment for it's employees, even free lunch Monday through Thursdays but is still having a difficult time filling the 250 vacancies the company currently is searching to fill. (Luke Franke/Staff)

By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News

When Lisa Taylor and her husband considered a move from Chicago to Naples, she wanted to work for a company that respects family life and has a diverse workforce.

Arthrex Inc. stood out. The 36-year-old hasn't looked back in the year since relocating.

"These are people I want to be like," Taylor, a project manager, said about her first impression of colleagues.

Despite Fortune Magazine naming Arthrex in February as the third best workplace for manufacturing and production, and 62nd on this year's list of 100 best companies to work for, the fast-growing company is challenged filling jobs.

Part of it may be limited name recognition as a privately held firm against publicly traded companies with household brand recognition, perceptions about retiree haven Southwest Florida, and escalating housing costs, company officials say.

Still, Arthrex thoroughly vets candidates; filling entry level jobs takes a month to six weeks, while hiring for middle management positions often takes six months to a year, Mike Boose, human resource director, said.

The company waits to get the right fit of technical skills and foundational skills of professionalism, trustworthiness, a good work ethic and respect for colleagues, Boose said.

"We are patient to find the right people with both," he said. "They also have to be flexible and open to change because we change constantly."

Arthrex isn't lacking applicants. It received 30,000 applications, according to Fortune's annual listing of 100 best companies to work for 2016.

The company specializes in the design and manufacturing of minimally invasive orthopedic surgical devices. It was founded in 1984 by Reinhold Schmieding. Today the company has $1.8 billion in annual revenue, Lisa Gardiner, company spokeswoman, said.

The company has 250 openings as of April 1, evenly divided between manufacturing and administrative positions, which includes finance, purchasing and information technology.

"We want to find them locally, but we have to recruit nationally," said Kathy Sparrow, vice president of human resources. "Our preference is to find them locally."

Arthrex has six full-time recruiters at its headquarters on Creekside Boulevard in North Naples. Job openings in the company's 13 locations in Europe are handled by each European division, Sparrow said. Arthrex has a total of 2,400 employees, with 2,250 of them based in Florida.

Competition is fiercest for information technology specialists and supply chain purchasers, but Arthrex also competes with the local construction firms and the tourism industry for workers, Sparrow said.

Key sources for supply chain purchasers are Michigan State University and Penn State University, which have degree programs in supply chain management.

Doug Erickson, 26, is a supply chain purchaser who was recruited while at Penn State. He started two weeks after graduation in 2012.

He learned about Arthrex at a career fair at Penn State and was intrigued from the start, even though he had a solid job offer elsewhere. A summer internship at Boeing made him realize bigger wasn't better for him.

Still, he likes that Arthrex is in a continuous expansion mode and the challenges that brings to him.

In February, Arthrex founder and President Reinhold Schmieding announced a $47 million expansion at the company's Ave Maria plant in eastern Collier County that will create another 350 new jobs.

"Something different is always going on," Erickson said. "I definitely feel like I made the right choice."

Before accepting an offer, he checked out the average age of Arthrex employees and found it was in the 30s, while the average age of Naples residents was around 63.

"That scared me a little bit, but I was pleasantly surprised after a few weeks," he said. "Ninety-five percent of my friends work at Arthrex."

When it came to housing, Erickson said rental rates were not bad four years ago when he started. Arthrex gets a discount with some apartment complexes.

Taylor, who relocated from Chicago, said she and her husband were hard-pressed finding a rental unfurnished single family home when seasonal offering is more lucrative. They have since purchased a home.

"I think we actually made out better than if we had bought a home in Chicago," she said. "We got a brand-new home with all the (community) amenities."

Boose, the human resources director, serves on a local affordable housing committee formed by Collier County to address the lack of affordable workforce housing.

"We would like the county to find better opportunities for more affordable housing," he said. "That helps everyone. That draws more people to Naples. Housing is a significant issue."

Another dilemma for companies recruiting professionals is that Southwest Florida is not diverse enough with industries for spouses or partners.

Arthrex networks with other companies, like Chico's and the Lee Memorial Health System, to help address the issue, Boose said. On a plus side, he said the many financial investment firms in Southwest Florida is a source of jobs for spouses.

Hertz, which is building its global headquarters in Estero, is in a similar position.

"Where we've had some of the challenges is generally comparable to (what) other Fortune 500 companies have had: increased competition for key skills, such as corporate finance," Beth Davis, public affairs manager for Hertz, said in an email. "Specific to our location, we have had the added challenge with some candidates finding opportunities in the area for trailing spouses/partners."

Hertz has 130 openings out of 600 headquarter employees, where about one-third have been recruited into the area, Davis said. The openings are in finance, operations, marketing, human resources and revenue management.

"We value the economic development work going in the Southwest Florida region to attract other companies to the area to strengthen the job market and year-around economy by providing a wider range of employment options," Davis said.

Once Arthrex finds the right fit, employees stay. The company's turnover rate is less than 3 percent, lower than the industry average that's typically 10 percent among publicly traded medical device manufacturers due to forced restructuring, consolidation and other events that force turnover, Boose said.

Arthrex's benefits package is extensive, which includes a catered lunch prepared by the company's executive chef and in-house culinary department. Another is a paid trip after five years where the employee selects the destination. The trip perk includes an extra 40 hours of paid time off to take the trip.

The company's commitment to the community in terms of support for charitable programs is important to employees, who are encouraged to take part in activities, like Relay for Life, the cancer fundraiser, Sparrow said.

"We enjoy working together," Sparrow said. "It's a good job atmosphere and community involvement. If we didn't have that, the turnover rate would be higher."
Dorothy Edwards/Staff Lely High School junior Sophia Torres looks out the window of a classroom Monday at Lely High School in East Naples. Torres received a $20,000 scholarship from Chipotle for an essay she wrote titled "Two-Minute Sacrifice."

SHARE Lely High School junior Sophia Torres in a classroom at Lely High School in Naples on Monday, April 11, 2016. Torres received a $20,000 scholarship from Chipotle for an essay she wrote titled "Two-Minute Sacrifice." (Dorothy Edwards/Staff) Dorothy Edwards/Staff Lely High School junior Sophia Torres sits in a classroom at Lely High School in Naples on April 11. Torres received a $20,000 scholarship from Chipotle for an essay she wrote titled "Two-Minute Sacrifice." Lely High School junior Sophia Torres in a classroom at Lely High School in Naples on Monday, April 11, 2016. Torres received a $20,000 scholarship from Chipotle for an essay she wrote titled "Two-Minute Sacrifice." (Dorothy Edwards/Staff) Related Coverage Winning essay: Two Minute Sacrifice

By Kristine Gill of the Naples Daily News

For about two months back in grade school, Sophia Torres came home each day to a frozen meal.

Sophia's mother usually cooked something fresh: steak or chicken, rice and beans.

But after the family learned their grandfather had cancer, TV dinners became a staple as her mother, Erika Torres, traveled almost daily from Naples to be with her dying father in Sarasota.

"Once they were frozen and my mom wasn't there to share them, it became different," Sophia said.

When she thought about entering an essay contest through Chipotle last year  a contest prompting participants to write about a flavor evoking a memory  Sophia thought back to that time. Her subject: Freezer burn.

"For me, it's a flavor reminiscent of grief," Sophia said. "It's something I complained about."

That stale, cold taste tarnished every Stouffer's casserole she opened during two of the hardest months she remembers from her childhood.

"But now it's like, 'how did she manage to do it?' " Sophia said, thinking about her mother. "It was a sacrifice."

Sophia, a 17-year-old junior at Lely High School, won the Chipotle essay contest with her 286-word piece entitled "Two-Minute Sacrifice." The win comes with a $20,000 scholarship and the honor of having her essay printed on cups and paper bags at franchises around the country beginning Monday.

Sophia learned she had won in the fall, but had to keep it a secret until this year.

"It's still surreal for me, even though I've had longer to process it," she said.

Erika Torres said she was surprised to learn her daughter had written about her for the contest.

"It was amazing to me that the food stuck out to her," Torres said. "I don't even remember it. I just did what I had to do."

Torres, an English teacher at Manatee Middle School, showed Sophia the essay contest and encouraged her to apply. Her daughter already had won a national essay contest for PBS a few years back, along with some local ones, so Torres was confident in Sophia's writing chops.

That the contest was through Chipotle seemed ironic given it was one of Sophia's favorite places to eat.

"It was almost a joke when I saw it," Torres said. "It was even more funny when she won."

Sophia said it's an honor for her writing to be printed among the professional authors Chipotle has recognized in the past. The Cultivating Thought Author Series the franchise sponsors has featured Amy Tan, Mary Roach, Toni Morrison and Bill Hader, among others.

This contest awarded 10 students between the ages of 13 and 18 with scholarships.

With a year left of high school, Sophia has yet to settle on a college. She has looked into the University of Florida, where her mother graduated, along with Georgetown University in D.C. and Tulane University in Louisiana. She wants to become an attorney one day and maybe major in international relations.

Sophia's go-to meal at the chain is a burrito bowl with white rice and steak, no beans, mild salsa, extra corn, cheese, sour cream, guacamole  she knows it's extra  lettuce and vinaigrette.

And hold the freezer burn.
SHARE Musa Ngqungwana offers cures for all ills as the charlatan Dr. Dulcamara. This scene is from the Florentine Opera's Depression-era staging of "L'Elisir d'Amore." Florentine Opera. Photo by Kathy Wittman Danielle Talamantes plays Adina in Gulfshore Opera's "L'Elisir d'Amore." Anthony Kearns is no stranger to either Opera Naples or Donizetti. Here he plays Edgardo in its 2011 production of "Lucia di Lammermoor." Photo by Pat Shapiro

By Harriet Howard Heithaus of the Naples Daily News

The heroine doesn't die. The good guy gets the girl. Even the bad guys aren't excruciatingly odious. But in between the opening scene and the final curtain of "L'Elisir d'Amore" (The Elixir of Love)," there are enough nearly permanent missteps and intrigue to make it a fast-paced mystery. It's perfect as the first fully staged production of Gulfshore Opera, said Steffanie Pearce, managing and artistic director.

"In presenting a well-rounded season, we wanted a little bit of something for everyone, especially for Charlotte County," Pearce said. "This is the first opera they've seen there, so we chose one that's a classic, and it's comic as well. It's such a charming walk in the park, it's one everyone can enjoy."

In fact, her company is staging the opera twice, first in the Charlotte County Performing Arts Center Friday, April 15, and then at Artis  Naples, with the Naples Philharmonic, April 21.

"We did the 'Mikado' but that staging was minimal. This is big guns," said Pearce. "The set is totally original, including the backdrop, made especially for this production, and we own it."

One set, two stages

"But this isn't one of those 'four sets in four scenes' operas, which is one reason we chose it," she said. The story generally unfolds around a village green. That makes set transportation simpler for her husband, Sam Vasquez, who created the scenery and backdrop and who built many of the sets for Opera Naples when she was its director. Vasquez had another break besides the spare number of set changes: The stage size at CPAC and Artis  Naples are almost identical.

Another incentive to open full productions with "Elisir" is that Anthony Kearns, one of the internationally known Irish Tenors group and a favorite from Pearce's previous works with Opera Naples ("Lucia di Lammermoor," "Faust"), wanted to play its male lead, Nemorino.

"L'Elisir d'Amore"is one of those rare happy endings from Gaetano Donizetti, the composer who brought us gloom and doom on the Scottish moors ("Lucia di Lammermoor") and the fatal wages of rebuffing a queen's attentions ("Roberto Devereux"). "L'Elisir" is its mirror image, a sunny story of country boy Nemorino's (Anthony Kearns) infatuation with the local beauty, Adina (Danielle Talamantes), which takes a scary twist when he buys a sort of Love Potion No. 9 to charm her.

The elixir, it turns out, is cheap Bordeaux  a crime by anyone's standards  and the charlatan who sold it to him, Dr. Dulcamara (Musa Ngqungwana) is none too eager to stick around for its results. That becomes especially true when Nemorino's newfound confidence annoys Adina to the point of accepting a marriage proposal from visiting garrison Sgt. Belcore (Wes Mason).

words and music

Both Musa Ngqungwana (pronounced MOO-suh nun-GWAN-uh) and Wes Mason have played their roles before.

He's like a 19th-century version of a mad scientist, who takes these medicines and mixes them together trying to cure people. But ultimately he wants to make money," said Ngqungwana, with same sly grin one will expect to see on his Dr. Dulcamara. (If Ngqungwana's name sounds familiar, his own life could be an opera: Several regional TV reports have chronicled the Port Elizabeth, South Africa, native's rise from its impoverished townships to win the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions $15,000 prize in 2013).

Dulcamara has a fellow traveler in Belcore, who's more hat than saddle, according to Mason.

"He's brash. He's a bit of a bully. He's definitely cocky. But as we all know about people like that, he's basically insecure," said Mason. Even Adina, Talamantes said, holds some secrets: "She's a bit stubborn. I think in her past she may have been burned a little bit by love."

But all three praise about the opera is Donizetti's mastery of words and music as partners.

"He was one of the first composers who started focusing on what the words mean more closely," said Ngqungwana, citing him as an influence on later composers such as Giuseppe Verdi.

"He always throws in this real crunchy chord or harmony that you didn't see, coming out of nowhere sometimes. Everything that he ever wanted  he's so meticulous  is on that score," Mason said. "For me, he's the king, when it comes to the drama."

Talamantes said she's been delighted by her first encounter with Donizetti music: "It's incredibly expressive. It's wonderful to sing."

If you go

'L'Elisir d'Amore'

What: Gulfshore Opera production of Gaetano Donizetti comic opera; opera orchestra in Charlotte County, Naples Philharmonic in Naples

When: 7:30 p.m. April 15 in Charlotte County; 8 p.m. April 21 in Naples

Where: Charlotte County Performing Arts Center, ArtisNaples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., North Naples

Admission: $25-$75 in Charlotte County; $35-$145 in Naples

To buy: Charlotte County, gulfshoreopera.org or 239-529-3925; Naples, artisnaples.org or 239-597-1900
Brian Battaglia

SHARE Lernis Cornish Jr. Brian Battaglia

By Alexi C. Cardona of the Naples Daily News

The first shooting to take place in Naples in five years was over money.

Lernis Cornish Jr., of Fort Myers, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of aggravated battery after police say he shot Brian Battaglia, 48, in the torso. Cornish posted $25,000 bond and was released on Wednesday.

According to a report from the Naples Police Department, Cornish drove to see Battaglia at the 1200th block of Fifth Avenue North in the River Park community so he could get paid for working as a driver for Battaglia.

Battaglia told Cornish he wasn't going to pay him, according to the report, and the two got into an argument.

Cornish told police he went to his car to grab his gun to scare Battaglia. When the gun went off, Cornish got in his car and left the scene. Police later found him nearby at the intersection of Fifth Avenue North and Goodlette-Frank Road. Cornish's passenger, Sandra Johnson, told police that Battaglia hired Cornish to drive him around. Cornish replied to a Craigslist ad Battaglia posted for the job.

Battaglia has been in trouble with the law before.

Court records show Battaglia has a trail of 40 lawsuits mostly in Illinois and Southwest Florida. He has a list of arrests on charges of fraud in Lee and Collier counties, as well as in multiple counties in Illinois.

One of the many judgments against him orders him to pay a man $857,734.89 for a 2011 case involving contracts and debt in Lee County.

Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest reports show that in 2011, five people complained about losing a total of $7,711 after taking their cars to Battaglia's shop for repairs. A separate case that hadn't been fully investigated involved another $4,160.

In 2012, he was arrested on a charge of scheming to defraud after a check-bouncing scheme involving two auto parts stores in Lee County.

In 2014, he served 364 days in prison with credit for time served and was given 4 years' probation after being charged with obtaining property by fraud.

Attempts to reach Battaglia by phone on Friday were unsuccessful.
SHARE

By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News

Tucked into a bill increasing school choice for parents in traditional public schools, a provision signed by Gov. Rick Scott Thursday will also give Florida school board members more choice over where their professional development dollars go.

The provision came from tensions between some school board members throughout the state and the Florida School Boards Association, the long-standing school board membership organization.

Some school board members, including Collier County's Erika Donalds, took issue with FSBA when it joined a lawsuit against the state challenging Florida's school voucher program  the Tax-Credit Scholarship Program  which gives low-income families the option to send their children to private schools and tax breaks for sponsors.

Because FSBA is largely funded by membership dues, paid with taxpayer dollars, some school board members took issue with the fact that state money was being used to sue the state. After a vote by its board of directors in June, FSBA dropped out of the suit.

But months before that vote, the opposition gave way to the Florida Coalition of School Board Members.

"Those of us who are on the side of school choice, and opposed the use of taxpayer dollars to sue the state, felt like there was enough of a division that there was an opening for another option," said Erika Donalds, a founding member of the coalition.

Until now, the coalition was funded through donations from its founders. Moving forward, it could also reign in the dues from school board members that opt to leave FSBA  along with a $200,000 boost for its training programs approved by legislators this session.

Both organizations provide their members with trainings on governance and topics relating to district accreditation. FSBA worked with the Collier County School Board when it was under the risk of losing its accreditation. More recently, the district contracted an FSBA mediator for a session meant to ease tensions among board members.

FSBA has collected dues from school boards as a whole, not individual members. Dues amount to roughly $3,000 per board member. Donalds said the coalition is aiming to be a less-costly option, with dues at $1,950 per member.

Critics of the provision say that for boards that are supposed to be non-partisan, it could bring about boards that are increasingly politically polarized.

Board member Roy Terry, who has worked with FSBA since joining the board in 2010, said that he expects the provision to lead to more politically polarized school boards.

"The way it's going to turn out is that one group is going to be highly conservative and one group more moderate," Terry said. "It's going to become two political organizations fighting in the state."

Meanwhile, Donalds said, it doesn't need to be a bad thing.

"What is the alternative, that only one viewpoint is heard? I think it's healthy that both sides of the education debate are heard."

Donalds added that the provision also allows board members who don't want to be affiliated with either organization to abstain from membership.
An adult red-cockaded woodpecker climbs along a Florida slash pine in the Big Cypress National Preserve on Tuesday, June 6, 2006.

SHARE

By Eric Staats of the Naples Daily News

Environmental groups have lost a federal lawsuit against Collier County on behalf of endangered Florida panthers and red-cockaded woodpeckers.

The groups argued in the lawsuit that the county was harming panther and woodpecker habitat by issuing permits for agricultural land clearing and for new homes in Golden Gate Estates, and by planning for an extension of Wilson Boulevard in North Belle Meade in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

U.S. District Judge John Steele dismissed the lawsuit last week by the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Collier County Audubon Society, ruling the ESA does not require Collier to withhold the permits until federal approvals are received. And he found the permits do not make the county liable for penalties for any harm to panthers and woodpeckers; only landowners could be liable for any harm.

On the extension of Wilson Boulevard, Steele determined that the county has not triggered the ESA requirements by gathering right of way and entering into a developer agreement for an engineering study for the road. The ESA would be triggered at the federal permitting stage for the road, Steele found.

The lawsuit was an attempt to fill gaps between county land-use decisions and the Endangered Species Act. The ruling leaves thousands of acres of habitat for panthers and red-cockaded woodpeckers at risk, said environmental groups' attorney Tom Reese.

"Right now, the impacts are occurring," Reese said.

The agricultural clearing and home construction permits come with a warning from the county that further federal approvals might be necessary, but the warning is routinely ignored.

The lawsuit dovetailed with the groups' legal fight against a settlement of a private property rights claim filed against the county by the HHH Ranch. Ranch owners argued that their property rights were infringed by county development restrictions and a ban on rock mining. The settlement includes provisions for the Wilson Boulevard extension.

HHH Ranch attorney John Vega lauded Steele's ruling, saying it "seems like insanity" for environmental groups to argue that Collier County should insert itself into panther permitting decisions that he said are best left to the federal government.

"That is the height of hubris," Vega said.

Meanwhile, the environmental groups are appealing a March decision by Collier Circuit Judge Cynthia Pivacek to accept the HHH Ranch settlement.

Reese said the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals entered an order Friday that reversed a Marion County circuit judge's approval of a property rights settlement on many of the same grounds argued by environmental groups in the HHH Ranch case.

"A glimmer of hope," Florida Wildlife Federation field representative Nancy Payton said Friday.
Gov. Rick Scott addresses the crowd flanked by House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, left, and Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, at the end of session, Friday, March 11, 2016, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

SHARE

By Arek Sarkissian of the Naples Daily News

TALLAHASSEE  Despite the loss of its chief, promises of cost cutting, and no incentive cash, Enterprise Florida will continue courting businesses to Florida, even if it's on a smaller scale, one agency leader said.

Enterprise Florida board Vice Chair Alan Becker said the Legislature provided the agency with the $23.5 million budget it requested, which it will use to carry out the lion's share of what it does every day.

But lawmakers led by House Speaker Designate Richard Corcoran, R-Land O' Lakes, voted against Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $250 million fund to lure big companies to the state. The agency will still have money to help smaller businesses relocate and promote Florida's economy around the world. Only 17 of the 211 companies Enterprise Florida assisted last year actually received incentive cash, Becker said.

"What we do every day is not impacted on what the Legislature failed to do," Becker said.

"Yes, it's going to hurt that we won't have that money," he said. "But there are plenty of other things we do that aren't going away."

Becker said he was developing an incentive program that could satisfy the concerns of Corcoran, who referred to the proposed incentive plan offered during this year's legislative session by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, as corporate welfare. Latvala, who becomes Senate appropriations chair next year, said he, too, was creating his own alternative.

"I'm thinking of a few ideas right now and I will share them with the governor when I'm ready," Latvala said, later adding, "With Richard Corcoran as speaker for the next two years, we're going to need something else."

Talk of a replacement for the incentive fund comes as Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn fears his city  the third largest in the state  would be passed up by other states that still offer incentive programs. Buckhorn said he was saddened by the Legislature's decision to cut the incentive cash, and he was uncertain how Enterprise Florida could compete in high-profile projects without it.

"Oftentimes, the incentive is the deciding factor over whether a state even gets on the list," Buckhorn said. "The reality is that every other state we compete against does incentives."

Buckhorn said Enterprise Florida President Bill Johnson's resignation was a blow to the organization. Scott announced Johnson's departure on March 28, the same day he sent a memo to Enterprise Florida board members that said the agency would undergo an audit. He enlisted former Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins to search for $6 million in savings within Enterprise Florida and present his findings during a May 11 board meeting in Orlando.

Wilkins served as DCF chief from 2011 to 2013 and implemented sweeping changes to the child welfare agency that slashed costs and jobs, and toughened systems that monitor state public assistance programs. Wilkins will search for savings in Enterprise Florida and provide suggestions on how to refocus its mission.

Scott also wrote in his memo that Enterprise Florida should learn to lean more on the $1.6 million in money it receives from private funds.

Florida Chamber of Commerce President Mark Wilson said Enterprise Florida can use its time without the incentive cash to re-evaluate how it does business, and what parts of the state it helps most. The agency was created in 1996 when the Legislature pushed the state Department of Commerce into the public-private partnership model. The newly formed setup would expand the state's economic palette from just real estate, tourism and agriculture, Wilson said.

"Enterprise Florida was not created to just create jobs," said Wilson, who also sits on the Enterprise Florida board. "It was created to diversify the economy.

"We've gotten away what Enterprise Florida was created to do."

Contact Daily News reporter arek.sarkissian@naplesnews.com or 850-559-7620
The Florida Everblades mascot, Swamp33, greets Naples resident Maureen Benes with a pat on the head as well as her friend Gayle Allen during the "Pancakes with the Publisher" breakfast at the Naples Daily News to kick off the Satisfy the Hunger Drive from the early morning to afternoon Friday, April 15, 2016 in Naples. Activities ranged from meeting the publisher, Bill Barker, for breakfast to Zumba classes with YMCA instructors and even a visit from the Naples Zoo. (Luke Franke/Staff)

SHARE Food is collected and loaded onto a truck for distribution as part of the Satisfy the Hunger Drive hosted at the Naples Daily News Friday, April 15, 2016 in Naples. Activities ranged from meeting the publisher, Bill Barker, for breakfast to Zumba classes with YMCA instructors and even a visit from the Naples Zoo. (Luke Franke/Staff) YMCA group fitness instructor Page Perrigan leads Naples Daily News employees and other guests in a fitness class inside of the Naples Daily News community room as part of the Satisfy the Hunger Drive Friday, April 15, 2016 in Naples. Activities ranged from meeting the publisher, Bill Barker, for breakfast to Zumba classes with YMCA instructors and even a visit from the Naples Zoo. (Luke Franke/Staff) Maura Plante, left, laughs as she speaks with Naples Daily News publisher Bill Barker during the "Pancakes with the Publisher" breakfast to kick off the Satisfy the Hunger Drive Friday, April 15, 2016 at the Naples Daily News. Activities ranged from meeting the publisher, Bill Barker, for breakfast to Zumba classes with YMCA instructors and even a visit from the Naples Zoo. (Luke Franke/Staff) Community Blood Center donor specialist Lorie Fulton helps to draw blood from patients on the Community Blood Center bus in the Naples Daily News parking lot as part of the Satisfy the Hunger Drive Friday, April 15, 2016 in Naples. Activities ranged from meeting the publisher, Bill Barker, for breakfast to Zumba classes with YMCA instructors and even a visit from the Naples Zoo. (Luke Franke/Staff) Related Photos Photos: Naples Daily News launches Satisfy the Hunger Drive Related Coverage Brent Batten: Meals of Hope hits the road

By Laura Layden of the Naples Daily News

Maureen Benes couldn't pass up an opportunity for free pancakes and a tour of the Naples Daily News headquarters.

Though she toured the building seven years ago, she wanted to see what it looked liked today  and to meet its newest publisher, Bill Barker, who joined the Daily News in fall 2013. After searching for someone who was "big and impressive," she found Barker in a blue jacket in the lobby and firmly shook his hand before taking a 45-minute insider tour of the building.

"I go to everything," said Benes, 78, who lives in North Naples. "There are so many things going on here in Naples you could almost do something different every day."

Her stop at the Daily News was all for a good cause, as the newspaper launched its Satisfy the Hunger Drive on Friday with the theme "Take a Bite out of Hunger ." The event filled more than 30 postal service bins with food, which will be shared by Collier Harvest and the Harry Chapin Food Bank and distributed throughout Collier County to hungry residents.

Benes brought 10 cans of food to the drive. After filling up on a big breakfast, she lined up for one of the first tours of the newspaper building, starting at 9 a.m. She was joined by a few other visitors, including Karole Davis, Harry Chapin's engagement manager for Collier County, who said the food donations were "much needed."

Kim Folger, an accounting supervisor at the Naples Daily News, gave the tour, which started with an overview of the building's design. She explained the theme of the building was sun, sand and water, with the curves in the building representing waves and the color of the brick, sand. She shared the building is hardened for hurricanes and rated for a Category 3 hurricane, which caught some attention.

"So we can come here if there's a hurricane?" Davis asked jokingly.

Folger pointed out the building's "greenness." Though the building is much larger than the newspaper's plant on Central Avenue, it uses half the energy.

The tour took the group through the entire building, which included a look at the 2,500 square foot video studio and the printer, one of the fastest in the Southeastern U.S. The press can print in color on every page and print around 100,000 copies an hour.

Though she'd seen the building before, Benes was impressed by its size after entering the sales floor. "Wow, huge," she said.

Folger showed off all the publications printed at the building, including the new Turquoise magazine. "We don't sell single copies," she explained.

Jack and Mary Early, North Naples residents in their 70s, took the tour with Folger. It brought back some memories for Mary, who once worked for a small newspaper in New York.

"We thought it would be interesting," he said. "She worked at the Daily Star in the advertising department."

In addition to the tours, the event offered a chance to meet and take pictures with the Florida Everblades' mascot Swampee, in keeping with its "Take a Bite out of Hunger" theme. There was also a Zumba class, an opportunity to donate blood and a visit from the Naples Zoo's ZooMobile.

More than 40,000 people don't have enough food to eat in Collier County.

Many residents don't realize how big the hunger problem is in the county because it's home to so many wealthy retirees, said Connie Preu, Collier Harvest's executive director. Living expenses, including the cost of housing, are so high that many struggle to make ends meet, she pointed out.

Her organization delivers to smaller organizations, including churches, that reach people the Harry Chapin Food Bank doesn't.

"This kind of food drive is important to us," Preu said. "Our outreach is so limited. We have three part-time employees."
SHARE

Kudos

At the time of your emergency, you won't know who is answering the phone.

But when you dial 9-1-1, an unheralded voice will be there to direct help your way. You'll probably never know who it was.

In honor of those who answer 9-1-1 calls, the dispatchers, their trainers and their supervisors, Collier County commissioners designated this week as Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

"Telecommunicators are not as visible at an emergency scene, but are a critical link as part of the first-responder team, contributing to the apprehension of criminals, patient treatment and saving lives, and saving people and possessions from fires," the county's proclamation in their honor states.

There are about 6,000 telecommunicators across the state involved in seeing that the job gets done. There are 911 call-takers, dispatchers, staff trainers, supervisors, managers and technicians statewide. At the Collier County Sheriff's Office, it's a team of 62 dispatchers and 7 support personnel making sure your urgent call is handled.

"The men and women in the (agency) communications section do a terrific job in responding what necessary equipment we may need to emergencies," Sheriff Kevin Rambosk told commissioners. "They have done a tremendous job all year."

During Tuesday's recognition event, Commission Chairwoman Donna Fiala recounted how a tour group she was accompanying through the emergency operations center happened to be there when a 9-1-1 call created a bevy of well-coordinated activity.

"We have great people," Rambosk responded.

It's a special week to thank them, even if to you, it's just a voice on the other end of the line.

Kudos

Seven of the 24 public elementary schools in Collier County have decided against a policy for students to wear uniforms at their school, leaving 17 that do. Plus, all 10 middle schools have uniforms.

That might prompt a question of what happens when a student who attends an elementary school with uniforms comes from a family that is financially struggling and can't afford the clothing.

Enter Angels Undercover of Collier County Inc.

"Our mission is to promote education by providing uniform shorts and shirts to those who would otherwise come to school inadequately dressed so that they arrive at school ready to learn," the nonprofit states on its website.

Collier County commissioners honored the organization this week, noting in a proclamation that "Angels Undercover serves 68 percent of elementary students eligible for and receiving free and reduced lunches, as well as make up 30 percent of Collier County's children who live at or below the poverty level."

Jackie Bennett, who founded Angels Undercover in December 2010 with a group of friends to reach into three schools, told commissioners the expanding organization provided 18,000 clothing items to children in 22 schools in the past year and expects to reach into all elementary schools next year. There were 9,000 children helped in 2015 with the goal to reach 12,500, according to its website.

The entirely volunteer-driven nonprofit puts every dollar raised into buying clothing. For more information and how to donate, go to www.angels-undercover.org.

Kicks

Now it's off to court for builders having to challenge Estero Fire Rescue's government overreach that made residential fire sprinklers mandatory in newly constructed single-family homes.

The Lee Building Industry Association Inc. and Florida Home Builders Association have had to file suit to get the policy thrown out.

We can see a builder offering an option for a home buyer to pay extra to install fire sprinklers. We can see an educational campaign about them, even at a time structure fires generally are on decline. We can see offering insurance credits if someone chooses to install them as an option.

But we still don't get Estero Fire Rescue's decision to make residential fire sprinklers mandatory in single-family homes. Lee County officials have indicated their opposition to the policy to the fire district, an independent agency run by an elected board not the new Village of Estero government.
130416 Buka Police retrieves two Government properties

By Joe Elijah



Two vehicles were confiscated and removed from its custodians yesterday by the Buka ex-combatants.



The action by the ex-combatants relates to their claims which they submitted to the ABG for payment in January this year.



The Ex-combatants are claiming they assisted Buka Police in maintaining Law and Order during the festive season of 2015 and 2016 respectively but have yet to be paid for the work they did.



It is understood that half a million Kina was submitted to the ABG by the ex-combatants for payment, but was rejected by people in authority

.

In another development Northern Police Commander, Alli Spencer has denied any knowledge about this arrangement, but if there was an agreement done to contract the ex-combatants to assist the Buka Police this has not come to his attention for approval.



Buka Police Commander worked through the night to retrieve the two Government vehicles, which are now parked at the Buka Police Station awaiting a full investigation before they could be released to its custodians.



Ends


130416 Tambolema Copra Exports carries out copra awareness in Central and Southern Region

By Joe Elijah



Tambolema Holdings, the mother company of three subsidiary companies including New Dawn FM has gone one step ahead to carry out copra awareness to Copra Farmers in Central Bougainville



Trading under Tambolema Copra Exports, the company this week has been working very closely with the copra farmers and educating them about the quality of copra acceptable for export to the world market.



Tambolema copra exports is the first local copra export company to carry out such an awareness, and is being supported by the KIK or Kokonas Industry Koporesen, the regulating Body which makes sure exporters maintain top quality and quantity for exporting to overseas buyers.



As an initiative, Tambolema Management has made a resolution to pay rebates to copra farmers at the end of this year, as long as the famers produce their original receipts when they sell their produce to Tambolema Copra Exports.



Another incentive by Tambolema Copra Exports is paying special rates to copra farmers who sell more than 30 bags of copra to the company daily.



Meanwhile the battle for copra is still going on in Buka, to the advantage of the copra buyers as the buyers are playing around with their buying prices to attract copra farmers to sell their produce to them.



And to top it all the World Prices for copra has been going up this week.



End


'Terrorist act'

Major research gap

(NaturalNews) A former DARPA scientist who held a top security clearance has warned that transmissions from cell phone towers constitute a " terrorist act " against the civilian population.Dr. Paul Batcho holds a PhD from Princeton University, and spent nearly three years working for DARPA at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the field of computational physics.DARPA is the branch of the Department of Defense responsible for studying emergent military technologies.While some of Batcho's claims are certainly controversial, his insistence that civilians are being harmed by cell phone towers is likely to be true. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies cell phone tower radiation as a " probable carcinogen ."Batcho has sent numerous letters to federal security agencies, including DARPA and the Department of Homeland Security, claiming that he has identified a "terrorist" threat from cellular towers "in central Florida, and Tampa St Petersburg.""I seem to have stumbled across an advanced technology that I would classify as synthetic telepathy," he wrote in one such missive. "It clearly uses the cellular towers to transmit illegal signals. It sounds unbelievable but it is actual technology being used on civilians of the US."My basic research does indicate that such technology can exist and dates back to the V2K (P300) mind wave technology of the 1970s. This does appear to be a much more advanced version that allows open communication of human mind to mind bridges."According to Batcho, the internal radiofrequency (RF) generated by the electrical impulses of the human brain is 450 MHz, and this is why Ham radio operators are not allowed to transmit between 400 and 700MHz. Although he says that cellular phones transmit at 853 MHz, he still calls for the installation of filters to prevent phones and towers from transmitting in the 400 to 700 MHz range."The verified measurement and existence of these RF band transmissions constitutes a terrorist act," he writes."These transmissions will cause harmful health affects in the form of enhanced microwave radiation illness," he continues. "It is imperative that these frequency bands be measured and verified by an official source. These frequency bands do not exist naturally, and there is a technology targeting individuals."In the emails released to the public, Batcho makes only a single mention of telepathy , mostly emphasizing instead his concern over the health risks of RF transmissions . And while the specifics of his concerns may be controversial, there is indeed an ongoing scientific debate about the health impacts of RF radiation from cell phone towers.Unlike ionizing radiation, RF radiation is typically too low energy to cause direct damage to cells or DNA  except at very high levels found close to high-powered equipment like long-distance transmitters. That's why U.S. regulatory agencies have typically assumed that the RF radiation from cell phone towers is harmless.But the International Agency for Research on Cancer disagrees. That's because cell phone towers emit the same type of radiation as cell phones, and a growing body of evidence is linking the latter to cancer, nerve tumors, and a variety of other health risks. It is this research that has led many European governments and institutions to try to limit children's exposure to RF radiation from cell phones and WiFi.The RF radiation from cell phone towers is 100 times weaker than that from cell phones, but is scattered much closer to the ground. Because very few studies have been conducted on the health effects of these towers , it is impossible to know what the risks really are.Batcho, at least, thinks he knows.
A merger brings new hires, while other companies announced new personnel who bring years of experience.

As of April 1, AstaReal Inc. and AstaReal Technologies Inc. merged into one singular entity, AstaReal Inc. Previously functioning as separate but related companies, AstaReal Inc. focused on sales and marketing, while AstaReal Technologies, established in 2014, concentrated on the U.S. cultivation and production of AstaReal brand astaxanthin (Haematococcus pluvialis).

"AstaReal Inc. is now in its best position to continue scientific exploration and validation of AstaReal astaxanthin, and to ensure sustainable production meets future demand," commented Arun Nair, Ph.D., president of AstaReal.

In addition to the announcement of the merger between the two businesses, the newly streamlined astaxanthin producer announced two key appointments.

Nair has been named president of AstaReal Inc. He had previously served as president for AstaReal AB, Gustavsberg, Sweden. He will now lead both cultivation/production and sales and marketing efforts.

Nair has held executive positions at the Fuji group of industries for the past nine years, managing the groups business in various positions. He obtained his doctoral degree in molecular biology from the University of Kagoshima, Japan. Nair has a wealth of experience in managing biotech startups and a total industry experience of more than 24 years. His focus is on functional molecules such as astaxanthin that help improve performance and health.

In addition, nutraceutical ingredient sales veteran Michelle Jenkins was named West Coast manager. Jenkins was most recently West Coast sales manager for Blanver, and prior, served as vice president of sales at B&D Ingredients, where she developed key nutraceutical accounts. At AstaReal Inc., her territories include the entire Pacific Coast, states west of the Rockies, parts of Texas, as well as key clientele interspersed throughout the region.

Having an embedded presence on the West Coast is an enormous boost for our sales program and will contribute greatly toward AstaReal Inc.s overall plan for strategic growth in this dynamic astaxanthin market," said Joe Kuncewitch, national sales manager.

Nellson Nutraceutical announced Jamie Better has been named the companys chief executive officer. Better, who has been chairman of the board of directors since 2014, brings to Nellson an extensive track record of senior leadership experience across industries, and is an operating partner of Kohlberg & Co., Nellsons majority shareholder. Better stated, I look forward to leading Nellson through its continued evolution while supporting its customers through new product and market expansion efforts."

Better assumes the role from Scott Greenwood, Nellsons current CEO, who will remain in an advisory capacity to the company. Under Greenwoods leadership, Nellson completed two transformative acquisitions and achieved significant growth, positioning the company as one of North Americas leading third-party manufacturers and full-service providers of high-quality nutrition bars, nutritional powders and healthy snacks. I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved together at Nellson under Kohlbergs ownership," Greenwood commented. Jamies distinguished track record, together with his strong professional and personal values, make him an outstanding successor to lead Nellson into the future."

Seth H. Hollander, partner of Kohlberg, commented, On behalf of the board of directors of Nellson, I wish to sincerely thank Scott for his distinguished service to the company. Scott was instrumental in building a foundation for sustained growth at Nellson."

Nutrition 21 LLC announced Sara OBrien has joined as general counsel of JDS Therapeutics and its wholly owned subsidiary Nutrition 21.

OBrien joins Nutrition 21 after working in the intellectual property (IP) departments of Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Ropes & Gray, where she most recently specialized in patent litigation. Her private practice included extensive IP work in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, as well as IP portfolio management. Her litigation experience encompasses a range of technologies, including biologics, pharmaceuticals, computer software and other technologies. Her practice also encompassed intellectual property-based commercial transaction work such as complex contracts, licensing and supply agreements and bankruptcies.

Saras intellectual property experience and industry knowledge make her a prime addition to the Nutrition 21 team," said Michael Satow, CEO and president of Nutrition 21. We view her role as a sign of our commitment and dedication to supplying our customers with patent-protected, clinically substantiated and innovative ingredients. We are confident that Sara will play a vital role in our business."

OBrien received her law degree with honors from the University of Connecticut.
Three new species of mouse lemurs have been recently described by scientists. These newly discovered species live in South and East of Madagascar.

Madagascar is one place with a rich diversity of flora and fauna. It is also home to lemurs and trees that cannot be found in any other place in the world.

According to Science Daily, Scientists from the German Primate Center (DPZ), the University of Kentucky, the American Duke Lemur Center and the Universite d'Antananarivo in Madagascar have made this discovery.

Mouse lemurs are small creatures that are found predominantly in Madagascar. These nocturnal primates, all look quite similar to each other. They have their own fur and large eyes. Only using genetic methods can the difference in species be made clear, as described by Phys.org.

The "red list" of the IUCN declared that nearly 100 known species of lemurs are living under the brink of extinction. They also make up the world's most endangered group of mammals.

The reason behind the extinction of these species is deforestation and hunting. Professor Jorg Ganzhorn has been involved in the research and conservation of these lemurs species for many years. Because of his great contribution, the Ganzhorn's mouse lemur was even named after him.

One of the three discovered species, Microcebus manitatra, was found on the "Big Island" and is a subgroup of the Western Madagascar. Meanwhile, the third species is called Microcebus boraha, which is named after the place it was discovered -- the island of Sainte Marie in Malagasy Nosy Boraha.

Many mouse lemurs have been already extinct over the past years. The koala lemur died out years ago. Sarah Federman of Yale University said that the conservation of mouse lemurs, as well as Madagascar's biodiversity, must be an urgent priority.

New Scientist notes that the ecological cycle is also at risk due to the extinction of lemurs. The lemurs have played a huge part in seed dispersal of the Madagascar trees. With the population reducing, many, in turn, are also slowly dying.
More moose are loose and on the move as they invade previously uninhabitable areas of the Alaskan tundra, according to a new study that revealed how global warming continues to change our ecosystem.

Shrubs may be not at all significant to us humans, but moose largely depend on them for survival. As the Earth gets warm due to climate change, the sizes of these shrubs rapidly increase, allowing scientists to believe that the moose colonization will continue where the food is.

The study, published in the journal PLOS One, showed the increase in the height of shrubs pushes moose to move northwards for their food.

Around the beginning of the 20th century, there was a decrease in moose numbers in the treeless Alaskan tundra. Tundras are areas with short growing seasons and low temperatures. But the recent rise in sightings may be attributed to environmental factors and warmer temperature, as per this BBC report.

The study discovered that global warming ushered longer summers that allowed the shrubs to increase their growth to around two meters in 2009, compared to 1.1 meters in 1860. This is great news for the moose who rely only on shrubs that are sticking out from the snow during winter for their survival.

The scientists described the process as "boreal-isation" of the tundra. This pertains to species like the moose that encroach on endemic or native creatures, resulting to an emergence of a new wildlife community in the region. Their existence in the area can create changes on the other wildlife in the already existing ecosystem.

The moose seem to have no plans of stopping their kilometers-march soon. Scientists said they might come nearer to the coasts as shrubs grow taller there. It may not just be happening in The Last Frontier, but also in Canada and Northern Russia, according to the study team.

Moose, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, are the largest member of the deer family and can grow up to almost 6 feet tall. Males are easily recognized by their antlers. They are widely distributed across Alaska and now, maybe even more.
Can you imagine how it is like to explore the universe and help NASA find new signs of life outside our world? Being NASA's Planet Hunters is one of the oddest jobs on Earth. Currently, there's an organization recruiting volunteers to be involved as a citizen planet hunter, which anyone can do in the comforts of their home.

NASA has this project called PlanetQuest, specifically designed to look for exoplanets or new planets. One of the most prominent technologies used for the purpose of looking for other planets orbiting similar Earth-like stars is the Kepler telescope positioned 75 million miles away from Earth.

There's a group of seemingly special breed of individuals responsible for finding new planets and they're called Planet Hunters. They're not a league of superheroes but a group of people with super brains trained to detect even the smallest of movement concerning elements on the outer space.

One of them is astrophysicist Sara Seager, who has been searching for exoplanets for 20 years. Seager is currently a graduate student at Harvard and a professor at MIT. The astrophysicist's dream is to find a planet similar to Earth, which can potentially maintain human life. She is confident that discovering that specific planet will be her greatest achievement in this lifetime.

According to Seager, her odd job didn't receive much admiration before. "Since the planets were discovered indirectly, most people didn't believe that the discoveries were real. They'd say to me 'Why are you doing this? These aren't planets!'" Seager said in an interview with CNN. But today, more people are interested with life outside of Earth and even more people are interested to be part of the hunt for new planets.

Seager, however, said that extravagant as it may seem, being a planet hunter is no easy job. Elements in the outer space make the job harder. Also, the lights coming from other stars in the universe disrupt the process.

But as complex as planet hunting might seem, do you know that anyone can be a planet in as short as five minutes through a program launched by PlanetHunters.org?

The organization initiated the Zooniverse project or a "collection of web-based citizen science projects that use the efforts of volunteers to help researchers deal with the flood of data that confronts them."

Data collected by NASA's Kepler telescope were put into their system for volunteers to identify. Before you can start identifying and classifying exoplanets, volunteers need to pass a simple tutorial on how to identify planets on the web-based programs. In less than five minutes, the volunteer can start identifying new planets. The data collected from volunteers will be further studied by researchers. This will help them in terms of pace in identifying new planets with the help of citizen planet hunters.

Those who would want to know what it's like to be NASA's planet hunter, head down to Planet Hunter's website to start identifying exoplanets.
A commonly prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes, Metformin, has been recently associated with a decrease in postmenopausal women dying from cancer.

According to the report from Doctors Lounge, researchers discovered that postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes and cancer have 45 percent higher risk of dying compared to women with cancer but didn't have diabetes. They also found out that there is no significant difference in the mortality rate of women with cancer being treated with Metformin for their type 2 diabetes and those who have cancer but without diabetes.

For the study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers analyzed the data of 145,826 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79 from the Women's Health Initiative study conducted between 1993 and 1998.

The researchers looked at specific kinds of cancer. They discovered that postmenopausal women with diabetes have 25 to 35 percent increased risk in developing colon and endometrial cancers and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma while the risk for developing liver and pancreatic cancer are being doubled.

Type 2 diabetes, according to American Diabetes Association, occurs when the body does not use insulin properly. The treatment for type 2 diabetes with lifestyle changes, oral medications such as the Metformin and insulin injections.

"Our findings from this large study may provide more evidence that postmenopausal women with diabetes and cancer may benefit from metformin therapy compared to other anti-diabetes therapy," said lead researcher Zhihong Gong, assistant professor of oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, said in a statement in Health Day.

According to the 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 29.1 million or 9.3 percent of the U.S. population have diabetes. These include 21.0 million diagnosed and 8.1 million undiagnosed, which makes up 27.8 percent of the total people with diabetes.

In a previous report, the World Health Organization has urged a global action against diabetes after discovering that over 400 million people in the world have diabetes, 400 times higher compared to data collected in 1980.
130416LADY FATIIMAS VISIT

By Tom Kathoa



Members of the Catholic Faith in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville are gearing up for the arrival of the Spiritual visit by the statue of our lady of Fatima towards the end of the year.



The sacred image of Fatima is expected to arrive in Bougainville on the 10th of September.



President of the Catholic Women responsible for the program, Mrs. Marietta Rumina the statue will visit all the parishes during its 20 days stay in the region.



Mrs. Rumina said visit also coincides with the 2016 Jubilee Year of Mercy.



It is believed that thousands of people not only Catholics, but also from other churches would attend some of these masses.



Ends


A 142-foot long cross-border tunnel  the third in the last year  has been discovered just east of Calexico.

The border tunnel was discovered by a Border Patrol agent as the agent was performing routine patrol of the border on Thursday morning.

The agent stumbled on to a depression in some soil about 2 miles east of Calexico, which is 120 miles east of San Diego. As the agent approached the spot, the soil began to give way, exposing an 18-inch hole, according to a news release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Lumber and electrical wiring was then spotted inside the tunnel, indicating it was an operational tunnel.

Investigators determined the tunnel, which is 3 feet wide, originated about 60 feet south of the U.S.-Mexico border and travels nearly 80 feet into the United States.

Border Patrol agents have not identified any suspects.

This is the third cross-border tunnel uncovered in the area around El Centro in the past year.

Just three weeks ago, another border tunnel, this one spanning 416 yards, was found in Calexico. That tunnel was attached to a home, which smugglers used for the sole purpose of smuggling drugs.
Although Marines are known as 'the tip of the spear' some say the force is not always supported.

The vast majority of Marine Corps aircraft are unable to fly, raising grave concerns among top military personnel about pilot and aircraft safety and national security.

The reasons most of the fleet isnt airworthy include the toll of long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and federal budget cuts, Pentagon officials confirmed Friday.

U.S. Military spending went down about $131 billion between 2010 and 2015 just as planes, like F/A-18 Hornets that fly out of Miramar, are returning from the wear and tear of 15 years of war.

Only about 30 peercent of the Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters are ready to fly today according to statistics provided by the Marine Corps.

Only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super-Stallion helicopters are airworthy as well.

You know our politicians want war, but they don't want to pay for it. They don't want to support anybody. If it comes out of somebody else's pocket, they would be happy, that's the way that goes. So my son's in the Navy so I understand, San Diego resident Gary Fosgate said.

Pentagon officials confirmed the aircraft shortage means pilots are spending less time in the air.

F/A-18 Hornets are supposed to only fly 6,000 hours, but now thats being pushed to 8,000. Theres even talk of extending it to 10,000 hours with Marines getting creative with repairs.

Well I hope congress gets its act together and finds out a better way of doing its budget. National defense is a number one issue and thats where they should have their focus, Del Cerro resident Ron Seden told NBC 7.

The budget cuts have top military leadership concerned about safety.

NBC 7 reached out to members of our local congressional delegation and the Chair of the Armed Services Committee for comment but have not yet heard back.
A University of California, Berkeley student and Iraqi refugee has accused a major airline of discrimination.

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was set to fly from Los Angeles to Oakland, return to campus and attend classes on April 6. However, he was booted from Southwest Airlines flight 4260  after speaking Arabic, he alleged.

The 26-year-old fled Iraq in 2002 after his father, an Iraqi diplomat, was killed under Saddam Hussein's regime, the Daily Californian reports. Makhzoomi's family lived in Jordan until the United States granted them asylum.

The day before the incident, Makhzoomi attended a dinner at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council with Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon. He called his uncle to tell them about the event before the flight took off and that's when his troubles began.

"At the end of my call I said, 'Inshallah, I will call you,' and he was like, 'Call me when you get home.' I was like 'Inshallah, Inshallah,' which means God willing," Makhzoomi said.

However, another passenger thought she heard Makhzoomi saying "martyr" in Arabic  a word that is often linked to Jihad and terrorism.

Moments later, he was removed from the plane, detained and searched by security officers, and questioned by the FBI. He was also denied service by Southwest Airlines.

"I was like, at least inside my brain, I was reciting, 'Innocent until proven guilty,' because I was overwhelmed at what happened," Makhzoomi recalled.

He underscored that his experience is a symptom of a larger problem.

"This is what Islamaphobia has gotten this country into," Makhzoomi said. "Anyone can report anyone."

Now, Makhzoomi says he only wants one thing.

"All I need is an apology to say, 'We are sorry we singled you out because [of] one person who felt threatened,'" he said.

According to a Southwest Airlines statement, however, crew members decided to "investigate potentially threatening comments made onboard our aircraft."

It is not the company's policy to "publicly share specifics of the event," the statement said, continuing: "We regret any less than positive experience onboard our aircraft  Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind."

Read Southwest Airlines' entire statement below:

Prior to gate departure of Flight 4260, our Flight Crew decided to investigate potentially threatening comments made onboard our aircraft. Based upon the reported comments and further discussion, our Flight Crew made the decision to deny boarding to this Customer. We understand local law enforcement spoke with that Passenger at a later time. To respect the privacy of those involved, our policy is to not publicly share specifics of the event, as we try to work with individual passengers to address concerns or feedback regarding their experience. We regret any less than positive experience onboard our aircraft.

Southwest Employees welcome onboard hundreds of millions of Customers each year. We wouldn't remove passengers from flights without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedures. We aim to safely transport every Customer while maintaining the comfort of all. Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind.
Friends and family remembered Chicago radio icon Doug Banks at his funeral services Saturday afternoon.

Banks services were held Saturday at Sparkman Hillcrest & Memorial Funeral Home, located at 7405 W. Northwest Highway, Dallas, Texas. The memorial service began at 10 a.m.

Banks passed away Monday, April 11 at the age of 57. He died at his home in Florida following complications related to diabetes and kidney failure, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Banks spent many years as a top radio personality and popular TV host in Chicago.

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 made his last public appearance in Chicago on Friday, April 8, where he was seen with former co-host Bonnie DeShong.

Love you Doug, DeShong wrote on Facebook the Monday he passed. 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.
Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in how to welcome refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europe's migration crisis.

The Vatican said Francis wanted to make a "gesture of welcome" at the end of his five-hour visit to Lesbos, where he implored Europe to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity." The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its beaches and rocks in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

"Today I renew my heartfelt plea for responsibility and solidarity in the face of this tragic situation," Francis said.

The Vatican said the three Syrian families, including six children, who were taken back with the pope will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italy's Catholic Sant'Egidio Community, which for years has been active in providing assistance to refugees in Italy. Their relocation comes after negotiations among the Vatican, Greece and Italy, according to the Vatican.

Two of the families hail from the Syrian capital of Damascus and the third family fled Deir el-Zour, a city close to the Iraqi border that the Islamic State group has been besieging for months, leading to malnutrition among 200,000 people living in the area.

"Their homes had been bombed," the Vatican said of the three families.

The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece to thank the Greek people for their welcome and highlight the plight of refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Many refugees wept at Francis' feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention center, where they greeted 250 people individually. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as the religious leaders passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. Clearly moved, the pope also blessed a man who wailed "Thank you, God. Thank you! Please Father, bless me!" A woman told Francis that her husband was in Germany but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos.

At a ceremony in the port of Lesbos to thank Greeks, Francis said he understood Europe's concern about the recent migrant influx. But he said migrants are first of all human beings "who have faces, names and individual stories" and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

"God will repay this generosity," he promised.

In his remarks to the refugees, Francis said they should know that they are not alone and shouldn't lose hope. He said he wanted to visit them to hear their stories and to bring the world's attention to their plight.

"We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity," he said. "May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the Good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history."

Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, then signed a joint declaration calling on the international community to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need.

The declaration also called on political leaders to use all means to ensure that everyone, particularly Christians, can remain in their homelands and enjoy the "fundamental right to live in peace and security."

"The world will be judged by the way it has treated you," Bartholomew told the refugees. "And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from."

Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, then lunched with eight of the refugees to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. And then they went to the island's main port to pray together and toss a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didn't make the journey.

Earlier Saturday, Francis met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and thanked him for the "generosity" shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles, the Vatican said.

Tsipras, for his part, said he was proud of Greece's response "at a time when some of our partners  even in the name of Christian Europe  were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life."

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the "globalization of indifference" that the world shows the less fortunate.

The wreath-tossing ceremony is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe. He made a similar gesture more recently at the U.S.-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the U.S.

"He is slightly provocative," said George Demacopoulos, chair of Orthodox Christian studies at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. Citing Francis' Mexico border visit in February, in the heat of a U.S. presidential campaign where illegal immigration took center stage, he added: "He is within his purview to do so, but that was a provocative move."

The Vatican insisted Saturday's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political or a "direct" criticism of the EU plan.

However, the Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, has said the EU-Turkey plan essentially treats migrants as merchandise that can be traded back and forth and doesn't recognize their inherent dignity as human beings.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.

Human rights groups have denounced the deal as an abdication of Europe's obligations to grant protection to asylum-seekers.
Many among the hundreds of Republicans at the New York City GOP gala tuned out Sen. Ted Cruz Thursday night during his speech, NBC News reported.

The gala attendees were seen talking at their tables and mingling in the event space, with some even walking out of the dinner as Cruz spoke.

At least one person at the event said Cruz had damaged his chances with New Yorkers because of his disparaging "New York values" comments a few months ago.

The scene as Cruz speaks at NYC GOP Gala pic.twitter.com/Pwx8I0Ci25  Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) April 15, 2016

The phrase was used by Cruz to describe GOP front-runner Donald Trump in a negative light. Cruz's speech Thursday didn't receive the typical high level of applause and laughs seen at prior campaign rallies, NBC News reported.

Instead, the gala crowd did not react when Cruz paused for laughter after his remark, "I haven't built any buildings in NYC."
Two University of Hartford students are accused of facilitating an armed attack at a dorm on Saturday morning, but police and the schools public safety officers are still looking for two men who actually held a student and his girlfriend at gunpoint.

Hartford police received a call about an assault with a gun on the University of Hartford campus around 4 a.m. on Saturday and met with the victim, who lives in B complex.

He told police that two men knocked on the door of his room while he was there with his girlfriend, pushed the door open and held the two victims at gunpoint.

One intruder had the gun, while the other was wearing a white face mask, according to the school, and the intruders asked the victims where the "weed" was.

When the male student denied having any cannabis, the intruders punched him in the face several times, officials said. The student didnt suffer serious injuries and denied medical attention.

University of Hartford officials said two students were charged in connection with the home invasion.

One, a first-year student from New York City, has been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit home invasion, according to school officials.

School officials said he knowingly gave the intruders access to the dorm, then helped them find their way across campus to another residence hall and back to their car as they fled.

The student, who has no prior criminal record, was ordered to have no contact with the victims and cannot go on campus. His bond was set at $200,000 and he is due back in court on April 29.

A second student is also expected to face charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit home invasion. School officials said the student is suspected of initiating the attack because of a previous situation with another occupant of the room that was targeted. That occupant was not there during the home invasion.

Bond was set at $150,000 and he is due in court on May 7.

School officials said this was an isolated incident and there is no imminent danger to the public.

Police are still looking for the two people who attacked the student and his girlfriend and said they are not believed to be students at the university.

Anyone with information should call University of Public Safety at 860-768-7985.
Houston police stepped up the search Friday for a gunman who they say ambushed and seriously wounded a Texas deputy constable, after investigators concluded that a suspect they had questioned was not involved in the shooting.

Crime Stoppers of Houston, a nonprofit public safety organization, doubled to $10,000 a reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for the shooting of Harris County Deputy Constable Alden Clopton.

Authorities said Clopton, 48, was shot four times from behind late Wednesday as the assailant stood on the other side of a four-lane road in a neighborhood about three miles south of downtown Houston. Clopton was trying to assist another officer in a routine traffic stop. Police are unsure of the motive but said they believe it was an ambush.

Investigators initially focused on questioning a man with a long criminal history, Chester Irving, 46, who appeared at a fire station near the scene about 30 minutes after the shooting. According to Harris County court records, the Houston resident had been arrested 32 arrests beginning in 1988 for a variety of offenses involving burglary, drugs, prostitution, forgery and weapons violations.

"He showed up with a gun magazine, which you slide into the gun," Houston police spokesman Keese Smith said. Authorities had said Thursday that police were not actively looking for anyone else.

On Friday they reversed course and said that Irving had not been involved in the shooting and instead charged him with illegally possessing a gun. As a felon, Irving was not allowed to have a gun.

"During the course of the interviews we were doing with him he said, `Yeah, I have a gun but I hid it before I came to the fire station,"' Smith said.

Police gave no explanation of why they had ruled out Irving.

"It's fair to say we're still looking for the shooter," Smith said.

Doctors have said Clopton suffered wounds to his chest and abdomen and should fully recover, but will remain in the hospital for about a week.

Authorities initially said that Clopton's life might have been saved by wearing a bulletproof vest. But the Harris County Precinct 7 Constable's Office said Friday it was not clear if the vest was removed by paramedics at the scene or if Clopton was not wearing it when the shooting happened.

"We will not be able to give a definite answer until the investigation has been completed," Constable's Office spokeswoman Pamela Greenwood said.

Constables in some regions are tasked with serving warrants and providing court security, but in the Houston area they generally provide the same policing coverage as other law agencies.

Clopton is an 11-year veteran of the Harris County Precinct 7 Constable force and comes from a law enforcement family. He has three brothers who are law officers, his wife is a Harris County sheriff's deputy and a son is an officer in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Clopton is the second Harris County law officer to be shot from behind in an unprovoked attack in the past year. Texas prosecutors in August charged a 30-year-old man with capital murder in the killing of sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth, who was gunned down while filling his patrol car with gas in what officials described as a "senseless and cowardly act."
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge trekked through blue pine forests to visit a famed Buddhist monastery in Bhutan on Friday during their weeklong tour of South Asia.

Taktsang Monastery, also known as Tiger's Nest, clings to the side of a cliff. Once Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, reached it, they greeted monks in maroon robes and lit butter-fueled ritual lamps.

They listened to a guide tell the history and legends surrounding Buddhism's most sacred monastery complex in Bhutan, built in 1692 at an altitude of 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). According to one legend, an 8th-century Buddhist master flew to the site on the back of a tigress and subdued a local demon before staying three months to meditate.

It normally takes locals more than two hours to make the steep climb, but the royal couple  climbing hand-in-hand  were a bit faster. "The royal couple climbed very fast," Bhutan's information secretary, Kinley Dorji, told the Associated Press.

Halfway up, the prince told reporters the view was "absolutely stunning."

Horses were kept at the ready in case the royals became tired, but they did not use them.

William's father, Prince Charles, had planned to make the same hike in 1998, but he was injured in a polo match, so instead he stopped before the ascent and painted a scenic picture in watercolor.

On Thursday, the British royals met with Bhutan's popular king and queen and practiced archery, a national sport in the Himalayan country.

The British royals are on a weeklong tour of India and Bhutan. They have already visited Mumbai, New Delhi and the wildlife reserve of Kaziranga National Park in the northeast Indian state of Assam, where they hoped to raise awareness of the plight of endangered rhinos and other animals threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

On Saturday, they plan to return to India and visit the Taj Mahal, retracing the steps of a 1992 visit to the monument of love by William's mother, the late Princess Diana.
Students graduating from two international courses at the City University of Hong Kong will be joined for their graduation today by a delegation from the University of Bristol.

The 10 Doctorate in Education (EdD) graduates and 10 MEd Education Management graduates will be presented with their qualifications at the Wei Hing Theatre on City University's campus, by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, Professor Hugh Brady.

Professor Brady said: We have been working together with City University to provide these courses for more than 20 years. I am delighted to be able to attend this graduation, and Im extremely proud of the students and their success.

The EdD and MEd  now MSc  Education Management courses are a collaboration between City Universitys School of Continuing and Professional Education (SCOPE) and Bristols Graduate School of Education. They allow educational professionals the opportunity to study for a UK doctorate or MSc, taught by staff from the University of Bristol, entirely in Hong Kong without having to interrupt their careers or leave the context. The long and successful partnership between the two institutions ensures a high level of recruitment, year after year, in what is an increasingly competitive market.

Dr Louis Ma, Director of SCOPE, City University of Hong Kong said We have witnessed over 300 educators graduated from these two long-standing courses since collaboration. We have enjoyed a strong partnership for over 20 years and treasure the quality and research training provided by Bristols dedicated and enthusiastic academic and research faculties.

Professor Sally Barnes, Graduate Dean for the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol said: These are not easy programmes and our graduates can feel very proud of their achievements. It is so good to see how CityU SCOPE and the Graduate School of Education at Bristol continue to have a deep and lasting relationship through all these years. Congratulations to all.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Some California lawmakers want the head of the University of California at Davis to quit over the school's public-relations spending.

The Sacramento Bee reports Friday that least seven state lawmakers are now calling for the resignation of school Chancellor Linda Katehi.

The demands follow reports by the newspaper that the school paid image consultants at least $175,000 to try to clean up the online image of the university and Katehi. The newspaper says university officials were seeking to play down negative search-engine results over a 2011 incident in which campus police doused students with pepper spray.

UC Davis officials say the school was working to ensure it was fairly portrayed online.
Hillary Clinton spoke with supporters Saturday at Los Angeles Southwest College before scheduled fundraising events for her presidential campaign, including one at the home of George Clooney.

At Los Angeles Southwest College, the former secretary of discussed her plans to raise wages and break down all the barriers that hold Americans back, an aide said.

Clinton has proposed tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses; a profit sharing tax credit, creating a 15 percent tax credit for companies that share profits with workers on top of wages and pay increases; and raising

the federal minimum wage to $12.

Clinton's plan also calls for a cap on itemized deductions; a 4 percent surtax on taxpayers with incomes over $5 million; establishes a 30 percent minimum tax on taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of over $1 million; raising taxes on medium-term capital gains to between 27.8 percent and 47.4 percent; and restoring the estate tax to 2009 levels.

According to an analysis conducted by the The Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan and nonprofit research institution, Clinton's tax plan would reduce the gross domestic product by 1 percent over the long term due to slightly higher marginal tax rates on capital and labor.

It would also cause the after-tax incomes of all taxpayers to fall by at least 0.9 percent.

Ninio Fetalvo, a Republican National Committee deputy press secretary, called Clinton's economic plan "harmful,'' saying it will "shrink the economy, cost jobs and reduce wages.''

There was no immediate response to an email to the Clinton campaign seeking comment.

Clinton has also pledged to fight for full federal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans; end LGBT conversion therapy for minors; ensure adequate funding and safe and welcoming shelter for youth; protect transgender rights; and promote human rights of LGBT people around the

world.

Clinton's first fundraiser will be an afternoon reception in Koreatown. Tickets are $2,700, the maximum individual contribution under federal law to a candidate seeking a party's presidential nomination, according to Political Party Time, a website that tracks political fundraisers.

Couples that have made $5,400 in contribution to Clinton's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination will be able to have their pictures taken with Clinton. Those raising $30,000 received an invitation to a host

reception with Clinton.

Clinton also spoke at a $33,400 per person fundraiser for the Hillary Victory Fund at Clooney's Studio City home. The higher amount is permissible because it is a joint fundraising committee, benefiting her presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee and 33 state Democratic Parties.

The price is based on the $33,400 maximum amount an individual can contribute to a national party committee in a year.

Individuals contributing and raising a total of $353,400 get two seats at the head table with Clinton and Clooney, the Oscar-winning actor and producer, and his wife Amal, an attorney.

Clooney was also the attraction at a fundraising dinner with an identical price Friday night in San Francisco.

The campaign of Clinton's opponent for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, ran a television commercial in San Francisco, which it also plans to run at approximately 8 p.m. tonight in the Los Angeles market, promoting what he has repeatedly said was the average contribution to his campaign -- $27.

The commercial is Sanders' first to run in California, which will hold its primary on June 7.

This trip is the 68-year-old Clinton's 10th to the Los Angeles area since declaring her candidacy on April 12, 2015. Her previous visits included 22 fundraisers.

"Hillary Clinton represents all of the reasons people are frustrated with politics,'' Fetalvo told City News Service, citing her "peddling political access to the highest bidders, spewing hypocritical attacks or recklessly attempting to avoid transparency and accountability.''
A man who allegedly killed his wife's nephews after learning she wanted a divorce and then fled to Hong Kong, was brought back to Los Angeles on Friday to face murder charges, authorities said.

Deyun "Jeff" Shi, 44, is accused of killing brothers William and Anthony Lin, 15 and 16, who were found by their parents at their home in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue in Arcadia on Jan. 22.

At a news conference announcing Shi's status, the boys' father, David Lin, thanked the community for their support and law enforcement for bringing "the evil" back to the United States to face justice.

"It's very, very difficult for me and my wife," he said while cradling large photos of his beaming sons in shirts and ties. "Day and night, every moment, it's pain for us. As you can see ... we used our love to raise these two boys. Just in one night, they're gone. They're gone forever."

Family attorney Rose Tsai said the suspect took two "wonderful, wonderful young brothers."

"They were happy," Tsai said. "They were studious. They liked to volunteer. They had a very, very happy family life. This was all shattered because of this tragic incident."

Shi faces two counts of murder with an allegation that he used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a bolt cutter, in the commission of the crimes, prosecutors said. He is expected to make his first appearance in a U.S. courtroom on Monday in Pasadena, authorities said.

Shi is also charged with one count of injuring a spouse with an allegation of personally inflicting great bodily injury and using a deadly and dangerous weapon in the commission of the crime, a maul, a type of hammer.

Shi allegedly fled that day to Hong Kong, where he was arrested.

Shi is accused of killing them after becoming enraged that his wife had obtained a restraining order against him and had begun divorce proceedings, officials said.

Shi, a Chinese national who was living in La Canada Flintridge, allegedly assaulted his wife the day before the killings.

Shi fled on a plane to China, but was taken into custody by Hong Kong authorities the day after the boys' bodies were found once he landed at Hong Kong International Airport, officials said.

China has no extradition treaty with the United States, but since 1998, Hong Kong has allowed the return of fugitives through a mutual legal assistance arrangement with the U.S.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said law enforcement worked hard to navigate a complicated network of local, state, federal and international bureaucracies to bring the suspect back.

"Justice will be served for the young teenage victims and a family shattered by tragedy," he said.

NBC Wire Services contributed to this report.
The University of California, Davis contracted with consultants for at least $175,000 to clean its online reputation following the November 2011 pepper-spraying of student protesters on campus, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.

Documents the newspaper obtained through a California Public Records Act request show some payments were made in hopes of eliminating negative search results for the school and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi.

Others sought to come up with a new plan for the UC Davis strategic communications office and improve its use of social media.

"We have worked to ensure that the reputation of the university, which the chancellor leads, is fairly portrayed," said UC Davis spokeswoman Dana Topousis. "We wanted to promote and advance the important teaching, research and public service done by our students, faculty and staff, which is the core mission of our university."

The newspaper said that the documents reflect an effort to counteract negative publicity that arose after the Nov. 18, 2011, pepper-spraying of student protesters by campus police, which gained nationwide attention. The Bee said that fallout continued for more than a year, as investigations and lawsuits played out and spawned criticism of UC Davis and demands that Katehi resign.

Under Katehi, who became chancellor in 2009, the university has substantially increased its strategic communications budget from $2.93 million the year the embattled chancellor took over to $5.47 million in 2015.

Katehi has more recently been under fire for joining the boards of a textbook publisher and a for-profit university.

In January 2013, UC Davis hired the Maryland-based Nevins & Associates, founded by David Nevins, a former chairman of the Maryland Board of Regents, to find ways to remove the 2011 incident from Internet searches, the newspaper reported.

"Nevins & Associates is prepared to create and execute an online branding campaign designed to clean up the negative attention the University of California, Davis, and Chancellor Katehi have received related to the events that transpired in November 2011," a six-page proposal from Nevins promised.

"Online evidence and the venomous rhetoric about UC Davis and the Chancellor are being filtered through the 24-hour news cycle, but it is at a tepid pace," it said.

Nevins' office said Wednesday he would not comment on the contract.

The following year, the university contracted with Sacramento-based ID Media Partners to "achieve a reasonable balance of positive natural search results on common terms concerning UC Davis and Chancellor Katehi."

The firm, which does business under the name IDMLOCO, was awarded two more contracts in 2015 to integrate a social media program "for executive communications" and to assess the University's Strategic Communications redesign.

IDMLOCO co-founders Matt Eagan and Bryan Merica, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Donald Trump has retained a massive lead over his two Republican rivals in the New York primary with days to go before voting, an NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll has found.

Fifty-four percent of Republican voters surveyed said they were planning to vote for Trump on Tuesday, with a 29-point gulf between him and his closest rival, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the poll found. The same percentage of voters said they were going to vote for Trump in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released on Monday, which pollsters say indicates the political landscape has not changed much since candidates began campaigning heavily in the Empire State.

Trump led the field regardless of region, age, gender, religion, education and income among likely Republican voters polled.

Kasich has seen a slight uptick in the week leading up to the election. In Monday's poll, the Ohio governor had the support of 21 percent of surveyed voters; in Friday's poll, that number had climbed to 25 percent. Friday's poll had a 5.5-point margin of error.

Cruz, who drew jeers for his comments about "New York values" earlier in the campaign and was apparently ignored at a GOP dinner in Manhattan Thursday, has the most ground to gain. Only 16 percent of voters said they supported Cruz, down from 18 percent in Monday's poll.

Kasich also was the leading second choice for likely Republican voters, according to the poll. Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed said they'd probably cast a ballot for Kasich if they changed their mind, compared with 30 percent for Cruz and 14 percent for Trump.

However, more than half of those polled say they're not likely to change their choice between now and Tuesday. The poll found that 64 percent of the 313 Republicans polled strongly supported their chosen candidate. Trump had the most committed support, with 70 percent of his supporters saying they will not waver in their commitment to him.

The release of the poll comes after more than a week of stops and rallies for Trump, Kasich and Cruz. On Thursday, Trump made an appearance near the site of a hate-crime killing on Long Island amid protests, then flew to the New York State Republican Gala. He, Kasich and Cruz all spoke at the event.

Prior to that, the three candidates had made stops throughout the Empire State, with Cruz and Kasich visiting matzo bakeries in New York City. Cruz, who was shouted at by a protester during his first stop at a restaurant in the Bronx, has made the fewest appearances in the state.

On Thursday, a NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist showed Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders among likely Democratic voters.
One of the two firefighters shot while checking on a man's welfare in Maryland Friday night has died, officials confirmed.

John Ulmshneider, 37, was a 13-year veteran of the Prince George's County Fire Department, a husband and a father of a 2-year-old daughter, fire officials said.

"Will it ever end? God, I hope so. But at the end of the day, the men and women of public safety are going to be there when the community needs us. And that's the reality," Prince George's Police Chief Henry Stawinski said.

Firefighter Kevin Swain, 19, was shot four times and flown to Shock Trauma University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. After a lengthy operation, he is in serious but stable condition and is expected to survive his injuries.

Swain is a volunteer for the Morningside Volunteer Fire Department.

Sykesville-Freedom Fire Department

The firefighters were shot while responding to a medical call. The shooter is in custody and is cooperating with police, Stawinski said.

The incident began at about 7:30 p.m., when firefighters and police received a 911 call from a man who was worried about his brother at a home in the 5000 block of Sharon Road in Temple Hills in Prince George's County, police said.

When they arrived on the scene, the firefighters tried to communicate with the man in the home, but there was no response. When they tried to go into the house, the man inside fired several rounds, striking the two firefighters and his brother who called 911, officials said.

The man has been released from police custody, the department said about 7 p.m. Saturday. No charges have been filed.

"There was only gunfire from the resident of the home directed at public safety. After public safety got into the residence, the situation immediately became calm and no police officers fired any weapons. It was simply the resident inside," Stawinski said. "After several rounds were fired and I think they realized it was public safety, that's when the confrontation ended."

Ulmshneider was in "extremely critical condition" and was flown to Southern Maryland Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.

"Right now, we're here supporting the family as best as we can and to prepare to send our brother home," Deputy Fire Chief Benjamin Barksdale said.

Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department

Funeral arrangements for Ulmschneider were finalized Saturday. A visitation will be held on Tuesday, April 19 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St. John's Parish in Hollywood, Maryland, fire officials said. Ulmschneider's funeral will be the following day, Wednesday, April 20, at St. John's Parish and a private burial will follow the funeral.

On Saturday, Gov. Larry Hogan released the following statement:

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Prince George's County firefighter John Ulmschneider. Our administration is committed to working with Prince George's County officials as necessary, and the Maryland State Police is prepared to assist local law enforcement officials with their ongoing investigation. The First Lady and I send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of John Ulmschneider, who gave his life trying to protect the community he served. His legacy as a husband, father and firefighter, and his commitment to protecting others, will not soon be forgotten by his loved ones, the community, or Maryland. In honor and remembrance of a true hero, I have ordered the flags to be flown at half staff.

The brother of the shooter sustained a gunshot wound to his shoulder. He is in fair condition.

After announcing Ulmshneider's death, county officials recalled having to deliver similar news when Officer Jacai Colson was killed in a shootout outside a police station and also noted the crash that seriously injured a Maryland State Trooper on Thursday.

"And yet you're going to find that tonight, there are firefighters responding to calls, there are police officers responding for calls for service, there are state troopers responding to calls for serivce, to protect this community," Stawinski said.

"The main thing that we ask for the men and women of Prince George's County are your prayers, your thoughts," said Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker.

Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said the county will do a thorough investigation of the shooting.

"Tonight we're here to express our sorrow, to support the men and women of this department, to wrap our arms around this family and to be here as a family," Alsobrooks said.

Two other Morningside volunteer firefighters were injured after the shooting while seeking cover. One firefighter sustained a knee injury and another sustained an injury to her jaw.

Both members were treated and released from the hospital Saturday morning.
After a video showing the paddling of a 5-year-old boy by a Georgia principal over bad behavior at his school went viral, questions arose over the use of corporal punishment in education and whether it is legal in our area.

Opinions on using corporal punishment as a legitimate way to correct children for bad behavior range from 'definite no' to 'absolutely fine' and everywhere in between.

A 2013 Harris Poll found that 81 percent of American parents believed spanking their children was sometimes appropriate, while 19 percent believed it was never appropriate.

Using corporal punishment on children is legal in the United States, but statutes vary from state to state.

Nineteen states allow corporal punishment in schools, but all have guidelines on when it is OK, and most require that schools gain consent from the parent before punishing the child.

In Georgia, where the video was taken, corporal punishment is allowed in schools. In a statement given by the Jasper County School District, the school says corporal punishment is permitted "as one of the consequences of behavior," and adds that when it is used "it is with parental consent."

A viral video of a boy being spanked in a Georgia school has a lot of people talking. NBC10s Rosemary Connors has reaction from parents in our region regarding corporal punishment.

When it comes to our area, both Pennsylvania and New Jersey prohibit the use of corporal punishment in schools. Laws in both states allow school authorities to use reasonable force under certain circumstances, such as to obtain possession of weapons or in self-defense, but not as a form of discipline for typical behavior issues.

Delaware is well known for its adoption of a law that bans corporal punishment on children not only in schools, but also by their own parents. The law defines "physical injury" to include pain and prohibits any act that is likely to cause physical injury to a child.

The states where corporal punishment in schools is legal are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.

Nineteen states say spanking is OK in schools. But a new video of a Georgia principal paddling a 5-year-old boy has many asking  should corporal punishment be allowed in schools? Dr. Frank Farley is a Humanistic Psychologist with his take on this paddling controversy.
Defending a Texas state law banning the sale of sex toys, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz argued in a 2007 court brief that individuals have no legal right to use them, even in the privacy of their own bedrooms.

Prior to becoming a U.S. senator, Cruz was for more than five years Texas' solicitor general, arguing the state's legal positions in court. He often cites that experience to burnish his credentials as a Christian conservative.

On the campaign trail, Cruz frequently reminds audiences that he used the job to defend capital punishment and oppose abortion, while preserving the words "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and defending a monument to the Ten Commandments on the state Capitol grounds.

But Cruz makes no mention of a decade-old case he lost  his defense of Texas' sex-toy ban. The story was first reported by Mother Jones magazine.

The law, approved in the 1970s, banned as obscene any device "useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." The same law also declared that anyone possessing six or more such items was presumed to be promoting sex-toy usage through manufacture, sale, lending, delivery or other means.

Joanne Webb, a 43-year-old mother of three and former fifth-grade teacher, was arrested in 2003 after selling a sex toy to an undercover police officer during a gathering of adult couples similar to a Tupperware party held at a home in a Fort Worth suburb.

Though the criminal charges against Webb were eventually dropped, a collection of sex-toy companies sued in federal court to challenge the constitutionality of the state's ban.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals later ruled that the Texas law violated 14th Amendment privacy rights. Then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, now the state's Republican governor, unsuccessfully appealed, asking the full appeals court to review the case.

As solicitor general Cruz co-wrote an 83-page brief arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court "has never suggested that the substantive-due-process doctrine ensures individuals' ability to stimulate their genitals in ways that are neither connected to procreation nor associated with any particular lifestyle."

In an interview Friday night on New York's WABC radio, Cruz was asked if he would ban the sale of sex toys if he became president.

"Look, of course not, it's a ridiculous question, and of course not," Cruz responded. "What people do in their own private time with themselves is their own business and it's none of government's business."

Cruz campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart noted in an email that as solicitor general, Cruz had an obligation to defend Texas' laws in court, regardless of whether he agreed with them.

"Senator Cruz personally believes that the Texas law in question was, as (Supreme Court) Justice (Clarence) Thomas said in another context, an 'uncommonly silly' law," Stewart said. "But the office was nevertheless duty-bound to defend the policy judgment of the Texas Legislature."

Cruz defended the Texas ban as "protecting public morals  discouraging prurient interests in sexual gratification" and argued that in doing so the state had a vested moral interest in discouraging "autonomous sex."

Cruz's brief also suggested that the legal sale of sexual enhancement drugs such as Viagra was different because it can't be described as a "device." Couples, even married ones, willing to use sex toys may also "believe that hiring a willing prostitute or engaging in consensual bigamy would enhance their sexual experiences," Cruz warned.
The demand for cage-free eggs is skyrocketing.

Walmart says it's making the switch, joining major players like Costco, McDonalds, Jack in the Box and Trader Joe's that are in transition for cage-free eggs. Walmart says they will be totally cage-free by 2010. That gives egg farmers across the country time to switch their barns to meet the growing demand.

"All these people wouldn't be changing to cage-free eggs if the consumer didn't want them," said Lakeside egg farmer Frank Hilliker. Hilliker Ranch has been around San Diego County since 1942. But until a new California law took effect on January 2015, most farmers were not making the switch. Proposition 2 required farmers to expand their cages and give hens more room, or create cage-free barns.

"Cage-free used to be something special," said Hilliker, "now this type of style cage-free will be your new convention egg." Hilliker has transformed two of his five barns into cage-free. The third generation farmer has 24,000 birds that produce about 18,000 eggs a day.

But will the cage-free egg demand lead to lower prices? Right now a dozen cage-free eggs can cost $2 to $3 more than other eggs. Farmers are not able to raise as many hens under the new rules and egg production is down. But if farmers want to meet the demands of giants like Costco and Walmart, competition could leader to lower prices for the consumer.

"Most people don't want to pay more," said Hilliker, "we've lost a lot of business." But he's finding a growing demand for his cage-free eggs is changing that. The cost to convert his barns is around $200,000 but he hopes the increased demand will make it worth the switch.
Unplanned outages Saturday afternoon left more than 5,000 customers without power across parts of Escondido, Rancho Penasquitos and Rancho Bernardo.

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) confirmed several outages began around 2:10 p.m. Power was expected to be restored in all impacted areas by 5 p.m.

The power outages impacted parts of east, west and south Escondido, as well as San Pasqual, West Bernardo, Del Dios and Lake Hodges.

The company said crews were assessing the outages and trying to determine the cause.

By 2:45 p.m., power had been restored to about 1,800 customers but 3,200 still remained in the dark.
A 911 dispatcher who was working when three Virginia police officers were recently shot, one of them fatally, says the tragedy has brought her coworkers closer together.

Mesheka Cunningham dispatched emergency crews the night of Feb. 27, when the three officers responded to a domestic call.

Started out as a normal day. We were switching shifts so its pretty busy within the center, Cunningham said.

Police said Ronald Hamilton opened fire on officers David McKeown, Jesse Hempen and Ashley Guindon after killing his wife, Crystal Hamiliton.

"So he needed help and I just started dispatching, Cunningham said.

She said the situation was personal for her and the other dispatchers.

It is [personal] because you know them. These are my coworkers over the years. Ive laughed with them, Dave, Jesse. You know them and you know when somethings right and you know when somethings wrong. And that day, it was very wrong. I could hear it in their voice, she said.

Officer Guindon was killed. It was her first day on the job.

McKeown and Hempen were wounded and are now recovering.

It was a bad day, but its brought a lot of us together - closer together, Cunningham said. This is not a 9 to 5. You have to love it to do it. And I do.

Hamilton has been charged with capital murder.
Learn more now about how to protect your family from unsafe cords from blinds and other window coverings.

Click here for information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission about cord safety.

And click here for information from the Window Covering Safety Council.

Here is a statement from the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA):

WCMA is proud that many of the cordless products displayed at todays media event hosted by CPSC and Health Canada were developed and manufactured by WCMA member companies, who continue to innovate and introduce new technologies. The window covering industry, CPSC, and safety advocates all agree that only cordless window coverings or those with inaccessible cords should be used in homes with young children. The WCMA launched the Best for Kids certification program in 2015 to help consumers and retailers easily identify those window covering products that are suitable for use in homes with infants and young children.

Consumers should look for the Best for Kids label on the packaging to identify these products. WCMA also has initiated the process of revising the voluntary corded window covering safety standard. As with previous updates to the standard, this process will be inclusive and WCMA looks forward to working with representatives from the CPSC, Health Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union, as well as representatives from consumer groups and all facets of the window covering industry throughout this process.
What to Know Friday morning's demonstration coincides with Emancipation Day.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she will propose legislation to put the issue of D.C. statehood on the ballot in November.

Bowser made the pledge on whether to make D.C. the 51st state on Friday, the same day advocates for statehood marched along Pennsylvania Avenue to call attention to the cause.

The statehood advocates joined activists who demonstrated at the Capitol this week about the role of money in politics and other issues.

Bowser said the legislation would be proposed this summer.

The demonstration Friday morning also coincides with a local holiday, D.C. Emancipation Day, which commemorates President Abraham Lincoln's freeing of more than 3,000 slaves in the nation's capital.

The District's 672,000 residents pay federal taxes and fight in wars but lack voting representation in Congress. Statehood advocates argue that making the nation's capital a state is the best solution.

But the effort has gone nowhere in Congress, in part, because the city is overwhelmingly Democratic, and Republicans don't want to hand two Senate seats to Democrats.
Police determined that a reported SWAT situation in Woburn, Massachusetts, was a hoax.

Crews responded to an apartment building on Westgate Drive, where a man said he had barricaded himself after telling police he shot his mother Friday.

The caller also told police his brother and another man were injured in the apartment. Police said he disconnected his phone after making the call.

Later in the evening, police confirmed it was a "swatting" incident, but explained that they treat every situation like it's real until they know it's not.

This was not the only such hoax in Massachusetts Friday. Police in Wilmington also confirmed a swatting incident in town.

A hoax threat was also called into the IMAX 3D Theater at Jordan's Furniture in Natick. The building was evacuated after a caller said there was a bomb and an armed gunman inside, but police determined there was no threat to public safety.

The hoaxes all come on the third anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Partly cloudy skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph.
Columnist

Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich).
A nationwide study of 2.3 million Israeli adolescents, examined from 1967 through 2010, finds an association between elevated body-mass index in late adolescence, and subsequent cardiovascular mortality in midlife.

Overweight and obesity in adolescents have increased substantially in recent decades, and currently affect a third of the adolescent population in some developed countries. This is an important public health concern because obesity early in life is considered to be a risk factor for death from cardiovascular disease and from all causes in adulthood.

Some studies suggest that an elevated body-mass index is associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular causes. However, a determination of the BMI threshold that is associated with increased risk of fatality remains uncertain. (BMI is a calculation of a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters, to quantify body mass and enable categorization as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.)

In light of the worldwide increase in childhood obesity, Prof. Jeremy Kark and Dr. Hagai Levine from the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Medicine, together with Dr. Gilad Twig of Sheba Medical Center and other colleagues in Israel, set out to determine the association between body-mass index (BMI) in late adolescence and death from cardiovascular causes in adulthood.

Their study, which appears in The New England Journal of Medicine, was based on a national database of 2.3 million Israeli 17 year olds in whom height and weight were measured between 1967 and 2010. The researchers assessed the association between BMI in late adolescence and death from coronary heart disease, stroke, and sudden death in adulthood by mid-2011.

During 42,297,007 person-years of follow-up, 2918 of 32,127 deaths (9.1%) were from cardiovascular causes, including 1497 from coronary heart disease, 528 from stroke, and 893 from sudden death.

The results showed an increase in the risk of cardiovascular death in the group that was considered within the "accepted normal" range of BMI, in the 50th to 74th percentiles, and of death from coronary heart disease at BMI values above 20. The researchers concluded that even BMI considered "normal" during adolescence was associated with a graded increase in cardiovascular and all-cause mortality during the 40 years of follow-up. This included increased rates of death from coronary heart disease, stroke, and total cardiovascular causes among participants.

As BMI scores increased into the 75th to 84th percentiles, adolescent obesity was associated with elevated risk of death from coronary heart disease, stroke, sudden death from unknown causes, and death from total cardiovascular causes, as well as death from non-cardiovascular causes and death from all causes. Participants also had an increased risk of sudden death.

The rates of death per person-year were generally lowest in the group that had BMI values during adolescence in the 25th to 49th percentiles, although higher rates were observed among those below the 5th percentile.

How might adolescent BMI influence cardiovascular outcomes in adulthood? The researchers considered two possible pathways. First, obesity may be harmful during adolescence, since it has been associated with unfavorable metabolic abnormalities through risk factors such as unfavorable plasma lipid or lipoprotein levels, increased blood pressure, impaired glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, and formation of coronary and aortic atherosclerotic plaques. Furthermore, the timing of exposure to obesity during a person's lifetime may play an important role. Second, BMI tends to "track' along the life course so that overweight adolescents tend to become overweight or obese adults, and overweight or obesity in adulthood affects the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Being on the lookout for certain features of polyps may help physicians keep a closer eye on patients at risk for colorectal cancer.

Starting at age 50, or earlier with certain risk factors, patients are advised to be screened for colon cancer at regular intervals. Colonoscopy is an effective screening test because it allows doctors to find and view individual polyps (growths), and to remove them before they become cancerous.

Adenomas are polyps (small growths in the lining of the colon) that can vary in their size and shape, but are potentially precursors to colon cancer. Removal of these polyps reduces the risk of colon cancer. Flat adenomas are precancerous polyps that do not have a typical polyp- like appearance during endoscopy.

A new study in GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), "Prevalence of advanced histological features and synchronous neoplasia in patients with flat adenomas," indicates that a patient who had at least one flat adenoma had a higher chance of having multiple lesions with more advanced changes.

The researchers looked at data from three clinical trials conducted at two medical centers that included patients undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopy. The location, size, form and structure of each removed polyp was documented and sent for microscopic examination.

A total of 2931 polyps were removed in 1340 patients. Of the 1911 adenomas (65.2%), 293 (15.3%) were flat. The analysis showed that the presence of at least one flat adenoma was a predictor of the presence of a large adenoma, adenomas with advanced microscopic features, and three or more adenomas.

The authors concluded that flat adenomas are associated with more frequent occurrence of large and advanced adenomas as well as multiple adenomas appearing at the same time. This could mean that patients with these results should be examined more often and more closely than patients with other types of polyps.
After a stroke, there is inflammation in the damaged part of the brain. Until now, the inflammation has been seen as a negative consequence that needs to be abolished as soon as possible. But, as it turns out, there are also some positive sides to the inflammation, and it can actually help the brain to self-repair.

"This is in total contrast to our previous beliefs", says Professor Zaal Kokaia from Lund University in Sweden.

Zaal Kokaia, together with Professor of Neurology Olle Lindvall, runs a research group at the Lund Stem Cell Center that, in collaboration with colleagues at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, is responsible for these findings. Hopefully, these new data will lead to new ways of treating stroke in the future. The study was recently published in the international Journal of Neuroscience.

When stroke occurs, the nerve cells in the damaged area of the brain die, causing an inflammation that attracts cells from the immune system. Among them you find monocytes - a type of white blood cells produced in the bone marrow.

The monocytes travel to the inflamed area, and here they develop into macrophages that clear out any dead tissue. But this is not all that they do: they also secrete substances that help the brain repair the damage.

"This is what we, together with Michal Schwartz's research group in Israel, have been able to show", says Zaal Kokaia.

Most stroke patients recover at least partly over time. This spontaneous improvement is well known, but not its exact cause. The Lund researchers now believe that the improvement is partly due to the substances released by the immune cells.

In their study, they actually performed the opposite: in animal model of stroke they were able to ablate monocytes from the blood. Mice with decreased number of circulating monocytes were much less successful in their recovery from stroke than mice whose immune system was functioning as normal.

Today's treatment against stroke primarily involves dissolving or removing the blood clot that caused the stroke. However, such treatments must be performed in the very early phase after the insult, which means that most stroke patients are too late to receive it. A future treatment method - one that could be based on the Lund researchers' new findings and that aims to promote self-healing - could be implemented later. This treatment could start at some point within the first few weeks, rather than within the first few hours after a stroke.

The Lund researchers have focused on what happens in the brain during this later stage. Among other things, they were the first to show that, after a stroke, the brain produces new nerve cells from its own stem cells. They now want to proceed with animal experiments to see if the self-healing can be improved by adding more monocytes to the brain, or by stimulating the production of monocytes in bone marrow.

"Obviously, there is a difference between mice and humans, but there is no indication that our brains function differently in this regard", says Olle Lindvall.

He further argues that this new insight concerning the positive effects of inflammation could also be applied to other diseases. The Lund research group's collaborators from Israel have obtained similar results in cases of spinal cord injury.

"This is no less than a paradigm shift within research, as inflammation has in many instances been seen as a purely negative phenomenon that should be combatted using any means available. We now realise that this view is much too simplistic", says Olle Lindvall.
Premature birth is a harsh change of environment for a baby. Until birth, the baby is confined to the mother's womb, surrounded by soft lighting and filtered noise. When infants are born, they are attacked by several visual, sound, and tactile stimulations. These stimulations thus constitute unpleasant factors for them. Their impact has not been studied in depth yet. Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the neonatal team of the Grenoble university hospital (CHU), and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) examined the consequences of noise on the sensory abilities of premature babies. For the first time, this enabled the researchers to reveal the effect of a negative stimulus on the sensory functions of newborns. These results are available on the website of the journal Scientific Reports.

In a so-called normal pregnancy, there are approximately 40 weeks of amenorrhea (the number of weeks since the end of the last menstrual period of the mother). Premature babies between weeks 28 and 33 of amenorrhea, or approximately two months before delivery, run the risk of developing neuro-developmental difficulties and disorders due to the prematurity in and of itself, and due to an unfavorable post-natal environment as well.

Preemies are indeed constantly surrounded by loud noise, such as the noise from feed pump alarms, which ring eight times per day. The impact of the noise itself has already been examined. It has been proven that it disturbs the infants' sleep, vital signs, and autoregulatory capacity. But how does it impact the infants' precocious tactile abilities?

"Multisensory integration, the interplay between all senses, is fundamental for all individuals, and little is still know about that of preemies," explains Edouard Gentaz, a psychology professor at the UNIGE School of Psychology and Education Sciences. "We already know that premature newborns are capable of memorizing the shapes of small objects (prisms and cylinders), and of distinguishing them from each other starting from week 28 of amenorrhea. As such, we wanted to assess the impact of daily noise on the precocious tactile abilities of newborns. We observed that this has a real impact on the sensory learning of the child," explains Fleur Lejeune, a psychology instructor at the UNIGE School of Psychology and Education Sciences, and the first author of the study.

The harmful impact of noise on tactile abilities has been proved

To prove this, 63 babies were randomly divided into two groups and placed into silent and noisy environmental conditions. The study started with the infants in the silent environment. In the first part of the experiment, the so-called habituation phase, the researchers placed a prism in the hands of the babies. As soon as the infant released the object, the researchers put it back in the infant's hands. As the experiment went on, the infant always released the prism more quickly. This means the infant gradually lost interest for an object that became familiar to him or her. In the second part of the study, the so-called test phase, a second cylindrically shaped object was given to only half of the babies. The other half of the babies received the prism again. The researchers were able to observe that babies receiving the new object usually held it for a longer time, compared to those who held the same object as before. Thus the shortened holding time was not due to fatigue, but to lack of interest in an object that the baby became familiar with.

However, regarding the infants placed in a noisy environment, the researchers observed that they had more problems becoming familiar with the prism during the habituation phase. As the testing continued, the holding time did not decrease, as if it was more difficult to memorize the object in the presence of noise. Moreover, during the test phase, the newborns held the new cylindrical object as well as the already familiar prism for a longer time. This shows that the newborns did not distinguish the two shapes from one another. The habituation process thus did not seem to be effective enough in the presence of noise.

"Our study shows there is precocious functional communication between the tactile and auditory modalities of premature babies," explains Edouard Gentaz. "At the hospital, the baby constantly has to submit to noise from various alarms that activate the baby's auditory sensoriality. This disturbs its tactile sensoriality," adds pediatrician Johanna Parra from the neonatal unit in Grenoble.

These results highlight the importance of implementing environmental measures in neonatal units in order to reduce noise levels, e.g. via architectural considerations and the choice of equipment. Indeed, the neonatal period is critical for the genesis of neural pathways, and the precocious sensory experience plays a major role in brain development. "As noise impairs the tactile abilities of premature babies, we may wonder what the long-term impact of such auditory stimulation may be on their neural development," concludes Fleur Lejeune.

Source: Universite de Geneve (University of Geneva)
Several Northern Virginia high school debate teams said they will boycott the state championships at Liberty University, whose president, Jerry Falwell Jr., made a speech in December that many saw as threatening to Muslims.

Debate coaches and students have been lobbying the Virginia High School League, the nonprofit that oversees state interscholastic sports and academic competitions, to move the state championship to another location.

The calls to move the tournament, which is scheduled to kick off next week, came after Falwell said at the universitys convocation in December, "I've always thought that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in and killed us." Falwell later clarified his remarks to say he was referring to Islamic terrorists, not all Muslims.

In the wake of the backlash over his remarks, some debate coaches wrote to VHSL about their concerns and started a Facebook group urging the organization to move the tournament. Others gathered their teams, many of which have Muslim students on their rosters, and allowed students to decide what would happen.

Students from at least five Northern Virginia high schools have decided to boycott the championship, forgoing participation in the states premiere debate tournament. Coaches said Muslim students expressed deep concerns about their comfort and safety at the university campus in Lynchburg. And students  Muslim and non-Muslim alike  wanted to take a stand against what they regard as anti-Islam rhetoric.

Some teams backed out of all VHSL debate events and others decided to forgo just the state championship. A Washington-area television station reported Thursday that several high schools were boycotting the tournament.

Contacted Friday evening, Falwell said it was clear in his remarks from the December convocation that he meant the Islamic extremists responsible for the Dec. 2 attack in San Bernardino, California.

I wish they would contact me and ask me directly what I meant, Falwell said. The chances are theyre trying to make a political point.

Ken Tilley, the VHSLs executive director, said Friday that league officials are reevaluating whether there will be future events at Liberty University. But, he said, the debate tournament cannot be moved.

We had a commitment to the university this year, Tilley said. Were honoring that commitment and then well decide going forward where future events might be held.

He also said that he believes that the league had addressed the concerns of students who were worried about their safety.

We feel that we have protocol in place to deal with the concerns the students had, Tilley said. If they decide they dont want to participate under the conditions that have been established and the protocols that are in place for this event or any event, thats their prerogative.

Falwell said moving VHSL events would be a loss for the organization more than it would be for Liberty.

The service we provide benefits VHSL, he said. Not the other way around. It will be less wear and tear on our facilities.

Jim Dunning, the debate coach at Broad Run High in Loudoun County, said students voted unanimously to skip the event on principle and because of safety concerns for their Muslim teammates. The captain of the Broad Run team, which has won several state titles in the past dozen years, is Muslim and wears a head scarf.

It wasnt appropriate to send anyone there given the rhetoric and the weapons, said Dunning, who also is a special-education assistant at Broad Run.

A pair of students at McLean High in Fairfax County also decided to boycott the event. Fatima Shahbaz, 16, is Muslim, and her parents are concerned about her safety. But Shahbaz said she decided to forgo the opportunity because she wanted to take a stand against Falwells remarks, which she saw as an effort to intimidate minority voices. That, she said, runs counter to the spirit of debate.

The fact that there is a threat of violence, it stifles discourse, Shahbaz said.

Nonetheless, she and her debate partner, Jessica Boyer, said they were experiencing a little fear of missing out. The team was the conference champion, is undefeated this season and has strong prospects at the state championship. And students reminded them that a state debate title could bring pride to McLean High and bolster a college application.

We ultimately decided that there was nothing we could possibly value over standing what we thought was right, said Boyer, 17.

Two students from Dominion High School in Loudoun County also chose to boycott the championship, but the rest of the team will attend the tournament. The debate teams from Hayfield Secondary and Lake Braddock Secondary in Fairfax County decided to skip the championship, as well.

Duane Hyland, the coach at Lake Braddock, said all but three students voted to boycott the state tournament, something that was not an easy choice.

You want to earn trophies. You want to debate. You want to do the things youve been preparing to do all year, Hyland said. The kids rationalized that there are some things more important than trophies.
GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us.
MACCO AGENCY

The Oropouche East MP said if implemented, the law would allow any Government to usurp the role of the Police Service and target, hanky panky. He was speaking in Parliament during debate on the Strategic Services Agency (Amendment) Bill 2016.

All you are going to do is create a macco spy agency to take the job of the Police but without accountability measures of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, Moonilal said. This is a very dangerous piece of legislation. This, if passed in its present form, allows any government and any minister of national security to immediately take over the role of an independent, constitutionally-protected Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and undermine the Police Service Commission. Moonilal said he saw no evidence the bill would tackle the biggest security threat facing the nation.

This bill will not help in dealing with the threat of ISIS which is the biggest security threat of this generation, he said. The Strategic Services Agency (Amendment) Bill 2016 aims to amend the 1995 legislation which set up the SSA.

The amendment would allow the Agency to centralise information that could lead to the prevention and detection of a long list of serious offences, including murder and terrorism. Currently, the mandate of the SSA is limited to drug offences. Lawful state surveillance is governed by the Interception of Communications Act  a piece of legislation passed in 2010 after a bi-partisan pact between the Peoples Partnership Government and the PNM in the wake of the disclosure of widespread state spying.

Any person can, once authorised by the Chief of Defence Staff, the Commissioner of Police or the Director of the SSA, conduct interception.

However, the process  though secret  ostensibly involves some degree of oversight by the High Court. Moonilal said while the aim of the new bill is to allow synthesis of information from disparate agencies, he saw no evidence the provisions achieved that goal. This amendment bill cannot do that, the MP said. What you are doing is simply saying we have no confidence in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, they have failed...the SSA is now our agency of choice. He said the legislation will establish a super agency and will be taken to court.

It will be challenged in court if passed, Moonilal said. The Oropouche MP said the original intention of the SSA was to conform with international agreements to deal with drug trafficking.

They never ever contemplated expanding the ambit of the SSA, Moonilal said. Today what they have done is probably one of the laziest pieces of legislating. They have just scratched drug-trafficking and put in serious crime. You cannot do it that way. If you wanted to create a mega spy agency, a national maco, a CIA, an FBI, then come to Parliament and create an authority in law. This bill is really to empower one agency to go spying on everyone, the Opposition MP said.

This is just to ensure that the SSA has a blanket to cover everything. He said in the context of a situation where some ministers appear to have access to private housing applications, the measures could not be supported.

At one point the Oropouche East MP said Government had information suggesting the stock piling of weapons is taking place but has done nothing with this information.

Very responsible! cried Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi.

Well done, Moonilal continued.

What is the Government doing about the ISIS threat? Speaking immediately after Moonilal, Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said the SSAs role was separate from the Police Services.

The SSA is not the Police, Hinds said. The SSA is about gathering intelligence simpliciter
Newly-wed teen raped at home

According to reports, the teenager who was married under Muslim rites was at home sleeping next to her husband when at 3.45 am, two men forced their way into the house and announced a hold-up. The couple was ordered to hand over cash, cellphones, a quantity of electronic items and some tools. While one of the bandits packed the stolen items into a bag, the other ordered the teenager - at gunpoint - into a room, where he raped her .

Following the assault, the two men tied up the couple and left with the stolen items. The couple managed to untie themselves and went to the district police station where a report was made. A party of officers led by Sgt Williams went to the scene of the burglary and rape. The traumatised teen was taken to a doctor where she was medically examined. Up to press time, no arrest was made and investigations are continuing .
Moodys downgrades TT

Yesterdays announcement follows Moodys March 4 announcement that the country had been put on review for downgrade to allow the international credit rating agency to assess the extent to which TTs economic performance and Governments balance sheet will be impacted in the coming years (by) the further sharp fall in oil and gas prices.

The downgrade decision was based on two key drivers 1) Despite the authorities fiscal consolidation efforts, low oil and gas prices will negatively and materially undermine the countrys economic and government financial strength at least throughout 2018; and 2) There is a high likelihood that the policy response to the commodity price shock will not be as timely and effective as required due to lack of macroeconomic data and weak policy execution capacity.

Moodys explained that the negative outlook captures lack of visibility on how effective fiscal consolidation efforts will ultimately be and the extent to which fiscal consolidation will have to rely on one-off measures in the coming one to two years. The negative outlook also captures the possibility that government support in the form of loan guarantees to Petroleum Company of TT (Petrotrin, Ba3) could be higher than currently assumed. TTs foreign-currency bond and deposits ceilings were lowered to Baa2/P-3 and Baa3/P-3 from A3/P-2 and Baa2/P-3, respectively.

At the same time, the local-currency bond and deposits country ceilings were lowered to Baa1 from A3, Moodys said.

The ratings agency also said it would consider moving TTs outlook from negative to stable if it were to conclude that revenue and expenditure adjustments, in addition to one-off revenue measures, were likely to lead to lower fiscal deficits in the 2016 - 2017 and 2017 - 2018 fiscal years.

On the other hand, Moodys said the rating could be further downgraded if it concluded that Governments planned fiscal efforts for 2016 - 2017 were unlikely to reverse the deteriorating fiscal performance and the steady rise in government debt.

The possibility that government support in the form of loan guarantees to Petrotrin could be higher than currently assumed would add negative pressure to the rating.

Early signs of an emerging balance- of-payments crisis, such as a further sustained fall in the price of oil, pressure on the exchange rate regime or a significant fall in international reserves, would also exert downward pressure on the rating, Moodys said.
10-month-old burnt baby remains in ICU

Their father Keino Jacob, 26, a rigger, said he is confident that both children will survive the ordeal and that is his main concern. Jacob, together with his common- law wife Malicha Thomas, 23, lived in the wooden two-bedroom house at S.T.O.L Road, Palo Seco, with the two children,

Keimel is not speaking to anyone except his parents. Keimel went in for surgery on his feet because they received burns resulting in poor circulation. Kyla is coming along. She is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU),

Reports are at about 3 pm on Wednesday, fire broke out in the front bedroom of the house,

The two young children were asleep in the said bedroom while their parents were outside,

Jacob rushed into the burning house and first rescued his son and then daughter,

Recalling the tragic incident, Jacob said upon hearing the screams of Daddy, Daddy he immediately rushed inside the burning house to save his children,

I saw my son spinning in the living room area with his feet on fire. I picked him up and took him outside,

I went back inside and took my daughter,

I could have died inside because I was blinded by smoke while trying to get out, Jacob added,

During the chaos, Jacob admitted that he wanted to return to his house to save some of the household items,

But on the advice of his father, Peter, he did not,

Good thing I did not go back in there. Shortly after my father told me not to go back, a gas tank exploded followed by another one. I would have been dead. I am not a wealthy man but I had everything I wanted in my house. Just last year, I bought a 42-inch flat screen television, Jacob added,

I know Keimel was asleep but I asked anyway whether or not he was playing with fire,

Keimel said he was asleep, as I knew, and woke up because his feet were burning. Kyla is a baby and cannot speak as yet. She just turned 10 months today, Jacob added,

The structure was located a mere 20 feet from the home of his parents and siblings,

Jacob added that at the time of the fire, he was in the yard assisting his father with a dog kennel,

His common-law wife was having a bath at his parents home,

Since the incident, the man suspected to have committed arson, has not been seen in the area,

He, together with family members, called for justice as they insisted that the cause of the fire was not accidental,

Jacobs mother, Ann Marie Jacob, 50, appealed for help for the affected family saying they lost everything they worked so hard to obtain,

Persons willing to help the Jacob family can contact Newsdays south office at 652- 6533,

Up to last evening no one was arrested and officers of the Santa Flora Police Station are continuing
State witness cop leaves protective custody

Her attorney Gerald Ramdeen disclosed this yesterday during a press conference at his office, Cornelio Street, Woodbrook.

Ramdeen said his client is no longer part of the programme.

Clement 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 are officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

She has taken the decision after three years and nine months that if the State cannot provide her with the protection that they promised to her when she signed the plea agreement, she is not prepared to cooperate with the authorities any longer in this prosecution.

And if it is the State has evidence that six police officers, premeditated on instructions, killed three innocent citizens and they are prepared to have that prosecution go down the drain because they dont want to provide the protection to which officer Clement is entitled to, then let them answer to that, he said.

Ramdeen said he wrote a 27 page letter detailing every issue his client raised and addressed it to National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams. To date, the Minister of National Security has done absolutely nothing to protect the life of this officer. Is this the crime plan of this government that they wish to implement to protect us? We already know that they dont care for the lives of police officers who have fallen in the line of duty, but what they have shown is that they also dont care for the life of an officer who risked her life and the lives of her family in the interest of the State, he said. Ramdeen also raised the problems experienced by another state witness, who he said walked out of protective custody on Wednesday. He said this woman is the main witness in the prosecution of three men charged with the murder of Amos Dick, who was murdered on October 17, 2015.

He said the woman is pregnant with quadruplets.

Unlike officer Clement, this witness has no income and is provided with no income, officer Clement is still paid her salary as a police officer, he said.
Reema: More education on autism needed

Carmona was speaking on Thursday during the 3rd annual Autism Awareness Tree Lighting ceremony near the bandstand at Presidents House in St Anns.

She said law enforcement and other persons that deal specifically with the behaviour and conduct of citizens must be trained to acknowledge a person with autism rather than simply placing them in a troubled, deviant and anti-social category.

Carmona said the nation was rich with talented individuals and innovative minds, some of which should be dedicated toward understanding ASD, in order to develop therapies and teach coping inclusive skills to those that need it.

It is crucial to remember that diagnosis is the first step to understanding and assisting those with autism. Early intervention for children is proven to provide better outcomes. Given that children can be diagnosed as early as age two, let us educate pregnant mothers about signs, symptoms and developmental milestones that are indicative of ASD, she said.

Studies suggest that late diagnoses are directly linked to parents missing early warning signs and a great part of this, is due to a lack of education and institutional support for genuine childhood development, she added.

Carmona said the trials and tribulations of those with ASD, or living in an ASD environment must concern everyone.

We must act as advocates for disability, equality and real genuine inclusivity for all.

More so now, we have to be extremely vigilant in this period of recession where social services might be cut back.

No one doubts that the times are trying but in effecting solutions, we must be careful not to forget the very vulnerable and persons with disabilities, she said.

She called for citizens to advocate for greater investments in autism research in this month of April, so brain development and the inherent linkages between autism and genetics can be better understood.

Let us create education inclusive centres, from day care services to tertiary level and improve treatments and services for people on the Autism Spectrum and their families at every stage of life. Let us provide the necessary support for the families, not only in the area of job opportunities but work from home employment opportunities which is quite possible in this era of technology, she said.
TT hosts Americas defence meeting

It is designed to provide the Ministers of Defence with the opportunity to discuss topics such as confidence and security building measures, peace support operations, civil- military relations, and emerging threats such as transnational organised crime and terrorism, said a ministry statement yesterday.

Since the first conference in 1995 in the US, it has been held every two years and has been rotated among certain of its members, namely Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Canada, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Peru.

Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon will preside over the conference, in wake of this weeks preparatory talks being chaired by conference secretary-general, the ministrys Carl Francis.

The conference theme is Strengthening Defence and Security Co-operation in the Hemisphere in an Increasingly Volatile Global Environment.

Its sub-themes include Security and defence of the Americas in a changing international environment, Environmental protection and resilience, and Humanitarian emergency assistance.

The preparatory talks also mulled the outcome of the ad hoc working groups created at last years conference and which met in TT, the Draft Declaration of Portof- Spain to be considered in October, a list of observer countries and institutions invited to the conference, consideration of candidatures for the next conference, and proposed changes to the conference rules. The conference is being held at a time when the CARICOM region and the rest of the hemisphere are grappling with the many new threats to the security and defence of our populations, said the statement.

The opportunity to propose areas of cooperation and collaboration among the States is therefore most welcome and necessary at this time. Of the 34-member body, the statement said, the participating States at the preparatory talks were Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, TT, and the US.
'He Had the Chance to Go in

and Save the Children'
(Newser)  A 26-year-old Missouri woman poisoned and nearly killed by her mother and younger sister in 2013 is speaking out following their convictions this year. "I forgive them for what they did because forgiveness is the right thing to do," Sarah Staudte tells ABC News. Staudte's father Mark and brother Shaun died five months apart in 2012; their deaths were chalked up to "natural causes" and "prior medical issues." Then in 2013, Staudte was rushed to the hospital with her brain and kidneys failing. Doctors were perplexed, but an anonymous tip to police and a nurse pointing out Staudte's mother Diane's odd behaviorjoking about her near-to-death daughter and talking about an upcoming vacationled to a police investigation.

Diane and Staudte's sister Rachel admitted to poisoning Mark, Shaun, and Staudte. In a confession video released by the Springfield News-Leader, Diane said she put antifreeze in Coke and Gatorade then served it to her family. Rachel said they even ordered a special tasteless antifreeze online. Rachel told police they poisoned Mark to get "a little peace," Shaun "because he was annoying," and Staudte for being "very nosy." Diane said she felt stuck and unhappy; Staudte had student loans and didn't have a job to pay them. "You get tired of doing everything for your kids, and it's like you need to step up and do it," ABC quotes Diane as saying. Diane and Rachel were sentenced to life in prison. Staudte, who had to relearn to talk and walk, is still recovering. She hopes to one day work as a French translator. (Read more poisoning stories.)
(Newser)  Musical superstar Prince was rushed to the hospital early Friday morning after his private jet made an emergency landing in Illinois, TMZ reports. The 57-year-old musician had been suffering from the flu for weeks and had canceled two shows earlier this month but performed Thursday night in Atlanta despite still feeling under the weather. He was flying home to Minnesota after the show when his plane was forced to stop in Illinois, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Prince was taken to the hospital and released three hours later. A source tells the Star Tribune that Prince had "bad dehydration" but is "all good" at home now. (Prince appeared to be in better healthpossibly better than any 57-year-old in historyearlier this year when the internet lost it over his passport photo.)
(Newser)  The regional Dominican Friars office tweeted a handy guide to telling its members apart from boxers, Halloween ghosts, and KKK members after a campus scare in Indiana last week. The Tab reports that there was a brief panic at the Bloomington campus of the University of Indiana when somebody tweeted that there was "someone walking around in KKK gear with a whip." Students circulated warnings to stay inside before it emerged that the Klansman, who was spotted buying frozen yogurt after his campus visit, was actually Father Jude McPeak, a Dominican monk, and the "whip" was either a belt or a rosary.

McPeak says he didn't learn about the scare until later on and he now wants to reach out to the community to teach them more about the Dominican order, which is more than 600 years older than the KKK. "I've learned early on to kind of ignore things when I'm out, so when I was at Red Mango getting yogurt, I had no idea what was going on around the campus," he tells the Denver Post. Fellow Dominican Luke Barder says they try to keep a sense of humor when confusion arises. Once, " somebody started yelling at me assuming I was in the Klan," he says. "I just said, 'no, I'm not that. They probably hate me just as much as you.' It's kind of a running joke." (A Philadelphia-area school district has apologized for a KKK class skit.)
(Newser)  The chief tiger keeper at the Palm Beach Zoo was killed on Friday by one of the animals she loved. Stacey Konwiser, 38, was attacked in a tiger enclosure as she prepared to give a "Tiger Talk" to visitors, CNN reports. Cops had to tranquilize the 13-year-old male Malayan tiger before they could reach Konwiser, who was taken to a hospital by helicopter but died from what authorities say was a "severe bite." Zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter tells the Palm Beach Post that she called Konwiser, a beloved staff member whose husband also works at the zoo, the "tiger whisperer" because they "spoke to each other in a language that only they could understand." "I can't put into words or make you understand for anyone who didn't know Stacey how much she loved these tigers and how much this zoo family loved her," she says.

The attack happened out of sight of visitors in a sleeping and feeding area known as the "tiger night house," and the zoo stresses that contrary to reports on social media, the tiger was never loose, WPBF reports. The zoo "has a safety protocol in place for crisis situations and these protocols were employed today," Carter says. "Immediately after the Code Red was issued, guests, who were never in any danger, were ushered out of the zoo in an orderly fashion and the zoo went into lockdown." She says the tigerone of four members of the endangered subspecies at the zoo and fewer than 250 in the worldhas been "contained." This was the first fatal attack on a human in the zoo's history, she says. (Visitors sheltered in the manatee house after a polar bear escape in Cincinnati.)
(Newser)  Pope Francis made an emotional visit to Greece on Saturday to thank its people for welcoming migrants and meet with refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. The Vatican has confirmed that 12 Syrian refugees, all of them Muslim, are traveling with the pope back to Italy from Greece, the AP reports. The three families, including six children, met with Francis on the tarmac on the island of Lesbos and boarded the plane. The Vatican will take responsibility for supporting the families, though the Catholic Sant'Egidio community will take care of getting them settled initially.

When Francis' plane arrived, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met him on the tarmac, along with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the archbishop of Athens, who is the head of the Church of Greece. Later, many refugees fell to their knees and wept as Francis approached them at the Moria detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as he passed by. Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet sobbing uncontrollably. A woman told the pope that her husband was in Germany, but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos. "Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories, and need to be treated as such," Francis tweeted. (Read more Pope Francis stories.)
(Newser)  One University of Georgia student may have just single-handedly justified the 21-year-old legal drinking age after the 20-year-old was arrested for allegedly spraying Athens bar customers with bottled farts, USA Today reports. It started around around 1:40am when a woman told police a customer inside Whiskey Bent was spraying people with something smelly, according to the Washington Post. She said she took a direct hit to her eye. Police arrived to find the bar emptying as patrons complained about the smell. The Athens Banner-Herald reports multiple people identified Blake Zengo as the suspect.

Police say the very drunk Zengo denied any wrongdoing, but a search of his pockets turned up a bottle of "Liquid ASS." Once unleashed, this power-packed, super-concentrated liquid begins to evaporate, filling the air with a genuine, foul butt-crack smell with hints of dead animal and fresh poo," the Banner-Herald quotes the Liquid Ass website as saying. Zengo was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and underage consumption of alcohol, and his Liquid ASS was placed into evidence. The woman he allegedly sprayed in the face declined to press charges. (The inventor of Liquid ASS claims it's the "world's worst smell.")
(Newser)  Two Nebraska children may have saved their own lives and the lives of others when they texted 911 from inside their allegedly drunk father's car, WKBN reports. Fourteen-year-old Mackenzie and 12-year-old Ethan were driving through Nebraska with their 44-year-old dad, Jason Behrens, on the way to a vacation in Colorado. But they say Behrens was drunk, swerving all over the road and nearly crashing. "When a car passed, you could hear how close it was, you could hear the metal," Ethan tells NTV. "I got really, really scared, and I just started praying a lot." Mackenzie says they had told their father multiple times they didn't want to go with him because he was "really drunk" and they didn't "want to die."

The children say they begged Behrens to pull over, but he ignored them. Then, after barely escaping a head-on collision, they started texting 911. Fortunately, they were in one of only two Nebraska counties that allow people to do that. They convinced Behrens to stop at a Burger King, and police caught up with them there. Police say Behrens was three times over the legal limit, and he was arrested. Ethan and Mackenzie say it was hard to call the police on their dad, but they had no choice, and this wasn't the first time he's driven drunk with them. The New York Daily News reports the incident happened last month, but the kids are speaking out now to thank police. "They, really, really, really saved our lives, Ethan tells WKBN. (Read more drunk driving stories.)
(Newser)  A Maryland firefighter is dead and another is seriously injured after a call about a medical emergency went horribly wrong on Friday night. Police in Prince George's County say the two firefighters went to a home in the Washington suburb of Temple Hills after receiving a call from a person worried about a relative's condition, the AP reports. Police say that when nobody responded to a knock on the door, the firefighters attempted to gain entry for a welfare check and were shot by the 61-year-old man the concerned relative had called about, reports the Washington Post. The relative who made the phone call was also injured, though not life-threateningly.

Police say that when the gunfire stopped, officers entered the home and took the occupant into custody without firing shots. "Will it ever end? God, I hope so," Prince George's Police Chief Henry Stawinski said of the violence. The fallen firefighter has been identified as John Ulmschneider, a 39-year-old husband and father who had been with the fire department for 13 years. His colleague, 19-year-old volunteer firefighter Kevin Swain, is in serious condition but is expected to recover. The Post reports that at a press conference, at least one official suggested that the shooting may have happened because of a tragic misunderstanding. No charges have been filed yet and police say the man in custody is cooperating. (Read more firefighters stories.)
(Newser)  Pope Francis says he briefly greeted US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the two shook hands. He describes the encounter as a sign of good manners, "nothing more," the AP reports. The pope says it wasn't evidence that he was getting mixed up in American politics. Francis says Sandersalong with Sanders' wife and another couplewere in the lobby of the Vatican hotel where the pope lives when he left for a trip to Greece on Saturday morning. The pope tells reporters that he decided to greet Sanders and the others because it was the polite thing to do. "When I came down, I greeted them, shook their hands and nothing more. It's good manners." The pope then added with a laugh: "If someone thinks that greeting someone means getting mixed up in politics, they should see a psychiatrist." (Read more Pope Francis stories.)
(Newser)  Nine prisoners have been released from Guantanamo and sent to Saudi Arabia, dropping the inmate population at the infamous prison to 80, Reuters reports. The release was announced Saturday by the Pentagon. All nine prisoners were Yemeni men captured during the war in Afghanistan, according the New York Times. They had been held at Guantanamo for approximately 14 years. The Guardian reports none of the men had ever been charged with a crime, and eight of the nine had been cleared for release from the prison since at least 2010. An attorney for one of the released men says his client is "ecstatic." He is anxious to get on with living a peaceful life," the attorney tells the Times.

The release was the largest since Obama announced in February his most recent plans to close Guantanamo. The holdup in releasing the nine "low-level" inmates was partly due to Saudi Arabia's unwillingness to accept Yemenis. The US government didn't want to send the men to Yemen due to unrest and Al Qaeda activity there. A deal with Saudi Arabia, which has a semi-successful program for rehabilitating former Islamic militants, was secured in February. One of the released prisoners is Tariq Ba Odah, who the military has been force-feeding every day since he started a hunger strike in 2007. Most of the 80 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo, which has been condemned by the UN and once boasted an inmate population of nearly 700, have been there for a decade without charges. (Read more Guantanamo Bay stories.)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed to enable the prosecution of the German comedian who satirically attacked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, causing the leader to take offence. Merkel supports a law that criminalizes "insults" of people in power.

Was well-known comedian Jan Bohmermann illegal in reciting a satirical poem about Erdogan on German TV? Merkel said Friday that she is authorizing a criminal investigation into it.

On German broadcaster ZDF, Bohmermann's poem had said that he hits women, watches child pornography and is a fan of bestiality.

Now that provoked Erdogan no end. Ever since he assumed power in 2014, he has lodged over 1,800 criminal cases against "offenders". For instance, two cartoonists published a political cartoon that got his ire.

As Germany's law prohibits people from offending higher authorities, it was created when Germany was still a monarchy, targeting anyone offending the royalty. This archaic law will be repealed in 2018.

Merkel said that Turkey is an important partner.

"The result is, that the German government grants the right to prosecute Jan Bohmermann. I want to explain further that Turkey is a state with whom we have strong ties. There are a lot of Turkish citizen living in Germany. We have strong economic relations and our responsibility is to work together in the NATO," she said.

However, the courts and prosecutors will have the final say, she said. If convicted, Bohmermann might face up to three years in prison, or face a fine.

Merkel was slammed by a number of prominent officials. Thomas Oppermann, head of the Social Democrats, Merkel's partner in the coalition government, disagreed with her views.

"I think this decision is wrong. Criminal proceedings against satire for 'insulting a majesty' do not fit in with modern Germany," he said.
Victoria Beckham has formed a partnership with Estee Lauder, creating the first full makeup collection titled "Victoria Beckham Estee Lauder."

This fashion designer's latest line of cosmetics will come out into the market only for some time, and will get launched in September only in some retail outlets, apart from Victoria Beckham stores and on Beckham and Lauder's websites.

The once Spice Girl had shifted into the fashion world when she teamed up with the British brand Nails Inc. to launch a couple of nail polish products two years ago.

"I am thrilled to be launching this limited-edition makeup collection with Estee Lauder," Beckham said. "The whole process has been both inspiring and eye opening- from going back and revisiting the Estee Lauder archives through to working on the product with the Estee team, this feels like the perfect make-up partnership for me and my brand."

"I had long admired Estee Lauder the woman, and the powerful brand that she created," she added. "So I am excited to offer both of our customers this make-up range and play a small part in her vision for women."

Estee Lauder has announced that it is "excited to join forces" with the celebrity.

"Victoria is an entrepreneur in the true spirit of our founder, Estee Lauder, with a real understanding of what women want, and a commitment to making women look and feel most beautiful. Victoria has a passion for beauty and we are delighted to welcome her into our brand," said Jane Hertzmark Hudis, Group President of The Estee Lauder Companies.

A black and white video promotion of the collection on their Instagram pages shows an image of Beckham looking at the camera, even as she is seated in an all-black dress and a "classic Posh Spice expression".

The 41-year-old mother of four had said in November 2015 that beauty was something she longed to "go into at some point."



YouTube/ModaMob News
New Delhi:

With the second phase of odd-even scheme rolling out today, a section of auto and taxi unions has given a call for a one-day strike on Monday to protest against app-based cab services, a move which may cause hardship to commuters in the national capital.



Rajendra Soni, who is general secretary of both Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Unions, said that auto and black-yellow taxis will not ply on the capitals roads on Monday to protest against the app-based cab services.



Soni said the AAP government has so far not issued 10,000 new permits of autorickshaws which it had cancelled after alleged irregularities in their distribution.



On one hand, government talks about strengthening public transport, but on the other hand it has not issued 10,000 new permits of autos so far. Besides, we have also been demanding to stop app-based taxis as their operation is illegal. They are snatching our livelihood.



When we had met Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai on March 14, he had assured us to fulfil our demands within next 15 days, but till now, no decision has been taken by the government, he said.



There are around 13,000 black-yellow taxis and around 81,000 autorickshaws plying on the streets of the capital.



If they go on strike, commuters may face hardships while using public transport as the fortnight-long odd-even scheme is already in place in the capital.



Earlier this week, a section of auto and taxi unions had taken out a protest march against the app-based taxi services in the Capital.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Bhopal:

President Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated a two-storey rest house at the Raj Bhawan here which was constructed after the old one got damaged in an incident of fire some time ago.



Ajay Tirkey, Principal Secretary to Governor Ram Naresh Yadav (89), was present with other dignitaries and senior officers when the President cut the ribbon.



The Governor couldnt make it to the function as he has been hospitalised for the past two days, according to the Raj Bhawan (Governors residence) Public Relation Office.



The rest house has five suites, two rooms, and a modern gym for the VVIPs, a Raj Bhawan official said.



He said the rest house was built with an amount of Rs 34.9 lakh in 18 months.



The old rest house on the Raj Bhawan premises too has been repaired, an official said.



The President will also be inaugurating the fourth retreat of Supreme Court judges at the National Judicial Academy here later in the day.



Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the Presidents Bhopal visit with deployment of 1,800 police personnel, including eight SPs, two DIGs and, an IG.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Berlin:

Scientists used samples from Moon to confirm a supernova explosion that happened in the neighbourhood of our solar system about two million years ago. A star exploded in a supernova close to our solar system and its traces can still be found today in the form of an iron isotope found on the ocean floor. Now scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and colleagues from the US, have found increased concentrations of this supernova-iron in lunar samples as well. They believe both discoveries to originate from the same stellar explosion.



A dying star ends its life in a cataclysmic explosion, shooting the majority of the stars material, primarily new chemical elements created during the explosion, out into space. One or more such supernovae appear to have occurred close to our solar system approximately two million years ago.



Evidence of the fact has been found on the Earth in the form of increased concentrations of the iron isotope 60Fe detected in Pacific ocean deep-sea crusts and in ocean-floor sediment samples. This evidence is highly compelling: The radioactive 60Fe isotope is created almost exclusively in supernova explosions.



With a half-life of 2.62 million years, relatively short compared to the age of our solar system, any radioactive 60Fe originating from the time of the solar systems birth should have long ago decayed into stable elements and thus should no longer be found on the Earth.



This supernova hypothesis was first put forth in 1999 by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) who had found initial evidence in a deep-sea crust. Now, researchers have succeeded in demonstrating an unusually high concentration of 60Fe in lunar ground samples as well.



The samples were gathered between 1969 and 1972 during Apollo lunar missions 12, 15 and 16, which brought the lunar material back to Earth. It is also conceivable that 60Fe can occur on the Moon as the result of bombardment with cosmic particles, since these particles do not break up when colliding with air molecules, as is the case with the Earths atmosphere.



Instead they directly impact the lunar surface and can thus result in transmutation of elements. But this can only account for a very small portion of the 60Fe found, said Gunther Korschinek, physicist at TUM. We therefore assume that the 60Fe found in both terrestrial and lunar samples has the same source: These deposits are newly created stellar matter, produced in one or more supernovae, said Korschinek.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

China has sought Indias cooperation in various multilateral forums as part of its economic revival agenda. Such a co-operation was sought when Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here on Thursday on the sidelines of the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, sources said.



It was Lou who had sought a meeting with Jaitley and during the meeting held here, the Chinese Finance Minister and other senior officials tried to impress upon that their economy is doing well and is back on track, sources familiar with the conversation between the two leaders said.



During the meeting, Lou repeatedly underscored the greater need of India and China to have a coordinated action in various multilateral forums.



While the issue of Masood Azhar, was not raised by Jaitley during the meeting given that it has been taken up at the highest level by India, the Indian delegation is believed to have made it clear to the Chinese leadership that Beijing needs to take into consideration Indias national security and economic interests for such a cooperation to move forward.



On March 31, China again blocked Indias bid to ban the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack Masood in the UN Sanctions Committee, following which India had reacted strongly.



The Chinese leadership during the IMF World Bank meetings have taken a stand that it is against isolating or naming any particular country. We are not in favour of isolating or naming any country, the members of the Chinese delegation are believed to have said multiple times during the series of multilateral meetings taking place on the sidelines of the spring meetings.



This is why Chinese opposed the idea of mentioning Panama when it came to Panama papers and tax havens, sources said. During these meetings, the Chinese leadership has been underscoring that their economy is back on track and in the first quarter they had a growth rate of 6.7 per cent. There was a keen emphasis that growth is back in China, a source familiar with these meetings said.



During the meetings the Chinese leadership is understood to have said that they have made certain changes to transform the economy. Among other things, Lou is believed to have told Jaitley China is going to cut production in steel and coal where they have now surplus capacities. The surplus has resulted in a global problem.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Patna:

The JD(U) on Saturday sent a show cause notice to its party MP Anil Sahni, a day after he denied charges of alleged cheating and corruption in the LTC scam and refused to step down. The CBI had got a nod to prosecute Sahni in the LTC scam case. Its a conspiracy against me... Why shall I resign on moral ground when I have not done anything wrong, the second term Rajya Sabha member from Nitish Kumars party said on Friday.



Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has given his approval to CBI to prosecute JD(U) MP Anil Sahani against whom the agency had filed a charge sheet for alleged cheating and corruption in LTC Scam.



The Bihar MP is reportedly the first from the Upper House who will be prosecuted by CBI after sanction in this regard was given by the Chairman. The MP said he would also talk to lawyers to file a defamation suit. Sahni alleged that he fell victim to a racket which operated in raising fake bills for LTC for parliamentarians.

Twice I drew attention of the authorities in 2013 about false bill submitted in my name by racketeers against LTC, he said, defending himself in the controversy. I invite the probe agency to check my bank accounts in Delhi as well in Patna to ascertain flow of money on this count, he said.

The JD(U) Rajya Sabha member, son of former JD(U) RS MP Madan Sahni, said he would seek time with Chief Minister Kumar, who is now also JD(U) National President, to discuss the issue.

Asked who was conspiring against him and for what reason, the JD(U) MP hailing from Muzaffarpur, said he did not know persons behind the conspiracy. I might be targeted as I hail from a poor community and have been raising issues concerning dalits and have-nots, the JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP said.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Agra:

Britains Prince William accompanied by his wife Kate today visited the Taj Mahal, the 17th century marble monument symbolising eternal love, bringing back memories of his mother Princess Dianas trip 24 years ago. And the royal couple did sit on the marble bench in front of the dazzling monument here for a picture like Lady Diana.



William had donned a blue linen jacket, white shirt and chinos while Princess Kate wore a white dress with blue motif by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan.



The royal couple, who will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on April 29, arrived at around 3.30 PM and were briefed by an official as they took a stroll around the mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is beautiful. It is overwhelming, William, the Duke of Cambridge, said later.



The two spent around 45 minutes in the complex on a sizzling day as mercury soared to 40 degrees Celsius. It was too hot but they went around, guide Lalit Chawla said.



Williams mother Diana had visited the Taj Mahal in 1992 and her picture seated alone on the marble bench remains one of the iconic images of the princess, who died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.



The royal couples visit generated much excitement here. Tight security arrangements were in place with deployment of CISF personnel. The stretch from Amar Vilas hotel to the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal was spruced up and tourists on the western gate were held back for an hour.



It is the last stop for the British royal couple during their week-long trip to India and Bhutan. The couple visited Mumbai and Kaziranga National Park in Assam and also met leaders in Delhi.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Mumbai:

Vijay Mallya diverted Rs 430 crore for purchase of a property abroad from the Rs 950 crore IDBI loan for his Kingfisher Airlines, the ED alleged today before a special court which reserved its order till April 18 on the agencys plea for a NBW against the beleaguered businessman.

The order on the Enforcement Directorates (ED) plea for a Non Bailable Warrant(NBW) in the money laundering case involving Mallyas alleged defrauding of the IDBI was reserved by special Judge P R Bhavake who hears cases filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA).

Mallya, now in Britain, is charged with siphoning off a portion of money involving IDBI loan of Rs 950 crore, which he had borrowed for Kingfisher Airlines.

We have stumbled upon the money trail and found that of the money he borrowed (Rs 950 crore), a portion (Rs 430 crore) had been used to buy a property outside India. He wants to avoid probe and therefore Non Bailable Warrant may be issued to compel his presence by bringing him from UK, ED Counsel Hiten Venegaonkar told the court.

IDBIS money was thus used for some purpose other than the one for which the loan had been given, he said.

Venegaonkar said three summons had been issued by the PMLA court against Mallya this year on March 10, March 18 and April 2 asking him to appear in the case. However, Mallya replied in e-mails to ED that he cannot appear because of his commitments in Europe and also because he was busy trying to arrange money to pay off his debts by a one-time arrangement.

In all these e-mails, Mallya sought time to appear and he was delaying the progress of investigations by not coming before ED, the agencys lawyer told the court while justifying issuance of a Non Bailable Warrant against him.

The ED counsel argued that even in FERA cases, the Supreme Court had observed that Mallya was using evasive tactics by not appearing before the investigating agency.

He further cited Supreme Court judgements to point out that only the investigating agency can decide how, when, where and on which day an accused or suspect should appear for the probe. Therefore, Mallyas submission that he was cooperating and would himself decide when to appear before ED was a baseless argument and was intended to delay probe.

The court was hearing an application moved by ED which is probing money laundering charges against the flamboyant 60-year-old liquor baron and seeking NBW against him.

Kingfisher Airlines has allegedly defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crore obtained from various banks and Mallya has left India for Britain where he is staying with his family.

The Union Government had yesterday suspended Mallyas diplomatic passport and even threatened to revoke it if he does not come to India and cooperate with the investigations.

Venegaonkar said Mallyas conduct and his replies to ED summons were questionable. Time and again he requested adjournment of the court proceedings and the probe saying he was not in the country. This conduct was highly deplorable as he was trying to avoid the summons, the lawyer said.

IDBI extended credit to Mallyas company on the basis of collateral security which was a personal bond issued by Mallya himself. Besides, the loans were given on the strength of the Kingfishers brand value which has now been lost.

The petition filed by Ram Kumar Pandey, Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate, Mumbai, submitted that scrutiny of loan fund utilisation statement of IDBI had revealed that an amount of Rs 423 crore (approx) had been remitted out of India on account of aircraft lease rent, import of spare parts and aircraft maintenance services.

The ED official said major recipients of this amount have been identified, along with their bank details. FIU (Financial Intelligence unit) reference has been prepared and sent to various countries such as Ireland, UK and France to verify the veracity of transactions effected by Kingfisher Airlines in respect of payments outside India.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 BSC Photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 BSC Photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Chefs Luke Venner from Elm Restaurant and Chef Tyler Anderson of Millwrights Restaurant will host a reunion pop-up dinner at Elm on Wednesday April 20th.

"I always enjoy working with Luke Venner, Chef Anderson said. He is a great chef and easy to work with. I look forward to creating some amazing dishes for this event. "
BROOKFIELD  A series of public hearings on a proposed Federal Road apartment complex, which have routinely drawn crowds of irate residents, concluded Thursday night with hardly any sign of the fervor that has surrounded the project since December.

The original plans for The Renaissance called for 156 units spread over six stories and drew objections from residents and town officials, who argued that the project was too large for the neighborhood.

Others feared for the safety of the volunteer firefighters, who said they were ill-equipped to respond to a high-rise building.

But much of the contention seems to have been was quelled when the developer last month pitched a new plan for two three-story buildings totaling 120 apartments and nearly 3,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space.

Attorney Neil Marcus, who represents Brookfield, noted the dwindling number of residents attending the hearings and suggested the modified plans addressed many of the communitys concerns.

What used to be a huge crowd when we addressed this in December has tapered down to a small group of interested citizens, Marcus said.

But because the original plans were filed under a state affordable housing statute, known as 8-30g, the Zoning Commission has much to consider before approving or denying the project.

The housing law allows developers to trump local zoning laws if less than 10 percent of the towns housing stock qualifies as affordable under state guidelines, as is the case in Brookfield.

If at least 30 percent of the proposed units are affordable, the town can reject the project only for health and safety reasons, and even then the developer can appeal to a state housing court, which can overturn the towns decision.

Attorney Chris Smith, who represents the developer, said the revised plan calls for 5 percent of the units to be set aside as workforce housing, priced so they are affordable for residents earning 80 percent of the area median income.

The market-rate apartments, Smith said, would cost $1,450 per month for a studio, $1,650 for a one-bedroom and $2,250 for a two-bedroom.

But none of those meet the states definition of affordable.

Smith said if the commission rejects both proposals, it will be the six-story building that is appealed, meaning that if the commission doesnt like the new plan, they might get stuck with the old one.

Crestview Drive resident Albert Rippel, one of just two citizens to speak Thursday, said he was concerned about the lack of affordable units in the new plan. He said without the affordable component Brookfield will continue to be vulnerable to 8-30g applications.

I feel like were being strong-armed: Take whats a little better or get stuck with the big one again,  Rippel said.

But Smith said his client came forward with the new plan at the request of the town and that the architect tried to design the buildings to conform with the Brookfield Village apartment project that is planned across the street.

This is not strong-arm tactic, Smith said. We were approached to see if we would consider an alternative to the156-unit plan. My client is very happy with 156; we dont think there is anything wrong with that.

First Selectman Steve Dunn said Friday that he is still reviewing the modified plans, but is hopeful that the two sides can reach agreement.

What concerns me is that we reach an agreement that works for all parties involved, Dunn said. We do want a mix of housing in town.

awolff@newstimes.com; 203-731-3333; @awolffster
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  One of the side effects of the Great Recession is wearing off for Connecticuts employers this year after the state finished paying off a $1.2 billion federal loan that covered unemployment insurance benefits.

Employers will see their average cost per employee drop to $42 from $189 to cover their Federal Unemployment Tax Act expenses.

Its a big drop, said Jack Condlin, president of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce. Thats a good thing because its never good when the state borrows money to run its operations.

Fred Laist, who owns The Fez on Summer Street, recently hired a cook to join his staff of 15 at the Moroccan-themed eatery and will pay about $2,200 less in federal unemployment taxes this year.

Laist said employees are the ones who get shortchanged when taxes rise.

You set up a business; you have a labor budget, Laist said. If your taxes are higher, you are paying the labor less. At the end of the day, there is only so much revenue coming into a business. If you have to pay more taxes, then there is less available to attract better talent.

More Information By the numbers 5.5% February unemployment rate 9.2% Highest unemployment rate in 2010 See More Collapse

The unemployment trust fund was cleaned out in 2009 when 9 percent of workers in the state were jobless. The state turned to the federal government to finance as many as 175,000 benefit payments that were issued each week.

More than $2 billion in unemployment benefits shored up the states economy in 2010, and the federal government required states to raise money to repay the loans through an unemployment-tax hike.

Employers will also stop paying back $85 million in interest on the loan through an additional special assessment that began in 2011.

Obviously, this is a very positive sign with some real financial benefit, said Scott Gilefsky, who leads Ernst & Youngs state and local tax practice from his Stamford office.

Economic indicator

While few of his clients are likely to add staff based on a yearly savings of $147 per employee, Gilefsky views the loan payoff as a positive sign for the overall health of the states economy.

Most businesses would say, Thats helpful, but if I multiply it even by 1,000 employees, thats not moving too much of my bottom line,  he said. Its more Connecticut is moving in the right direction.

More than 30 states had loans to the federal government, said Carl Guzzardi, unemployment insurance tax director for the Connecticut Department of Labor.

Connecticuts load was paid off March 24. California, Kentucky, Ohio and the Virgin Islands still owe money.

Employers are going to see a substantial drop in their federal taxes because our loan is repaid, Guzzardi said. Thats the good news. In the long term, while our loan is repaid, the fund is still not healthy.

Guzzardi said the fund needs to build a $1.2 billion surplus to be ready to weather the next downturn.

Connecticut has recovered about three-quarters of the jobs lost during the recession.

That works out to a recovery of 91,200 of the 119,100 jobs lost between March 2008 and February 2010, according to the DOL. Connecticut employers need to add 27,900 jobs for a full recovery.

During the six years since the recovery started, the state has averaged more than 1,200 new jobs each month.

Connecticut added 5,000 jobs in February, bringing the unemployment rate to 5.5 percent, down from 6 percent a year before.

System reform

Laist, a Stamford resident, remains concerned about the future of the employment picture in the state and in his city with General Electric leaving for Massachusetts and large commercial tenants like UBS emptying their buildings.

Its certainly good news they managed to pay off their debts, he said. They dont seem to be pushing for significant economic advancement and getting new employers into the state.

Employers who call the Connecticut Business & Industry Association every January to inquire about the extra taxes will be glad to see them go, said Eric Gjede, an assistant counsel with CBIA.

Its good that weve finally, after eight years, paid down our federal debt, Gjede said. We need to make the benefit reforms at the state level to make sure this doesnt happen again.

CBIA is supporting a bill that reforms the states unemployment system in four ways, including by raising the minimum annual earnings requirement to qualify for unemployment to $2,000 from $600  the third-lowest earnings requirement in the U.S. More than 30 states require between $2,000 and $5,000 in earnings, according to CBIA.

The threshold hasnt changed since 1967, Gjede said.

The bill also calls for a freeze to the maximum benefit for three years and requiring beneficiaries to post their resumes online by the sixth week of receiving benefits in order to receive checks in weeks 7 through 26.

Rhode Island did that, and people were back to work one week quicker, Gjede said.

The bill proposes using the entire years salary when calculating benefits instead of just the two highest quarters, which Gjede said disproportionately favors seasonal workers.

Little simple reforms like this would have massive savings for employers over time, he said.

Julie.alterio@scni.com; 203-964-2263
Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures "Ghost in The Shell" is in production in New Zealand

hollywood, Sat, 16 Apr 2016 NI Wire

HOLLYWOOD - Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures have announced that production is underway on "GHOST IN THE SHELL," starring Scarlett Johansson (AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, LUCY) and directed by Rupert Sanders (SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN). The film is shooting in Wellington, New Zealand.

Paramount Pictures will release the film in the U.S. on March 31, 2017.

The film, which is based on the famous Kodansha Comics manga series of the same name, written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow, is produced by Avi Arad (THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1 & 2, IRON MAN), Ari Arad (GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE), and Steven Paul (GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE). Michael Costigan (PROMETHEUS) Tetsu Fujimura (TEKKEN), Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, whose animation studio Production I.G produced the Japanese "GHOST IN THE SHELL film and television series, and Jeffrey Silver (EDGE OF TOMORROW, 300) will executive produce.

Based on the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi property, GHOST IN THE SHELL follows the Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotics advancements in cyber technology.

We are so pleased to be in Wellington to shoot GHOST IN THE SHELL, said producers Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Michael Costigan and Jeffrey Silver. The city boasts state-of-the-art production facilities and a rich urban landscape that make it an ideal setting for a sci-fi action film. The crew-base in New Zealand working on the film is first class, and working with Sir Richard Taylor and the team at Weta Workshop is inspirational on every level. The people of New Zealand have been terrific partners in helping us bring this story and its beloved characters to audiences around the world and we are thankful for their continued hospitality.

Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures have entered into a marketing agreement with the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), Callaghan Innovation and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) which recognizes the significant economic, cultural and industry development benefits the production will bring to New Zealand. The collaboration will further promote New Zealands growing screen industry, develop local talent and showcase New Zealand to the rest of the world.

The production will broaden the perceptions of the diversity of New Zealands locations by showcasing a science fiction urban setting in New Zealand, says Dave Gibson NZFC Chief Executive.

Tourism New Zealands Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said: Tourism New Zealand is thrilled to be working with Paramount Pictures for the first time on GHOST IN THE SHELL. Film tourism is an important element in Tourism New Zealands work to inspire people to visit New Zealand and we look forward to this new opportunity to showcase New Zealand to the rest of the world.

The cast of GHOST IN THE SHELL includes Beat Takeshi Kitano (MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE, BATTLE ROYALE series) as Daisuke Aramaki, Juliette Binoche (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, CHOCOLAT) as Dr. Ouelet, Michael Pitt (Hannibal, Boardwalk Empire) as Kuze, Pilou Asbk (BEN-HUR, LUCY) as Batou, and Kaori Momoi (MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, HONG KONG CONFIDENTIAL). The members of Section 9 are played by Chin Han (INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE), Danusia Samal (Tyrant), Lasarus Ratuere (Terra Nova), Yutaka Izumihara (UNBROKEN) and Tuwanda Manyimo (THE ROVER).

The films crew includes Cinematographer Jess Hall (THE SPECTACULAR NOW), Editor Neil Smith (SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN), Production Designer Jan Roelfs (FAST & FURIOUS 6), and Costume Designers Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller (THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY  PARTS 1& 2).
By Olivier Ferret 16 April 2016 - 15:39





Yvan Muller edged out Nicky Catsburg by 0.04 seconds in qualifying for the FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia to claim the DHL Pole Position.

A lap of 2m03.910s helped Muller to top Q3 for the first time since last years visit to the Slovakia Ring, and came despite a low-key start to the weekend for Citroen.

Catsburg fell only four hundredths of a second short of giving LADA its maiden pole position in the WTCC. Defending champion and points leader Jose Maria Lopez took third, despite causing a red flag in Q1 when he went off through the gravel on his first flying lap and dropped gravel over the track.

Hondas Norbert Michelisz was quickest in Q2 but had to make do with fourth in the final order, ahead of team-mate Rob Huff.

In Q2, Thed Bjork narrowly missed out on a place in the final segment for Polestar. The Swede ended up sixth ahead of Tiago Monteiro, Mehdi Bennani and Hugo Valente, who will start on pole for the Opening Race. Tom Chilton and Fredrik Ekblom are set to share row six on the grid for both races.

John Filippi was beaten to a place in Q2 by Huff, and was joined in making an early exit by compatriot Gregoire Demoustier. On his WTCC return, James Thompson was 14th ahead of Tom Coronel, who struggled with a mechanical problem on his Chevrolet, and WTCC qualifying first-timer Ferenc Ficza.
[April 15, 2016] CAGW Decries President Obama's Latest Executive Overreach

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) reacted with indignation to President Obama's announcement that he issued an executive order effectively requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) to approve proposed rules mandating outdated technical requirements on cable and satellite set-top boxes. President Obama's abuse of power has already become legendary, but issuing an executive order during an open comment period for rulemaking at an independent agency will be prominently displayed in the "Executive Overreach Hall of Shame." The executive order comes one week before the April 22, 2016 end of the comment period for the AllVid notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). By issuing the order, President Obama is directly interfering with the internal workings of an agency that is supposed to make decisions independently of either Congress or the White House. He is also effectively stifling the First Amendmen right to petition the government by predetermining the outcome of the NPRM and telling the FCC to ignore any negative public comments on the proposed rule.



By telling independent agencies they are "strongly encouraged to comply" with the executive order, President Obama is giving the FCC the green light to move ahead and dictate technical standards on set-top boxes, and release proprietary information regarding software, programming, guides, and video guides to third-party box manufacturers. Such mandates are ill-advised because most cable providers are moving away from the use of these boxes, and implementing software applications that can be used on any device, at any time, in any location. CAGW President Tom Schatz said, "President Obama apparently has decided that his previous effort to interfere with the decision-making process at the FCC, when he pushed the commissioners behind closed doors to impose Title II Net Neutrality rules on the Internet, was too subtle. This time he used his absolute power to make it absolutely clear that they should absolutely do what he wants. President Obama should reconsider his decision on this matter, withdraw the order, and allow the process to move forward independently under the FCC's regular process. It is time for him to start listening to taxpayers instead of treating them like subjects in a kingdom."

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160415005897/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[April 16, 2016] Amazon.ca and the Walrus Foundation Unveil Shortlist for the 40th Anniversary of the First Novel Award

Six finalists selected by Russell Brown, head judge and Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Toronto; winner will be announced on May 26 The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges including Russell Brown, Walrus fiction editor Nick Mount and award-winning writer Gurjinder Basran To celebrate 40 years of the First Novel Award, the winner of Amazon.ca's First Novel Award this year will receive $40,000 and finalists will receive $4,000 SEATTLE, April 16, 2016 /CNW/ - Amazon.ca and the Walrus Foundation today introduced the nominees for the 40th anniversary of the First Novel Award (www.amazon.ca/firstnovelaward) which celebrates the remarkable achievements of first-time Canadian novelists. In celebration of 40 years of the First Novel Award, this year's winner will receive a prize of $40,000 and all finalists will receive $4,000. Head judge Russell Brown selected the six finalists. Brown is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Toronto. He has also served as a co-editor of Descant magazine and as editorial director at Canadian publisher McClelland and Stewart. The finalists for the 2016 Amazon.ca First Novel Award, listed alphabetically by author, are: The Afterlife of Birds by Elizabeth Philips (Freehand Books)

by (Freehand Books) Seep by Mark Giles (Anvil Press)

by (Anvil Press) 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad (Penguin Canada)

by (Penguin Canada) Backspring by Judith McCormack (Biblioasis)

by (Biblioasis) Do You Think This is Strange? by Aaron Cully Drake (Touchwood Editions)

by (Touchwood Editions) Book of Sands by Karim Alrawi (HarperCollins)

"Having read the work of so many entries in judging this competition," said Brown, "I was surprised by how many terrific first novels there were this year. Strong new fiction came to me from all over the map, from every kind of writer, and about every kind of experience; some of these novels were published by major houses and some by small presses. I was able to pick a very strong shortlist and I would be happy to see any of the books on it take the prize. Being head judge for this contest has left me with no doubt whatsoever about the continuing health of Canadian fiction." The winner will be announced on May 26, 2016 at the annual Amazon.ca First Novel Award ceremony held in Toronto at the Four Seasons Hotel. The winner will be selected from the list of nominees by a panel of judges including head judge Russell Brown, Walrus fiction editor Nick Mount and award-winning writer Gurjinder Basran.



"With the Walrus Foundation and a remarkable group of judges, we are excited to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the First Novel Award and many wonderful years of talented Canadian authors," said Alexandre Gagnon, country manager for Amazon.ca. "For 40 years this prize has been dedicated to highlighting new and emerging talent in Canadian literature and we once again feel privileged to be a part of a literary program with the sole focus on recognizing and cultivating the careers of aspiring authors. We hope Amazon.ca customers love this year's shortlist as much as we do." Established in 1976, the First Novel Award program has a long history honouring and beginning the careers of Canada's favourite novelists. Previous winners include: Michael Ondaatje (1976), Joan Barfoot (1978), Joy Kogawa (1981), W.P. Kinsella (1982), Nino Ricci (1990), Rohinton Mistry (1991), Shyam Selvadurai (1994), Anne Michaels (1996), Margaret Gibson (1997), Andre Alexis (1998), Alan R. Wilson and David Macfarlane (co-winners, 1999), Eva Stachniak (2000), Michael Redhill (2001), Mary Lawson (2002), Michel Basilieres (2003), Colin McAdam (2004), Joseph Boyden (2005), Madeleine Thien (2006), Gil Adamson (2007), Joan Thomas (2008), Jessica Grant (2009), Eleanor Catton (2010), David Bezmozgis (2011), Anakana Schofield (2012) and Wayne Grady (2013).

40th Anniversary First Novel Award: Past Winner Testimonials: "It took me seven years to write The Free World. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Getting the Amazon.ca First Novel Award was a high point in the novel's publication and in my career as a novelist." David Bezmozgis, 2011 Amazon.ca First Novel Award Winner "The encouragement of the First Novel Award is invaluable and comes at a time when a writer needs it most."Anne Michaels, 1996 Amazon.ca First Novel Award Winner "Winning the award made me feel, probably for the first time, that it was acceptable for me to use the job title "writer." It helped All True Not a Lie In It find an audience, and it helped me want to keep writing (the sequel is underway). I'm so grateful."Alix Hawley, 2015 Amazon.ca First Novel Award Winner To find additional information about the finalists and their novels, and to find out more about the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, visit www.amazon.ca/firstnovelaward or http://thewalrus.ca/digital-projects/the-40th-anniversary-of-the-amazon-first-novel-award/. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the prize, Amazon.ca is offering a 40% discount on this year's Amazon.ca First Novel Award shortlist for a limited time in addition to everyday savings of up to 40% off the 100 bestselling titles. About Amazon Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about. About the Walrus Foundation The Walrus Foundation is a registered charitable non-profit (No. 861851624-RR0001) with an educational mandate to create forums for matters vital to Canadians. The foundation is dedicated to supporting writers, artists, ideas, and thought-provoking conversation. We achieve these goals across multiple platforms, publishing The Walrus magazinewhich focuses on Canada and its place in the worldten times a year in print, tablet, and mobile editions; curating and producing the national series of public Walrus Talks; convening annual sector-based leadership dinners; posting original, high-quality content daily at thewalrus.ca; and designing such digital projects as Walrus Ebooks and Walrus TV. The foundation also trains young professionals in media, publishing, and non-profit development. SOURCE Amazon.ca

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has reacted to Governor Ayodele Fayose's stance on the Federal Governments request...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has reacted to Governor Ayodele Fayose's stance on the Federal Governments request to take loan from China for development purposes.The party said President Muhammadu Buharis initiative is in tandem with other countries of the world that are engaged in bilateral arrangements for development purposes.APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said in a statement that Fayoses conduct amounted to a national sabotage and a seditious conduct that must not be allowed to go unchallenged.He regretted that the governor got himself busy spending Ekiti money on frivolities while workers salaries remained unpaid for four months. As we speak, doctors are on strike and Ekiti people are dying while the governor gets himself busy with the activities that will lead to evasion of justice in his several alleged criminal cases so that he can protect his questionable wealth across the world.It will be recall that Governor Fayose had on Wednesday written to the government of China, urging President XI Jinping not to approve $2b loan to implement development component of the 2016 national budget. He sent the letter through his emissary to the Chinese Embassy in Abuja, while he personally took a copy of the letter to Shanghai to be delivered to the Chinese President.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has again urged Nigerians to express gratitu-de...

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has again urged Nigerians to express gratitu-de to God by rededicating their lives to Him with abounding faith in Him.Adeboye made this known during a special prayer and thanksgiving service for tenants and their families at the RCCG national head-quarters, Throne of Grace Parish, Ebute-Metta, Lagos with a theme: "Building My Own House".He explained that God owns all nations and anyone who wants to enjoy His mercy and favour must have faith in Him, noting: "God is the master builder and when we let Him know how much we depend on Him for sustenance and be grateful with the little He has done, we will make it."Speaking after the service, the Special Assistant to Pastor Adeboye on Personnel and Administration, Pastor John-son Odesola, said before Festac 77, the naira was equivalent to a dollar and the economy was stronger and better, until Nigerians forgot God and brought all idols in the world to the country.He said: "Shortly after Festac '77, we started exp-eriencing negative dev-elopment in the country. We didn't appreciate God with our oil boom. If we really want God to build this nation, we must return to Him and let Him occupy our national life and know how to manage our successes."Odesola also urged Fed-eral and state governments to construct more low cost housing estates to curb the challenge of housing in the country because of the geometric population grow-th in the nation."They should address the acute housing deficit in the country. As a religious organ-isation, we are partnering with government to supplem-ent their efforts by providing affordable houses to the preponderance members of our church," he said.
Fear has now gripped some top officials of the National Assembly over the revelation that they hijacked the budget sent in by President Mu...

Fear has now gripped some top officials of the National Assembly over the revelation that they hijacked the budget sent in by President Muhammadu Buhari and used their positions to distort the fiscal document by allocating huge projects worth billions of Naira to themselves under the guise of working on the budget.The affected influential lawmakers in the two chambers of the NASS, are said to be worried that the action they took to corner substantial amount of money in the budget, using the platform of Constituency Projects has been punctured by the refusal of the president to sign the budget without the details.It was also gathered that the House of Representatives has agreed to address some of the concerns raised by the executive arm of government in the budget while some of the controversial allocations inserted into the budget by the principal officers for their constituencies would be redirected to finance other critical national projects.The revelation has split the NASS into two factions, with one backing President Muhamadu Buhari while the other, is frontally opposed to him and his administration.The strong men of the NASS are reported to have cornered projects worth N1.6 billion each, leaving another level of committee men with N1.5 billion each and a general sum of N200 million for the average or common member of the legislature.This plot, Saturday Vanguard gathered, boomeranged when some loyalists of President Buhari, who were privy to the scheming of the powerful cabal in the NASS to change the budget for their own selfish interest, alerted him of the plot and cautioned him not to sign the budget when it eventually comes.The Presidents loyalists, who felt slighted but still played along with the rebels in the NASS, promptly laid the antics of the cabals to the Presidency and it paid off even while Buhari was in far away Saudi Arabia at the time.A Presidency source said that it was the tip-off by the loyalists in the NASS that informed Buharis insistence that he would study the budget approved by the NASS line by line, ministry by ministry before assenting to it.Sources familiar with the development, told Saturday Vanguard that there was a serious rancour in the NASS over the disclosure that only a few members of the appropriation committees in the two chambers sat and decided on the budget and committed major distortions in the name of all the members.Some of the lawmakers, who were left out of the budget largesse, are said to be ready to expose those involved to enable the Presidency sanction them as a deterrent to others.One of the lawmakers, who cornered close to N2 billion projects for his constituency alone, is said to be worried about what steps Buhari might take against those involved in the budget distortions, in line with his vow to punish those who padded it.However, Saturday Vanguard learnt that given the uproar that had greeted the 2016 budget, the NASS leadership had warned all members to sheath the sword and await the return of President Buhari from China.(Vanguard)
According to Matthew Ashimolowo, the senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Nigeria is not worth dying for.





According to Matthew Ashimolowo, the senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Nigeria is not worth dying for.My father was killed at the Asaba/Onitsha bridge during the Nigeria/Biafra civil war in 1967 and the Nigerian military did not have the decency to inform my family.His death was treated with levity; even to get his entitlement from the military, my brother had to bribe his way through. Is this the kind of country you would want to die for?He described Nigeria as a five-talent nation being perpetually led by one-talent leaders and regretted that willing Nigerians who have good plans to develop the country were regularly frustrated by some privileged few.Nigerias problem is because culture influences how we choose leaders. Culture puts age before ability to choose leaders. This as not only wrong, but also outdated. Weak leadership is the single reason why Africa as a continent seems to be trapped.Europe would not survive if it was not for Africa. Most of the things they need to survive are in Africa," he said.A good leader does not need a four year term to make a difference. You can do that in a year, he added.He spoke at the recently concluded Excellence in Leadership Conference organized by Daystar Christian Centre, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos state.
President Buhari has arrived Nigeria after a week-long business trip to China and was received by Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and Inspect...









President Buhari has arrived Nigeria after a week-long business trip to China and was received by Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase on 16th April, 2016.The president was in China to strengthen bilateral and economic relation between the two countries and according to the president, Nigeria stands to gain a lot from the China trip.Buhari said the one-week trip to China would have a positively huge impact on key sectors of the Nigerian economy including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation.
Most wanted.jpg

Anthony Jamal Summers and Geral Wilson (Submitted photos)

BRIDGETON -- The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office would like your help in finding two of their most-wanted fugitives.

Anthony Jamal Summers, 29, is being sought on four Superior Court of New Jersey Family Court warrants for failing to pay $42,331.58 in child support payments. Summers is described as a black male, 6-feet tall, 160 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He has a tattoo on his left forearm "AHNYA" and a tattoo on his right forearm "ACE." His last known address was Spruce Street in Bridgeton.

Gerald Wilson, 61, is being sought on one Superior Court of New Jersey Criminal Court warrant for failure to appear. Wilson is described as a white male, 5-foot-9-inches tall, 185 pounds, with green eyes and brown hair. He has a tattoo on his right arm of a cross and a tattoo on his left arm of ace of spades. His last known address was Laurel Heights Drive in Upper Deerfield Township.

Sheriff Robert A. Austino asks anyone who comes in contact with these individuals to call the police immediately. You should contact state or local police, or the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department TIP-LINE at 856-451-0625.

If you know the whereabouts of this individual, share this information anonymously by downloading the CCPOTIP App at the Android or iPhone Store and choosing Cumberland County Sheriff's Department, submitting an anonymous tip via text to 847411 with CCSONJ and your tip in the message line or going to the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Facebook page and clicking "submit a tip" and submitting a tip to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department.

Citizens are reminded not to approach, confront, or detain these fugitives.

Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
NEWARK -- The administration of Mayor Ras Baraka announced Friday that a deal has been struck allowing Uber to continue operating in the city.

"The city of Newark and UBER have reached a tentative agreement which will keep UBER in Newark, protect the business interests of the taxi and limousine industry and provide a boost to the city's economic development and leadership in technology," Baraka said in a statement.

A Baraka spokesman declined to release details of the deal, stating the particulars will be made public at a press conference sometime "in the coming days."

Uber also confirmed that a deal had been struck but also refrained from releasing any specifics in its statement.

"We are pleased we reached a tentative agreement with Mayor Baraka. We look forward to continuing to provide transportation options and economic opportunity to Newark and its citizens," spokesman Craig Uwer said.

Uber and the city have been at loggerheads for months, with Baraka and other city officials claiming the car services enjoy an unfair advantage over taxis licensed by Newark. Representatives of the traditional cab companies also say services like Lyft and Uber threaten to put them out of business.

The city had previously proposed a ban on the car-hailing services at Newark Liberty Airport and Penn Station, an effort that initially floundered when the Port Authority and NJ Transit both declined to enforce it. But ticketing resumed following a rally by cab drivers at city hall.

More recently, the city proposed a number of fees to be imposed on what the company says are an estimated 2,000 Uber drivers who work in Newark. Those fees total far more than what cab drivers pay, Uber contends, an assertion disputed by unions representing the cab companies.

In response, Uber this week threatened to leave the city.
NEWARK  Hours after announcing the deal that will allow Uber to continue operating in the city, the office of Mayor Ras Baraka on Saturday released details of the tentative agreement.

Under terms of the deal, Uber will pay the city a $10 million fee to operate at Newark Liberty International Airport for the next 10 years.

The company has also agreed to provide $1.5 million in liability coverage for all drivers in its network, conduct background checks of each one and to install and enforce a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol abuse policy.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/04/heres_why_uber_belongs_in_newark_and_heres_why_it.html



"In proposing to regulate Uber in Newark, my goals have been to protect the safety of Uber riders, to require Uber to pay its fair share including fees and permits under the same kind of regulations as other businesses in Newark," Baraka said in a released statement. "This agreement achieves just that."

Uber also applauded the deal. "Uber is proud to be the first ride-sharing company to reach a compromise with the City of Newark," said spokesman Matthew Wing. "We thank Mayor Baraka for his leadership in making Newark the first City in New Jersey to embrace comprehensive and fair ride-sharing regulations."

Lionel Leach, president of CWA Local 1039, the union that represents nearly 300 taxi drive and has pushed for regulations to "level the playing field" playing field between taxi and rideshare companies said the agreement fails to meet that goal.

"This is an agreement for $10 million that benefits the city and the rideshare companies, not the [taxi]drivers. "Based on what I see right now, the only thing that it creates an unfair balance."

The agreement, which has yet to be approved by the Municipal Council, appears to have brought to a close the extended negotiations between city officials and the company that in recent weeks turned acrimonious.

Baraka and other city officials have claimed that Uber and other car services enjoy an unfair advantage over taxis licensed by Newark. Representatives of the traditional cab companies also say services like Lyft and Uber threaten to put them out of business.

The city had previously proposed a ban on the car-hailing services at Newark Liberty Airport and Penn Station, an effort that initially floundered when the Port Authority and NJ Transit both declined to enforce it. But ticketing resumed following a rally by cab drivers at city hall.

More recently, the city proposed a number of fees to be imposed on what the company says are an estimated 2,000 Uber drivers who work in Newark. Those fees total far more than what cab drivers pay, Uber contends, an assertion disputed by unions representing the cab companies.

In response, Uber this week threatened to leave the city.

Staff writers Dan Ivers and Paul Milo contributed to this report.

Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY -- Named for the mother of longtime Jersey City mayor and political boss Frank "I am the law" Hague, the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital opened in October 1931, and was the birthplace of more than 300,000 babies, including Matha Stewart, former Gov. Jim McGreevey, and Frank Sinatra's kids.



But the hospital, part of the old Jersey City Medical Center complex, closed its doors for good in 1979, and for decades was an abandoned white elephant on high ground overlooking downtown, it's windows broken and copper plumbing hauled off by scavengers. The grand, beau arts hospital was so run-down, such a sad curiosity, that it was used by novelist Richard Price in his 1992 best seller, "Clockers," as a symbol of urban decay.

But now, at the ripe old age of 85, the former maternity hospital is being reborn as a luxury apartment building, the last of eight medical center structures to be restored and repurposed as a residential community known as The Beacon.

"This is truly an historic milestone," said John Masso, who manages entire The Beacon complex.



To mark the occasion, The Beacon's developer, Stamford, Conn.-based Building and Land Technology, or BLT, will host a "Beacon Birthday" celebration on Saturday, where local officials, nurses who worked at the hospital, and possibly former babies who were born there will be in attendance.

"I was born there!" said Bill Matsikoudis, 44, a former Jersey City Corporation Council and one-time resident of the Beacon, who moved out a couple of years ago but not because he didn't enjoy living there. Of the Margaret Hague in particular, he said, "It's wonderful that it's coming back as a place for people to live."



The new Margaret Hague, rechristened simply as "Hague," will add another 241 one and two bedroom apartments to the mainly art deco Beacon complex, where a cluster of buildings ranging from eight to 22 stories overlook much of the city from a promontory on Montgomery Street at Baldwin Avenue.



Rents at Hague start at $1,595 for one bedroom, plus common amenities inside and out of the building that include courtyards with fountains and grills, a one-acre landscaped plaza with a view of New York City, a two-acre park with a dog run, a movie theater, and a "poker room" adapted from Frank Hague's personal quarters at the old medical center, where residents can cut their own back-room deals, or juts play a few hands of five-card stud.



Hague's rebirth as housing is fitting in a way, since a founding principal of what at the time was one of the nation's most progressive hospitals was to make its patients feel at home.

"It was very important that the hospital have a warm, 'homey' feeling and not the bleak, institutional feeling of so many buildings of the day," states the web site of the Margaret Hague Foundation. "The interiors were a first for a major hospital at that time. Nowhere was white paint used. The walls were painted in light and warm pastel colors. The feeling of home extended beyond the physical features as well. To ensure that the human element prevailed, rather than imposing strict visiting hours, anxious fathers could visit at any time when the mothers were able to receive them, even in the early morning hours, before work began."

Those colors are recreated in today's Hague, including a tan and pale green scheme in some of the units, which compliment the dark stain of Hague's faux-wood vinyl floors, a material the management says will be easy to maintain.



The architect for the restoration was MG New York Architects.

BLT bought the 14-acre Beacon site in 2011, paying $47 million to its original developer, George Filopoulos, a New Jersey-based developer who had purchased it six years earlier for just $7 million from the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority, after the medical center moved to its current location in a new complex on Grand Street. Filopoulos spent more than $100 million on restoring the complex and converting it to apartments, some of which he sold as condominiums, before the recession forced him to sell all but a small portion of the site to BLT.

The Beacon has received incentives including a 30-year tax abatement and federal tax breaks because the medical center, one of the nation's first municipally operated public hospitals, is national historic site being preserved through an adaptive reuse.

BLT's Masso, is a 6-foot-3, 350-pound pillar of the community who not only works there, but is a resident as well, with an apartment in a building called the Criterion.

Masso's become engrossed in the site's history, particularly Hague's former life as a maternity hospital.

"That's why we're calling it the Beacon Birthday," he said of Saturday's event.



"Because we're playing off the fact that it was a maternity ward where 350,000 people were born here, and by finishing this piece last we're actually, for me, giving birth to the Beacon. Saturday we're announcing, hey were done with all of our construction, our outdoor construction, and now we're going to grow. We're going start to fill all the apartments and just be that community we've trying to get to."

Masso is not only manages the Beacon complex, he also lives there. And when he talks about building community among the tenants, he sounds like he's talking about more than his job.



"We're always trying to add new things for residents, we're always continuing to grow," he said. "I think in the last six months we've added, probably, a dozen different amenities to the site. And one of the big things we've accomplished is community events. Last Sunday we had an art show. Last month we had three or four different resident events. We're starting to get 100, 150 people, which is unheard of. For the birthday parties, were using local vendors to supply stuff for us. For the food we're using local food trucks, local business. So we want to try to build relationships with Jersey City businesses, as well as help build a relationship with our neighbors. "



Because the Margaret Hague and other Beacon buildings were not originally built to house apartments, in addition to going up eight or nine decades ago, their layouts awe widely varied, often unique, as opposed to the uniformity of units in most contemporary structures.



"This, to me, is what's so cool about adaptive re-use," said George Cahn, a spokesman for the developer.



The costliest unit at the Margaret Hague, a 2,500-square-foot penthouse triplex for $8,000 a month, which seems ideal for entertaining. The third floor of the apartment inherited a pair of huge terraces from the old maternity hospital, where during a recent tour on a clear day it wasn't hard to imagine new mothers introducing infants to their first taste of sunshine and fresh air.



On one side of the unit's open, U-shape third floor, a terrace measuring about 350 square feet lets residents and guests take in sunsets over the Watchung Mountains to the west, with an equally unobstructed view of New York Harbor to the south, including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.



The slightly smaller terrace on the east side allows for gazing out over downtown Jersey City and Manhattan. Imagine a party that opens with a sunset on one side, capped by the sunrise at the other.



The one, two and three-bedroom apartments are less grand, but come with their own unique layouts. Throughout the building, the windows are huge and plentiful.



"You would never be able to get a space like this in a building now," Cahn said, walking through the marble lobby, with its original terrazzo floors and brass fixtures. "They are able to take unique spaces that you just couldn't replicate."



Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Music was playing, people were dancing in the streets, and hundreds of shiny motorcycles lined a city block on Broadway today in Bayonne, but a somber reminder was in the air during the festivities.

At today's Blessing of the Bikes, sponsored by the Bayonne Elks Lodge #434, motorcycle awareness and safety were the main causes of the day.

John "Kenny" Healey was at today's event. He survived a motorcycle accident last May in Connecticut, but his fiancee Karen Minutella was killed in the crash.

"It's awesome that the Elks are doing this," Healey said. "It's all about safety."

The event left him emotional. "Padre" John Fencik, who came out to bless the motorcycles and riders at the event, made it a point to bless a small vial of Karen's ashes that Healey wears around his neck.

Healey said is almost fully recovered.

"I have a few obstacles to overcome," he said. "Hopefully (I'll be 100 percent) in another year or so."

The non-profit organization Remember Me, which was started in the memory of John "Jack" Santopietro who was killed four years ago in a motorcycle crash at the age of 21, was at the event to raise money for a scholarship to send a 16- to 18-year-old student to driving school.

Margaret Abrams, Santopietro's mother, said her organization's purpose is to educate people on motorcycle awareness in order to save riders' lives.

"Karen was killed by a 16-year-old driver who was changing a radio station," said Abrarams, who was also a friend of Minutella. "She was an absolutely amazing friend."

She said her son was killed by a driver who said he did not see her son on his motorcycle.

The scholarship will help young drivers realize, "the importance of paying attention behind the wheel," she said.

The organization also sponsors the "Rider of the Clouds" initiative, which features 21 free-standing, black wooden motorcycle figures. Each bears the name of a motorcyclist who was killed in a crash.

The event also celebrated the passion riders have for their bikes.

"The purpose of today is to get motorcycle awareness out there, get bikes blessed, and feel good about riding this season," said Mike Collins, Elks Lodge trustee and the Motorcycle Committee president.

The Blessing of the Bikes was one of the numerous fundraising events the Bayonne Elks Lodge #434 holds throughout the year. Money raised by the lodge provides scholarships, funds drug awareness programs, youth activities, veterans programs, special needs children's programs, and the Americanism Committee in addition to its Motorcycle Committee. The Antlers, the children's group of the Elks, also helps out by holding bake sales and other fundraisers.

Jersey City resident Sal Corrado showed off his 1987 Harley Davidson Softail that was among the hundreds of other bikes out today.

"It has suspension in the back but it's hidden to give it the look of an old bike," he said.
JERSEY CITY - With a knife and a giant pair of scissors, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop made official the opening of the Hague during Saturday's "Beacon Birthday" celebration.

The leasing of the new luxury apartment building marks the total fulfillment of a long, ambitious, sometimes-troubled dream to turn a shuttered Art Deco-style hospital fully into "The Beacon," an eight-unit complex of condos and market rate apartments. The last of those buildings to be opened was the Hague.

First, Fulop cut the red ribbon to the entryway of the building. Then he cut the cake, a fondant-wrapped replica of the Hague building crafted by Carlo's Bakery.

The ceremony took place at about 3 p.m., following a rapid-paced tour of the Hague from Mitch Bodner, managing director for Beacon development firm Building and Land Technology.

Fulop told a crowd that the completion of The Beacon, one of the biggest historic renovation projects in America, has strong significance for the city.

"Jersey City has one of the best renaissance stories in the entire country," he said, with Bodner and Mauro Castano, of "Cake Boss" fame, by his side.

Thousands of people gathered in Overlook Park to enjoy food at the celebratory public event. The group included current residents of the complex and prospective renters, who were able to take tours.

The Hague building was once the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, which opened in 1931, according to officials. Now, the once-abandoned building is filled with 241 luxury apartments, 40 of which have already been leased in the past two weeks, Bodner said, which is "very fast."

The Beacon, which is a national "historic place," already has 2,000 residents in its other buildings. The new apartments are priced from $1,595 a month, which Bodner argued is a "good value," compared to waterfront apartment rates.

"This is a truly historic milestone," said John Masso, The Beacon's regional manager, in a statement. "BLT had a grand vision for these historic buildings, and to see them now fully reawakened as a 21st-century use... is both thrilling and rewarding."

Yet, some early residents of the Beacon chuckled Saturday, recalling what they feared the property would become.

One couple, who moved in to one of the The Beacon buildings in October 2012, noted that there used to be a giant pit where the parking garage was built.

"We had our apprehensions," said Beacon resident Sakinah Banks. "It's a lot in such a short period of time. Now (this park) is a place for people to come together."

Laura Herzog may be reached at lherzog@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LauraHerzogL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
SECAUCUS -- Actress Nichelle Nichols, widely known for playing Lt. Uhura in television's original "Star Trek," made a special appearance today at the East Coast Comicon in Secaucus.

Nichols, who attended the convention along with other guests from the television and film world, said connecting to her fans means a lot more than just signing autographs.

The 83-year-old actress told The Jersey Journal that interacting with her fans is also about nurturing the progressive vision of "Star Trek."

"It's not just: (I'm) here to smile and sign autographs, you know? It's because 'Star Trek' gave the world a different vision of who we are," she said.

Nichols said "Star Trek" helped people overcome some of their own prejudices with its depiction of a culturally and racially diverse group of people working together as a team.

"I know people who have come to me and said, 'You know, Ms. Nichols, I have to tell you that when I was a kid, I came from racist family. And today, I no longer am in a racist family because 'Star Trek' came to our home,'" she said.

Nichols was one of the first black female characters on American television not portrayed as a servant.

The actress has said in the past that when she was tempted to leave "Star Trek" during its first year in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed her mind. He told her she couldn't give up because she was playing a role model for black children and young women across the country.

In her role as communications officer Lt. Uhura, Nichols is known for kissing white actor William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk in the Nov. 22, 1968, "Star Trek" episode "Plato's Stepchildren." The episode is popularly cited as the first example of an interracial kiss on U.S. television.

Today, one of Nichols' fans, Catherine Montemarano, was thrilled to get a photo with the actress. The 19-year-old told The Jersey Journal she's been a fan of Nichols since she was 4.

Asked what stood out to her about the octogenarian, Montemarano cited Nichols' "role in the civil rights movement," her "first interracial kiss" and her being a role model for women everywhere.

"I aspire to be her. She's so courageous," the St. Peter's University student said.

Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
new-mercer-county-courthouse.jpg

(Michael Mancuso | The Times)

TRENTON - A woman accused of stabbing her teenage son in the back is expected to have her case resolved this summer when she goes to court.

Tasha Walker, a 42-year-old Trenton mother, appeared in court Tuesday and received a June 3 date for her case.

Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier told the courtroom that he believed the case would be resolved then.

That date is almost a year after the incident when Walker got into a fight with her teenage son at her Trenton home.

The argument turned violent when Walker grabbed a knife and her 19-year-old son tried to wrestle it away from her, cutting his hand in the process, police have said.

She regained control of the knife and yelled, "I brought you into the world and I can take you out," before stabbing her son in the back, police have said.

The teen was sent to the hospital but made a recovery.

Her next appearance is scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 3rd.

Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
Every day, a downtown Council Bluffs facility attracts 1,000 people through its doors. During the last fiscal year, the number of people who came in person to enjoy what it had to offer numbered 393,000, up 10,000 from the previous year.

Were the busiest anchor store in downtown Council Bluffs, said Kathy Rieger.

Rieger was referring to the Council Bluffs Public Library, which is celebrating National Library Week.

This is to give recognition to libraries and what we do for the communities, said Rieger, the library director. We educate everyone from age zero to 100. Thats our purpose.

Started in 1958, National Library Week is sponsored by the American Library Association and features localized events, such as Tuesdays National Library Workers Day.

We have a great staff here, Rieger said.

Mayor Matt Walsh Monday evening proclaimed this week as National Library Week in Council Bluffs, with a big event Friday evening for teens who will time travel to the 1990s, 1980s and 1970s, Rieger said.

This years national theme is Libraries Transform, and the local branch appears to be keeping pace with the needs of a growing digital society. During fiscal year 2015, patrons downloaded 35,000 e-books, 6,000 movies and 3,700 e-magazines, Rieger said.

Our database traffic is up 206 percent from the year before, she said.

To use its database, people can go to the librarys website on any internet-ready device and gain access with their library card.

Included among its database options is a history of Council Bluffs through the words of The Daily Nonpareil, said Ben Johnson, adult services manager. The digitized archive already complete between 1857 and 1964. In March, there were 9,318 article searches and 16,967 articles either viewed or downloaded, Johnson noted, adding that old newspapers are still available on microfilm.

Weve had a lot of positive feedback, Johnson said of going digital.

But, in addition to online access, a library must contain physical things, Rieger said.

During fiscal year 2015, the library loaned out more than half a million physical items, such as books, movies and CDs, she said. A popular item at the moment is novelty cake pans.

We loan things that people want, she said.
The Gary Branch NAACP will host a candidate forum at 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the multi-purpose room at Ivy Tech Community College, 1440 E. 35th St. in Gary. Ill be among the media representatives serving on the panel. Candidates for Lake County Circuit Court judge; State Senate, District 3; state representative, Districts 2 and 3; county recorder and county coroner.

The League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area and Lakeshore Public Media are sponsoring a debate for the 2nd District state representative candidates at 6:30 p.m. April 25 at the De La Garza campus of Ivy Tech Community College, 410 E. Columbus Dr., East Chicago.

Crusing into Indiana

GOP presidential contender Senator Ted Cruz plans to attend the Indiana GOP's Spring Dinner on Thursday. Hes a visitor, not the keynote speaker. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin gets top billing for speechifying.

"We have offered invitations to all of the presidential candidates, and we are honored that Sen. Ted Cruz has accepted the invitation," said Indiana Republican Party Chairman Jeff Cardwell. "This election cycle has put Indiana in a historic spot and we are ready for an exciting year."

Shaking the money tree

If the Indiana governors race were about raising money, rather than votes, Democrat John Gregg would be in the lead. The Gregg for Governor campaign raised $1.86 million in the first quarter, campaign manager Tim Henderson said.

The Mike Pence for Indiana Campaign raised $1.52 million for the first quarter of 2016, campaign manager Marty Obst said. The Republican incumbents campaign will also show more than $7.65 million cash on hand, and Hoosiers make up over 88 percent of contributors, he said.

The Gregg campaign has $5,085,837 left on hand, three times what Gregg had at this point in 2012. Of individual contributions, 97 percent were from Indiana, and 85 percent were $100 or less, Henderson said.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz's campaign raised $113,000 this quarter, bringing total cash on hand to $355,000. Of that total, 98 percent came from Hoosiers, campaign manager Annie Mansfield said. "We have more cash on hand right now than the entire 2012 campaign raised, Mansfield said.

Running, but not on your ballot yet

The Indiana attorney general and superintendent of public instruction races dont appear on the ballot, but that doesnt mean theres no activity there. On Friday, Jennifer McCormick, superintendent of Yorktown Community Schools, became the first candidate to officially file for the Republican nomination for superintendent of public instruction. She personally paid the filing fee at the Indiana Republican Partys headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. The AG and state superintendent of public instruction nominees at chosen at their respective partys state convention this summer.

Privates affair

Youve read about the Periods for Pence and Testicle Testimony campaigns. Now theres a Color Your Junk for Mike Pence event planned in Indianapolis next Friday. Hoosiers will be asked to color printed color pages of both male and female reproductive parts. Its a reaction to actions socially conservative legislation signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence.

High marks for transparency

Indiana achieved a perfect score for financial transparency in 2016 from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, State Auditor Suzanne Crouch announced Thursday. This is the third year in a row the Indiana Transparency Portal has increased its score and ranked in the top three nationally. This time, it went from 97 to 100 points to earn an A+. Read, Following the Money 2016: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data, for details.

Galluping to conclusions

Fifty-seven percent of Americans, more than in any year since 2001, now say they pay too much federal income tax, the Gallup organization reported Thursday. Meanwhile, six in 10 Americans believe upper-income Americans pay too little in taxes, and 52 percent favor higher taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth, Gallup said Friday. These views differ widely by political party identification.
A native of Warrick County, Indiana, Goethe Link was a noted Indianapolis physician who specialized in the treatment of thyroid problems. He became famous, however, for one of his hobbiesastronomy. In 1937 he began construction of an observatory in Morgan County. The observatory began operations in 1939 and in 1948 Doctor Link donated the observatory and grounds to Indiana University. The observatory was used regularly for research until the 1980s, when light pollution from Indianapolis suburbs restricted research at the site. Today, the Goethe Link Observatory is operated jointly by IU and the Indiana Astronomical Society. Link died at age 101 in 1981.
Hours after wrapping up last night's debate in Brooklyn, Bernie Sanders landed in Rome to speak at the Vatican on Friday.

The Brooklyn-native spoke at a conference on economic and environmental issues that the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences hosted.

Sanders told a group of bishops and academics that he agrees with what Pope Francis says, and that there is a need for more social justice.

"Speculation, illicit financial flows, environmental destruction, and the weakening of the rights of workers is far more severe today that it was a quarter-century ago," the Democratic presidential candidate said.

"The Vatican needs what is the opinion of the leaders," said Rev. Tomas Del Valle Reyes of Parish of Guardian Angel/St. Columba Church.

"Sanders is an important leader before being a candidate, because he's a senator of the United States, was a teacher in the university, so his opinion is important for the church."

An official for the academy said it did not invite any of the other presidential candidates because Sanders is the only one who shows a significant enough interest in the Pope's beliefs.

Pope Francis and Sanders did not meet, but officials said the pontiff does not typically attend those types of events.
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner will host "New York City Missing Persons Day" on Saturday, April 16. Now in its second year, this support event for families and friends of missing persons has led to seven identifications of missing persons in the New York metropolitan area since its launch in 2014.

More than 13,000 people were reported missing in New York City last year, with some, including at least 200 children, missing long term. Nationwide, there are more than 87,000 active missing persons cases, and thousands of unidentified persons in the custody of medical examiners offices.

The event also connects the families and friends of long-term missing persons with expert resources and services to help find and identify their missing loved ones. Attendees have the opportunity to provide information, such as photos, histories and DNA reference samples, and to access emotional support services.

The event begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner is at 421 East 26th Street at 1st Avenue.

"(We) host New York City Missing Persons Day in recognition of all families and friends coping with the experience of a missing loved one," said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson. "This special day reminds all those affected that we stand with them, as we connect families with resources and support that can make all the difference for identifications."

The first New York City Missing Persons Day was hosted in November 2014. Nearly 100 families attended the event, while some 250 others shared information by phone.

To date, seven identifications have resulted pertaining to missing and unidentified persons cases from New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties, and New Jersey. In addition, the loved ones of two long-term missing persons were routed to support services that helped connect them with their living loved ones.
Police are investigating the death of a man in a Manhattan homeless shelter as a homicide. As our Na'eem Douglas tells us, it's the latest in a string of violence at city-run shelters.



Residents of the 30th Street Men's Shelter on East 30th Street and 1st Avenue in Kips Bay have questions; mainly, what happened inside a third floor room that left one resident dead?

"I don't know why he did that to him. I couldn't tell you," one resident said.



Police are investigating an apparent homicide inside a homeless shelter in Manhattan on Friday.

The 56-year old man was found dead with wounds around his neck just before 8:30 a.m., according to the police report, inside the 30th Street Men's Shelter.

The man's room was a mess when he was found, and there appeared to be some type of struggle, police said.

Police ruled out robbery and said some type of dispute happened.

The room the police found the victim in had two other beds.



"We are speaking to all roommates and all individuals that were on that floor," said NYPD Assistant Chief William Aubry. "There were 67 people on that third floor last night that checked in. So we're looking to speak to each and every one of them."

NY1 spoke to one resident, who said he saw the victim quite often.

"He was the cigarette man," the resident said. "If you wanted a cigarette, a loose cigarette, that's the man you wanted to see on the third floor."

This incident is the latest in a string of violent crimes at city-run shelters. In January, a man was nearly decapitated at the Boulevard Homeless Shelter in East Harlem.

About two weeks later, a mom, her 1-year-old and 4-month-old daughters were killed at the Ramada Inn in Staten Island, a city intake site.

The de Blasio administration completed a 90-day review of the city's homeless services earlier this week and plans to retrain peace officers and step up security at shelters.

"Not just more security but better security. Better workers, people that are actually interested in helping people in our type of situation," one resident said.

"Over here, it's like living in a jungle," another resident said.

The 30th Street Men's Shelter is one of the busiest shelters in the city. Despite that, police say there have been only two felony assaults reported at this shelter for the year.

The city said it is stepping up police presence and retraining some of its staff at the shelter.

The Department of Homeless Services released a statement saying its thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his family.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

The investigation continues.
HONG KONG  In the most intense confrontation since the early days of Hong Kongs pro-democracy protests, hundreds of police officers used pepper spray in the early hours of Wednesday to scatter hundreds of demonstrators who had barricaded a harbor-front road overnight.

The conflict appeared to last less than half an hour, and the two sides settled into an uneasy standoff nearing dawn. But the crackdown, which the police said had included the arrests of 45 protesters, further escalated tensions in this Asian financial center as the authorities showed growing impatience with demonstrations that have choked traffic for more than two weeks.

The swift police action to reopen the road near the offices of Hong Kongs leader came hours after the Chinese government appeared to ramp up the pressure on Hong Kongs authorities to act.

In comments carried by the China News Service, an official news agency, the Chinese government made its highest-level denunciation yet of the protesters, accusing them of pursuing a conspiracy to challenge Beijings power over the city.
Malick Sidibe, whose black-and-white photographs of young partygoers captured the exuberance of newly independent Mali in the 1960s and 70s and made him one of Africas most celebrated artists after his work was shown abroad in the 1990s, died on Thursday in Bamako, Mali. He was 80.

His son Karim Sidibe said the cause was complications of diabetes, The Associated Press reported.

Mr. Sidibe started out taking pictures at weddings and christenings in the 1950s, using a Kodak Brownie camera, but after opening his own studio he branched out into a more ambitious form of social reporting. He attended Saturday-night parties at which young Malians, dressed to the nines, danced the twist, the rumba and the merengue to the Beatles, James Brown and Afro-Caribbean music. This was Malis youthquake, and Mr. Sidibe was its photographic witness.

For me, photography is all about youth, he told The Daily Telegraph of London in 2008. Its about a happy world full of joy, not some kid crying on a street corner or a sick person.
BRUSSELS  Almost six years ago, the European Union sharply curtailed access to its airspace for Irans aging airline fleet. But officials in Brussels say they are now prepared to loosen some of those restrictions as the easing of Western sanctions gradually allows new planes and spare parts to enter Iran after decades of isolation.

The overture follows the nuclear accord reached with the United States and other world powers in January, and it will be presented during a visit to Tehran this weekend by a delegation from the European Commission, the blocs executive branch, officials said. It forms part of a broader European effort to revive economic ties between Iran and the 28-member bloc, which was once one of Irans largest trading partners.

Iranian state news media confirmed a visit this week by representatives of Boeing to discuss a possible sale of 737, 787 and 777 aircraft, the first such mission by the American plane maker in decades. The United States companys European rival Airbus reached an agreement with Iran in January over the purchase of $27 billion in new jets.

The European Union banned most planes operated by Irans state-owned flag carrier, Iran Air, from its skies in 2010 because of concerns over their airworthiness. With an average age of more than 26 years, the airlines fleet is one of the worlds oldest, and European and American trade restrictions had prohibited the sale of the spare parts needed to keep the planes properly maintained.
The New York City Board of Elections is correcting its correction, and the cost to taxpayers is growing.

At the urging of Eric T. Schneiderman, the states attorney general, the board on Thursday mailed yet another batch of postcards to more than 42,000 newly registered voters, reminding them of next weeks presidential primary. The cause for the last-minute reminder was a series of mailings from the board that were either incorrect or incomplete.

It all started a few weeks ago, when the board sent a routine notice to about 60,000 newly registered voters, confirming their registration. But the notice included an incorrect date for a state and local primary election scheduled for September.

When officials spotted the gaffe, they decided to mail a postcard with a correction. But the terse note, which reached voters last month, said the correct date for the primary election was Sept. 13, without clarifying which primary was being mentioned.
Cubas ruling Communist Party is expected to announce a series of economic and political reforms next week that it hopes to put in place as the country prepares for the end of the Castros rule in 2018.

The proposals will be announced at the partys seventh conference, which starts on Sunday. But their content and scope remain a mystery to all but a few senior leaders of the party. While the policy review that preceded the last party conference, in 2011, included broad debate by rank-and-file party members, this time top officials have not shared information with them or solicited their views.

This surreptitious approach is shortsighted at a time of change and rising discontent. Ordinary Cubans, including those who are critical of the Communist Party, should have a say in how the country will be run and by whom, without fear of reprisal and persecution.

For many Cubans, the islands languishing economy is the most pressing issue. In 2011, party leaders promised to overhaul the centrally planned economy, but they have moved too slowly in opening up the country to foreign investment and allowing a private sector to take root. The main obstacle has been the Cuban military, which has long exercised monopoly control over large segments of the economy, creating an oligarchy in uniform that is reluctant to spread the wealth.
The long-suffering families of children murdered in the 2012 schoolhouse gun slaughter in Newtown, Conn., won fresh hope in court this week. A Connecticut state judge denied a motion to throw out their lawsuit against the manufacturers of the Bushmaster AR-15, a military-style assault rifle used to kill 20 children and six adults in the grisly siege.

The ruling, though far from a final victory for the plaintiffs, at least allows the civil suit to go forward  no small feat considering the strong shield of immunity from liability that Congress cravenly enacted for the gun industry in 2005. This customized favor for gun makers and dealers is enjoyed by no other American industry. It has been repeatedly upheld in courts where attempts to hold the industry accountable for its role in the nations gun scourge have been summarily dismissed.

But the Newtown suit is surviving for now with its novel legal challenge. Nine victims families and a teacher wounded in the attack contend Bushmaster Firearms International and Remington Arms should be liable under a negligent entrustment exception in the immunity shield. The parents accuse the gun makers of recklessly marketing a lightly adapted weapon of war to civilians who could use it for mass killings. The suit contends the rifles value for sporting and self-defense was negligible in comparison to the risk that the weapon would be used in its assaultive capacity.
The pipeline would cross nearly 300 creeks and streams and necessitate cutting 700,000 trees. The D.E.C. has recommended drilling six feet under all crossings, but the company plans to trench through most of them. Along with the massive tree-cutting on stream banks and hillsides, this would exacerbate flooding in a region already experiencing much stronger storms and floods. It would also harm dozens of trout streams and spawning areas, which the D.E.C. is charged with protecting. If the state does not exercise its authority to deny this certificate by April 26, the company will be allowed to proceed by default.

Building this pipeline would undermine our commitment to fight climate change. Proponents of fracked gas argue that it can be a bridge fuel while we make the transition to renewable energy. They focus on the fact that when gas  which is largely methane  is burned, it releases half the CO 2 of coal. But whether you see this glass as half empty or half full, it is being poured into an atmosphere that is already full  of CO 2 , having crossed the threshold of 400 parts per million last year. Also, methane, which can leak from gas infrastructure, traps heat 84 times as much as CO 2 does over a 20-year period. A recent study led by Harvard researchers showed that in the Boston area methane is leaking from gas delivery systems at rates two to three times higher than industry estimates.

Another study, published in Geophysical Research Letters in March, found that between 2002 and 2014, a period that coincides with the fracking boom, United States methane emissions increased by 30 percent.

Investments in this infrastructure would shackle us to gas for decades, just as we are finding out it contributes significantly more to global warming than experts previously thought. Clearly, the bridge metaphor is no longer appropriate. Building this pipeline is more like taking a long walk off a short pier.

Only four months ago, the climate agreement in Paris was hailed as a signal that 195 nations all understand that we cannot live on fossil fuel forever. But the United States is now in danger of backsliding. If this pipeline is built, New York will most likely be contributing more to global warming after Paris than before.
Speaking of the Marxes, lets look at Trump as an actor. A stage performer.

First, the onstage look he has chosen. To me, the mystery about the famous hairdo is not so much its construction but its existence. The wearer is clearly averse to exposed bald patches of the pate. But can you picture any pattern of baldness that could look worse than that layer of frayed golden carpet sitting on top of the head? Dont even try.

Obviously his mothers milk  probably his ultimate joy  is standing onstage before a cheering mob of worshiping Trumpites. But, sadly for him, Donald lacks the skills that make being up there fun. Humor, primarily. Answering hecklers is one of the great pleasures for a stand-up performer. You get credit for it because it isnt planned.

Hey, Cavett. Thats one of my fathers jokes. What are you? One of your mothers?

Isnt that sort of thing a lot more fun, if one is being heckled, than the less than Groucho-like Throw em out! and the humor-free Punch him in the face? Trump is a good celebrity, but if he were a good entertainer, hed vary his strokes. It must be hard to adjust, having been enveloped in a comfy luxury world of your own in which Youre the boss and Yes, sir is the background music.

Would a copy of The Trump Wit fit easily into your shirt pocket?

A question for Trumps interviewers and hosts: Arent there a lot more things you want to ask him? And then hold him to the answers, and show his previous answers that are contradictory? For help in this, see Stephen Colbert interviewing Trump v. Trump.

Keep asking where he gets his information when he says we in the United States pay the highest taxes. (We dont.) When he says he heard from five top generals this morning, couldnt we ask for names, please? (And contact information, so we can confirm what Trump said they said.) When he claims a hundred women have written him, could we ask to see the letters?

(Oh, and do be a good chap, Mr. Trump, and give us those tax returns.)

But these observations would just be interesting dinner conversation if he didnt frighten us so much.

When he told Anderson Cooper that Cruz started it about the War of the Wives, Cooper responded that that was the reaction of a 5-year-old. And we wondered, If the issue were a nuclear exchange with North Korea, would Trump say, Gee, Mom, Kim Jung-un started it? Suppose a terrifying crisis were to explode in, say, the Middle East. The Donald, with his demonstrated lack of world knowledge, wouldnt know Shiite from Shinola.
T: CULTURE

An article on Page 120 this weekend about the increasing availability of specialty fruits refers incorrectly to a biological stage of development. The larval stage applies to the animal kingdom, not to plants. The article also describes several fruits incorrectly. The pink variegated lemon, the baby kiwi and the purple-fleshed dragon fruit are specialty fruits  not hybrids. And an accompanying picture caption also describes the fruits incorrectly. They are a mix of tropical, hybrid and specialty fruits, not just tropical and hybrid fruits.



A subheading on Page 116 this weekend with an article about plans for the new Silicon Valley headquarters of Google and Apple, and the ways in which they are influenced by utopian-minded 1960s ideas, refers incorrectly to the design of one of the headquarters. It is the design of Googles headquarters  not of Apples  that can be said to resemble larvae. The article also refers incorrectly to the technology company Silicon Graphics. Although the company went bankrupt in 2009, its assets were purchased by another company, and today it operates as Silicon Graphics International; it is not long-defunct.



A brief article on Page 66 this weekend about a pair of earrings by the jeweler Hanut Singh, and his familys influence on his craft, misspells the name of a fashion house whose clothes were worn by Singhs grandmother. It is Mainbocher, not Mainboucher.



A picture credit on Page 69 this weekend with an article featuring a conversation between the cultural critic Leon Wieseltier and the comedian Chelsea Handler misstates the name of a hair and makeup agency whose services were used in styling Wieseltier. It is LAtelier NYC, not Latalier. The article also includes outdated information about Chelsea Handlers talk show. After the article had gone to press, Handler announced that the show will be titled Chelsea. It is not untitled.



A picture caption on Page 60 this weekend with an article about the behind-the-scenes workers who make the Metropolitan Museum of Art function misstates the name of the main entry hall of the museum. It is the Great Hall, not the Grand Hall.
The producers of Hamilton, a show that could well make hundreds of millions of dollars, on Friday bowed to pressure and said they would share some of the musicals profits with original cast members.

The deal, which was announced by a lawyer representing more than two dozen actors and dancers who were part of the shows development and first productions, is a major victory for the cast and could have ripple effects in the theater industry, where the huge success of Hamilton, and the lack of profit-sharing, catalyzed a growing debate about actor compensation.

The agreement means that actors will have a piece of the profit stream from the play, Ronald H. Shechtman, a leading labor lawyer in the theater industry who represented the Hamilton performers, said in a statement.

Jeffrey Seller, the lead producer of Hamilton, a megahit now generating upward of $500,000 in profit every week on Broadway, confirmed the agreement. Neither Mr. Seller nor Mr. Shechtman would discuss details, some of which remain to be hammered out, and Mr. Shechtman said that the performers were not ready to comment on the deal.
MIDWEST

Illinois: Man Wrongly Convicted in Killing Is Freed

A 76-year-old man who a prosecutor says was wrongly convicted in the 1957 killing of a 7-year-old girl was released Friday after a judge vacated his conviction, meaning that one of the nations oldest cold cases to be tried has gone cold again. The man, Jack McCullough, a former police officer, was sentenced to life in 2012 in the death of Maria Ridulph in Sycamore, west of Chicago. A prosecutor found evidence last year that supported his alibi that he had been 40 miles away when she disappeared. Maria had been playing in the snow with a friend when a young man offered them piggyback rides. The friend dashed home for mittens, and when she came back, Maria and the man were gone.

(AP)

WASHINGTON

New Director Named for Voice of America

Amanda Bennett has been named director of the government-owned broadcaster Voice of America. Ms. Bennett replaces David Ensor, a former radio and television reporter who was recruited in 2011 to transform the agency. It has been hampered by shrinking budgets, questions about its mission and gaps in oversight by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. I am confident that Amanda is the best person to lead V.O.A. through the vast media challenges of the 21st century, said John Lansing, the chief executive of the board. Ms. Bennett won a Pulitzer Prize as a reporter at The Wall Street Journal and was the top editor at The Lexington Herald-Leader and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Last year, the board hired Mr. Lansing, a retired cable television executive, to run the agency day to day. Voice of America has broadened its use of social media and mobile apps and has become less dependent on shortwave radio.

RON NIXON
It was the sort of question  Does Israel have a right to defend itself as it sees fit?  that had often caused candidates, especially those with designs on winning a primary in New York, to produce paeans to the strength of the Israeli-American relationship and a stream of pro-Israel orthodoxy.

But Senator Bernie Sanders dug in.

There comes a time when if we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all of the time, Mr. Sanders said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, amid cheers from the crowd at Thursdays Democratic debate in Brooklyn. He added: All that I am saying is we cannot continue to be one-sided. There are two sides to the issue.

Jewish Democrats, like the rest of the party, have been struggling for years over the appropriate level of criticism when it comes to Israels policies in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. But that debate burst onto a big national stage this week thanks to Mr. Sanders, the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in history.

Mr. Sanderss comments, in the de facto capital of Jewish American politics, buoyed the liberal and increasingly vocal Democrats who believe that a frank discussion within the party has been muzzled by an older, more conservative Jewish leadership that is suspicious of criticism of Israel.
VATICAN CITY  On Thursday night, Bernie Sanders was standing under the lights in Brooklyn, being pressed by journalists and his rival at the Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton, to provide details about his often-vague policy ideas.

Less than 12 hours later, and more than 4,000 miles away, near the residence of Pope Francis, Mr. Sanders was basking in the attention of appreciative figures from around the world and fielding questions he seemed to enjoy.

My perception is that the access to quality education is very unequal in the United States, Juan Jose Llach, a former education minister in Argentina, said in addressing the senator. I dont know if Im wrong.

Mr. Sanders wasted no time parlaying his answer about struggling urban schools and student debt into an argument for one of his signature campaign policies: tuition-free public colleges.
WASHINGTON  The chairman of the Republican National Committee has privately urged members of the partys rules committee not to make changes to the guidelines governing the presidential nominating process, an effort to avoid the appearance that the party is seeking to block Donald J. Trump from becoming its nominee.

The chairman, Reince Priebus, whom associates describe as increasingly frustrated by Mr. Trumps criticism of the delegate-selection process, sent a text message last week to multiple rules committee members strongly suggesting that they not alter the convention rules when the party convenes next week for its spring meeting in Florida, according to two who received the message.

Separately, a group of influential rules committee members held a conference call Thursday to prepare for the meeting and reached a consensus that they would derail any attempt at the gathering to make changes to the how the convention is conducted, according to a committee member on the call.
WASHINGTON  Even presidents dip into their savings when they are getting ready to switch jobs.

Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, cashed out nearly $1 million in investments last year, according to their 2015 tax return, which the White House released on Friday.

The figure suggests that they were preparing to finance large expenses like a home purchase. Mr. Obama said last month that the family would remain in the Washington area after he left the White House in January 2017, while his younger daughter, Sasha, finishes high school.

The tax return, released before the filing deadline on Monday, shows that the Obamas earned $436,065 last year and paid $81,472 in total tax  an effective rate of about 18.7 percent. They are getting a refund of $22,859.
SAN FRANCISCO  The University of California, Berkeley, announced Friday that Claude Steele, the universitys executive vice chancellor and provost for the past two years, resigned his administrative positions for personal reasons.

Mr. Steeles abrupt departure comes at a time of turmoil for the university, as he and other top administrators have been criticized for their handling of a widening sexual harassment scandal.

Dan Mogulof, a spokesman for the university, said an interim successor for Mr. Steele would be named in the coming days.

In a statement released by the university, Mr. Steele said his wife faced quite significant health problems and that he needed to spend more time with her.
A firefighter in Prince Georges County, Md., died after being shot while answering a medical call on Friday night, the authorities said. A second firefighter was seriously wounded in the shooting.

The firefighter, John Ulmschneider, a 13-year veteran of the Prince Georges County Fire Department, died at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, the police said.

The second firefighter, Kevin Swain, a volunteer, was in surgery at a Baltimore hospital late Friday night and was in serious condition, Mark E. Brady, spokesman for the Prince Georges County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said on Twitter.

A third person, a civilian, was shot in the shoulder. That persons injuries were not considered life-threatening, the police said.
But the newly obtained case files point to a cover-up. They include cover pages from the inspector generals office of the Security Ministry, which oversees the National Police. So if Mr. Chinchilla carries out a wide-ranging investigation to show that the government is serious about fighting corruption, it could end up ensnaring some of the presidents allies in the National Party, which has been in office since the beginning of 2010.

There was a type of pact of silence, said Thelma Mejia, a Honduran journalist. These files passed through various police chiefs and they did nothing. They were known by various security ministers and they did nothing.

The early fallout of the scandal is beginning. Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales, who had also served as the countrys security minister, resigned late Thursday. The first announcements of police firings are expected as early as this weekend. A civilian commission in charge of weeding out corrupt officers has asked for background on the nine top-ranked active generals in the police force, including Jose Ricardo Ramirez del Cid, a former police chief in 2011 who is named in the case files as the mastermind behind the assassinations.

According to the documents, Mr. Ramirez del Cid was one of the three who stayed behind the night before the antidrug czar was killed in 2009 to place the call to the drug lord. Another was Jose Luis Munoz Licona, who was appointed police chief in 2010.

In interviews broadcast after the El Heraldo report, both officials denied any involvement in the assassinations. So did the police chief at the time of the antidrug czars killing, Salomon Escoto Salinas, who is also named in the documents.

The case files leave little doubt that inside the police, at least, the results of the investigation were known. In May 2012, an official in the inspector generals office sent a copy of documents to the police chief at the time, Juan Carlos Bonilla, noting that he was acting under the orders of the security minister. At the end of 2013, Mr. Bonillas replacement as police chief, Ramon Sabillon Pineda, ordered special guards to protect the case files on both assassinations, as well as documents on other high-profile killings.
The administration, which argues that the legislation would put Americans at legal risk overseas, has been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of Sept. 11 victims are infuriated. In their view, the Obama administration has consistently sided with the kingdom and has thwarted their efforts to learn what they believe to be the truth about the role some Saudi officials played in the terrorist plot.

Its stunning to think that our government would back the Saudis over its own citizens, said Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and who is part of a group of victims family members pushing for the legislation.

President Obama will arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday for meetings with King Salman and other Saudi officials. It is unclear whether the dispute over the Sept. 11 legislation will be on the agenda for the talks.

A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Saudi officials have long denied that the kingdom had any role in the Sept. 11 plot, and the 9/11 Commission found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization. But critics have noted that the commissions narrow wording left open the possibility that less senior officials or parts of the Saudi government could have played a role. Suspicions have lingered, partly because of the conclusions of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the attacks that cited some evidence that Saudi officials living in the United States at the time had a hand in the plot.

Those conclusions, contained in 28 pages of the report, still have not been released publicly.

The dispute comes as bipartisan criticism is growing in Congress about Washingtons alliance with Saudi Arabia, for decades a crucial American ally in the Middle East and half of a partnership that once received little scrutiny from lawmakers. Last week, two senators introduced a resolution that would put restrictions on American arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which have expanded during the Obama administration.
John Ferrone, an editor who shepherded Alice Walkers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple into print, encouraged Anais Nin to publish her erotic fiction, and served as James Beards dining and cooking companion and literary executor, died in Old Bridge, N.J., on April 10. He was 91.

The cause was complications of Parkinsons disease, his niece Kathy Barnes said.

Mr. Ferrone spent more than 35 years in publishing in a variety of editorial roles. He began his career at Dell, where he was involved in acquiring well-known titles for reprinting in the relatively new mass paperback and trade paperback formats.

As a Greenwich Village neighbor and new friend of Mr. Beard, he was instrumental in commissioning The James Beard Cookbook, the classic kitchen volume that was published, originally in paperback, in 1959.

After he moved to Harcourt, Brace & World (later Harcourt Brace Jovanovich), where he would remain until his retirement in 1990, Mr. Ferrone acquired several out-of-print books by Virginia Woolf for publication by a Harcourt paperback imprint and was the American editor of the much-admired Virginia Woolf: A Biography, originally published in England, by her nephew Quentin Bell.
One recent afternoon, she spent an hour on the hard wooden benches in the chamber of the Board of Supervisors. She was there to make a two-minute public comment in favor of a dull-but-important proposal to streamline the permitting process for some affordable-housing projects.

Three days later she was back, this time to support a density bonus  a proposal to let developers build taller buildings in exchange for including more affordable housing as well. When she arrived, Mr. Campos, from the Board of Supervisors, was blasting the proposal from the City Hall steps, surrounded by 70 or so supporters.

Ms. Trauss and another member of her group stood opposite and held up signs that said Stop Affordable Housing. This was meant to be ironic. Their point was that Mr. Campos was opposing legislation that would create more market-rate housing  but also more affordable housing.

Nobody seemed to get it, so Ms. Trauss went inside City Hall to add her name to a list of people making public comments before the planning commission. Her chance to speak would be hours away, so she trekked around City Hall, past bronze busts and wedding parties, in search of a quiet place to take a lunch break. She was joined by a man whose legal name is Starchild.

Starchild is the sort of only-in-San Francisco character you end up making friends with if you spend enough time at City Hall. He works nights as an erotic service provider. Asked if this meant he was a prostitute, he said, Prostitute is O.K. as long as its said in a respectful way. Starchild spends his days campaigning for libertarian causes and running doomed campaigns for office.

The two ate on a marble ledge and discussed police brutality, pretrial detention and whether it was possible for an anarchist to be in favor of soda taxes. A short while later, Ms. Trauss headed back to a waiting room, where she took a selfie for the @SFyimby Twitter account and began a two-and-a-half-hour wait for a few more minutes at the public-comment microphone.

This is my life, she whispered. Its ridiculous.
In 1951, finding specialty meats and cheeses could take some doing if you lived in small-town America and had no neighborhood deli. For Richard K. Ransom, this was an opportunity.

In his early 30s, recently returned from fighting in the Pacific, Mr. Ransom was tired of driving a vegetable truck around rural Ohio for his parents wholesale produce business. So he started selling hand-cut cheeses at flower shows and boat shows. Soon he added summer sausage, then expanded to county fairs around the Midwest. He named his company Hickory Farms.

By the time he sold it in 1980, Hickory Farms was a $164-million-a-year specialty food business, with outlets in every state but Mississippi.

Mr. Ransom died on April 11 in Toledo at 96, his son, Robert, said. He had Alzheimers disease, the son said.
In a wood-paneled conference room at Stanford University, a score of scholars, many of them eminent and some from as far away as Johannesburg and Beijing, gathered last month to compare philosophical notions of hierarchy and equality.

The gathering itself had no overt hierarchy, though one participant seemed a little more equal than the others. When Nicolas Berggruen spoke, no one interrupted. Only he occasionally checked his phone. And at dinner, the guests received fruit tarts for dessert  except for Mr. Berggruen, who was served chocolate mousse.

Mr. Berggruen, 54, is an investor and art collector who was once known as the homeless billionaire because he lived in itinerant luxury in five-star hotels. Now he is grounded in Los Angeles where he presides over a bespoke think tank, the Berggruen Institute.

The institute is a striking example of how wealthy philanthropists are reshaping the landscape with smaller versions of the foundations established by Bill Gates and George Soros. Sean Parker, one of the entrepreneurs behind Napster and Facebook, has a research institute, The Parker Foundation, which this month pledged $250 million for cancer immunotherapy. He is also a co-founder of the Economic Innovation Group, which labels itself an ideas laboratory. Tom Steyer, who made his fortune as a hedge fund manager in California, has several environmental nonprofit groups, and last year created the Fair Shake Commission to redress economic inequality.
Mary Beard, silver-haired and red-shod, was seated in front of a packed house at Lincoln Center one recent Thursday morning, addressing an annual conference called the Women in the World Summit.

Ms. Beard, a professor at the University of Cambridge and the author of more than 10 books on the classics and classical era, is an authority on ancient Roman culture, but the line that got the biggest response struck a modern (though by no means exclusively modern) note.

Ms. Beard was recounting her response to a criticism once lobbed at her in print: not of her scholarship, but of her appearance. A few years ago, in response to one of the television documentaries for which she is well known in England, the (male) critic A. A. Gill wrote in The Sunday Times, in London, that she was less fit for a history program than for The Undateables, a British reality show for the lovelorn disabled or disfigured.

Rather than mutely accept such barbs, Ms. Beard, with good cheer and a professorial drive to correct error wherever it may cross her path, responded in the pages of The Daily Mail with an essay headlined, Too Ugly for TV? No, Im Too Brainy for Men Who Fear Clever Women.
In the Republican Party, the inherited program shared by much of the conservative movement and the partys donors, with its emphasis on free trade and large-scale immigration, and cuts in entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, is a relic of the late 20th century, when the country-club wing of the party was much more important than the country-and-western wing. The anger and sense of betrayal of the newly dominant white working class in the Republican Party makes perfect sense.

Donald Trump has mounted and ridden the horse of conservative populism, but it was already out of the barn. Before Mr. Trump, similar populist themes were sounded by Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Patrick Buchanan. For a while, the strength of the religious right allowed elite Republicans to trade tax cuts for the rich for support for banning abortion and gay marriage. But as religious conservatism declines, a kind of European-style national populism is rising, for which protectionism and immigration restriction are central issues, not peripheral concerns.

Long before Mr. Trump threw his hat into the ring in 2015, the economic libertarians who are overrepresented in the donor class and Republican think tanks and magazines were losing to the populists. Opposition to illegal immigration went from being a fringe issue associated with Patrick Buchanan in the 1990s to a central test of whether one was a true conservative or a Republican in Name Only. In 2007 and again in 2013, the opposition of populist Republicans thwarted so-called comprehensive immigration reform in Congress.

Similarly, opposition from their own voters forced the Republicans who controlled both houses of Congress to squelch George W. Bushs proposed partial privatization of Social Security. The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, enacted in 2003, had the support of aging white Republican voters even as it appalled and infuriated free-marketers and deficit hawks on the right.

Whatever becomes of his bid for the presidency, Mr. Trump exposed the gap between what orthodox conservative Republicans offer and what todays dominant Republican voters actually want  middle-class entitlements plus crackdowns on illegal immigrants, Muslims, foreign trade rivals and free-riding allies. Other candidates less flawed than Mr. Trump and more acceptable to the Republican establishment, like Ted Cruz, are likely to bring Republican policy positions and Republican voter preferences more closely into alignment, by moving somewhat to the left on middle-class entitlements and somewhat to the right on immigration and trade.

A similar process of policy realignment is underway among the Democrats. But notwithstanding the enthusiasm of the young for Bernie Sanders, the major tension is not between Mr. Sanders and Hillary Clinton. It is between Hillary Clinton and the legacy of Bill Clinton.

President Bill Clinton, as we have seen, was still trying to appeal both to the so-called rising American electorate of minorities, single women and progressives and to white working-class remnants of the old Roosevelt coalition. Looking back, many progressives today blame the Clinton administration for appealing to white voters by contributing to mass incarceration. Likewise, many progressives resent President Clintons support of the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act and the discriminatory dont ask, dont tell rule in the United States military.
The dispute between Warsaw and Brussels is an illustration of the culture gap within the E.U. Many of the unions new Eastern and Central European members chafe at the sense that they are being treated as second-class members. Reacting to the European Parliaments scolding, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo charged that Western European politicians feel superior to new members and like to instruct others.

In fact, there is little the union can do to compel Poland or any other member to alter its conduct, even though the resolution passed by a vote of 513 to 142. The resolution is nonbinding, and any punitive measures would require unanimous support in the European Commission, the unions executive arm. Hungarys similarly nationalist government, for one, would not support any such measures. Too much overt pressure, moreover, would only harden Mr. Kaczynskis resentment of the union.

Yet it is incumbent on the European Union  and on the United States, which the Poles rightly see as their close ally and protector against Russia  to make clear to the Polish government that the rule of law is not a take-it-or-leave-it imposition by the old E.U., but a central tenet of the democracy Poland signed on to.

As Poland prepares to host a NATO summit meeting in July in the hope of landing large contingents of allied forces on its soil, Washington should remind Mr. Kaczynski that the alliance is, above all, one of shared values.
Both Weaver and Hedrick raise their chickens for Pilgrims, one of the countrys biggest chicken producers. Bill Lovette, C.E.O. of Pilgrims, refused to comment. A company spokesman, Cameron Bruett, said that all sick birds are screened out and never make it to the table, and that even if they did, there would be no health risk to humans.

Weaver and Hedrick, who risk their livelihood by speaking out, say that the chicken companies rig the system against the ordinary farmers who actually raise the birds for them. The companies supply the birds and feed, so the farmers describe themselves as modern sharecroppers, with no control over their operations, squeezed by the companies and punished if they protest.

A 12-piece KFC chicken meal costs about $30, and the farmers say their share is about 1 percent of that  less than the tax.

In fairness, the chicken companies excel at producing cheap food, with the price of chicken falling by at least half in real terms since 1930. Chicken is cheap partly because companies have tinkered with genetics so that a baby chick burgeons in five weeks to a full-size bird with an enormous breast. By my calculations, if humans grew that explosively, a baby at five weeks would weigh almost 300 pounds.

Yet today theres growing recognition, from the Obama administration to rural America to urban foodies, that this agribusiness model is profoundly flawed.

I wouldnt say it is dysfunctional, Weaver told me. More like it is functioning very well for the companies and their executives only, and very poorly for farmers and consumers.

The animal welfare issue is a bit complicated. Chickens raised for meat roam within a barn, so while conditions are grim, these chickens are at least better off than egg-laying hens crowded into tiny cages.
WASHINGTON  ITS hard not to feel sorry for Hillary Clinton. She is hearing ghostly footsteps.

Shes having her inevitability challenged a second time by a moralizing senator with few accomplishments who chides her on her bad judgment on Iraq and special-interest money, breezily rakes in millions in small donations online, draws tens of thousands to rock-star rallies and gets more votes from young women.

But at least last time, it was a dazzling newcomer who also offered the chance to break a barrier. This time, Hillary is trying to fend off a choleric 74-year-old democratic socialist.

Some close to the campaign say that those ghostly footsteps have made Hillary restive. The deja vu has exasperated Bill Clinton, who griped to an audience in New York on Friday that young supporters of Bernie Sanders get excited because it sounds good to say, Just shoot every third person on Wall Street and everything will be fine.

At the Brooklyn debate, there was acrimony, cacophony, sanctimony and, naturally, baloney.

Hillary gazed at Bernie as though she could hypnotize him into skedaddling. And Bernie waved his index finger and flapped his hands, miming that he wont budge, no matter how aggravating it is for Clinton Inc.
On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Texas, one of the most flagrant examples in recent memory of a naked political dispute masquerading as a legal one.

In this case, 26 Republican-led states brought suit against President Obamas November 2014 executive actions to protect millions of immigrants from deportation. And once again, the prospect of a 4-to-4 split on the court threatens to spur widespread legal chaos by effectively giving these 26 states the power to set national immigration policy. But it need not come to that. If the justices follow their own precedent as well as longstanding practice, they should reject the plaintiffs absurd claim.

Mr. Obamas challenged action, taken after years of waiting in vain for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, is a sensible response to the issue of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living, working and raising families in the United States. It would be impossible to deport them all, so in 2014 Mr. Obama offered a three-year reprieve from deportation to more than four million undocumented parents of American citizens or permanent residents. (A previous executive action, in 2012, allowed young immigrants brought here as children to get work permits and be exempt from deportation.)
DELAYS or cancellations because of bad weather or mechanical problems are exasperating but common occurrences in air travel, but increasingly, passengers arent making it to their destinations for yet another reason: not enough pilots. The gate agent may not tell you thats why youre grounded, but a dearth of qualified pilots is disrupting, reducing and even eliminating flights.

After 35 years analyzing and following this industry, Ive never seen anything like it  and its only going to get worse, said Dan Akins, an aviation economist and consultant who conducts quarterly surveys of both pilots and airlines to identify staffing trends. Everyone knows the house is on fire and no one can find the hose.

In addition to widespread delays and cancellations, at least 29 communities, from Modesto, Calif., to Macon, Ga., have lost air service since 2013, and hundreds more had their number of flights reduced. Meanwhile, airports that havent lost service complain they cant get additional flights to keep up with local economic development. Weve had $5 billion of new industry come to our area, and the airlines say they cant grow us because there arent enough pilots, said Mike Hainsey, executive director of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, which serves Columbus, Starkville and West Point, Miss.

So whats causing the shortage? To start, there are just a lot more passengers. According to the Department of Transportation, airlines carried a record 895.5 million passengers in the United States in 2015, up 5 percent from the previous year. To meet global growth over the next 18 years, Boeing forecasts that the industry will need more than a half million new pilots.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  NOOR, who is a commander in a pro-government militia near Damascus, thinks that President Bashar al-Assad will prevail in Syrias civil war. But even so, he thinks it will take his country a generation to recover. After we finish this war, well spend another 10 years cleaning up the thugs and warlords on our own side, he told me when I met him in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, in an apartment overlooking a highway where rebels and government forces clash nightly.

That was last fall, shortly after Russia began bombing in support of the government. This infusion of firepower changed the course of the conflict. After years of stalemate, Syrias civil war became unstuck. But that hasnt made it ready for settlement.

Negotiations over Syrias future restarted in Geneva last week amid cautious optimism that the regime and the opposition may finally be ready to discuss a deal. Russian and American diplomats are talking about shared goals, and both countries finally seem willing to strong-arm their clients to the table. Opposition groups and their sponsors say they have achieved levels of unity that will enable them to force concessions from the government, and for the first time they have admitted in public that theyre willing to work with some regime figures.

But all of this misses the central point: Syria, one of the most important states in the Arab world, has cracked up, and no peace settlement can put it back together.
The state of the nations underfunded, patchwork election system and obsolete balloting machinery may not arouse voters the way candidates can with charges of rigged elections. But voters in Arizona who lined up for the states presidential primaries last month learned just how difficult and unfair voting can be even without criminal malfeasance.

Maricopa County, the states most populous, had slashed the number of polling places to 60, from 200 in 2012, claiming a need for budget savings and leaving thousands of voters waiting long hours into the night, with some giving up in despair.

The Justice Department is investigating this electoral disaster, including charges that minority voters were particularly harmed. Critics blame the Supreme Court for weakening the Voting Rights Act, which used to subject regions with a history of discrimination, Maricopa County among them, to prescreening by the Justice Department before they could make major changes in voting procedures. Had that provision remained operational, the Maricopa fiasco might have been averted.

Arizonas problem is a good early warning of troubles to come in deeply flawed voting systems everywhere in the country. Come Tuesday in New York, untold numbers of primary voters interested in crossing party lines will discover that its too late, that they should have switched parties by last Oct. 9, a little publicized deadline under closed primary voting procedures that serve to guard the major parties power.
FAIRFAX, Va.  Jerry Pinto, an immigrant from Bolivia, has visions of opening a spacious carpentry workshop in this suburban city, with his name in bold letters over the door.

I want a place where I can be visible, he says wistfully. But for now he knows he has to lie low, because he is in the country illegally. He runs his carpentry business almost surreptitiously from the cramped garage behind his house.

Mr. Pinto is among more than four million unauthorized immigrants whose lives could be transformed by the Supreme Court. On Monday, the justices will hear oral arguments in a challenge brought by 26 states, led by Texas, to President Obamas effort through executive action to give the immigrants legal work permits and protection from deportation.

Depending on the outcome, people like Mr. Pinto will have a chance to come out into the open or will remain, perhaps for years, in a twilight underground. And the stakes are high in this election year, since the two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald J. Trump and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, have both said they would deport all 11 million foreigners in the country illegally.
Meanwhile, Georgetowns working group has been weighing whether the university should apologize for profiting from slave labor, create a memorial to those enslaved and provide scholarships for their descendants, among other possibilities, said Dr. Rothman, the historian.

Its hard to know what could possibly reconcile a history like this, he said. What can you do to make amends?

Ms. Crump, 69, has been asking herself that question, too. She does not put much stock in what she describes as casual institutional apologies. But she would like to see a scholarship program that would bring the slaves descendants to Georgetown as students.

And she would like to see Corneliuss name, and those of his parents and children, inscribed on a memorial on campus.

Her ancestors, once amorphous and invisible, are finally taking shape in her mind. There is joy in that, she said, exhilaration even.

Now they are real to me, she said, more real every day.

She still wants to know more about Corneliuss beginnings, and about his life as a free man. But when Ms. Riffel, the genealogist, told her where she thought he was buried, Ms. Crump knew exactly where to go.

The two women drove on the narrow roads that line the green, rippling sugar cane fields in Iberville Parish. There was no need for a map. They were heading to the only Catholic cemetery in Maringouin.
CHICAGO  A 76-year-old man who a prosecutor says was wrongly convicted in the 1957 killing of an Illinois schoolgirl was released from prison Friday shortly after a judge vacated his conviction, meaning one of the oldest cold cases tried in the nations history has officially gone cold again.

Jack McCullough, was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 in the death of Maria Ridulph, 7, in Sycamore, about 70 miles west of Chicago. In a review of documents last year, a prosecutor found evidence that supported Mr. McCulloughs alibi that he had been 40 miles away at the time of the girls disappearance.

Judge William P. Brady said Friday that the abduction and slaying had haunted the small town of Sycamore for decades.

Im not blind to the importance of this proceeding to many people, he said, minutes before ordering Mr. McCulloughs release.
WASHINGTON  The United States on Saturday transferred nine Yemeni detainees from its wartime prison at Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, completing a long-sought diplomatic deal ahead of a planned visit to Riyadh by President Obama in the coming week.

The effort to persuade the Saudi government to take the prisoners began in the Bush administration and finally resulted in an agreement in February. Current and former officials familiar with the negotiations called the timing of the transfer, which reduced the population at Guantanamo to 80 prisoners, a coincidence.

There have been a lot of discussions with the Saudis over the last few years, and they have been emphatic that it was very important to close Guantanamo, said Cliff Sloan, who served as the State Department envoy for negotiating detainee transfers in 2013 and 2014. They wanted to help with that. But the one thing they werent willing to do for a long time was actually accept Yemenis. Thats why this is a major breakthrough.

The military brought each of the prisoners from the Afghanistan War to the American naval base at Guantanamo about 14 years ago, soon after President George W. Bushs administration opened the prison in early 2002. Later, the Bush administration decided to try to close it, a goal the Obama administration has shared.
More than anything, the recent Sanders broadsides reflect a political strategy he has carried out in previous campaigns: the use of blunt criticisms, sarcastic asides and a thundering style against his opponents.

In the 1986 race, Mr. Sanders argued that he would be a strong feminist and do more for women than Ms. Kunin had. While granting that Ms. Kunin was not corrupt, he questioned if she had the same courage that he had. He repeatedly challenged her credentials as a fellow progressive, using some of the same language he aims at Mrs. Clinton. In the end, he damaged Ms. Kunin politically, as some Clinton supporters and political analysts think he may do in the current race.

In a tough fight, Bernie is hardly the all-positive, all-substance guy that he claims to be, said Garrison Nelson, a longtime political science professor at the University of Vermont.

Ms. Kunin was not the only foe that Mr. Sanders attacked with insinuations, as opposed to the more overtly negative television ads that Mr. Sanders has forsworn. In his 1990 race for Congress, he frequently laid political bait for his Republican opponent and relished watching him stumble. And in his 2006 Senate campaign, Mr. Sanders relentlessly linked his moderate Republican opponent with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and accused him of running the most negative, dishonest campaign in the history of the state of Vermont.

While such tactics are not unusual in many campaigns, Mr. Sanders has long tried to claim the high road. Yet if his past opponents remember anything about him, its Bernie the brawler.

The way he kept tagging me as a typical rich guy who only cared about rich Republicans  it was very tough, and very effective, said Richard Tarrant, a software executive who was the Republican Senate nominee in 2006 and ran many aggressive television ads. Bernie knew that I earned my money myself, that my wealth was first-generation. But that didnt matter.
VATICAN CITY  For a while, Senator Bernie Sanderss Roman holiday seemed less than it was cracked up to be.

Immediately after his campaign announced that he would leave the United States for a high-level meeting at the Vatican, questions arose about the wisdom of the trip. The critical New York primary was just days away. One official of the Vaticans Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which hosted the conference Mr. Sanders would attend, even suggested he had fished for the invitation.

Most critically, there seemed to be little chance that Mr. Sanders would meet the Vatican resident whose name he frequently invokes. Pope Francis, it turned out, would not be visiting the conference of the academy, an in-house think tank of the Vatican.

Politically, a trip to Rome without a meeting with Francis would have been a blunder, Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Fordham University who is teaching at Yale, had said on Friday. The point is to make sure you are going to get an audience with the pope, he said. Anything short of an actual visit will probably be a mistake.
Mr. Gowan, 46, who was first elected as a state representative in 2008, is leaving the House at the end of the year because of term limits. He is now aiming his sights at Washington, running to represent one of the largest congressional districts in the country. In a crowded field of Republican contenders, he is considered an underdog, though he does not seem deterred.

David Gowan has always been underestimated, always traveled under the radar, Frank Antenori, a former Republican state senator who is a close friend of Mr. Gowans, said in an interview. Hes got a real folksy personality, people just dont see him as being as aggressive. Thats a big mistake.

Mr. Gowan hails from conservative Cochise County, a land of cattle ranchers that takes in Fort Huachuca  once home to the storied Buffalo Soldiers, these days a sprawling base that is host to the armed forces intelligence training program. He earned a living as a magazine distributor  stacking periodicals and paperback novels on the shelves of supermarkets and drugstores  and teaching martial arts on the side; he is a black belt in karate.

Mr. Gowan turned his political ambitions into action methodically and patiently. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination to the Arizona House twice, in 2004 and 2006, focusing his campaign on a single issue: illegal immigration, a major point of contention in the border district he wanted to represent. An editorial in The Tucson Citizen, a newspaper that has since ceased publication, called his command of other topics fuzzy at best.

Jonathan Paton, who defeated him twice in primaries, said determination is what got Mr. Gowan where he is.

He does not quit, said Mr. Paton, a Republican who served in both the Arizona House and Senate. He does not accept that he shouldnt be in office, that he shouldnt be speaker of the House, that he shouldnt be in Congress.

Mr. Gowan is one of seven Republicans running for Arizonas First Congressional District, whose jagged borders encompass nine counties in full or in part in eastern, northern and central Arizona. The area has traditionally leaned Republican, but the district itself has been competitive since it was realigned in 2010.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia  Gunmen have killed more than 140 civilians near Ethiopias western border with South Sudan, an Ethiopian official said on Saturday.

The attackers came from South Sudan and killed civilians, including women and children, said Getachew Reda, the communications minister.

The Ethiopian defense force is currently chasing after the perpetrators, Mr. Reda said, adding that the attackers did not have links to South Sudans government or its rebel fighters.

Our defense forces have so far killed 60 members of the attackers, he said.

Mr. Reda added that Ethiopian forces might cross into South Sudan to pursue the gunmen.
DHAKA, Bangladesh  The Bangladeshi police arrested a prominent magazine editor on Saturday, accusing him of being involved in a plot to kill the son of the prime minister. The arrest was the latest in a string of criminal proceedings against journalists in the country.

The editor, Shafik Rehman, 81, runs the monthly magazine Mouchake Dhil and had links to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He was taken from his home in Dhaka, the capital, by officers who at first said they were from a television station that wanted to interview him, Taleya Rehman, his wife, said.

The officers later revealed that they were from the detective branch of the Dhaka police, Ali Azam, Mr. Rehmans cook, said.

The police said Mr. Rehman was suspected of taking part in a conspiracy to kill Sajeeb Wazed, the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for which a criminal case was registered in August.
The deal with Turkey includes a provision under which migrants arriving in Greece can be swiftly deported back to Turkey. Since the deal took effect last month, the number of migrants arriving in Lesbos has dropped sharply (even as the numbers arriving in Italy are steadily rising). Critics say the agreement has trampled on the civil rights of refugees fleeing war and betrayed the ideals of the European Union.

At the migrants camp, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the worlds Eastern Orthodox Christians, reminded Europeans and their leaders that Christians and others are judged on how they treat the powerless. The world will be judged by the way it has treated you, Bartholomew told the refugees. And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from. The Mediterranean Sea should not be a tomb.

Thousands of migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean, including a young child whose limp body washed ashore last year on the Turkish coast. A photograph of the child became a searing icon of the refugee crisis. I hope that we never see children washing up on the shores of the Aegean Sea, said Archbishop Ieronymos II, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, who called for a greater response by the United Nations. I hope to soon see them there, untroubled, enjoying life.

At the Moria center, Francis slowly walked down a line of migrants, many of them Muslims, greeting people as some waved handwritten signs with slogans like Freedom of Movement. Others propped their children above their shoulders or held out smartphones to photograph the pope.

Inside a large white tent, Francis greeted a woman in a head scarf as she cradled her baby, as well as other refugee families. A small boy stepped forward and handed him a picture drawn with crayons. An Iraqi mother asked Francis to help her find medical care for her childs bone cancer. At one point, a man began wailing as Francis placed his hands on the mans head. Please, Father, bless me! the man shouted. Please, Father, bless me!

Francis and the other religious leaders offered special praise on Saturday for ordinary Greeks who have welcomed refugees, taken some into their homes or provided food and clothing, even as they endure hardship amid the countrys long-running financial crisis. Mr. Tsipras and other Greek leaders have called on the European Union to provide more help to the country as it has borne the brunt of the migrant crisis.

Across Europe, the mood has soured in recent months, as many countries have closed or restricted their borders amid mounting public anxiety over the chaotic influx of more than a million refugees last year. The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels have also darkened public attitudes and stirred anti-migrant sentiment in some areas, even as many refugees say they are trying to escape extremist violence. Far-right, anti-immigrant parties have seized on the crisis to make gains, most recently in regional elections in Germany.
CAIRO  In the United Arab Emirates, a Libyan-American father and son detained since 2014 on political charges said security agents tortured them in prison, with beatings and electric shocks.

In Egypt, a woman with dual Egyptian and American citizenship who started an organization to help street children has been imprisoned for almost two years after prosecutors accused her of abusing the youths, though the state produced no credible evidence, according to human rights groups.

In both cases, the families of the accused have complained of a lack of high-level attention from American officials  stemming, they fear, from the Obama administrations reluctance to confront the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which the United States views as two of its strongest strategic partners in the Arab world.

Their frustrations illustrate the distinct challenges faced by Americans imprisoned by their governments allies. At home in the United States, their cases seem to stir less outrage than those of Americans detained by governments considered hostile, like Iran or North Korea, resulting in less pressure on the United States government.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates  The Obama administration is preparing to broaden its military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria by increasing the number of Special Operations forces who advise Syrian rebels, and it is also considering the addition of Army attack helicopters to the fight against militants in Iraq.

The goal would be to accelerate what United States officials said on Saturday was momentum behind Iraqi security forces and American-backed rebels in Syria fighting the terrorist organization.

Inside Syria, the administration is prepared to add dozens of Special Operations forces to the 50 who now advise and assist Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State, say three Defense Department and military officials. The additional trainers, who could total as many as 200, would be able to expand their instruction to Syrian Arab fighters, who are likely to play a pivotal role in capturing Raqqa, the Islamic States de facto capital in Syria, the officials said.

The administrations plans for Iraq are more complicated.

Pentagon officials would like to increase efforts to advise and train Iraqi security forces for the anticipated assault on Mosul, Iraqs second largest city and the Islamic States main stronghold in the country. The plan calls for shifting trainers who are already in the country to positions closer to Mosul, the officials said. They would also like to deploy Apache helicopter gunships  which are already in Iraq, but used only to protect American personnel  and order them to participate in the battle for Mosul.
In fall 1838, 272 men, women and children who belonged to the nations most prominent Jesuit priests were sold as slaves to help secure the future of Georgetown University.

Now, genealogists are trying to find out what happened to them, and The New York Times wants to hear from their descendants. If you have researched your family history and have found connections to either these enslaved African-Americans or to the priests who owned and sold them, please let us know by completing the form below.

If you know of someone else with that lineage, wed like to hear about that, too. Times reporters may follow up with you to learn more about your story.
A cheese lover on Twitter expressed less than complete satisfaction with the Quesalupa, Taco Bells newest and cheesiest menu item. The companys social-media team was on it.

Dear @tacobell, Why cant the quesalupa be as cheesy as your commercials? Sincerely, A customer who would marry cheese, the tweet read.

The tweet popped up on one of the dozen wall-hung screens that employees monitor in the Fishbowl at Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine.

Matt Prince swooped in. As head of the 15-person newsroom team, its his job to defend and protect what Taco Bell calls The Cheese Pull  the taffy-like web of pepper jack created by pulling apart a Quesalupa. A snag like the one described in the tweet might trigger an e-mail to one of the 6,500 Taco Bell restaurants, reminding staff not to overcook the tortilla or allow the shells to lie around too long after theyve been fried in canola oil. Taco Bell spent two years perfecting the technique after a decade of noodling with the cheese-pully thing, said Liz Matthews, chief food innovation and beverage officer, and its betting its future on plenty of cheesy elasticity for maximum customer goo.

Its got to have an amazing, delicious cheese pull in every bite, Matthews said in an interview in the companys international test kitchen this month.

Its hard to overstate the importance of The Cheese Pull to Taco Bell and its parent company, Yum Brands, which has a $33 billion market value and more than $13 billion in revenue last year. With Yum planning to spin off its China unit and growth otherwise slowing at Taco Bells siblings, KFC and Pizza Hut, its come down to this: The near-term performance of Yum depends on Taco Bell, and the performance of Taco Bell rests on The Cheese Pull.

The strongest brand in the portfolio is clearly Taco Bell, Yum Chief Executive Officer Greg Creed said last month. Yum plans to open the first Taco Bell this year in China, where KFC growth slowed after a supplier scandal in 2014. Theres talk of taking Taco Bell to Australia, too.

Sales at established Taco Bell locations jumped 5 percent last year, compared with growth of 1 percent at Pizza Hut and 3 percent for KFC. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.s recent sales troubles, caused by E. coli and norovirus outbreaks, give the brand an opportunity to attract more fast-foodies.

Taco Bell, founded by Glen Bell in 1962, made its name introducing Americans to quasi-Mexican fare, such as the Bell Beefer and Enchirito. The Gordita came along in 1998, begetting the Chalupa shortly after that. The Quesalupa  a quesadilla-Chalupa mashup  is the latest generation born in the test kitchen.

Quesalupa Debut

The Quesalupa rolled out with accompanying fanfare on Feb. 8 after a 36-store test in Toledo, Ohio. The company said it persuaded Americans to order 71,000 of the $2.99 tacos with cheese-filled shells without even disclosing what they were  they called it a blind preorder. The advertising campaign was Taco Bells most expensive ever, and it included a 30-second TV spot that ran during the Feb. 7 Super Bowl, claiming the Quesalupa would be bigger than man-buns, drones, aliens and James Hardens beard, among other things.

The commercial, airing during the priciest TV time of the year, cost an estimated $5 million just to broadcast, according to Andrew Alvarez, an analyst at research firm IBISWorld. The star of the ad was The Cheese Pull.

Getting The Pull exactly right isnt easy. If the shell isnt fried the proper 90 seconds or if it sits for more than 15 minutes after cooking, the cheese hardens and wont be melty enough for a proper stringy bridge between separated pieces. The item was at least partly inspired by stuffed-crust pizzas. Matthews said Taco Bell aims to take advantage of Americans expanding love affair with cheese.

People stopped seeing cheese as an ingredient  cheese really became the center of the plate and a big deal, Matthews said.

Americans ate about 34.2 pounds per person in 2014, 9.4 percent more than a decade earlier, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Quesalupa calorie counts: chicken and steak, 440; beef, 460; breakfast sausage, 590.

Ironically, Taco Bell said its close to fulfilling its goal for a healthier menu by removing preservatives and fake flavors from 95 percent of its menu. Its also quietly pushing its lower-calorie Fresco menu, which substitutes pico de gallo for guacamole, sour cream, cheese and any mayonnaise-based sauces.

In a 2015 survey by Nations Restaurant News and WD Partners, Taco Bell ranked last for food quality among limited-service Mexican restaurants, coming in after Del Taco Restaurants Inc. and Taco Johns International Inc. as well as fast-casual rivals Chipotle and Qdoba. It also had the lowest cleanliness and service scores.

Where it didnt come in dead last: value and craveability  industry-speak for fatty, salty, sugary food.

I dont think Taco Bell is going to Chipotle-style food, said Peter Saleh, an analyst at BTIG in New York. The core of what Taco Bell does has to continue to be value, new product news and interesting new items.

In the Fishbowl

Back in the Fishbowl, Prince keeps his eyes on the Twitter screen.

The room looks like a 20-somethings dream, with cushy couches and chairs, pop art on the wall and even a cooler stocked with Heineken. Perfect for a key Taco Bell customer  the 25-year-old dude-bro, hankering for a late-night Cheese Pull.

When youre 16, you want to be 25, and when youre 60, you want to be 25, Prince said. No matter how old you are, you want to be 25.

More Quesalupa tweets came across the screen. Prince was watching.
A 19-year-old man died in an apparent drowning Friday at the 24 Hour Fitness at Buena Park Mall, according to the Orange County Coroners Office.

Daniel Kye, of Fullerton, was pronounced dead shortly after 10 p.m., the agency said.

Bystanders reportedly pulled a man out of the gyms pool Friday night, said Tony Bommarito, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. By that time, Bommarito said, the man was not breathing and had some type of facial trauma.

Buena Park police could not be immediately reached for comment.

Contact the writer: lleung@ocregister.com
WASHINGTON  House Republicans departed Washington on Friday having missed a deadline to pass their long-stalled budget and without appearing to revive it despite the embarrassment for the party and its new House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Continuing divisions between Tea Party lawmakers and House GOP leaders also shelved an effort to address an economic crisis in Puerto Rico. The White House is amping up the pressure on Republicans over delays in providing money to combat the Zika virus.

The budget failure, while troubling for Ryan, R-Wis., isnt stopping the once-dominant House and Senate Appropriations committees from commencing work on spending bills. But trouble on the House floor awaits, where only a handful of the measures seem sure to advance.

The budget fight has its roots in last years bipartisan budget deal with President Barack Obama, which required Democratic votes to pass and added more than $100 billion over two years to agency coffers hit by automatic budget curbs known as sequestration.

Many conservatives opposed the additional spending and are refusing to vote for a leadership-driven budget plan that endorses it. The GOP fiscal blueprint also recommends record cuts to meet its target of a balanced budget within 10 years, which means Democrats wont vote for it even though it endorses higher agency budgets for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Ryan budget that has been proposed is the most devastating road-to-ruin budget in history, said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. And even that wasnt brutal enough for the radical forces that have taken control and dominate the House Republican caucus.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, said on Friday hes holding out hope for getting the budget to the floor, but didnt seem very confident. Ryan on Thursday appeared ready to all but give up on this years budget drive.

Part of the problem is were a victim of the success of the fact that we have appropriation numbers already in law, Ryan explained. We already have an agreement in law and that has taken pressure off of the budget situation.

The only thing worse than not doing a budget is spending more money, said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
BEIJING (AP)  Chinas second-ranking general recently visited the countrys man-made islands in the South China Sea, the Defense Ministry said Friday, underscoring Chinas defiance in the face of calls by the U.S. and others to cease construction work that they say is raising tensions in the region.

According to the brief statement, Gen. Fan Changlong led a group of military commanders to the Spratly island group to visit troops and observe construction work. The statement didnt say when and where Fan, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission that controls the Peoples Liberation Army, visited.

The announcement comes after China issued an angry response to what it says are provocative plans announced Thursday that the U.S. would send troops and planes to the Philippines for more frequent rotations and will increase joint sea and air patrols with Philippine forces in the South China Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was also visiting an aircraft carrier Friday during a trip to the region that does not include a stop in China.

In reporting on Fans visit, the ministry said China had completed work on five lighthouses, four of which are now operational, in the Spratlys, saying those were built to provide a public service for the international community. Work on a weather station, ocean monitoring center, oceanographic equipment and other facilities was also proceeding smoothly, the report said.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its own territory and is topping the islands by piling sand and building airstrips and other infrastructure. The Philippines, Vietnam and others also claim territory controlled or claimed by China, and increased military and coast guard deployments by all sides could increase the potential for conflict.

Late Thursday, the Defense Ministry said that Beijing would resolutely defend its sovereignty and maritime interests while accusing the Philippines and U.S. of militarizing the region and harboring a Cold War mentality by strengthening their alliance.

The South China Sea dispute also featured in talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister of close U.S. ally Australia, which is trying to balance security needs with its economys reliance on the Chinese market.

Weve always had good and constructive discussions but our position is that all claimants, all claimants, should settle disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law, Turnbull told reporters in Beijing on Friday, a day after his meeting with Li.

Beijing and Washington have repeatedly traded accusations over who is responsible for raising tensions in the South China Sea, with the U.S. citing Chinas island-building project and efforts to block other claimants from parts of the crucial waterway, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes each year.

Su Hao, an international relations expert at Beijings China Foreign Affairs University, said that Beijing anticipates the U.S. will eventually launch joint patrols with other nations to further challenge Chinas position in the South China Sea

The U.S. has been taking all kinds of actions to provoke China, forcing it to take counter-actions that will result in an escalation of the situation, Su told The Associated Press.

Associated Press video journalist Aritz Parra and researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Inside the Supreme Courts chambers Monday, eight justices will consider whether President Barack Obama abused the power of his office by issuing executive actions to allow millions of undocumented immigrants to work in the country legally and protect them from deportation.

Regardless of how the justices answer that question, their ruling is certain to inflame the volatile immigration debate in the 2016 presidential campaign. The decision will also help determine whether Obama has a chance to redeem his legacy on immigration, or see it marred beyond repair.

If he wins, then overnight he goes from the president with the most deportations to the great liberator, said Kevin Appleby, a senior director at the Center for Migration Studies. If he loses, Im afraid historians wont give him much credit for making the effort.

The ruling is not likely to come until June, a wait that will be excruciating for the White House, which has been caught between angry demands from Republicans for more border enforcement and rage among Latinos who expected more from Obama.

A victory in the Supreme Court for Obama would allow millions of immigrants here illegally to come out of the shadows and stay, but it would also provide new political ammunition for Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican presidential candidates who have used anti-immigrant rhetoric to rally support during the primaries.

Administration officials say a late-spring surge of Central American migrants crossing the southern border  something that has happened before  could create a sense that the border is out of control at precisely the time that the Republican candidates are seeking to capitalize on the issue.

If the court rules against Obama, or if it splits 4-4, it will immediately end the presidents efforts to revamp the nations immigration laws. The decision would in turn add to the frustrations of Latinos who blame Obama for carrying out a record number of deportations and remain angry about what they say was his slowness to act on a sweeping revision of the nations immigration system.

A loss would also increase the pressure on Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the Democratic candidates for president, to offer new immigration proposals. Both have said they support Obamas use of executive power to defer deportations.
MORIA, Greece  In an extraordinary gesture both political and personal, Pope Francis brought 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his plane Saturday after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis.

Refugees on the overwhelmed island fell to their knees and wept at his presence. Some 3,000 migrants on Lesbos are facing possible deportation back to Turkey under a new deal with the European Union, and the uncertainty has caused heavy strains.

Francis decided only a week ago to bring the three refugee families to Italy after a Vatican official suggested it. He said he accepted the proposal immediately since it fit the spirit of his visit to Lesbos.

Its a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same, he said of his gesture, quoting one of Mother Teresas phrases.

During the five-hour trip, Francis implored European nations to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores in a way that is worthy of our common humanity. The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its beaches and rocks in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece. They came to give a united Christian message thanking the Greek people for welcoming migrants and highlighting the plight of refugees as the 28-nation EU implements a plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Francis insisted his gesture to bring the 12 refugees to Italy was purely humanitarian, not political. But in comments on the flight home, he urged Europe to not only welcome refugees but better integrate them into society, so they are not left in ghettos where they can become prey to radicalization.

Many refugees wept at Francis feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention center on Lesbos, where they greeted 250 people individually. Others chanted Freedom! Freedom! as they passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. The pope also blessed a man who wailed Thank you! Please Father, bless me!

The Vatican said the three Syrian families, which including six children, who came to Rome will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italys Catholic SantEgidio Community. They were treated to a raucous welcome Saturday night in Rome, with drummers thumping, a crowd applauding and the three mothers receiving a single red rose.

I thank you for what you have done, Nour, a mother of a 2-year-old, said of the pope. I hope this gesture has an effect on refugee policy.

Nour and her husband, Hasan, are both engineers who lived in Zabatani, a mountainous area near the Lebanese border that has been bombed. Another family with two children hailed from Damascus and a third family with three children came from Deir el-Zour, a city close to the Iraqi border that the Islamic State group has been besieging for months, leading to malnutrition.

Two of the three had their homes bombed, said SantEgidios refugee chief, Daniela Pompei.

She said the three families had been given Italian humanitarian visas and would now apply for asylum. Francis said they were selected not because they were Muslim, but because their papers were in order. They had arrived on Lesbos before the EU deportation date.

Its a small gesture, he said. But these are the small gestures that all men and women must do to give a hand to those in need.

In perhaps a first, a babys cry could be heard aboard the papal plane as Francis spoke. The 12 refugees sat right behind the papal delegation on the aircraft, and Francis greeted each one on the tarmac in Lesbos, again on the tarmac in Rome, and during the flight, said Pompei.

Francis seemed particularly shaken by the trauma the children he met at the detention center suffered as a result of their experiences. He showed reporters a picture one Afghan child gave him of a sun weeping over a sea where boats carrying refugees had sunk.

If the sun is able to weep, so can we, Francis said. A tear would do us good.

Hundreds of migrants have drowned so far this year in the waters between Greece and Turkey.

At a ceremony in Lesbos to thank the Greek people, Francis said he understood Europes concern about the migrant influx. But he said migrants are human beings who have faces, names and individual stories and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

God will repay this generosity, he promised.

In his remarks to refugees, Francis said they should know that they are not alone and shouldnt lose hope.

Human rights groups have denounced the EU-Turkey deportation deal as an abdication of Europes obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands since March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up.

During the visit, Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, signed a joint declaration urging the world to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need. It also called on political leaders to ensure that everyone can remain in their homelands and enjoy the right to live in peace and security.

The world will be judged by the way it has treated you, Bartholomew told the refugees. And we will all be accountable for the way we respond.

Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, lunched with eight of the refugees to hear their stories. They then went to the islands main port to pray together and toss floral wreaths into the sea in memory of those who didnt survive the journey.

Earlier, Francis met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the airport and thanked him for the generosity shown by his people despite their own economic troubles. Tsipras said he was proud of Greeces response when other European nations were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life.

Hours before the pope arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope.
PALMYRA, Syria  When Islamic State fighters overran the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra almost a year ago, Maha Abderrazak was among tens of thousands of terrified civilians who fled west, many escaping with just the clothes on their backs and a few belongings they could carry by hand.

This week, the 22-year-old is among the few hundred town residents trickling back to Palmyra  now free of Islamic State extremists  to check on their homes. They came to salvage what they can  some carpets, blankets, a fridge or a few family mementos. There is no water or electricity in the town, and it will be at least few months before anyone can return to stay.

The emotional scenes of people hurriedly carting away belongings highlights Palmyras present-day human tragedy that has been largely sidelined by the magnitude of the destruction inflicted by Islamic State militants on the world famous Roman-era ruins that stand just outside the town.

Much of the ancient Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site that includes 2,000-year-old ruins, was destroyed by Islamic State militants who blew up some of its most famous monuments, filming the destruction for the world to see. The destruction of the Arch de Triumph, temples of Baalshamin and parts of the Temple of Bel, one of the best-preserved Roman-era sites, captured world attention and triggered an outpouring of international concern.

I understand it, the ruins are stunning, said Abderrazak, with a timid smile.

But some of her neighbors were less forgiving, saying their suffering has been ignored by a world fixated on ruins and stones.

Palmyra, a desert oasis surrounded by palm trees, was retaken by Syrian government troops backed by allied militiamen and Russian airstrikes in late March. The offensive routed Islamic State militants who had controlled the town for 10 months, imposing their strict interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia and carrying out public beheadings, including that of the antiquities chief whose body they hung from a pole in a main square.

As they retreated, Islamic State militants left behind thousands of land mines, both in the town and inside the archaeological site.

Access to the ruins is currently barred as a Russian military team continues to clear the site of mines. Regular detonations can be heard around the town as they work. Near the entrance to the ruins and the Palmyra museum, the streets are pocked with large holes created by controlled IED explosions. On Thursday, experts were documenting the damage inside the Palmyra museum, taking some of the pieces away in trucks for safekeeping, before they can be restored.

The scene on the towns Wadi Street was very different.

Residents who came in cars and government buses from the central city of Homs, about 100 miles away, had only few hours to check on their homes and quickly assess what they could take away with them. They hurriedly ferried out teapots, cups, electric fans and photo albums, placing them on the pavement next to suitcases of all sizes, to be loaded onto the buses.

Baby prams and bicycles  used by residents to help carry belongings to the buses  were left on the street, discarded amid debris and glass shards from shop windows that had been blown up, presumably by blast waves from airstrikes and bombs.

The scene has become all too familiar in Syrias civil war, now in its sixth year: people coming back home from wherever they were temporarily displaced, only to find their neighborhood an uninhabitable wasteland and their homes in ruins.

Hassan Ali said up to 100,000 people lived in the town before the war. When Islamic State arrived, the people of Palmyra just melted into the earth, he told The Associated Press.

Most fled with just their clothes on, he said, sitting with his wife Asmaa, waiting for the bus to take them back to Homs where they now rent an apartment.

We have no furniture in Homs, we came to take a few things until we can come back, he said. His wife said she took photos of their 8-year-old daughter when she was a baby.

For Nasser Ahmad, 40, it was the second time this week to comeback to Palmyra. He came with his wife and two children, Ghazal and Hatem, aged 4 and 2 years. Their apartment in a four-story building is largely intact, and hes been taking out belongings in batches, including a gas oven to use in Homs. Renting a place in Homs costs about 20,000 Syrian pounds (around $40 dollars), which is exactly what he makes as an agriculture employee, he said.

He also wants to show his children their home as often as possible, so they dont forget it.

Ghazal, his daughter, sat on his lap, barefooted and clutching a coin container or matmoura  the Syrian equivalent to a piggy bank  she had salvaged from her room. The family watched the bright pink and green buses get ready to leave, mattresses, pillows and carpets piled high on top.

Soad Daher, 63, said she was grateful for the Russians for helping the Syrian army regain Palmyra.

They killed a lot of innocent people, she said of the Islamic State. They beheaded soldiers and everyone they accused of being with the regime.

She also recounted how some townspeople hid Syrian soldiers in their homes, sometimes giving them womens all-encompassing flowing robes known as abayas, even bras, to wear.

Abderrazak, 22, told how in the first days after Palmyra fell to Islamic State, she and her older sister were twice turned back by the militants at a checkpoint because they didnt have a male chaperone and were not covered. On the third try, they were allowed to leave only because their uncle came with them and only after they paid the Islamic State guards money.

Overwhelmed by tears, she said its an indescribable feeling to see her family home still standing.

From her neighborhood, Palmyras majestic hilltop citadel is clearly visible. It has been heavily damaged by the fighting, with one side partially collapsed and showing signs of mortar or dynamite explosion.

Palmyra was a paradise, truly, she said, choking on the last word.
This year, 391 high school juniors and seniors were nominated by their teachers as the top Orange County students in theater, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, visual arts and film. Now, the quest is on to determine the top young artist in each discipline.

After reading application statements from the teachers and students, reviewing examples of the students performances and artwork, and examining the artistic resumes of the nominees, we, with the help of a panel of arts teachers, have narrowed the complete list of nominees to a Top 10 in each discipline, for a total of 60 finalists.

During the past few weeks, the Top 10 artists in each category have been interviewed by a panel of experts in their disciplines. These experts include distinguished artistic professionals and faculty members from Southern California universities as well as a few representative high school teachers. During the interviews, the students present their art form, and afterward the panels decide who will be named artist of the year for each discipline.

This week, we present the Top 10 nominees in instrumental and vocal music. Initially, 25 students were nominated in film and 119 in visual arts. In profiling the artists, we have included quotes from them that refer to their artistic aspirations and submitted works.

Filmmakers include those who work as directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, writers and animators on fiction films, nonfiction/documentaries and animation. Visual artists include those who work in painting, drawing, digital and film photography, ceramics, sculpture, multimedia and graphic design.

The winners will be announced in the May 1 edition of Varsity Arts.

FILM TOP 10

CALEB GARRETT

EL DORADO HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: cinematography

The experience that solidified my passion for filmmaking was the first video contest I won with my friends. That is when the realization that I could do my art as a living dawned on me.  (In the future) as a director I would produce films that inspire change in the status quo and reveal truths of injustices intrinsic to contemporary society. This might entail fictive narratives with grounds in truth that reveal corruption like The Big Short or Wolf of Wall Street.

TESSA GERMAINE

PACIFIC COAST HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: directing

Being a filmmaker has influenced every aspect of my life, because I see everything from a different perspective. All of the experiences I have, people I meet and places I go instantly become cataloged in my mind as stories, characters and locations for my future projects. I dont do this because I want to make movies. This happens because I want to share realistic stories with people.

NICK JACKSON

CANYON HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: directing

A little over a year ago I directed my first short film, Viral. It was a buddy film about an envious student filmmaker who is trying to garner internet fame alongside his sidekick who has a speech impediment. I can say (Viral) is the most important piece of art Ive created in my filmmaking career.  From the beginning, all Ive really wanted to do is inspire people. I want to take an audience away from the troubles of life and provide an escape. I love the laughter I can impart and I love the a-ha moments that I myself experience in theaters. I want to create those.

CLARE KINKAID

CAPISTRANO VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: screenwriting, directing

I want to be a screenwriter as a profession and influence other people with the impactfulness and power that film has as a medium. This is extremely important to me because expression is the rawest way of communicating  and this medium is personally very meaningful to me.

LUKE KONOPASKY

TESORO HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: directing

I submitted a clip from my feature film Nameless. In this scene, the two main characters are breaking into a neighbors house to find packages that would connect the neighbor to a murder. This clip represents me as a director because of the way I told the story visually. It has an Alfred Hitchcock vibe to it with all of its suspense.  In the future, I hope to master the craft of filmmaking and pursue my passion for directing. Expressing my creativity and originality in my films is essential. I want to create original films that are commercially and artistically successful.

RITA KONOPASKY

TESORO HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: screenwriting

I submitted a clip from our short film Misgiving. Misgiving is about what happens to a married couple after they commit a brutal act and how regret inevitably consumes them. Towards the end of the clip, after their argument, the husband character places his hand on his wifes and they share a small, simple moment that effectively portrays the strength of their relationship.  I want the audience to see a part of themselves in the characters and I want them to feel hopeful that if the characters in my films can make it out of a tough situation all right, so can they.

JACKIE LEE

BECKMAN HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: directing

The piece that I have submitted is titled Le Cirque Du Formal. It is a silent film based around a lonesome mime who finds hope and companionship through the help of an enchanted (and rather demanding) balloon.  As an artist I have two goals  to create and to move. We live in a society where weve become so adaptive to the idea of being innovated in a fast-paced manner that we never truly tend to genuinely live in the moment. However, with film, I hope to create pieces that will allow one to sit down and forget about the stress in their life.

CLAIRE OFFENBERGER

ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Focus area: directing

There are some people in your life that you know you are meant to cross paths with. My friend Serika is one of those people. This documentary about her quickly became a shared emotional outlet for both of us. I chose to shoot the documentary on Mini DV tapes in order to establish a safe, unpretentious environment as well as sustain a more authentic and natural aesthetic. I hope that people who watch this film, whether or not they also have endured similar circumstances, find solace in it. This film helped me to realize that the best thing we can do is try to grow from our pain and move forward. My hope is that those who watch my film will realize this too.

KATIE ANN OKEEFE

EL DORADO HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: directing

I made Los Ninos Exloradores, a short narrative comedy about Boy Scouts in the local woods trying to earn their survival badges. The production took a total of four months. After working every day on the production, seeing the final product really made me feel accomplished of myself, and it made me really see that I can create something great. From this point on, my ambition has increased and I fully believe in myself in succeeding in this industry.  As I continue to grow as a filmmaker in the competitive world, my focus will remain constant. I endure to effect change on the world.

KENNEDY SMITH-KUTYLA

ORANGE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

Focus area: directing

The film I submitted is a short documentary titled Childhood. It highlights my personal journey and struggle to find myself as Im growing up and reaching my dreams. I wanted to capture a vulnerable yet ultimately uplifting lesson that Im learning in my own life currently.  Film is such a powerful medium of art, and it can be used to tell meaningful stories that can touch peoples lives. This means that this art form cannot be taken lightly, and that each opportunity to make a film should be taken with purpose and confidence.

VISUAL ARTS TOP 10

NOAH CARR

FOUNTAIN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: digital photography

Click here to view his portfolio.

The double-exposure images I submitted were inspired by the work of Antonio Mora and done for my AP Studio Art 2D classs concentration assignment. The others were done on my own, as documentation of my exploration of the world. One thing I appreciate most about photography is the deceiving simplicity. Behind the images lie an immense knowledge about shutter speed, aperture, light and composition that gives them their aesthetic quality. Ive carefully scrutinized all of these elements until, finally, all thats left to do is release the shutter. One click, and I not only have an image; Ive captured a moment, immortalizing it forever.

SARAH DING

BECKMAN HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: drawing

Click here to view her portfolio.

Many of my artworks incorporate elements of insects. I wanted to portray an overall relationship between the bugs and humans, starting from the repulsive state of bugs to the appreciated and human-like aspects of bugs.  Insects are despicable and annoying, but if scrutinized, they actually appear to be something interesting and mesmerizing. I want people to understand that we should not see life in a superficial way  there are features of beauty in every single thing, whether or not it appears so on the surface.

BRIAN DINH

ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Preferred medium: painting

Click here to view his portfolio.

The pieces I have submitted are a small selective portion that best represents who I am inside, who I am past my skin color, my clothes, my intellect.  C.A.(N).O.E, is personally the piece that I feel is my strongest.  The meaning behind this painting is based on being a millennial, being a child in todays society. The idea is how teens today over-analyze or read too much in between lines when really it was meaningless. The box the girl is holding is left blank purposefully to represent anything that could cause these feelings like frustration, moodiness, envy. It has no identity; it is up to the viewer to decide.

HEINSON EVANDER

LOARA HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: digital photography

Click here to view his portfolio.

My dream is to become a fashion photographer for international publications like Vogue and Vanity Fair. I would love to work with fashion design houses like Valentino and YSL to shoot their campaigns, as I am an avid lover of fashion and its design processes.  (In my portfolio) I included a work titled Fall. This is a visual representation of my own struggles as a rising artist. Many times in my career, Ive had to take a fall to get back up stronger. This photo signifies the beauty in the fall. It paints the fall in a positive light and concentrates on the moment of floating weightlessness, not the moment of impact.

MADISON HARVEY

ORANGE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: mixed media

Click here to view her portfolio.

The pieces I have submitted best represent who I am as an artist and what interests me. A large part of my work has to do with natural elements, earth tones, texture and living things. I think nature is the ultimate blank canvas and can give us as artists so much inspiration just because of its beauty and diversity. I love working with unconventional materials and the throwaway items littered about. Whether it be tree bark, soda tabs, rusted whisks, wild flowers or wooden beads, everything can be used and reused in multiple imaginative ways. My pieces show how interesting aspects of nature look in a different setting.

HESOO JOO

CREAN LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: painting

Click here to view her portfolio.

The hard work and dedication that goes into each and every one of my artworks made me realize that nothing in life comes quick and easy. You must put enough time into something in order to create something beautiful and worthwhile. As an artist, I want to show and convince others of our worlds beauty. Through my artwork, I hope to show the beauty of nature through utilizing various media as well as my own unique style of art.

MADELINE LIVERMORE

ORANGE LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: ceramics

Click here to view her portfolio.

I would like to do more clay sculptures of horses, specifically full body sculptures of them in different gates of motion and standing still. Id like to explore different styles and objects of interest.  Many things inspire me. It could be something ordinary, it could be someone, or even a life event. There really is no limit on inspiration, so I try not to limit myself. Sometimes I get an idea and I think its too complicated, but when I go for it and challenge myself, I seem to like my results more. I want people to see me taking risks in my work and I want them to feel something.

CHAE YOUNG PARK

CREAN LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: drawing

Click here to view her portfolio.

Each time, I must break through the boundaries of my imagination. The 3D piece Acquainted Memories is my first 3D work, which depicts various components of my childhood. The outside border is filled with mementos sprayed in white, depicting how my once childlike imagination has faded away. The hands depict this loss of innocence, which blocks my imagination time to time. This piece is especially meaningful to me because it was the first time I explored unconventional mediums.

SONGWOO PARK

CREAN LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

Preferred medium: drawing

Click here to view her portfolio.

One prominent example from 2D drawing is Verbal Abuse. I have used charcoal on orange paper. This is (my) first art piece that represents the emotional wounds people get from friends, family or society by verbal abuse. Violence is not only defined as hitting someone, it could occur verbally. People can become psychologically destroyed, believing the abusive words to be true, and struggle to steer themselves.  I chose this as a prominent example because it described me during adolescence.

YEO JEAN SONG

ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Preferred medium: graphic design

Click here to view her portfolio.

I want to be a conceptual artist. I would love to explore new ways to spread information through art with other professionals. I want my art to do something for someone. Make someone feel better, make someone consider an idea, make someone do something they havent done before or often.  For my two digital paintings featuring red hands, I was inspired by a book that I recently read, a story of a town haunted by a spirit with red hands. I connected that to how muses haunt us. Muses follow us everywhere, and theyre impossible to ignore.
SACRAMENTO  Some California lawmakers want the head of the UC Davis to quit over the schools public relations spending after students were pepper-sprayed.

The Sacramento Bee reported Friday that at least seven state lawmakers are calling for the resignation of school Chancellor Linda Katehi.

The demands follow reports by the newspaper that the school paid image consultants at least $175,000 to try to clean up the online image of the university and Katehi after the 2011 incident.

UC Davis officials say the school was working to ensure it was fairly portrayed online.

School officials did not immediately return calls for comment on the resignation demands.
CAIRO  More than 1,000 people gathered in downtown Cairo on Friday, chanting slogans denouncing President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and protesting his decision to transfer sovereignty of two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia.

The demonstration was the largest in at least two years in Egypt. And it was the most significant public challenge to el-Sissi by anti-government activists who have been all but forced into the shadows by a state crackdown on dissent.

By venturing into the streets in defiance of a strictly enforced ban on political protest  testing the authorities often reflexive use of force  the activists appeared emboldened by recent criticism of el-Sissi, including from once-resolute government loyalists.

The downtown protest and a handful of other demonstrations were in response to el-Sissis decision last week to transfer sovereignty of Tiran and Sanafir, two uninhabited islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, to Saudi Arabia. The government said it was simply returning to Saudi Arabia territory that had been transferred to Egyptian control in 1950, amid concerns that Israel might seize the islands.

In an unusual burst of public outrage, Egyptians criticized el-Sissis decision as an unseemly concession to Saudi Arabia in return for billions of dollars in aid, and an unforgivable wound to national pride. The complaints, online and in the news media, have struck at the heart of el-Sissis carefully created popular image as a staunch nationalist defending Egypt against covetous foreign powers, and forced his government to defend its decision.

In a speech last week, el-Sissi insisted that Egypt had not given up a grain of sand, and chastised the public for an apparent lack of faith in the countrys leadership, including the intelligence agencies and the military. The army has no patriots, and they are all willing to sell their country? he asked rhetorically.

Please let us not talk about this matter again, he added, saying that the Parliament would take up the question of the islands, and form a committee, or two, and do whatever it wants.

El-Sissi has also come under attack for his stewardship of the economy as well the handling of an investigation into the murder of an Italian student, Giulio Regeni, which has sparked a diplomatic rift with the Italian government.

In his speech, el-Sissi said that the ferocity of the attacks reflects on our success.

The protests Friday were smaller than the street demonstrations in 2011 that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. And they were easily contained by the security services, which detained dozens of people in Cairo and Alexandria.

Even so, they appeared to represent a symbolic milestone for government opponents battered over the past few years by increasing repression, who said that the demonstrations reflected their mounting anger.

Its not just about the islands, said Khaled Dawoud, spokesman for a coalition of opposition political parties. Its about the overall performance of President Sissi, the way he treats us, the unilateral decisions, the arrests of young men and women.

Members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, which has faced the brunt of the government crackdown, also marched at some of Fridays rallies.

At the demonstration in downtown Cairo  near the spot where the first protest started against Mubarak on Jan. 25, 2011  the strong turnout signified a breakthrough for activists, said Dawoud, whose brother was among those detained. Left-leaning activists who formed the majority of the crowd revived chants that are rarely heard in public these days, including the people want the fall of the regime.
Whats the most intelligent promise made to voters during this presidential campaign?

Some may point to Donald Trumps promise to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. Lets just say this about that: It wont happen and probably shouldnt. Its a dumb idea. Theres got to be a better way to secure the borders, and certainly a less offensive way.

How about eliminating the lure of free stuff on our side of the border? If illegally crossing the border meant prison time if caught or living without food stamps, without subsidized housing, without free health care and without free education, but living with certain unemployment, the flood of humanity crossing the border would diminish to a trickle.

Some may single out Bernie Sanders promise to make college tuition-free as the most intelligent campaign promise. But, likewise, thats not going to happen. It ignores reality. Theres no such thing as a free lunch, or free college tuition. Sanders idea isnt merely dumb, its preposterous. It makes no sense. Someone will pay, if not the students who benefit, then taxpayers, who may or may not benefit.

College professors dont work for free. Classroom lights come with electric bills. Someone must foot the bill. Its charitable to call it a dumb idea. To promise free college is disingenuous. In the real world, thats false advertising, a criminal misrepresentation.

Heres a vote for most intelligent campaign promise: Ted Cruzs vow to abolish the Internal Revenue Service.

Unlike Trumps wall-building and Sanders college freebies, Cruzs promise can, and should, happen. It makes sense.

For the best evidence that abolishing the tax beast is the best option, just look at attempts to fix it. Tweaking the tax code has only complicated it, increasing its inequity, favoring those who can influence those doing the tweaking, at the expense of those with less political pull. Over the past decade, the tax code has been amended and revised more than 4,000 times.

The paperwork to file your taxes has grown from a one-page document to a monstrosity that includes up to 174 pages of instructions, according to efile.com, a team of tax professionals providing online filing services.

With a tax code containing more than 9,000 sections, youre probably missing something important. This is neither good nor smart. It is a labyrinth intended to benefit insider knowledge, reward political influence and punish the vast majority of American taxpayers, who have neither. If the IRS was on your side, would they make tax law this hard for you?

As the senator once put it, The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. That was ancient Romes Publius Cornelius Tacitus, not Texas Ted Cruz. But the Roman also got it right.

It should be obvious that any system engaging in Orwellian doublespeak isnt your friend. Millions of Americans rejoice annually when their tax refund arrives from the government. But what other institution can demand your money, use it for its own purposes, then, long afterward, return it to you without paying interest on the loan and call it a refund?

Orwells 1984 had nothing on the IRS, our contemporary master of Newspeak, the perfected government language of ultimate political correctness, requiring no thought, only propagandistic euphemisms and inversion of customary meanings.

Your money becomes the governments money. Interest-free loans become refunds. Its an Orwellian delight.

This years tax day is more Orwellian than usual. Normally, April 15 is the deadline for filing tax returns, but because this year the deadline fell on Emancipation Day, a government holiday in the District of Columbia usually commemorated April 16, your government has graciously extended your tax-filing deadline to Monday, April 18.

The bitter irony that Emancipation Day comes just after the date notorious for symbolizing servitude to the IRS probably will be lost on many people. Instead, like conditioned Orwellian goodthinkers, they probably will celebrate being granted three days forbearance on their annual homage to Big Brother.

Of course, as the Tax Foundation reminds us every year, neither April 15 nor April 18 are the truly significant days when it comes to Americans tax burden. Tax Freedom Day, as the foundation has dubbed it, this year comes on April 24 for the average American. Thats when the whole nation has worked long enough to pay off all federal, state and local taxes.

Its sobering to consider that Americans must work 114 days out of 365 just to pay their taxes, which, incidentally, comes to an average burden of a 31-percent overall tax rate.

If shelling out nearly a third of our collective income, amounting to $4.99 trillion, to the government is a difficult concept to grasp, consider that Americans this year will pay more in taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined. Big Brother never dreamt of having it so good.
ISTANBUL  A two-day summit bringing together leaders of the Islamic world concluded in the Turkish city of Istanbul with a pledge to combat terrorism and overcome sectarian divide.

The final declaration Friday expressed strong condemnation of the Islamic State group and the role of Iran and its proxies in regional conflicts.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who chaired the final session of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation summit, lamented the fact that Muslim countries who are the heirs of a civilization that was built on columns of peace and justice are being remembered more for wars, armed conflict, sectarianism and terrorism.

As Muslims, we cannot overcome our difficulties without achieving unity in spite of our differences, said the Turkish leader during the closing ceremony after delegates took a break to perform Friday prayers.

Erdogan also said the establishment of an international arbitration body in Istanbul is part of the OIC 2025 action plan and welcomed a decision reached a day earlier to create a Turkey-based police coordination center aimed at increasing cooperation against terrorism.

The Istanbul meeting drew representatives from across the Muslim world, including King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose countries have squared off in Yemen and Syria.

The final declaration expressed hope that negotiations that started in Geneva on April 13 would contribute to resolving the Syrian crisis as soon as possible and deplored Irans interference and continued support for terrorism not only in Syria but also Bahrain, Yemen, and Somalia.

At the sidelines of the summit, regional Sunni powers Turkey and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum to create a bilateral cooperation council. The two countries are aligned in their support for rebel factions opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The president of predominantly Shiite Iran, which along with Russia supports Assad, met Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara on Friday after the summit. Rouhani is expected to meet with the Turkish president on Saturday.

Delegates at the conference pledged to combat terrorism in all its forms and condemned IS for its use of chemical weapons in Iraq. Turkey, which is facing renewed conflict with Kurdish militants in the southeast, underscored the threat posed by the Kurdistan Workers party, or PKK, and its allies in Syria.

A PKK bomb attack in the southeastern Mardin province on Friday killed four members of Turkish security forces, according to Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency. Turkey has endured a series of bombings since last summer, some claimed by Kurdish militants and others blamed by the authorities on IS.
THE grim and sad discovery of a missing womans body in the Grand Canal, outside Tullamore was made late on Sunday night, following an extensive search operation.

THE grim and sad discovery of a missing womans body in the Grand Canal, outside Tullamore was made late on Sunday night, following an extensive search operation.

The 57 year old, Marian Naughton went missing from her home in Sragh, Tullamore on Tuesday, April 10.

The alarm was raised when her family members were unable to contact the bank worker, originally from Knockcroghery, Co Roscommon.

Last week, a massive search got under way and saw hundreds of people travel to Tullamore each day to help in the search for the bank worker.

Members of the Garda Sub Aqua unit also began searching the canal on Friday last and divers from local sub aqua clubs got involved in the search operation alongside the Civil Defence, local people and family, friends and colleagues of Ms Naughton.

Missing person posters were put up around the town over the weekend while her worried family and friends also carried out door-to-door enquiries and searches of surrounding areas.

During the search for missing Marian, a body was taken from the Canal at 11.30pm on Sunday night last between Tullamore and Rahan.

The body was then removed to the Midlands Regional hospital, Tullamore where the remains were formally identified and a post mortem took place.

Local Gardai are not treating the death as suspicious and its expected Marian will be laid to rest later in the week.

Meanwhile, Offaly County councillors extended their sympathy to Ms Naughtons family at Mondays meeting of the local authority.
Loading... OilVoice will be with you shortly...
Yoga is an ancient practice of poses and breathing that gained popularity in the U.S. in the late 1960s. More recently, yoga has been a growing practice for a new demographic: kids!

The benefits adults and children receive through yoga are very similar. More studies are needed to fully characterize the benefits of yoga in children, but the studies that have been done suggest children show the following benefits:

 Greater physical fitness and strength

 Better mood

 Lower stress and anxiety

 Better attention and behavior

 Better verbal and spatial memory as well as visual perception

Additionally, starting yoga at a young age can prepare children for a life of wellness and confidence. The focus is not about competing against other children  as many activities have become these days  but about improving oneself and taking care of the body. Yoga encourages the practice of short breathing exercises in a calming environment, self-quieting and refocusing on skills to facilitate learning.

So what's the difference between kids' yoga and adult yoga?

 Yoga is practiced differently for adults and children based on physical and developmental differences. While adults focus more on being quiet and contained, kids tend to laugh and play during yoga. The exercise has a more playful feel with games, singing and creative poses often related to animals.

 The techniques and poses are different as well because the bones and muscles are not developed enough to hold poses as long as adults, not to mention a childs attention span is typically shorter. Yoga instructors for children usually spend less time holding and critiquing poses and will switch from exercise to exercise quicker than they would with adults.

Yoga is a unique way to encourage a lifetime of physical and mental well-being and can be practiced in a limited amount of space, is easy to learn and requires minimal equipment. Though the first child-only yoga studio was not founded until 1998, popularity has boomed since then. If you are interested in getting your child started, search the Internet for studios in your area, use online programs or even become a certified child yoga teacher yourself!

***

Dr. Sandra Granger, is a pediatrician at Boys Town Pediatrics. To find out more about Sandra, click here.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The global recovery has regained most of the ground lost from the market turbulence at the beginning of the year, finance officials of the worlds largest economies said Friday. But they worry that growth remains uneven in the face of threats ranging from terrorist bombings to Britains upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union.

The finance ministers from the Group of 20 major economies pledged to pursue policies that will bolster growth and further stabilize financial markets, but they offered no new measures to accomplish these goals.

Reflecting some of the challenges the countries face, Lou Jiwei, Chinas finance minister, defended his countrys handling of its economy against criticism that has seen two major credit rating agencies recently downgrade the outlook for Chinese bonds. Lou is chairman of the G-20 group.

The G-20 discussions were occurring as part of the spring meetings of the 189-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen represented the United States at the meetings.

In its statement Friday, the group acknowledged the volatility at the beginning of the year but stated that markets had recovered most of the ground lost although growth remains modest and uneven.

Much of the market nervousness has focused on China, the worlds second-largest economy. Investors have grown concerned that Chinas slowdown is even worse than the governments numbers show and that Chinese authorities have mishandled policies meant to restore confidence.

On Friday, the Chinese reported that economic growth fell to 6.7 percent in the first three months of 2016, the slowest since the financial crisis but strong by global standards.

Moodys Investors Service and Standard & Poors last month downgraded the outlook for Chinese government bonds, citing slowing economic growth and rising government debts. China is attempting a transition from rapid growth based on often-wasteful investments in factories and real estate to slower but more sustainable growth built on consumer spending.

Moodys warned Friday that China is straying from that strategy, propping up growth by funneling loans to inefficient government-owned companies and putting longer-term growth at risk.

The G-20 statement repeated a goal to increase transparency of all countries on tax matters. Lou was asked, in light of the recent disclosure of significant tax havens in Panama, whether this effort needed to be strengthened, but he did not respond directly to the question of what penalties could be imposed to discipline countries that refuse to share tax information.
Opponents of a proposed Dodge County poultry plant said Friday that Costcos involvement doesnt change their view that the plant would harm the character of their rural community.

Residents of the Nickerson area plan to meet Tuesday to discuss what comes next in their fight against the chicken project. They have discussed hiring a lawyer and may work with a consultant who can help with research and public relations, said Randy Ruppert, a Nickerson resident and an organizer of the opposition group Nebraska Communities United.

Ruppert said testimony from project supporters this week at a meeting of the Dodge County Board showed the opponents that they need to refine their message. Many of the projects supporters were experienced in advocating for agriculture and economic development; opponents, less so.

We spoke from the heart; they spoke from their head, he said. We need somebody who can speak from the head also.

Ruppert said Costcos low-price, big-volume model would be bad for Nebraska farmers.

There are only two ways to make a profit. One is to add costs to a product to pass on to the customer, and one is to reduce internal costs, Ruppert said.

He said he believes that Costco would squeeze farmers to pass on low prices. The retailer is famous for its 3-pound rotisserie chickens, sold hot and ready to eat for $4.99 apiece.

Costco, along with Deloitte Consulting and Georgia poultry company Lincoln Premium Processing, told The World-Herald on Thursday that they are working together to develop a chicken processing facility and a network of farmers to raise the birds on contract in eastern Nebraska.

Greater Fremont Development Council Executive Director Cecilia Harry touted the Costco name.

Costco has an excellent reputation as a responsible American corporation, Harry said in a statement Thursday night.

Economic development officials have said they looked forward to the day when the company involved  kept secret until The World-Herald revealed it on Thursday  could be named.

This poultry operation would be an economic boost to the region, providing jobs, economic diversity for family farms and an opportunity for younger farmers to stay in the area, Harry said.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1336, barbara.soderlin@owh.com
Omaha Public Library wants to help readers find new books. Every month in this space, library employees will recommend reading based on writing themes, genres or styles.

This week, activities will be taking place throughout the city in recognition of the 2016 Nebraska Science Festival. The Omaha Public Library will offer a variety of science-related programs, and library staff members have suggested some of their favorite books with a scientific theme. Find these and a schedule of programs at your local branch or omahalibrary.org.

Kris Cram, young adult specialist at Sorensen Library, recommended Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Written for young adults, this is an engaging biography about Mary Mallon, who was a cook for a wealthy family and, as it turned out, a healthy typhoid carrier who ended up infecting many of the people she served. This book explores not only the civil rights issues associated with this case in history, but also delves into the science of this particular disease.

Cram also suggested Virals by Kathy Reichs. When Tory Brennan and her group of friends rescue a dog caged for medical testing, they are accidentally infected with an experimental strain of canine parvovirus. Faced with strange new abilities and a cold-case murder, they must use their knowledge of science and newfound physical gifts to figure everything out before it is too late. This book is also written for young adults.

David Dick, library clerk at Millard Library recommended What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe. Munroe, creator of popular web-comic xkcd, provides scientific answers to some of the bizarre scientific questions asked by his readers. He does all the work to provide legitimate scientific solutions, and delivers answers with his own quirky sense of humor.

Rose Fennessy-Murphy, library specialist at Millard Library, picked three titles. The first is How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown. This is the guy responsible for the demotion of Pluto and an explanation as to why we now have only eight planets in our solar system instead of the nine we were taught about as children.

The second is Surely Youre Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman. Feynman worked on the Manhattan Project and won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1965 for his work on quantum electrodynamics. His memoir is an engaging account of his childhood and academic career. He was quite the raconteur, besides being a genius.

The last title is Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen. This highly readable book is about how animals are reservoirs for diseases, and how the diseases  under the right circumstances  make the jump to humans. This book almost reads like a thriller.

Sylvia Stevens, clerk at Benson Library, suggested Im Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking by Alton Brown. If you ever wanted to know the why and how of cooking, this is the book for you. Brown is part Bill Nye and part Michael Symon, the nerdiest chef you will ever meet.

Paige Wagner, youth services librarian at Florence Library, recommended Dot. by Randi Zuckerberg. In this charmingly illustrated picture book for kids, a young tech-savvy girl gets burned out and is sent outside to enjoy nature.
Juniors at Archbishop Bergan Catholic School participate in "John Baylor Prep", an ACT Test preparation program. In addition to his test prep course, John Baylor is best known across the state of Nebraska as the radio voice of University of Nebraska Volleyball.

After participating in the first video session, three weeks ago Bergan Junior, Jack ONeal tweeted Baylor and asked him, How many re-tweets would we need to get him to come to do a prep session in person? Little did the Bergan Junior Class know, that Tweet got Baylors attention.

His assistant contacted Bergans Guidance Counselor Doug Moore and set up a personal training session for April 8  the day before most of the juniors would be taking the ACT exam.

Other local school news includes:

Run-Walk to Remember: Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 will hold the Run-Walk to Remember event Saturday at Skutt High School. The event supports families that have lost a child in a vehicular crash. Registration starts at 7 a.m., followed by a kids fun run at 8 and a 5K run-walk at 8:30. Officers with OPDs Project Night Life will be at the event.

Plant sale: Mercy High School students are selling plants to raise funds for the Negotiated Tuition Program. This program provides tuition assistance to students based on the familys financial situation. More than 82 percent of Mercy students receive $1.6 million annually in tuition assistance. Flowers including geraniums, begonias, impatiens, petunias, marigolds, coleus and gerber daisies as well as spike, sprengeri and vinca vine fillers are available. An order form is on Mercys website. The form and payment are due by April 20. Plant Sale pick-up is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 7. For more information, contact Sandy Gaydusek at gayduseks@mercyhigh.org or at 402-553-9424.

Recognition dinner: The first St. Pius X/St. Leo School Recognition Dinner will be held in the Father OBrien Parish Center on April 20. The event will begin with a 6 p.m. cocktail reception followed by a 7 p.m. dinner and awards presentation. The dinner concludes a year-long 60th anniversary celebration of the school. The following awards will be presented: Ann Kineen, Volunteer of the Year; Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and Omaha Fire Chief Bernie Kanger, Distinguished Graduate; Paula Holder, Teacher of the Year; and Pat Kobza, Servant of Mary Service. The class of 1957, Pius first graduating class, will be inducted into the schools Hall of Fame. The cost is $45 per person.

Two-mile run: Roncalli High School student government will host a Pride Powder Run from 9 a.m. to noon May 1. This family event will feature a two-mile run. The registration fee includes a T-shirt. The registration deadline is April 20.

Breakfast fundraiser: The Bellevue Public Schools Foundation will hold its fourth annual Community Breakfast fundraiser at the BPS Lied Activity Center from 7 to 9 a.m. April 21. Scholarships will be awarded to eight graduating seniors, and entrepreneur Bryce Bares will share his lifes journey and tell how he brought the Dunkin Donuts franchise to Nebraska. Bares graduated as valedictorian from Bellevue East High School in 1995.

Marians Field Day: Marian High Schools Field Day is set for April 29 at the D.J. Sokol Arena in the Ryan Athletic Center at Creighton University. Field Day, a long-standing Marian tradition, is an all-morning event that includes a parade of the classes in costumes, class demonstrations and cheerleading routines. Field Day is the culmination of a week of student-led activities. The goal is to teach leadership skills in an atmosphere of school spirit, class unity and fun. The event ends with an awards ceremony. Admission is $3.

Lincoln school anniversary: McPhee Elementary School celebrated 50 years of service to the children of Lincoln with festivities April 10. The anniversary celebration featured tours of the building and historic displays.

Rabbi visits class: Rabbi David Fox Sandmel, National Director of Interfaith Projects for the Anti-Defamation League, spoke to Central High School students Monday. Sandmel discussed current world events and interfaith projects across the country aiming to help communities understand and embrace religious differences.

Film producers: Two producers of Sundance Films visited the Omaha Public Schools Career Center on Tuesday. During the Q&A event, students found out how the documentaries Tig and Speed Sisters were created. The video production students are required to create short films. The event, made possible by Film Streams, helped them improve their skills.

Disabilities event: Wilson Focus School welcomed staff members of Ollie Webb Inc. on Friday. During an assembly for third-graders, representatives guided students through stations where they experienced deafness, writing and painting without the use of their hands, and navigating around the gym while blindfolded. The goal was to help young people understand the challenges facing people who have disabilities and to encourage them to be more empathetic when dealing with people who are different.

Sports and academic award: Burke High School student Connor Fox was recently recognized by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee as one of its Winter Sports Scholar-Athletes. The award recognized Fox for his athletic contributions to wrestling as well as his academic accomplishments.

Send your school news to goodnews@owh.com.
WASHINGTON  Rep. Jeff Fortenberrys absentee ballot for Nebraskas GOP presidential primary is still sitting at home  blank.

I went to fill it out before I came back (to Washington), and I stopped, Fortenberry said on Capitol Hill this week. I want some of the dynamics of this to play out a little bit more. ... Its a big dilemma.

Republicans in the Nebraska and Iowa congressional delegations may not have a lot of love for businessman Donald Trump, but few have been rushing to endorse his chief remaining competition, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Even Sen. Ben Sasse, who announced Friday that he had cast his primary ballot for Cruz, stopped short of endorsing his Senate colleague from Texas. Instead Sasse said he and his wife were voting for Cruz in order to stop Trump.

Sasse has been an outspoken critic of Trump and has said he will look for a third-party candidate if Trump is the Republican nominee.

Fortenberry originally endorsed businesswoman Carly Fiorina. In fact, Fiorina  who now is backing Cruz  called the congressman a few days ago to chat.

But the Lincoln lawmaker still hasnt made up his mind, even with the May 10 Nebraska primary just a few weeks off.

Part of the problem might be that Cruz has built his career blasting fellow Republicans in Washington, even accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., of lying.

Fortenberry said it takes time for those wounds to heal.

The cuts are pretty deep when you were so aggressive about tearing down other colleagues who are in the process trying to govern, Fortenberry said. It makes it very difficult to simply mend that fence.

He added that in the end he does believe that fence will be mended and the Republican Party will come together.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., before a poor showing in his home state prompted him to leave the race. These days, she doesnt sound eager to wade back into the presidential fray.

Its such an unusual election that everybodys just kind of waiting to see, Fischer said. Im waiting to see what Nebraskans decide to do. Thats the point Im at now.

Fischer has said in the past that she disagrees with some of Trumps policy positions, including his call to ban Muslims from entering the country. But she also has made clear that shell support him if he is the nominee.

Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said he has no plans to get involved in the primary contest at this point.

Im keeping my options open, he said, then added ruefully: Originally, I liked Scott Walker.

Smith also questioned the value of endorsements and stressed that a contested convention might not be such a terrible development.

Im reminding folks that a convention with meaning is a good thing, he said. That we have the opportunity to really demonstrate that we have a process, that we honor the process and that the delegates ultimately are the ones in control of the nomination.

Across the river in Iowa, Republican Rep. Steve King got on the Cruz team early and has been a fervent supporter.

He noted that Cruz has the support of conservative Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and the more moderate Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Youve got the full spectrum there, King said.

Both of Iowas Republican U.S. senators  Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst  say they are staying neutral until after the nominee is chosen in Cleveland. The benefit of staying neutral ahead of the Iowa caucuses, of course, is that it encourages all candidates to campaign in the Hawkeye State.

But the caucuses are long past, so why not jump in now? Grassley suggested that he wouldnt be much help to a candidate with the contest now playing out in states such as New York. If I was going to help somebody, Id be helping them in Iowa, Grassley said. I cant help anybody in New York City. Nobody in New York City knows who Chuck Grassley is.

Rep. David Young, R-Iowa, also plans to steer clear of the presidential race until after the national convention, according to spokesman James Carstensen.

His belief is keeping this decision in the peoples hands while the process is still very active and not yet decided, Carstensen said.
Top Contest of Tamil Nadu polls 2016: ANR Pannerselvam versus Karunanidhi

Feature

oi-Pallavi

M Karunanidhi will be pitted against AIADMK leader ANR Pannerselvam from Thiruvarur. A veteran winner from the constituency, Karunanidhi may have a fare chance to win. However, Pannerselvam has other opinions.

In fact, Pannerselvam says that he will win by a margin of 40,000 votes, thanks to the work done by J Jayalalithaa.

Date of polling: Tamil Nadu will go to assembly polls in a single phase on May 16, Monday. The result will be declared on May 19.

2011 election result

M Karunanidhi had contested from the Thiruvarur constituency and had won 109014 votes, while his opponent, Rajendran. M from the AIADMK garnered 58765 votes. Panneerselvam fought from Bodinayakkanur and garnered 95235 votes against Lakshmanan S of DMK.

Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK won 160 seats out of 234 constituencies and she took oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for the third time on May 16, 2011.

[Read: Tamil Nadu polls 2016: Congress to contest in 41 seats ]

M Karunanidhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)

The veteran leader will start State-wide campaign with a public meeting at Saidapet on April 23. Camping there for a few days, he will be filing his nomination there on April 25, which would be followed by a public meeting. After completing the state-wide campaign, he would be returning to campaign in his constituency on May 12 before winding up in Chennai on May 14.

After the constituency was brough under the general category in 2008, he contested from there in 2011 and emerged victorious with a huge margin of 50,249 vote over his AIADMK rival.

ANR Panneerselvam (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)

Expressing confidence about his win at the assembly elections from Thiruvarur constituency, he claimed that he was the native of the village and not Karunanidhi. "He is actually from Nagai district. I am the true son of this soil and the people of Tiruvarur will certainly elect me. And they will prefer me as I will be more accessible than him," he said.

[Read: Tamil Nadu polls 2016: PWF-DMDK-TMC alliance finalises seats]

In fact, he claims that he would win by a margin of more than 40,000 votes. Banking on the sops provided by Amma, he said,"Every household in Tiruvarur has at least one souvenir of Amma government's kindness and concern for the people-free laptops for the students, free mixer grinders for the kitchen, free table fan, free saris and dhotis, and so on. The list is endless. People will not forget that."

Our analysis

DMK chief M Karunanidhi will be the uncontested winner as he has been winning all 13 times. Moreover, Panneerselvam is comparatively a newbie and and is yet to reach the heights that Karunanidhi has reached.

[Read: Tamil Nadu polls 2016: Dissent in DMDK over alliance with PWF ]

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, April 16, 2016, 12:06 [IST]
UP Congress spokesperson aspirants had to take this test

Congress seeks feedback on all 25 LS seats in Rajasthan; to submit report to AICC by Jan 25

'Siddaramaiah could be the reason for my suspension', says Karnataka MLA Roshan Baig

AICC prevails over Kar. CM, son to resign as director of firm that bagged plum project

India

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, Apr 16: The AICC seems to have prevailed over Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and his son, Dr Yathindra. Accused of bagging a prestigious project at a government hospital, Dr Yathindra has decided to resign as the director of Matrix Imaging Pvt Ltd.

The allegation was that the company had bagged a plum project to set up a laboratory at the Bangalore Medical College. It was alleged that the project was given to the company only because the son of the chief minister was a director.

This charge was however denied by both Yathindra and Siddaramaiah stating that the right process was followed.

However when this issue came to light, the opposition sought for a probe into the matter. Later on the senior congress leader, Digvijaya Singh called Siddaramaiah and advised that his son should resign. Singh had said that he had suggested to Siddaramaiah that his son resigns from the post of director.

The allegation is that this company bagged three key projects only after the CM's son became its director. Dr Yathindra joined the company as a director on September 8 2014.

In the month of October 2015 this company was awarded the contract to set up a laboratory at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute.

Did this company benefit after roping in Karnataka CM's son as director

On November 18 2014 the tender closed to set up a lab at the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiological Sciences and Research in Mysore.

The company bagged this contract. In September 2014 tenders were called to set up a lab at the November 18 2014 the tender closed to set up a lab at the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiological Sciences and Research in Kalaburgi.

The tender process closed in November 2014 and the company bagged the contract.

OneIndia News
Partial Solar Eclipse 2022: City-wise timings, when and where to watch

With AQI of 259, Delhi's air on day before Diwali least polluted in 7 years

Delhi: Major fire breaks out in a slum near Dwarka, 400 jhuggis gutted

India

oi-Avinash

New Delhi, Apr 16: Major fire broke out in slum of Dwaraka Sector-3 area following which 18-20 fire tenders were pressed into service to contain the blaze.

It took fire workers around one and half hour to douse the flames.

While no casualties have been reported so far, the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained.

According to reports, the slum area located in Matiala has hundreds of jhuggis.

"400 jhuggis gutted in fire. No information of casualties as of now," Dharampal, fire officer, was quoted by ANI as saying.

Delhi(Dwarka): There were two cylinder blasts also, but now the situation is under control: Dharampal(Fire officer) pic.twitter.com/3miDoIqpI1  ANI (@ANI_news) April 16, 2016

"There were two cylinder blasts also, but now the situation is under control," he added.

"We received a call at 10:08 AM about the fire in slum cluster area near Matiala and 20 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire could be controlled by 11:30 AM," a fire official was quoted as saying.

"All of the valuable items are damaged, we've lost of all money too," a person whose jhuggi was gutted in fire told media persons.

Delhi: Slum dwellers of Dwarka sec 3 in distress after fire broke out this morning, 400 shanties gutted in the fire.https://t.co/iDmNBWR3D2  ANI (@ANI_news) April 16, 2016

Earlier on Thursday, fire broke out in a commercial building near Connaught Place, Delhi.

No casualties were reported in the incident which took place around 5 PM. Five fire tenders were rushed to the spot, a fire official said.

OneIndia News
Delhi serial dog killer arrested from Lucknow

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 16: A man, who was caught on camera killing a pup and stabbing three stray dogs outside a metro station in south Delhi last month, has been identified as a 28-year-old engineer suffering from prolonged depression and arrested from Lucknow, police said on Saturday.

The accused, Nakul Mishra (28), who graduated from National Institute of Technology, Delhi, has been on medication for prolonged depression.

Shocking video: Delhi's serial dog killer brutally stabs puppies, caught on camera

He was sacked from his job, had a failed love affair and his own pet dog had died recently, a senior police official said. His case has been referred to a medical board, the official said.

Mishra was arrested on Friday evening from his home in Lucknow and brought to Delhi on transit remand. He has been booked on charges of mischief by killing or maiming animal or cattle and relevant provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the official said.

On March 15, locals in Green Park area found three injured dogs and a dead puppy near the metro station and called police. Later, a video clip surfaced in which a man wearing a jacket and shorts could be seen attacking the dogs and a police team was formed to crack the case.

Mishra was arrested on Friday evening from his home in Lucknow

Mishra's identity was ascertained after local police conducted door-to-door search in all localities under the jurisdiction of Hauz Khas sub-division of Delhi Police and scanned through thousands of tenant verification forms, the official said.

Once police zeroed in on Mishra, it emerged that he left his rented room at south Delhi's Yusuf Sarai area after the incident and shifted to his maternal aunt's residence in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar where he stayed for around three days before leaving for his home in Lucknow.

In the full video grab, he can be seen first feeding the dogs and then attacking them brutally in the staircase near one of the exits of Green Park metro station, the official added.

PTI
Dilip Kumar was a legend in his lifetime, the golden age of Indian cinema comes to end: Sonia Gandhi

Dilip Kumar is stable, recovering well: Saira Banu

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, Apr 16: Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who has been admitted to a hospital for treatment of high fever and chest infection, is stable now and recovering well, according to his wife Saira Banu.

The 93-year-old cinema legend was admitted to Lilavati Hospital here around 2 AM, and was kept under observation with doctors attending on him stating that the next 72 hours are crucial. Saira took to the actor's official Twitter account to give an update about his health.

"Dilip Sahab was admitted to Lilavati Hospital for treatment of high fever and chest infection on April 15 night.

He was advised intravenous administration of antibiotics for speedy recovery," Saira said in a statement. "Oral drugs would not act as fast as the IV injections, the doctors advised. Hence it became necessary to shift him to a hospital. He is recovering well and is stable by the grace of God and the care of the doctors treating him.

He is in a room and in the hospital and not in the ICU as spread by rumours." Earlier, a doctor attending to the actor had said that Kumar would be kept under observation for 72 hours. "It takes time for a patient to respond to the treatment in the same way as it takes three hours for the food to digest," Dr Jalil Parker of Lilavati Hospital said.

PTI
Is Mamata losing in Bengal: Otherwise why stuff ballot boxes?

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Kolkata, Apr 16: A senior BJP leader, campaigning in Kolkata, may well have put his finger on the people's pulse.

Top contests of 2016; Top issues of Bengal polls 2016" title="Assembly Polls 2016 Full Coverage; Top contests of 2016; Top issues of Bengal polls 2016" />Assembly Polls 2016 Full Coverage; Top contests of 2016; Top issues of Bengal polls 2016

When he attacked Mamata Banerjee and the Left-Congress Front in equal measure, the crowd response was tepid. But when he attacked the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for 60 per cent of his speech, people applauded. At 75 percent, there was thunderous applause.

This was at the earlier phases of polling, but there is no reason to believe that the trend will change before counting day.

In fact, if the violence witnessed during the earlier phases continues, and the stuffing of ballot boxes by 'ghost' voters after polling hours multiplies, it will become clear that the TMC is nervous. It is brazening it out through violence, which has now become associated with Mamata's party in the popular imagination.

Does this mean there was no violence during 34 years of CPI-M rule?

A left liberal intellectual explains it succinctly: "CPI-M was more disciplined because it was cadre based; cadres knew the area and its leaders, the ones who had to be attacked. TMC goons who have grown during the five years of TMC rule, enter areas they may not know and attack everybody. There is, therefore, much more bloodshed." There is universal fear.

"Laat khayega ki biryani khayega" (Would you like to be kicked or served biryani?) An "aabdar" or barman at one of Kolkata's many clubs, mimics the TMC's neighbourhood tough. Aabdar is derived from Urdu - one who serves drinks.

"This time we are quiet, but we shall show our hands at the polling booth." He is clearly among the urban Muslims still loyal to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). Otherwise Muslims across the board have no grievance with the Mamata.

(Top contest of West Bengal polls 2016: Baichung Bhutia vs Ashok Bhattacharya)

In fact, they quite adore her for the way she created an almighty movement in West Bengal on the land issue in Singur and Nandigram between 2006 and 2007. In both these efforts at industrialization by the CPI-M, poorest Muslims, among others, would have lost their livelihood and property, "had Didi not intervened".

That is where she hit the political jackpot. She had lost the 2006 assembly poll but she used Singur and Nandigram as fulcrums to turn her fortunes around. She won 70 per cent of the 54,000 Panchayat seats in 2008. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Left Front came down to 15 seats from 42 in 2004. In 2014, they had only two seats. Mamata won 38.

Now comes the "vote share" punditry on which those who wish to see the back of Mamata in Bengal base their calculations.

Even at her peak Mamata's vote share was only 40 per cent. The CPI-M was 30 per cent and Congress, 10. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have won just two seats but its vote share was 17 percent.

A very arithmetical argument is: CPI-M's 30 percent and Congress 10 makes the alliance equal to Mamata's 40.

The question is: Which way will the BJP's 17 per cent split?

In a complex sociological turf, arithmetic is inadequate to accurately calculate electoral outcomes. To this comes a quick riposte. In Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav held onto his vote bank. After the Nitish Kumar-BJP combination ran its course, it was the Nitish-Lalu combination that triumphed.

Through grit, courage and a refusal to lose, once Mamata ascended the gaddi, she faced her biggest challenge: How to cope with the CPI-M cadres?

Violent tactics to overcome this handicap has become a strategy. Willy nilly she must keep riding the tiger. A group of thugs, cheering her along. Some of these cheering goons have formed an irregular system of co-operatives, called syndicates.

(All eyes on Election Commision as Mamata's blue-eyed boy runs riot)

Imagine the new, garish, multi-storeyed buildings near Kolkata airport. Obviously, land has been acquired. "Land losers" have been given a novel compensation. They will supply all the materials used in the buildings. The infection has spread. No enterprise can take to wing without the syndicate's "blessings".

A senior Bengali academic from the US, confident that many in Mamata's administration had once been his students, returned to Kolkata to have his ancestral house repaired. Work progressed until one day a dozen peak-capped TMC volunteers materialized. How had work begun without their knowledge?

The professor and his wife called up a powerful minister, their student. The minister said he was helpless because the syndicate operated on the directives of a different minister.

This system has replaced the Left cadres. Indeed, out-of-job cadres have switched sides and joined the syndicate system. There is great consternation all around.

Obviously, there is loss of support for her. This explains the conventional wisdom across the board: She will return with a vastly reduced margin.

If it is generally accepted that she is on a down-hill slope, who can say with certainty where she may land?

She will, however, not lose support among Muslims who are over 30 per cent of the state's population. Talk to Samsuzaman Ansari, local leader in Matia Burj, where Awadh's last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, was exiled by the British in 1856, and he will list all that Didi has done for the community.

Did not the Left Front government also give them protection? Yes, they gave us protection but they also gave us a mantra:

"Gai ka gosht khaao/CPI-M ke geet gaao"

(Eat beef to your heart's content; but sing the CPI-M's praises). That was all.

There is populism all around. She has improved on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's rural schemes - not just Rs.2 per kg of rice but even gold bangles for girls.

For the Left Front and the Congress this could well be their last battle for survival in the state. They have joined hands in Bengal even though they are in direct conflict in Kerala. There may be no morality in all of this, but is it practical commonsense?

IANS
LTC scam: JD(U) serves show cause notice to Anil Sahni

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 16: JD(U) today served a showcause notice to party MP Anil Sahni, who was charge sheeted by CBI for alleged cheating and corruption in LTC scam.

This comes after Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari gave his approval to CBI to prosecute Sahni. The party asked him to explain his conduct before former party President Sharad Yadav, who is leader of the party in Rajya Sabha within a week. "A charge sheet has been filed against you into the LTC case.

It has become a serious concern after Chairman of Rajya Sabha has granted permission for judicial proceedings into the matter. It is very clear to you that such involvement in financial irregularities are against pronounced policies of the party.

"Hope you will explain your position before leader of JD-U in Rajya Sabha Sharad Yadav within a week. In case you fail to do so, the party can take disciplinary action against you," JD-U general secretary K C Tyagi said in the show-cause notice sent to Sahani.

Sahni had yesterday denied the charges and refused to resign. "It's a conspiracy against me... Why shall I resign on moral ground when I have not done anything wrong," the second term Rajya Sabha member from Nitish Kumar's party had said in Patna yesterday.

Ansari had a few days back given his approval to CBI to prosecute Sahni against whom the agency had filed a charge sheet for alleged cheating and corruption in LTC Scam. Usually it is the party president to whom the MPs are asked to explain their conduct in such circumstances.

However, the party has been maintaining that Nitish Kumar's election as party president replacing Sharad Yadav does not mean that the latter has "retired" and that Yadav would continue to play a key role in party matters.

CBI had filed a charge sheet against Sahni alleging that he, in conspiracy with other persons, used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha to the tune of Rs 23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement without undertaking the actual journey.

Besides Sahni, whose term in Rajya Sabha ends in April 2018, others named in the CBI charge sheet were Anup Singh Panwar, an employee of Delhi-based Air Cruise Travels Private Limited, N S Nair, then Office Superintendent (Traffic), Air India and one Arvind Tiwari.

PTI
With AQI of 259, Delhi's air on day before Diwali least polluted in 7 years

NSA's closed door briefing to SC judges: Experts have a divergent view

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Apr 16: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval briefed judges of the Supreme Court for nearly an hour on national security.

The one hour briefing dealt with a master plan India had on fighting terrorism. In some quarters the move has been appreciated while in others it has been stated that an attempt is being made to influence the judiciary.

In short the briefing was about the importance of the judiciary in fighting terrorism.

Further, Doval also pointed out how the four pillars of democracy must work in tandem to fight terror. The speedy disposal of cases pertaining to terrorism was also part of the briefing.

Right or wrong:

The point of argument is whether a briefing by the national security advisor to the judges of the Supreme Court sends the right message or not.

The government is the largest litigant in any court and some felt that it gives the impression that an attempt to influence was made. However, several others feel that the judiciary is part of the Indian system and has every right to know what the country is doing to wage the war on terror.

Samjautha, Malegaon blast cases under review, not going soft on anyone says NIA

Some advocates feel that there are many cases which are filed wrong. Under the garb of terror there have been instances when innocents have been picked up. There are human rights issued involved and judiciary cannot get influenced by such briefings.

The government is the largest litigant and hence on such sensitive issues it was not right on part of the NSA to brief the judges, a few advocates point out.

However, those who feel that the NSA did no wrong say that his talk was restricted to making the judges understand about the master plan in fighting terror.

The point that he drove across is not to do the prosecution a favour, but to ensure that terror cases are speedily disposed off. The war against terror takes a beating when cases drag on in the courts.

Most of the time the prosecution itself delays the case as the investigators would not have filed charges. The courts must ensure that there is no such delay.

Further, the role of the judiciary is extremely crucial in cases where an extradition is sought. If the police are armed with a judicial order of conviction, then the case for an extradition also becomes stronger.

In such cases the role of the judiciary is extremely crucial and hence speedy delivery of justice becomes extremely important. Further one must also understand that the judiciary decides cases on merit.

It has a mind of its own and can take a call on a case to case basis. To suggest that such a briefing would influence the judiciary is not right, experts also feel.

Work in tandem:

Doval during his briefing appraised the judges about the national security system and also the threats faced by India both internally and externally. He also stated that there is a need for stronger laws in order to fight terrorism.

However, the most important point was the speedy delivery of justice and the importance it had in the fight against terrorism.

In addition to this Doval emphasized on the need to ensure that the four pillars of democracy worked in tandem. All the four pillars have a role to play in the war against and unless there is cooperation, it would be very difficult to combat terror, he also said while adding that this is a non-partisan issue.

Terrorism is a reality and a major danger and it is important that the entire nation and especially the four pillars of democracy work in tandem to rid India of this menace, Doval also stated.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, April 16, 2016, 11:11 [IST]
Why Taj Mahal will not be illuminated with tricolor lights this Independence Day

Taj Mahal ready for British royal couple William-Kate

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Agra, April 16: The Taj Mahal is ready for the hyped visit of British royal couple, prince William and Kate, on Saturday.

According to the programme released here, the royal couple will have lunch and dinner at hotel Amar Vilas. They will see the Taj Mahal around 4.00 pm, and leave late in the evening for Delhi by a special chartered plane.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will not be coming to welcome the dignitaries, as was earlier reported by a section of the media, and some hoardings placed.

The famed Diana seat on the central pool has been repaired, and the staircase were given a fresh coat of paint.

On Friday, municipal workers were seen cleaning up the whole area in Taj Ganj.

(Prince William and Kate to visit Taj Mahal during India trip)

The almost 10 km long stretch of road from Kheria airport to the hotel Amar Vilas has been spruced up and barricades ready to be placed to stop traffic when the dignitaries pass the heavily guarded Mall road.

"Clearly there is no excitement among the people here, for whom they remain symbols of imperialism that subjugated India for over two centuries. Although the media is trying hard to hype the visit of the royal couple. For us it is like any other VIP visit," commented social activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

William and Kate are following the footsteps of the prince's mother, Princess Diana, who visited the symbol of love 24 years ago.

Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1631 to hold the body of his wife as an enormous, opulent expression of his love.

The visit to the Taj will be the last stop for Prince William and the duchess, the former Kate Middleton, on a seven-day tour to India and Bhutan.

IANS
We cannot wait longer now: SC to hear Vijay Mallyas contempt case in January for final disposal

Vijay Mallya will be extradited if he does not reply in a week

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Apr 16: On Friday the diplomatic passport of former UB group chairman, Vijay Mallya was suspended for a period of four weeks.

He has been granted time of one week to reply failing which his passport will be impounded and the process of extradition would begin.

The Ministry of External Affairs will begin the process of extraditing Mallya from London where he is believed to be at the moment.

Officials tell Oneindia that the process of extradition can begin only after giving him an opportunity. He will need to give us his reply within a week. If there is no response within a week, then action will be taken and his passport impounded or revoked.

Vijay Mallya's diplomatic passport suspended

After this a formal request for his extradition can be made the officer also informed. In addition to this the government would also wait for the verdict of the Mumbai court which is hearing a plea by the Enforcement Directorate which has sought issuance of a non-bailable warrant against Mallya.

Passport suspended:

On Wednesday the Enforcement Directorate had asked the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Delhi to revoke Mallya's passport after he failed to appear before the probe agency.

It is alleged that Mallya had misappropriated Rs 900 crore loan from IDBI bank for the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The ED had also accused him of conspiring with banks officials to get the loan sanctioned.

The ED had issued three summons to him. However all three times he sought time stating that he was in talks with the banks to reach a final settlement.

Vijay Mallya fails to appear before ED today

On Friday the diplomatic passport of Vijay Mallya had been suspended. It is alleged that he had flown out of India on a diplomatic passport.

The passport issuing authority in the ministry for external affairs suspended Mallya's passport with immediate effect for a period of four weeks under Section 10 A of the Passports Act of 1967.

Mallya has been asked to respond within one week as to why his passport should not be impounded or revoked under Section 10 (3)(c) of the Passports Act of 1967.

If he fails to respond within the stipulated time, it will be assumed that he has no response to offer and the ministry for external affairs will go ahead with the revocation.

OneIndia News
Diwali to be a school holiday in New York starting next year

New York Mayor declares April 14 as 'Bindeshwar Pathak Day'

International

oi-PTI

New York, Apr 16: In a rare honour, New York City declared this year's April 14 as 'Bindeshwar Pathak Day' in recognition of the contributions made by the Indian social activist and 'Sulabh International' founder for improving the lives of people engaged in the "most dehumanising situation".

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio honoured Pathak for his outstanding work to improve health and hygiene and "moving the world forward".

"Pathak has been an example of someone who saw a great injustice, saw something that to many people was impractical and permanent and had the creativity, energy, drive and hope to make the change," he said at the ceremony on April 14 attended by Pathak, 73, himself.

Pathak was presented with the New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award earlier this week here.

The Mayor said Pathak took his vision to help the oppressed and through his work and organisation, created new technology that improved public health and environment and "fundamentally changed the reality" for many communities.

He presented Pathak with the proclamation declaring April 14, 2016 as Bindeshwar Pathak Day, honouring Pathak for being a "pioneer" in advocating for human rights in India by campaigning for social reforms and developing innovative and environmentally-sound sanitation technologies.

"This visionary humanitarian has improved quality of life for millions and increased opportunities for education and employment. "I commend Dr Pathak for his outstanding work to improve health and hygiene, provide vocational training, promote gender equality and give dignity and hope to impoverished people in India and far beyond," the proclamation read.

It added that Pathak's "lifelong" dedication to championing human rights has helped break the cycle of poverty and disenfranchisement throughout India. The mayor lauded Pathak for improving the lives of people who worked in the "most dehumanising situation" and being a catalyst of change for them. Sulabh, which engages nearly 50,000 people, has constructed nearly 1.3 million household toilets and 54 million government toilets based on an innovative design.

Apart from construction of toilets, the organisation is leading a movement to discourage manual cleaning of human waste.

PTI
NY mayor lauds Sikh community's resilience against hate crimes

International

oi-PTI

New York, Apr 16: Against the backdrop of growing incidents of hate crime against the Sikhs here, a New York City Mayor has lauded the community's resilience in overcoming challenges of discrimination and making the US "vibrant".

"I have admired all of the South Asian communities in the city for the crucial role in making New York City vibrant. The Sikh community for me has been a revelation, becoming close to this community and friends with this community and getting to know the glory of the Sikh culture and history," Bill De Blasio said at an event here on Thursday.

Wishing New Yorkers a "Happy Vaisakhi", the mayor voiced appreciation for the resilience shown by the Sikh community despite facing discrimination time and again and continuing their contribution to the social and economic fabric of the country.

He said it has been a "revelation" to understand the "challenges, discrimination and unfairness" the community has confronted and overcome time and time again. He expressed gratitude to the Sikh community for "giving back so much to the city and America."

He added that he espoused the long-held beliefs of the Sikh community of "commonality of all humanity." The remarks by the mayor come against the backdrop of increase in recent months in hate crimes targeting members of the Sikh community.

Last year on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, 53-year-old Inderjit Singh Mukker of Illinois was brutally assaulted and called "terrorist" by a teenager.

In March, hate crime charges were filed against an individual for brutally attacking Balwinder Jit Singh, a Sikh Los Angeles County bus driver. In 2014, Sandeep Singh, a Sikh father in New York City, was run over and dragged 30 feet after being called a "terrorist."

In 2012, a gunman with Neo-Nazi ties walked into a Gurdwara and shot and killed six innocent Sikh victims in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in one of the most brutal attacks on the Sikh community in the US.

PTI
Panama Papers put German bank in spotlight: report

International

oi-PTI

Berlin, Apr 16: Cologne's public prosecutor and tax authorities are examining claims, which have come to light via the leaked Panama Papers , alleging that leading German private bank Berenberg helped clients to evade tax, news magazine Der Spiegel reported today.

The German authorities launched an inquiry into the allegations covering "bank officials in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg" earlier in the week, according to Spiegel.

Bank head Hans-Walter Peters, who has just taken over as president of the powerful German association of private bankers, is "in the (investigators') sights," Spiegel added. A Berenberg spokesman told AFP by email that the bank was in contact with the prosecutor's office but added that no judicial procedure was underway against Peters.

The prosecutor's office was unavailable for comment. Peters took over from outgoing Deutsche Bank co-CEO Juergen Fitschen at the head of the private bankers' association last week with the latter embroiled in a longstanding legal case involving the collapse in 2002 of the Kirch media empire.

Hamburg-based Berenberg is mentioned several times in the huge offshore Panama Papers data dump unveiled earlier this month by international media. The bank said last week, "like many others," it had managed offshore accounts for clients but insisted it had done so "in line with the law."

Spiegel also returned to the Panama Papers theme in alleging that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble had "for years" not engaged with a reported whistleblower whom it said had offered to hand over evidence of wrongdoing regarding links between the Bundesdrueckerei printing house, which the ministry oversees, and shell companies in Panama.

Earlier this week the finance ministry denied it had ignored warnings from an informant in South America. Last Sunday, Schaeuble urged countries to work together in the fight against tax cheats and money launderers by sharing national lists naming the beneficiaries of shell companies while warning that recalcitrant countries could be blacklisted. "We need total transparency," Schaeuble told Bild newspaper.

AFP
At UNSC, US calls on world to tell Russia to stop its nuclear threats

'US Army approves first female officers for ground combat'

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Apr 15: The US Army is commissioning 22 women as infantry and armor officers under historic new rules allowing females to serve in ground combat roles, USA Today reported today.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December announced a sweeping directive to open all military occupations to women this year, including frontline combat roles. The 22 women have almost finished their officer training and must then complete their specialty schools and meet certain physical requirements before they are fully qualified to start, USA Today reported.

Armor officers are responsible for tank and cavalry operations. Infantry officers lead infantry troops and other armed forces during land combat. The Army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Though women warriors have frequently found themselves in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, they had previously been barred from joining frontline combat roles, including the infantry and Special Forces. Currently, women only account for about 15.6 per cent of the 1.34 million active-duty personnel in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force. As the new rules kick in, 52 military occupations -- some 220,000 jobs -- will accept female applicants, who must still pass the same rigorous physical tests as men.

AFP
Jammu admin withdraws order allowing residents of more than 1 year to become voters

J&K continues to boil: One more youngster dies; toll touches 5

Srinagar

oi-Shubham

Srinagar, April 15: One more youngster succumbed to his injuries as the death toll in firing by security forces in Natnoosa village in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir reached five on Friday. The forces opened fire to disperse protesters who were demonstrating against an alleged molestation attempt on Tuesday (April 12).

Dozens were also injured in the clashes.

According to eyewitnesses, several people assembled to stage protests against the killings in various parts of Kupwara and Handwara after Friday prayers. Four civilians were already killed following protests over the report of molestation.

During one such protest at Natnoosa, the protesters started pelting stones at an army camp. The personnel retaliated by opening fire on the protestors. Four of them were injured, one critically. He later succumbed. He was identified as Arif Hussain Dar, 18, of Aawora Kupwara.

As the news of the latest death spread, more people took to the streets in Kupwara and Handwara and staged massive protests, forcing the security personnel to use tear gas.

'People of Kashmir can't be cowed down by military power'

Meanwhile, Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the people of Kashmir could not be cowed down by the use of military power. He also termed the killing as "completely barbaric and inhuman" and asked for a complete shutdown on Saturday as a mark of protest.

He also asked the international community to take note of the incidents in the state.

Oneindia News
Community

Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place.
 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd.

All rights reserved.

One News is a registered trademark

of One News Page Ltd.
These days in the U.S. are, as my old friend Tom Atlee used to say, "getting worse and worse, and better and better." Which is to say things are in motion in ways that no one expected. We all know about the bad news right now, but what about the good news? Is there any? Could America actually be in the midst of a painful, drawn-out, messy, long overdue rebirth? If so, what difference does it make in the short term? And how can we progressive activists be smart midwives?





In another corner, thanks to writers and thinkers like Ta-Nehisi Coates and others , the extremely ugly story of what the abstract term "institutional racism" really means is coming to light. Equally shocking and coming from an unexpected source, is the recent revelation by John Ehrlichman that his Nixon era drug war policy was a deliberate attempt to strip voting rights from Blacks by means of felony convictions. That criminal bit of public policy wasted billions of tax payer dollars on prisons and other "drug war" activities, and destroyed the lives of countless Black men, their families, and their communities. It degraded the social and economic life of our whole country. Fortunately, support for criminal justice reform has already been growing by leaps and bounds. This is another sign of American rebirth; we need to keep it going too.

Plus, there's a brand new constituency rising up: youth of all kinds. Though the received wisdom has long been that young people don't vote, new research shows this hasn't always been the case. Aside from the vast numbers of youth already supporting Bernie Sanders, there are even more long term examples. Many young Americans are starting to assert themselves in the face of adult folly that could destroy their futures. Here are a few examples of this new wave of action. We've just learned about the victory of some young people in Oregon who successfully sued the federal government for violating their constitutional rights by failing to stem climate disruption. And as part of his masterful survey, The Reunited States of America, Mark Gerzon tells the story of young Americans taking action to stop the paralyzing hyper-partisanship that destroys our country's chance to solve problems. All efforts of this kind need more publicity and support.



But what about the corporate elite? Aren't they still in charge? If they think they can just kill this American rebirth by electing a minion of their own on November 8, they will find they are wrong. Even if they do get their way that day, a lot of the American public is reaching for a better version of the American dream, one that includes everyone here. America is changing now and for good, so it's also in the interest of the 1% to wake up, shape up, and get reborn too. That means they should start thinking about how they can foster the better world we all need. They would still be able to make an honest dollar doing that, instead of the way things are now. Clear models exist in the form of B-corporations and the promise of a brand new sustainable energy economy. Trying to stop the tide of history will just leave them high and dry. Let's make sure they understand that.

What more can we progressive activists do to foster an American rebirth? We need to talk about it right now. Rebirth is a powerful American cultural metaphor and still speaks to a wide range of citizens, secular and religious. If people say, "Hunh? Whatever do you mean?," it will give you the chance to explain. Cite the new stirrings I've mentioned and others you see developing. Look for new ones. Find ways to support them. Today, as the hate-filled side of America roars back, we also see new possibilities for America's best dream. That dream is the promise of living together in a way that better expresses our finest ideals. So praise the rebirth, show how it's happening, talk about how it pushes back the nastiness. Explain how rebirth can lead to a better future for all Americans. Be a midwife now. Don't wait!

----------------------------------------------

Susan C. Strong, Ph.D., is the Founder and Executive Director of The Metaphor Project, http://www.metaphorproject.org, and author of our book, Move Our Message: How to Get America's Ear. The Metaphor Project has been helping progressives mainstream their messages since 1997. Follow Susan on Twitter @SusanCStrong.
Reprinted from Reader Supported News

An Interview With Lori Wallach





In 2011, President Obama and Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State, sold the U.S./Panama Free Trade Agreement as a fix for Panama's secret tax haven and money laundering operations. Obama asserted at the time: "Thanks to the leadership of President Martinelli, there have been a range of significant reforms in banking and taxation in Panama. And we are confident now that a free trade agreement would be good for our country."

Last week, President Obama appeared to be singing a different tune. Obama said that activities like those exposed by the release of the eleven million plus Panama Papers were a result of poorly designed laws. However, some analysts say that the relevant regulations were not exactly poorly designed, but were skillfully concocted to facilitate certain privileged interests.

Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said this week that the Panama Papers show, once again, how entirely cynical and meaningless are American presidents' and corporate boosters' lavish promises of economic benefits and policy reforms from trade agreements.

Dennis Bernstein: Lori Wallach, you actually say that those actions in 2011, strongly supported by Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, made it safer and easier to launder money?

Lori Wallach: Absolutely. It's important for listeners to understand the history of Panama and how outrageous it would have been for the United States to even contemplate a free trade agreement with the country. In the 1970s the Omar Torrijos dictatorship was eager to pursue a new industrial policy. All they had were some banana exports. And so he literally recruits some University of Chicago-trained economists to come down to Panama and design laws that can make the country's comparative advantage a financial crime. They take the Swiss version of banking secrecy, and they cook up what are called "bearer" shares stock certificates, where the corporate entity is issued paper. So I can subscribe as a lawyer as the official owner of those shares and now I sell them to whomever. And they are never tracked. The tracks are not tracked. So whoever has the paper is actually in charge of the companies, so you have no idea what the company is.

And then they have a dual taxation system, where all of these foreign, fake, double-hidden companies can have secret banking and secret ownership, plus there are foreign registered companies that are subject to no reporting, no taxation, in no country or any place else. And that designed program was what we were saying to the Bush administration that the free trade agreements were. Not surprisingly, the majority in Congress in 2009 said, "We're not going to pass that, that's ridiculous."

So the Obama administration came in and instead of actually setting out to fix the Panama disaster, and actually make some demands of Panama about really changing things, they set out on a mission to figure out what to do to pass this free trade agreement. They did a lot of talk and not a lot of action and ultimately had a list of important improvements, as President Obama said, that now made it worthwhile to pass the agreement.

Meanwhile the agreement itself makes it safer and easier for particular U.S. companies to use Panama to hide their money from taxation, to basically obscure who owns what. And the specific rules are Chapter 9 of that agreement. You can see that online at tradewatch@ustr.gov in the investment chapter. It guarantees things like inflows and outflows of capital without limitation. Compensation from the government of any policies that an investor relied on to make an investment were changed, i.e., incentives not to clean up any of those criminal laws that drive the investments. And, moreover, compensation from the government if anything happens with your money, against the rights given in the agreement.

That provision serves like a risk-free insurance to offshore your money to Panama. So the chickens have now come home to roost, with the Panama Papers. Because you can see, number one, nothing's changed and number two, the extent of the criminality.

DB: Well, just help us understand the extent of the criminality referenced in these papers. And it's just beginning to unfold. We haven't heard a lot about the U.S., and I'm going to ask you about that in a moment. Explain how people use this stuff and how it works against us common folk.

Wallach: Well, there are a couple of different things that happened. There are legitimate U.S. businesses creating offshore tax haven shells to move money through and have profits earned through the companies that are incorporated in those shells, just to simply avoid taxes, and avoid paying their fair share. That's the least nefarious. There are individuals who hide income and assets by creating various shell corporations that become the earners of assets that would otherwise be subject to U.S. taxation.

But then there's the even more nefarious stuff. Panama is the financial nerve center for Colombian narco-traffickers and paramilitaries. They pass freely across the unguarded border between the two countries. And because they can very easily register a foreign subsidiary in someone else's name " you have Pablo Escobar, who is actually holding the paper for some of these bearer shares. The first time it gets registered, whoever is the first issue, could be a Panamanian lawyer who gives it to whomever. And then the entity suddenly can be doing banking in secrecy.

There are so many layers of non-transparency. That's a great place for money laundering. It's a great place to basically wash money. When the FTA was put into place there were somewhere between 350,000 and 400,000 offshore corporations, which is the highest number of subsidiaries of foreign investors outside of Hong Kong.

DB: Say a little bit more about what these corporations are doing in Panama.

Wallach: Some of them were doing some of the run of the mill tax evasion. Some of them were laundering drug money, weapons running money. There was a period where people thought there was a lot of terrorism-related money getting washed through Panama. And that is the country where, like the TPP we now face, promises of "Oh, if we do a trade agreement, that's all gonna get cleaned up, and this is our leverage." And you're hearing the same kind of thing about Malaysia and their horrible human trafficking and human rights abuses. Or Bruni, and their policy of stoning to death single mothers and gay people. "So this agreement is going to fix those things, don't you worry."
Clinton School of Public Service Co-hosts Free Whistleblower Summit Lecture Series at Clinton Presidential Library, April 21-23



Clinton Presidential Library

(Image by Clinton Foundation) Details DMCA





Historic event coincides with State Reps. Vivian Flowers and Kenneth Ferguson's proclamation supporting National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

Little Rock, Ark-- On April 21-23 The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will co-host free lectures and events open to the public that celebrate the important role of whistleblowers and their advocates. The events, which will take place at the Clinton Presidential Library and other nearby locations, are cosponsored by The Whistleblower Summit for Civil & Human Rights; a Washington, D.C.-based organization that will host its fifth annual event on Capitol Hill in July. The Arkansas mini-conference is the first in a series of smaller conferences the organization intends to host outside of the District of Columbia.

Conference organizer Michael McCray, a native Arkansan who moved to Washington, D.C. with the Clinton administration, says his hometown was selected to host the lecture series for a number of reasons including that its state legislature is expected to be the first to support a National Whistleblower Appreciation Day on July 30. State Reps. Vivian Flowers and Ken Ferguson will introduce their proclamation during a 9 a.m. April 22 press conference at the Clinton Presidential Center. The press conference will also address the Flint, Michigan water contamination crisis. Other participants in the conference include McCray, Stephen Kohn of the National Whistleblower Center, Carlton Winfrey, who covers politics for the Detroit Free Press and Marcel Reid, Whistleblower Liaison for the Pacifica Radio Network.

"There is no Free Press without confidential sources. There can be no Congressional Oversight without government informants. Whistleblowers are the 'Fifth Estate' protecting freedom, liberty and Democracy."

--Michael McCray, Esq., CPA (inactive)

"The Whistleblower Summit - is unique because it combines legislative advocacy, public policy discussions with community and social events. During the conference we have panel discussions, press conferences, award presentations, receptions, luncheon/dinner, movie night, book signings, etc. Senator John Boozman was previously honored with a "Pillar Award" at the Whistleblower Summit - on Capitol Hill in 2014 for supporting criminal prosecutions following the revelations about wrongdoing and "cooking the books" within the Veteran's Administration.



"We are in the midst of a campaign to designate July 30th as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. While the usage of the term "whistleblower" in popular culture began in the 1970s around the Vietnam War--the first law the provided protections to citizens (whistleblowers) who report abuses of the public trust was passed by the Continental Congress on July 30th, 1778. Arkansas State Representatives Vivian Flowers and Ken Ferguson are introducing a proclamation or resolution to support that holiday--Arkansas could be the first State Legislature to support National Whistleblower Appreciation Day."

The event opens with a public tour of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site on April 21 at 1:00 pm followed be a Welcome Reception at the Hearne Fine Art Gallery, 1001 Wright Ave. from 5:30 to 8:30 pm sponsored by Gene McKissic & Associates, Law Firm. Among the other events is a April 22 movie night in which the documentary "The Seven Five" will be shown with a discussion led by (Ret) U.S. Chief Deputy Marshall Matthew Fogg. Movie night will take place from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Hearne Fine Art Gallery, 1001 Wright Ave. April 23, there will be a book signing and discussion group from 10 a.m. to noon at Pyramid Book Store, 1001 Wright Ave., Suite C. Authors participating in the signing include Michael McCray and Marcel Reid ("ACORN 8: Race, Power & Politics"), Stephen W. Kohn ("The Whistleblower's Handbook"), Tom Devine ("Corporate Whistleblowers Survival Guide") and Michael Volpe (The Definitive Dossier on PTSD in Whistleblowers).

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Reprinted from www.salon.com

What always disappointed me the most about President Obama was how he never even tried to change the language of politics that had been established in the eight years of the Bush presidency.

From immigration (on which he never articulated a different rhetoric than the punitive law-and-order one put into effect by his predecessor) to civil liberties to war crimes to inequality to health care to race relations to trade, he has kept to the establishment line on all substantive policy issues.

And that's where Bernie Sanders has succeeded so brilliantly. Sanders has managed to draw level with Hillary Clinton in the national polls, and seriously threatens to upset the carefully balanced apple cart if he can pull out a win in New York. As a result, he has pushed the establishment to acknowledge, at least rhetorically, the grievances of the powerless. That is no mean accomplishment, and he and his supporters should feel proud for having come this far.

I do not of course mean this in the dismissive way deployed by Clinton and the rest of the "establishment" (the term Sanders repeatedly uses to describe her and which irks her so much), to pat Sanders and his followers on the back, as if to say, Job well done, now go home and let the adults take over, you've had your chance at saying what you needed to say but now we need to get on with the job we were doing before. Indeed, toward the end of the debate tonight, as Clinton became increasingly nervous--her shrill bluster and bravado seemed to have collapsed by the end, as Sanders only seemed to gain in confidence and grit--that is precisely the rhetorical tactic Clinton used against him.

No, it's not going to work now, things have changed, we have moved past the likes of Debbie Wasserman Schultz pushing the debates to ungodly weekend hours, pretending that there was never a split among liberals as severe as that among conservatives.

This debate was a sign of the distance Sanders has traveled in confidence and maturity, the way he handled all of her maddening lies--particularly about misusing his congressional voting record in the absurd way of political commercials--by insisting on the facts. The facts are all we need, but we have not been hearing them on such a visible platform in a long time, President Obama also being firmly in the mode of equivocating establishment-speak, which fuzzes up clear-cut issues of unequal treatment and distracts attention to pragmatism and "competence" (of course the neoliberal banker in a politician's suit is the only one who's competent).

It was a joy to witness the establishment standing denuded tonight. There were actually two other dignitaries--Bill Clinton and Barack Obama--who stood behind Hillary Clinton, on this night when the hypocrisies of the powerful stood exposed on the national stage. Using the kind of hardcore logic and rationality that went out of style after Walter Mondale's unsuccessful deployment of the same against warm fuzzy Ronald Reagan, but which made a brief appearance when Joe Biden went head to head against Paul Ryan, Sanders didn't let Clinton get away with her prevarication on a single point. And of course she equivocated and feinted right and left and diverted attention and raised false alarms in response to every single question.

Again and again, Clinton attempted to subdue every sharp query that came her way by speaking in praise of the incremental measures she intends to take toward what she has now taken to calling her own "bold" ideas, such as raising the minimum wage in steps by way of getting to the progressive goal of $15 an hour. She mocked the idea of free college by offering her father's homely wisdom that one should "read the fine print" when something is offered for free. But Sanders never let her get away, and neither did the moderators, to their credit. In contrast to previous debates, certainly in recent election cycles, the debate remained firmly grounded in facts rather than distractions, fears, and absurd hypotheticals, which by itself is a notable shift in consciousness.

As the debate wore on, the contradictions in Clinton's attempt to square the circle became more and more evident. Sanders had worn her down so greatly, with the gentlemanly demeanor she so clearly despises, that he had to do less and less work to expose her lies. He would simply shake his head, roll his eyes in disbelief, while Clinton seemed to dig ever deeper holes for herself.

In the name of incrementalist competence, she refused to answer whether she would support a tax on Wall Street speculative transactions (a pretty orthodox economic idea that has been around for a long time), couldn't excuse her way out of support for fracking technology all over the world, refused to grant that Israel had used "disproportionate response" in response to any attacks, and couldn't find a way to escape from her advocacy of escalated military responses in Libya and Syria. She often fell back on 9/11 and her "response" to it, as a savior of New York. The adults are here to protect us, what does a wide-eyed socialist like Sanders, beholden to European values, even know about managing the economy? Dodd-Frank, that parody of a neoliberal law to save us from the next financial collapse, was Clinton's only resort as the manager who pursues goals strictly through established law. Meanwhile, her absurd charges that Sanders is somehow a supporter of assault weapons or a lover of swaps and derivatives or a threat to Israel fell completely flat. This has been the diversionary recourse for conservative Democrats for a long time now, but it is not going to work this time, regardless of the outcome of the Democratic nomination and the general election. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle. Sanders's campaign--unlike, say, Jerry Brown's humanist unorthodoxy in 1992--has gone on too long and scored too many points that have hurt the establishment deeply and irrevocably. This is what I gathered from this debate, where the energy--despite Clinton's claims to New York as home turf--was ecstatically on Sanders's side, particularly in his rousing closing statement. Sanders has stayed on message, a simple one, the only one that matters, of economic inequality and specific unequivocal ways to address that. Like her predecessors, Clinton has sought to keep the debate focused on the culture wars; she did it again in her closing statement tonight, almost seeming to glide by economic inequality and instead talking about cultural "barriers" to opportunity, the distracting dance that neoliberals like to do at every opportunity. She would never have brought up a single substantive issue during this campaign, following the release of her vacuous self-affirmative opening campaign commercial, had Sanders not forced the issue. She is trying her damnedest to speak the progressive lingo for now, until Sanders is put away by the superdelegates or other shenanigans of machine politics at which both Clintons excel, but it doesn't suit her and tonight it was glaringly obvious. ADVERTISEMENT Neoliberalism, from this point on, will not have the cover it did before the Sanders campaign. Future progressive movements will have a firmer foothold to stand on. The fantasy that only neoliberal stalwarts have the competence to handle money and defense has been shattered. Just think, late last year, the question was how--and if--Sanders could get minorities to come over to his side. We are now talking about palpable shifts on every possible measure, and perhaps even the possibility of making his case at the convention. Even if he should fall short of that, the key idea progressives should take from his winning campaign is that the first and most important thing to do is to change the terms of discourse, because to speak in the other side's language is to concede defeat. It is not a coincidence that it often tends to be people of much earlier generations--like Ralph Nader and now Sanders--who bring out the youthfulness in the young. The facts, spoken by the mature and wise, have a way of rousing the listless. The facts, about our distorted policies, are back on the table. In response to why Sanders, at the Apollo theater, called out Bill Clinton for defending his wife against the use of the term "superpredators" in the 1990s, Sanders simply said, "Because it was a racist term, and everybody knew it was a racist term." That is the kind of clear shift in discourse we've needed all along.
This article was originally written in February of this year and held back from publication. However it seems to be more relevant now than it was then.



Something Bernie Sanders said the other day keeps reverberating in my brain. His contention, like that of Barack Obama in his bid for the presidential nomination, that he has better judgement than Hillary Clinton, especially in the area of foreign policy, at first struck me as a bit presumptuous. Obviously, Hillary has vastly more experience in dealing "on the ground" with foreign affairs, something on which Bernie has not really focused except on the most important occasions such as the war in Iraq. In my opinion, all three of them probably possess the same degree of reasoning, approximately the same Intelligence quotients. What is it then, which determines the difference in those qualities necessary to best lead a nation? In my opinion, the qualities are integrity and the discipline to "do one's homework."

I believe that Hillary often times shows flashes of brilliance, but that she has a long history of failing to do her homework. She did not do her homework on healthcare in the nineties, coming up with an ambitious pediatric healthcare plan for adults. She took the highly questionable word of the bumbling Dick Cheney and George Bush, apparently doing absolutely no homework of her own before casually choosing to go to war in Iraq. Even though she was not responsible for the tragedy at Benghazi (it appears that Darrell Issa and his cohorts callously interfered with funding for the defense of the facility), it would have been nice if she had known what was going on before poor Susan Rice became the scapegoat for the State Department's ineptitude. Hillary has been warned in the past about "doing her homework."

As for her problems with her private emails, is Hillary familiar with the illegal servers and emails flowing between the Bush White House and the nefarious Karl Rove- all of those emails illegally destroyed? How about Dick Cheney's illegal "classified" communications made legal by his buddy, President Bush, about which incompetent and sleazy U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, afraid he might have to indict the vice president for lying to a federal prosecutor, conveniently "forgot" to ask Mr. Cheney? [1] Was it "good judgement" that led Hillary to set up her private emails in such a questionable, even if legal, manner? Or, was it the all too often failure to do her homework? Or, was it a case of political promiscuity, a feeling of political immunity that she and her husband seem to share? In fact, if Hillary somehow loses either her bid for the nomination or for the presidency itself, I believe it will be because of her inability to separate herself from her foundation during and after her service as Secretary of State, as well as her greedy acceptance of huge fees for speeches before banking and Wall Street moguls. Her political judgement as well as that of her husband often seems to be affected by a sense of privilege that is foreign to Mr. Sanders. If I had millions of dollars in the bank already and I wanted so badly to be president, I might well speak before Wall Street and bankers, but as Arnold Palmer suggested to Tiger Woods, if you don't want the attention, then "give the money back," that is give it to charity. Blaming the mistakes of her last campaign on her staff or the superdelegates instead of her husband's choice of his inept poker buddy, failed Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, to run her campaign, as well as her email problem both seem like typical Clinton "Noblesse Oblige." There should be no "royalty" in this country.

Meanwhile, a case can be made against President Obama that although he is very deliberate and understands what he ought to do, all too often he follows the pollsters instead. What other explanation is there for removing the last vestige of fighting troops from Iraq, the last vestige of protection for the Sunnis from the Iranian government that his incompetent predecessors had installed in the country? Does it take a rocket scientist to predict the invasion of ISIS to fill the void? How is this so different from Hillary bowing to pressure from the polls in her choice for war in Iraq? On paper Hillary is one of the best prepared and talented candidates of all time. In fact, if she were a man, wouldn't most of her mistakes be easily ignored as "politics as usual?" Given Bernie Sanders' onslaught, however,can she win back the trust of voters? Can she convince them that she really will do her homework in the future? Can she take responsibility for her mistakes? After all, it's what makes candidates human and likable isn't it?

As for Bernie Sanders, it is disingenuous to think that he has never made a political or legislative decision based on polls, but given his unique and individual career, certainly far fewer than anyone else who has served in the House or Senate for as long as he has. Similarly, anyone impugning his integrity, will not find too many allies. His overall judgement, I believe, is easily as good as Ms. Clinton's or Mr. Obama's. His integrity is probably out of reach of either of them or of any Republican candidate. The enormous burden on Mr. Sanders is the homework that he and his staff must do in the coming weeks and months, briefing after briefing on foreign affairs and a detailed description of the mechanisms of Wall Street. Does he have a staff that actually understands foreign policy and economics and does Bernie have the discipline and patience or the time to master the material, to somehow tame his fiscal policies? Ideology will carry a candidate just so far until the practical reality of dealing with the actual human problems must be faced.

Al Finkelstein, 2/7/16
Reprinted from Mondoweiss

It's finally happened: the issue of Palestinian human rights came up in the Democratic debate tonight [April 14] on national television, and Bernie Sanders repeatedly criticized Hillary Clinton -- for siding with Israel singlehandedly, for her support of Benjamin Netanyahu and her indifference to the plight of Palestinians.

On the same night that he caved in to rightwing fools and suspended his Jewish outreach director over her criticisms of Benjamin Netanyahu, Senator Sanders stood up for Palestinians and against Netanyahu to cheers from the Brooklyn crowd.

Toward the end of a bruising debate, the two Democratic candidates tangled over Israel and Palestine for more than six minutes, beginning when Wolf Blitzer asked Sanders if he stood by his criticism of Israel for "disproportionate" attacks on Gaza.

Sanders said he had spent many months in Israel as a kid and has family in Israel, and the country has a right to live in peace and security.

"But what you just read -- I do believe that. Israel was subjected to terrorist attacks, has every right to destroy terrorists. But we had in the Gaza are, not a very large area, some 10,000 civilians who were wounded and some 1,500 who were killed... Was that a disproportionate attack? The answer is I believe it was."

Cheers.

"And let me say something else. As somebody who is 100 percent pro Israel, in the long run, and this is not going to be easy, if we are ever going to bring peace to that region that has seen so much hatred and so much war, we are going to have to treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity... One has got to say that right now in Gaza unemployment is somewhere around 40 percent. You got a lot of that area continues -- it hasn't been rebuilt, decimated. Housing decimated, health care decimated, schools decimated. I believe the United States and the rest of the world has got to work together to help the Palestinian people. That does not make me anti-Israel. That paves the way, I think, to an approach that works in the Middle East."

Clinton responded with a staunch defense of Israel, repeating talking points straight out of the Netanyahu government and its lobby here:

"They do not seek this kind of attacks. They do not invite rockets raining down on their towns and villages. They do not believe that there should be a constant incitement by Hamas, aided and abetted by Iran against Israel. And so when it came time after they had taken the incoming rockets, taken the assaults and ambushes on their soldiers, and they called and told me ... they were getting ready to have to invade Gaza again because they couldn't find anyone to talk to to tell them to stop it... I don't know how you run a country if you are under constant threat..."

Here was the extent of Clinton's criticism of Israel:

"That doesn't mean that you don't take appropriate precautions, and there's always second guessing when you have a war."

If you blinked, you missed that.

Sanders said:

"You evaded the question, the question is not does Israel have a right to respond, not does Israel have a right to go after terrorists... Was their response disproportionate? I believe that it was. You haven't answered that."

There were audible boos from the audience as Clinton said:




Bernie Sanders at Tindley Temple Chapel in Phila

(Image by Rob Kall) Details DMCA





This compilation is a synopsis of the best 20 recent letters to the editor and commentaries that support Bernie Sanders for the nomination. I hope you enjoy them, and if you see one you really like in your reading of newspapers, please let us know, even if it yours before it gets published.





From Robert Reich, April 7, in the San Francisco Chronicle, with the reasons this former Labor Secretary in the Clinton Administration now completely supports Bernie Sanders





Excerpted from the entire article, here:





The real reason the major national media can't see what's happening is they exist inside the bubble of establishment politics, centered in Washington, and the bubble of establishment power, centered in New York. So they're most interested in the personalities of the candidates, and in the people and resources backing them.





Within this frame of reference, it seems nonsensical that Sanders could possibly win the nomination. He's a 74-year-old Jew from Vermont, originally from Brooklyn, who calls himself a democratic socialist. He wasn't even a member of the Democratic Party until recently, has never been a fixture in the Washington or Manhattan circles of power and influence, and has no major backers among the political, corporate or Wall Street elites of America.





Because the major media are habituated to personalities and power, they haven't been attending to Sanders' message -- or to its resonance among Democratic and independent voters (as well as many Republicans). The media don't know how to report on political movements. Yet a big part of Sanders' candidacy is less about him than about the "political revolution" his followers want to bring about. The major media haven't noticed how determined Americans are to reverse the increasing concentration of wealth and political power that have been eroding our economy and democracy.





So it's understandable the media continue to marginalize Bernie Sanders, and all he represents. But it's way too early to count Sanders out. And even if he loses the nomination, the movement he's spawned isn't going away. It's one of the biggest stories of our time.



Robert Reich





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Letters to editor 2/14 Las Cruces Sun-News New Mexico



Bernie Sanders is right leader for America

When Bernie Sanders started his campaign for the presidency, few people gave him any chance at all; he was thought to be so extreme that few would vote for him. Now the campaign is in full swing, and it appears many are happy to vote for him, even in a conservative state such as Iowa. What's going on here?



When people hear what he has to say, they recognize that he is making valid points, whether or not they are ready to agree with him. Our political system is working for the benefit of the rich and corporations, while doing less and less for the benefit of ordinary folks. Bernie pledges to change that, starting with undoing the effects of the disastrous Citizens United ruling and limiting the influence of big money in politics. Almost everyone in the country seems to agree, except for those happy with the influence they buy with their millions and for the politicians eager to receive the money.





The other thing that is happening to make Bernie's campaign look more promising is the Republican primary. Bernie is far less extreme than any of those doing well in that race. They would rather go to war with Iran than negotiate an end to Iran's program to develop nuclear weapons. They think we should torture those we capture in conflict, and hold them until they die in captivity, believing American exceptionalism justifies war crimes. The same Republican leaders plan to defeat ISIS by bombing to oblivion the cities ISIS has invaded, ignoring that ISIS arose in response to our earlier bombing campaigns and derives continuing support from those who believe the U.S. wants to destroy Islam.



Bernie Sanders is right for America, and more and more Americans are coming to see that.





Richard Bagby, Las Cruces

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Re "Early Missteps Seen as a Drag on Sanders Bid" (front page, April 4): NY Times, April 5





So it seems that if Bernie Sanders loses the nomination to Hillary Clinton, it will be because he didn't introduce himself earlier in the election cycle to those who didn't know him, choosing instead to continue doing the job he was elected to do as a United States senator instead of campaigning 24/7. Or because he was reluctant to "go negative" by challenging his opponent on her large Wall Street speaking fees, the large donations from the oil and gas industries, and her use of a private email server. Sorry, Bernie, if you lose it's because you have integrity. What a sad commentary on the state of our democracy.



EILEEN WEST Pleasantville, N.Y.





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Also in response to the same NY Times page 1 story above:





To the Editor: Considering that Bill and Hillary Clinton have run for president four times between them --1992, 1996, 2008 and 2016 -- and have the big money and the support of most of the career politicians and the media, your article's focus should have been on how amazing it is that Bernie Sanders has mounted such a challenge to Mrs. Clinton. Or how did Mrs. Clinton blow such an opportunity to totally dominate the campaign? Or is this a sign that Mrs. Clinton will not get things done, even the very doable ones, if president?





Or that Mr. Sanders, despite the constant media line that what he wants to do is a leap too far, will be able to get done the things that more and more people are indicating they want done -- universal health care, affordable college, public financing of elections, criminal justice reform, no more nonsensical regime-changing wars. The last scenario is most likely the real story.



JOHN E. COLBERT Arroyo Seco, N.M.





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





April 15, 2016 Santa Fe New Mexican Endorse Bernie!





The majority of Santa Feans believe in Bernie Sanders. His record is proof of his commitment to his ideals and the ideals on which America was founded. The 1 percent is waging a war on the middle class that is being enslaved and destroyed. The Founding Fathers, particularly Thomas Jefferson, would be horrified to see what unchecked corporate greed and manipulation has done to our government's regulatory processes.





The New Mexican should have, by now, recognized the merit in vigorously endorsing Bernie Sanders. Doing so would demonstrate your paper's appreciation of what New Mexico needs in a president. Newspapers everywhere are struggling to retain relevance in an era dominated by electronic social media. The New Mexican is the oldest newspaper in the West; endorsing Bernie Sanders will make you become the most perceptive and relevant paper in the West.



Lisa Rivera, Santa Fe





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders, from Michigan State Senator Bert Johnson





HILLARY CLINTON'S WORDS -- AND DEEDS -- ARE ENOUGH TO SAY NO





While the talk that history is in the making for the third consecutive Presidential election season, I am not buying fool's gold. Furthermore, I will not be participating; my vote and support is firmly behind Bernie Sanders. Sorry, wishful historians, but I'm a realist. And here's what real about Hillary Clinton:





" She has made several critical tactical blunders, including the email scandal that has wreaked of arrogance and irresponsibility all at the same time.





" Her role as U.S. Secretary of State in the mishandling of the situation in the Middle East, including Benghazi, Libya cost American servicemen their lives and in the process, hurt their loved ones.





" She has more ties to Wall Street than some of the bankers themselves, which certainly will undo some of the progress made by the Obama Administration's banking regulation and reform efforts.





If that isn't enough, Clinton's most damning comment was revealed in January, when it was discovered that in 1996, she implied that gangs of kids are "super predators'' with "no empathy, no conscience.'' Super predators? As a lifelong Detroiter, black male and father of three boys, I was deeply humiliated and offended by Clinton's words because of what they implied.





In my mind, I wondered, "What kids? Inner-city kids? My kids?...'' These are the kinds of words that will not allow America to move forward from its racial past -- and present, and if there's something that we do not need in America, it is a Commander-In-Chief who is insensitive to a segment of the population.



State Sen. Bert Johnson has served the past decade in the Michigan State Legislature





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





In The Lafayette Indiana Journal Courier, my own letter:

My letter to the editor refers to another recent letter to the editor, "Nightmare of an election." It deserves a massive response objecting to calling Bernie Sanders "a lazy congressman for 23 years." Sure, print such things in a democracy. Like Thomas Jefferson said: he'd rather live with no government and lots of newspapers, than with lots of government and no newspapers.

But in due course, I hope soon, please endorse Bernie Sanders for the nomination. I don't think this is a nightmare of an election at all. The mess that Bernie will clean up with limitations on further corporate government -- that is the mess that is the nightmare, not this election which is the result of and response to the original mess from three decades of growing corporate strangulation of good government. Hillary Clinton brings her problems; Bernie brings solutions.



Stephen Fox, Santa Fe, N.M

.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Rome (NY) Sentinel publisher, Stephen Waters, (one of the strangest I have ever seen!) about why his paper will not endorse Bernie Sanders, responsing to a letter by Barbara Malteze:

"Thank you for your request that we endorse Bernie Sanders. Bernie may think the science is settled on anthropomorphic global warming but it is not. The data is suspect, the models don't accurately predict recent events, and independent verification is missing. Science, as explained by philosopher Karl Popper, isn't about proving what is true but rather about pruning away what is demonstrably not true, and Bernie seems uninterested in that necessary requirement of science. Furthermore, Bernie is engaged in a political campaign, not science.





Setting global warming aside, Bernie seems uninterested in the patterns of history that show across time that a market economy has raised the standard of living considerably more than the dreams of socialism ever have.

So let's see: he fails on science, math, history, economics, philosophy and political theory. Other than that, I suppose he is nice to children and puppy dogs. We shall not be supporting Bernie . . . Or Hillary, either. Thank you again for your letter." ----Stephen Waters, Rome NY





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Shaun King, in the NY Daily News, after his paper endorse Bernie's opponent (Excerpts):





I disagree with virtually every single word written by our Editorial Board on why they are supporting Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. It is amazing, shocking even, on how differently we see this race and the candidates in it.





Our Editorial Board, like 99% of editorial boards across America, skews older. I'm not being an ageist here -- the facts are that younger voters see this race, see the candidates, and see America drastically different than their parents and grandparents. This is not to discount the endorsement of Clinton on the merit of it being written by "old people," but it is essential that we recognize just how likely it would be, demographically speaking, for an older board of professionals to pen an endorsement of Clinton over Sanders.





I'll ask our Editorial Board this question: Is your premise that Republicans in Congress love Hillary Clinton and are going to be eager to work with her to get her smaller ideas accomplished? I'm not buying it. Sanders actually has a record of getting stuff done with Republicans in power. According to the non-partisan Politifact, "from 1995 to 2007, when Republicans controlled Congress, Sanders passed the most roll call amendments (17) out of anyone in the House of Representatives."





I'd rather have an energized and experienced candidate with bigger, more ambitious ideas, backed by the youth of this country. Even if Sander's ideas get crunched down, we end up with something beautiful in the end. If Clinton's smaller, "more realistic" ideas get crunched down, we get what we already have.





Day by day, America is growing more progressive and more independent. Sanders exists as a serious presidential candidate with victories from coast to coast for this very reason. His fundraising, without the help of a single Super-PAC, is breaking records. The energy of his base is filling arenas not just all over the country, but across New York. Now just 200 pledged delegates behind Clinton, with 1,500 pledged delegates remaining, Sanders can win New York and the nomination and become the 45th President of the United States.





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





[This letter of mine was published in the NY Daily News, in response to their brilliant cover story about Hillary being the "Fair Pay Phony"! they titled it: Phony Hil, yet still a few days later endorsed her ?!]





Santa Fe, N.M.: Great coverage in your "Fair-Pay Phony" story (April 5). Your paper should look into precisely what Hillary Clinton accomplished for New Yorkers as senator, other than the privileged few on Wall Street with the bailout. I fail to understand why so many New Yorkers see any merit in Hillary, especially in the context of Bernie's long career, unless they stand to profit from having an unmitigated hawk in the White House. I hope you can see the merits of endorsing Sen. Sanders for the nomination.

Stephen Fox, Santa Fe, New Mexico





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





April 9, Letters to the New York Times, in response to a rather nasty article by Paul Krugman:





To the Editor: I am a longtime admirer of Paul Krugman. But in his denigration of Bernie Sanders he ignores the senator's enormous gift to the Democratic Party. Despite President Obama's many strengths, America has grown ever more unequal under his presidency.





Hillary Clinton promised more of the same. Now even she has picked up on Mr. Sanders's rhetoric. There's a burning need to be addressed, and Mr. Sanders's passion has given it a powerful, much-needed voice.





RUTH GALLAGHER, Portland, Ore.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>



April 9, New York Times Lettes Re "Sanders Over the Edge," by Paul Krugman column, April 8





What does Senator Bernie Sanders think he's doing? He's trying to raise legitimate questions and have a meaningful, authentic debate centered on issues that deeply affect our country. A vibrant civil society is foundational to the functioning of our democracy and the legitimacy of our elections

.

As someone who cares deeply about electing Democrats to public office, I understand the pragmatism of not weakening the eventual Democratic nominee before the general election, but this should not come at the cost of forgoing opportunities to nurture an informed, engaged electorate.

Mr. Krugman appears to be asking Mr. Sanders to capitulate and not raise questions about Hillary Clinton's policy positions, past and present, simply because she's in the lead.





ELIZABETH A. SEABERRY, Portland, Ore.





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





[This is one of the best, most moving letters to the editor]





In the Oregonian (Portland), April 3 More for our tax dollars:

In his March 31 letter to the editor supporting Hillary Clinton for president, Mr. Anthony Plumer declares that Bernie Sanders supporters are naive and that Sanders' policies are impractical, promising "the sun, the moon and the stars." For decades, college tuition, health care and day care have been alive and well in Western European democracies. These are not "the sun, the moon and the stars" but real benefits that citizens enjoy through their own tax dollars. Sadly, the lion's share of my tax dollars go for war and do not benefit our own people.





My niece died in Georgia this year because of the high cost of health care; she did not go to the doctor in time and died of lung cancer. Her children did not go to college; they felt they could not afford it. These are real and avoidable consequences of the poor policy decisions by our "leaders." Mr. Plumer needs to wake up to the possibilities and not be satisfied with a few crumbs of benefits that we get here in the U.S.





Gov. Kate Brown wants to support Hillary, who voted for the war in Iraq and destabilized Syria and Libya, which costs us all dearly. Almost a million people are dead and several thousand of our soldiers, as well. My own brother-in-law died in Vietnam for a lie. Our family knows well the bitter consequences of paying for wars. Is Mr. Plumer OK with this use of his tax dollars? This is why we don't have the same benefits as Western Europe, my friends.

Linda McKim-Bell, Northwest Portland





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





New London CT, The Day: Published April 07. 2016

I want to say why I am working as hard as I can for a progressive government led by Bernie Sanders.





There is vast dissatisfaction with the government of this country. I like the story of the three blind men trying to describe an elephant. One has the tail, one has a leg and the last has a hold on the trunk. They each describe what they believe is the elephant. They are all careful to describe what their examinations tell them. They are all correct. But, not having the full picture, they fail to describe the elephant. Every candidate for the presidency has a piece of the truth and they have people who support them in that piece of the truth.





There is a great imbalance in power in the United States. The system is broken. Those with the most power are determined to keep and expand their power. I have very serious doubt that making incremental changes will be enough to create balance in the government.





That's why Senator Sanders' call for a peaceful political revolution appeals to me so much. I believe that Senator Sanders sees the whole elephant. He has my vote to be the Democratic nominee.





Hubert Kauffman





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





My letter to NY Times re: 4/11 article, Will the Fervor of Bernie Sanders's Legions Endure?





This article surprises me in its under-informing essentially skeptical tone. When I read articles by Yamiche Alcindor, Gail Collins, or Charles M. Blow in the Times, I am grateful that they are fair, open-minded, and thorough.

However, this one by Anand Giridharadasapril, with its focus on Bernie's supporters' demeanor and clothes: I wonder "how did this end up in the most august newspaper in America?" Bernie's supporters in NY are far more diverse than what this article implies, that we are either old hippies or naive non-politically-skilled young people.





After all, as an Indian, he should know how long the fervor of Gandhi's Legions endured! I would like to read more of what Gail Collins was getting at in analyzing New Yorkers memories of Senator Clinton's lackluster years as NY Senator, and how New Yorkers perceive the horrific parts of her career at State.



Sincerely, Stephen Fox





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





From the Lancaster Pennsylvania Online, April 10, 2016





I remember the 1960s. I remember those times when a whole generation demonstrated for peace and the end of the Vietnam War. When young boys, putting their lives at risk, boarded buses with elderly black men and women to demonstrate for racial equality. When young girls threw away their bras and carried on for equal rights for women. Riots, demonstrations, sit-ins. They said, "Don't trust anybody over 30," and derided the establishment. And then they were over 30, and then they became the establishment; they became mayors and governors and presidents and cops, and their ideology essentially disappeared. And I am one of them. Hillary Clinton is one of them. Sen. Bernie Sanders is one of them. Donald Trump is one of them.





Sanders, however, still speaks some of the language of the '60s! He is awakening dormant seeds in a whole generation and sewing new seeds in that generation's children and grandchildren. And the seeds bear the possibility of social and political redemption. Much like what has happened so often throughout history, the one bringing the message of hope is an unlikely pick. Feel the Bern.





Dale Stoltzfus, Warwick Township





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Poughkeepsie Journal 4/10 Sanders a candidate who will fight corporate establishment





If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different outcome, I cannot help but be terrified when I see so many people in this country, who dream of change, supporting the same establishment politicians. They represent a corporately controlled, corrupt system that is clearly designed to benefit the people that need help the least, and keep the rest of this country divided.





I am 55-years-old and have been watching this insanity for far too long. We finally have a presidential candidate that represents change in Washington. He has not been part of the corporate establishment, and I believe that he is sincere about taking on the corporate establishment that is working so hard to keep the citizens of this country apart. Please, vote for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders so we can snap out of the dysfunctional, destructive trend and begin to reclaim our government.





Patrick McDuff, Manistee, Michigan





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Los Angeles Times: To the editor:

Nancy Cohen puts forth the typical but defective argument about why women should vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: It's in our best interest, and women take the lead on women's issues. ("Why women should vote for women," Opinion, April 6) As a 69-year-old woman, I wish I could agree with Cohen, but we know that sometimes female politicians are not good advocates for women.





Right now in Congress, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is leading a House select committee that is trying to put a stop to fetal tissue research. Her committee has issued subpoenas to hospitals and other medical facilities demanding the names of researchers. This can only intimidate those who are dedicated to finding cures for diseases such as ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease), Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis. In several states, it is women legislators who are leading the charge to restrict abortion rights and women's healthcare options. Female governors have signed bills further restricting healthcare, food stamps and other critical programs.





I am a woman who strongly supports Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. He has worked for civil rights, women's healthcare and equal pay. If that doesn't make him a feminist, what does?





Carol Gendel, San Marcos





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





From New Mexico Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino's Endorsement of Sanders in the 4/15 ABQ Journal:





Bernie Sanders offers something else. He draws standing-room crowds because he speaks the truth without mincing his words. He emphasizes precisely what needs to be said -- and what his audience recognizes is true: Our country has deserted the middle class, ignored poverty and pretended income inequality is something good! He says it clearly: Power has been used to produce great wealth for a very few but the momentum has gone out of the American promise for the many.





A President Sanders would challenge Wall Street. He would close the offshore tax havens of the 1 percent. He would unflinchingly confront the fossil fuel industry, Big Pharma, corporate medicine and all the other contributors to the destruction of the middle class and its dreams of opportunity. But most of all, he would re-ignite this nation's flickering sense of itself as a country where people count more than money does. Without that, we have an oligarchy, not democracy.





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>





Last and Best! My favorite of all of these letters to the editor and commentaries was written by a woman from Cheektowaga, NY, and published in the Buffalo News April 14:

Sanders' viewpoints are the reason he's so popular





I write in response to Robert S. Berger's claims in Another Voice that Sen. Bernie Sanders' views on pacifism, atheism and socialism preclude his winning the election in November.



How many pictures and stories of maimed and emotionally scarred veterans and civilians do we have to absorb before we admit that war is bad and, more often than not, futile? Is it not a fact that the countries we fought against in World War II have now become our trading partners and our allies? Is it so wrong to be a pacifist who refrains from rushing into every global conflict just because it is deemed advantageous?





Is it not time in this 21st century for the peoples of the world to realize that the label of "atheist" is not something to be feared? It means only that the person who wears it does not choose to introduce the supernatural into explaining his existence, but chooses instead to be respectful and in awe of the wonders of the natural world. Neither belief ensures that its holders will be kind, or compassionate, or just. Both believers in God the father or in nature the mother can have these qualities, or they can be as mean, or as petty, or as merciless as their hearts permit.



Socialism is defined as using taxpayer funds for the benefit of society as a whole. Do we not already see this in our programs of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance and disability insurance?





How about in OSHA, which protects our workplaces, or in the EPA, which protects our environment, or in the CDC, which combats diseases? Is the fear we have of the word "socialism" rational, or is it evidence of our being gullible to propaganda put forth by those who make great gains by privatizing as much as possible?





I am willing to give Sanders a chance in hopes that his ideas will help us move forward in this ever-changing world.


Article Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their articles after publishing them.



To see if the article was renamed or re-published, please click here.
Reprinted from WSWS

A report issued Thursday by the British charity Oxfam found that the 50 largest US corporations are hiding $1.4 trillion in profits in overseas accounts to avoid US income taxes, much of it in tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

The biggest tax dodger is technology giant Apple, with $181 billion held offshore. General Electric had the second-largest stash, at $119 billion, enough to repay four times over the $28 billion GE received in federal guarantees during the 2008 Wall Street crash. Microsoft had $108 billion in overseas accounts, with companies like Exxon Mobil, Pfizer, IBM, Cisco Systems, Google, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson rounding out the top 10.

Overseas tax havens have been the focus of recent revelations about tax scams by wealthy individuals, based on the leak of the "Panama Papers," documents from a single Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, involving 214,000 offshore shell companies. The firm's clients included 29 billionaires and 140 top politicians worldwide, among them a dozen heads of government.

But the sums involved in corporate tax scams dwarf those hidden away by individuals. According to the Oxfam report, the offshore manipulations by the 50 largest US corporations cost the US taxpayer $111 billion each year, while robbing another $100 billion annually from countries overseas, many of them desperately poor.

The $111 billion a year in US taxes evaded would be sufficient to eliminate 90 percent of child poverty in America, effectively wiping out that social scourge. It is more than the annual cost of the food stamp program, or unemployment benefits, or the total budget of the Department of Education.

Oxfam timed the release of its report for the April 15 income tax deadline in the United States (actually Monday, April 18 this year), when tens of millions of working people must file their income tax returns or face federal penalties. Working people could face additional tax penalties of up to 2 percent of household income, to a maximum of $975, under the Obamacare "individual mandate," if they have not purchased private health insurance.

There is a stark contrast between the IRS hounding of working people for relatively small amounts of money -- but difficult or impossible to pay for those on low incomes -- and the green light given to corporate tax cheats who evade taxation on trillions in income.

"As Americans rush to finalize tax returns, multinational corporations that benefit from trillions in taxpayer-funded support are dodging billions in taxes," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. "The vast sums large companies stash in tax havens should be fighting poverty and rebuilding America's infrastructure, not hidden offshore in Panama, Bahamas, or the Cayman Islands."



The Oxfam report, titled "Broken at the Top," expresses concern that "tax dodging by multinational corporations"contributes to dangerous inequality that is undermining our social fabric and hindering economic growth."

It continues: "This inequality is fueled by an economic and political system that benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the rest, causing the gains of economic growth over the last several decades to go disproportionately to the already wealthy. Among the most damning examples of this rigged system is the way large, profitable companies use offshore tax havens, and other aggressive and secretive methods, to dramatically lower their corporate tax rates in the United States and developing countries alike."

Oxfam collected figures available from the 10-K reports and other financial documents issued by the 50 largest US companies, covering the period since the Wall Street crash, 2008 through 2014, and presented them in an interactive table. The figures included total profits, federal taxes paid, total US taxes paid (including state and local), lobbying expenses, tax breaks, money held in offshore accounts, and benefits received from the federal government, including loans, loan guarantees and bailouts.

Among the most important findings:

* The top 50 companies made nearly $4 trillion in profits globally, but paid only $412 billion in federal income tax, for an effective tax rate of barely 10 percent, compared to the statutory rate of 35 percent.

* The 50 companies spent $2.6 billion to influence the federal government, while reaping nearly $11.2 trillion in federal support, for an effective return of 400,000 percent on their lobbying expenses.

* The overseas cash stashed by the 50 companies, nearly $1.4 trillion, is larger than the Gross Domestic Product of Russia, Mexico, Spain or South Korea.

* US multinationals reported 43 percent of their foreign earnings from five tax havens, countries that accounted for only 4 percent of their foreign workforce and 7 percent of foreign investment. All told, US companies shifted between $500 billion and $700 billion in profits from countries where economic activity actually took place to countries where tax rates were low.
Progressive Content Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing.



To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here.
PPB

The Portland Police Bureau looked into reports of a dog slaying along the Springwater Corridor earlier this month,

(The Oregonian/File)

Police investigated a Southeast Portland woman's claim this week that her dog was stolen from her backyard and killed by homeless people living along the Springwater Corridor.

Cops issued a news release Friday detailing the woman's grisly account of the theft and killing of her 10-month-old puppy, Laika.

The dog owner didn't report the killing until nearly two weeks after the dog's disappearance from her Lents neighborhood home, telling police she was "too upset" and that it didn't occur to her to call the authorities.

Though police said they weren't able to examine the dog's body, they issued a news release as a public service announcement to residents. "We can't really verify a lot of the stuff she said," Sgt. Pete Simpson said, "but we have no reason not to believe her."

The woman contends there is a homeless man who is known to target other homeless people's companion animals and kill them. Stealing a companion animal is a felony, as is killing an animal.

"When someone hurts animals, it's a big thing," the police spokesman said. "It's important to people."

Simpson said the police bureau is "acutely aware" of community complaints along the Springwater Corridor. "It's concerning enough that we feel it's important to share the information for folks living out there," he said.

According to the woman's account, Laika was stolen from her backyard on the evening of April 1. The woman's two other dogs were still in the backyard, and the back gate was open the next morning.

She told police that she talked to neighbors, strangers and homeless people in her neighborhood for five days following Laika's disappearance.

She eventually met two homeless people near Beggars Tick Wildlife Refuge along Southeast 111th Avenue and the Springwater Corridor, and said they took her to the dog's grave.

Laika's body was cut and bloated, and her tongue, she told police, "had been cut out and was nailed to a tree nearby."

After talking to more homeless people in the area, the woman said, she was told of a homeless woman named "Kim" who reportedly bragged about taking Laika. She also had been spotted in the neighborhood, the woman said.

She also told police she'd heard that a homeless man was targeting other homeless people's companion animals.

On Wednesday, a Portland police officer went to the park, where it appeared a homeless camp had recently cleared out, but he found no evidence of the dog.

Simpson said the woman's story is concerning. "If what she says is true, this person who exists out there may be killing animals."

Simpson said the police will investigate any tips they receive about the incident at CrimeTips@PortlandOregon.gov.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
AP Photo

20 ways to celebrate Oregon's first legal 4/20, with or without marijuana

The law has never stopped marijuana fans from celebrating 4/20, the international day of cannabis appreciation on April 20. But recreational pots recent legality in Oregon probably wont hurt the days revelry. If youre planning to partake of the herb next Wednesday - or just appreciate it from afar - here are 20 ideas for ways to celebrate Oregons first legal 4/20.

Just remember, the law doesnt allow marijuana consumption in public places, and you certainly shouldnt drive or bike while high. Plan accordingly.

-Dillon Pilorget

Don't Edit

1. Grow your own

Its springtime and everyone is planting their gardens. Since growing your own cannabis is legal in Oregon now as well, its a good time to put some seeds in the ground. The Oregonian/OregonLive tried a grow last summer, so check out our Growing Grass video series to help you along in the process.

Don't Edit

Stephanie Yao Long | The Oregonian/OregonLive

2. Cure the munchies

You're bound to get hungry on 4/20, whether by the hand of the marijuana munchies or not. Head for one of the spots on The Oregonian/OregonLive's 2016 list of best cheap eats to conquer those food cravings.

Don't Edit

Photo by Steve Snodgrass/Flickr

3. Pot poetry

Doobie or Not Doobie? That is the question posed on the cover of a new collection of poetry and short stories about marijuana. The internationally curated book includes tales ranging from first encounters to those who prefer to pass. And wouldnt you know, Doobie or Not Doobie? is having a release party in Portland on 4/20, complete with readings from the book.

7-9 p.m.; Ford Food & Drink, 2505 SE 11th Ave.

Don't Edit

Photo by Bruce Wolf

4. Stay in and bake

Cannabis cookbooks are on the rise, making it easy to graduate your homemade edibles game far beyond the realm of brownies. If you're feeling a night in this 4/20, try experimenting in the kitchen. The Oregonian/OregonLive's go-to cannabis chef, Laurie Wolf, is a co-writer of "Herb: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Cannabis," a good place to start.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

5. Catch a movie

The lineup of films currently playing in theaters is perfectly suited for a slightly altered viewing experience. The talking animals in The Jungle Book and the point-of-view action in Hardcore Henry seem trippy enough. And Everybody Wants Some!! - Richard Linklaters unofficial follow-up to stoner favorite Dazed and Confused - should show plenty of marijuana use.

Don't Edit

Mike Zacchino/Staff

6. Free National Parks

What luck. April 20 falls right in the middle of National Park Week, when the National Park Service offers free entrance to its sparkling examples of natural majesty. In Oregon, that includes Crater Lake National Park and Lewis & Clark National Historical Park. And in equally pot-friendly Washington, Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park and Fort Vancouver make the list.

Don't Edit

Terry Richard/The Oregonian

7. Soak it in

If you fancy an extra chilled-out 4/20, it doesn't get much more relaxing than a soak in one of McMenamins' signature soaking pools. The hippie-friendly hotel chain opens a few of its outdoor, heated pools to the public for a small fee. Try the Kennedy School in Northeast Portland, the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove or the Old St. Francis School in Bend.

For a more adventurous soak, Oregon has plenty of natural hot springs.

Don't Edit

Sue Vorenberg/Special to The Oregonian

8. Try a new strain

The Oregonian/OregonLive's freelance marijuana reviewers have been hard at work (is that the right way to put it?) testing out some of the strains available in our fair state. Perhaps Gogi OG will be your pick this 4/20. Or maybe Sour Diesel, Double Bubble or Purple Chemdawg.

Don't Edit

9. Bus tour

Buses and marijuana go together like flowers and hair in hippie culture, so you cant go wrong with a 4/20 bus tour from ORHistory. Hop on the colorful Cascadia Cruiser bus for a far-out tour around Portlands marijuana history with a stop at a dispensary.

3:15 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.; The Rialto Poolroom, 529 SW 4th Ave.; $32, ages 21 and over; orhistory.com

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Dillon Pilorget | The Oregonian/OregonLive

10. Listen to music

Anytime is a good time to revisit your old musical favorites. Perhaps 4/20 is the perfect opportunity to spin your loot from Record Store Day.

Don't Edit

11. Another kind of altered reality

Try altering your perception in a different way with a hands-on virtual reality demo thats going on as part of Design Week Portland. Technology firm WILD has developed a virtual reality headset that lets you move around and interact with a virtual world based on the actual room around you. Waoh.

4-7 p.m. April 19 & 21, 3-6 p.m. April 20; Oregon Story Board, 411 NW Flanders St., Suite 100; $15; register at designweekportland.com/events.

Don't Edit

Jeff Barnard/The Associated Press

12. Finally write that screenplay

If marijuana gets your creative juices flowing, use 4/20 to harness that brainpower boost and finally work on that masterpiece youve had simmering in your mind. It seems to have worked for Ken Kesey.

Don't Edit

Stephanie Yao Long

13. Get your game on

For children of the '80s, 4/20 may recall a simpler time. And so might video arcades. Head to the powerhouse Ground Kontrol or the just-opened Quarterworld and give new meaning to your high score.

Don't Edit

The Oregonian/2013

14. Clean your house

It's been said that the right strain of marijuana can be a boon to your home's cleanliness and organization (a bit of the aforementioned Gogi OG strain is apparently good for a house cleaning boost). Use this day to get things in order.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale | The Oregonian/OregonLive

15. Get outside

Feel like communing with nature on 4/20? Maybe stick to an easy hike with a clearly defined path like those at Tryon Creek State Natural Area or Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. You don't want to get lost.

Don't Edit

Photo courtesy of Bridgetown Orchestra

16. Space out

Seeking to emulate the cognitive shift some astronauts and cosmonauts report when viewing the earth from space, "Overview Effect" by Bridgetown Orchestra is bound to be as trippy as the sight of a supernova. Deep space images and historic Apollo mission footage will accompany the music, which follows the space explorer's journey - and transformation - from launch to landing. You cant get much higher than space.

7:30 p.m.; Ellyn Bye Studio Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave.; $45; bridgetownorchestra.com

Don't Edit

The Associated Press

17. Plan a trip to Hempfest

Every backer of pot's place in politics should make the trip to Hempfest, the enormous Seattle waterfront pot rally and gathering of flower children and politicians alike. More than just a collective high five over a mutual affection for marijuana, the festival seeks to be a vehicle for education and reform around the cannabis plant and its applications. Use your 4/20 to plan a trip north this August.

August 19-21; Myrtle Edwards Park, Seattle

Don't Edit

The Oregonian/2014

18. A party high on Mt. Tabor

An informal gathering atop Portland's favorite volcanic cinder cone has been a popular spot for unsanctioned 4/20 festivities in past years. Mt. Tabor Park is sure to see some revelry again around 4:20 p.m. this April 20. Just remember, parks are public places, meaning smoking marijuana in them is a no-no. But who says you can't go check it out?

Don't Edit

19. Go on a photo safari

Grab your camera or phone and set off to take photos of the most interesting things you can find. You may later get a kick out of looking back on what you thought was photo worthy on 4/20.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

The Associated Press

20. Make a day of it

Leafly, a Seattle-based cannabis database, has a one-night-in-Portland guide to enjoying the city while high. Plotting out a full 24 hours from 4:20 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., the itinerary stops at favorite Portland restaurants, shops and sightseeing locales (some of which also land on this list).
Tony Kriz

Tony Kriz is a Portland-based Christian author and speaker.

(Courtesy of Tony Kriz)

Here's a radical idea:

What if churches gave up their tax exemption in order to help the government fund education and social services?

Can you feel the tension of believers balking?

It sounds counter-intuitive, particularly in an age in which religiosity is declining in in the United States. But it's an act of generosity Christian author Tony Kriz argues would not only serve the underprivileged, but free the church to speak boldly against systemic injustice.

Kriz, known for his cameo as "Tony the Beat Poet" in Donald Miller's popular book "Blue Like Jazz," has been a public speaker for more than 20 years, talking at colleges and conferences worldwide. The North Portland resident has authored three books, most recently, "Aloof," a quest for tangible connection with a seemingly hidden God.

In light of the impending tax deadline, we invited Kriz to write a guest essay, based on a recent blog post of his, explaining why he thinks churches should give up their tax exemption. This essay does not reflect the opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive or faith and values reporter Melissa Binder.

***

Hey Church, Let's Give Back Our Tax Free Status

By Tony Kriz

Childhood food security. Education and literacy. Basic health care.

These are issues where there are no two sides. Everyone agrees that these issues are among the highest priorities in our society today.

What we disagree on is simple: Who is going to pay to cure one or more of these significant twenty-first-century societal wounds?

As a Christian, I have a humble suggestion. Let us, the American Church, step up and foot the bill, through giving back our tax-exempt status and earmarking those funds for issues like childhood hunger and health care.

Imagine the societal transformation we would witness if the Church offered the equivalent of our tax exception to cure one or more of society's core issues. These plights (almost exclusively against the poor) have always been the work of Jesus' people (as well as other peoples of faith): healing, feeding and teaching.

The Church (and religion more broadly) is too often known for judgment, division, and being self-serving. Imagine the potential change of perception and the subsequent social capital that would follow one of the largest voluntary acts of generosity in human history.

Sociologists tell us that Portland is among the first Post-Christian cities in North America. How does a minority community get noticed? A peasant rabbi from little-regarded Nazareth did it by eradicating whole regions of disease (Luke 4:38-40) and satisfying all who were hungry (Luke 9:12-17). Do you think that same rabbi would ask any less of us today?

You may be asking: Why would the church return their annual tax-gift instead of keeping that money in-house? First of all, these issues are so insidious and so widespread that it is hard to imagine the church (with all of its denominations and sects) creating the sort of coordinated and far reaching system necessary to heal across urban and rural communities, across regions and across race, class and culture.

Even Jesus was not opposed to trusting the deeply-flawed government of his day with money: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's" (Matthew 22:21).

But more importantly, I am concerned for the twenty-first-century Church's credibility and autonomy.

Before I explain what I mean, allow me a brief illustration. If you are watching the political debates, regardless of your party loyalty, there is a fair argument being made about the relationship of large campaign contributions and a candidate's credibility on certain issues (banking regulation and environmental issues to name two). It begs the question; can a candidate be trusted to stand up to special interests from which they have received millions of dollars?

Well, the American Church receives what adds up to billions of dollars in tax exemptions every year.

In the current handshake relationship between Church and government, can the church really be trusted to stand up when the moment calls, both today and in the unpredictable future?

For over 2,000 years the Church has been a revolutionary and activist movement. How can she be trusted to be the revolutionary voice she must be when she is funded by the government through tax exemptions? How can she speak freely when her economic viability is ever at risk of being taken away? How can she speak out against racism, prejudice and hatred, against unimaginable economic inequity against hunger, sickness and the violent death to our youngest citizens when she is sucking on the teat of the Fatherland?

This act of extreme voluntary generosity would force churches to radically reassess their finances.The impact would be significant. The Church's innumerable and often strategically placed properties would need to diversify their uses and revenue streams. Pastors may need to become bi-vocational and therefore work alongside their unchurched neighbors. Parishioners may need to vastly increase their investment and participation in their spiritual communities and neighborhoods.

Some will say I am betraying my spiritual family by suggesting that the Church voluntarily offer the equivalent of her annual tax-gift to eradicate one or more of these issues from our country. But consider the potential result:

millions of people cared for

a radical sacrifice that transforms society

an unparalleled act in harmony with the example of Jesus

an increase in the Church's credibility and freedom to be a revolutionary voice in culture

a diversified use of church properties

a less sequestered clergy

and an activated volunteer-core of church parishioners

That doesn't sound all bad.

Find Tony at tonykriz.com and @tonykriz.

-- Melissa Binder

mbinder@oregonian.com

503-294-7656

@binderpdx
Blue and purple dots splatter the crisp white walls at Sweet Leaf, a marijuana shop in Southeast Portland. In a nifty trick, the pattern looks like wildlife when viewed through an iPhone camera.

Shelves in the back room are crowded with yogurt-covered pretzels, bananas and other snacks, part of the company's pledge to keep its budtenders and managers plied with free food while at work.

With its bright lights and cheerful vibe, the place looks and feels like Sweet Leaf's other stores, except for one thing. All of the others are in Colorado.

Sweet Leaf is among a handful of Colorado marijuana companies that have set up in Oregon in recent months, positioning themselves to capture the recreational cannabis market when it officially launches later this year.

Among them: a drink and candy maker and a company specializing in marijuana-infused skin patches.

But the transition has proven a bit rough for some. Portland alone has more than 160 stores selling medical or recreational marijuana. One well-known California marijuana retailer, Harborside Health Center, opened an Oregon store last fall only to pull out this month, saying foot traffic through its Portland shop paled compared to its booming California locations. The company said it decided to focus instead on the burgeoning California market.

The industry also continues to encounter evolving regulations. A recent shift in Oregon's policy on marijuana extract production prompted two of the Colorado companies, Mary's Medicinals and Dixie Brands, to temporarily halt production.

"You have got to be flexible," said Joe Hodas, a spokesman for Dixie, a Denver-based producer of pot-infused drinks, candies and topical products. "You have to understand that there will be constant changes. Being nimble is critical."

Ultimately, for established marijuana companies in Colorado, the first state in the country to launch recreational pot sales, Oregon offers not only new customers but the chance to export their brands.

That trend, said legal and industry experts, is likely to gain speed since the Oregon Legislature this year lifted a 2-year residency requirement for people seeking marijuana business licenses.

"That's a slam dunk, absolutely a slam dunk," said Hilary Bricken, a Seattle attorney whose practice focuses on marijuana businesses. "When (residency) is not an impediment, you are going to see the market flooded by these entrepreneurs. It's so much easier."

***

Issues of residency and outside investment remain controversial and complex in the marijuana industry. Some established entrepreneurs argue they deserve a competitive advantage over out-of-staters, while others say they need outside dollars to fuel their expansion.

Oregon's decision to do away with a residency requirement for people applying for marijuana licenses sets it apart from Colorado and Washington. Colorado has a 2-year residency requirement; Washington requires six months of residency.

On outside investment, Washington is expected to allow out-of-state financiers to fund marijuana enterprises under rules taking effect this summer. Recreational marijuana sales began in 2014.

Colorado doesn't allow out-of-staters to own marijuana businesses. Outsiders there also face rules that allow them to invest in pot enterprises, though they still must meet the state's two-year residency rules before they can see any returns based on profits.

A bill moving through the Colorado Legislature would change the residency requirement.

"It's been stifling," said Brian Vicente, a Denver attorney whose firm specializes in cannabis business law. "It's prevented money from flowing into Colorado to invest in our homegrown businesses."

Rachel Gillette, a Colorado attorney, said the rules were designed to ward off federal intervention by not allowing marijuana-related dollars to move across state lines. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

Gillette said the requirements have had at least one positive outcome:

"It's allowed for small businesses, mom and pops," she said. "It doesn't allow for corporate consolidation in the marketplace. You can be a small business in Colorado and compete."

In Oregon, the state's liquor control commission, the agency charged with overseeing recreational marijuana, still mandates that Oregonians make up a company's majority ownership.

The commission is considering revising the rule since lawmakers have lifted the residency requirement for people applying for licenses.

Mark Pettinger, a commission spokesman, said the agency has sought legal advice from the Oregon Department of Justice "on how best to proceed."

The commission hasn't tabulated how many of the estimated 850 applications for marijuana retailer, wholesaler, processor, producer, lab and researcher licenses received so far are from out-of-staters, he said.

Beau Whitney, vice president of regulatory and governmental affairs for Greenpoint Oregon, is among those happy to see Oregon's industry open up. The marijuana company operates a dispensary and produces cannabis oil under the brands Golden Xtract and Proper Oil.

"In an emerging market like Oregon, there is plenty of opportunity for everyone, and if they have a quality product, the brand will flourish," said Whitney.

***

For now, Colorado companies such as Dixie rely on Oregon-based growers and processors to help make their products and get them into local stores. With marijuana legal for medicinal use in nearly two dozen states and recreational use in four, Hodas said the company's move into Oregon is part of its strategy to build a national brand.

"When we talk about a national brand we know we are not buying an ad at the next Super Bowl," he said. "We are building it up on a state by state basis."

The company has at least one key advantage: It's had to adapt to Colorado's shifting packaging and labeling requirements.

Last year, Dixie halted production of its sodas as it designed a new bottle that would allow consumers to dispense the drink into servings containing up to 10 milligrams of THC as required by the state.

Developing packaging that meets state rules is expensive and time consuming, said Jeremy Kwit, owner of Bloom Well, a Bend dispensary. Colorado companies that have already gone through the process are poised to adjust to whatever rules Oregon rolls out, he said.

He worries that experience operating in an established and tightly regulated market gives Colorado companies a head start over local ones.

"It's no different than a First World company entering a Third World economy," Kwit said. "They have got much more technical sophistication and a highly developed product and a go-to-market strategy."

***

The owners of Sweet Leaf didn't take any chances when they decided to expand into the Oregon market.

Worried about residency rules, company partner Vincent Porpiglia sublet a Portland apartment in 2014 to lay the groundwork for opening the company's first Oregon shop. At the time he applied for a medical marijuana dispensary license, the state required that applicants be Oregon residents but didn't specify for how long.

Porpiglia, who lived in New York before moving to Oregon, and his partners scouted dozens of properties across the Portland area, eventually buying a former Chinese restaurant on bustling Southeast 122nd Avenue.

The company operates eight marijuana stores in the Denver area and manages a 150,000-square-foot production plant. The federal prohibition on marijuana means companies can't move marijuana across state lines, so for now Sweet Leaf relies on two Oregon marijuana producers to fill shelves in its Portland store with strains such as Gorilla Glue and Golden OG.

Oregon allowed medical marijuana dispensaries to sell a limited amount of marijuana flowers to anyone 21 and older starting last October under a stopgap program designed to give people access to pot now that it's legal to possess it.

Sometime this fall, the liquor control commission is expected to officially launch Oregon's recreational marijuana program, where pot will be regulated from seed to sale.

Porpiglia said the company plans to launch a production and processing operation but is waiting for the state to finalize its regulations.

"Grows take very big investments and we came here at a time when the laws are changing on a regular basis," Porpiglia said.

Sweet Leaf Portland, which has a half-dozen employees, plans to open another two or three stores in Oregon by the year's end.

For Porpiglia, a 30-year-old entrepreneur who previously founded a company that developed a drink marketed as a sleep aid, the shift from New York City to Portland has been pretty smooth.

"It reminds me a lot of Brooklyn," he said. "It's very trendy, very forward-thinking. I like that. Honestly, it's made the move less dramatic for me."

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
Paul McCartney is still making history.

Frank Sinatra struggled to fill arenas in his 70s. Michael Jackson is gone. Aretha Franklin won't get on a plane to tour. "Shadows in the Night" is the title of Bob Dylan's latest album but it might as well describe some of his recent performances. The Rolling Stones play the occasional exhilarating stadium show, but 50 years later, we can say it: they aren't the Beatles. In 2016, we've been losing legends by the day: of the giants of 20th century music, of music as we know it, there's only one person who still stands this tall.

McCartney, the cute one, still the most bright-eyed and boyish--even though George Harrison, the quiet one, was younger all those years ago--played a miraculous concert at the Moda Center on Friday with his four-piece band. He did the Beatles. He did Wings. He even did a tune from the Quarrymen, Paul, George and John Lennon's earlier group. All of it was joyous, exuberant, a gift from one of the world's greatest songwriters to the fans who have followed him for decades. (A gift that cost $250 or more for the better seats, but what, you were going to buy a new phone this week?)

Calling a McCartney gig a concert is like calling "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" a movie. The legacy, the nostalgia, the expectations--McCartney understands all of it. His "One on One" show rolled out the expected lighting rigs and video screens, but the real stagecraft was his storytelling: he touched on playing ukulele with Harrison, meeting Russian officials who learned English from Beatles songs, being nervous in the studio recording "Love Me Do" with late producer George Martin, and penning "Blackbird" to support the 1960s civil rights movement. These moments from rock history were funny and humble--or as humble as one can be about, say, Jimi Hendrix learning your new song in two days, as the guitar god did for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" upon its release. On Friday, McCartney returned the tribute with an instrumental jam through "Foxy Lady," taking his major guitar solo for the evening.

The set list, matching up with Wednesday's Fresno tour debut, felt erratic at first, swerving from "A Hard Day's Night" to recent track "Save Us" and back to the Beatles with "Can't Buy Me Love." McCartney's voice, once unblemished gold, has aged into something sometimes more coppery. But the show settled in, reaching a lovely peak when McCartney, alone on a platform that rose above the crowd, delivered acoustic renditions of "Blackbird" and "Here Today." "Fool on the Hill" and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" explored colorful psychedelia; a cover of Harrison's "Something" shifted from uke-only to a fantastic full-band.

And McCartney entered the 2010s like a relevant Millennial by singing his latest collaboration, "FourFiveSeconds"--taking the vocal place of Rihanna and Kanye West, which meant hearing a Beatle sing "Hold me back, I'm 'bout to spaz" with a lyric video running behind him. Not to avoid the full arena experience, James Bond theme "Live and Let Die" included blasting pyrotechnics, sprays of lasers and climactic fireworks that left McCartney clutching his ears in mock irritation. His crowd work saw its wittiest improvisation when he invited a sign-holding couple on stage for a marriage proposal--the musician had to convince the giddy groom to take a knee.

The oldies, some of which McCartney played 51 years ago in the Beatles' Portland debut, were the obvious favorites. I'll never forget reading a Rolling Stones review in the Los Angeles Times a decade or so ago, where the critic Robert Hilburn ragged the band for not doing more from their new album of the day, "A Bigger Bang"--for playing it safe. And it's a fair argument. To his credit, McCartney did three songs from 2013's "New," a sharp record made with the likes of Ethan Johns and Mark Ronson, some of the best young producers in pop. But I was at that Stones show, seeing the band for the first time: playing the hits isn't necessarily selling out or settling into obsolescence.

It's a celebration, of art that deserves to endure and the incoming generations getting the chance to share in their parents' or even grandparents' music. We can't always be the lucky ones front-row at the Cavern Club or the Troubadour or the Doug Fir Lounge during a band's early days, but we can still have nights like this. Nights where we get to sing "Hey Jude" in all its heart-filling, na-na-na glory. As Harrison once sang, all things must pass. But not Paul McCartney. Not yet.

-- David Greenwald

dgreenwald@oregonian.com

503-294-7625; @davidegreenwald

Instagram: Oregonianmusic

Correction: McCartney's Hendrix cover was "Foxy Lady," not "Purple Haze."
'Right-to-work' laws: I am a retired, female, union carpenter. I worked many years in the construction industry and saw firsthand the differences in quality of workmanship, respect for safety/safety training and a respectful work environment that was supported by my union. I received graduated pay as I proceeded through my apprenticeship, plus training, and medical and dental benefits. I became a highly skilled worker who could function well in the heavy construction industry. The union also ensured that women and minorities were dispatched to jobs in a fair rotation with longtime workers.

As a retiree, I spend part of my year in a "right-to-work" state. The differences are glaring. I see employees on job sites without personal protective gear. I see no women on nontraditional job sites. I see many people in the community with the worst imaginable dental and medical care. It is very true that strong unions raise the bar for all employees in a community. Unions ensure that their members are educated in their work, that members have medical and dental care, and that safety regulations are followed. Union dues are a small price to pay for these benefits. A community where employees can support themselves and provide medical and dental for their families is a healthier, higher-functioning community.

Joy Erickson

Astoria
capitol.JPG

The U.S. Capitol is lit up in May 2015 as the Senate continued to work.

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

One of Oregon's two U.S. senators is running for re-election this year, as are the four members of Congress who represent Oregon's predominantly westside districts. An impressive number of candidates -- more than 25, including the five incumbents -- have registered to compete for these seats in the May primary.

There is good news and bad news here.

The good news: few free passes. Multiple candidates have filed to run in all of the Republican and Democratic primaries for these races, with one exception. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who represents the Portland-centered 3rd Congressional District, faces no opponent in the Democratic primary. No one, meanwhile, has filed to run in the 3rd District Republican primary, and only one member of the Independent Party -- Oregon's newest major party -- has filed. Because these races are uncontested, offering endorsements would be pointless.

Oregonian editorials

reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.

are Helen Jung, Erik Lukens, Steve Moss and Len Reed.

To respond to this editorial:

Post your comment below, submit a

,

or write a

.

If you have questions about

the opinion section, contact Erik Lukens, editorial and commentary editor,

at

or 503-221-8142.

Still, all of the Republican and Democratic primaries for the remaining four seats have multiple candidates, and two members of the Independent Party are competing for the chance to oppose Sen. Ron Wyden in November. Such competition is unquestionably good, as no candidate deserves a free ride to the general election.

Nonetheless, we will endorse only one candidate among the four contested Republican primaries and no one in the Independent primary. Only one of the Republican candidates delivers sufficient vision as to sharpen debate and address voter concerns about a dysfunctional Congress. Sam Carpenter, a 66-year-old entrepreneur from Bend, seeks to unseat Wyden in November. Carpenter has no experience in elected office, but makes a compelling bid that derives from his successful consultancy to businesses: deconstructing organizations into component parts and fixing or eliminated them, one by one. He created and owns Bend-based Centratel, too, employing more than 40 people, evidence his ideas find traction and create jobs. In an interview with the editorial board of The Oregonian/OregonLive, he said Wyden is part of the federal government's bloatedness and an unresponsive to Oregon's needs. He said his top priority is "unchaining" small business owners and revving up Oregon's rural economies through smarter public lands use, one of them the thinning of overgrown forests. He would, he argued, approach these familiar challenges with his systems-based analysis of the federal government.

Democratic voters, meanwhile, should stick with the five incumbents: Wyden and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader.

It may seem odd not to endorse candidates in a number of contested primaries. But there's something very misleading about endorsing a candidate you consider unqualified for an office simply because he or she is better than the rest. We're not going to do that. Assessing a candidate's qualifications is a subjective exercise, of course, but it isn't necessarily arbitrary. We believe those who seek to serve in Congress should be able to cite a record of accomplishment in elective office or be able to point to some professional or life experience indicating they'd be good at a high-level job they've never tried.

A number of people in these primaries are smart, well-educated and well-intentioned. One notable example is Ben West, who's running in the Republican primary in Schrader's district. West, a plaintiff in the successful legal challenge to Oregon's ban on same-sex marriage, formerly worked in the banking industry and is just finishing a nursing degree. Socially accommodating and fiscally conservative, he is just the sort of nontraditional Republican who could appeal to a wide range of voters in Oregon. Unfortunately, he's never run for, much less held, political office before. He, like many other candidates this spring, would be better off pursuing running for a seat in the state Legislature before considering a run for Congress.

To be fair, the same can be said of most of the Democrats seeking to unseat Wyden, Bonamici, DeFazio and Schrader. One notable exception is former state legislator Dave McTeague, a Bernie Sanders enthusiast who's running well to Schrader's left. But Schrader's moderation -- he's a Blue Dog Democrat and a good fit for his largely rural district -- is one of the best reasons to re-elect him.

In an ideal world, at least two well-qualified candidates would duke it out in every race. That this rarely happens is a testament to the power of incumbency, the influence of safe congressional districts like Blumenauer's (244,163 Democrats and 77,524 Republicans) and an indication that voters often consider themselves served well enough to stick with incumbents. It will be interesting to see, meanwhile, whether Carpenter can mount serious opposition to Wyden.
Saginaw Valley State University honored one of Saginaws leading community servants, as well as faculty and staff who display extraordinary enthusiasm and dedication, during SVSUs All-University Awards Banquet Friday, April 8.

The Distinguished Service Award, SVSUs most prestigious award for a community member, was given to Leola Wilson. Counted among Saginaws most committed public servants, she is perhaps most recognized for serving as president of Saginaws chapter of the NAACP since 1998, where she represents nearly 1,500 members.

Wilson also has served continuously on the board of the Saginaw Intermediate School District since 1975 and is believed to be the longest-serving member in its history. She also provided dedicated service to SVSU as a member of the Board of Control from 2005 to 2013, including a term as secretary. After completing her term on the Board, Wilson served as a member of the presidential search advisory committee during 2013 and 2014.

Several SVSU faculty and staff members also received recognition for outstanding achievement and dedicated service during the 27th annual ceremony.

Erik Trump, professor of political science, received the prestigious Franc A. Landee Teaching Excellence Award. He draws praise from students for his approachable demeanor and a teaching style that inspires students to perform. A student wrote: (Trump) takes great pride and joy in teaching ... we are rigorously challenged to find real world connections between the class material and what is happening in the world.

Scott Youngstedt, professor of sociology, received the Earl Warrick Award for Excellence in Research. He has demonstrated remarkable persistence to support his research agenda and the people of West Africa, conducting on-the-ground research, primarily in the nation of Niger, one of the hottest and poorest countries in the world. Youngstedt has authored 22 peer-reviewed publications since joining the SVSU faculty in 1996, including the book Surviving With Dignity: Hausa Communities of Niamey, Niger.

The House Family Award for Teacher Impact was presented to Dave Rzeszutek, associate professor of theatre; he is widely regarded to be passionate about the art of theatre and the growth opportunities it provides students. A student nominator - a computer information systems major - wrote: Of all the professors who have pushed me, none had a greater impact than Professor Rzeszutek. His belief in me was a driving force in my accomplishments at SVSU.

Walt Reynolds received the Mary H. Anderson Adjunct Faculty Award for his part-time teaching role in the criminal justice department. A retired FBI agent, he is praised by students for sharing his practical experience and knowledge regarding careers in law enforcement and using his professional network to bring guest experts to speak in his classes.

New in 2016, SVSU introduced the Thomson Award for Empowering Learning in Community Engagement, which recognizes innovation and leadership in advancing student learning through community engagement that fosters reciprocal community partnerships and enhances SVSUs contributions to the local, regional, state, national, or global community. The inaugural recipient was Jason Schoenmeyer, associate director of Student Life. Through his leadership of Cardinal Volunteers, he has connected students at 72 non-profit agencies in the Great Lakes Bay Region, and partnered with 29 agencies to offer volunteer opportunities that have resulted in more than 1,600 hours of community service completed thus far in 2015-16.

The Bank of America Ruben Daniels Community Service Award was presented to Joseph Ofori-Dankwa, the Harvey Randall Wickes Chair in International Studies. He has collaborated on interdisciplinary projects and service activities, encouraging students and colleagues to do the same; he also plays an important role in the development of international programs at SVSU and in the community.

Two recipients were given the Terry Ishihara Award for Outstanding Co-Curricular Involvement: Adam Coughlin, associate professor of kinesiology, and Jaime Leyrer, special assistant to the dean for the College of Business and Management.

Coughlin currently serves as the faculty adviser for four student organizations: the Student Exercise Science Association; Phi Kappa Tau fraternity; Music n Motion, a west coast swing dancing group; and the Adventure Club, which seeks to expose students to outdoor recreation.

Leyrer advises more than 1,000 business students on curriculum, appropriate class sequencing, and other academic issues, while empowering students and student organizations and forging effective community-minded relationships in the Great Lakes Bay Region.

Vanessa Brooks Herd, dedicates considerable time and resources to expose her students to diversity in all its forms. She is on sabbatical this semester, conducting field research on the study of inter-generational parenting in the African nation of Uganda. Brooks Herd also is passionate about providing support for young people who leave the foster care system at age 18, and received a $310,000 grant from the State of Michigan to establish the Youth in Transition program at SVSU.

The Outstanding Performance Award was shared by Denise Berry, director of military student affairs, and Debbie Fegan, senior programmer/analyst.

Berry played a leading role in creating and establishing SVSUs award-winning programs and services for military-affiliated students. Military Times named SVSU as the No. 1 university in Michigan and No. 38 in the nation in its Best for Vets: Colleges 2016.

Fegan is recognized within SVSU and within higher education circles for exceptional work preparing computer systems for changes resulting from the Affordable Care Act. She also works to develop and implement project plans for new technology.
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2016  The United States is taking a number of steps to further strengthen its already "ironclad" relationship with the Philippines, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said yesterday in Manila, the Philippines capital city.

Those steps include the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and the commencement of the U.S. maritime security initiative, Carter said at a joint press conference with his Philippine counterpart, Voltaire Gazmin.

"Each will help strengthen our 65-year-old alliance, and deepen our military-to-military cooperation at a time of great change in the Asia-Pacific," he said.

The change in the Asia-Pacific region includes China's actions in the South China Sea, which are, he said, causing anxiety and raising regional tensions.

The U.S.-Philippine alliance, and others like it, have been nurtured over decades, tested in crisis and built on shared interests, values and sacrifice, Carter said.

"As President Obama has made clear, our commitment to the Philippines is ironclad," he said. The partnerships in the region, the defense secretary said, "form the bedrock of our role in the Asia-Pacific, and accordingly, the stability and security that have helped so many here and around the Asia-Pacific to rise and to prosper."

Carter is in the Philippines to focus on the U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region. He met yesterday with Gazmin and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III at the Malacanang Palace in Manila.

Carter is on a two-week trip to the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region that began in India and will continue on to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The United States began joint maritime patrols with the Philippines last month, Carter said. Those patrols in the South China Sea are helping build interoperability and improve the Philippine navy, while also contributing to safety and security of the region's waters, he explained.

'Unbreakable Commitment' to Philippines

In addition to the patrols, as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA -- the joint U.S.-Philippine defense agreement -- some U.S. Air Force personnel and aircraft will remain in the Philippines on a rotational basis after their participation in this years Balikatan exercise. Carter also spoke yesterday at the Balikatan closing ceremony.

The arrangement will allow U.S. forces, at the invitation of the Philippine government, to conduct high-impact, high-value rotational training exercises and activities in support of the modernization of the Philippine armed forces and strengthening mutual defense, the defense secretary said.

"These rotations and activities will improve our ability to work together and quickly respond to any manner of crisis, man-made or natural disaster, like Typhoon Haiyan in 2013," he said.

The initial contingent is five A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, three HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters and one MC-130H Combat Talon aircraft, Carter said.

The defense secretary said 200 airmen will continue the joint training conducted during Balikatan. They will conduct flight operations in the area, including the South China Sea, and lay the foundation for joint air patrols to complement ongoing maritime patrols, he said.

A command-and-control node of American personnel will also remain behind, Carter said. They will continue exercising combined U.S.-Philippines command-and-control capabilities and supporting increased cooperative activities in the region, he said.

"With these steps we're making a strong alliance even stronger," the defense secretary said.

"Our efforts to do more together demonstrate America's unbreakable commitment to the defense of this nation, the stability and security of the Asia-Pacific and the principles that have helped so many in the region to rise and prosper," Carter said.

In addition, the maritime security initiative represents a $425 million five-year commitment by the Defense Department to help countries like the Philippines share information, identify potential threats and work collaboratively to address common challenges in the region's waters, he said.

Honoring the Fallen

Earlier in the day, Carter placed a wreath at the Manila American Cemetery. Seeing the many rows of graves was a "striking reminder" of the Americans who have fought and died in defense of U.S. allies, the defense secretary said.

The fallen Americans fought to "defend the principles and the values we share and help establish and maintain in the Asia-Pacific to sustain its stability and its security," he said.

Members of the Philippine military have done the same, Carter noted, as he paid tribute to fallen Philippine service members.

Like those buried at the American cemetery, those fallen Philippine service members have "made the ultimate sacrifice," he said.

"As we remember those lost, it falls to all of us to carry on their mission, to continue defending our countries, to continue upholding the stability and security of the region and to continue building a better world for our children," the defense secretary said.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (NNS) -- Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), spoke to students and faculty from the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business Aerospace and Defense Business Institute (ADBI) at a dinner engagement April 14 during Knoxville Navy Week.

A Crossville native, Harris proudly accepted the invitation to speak during a brief stop while traveling back to PACOM in Hawaii.

"I'm proud to join you here in Knoxville during Navy Week," said Harris. "It's a great chance for the American public to see your Navy in action and to meet the Sailors who serve our nation so well. As the Blue Angels wow the crowds, it's an opportunity to remember that your Navy is deployed around the world, around the clock, ready to defend America at all times."

The Haslam College of Business launched ADBI a little over a year ago to better organize and build aerospace and defense-related research, education, and training.

"Because of the Haslam College of Business, the University of Tennessee, and other like-minded places where smart people are nurtured, I have no doubt that American industry will continue to lead from the front and address these issues with ingenuity and creativity," said Harris.

Sailors from several commands including Explosive Ordnance Mobile Unit 6, BUMED, USS Constitution, USS Tennessee, Navy Operational Support Center Knoxville and U.S Navy Band Great Lakes have been visiting schools and community organizations promoting the Navy and giving science, technology, engineering and mathematics demonstrations. Knoxville's Navy Week will continue through April 17.

The Navy Week program is designed to raise awareness about the Navy in areas across the country that traditionally do not have a naval presence, and to bring America's Navy closer to the people it protects through community relations projects, speaking engagements, science, technology, engineering, mathematics demonstrations and media interviews with flag hosts and local areas Sailors.

"The University of Tennessee holds a very special place in my heart," said Harris. "I am, and always will be, a Volunteer in spirit, and Rocky Top will always be my home."
The North American Midwest is in danger as news came out that a deadly bacterium was spreading throughout the Midwest and that almost 60 people have been reported to have contracted these deadly bacteria. The deadly bacterium in talks is the ELizabethkingia and is quite a serious strain of bacteria.

Elizabethkingia has been confirmed to have infected over 57 patients in Wisconsin since November last year and amongst this 57, 18 of those individuals have succumbed to the effect of the bacterium, Elizabethkingia. The 39 individuals from the 57 infect had "at least one serious underlying illness" and most are older than 65 years.

For these 39 individuals who were infected by the deadly bacterium, Elizabethkingia, the Department of Public Health has yet to rule whether they succumb to death due to the bacteria or because of the underlying health issues they had. The Department of Public Health also considers that the deadly bacterium, Elizabethkingia could have caused the underlying health issues of the individuals to worsen, causing the death of these people to be due to both the bacteria and the underlying illnesses.

There might still be a continued rise in the infected individuals in Wisconsin as the Department of Public Health continues to search for the source of the bacteria. Just last month, the Michigan Department of Health and Human services also reported a case of infection in the state.

The spokesman for Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Tom Skinner said that the Michigan case came not as a surprise since the health departments all over North America was asked to be on the lookout for Elizabethkingia.

Elizabethkingia can be found in soil, river water and reservoirs but it does not commonly cause illnesses in humans. Only people with compromise immune system or who has some serious underlying illnesses are those highly susceptible to Elizabethkingia.
China is rapidly being stripped of its traditional image with gay movement gaining ground in its cities and provinces. While the loudest concentration of gay movement used to center in Beijing and Shanghai, the rest of China is catching up despite legal challenges and limitations.

A Battle Waged In China

ABC News reports that a battle between Changsha court and the province's local gay movement is currently being waged over limitation of marriages rights to heterosexual couples. Despite a failed lawsuit against the civil affairs bureau over this perceived discrimination, LGBT groups and individual supporters believe they have gained stronger ground in the country.

The fact that an actual lawsuit over this issue was processed and heard is seen as a victory for both local and national gay movement in China. According to the media agency LGBT activists do not expect victory in such legal battles just yet.

Gay Movement Fight For Recognition

The gay movement simply fights to be recognized and taken seriously as the opposing side in a legal argument in China. The Washington Post reports that a case on transgender discrimination in the workplace is scheduled to be given a ruling in the Guizhou province.

Gay conversion treatments, which provides shock treatments to a homosexual, were declared illegal by a Chinese court in 2014. Attention is heavy on this specific LGBT case.

For now, exposure for the gay movement in China is valuable among Chinese LGBT activists. Beijing-based lawyer Gou Gou, who is a member of the Rainbow Lawyers network sees the case as platform to open the eyes of LGBT individuals to their rights in China.

The Future Of Gay Movement In China

"The bigger significance of this case is that it will let more people know about their rights," Gou Gou said. "But young people are the most passionate, this will hopefully direct them to become more involved with the right training."

The Washington Post points out that Chinese law does not have provisions for gender-based and sexuality-based discrimination. However, gay movement advocates and legal practitioners have managed to bring these cases to court and coax media coverage in China.
In a culture where men are thought as stronger in business, one Vietnamese woman emerged as a victor. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao established her bikini airline, which made her the first female self-made billionaire in Vietnam.

VietJet's Bikini-Clad Flight Attendants

Thao's VietJet is a low-budget airline that made headlines because of its bikini-clad flight attendants. It also has calendars and brochures featuring bikini-clad models. When an image from a trial photo shoot was leaked, the airline suffered from ridicule from social media users.

Yahoo reported that Thao views the bikini uniform as a way of empowering women. She admits that Vietnam is a very conservative country and highlighting women wearing only bikinis is not something abhorrent but gives women a sense of empowerment.

"You have the right to wear anything you like, either the bikini or the traditional ao dai," Thao said. The bikini uniform of the flight attendants on VietJet is a stark contrast to the long ao dai.

Thao's principle includes pushing for a positive change in the country. She also recognizes international integration that is happening in Vietnam, which must have been the reason why she modeled her business to deviate from the conservative Vietnamese culture.

Fines And Discrimination

The road to becoming Vietnam's first female self-made billionaire wasn't easy. Thao confronted a lot of challenges both from the media and from the Vietnamese government. In 2012, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam fined VietJet for $1,000 after it hosted a show in flight. The airline also put a halt on its calendars since it was called "discriminatory."

Staying Strong

Bloomberg reported that the net worth of Thao exceeds $1 billion. She made her first million trading fax machines at 21. Her keen sense of business propelled her to the top of Vietnam's business echelons.

Thao's business model may not go well with conservative Vietnam, or even with many people out there. What's certain is that her business sense made her the first female self-made billionaire in Vietnam.
First Lady Michelle Obama announced in Washington on Wednesday the World Bank is planning to fund female education with $2.5 billion in poor countries. World Bank is looking forward to the developments of projects that concerning women.

Valuing Girls

"While today's announcement is tremendously exciting and has the potential to be truly transformational, it is also, in many ways, obvious, right, ladies?" Michelle Obama said. "Research on the value of girls' education is overwhelming and irrefutable."

According to VOA, Michelle Obama explained that ladies are the most responsible for building their families health with lower infant death and higher vaccination counts. In fact, females have the capability to improve their countries' economies by submitting more to the labor market.

Economic Growth

As a matter of fact, development experts described that education has a big role in helping the economic growth. In a study made by World Bank, it found out that girls' constant income improved by 18 percent for every year she goes to school.

Moreover, Michelle Obama asserted the move of World Bank just proves education is one of the most effective ways to empower the lives of every female. Through this, ladies can help their families, communities and even their own countries.

Empowering and Educating Women

"[It is also] an affirmation of these girls' extraordinary promise," Michelle Obama claimed. World Bank, on the other hand, expounded education projects for women are essential for its advancement efforts, as per World Bank Group.

"I'm very excited to join the First Lady in announcing this major boost in funding for adolescent girls' education," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. "Empowering and educating adolescent girls is one of the best ways to stop poverty from being passed from generation to generation, and can be transformational for entire societies."

President Jim Yong Kim added the additional education fund aims to help countries and regions like the Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to have a quality education. The World Bank, too, intends to make education fair and accessible to every girl to achieve their real capabilities.

What do you think of World Bank's initiative? Share us your thought. Write your comments below.
U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. is confident that the new federal education law would restore multifaceted learning in American schools. He believes the updated curriculum would greatly expose students to other essential subjects such as social studies, world languages, science and the arts.

Previous Law Promoted Over-Testing, Not Learning

During a recent appearance at the Las Vegas Academy for the Arts in Nevada, King said teachers and parents have often approached him to lament the current state of US education. Due in large part to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, schools have veered away from well-rounded education to put more emphasis on reading and math.

"The politics have focused very intensely on the role of English and math tests, but the department has always had a broader view that teacher evaluations need to be more holistic," King told US News. "I've been clear, as have the president and my predecessor Arne Duncan, that in many places in this country, testing became excessive, redundant and overemphasized."

King added that it was his involvement in plays like "Alice in Wonderland" and "Midsummer Night's Dream" which stirred his lifelong passion for learning. He stressed that students should be exposed to a wide range of subjects so that they may experience the same transformational effect.

"There is a lot of reason to believe that students are not getting the instruction in science, social studies, the arts, and world languages that they need," said the education czar. "I count myself among those who worry that the balance has shifted too much away from subjects outside of math and English that can be the spark to a child's interest and excitement."

Less Standardized Tests, More Time On Holistic Lectures

According to NBC News, the Every Student Succeeds Act substantially improves upon the preexisting education model. Under the new law, student performance will mostly be based on teacher evaluations rather than statewide reading and math exams.

School administrators previously complaint that the standardized tests created a culture of pressurized over-testing. To address the problem, the new law reduces the stringent nature of the exams by allowing states to develop its own accountability system.

The law also provides incentives to states and districts who evaluate the quality and efficiency of the tests they administer. This means the number of statewide exams would be lessened, giving schools more time to focus on other essential subjects besides reading and math.
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake shook the southern part of Japan on Thursday night, April 14. According to reports, at least nine people were killed and 761 were injured as the quake knocked down houses and buckled roads.

The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that the powerful earthquake hit the country at 9:26 p.m. at a depth of 11 kilometers (7 miles) near Kumamoto City on the island of Kyushu, which is 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Tokyo. According to ABC 7, the worst damage of the latest Japan earthquake was seen in the town of Mashiki, 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Kumamoto City and most of those injured were elderly.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshide Suga said that due to the latest Japan earthquake, at least 19 houses collapsed and hundreds of call came in reporting damages of buildings and people buried or trapped under debris. Rescue operations, however, were repeatedly disrupted by the aftershocks, where almost 116 jolts reported by early Friday.

Speaking of aftershocks, Japan Meteorological Agency revealed that the largest jolt recorded was a 6.4-magnitude shortly after midnight. The agency also said that the latest Japan earthquake was unusually strong for Kyushu, which is also near the huge active volcano of Mount Aso.

Meanwhile, the 6.5-magnitude quake that struck Kyushu Island on Thursday night was followed by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake early Saturday, increasing the death toll to 19. The latest Japan earthquake was reportedly about 30 times more powerful than the deadly jolt on Thursday.

The latest Japan earthquake reportedly toppled buildings and shredded structures into pile of debris. It also triggered a landslide, splitting roads and overturning cars, CNN reports.

Suga said that 20,000 self-defense forces were already deployed to the island for rescue operations. Since Friday, there were already 7,262 people seeking shelter at 375 centers in Kumamoto Prefecture.

"No question, this is a large and very important earthquake," U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) geophysicist Doug Given said. "And it will do a lot of damage."

Experts revealed that the four islands of Japan are on the edge of the "Ring of Fire," a region in the Pacific Ocean prone to volcanoes and earthquakes. Victor Sardina, a geophysicist in Honolulu, Hawaii, also added that the latest Japan earthquakes were severe and serious implications in terms of damages and human losses are expected.

The latest Japan earthquakes also triggered tsunami alerts and nuclear meltdown concerns. Fortunately, the tsunami warning was already lifted and the Sendai nuclear plant was undamaged, BBC News learns.

Due to the powerful Japan earthquakes, a small eruption occurred at Mt. Aso on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. local time. As per Reuters, the smoke rose to about 100 meters (300 feet) high and the Japanese Meteorological Agency kept the alert level for Mt. Aso at 2 on a scale of 5.
This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions
Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Momeni Foundation is accepting applications for the year 2016 Academic Scholarships

04/16/16

Source: Momeni Foundation

Momeni Foundation is dedicated to providing scholarships to graduating high school students and full time college students of Iranian descent anywhere in the world.

"Digaraan kaashtand o maa khordeem ---- Maa bekaareem o digaraan bokhorand"

Scholastic Achievement Scholarship - At least three (3 ea.) scholarships for an amount of $1,000.00 dollars each will be awarded to students that are graduating from high school and plan to attend college in Fall of 2014. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents of United States.

Financial Assistance Scholarship - At least ten (10 ea.) scholarships ranging between $500.00 to $1,000.00 US dollars will be awarded.

The Financial Assistance Scholarship is available to all college students of Iranian descent regardless of citizenship or country of residency . Students must attend college as a full time student in Fall of 2016. Students in Iran are also encouraged to apply for these scholarships.

Deadline for receiving the application material is June 30th, 2016.

Please visit our web site at: www.momenifoundation.org for the application.

Please mail your complete application package to:

Momeni Foundation

P.O. Box 322

Clearwater, FL 33757

Contact information:

Web site: www.momenifoundation.org

Email: momenifoundation@aol.com

Phone: 727-433-2133

Mojtaba (Mehrdad) Momeni

President, Momeni Foundation
Governor of Iran's central bank holds western states responsible to keep JCPOA alive

04/16/16

Source: Iran Daily

Governor of Central Bank Valiollah Seif attended a Council of Foreign Relations meeting Friday saying that the western governments are responsble to keep alive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.





CCTV America's Asieh Namdar interviewed Valiollah Seif, governor of Iran's central bank, Valiollah Seif about his views on the nuclear talks in Vienna.





Seif said that Iran in the past two and a half years paid special attention to develop economy of resistance and make sure that foreign sabotage in Iranian trade system could not paralyze national economy.

He said that the Islamic Republic of Iran managed to salvage national economy in the face of hostile sanctions and reduction of oil prices.

He brused aside the the US media assertion that sanctions took Iran to the negotiating table.

He highlighted self-reliance of Iranian economy, saying that the indices of Iranian national economy indicated despite the sanctions, Iran achieved satisfactory economic growth in the past three years.

The governor said that economic pressures and imposed sanctions could not cause Iran's banking system to ignore monetary laws about money laundering.

He said that Majlis (parliament) approved law concerning fight against financial support for terrorism and money laundering and the Central Bank obliged Iranian banks, financial and credit institutes to enforce the law.

Iran Vows To 'Pressure' U.S. On Banking Restrictions

Source: RFE/RL

Iran has vowed to pile pressure on Washington in its bid to obtain access to the global financial system.

In January, world powers led by the United States and the European Union lifted most sanctions on Iran in return for Tehran's curbs on its nuclear program.

But some U.S. sanctions remain, and banks remain prohibited from doing business with Iran because Washington still accuses Tehran of supporting terrorism.

"Iran will definitely put pressure on the United States to pave the way for the cooperation of non-American banks with Iran," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a news conference with visiting EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Tehran has repeatedly accused the United States and the European Union of keeping Iran locked out of the international financial system despite last year's nuclear deal.

Mogherini said the EU would welcome its banking system's "engagement" in Iran.

"This would constitute a good basis for our economic cooperation," she added.

Based in reporting by Reuters and AP
Iran sends OPEC governor to Doha oil freeze talks

04/16/16 Source: Press TV

Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh will not attend upcoming talks between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha to find a solution to tumbling oil prices, but will send Iran's OPEC governor to the meeting.





The Saudi oil plot

(cartoon by Mehdi Azizi, Iranian daily



The Saudi oil plot(cartoon by Mehdi Azizi, Iranian daily Shargh

OPEC and non-OPEC producers are set to hold a meeting in the Qatari capital on April 17 to discuss a proposed plan to freeze oil output at January 2016 levels.

"Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran's governor at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), will attend the Doha meeting on behalf of Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh to announce Tehran's positions," the ministry spokesman Akbar Nematollahi said on Friday.

He added that Iran has plans to regain its lost share in world oil market following the removal of unjust sanctions against the country over its nuclear program and has raised this issue in bilateral and multilateral meetings with oil and energy ministers of OPEC and non-OPEC states.

"Iran has already announced that it cannot join the plan to freeze oil production before the return of the country's crude oil production and export to the pre-sanctions levels," Nematollahi said.

"But the Islamic Republic of Iran will support any effort by OPEC and non-OPEC countries to stabilize the market and crude oil prices," he pointed out.

Amid expectation that OPEC and non-OPEC producers could reach a deal in Qatar to reduce a global crude supply glut, oil prices have rebounded sharply in recent weeks after hitting a 13-year low earlier this year.

The oil producer group said on Wednesday that Iranian crude production in March was 3.3 million barrels per day (mb/d), up from 2.9 million in January.

Iran has maintained that it is targeting production of 4 mb/d in the new Iranian year (started March 20).

In Europe, the Iranian crude has reportedly found its way into France and Spain since anti-Iran sanctions were lifted on January 16 as part of Tehran's nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries in July 2015.
Iran, Turkey must up anti-terror efforts: President Rouhani

04/16/16

Report by Press TV; photos by Islamic Republic News Agency

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran and Turkey have minor differences on certain regional issues but must boost cooperation in the campaign against terrorism.



Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on April 16, 2016. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on April 16, 2016.



Such minor differences of opinion are also natural and we are ready for more consultations, particularly for the fight against terrorism and correct presentation of Islam to the world, Rouhani told reporters in Ankara on Saturday after he and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan oversaw the signature of eight documents for cooperation.

He added that Iran and Turkey should make efforts to improve stability and security in the region as a religious duty which would serve the interests of the two countries and those of the Muslim world.

He said Tehran and Ankara see eye to eye on some issues including opposition to the disintegration of any country and foreign intervention in the internal affairs of regional states, the necessity for putting an end to war and bloodshed in the region, fighting all types of terrorism in a decisive and firm fashion and the determination of every countrys future by its own nation.

He emphasized that Islamophobia is a Zionist plot and said Iran and Turkey must counter the move by introducing the real and actual Islam to the world.







Enhanced Iran-Turkey relations

Rouhani also said Iran and Turkey must increase the value of their trade ties to the set target of 30 billion dollars given their common history, culture and interests.

The two countries are determined to bolster their relations in all fields, the Iranian president said, describing the two countries economies as complementary.

He said sanctions against Iran and a shaky global economy have impeded the expansion of economic cooperation over recent years and urged Tehran and Ankara to remove the obstacles in the way of their relations as soon as possible.

Pointing to bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, Rouhani said, The Islamic Republic of Iran assures Turkey that it can provide this countrys energy security in the fields of oil, gas, electricity and petrochemical products.

The Iranian president added that the negotiations between him and Erdogan focused on promoting the role of women in the Islamic community, combating extremism, violence and terrorism, and promoting unity in the Muslim world and bridging the gap between Muslim faiths.







OIC objectives

Rouhani said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) must follow two key objectives, namely unity in the world of Islam and the realization of the rights of Palestinians, adding that Iran will stand by the Muslim body as long as it maintains these two issues as its main goals.

The Iranian president attended the 13th OIC summit in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Thursday and Friday.

The Iranian president met Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara on Friday. The two sides stressed the importance of fighting terrorism as a common threat to all regional countries and the entire world.

Call for better ties

During the ceremony, Erdogan expressed displeasure with the decline in economic relations between Tehran and Ankara over the past few years, saying the level of trade between the two countries once stood at $22 billion but had fallen to below $11 billion dollars. The Turkish president stressed the target of $30 billion dollars for the exchange volume.

He said there are some limitations in the relations between Tehran and Ankara, adding that those restrictions must be removed.

The Turkish president added that terrorism and sectarianism are the biggest challenges in the region.

Erdogan added that there are some differences of opinion between Iran and Turkey on regional issues, adding, however, that the two sides seek an end to the bloodshed in Iraq and Syria.

Earlier on Saturday, Rouhani and Erdogan met and co-chaired the high-level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting following bilateral talks.

The Iranian president met Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara on Friday. The two sides stressed the importance of fighting terrorism as a common threat to all regional countries and the entire world.
Google is about to make it harder for Chrome extensions to collect your browsing data without letting you know about it, according to a new policy announced Friday.

Starting in mid-July, developers releasing Chrome extensions will have to comply with a new User Data Policy that governs how they collect, transmit and store private information. Extensions will have to encrypt personal and sensitive information, and developers will have to disclose their privacy policies to users.

Developers will also have to post a prominent disclosure when collecting sensitive data that isnt related to a prominent feature. Thats important, because extensions have tremendous power to track users browsing habits and then use that for nefarious purposes.

With this change, an extension thats marketed as a way to add themes to social media sites but also scrapes the number of friends a user has on that site for sale or research purposes will have to prominently tell users about it.

By requiring developers to be up front about what they might be collecting behind the scenes, Google can help make sure that its users are protected from shady extensions, and make sure that people know how their information is being used.

However, users shouldnt expect prominent disclosures for every piece of information collected. For example, Google allows developers to collect anonymized data about how people use their extensions without a prominent disclosure (though it should be represented in their privacy policies).

Google has given developers until July 14 to update their extensions to comply with the new policy. After that, extensions that dont follow Googles new guidelines will be removed from the Chrome Web Store.
A misting rain swept through the kennels behind the Corona Animal Shelter on a gray morning this month.

A thermometer in the covered space where all impounded dogs are kept, day and night, read 62 degrees. Most of the 23 dogs lounged silently on raised mats topped with blankets, but a golden-colored beagle mix named Banner stood against his steel cage, tongue out and tail wagging as a potential owner approached.

The shelter, at 1330 Magnolia Ave., opened in August. Since then, animal advocates have argued that its outdoor kennels are inhumane, the hours arent maximizing adoptions and employees arent doing enough to lower the 28 percent euthanasia rate.

Dr. Krupali Tejura, an oncologist and Corona resident, told the City Council this month that she was appalled by the facility. She asked why the dogs didnt have indoor access and questioned the awful public hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

Corona shelter officials say theres nothing wrong  or illegal  about keeping animals outside. Its euthanasia rate is well below the national average, they say, and the city is considering longer hours a couple of days a week to make it easier for people to adopt.

Touring the facility, Lisa Lorton, the shelters support services manager, pointed to improvements from the old Harrison Street facility: multilevel cat condos, commercial-grade laundry equipment and outdoor playpens with faux fire hydrants, benches and a small pool for dogs to cool off. High-powered fans hang above the outdoor kennels, and theres an emergency outdoor air conditioner.

Corona police Capt. Jerry Rodriguez, who assists with the shelter, said that in summer, when the mercury can exceed 110 degrees, it never passes the mid-90s in the shade.

Theres people that have humanized the animals, and so their expectation is for them to be treated like a human being. Theyre not; these are animals, Rodriguez said.

OUTDOOR DOGS

State laws on treatment of shelter animals dont address outdoor kennels.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals states that animals should be kept in an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.

The Association of Shelter Veterinarians recommends animals stay in temperatures about 60-80 degrees, and if they are not, additional measures such as more bedding must be taken.

Lorton insists the shelters staff is doing everything possible to keep animals comfortable, including walking and grooming each one outside its cage for 15 minutes a day.

Some people treat their animals like their children, she said, but the outdoor kennels do the job.

I think youll find people who think dogs are perfectly fine living outside, Lorton said.

Representatives from nine Riverside County shelters said dogs could be kept safely and humanely in Southern California without access to the indoors. Of the group, only Coronas shelter keeps all dogs outdoors, though the Moreno Valley Animal Shelter recently added 12 outdoor cages for healthy dogs, a spokesperson said.

Caging dogs outside has advantages, Lorton said. It decreases the noise and smell of the animal visitation area, meaning that people looking for a new pet may be more likely to interact with each animal, she said. Another perk, noted in a Shelter Veterinarians report, is that fresh air helps defend against infectious respiratory diseases.

Andy Rogozinski, owner of Inland RV Center in Corona and a major shelter donor, is impressed by the shelters cleanliness.

Could the dogs be inside? Yeah, Rogozinski said. And maybe thats in the works somewhere down the road somewhere. But how many people have doghouses outside their houses? No one complains about that.

TOO MANY KILLINGS?

In the far corner of the Corona shelter sits a squat building where euthanizations are carried out. Just over a quarter of all animals impounded will end up there.

Of the 750 animals the shelter put down last year, 714 were wildlife, relinquished pets deemed unadoptable or sick, injured, orphaned newborns, aggressive  (or) feral animals, records show. Only 36 of the euthanized animals were deemed adoptable. Most were housed one to six months and changed temperament in captivity, Lorton said.

Tejura called the shelter a killing field, but national statistics show Corona is doing a better job than most cities at finding new homes for animals.

Of the 7.6 million animals that enter U.S. shelters every year, 36 percent are euthanized, ASPCA data show. Euthanasia rates at several Riverside County shelters exceed the national average, including facilities in Norco, Moreno Valley, and several run by the Riverside County Department of Animal Services in Blythe, Jurupa Valley, San Jacinto and Thousand Palms. A city isnt required to have its own shelter, but it must contract with another facility if it doesnt.

John Welsh, spokesman for the county-run shelters, said shelters should be held to a high standard to ensure animals are treated humanely.

The Palm Springs Animal Shelter, managed and operated by a nonprofit organization, has one of the lowest euthanasia rates in Southern California. Of the 3,869 animals it cared for last year, 130 were put down. Spokeswoman Alicia Bailey said it has a no-kill philosophy, meaning only animals in undeniable suffering are put down.

We treat cancer, perform orthopedic surgery, Bailey said. All these antiquated reasons for putting animals down, there are solutions for.

Of the $1.2 million allotted to the Corona Animal Shelter this fiscal year, $976,000 is being spent on seven part-time and eight full-time employees  five of whom make at least $95,000 per year including benefits, Assistant City Manager Kerry Eden said. About $112,000 is budgeted for medicine and materials, and $78,000 has been set aside for veterinary expenses and animal disposal fees.

Were not euthanizing them because were out of funds, Lorton said, then added after a moments reflection: If we had a medical wing, we could keep them in there for more care. We could do that.

SHIFT CHANGE

California law requires most shelters to hold strays at least six full business days, though exceptions are made for shelters with limited staff and those open until at least 7 p.m. one weeknight per week.

Most of Coronas animals are kept about two weeks before they are adopted or euthanized, though records show several now there were admitted months ago. The longest resident was impounded in November.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9644 or poneill@pressenterprise.comTwitter: @PE_PatrickO
Beaumont residents awoke a year ago with news that the officials they entrusted to run their city government through two decades of rapid growth might have betrayed them.

Anti-corruption investigators with the Riverside County District Attorneys Office and FBI agents arrived April 22, 2015, in flak jackets and windbreakers with search warrants for City Hall, the Palm Desert home of then-City Manager Alan Kapanicas, and the Beaumont offices of Urban Logic, the consulting firm that for years provided the city with its public works, planning and economic development directors.

Authorities carted away as many as 500 boxes of documents from Urban Logic offices alone.

A year later, no criminal charges have been filed, but a spokesman for the District Attorneys Office said the investigation is continuing.

Yet the past year has been anything but uneventful.

City-commissioned audits and state reviews have revealed a fiscal mess of spending and accounting practices so awry that auditors could not determine whether millions of dollars in public funds had been properly spent.

Top administrators, including Kapanicas, who served 22 years as city manager, left city employment under the cloud of the District Attorneys Office investigation. The city attorney and finance director also left.

URBAN LOGIC

For years, the city used Urban Logic for engineering services when the company owners held top administrative positions as contract employees. And a company formed by Kapanicas, General Government Management Services, billed Beaumont for work associated with issuing and managing city bond funds.

Former longtime Councilman Roger Berg said the City Council had approved the work done by these companies, and he expects nothing to come from the county investigation.

Still, Kapanicas left Beaumont in November and the city is phasing out its business with Urban Logic, which is now completing work under its previous agreements, said Nancy Carroll, the citys elected treasurer.

And new city officials say they are working to make the city transparent and accountable.

Reforms, they say, already have curbed deficit spending, stopped inappropriate use of bond funds, brought competitive bidding to city contracts and added layers of oversight and transparency to city finances.

For such a long time, the finances were hidden from the council and citizens of Beaumont, said Councilman Mark Orozco, who was elected about five months before the raid.

Judy Bingham, co-owner of a tree nursery in Beaumont and a longtime critic of the city, sat in her trailer office recently and said shes still skeptical that any reforms will last.

They are trying to have the appearance of getting things cleaned up, she said.

Carroll, who, like Orozco, was elected just months before the raids, said she understands Binghams concerns.

We just got our toe in the water toward doing the right thing, Carroll said. We still have a long way to go to build integrity.

One sore point is public records.

Bingham said she and others, including The Press-Enterprise, have been trying since the raids to get bank statements detailing how more than $200 million in bond funds had been spent over the past 23 years.

Most the bonds were issued to pay for streets, sewers, waterworks, and other public amenities as the citys population exploded after the early 1990s.

Although thousands of pages of other bond records have been released, most bank statements have not.

Since most of the bond money was borrowed under Mello-Roos public finance rules, thousands of Beaumont residents still are paying these debts on their property-tax bills.

City Clerk Julio Martinez said he and other city officials are doing their best to find and release public records. But many were seized during the raids, and those left behind were not well-organized.

Another problem, Martinez said, is that shortly before Kapanicas left the city last year, he told Martinez that many city records were lost when a computer crashed. It is not clear when the crash occurred or what was lost, Martinez said.

The city, however, is taking unusual steps to account for how bond funds were spent, said City Attorney John Pinkney

In March, Pinkney issued legislative subpoenas to wrest thousands of pages of bond records from Union Bank of California, which acted as trustee in the city bond issuances and held various accounts for city bond funds.

The City Council also authorized Pinkney to use legislative subpoenas to get records from Urban Logic.

Pinkney said the citys goal is to get a complete set of records so people can learn how all bond funds were spent.

The city also has hired an Orange-based consulting firm called Urban Future, which has no ties to Urban Logic, to piece together a report about how bond funds were spent during a 20-year period. The report is expected later this year.

Meanwhile, a state review of Beaumont finances overseen by California Controller Betty Yee released last fall has provided the city a blueprint on how to create new checks and balances, Orozco said.

The state found that 75 of the citys 79 financial controls were inadequate.

Orozco said that a citizens oversight finance committee led by Carroll, the elected treasurer, has been has instrumental in bringing needed reforms, including new processes for awarding contracts to consultants and others who do work for the city.

Orozco said hes eager for the District Attorneys Office to complete its investigation, so the residents of Beaumont can have closure.

If there has been wrongdoing, please present it to us, he said.

RELATED

CORRUPTION PROBE: Beaumont to subpoena bank records

BEAUMONT: In wake of raids, critics call for firings, resignations

INVESTIGATIONS: Complex, private  and very long  routes to justice
At last, a remedy appears to be on the horizon for Riverside and San Bernardino counties critical  and long-standing  shortage of judges.

A three-pronged attack on the problem is being mounted from the governors office, the state Legislature and the Judicial Council, the policymaking body of Californias court system.

Gov. Jerry Browns proposed 2016-17 state budget suggests moving five vacant judgeships  and, importantly, their support staffs  to courts in counties that desperately need them. Riverside and San Bernardino counties are at the top of the list.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee introduced a bill that would allocate $5 million to hire 12 new judges, of 50 positions that were approved but never funded. Its the same legislation Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, successfully passed last year but the governor vetoed.

And the Judicial Councils commission on the courts future, taking a hint from the administration, is seeking legislation that would allow the California Supreme Court chief justice to shift 50 judge slots, when theyre vacant, to counties that need them. Again, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are the poster children of judicial need.

All three branches of state government seem to be on the same page at last where this important issue is concerned.

You can thank the regions leaders, especially Riverside County Presiding Judge Hal Hopp, former San Bernardino County Presiding Judge Marsha Slough and senator Roth, for putting the issue on the front burner.

Slough, now an appellate justice, has focused on the issue for years, and her position on the Commission on the Future of Californias Court System has given her a platform to continue doing that, even after she was elevated from the superior court bench.

Hopp, who became presiding judge last year, is an influential voice on the subject, testifying in recent weeks before the Senate committee and the Judicial Council commission, which quoted him in its report, issued Tuesday.

And Roth has tirelessly advocated for adding judges in the needy counties, and gotten bipartisan support for his legislation in both Senate and Assembly.

But lets back up for a moment. How did there come to be a judge shortage in the Inland counties?

Simple. The number of judges has stagnated, while the population of inland Southern California exploded. Over the past 30 years, the Inland population more than doubled from under 2 million to more than 4 million.

The imbalance of superior court posts across the state became common knowledge 15 years ago, and since then, the Judicial Council has been assessing biannually how many judges each county needs based on caseloads, using national standards.

The most recent survey in 2014 showed Riverside County has 76 judges but needs 127 (a shortage of 51) and San Bernardino County needs 143 judges but has 86 (a shortage of 57).

In 2006, the Legislature authorized 50 new judgeships, funded them and the positions were filled. In 2007, it authorized 50 more but didnt fund them. And you know what happened in 2008: the Great Recession killed hopes of funding more positions.

When he vetoed Roths legislation that would put $5 million toward funding 12 of the unfunded 50 judgeships, the governor said he instead wanted to work with the Judicial Council to redistribute judgeships from counties that have an abundance to those that need more (specifically citing Riverside and San Bernardino counties).

Brown declined to comment on whether he would support the new Senate bill that mirrors Roths vetoed one. But his staff told me to watch the May budget revision. Im hoping that means he may add funding for new judges, while redistributing vacant seats.

If not, I hope it means hell be open to signing the new bill, which is likely to pass.

Meanwhile, the Judicial Council has taken the governor at his word and is seeking the authority to redistribute the vacant seats (present law doesnt allow it to do so).

Roth hailed this as a critical step to convincing the governor the judiciary is doing all it can to address the problem without increasing costs.

Roth also hopes the bill being carried by the Senate Judiciary committee has a better chance of being signed. It got the unanimous support of committee members last week, and now is bound for the Appropriations Committee, then the Assembly.

San Bernardino County Presiding Judge Raymond Haight III is concerned that if the governor vetoes the new Senate bill, counties will be pitted against each other competing for scarce resourses. Courts viewed as over-judged will resent having their vacancies shipped off to under-judged counties.

Theyre not over-judged; they have what they should have, Haight said, adding that hed rather the problem be solved by adding new judgeships than taking away existing ones.

I dont think the solution is just reallocating, said Hopp, the Riverside County presiding judge, adding that if five judgeships were reallocated to Riverside County every year, it would take 10 years to catch up with the number of judges that were needed two years ago. (That aint progress.)

The earliest the Judicial Council can take up the courts-future commissions recommendation for legislation authorizing the chief justice to redistribute the judgeships is its June 23-24 meeting.

Until then, one hopes the state budget is flush with cash so the governor will feel comfortable using some of it to add seats on the bench. Then I hope he quickly appoints judges to fill them, in the Inland counties first.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@pressenterprise.com
The late Henry Hafliger, a former San Jacinto mayor and school board member, was a steady contributor to my column.

But he still would tell people he didnt know me.

I loved the deadpan humor of the tall, retired dairy farmer with a thick head of hair. He loved the San Jacinto Valley and supported local charitable causes.

He died of congestive heart failure April 6 at age 83 and was memorialized Tuesday at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Hemet.

The father of six had strong, serious opinions about local affairs.

He also could make fun of himself, which he did after I revealed I unwittingly went to work wearing mismatched shoes.

Hafliger responded with a note about when he noticed newcomers to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Hemet giving him strange looks as he greeted them following a service.

When the churchs pastor directed a perplexed glance at his name tag, Hafliger decided to read what it said. He was embarrassed to see that he had put on the name tag of his bride, Dorothy Halfiger.

Hafliger, a child of Swiss immigrants, grew up on an Imperial County dairy. He began operating his own dairy in San Jacinto in 1996.

He was a San Jacinto mayor who also served 17 years on the San Jacinto school board.

In a show of respect, Diane Perez, superintendent of the San Jacinto School District, was joined at his services by former Superintendents Bill Marshall, Sandra Shackleford, Lester Redding and Shari Fox, plus retired Assistant Superintendent Myrna Rohr, who served as an interim superintendent.

Hafliger doled out practical advice as an elected official. He also was ready to take a stand when he disagreed with a position.

He didnt like San Jacintos dismissal of Brian McNabb from his community development position.

McNabbs unfortunate departure was a reason Hafliger supported the successful recalls of Debbie Cornett and the late Jim Smedley from the San Jacinto City Council. He even drove his antique fire engine around town while flying a banner that advocated their removal from office.

He obviously didnt care that Smedley helped rehabilitate the engine, which was the citys first fire truck, a 1929 American LaFrance Cosmopolitan model.

I worked on it out in a hangar for five months, but ol Henry is Henry, Smedley said at the time of the recall.

Hafliger commented about the Soroptimist Celebrity Car Wash after I admired the clubs clever way to recruit volunteers.

The Soroptimists told people that they were celebrities. They then had an easy time persuading them to volunteer to wash cars to raise money for scholarships.

Hafliger said the ploy was not what convinced him to join the effort.

You are wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Hafliger wrote. I did not fall for the celebrity line. I was told, Henry, you are the best car washer in all of the valley!

The conservative man nearly had a change of heart about me. I joked about switching political parties after expressing my displeasure at witnessing a food stamp purchase of three bottles of Evian water imported from France.

What? Is there a glimmer of hope? he wrote.

Why, I might even begin telling people, Yes, I think I know a guy named Bob Pratte.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9078 or bpratte@pressenterprise.com
Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in how to treat refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos.

The Vatican said the three families, including six children, would be supported by the Holy See and cared for by Italys Catholic SantEgidio Community. SantEgidio has worked out a program with the Italian government to grant deserving refugees humanitarian visas to live in Italy while their asylum applications are being processed.

The Vatican said Francis wanted to make a gesture of welcome at the end of his five-hour visit to Lesbos, where he implored Europe to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores in a way that is worthy of our common humanity. The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its shores in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

Francis visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece to thank Greece for its welcome and highlight the plight of refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey.

At a ceremony in the port of Lesbos to thank locals, Francis said he understood Europes concern about the migrant influx. But he said migrants are first of all human beings who have faces, names and individual stories and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

God will repay this generosity and that of other surrounding nations, who from the beginning have welcomed with great openness the large number of people forced to migrate, he said.

Many refugees fell to their knees and wept at Francis feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention center. Others chanted Freedom! Freedom! as they passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet sobbing uncontrollably. A woman told the pope that her husband was in Germany but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos.

In his remarks to them, Francis said the refugees should know that they are not alone and shouldnt lose hope. He said he wanted to visit them to hear their stories and to bring the worlds attention to their plight.

We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity, he said. May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the Good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history.

Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, then signed a joint declaration calling on the international community to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need.

The declaration also called on political leaders to use all means to ensure that everyone, particularly Christians, can remain in their homelands and enjoy the fundamental right to live in peace and security.

The world will be judged by the way it has treated you, Bartholomew told the refugees. And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from.

Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, lunched with eight of the refugees to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. They then went to the islands main port to pray together and toss a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didnt make the journey  hundreds of people this year alone.

Earlier Saturday, Francis met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and thanked him for the generosity shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles.

Tsipras said he was proud of Greeces response at a time when some of our partners  even in the name of Christian Europe  were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the globalization of indifference that the world shows the less fortunate.

The wreath-tossing ceremony is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe. He made a similar gesture more recently at the U.S.-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the U.S.

He is slightly provocative, said George Demacopoulos, chair of Orthodox Christian studies at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. Citing Francis Mexico border visit in February, in the heat of a U.S. presidential campaign where immigration took center stage, he added: He is within his purview to do so, but that was a provocative move.

The March 18 deal between the EU and Turkey stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up.

Human rights groups have denounced the deal as an abdication of Europes obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers.
Detectives tracked down $30,000 worth of jewelry stolen from an elderly Orangecrest couple, whose caretaker admitted to taking and pawning the property, say Riverside police.

The case began April 8 when police were told of the theft at the couples home along the 20100 block of Dayton Street, north of Orange Terrace Park. The victims are in their 90s, police say.

Three days later, detectives recorded 60-year-old Palm Desert resident Eileen Pineda Roller admitting to the crime and offering to return the jewelry, Officer Ryan Railsback said in a written statement.

Roller later told of pawning the jewelry, Railsback wrote.

Detectives located the pawn slips concealed in the trunk of the suspects car inside a bag of rice, according to the statement. All of the stolen jewelry was located and is in the process of being recovered.

Roller was admitted to a hospital for treatment of a pre-existing health problem, said police who emphasized that they will be asking District Attorneys officials to issue charges of elder abuse and grand theft.
An anti-vice ordinance enacted by Riverside in April 1918 created quite the stir, not just locally but across the United States.

Though known far and wide as the anti-kissing ordinance, most of the ordinance dealt with regulations to prevent hotels or lodging houses from being used as places of ill repute or by unmarried couples.

The section of the ordinance that got everyones attention was Section 11, which banned such behavior as kissing, hugging, embracing or spooning on or near any public area.

The reason given for the passing of the emergency ordinance was World War I. However, the U.S. had been involved in World War I for a year. It wasnt discussed in local papers exactly what prompted the city to decide right then that it needed to control certain behavior.

Local residents and newspapers immediately pointed out that the ordinance as proposed would ban even married couples from something as innocent as a goodbye kiss at the train station. The City Council responded by changing the wording of the ordinance before final passage to ban promiscuous kissing. No explanation was given as to what exactly constituted promiscuous.

To make sure visitors, soldiers and residents alike knew about the new ordinance, Riverside leaders made copies of the ordinance for distribution.

That July, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors also adopted Riversides ordinance, but the board wisely left out the infamous Section 11 kissing ban. The derisive comments that appeared in newspapers from all over the United States probably influenced the supervisors actions.

The Los Angeles Times had this to say in one of its editorials: The anti-kiss ordinance is described as a war measure, and it surely is. No wonder they say war is hell. If there is to be no kissing until after the war we dont care how quick it is over with  we mean the war.

The San Diego Union Round-A-Bouts column commented: Because it had nothing else to do, the Riverside City Council passed an ordinance making it unlawful for young couples to kiss out of doors after dark. Now, what do you think of a darned fool law like that?

The Tulsa World in Oklahoma had a column devoted to the anti-kissing ordinance. It read, in part: Did the sight of young and blooming girls kissing soldier boys goodbye rouse envious thoughts within the collective bosom of the staid council and cause the members to legislate against their own pain?

Long Beach, which had adopted an ordinance modeled on Riversides, announced at the end of November, after the armistice that ended the war, that the city would be repealing its vice ordinance. But Riversides mayor was quoted in the Riverside Enterprise, Moral standards are not going to be lowered because the war is ended.

Whatever the mayors feelings, in January 1919, two months after the war ended, the City Council quietly revisited its vice ordinance. The ordinance was allowed to stand  but the section that prohibited kissing was deleted.

Afterward, the Pomona Bulletin commented that the jests from other cities got on the nerves of city officials and that no city authority could be found who ever favored the kissless clause anyway.

If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.
This is the year it could happen. Maybe youre stuck in a stop-and-go rubberneck on the 91 freeway, the radio a dull drone through your morning migraine as the partisan station of your choice recaps the political news of the day.

Maybe its already happened. Maybe youve already begun thinking of words that rhyme with candidate names.

Wherever it happens, you might have the sudden urge to write a political poem sometime during the next eight months. To help you get ready, Ive prepared this simple guide to help you handle the situation with aplomb.

First of all: Dont panic. Pull to the side of the road somewhere safe, or wait for the nearest exit, then find an empty parking lot or an exceptionally long drive-through line. Poems sometimes write themselves, but they cant write themselves while youre driving. Only poem in park.

Dont feel guilty. A poem is just a special way to talk about special things. We all have an innate desire to say the un-sayable, to articulate all that lies just beyond the reach of articulation. Poetry can happen to anyone, anywhere, so remember: Its not your fault.

Find a recording device. Use your smartphone, if you have one, to record your poem as a voice memo, text it to a friend, email it to yourself, or tap it out using a standard writing application.

If not, many of the worlds greatest poems have been written on ancient, crusty glovebox napkins. Its true. If all else fails, theres still memorization, a pneumonic device, which historically has been the point of poetry more often than not. Whatever tool you use, just dont lose it.

Now that you have your poem saved, the real trouble begins. Sure, youve written something felt in the blood and felt along the heart, as Wordsworth put it, but what next? Does your political poem have any cultural value? Should you share it with close friends, or perhaps even the public?

On this question, poets themselves have long been split. In A Defense of Poetry, Percy Shelley famously wrote that poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world, and others have been trying to pat themselves on the back equally firmly ever since.

William Carlos Williams says, It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. Your political poem could be a matter of life and death! More recently, Meena Alexander writes that, We have poetry/ So we do not die of history, a statement I particularly love.

Not everyone agrees, though. In a 1965 lecture to students at Berkeley, Jack Spicer said, I dont know of any political poems which have worked, and suggested instead of writing poems that they write letters to their congressmen. Both would be equally effective, he reasoned.

I once asked National Book Award winner Troy Jollimore why he finds political poems difficult to write, and he worried about preaching to the converted: The people who know those are good values are already on my side; the people that dont think theyre good values arent going to be convinced by my siding up with good values.

He has a point, too. A poem isnt an argument. A poems purpose isnt to persuade  persuasion is for op-eds and campaign ads.

So keeping that in mind, re-read your political poem. Is it cheerleading, or is it trail-blazing? Does it reach deeper into the abyss to haul up some new creature?

Just last week, an Orange County poet named David Miller wrote in a political poem, an elegy for the personified American Dream: I ran when I heard you crying/ like a phone, no one told me how alone you are. Now thats what Shelley meant when he said that poetry purges from our inward sight the film of familiarity which obscures from us the wonder of our being.

Be honest, does your political poem really purge the film of familiarity, or is it just more mosquito guts on the windshield? If its the former, then by all means share it widely! This is the year for purging.

Wrightwood author Timothy Green is editor of Rattle magazine
The Temecula Wine Country wasnt much when runners started cruising up and down the scenic hills almost 30 years ago for the Run Though the Vineyards event to raise money for Temecula Sunrise Rotary.

In fact, Temecula and Murrieta werent much, either  neither city was incorporated and commuters were just starting to discover the affordable housing that made the area take off.

Today, there are more than 40 wineries and well over 200,000 people in the now-incorporated cities of Temecula and Murrieta.

And still they jog through the vineyards.

Saturday will mark the 29th time runners from near and far have gone up and down the rolling hills of the scenic area. There will be 2K, 5K and 10K events.

Over nearly three decades, about $500,000 has been raised at the event. It has gone to scholarships for local high school seniors, finance literacy programs at area elementary schools, tuition for students to attend leadership camps, construction of Rotary Park in Old Town Temecula and prizes for art, speech and music competitions.

Organizers call the course a challenging layout. Jim Yanoschik, a Murrieta dentist who has run different kinds of races for 30 years, agrees the course is a good test. Yet there are lots of races with obstacles. Few offer the rewards in Wine Country.

When you get to the top of the hills, you get a great view, Yanoschik says.

Runners come from throughout Southern California and beyond, and Yanoschik, who has taken part in half a dozen Wine Country runs, says outsiders rave about the course and how scenic the area is. In turn, Yanoschik says it helps him appreciate his hometown even more when he hears others praise it.

The run was the first in the Wine Country when it began in 1987 at Calloway Winery, says Frank Appice, race director for this years event. It was a novelty at the time, and runners came from all over for a chance to cruise through scenic vineyards, something almost unheard of at the time. Its believed as many as 800 runners attended when participation peaked.

Calloways legendary winemaker John Moramarco was a key. He couldnt have been more kind or more helpful to our club in putting on the race, assigning some of his vineyard workers to help in various ways, says Rotary spokeswoman Marti Treckman.

Two more local Wine Country mainstays, Budd and Maurice Van Roekel, started hosting the event in 2003 at their winery, Maurice Carrie. It continues there today.

Treckman says the runners have dropped off in recent years because there are so many running events in the region, but all agree its still a great event.

Contact the writer: carllove4@yahoo.com
Last week, when the University of California announced accepting a record number of in-state applicants, it used the figures to show its commitment to increasing available spots for California students.

The UC system has been under fire since the release of a state auditors report in March. That report said the UC system had lowered its standards for admitting out-of-state students to generate more revenue. Such students pay nearly three times the tuition of in-state students. Out-of-state enrollment rose 82 percent during a five-year period beginning in 2010, the report said. During the same period, in-state enrollment dropped 1 percent.

At UC Riverside, the number of out-of-state students doubled during that period. Such students represent a little more than 2 percent of total enrollment.

It is unconscionable that admitted nonresident students may be less qualified than California students who were denied admission, the report said.

UC President Janet Napolitano has aggressively denied that finding, saying the report makes inferences and draws conclusions that are supported neither by the data nor by sound analysis.

Napolitanos office put out its own report to rebut the auditor. One of the points it made was that while the minimum GPA for UC admission is 3.0, out-of-state students must have at least a 3.4 GPA.

Anyone with any familiarity about the competition to get into UC schools knows that few, if any, students with 3.0 GPAs are getting in. In fact, average high school GPAs for students at all but three UC campuses are above 4.0. Since 2011, the GPAs of out-of-state students have been uniformly  even if only slightly in some cases  lower than those of in-state residents.

Perhaps a better argument is that regardless of how they might stack up against in-state students, out-of-state students seem to have helped the UC system stay alive during Californias budget crisis, when the state cut $1 billion of support for the universities.

This year alone, nonresident tuition accounted for $800 million, said UC spokesman Steve Montiel. More importantly, he said, the notion that nonresidents are taking spots that might otherwise go to residents is wrong. In fact, without the increase in nonresident students, he said, fewer Californians might be attending UC schools.

Each year, the UC administrators set enrollment targets for individual campuses.

Nonresident tuition actually prevented those targets from being lowered, Montiel said, adding that the revenues actually made it possible to slightly increase the target numbers.

Some state officials have been quick to endorse the auditors report.

Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, is chairman of the Assemblys Higher Education Committee. He and Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, have sponsored a bill to cap the number of out-of-state students who can be admitted to UC campuses at 15.5 percent.

It was the cut in state funding that resulted in the current situation. UC officials responded with a strategy to keep going. Now the same body that took those funds away  they have since been largely restored  is giving the system a hard time for doing what it could to survive.

ARTSblock money

Local arts got a big boost this week when the Getty Foundation awarded $225,000 to ARTSblock, the UCR consortium of galleries in downtown Riverside.

The grant is aimed at supporting Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas, an exhibition featuring work by North and South American artists during the past three decades that incorporates elements of science fiction.

Tyler Stallings, interim executive director of ARTSblock, said that the California Museum of Photography  which is part of ARTSblock  once received a $500,000 grant. Other than that, he said, this is the largest grant the institution has received. When combined with an earlier $125,000 Getty grant for research on the exhibit, the total amount for the project is $350,000.

But youll have to wait to see it.

The exhibition, part of the larger Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, doesnt open until Sept. 16, 2017.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9595 or mmuckenfuss@pressenterprise.com
Fourth-grade students at San Jacinto Elementary School had an idea of what to expect when they boarded buses Friday to see Ramona.

After all, some of the lessons they have been studying as part of state history curriculum include the mistreatment of American Indians in 1800s California, on which the play is based.

Still, for 10-year-old Abigail Bernal, parts of the play came as a surprise.

They didnt tell us they would have guns and a cannon, she said. And there were more characters than they told us about.

The San Jacinto children were some of the more than 4,600 students from across the region who attended the event, a prescreening before Californias official outdoor play gets underway today for its three-weekend run.

The 120 San Jacinto students, whose campus isnt far from where part of the inspiration for the story occurred, have been learning about Ramona through teacher Sharyn Guminiak, whose family has a long history in the San Jacinto Valley.

Any time I think about things, I bring it back to what happened in the valley, she said. Any history that is local, I try to do. I like how it brings it to life.

Friday started early for students from four classrooms. Usually, classes begin at 8:45 a.m., but the students were in the multipurpose room an hour earlier, waiting to board buses at 8 a.m. for the 5-mile trip south to the Ramona Bowl in Hemet.

Principal Juan Penaloza reminded the kids to not misbehave.

You are representing our school, he told them. If one of you messes up, its a reflection on all the school.

On the buses, the children were quiet in anticipation, even when they sat in a long line of some of the 70 buses headed the final block to the Ramona Bowl.

They hurried in as the show started and acted like most every child has since the fourth-grade performance was initiated in the 1960s. They shrieked when a cannon was shot, oohed when Ramona and Alessandro kissed, gasped as the rock Indians appeared in the hills and groaned when Alessandro was killed.

In another tradition, at least for San Jacinto schools, the children were handed Popsicles during intermission.

Guminiak had shown students a PowerPoint presentation about the history behind Helen Hunt Jacksons 1884 novel that inspired the play, including pictures from the first performance in 1923. She said it appeared her efforts paid off.

The kids seemed a lot more interested in the play, she said. They caught more of the story than in past years.

Penaloza said its important that the children know where they came from.

Theres all this history going on that the kids dont know about, he said.

Some teachers were faced with a quandary during the play: what to do with students who blurted out the names of characters. They didnt want to scold children who were showing they had been listening in class.

But as the play ended, teachers could take comfort in knowing that the theme was not lost on the students.

Samantha Beardsley, 9, said she noticed the prejudice shown in the play, especially when Indians and Spanish settlers had their land taken from them.

You need to be nice to other people who arent your kind and not throw them out, she said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9086 or cshultz@pressenterprise.com
The woman accidentally shot by police during last months hostage-involved standoff at Office Depot in Redlands

at Office Depot in Redlands has been discharged from the hospital.

Kristin Bauer, 28, of Corona was discharged from Loma Linda University Medical Center, Briana Pastorino, hospital spokeswoman, confirmed in an email Thursday.

Andrew Mike, 29, of Downey went to Office Depot March 24 to confront Bauer, his ex-girlfriend and store manager. He fired his weapon inside the store, striking a bystander, before Mike took Bauer hostage for nearly three hours. The standoff ended with police sharpshooters fatally shooting him.

It was in that hail of gunfire that Bauer was shot.

The bullet was from a responding officer  not Mikes gun, which had jammed, Redlands Police Chief Mark Garcia said during a news conference April 1. Officers thought Bauer was in danger, and they fired their weapons

Bauer was flown to Loma Linda University Medical Center and was initially listed in critical condition.

Greg Bauer, Kristin Bauers father, told the Redlands City News that she was shot at least twice, and the bullets went from her shoulder through her lungs and liver.

A portion of her lung and liver had to be removed during emergency surgery, he said.

Mike would visit at the familys home with his 3-year-old daughter, and everyone got along great, Greg Bauer told the Redlands City News.

No one saw this coming, he said.

I never expected anything like this to happen, Kristin Bauer is quoted in the Redlands City News.

The Kristin Bauer Foundation and a GoFundMe account have been created to help with Kristin Bauers expenses.

Staff Writer Kristina Hernandez contributed to this report.
Thanks to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, HB0615 will no longer unconstitutionally make the Christian Bible the official state book. HB0615 (and its companion bill SB1008) made its way through the state legislature despite protests from civil rights and church/state advocacy groups. When the state Senate passed the legislation most pundits were sure a long legal fight stood ahead challenging the First Amendment constitutionality of the law.

And then Governor Haslam issued a veto.

In addition to the constitutional issues with the bill, my personal feeling is that this bill trivializes the Bible, which I believe is a sacred text, Haslam said explained in the veto text. If we believe that the Bible is the word of God, then we shouldnt be recognizing it only as a book of historical and economic significance.

The vetos language takes a direct shot at the bills sponsor: Sen. Steve Southerland. In previous statements Southerland argued the bill is aimed at highlighting the historical significance of the Bible in Tennessee, not as an official endorsement of a religion.

Contradicting his own statements about religious establishment, Southerland added that the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) would defend the state should the bill become law and be challenged on constitutional grounds thereafter. FACT publicly maintains a belief that healthy families and communities come about when basic values from the Bible are embraced and upheld.

Its yet to be seen if the legislature will attempt to overturn Haslams veto. It will be in session for another week so they will have ample opportunity to make an attempt.

Previously:

Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time hes worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

Like this: Like Loading...

Related

We hope you enjoyed reading this article! If you would like to support our ongoing work, please consider buying us a cup of coffee. It's not much, but we don't do this for the money. We do, however, need caffeine to keep going some days!If you do donate, send us a message through our Contact Us page or via social media so we can thank you!
On the final day of their weeklong tour of India and Bhutan, Prince William and Princess Kate visited a site rich with personal meaning: the Taj Mahal.

They arrived at the magnificent white marble monument to love  it was commissioned by the emperor in 1632 as a mausoleum to house his wife  on Saturday afternoon local time and paused to take in the wonder of the sight before them. Its beautiful, William said, calling the historical site stunning.

And in a moment that has been widely anticipated for months, Kate  in a white dress with blue accents by India designer Naeem Khan  and William stopped to take a seat on the bench made famous by Williams late mother, Princess Diana, who famously visited Indias most famous landmark in 1992.

As photographers snapped away William, 33, remarked, I hope youve got the symmetry right, Arthur, to the Suns veteran royal photographer Arthur Edwards, who was among those who photographed Diana in exactly the same spot 24 years ago.

Kate, 34, followed her husbands lead in taking off her sunglasses before smiling warmly for the cameras.

Then just 30 years old, Diana posed for a photo that would later become iconic: In the famous photo, she cuts a solitary figure on the bench  later viewed by some as a sign of things to come when her separation from Prince Charles was announced a few months later.

Their spokesman said, They decided to sit on the bench this morning. It was not something they had properly considered until this morning. The decision for them was that is the place where people who come here to see this place will sit. It is a totally symmetrical position, right in the center

Thats the reason the Princess of Wales sat there when she came. Its the natural place. They made the decision on that basis.

But of course they were aware of the significance  as he said in his statement. He completely understands that people come to visit this place with his mother in mind. Its about new memories for them.

In March, a palace spokesman addressed Williams appreciation for the connection between India and his mother.

William is of course aware of the huge esteem his mother, the late Princess of Wales, is held in India and he appreciates the iconic status of the images that exist of the Princess at the Taj, the spokesman said.

Adding that William and Kate were looking forward to creating some new memories, the spokesman said, He feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mothers memory is kept alive by so many who travel there.

Of course, there is a key difference between Dianas visit and her son and daughter-in-laws.

William will remember, and Im sure, understand, how difficult it must have been for his mother, her former bodyguard Ken Wharfe, who was present during Dianas stop at the Taj, tells PEOPLE.

 Want to keep up with the latest royals coverage? Click here to subscribe to the Royals Newsletter.

Wharfe, whose book Closely Guarded Secret chronicled his work with Diana, recalls her famous words at the photo call. When Diana sat on that bench, she was asked, What does it feel like? She turned to me and said, What shall I say, Ken? So I just said quickly, Just say it is healing experience. 

Despite the unhappy headlines, a then-9-year-old William may have been told that the place was remarkable and that she enjoyed visiting.

She confided in William a lot at that age, says Wharfe. She will have said, This is an amazing place  one day I hope you do this, William. It is one of the seven wonders of the world and I was fortunate enough to go there. She was never negative about her husband in his company, she never criticized her husband in his company. She certainly would have said all the positive things about somewhere they had been.

However, those close to the royal couple downplayed the link with Diana.

A source close to the couple said, For the Duke of Cambridge, his mothers visit to the Taj Mahal is not a particularly strong memory at all.

He has many other memories of his mother that are much more important to him. The visit was about creating new memories for their family.

The spectacular historical site served as the last major stop for the royal couple before they head home to reunite with their massively missed children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Kate is bringing home at least one special souvenir: a necklace given to her by Queen Jetsun, which she paired with an Alexander McQueen upon leaving Bhutan Saturday morning.

Governor of Paro Chenko Tshering and education minister Norbu Wangchuk, who had greeted the couple when they arrived in Bhutan two days ago, were there to see them off from the country that prides itself on being the happiest in the world.

I think our happiness index has shot up  this visit has been a blessing for Bhutan, said Wangchuck. It is wonderful they got to meet our King and Queen and the new prince.

Tshering, who was with the couple at the Tigers Nest monastery on Friday, added, They loved the walk and were very fit. William got to see a yak which he said was a first.

Theyre a marvelous couple and its been an honor to receive them. The relationship between our King and Queen and the British people is a good one.
Petoskey soccer pulls in third straight D2 district championship

PETOSKEY  The current group of Petoskey boys soccer players have been no strangers to winning at Northmen Stadium.
The president of the largest Chicago police union on Thursday blasted a new report that recommends broad reforms within the department, calling the report one-sided and unfair to officers.

Dean Angelo Sr., president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he thinks members of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's hand-picked Police Accountability Task Force made up their minds about police before studying the issues. The report, written in occasionally scalding language, cites statistics and historic events as it calls out the department for alleged racial bias and indifference to the problems of residents.

The nearly 200-page report, released Wednesday, faults the city and the police union for allowing officers to escape accountability for misconduct. The report comes amid a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation spurred by the release of video of a police officer fatally shooting African-American 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The task force report called the release of the video a "tipping point" in police-community relations.

"I believe they had an agenda or a built-in bias going in," Angelo told the Chicago Tribune. "And I don't see the need to do that when the Department of Justice are the subject matter experts, not the task force."
Tyler Michael Harrell faces a charge of attempted capital murder. (Photo: Austin PD)

The Austin Police Department has identified the man who shot a SWAT team member as Tyler Michael Harrell, 18. Travis County online jail records show he is charged with attempted capital murder.

The wounded officer has been identified as Jason Pittman. He was hired by Austin PD in 2008. He is currently recovering at a local hospital.

Pittman was shot in the knee Thursday morning when the SWAT team was serving a search warrant for suspected narcotics trafficking and sales. They entered the building and used a loudspeaker to announce who they were. That is when police say the suspect rounded the corner upstairs with a long gun and opened fire.

Related:

Video: Austin SWAT Officer Shot Executing Search Warrant
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Bill Clinton let his Southern roots show as he appeared to take great offense to Bernie Sanders minimizing the votes of Southern Democrats who supported his wifes presidential campaign.

Video:

https://youtu.be/vLSJdjREzv4

While campaigning for his wife in the Bronx, Bill Clinton said, About the only thing that disappointed me about the debate last night was the sneering reference that her opponent made to the mammoth victory she won in the South. Oh, its just the South. We know how conservative they are. Well excuse me, but Democrats need to win Florida and North Carolina not only to get elected, but they are states of the future  highly diverse. And she won a big victory there. She won in Mississippi partly because they have a major in Jacksonville, an African-American guy who is the embodiment of the future who helped her. She won in Alabama, 93% of the African-American vote and a majority of the white vote because when she was a young woman, this is one reason, she went to Alabama for the Childrens Defense Fund to help shut down private segregated academies that were pretending to be public schools. It took a lot of guts to go in and pose a racist mother who wanted her kid at an all white school to prove that they were ripping off the taxpayers and violating the law.

Former President Clinton was reacting to Sen. Sanders downplaying the South during the CNN debate, Secretary Clinton cleaned our clock in the Deep South. No question about it. We got murdered there. That is the most conservative part of this great country. Thats the fact. But you know what? Were out of the Deep South now. And were moving up. We got here. Were going to California. We got a number of large states there. And having won seven out of the last eight caucuses and primaries.

Sen. Sanders has won caucuses in deep red states like Alaska, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho during his recent hot streak, so it isnt like the Sanders campaign is expanding the map for November with their caucus wins either.

Bill Clinton seemed to take Sanders remarks personally because he is a Southerner, and Southern Democrats have long been ignored by the Democratic Party. Southern Democrats get a bad rap and are often lumped in with Republicans because they are trapped in red states. Sen. Sanders might not have meant it this way, but he has developed a habit of suggesting that the real Democratic states are the blue ones in the North and West.

Twitter lit up with Southern Dems who not only noticed, but were offended by Sanders dismissal of their role in the primary process. Clinton was correct on one point. States with changing demographics like Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas are the future for the Democratic Party, so it would be a mistake for anyone to dismiss a Democrat who might appeal to voters in these states.

As Sanders continues to struggle mightily with African-American voters, his seeming dismissive of states where substantial numbers of African-Americans have voted may not help his cause in future more diverse primaries.

There are Southern Democrats who want nothing more than to turn their states blue. These people work day and night against great odds to lay the groundwork for a future Democratic victory. Just because many of them voted for Hillary Clinton, their efforts should not be discounted. Bernie Sanders is trying to keep hope that he can win alive, but in the process he needs to be respectful of those who play an important part in the Democratic primary process.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

It is no surprise that the CNN Brooklyn Democratic debate that was characterized by sloppy moderators, frustrated candidates, and a ton of rehashed material only drew 5.6 million viewers.

According to TVNewser, 5.6 million watched Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debate in Brooklyn last night. Among the adults 25-54 demo, 1.798 million watched. The debate, which aired on CNN, was the third least-watched of this cycle.

None of the last three Democratic debates have gotten more than six million viewers. If there was one consensus thought coming out of the CNN debate it was that everyone is tired. The candidates had little new to say, and mostly stuck to their standard talking points and stump speeches. Unless someone had not been following the 2016 Democratic primary, they would have learned nothing new about the candidates.

Much of the problem was caused by CNNs usual willingness to try to stir up controversy instead of discussing the issues. In previous debates, Clinton and Sanders wouldnt give the media what they wanted, but in Brooklyn, the candidates talked over each other, made mountains of policy differences that are molehills, and generally turned off Democrats who had been proud of the civil nature of previous debates.

Democratic viewers have spoken, and with Hillary Clinton looking firmly in control of the New York primary, it is probably time to put an end to the debates. For the first time, it can be argued that Democratic voters werent well served by one of the partys presidential debates. Brooklyn was a good venting session for the two candidates, but with more and more Democrats wanting to look towards November, the ratings suggest that it is time to give viewers a break and stop the endless cycle of town halls and debates.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

* The following is an opinion column by R Muse *

If Democrats were the intelligent party it claims to be, during a general election season it seems obvious they would take full advantage of a barely living, barely breathing, and barely functional Republican-led state like Kansas as an example of what never to do; elect Republicans. Although there are about 20 Republican dominated states to use as an example of disastrous policies, or which partys representatives never to vote for, Kansas, or whats left of it should be cited as what awaits America if Republicans run the federal government.

However, even a living, breathing example of a Republican state dying may not convince ignorant Americans that Republicans are catastrophically dangerous. It is why Republicans attack education at every opportunity; they would not exist without a stupid base and there is no better way to keep stupid thriving than cutting, and privatizing, public education; just look at Kansas re-electing a monumental cock-up like Sam Brownback. Apparently, that idea of keeping voters stupid factors in to Kansas Governor Sam Brownbacks trickle-down crusade that is as notorious for slashing public education as it is slashing taxes for the rich and corporations.

Just when it seemed there was little left of Kansas public education system for Brownback to rape and pillage into non-existence, a new scheme may be the death knell for Kansas public schools which is, after all, every Republicans wet dream. Brownback has already invoked the wrath of the Kansas State Supreme Court, twice, for unconstitutionally underfunding the states schools, but since he considers himself above the judiciary and the constitution, there is another rash of education cuts on the horizon in an effort to privatize the education system. It is just another typically Republican way to increase wealth for corporations on top of giving them unfunded tax cuts.

The latest education defunding legislation, HB 2741, is an ALEC-inspired bill to provide the state with a new public school funding formula. The state needed a new formula after the repeal of the previous formula based on a two year block grant mechanism that drastically cut education funding for staying in operation which is why the Kansas Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. The Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) provides a fair summary of the bill that establishes the Kansas Education Freedom Act.

Instead of adequately funding the public schools, this typically Republican absurdity creates private school savings and funding programs by diverting whats left of public education funding directly to private schools. It allows parents to confiscate 70 percent of funding for public schools in their district to pay for private religious schools, Internet schools, home schools, and personal tutors. The Act basically cuts 70 percent of public school funding and sends it directly to private and religious educational enterprises.

What is worse, the bill only requires such students be provided instruction in the least subjects required by state law, and does not require any type of student assessment or accountability measures. Libertarians and Republicans believe it is big government intrusion if there was any accountability for spending government dollars on private and religious education. Even worse than no accountability or assessment, the Kansas state treasurer will have unchallenged regulatory oversight over academics and finances and not anyone in the Kansas State Department of Education.

Kansas version of education freedom accounts mimics closely ALECs Education Savings Account Act template. Particularly the idea of giving education oversight to the state treasurer follows ALECs suggestion that a states department in charge of education has no right to interfere with education; private or public. ALECs legislation defines this educational oversight department as an organization chosen by the state. Putting the state treasurer in charge of public education is another means Brownback is using to weaken public services like education by wresting control from local governments; it also eliminates the need for a state Department of Education and all that goes with it.

There are a rash of abominations in the proposed fix to put an end to public education in Kansas and it should be a dire warning and clarion call to the entire nation of what will be a major disaster if Republicans control the government. Any American that thinks it can never happen here in my state would be well advised to check if their state is one of ALECs targets.

Several states are already infected with the same ALEC legislation Kansas is attempting to force on the public school system. According to the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), in 2015 Republicans introduced 172 measures in 42 states parroting the Koch brothers favorite legislation writers, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The end game of the ALEC legislation is to transform public education from a public and accountable institution that serves the public into one that serves private, for-profit interests.

With public education typically making up a relatively fair portion of state budgets, as it should, the various ALEC-Republican legislation attacking public education is meant specifically to shrink government and eliminate taxation; It is the Grover Norquist plan to privatize all aspects of Americas government by starving it of revenue and shrink it to a size I can drown in a bathtub.

A Kansas state legislator once let slip that the Brownback tax cuts were created to starve the state of revenue to justify shrinking the government and thus eliminate services. Although all areas of Kansas government and services have suffered under the Brownback trickle-down frenzy, public education has taken the greatest hits. So much so that the Kansas Supreme Court has twice ruled that Brownbacks education cuts are unconstitutional. His response was to push legislation nullifying the Kansas state judiciary and punish non-compliant judges.

There is no good outcome for Kansas public schools if this latest Republican abomination comes to pass; which it almost certainly will. It seems natural to feel bad for Kansas residents, but Brownback had already decimated the public schools before they re-elected him to finish the job and privatize the system to do what Republicans do best; reward the rich at the expense of the masses. In this case it is at the expense of Kansas students that will grow up to be as ignorant as Brownbacks supporters.

Coupled with the prospect of another generation of ignorant Republican voters, and a prime example of how catastrophic Republican governance is, Democrats could not possibly have a bigger campaign asset than lowly Kansas.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Sen. Bernie Sanders put the politics of the presidential campaign aside by sitting down with Pope Francis privately for five minutes. There were no cameras, no transcripts, and no press, as the Sanders/Francis meeting was clearly not a political endorsement.

Politico gave some details about the meeting:

The encounter was unannounced and there were no photographs taken. The Vatican press office had said in the days leading up to the conference that there was no meeting planned. The pope, a frequently-mentioned character in Sanders stump speech and campaign materials, was seen as unlikely to meet with Sanders due to his travel schedule. The meeting in the foyer of the Domus of Santa Marta came about after the popes schedule meant he was unable to attend the conference Sanders was attending in Vatican City on Friday. At the time, he sent a hand-written note to conference attendees apologizing. While Sanders was having dinner later on Friday night, he learned that the pope would like to meet before leaving for Greece.

Some advisers in the Sanders campaign have been worried about the Vatican trip taking the candidate off of the campaign trail days before a New York primary that could be viewed as make or break for Sanders. Political critics of the trip have suggested that Sanders was trying to give his presidential campaign a boost by appearing publicly with Pope Francis.

The reality is that Bernie Sanders motives werent that complicated. He admired Pope Francis and didnt think he could pass up a chance to go to the Vatican-sponsored conference and meet him. Viewed from this perspective the trip was a reminder of how far a formerly Senator from Vermont has personally come in a relatively short period.

Bernie Sanders is 74 years old and has spent decades advocates for many of the same economic principles that Pope Francis often speaks about. The political reality is that his presidential campaign is winding down, and the current odds are against him winning the Democratic nomination.

If Bernie Sanders wants to go to Vatican City and maybe snag five private minutes with the pope, why not? Sen. Sanders has earned it. Sanders had a once in a lifetime chance to do something, and he took it.

Win or lose. Bernie Sanders has done a great service to the Democratic Party by mounting a competitive campaign. Passions are high among supporters of both campaigns, but some things like Sanders meeting privately with the pope have nothing to do with the primary.

It may cost him in New York on Tuesday, but props to Sen. Sanders for understanding that there is more to life than presidential campaigns.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Pope Francis shot down reports that he met with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The pope described his interaction with Sanders as a brief greeting and common courtesy.

Crux reported:

This morning as I was leaving, Senator Sanders was there, Francis said. He knew I was coming out at that time, and he had the kindness to greet me. When I came down, he introduced himself, I greeted him with a handshake, and nothing more, the pope added. Its common courtesy, this is called common courtesy. If someone thinks that greeting someone is getting involved in politics, he said, I recommend that they find a psychiatrist.

The popes description of the interaction greatly differs from the one reported by Politico, which should be noted was provided by a Sanders adviser. It is likely that there was no meeting between Sanders and Pope Francis. It is probably that a Sanders adviser was trying to put a happy face on a brief unplanned interaction between the two men.

Pope Francis makes it sound like Bernie Sanders made the trip over to greet him before he left, which is the opposite of what the Politico story claimed. The Politico story claimed that Francis invited Sanders to meet with him on Friday.

The Sanders campaign has had a bad week. They are trailing by double digits in the New York primary. Sanders did not deliver the primary changing moment that he needed at the Democratic debate in Brooklyn. One of the campaigns surrogates came under fire for referring to Democratic corporate whores at a Sanders rally, and now, the Pope denies the Sanders campaigns version of the meeting with the Democratic candidate.

It has been a bad week for the Sanders campaign that could not have come at a worse time. Whether or not Sanders met with the pope probably wont matter to the results in New York, but this was pretty much last thing that the Sanders campaign needed right now.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

This is how Republican family values play out, apparently: in your car full of kids, drunk, with a pistol strapped to your hip. Thats how the police found Georgia state Rep. Tom Taylor last week, reports The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

Taylor, 54, a Dunwoody Republican, had a blood-alcohol content of .225, nearly three times the legal limit of .08, according to a Clayton Police Department incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Taylor, Chairman of MARTOC, a statutory committee with oversight of the MARTA budget  the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (theres irony for you)  told the AJC,

I profoundly regret this serious mistake. Theres no one to blame but me, and I greatly appreciate the professionalism of the officers involved. This was my first run-in with the law in my life, and it will also be my last.

Well, thats all right then, isnt it? No harm, no foul. I mean, he was only doing 72 mph in a 45 mph zone while having a blood-alcohol content of three times the legal limit. Again, with a car full of kids and a pistol strapped to his hip. What could go wrong?

This is Red State America in 2016, folks: a blood-shot-eyed politician who smells like booze, denying he had anything to drink while having an empty water bottle smelling of booze in his car and a pistol strapped to his hip. And this guy is telling yall how to live YOUR lives. And not only telling you, but in a position to make laws FORCING you.

Its not pretty, but its what we have to work with until Americans wake up and end the Republican scourge at state level, and with rampant Republican voter suppression and redistricting, this wont be easily done.
25  2021 - 200     

        !

     . (     )

  ,  Cookies        .          cookies.




The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun, in this brief chat with PREMIUM TIMES Festus Owete and Hassan Adebayo, speaks on the state of the party, the corruption trial of the senate president and other issues.

Excerpt:

PT: Almost one year after your party came to power, there is still public outcry. There is hardship. Are you aware? Whats your take on this?

Oyegun: It is very unfortunate. But Mr. President is determined. It is unfortunate that the problem is much worse than we expected; much worse in the sense that we have to develop process that will truly produce jobs; that will truly produce progress. We really want to avoid blaming the past because people no longer want that; they just want these conditions to change. But we still must face the reality. For instance, I dont think there is one Nigerian that is not aware of heavy expenditure on electricity that did not result in improved supply. Sixteen years of mismanagement added to the collapse of oil caused the problem. But I assure you the president is very determined to bring the change.

But you cant blame Nigerians for the outcry. The wife of a man who was bringing N100 home before but now brings N40 will fight. Every single member of the family will feel it. Thats the situation with Nigerians. But Nigerians must also be aware that that those people who hold the country to stranglehold are fighting back. Corruption is fighting back very massively. Look at the issue of fuel scarcity. Even as a party, we had to call the minister of state for petroleum resources. We asked how do we explain all this?

PT: The revelations were frightening?

Oyegun: Yes, frightening! But I was elated by that fact that in another few years, even before our first tenure ends, we could even become a net exporter of refined oil. So, the Buhari administration is not just planning that people dont queue again; we already planning for full availability of products. But beyond, we will ensure refineries go back to work. And other refineries from the private sector are coming.

So we appeal; our new orientation is that Nigeria changes to a producing economy from a consuming one.

PT: So, you are aware Nigerians have not felt the change you promised?

Oyegun: We are aware. But you know change is a process. Change is progressive. You see, by the hardship people are going through, if you start explaining what change is, it will be like you dont have feelings. Change is not just about fuel. Change is about how we think; our approach to issues. It is a massive undertaking. When the process fully completes, we will have a totally new Nigeria. One doesnt want to use all these words our people have abused  I am not a magician and all that  but look at the fact of total mismanagement of resources, added to collapse of oil price. The reality is that change is a process. Its not just about fuel queue has disappeared. It is our determination to combat forces which are ready to see people cry to make money. Thats why we have to go through the challenges but just for short moment. How we explain this to Nigerians is what I dont know?

PT: You keep talking about the past. Nigerians knew all of that before they voted your party. Why cant you just move forward?

Oyegun: Isnt that the situation? We will move forward. But the aches and the pains by the PDP must not be run away from. You cant close your ears to it. It is fact and reality. Please help us explain this to the public. Oil price dropped from over $100 to over $20 at some time. Where do you get FOREX when oil accounts for 95 per cent of your foreign earnings?

PT: Will the budget, when signed into law, make things improve?

Oyegun: Yes. At least a little snippet of what is there has come out to the public; Lagos-Calabar rail project and so on. These are heavy projects. These are projects that will bring hope. People will say well, I am suffering now but I have hope when these projects begin.

PT: A major issue currently is the trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. A section says political solution should be deployed. Do you want to talk about this bearing in mind that the PDP is planning to take the position if Saraki is removed?

Oyegun: We dont take anything for granted. As they are planning, we are also planning. The situation is under control. The whole situation is unfortunate but it is real.

What political situation in a legal matter? Are the judges politicians? The President is certainly not the type who will interfere in a judicial matter. I think we know him well. Everybody must know him. Things must be done normally. And that is part of the change mantra that we must play by the rule so that we dont truncate processes.

People dont seem to internalize what change is. If the President says court, free that man, the same president can say court, imprison that man. Is that the Nigeria you want? No! Change means allowing the law to take the proper course. I can tell you the President wont interfere. The President is straight definite, straight and firm in all facets.

PT: So, you are not bothered that you can lose the seat of President of the Senate, should Bukola Saraki be removed because of your narrow majority?

Oyegun: Well, I dont think we will lose that position. But sometimes, for change to take place there is price you have to pay. So losing the position may be sacrifice for change.

PT: Is there any infighting in APC?

Oyegun: There are differences in views. Interests differ. Some feel they are not sufficiently rewarded or consulted. So, it happens. We are just barely one year in power.

PT: We ask this because Timi Frank, the deputy publicity secretary of your party, will issue a statement today making some allegations and tomorrow, you will see the national secretary of the party issue another position.

Oyegun: (cuts in) hahaha Timi Frank does not represent or speak for the party. He is a nice young man but unfortunately, he has interest which goes beyond the party. And if you have that you cant speak for the party. We want somebody who is totally loyal to the party.

PT: Cant you call him to order?

Oyegun: That is being done in a way. If you cant toe the party line fully and you think on certain issues you can speak as individual, its not done. You cant do that. I am the Chairman, I cant do that. Otherwise, people take it for party position. And thats what the press is doing today. Timi Frank talks about his personal views and they still put that tag that APC deputy national publicity secretary has spoken, which is not.

PT: Why is it difficult to replace Lai Mohammed?

Oyegun: Lai Mohammed for that job is first class. Thats what I meant the last time I spoke on this.

PT: And so he is indispensable.

Oyegun: I didnt say hes indispensable. How can I say any human being is indispensable? These offices are zoned. Lai Mohammed is from the North Central and we have to look from that zone to replace him.

PT: Whats the issue surrounding the chairmanship of Board of Trustees of APC?

Oyegun: There is no issue with chairmanship of BoT or no chairmanship of BoT. Its just that we have had a rethink that having a BoT of about 200 will mean another rally. We just need a group that is small in number but consists of very strong people that will be able to contribute to the policies of the party. We are already looking at legal aspect and redrafting the constitution to make the BoT a lot less in term of number but much in term of quality.

PT: There are reports that the disagreement between Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu over who should be the chairman between the two is affecting the BoT?

Oyegun: No. You see, there are people with interests. Atiku has not said he wants the position and the same thing goes to any other person. But people who are behind the speculations are the persons involved. It is not Atiku. People are just creating scenarios. So, it has nothing to do with Atiku or Tinubu or whoever else might be interested or considered.

PT: It was reported that Tinubu was making moves to impose the BoT Chair.

Oyegun: I am not aware.

PT: People are saying the party is cash-strapped because the President does not fund the party. Is this true?

Oyegun: Please, gentlemen, understand what change is. We cant continue to throw money. We cant go into public treasury to take money for funding the party. Thats change. So, we have got to be innovative to find means of raising funds. Of course, we are constrained, but we have had to be inventive. People are now saying somebody is not funding the party. That is normal. If tomorrow you hear the president is using public money to fund the party, wont you scream? So, the change is even affecting the party.

PT: Is the party buoyant?

Oyegun: We are getting back. We are not buoyant in terms of throwing money around.
The UK government has pledged  32 million support to Nigeria over the next three years to help deliver humanitarian assistance and protections to victims of the crisis in the north-eastern part of the country.

The UK minister for international development, Nick Hurd, said the British governments gesture would help provide relief for over seven million people facing increased humanitarian devastation as a result of the conflict in the region.

The UK is committed to continuing to help Nigeria to provide humanitarian assistance and protection for people affected by the conflict in north eastern Nigeria, Mr. Hurd said.

Welcoming Nigerias efforts to support the affected population, the envoy said the UK government was looking forwards to the continued collaboration with all partners to strengthen the effort to reach the most vulnerable people in difficult areas.

He said the funds, which would be channelled through the United Nations, UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, and other humanitarian organisations, would be used to provide support for critical life-saving assistance.

Apart from support for nutrition, food security, water and sanitation as well as protection of civilians affected by the conflict, the minister said technical expertise would also be made available to the Nigerian government to support the humanitarian response to the crisis.

Noting the enormous and growing humanitarian needs in north-east, Mr. Hurd said the situation required a sustained, large-scale government-led response to meet peoples basic needs and to help them rebuild their lives once security conditions allow them to return home.

The minister said the new funding is in addition to more than 8.2 million provided by the UK since 2014 to help respond to the life-saving humanitarian needs of people affected by the conflict though violence, displacement, and loss of livelihoods.

In addition, the Minister announced a substantial increase of 16.7 million to boost Nigerias solar energy programme.

The additional funding is in support of a UK-sponsored Solar Nigeria Programme for which 37.1 million has already been approved since 2013 to promote access to household energy in Nigeria.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a mother of three who faked pregnancy with 86 pellets of white powdery substances that tested positive to cocaine.

Dorothy Onyekasi, 41, was intercepted at the Lagos airport during the inward screening of passengers on an Emirates flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The cocaine has a total weight of 1.720 kilogrammes with an estimated street value of N20.6 million Naira, the NDLEA said in a statement on Saturday.

Ahmadu Garba, NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport, said the wraps of cocaine would have been easily mistaken for pregnancy.

It was discovered that the suspect kept 86 wraps of cocaine inside a waist bag which was tied to her stomach, said Mr. Garba.

Unfortunately, the drug was detected by NDLEA officers on her arrival from Dubai. The drug was immediately packed and weighed in her presence.

The suspect, who said shes an importer of female bags and shoes, said her involvement in drug trafficking was a mistake.

I am separated from my husband who left me with three children. I used to import female bags and shoes from Dubai. My involvement in drug trafficking is a mistake and I take responsibility for my action.

I travelled to Dubai to buy my goods. While I was preparing to return, I met a man in Dubai who gave me the drug and promised to give me enough money to expand my business. He also told me that when I get to Nigeria, he will call his partner to collect the drug and give me my money.

The suspect said on arrival in Nigeria, officials of the NDLEA detected the drugs at the airport.

It is all my fault., Ms. Onyekasi, who hails from Enugu State, said.

If only I was contented with the profit from the sales of my goods; I would not have been in this problem.

Muhammed Abdallah, NDLEAs Chairman described recent drug seizures at the Lagos airport as a welcome development that is capable of forcing drug cartels to a retreat.

In the past few days, the NDLEA has recorded numerous arrests and drug seizures at the Lagos airport, said Mr. Abdallah, a retired colonel.

The drug cartels have also suffered huge losses from these operations. This particular suspect feigned pregnancy with wraps of cocaine but she was caught by vigilant narcotic agents.

Some of the suspects recently apprehended concealed drugs in their socks and luggage while others ingested wraps of cocaine in disregard of the danger to their health. In spite of their craftiness, we are daily stopping them from perpetrating their criminal act and forcing them to a retreat.
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.




MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global retail analytics leader, Retail Solutions Inc.(RSi), today announced Jeff McDaniel, VP of Customer Success North America for RSi, will be a guest speaker at the annual Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) Asset Protection Conference. McDaniel will be contributing to the analytics portion of the discussion with best-in-class suppliers Mead Johnson and Procter & Gamble on Monday, April 18th at 2:15 pm local time at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.

With omni-channel becoming a reality and uberization taking the economy by storm, asset protection is evolving at an unprecedented pace, making it challenging for executives to stay current in the way they protect their company, employees, and assets. The Retail Asset Protection Conference brings together over 900 top asset protection executives to better understand the impact of emerging trends, discover innovative solutions and network with their peers. The conference is taking place April 17-20th, 2016 in Dallas, Texas.

McDaniel will join Barry Poole, National Retail Manager for Mead Johnson Nutrition and Shawn Evans, Shave On-Shelf Availability Leader, North America for Procter & Gamble to discuss the impact of shrink on on-shelf availability for retailers. The session will discuss how RSi uses retailer data to identify problems at the shelf caused by phantom inventory and how manufacturers can use these insights to deploy the right resources to stores to address and solve issues. Retailers will also learn how to better engage with manufacturers to help involve them in effective shared loss prevention strategies and reduce the impact of shrink on sales.

The session is designed to provide retailers with a wealth of insights, including:

Knowledge on how to leverage data to maximize On-Shelf Availability

What analytics can be used to identify shrink occurrences

Information on what product manufacturers are doing to engage retailers to sell more

Ways to leverage product manufacturers resources and analytics

"Mead Johnson and Procter & Gamble are amongst the leaders in retailer collaboration for loss prevention" said McDaniel, "We are honored to work with them and explain how the industry at large can benefit from the best practices they have implemented and from the proprietary measurement techniques, alerts and collaborative business processes developed by RSi."

About Retail Solutions Inc. (RSi)

Retail Solutions Inc. (RSi) turns retailer data into opportunity - in the store, on the shelf and with shoppers worldwide. Designed to enable sustained operational excellence and to automate the path to purchase, RSi's proprietary algorithms, business processes and suite of intelligent, cloud-based applications help the world's leading consumer goods manufacturers and retailers listen and respond quickly to consumer demand - ensuring the right product is in the right store, at the right time. Each day, the RSi platform processes billions of records from over 150 major retailers in more than 150,000 locations around the world and turns this data into actionable insights for immediate, automated decision-making. From solving out-of-stocks to driving inventory down, from optimizing sales strategies to determining marketing ROI, RSi improves operational excellence and drives sales. More than 500 global retailers and CPG companies, including such household names as Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle, the Procter & Gamble Company and Unilever trust RSi. To learn more about the company, visit: http://www.retailsolutions.com/ and http://www.rsishopper.com/.

About Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA):

RILA is the trade association of the world's largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad. For more information visit http://www.prweb.net/Redirect.aspx?id=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5yaWxhLm9yZw==.

PRLog ID: www.prlog.org/12550508

SOURCE Retail Solutions Inc. (RSi)

Related Links

http://www.retailsolutions.com


BALA CYNWYD, Pa., April 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Law Office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC announces an investigation comScore, Inc. ("comScore" or the "Company") (Nasdaq -SCOR- News) for potential violations of federal securities laws and breaches of the comScore Board's fiduciary duties.

Click here to learn more http://brodsky-smith.com/1060-scor-comscore-inc.html, or call: 877-534-2590. There is no cost or obligation to you.

The investigation concerns a securities class action lawsuit commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges that the Defendants made false and misleading statements including failing to disclose: (1) that the Company's accounting practices were not in compliance with applicable SEC regulations; (2) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls over accounting; (3) that the Company would be unable to file its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 in a timely manner; and (4) that the Company's financial statements and various statements about comScore's business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading. Following the disclosure of this information shares of comScore stock declined significantly.

If you purchased shares of comScore between May 5, 2015 and March 7, 2016, and wish to discuss the investigation, or if you have any questions, you may e-mail or call the law office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC by May 9, 2016, who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Jason L. Brodsky, Esquire or Evan J. Smith, Esquire at Brodsky & Smith, LLC, Two Bala Plaza, Suite 602, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, by e-mail at [email protected], by visiting http://brodsky-smith.com/1060-scor-comscore-inc.html, or calling toll free 877-LEGAL-90.

Brodsky & Smith, LLC is a litigation law firm with extensive expertise representing shareholders throughout the nation in securities and class action lawsuits. The attorneys at Brodsky & Smith have been appointed by numerous courts throughout the country to serve as lead counsel in class actions and successfully recovered millions of dollars for our clients and shareholders.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE Brodsky & Smith, LLC

Related Links

http://www.brodsky-smith.com


Moscow, April 12 : 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.
Mumbai, April 12 : Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday visited the Deonar dumping ground here and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the government's 'Swachh Bharat' programme.

"Talking about 'Swachh Bharat' and acting on it are two different things. But I feel very sad as there is no strategy and vision to clear the dump yard here," Gandhi told reporters.

They have just given a slogan of 'Swachh Bharat' and now it is up to the prime minister and the government to clear the dump, Gandhi added.

He said Mumbai was a symbol of India's development and there should not be such a dumping ground in the metropolis. The dump has witnessed fire incidents in recent months.

Rahul Gandhi arrived in Maharashtra on Monday and addressed a rally in Nagpur as part of B.R. Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary celebrations. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also addressed the rally.
Chennai, April 13 : Actress Amy Jackson, who has briefly shot for her portion in superstar Rajinikanth's "2.o" over the last couple weeks, will join the sets again in May.

"Last week, we shot some action sequences with Rajinikanth and Akshay. It has been so much fun shooting so far. I'm really looking forward to join the sets again in May," Amy told IANS.

Contrary to the rumours, Amy doesn't play a robot in the film, a sequel to Tamil blockbuster aceEnthiran".

Directed by Shankar, the film marks the Tamil debut of Akshay Kumar, who will be seen as the antagonist.

Amy is also looking forward to this week's Tamil release "Theri" starring Vijay.

"Ever since I came to India, I've been waiting for an opportunity to work with Vijay. Now, I feel very blessed," she said.

"Theri", which is directed by Atlee, releases in cinemas tomorrow worldwide.
Brasilia, April 15 : Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected a government injunction aimed at preventing an impeachment vote against President Dilma Rousseff.

The impeachment debate in the lower house of parliament is due to start later on Friday and continue until Sunday's vote. If two-thirds of MPs vote for impeachment, the motion will pass to the Senate, BBC reported.

Rousseff, who said her opponents are plotting a "coup", faces claims she manipulated government accounts.

She has vowed to fight to "the last minute" despite the desertion of three allied parties ahead of Sunday's vote in the lower house of parliament.

The Supreme Court made its decision in an extraordinary session on Thursday night.

The injunction to suspend the vote was filed by Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo who claimed that alleged procedural failings had violated the president's right to a defence.

Seven of 10 justices voted to reject the motion even before the Supreme Court session had finished.

Judges first looked at a request made by the ruling Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), which asked that they change the way in which 513 deputies will be called to vote next Sunday to decide whether the case will be sent to the Senate, EFE reported.

The PCdoB had questioned the decision that deputies will be called to vote in blocks determined by the states they represent, but the Supreme Court said the model fits the Constitution and the internal rules of the legislature.

On the table, there are four lawsuits dealing with technicalities but the petition filed by the Attorney General could interrupt the entire process.
Mumbai, April 16 : Veteran actor Dilip Kumar has been admitted to Lilavati hospital here on Saturday morning and is diagnosed with pneumonia, the actor's family friend Udaya Tara Nayyar confirmed.

"He had high fever today (Saturday) morning so we got him to hospital. The actor has pneumonia and the doctors have started the medication," Udaya Tara Nayar told IANS.

"He is stable now, and under observation. The actor is not in ICU. He is doing fine," Nayar informed.

Dilip Kumar was rushed to the hospital on Saturday morning due to fever and breathing problem.
Agra, April 16 : The Taj Mahal is ready for the hyped visit of British royal couple, prince William and Kate, on Saturday.

According to the programme released here, the royal couple will have lunch and dinner at hotel Amar Vilas. They will see the Taj Mahal around 4.00 p.m., and leave late in the evening for Delhi by a special chartered plane.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will not be coming to welcome the dignitaries, as was earlier reported by a section of the media, and some hoardings placed.

The famed Diana seat on the central pool has been repaired, and the staircase were given a fresh coat of paint.

On Friday, municipal workers were seen cleaning up the whole area in Taj Ganj.

The almost 10 km long stretch of road from Kheria airport to the hotel Amar Vilas has been spruced up and barricades ready to be placed to stop traffic when the dignitaries pass the heavily guarded Mall road.

"Clearly there is no excitement among the people here, for whom they remain symbols of imperialism that subjugated India for over two centuries. Although the media is trying hard to hype the visit of the royal couple. For us it is like any other VIP visit," commented social activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

William and Kate are following the footsteps of the prince's mother, Princess Diana, who visited the symbol of love 24 years ago.

Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1631 to hold the body of his wife as an enormous, opulent expression of his love.

The visit to the Taj will be the last stop for Prince William and the duchess, the former Kate Middleton, on a seven-day tour to India and Bhutan.
Tokyo, April 16 : At least 15 people were killed and 760 injured as a powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale hit Japan's Kumamoto prefecture on Saturday.

The quake comes close on the heels of tremors felt on Thursday that killed nine people, The Japan Times reported.

Authorities reported of damage over a wide area, as reports came in of scores of people trapped in collapsed buildings, fires and power outages.

The media also reported a "small-scale" eruption at Mount Aso, a large active volcano in Kumamoto. The Japanese Meteorological Agency said it was not clear how the eruption was linked to the quakes.

The powerful shaking also triggered a huge landslide that swept away homes and cut off a national highway in Minamiaso.

Thursday's quake affected old houses, and larger buildings were damaged across Kumamoto, the epicentre of both the quakes.

Local officials said the Aso Ohashi bridge in the village had also collapsed.

Heavy rain forecast for the coming days could cause more landslides and affect already damaged structures, the meteorological agency said.

Kumamoto prefecture police said they have received reports of 97 people trapped or buried under collapsed buildings.

Saturday's temblor triggered a tsunami advisory, although it was later lifted and no irregularities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the area, a senior government official said.

People still reeling from Thursday's shock poured onto the streets as the quake struck around 1.25 a.m. (local time) on Saturday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters the government was making every effort to determine the extent of the damage, carry out rescue and recovery, and to get accurate information to citizens.

"It's possible that there may be damage over a wide area," Abe said.

The meteorological agency initially said the Saturday quake measured 7.1 on the Richter Scale but later revised it up to 7.3.

"We would not be surprised to see more earthquakes of this size," said John Bellini, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey.

A magnitude-9 quake in March 2011 in the Tohoku region touched off a massive tsunami and nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima. Nearly 20,000 people were killed in the disaster.

Japan is on the seismically active "ring of fire" around the Pacific Ocean and has building codes aimed at helping structures withstand earthquakes.

Factories in the area operated by manufacturers including Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. halted production after Thursday's tremor but no major damage was reported.
Chennai, April 16 : Suriya-starrer Tamil action thriller "24", which features the actor in a triple role, is confirmed to hit the marquee on May 6 with special premieres planned a day prior overseas.

In an official statement, the film's North America distributor, CineGalaxy Inc, confirmed the film's release on May 6.

The film's Tamil as well as dubbed Telugu version will release simultaneously.

Directed by Vikram K. Kumar, the film also stars Nithya Menen and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

This will be the second big summer release for CineGalaxy Inc after Vijay's "Theria".
Agra, April 16 : Agra in Uttar Pradesh has been sizzling at temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius as the weatherman said there is no hope of an early respite.

The maximum temperature recorded on Friday was 43 degree Celsius.

On Saturday morning, there were a few clouds in the sky, but the heat was intense.

"Already it's so hot, one can feel the 'loo' (hot wind in summer)," said morning walker Pradeep Bhai in Paliwal Park here.

Naresh Paras, another resident, suggested early closing of schools for summer vacations.

The heat is making life difficult for lakhs of visitors to the city of Taj.

Thousands of 'Zaireen' (visitors to places of Islamic significance) from different parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal are currently camping here, wanting to see Taj Mahal and other mausoleums.

"District authorities have made arrangements at Kothi Meena Bazar ground for their stay, but the rising temperature has caused many to fall sick. Drinking water remains a major problem," said Nasir Khan, one of the Zaireen.

As it always happens in the summers, Agra city has little water for the thirsty.

Half of the city has been without water for over a fortnight and there have been scuffles over sharing of tank water in the Trans Yamuna area.

Water works authorities said the availability of raw water from the Yamuna had declined. "Soon water will need to be released from Okhla barrage in Delhi to get over the crisis," an official said.

Despite high temperatures, the marriage season began with the end of nine-day fasting of Chaitra Navratri.

"The marriage season will last for a month. There is crushing demand for caterers, pandits (priests) and other service providers," said Madhukar Chaubey, a priest.
Kolkata, April 16 : He is no magician, but assures the opposition would vanish on polling day. He has no qualms about asking his men to "bomb the police". While some call him a "dumb publicity seeker", Anubrata Mondal's opponents blame him for violence, electoral malpractices and all that is wrong in his Birbhum district "fiefdom".

And he is not even standing for elections.

With the entire opposition and the civil society literally pleading with the Election Commission to take action against Mondal, it has seemingly become a big challenge for the all-powerful constitutional body to ensure free and fair polls in the district on Sunday by reining in the ruling Trinamool Congress strongman.

Under pressure to act, the Election Commission has decided to keep the activities of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's blue-eyed boy "under constant watch" by a team of Central Police Force supervised by a local magistrate during the entire election period.

The Friday order decrees that Mondal's activities are to be videographed with date and time stamping. This is perhaps unparalleled for a political personality in independent India's electoral history.

Having gained notoriety for his inflammatory speeches, the Trinamool Birbhum district president yet again got into the eye of the storm over his latest 'magical prescription' for his political rivals.

A self-confessed fan of Bollywood actor Amjad Khan, whose chilling dialogues as the dacoit Gabbar Singh in the evergreen celluloid hit "Sholay" he can mouth from memory, Mondal in a series of recent media interviews threatened that "not a single polling agent from the opposition will be visible" on Sunday when Birbhum goes to the hustings in the second phase of the assembly elections.

"Have you seen magic, how in the blink of an eye things vanish and thousands of people with wide eyes can't fathom how it happened? It would be like that," Mondal was quoted as saying.

"At the end of the day, people will say Anubrata forced the opposition polling agents to withdraw, but they will never be able to know how I forced them," he continued, and even forecast the victory margins of the Trinamool candidates in each of the 11 Birbhum district constituencies.

His boast, only days after being reprimanded by the poll panel for making disparaging remarks against actress-turned-BJP-leader Locket Chatterjee, riled the opposition but as usual, the chief minister sprang to his defence.

Minutes after the poll panel on Thursday threatened to take legal action against Keshto, as Mondal is fondly called, a fuming Banerjee asked the EC what crime he had committed and said she wouldn't keep silent if it dared to touch him.

Literally a heavyweight, weighing over 100 kg, the pot-bellied 60-year-old Mondal became a household name during the 2013 rural body polls when he had infamously called upon his partymen to "bomb the police" if the latter even thought of supporting dissident Trinamool activists contesting as independents. He also exhorted his supporters to "torch and damage the houses of the independents if they threaten you".

Soon after Mondal's speech, the houses of some independent nominees were set afire and the father of one of the candidates was killed. The opposition held Mondal responsible, but the Trinamool and the man himself denied the charges. The police have faced flak for soft-pedalling in the cases, though the bereaved's son later returned to the Trinamool and withdrew the charges.

Time and again Mondal has been hitting the headlines for his 'prescriptions', which include sprinkling cyanides on rats (read Marxists activists) or chopping off the wrists of those who dare to tear party posters.

Having attracted Banerjee's attention during the 2000 Nanoor massacre in which 11 Trinamool supporters were killed, allegedly by CPI-M activists, Mondal has gone from strength to strength in the party and since 2011 has become synonymous with Trinamool in its citadel Birbhum, thanks to the party supremo's unflinching confidence in his organisational skills.

Many a times in the past there has been a clamour from the opposition for Mondal's arrest. But it is believed that because of Banerjee -- who also holds the police portfolio -- he has remained untouched.

Fond of colloquialism, Mondal's retorts are often cryptic and those who know him from close quarters, affirm that 'intimidation' is part of the repertoire.

Mondal's promises of giving 'gur, batasha' (molasses and sugar drops) to the voters may seem an innocuous statement but he leaves a lot to be interpreted when he points to the colour of the batashas -- blackish red (the colour of blood).

Notwithstanding his intimidating presence, Mondal suffers from acute respiratory trouble and as once the chief minister said 'enough oxygen doesn't reach his brain' and he often has to carry an oxygen cylinder.

(Anurag Dey can be contacted at anurag.d@ians.in)
New Delhi : A senior BJP leader, campaigning in Kolkata, may well have put his finger on the people's pulse.

When he attacked Mamata Banerjee and the Left-Congress Front in equal measure, the crowd response was tepid. But when he attacked the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for 60 per cent of his speech, people applauded. At 75 percent, there was thunderous applause.

This was at the earlier phases of polling, but there is no reason to believe that the trend will change before counting day.

In fact, if the violence witnessed during the earlier phases continues, and the stuffing of ballot boxes by 'ghost' voters after polling hours multiplies, it will become clear that the TMC is nervous. It is brazening it out through violence, which has now become associated with Mamata's party in the popular imagination.

Does this mean there was no violence during 34 years of CPI-M rule?

A left liberal intellectual explains it succinctly: "CPI-M was more disciplined because it was cadre based; cadres knew the area and its leaders, the ones who had to be attacked. TMC goons who have grown during the five years of TMC rule, enter areas they may not know and attack everybody. There is, therefore, much more bloodshed." There is universal fear.

"Laat khayega ki biryani khayega" (Would you like to be kicked or served biryani?) An "aabdar" or barman at one of Kolkata's many clubs, mimics the TMC's neighbourhood tough. Aabdar is derived from Urdu - one who serves drinks.

"This time we are quiet, but we shall show our hands at the polling booth." He is clearly among the urban Muslims still loyal to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). Otherwise Muslims across the board have no grievance with the Mamata.

In fact, they quite adore her for the way she created an almighty movement in West Bengal on the land issue in Singur and Nandigram between 2006 and 2007. In both these efforts at industrialization by the CPI-M, poorest Muslims, among others, would have lost their livelihood and property, "had Didi not intervened".

That is where she hit the political jackpot. She had lost the 2006 assembly poll but she used Singur and Nandigram as fulcrums to turn her fortunes around. She won 70 per cent of the 54,000 Panchayat seats in 2008. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Left Front came down to 15 seats from 42 in 2004. In 2014, they had only two seats. Mamata won 38.

Now comes the "vote share" punditry on which those who wish to see the back of Mamata in Bengal base their calculations.

Even at her peak Mamata's vote share was only 40 per cent. The CPI-M was 30 per cent and Congress, 10. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may have won just two seats but its vote share was 17 percent.

A very arithmetical argument is: CPI-M's 30 percent and Congress 10 makes the alliance equal to Mamata's 40. The question is: Which way will the BJP's 17 per cent split?

In a complex sociological turf, arithmetic is inadequate to accurately calculate electoral outcomes. To this comes a quick riposte. In Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav held onto his vote bank. After the Nitish Kumar-BJP combination ran its course, it was the Nitish-Lalu combination that triumphed.

Through grit, courage and a refusal to lose, once Mamata ascended the gaddi, she faced her biggest challenge: How to cope with the CPI-M cadres?

Violent tactics to overcome this handicap has become a strategy. Willy nilly she must keep riding the tiger. A group of thugs, cheering her along. Some of these cheering goons have formed an irregular system of co-operatives, called syndicates.

Imagine the new, garish, multi-storeyed buildings near Kolkata airport. Obviously, land has been acquired. "Land losers" have been given a novel compensation. They will supply all the materials used in the buildings. The infection has spread. No enterprise can take to wing without the syndicate's "blessings".

A senior Bengali academic from the US, confident that many in Mamata's administration had once been his students, returned to Kolkata to have his ancestral house repaired. Work progressed until one day a dozen peak-capped TMC volunteers materialized. How had work begun without their knowledge?

The professor and his wife called up a powerful minister, their student. The minister said he was helpless because the syndicate operated on the directives of a different minister.

This system has replaced the Left cadres. Indeed, out-of-job cadres have switched sides and joined the syndicate system. There is great consternation all around.

Obviously, there is loss of support for her. This explains the conventional wisdom across the board: She will return with a vastly reduced margin.

If it is generally accepted that she is on a down-hill slope, who can say with certainty where she may land?

She will, however, not lose support among Muslims who are over 30 per cent of the state's population. Talk to Samsuzaman Ansari, local leader in Matia Burj, where Awadh's last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, was exiled by the British in 1856, and he will list all that Didi has done for the community.

Did not the Left Front government also give them protection? Yes, they gave us protection but they also gave us a mantra:

"Gai ka gosht khaao/CPI-M ke geet gaao"

(Eat beef to your heart's content; but sing the CPI-M's praises). That was all.

There is populism all around. She has improved on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's rural schemes - not just Rs.2 per kg of rice but even gold bangles for girls.

For the Left Front and the Congress this could well be their last battle for survival in the state. They have joined hands in Bengal even though they are in direct conflict in Kerala. There may be no morality in all of this, but is it practical commonsense?

(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal)
Washington, April 16 : US President Barack Obama hosted some of hip-hop's biggest stars for a criminal justice reform meeting at the White House.

According to a White House official, Nicki Minaj, Chance the Rapper, Alicia Keys, Wale, J. Cole, and Ludacris were among the stars who sat down with Obama and some of his top advisers to talk about criminal justice reform on Friday, Time news magazine reported.

An official said the stars were singled out due to their work within communities to confront issues facing young people.

"Through their own nonprofit work or artistic commitment, many of these artists have found ways to engage on the issues of criminal justice reform and empowering disadvantaged young people across the country," the official said.

Obama and his team have focussed on the issue of criminal justice throughout his second term.

Most recently, the president commuted the sentences of dozens of drug offenders, many of whom will be released from federal custody this summer. Obama has also made a point of championing programs that address disadvantages faced by young men and boys of colour, mainly through his "My Brother's Keeper" Initiative.

According to the White House, the celebrities Obama has convened have also been active on the subject of criminal justice.

Singer Alicia Keys has lobbied Congress to pass criminal justice reform legislation, while Chance the Rapper leads an anti-violence campaign in the president's hometown of Chicago.

Many of the other guests, including Common, J.Cole, and Wale, encourage and support youth through programming.
Los Angeles, April 16 : Actors Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart are in early talks to star in upcoming film "Jumanji", a new adaptation of illustrator and writer Chris Van Allsburg's original 1981 adventure book.

Schedules are still being worked out, as both Johnson and Hart have heavy production loads ahead, but according to a source things are moving toward a deal, reports variety.com.

The producers are planning to to shoot "Jumanji" before the third season of Johnson's series "Ballers". He will also shoot "Fast 8" this summer, reprising his role of Agent Hobbs.

Meanwhile, Hart is expected to shoot "The Intouchables" this summer.

The duo showed great chemistry after co-hosting the MTV Movie Awards, and with anticipation high for their upcoming action comedy film "Central Intelligence", the producers see this as the perfect opportunity to pair the two up again for a film.

"Jumanji" will be directed by Jake Kasdan.

The film is slated to release on July 28, 2017.
Kolkata, April 16 : Exuding confidence about the "tyrannical" Mamata Banerjee regime being ousted in the ongoing West Bengal assembly polls, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says his party will join a new coalition government with the Left Front to be formed on the basis of a common minimum programme (CMP).

However, a call on the coalition's chief minister and whether he would be from the Congress or the LF will be taken "at an appropriate time".

Chowdhury - a Lok Sabha member and one of the chief architects of the Congress-LF tie-up - says the alliance between the traditional foes was a response to the people's call for the opposition to unite and dethrone the "corrupt" Trinamool Congress and free Bengal from its "misrule".

"There will be a common minimum programme and going by the response that we have got in the first phase, this alliance will come to power and the Congress will be a part of the government," Chowdhury told IANS in an interview.

Congress leaders Manas Bhunia and Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury have said CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra was the alliance's chief ministerial candidate. But the Bengal Congress chief said the duo have spoken in their individual capacity.

"As of now, neither the Congress nor the LF has decided on the chief ministerial candidate. It will be decided at an appropriate time," he said.

Asked whether he was in the race, Chowdhury said: "I will abide by whatever our high command decides."

In 2011, the Congress had joined hands with the Trinamool to dethrone the Left to end its 34 years of uninterrupted rule in the state. But five years down the line, the entire equation has turned on its head.

"There is no denying the fact that under the Left's 34-year rule, not only the people of Bengal but we too suffered atrocities.

"But If then we were faced with a wolf, this time we are up against a man-eater. The man-eater by the name of Trinamool has devoured democracy and law and order. If not ousted, it will finish off the entire state," Chowdhury maintained.

Candid enough to admit that the Congress or the LF alone cannot dismantle the Trinamool, the parliamenarian said the alliance was the only viable alternative to the ruling party.

"Much like in 2011, now too, it's the people's call for the opposition to unite and dethrone the ruling party. The Congress-LF alliance is the only grouping that can achieve that," said Chowdhury.

The tie-up has come under attack from both the BJP and the Trinamool especially on account of the bitter rivalry between the Congress and the Left in Kerala. But Chowdhury asserted the alliance neither signifies any "existential crisis" nor an "opportunistic politics" of his party and the LF.

"The alliance has become the biggest issue in the polls for our opponents and they are constantly attacking it. It's a big indication of their discomfort. In the alliance, Mamata has already started to hear the death knell of her despotic regime," Chowdhury said.

The coming together of the two forces has been far from smooth. Internal bickering and "heartburn" within both camps, the "friendly fights" in a number of constituencies, especially in the Congress bastion of Murshidabad, has often evoked angry reactions from Chowdhury himself.

LF constituents, particularly the RSP and the CPI, had openly expressed their anguish, claiming their existence was being compromised for the sake of the tie-up.

"We were traditionally opposed to each other - both ideologically and politically. All differences cannot be wiped out overnight," said Chowdhury who had earlier accused Left constituents - the All India Forward Bloc and the RSP - of "being bribed by the Trinamool to harm the alliance".

Chowdhury also refused to read much into the "friendly fights", saying several of these were "part of its electoral strategy".

While LF chairman Biman Bose has said the arrangement with the Congress was not an alliance but an "electoral understanding", an unfazed Chowdhury insisted it was a formal alliance and not just a mere arrangement to form a strong opposition.

"I won't get into semantics, one may call it by whatever name, but for us it's an alliance," asserted Chowdhury, pointing to joint campaigns by the parties across constituencies.

While heavyweights from both the camps, including the likes of Mishra and Bhunia, have participated in joint campaigns, several Marxist leaders and candidates have shared the dais with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi during their election rallies in the state.

(Anurag Dey can be contacted at anurag.d@ians.in)
Washington, April 16 : Bernie Sanders said he met Pope Francis at 6 a.m. (local time) on Saturday at the papal residence in Santa Marta.

"He is a beautiful man," Sanders told ABC on Saturday. "I am not a Catholic, but there is a radiance that comes from him. It was very wonderful to meet him."

Sanders was joined by his wife, and Pope Francis was joined by Argentine Bishop and Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, ABC reported.

Jane, Sander's wife, is Catholic. She said "the trip was definitely worth it".

The Democratic presidential hopeful said: "I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the Earth and injecting the need for morality in the global economy."

Sanders, who often talks about his admiration for the Pope in speeches and his writing, said he believed Pope Francis was "one of the great leaders in modern world history".

Sanders attended a conference on social, economic and environmental issues hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
New York/Mumbai, April 16 : India's top IT company Tata Consultancy Services has been slapped with a $940-million fine, including punitive damages of $700 million, by the US Federal Court in the State of Wisconsin for allegedly stealing software information.

Besides the punitive damages, the US Federal Court of the Western District of Wisconsin has asked the company, and its US arm, Tata America International Corp, to pay $240 million to Epic Systems Corp for "ripping off" its healthcare-related software.

The verdict came after the case was heard for around two weeks in Courtroom 250 of Judge William M. Conley, based on the lawsuit filed by Epic Systems of Verona -- a major company in electronic health records -- on October 31, 2014 in the US District Court at Wisconsin capital Madison.

The 39-page complaint alleged that Tata workers, hired as consultants to help a client, Kaiser Permanente in Oregon, to use its software, downloaded 6,477 documents accounting for 1,687 unique files from Epic's computers inappropriately, including those on its proprietary software.

The complainant further said a Tata employee had tipped off Epic about this activity and that the Indian company's leadership in the US and India were aware of the development that had commenced in 2012.

A TCS official in Mumbai said the company will respond to queries soon.

Epic claimed that the defendant company used the documents and related information to identify features of its software to accelerate the development of a rival product called Med Mantra. The court then asked Epic to prove in what manner Tata Consultancy would have benefited from that information.

The US company alleged that when confronted by Kaiser Permanente regarding the downloading of Epic data, the TCS staffer initially denied such an act. But later the said employee changed his story and admitted that he had provided his Epic access to two other colleagues.

The lawsuit also alleged the Indian company has engaged in an "elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data," with the purpose of utilising technical expertise developed after years of hard work and investment.

"TCS's misconduct appears designed to allow TCS and perhaps other Tata entities to unfairly compete with Epic in the marketplace. The unlawful conduct of TCS and potentially other Tata entities must be stopped and an appropriate remedy fashioned for the benefit of Epic," the lawsuit said.
Athens, April 16 : Pope Francis on Saturday arrived in Lesbos, the island in Greece that has received hundreds of thousands of refugees in the past two years.

The Pope was welcomed by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Archbishop of Athens Ieronymos and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Greek Reporter daily reported.

The Chief of the Roman Catholic Church landed at the Mytilene airport at 10.28 a.m.

"Refugees are not numbers, they are people who have faces, names, stories, and need to be treated as such," Pope Francis tweeted.

He is scheduled to visit the Moria refugee reception centre where the three church leaders and Tsipras will have lunch along with the refugees.

Pope Francis will give a speech on the refugee crisis and the three church leaders will honour the refugees who drowned in the Aegean during the perilous journey from the Turkish coast. The pontiff is scheduled to fly back to Rome at 3 p.m.

Greek government sources revealed that Pope Francis has invited ten refugees (eight Syrians and two Afghans) to return with him to the Vatican.

According to a press release issued by the Vatican, the aim of the pontiff's visit to Lesbos is to support the refugees and to draw the world's attention to the European migration crisis.

The last Papal visit to Greece was 15 years ago.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex on Friday intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos.

The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.
Brussels, April 16 : The Belgian transport minister has resigned following accusations that she covered up a failure to act on a report warning of security flaws at the country's airports.

Jacqueline Galant stepped down on Friday after coming under significant pressure from opposition parties to say what she knew about two reports from the European commission that criticised lax security at Belgian airports, The Guardian reported.

Her resignation comes less than a month after coordinated attacks on Brussels airport and the city's metro system that killed 32 people and injured more than 300. Two suicide bombers detonated explosives in the departure lounge of the airport before a separate attack took place on a train.

Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel said that he had accepted her resignation.

The pressure on Galant reached fever pitch on Thursday night when two reports criticising security at the two Brussels airports were widely circulated in the Belgian parliament, having already been leaked to the media.

The reports, the most recent dating from June 2015, criticised serious deficiencies in security at Belgium's airports.

They highlighted a lack of resources for security checks, the absence of a national security plan and insufficient staff training.

Galant had previously declared that she was unaware of the reports, but her detractors said they had proof that the 2015 report was sent to her cabinet.
Kochi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Anurag Thakur has hit out at Kerala police chief T P Senkumar over the latters remarks the other day that the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the site of Puttingal Devi temple tragedy hampered the relief work being undertaken by the State police.

Mr. Thakur said that the State police chief should be looking into the lapses on the part of the police rather than faulting the PM for visiting the site of the disaster.

What happened at Paravoor was an abject failure on the part of the police, he added.

He also called for initiating disciplinary action against Senkumar, asking rhetorically how criticism of the Prime Minister by officers could be accepted.

Mr. Thakur was speaking to Asianet News.

Director General of Police T P Senkumar had told a news channel the other day that he had advised against the Prime Ministers visiting the Puttingal temple in Kollam immediately after the fireworks disaster, apprehending that it would hamper relief work as police personnel engaged in relief work would have to be deployed for ensuring the PMs security.

Senkumar had also taken exception to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhis visit to the scene of the fireworks disaster.

The Health Department also expressed the view that the visit of VVIPs to the hospitals where victims of the fireworks disaster were undergoing treatment posed problems.

The Director of the department told a national newspaper the other day that the visit of VVIPS came in the way of treatment of the victims of the disaster, some of whom had suffered 90 per cent burns.

Not only the VVIPs but also their entourage had entered the hospitals, forcing the doctors and nurses to step outside, the Director told the newspaper.
New York/Mumbai, April 16 : India's top IT company Tata Consultancy Services has been fined $940-million by a US Federal Court in Wisconsin for allegedly stealing software information. The Indian company said it intended to appeal against the verdict in higher courts.

Besides the punitive damages of $700 million, the US Federal Court of the Western District of Wisconsin has asked the company, and its US arm, Tata America International Corp, to pay $240 million to Epic Systems Corp for "ripping off" its healthcare-related software.

"While TCS respects the legal process, the jury's verdict on liability and damages was unexpected as the company believes they are unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial," the company said in a statement mailed to IANS.

"It is expected the trial judgment will be entered in the case in the next 6-8 weeks, following which the parties can file an appeal within 30 days after the judgment is filed," the statement added.

"TCS plans to defend its position vigorously in appeals to higher courts. TCS appreciates the trial judge's announcement from the bench that he is almost certain he will reduce the damages award."

The verdict came after the case was heard in Courtroom 250 of Judge William M. Conley, based on the lawsuit filed by Epic Systems of Verona -- a major company in electronic health records -- on October 31, 2014 at the court in Wisconsin capital Madison.

The 39-page complaint alleged that Tata workers, hired as consultants to help a client, Kaiser Permanente in Oregon, to use its software, downloaded 6,477 documents accounting for 1,687 unique files from Epic's computers inappropriately, including those on its proprietary software.

The complainant further said a Tata employee had tipped off Epic about this activity and that the Indian company's leadership in the US and India were aware of the development that had commenced in 2012.

Epic claimed the defendant company used the documents and information to identify features of its software to accelerate the development of a rival product called Med Mantra. The court then asked Epic to prove in what manner Tata Consultancy would have benefited from that information.

The US company alleged that when confronted by Kaiser Permanente regarding the downloading of Epic data, the TCS staffer initially denied such an act. But later the said employee changed his story and admitted that he had provided his Epic access to two other colleagues.

The lawsuit also alleged the Indian company has engaged in an "elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data," with the purpose of utilising technical expertise developed after years of hard work and investment.

"TCS's misconduct appears designed to allow TCS and perhaps other Tata entities to unfairly compete with Epic in the marketplace. The unlawful conduct of TCS and potentially other Tata entities must be stopped and an appropriate remedy fashioned for the benefit of Epic," the lawsuit said.

In its statement, Tata Consultancy refuted all such claims and said no benefit was derived.

"TCS did not misuse or benefit from any of the said information for the development of its own hospital management system Med Mantra that was implemented for a large hospital chain in India in 2009," said the Tata Consultancy statement.

"The jury verdict will not have any impact on TCS Q4 (4th quarter) and FY16 (2016-17) financial results to be announced on Monday, 18 April," it said, adding: "As an organization, TCS remains committed a protecting IP as well as its reputation and financial interests fully."
Mumbai, April 16 : Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who was hospitalised on Friday night due to "high fever and chest infection", is recovering well, says his wife Saira Banu. The veteran actress also added he was not admitted in the ICU and is in a "stable" condition.

Dilip Kumar, 93, has been admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here. According to his family friend Udaya Tara Nayyar, he has pneumonia and is under medical supervision.

"He had high fever today (Saturday) morning so we got him to hospital. The actor has pneumonia and the doctors have started the medication," Udaya Tara Nayar told IANS.

"He is stable now, and under observation. The actor is not in ICU. He is doing fine," Nayar added.

The veteran actor was rushed to the hospital after he complained of fever and breathing problem.

Saira took to the actor's official Twitter account to quash reports that Dilip Kumar is in ICU.

She issued a statement which read: "Dilip Sahab was admitted to Lilavati Hospital for treatment of high fever and chest infection on April 15 night. He was advised intravenous administration of antibiotics for speedy recovery.

"Oral drugs would not act as fast as the IV injections, the doctors advised. Hence it became necessary to shift him to a hospital. He is recovering well and is stable by the grace of God and the care of the doctors treating him. He is in a room and in the hospital and not in the ICU as spread by rumours."

Born in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, Dilip Kumar, whose real name is Yusuf Khan, entered the Indian film industry in the black-and-white era and became a name to reckon with in the 1950s and 1960s.

He is credited with films like "Aan", "Daag", "Madhumati", "Paigham", "Leader" and "Ram Aur Shyam".

His cinematic gems range from the tragic story of "Devdas", the historical love saga "Mughal-E-Azam" to the dacoit drama "Ganga Jamuna".

After working for about six decades, he stepped away from the arclights in 1998. His last movie was "Qila".

Dilip Kumar was honoured with Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, in 2015.
Moscow, April 16 : Russia, despite the existing problems, has a clear competitive advantage over other countries, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview on Saturday, noting the migration inflow into the country.

"Russia is changing, Europe is changing, and the world is changing. We have many problems, but there is a clear competitive advantage over other countries. This is what life shows," Putin stated in a televised interview on the Vesti v Subbotu weekly news programme.

He drew attention to the influx of migrants and the growth of the population in Russia, Sputnik news agency reported.

Putin cited the situation in Lithuania, where over 3.5 million people used to live in 1985-1990, while the current population is about one-third less, according to the census data.

"The situation is even worse, for example, in Latvia. It is slightly better in Estonia. But the outflow of population is huge, simply huge," Putin added.

In 2013, Russia recorded its first year of natural population growth since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, with the number of births exceeding the number of deaths by 24,013.
New Delhi, April 16 : Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said the rent for her government accommodation was the "same as others in her category" and she was asked to occupy the premises "on security grounds".

A release issued by her office said the special license fee decided by the government has been regularly paid by her for the entire duration of her occupation.

The release came after a news report said Priyanka got the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government to cut the rent of her house from Rs.53,421 a month to Rs.8,888. The report cited a reply given after a Right to Information (RTI) query.

The release said Priyanka was a Special Protection Group (SPG) protectee. It said that in December 1996, she had rented the private accommodation and paid advance rent besides initiating renovation work there.

"The then SPG director subsequently informed her of the decision of the security agencies of the government denying her occupation of the rented private accommodation on the ground that it did not fulfil the security requirements, i.e. space for accommodation of security personnel, security vehicles, multiple exit points, non-sharing of building walls etc."

"Consequently, she was directed to occupy the government accommodation on security grounds," the release added.

It said that in pursuance of all rules and regulations of the then BJP government, "the market Rate/Special License Fee of Directorate of Estates, Government of India has been punctually and regularly paid by her for the entire duration of her occupation of the government accommodation, including the period in question."

The release said the rent was determined by the government and was the same as others in her category.

It said multiple protectees occupying government accommodation on security grounds brought to the notice of the then BJP government that a 90 percent increase, from one month to the next, in the year 2002 from "market rate/special license fee" to "damages rate" was contrary to prevailing rules and regulations.

"None of the said persons were 'unauthorized occupants' of the premises occupied by them. They were, in fact, authorised occupants and the 'damages rate' did not apply to them.

"This error was subsequently corrected by the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation of the then BJP government pursuant to a letter and a meeting between current BJP MP Ashwini Kumar (Minna) and the then prime minister A.B. Vajpayee," the release said.

The newspaper report said Priyanka wrote to the government in May 2002 that Rs.53,421 was "too high" an amount and "beyond her paying capacity".

It said she informed the government that she had been occupying the bungalow on the request of the SPG and that a large part of the bungalow was occupied by the SPG itself.

The report said that, at present, Priyanka pays Rs.31,000 for her Type VI government accommodation at 35, Lodhi Estate.

The report also said that apart from Priyanka, three other private citizens -- former Punjab DGP K.P.S. Gill, All India Anti-Terrorist Front chief M.S. Bitta and Ashwini Kumar were provided accommodation by the government on security grounds.
New Delhi, April 16 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed distress over the deaths of 22 people and injuries to over 1,000 following a quake in Japan.

"Distressed on the loss of lives and damage caused by the quake in Japan. My thoughts are with bereaved families and prayers with the injured," Modi tweeted.

Around 20,000 troops were deployed in Japan's Kyushu region after the quake struck the region around 1.25 a.m. on Saturday. The meteorological agency said the quake measured 7.3 on the Richter Scale. Several aftershocks rattled the region, including two of nearly magnitude-6, and experts have warned of more.
Hyderabad, April 16 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is suffering from fever and has cancelled all his programmes for the next three days, officials said.

According to a statement from the chief minister's office, he is taking rest at his farmhouse at Erravalli in Medak district.

Doctors on Saturday examined KCR, as Rao is popularly known, and advised him to take complete rest for two to three days.
Bengaluru, April 16 : Indian IT industry body Nasscom on Saturday said it would stand by IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) against the verdict of the US jury in a lawsuit filed by an American software firm alleging stealing of its software code.

"As a policy, we do not comment on a company's case, but stand by its (TCS) response against the jury's verdict on the alleged infringement of intellectual property," National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) president R.Chandrashekhar told IANS on phone from New Delhi.

Responding to a $940 million fine slapped by a federal court in Wisconsin for allegedly stealing software information of Epic Systems Corp, TCS said it would appeal against the jury verdict in higher courts.

Besides the punitive damages of $700 million, the US Federal Court of the western district of Wisconsin has asked the company, and its US arm, Tata America International Corp, to pay $240 million to Epic Systems Corp for "ripping off" its healthcare-related software.

"As the ruling is of a jury trial, we will wait for a higher court judgement, as complex issues are involved in the case. For instance, there is a difference between having access to the source code and user code or a manual, which are in public domain or is a material given with the product for use," said Chandrashekhar.

Noting that there were gaps in the evidence presented before the jury, he said TCS had reaffirmed its respect for IP and clarified that it did not infringe upon the IP of the other company.

"It is a verdict by a jury consisting of laymen who may not know or understand the difference between a software source code and user documentation. But people in the IT industry understand very well all these technical things," Chandrashekhar said.

As the trial judge announced that he would almost certainly reduce the damages award (fine), the former telecom secretary said Nasscom would wait for the final judgement in the case with respect to the quantum of fine.

"We should wait for the final judgement of the US courts, where the legal system is fair. We should not rush to conclusions in such complex and technical cases involving software codes and documentation," he added.

Nasscom also ruled out any setback to the Indian IT industry from the jury verdict.
Chandigarh, April 16 : The Punjab government will extend all help and relief to the family of Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh who died under mysterious circumstances in a jail in Lahore, a state government spokesman said on Saturday.

"His family will be extended all help and relief which had been given to another Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh," the spokesman said.

Kirpal Singh, an ex-serviceman, had been lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison since 1992.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also assured the family of another Indian prisoner, Nanak Singh, who has been convicted for life and lodged in a Pakistani jail, that efforts would be made to ensure his release.

Badal said the government was in constant touch with the external affairs ministry to prevail upon Pakistan to secure Nanak Singh's safe return to India immediately.

Kirpal Singh, 54, who was arrested in Pakistan in 1992, died in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison on Monday.

While the Pakistani authorities, who had labelled him as a spy and got him convicted for terror attacks inside Pakistan, attributed his death to heart attack, his family has alleged that he had crossed into Pakistan inadvertently and was murdered in prison.

Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner, died after a murderous attack by fellow prisoners in a Lahore jail in April 2013.
Kathmandu, April 16 : Nepal on Saturday strongly rejected an annual report released by the US which painted a bleak picture of human rights situation in the Himalayan nation.

The report released by the US Department of State on April 13 claimed that Nepal's human rights situation had not been encouraging in 2015, Xinhua reported.

The report titled "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015" mentioned that there were serious problems in Nepal regarding implementation of principles of human rights.

Referring to the US report, Nepalese government spokesman Sher Dhan Rai told reporters in Kathmandu on Saturday: "There is no any violence or conflict in Nepal at present.

"We are in the phase of implementation of the new Constitution and giving priority for the post-earthquake reconstruction and working to bring new fiscal year budget as well as policies and programs.

"In such a situation, the uncalled for comments from foreign countries against our internal human rights situation are undesirable," he said.

The government spokesman said Nepal wants to have cordial relationship with all countries and seeks their goodwill and support in achieving economic prosperity.
On the 29th March, 2016, witnessed by more than 300 representatives from leading enterprises in China, Heilind Asia won the Top 20 Electronic Supplier Award at the 2015 Huaqiang Electronics Award Ceremony in Shenzhen.

Huaqiang Electronics is a Chinese media group that owns online platforms, magazines and varied electronic industry websites with more than 500,000 registered enterprise users.

Conducted by Expert Review and Public Vote, the selection process of the 2015 Huaqiang Electronics' Top 20 Electronic Supplier Award lasted for more than 3 months.

The 2015 Huaqiang Electronics' Top 20 Electronic Supplier Award proves Heilind Asias continuous efforts and innovation in the past year. Heilind Asia will keep providing high-quality products and services for China market, said Collins Yang, Dongguan branch manager of Heilind Asia Pacific.

Heilind Electronics has been honored with the Top 20 Electronic Supplier Award for China. Pictured second from right, Collins Yang, Dongguan Branch Manager of Heilind Asia Pacific accepts the award on behalf of Asia team.

Heilind supports both original equipment and contract manufacturers in all market segments of the electronics industry, stocking products from the industrys leading manufacturers in 25 component categories, with a particular focus on interconnect and electromechanical products.

About Heilind Electronics

Founded in 1974, Heilind Electronics, Inc. (http://www.heilind.com) is one of the world's leading distributors of connectors, relays, switches, thermal management & circuit protection products, terminal blocks, wire & cable, wiring accessories and insulation & identification products. Heilind has over 40 facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.

Heilind Asia Pacific (http://www.heilindasia.com) commenced operations in Dec 2012, and now has 19 locations throughout Asia. Its industry leading service offered to customers in Asia Pacific is the result of a commitment to the belief of Distribution As It Should Be.

Media Contact:

Vesper Hu, Heilind Electronics

Senior Marcom and PR Officer

+852 2611 9173

Vesper.hu(at)heilind(dot)com
The LSO performs at the Healing Art of Music Concert Benefiting Vinfen Vinfen is thrilled to be partnering with the LSO at the May 7 Healing Art of Music Concert. Thanks to their generous support, Vinfen is able to raise awareness and funds for our innovative health and wellness programs," said Vinfen President Bruce Bird.

Vinfen, a nonprofit health and human services organization whose mission is to transform the lives of people living with psychiatric conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and behavioral health challenges, is partnering with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra (LSO) to present the Healing Art of Music Concert on May 7, 2016 at the New England Conservatorys Jordan Hall in Boston, MA. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is the concerts Presenting Sponsor. Funds raised from this event will support Vinfens innovative health and wellness programs.

Enjoy the celebrated LSO performing works by Schreker, Harris, and Rachmaninoff with Music Director Ronald Feldman and Di Wu on Piano. The LSO, comprised of leading healthcare professionals from Bostons top hospitals and universities, has been nationally recognized for its musical quality, inventive programming, and community engagement. Each year, this public event draws a crowd of over 700 attendees, which has included healthcare and business leaders, government officials, friends and colleagues of orchestra members, Vinfen supporters, and local classical music fans.

The night will begin with a Sponsor/Benefactor Reception at 6:45 p.m. followed by the performance at 8:00 p.m. Individual Tickets are $25 each and Benefactor Tickets, which include the reception, are $100 each. Tickets can be purchased at Vinfens website at http://www.vinfen.org/events/healing.

For more information, or to sponsor the event, please contact Vinfen Director of Communications and Development Erin Tighe at 617-441-1736 or tighee(at)vinfen(dot)org.

###

Established in 1977, Vinfen is a nonprofit, health and human services organization and a leading provider of community-based services to individuals with disabilities. Each year, Vinfen provides a comprehensive array of services to adolescents and adults with psychiatric conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and behavioral health challenges. Vinfens 2,700 dedicated employees are experienced, highly-trained professionals who provide a full range of supportive living, health, educational, and clinical services in more than 200 programs throughout eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut. For more information, please visit, http://www.vinfen.org.
Signature Bank CEO and President Mick ORourke joined two of the banks long-time customers, Joe Shanahan of Metro Chicago and Matt Collopy of Shoreline Sightseeing, as featured guests on WIND AM 560s weekly business radio talk show, Part of the Answer on Sunday, April 10, 2016. The show, hosted by Ken Sevara, looks inside the minds of Chicagos best and brightest business leaders.

Sevara peppered the panelists with questions regarding the origin of their businesses, their relationship with Signature Bank, as well as some of the challenges and joys theyve experienced while running a long-term, successful operation in Chicago.

Joe Shanahan, Founder and Owner of Metro Chicago, a live music venue for emerging bands and musicians, said his business challenges include staying current with the latest sound and lighting technology and attracting the right talent to the club. When it comes to financing improvements, Shanahan said that all comes to the relationship with the bank. One of the things about Signature Bank is that its an intuitive relationship and in that, they understand what I'm trying to do with my business.

Matt Collopy, Owner of Shoreline Sightseeing, home to Chicagos architectural boat cruises and water taxi transportation service, spoke about the challenges of securing financing to grow the fleet of his 77-year old family business. Collopy has been a customer of Signature Bank since its inception. He spoke of Signature Banks focus on relationships. Signature Bank is investing in people theyve developed relationships with because when youre loaning to a company, youre investing in the people who run it.

Signature Bank CEO Mick ORourke said We appreciate our customers joining us on this great show to talk about their businesses. My partners and I started Signature Bank when we noticed a void in the market for what we consider relationship banking, where you sit down with the owner of the business at a table and talk about potential transactions and support their growth and dreams. He continued, We bring a passion to our customers and our relationships. As their banker, its a real point of pride for me to hear about their successes.

Signature Bank is the exclusive sponsor of AM 560s Business Tour, which highlights local businesses that are thriving in the Chicago area. You can listen to a podcast of the show and watch a highlight reel on the Signature Bank website.

Signature Bank is headquartered at 9701 Higgins Road, Suite 500, Rosemont, IL 60018 and can be reached at 773-467-5600 or online at http://www.signature-bank.com.
CapTechs assistance on our intranet system will increase efficiency for staff, which will allow for greater time management, information distribution and streamlined daily activities

Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS), a non-profit that takes a holistic approach to helping individuals in need across Northern Virginia, recently received some desired pro bono information technology support from CapTech Ventures. With more than 400 employees and an IT department of three, NVFS sought assistance in technical analysis to improve the configuration of its SharePoint intranet site. In a 21-week engagement, a group of dedicated CapTech consultants donated their time to provide recommendations around refining site efficiencies, enhancing search features, managing outdated content, improving workflows and transitioning to an upgraded system. These improvements will translate into advances around usability, collaboration, internal communication and processes, which, in turn, will benefit the more than 34,000 people who receive NVFS services every year.

NVFS works to improve the lives of those in need through a myriad of programs, including housing and shelter; anti-hunger; health and mental health services; early childhood services; , legal services; workforce development services; and intervention and prevention services.

CapTechs assistance on our intranet system will increase efficiency for staff, which will allow for greater time management, information distribution and streamlined daily activities, notes Tonya Bailey, director of research, evaluation and quality assurance. It will also promote stronger internal communication that will translate into better client service delivery, with staff being able to devote more time to clients thanks to these upgrades.

CapTechs involvement with NVFS extends beyond this project into volunteer work with NVFS Head Start Center. I am so proud to be part of a team that is supporting the daily resources that NVFS provides to our community, said CapTech consultant Caitlin Parke. I know that not only are we helping to make tasks easier for their employees, but through these efforts, we are providing another meal on the SERVE table, another school supply in a childs backpack and another smile on the face of a person receiving support from this amazing organization.

###

About NVFS: Northern Virginia Family Service (http://www.nvfs.org) is the largest private, nonprofit human service organization in Northern Virginia. NVFS helps more than 34,000 individuals and their families each year find housing and emergency services; health and mental health services; early childhood education and child placement services; intervention and prevention programs; job training; and legal services. Throughout its history, NVFS has been recognized as an innovator of efficient and comprehensive service methods, while effectively creating sustained financial and social independence for its clients.

About CapTech: Headquartered in Richmond, VA, CapTech (http://www.captechconsulting.com) is a national IT management consulting firm that bridges the gap between business and technology. CapTech delivers transformation, customer engagement, data & analytics and custom IT solutions for private companies, public companies and government agencies. The company's collaborative approach helps organizations grow their business, engage with customers and turn information into powerful data assets.
The Women Presidents Organization (WPO), in partnership with American Express, today released the ninth annual ranking of the 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies. The 50 Fastest generated a combined $4.96 billion in 2015 revenues (mean of $99.2 million) and collectively employed 44,744 in 2015 (mean of 1,028).

The top three honorees are:



S'well, a New York City-based beverage bottle manufacturer, is the fastest growing women-owned business and newcomer to this years ranking. Over the past two years, the firms revenue ($2,517,155 in 2013 to $47,245,079 in 2015) and employment (3 employees in 2013 to 40 in 2015) skyrocketed. Sarah Kauss, chief executive officer, who owns 100% of the firm, attributes business success to a sheer dedication to her company, hard work and belief in the product and the brand.

Pinnacle Group, an IT workforce solutions firm based in Dallas, moves down to #2 from holding the top spot in 2015. Nina Vaca, president and chief executive officer, saw her 20-year-old company break the billion dollar barrier ($1,159,815,799 in 2015, up from $201,493,192 in 2013). The entrepreneur, who still owns 100% of the firm she founded at age 24 with $300 of startup capital, accredits putting people first as her number one strategy for her companys Texas-sized growth.

Fitness studio franchise Orangetheory Fitness, another newcomer to the list, is the third fastest-growing company. The six-year-old Fort Lauderdale, FL-based firm, led by Ellen Latham, saw its revenue escalate from $3,147,199 in 2013 to $47,537,711 in 2015 and added 56 employees during that time span.

This years 50 Fastest list represents our most diverse ranking ever, with an immense geographic reach covering 20 states and one international winner in Turkey, as well as industries ranging from energy efficiency services to cybersecurity and engineering, said Marsha Firestone, Ph. D., president and founder of the WPO. We are once again so very pleased to partner with American Express in paying tribute to these influential women and recognizing the vital role that women-owned/led companies have in boosting the economy and enhancing overall job growth.

According to our recent State of Women-Owned Businesses report, the number of women-owned firms grew at a rate of five times faster than the national average since the recession, said Susan Sobbott, president, Global Commercial Payments, American Express. We are thrilled to showcase the successes of these fifty honorees in order to inspire other women to build high-growth businesses.

Each of the honored business owners will be offered a congratulatory prize from American Express.

Applicants do not have to be WPO members. All eligible companies were ranked according to a sales growth formula that combines percentage and absolute growth. From this list, the 50 Fastest were selected. To be qualified for the ranking, businesses are required to be privately held, woman-owned/led companies and have reached revenue of at least $500,000 by the first week of 2011 and $2 million in 2015.

More about the 2016 50 Fastest:



Average Age: 49

CEOs that founded the business: 92%

Listed companies that do business globally: 44%

Provide health insurance: 92%

Plan to continue to grow their company: 90%

State hiring the best talent as their biggest business challenge: 44%

All 50 companies will be honored at a special event hosted by American Express at the 2016 WPO Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, April 8, 2016. The dinner and awards ceremony will take place from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

Each attendee of the WPO conference will receive a new handbook, 50 Fastest Women-Owned/Led Companies Guide to Growth, sponsored by American Express. It includes past honorees tips to achieve rapid company growth and focuses on five areas that change significantly when a business scales: HR, branding, financing, sales and innovation.

The 2016 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies Include:

#19 Stephanie Point Point 2 Point Global Security, Inc. Addison, TX

About the Women Presidents Organization (WPO)

The WPO is the ultimate affiliation for successful women entrepreneurs worldwide. In monthly meetings across the world, women from diverse industries invest time and energy in themselves and their businesses to drive their corporations to the next level. Local WPO chapters are coordinated by a professional facilitator and meet monthly to share business expertise and experience in a confidential setting. For more information, call 212-688-4114 or visit http://www.womenpresidentsorg.com. Follow WPO on Twitter (@womenpresidents) and like us on Facebook.

About Point 2 Point

Point 2 Point Global Security, Inc. is a U.S. based security company protecting major corporations, high profile executives and government entities from physical and reputational risk. The deep experience of our leaders and national network of security personnel prepare us to anticipate and manage the full range of risks to our clients people, assets and brands. Our agile business model, supported by an extensive database of certified security forces and the proprietary technology to deploy and manage them, enables us to deliver strategic operations in North America within hours. We pride ourselves on our carefully screened and impeccably trained armed and unarmed security personnel as well as our team of off-duty and retired police officers, government agency and military professionals. Our variety of experts, managed centrally, deliver comprehensive and specific client-centered programs nationwide  24/7. Our commitment is the safety and security of our clients and employees. Our mission is to deliver unmatched service, on every assignment!

CONTACT:

William Johnson

SVP&CHRO

214.960.4042
The Azerbaijanis were passionate in the defence of their territory Karabakh is our home

On 15 April, a noisy protest by a group of Armenians outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in London was neutralised by a passionate counter-demonstration by more than 70 Azerbaijani protestors and friends of Azerbaijan, including employees, friends and supporters of The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS). Their patriotism was unaffected by the driving London rain, and chants included Stop Armenian aggression; Stop the Armenian occupation; We are from Karabakh; Armenia  hands off Karabakh; Karabakh is Azerbaijan; Karabakh is our home; We want Justice; and Sargsyan  War Criminal, referring to the role of the Armenian President in the Khojaly Massacre, which claimed the lives of 613 civilians in 1992.

A full-size digital advertising van was positioned outside the Embassy, displaying photos of just a few of the estimated one million Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees who remain in temporary encampments across Azerbaijan. They are the ongoing victims of the ArmenianAzerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. These were captioned with such slogans as Let me go home to Karabakh; Displaced for 20 years  why?; Armenia must accept international law; and Armenia  release Azerbaijani lands now.

Also on display were photos from the trial of Dilham Asgarov (aged 55) and Shahbaz Guliyev (aged 47). In December 2014, these two men were jailed for life and 22 years, respectively, by an illegal and unrecognised court in Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh for the alleged crime of visiting their ancestors graves.

The protest came in the wake of the events of 12 April when the Armenian armed forces occupying the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions violated the ceasefire by firing on civilians in the territories near the contact line. Azerbaijani forces were forced to respond, capturing strategic positions in the hills overlooking the contact line and displacing the Armenian artillery units. Regrettably Armenia has since resumed its attacks upon these civilian populations and has not accepted the solutions proposed by numerous international organisations.

Pedro Agramunt, President, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recently said: I am extremely worried at the reports of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and deeply saddened at the loss of life. All Armenian armed troops must withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani territories in compliance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

This week, Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Union and Vice-President, European Commission, speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, remonstrated: The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an obstacle to the development of both countries and the entire region. The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was central to my talks in Armenia and Azerbaijan during my visit there last month the events around Nagorno-Karabakh are another reminder of how dangerous the protracted conflict can be. Large-scale conflict is not in the interests of anyone, and can lead nowhere.
Lyons Commercial Data, a leading provider of U.S. financial institution data and risk management solutions, has announced that they will be exhibiting at the NACHA PAYMENTS conference. It takes place April 18th & 19th, 2016, at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix, AZ.

For more than 20 years, Lyons Commercial Data has made it easy and cost-effective to verify bank routing numbers and accounts. Doing so allows businesses to identify risky clients and decrease returns, all while staying compliant. All financial institution data is regularly verified and updated to provide users with the most up-to-date information.

The PAYMENTS conference  operated by NACHA  focuses on solutions that allow electronic payments in the U.S. to continue to thrive. There are more than 130 sessions and workshops that are led by highly-qualified and knowledgeable professionals, providing attendees with a number of opportunities to learn about the ecosystem, the customer, and more.

We are very excited to exhibit at PAYMENTS 2016, said Peter Gibbons, Vice President at Lyons Commercial Data. Its very important that businesses know their customers, and verifying clients is an important step; doing so helps prevent potential legal and financial penalties. Using Lyons Commercial Datas web-based tools, businesses can easily verify information that they need, when they need it. Our verification services can also be programmed into existing software via our developer APIs.

To learn more about Lyons Commercial Datas verification services, and to enter for a chance to win a 6-month subscription to iBankRegistry Online, visit the Lyons Commercial Data team at booth #110.

About Lyons Commercial Data

Lyons Commercial Data is a leading provider of quality U.S. financial institution data, including all current ABA routing numbers and other information critical to transaction processing. Lyons Commercial Data also offers proven solutions to financial institutions, payment processors, and other businesses, to assist them in optimizing their ACH processes, managing risk, and fraud mitigation. For more information, please visit http://www.lyonslive.com; follow Lyons Commercial Data on Twitter @LyonsData or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lyonscommercialdata; or call 800-684-0388.

About Autoscribe Corporation

Autoscribe Corporation is a leading financial services company and payment processor. With more than two decades of innovation and leadership in the financial technology industry, Autoscribe offers a full suite of tools through PaymentVision and Lyons Commercial Data to help their customers grow their business, simplify payment processing, mitigate risk, and ensure compliance. Recently named to the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing private companies in the nation, Autoscribe has thousands of customers and processes more than $2 billion in transactions annually. For more information, please visit http://www.autoscribe.com; follow Autoscribe on Twitter @AutoscribeCorp or on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/autoscribe; or call 800-345-7243.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements regarding future events and Autoscribe Corporations business, strategy and results that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are sometimes identified by words such as will, may, could, should, would, project, believe, anticipate, expect, plan, estimate, forecast, potential, intend, continue, target, opportunities and variations of these words or comparable words. As a result of the ultimate outcome of such risks and uncertainties, Autoscribe Corporations actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on Autoscribe Corporations current beliefs or expectations, and there are a number of important factors that could cause the actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks related to the successful offering of the products and services of Autoscribe Corporation; and other risks that may impact Autoscribe Corporations business. Autoscribe Corporation expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this and other documents may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures.

###

Note to Editors: Autoscribe and PaymentVision are registered trademarks of Autoscribe Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
instaDOC available now for iPhone InstaDOC connects users with physicians who can provide timely, practical advice that keeps minor issues from becoming major problems

People who dont want to deal with long waits at the doctors office or emergency room -- especially if theyre on an important business trip or having a fun vacation --  can now easily, rapidly and securely connect with a physician via their iPhone or iPad thanks to InstaDOC, an innovative new no-cost app created by InstaDOC LLC.

With InstaDOC users fill out a brief medical form, submit a flat nominal fee, and schedule a convenient time  including the same day if they wish  to consult with a physician via video chat (e.g. FaceTime, Skype, Webx, and other popular and free services).

Physicians on the InstaDOC roster are Board Certified and licensed in over 8 states (Florida, North Carolina, New York, Illinois, Maryland, Rhode Island, California, and Indiana), and the platform is ideal for users who have questions or concerns regarding minor complications, such as those related to colds, flu, headaches, infections, rashes, minor injuries, and so on. Whats more, if requested to do so (or if they feel it is necessary), InstaDOC physicians can communicate with a users personal physician to coordinate safe, effective care.

Generally speaking, the total face time with physicians per video consultation is 15 minutes or less -- which is a welcome change from the several-hour ordeal that typically results from a trip to the doctors office or emergency room. Furthermore, users save valuable time and money (gas, parking, tolls, etc.), while society-as-a-whole benefits because minor issues dont end up costing the healthcare system a small fortune.

If non-narcotic prescription medication is required, immediately after the web consultation physicians phone the nearest pharmacy to have it filled (narcotics are not prescribed). All correspondence, including medical form transmission, is encrypted to ensure privacy and confidentiality.

For many people, having to wait days or weeks for a doctors appointment, and then spending hours in an uncomfortable waiting room, can more insufferable and painful than their actual medical issue! commented InstaDOC LLC. Thats why InstaDOC is the ideal solution. The app connects users with physicians who can provide timely, practical advice that keeps minor issues from becoming major problems.

InstaDOC, the innovative new no-cost app that lets users easily, rapidly and securely launch a video consultation with licensed physicians, is available now from the App Store at https://itunes.apple.com/app/instadoc/id1071352821. There is no cost to download the app.

For additional information including FAQs, visit http://www.instadoc.org

About InstaDOC LLC

Founded in 2012 and located in Florida, USA, InstaDOC is one of the first telemedicine companies and we pride ourselves in being the most innovative and efficient service available. We use the most secure and modern software and never share medical

records unless patient requests them for personal or primary physicians use. Learn more: http://www.instadoc.org
I never thought I would do such a thing, Louise Erdrich says, referring to the opening scene in her 15th novel, LaRose (Harper, May), in which Landreaux Iron shoots his neighbors young son, Dusty, after mistaking the child for a deer. The accident and its aftermath set off a chain of events that touches an entire community when Landreaux and his wife, Emmaline, hand over their own five-year-old son, LaRose, for the Ravich family to raise, in an attempt at reparation.

There were dozens and dozens of starts on the book, Erdrich, 61, explains as we sip tea in a cozy restaurant next door to Birchbark Books and Native Arts, the idiosyncratic little indie bookstore that Erdrich has operated for more than 15 years in an upscale Minneapolis neighborhood. Suddenly I wrote this [opening scene] out without really thinking about it. I thought, this is a really sad short story; I never expected it to turn into a book. But it just kept rollingone character would unscroll from the next. It got more complicated as I went along, so I continued with it.

As is typical in Erdrichs novels, LaRose is a nonlinear yet seamless tapestry of interconnected tales spun from family stories, lore, and Ojibwe legends. While LaRose follows the Irons, who live on a reservation in rural North Dakota, and the Raviches, who live in the blue-collar town adjacent to it, the story expands to include their extended families, neighbors, and even enemies. An ordinary little boy caught up in extraordinary circumstances, LaRose is the fifth LaRose in his family, and tales of his four female ancestral namesakes and the demonsliterally, in some instancesthey had to confront are enmeshed within the narrative. It is a plot device that Erdrich used, she explains, to explore how much thought and suffering went into being a LaRose, and why LaRose was the way he was, an even-tempered and adaptable boy who is able to commune with the spirit world that his ancestors and Dusty inhabit. Hes a good kid; nobody ever writes about the good kids, Erdrich says, so I let him be as good as he could be.

LaRose is a family name that has always resonated with Erdrich, who is of French-Ojibwe heritage on her mothers side. The title isnt the only thing that Erdrich has appropriated from the family archives. The cover art, designed by her daughter Aza, an accomplished artist and a professional graphic designer in Minneapolis, replicates a handwriting exercise executed as a schoolboy by Erdrichs maternal grandfather, Patrick Gourneau. Like many Native Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Gourneau attended one of the boarding schools established across the U.S. to forcibly assimilate Native children into the dominant European-American culturean experience that several of LaRoses eponymous ancestors also endure.

Gourneau later became the tribal chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota, of which Erdrich is a registered member. The daughter of two teachers who taught at a boarding school, Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, a small town straddling the North DakotaMinnesota state line about 300 miles southeast of Turtle Mountain. Though Erdrich has lived in Minneapolis for more than 20 years, she travels back to her hometown to visit family there every four to six weeks.

The premise of LaRose began with a kernel of truth. In her acknowledgements, Erdrich thanks her mother for mentioning a story of parents on the reservation who were responsible for the death of a child and who subsequently allowed the victims family to adopt their own child. That one germ of a story is all I can point to that really happened in this book, Erdrich explains. I dont know the people involved, I dont know anything more about it. The rest is all imagination. The story evolved, she says, as she reflected on the impact that such a situation would have on the members of the families, especially the siblings of both children.

What about the kids? What happens to them when something of this sort happens? Erdrich, who is the mother of four daughters, recalls asking herself. How do people make their lives workor not workas this goes along?

Emphasizing how much she enjoyed writing about the relationship that develops between Dustys older sister, Maggie, and LaRose, Erdrich laughs as she insists that writing about the rebellious Maggie convinced her to persist in weaving a tale that moves backward and forward in time and place, with key scenes set in such places as an isolated Ojibwe trading post, a 19th-century sanitarium for tuberculosis patients overlooking the Mississippi River, a turn-of-the-century Pennsylvania boarding school, a 1970s-era downtown Minneapolis squatters encampment, and a small-town school gym during a fiercely waged girls volleyball game. Erdrich claims that she didnt know until she was deep into the writing process how all the disparate threads would eventually fit together. I found out in the writing [of LaRose] what was going to happen, Erdrich says. And then, after a year or two, it made sense. By contrast, she knew early on how her 2012 National Book Awardwinning The Round House would end. Erdrich says she wrote the last page well before completing it.

Erdrichs motivation in writing LaRose also stemmed from her interest in the shortcomings of the Western justice system, which, she explains, really has to do with assessing and finding guilt or innocence, and punishing it one way or another. She notes that shes heard over the years of other situations in which people have sought or dispensed justice outside of the legal system. In a way, writing LaRose fulfills to some degree Erdrichs own quest for justiceagainst a U.S. president and administration who went to war over allegations of Iraqs possession weapons of mass destruction. Explaining why LaRose opens in 1999 and takes places over the course of four years, Erdrich says that she wanted to talk about what it was like for people to live with the consequences of the WMD deception that occurred.

Erdrichs passion is evident as she talks about the horrific, indescribable war with Iraq that destabilized the Middle East and caused so much anguish, including in her hometown, citing a young soldier from Wahpeton who died in Iraq and has a memorial bench dedicated to him. She also points out that a greater percentage of soldiers from North Dakotans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan than those from just about any other state, and that, in proportion to the general population, more Natives have fought for the U.S. in wars than just about any other ethnic group.

Although Erdrich expresses a righteous anger against real-life politicians, there is a forgiveness extended to even the most unsavory of her fictional characters, such as Romeo, the petty thief and drug addict, who has nursed a grudge against Landreaux for decades. His anger toward Landreaux prompts Romeo to make false allegations, analogous to those of the warmongers in the Bush administration, Erdrich says, who constructed the weapons-of-mass-destruction propaganda that resulted in war.

What am I doing? Erdrich recalls thinking to herself as she wrote the final chapter in LaRose, in which Romeo reconciles somewhat with Landreaux and tries to prevent his estranged son from going off to war. I was really upset at myself for redeeming [Romeo] after what happened. But then, theres the side of Erdrich that revels in Romeos everyday scamming of the people around him. Theres no apology, she says. I enjoyed writing about [him]. Perhaps because its important to her, Erdrich says, that people do not have to conform to societys expectations. After all, she adds, living life on her own terms is how I got to be the way I am.
BookExpo America returns to Chicagos McCormick Place, May 1113, after an absence of 12 years. The annual book publishing and bookselling convention is no stranger to the Windy City, however. Between 1995 and 2001, the show was in Chicago every year except 1999, when it headed west to Los Angeles. After decamping from Chicago in 2004 and making some stops in Washington (2006) and Los Angeles (2008), the event found a home in New York City starting in 2009.

The decision to return BEA to Chicago was due to a number of factors, Brien McDonald, event director, says. The available dates at New Yorks Javits Center were not optimal, but the most important reason for the switch, McDonald notes, is to attract a range of book buyers that havent made it to New York. In that regard, the 2016 event is doing well. Preregistration among book buyerswhich include booksellers, librarians, museum stores, and specialty retailersis up over 2015 in the Midwest, especially in the heartland states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Missouri. McDonald says registration is also strong from book buyers in California, Washington, and Texas. Were getting a lot of fresh faces, McDonald says, noting that BEA is seeing a 40% increase in new registrations for its book buyers VIP program.

The move to Chicago has had some downsides, though. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Rodale are sitting out, for instance. We are disappointed they chose not to come, McDonald says. And the short gap between the London Book Fair and BEA, and the fact the event is not in New York City, will likely result in a decline of international participants. Still, McDonald says, the show floor will be very vibrant.

An area that BEA has strengthened is its commitment to diversity. The show will reflect what the country looks like, McDonald says. Among other initiatives, BEA has partnered with We Need Diverse Books to program a number of events. Digital ways to communicate will also be up in McCormick. BEA has relaunched its mobile app, which will provide attendees with the latest show information and ways to customize the show experience. In addition, during the event PubMatch, the online rights marketplace, will be available to BEA participants on a free trial basis. The goal of the new technology efforts is to help those in attendance better connect with the people they need to meet, McDonald explains.

The structure of the show will follow the form of the 2015 event. BEAs content and digital conference program will run all day on Wednesday, May 11, and the show floor will open at 1 p.m. that day and close at 5:30. The exhibit hall will be open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday. Educational panels and ABA programs will also be held on those days. The Adult Author Breakfast will be Thursday morning, and the Childrens Author Breakfast will be Friday. BEA will be followed by BookCon on Saturday, which will also be at McCormick Place (for more on BookCon, see p. 34).

To help give books and authors more exposure, BEA reached a deal with PBS, which will livestream about four hours of programming centered on author interviews. The network will also tape some panels to show at a later date. The PBS partnership and the increased social media aspects of the show, McDonald says, are our way to break out BEA beyond the walls of the convention center.

Having weathered every challenge possible since its 1851 founding, Books Inc. demonstrates its commitment to bookselling, even in difficult circumstances.

Solomon is held in high regard in her Bay Area territory as a passionate reader, but Solomon said that is only part of what she does: Its also about being a passionate advocate, she says.

Wondering where to go and what to eat after you leave McCormick Place? We are here to help.

After two successful years in New York, BookCon is making a one-day appearance in Chicago, the day after BEA closes. Here's what you can expect to see.

Over the past few years, librarians have become an increasingly important part of BookExpo America, with the expanded Library Insight track and more events and promotions for librarians.

Here's your go-to list for the show's big galley giveaways.

An early look at the unmissable books that children's and young adult publishers will showcase at BEA.

A guide to select exhibitors at BookExpo America 2016.
Bracht Blooms at Putnam

At Putnam, Tara Singh Carlson secured North American rights to Mary Lynn Brachts White Chrysanthemum, a novel following two South Korean sisters separated by war. While one sister is abducted by the Japanese and, Putnam said, forced to become a comfort woman in a brothel for Japanese soldiers at the front lines, the other is left behind in her small town, becoming one of a handful of local female sea divers. Rowan Lawton of Furniss Lawton sold the book in a preempt. The author, Bracht, is a Korean-American writer living in London who grew up in an expatriate community in central Texas; it was there, Putnam said, that she was hugely influenced by the hardships her mother, and the many women like her, suffered growing up in postwar South Korea. The book is slated for fall 2017.

SMP Cooks with Beramendi

The first cookbook by Rolando Beramendi, founder of the Italian food importer Manicaretti and frequent winner of Specialty Food Show awards, was acquired at auction by B.J. Berti at St. Martins Press. Food Network viewers may recognize Beramendi, who has appeared on Ina Gartens The Barefoot Contessa. World rights for Autentico: Recipes and Stories for Simple Italian Food were jointly sold by Andrea Barzvi at Empire Literary and Meg Thompson of Thompson Literary Agency.

Disney-Hyperion Nabs Stones Fourth

Emily Meehan at Disney-Hyperion took North American rights to New York Timesbestselling author Tamara Ireland Stones Little Do We Know, her fourth young adult novel. Caryn Wiseman at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency brokered the deal. The book follows two teenage girls and former best friends who, Wiseman said, are forced to reexamine everything they believe about themselves and each other after the near-death experience of a boy they both know. The book, which Wiseman pitched as Saved! meets Eleanor & Park, is planned for release in spring of 2017.

Norton Is for Everybody

U.S. rights to Olivia Laings new nonfiction work, Everybody, were picked up by Norton executive editor Jill Bialosky at auction from P.J. Mark at Janklow & Nesbit. In the book, Norton said, Laing asks what it means to inhabit a body in the 21st century. Elaborating on this theme, Norton said Laing will explore living in a body that must necessarily age, sicken and die. Like Laings previous works, Everybody will combine memoir and cultural criticism, drawing on the authors personal experiences as well as research materials such as Wilhelm Reichs psychoanalytic theories and the paintings of Francis Bacon.

Lola Dutch Joins Bloomsbury

Sarah Shumway at Bloomsbury Childrens Books took world rights to Kenneth and Sarah Jane Wrights debut picture book, Lola Dutch Is a Little Bit Much, at auction. Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Managements Folio Jr. negotiated the deal, which includes rights to an untitled sequel. Sarah Jane Wright got her start selling prints on the e-commerce website Etsy and has since illustrated several childrens books, including Eileen Behas The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea and Laura Godwins A Christmas Goodnight. This will be the first picture book she is doing with her husband; it follows a young girl who wakes up each morning filled with energy and excitementsometimes a little bit too much excitement. The book is due for publication in early 2018.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Tara Singh Carlson's name.
In 1962, there were 60 court cases underway in 21 states challenging the distribution of Henry Millers Tropic of Cancer. The novel, published in France in 1934, had never made it to the American market. Its graphic depiction of a writers life in libertine Paris in the 1920s was held by lawyers across the country to be obscene, and therefore unpublishable in the U.S. market. Unfortunately for the censors, Millers American publisher was 40-year-old Barney Rosset at Grove Press.

It was well known that Rosset, who died in 2012, had been working on a memoir. But, after being in the works for years, the book was ultimately orphaned. Now, thanks to OR Books John Oakes, Rossets protege, Rosset: My Life in Publishing and How I Fought Censorship will be released in October.

My whole life has brought me to this point, Rosset wrote about publishing Miller in the fascinating memoir. My Irish familys outrage at British brutality; my years at Francis Parker, the progressive school I attended in Chicago; my fervent support for the loyalists during the Spanish Civil Warall of this history is being played out right here at home in the censorship wars. But the enemy has advanced as far as they can. They will not get through.

They didnt. The U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled in Groves favor. Rossets chapter on the Tropic of Cancer fightwhich features weak-kneed distributors (Dell), printers (Western), booksellers (Brentanos, Scribners, and Doubleday among them), and dozens of scandalized judges and critics, not to mention a terrified Henry Milleris worth the price of the book and tells an important and ennobling episode in American publishing.

OR Books co-publisher Oakes, whose first boss in publishing was Rosset at Grove, said, Young people dont know this is the guy who changed the publishing world. They should. A case can be made that Barney changed worldwide culture, but it is incontrovertible that he changed American culture. From early on he was determined that a person should have the right to read whatever he wanted and publish whatever he wanted.

But Rosset is more than a history of First Amendment litigationit is a (characteristically) candid self-portrait by Americas foremost maverick publisher, as well as a colorful and rollicking history of Grove.

Rosset, an only child born in Chicago, enjoyed a privileged youth. He was a gifted athlete, a fiery debater, a young man full of opinions. After attending Swarthmore, he enlisted in the Army and served three years during WWII. After the war, his father helped him become a partner in a moribund little press called Grove. When his father died, leaving his heir control of a Midwest bank, Rosset merged it into Grove Press. Among the first books he published was Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot, which Rosset had read in the original French, long before Beckett was known, and which commenced a lifelong and mutually beneficial friendship.

In the 60s and 70s, Oakes said, every college student, every serious writer and artist, knew Grove Press. Barneys Evergreen Review had a circulation of 250,000. Grove had a theater, a movie company, a bar, a book club. Being the publisher of Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco, Henry Miller, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, (among many other iconic and important writers), buoyed Grove with steady sales. But the small house, always run on narrow margins, became overextended. In the mid-1980s, faced with what Oakes called a choice between death by fire or ice, Rosset made the fateful decision to sell to Ann Getty. It was death by firing, as new management forced Rosset out.

The existence of a Rosset memoir has long been rumored, but who would publish it remained a question mark for years. Barney was a seething mass of energy, Oakes said. His widow, Astrid [Myers], will attestthere mustve been two dozen notebooks. He worked on it on and off, adding things here and there. There mustve been 20 editors over the years who had an hand in it to varying degrees. As recently as 2012, Algonquin announced its intentions to publish the memoir, then titled The Subject Is Left-Handed, a reference to an observation in Rossets considerable FBI file. But Algonquin backed out, and the project returned to the Rosset estate.

When the estate asked me if I would take it on, I was really excited, Oakes said. I read the last version, and there were problems. It was a bit pallid. So Oakes went to Columbia University to look at the Rosset papers there. We went back to Barneys own writing. It is his cadence. There is his aristocratic background, and yet his working-class way of speaking. The language is both direct and elliptical, and he pulls no punches. Literally. Even his poor treatment of women is reckoned with. One of the things that is most gratifying is to have the feeling that we made this a better, fuller picture of Barneythough he is no doubt raging at me from beyond the grave for changing the title!

When asked what accounts for the great success Rosset had at Grove for many decades, Oakes said it was not only Rossets literary taste and rebellious spirit, but that he hired very good peopleKent Carroll, Richard Seaver, Fred Jordan, Nat Sobel, Herman Graf among them. And now Oakes, first hired as an editorial assistant by Rosset, has a hand in bringing more clarity to the Rosset legacy.

Another aspect of that legacy is also receiving attention at the moment. During the later years of his life, Rosset painted, gouged, and sculpted a large expanse of plaster wall in his and Astrids Fourth Avenue apartment in the East Village. Filmmakers Sandy Gotham Meehan and Williams Cole have started a Kickstarter campaign to fund postproduction of their documentary on Barneys Wall, a kind of visual memoir from the irascible Rosset.
The Chinese academic publishing industry is booming. In recent years, China has paid more and more attention to academic publishing, with companies publishing works that feature new ideas and old traditions. Indeed, the Chinese government itself has recognized that the quality of academic publishing reflects the countrys technological development as a whole.

The figures on imported academic books and related content are impressive. In 2014, China imported more than 25 million academic books, newspapers, and periodicals, worth more than $283 million. Similar numbers can be found in the digital education market: more than 134,000 items worth $210 million were brought into the country over the course of the year. The academic segment makes up the majority of books imported to China. According to SAPPRFT (the State Administration of Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television), between 60% and 70% of all book imports are related to academic and scholarly topics. Customers of these books are not only the traditional recipients, such as Chinese universities, but also research institutions, public libraries, government agencies, hospitals, and other institutions. In fact, an influx of state funding has made libraries the fastest growing channel for academic books across China.

The process of importing books into China is not a simple one. Customers face hurdles such as choosing which materials to buy, as well as how to house them, integrate them into existing databases, transport them, and clear them through customs and government regulations. Therefore most clients rely on the expertise of agents specializing in the entire process of importing books into China. At present, the China National Publications Import and Export Group Corporation (CNPIEC) is the largest of these providers, covering 40% of the Chinese import market. Looking at the companys statistics gives a useful overview of the state of academic publications imported by China. When it comes to the sources of imported academic books, the top three countries of origin are the U.S., Great Britain, and Germany, according to CNPIEC; the U.S. accounts for 41% of imports. The main importers of scholarly publications in the Chinese market are university libraries, public libraries, and research institutions.

Aided by increased government funding for academia as a whole, demand for imported academic books grew steadily between 2010 and 2014 at university libraries and research institutions. That growing demand in turn has led to a consistent year-over-year rise in imports during that same period. Over the course of these five years, the total number of academic books imported into China doubled.

The Hot Categories

What kinds of books are popular in the Chinese market? Between 2010 and 2014, the country focused on importing books on economic and business topics, and to a lesser extent on social science subjects such as history, and philosophy. Books on natural sciences and engineering have been in relatively low demand.

The strong showing of the soft sciences is due to the buying habits of institutions. When it comes to sciences, Chinese institutions focus on buying the newest scientific and technological titles and forgo older publications. In other fields, older publications are of much greater relevance and interest to an academic audience. Thus, year by year, social science imports far exceed imports from other fields.

As the largest player in the academic publishing market, CNPIEC consistently aims to expand its client base and to improve its available content. In this vein, the company each year places a focus on one particular area, based on trends and major current events. For instance, in 2014 the company focused on economic texts as interest in the subject continued to grow among scholars.

The industrys most important meeting point for Chinese publishers, the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), also plays host to special exhibitions by the company. As an example of CNPIEC placing an emphasis on what is important at a nation-wide level, in 2015, the company held a special academic publishing exhibition dedicated to publications from the One Belt and One Road countries: this was done to align with the Chinese governments commitment to bring its central- and near-Asian neighbors together economically.

For Chinese customers, the annual BIBF is the most important time of the year to make book purchases. This year, to facilitate the selling process, BIBF will not only set up a special library area, but will provide personnel and seminars to help customers choose what to buy. One of the main takeaways from previous seminars held for BIBFs customers was that many Chinese clients have an interest in furthering direct dialogue with foreign academic publishers and in learning more about the most current buyingplans. BIBF is the perfect forum for overseas customers to learn about the latest in exporting books to China, while also fostering communication between Chinese and foreign academic publishing experts.

To both foreign and Chinese publishers, BIBF is an important event for meeting all the major players in the academic field. Last year about 200 representatives from some of Chinas most important libraries, such as the National Library of China, Tsinghua University Library, Peking University Library, and the Capital Library attended BIBF. At the fair more than 20,000 copies of books were sold.

Like every year, top global publishers such as Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press exhibit at the BIBF in order to showcase their newest titles, receive feedback from users, and meet with important distributors. With the importance given to education in China and the sheer size of the market, academic publishing in China should get stronger in coming years.

This article was sponsored and written by China National Publications Import & Export Group Corp., organizer of China Market Focus Events.

Kong Xiaohua is deputy managing director of Book Import Center, CNPIEC.
The past few weeks have been a busy period for the publishing industry, with important international fairs held in Bologna and London while one of the largest conferences for independent presses and self-published authors took place in Salt Lake City. In fact, the tight schedule of the shows, particularly the Bologna Childrens Book Fair, which took place April 47, and the London Book Fair, held this year April 1214, caused headaches for some U.S. childrens publishers and agents who either went straight from Bologna to London or opted out of the U.K. fair. In 2017, there will be much more of a gap between the events, with the London fair set for March 1416 and Bologna scheduled from April 36.

The near overlap of Bologna and London didnt appear to dampen attendance at Bologna, which was up more than 9% over last year, according to BCBF officials. There was no big title or dominant trend this year, but the overall consensus from publishers and agents was that the fair was very productive. Upbeat and buzzy was agent Sophie Hickss take on the event. Holly Hunnicutt, deputy director of subsidiary rights at Macmillan Childrens Publishing Group, reported a good fair.

A new addition to Bologna this year was the Digital Hall, which featured digital service providers, companies offering software solutions, and independent producers. Microsoft Education and Google Play had the biggest presence in the hall.

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. 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 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.

After a few rough years, improving sales in 2015 for publishers translated into an energetic 2016 London Book Fair. If you look at a three-year snapshot, 2013 and 2014 didnt make for very happy reading, London Book Fair director Jacks Thomas said, referring to sales declines in most major markets in those years. But 2015 saw a return to sales growth in a number of countries, including the U.K. We are now going in the right direction, Thomas declared.

Her sentiments were echoed on the show floor. Bloomsburys Richard Charkin used the word confidence, as did Hachette U.K. CEO Tim Hely Hutchinson. Confidence is good; people are pleased to see the market is stabilizing and that the print market is up.

Ahead of the fair, optimism was also expressed at the 31st International Publishers Congress, which featured keynotes from Penguin Random House U.K. chair Gail Rebuck, author Philip Pullman, and Hachette CEO Arnaud Nourry. In his brief talk, however, Nourry said there were some threats to be dealt with, specifically sounding a call to European publishers to fight copyright reforms proposed by the European Commission, which he said would devastate European publishers. Nourry also stoked a minor controversy when he questioned whether China, which was brought into the International Publishers Association last fall, was prepared to defend the freedom to publish, and freedom of opinion, citing recent events in the news.

Self-publishing was also a subject of interest at the fair, with the popular Authors HQ once again facing overflowing audiences for its presentations on best practices and services, how to find an agent, and more. Emerging technology was also prominent, with sessions on virtual reality, and on artificial intelligence, including a keynote at the pre-fair Quantum digital conference by Nick Bostrum, director of the Strategic Artificial Intelligence Research Center at the University of Oxford. In his talk, Bostrum tried to show how far we are from a world where books might actually write themselves (spoiler alert: pretty far).

In her speech at Quantum, Rebuck nicely set the tone for the 2016 fair, noting that technology cuts two ways. Our job as publishers is made easier, and infinitely more sophisticated, by terabytes of digital research, she noted, adding that the same technology can make it harder for many authors to be seen or heard in the vast sea of information in which we now live. But after two decades of seismic changes, Rebuck also sounded a note of confidence. Books, she said, remain the DNA of our civilization.

In Salt Lake City, approximately 230 independent publishers and self-published authors turned out for the IBPAs 28th Publishing University, held April 89. The event took place a few days after the Ingram Content Group completed its purchase of Perseus Books Groups distribution division and the news that Partners Distribution was closing. Against that backdrop, potential changes in the distribution landscape were a big topic among attendees between the various panels and at cocktail receptions.

The well-received keynote speech was delivered by Newbery-winner Kwame Alexander. Before being signed by a major publisher, Alexander operated his own small press and, at one point, self-published his work. Along the way, he told the audience, he learned the value of taking chances in marketing. He took big publishers to task for believing there is only one way to sell books when, in fact, there are hundreds of ways. When sales of his first self-published book were slow, for example, Alexander took to showing up at farmers markets up and down the Middle Atlantic states, often selling $1,000 worth of books in a day.

Self-published authors and independent publishers cant think like large publishers, he said. You have to do what you have to do to sell your books. Even after Houghton Mifflin Harcourt acquired The Crossover, Alexanders middle grade novel, which won the 2015 Newbery, Alexander said he continued to aggressively market his titles. To be an author is to be active, he said.
ROCK ISLAND -- Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee said Friday the Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation of a dogfighting ring in the Quad-Cities involving at least 64 pit bulls removed from multiple properties, primarily in Rock Island.

"The feds have completely taken over," Mr. McGehee said Friday. "They are deciding how they want to proceed.

"There are no state charges as it relates to dogfighting."

But, Mr. McGehee said there are myriad animal abuse charges -- felony and misdemeanor offenses -- possible under Illinois law.

An FBI spokesman in Springfield said he could not comment on an ongoing investigation. At least one of the people, though, arrested Thursday on drug charges in connection with the investigation, already has pleaded guilty and had prior charges involving dogfighting in Rock Island.

Ryan M. Hickman, 41, 514 14th Ave., Rock Island, and Willie Earl Jackson, 34, 1514 9th St., Rock Island, were arrested Thursday on state charges. Mr. Hickman is charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a Class 1 felony, and possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony.

Mr. Jackson was charged with unlawful possession of cannabis, a Class 4 felony.

In 2010, Mr. Hickman, pleaded guilty to promoting dogfighting.

Judge Walter Braud sentenced him to two years of probation and credit for time served in jail. At that time, Mr. Hickman and another Rock Island man, Chavonte Bragg, were arrested in the 900 block of 14th Street.

When officers arrived, they found a group of about 15 people in an area between two houses. Police said two of the people gathered had pit bulls fighting.

Of the 11 search warrants executed Thursday, 10 were in Rock Island, according to chief Jeffrey VenHuizen. The other search warrant was in Davenport.

Rock Island police would not comment further Friday on the investigation. Rock Island Mayor Dennis Pauley said he has spoken to police but can't comment on an ongoing investigation.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is assisting with the operation and transporting the animals to a temporary shelter. At least 14 ASPCA members were seen outside the Rock Island Police Station on Thursday afternoon, loading animals for transport to a temporary shelter outside the area.

Kelly Krause, spokeswoman for ASPCA, New York, said the Rock Island case "is a very significant case. It was spread out over a wide area on 12 different properties.

"We've seen cases where there are as much as 400 animals involved. It's not uncommon to hear people are surprised to find out dogfighting is going on in their area. It's a very underground activity.

"It can be anywhere -- basements, attics, barns."

As for the dogs, Ms. Krause said ASPCA will look at each dog with multiple veterinarians working to assess if the animals are suitable for adoption.

"It's really too early to talk about adoption," Ms. Krause said. "They're still considered evidence. We have to hold them until the court determines their custody."

Rock Island Ald. Ivory Clark, 1st Ward, said he was surprised by the number of dogs recovered in the investigation. Ald. Clark said he has received no information from the mayor, the police or city staff on the investigation.

"I can't say I have never heard of dogfighting in our area," Ald. Clark said. "But, I thought it was something that was dying down. Cruelty to animals is something I will never condone."

After search warrants were served Thursday morning by the FBI, responders discovered dogs tethered on heavy chains and training devices consistent with dogfighting, along with narcotics and a firearm. The seizure is the result of an investigation that began about one year ago.

"It's all about money for the people involved with it," Ms. Krause said Friday.
Today is Saturday, April 16, the 107th day of 2016. There are 259 days left in the year.

1866  150 years ago: A very neat and tasteful milliners shop has just been opened in Dostals blocker next door to Quiets tobacco store.

1891  125 years ago: Director Hood of Davenports baseball team was in Rock Island this morning in consultation with Harry Sage, Rock Islands star player.

1916  100 years ago: Methodist pastors and laymen of Rock Island-Galesburg districts are to attend the annual meeting at Knoxville April 24 and 25.

1941  75 years ago: A wage increase of 35 cents an hour at International Harvester Company and Deere & Co., will affect 11,500 Rock Island, Moline and East Moline workers.

1966  50 years ago: A thousand students from 30 high schools in northwestern Illinois are entered in the Class B state finals music contest for solos and ensembles, to be held tomorrow at Augustana College.

1991  25 years ago: The old passenger terminal at the Quad City airport is expected to be torn down next month, according to Michael Haney, airport director of operations. Airport commissioners accepted a $712,800 federal grant during a special board meeting last week.
GENESEO -- Jennifer Berry Ryan has received a Good Samaritan Award for her mission work in Haiti.

Mrs. Ryan, 28, was honored for demonstrating the attributes of the Good Samaritan as described in Luke 10:25-37. The award recognizes successful outreach, humanitarian assistance and advocacy.

Mrs. Ryan said she also is a fan of Matthew 25:40 -- "And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'" Her efforts to put both passages into practice did not go unnoticed at her home church, Grace United Methodist Church in Geneseo, where Mark Lohman nominated her for the United Methodist Churches' Good Samaritan Award.

In 2006, Mrs. Ryan began traveling to Haiti with her father, Brian Berry, and former Grace Church pastor the Rev. John E. Davis. She since has made nine more trips and, in 2015, led a group of high school students to the village of Augustin in far west Haiti.

The outreach from the Geneseo church began 11 years ago when members traveled to a mission established through Northwest Christian Mission Inc.

"On my first trip to Haiti, we visited two orphanages, and one of those touched my heart as it was for children of all ages with disabilities, she said. I knew after that first visit to the House of Hope that I wanted to do more for the children in Haiti.

After several trips to the remote village of Augustin, she spearheaded efforts to establish Espwa Ministries, an Illinois not-for-profit organization founded as a joint ministry effort between Mrs. Ryan and Grace Church. Espwa means "hope in the Creole language spoken in Augustin.

All donations to Espwa are used to fund tuition, school supplies and for one meal per day, as well as contributing to teacher salaries, Mrs. Ryan said.

She continued to work with her father and teams of interdenominational volunteer missionaries, making as many as three trips per year to Haiti. During one trip, she helped build a church in Augustin to add outreach and education ministries to the ongoing humanitarian and health-care help.

"Eventually, the congregation at Grace Church prefabricated a school building in the church parking lot in Geneseo and had it delivered to Haiti by ocean-going container, Mr. Lohman noted in his nomination of Mrs. Ryan for the Good Samaritan Award. He said she was "one more example of God's kingdom being served.

"With her support, as well as the support of others, many inter-generational missionaries have been on her Haiti teams, helping children to meet Jesus and receive elementary education with hot meals," he wrote in his nomination.

To donate to Espwa Ministries or sponsor a child, call Grace Church at 309-944-4208. Donations may be mailed to the church, 318 N. Center St., Geneseo, IL 61254; make checks payable to Espwa or Grace United Methodist Church, with "Haiti Child Sponsorship in the memo line.

Jennifer Berry Ryan

Birth date: Dec. 21, 1987.

Family: Husband, Sean Ryan; daughter, Charlotte (8), son, Cohen (one week)

Hometown: Geneseo.

Education: Geneseo High School.

Bible character Id like to meet: Adam.

Hobbies: Spending time with my family.

One thing I feel strongly about: Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring -- all of which have the potential to change someone's world.
ROCK ISLAND -- Immanuel Lutheran Church, at 3300 24th St., is celebrating its 160th anniversary.

A fellowship time tonight with the Rev. Mark Miller, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Central Illinois District President, will feature food, games and door prizes. Doors open at 5 p.m., with a meal at 5:30. An offering will be accepted to cover meal costs.

Other upcoming events include an antique car show, ice cream social and quilt show May 15; a craft show May 21; and a 160th anniversary banquet weekend June 18-19 with the Rev. Bart Day, executive director of the Office of National Missions, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and the Rev. Ron Haebedank, pastor of a church in New York and a former teacher and youth director at Immanuel, as guest speakers.

For more details and reservations for the June celebration, call 309-786-3391.

"Immanuel" means "God with us" and stems from Matthew 1:23, which reads: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."

In April 1856, the congregation's first worship service was in a private home, with those services moved to a public school two months later. In September 1856, Immanuel Lutheran School opened as a Christian Day School; it closed in 2010.

In May 1857, the congregation paid $800 for a double-frame building and several lots on the corner of 13th Street and 6th Avenue in Rock Island. The first church was completed in the spring of 1858.

In March 1865, the congregation spent $10,000 to secure three lots at 1925 5th Ave., Rock Island, and built a new church, complete with a steeple. The church was dedicated in the fall of 1866.

In November 1895, the congregation voted to tear down the old church and build a larger one facing 5th Avenue. The cornerstone for that building was placed June 28, 1896.

In 2010, members voted to close the downtown church and build adjacent to the school on 24th Street. The narthex and sanctuary, connected to the school building, were dedicated Jan. 23, 2011. Future plans are to add a Fellowship Hall to the narthex.

Although the school no longer is open, its classrooms are used for Sunday school and other groups.

The church's mission is to glorify God, build the Christian Church, foster Christian fellowship and concern and join in the worldwide work of winning souls for Christ. said the Rev. Leonard A. Astrowski Jr., the church's current pastor.

"For 160 years, Immanuel has celebrated God with us," he said. "We have and will continue to celebrate and worship the God who comes among us each time we gather -- Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Here you will find reverence and a sense of holiness," Rev. Astrowski said. "Here you will find a place not governed by trends and tastes. Here you -- by Gods grace -- will find people and lives governed by the Holy God who claims us as His own children.
"Ford Motor Co. plans to build a $1.6-billion auto assembly plant in Mexico, creating about 2,800 jobs there and shifting small-car production away from the United States at a time when moving jobs south of the border has become a major issue in the U.S. presidential campaign." -- Associated Press, Feb. 7, 2016

With every free-trade act, more American manufacturing businesses either go under or relocate to foreign countries. In America, the consumer appears to have won; the manufacturer, to have lost.

By way of illustration, consider GM and Ford -- two great U.S. corporations, who have had a history of being vital to the American's way of life and national defense.

In Feb. 2011, Dan Ackerson, GM's former CEO told an audience in China:

"Almost seven out of every ten automobiles ... were made outside the U.S.

"We have 11 joint ventures with SAIC [Shanghai Auto Industry Corp.] and FAW [another Chinese entity] ... We're involved in vehicle manufacturing, sales, distribution, engineering design, downstream businesses such as telematics, financing and used cars. We operate 11 assembly plants in China. Four Power train plants in eight cities across the country. We have more than 2700 dealerships and sales outlets across [China].

"We regard our 11 joint ventures as our 11 keys to success -- not just in China, but globally. Our commitment of working in China, with China and for China remains strong and focused on the future."

"We're now building out of the advanced technology center, which will bring our research and development, that is centered largely in the United States -- we're going to diversify that -- more into China because we think this market is so critically important to the success of our company."

So, why does our government allow our great corporations to relocate -- expand -- overseas? Doesn't our government realize that when GM situates its plant in China, jobs in "manufacturing, sales, distribution, engineering design, and downstream businesses go to Chinese workers rather than American workers? Don't American workers lose high-paying jobs when seven of every ten automobiles are made outside the U.S?

Who benefits in America when American companies relocate to China or Mexico? When cheaper Chinese or Mexican goods flood into the U.S.?

Certainly not U.S auto workers. They lose their jobs. American consumers are the beneficiaries. Labor is cheaper abroad, therefore, given "free trade," Mexican and Chinese goods sold and imported into the U.S. are less expensive, and that benefits U.S. consumers. And since there are more consumers who want to buy at lower prices than there are laborers, politicians have catered to the consumers.

But consider an inherent danger.

During World War II, it was American industry and innovation that made certain America would win the war. In his message to Congress of May 16, 1940, FDR spoke of the U.S. producing 50,000 planes a year. That was only possible because America had industries -- such as the auto industry -- that could be converted to war production.

In 1941, 18,466 planes were produced. By 1943, 84,853. And in 1944, to 96,270. William S. Knudsen, FDR's Office of Production and Management chairman said, "We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible."

At Ford's Willow Run plant, bombers were produced at the rate of one an hour. By war's end, Ford alone had built 86,865 complete aircraft, 57,851 more airplane engines, thousands of engine superchargers and generators, and 4,291 military gliders.

So what happens when war comes, if all our auto plants are in China and Mexico? In WWII, we were the "Arsenal of Democracy." Will that be the case if we continue to allow all our manufacturers to relocate overseas? If all trained mechanics are in China and Mexico. French fries don't win wars.

America's choice to provide consumers low-cost goods at the expense of the American laborer may well have dire consequences.

Find Mr. Ackerson's remarks at youtube.com/watch?v=Lvl5Gan69Wo&feature=youtu.be. See what Fact Check.Org says about it at factcheck.org/2012/06/is-gm-becoming-china-motors/.
Monday NZME launches it Mix FM brand into the nations capital, Wellington joins Auckland and Christchurch, with the 80s and 90s format. NZME Group Director said:

We identified a clear gap in the market in Wellington for listeners who love music from the 80s and 90s without all the talk and hype of the other stations. Mix93.7 will play Madonnas Like a Virgin next to Coolios Gangstas Paradise. Were finding all the best songs from the 80s and 90s and then pressing shuffle!

Mix93.7 goes to air on Monday as well on iHeartRadio NZ.
Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here.

OK
Following GVTs integration into Telefonicas Vivo brand in Brazil, the Spanish telco is looking at convergence through an extensive fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network.

From now on, the Vivo Tudo brand is to cover pay-TV, mobile, broadband and digital businesses. The move puts an end to a 10-month integration process which started in June 2015 after the telco got permission to acquire GVT.In this new stage for Telefonica Brazil, the company is targeting convergence as a priority, starting with offering triple-play services, preparing immediate deployment for quad-play and eyeing quint-play, which will include pay-TV and mobile and fixed voice and broadband services.The refurbished goals have much to do with the infrastructures acquired through GVT. While Telefonicas own fibre network was not very extensive, now the telco has access to nearly 17 million FTTH-connected homes across 186 cities. Iit plans to connect 2.7 million homes to fibre through 2016.We have worked hard so the merger created new value for customers, partners, shareholders and the country itself, which is now to receive more investments as we become a stronger telco, pointed out Amos Genish, president and CEO of Telefonica Vivo.According to official figures, Telefonica is now the third largest pay-TV provider in the Portuguese-speaking market, with nearly a 10% share, behind AT&T and America Movil.
2016 has become a year of over-the-top (OTT) explosion in Latin America, with Millicoms Tigo being the latest, but probably not the last, to join the party.

Formerly a Netflix stronghold, Latin America has recently seen the arrival of Televisas blim and the rocketing expansion of Telefonicas Movistar Play. Now, Millicoms telco has started the deployment of Tigo Play, its own video-on-demand (VOD) service.blim, Televisas video-on-demand (VOD) and streaming service, is, for the moment, carrying an aggressive content strategy, aiming to take the crown from Netflix not only in Mexico, but across the entire region.Meanwhile, Telefonica is deploying more silent moves , but Movistar Play has launched in Uruguay, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador since the beginning of the year, and will arrive in Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Nicaragua before the end of the year.Tigo Play has been the latest to join the boom, but it intends to fight for a place in the regional OTT market. The VOD platform launched this week in Guatemala and will gradually arrive in other markets in which Millicoms company operates.According to local newspapers, the platform will first land in Costa Rica - Tigos largest business - but will then arrive in other emerging markets such as Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and more established ones like Colombia and Paraguay.With these last moves, OTT video platforms seem finally to be taking off in LATAM, although for different reasons. While Televisa sees an opportunity for wider content distribution, telcos as Telefonica and Tigo focus on OTT platforms as a driver of demand for their mobile and fixed services.
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.
Property details:

Gorgeous 10 acres land, close to San Diego, near Santa Rosa Mountains Road access 1 block to Hwy 86 and Red Earth Casino, 1 mi to Salton Sea Bring a cabin, and get a Off-Grid Solar Kit in Home Depot Owner Financing with 0% interest or only $169 a month Location. Beautiful land is 10 acres, perfect square shape 660 x 660. Located in great area. Hwy 86 is only half mi to east, Salton Sea and Salton City Beach only 1 mi to the east, Salton City is 2 mi to the south, Palm Springs and...

Price: $ 306 Seller State of Residence: California State/Province: California Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential Location: 322**, Jacksonville, Florida

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby Residential
Property details:

Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE 11.69 ACRES TOP OF THE WORLD WASHINGTON LAND YOU ARE BIDDING ON THE DOWN PAYMENT ONLY! THIS IS A FINANCED PROPERTY FOR SALE AT $15,985.00 POWER at PROPERTY ROAD You must message me that you have read the entire auction details before you bid or your bid will be removed Property: This auction for 11.69 ACRES 11 Miles from Oroville, Washington, Okanogan County. The property is in a subdivision called LOT 174 OKANOGAN RIVER RANCH #6 on Round Up Road. There...

Price: $ 314 Seller State of Residence: Arizona State/Province: Washington City: OROVILLE Type: Recreational, Acreage Zoning: Mixed Zip/Postal Code: 98844 Property Address: 48.8167, -119.3599 Location: 988**, Oroville, Washington

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby 48.8167, -119.3599
Local rock group New Mantra comes to The Foundry on Thursday night. The group, formerly known as The Athens Band, boasts a vintage hard rock sound anchored by strong lead guitar. Mothers guitarist will open with his side project Moses Mos Two Ton Message. Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. The show begins at 7 p.m.
SHARE

Prime hospitals receive awards

All 15 of Prime Healthcare hospitals in California, including Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, have achieved the 2016 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, the Ontario-based hospital chain announced this week.

All told 20 of the 42 hospitals that Prime Healthcare operates in 14 states achieved the honor.

Hospitals were evaluated on the occurrence of observed incidents and expected performance for 14 "Patient Safety Indicators" as defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The Healthgrades designation recognizes superior performance in hospitals that have prevented the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients during hospital stays, Prime Healthcare said in a news release.

PG&E pays fees and property taxes

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is paying $318 million in property taxes and franchise fees this spring to 50 counties and 243 cities where the utility serves 16 million Californians.

PG&E paid Shasta County $4,567,520 in property taxes. The payment covers Jan. 1 to June 30. Tehama County received $1,107,174, Siskiyou County got $112,143 and Trinity County was paid $109,639.

The utility's franchise fee payments to North Valley cities and counties totaled $4.5 million, $783,000 for natural gas and more than $3.7 million for electric service fees. Redding received $219,755, Anderson ($135,615), Shasta Lake ($24,525), and Red Bluff ($105,219).

Record Searchlight Reporter David Benda can be reached at 225-8219 or at david.benda@redding.com.
SHARE

Q. Does your faith include instructions on how to treat the elderly? Does being elderly entitle anyone to special treatment?

The Fourth Commandment in the Bible is quite explicit: Honor your father and mother. By extension, in most cultures, that includes all the elderly.

Most of us hold a special reverence for senior members of our families. I remember my grandmother as the most kind and gentle woman I ever knew. She would often take me on journeys to San Francisco, where we would stop in first at the nearest church. We would pray for a few moments and then she would help me light a votive candle. We then left and she would say, "Jesus will remember we stopped by, and bless us all day."

Now that I am elderly myself, I still hold her faithful image in my mind. We shall all be older seniors eventually. Perhaps the respect we now receive is due compensation for all the respect we have given. Hopefully, we'll all make it to age 90.

Deacon Mike Evans

Sacred Heart Church, Anderson

In the United Methodist Church, we are committed to protecting and nurturing the lives of all, and we work for equal rights for populations that are at risk for abuse and neglect, including the elderly. We believe all individuals have value and purpose and we seek to help people lead whole, fulfilling lives at all ages. Our Social Principles also address the need for dignity and care during dying.

Tara Macy, lay servant

First United Methodist Church, Redding

I may soon find out just how the elderly are treated.

It is an obligation for Christians to care for widows and widowers. We look to our older generation for wisdom and experiences they can share. The values they possess are invaluable and we need to protect that asset. Basically, we become part of an extended family, which really isn't that much different than our regular church body.

Jim White, lay leader

Weaverville Church of the Nazarene

The Torah tells us how to treat all people. Scripture obligates us to do all we can delay person's death, if only briefly. When one of us enhances and preserve's the life and dignity of a living soul, its as though that person preserves a complete world.

The elderly occupy a special place. It's not because of their age; it's more because of their part in the Jewish historical chronicle. In part, it's because they've enhanced the community of everyone who lives by the covenant afforded Jews.

My world has shrunk; I have less control over what I do. My physical and spiritual needs have increased. Most of my friends and relatives are younger than I am. I look to them to help me see my world in the light of love, compassion and generosity. I, in turn, try to offer the same to them consistent with my circumstances.

George Wandrocke, chaplain

Temple Beth Israel of Redding

The world is becoming a dangerous place to be old. In addition to flat-out elder abuse our narcissistic society expresses a sense that the elderly are of little value, nothing more than a drain on our resources of time and money. More and more children of elderly parents appear content and justified to shuffle them off to a nursing home to quietly live out their last years.

Christianity, though, teaches people to respect elders, to honor your father and mother. The Book of Timothy in the Bible states, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

This expression of God's law is a much-needed correction to our deteriorating sense of honor for our elderly. With them is found the wisdom of age, and the insight of a lifetime of their own mistakes. Our youth ignore those to their peril.

The Rev. Gene Crow, pastor

Redding Reformed Fellowship

Unity believes that all people are created in the image and likeness of God. Regardless of age, gender, race or creed the Christ light lives in each of us. Giving and receiving love, caring and respect keeps that light shining brightly.

Many elders have wisdom to share. Giving them a place to offer their wisdom is a gift to them and the receivers. Older people have abilities and skills to contribute. When given a place to use their talents, they provide a valuable service and know they are giving to a cause greater than themselves.

Giving necessary assistance to those who are elderly shows honor and respect. Doing things for them that they can and want to do for themselves demeans. All people, regardless of age, have feelings, desires, hopes and dreams.

We are all walking this path through life as one. Being elderly does not change that.

Carolyn Warnemuende, spiritual director

Unity in Redding

Next week's question: What does your faith say, if anything, about revenge?
Quentin Bealer is shown being escorted to Tehama County Superior Court for one of his many past court appearances.

SHARE Marysa Nichols

By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight

It's been a long and arduous road, but the murder trial of a Red Bluff man accused of strangling a 14-year-old girl in 2013 is finally set to begin next week in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Quentin Bealer, 42, who is being held in Sacramento County Jail without bail as he awaits trial, will be in court Monday as attorneys continue to litigate legal motions before Superior Court Judge Delbert W. Oros.

Jury selection will follow, possibly as early as that day, or on Tuesday, said defense attorney Shon Northam, who is representing Bealer.

It's estimated jury selection could take two to three days with the trial expected to take about five weeks.

Bealer, who has long proclaimed his innocence, is charged with murder in the death of Marysa Nichols, who was last seen leaving her independent study class at Red Bluff High School on Feb. 26, 2013.

Her body was found two days later lying face down in a creekbed between the high school and Bidwell Elementary School, her yellow tank top tied tightly around her neck.

Bealer's DNA was found on the shirt, a state Department of Justice criminalist has testified.

Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen said Friday the DNA evidence against Bealer is strong, but noting other evidence tying Bealer to the murder has not been publicly disclosed.

"The evidence will show Mr. Bealer is the person responsible" for the teen's death, he said. "I feel pretty confident in the case."

Bealer was arrested March 2, 2013, after he turned himself into police following the release of a surveillance video that showed a man matching Bealer's description outside the high school.

Bealer told police he was the man in the video surveillance, but that he had nothing to do with the teenager's death.

In a case that's encountered numerous delays, Bealer's trial was ordered in December 2014 to be transferred to Sacramento County to ensure he receives a fair trial from jurors who have not been exposed to extensive North State media accounts of the case.
Newsom, Dahle to meet in debate today. Here's where to listen

Newsom and Dahle are scheduled to debate Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. The debate will be broadcast live on the radio by KQED News.
SHARE Cain Borelli Anderson Lucero

Not guilty plea given in DUI case

A Redding mother charged with DUI and child endangerment in connection with a Wednesday rollover crash that injured her two children pleaded not guilty during her arraignment Friday in Shasta County Superior Court.

The Shasta County District Attorney's Office filed a criminal complaint that morning against 28-year-old Courtney Danielle Cain charging her with two felony counts of child endangerment, two misdemeanor counts of DUI and a related enhancement.

Cain, who remains in Shasta County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, was driving from Highway 273 onto Westside Road on Wednesday afternoon when her 2005 Toyota Prius crashed and overturned. The car ended up on its side, police said.

Cain's 2-month-old and 2-year-old children, who were properly secured in their car seats and later taken into protective custody under the care of Child Family Services, suffered minor injuries in the wreck, police have said.

Cain is being represented by the Shasta County Public Defender's Office and is due back in court Monday to review her bail. She is scheduled to have her preliminary hearing on April 28.

A breath test administered to Cain registered a blood-alcohol level of .20 percent, prosecutors said.

The legal driving limit is .08 percent.

Jury convicts man in assault, threat case

A 23-year-old Redding man is facing more than 12 years in prison next month after being convicted Friday of assaulting and threatening to kill a woman.

Prosecutors announced that a Shasta County Superior Court jury convicted William Robert Borelli of two felonies: making criminal threats and false imprisonment by violence in connection with a Nov. 29, 2014, assault at his home.

Shasta County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ben Hanna said Borelli assaulted the woman, threatened to kill her and would not allow her to leave.

She was finally able to escape and called 911.

At the time of the incident, Borelli was on probation for a felony conviction out of Sacramento County in a eerily similar offense.

In that case, prosecutors said, Borelli assaulted another woman, threatened to kill her and kept her in her home against her will for several hours.

Borelli was taken into custody after the jury's verdicts and is being held without bail in Shasta County Jail as he awaits his May 9 sentencing.

Trial set for woman in fatal traffic crash

An Oct. 25 trial date was set Friday in Shasta County Superior Court for a Redding woman suspected of driving under the influence of drugs in a 2014 traffic wreck that claimed the life of 27-year-old motorcyclist.

Virginia Lyn Anderson, who is being represented by the Shasta County Public Defender's Office, is accused of driving under the influence of methamphetamine and other drugs.

It's alleged she ran a red-turn arrow on April 24, 2014, at Buenaventura Boulevard and Placer Street and collided with motorcyclist Hayley Riggins, the mother of a then 1-year-old baby. Riggins died from her injuries.

Siskiyou deputies seek missing man

The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's help in finding a 21-year-old man who has been missing since April 9.

Darion Lucero, also known as Spirit Sparrow, was last seen near the north fork of the Sacramento River near Lake Siskiyou in Mount Shasta.

Lucero has brown dreadlocks and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office at 841-2900.
G-20 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governors pose for a group photo during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at IMF headquarters in Washington, Friday, April 15, 2016. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

SHARE

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER and PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writers

WASHINGTON (AP)  The global recovery has regained most of the ground lost from the market turbulence at the beginning of the year, finance officials of the world's largest economies said Friday. But they worry that growth remains uneven in the face of a variety of threats ranging from terrorist bombings to Britain's upcoming vote on whether to leave the European Union.

The finance ministers from the Group of 20 major economies pledged to pursue policies that will bolster growth and further stabilize financial markets, but they offered no new measures to accomplish these goals.

Reflecting some of the challenges the countries face, Lou Jiwei, China's finance minister, defended his country's handling of its economy against criticism that has seen two major credit rating agencies recently downgrade the outlook for Chinese bonds.

The joint statement from the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors repeated many of the promises the group had made at their last meeting in Shanghai in late February. However, at that time global financial markets had just gone through a significant bout of turbulence over concerns about a worse-than-expected slowdown in China, falling oil prices and the threat they posed to the global economy.

The G-20 discussions were occurring as part of the spring meetings of the 189-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen were representing the United States at the meetings.

In its statement Friday, the group acknowledged the volatility at the beginning of the year but stated that markets had "recovered most of the ground lost" although "growth remains modest and uneven."

Much of the market nervousness has focused on China, the world's second largest economy. Investors have grown concerned that China's slowdown is even worse than the government's numbers show and that Chinese authorities have mishandled policies meant to restore confidence.

On Friday, the Chinese reported that economic growth fell to 6.7 percent in the first three months of 2016, the slowest since the financial crisis but strong by global standards.

Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's last month downgraded the outlook for Chinese government bonds, citing slowing economic growth and rising government debts. China is attempting a transition from rapid growth based on often-wasteful investments in factories and real estate to slower but more sustainable growth built on consumer spending.

Moody's warned Friday that China is straying from that strategy, propping up growth by funneling loans to inefficient government-owned companies and putting longer-term growth at risk.

At his news conference, Lou, who is chairman of the G-20 group, was asked about the downgrade by the credit agencies. He dismissed the action by the credit agencies saying that they did not know what was happening "on the ground" in China.

The G-20 statement repeated a goal to increase transparency of all countries on tax matters. Lou was asked, in light of the recent disclosure of significant tax havens in Panama, whether this effort needed to be strengthened. But he did not respond directly to the question of what penalties could be imposed to discipline countries that refuse to share tax information.

The IMF is urging countries to launch a new round of public works projects to improve roads and other types of infrastructure in hopes the higher government spending will boost growth. But in an era of high budget deficits, that call has not met with much support. In Friday's communique, the G-20 did not offer any new proposals on infrastructure spending.

Global finance officials are seeking to address the political backlash against globalization, which has helped propel the presidential campaign of Republican front-runner Donald Trump in the United States and has triggered a June vote in Britain over whether that country should exit from the European Union.

Both IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told reporters that the answer to stagnant wages in many industrial nations and complaints about jobs being lost to trade competition was to pursue growth-oriented policies.

"This movement toward isolationism and the movement away from trade is very bad for poor people," Kim told reporters. "It is very bad for our efforts to reduce poverty."
The European Medicines Agencys review is the second setback to Alkem Laboratories.

Alkem Laboratories has been accused by Germanys health regulator of fudging data on clinical trials of an antibiotic and brain disorder drug. It is the third Indian firm to be scrutinised since 2014 for suspected manipulation of trial data.

The medicines are now being reviewed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the recommendation of the German regulator, which inspected Alkems Taloja plant in Maharashtra last March. Alkem was found to have engaged in intentional misrepresentation of data and duplicated results of electrocardiogram (ECG) readings of patients in trials, the German regulator said in a notice sent to the EMA on March 24.

The notification announcing a review of medicines was put up on the EMA website on April 1. Alkem did not immediately comment on the development.

The EMAs review is the second setback to Alkem Laboratories which is amongst the top five drug companies in the domestic market. The company earns over 70 per cent of its revenue from the domestic market while the US contributes about 20 per cent. Europe accounts for a small share of the companys revenue but it is expanding its presence in some markets such as Germany and the East European nations.

In March, the UKs Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) made eight observations following an inspection at the Taloja plant. Alkem had then said it was responding to the UK health regulators observations and did not anticipate any impact on the products it supplies to Europe at present. In recent years, Indias GVK Biosciences and Quest Lifesciences were found to have duplicated ECG data, resulting in the withdrawal of approvals for hundreds of drugs last year.

Data integrity is an issue of serious concern to health regulators in Europe and the US. While Indian companies have stepped up efforts to improve compliance there have been instances when companies have been accused of data fudging.

Reliability of data and potential of cross contamination of products are of key concern, Gerald Heddell, MHRAs director of Inspection, Enforcement and Standards told Business Standard in February responding to a query on concerns regarding the Indian pharma industry.

In case of Alkem the EMA said it was assessing the benefit-risk of certain medicines that had received marketing approval based on trials conducted by the company between March 2013 and March 2015.

The drugs include the antibiotic cefuroxime and rulizole, used to treat the neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, sold both by Alkem and Slovenias Krka, the EMA said. Alkem was conducting trials on the drugs for Krka.

The German regulator made Alkem aware of its findings on September 8, 2015, according to the notice. Krka did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The German regulator said Alkems quality management system neither avoided nor detected the data manipulation. The regulator has urged the EMA, the medicines regulator for the European Union, to take necessary action and consider if impacted drugs need to be suspended or recalled.

The EMAs opinion will be considered by the European Commission, which will take a final decision on the medicines, the EMA said.

Image used for representation purpose only. Photograph, courtesy alkemlabs.com.

* In an earlier version of this report, the use of a Reuters photograph together with the headline Alkem fudged trial data: German regulator is potentially misleading about the woman featured in the image, and is outside the scope of our Master Terms.
At the heart of the current controversy is the government's FDI rule

Under fire on charges of violating India's foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, AirAsia said on Friday that its majority Indian shareholders  Tata Sons and its executives  were in control of the airline. It also blamed vested interests for stifling the airlines growth in the country.

Giving reference to his interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the airline's group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said it is time for India to end patronage and put its people first. The Modi government has promised fairness and transparency and having met the prime minister, I am even more excited about our future in India.

The airlines assertions come in the wake of the controversy surrounding its brand-licensing agreement, which allegedly allows AirAsia Malaysia to exercise influence and control on virtually all aspects of operations of AirAsia India. This, it is alleged, violates government norms.

AirAsia India has said the brand licence agreement it had signed in 2013 with its parent in Malaysia upheld the primacy of Indian shareholders and did not violate the rule related to the effective control of the airline.

AirAsia India is a joint venture of AirAsia Malaysia (which owns 49 per cent) and Tata Sons and its executives who hold 51 per cent. The airline began operations in June 2014 but has been dogged by intense competition, slow growth, continuous losses, and senior management exits.

At the heart of the current controversy is the government's FDI rule, which says substantial ownership and effective control of an airline should vest with Indian nationals. Foreign investment in an airline is capped at 49 per cent and its chairperson and two-thirds of its directors must be Indian citizens.

On Friday, AirAsia issued a statement saying a clause in the agreement explicitly stated that substantial ownership and effective control of the licensee remains at all times with Indian residents.

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, said lawyer Nitin Sarin, who specialises in aviation law.

The brand license agreement is also referenced in the original shareholders agreement among the founding shareholders of AirAsia India. The shareholders agreement was lodged immediately after execution in April 2013 with the Indian government, in full compliance with all regulations, the airline said.

We also wish to point out that the brand licence agreement executed with AirAsia India is consistent with similar agreements executed by AirAsia Berhad (AirAsia Malaysia) with its ventures elsewhere in the world. In all such cases, these agreements are subject to applicable local laws.

AirAsia India has been facing litigation since 2013 with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy and airline lobby group Federation of Indian Airlines challenging the grant of permit to the airline. A writ petition is also pending against the airline in Delhi high court.

Arun Bhatia, who was a co-investor in AirAsia India till last month, had also threatened to drag the carrier to court accusing Fernandes of remote controlling the airline.

Tata group chairperson emeritus Ratan Tata had tweeted in February that its group airlines were set up in full compliance with the prevailing government policy in response to the criticism from rival airlines.
Sticking to its guns, China on Saturday again justified its decision to block Indias bid to get Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the United Nations and described its stance as fair and based on facts.

China always deals with the listing of 1267 committee based on facts and pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions and relevant rules in a fair manner, Chinese foreign ministry said in response to Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddins criticism of hidden veto in dealing with the listing of terrorist outfits and their leaders.

We have noticed the remarks by Indias Permanent Representative to the UN, the foreign ministry said in written response to a question from PTI.

Both China and India fall victim to terrorism and share similar positions when it comes to combating terrorism, it said.

China is one of the five veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council which plays a leading role in banning terrorist outfits.

China supports the UN in playing a leading role in international anti-terrorism cooperation and takes an active part in international anti-terrorism cooperation, the ministry said.

In order to reach international consensus on counter terrorism, China encourage all parties to fully leverage the leading and coordinating role played by the UN and the Security Council and forge international synergy on counter-terrorism, it said.

This is the second time that China has defended the decision to put a technical hold on Indias bid to ban Azhar, the mastermind of the January 2 Pathankot terrorist attack.

On April 1, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China dealt with the issues under the UNSC anti-terrorism committee based on facts and relevant rules of procedures in objective and just manner.

The latest response comes in the backdrop of India taking up the issue directly with China.

China too acknowledged that it is in touch with New Delhi on this issue indicating that its position remained unchanged.

The deadlock over the issue continued as both the countries are set for high-level engagements to discuss the state of bilateral ties.

While External Affairs Minster Sushma Swaraj is set to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Russia, India, China Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow on April 18, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar began his first visit to China on Saturday.

Soon after Parrikars visit, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will be in China during which he is expected to hold 19th round of boundary talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

Doval and Yang, who are designated Special Representatives for boundary talks, also have the mandate to discuss entire gamut of bilateral issues.

The Azhar issue is expected to figure prominently in talks.

India had the same problem in getting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba listed by the UN anti-terrorism committee when he was released from prison by Pakistan.

While it continued to assert that it is taking a fair stand, China is also reportedly asking New Delhi to resolve the issues with Pakistan directly, which has caused further alarm among Indian officials prompting India to take up the issue openly at UN.

While the two countries have improved relations in the last few years with high-level diplomacy, they hit a new roadblock, which officials say is similar to the one China began issuing stapled visas to the residents of Kashmir in 2010 to highlight its disputed status.
A blame game over the Puttingal Devi temple fire tragedy has erupted with Kerala Police Chief T P Senkumar saying the order banning fireworks display should have been issued by Kollam district authorities much earlier.

The district authority should work in a cohesive manner while banning a traditional festival which has been taking place for decades without interruption, Senkumar said in a scathing attack on Kollam district administration.

The entire district administration, including the district collector and district police chief, should have been present in the area to implement the ban, Senkumar said in a reply report sent to the additional chief secretary on April 13.

There is no point in telling that an order has been issued and it has not been complied with, he said apparently referring to Kollam District Collector A Shainamols stand that it was the duty of the police commissioner to ensure that the ban order was implemented.

Such a decision (banning the fireworks display) should have been taken much earlier and the district administration should have published it. The district administration and police should work as a cohesive unit to impose it, he said.

There is not much value in blaming one unit by the other. All have their joint responsibility, the letter said.

The disunity and lack of cohesion in the district administration was so much visible during the rescue and relief operations. Not even a single person from the district administration was available for the entire day to assist the police, public and fire rescue service who were involved in the operations, he stated.

Even for the prime ministers visit on such a difficult day, there was no help from the district administration. The tehsildar and circle inspector of Police were present when the fireworks display started at 10.30 pm on April 9.

Neither the district administration, nor the district police chief came to know that this was happening till the mishap occurred at 3.10 am on April 10, he stated.

Senkumar also pointed that 33 other festivals were also held on the same day in Kollam and it was not possible to deploy hundreds of policemen at one place.

The fire tragedy at the 100-year-old temple had occurred during an unauthorised display of fireworks on April 10 after a spark from a firecracker fell on the storehouse containing crackers, in which 108 persons were killed and over 300 injured.

Noting that hundreds of police officers get injured every year in similar incidents, Senkumar said most of the cases get withdrawn by the government which demoralises the police.

In the Puttingal tragedy, one policeman on duty was killed and two were injured.

Additional Chief Secretary Naline Netto, who is also the home secretary, in a report to the government had suggested action against three police officials, including Kollam Police Commissioner P Prakash.

The government has sent this report to the DGP for his comments. This had annoyed Netto even as Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala maintained that there was nothing wrong in doing so.
Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday discounted claims that the monthly rent of her government bungalow in Lutyens Delhi was lowered on her request, asserting that the amount was determined by the then Bharatiya Janata Party government in 2002 and was the same as for others in the category.

A statement issued by her office said that in December 1996, Priyanka, the daughter of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and an Special Protection Group protectee, had rented a private accommodation for her residence but was directed to occupy a government accommodation on security grounds.

In pursuance of all rules and regulations of the then BJP government, the market rate/special license fee of Directorate of Estates, has been punctually and regularly paid by her for the entire duration of her occupation of the government accommodation, including the period in question.

The said rent that she paid was determined by the government and was the same as for others in her category, the statement said, after a report claimed that she managed to convince the Vajpayee government to reduce the monthly rent of her 2,765.18 square metre house in Lutyens Delhi from Rs 53,421 to only Rs 8,888 as it was beyond her paying capacity.

The BJP today took a dig at Priyanka over the issue, saying it was laughable that she could afford building a bungalow in Himachal Pradesh and travelling abroad but found the rent money prohibitive.

Asked about Priyankas statement that she paid the rent determined by the then government and same as others in her category, partys National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said it might not be illegal but she sought concessions despite being capable of paying the rent.

Without going into specifics as to how much rent she paid, Priyanka in the statement merely said that multiple protectees occupying government accommodation on security grounds brought to the notice of the then BJP government that a 90 per cent increase, from one month to the next, in the year 2002 from Market Rate/Special License Fee to Damages Rate was contrary to prevailing rules and regulations.

Insisting that none of the said persons were unauthorised occupants of the premises, and that they were, in fact, authorised occupants, Priyanka, an SPG protectee, maintained that the Damages Rate did not apply to them.

This error was subsequently corrected by the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation of the then BJP government pursuant to a letter and a meeting between current BJP M P Ashwini Kumar (Minna) and the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the statement added.

The media report claimed that on May 7, 2002, Priyanka wrote to the government and said that Rs 53,421 was too high an amount and beyond her paying capacity.

Currently, she pays Rs 31,300 for accommodation in Type VI government house at 35, Lodhi Estate.

At the outset, Priyanka said that in December 1996, she had rented private accommodation for her residence and paid advance rent besides initiating renovation work in the said private rented accommodation.

The then Director of SPG subsequently informed her of the decision of the security agencies of the government denying her occupation of the rented private accommodation on the ground that it did not fulfil the security requirements, the statement said, listing some other reasons.

Consequently, she was directed to occupy government accommodation on security grounds, it said.

According to the report, not only Priyanka but also former Punjab DGP KPS Gill and All India Anti-Terrorist Front chief MS Bitta were provided accommodation on security grounds and their rents were lowered.

The BJP, meanwhile, also dragged her husband Robert Vadra into the row, saying while the controversial businessman turned land into gold, Priyanka found the official rent for their house beyond her paying capacity.

It says a lot about Priyanka Gandhi. She wants all government facilities but she wont pay the rent she should be. She can build a bungalow in Himachal and travel abroad. The land which her husband turns into gold but they cannot pay then rent. It is ridiculous, the party spokesperson said.
Almost 24 years after Diana, Princess of Wales visited the Taj Mahal -- one of the most famous symbols of India -- Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, followed in the Princesss footsteps.

The couple flew in to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, from Bhutan, where they have spent the past couple of days on tour meeting the king and queen.

IMAGE: Prince William sat down with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, on the same marble bench as his late mother, Princess Diana, at the Taj Mahal. Photograph: Photograph: @KensingtonRoyal/Twitter



Britains Prince William accompanied by his wife Kate on Saturday visited the Taj Mahal, the 17th century marble monument symbolising eternal love, bringing back memories of his mother Princess Dianas trip 24 years ago.

IMAGE: Prince William said that he wanted to create some memories of our own after sitting on the bench. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

And the royal couple did sit on the marble bench in front of the dazzling monument here for a picture like Lady Diana.

IMAGE: The couple's spokesman said they had only decided this morning that they would sit on the bench - and not because of its associations with Diana, but because it is where everyone sits to admire the Taj's beauty. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI

William had donned a blue linen jacket, white shirt and chinos while Princess Kate wore a white dress with blue motif by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan.

IMAGE: Kate, 34, looked effortless cool in a pretty white and blue dress by Indian designer Naeem Khan, while William was smart casual in chinos, a jacket and an open-necked shirt. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The royal couple, who will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on April 29, arrived around 3.30 pm and were briefed by an official as they took a stroll around the mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

IMAGE: William and Kate stroll through the gardens. They spent around 45 minutes at the monument, despite the sweltering heat. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI

It is beautiful. It is overwhelming, William, the Duke of Cambridge, said later.

The two spent around 45 minutes in the complex on a sizzling day as mercury soared to 40 degree Celsius.

It was too hot but they went around, guide Lalit Chawla said.

IMAGE: A spokesperson for Kensington Palace previously said that William feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother's memory is kept alive by so many who travel there. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Williams mother Diana had visited the Taj Mahal in 1992 and her picture seated alone on the marble bench remains one of the iconic images of the princess, who died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

The royal couples visit generated much excitement here. Tight security arrangements were in place with deployment of Central Industrial Security Force personnel.

The stretch from Amar Vilas hotel to the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal was spruced up and tourists on the western gate were held back for an hour.

IMAGE: Visitors take pictures of Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, as they visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

It is the last stop for the British royal couple during their week-long trip to India and Bhutan. The couple visited Mumbai and KazirangaNational Park in Assam and also met leaders in Delhi.
The shut down call by the separatists following the alleged molestation of a minor girl by an Indian Army personnel in Handwara, Jammu and Kashmir entered its fourth day on Saturday in parts of Srinagar, as the area witnessed a tensed calm with the security still beefed up and restrictions still imposed.

In Tral in south Kashmir, villagers hurled stones at a Central Reserve Police Force camp and this led to clashes.

Reports said at least, three protesters were injured in fresh clashes on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the girl has reportedly denied that she was molested by an army man and accused two local youths of hatching a conspiracy.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who chaired her first security review meeting on Friday to take stock of the situation ordered that no harm must be done to civilians.

Mufti had earlier said that she had spoken to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who assured her that the guilty in the incident which left five civilians dead, would not be spared.

Image: A paramilitary troop takes position at a security check post in Handwara. Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com
On the eve of her visit to Russia, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said that she will take up the death of two Indians in a fire tragedy and killing of another Indian in that country during her talks with the authorities.

Swaraj on Saturday left for a two-nation three-day visit to Iran and Russia.

She will go to Moscow from Tehran on Sunday where she will participate in the annual Foreign Ministers' meeting of Russia, India and China.

"I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishma Bhonsle is on my agenda.

"I will also take up the matter of Yasir an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed in Kazan (Russia)," Swaraj said in a series of tweets. Besides attending the RIC meeting, she is also expected to have a bilateral meet with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Two Indian girl students were killed in a fire at the Smolensk Medical Academy in western Russia in February while a Kashmiri businessman died after being attacked by unidentified men last month.

Image: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj departs for Iran and Russia. Photograph: Twitter
After two decade-long hiatus, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko will contest the May 16 Tamil Nadu assembly polls, trying his luck from Kovilpatti constituency.

He made an announcement in this regard at an election rally in Chennai on Saturday.

The announcement has come as a morale booster for party workers. "We are happy that our leader is again in the fray in the Assembly poll after 20 years," a senior party functionary told PTI.

In the 1996 Assembly election, just three years after founding the MDMK, he had contested from Vilathikulam constituency and lost by a very narrow margin of 634 votes to Dravida Munetra Kazhagam candidate K Ravisankar, who polled 30,190 votes.

He lost in the Lok Sabha election too that year and only emerged third by bagging 2,04,339 votes in Sivakasi seat. Since then, Vaiko has not contested in the assembly polls though he won in Lok Sabha polls from the same Sivakasi seat in 1998 and 1999. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls he lost in Virudhunagar.

Meanwhile, the party on Saturday named its nominees in 27 seats, which includes its chief Vaiko. Of the 29 seats it has been allotted in the DMDK-People's Welfare Front combine, the MDMK named candidates for 27 and gave away two seats from its kitty to its allies, fringe Tamil nationalist outfits.

Among the key MDMK nominees in the fray are former Member of Legislative Assembly Dr T Sadhan Thirumalai Kumar (Sankaran Kovil), Mallai Sathya

(Thiruporur) Redsun Ambigapathi (Thousand Lights), K M A Nizam (Palayamkottai), R Anthiri Das (Avadi), and Murath Buhari (Harbour).

Ki Veeralakshmi, chief of Tamilar Munnetra Padai, will fight from Pallavaram constituency here. Nagai Tiruvalluvan of Tamil Puligal Katchi will try his luck from Dharapuram seat.

Both of them will contest under MDMK symbol of top.
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
The thinking behind Glenn Dromgoole's new booklet on civility was that it would be the perfect gift for new graduates  a quick read with reminders of what's really important in life.

But as the political scene turned nastier, Dromgoole amended that thought.

"It's perfect for graduates  and presidential candidates," he joked.

"More Civility, Please," is an 80-page "how-to" book with practical examples for people who might find being civil a challenge. The subtitle of "More Civility, Please" provides a thought to carry around each day, "Make Your Corner of the World a Better Place."

Dromgoole will sign copies of the book 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at the store he and his wife, Carol, own, Texas Star Trading Company, 174 Cypress St. Dromgoole also will present a program on the book at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at First Central Presbyterian Church, 400 Orange St. The program is free and the public is invited. To reserve a ticket for an optional catered meal at 5:45 p.m., call the church at 677-3501.

"More Civility, Please" is filled with quick reminders of how to be more civil, such as, "Treat everyone with a little more respect" and "Refuse to participate in negative online blogs."

It also quotes luminaries of civility such as Mother Teresa, who is in line to be canonized as a saint in September by Pope Francis. She reminds us that every little bit of civility helps:

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

The book also carries a few reminders of those good manners most people learned years ago but may have forgotten, such as, "Say please and thank you without being prompted," and "Write a brief thank-you note when someone does something nice for you."

Although "More Civility, Please" isn't religion-based, it does pass on biblical principles, and includes "The Prayer of Saint Francis" and a verse of scripture, the popular Micah 6:8:

"What doth the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God."

MORE CIVILITY, PLEASE BOOK SIGNING

When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday

Where: Texas Star Trading Co., 174 Cypress St.

Details: Glenn Dromgoole will sign copies of his new book, More Civility, Please



PRESENTATION

When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: First Central Presbyterian Church, 400 Orange St.

Details: Glenn Dromgoole will give a program on his new book at the weekly Wednesday night program at First Central Presbyterian. Catered dinner begins at 5:45 p.m. Program begins at 6:30. Call the church, 677-3501, for dinner reservations and tickets. Program is free.


PRISCILLA SHIRER SIMULCAST

St Paul United Methodist Church, 525 Beech St., will host a simulcast featuring popular Bible study leader Priscilla Shirer from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 23. Coffee, muffins and lunch will be included in the $28 cost. You may purchase tickets online at stpaulabilene.org/simulcast or by calling the church office at 325-672-7814.

GARAGE SALE

New Beginnings, a ministry for women, has set a garage sale for 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday at 1818 Sayles Blvd. Shop for a variety of items to help the ministry.

TEMPLE SERVICES

Temple Mizpah, 849 Chestnut St., will celebrate Passover with a Seder on April 23rd. Rabbi Murray Berger will conduct the service. Cost is $28 for adults and $10 for children under 12. There is no cost for active duty military and their families. Reservations are required. For more information call Cherry at 325-572-3037.

GOSPEL QUARTET CONCERT

The Southern Plainsmen gospel quartet will be in concert at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Trinity Church of the Nazarene, 3342 State St. The quartet was organized in 1978 in the rolling pine hills of West Central Louisiana and is an outreach of the Southern Plainsmen Ministries Inc., a nonprofit Christian organization.

ST. LUKE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH

St. Luke Orthodox Christian Church, 501 Sunset Drive, will hold the following services this week:

Great Vespers at 5:30 p.m. today.

Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great with commemoration of St. Mary of Egypt at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Great Vespers at 5:30 p.m. April 23.

Visitors are welcome at all services.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Abilene, 1541 Sayles Blvd., welcomes people of all religions and non-religions to hear the continuation of a program delivered by Roxanna McCoun, mathematics instructor at McMurry University, describing growing up in Romania under Communist rule at 11 a.m. Sunday. For more information visit uuabilene.org.

JAPANESE ART FEATURED AT ALDERSGATE UMC

A new exhibit is up in the hallway that has been transformed into an art gallery at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1741 Sayles Blvd. The public is invited to come by anytime, free of charge, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The title of the exhibit is "Beauty Given By Grace" and features works by Japanese artist Sadao Watanabe, who died in 1996. The exhibit will remain at Aldersgate through the end of May. The exhibit is in connection with Christians in the Visual Arts, an organization that seeks to strengthen the connection between art and faith.

The exhibit brings together 50 stencil prints, calendars and cards on biblical themes from the collections of Sandra Bowden and John A. Kohan. Watanabe converted from Buddhism to Christianity at age 17. He soon combined his new faith with an interest in preserving the traditional Japanese folk art of katazome stencil dying by creating colorful representation of biblical scenes that he hoped would speak to his people. Watanabe clothed all the biblical characters in the Japanese dress of kimonos.

His prints are part of many international collections including the Vatican Museum, national galleries in Washington, D.C., and London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

CHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER RELOCATES TO TEMPORARY SPACE

The Christian Service Center building was recently destroyed by fire and the ministry suffered a total loss of all office supplies, furnishings, operational equipment and basic needs supplies.

CSC offices are now temporarily relocated to 949 Mesquite St., in the older Meals on Wheels building. Beginning April 18, donations will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at a temporary warehouse location, 904 Walnut St.

CSC will resume providing basic assistance and spiritual support on May 2. Food, school clothing and basic essentials will resume with a limited supply at the temporary location. Call 325-673-7531 for appointments.

Donations to the CSC Fire Relief Fund may be made online at www.cscabilene.org. (Click on Donate Fire Relief Fund). All donations are welcome and appreciated.

CSC is renovating a building at 3185 N. 10th St. that will serve as the new Christian Service Center facility. Renovations should be completed by December.

Send news of your religious organization or group to Religion Editor, Abilene Reporter-News, P.O. Box 30, Abilene, Texas 79604; fax it to 325-670-5242; or email it to jan.woodward@reporternews.com. Deadline is noon Monday.
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.
A joint taskforce effort assisted the Abilene Police Department in locating runaway teen girl Amber Thebo on Thursday in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where authorities arrested Jodel Oshea Perez, 25, on a harboring a runaway charge.

In a media release Friday, police said Perez of Cleburne is currently behind bars in Johnson County Jail, with more charges being considered.

The APD said its primary concern is Thebo's health.

Thebo's mother, April Walker, reported the 15-year-old as a runaway on April 4 from an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Nonesuch Road.

The agencies involved include the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Attorney General's Office Task Force, Cleburne Police Department, Texas Rangers of the Department of Public Safety, Johnson County Sheriff's Office, and other law enforcement agencies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Police also expressed their appreciation for everyone who assisted in the location of Thebo.

"We also want to thank the citizens and the media for their assistance in this investigation."
Abilene businessman Ryan Marrs owned up to the mistake that caused him to be removed as a candidate in the May 7 City Council election and vowed that he will run for the next open seat.

At a news conference at noon Friday, Marrs said, "The buck stops with me."

His supporters are frustrated, he said, but he has exhausted all avenues to be placed back on the ballot.

Marrs, owner of Belle's Chicken Dinner House, had filed as a candidate for Place 5 on the Abilene City Council. But last week the city announced that he left a box on the application empty, which disqualified him as a candidate.

If Marrs wanted to challenge the city's decision about the application, he would have to file suit against the city in district court, said Mari Bergman, deputy communications director with the Texas Secretary of State's Office.

Marrs failed to fill out how long he had lived in the area he wanted to represent.

"The application asks for 'length of continuous residence as of date application sworn both in state and in territory elected from.' I answered the in-state portion, and after reading the second portion I decided it just didn't apply to me," Marrs said. "The word 'territory' was used instead of a more applicable word, such as 'city' or 'district.' This word indicated to me a U.S. territory outside of the 50 United States, such as Puerto Rico. Additionally, the phrase 'elected from' indicated that I was seeking to be re-elected."

Marrs said he should have asked for clarification on the question before submitting his paperwork.

"This is no excuse," he said. "My mistake has cost my supporters time and money, and I regret this. But this is the nature of politics. A donor to my opponent found in an error in my paperwork, however innocent, and took advantage of it."

His disqualification left incumbent Kyle McAlister unopposed for the Place 5 seat.

McAlister said Friday that he found out about the city rejecting Marrs' application Monday and that he had no idea a donor had pointed out the error.

"I obviously did not want this to be the way the race ended," he said. "I respect the that he owned up to his mistake."

Marrs said he plans to run for an open seat on the council next year. Places 3 and 4 are up for election next year. Councilmen Anthony Williams and Jay Hardaway, respectively, currently hold those seats.

Because of Marrs' removal from the City Council election ballot, Taylor County had to reprint and send out 1,538 ballots, which election workers were doing Friday afternoon, said Freda Ragan, county elections coordinator.

"We've been burning the midnight oil," she said.

She did not have a cost estimate for the reprinting yet.

Twitter: BrookeCrum_ARN
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page.

A transcript of today's Daily Vertical can be found here.
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
The conviction of an Iranian asylum seeker on charges of attempted suicide has sparked outrage from rights advocates and opposition politicians in Australia.

The man is being held in an Australian-run detention center on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru, about 3,000 kilometers northeast of Australia.

Suicide is considered a criminal offense in Nauru.

A government statement by Nauru said the Iranian man, who has an eight-year-old daughter in the detention center, pleaded guilty to the offense of attempted suicide on April 15 and was given a one-year suspended sentence.

"It's entirely inappropriate to make it a criminal offense to attempt suicide," Barri Phatarfod, from Doctors For Refugees, told the Australian TV station ABC.

"It just shows that the government's statement that the people in Nauru are going to be cared for by the same standards that we care for people in Australia is just an outright lie," he added.

Under Australia's tough immigration policy, asylum seekers attempting to reach the country by boat are intercepted and sent to camps on Nauru or on Manus island, in Papua New Guinea.

Human rights groups, including the UN refugee agency, have criticized the harsh conditions at the detention centers, which have sparked riots and "self-harm" protests.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rohani held an official meeting in Ankara on April 16 with the Syrian conflict and bilateral trade high on the agenda.

Turkey and Iran are on different sides of Syria's war: Shi'ite majority Iran backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while mainly Sunni Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics.

Erdogan said that despite their differences on regional issues, Turkey and Iran agreed on the need to end the bloodshed in the region.

The two neighbors are looking to boost bilateral trade and improve banking relations following the lifting of most international sanctions against Iran in January.

In a joint press conference, Erdogan said he hoped bilateral trade would reach $30 billion annually. It currently stands at just $10 billion after years of sanctions.

Rohani said "the situation is ripe for cooperation between Turkey and Iran in the post-sanctions era."

"The most important part is closer ties between banks," Rohani said, adding: "Turkish banks can now establish branches in Iran to help facilitate economic relations between the two countries."

Iran has called on the United States and the European Union to help it access the global financial system, including assets that Tehran says were supposed to be unfrozen following a landmark nuclear deal.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Iraq's parliament has canceled a session on anticorruption reforms amid a deepening political crisis that has crippled state institutions.

The session was the third to be canceled this week as politicians wrangled over a plan to appoint technocrats to Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi's cabinet in a bid to stem graft.

The office of parliament speaker Salim al-Jaburi said in a statement on April 16 that the session was scrapped because "parliament couldn't be secured" by the security forces.

Some lawmakers have accused Jaburi of having no right to chair the meeting.

The dissenting members of parliament met on April 14 in his absence and held a ballot to oust him.

They say they have a majority in the assembly, which Jaburi disputes. Scuffles between lawmakers broke out on April 13, a day after the first attempted vote.

Hours after the failed vote on April 16, powerful Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gave parliament three days to vote in a new cabinet.

Sadr said in a statement that "a cabinet of independent technocrats" should be presented in "less than 72 hours, while keeping the sit-in in parliament with unlimited popular support through peaceful protests."

Sadr was referring to a lawmakers' sit-in that began earlier in the week in protest over a modified list of candidates that Abadi had planned to present.

The United Nations and the United States have warned that the political feud could undermine Iraq's fight against Islamic State militants who control areas in northern and western Iraq.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Russias foreign minister for help in getting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop violating the cease-fire there.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said on April 15 that Kerry told Sergei Lavrov in a telephone conversation that there was an "urgent need" to get Assad to comply with the cease-fire.

Kirby told reporters that some of the Syrian government actions in and around the city of Aleppo are being backed by Russian air strikes.

He said Kerry told Lavrov "the United States expected Russia to urge the regime to comply with the cessation and that we would work with the opposition to do the same."

Kerry also expressed concern about reports that Qassim Soleimani, the commander of the covert wing of Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps, is visiting Moscow.

Soleimani leads the Quds Force, which trains and supports Shi'ite militias in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria.

He is subject to a travel ban under United Nations sanctions targeting Iran's guerrilla campaigns.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
Pope Francis has paid a highly emotional visit to a migrant detention center in Greece, in a bold gesture of solidarity for the refugees whose influx has roiled European politics.

Migrants wept, pleaded for help, and threw themselves at his feet as Francis toured the facility on the small island of Lesbos, which has become the front line of a massive humanitarian crisis facing Europe.

They chanted "freedom, freedom" as the pope walked through the camp, where about 3,000 migrants are being held under a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey.

"I want to tell you, you are not alone," he said. "As people of faith, we wish to join our voices to speak out on your behalf. Do not lose hope!"

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics also urged Europe to treat migrants with dignity.

"We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity," he said in his speech, viewed by many as having strong political undertones.

Over the past year, hundreds of people fleeing war and poverty have died making the short but dangerous crossing from Turkey to the shores of Lesbos in inflatable boats. The island is full of unmarked graves.

"This is a trip marked by sadness," Francis told reporters during the flight from Rome, describing the migrant crisis as "the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since World War II."

The pontiff spent about six hours on the island together with Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, and Greek Archbishop Ieronymos.

During a brief meeting following his arrival at the airport, Francis thanked Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for the "generosity" shown by the Greek people in welcoming in foreigners despite their own economic troubles.

Tsipras told the pope that he was proud of his country's response at a time when some EU members "were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life."

Francis brought 12 refugees, including 6 children, back with him to Italy.

The Vatican confirmed that three Muslim families whose homes were destroyed in the conflict raging in Syria were travelling to Rome with the pope.

The Vatican will take responsibility for supporting the families.

The decision is not unprecedented, since the Vatican is already hosting two refugee families.

Aid organizations have described conditions at Moria, a disused army camp, as appalling.

The European Union struck an agreement last month to ensure that so-called economic migrants who travel to the Greek islands on boats operated by people smugglers are quickly sent back to Turkey.

Turkey has agreed to take them in return for billions in euros, a deal that has angered many rights activists.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
FREDERICKISBURG  One year ago, University of Mary Washington student activists staged a sit-in outside President Rick Hurleys office to demand an end to fossil fuel investments in the schools $41.4 million endowment. University officials passed a resolution Friday doing just that.

The board of visitors voted to make divestment from fossil fuel companies an official policy.

The move came after three years of protests and petitions from the student-led Divest UMW group. About 50 members of Divest UMW watched the vote Friday and then left the room to cheer their victory.

Were ecstatic, Divest UMW member Sarah Kinzer said. Were absolutely counting this as a win.

The resolution requests that the UMW Foundation revise its investment policy to limit discretionary fossil fuel investments to a range of 1 to 4 percent. The universitys endowment will be 96 to 100 percent free of the carbon 200  the largest 200 companies profiting from fossil fuels. It also requests an annual report on the endowments divestment.

The move comes on the heels of a study conducted by a special subcommittee of the Presidents Council on Sustainability.

Hurley, who requested the study and put forth the resolution, said the decision will reflect the schools moral and political aims, support its goal of being an environmental sustainability leader, and draw environmentally minded students.
Central Virginia is blessed by the presence of countless institutions that work for the betterment of the community. Even a cursory list of them would include Venture Richmond, the Metropolitan Business League, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and the Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise.

All of those institutions in turn were blessed by the presence of Oliver Singleton, who was born in Norfolk and made Richmond his home. Singleton spent time laboring in each of those fields, and the past 13 years at the Metropolitan Business League, where he served as a tireless advocate for small and minority-owned businesses.
This season marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most important events in history: the Easter Uprising of 1916. The Rising was an attack of Irish rebels who wanted freedom from Britain. The conflict lasted one week and changed the course of the history of Ireland.

This week is worthy of remembrance. The perception of this short insurrection can be different depending on your vantage point, whether you live in Dublin or Belfast or London, or whether you are an American, relying on Americanized news stories about Ireland and its history. Americans celebrate St. Patricks Day with amusement and green beer, but the Rising is hardly given notice here in Richmond.

Looking back, it is hard to understand that to those outside of Dublin, the Rising itself was not seen as important at the time. Although Britain had been notoriously unfair to its Irish colony, even to the point of neglecting the Great Famine, the rebels did not have the full support of their countrymen to break away from Britain. James Connolly, Patrick Pearse and an angry band of other Irishmen planned this armed uprising. It was a David versus Goliath match from the start, but necessary, if only as a self-sacrifice in order to shake the Irish people out of complacency. That is exactly what it did, but for reasons unforeseen at the beginning. Cherished poet William Butler Yeats, in his poem Easter, 1916  said a terrible beauty was born. In retrospect, it seems almost metaphorical to the Christian story of death followed by resurrection.

On that Easter Monday morning, 1,200 rebels, armed with rifles but no artillery, read their proclamation of freedom and took over the General Post Office, which became ground zero for the Rising. The rebels captured prominent buildings in Dublin, 14 in number. The reaction of the British military was not swift, but it was ugly.

By Wednesday, the British military was into what might be called scorched earth tactics. They flattened any building that they felt they had to. They deployed a gunboat to assist. The British Army failed to distinguish between rebels and civilians, and casualties were high. About 485 died and 40 of them were children under age 17. The city of Dublin burned, and the British Army was in no hurry to help put out the fires.

On Saturday the rebels surrendered, and the next day they were marched to Kilmainham Jail, where the leaders were shown no mercy. Their trials were secret and all 16 were sentenced to death. Connolly was so badly wounded that he had to be tied to a chair to be executed. During that Easter week, the British over-reacted to such an extent that the rebels became martyrs, and the outraged Irish strengthened their resolve for complete independence. The insurrection could be viewed as a failure, even a suicide mission, were it not for the dramatic upswing in support for the rebels.

A subsequent civil war won that semi-independence, but through a treaty. Michael Collins became a folk hero because of his leadership in the guerrilla warfare against superior British forces that drove the Crown to a treaty. The agreement was regarded by many as disastrous to some of the people of Ireland, who were still subjects of the king of England. Twenty-six counties gained independence, but six counties remained under British rule. Ireland became a self-governing dominion, similar to Canada and Australia. In 1920, Northern Ireland, which included more citizens loyal to Britain, opted to stay in the U.K. The fallout and scars from that decision are legendary. Adding to the tragedy was the acrimony between the Catholic nationalists and the Protestant unionists.

Americas freedom from Britain was won at Yorktown. Irelands freedom was largely won by the Rising. Consider this change: From 1960 to 1998, there were more than 3,000 sectarian motivated killings in Ireland, which to a population of only 1.5 million is significant. However, since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, there have been an average of only four sectarian killings per year.

And what can we learn from the Rising? We can learn that even the most divided peoples can be reconciled. Ireland was as divided and vitriolic as other conflicted parts of the globe. Conflict resolution is what Northern Ireland is now known for. This years centenary commemoration was held with a clear hope for peace. The Irish Army band played Danny Boy, a ballad revered by rebels and unionists, Protestants and Catholics. Prayers were said, wreaths were laid, not for one faction, but for all. If they can do it, so can others. Centuries-old conflicts can be healed.
It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?

Search for: Search
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Well, what do you know. WhadYa Know is going off the air.

And some old public radio friends will soon follow.

Every week will be quiet in Lake Wobegon when Garrison Keillor retires from A Prairie Home Companion this summer. Interviewer Diane Rehm is dropping the microphone for good. And although Car Talk is still on the air, its in permanent reruns and still co-hosted by a guy who died nearly two years ago.

Public radio at the national level  National Public Radio, Public Radio International, American Public Radio and other organizations  is changing dramatically due to the retirements of aging broadcasters, program cancellations and the growing popularity of podcasts. The changes mean that local public radio stations, which include WVTF-FM/Radio IQ (89.1/89.7), will sound very different in the future.

Were seeing a shift, said Josh Jackson, WVTFs programming director. Not everyone can do a show forever. People move on, and new programs move in. We have to make space for a new audience.

Jackson, who came to WVTF in late 2014, has already initiated many program changes at WVTF, which include the addition of BBC newscasts weekday mornings (at the expense of an hour of classical music), story-based programs This American Life and The Moth Radio Hour, issues-oriented shows such as Snap Judgment and the music program Roots Down.

Another change happens today, when Michael Feldmans WhadYa Know is replaced by Ask Me Another at noon. Wisconsin Public Radio, which produces WhadYa Know, decided to end Feldmans long-running comedy quiz show in June. Even though Feldman will still be hosting shows until June 25, WVTF opted to make its programming change now. Fans of WhadYa Know, which debuted in 1985 and made live broadcasts in Roanoke in 1994 and 2005, can listen to the last shows online at www.notmuch.com.

WVTF has not aired the two-hour live broadcasts of WhadYa Know since last year, when the station switched to the pre-recorded The WhadYa Know Radio Hour.

Ask Me Another is a fast-paced quiz and puzzle show performed before a live audience and hosted by Ophira Eisenberg. WVTF aired Ask Me Another during a 13-week trial run in 2012.

More changes are coming. A Prairie Home Companion will get its first new host in 42 years when the 73-year-old Keillor, who created the show in 1974, hands the reins to Chris Thile, the well-known mandolin player from the youthful bluegrass-inspired bands Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers. Thile, 35, who has been a guest host several times in recent years, takes over Oct. 15. Keillors last broadcast will air July 2.

The Diane Rehm Show, the news and interview program that airs daily on Radio IQ, will also end later this year. Rehm announced she hopes to continue the show through the presidential election.

The end of popular long-running shows presents an obvious challenge for local program directors, such as Jackson, who must choose new programs that appeal to the WVTF/Radio IQ audience and inspire those listeners to contribute money to the station. Attracting younger listeners is also important, because according to a 2014 American Journalism Review story, the average age of an NPR listener is 57.

So far, WVTFs programming changes seem to have been accepted by its audience. Even though Jackson has heard complaints from classical music fans who decried the reduction to Morning Classics and from listeners who dont like the new programs, the fact is that WVTF still ranks among the top 10 stations in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market according to Arbitrons audience measures.

The stations most recent fundraising drive in March brought in more than $500,000 from listeners, the most ever for a single campaign. WVTF raises about $1.9 million of its $3.4 million budget  about 57 percent  from listeners.

Weve made positive moves, said Glenn Gleixner, WVTFs general manager. Our ratings are as strong as ever. Listener support is at its highest level ever. Sometimes its hard for a listener to accept that their favorite program is going away. They can be quite vocal. But in the dynamics of broadcasting, change is inevitable or you stagnate. I have to say, weve made successful changes.

The station has expanded its reach and pool of potential contributors through a number of radio towers that spread its broadcast signal across the state. WVTF/Radio IQ programs can be heard over the air from far Southwest Virginia to Richmond, an area that covers about 60 percent of the state. WVTF also manages a statewide public radio news operation.

Other challenges loom, however. Much national attention has been focused on the rising popularity of podcasting  shows that can be downloaded online rather than heard over regular radio stations. NPR produces many popular podcasts, some of which can also be heard on the radio.

Local stations need those national programs. Jackson spoke of the compact between NPR and its member stations that pay huge fees for programming. The local stations dont want NPR skipping them and going straight to iTunes with podcasts.

Terrestrial radio is still a huge distribution mechanism, Jackson said, adding that 93 percent of American adults listen to the radio. But the younger generation is using digital technology. Its not as simple as unplugging one, then plugging in another. We have to use all options, especially when the majority [of WVTFs audience] is still coming by way of the FM transmitter.

Gleixner, a broadcaster for more than 45 years who has worked at WVTF since 1996, is confident in his stations future.

Radios not going away, he said. People have a personal relationship and a connection to radio thats unlike any other medium. Were not going anywhere.
A Roanoke County school investigation into financial records at Northside High School was underway well before the schools former football coach admitted Thursday to taking money for work he did not do, accompanied the same night by the former principals resignation from the district.

Outside investigators working for the district have been looking at everything at Northside since at least February, when Frank Dent stepped down as principal and asked to be reassigned, Roanoke County School Board member Tom McCracken said. On Friday, police were asked to assist, and have done so, police spokeswoman Amy Whittaker said.

Police are looking into former football coach Burt Torrence and questions concerning funds, Whittaker wrote in an email. Torrence, who resigned his coaching position Monday, admitted publicly at the school board meeting Thursday night that he had accepted a stipend to coach the outdoor track team but had not actually done so.

The same night Torrence spoke to the school board, Dent resigned from the district, which had been employing him on paid administrative leave, McCracken said. Neither McCracken nor Superintendent Greg Killough could recall Friday exactly when Dent was placed on leave, only that it was not immediately after his Feb. 12 resignation from the principal position but soon after. Requests through the school districts spokesman for Killough to clarify with a specific date went unanswered Friday.

The revelations came amid another day of chaos at the high school, which now has been substantially disrupted twice this year by false reports of threats. On Friday morning, school officials notified parents the school was on lockdown because of a threat written in a girls bathroom that warned of a shooting at noon. Prompted by the report of the lockdown, parents came to pick up students by the hundreds, so much so that by 1 p.m. when the lockdown was lifted, the student parking lot was nearly empty and few students remained in classrooms.

Speaking outside the staging area set up for parents picking up their children, McCracken said he was exhausted by the toll that the unfounded threats, personnel changes and financial investigations have had on students, staff and parents over the past two months.

Northsides just going through some very turbulent times. No one can deny that, he said. I know at this point everyone wants to point their finger at the problem and try to weed it out, but with so many things happening  theres just this giant cloud.

Many questions about the scope of the investigation remain unanswered. Its unclear whether the schools investigation started before or after Dent abruptly stepped down as principal after 14 years in the job. Dent has declined requests for comment, but Killough said then that Dent resigned the position because of personal and family reasons. Dent moved to a job at central office and retained his $120,036 annual salary.

Several days after Dents announcement, one of the schools assistant principals also requested to leave the school. Amy Pucket was reassigned from Northside to serve as an assistant principal at Herman L. Horn and Clearbrook elementary schools.

Both departures  and the sudden nature of each  prompted questions and confusion from students and parents. McCracken said the district also began to hear a number of reports and rumors about alternate reasons for Dents departure.

Investigators are reviewing an audiotape provided anonymously, McCracken said. He listened to some of the tape but not all and couldnt personally recognize the voices on the recording.

The district also is investigating reports that money collected from ticket sales at sports events is missing, McCracken said.

The school districts investigators have been camped out at central office, he said. McCracken did not know how large the team of investigators was, or who was conducting the investigation, only that it was an external investigating group.

Killough said Thursday that the school districts attorneys were assisting in the investigation, but he declined to say who, if anyone else, was involved. He did not respond to requests Friday to elaborate on who is conducting the investigation or to explain its scope. Its also not clear when the district contacted police. Killough would not say Thursday whether the district had reached out to police. Whittaker said Friday she could not provide additional information.

Theyve been working and sort of giving us updates, McCracken said. Were sort of bound to confidentiality until after the investigation is done, which its not.

McCracken said he thought a full financial audit was being conducted as part of the investigation. Killough did not respond to requests Friday to confirm whether an audit was being conducted.

Investigators have been interviewing staff at the high school, McCracken said.

Pretty much everybody has been called in, he said.

The investigators had not talked to Torrence before he resigned as coach Monday, McCracken said. District officials learned from other sources that Torrence had accepted the coaching stipend for work he did not perform, Killough said Thursday. McCracken said he thought Torrence was aware of the interviews taking place because they were common knowledge to staff at Northside. McCracken said he believes thats why the coach came forward.

From Burts words and the parents from [the school board] meetings, he felt like people were talking about him and there were rumors about him, so he just wanted to get it on the table, McCracken said.

There is no timeline for when the investigation will be complete, on either the school or police side. Roanoke County Commonwealths Attorney Randy Leach said Friday he was given a heads-up by Pat Lacy, the school districts attorney, about a month ago. Leach said he was alerted by police Friday.

All I can tell you is it is going to be looked at, Leach said.

McCracken, a minister at CommUNITY Church, said he will hold a prayer vigil outside the school at 2 p.m. Sunday. He previously hosted a community meeting at the school in the wake of Dents departure.
One of the most powerful people in the room at last weekends meeting of 9th District Republicans wasnt a politician or grizzled party operative.

It was 19-year-old Benjamin Snedegar, a college student with a fauxhawk and classes to get back to on Monday.

Snedegar, who last year helped revive his local GOP committee, was the only person from Alleghany/Covington who signed up for the daylong gathering where activists picked their districts presidential convention delegates, among other posts.

Due to a weighted voting system used by the state party, he wound up in control of 28 votes allotted to his county  more than any other person present that day.

The responsibility that came with all that electoral heft wasnt lost on the political science and music major.

It did put a lot of pressure on me, he said. I was nervous I was going to make a mistake or do something goofy. But it was very much a learning process. Going in, I didnt really know what to expect.

The formula used to divvy up votes in these internal party matters is part of the usually little-noticed process by which delegates to the Republican National Convention are selected.

The system highlights the significance of having a strong ground game and supporters with a keen grasp of the rules  points on which Donald Trumps camp appears to have stumbled as Ted Cruz backers outmaneuver them in the hunt for delegates.

The 9th District was the first in Virginia to pick its national delegates. The 10th District, where Marco Rubio was the top vote-getter in the primaries, will be the second with a district committee meeting set for Saturday.

Delegate support only comes into play if no candidate arrives at the convention in Cleveland with the votes needed to lock down the GOP nomination on the first ballot.

Most delegates, including the 49 that will be sent by Virginia, are bound on the first ballot according to their states primary results.

But if that ballot isnt decisive, most delegates will be freed up to vote for the candidate of their choice on subsequent ballots.

Virginias 9th District Republican Committee was a key first test of the respective strength of the Trump and Cruz organizations in the state.

The 9th Congressional District cast the strongest pro-Trump vote in the state on Super Tuesday. But the campaign only managed to secure one of the three delegate seats appointed by the district committee. The other two went to Cruz supporters.

The Trump campaign actually had a slight edge in raw number of votes cast at the district meeting  another Trump supporter narrowly made it into the top three by a margin of one vote.

But when the weighted voting formula was applied, that person fell back into fifth place. The weighted formula assigns each local party committee a set share of the district vote based on how heavily Republican the locality went in the last elections for president and governor.

Localities that got more GOP voters out to the polls get a bigger slice of the vote. The local vote allotment is then divided up based on how the localitys representatives vote at the district meeting.

Navigating this political calculus gets more complex when applied to elections like national delegate where each activist can vote for multiple candidates  up to six in the case of the 9th District with the top three vote-getters serving as delegates and the next three as alternates.

The variations allowed by a multi-vote ballot open the door to more approaches and more strategizing to try to ensure your candidates get the biggest boost.

Jay Gregory of Patrick County said he was unaware of any of this when he arrived for the 9th District GOP meeting.

Gregory, a member of Trumps Southwest Virginia leadership team, is a longtime Republican voter and ardent Trump fan whos attended 19 appearances in five states by the New York billionaire.

But last weekend marked his first time attending a Republican meeting. He said he became aware of the weighted system during the event but didnt know the details of how it worked.

Its important to know the rules, and I didnt understand them, he said with chagrin. Its a complicated formula.

Gregory was among the people who ran for national delegate  part of an unusually crowded field of 15 candidates this year  but didnt nab one of the seats.

The complexity of the state-by-state rules could continue to be a pitfall for Team Trump, he said, though he was encouraged by recent news that Trump hired a seasoned GOP operative to manage his delegate count.

The rules may hurt Trump a bit because hes not a politician, Gregory said. He trusts, I believe, Trump trusts the process as a whole. But then we find out that, in reality, there are a lot of ins and outs that maybe only the true politicians realize.

Cold, hard math isnt the only factor candidates angling for delegate support must take into account. In the relatively small world of local grassroots activism, personal connections can be a stronger pull than political calculations.

Personal friendship comes into it, Bobby May, a former Buchanan County GOP chair, said of how he decided among the candidates for national delegate. To me, that overrides whether theyre for Cruz or Trump or whatever.

For his part, Snedegar  who wielded the most votes at the district meeting  said he didnt apply a pro-Cruz or pro-Trump bent to his decision.

Snedegar, chair of the local Alleghany/Covington Republican Committee, said hes prepared to back whoever wins the nomination.

Personally, I have a Cruz sign and a Trump sign hanging up in my room, he said. Im ready to fall behind whoever becomes the Republican nominee.

His votes for national delegate then were driven, not so much by politics, but by personal impressions. He ended up voting for one longtime friend and two people he met or heard speak at the meeting and liked.

Virginias delegate selection process will continue playing out over the next month at other district meetings and the state party convention happening at the end of April.

Nationally, Trump has blasted the delegate selection process in states like Colorado and elsewhere as unfair and stacked against him.

Others counter that these processes are governed by long-standing rules and, as in anything political, its up to the candidates to get their troops organized.

Geoff Skelley, of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said this is all building up to a potential train wreck at the national convention in July if it comes down to a contested nomination fight.

You almost cant win in that circumstance if youre the GOP, Skelley said, noting there are factions on both sides that will be riled if the other candidate wins.

Its going to be interesting to see how theyre going to try to untangle that mess. But you can definitely see trouble brewing.

The 9th District Republican Committee meeting itself was a low-key affair marked by frequent emphasis on the need for unity heading into the general elections.

Former state delegate Dave Nutter, who helped run the event, said he hoped that tone would carry over to other regions as the process advances.

I was really pleased by the sense of unity, he said after the 9th District meeting. I think thats very crucial.
The state delegate who sponsored legislation to allow Virginia to continue to carry out the death penalty has asked Attorney General Mark Herring to weigh in on the legality of Gov. Terry McAuliffes recommendation to let the state compound its own lethal drugs through contracts with unidentified pharmacies.

Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, sent a letter to Herring on Friday asking if any state or federal law would prevent pharmacies or outsourcing facilities from selling drugs to the state or stop the Department of Corrections from using the drugs in executions.

Miller, whose original bill would have allowed the state to use the electric chair as a fallback option in case of a shortage of lethal drugs, asked Herring to provide an opinion by April 20, when the General Assembly will reconvene to take up the governors vetoes and amendments to legislation passed earlier this year.

There are significant legal questions, even within the McAuliffe administration, about the governors amendment, Miller said in a news release.

The Washington Post reported this week that Caroline Juran, executive director of the Virginia Board of Pharmacy, raised concerns in a 2014 email that pharmacies that choose to make execution drugs could run afoul of laws meant to limit controlled substances to medicinal purposes.

The request could put Herring in a tough spot on an issue that has scrambled partisan affiliation in the past.

If Herring OKs the proposal, he could face blowback from liberals who oppose the death penalty. Finding it legally suspect would undercut the governor. Not issuing an opinion would allow Herrings critics to accuse him of equivocating on a difficult topic.

Given the pressing nature of the request and the gravity of the issue, the office will work expeditiously to provide objective, accurate answers to the legal questions Delegate Miller has asked, and it will then be for the General Assembly to decide the policy issues at hand, said Herring spokesman Michael Kelly.

McAuliffes amendments to House Bill 815 contains language exempting the compounding of lethal injection drugs from state medical regulations.

The governors changes also allow the identities of any pharmacies involved in the process to be kept secret, a provision McAuliffe said was necessary to convince contractors to partner with the state.

Executions throughout the country have been called into question because of a shortage of lethal injection drugs heightened by public pressure from those who oppose the death penalty.

Several other states have passed execution secrecy laws, prompting legal challenges from condemned prisoners who argue they have a right to know who supplied the drugs.

The pending decision on the death penalty could impact the upcoming execution of Ricky Javon Gray, who was sentenced to death for his role in the murders of Richmonds Harvey family on New Years Day in 2006. Gray was scheduled to receive the death penalty on March 16, but his execution has been delayed as he continues to appeal his case.

McAuliffe has said that if the legislature rejects his amendments, hell veto the measure to have the state make broader use of the electric chair. That outcome, the governor has said, would effectively halt the death penalty in Virginia.

Faith leaders have encouraged McAuliffe to veto the electric chair bill, and activists are planning to rally Monday at the state Capitol in opposition to the proposed secrecy amendment.
BRISTOL, Tenn.  With a wagon in tow, Terry and Wendy Crider searched Friday evening for their favorite NASCAR drivers to get autographs.

The couple, who married in 2012 at the start-finish line at Bristol Motor Speedway, returned to The Worlds Fastest Half-Mile for the Food City Race Night.

The Luray, Virginia, couple had a wagon full of souvenirs, including dye cast race cars and a large autograph book, which already had the signatures of a number of NASCAR celebrities.

While Wendy Crider said she was a fan of Dale Jarrett, who is now retired, theyre both Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans. Terry Crider wore his No. 88 hat, notating Earnhardts car. Theyve gotten his autograph before, but hoped to see him again.

Thousands of fans eager to meet their favorite drivers flocked to the speedway grounds Friday for free popcorn, burgers and drinks. Free haircuts and photographs were also there.

As the roar of the engines from the speedway could still be heard, a long, deep line developed well before 4 p.m. for the opening of Food City Race Night, which draws between 30,000 and 40,000 people.

When gates opened at 4, the crowd funneled onto the Race Night grounds.

Its an annual tradition for many area residents, as well as people from afar.

Friends Tena Cash, Joanna Hemmer and others in their party traveled from Indiana to attend race weekend festivities.

While Cash has only been to Bristol for four years, the others have been going for 20 years.

Weve seen quite a few of the drivers over the years, Hemmer said, mentioning Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.

They camp nearby at the same spot every year, coincidentally camping next to another Indiana group. Theyve now been camping neighbors for several years.

They each have their own favorite drivers.

We give each other a hard time, Hemmer said.

Hunter Becker, wearing a Kyle Busch hat he purchased from across from the speedway, said he enjoys attending Food City Race Night.

I like coming to this every year, the Glade Spring, Virginia, resident said. Its really fun.

Beckers had the chance to meet Kevin Harvick and Busch.

I havent met [Earnhardt] Jr. yet, he added. I want to meet him.

During festivities Friday, fans learned about the weeklong Race to Build project. Appalachia Service Project has built a house for a veterans family on the speedway property. Guests were invited to see the home before its transported to another location.

As in past Race Night events, Richard Petty, the former NASCAR driver, was presented a check to support the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

A number of drivers attended Race Night to meet fans and sign autographs.
                     21        .   ():                                         13            .      56                         56            21   20  .  :               1/1         11      .
UN envoy calls Yemeni parties to attend Kuwait talks in good faith





GENEVA, April 16 (Saba)  The UN special envoy to Yemen has called on Yemeni parties to attend Kuwait talks in good faith and flexibility to reach a political solution to the current crisis.



"The path to peace might be difficult, but it is workable," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said on Friday night in his briefing to the UN Security Council on the situation in Yemen.



The UN envoy stressed that a positive outcome will require difficult compromises from all sides, as well as determination to reach an agreement.



"Yemen is now at a critical crossroad," he told the Security Council. "One path leads to peace while the other can only worsen the security and humanitarian situation."



Ould Cheikh explained that he would ask the participants in the talks to put an operational plan for the points that the talks will start from.



He confirmed that the propsed plan constitutes a solid base for a new political agreement that will help Yemen and Yemenis achieve stability and live peacefully.



BA

Saba

Facebook Facebook

Twitter Twitter

Whatsapp Whatsapp

Telegram Telegram

Email Email

Print Print

[17/April/2016]
50% of Indian mobile users wish to upgrade to new device in 5G era

About 50 per cent of smartphone users in India plan to buy a new device within the first year as 5G ...
When democracy oversteps

By Fr. ROY CIMAGALA , roycimagala@gmail.com

March 7, 2016

DEMOCRACY, of course, is the best form of government because it allows the people to have a voice of how they ought to be governed.

Yes, while the Church traditionally maintains that no form of government is imposed on man by God, it somehow values the democratic system precisely because it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate.

This was expressed explicitly in St. John Paul IIs 1991 encyclical Centesimus annus (46) that also went on to say that the Church cannot encourage the formation of narrow ruling groups which usurp the power of the State for individual interests or for ideological ends.

As to the requirements for democracy to work properly, it articulated the following conditions: Authentic democracy is possible only in a State ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person.

It requires that the necessary condition be present for the advancement both of the individual through education and formation in the true ideals, and of the subjectivity of society through the creation of structures of participation and shared responsibility.

We need to go through these words slowly to understand them well and discern the many practical implications they contain. Nowadays, these implications are important because some sectors are distorting the true face of democracy.

Among the more notorious misconceptions brought about by the misreading of the implications of democracy is that democracy should be completely devoid of any religious favoritism, or that religion or God should have no part in it, or that because of the so-called Church-state separation, democracy should avoid religious issues and stand completely neutral.

Right from the beginning, such understanding of democracy is already wrong, for how can it be democratic if the religious sentiments of the people or of some people at least, are silenced, when they feel that their religious beliefs should be respected in the way they are governed?

Of course, in a democracy, those who have no religion, who are non-believers, also have a voice and they deserve to be heard. But we should not silence those who would like to voice out their religious sentiments and beliefs when they feel these are relevant in the way a society is government.

We have to understand democracy as a means not an end, a forum or an arena where all the opinions, preferences, and even beliefs and faiths of the people are given due attention hopefully in civil dialogues and exchanges.

This implication of democracy is somehow highlighted these days when a candidate, who is supposed to be Catholic, openly goes against Catholic teaching on same-sex marriage because, according to the candidate, in a democracy we should not favor any religion.

While its true that we should not favor any religion, we expect candidates to be true and faithful to their religious beliefs or, at least, their religious affiliation, and defend them in a democratic way when issues touching on their beliefs come their way.

Democracy should not be an excuse for them to betray their religious beliefs just because it may be the more practical, convenient or popular thing to do. Such betrayal can only mean that the candidate is only Catholic by name, or is one who claims that it is also Catholic to betray ones Catholic beliefs, an absurdity that is somehow also gaining traction these days.

Of course, there can be other possible ways to describe this phenomenon. One could be merely a coward not to stand up for his faith, or he is simply Machiavellian willing to sacrifice some eternal truths or the long-held sacred traditions of the people, etc, just to pander on a passing popular sentiment and thereby gain power, wealth, popularity.

Or one could simply be so blinded by some distorted sense of loyalty to a candidate or to an ideology, etc., that he is willing to go against his religion when certain aspects of that religion become a contentious and unpopular part of a political issue.

In a democracy, every participant is expected to be clear about his positions, his views and preferences, and enter into some dialogue and exchange with civility, willing to listen to others, including those with the opposite views, while articulating and defending his in a civil manner.
Spain's acting industry minister, whose name has been linked to offshore companies, has resigned, the ruling Popular Party said Friday.

Jose Manuel Soria's resignation from Parliament and his ministerial posts came days before he was due to appear in Parliament to explain his claim that he never ran or owned a Bahamian offshore company, although his name appeared on leaked documents identifying him as director of a firm.

Spain's El Confidencial digital news site this week published a September 1992 document naming him and another man as one of two directors of company named U.K. Lines Ltd.

Soria, who also held the energy and tourism portfolios, told reporters Monday he never "had shares, nor participation, nor any position of responsibility" with the company. He said a British company with that name was a service provider for a family shipping business he used to run.

Later, apparent contradictions in his explanations and further reports that he allegedly had an offshore company in Jersey led to increased calls from opposition parties for his resignation.
The undeniable reality is this. Either the Samoan psyche about forgiveness and unity is something the world has yet to discover or we are simply an incredible society that condones wrongdoing, corruption and the sort of behviour that would normally land some people in jail.

Whichever school of thought you and I subscribe to, it wont matter that much.

It will not change the fact that the developments of the past few weeks locally and internationally will leave an indelible mark on Samoas reputation in the eyes of the world.

Indeed, the twists and turns in the developments of the election petitions weve been following very closely this week have especially been very interesting to say the least. They would have certainly raised eyebrows in many places with the idea that something is very odd in this democractic paradise.

The fact that four petitions alleging corrupt practices during the General Election were withdrawn  some under dramatic circumstances  is both amazing and awkward.

They are wonderful and terrible.

Its Christian and yet so unchristian. Forgiveness is one thing but condoning wrongdoing and encouraging such bad behavior is quite another isnt it?

And are the decisions in line with Samoan culture?

Yes and no. Our traditions of ava fatatata, va fealoai and tofa mamao tell us that such decisions are not beyond the realm of possibilities but does that mean our culture is corrupt? Is it not our Samoan culture to do the right thing?

The last time we checked, our forbears left us a culture that promotes justice, morals, ethics, principles and decency.

Which raises another question, is the concept of election a Samoan thing?

Is democracy a Samoan concept? Is the judiciary a Samoan concept? Are the laws governing the country today  in this case the elections - Samoan ideals?

The answer is an emphatic no.

So why are we applying Samoan culture to things that are not Samoan?

Where is decency in all this?

Where is justice?

Where do we see the face of God in all this?

We accept that these are tough, thought-provoking questions.

But they are necessary and relevant to ask at this very moment, especially in light of the developments we have seen.

The legitimising and legalising of alleged corrupt practices during the election under the guise of culture and for the sake of good relations is not something that should be taken lightly.

You and I, as guardians of our culture, values and morals, we have a responsibility to leave a legacy for the future generations of this country to be proud of.

We have to set examples we want them to emulate.

Are these examples to be proud of? So is it okay to bribe and buy voters to get into Parliament then? Is that the new standard? Is this the legacy we want to leave behind for the future generations of this country?

Weve said this before and we will say it again, if that is the case, why do we need a Court system? Why do we need laws? Who needs a Parliament then to create laws when some of those lawmakers should not be there?

We remind once again that in Samoa 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 to mediate, have a simple handshake and quote scriptures from the Bible?

It could be that this is the new normal for Samoan politics.

The common factor in all that weve seen in terms of election petitions is that it involves members of the H.R.P.P.

Which raises an idea. With the power they have, this government can perhaps add one more amendment to the colourful list of amendments theyve made to this countrys laws over the years.

They should consider changing the Electoral laws to exempt all members of the H.R.P.P from petitions and election corruption  or any other form of corruption for that matter.

There is nothing there to stop them from doing that. They have the numbers and certainly all the power in the world.

What do you think?

Have a restful Sunday Samoa, God bless!
I just wanted to pass on my congratulation to his Afioga Gatoaitele Sano Malifa for his new adventure.

You have served our people both in Samoa and abroad and I am very proud to say that you are my Hero. Your words of wisdom and guidance for a better life has helped me grow and made me re-think about my own.

I enjoy reading your column and although I disagree with some of your political views and you have allowed me to have a different view than yours and thank you for that.

Samoa is truly blessed with you to bring balances to our democracy by contributing to how our government governed our people on a daily basis.

Malo lava le loto nuu malo foi le faamaoni i lau tautua.

It is my dream to return to Samoa after I am done with grad school in the USA to contribute to the betterment of Samoa.

May God bless you Sano with strength and health and many more years to enjoy this mortal life with your family to the fullest..

Soifua,

Jacey Fretton

Samatau

Falelatai/Malibu California.
A 68-year-old-mother and grandmother, Tala Leiataua, of Sogi has made a heartfelt plea to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.

Please let us stay on this land, she said.

This is where we belong. Our ancestors have worked so hard to level this swamp during the German colonial times for us. We want to stay.

Should the government insist to evict, Tala said: I ask the government to dig a hole and throw us all in there. Id rather die and be buried on the land my ancestors passed down to us.

The family of the elderly mother is among more than thirty families at Sogi who face eviction by the government, years after they were told to relocate to Falelauniu.

The families have been warned for the last time to relocate on their own, without being forcefully removed. They have been given 30 days to move.

Everything that they (government) offered doesnt mean anything. Nothing can compensate for the sweat and tears of our ancestors who helped to raise this swamp to what it is today.

Were ready to die on our land. If the government wants to still evict us from here soon, they can do whatever they want to do,

But before they evict us, Im asking them to dig a hole so we can all be thrown in there with our children.

We cant leave this land behind,

Were ready to face the consequences  but  we want to be buried on this land. Tuilaepa, this land is where our grave is.

Attempts to get comment from the General Manager of Samoa Land Corporation, Afoa Arasi Tiotio, were unsuccessful.

The decision by the government to relocate residents of Sogi was initially announced in 2011. The government then offered families a quarter acre of land at Falelauniu which they will lease to own at just over $30,000 and $3,000 cash to relocate.

Many families at Sogi have taken up the offer. But many others have refused.

Speaking about the issue during a Parliament session years ago, Tuilaepa said the standard of living for residents of Sogi will improve if they relocate.

There is not enough land to grow crops for families to rely on, Tuilaepa said at the time. The only importance of land located inside town (like Sogi) is that it is convenient for transport.

More than 10 acres have been allocated to the 33 Sogi families to shift to, each getting a quarter acre to buy, Tuilaepa said at the time.

This will benefit them, said the Prime Minister. There is now bigger land to grow food on.
A warrant of arrest against the Minister of Justice and Courts Administration, Faaolesa Ainuu Katopau, in American Samoa is still valid.

This was confirmed by American Samoas Attorney General, Talauega Eleasalo Ale.

Speaking to the Sunday Samoan, Talauega said his office had checked with the Court and confirmed the warrant is valid.

Its still valid and apparently its still in the books (of the Court) and still outstanding, said Talauega. We dont have any action on this. Its a matter up to the law enforcement, the Police to enforce it if the person is in our jurisdiction.

The background and reasons for the warrant, those facts are still out there. I dont know what happened, I dont know whatever the situation is if its been resolved without our knowledge.

The outstanding warrant of arrest for Faaolesa was issued in 2008 containing a number of allegations. According to Talauega since the warrant was issued, it was never acted upon. The reason for that he said is that it was probably because the person wasnt here.

The warrant is valid if he is in American Samoa jurisdiction and he can be arrested by Police in pursuant to the Courts warrant.

The Attorney General in the territory emphasised the warrant is not from his office.

The Courts in American Samoa issued an order to arrest him unless he pays $10,000 and the only way to resolve this is for Mr. Ainuu to contact the Court and resolve it because its not a warrant that we issued. The warrant itself is outside the control of this office.

Asked if the Police in the territory are taking any actions, Talauega said he did not know.

In response to Samoa News questions, Talauega said: The Office of the Attorney General has no role in the execution of the warrant.

Further, because the warrant is a Court order, only the Court has the authority to resolve or extinguish it, not the Attorney General.

That said, I note that the warrant is almost eight years old, and although we have not received confirmation, it appears that Mr. Ainuu may have resolved the underlying issues, which resulted in the filing of the criminal complaint.

To the extent that he has done this and provides proof of same, we would not object to a motion by Mr. Ainuu to quash or resolve the warrant.

Contacted for a comment last week, the Minister of Justice said he was waiting on the investigation by the American Samoa Office of Attorney General.
Ombudsman Maiava Iulai Toma has blasted the behaviour of the Police  including Police Commissioner, Fuiava Egon Keil  as "irresponsible", "unlawful" and "cruel." The criticisms are made in the findings of an investigation by the Ombudsmans Office into a complaint made by a member of the public, Suitupe Misa, over an incident at the Fugalei market on 18 August 2015.

Described as a watershed moment in the history of Samoa, the incident saw the Police use firearms in a public place to carry out a pre-planned arrest of an individual.

Mr. Misa was arrested at gunpoint by a contingent of armed plain clothed officers in front of a shocked and distressed Fugalei marketplace.

It transpired that Mr. Misa had "committed no crime" and the arrest was "carried out based on insubstantial and second-hand evidence."

Mr. Misa lodged a complaint against the Police, which was investigated by the Ombudsmans Office. The findings of the investigation raise serious questions about the actions of the Police and the Commissioner.

The Commissioner of Police failed to meet basic investigation principles and placed undue consideration on second hand evidence, leading directly to the wrongful and unlawful arrest of Suitupe, the reports findings reads.

The Commissioners decision to arm and allow the use of firearms by his officers contravened the Use of Force policy, was irresponsible, and could negatively impact the overall safety and security within Samoa.

The Commissioner failed to take appropriate steps to identify the actions of his officers as being part of a police operation, leading to widespread distress and in one case serious health issues.

The investigation also found that the Commissioner does not have an understanding of the basic laws regarding arrest and detention in Samoa.

Incidentally, the report says the arrest was unlawful and improperly undertaken and therefore violated his fundamental human right to liberty.

According to the Ombudsman, the findings clearly demonstrate a series of errors of judgment and unlawful actions that are nowhere near what we should be able to expect from our Police force.

It is without question that the more serious of these issues must be addressed, Maiava concludes.

The unlawful nature of the arrest, the Commissioners lack of understanding of the law and the failings in the investigation. Whether this happens in the public domain or behind closed doors, it does not matter.

What matters is that it happens sooner rather than later to prevent Samoa going further down the path towards a style of policing that will undoubtedly undermine our culture and lead to a more fearful and less secure society, as has been demonstrated in many other jurisdictions.

This very sorry affair has highlighted a dangerous trend towards greater use of firearms by the Police, a tendency towards an American style of policing (America has its own set of circumstances) and a disregard for the law within our law enforcement agency.

However, it is now up to the relevant people to ensure that this type of incident does not occur again. It is also up to each and every one of us to work towards greater community engagement with our Police officers.

Without trust and support, law enforcement becomes reliant on use of force rather than communication. Guns, rather than words. There will be times when fear makes it tempting to call for greater use of firearms by the Police but let us draw strength from the faasamoa and from examples around the world such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom and be resolute in our commitment to peaceful and respectful law enforcement.

The full report is published below:

INVESTIGATION REPORT

APRIL 2016

Complaint made by Mr Suitupe Misa on treatment by Police and on own motion into Police use of force and firearms

1. Office of the Ombudsman

The Office of the Ombudsman is a State institution that is independent of Government. Pursuant to the Ombudsman Act 2013 (the Ombudsman Act), the Ombudsman holds three main areas of responsibility, all related to overseeing the performance of Government and working with it to identify areas for improvement. The three areas of responsibility are:

i. Good Governance: Investigating and reporting on decision making by public agencies;

ii. Human Rights: Protecting and promoting human rights through education activities, investigations and reporting;

iii. Special Investigations Unit: Investigating and monitoring complaints against individual Police officers and officers of other prescribed forces.

The Ombudsman is concerned with fairness and justice and has wide ranging powers to investigate and report on matters falling within the categories above.

For more information on the role of the Office of the Ombudsman, or to view the Ombudsman Act 2013 please visit www.ombudsman.gov.ws.

2. How was this Report made?

The following Report was conducted under the Good Governance mandate following a complaint received by the Ombudsman regarding the actions and decision making of the Police.

Under the Ombudsman Act, the Ombudsman was able to summon witnesses to give evidence under oath to the investigation team. The witnesses during this process do not have legal representation because all proceedings are kept confidential unless it is in the public interest or if the matter is already in the public domain. The only criminal charge that can arise from giving evidence to the Ombudsman is that of perjury. Therefore, the only expectation of persons summoned by the Ombudsman to give evidence is that they shall tell the truth.

The powers used to investigate this complaint against the Police are the very same powers used by the Ombudsman to investigate complaints against any other agency of the State as provided under the Ombudsman Act.

In the course of this investigation over 20 witnesses were interviewed, including members of the public present at the scene, attending officers, other officers experienced in investigations and the Commissioner of Police. The interviews took place over several weeks and took in excess of 50 hours. All interviews were video recorded.

It was often the case that some of the witnesses may have had a bias towards a certain viewpoint, either favouring the actions of the Police or in defence of the complainant. These potential biases were taken into account by the investigations team and all conclusions drawn in the Report have been verified by a variety of witnesses. Where a viewpoint was put forward by a group of people with the same potential bias, or an individual, conclusions were not drawn unless they could be reasonably verified. The Ombudsman is concerned with the truth and with fairness and to take an alternative approach would have been contrary to these principles.

Samoa is a small country and in the course of investigations such as this, potential conflict of interest can arise when an investigator may know a person they are due to question or investigate. In all cases before the Office of the Ombudsman, these potential conflicts are identified in advance and addressed. In this case one officer to be interviewed is the cousin of one of the investigations team and therefore that team member was removed from the process at that stage to avoid the conflict.

Following the conclusion of the investigation, the Commissioner of Police was given the draft report and invited to indicate where the report was not factual or does not reflect the truth. One small factual error was subsequently amended. The Commissioner also chose to raise a number of concerns which can be read in full in Annex A. His points are addressed in the end notes throughout this report. The two officers who are suspected of committing perjury before the investigations team were invited for a second interview. Both maintained their original versions of events.

For more information attached to this Report are the following Annexes:

ANNEXURE DETAILS

Annex A Ombudsman letter dated 10 Sept 2016 to Commissioner giving notice of intention to investigate a complaint brought by Suitupe and requested information regarding the complaint.

Annex B Commissioner letter dated 14 Sept 2016 in response to Ombudsman letter dated 10 Sept 2016.

Annex C Ombudsman letter dated 16 Sept 2016 acknowledging Commissioners response and advised him that the Ombudsman will carry out an own motion investigation into the complaint.

Annex D Ombudsman letter dated 16 Sept 2016 to Minister of Police informing him of investigation.

Annex E Ombudsman letter dated 15 Feb 2016 to Commissioner attaching draft report of the investigation for comments.

Annex F Ombudsman letter dated 15 Feb 2016 attaching draft investigation report to Minister of Police for his information and comments.

Annex G Commissioner letter dated 25 Feb 2016 to Ombudsman outlining his comments to draft investigation report.

Annex H Ombudsman letter dated 1 March 2016 to Commissioner acknowledging his comments to the draft investigation report.

THE INVESTIGATION

3. Introduction

Tuesday 18th August 2015 was a watershed moment in the history of Samoa  it was the day police used firearms in a public place to carry out a pre-planned arrest of an individual for the very first time. In a scene described as something you only see in Hollywood movies Mr Suitupe Misa (shall be referred hereinafter as Suitupe) was arrested at gunpoint by a contingent of armed plain clothed officers in front of a shocked and distressed Fugalei marketplace. It transpired that the arrested man had committed no crime and the arrest was carried out based on insubstantial and second-hand evidence, raising serious questions over the actions of the Commissioner of Police (shall be referred hereinafter as the Commissioner).

This event occurred against a backdrop of a number of well-publicised events during which it was alleged that the Police used excessive force in the execution of their duties.

The question for Samoa is this: do we choose to accept and endorse a more forceful and gun orientated approach to policing or do we seek to revert to and strengthen the more traditional approach based on communication and respect?

This investigation will seek to answer this question by fully examining the complaint made by the arrested individual regarding his treatment at the hands of the police and by considering the current wider use of force and firearms and what it may mean for our country.

4. The Law

The law in Samoa relating to when and how police officers are permitted to use firearms is quite clear. The Police Powers Act 2007 (the Police Powers Act) delegates the power to the Commissioner to permit an officer to carry a firearm only when:

(a) The Minister has approved the arming of the police officer or person; and

(b) The police officer or person has satisfactorily carried out appropriate training in the safe use of firearms and dangerous weapons.

The Police Powers Act goes on to set out that the Minister may only approve the arming of a police officer in exceptional circumstances and is otherwise in accordance with relevant police internal orders or rules. The relevant rules referred to exist in the form of the Samoa Police Service Use of Force Policy 2012. Additionally, during the course of any investigation the Police are guided by the comprehensive Criminal Investigations Manual.

The other area of law relevant to this complaint is with regard to the difference between arrest and detention. To detain a person is a very different matter to placing them under arrest.

In relation to detaining a person, s. 36 of the Police Powers Act provides that an officer has the authority to stop, detain and search a person if the officer suspects on reasonable ground that the person is carrying or has in his/her possession a thing relevant to a serious offence. So to prevent that thing from being concealed, lost or destroyed it is necessary for a police officer to detain the person, search and seize the thing (if found) without a warrant because the circumstances are serious and urgent.

However, an arrest occurs, "(w)here a police officer makes it clear to a suspect that he is not free to go and is to be interrogated by the officer on suspicion of a crime, then that person is arrested".

Police are therefore able to stop and detain a person to conduct a search of that person where they are at that moment in time, whereas an arrest may only occur when the Police have probable cause to suspect the person committed a crime. When a person is arrested they are entitled to certain rights, such as the right to hear the charges against them and access to a lawyer.

This Report will refer to the law, policy and the manual throughout events to assess whether proper procedure was followed.

5. The Fugalei Market Arrest: Timeline and Analysis

1.1 Events leading up to the arrest

The foundations for the arrest of Suitupe were laid several days before the event itself. On 13th August 2015 the Minister for Police granted Ministerial approval under s.13 of the Police Powers Act to enable the Commissioner to authorise his officers to carry and use firearms. Already at this stage, several areas of concern arise.

Firstly, the Ministerial approval was not limited to exceptional circumstances and is otherwise in accordance with relevant police orders or rules, as required by the Police Powers Act. Instead it was for prescribed officers to have in their possession firearms in the execution of a warrant pertaining to the search and seizure of large scale narcotics and unlawful firearms and other special duty authorise (sic) by Commissioner orders or rules as from 13th August 2015 until 13th August 2016.

The scope of this approval for officers to be armed is clearly and manifestly beyond the purpose imagined by the Police Powers Act. Exceptional circumstances is an imprecise phrase which is often open to subjective interpretation. The Oxford English Dictionary defines exceptional as unusual, or not typical. The Ministerial approval issued relates specifically to the search and seizure under warrant of large scale narcotics and unlawful firearms AND generally to special duties authorise (sic) by Commissioner orders or rules. The result of extending the approval essentially hands power to the Commissioner to transform his or her force from an unarmed one to one that is armed for the duration of the Ministerial approval. This not only defeats the purpose of the act but it transfers the decision making power over whether Samoas police force should be routinely armed away from Samoas elected officials and into the hands of the Commissioner. The Minister needs to retain the power to authorise the arming of officers for any identified special needs.

This approval was first used a day later on August 14th 2015 to execute a drugs raid at Faleatiu. Had the approval been limited to this raid where a set of exceptional circumstances existed then proper process would have been followed. As will be seen, the Ministerial blanket approval of 13 August 2015 was abused within a week by the Commissioner to arm police officers in the unexceptional circumstances of the case under investigation.

It must be made clear that circumstances do exist where Police require the use of firearms for their own safety and the safety of the public, and this investigation is not suggesting for one moment the total banning of firearms by the police. It is more concerned with ensuring that their use is limited to proper and rightful use within the law.

Finding 1: The Ministerial approval granted is too broad in scope for the purposes of the Police Powers Act 2007.

Two days after the raid on Faletiu events unfolded that would ultimately lead to the wrongful and unlawful arrest of Suitupe.

On Sunday 16th August 2015 a person who we shall refer to as Witness A (as they undertook no wrongdoing and ultimately ended up being a victim in their own right) was pulling out of a driveway near their place of residence in Leauvaa and close to where the Minister of Police resides. Witness A was accompanied by a number of workers in the tray of the truck. A car pulled up, blocking their way, and a clearly drunk man started shouting from inside of his car. The drunken man was angry about the recent raid conducted at Faleatiu, and for reasons unknown wanted to vent his anger towards Witness A. He shouted that it was a good job he himself and the others were not present during the raid and that the Police did not find everything. According to Witness A there was no mention by the angry drunk man of a threat to kill the Minister and the Commissioner.

The workers started to get out of the tray of the truck to confront the man but Witness A calmed them down, telling them it was just a drunk and not worth getting into trouble for. The drunken man eventually tired and went on his way. Witness A recognised the drunken man as a former Police officer although was not aware of his name. Witness A was, however, well acquainted with Suitupe and clearly knew the drunken man was not him. Regardless, it was not an incident which caused a great deal of concern.

Two days later, at some time before the early afternoon of Tuesday 18th August 2015, the Commissioner was in a meeting with the Minister of Police who communicated the events of two days before and either referred to the drunken man as a former officer or identified him as Suitupe. At some stage a direct threat against the Commissioner and other Ministers was added into the story. We are all familiar with chain whispering, where the story dramatically changes as it passes down a line of players. This is exactly why Police rely on first hand evidence as the basis for action wherever possible.

Exactly when and how the story evolved into a direct threat against the Commissioner and others is unclear and other than highlighting the dangers of relying on second hand evidence it is not pivotal to this investigation.

At this point the Commissioner is faced with a decision  whether the reported incident should be treated seriously and if so how best to proceed with the investigation. It is also at this point that events start to become increasingly troubling.

To provide some insight into what may have been the best course of action at this stage the investigation team sought extensive evidence from experienced Police officers in relation to what constitutes normal and best practice, as defined by the Criminal Investigations Manual. The Manual states that the role of the Police is to; (1) establish whether or not a crime has been committed and where it was committed using investigative skills (to) establish the identity of the offender; and (2) arrest those suspected of committing crimes and to provide the necessary evidence in accordance with the law to prosecute those responsible.

Therefore an entirely sensible course of action would have been for the Commissioner to call Witness A (knowing as he did at the time the identity and contact details of the witness) to provide a formal statement and in full knowledge of the facts decide how best to proceed. By speaking directly with the witness to the event he could have established the exact nature of the reported incident, who the suspect was and whether Witness A viewed the incident to be serious in nature. However, the Commissioner instead chose to rush immediately back to Police Headquarters where he quickly assembled the Tactical Operations Section (TOS) to brief them on the reported incident. He did not choose to assemble any Criminal Investigations Division (CID) officers, who have the skills and expertise to handle investigations of this nature.

After assembling the TOS unit the Commissioner explained the nature of the threat that had been made against him two days previous. Additionally, during the course of the interview with the Commissioner it was clear that the threat was particularly worrying because it was made against him and he worried for his own safety. On numerous occasions when referring to the threat he made only mention of himself and the inclusion of Cabinet Ministers and other officers was only occasionally given as an afterthought.

The assembled TOS unit were asked for any information they had on Suitupe and this was duly forthcoming as several had worked with Suitupe when he spent a year working as an officer several years ago. Suitupes previous conviction card was also obtained. Suitupe was previously convicted of a threat to kill, where the 5 days spent in custody was treated as his sentence. There were also pending issues that the Police took into account and helped form the view of the Commissioner to locate Suitupe and bring him into the headquarters. Information was provided in relation to his possible whereabouts given he was known to work for a taxi stand and as a market trader at Fugalei. Two TOS officers were duly dispatched to survey the market and confirm his presence.

The briefing continued and the Commissioner ordered every officer to fully arm themselves in preparation for taking in Suitupe. News quickly arrived from the two dispatched officers that Suitupe was present at the market and the Commissioner immediately ordered everyone into two vehicles as he jumped in his own with his driver, both also armed.

An entirely inadequate briefing was given. No individual roles were assigned. There was no CID involvement, nor any first hand evidence obtained. No warrant existed for Suitupes arrest. The armed TOS squad moved out.

The officers present felt under-briefed and rushed. It was clear that insufficient preparation was undertaken by the Commissioner. Extensive evidence was given by experienced officers who displayed a level of professionalism and dedication that the investigation team commends. The normal process for any alleged crime was clearly explained and the high standards that are required of officers both internally and within the criminal justice system to secure a prosecution. A principle from the Criminal Investigations Manual was recited on a number of occasions: Sources before Resources, emphasising the value of first hand witness statements and other evidence as the basis for any action rather than simply relying on the resources at their disposal.

By choosing to arrest and handcuff Suitupe at gunpoint without any first hand verifying evidence against him the Commissioner turned the principle of Sources before Resources upside down.

When questioned by the investigation the Commissioner made it clear he felt any potential crime communicated to him by the Minister of Police must be treated as 100% true, utterly serious and immediately acted upon. Despite the eventual outcome of these events the Commissioner was unrepentant and said he would act the same again in similar circumstances. Conversely, officers interviewed during the investigation stated that it was not handled appropriately and that there were other more suitable approaches that could have been taken. Some expressed anger and dismay with the approach and how it badly reflects on the professionalism of the force.

Finding 2: The Commissioner of Police failed to meet basic investigation principles and placed undue consideration on second hand evidence, leading directly to the wrongful and unlawful arrest of Suitupe.

The Commissioner conceded that Witness A could have been called in prior to arresting Suitupe but that the threat was of such a grave nature immediate action was required. This excuse is not accepted by the investigation as the Commissioner contradicted himself by stating he initially thought it could take up to several weeks to identify and locate the right person. Additionally, once Suitupe had been located he was being watched by two officers in a public place (Fugalei Market) from where he was highly unlikely to launch an assault on anyone, let alone the Commissioner of Police and Ministers. The situation was under control and at that time Witness A could have been interviewed to provide the necessary first-hand information. He wasnt.

Let us for one moment consider if a hypothetical situation where Witness A had been called to provide formal evidence and had provided firm evidence identifying a suspect, and that suspect was located in a public place. For arguments sake let us suppose that the identified person had a prior conviction for making threats. Would a decision in these circumstances necessitate officers to carry out the arrest at gunpoint?

It is important to restate here that the Police Powers Act sets out that the Minister may only approve the arming of police in exceptional circumstances and is otherwise in accordance with relevant police internal orders or rules. The arming of Police must be in accordance with internal orders and rules. The Use of Force policy is quite clear in stating that the amount of force used should be the minimum amount necessary. Not one single officer who was interviewed believed the approach ordered by the Commissioner met this principle. It is an approach that has never been used or needed in Samoa before. One officer echoed the majority of the views of the officers interviewed that

The main weapon of a police officer ever since I was with the force was the mouth/conversation/speech. But with the team that I am with at the moment, we are armed on instructions of the commissioner and approval of the Minister.

So why was it used? The Commissioner was firm in his belief that it was entirely necessary and appropriate, claiming that Suitupe may well have had a bazooka in the boot of his taxi and an uzi hidden under his market stall. This is worrying reasoning from a person who supposedly understands the Samoan context and in whom the power to arm officers of the law is entrusted.

Furthermore, when quizzed on under what authority he had ordered his men to be armed the Commissioner was unconvincing in his answers but firm in his belief that the Ministerial approval properly gave him the authority to proceed as he did. Given that his actions did not comply with the Police Use of Force Policy in ensuring using the minimum amount of force necessary, his belief was incorrect for this and other reasons. Furthermore, following the arrest the Commissioner made no attempt to find out exactly how many officers had drawn and used their firearms. Nor was a report on the incident ever written.

The Commissioner strongly felt that times are changing in Samoa and that greater use of firearms by the Police is inevitable. However, he demonstrated little understanding of the potential detrimental impact that premature loosened resort to firearms by the Police may have on this country and the safety of its people.

It was conveyed to the investigation that people in the market felt that if the Police were regularly going to descend in the manner in which they did to arrest Suitupe then maybe they had better arm themselves too. This is a slippery slope from which there is no way back up and the Commissioner showed no understanding of this, instead dismissing these concerns out of hand.

Finding 3: The Commissioners decision to arm and allow the use of firearms by his officers contravened the Police Use of Force Policy, was irresponsible, and could negatively impact the overall safety and security within Samoa.

1.2 The arrest

Eleven officers, the Commissioners driver and the Commissioner himself descended upon Fugalei Market at around 3pm on Tuesday 18thAugust 2015. One of the vehicles bore no police markings, the other had minimal markings identifying it as a police vehicle. The officers wore heavy jack boots, a variety of unmarked and different coloured shorts and trousers, navy blue polo shirts with a small police badge on the front and POLICE in 3 inch high letters on the back. Some officers wore marked bullet-proof vests.

The Commissioner provided conflicting evidence on the importance of ensuring clear public understanding during armed arrests of this nature. International best practice is clearly established in that when armed arrests of this nature occur great efforts must be taken to ensure that the public know it is a police operation . This is in order to reassure the public and prevent the public from taking preventive action which could substantially worsen the situation.

The Commissioner initially appeared to support this approach and indicated he had requested all uniformed traffic officers in the vicinity to come over from the junction near Farmer Joes to provide the necessary visual police presence. However, he acknowledged that he never followed up on that request and had no idea whether it was obeyed. No witness interviewed saw any uniformed officers that day.

Whilst there were small visible signs that this was a police operation in the form of badges on the polo shirts and bullet-proof vests, and the Police vehicles having Police number plates, it is not reasonable to expect that in a high pressure fast moving situation, the likes of which Samoa has never seen before, people were able to focus on the finer details of the scene unfolding before them. The Commissioner stated that at no point was he worried about the safety of the public in the marketplace and showed no understanding of how it may have caused confusion and panic.

The resulting actions and lack of police identification led to one woman being so distressed that she has since suffered serious health issues and has been unable to return to the market, which happens to be her workplace. The Commissioner was surprised to hear of this, yet did not appear concerned.

Finding 4: The Commissioner failed to take appropriate steps to identify the actions of his officers as being part of a police operation, leading to widespread distress and in one case serious health issues.

It is hard to convey the horror that must have been experienced by those unfortunate enough to have been in the marketplace that day as a large group of largely unidentifiable men brandishing guns rushed towards Suitupe. Some of the officers jumped over the stall with their guns drawn, some army rolled underneath  it truly was like something out of a movie. Before anyone could draw breath Suitupe, who was opening a niu at the time, had a gun inches away pointed at his head by Officer X, and Officer Y pointing at him with his firearm from two or three feet away.

I thought we were being invaded by a foreign army.

Witness to the arrest of Suitupe Misa

The officers did not identify themselves as Police. They did not tell Suitupe who they were or why he was being arrested (Officer X claimed unconvincingly otherwise), Officer Y waved his gun around wildly to control the crowd. Suitupe petrified that if he moved it would be the last move he ever made, stared straight ahead and prayed for the best. Children were crying and many people were visibly upset.

Finding 5: The actions of the Officers X and Y in drawing their weapons were contrary to the Use of Force Policy and their failure to inform the complainant of his legal rights or reason for arrest contrary to the Police Powers Act 2007 and the Constitution of Samoa.

Suitupe, hands above his head and fearing for his life, was asked to confirm his name before being handcuffed and dragged off to the waiting police vehicle. During this time one of the officers ordered another to seize Suitupes taxi. Two officers jumped in it and drove off to the station  there was no legal basis for this action.

The arrest lasted a matter of minutes. However, the series of failures leading up to and during the arrest and the potential consequences are numerous.

The Police Criminal Investigations Manual states that arresting a person and taking away their liberty is a serious step to take. All police members are to exercise this power with common sense.

But let us pause  was this an arrest or merely a detention? The Commissioner in this regard is quite clear. Suitupe was only detained and there was definitely no arrest. Therefore, he contends, there was no legal requirement to read Suitupe his rights nor tell him the reason for his detention. For one, the Commissioner points out, there was no probable cause, which is required to make an arrest. Why was there no probable cause? Quite simply, because the Commissioner had wilfully failed to verify the second-hand evidence against Suitupe.

More worryingly is the Commissioners understanding of detention versus arrest and his lack of clarity in communicating the nature of the operation to his TOS officers.

All of the officers on the operation are unequivocal in stating that they were sent to Fugalei Market by the Commissioner to arrest Suitupe and some efforts were made to cover up the lack of regard that was paid to the proper process in arresting him. Furthermore, the lack of briefing and assignment of specific roles led to great confusion among the officers about why they were to arrest Suitupe with one officer who was not at the briefing claiming that he was given a gun in the car yet he had no idea what Suitupe was supposed to have done. He was only aware of the situation when he overheard the conversations amongst officers in the car when they were on their way to the market to bring a person that made threatening words to the Minister of Police and Commissioner.

Finding 6: The lack of a proper briefing by the Commissioner led to confusion and misunderstanding by his officers about the operation, endangering the safety of the public. No clear guidance was provided on whether they were to detain or arrest Suitupe with the only clear instruction being to arm themselves.

In addition to the Commissioners decision to arm his officers for a routine arrest and totally inappropriate and insubstantial preparations one of the most concerning aspects of this whole investigation is his fundamental lack of understanding of law and procedure in Samoa with regard to detention and arrest.

Adamant in his evidence that Suitupe was only detained and not arrested paints a very clear picture of a Commissioner who fails to grasp one of the basic concepts of law enforcement in the jurisdiction.

This Report has already described the law around detention versus arrest and how a detainment may be made to search for an item or thing which, if found, may give Police probable cause for arrest. Does that mean that a person can be taken by Police to a different location? To be handcuffed? At gunpoint? It most certainly does not, yet the Commissioner demonstrated no comprehension of this in either his actions or his evidence.

The law states if an officer reasonably believes a person to be carrying a stolen item they may:

(a) stop and detain the person; and

(b) conduct a search of the person for the relevant thing; and

(c) seize the thing if the officer finds it.

As soon as a person is deprived of their liberty then it is taken that an arrest has occurred. In the case of Suitupe there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that he was placed under arrest. The only person who holds such a doubt is the Commissioner.

Finding 7: The Commissioner does not have an understanding of the basic laws regarding arrest and detention in Samoa.

Given that the actions of the Police constitute an arrest of Suitupe and that there was no probable cause for arrest and he was not read his rights nor informed of the reason for his arrest it can only be concluded that this arrest was unlawful and improperly carried out.

Finding 8: The arrest of Suitupe Misa was unlawful and improperly undertaken and therefore violated his fundamental human right to liberty.

Traditional policing methods in Samoa are based around one fundamental concept: communication. Officers are taught to use the power of communication to build community relations, uncover the facts of a case and remain in control of any situation. It is an approach borne out of the faasmoa principle of feavaaI (mutual respect), which is demanded of all Samoans. It is a type of respect that is shown not only in the manner of talking but also in the body language of the person.

By focusing on communication and respecting the principle of feavaai the officers, except in cases of pre-planned raids, have never previously had to resort to tactics such as the ones deployed at Fugalei market and the reason why various sources report Police enjoy such high regard from their peers when they serve on overseas missions. A common theme among the witnesses who gave evidence in this investigation was that they had never seen an approach like this before. Indeed, many of the officers themselves were concerned by the approach and stated there were other means by which the whole matter could have been handled. The Use of Force Policy dictates that only the minimum necessary use of force must be used in the exercise of duties. It is clear that the directions and lack of an adequate tactical briefing given by the Commissioner resulted in the abandonment of this principle by Samoa Police.

Finding 9: Under the orders of the Commissioner, the actions taken by the officers were contrary to established procedurals and Samoan methods of policing and did not meet the requirement of minimum necessary use of force.

1.3 After the Arrest

During the drive back to the police station Suitupe sat in the back of the Prado  shocked, confused and above all frightened. The officers accompanying him remained silent. Some of them knew him from his time as a colleague of theirs and stated they were ashamed with the manner of his arrest. None of them wanted to make eye contact, let alone speak  the traditional reliance on good communication had been completely removed as a direct result of the Commissioners lack of verifying evidence and insistence on arrest at gunpoint.

At the station Suitupe was accompanied into the CID division by two of the arresting officers and instructed to sit on the floor, still handcuffed. The two officers turned to leave but were called back by the on-duty CID officer asking for an explanation as to what he had been arrested for and what they were supposed to do with him. The arresting officers were unable to give an answer, having not been properly briefed by the Commissioner beforehand. At that moment Officer X walked in and was able to inform CID that the arrest had been carried out on the Commissioners orders and a heated debate ensued over whether reasonable grounds for the arrest existed.

The CID officer, concerned for Suitupes welfare, took the opportunity to inform him of the reasons for his arrest and his legal rights. This was the first time Suitupe had been given this information.

During this period several TOS officers were coming through the CID division, heavily armed and clearly high on adrenaline from the exhilarating arrest that took place. Officer X had procured a knife from somewhere and it was tucked in front of his vest. It is well documented that in pressure situations where officers are armed, reactions like this occur and a type of tunnel vision can occur. This is the reason why armed officers should be well trained so that discipline and order are instinctive and second nature. Unfortunately the Commissioner did not seem overly keen to instil this within his officers and when questioned about the knife displayed by Officer X responded that he must have obtained it himself and confirmed it was not standard service issue, yet he was happy with his officers to do that because sometimes you just need to do whatever you need to protect yourself. Let us be clear here  the Commissioner is quite happy for his officers to take their own weapons to carry out unlawful arrests in public places in Samoa. Alarm bells are ringing.

Where was the Commissioner while all of this unfolded? He had retreated to his office. He was unaware of the chaos that was ensuing as a result of his failings. He was genuinely surprised when it was put to him by the investigation team that during the whole time Suitupe was in custody he had not been questioned by any officer. No-one, least of all the Commissioner, was in control of the high drama situation.

Finding 10: The Commissioner was not in control of his own (unlawful) operation or his officers. Without this control the officers acted wildly and improperly and the rights of the complainant and the public were violated.

Returning to events; shortly after Suitupe was brought to the station a call was made to Witness A requesting they come to the station to identify Suitupe. Witness A had no prior knowledge of the impending arrest and nor had he spoken with the police about the person who made the threat.

Upon arrival at the station Witness A was informed that they had Suitupe. Witness A froze in his tracks  he knew only one person with that name and knew full well this was not the man who he had encountered. Peering around the corner of the CID office, witness As worst fears were confirmed. Instead of the drunken man, sat his friend  the wrong man. Unable to face Suitupe, witness A turned instead to confront Officer X.

If they had showed me photos of previous police officers I could have identified the correct man, I was worried I would be implicated in the wrongful arrest of my friend.

Witness A

After the departure of Witness A, a CID officer turned to confront Officer X and angrily pointed out that they had endangered Witness As life. Not only had they involved him in the wrongful and unlawful arrest of one of his friends but they had failed to detain the actual person of interest. Witness A became an even greater victim several weeks later when it was reported in the press that the Police were considering charges against an informant for the provision of false evidence. Whether the Police issued this statement or not, they had a duty of care to Witness A to clarify this story and failed to do so.

Why then was the correct person not sought after Witness A had come to the station, telling them he could identify the right person? The answer may lie in the Commissioners response to this question during interview. He is still of the firm belief that they got the right person in Suitupe and that Witness A simply changed his story for a reason the Commissioner cant explain. The Commissioner has drawn this conclusion from having never spoken to Witness A at any time and testified that it was his gut feeling.

If the Commissioner believes they got the right person initially then why did he not seek to speak to Witness A and get him to tell him the truth, which would have given him probable cause to re-arrest Suitupe for threat to kill? The Commissioner at this point believes that Witness A himself should come in the office and tell them the truth instead of the Police calling him in for further questioning.

Maybe it was because he had become too busy, as he claimed to the investigation. But too busy to chase the person who only that morning he had deemed such a threat that he fully armed a large squad of his men and stormed the market place? It does not add up. Maybe it was because he had achieved his goal of intimidating Suitupe or whoever it may have been by his ready resort to guns. Maybe we will never understand his motivation. What we do know is that his actions were not within the confines of the law, the Police Use of Force Policy or in line with the Criminal Investigations Manual. We also know that Suitupe did not deserve the treatment he endured at the whim of the Commissioner.

Finding 11: The decision not to formally interview Witness A or take any further action by the Commissioner raises serious concerns about the process and motivations for this operation.

After it became abundantly clear to the CID officers that a mistake had been made, not only in the unjustified arrest of a man, but in the manner of that arrest, Suitupe was immediately released. He was handed the keys to his taxi, which he still erroneously believed was where he had left it at the market, and drove back to his stall.

During the entire time Suitupe spent at the station he was not interviewed and would have been completely unaware of the reasons for his arrest had it not been for the professionalism of the CID officers.

Upon his return to the marketplace there were emotional scenes. It is not overly-dramatic to report that many thought they would never see their friend again. A communal sense of disempowerment and violation hung heavy in the air. There was a feeling among the able-bodied that they had not been able to meet their obligation to one another of fepuipuiai (mutual protection). There were tears and hugs. The marketplace has not been the same since and many witnesses interviewed noted the change that has occurred in Suitupe as a result of his treatment at the hands of the Police.

Finding 12: The actions of the police had a significant negative impact on the psychological health and well-being of Suitupe and violated his right to freedom from cruel or degrading treatment. They took their toll also on the emotional well-being of the close-knit market community.

2. The wider use of the coercive powers of the State and matters of perjury

2.1 The use of force by Police

A concern of this investigation is not simply whether the Suitupe Misa case was handled improperly or unlawfully but whether practices displayed during the arrest are symptomatic of a change in approach to policing generally.

There have been public calls to include a number of cases of police use of firearms currently being investigated by the Police Professional Standards Unit. These ongoing cases demonstrate in themselves a greater resort to the use of firearms in ordinary cases, and for reasons of time this Report does not wish to look into the details of matters currently under consideration. However, this investigation in itself will surely have curtailed this unwanted trend from continuing.

One area that the investigation was able to look into, however, was the increased use in the handcuffing of arrested individuals. It was reported to the investigation team by a number of experienced officers that handcuffs in Samoa have historically only been used for escaped prisoners or repeat offenders. In other words when there is no other course of action which guarantees the safety of the officers, the public and the suspect.

A pattern of greater use of handcuffs emerged before the investigations team and was confirmed by the officers who were interviewed. Take for example the case of Suitupe. Was it really necessary to handcuff him in front of a packed marketplace when he had two guns pointed at him and was surrounded by 11 officers?

It reflects a trend towards the greater use of handcuffs and away from the reliance on communication and mutual respect. The Commissioner was quick to point out that times are changing in Samoa and that is indeed true, with some terrible and violent crimes having been committed over the past year. It is also crucial that our Police remain safe in the exercise of their duties. However, it is also true that policy changes such as this must be well-thought out, considerate of cultural norms and mindful of using the minimum necessary amount of force.

The Commissioner conveyed several times in his interview that times are changing in Samoa and that we cant fight it so it is best to be prepared. However, Samoan culture has policed our society for generations and what has proven to work for the Police should not be rejected out of hand.

Finding 13: The use of handcuffs has increased at the command of the Commissioner and without proper consideration of actual need and cultural norms.

In his interview the Commissioner gave the very strong impression that he believed policing in the style of his previous jurisdiction, Los Angeles, was inevitable in Samoa and that preparing for this eventuality was essential. However, by escalating the use of force and firearms in the conduct of regular Police business this leads to a loss of public safety and an environment in which people are more likely to alienate and be confrontational towards police and to considering being armed themselves.

2.2 New recruit training

All new Police recruits are required to undergo a rigorous training program covering all aspects of policing, which includes weekly physical and theoretical tests. Not all those who begin the process make the required grade but for those who do it is a critical and impressionable time for them in terms of their career.

The involvement of the Commissioner in the training process was brought to the attention of the investigation team  in one instance in a favourable way and in another in a not quite so favourable way. Both are worth highlighting for the purposes of this wider investigation.

It was reported to the team by a number of witnesses the great pride and encouragement that the Commissioner demonstrated towards the recruits during their training and that one of the key principles he regularly stressed was that of always making sure you do the right thing, even if that means questioning a senior officer.

In 2014, as a result of the 3 year old in custody case, the Ombudsman highlighted the blind obedience displayed by some officers and called for greater willingness among officers to question their superiors if they believed an order to be wrong. In the training process the Commissioner relayed the story of a junior officer who destroyed case evidence on the command of his superior officer, strongly stressing the need and ways of questioning orders if they can reasonably be believed to be wrong.

Finding 14: The Commissioners commitment towards changing the culture of questioning superior commands is commendable

The Commissioner also made his presence felt following two days of crowd control and public order training at Apia Park. Congratulating the recruits on an excellent job he went on to demonstrate the next level up in seriousness from what they had been learning.

At that stage they had been taught how to control violent situations by restricting baton strikes to around a persons lower body  and this is all that the current law in Samoa allows for.

Regardless, the Commissioner went on to demonstrate how to use a baton in a full-scale riot situation, showing how you should use the baton in any way you can including by smashing it back into a persons face and head. When questioned, the Commissioner stated that inevitably that type of situation will arise in Samoa in the future and that it is best the recruits are fully prepared. But will it and is it? Will Samoa really see the full scale riots like in LA that the Commissioner was so keen to relate to? And is it best if the new recruits are prepared for this now? It was unclear how his comments were interpreted by the 50-60 people there that evening. Some thought he was joking, some that he was deadly serious. Is it not more likely to be the case that if these new recruits are shown how to use the baton in this way at such an impressionable time, and by their Commissioner no less, that they will deploy these techniques? And that if these techniques are deployed where it is not strictly necessary that it will create further civil unrest and greater divisions between the Police and the communities they serve? It is the contention of this investigation that it would.

Finding 15: The Commissioner was irresponsible in his address to the new recruits and his actions could undermine the future security and safety of Samoa.

2.3 Perjury

As per s. 43 (2) (a) of the Act, the Ombudsman may summon and examine on oath any person believed to possess relevant information. All of the witnesses called to give evidence were required to swear on oath that the evidence they gave would be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Each witness was explained the consequences of lying under oath and that perjury charges may arise should it later be shown that they provided false information.

Regardless of this, in the course of interviewing numerous witnesses as part of this investigation it became clear that some were being economical with the truth and others telling outright lies.

It is not reasonable to expect that people will be able to remember every detail of past events exactly as it happened.

What is reasonable to expect, however, is that people will not deliberately mislead or lie. We should reasonably expect people to tell the truth in the normal course of everyday life, let alone as part of an investigation which has serious long-term repercussions for the liberty and security of every person in Samoa.

The Office of the Ombudsman has never before invoked s (43) (2) (a) of the Act and it is unfortunate that the evidence provided by certain persons during this investigation leaves little option. Three cases of suspected perjury were detected. All three are Police officers. In the case of one officer the evidence provided was so completely at odds with all other evidence received that it is concluded that the pressure of giving a sworn statement led to confusion and panic. No further action will be taken in this case.

In the case of the other two officers they were invited back for a second interview to be told of the contradicting evidence that had been collected and, in the spirit of natural justice and fairness, given the opportunity to review their original statements. In both cases they chose to confirm their original evidence and consequently the Ombudsman will be referring these cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration of a charge of perjury.

3. Comparative analysis of use of force and firearms

The investigation into Suitupes complaint has highlighted serious issues in relation to many of the decisions taken by the Commissioner that led to his unlawful and wrongful arrest. The evidence given by the Commissioner also indicates that in his view it is inevitable that there will be greater use of firearms by Police in Samoa in the coming years. With the current Commissioner at the helm this investigation does not doubt this.

Regardless of the numerous failings in this individual case it is an opportune moment to consider what the best policy for Police use of firearms is and it is helpful to consider the approach taken in other jurisdictions in coming to a conclusion.

The UK bases their policy on the use of firearms and force on international best practice standards where use of a weapon by an officer requires special authorisation . This keeps usage down to an absolute minimum, consistent with public safety. In both New Zealand and the UK any use of firearms must be justified before any action if there is time to do so and retrospectively if immediate action is required. In both countries the level of justification is very similar  the decision maker (whether that be an individual officer or a commanding officer who chooses to arm his people for an operation) must show that it was a method of last resort. This is a very high threshold that is strictly enforced.

Police officers must only resort to the use of firearms if other means remain ineffective, or there is no realistic prospect of achieving the lawful objective without exposing police officers, or anyone whom it is their duty to protect, to a real risk of harm or injury.

For officers in either country it is drilled into them from the very first day of their training that they must always consider the least forceful method of apprehending a suspect before considering the next level of seriousness in the use of force. They will always have to justify their decision after the event, whether it be a split-second decision or tactical operational decision.

In Australia firearm laws are the responsibility of individual State governments and while all officers are allowed to be routinely armed, the guidelines for using force and firearms hold many similarities with New Zealand and the UK. The Australian Federal Police state that using reasonable force underpins the AFP use of force model and the Queensland State guidelines build on that by ordering that Police officers shall not use firearms against another person except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury.

Whilst the policy on officers carrying firearms may be different, the circumstances in which they may be used and the wider use of force policy is almost identical, and the majority of developed States work towards these international standards also. What is also identical is the strict application of these policies and guidelines and the holding to account of any officer who uses force in the course of their duties. In essence these countries have strong guiding principles in line with international best practice and strongly enforce them.

Let us compare that with another jurisdiction  the United States, where Police use of firearms varies from State to State. Regardless, it has recently been found that every single State fails to comply with international standards, 13 fall below even lower standards enshrined within U.S constitutional law and nine States currently have no laws at all to deal with the issue. Amnesty International reported that none of the laws establish the requirement that lethal force may only be used as a last resort with non-violent means and less harmful means to be tried first. Additionally the lower standards do not require the officer to have probable cause to believe a suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.

The comparison with other countries is useful to us because Samoa currently has law, policies, guidelines and standards similar to that of Australia, New Zealand and the UK. However, in the case of Suitupe there was no probable cause, nor was the use of firearms the least forcible course of action to deal with the situation. Furthermore there was no written report made of the incident after it occurred. Not one officer other than the Commissioner believed the approach taken to be the only approach to arrest Suitupe and a number stated their concern that it was excessive. The Commissioner is clearly keen for Samoa to adopt the U.S style of policing and that this may not be a popular view among his officers.

The Commissioner was quite clear in his evidence which approach he favours and that he believes he is being given carte blanche to use firearms as he sees fit and proper  the ultimate decision maker. There is only one jurisdiction in the developed world that takes remotely this approach and that is the United States. This is also the only country the Commissioner has previously worked in and the one he clearly aspires to emulate here in Samoa. He has also demonstrated that he is willing to ignore not only the principles of the use of force policy in Samoa but work outside the legal framework under which he is employed to discharge his functions.

Finding 16: The Commissioner of Police believes an American style approach to policing and use of firearms leads to greater safety and public security and that the overall record of the police in the U.S in this respect is very good despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

By looking at which approach leads to a safer and more secure society we can be better informed in coming to an answer to the question posed at the beginning of the report: do we choose to accept and endorse greater use of firearms and force by the police with lower levels of justification or do we strengthen existing and traditional practices and policies?

So which approach does lead to greater levels of safety and security, both for the public and the police officers themselves? It is quite clear that the lower the threshold for police use of firearms, the greater number of deaths there are at the hands of the police. The number of fatal police shootings per 10 million people is:

US  35

Australia  2.7

New Zealand  2.2

UK  0.18

Police in the US (population 316m) killed more people in the first 24 days of 2015 than police in the UK (population 56.9m) killed in the past 24 years.

Does this greater use of firearms by the police in the US lead to lower crime levels? One would certainly hope so given the human cost, however this is not the case. In 2012 the number of homicides in the US per 100,000 people was 6.2 , compared with 1.1 in Australia , 1.0 in the UK and 0.9 in New Zealand . Levels of homicide are not the only indicator of public safety and freedom, but other statistics support the conclusion that greater use of force and firearms does more harm than good. The Legatum Prosperity Index ranks 142 countries in a variety of areas  the US clearly comes out worst in our comparison in the areas relating to safety & security and personal freedom.

Safety & Security (Global Ranking) Personal Freedom

Australia 16th 3rd

New Zealand 10th 1st

UK 21st 10th

US 31st 21st

It is very easy to find statistics to prove any point. Finding statistics to prove greater public safety by adopting a US approach to policing may well just be the exception to that rule. Whichever way you look at it, greater use of force and firearms leads to greater deaths, less public safety, no impact on overall crime and worse personal freedom.

Samoa Police have never used firearms to carry out a pre-planned arrest of an individual in a public place before  there has never been any need for such an approach. There was no need in this case either, yet it was done. The techniques previously employed by officers drew on the faasamoa and the power of communication. We can see from these statistics that this approach even works well in countries which dont have our rich culture as an additional foundation.

In New Zealand we have a style of policing that is termed policing by consent; in that the public trust and respect officers to effect arrests without recourse to firearms. (T)he police trust the public with their safety, which in turn facilitates public trust of the police.

The comprehensive answer to the original question in this report must surely therefore be NO: we should not choose to embrace greater use of firearms and force by our Police with less accountability. The Commissioner has come out in strong support of the opposite viewpoint during this investigation and demonstrated a willingness to ignore laws and policy to implement that view.

Finding 17: Traditional Samoan methods of policing, in accordance with international standards and best practice lead to safer and more secure societies and it is this approach which must remain in place and strengthened for the future.

The final question that remains is whether we can strengthen and improve our existing system. It is evident that most of the necessary ingredients are already there: a use of force policy, a legislative framework, a degree of training on use of firearms for recruits. However, the investigation uncovered a few areas for improvement, the most notable being the legislative framework under which the police operate.

The Police Powers Act requires Ministerial approval to be in operation any time officers use firearms in the course of their duty. Whilst this is appropriate for operations that can be planned well in advance, or for thematic operations such as large scale narcotics raids over a period of time. However, what about a situation where police are required to immediately respond to a developing situation where a suspect is armed? There would be no time to obtain the Ministerial approval and it would not be safe for the officers to approach the situation unarmed. The alternative would be for them to act in an unlawful manner, simply to protect their own safety and this is not right.

The approach taken by most other jurisdictions is to have two contexts when police are authorised to use firearms. The first is by prior approval and the second is in clearly defined circumstances which then require retrospective justification by the officer or officers involved. Samoa is clearly in need of refining the Police Powers Act to allow for this second set of circumstances under which the use of firearms is permitted and accountability mechanisms for each time it is used.

Finding 18: The Police Powers Act does not give sufficient powers to the police in the use of firearms.

4. Findings and recommendations

This investigation has made a series of serious findings that will require follow up action. The most serious involve the findings that the arrest of Suitupe was wrongful and unlawful, the use of firearms was not permissible and reflects a worrying trend under the new Commissioner to a US style of policing that is demonstrated to have a negative impact on public safety and security. The actions of the Commissioner leave a lot to be desired, as do the actions of some of the officers during the arrest and their subsequent involvement in this investigation.

Where it is appropriate, recommendations are made below in relation to the findings.

Table of Findings:

Finding 1: The Ministerial approval granted is too broad in scope for the purposes of the Police Act 2007

Finding 2: The Commissioner of Police failed to meet basic investigation principles and placed undue consideration on second hand evidence, leading directly to the wrongful and unlawful arrest of Suitupe.

Finding 3: The Commissioners decision to arm and allow the use of firearms by his officers contravened the Use of Force policy, was irresponsible, and could negatively impact the overall safety and security within Samoa.

Finding 4: The Commissioner failed to take appropriate steps to identify the actions of his officers as being part of a police operation, leading to widespread distress and in one case serious health issues.

Finding 5: The actions of the Officers X and Y in drawing their weapons was contrary to the Use of Force Policy and their failure to inform the complainant of his legal rights or reason for arrest contrary to the Police Powers Act 2007.

Finding 6: The lack of a proper briefing by the Commissioner led to confusion and misunderstanding by his officers about the operation, endangering the safety of the public. No clear guidance was provided on whether they were to detain or arrest Suitupe with the only clear instruction being to arm themselves.

Finding 7: The Commissioner does not have an understanding of the basic laws regarding arrest and detention in Samoa.

Finding 8: The arrest of Suitupe was unlawful and improperly undertaken and therefore violated his fundamental human right to liberty.

Finding 9: Under the orders of the Commissioner, the actions taken by the officers were contrary to established procedures and Samoan methods of policing and did not meet the requirement of minimum necessary use of force.

Finding 10: The Commissioner was not in control of his own (unlawful) operation or his officers. Without this control the officers acted wildly and improperly and the rights of the complainant and the public were violated.

Finding 11: The decision not to formally interview Witness A or take any further action by the Commissioner raises serious concerns about the process and motivations for this operation.

Finding 12: The actions of the police had a significant negative impact on the psychological health and well-being of Suitupe and violated his right to freedom from cruel or degrading treatment. They took their toll also on the emotional well-being of the close-knit market community.

Finding 13: The use of handcuffs has increased at the command of the Commissioner and without proper consideration of actual need and cultural norms.

Finding 14: The Commissioners commitment towards changing the culture of questioning superior commands is commendable

Finding 15: The Commissioner was irresponsible in his address to the new recruits and his actions could undermine the future security and safety of Samoa.

Finding 16: The Commissioner of Police believes an American style approach to policing and use of firearms leads to greater safety and public security and that the overall record of the police in the U.S in this respect is very good despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Finding 17: Traditional Samoan methods of policing, in accordance with international standards and best practice lead to safer and more secure societies and it is this approach which must remain in place and strengthened for the future.

Finding 18: The Police Powers Act does not give sufficient powers to the police in the use of firearms.

The above table of findings makes for grim reading and clearly demonstrates a series of errors of judgment and unlawful actions that are nowhere near what we should be able to expect from our Police force.

It is without question that the more serious of these issues must be addressed. The unlawful nature of the arrest, the Commissioners lack of understanding of the law and the failings in the investigation. Whether this happens in the public domain or behind closed doors, it does not matter. What matters is that it happens sooner rather than later to prevent Samoa going further down the path towards a style of policing that will undoubtedly undermine our culture and lead to a more fearful and less secure society, as has been demonstrated in many other jurisdictions.

Recommendations:

Aside from the action that common sense indicates must be taken this Report recommends the following:

1. The Ministerial Approval be immediately revoked and reissued with the scope confined to large scale narcotics and firearms raids where a warrant exists and clearly specified special duties.

2. Section 13 of the Police Powers Act to be reviewed by the Ministry of Police, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, to prescribe a clearer process and parameters for issuing authorizations for the use of firearms, and the inclusion of a provision and guidelines for use of firearms in urgent situations without prior Ministerial approval. Such provision should include a clear accounting process for justification after each use of firearms by police.

3. What Suitupe endured on Tuesday 18 August 2015 was unlawful as this Report clearly shows. Members of the public are sometimes adversely affected by wrongful actions of the Police. This is unfortunate but these things do happen from time to time. Suitupe deserves an apology from the Police but an apology is only meaningful if it is genuine and sincere. At any rate I make no recommendation concerning Suitupe. It is not much but at least something that this Report vindicates him and his unhappiness with the Police.

Furthermore, the Office of the Ombudsman will be referring two Police officers who provided evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on a charge of perjury. The DPP will decide whether there is a case to answer and if it is in the public interest to pursue the charge. The Ombudsman would like to make it clear that anyone providing sworn evidence before his Office is expected to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Those who do not can expect similar consequences.

5. Conclusion

This very sorry affair has highlighted a dangerous trend towards greater use of firearms by the Police, a tendency towards an American style of policing (America has its own set of circumstances) and a disregard for the law within our law enforcement agency.

However, it is now up to the relevant people to ensure that this type of incident does not occur again. It is also up to each and every one of us to work towards greater community engagement with our Police officers. Without trust and support, law enforcement becomes reliant on use of force rather than communication. Guns, rather than words. There will be times when fear makes it tempting to call for greater use of firearms by the Police but let us draw strength from the faasamoa and from examples around the world such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom and be resolute in our commitment to peaceful and respectful law enforcement.

Maiava Iulai Toma

Ombudsman




The Sogi tank farm and the Matautu wharf petroleum storage tanks are under the radar and will have to be relocated one way or the other.

It will not happen immediately but it must happen for the sake of residents living in the vicinities, not to mention the Apia waterfront, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi told the Savali Newspaper.

Its been in the governments thinking tank for some time now to remove the tank farm from Sogi and the storage tanks from Matautu to an isolated destination which would be far away and isolated from residential areas, elaborated the Prime Minister.

And way before the Matautu Wharf fire last week, Cabinet had approved the relocation of the tanks to Vaiusu as one of the components in the Vaiusu Bay Area and Wharf Project.

Having said that experts and officials have assured me that the Apia waterfront and residents were never at risk.

To that extent, fears that the tanks could have blown up the wharf, destroying a large part of the Apia waterfront and placing hundreds of lives at risk should now be laid to rest.

What we have learned in the aftermath is that we cannot wait for another close call.

And we will be pressing forward with the Vaiusu Bay Project to eliminate the looming danger.

Aside from the safety of residents and private property factors, the new wharf at Vaiusu complements our investment in the Pacific Forum Line-Neptune merger, continued Tuilaepa.

With 15 Pacific islands covered by the merger, Apia will be the main shipping links to New Zealand, Australia, Asia and even to North and South America.

The long-term vision is to make Apia the shipping and trade hub of the Pacific Islands region.

In the meantime, investigators are still trying to establish the cause of the huge oil tank explosion which killed one worker and injured another.

At a press conference Petroleum Products Services, (P.P.S) which operates the storage tanks has confirmed the blast happened at a time when the two men were welding some stairway rails. PPS Managing Director, Fanene Samau Sefo, told the press that there was no threat of the sort whatsoever.

The tanks were designed in a way that it cannot be destroyed by a fire, said Fanene. I believe the evacuation was called for precautionary measures but with the fire alone, there wouldnt have been a time when it would spread outside of the tank.

The tanks are surrounded by a cement wall so if there is any fuel leakage it is contained inside the bund wall. And consultant responsible for the design and supervision of the tank, Peseta Konelio Tone added that it is understandable that what was seen made people believe that the fire could have spread outside the tank.

He maintained, however, that the tanks are designed to the highest standard of safety. Even if the lid had blown off, there are other measures to prevent a fire.

In the case where it continues to burn (fuel) then foam is used outside and inside the tank. It went on for three hours before it was put out and other safety measures were taken, added Peseta.

Secondly, there is a bund wall that can contain the full amount of the whole tank if it leaks out.

According to Peseta if the oil had spilled, there is a separator tank that can be used to extract the fuel so that the environment will not be damaged and people living close to the wharf would not be affected.

Asked about the impact of pollution and emission caused by the fume from the fuel, Peseta said an investigation is underway.

He added that there was no oil spill since the oil was contained in the tank.

But the Petroleum Advisor to the Pacific Community, Alan Bartmanovich, said the Apia blast had highlighted a broader issue of poor industry standards in the Pacific.

There are some countries that have severe lacks of standards and infrastructure in the petroleum industry, others are more lucky, so its a bit of a mixed bag at the moment, he said.

There is a great identified need for training and for some countries to really up their standard.

He said the incident in Apia came as a surprise, due to Samoas good record on safety standards.

I think all accidents are avoidable, in the case of Samoa I would be very reluctant to make that conclusion. Samoa was one of the countries that was probably better equipped and better prepared, one of our shining examples of how to do things in a correct way, he said.

I would have thought that Samoa was relatively low [risk] but there are other countries that are seriously and still at risk, we are working towards providing training and also engaging international agencies that do provide training.
Chiefs Not Satisfied, Elevate Complaint on Customary Lands to Highest Level of ADB Grievance Mechanism

The group of village matais (chiefs) who filed an official complaint to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 29 August 2014, objecting to a series of ADB-backed reforms that could lead to the alienation of customary lands in Samoa, have elevated their complaint to the Compliance Review Panel (CRP), the highest level of grievance mechanism in ADB.

This decision was made this week after the chiefs felt frustrated at the lengthy delay taken by the Office of Project Facility (OSPF) of ADB to find a solution since November 2014. According to the chiefs, the problem solving process to date has failed to address their fundamental concerns as clearly articulated in their complaint.

The chiefs are gravely concerned that the reforms, which have been carried out over the last twelve years without meaningful consultation of Samoan people, could have the effect of individualizing control over land throughout the country, and ultimately placing large tracts of land in the hands of banks. Approximately 80 percent of land in Samoa is governed under customary systems, which entail collective ownership by entire kinship groups, the aiga (extended family).

In their complaint, the chiefs state We object to the ADBs determination to dispense with our customary laws and systems, which have successfully safeguarded the interests of the aiga for millennia

The risk runs high that benefits will flow not to local communities, but to foreign investors and national elites Meanwhile, members of our aiga will face dispossession from potentially large-tracts of land, foreseeably resulting in loss of income, threats to food security and impoverishment.

Under a series of projects called Promoting Economic Use of Customary Land, the ADB has driven land and financial sector reforms in Samoa to make it easier to lease customary land and to use those leases as collateral for loans.

The ADB wants to create a system through which a single authority figure can unilaterally lease out customary land, without consulting other members of the aiga. Under the reforms, the lease agreement could then be used by the leaseholder to access credit from a bank. But if the leaseholder is unable to repay the loan, the bank can take control of the lease, which could cover large tracts of customary land for decades.

The chiefs points out that leasing of land to outsiders for long durations, registering these under the Torrens system of land titles registration through the Land Titles Registration Act 2008 (LTRA) that does not recognize collective ownership of the extended family, and then mortgaging those leases with banks to secure interests of investors, is tantamount to customary land alienation, forbidden by customary laws as well as the Constitution of Samoa.

In short, the chiefs have said to CRP:

 In August 2014, we submitted a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism regarding the Samoa: Promoting Economic Use of Customary Land project and the Samoa: Agribusiness Support Project and asked for the complaint to be sent to the OSPF.

 Soon afterwards, our complaint was deemed eligible and OSPF commenced a problem solving process in November 2014.

 OSPF has now completed Step 3 of the problem solving process. While we appreciate the efforts of the OSPF and that a consultant has commenced work to design a consultation process on the ADB-financed project, and we fully intend to actively and constructively engage in the consultation process, a number of limits have been placed on the scope of the consultation that will mean that our concerns that form the very heart of our complaint to the Accountability Mechanism will not be addressed.

 Most importantly, the consultation has been defined as forward-looking only, addressing issues in the current phase of the ADB-financed project, and our grievances also relate to reforms that have already taken place under preceding phases of the ADB-financed project, in addition to the current phase.

 We also have concerns that the consultation process will not be meaningful as defined by ADBs Safeguard Policy Statement, but will continue to use our own best efforts in this regard.

 We believe that the harms and anticipated harms that we describe clearly in the complaint document relate to serious non-compliance by the ADB, warranting a full CRP review for a full and independent investigation into all phases of the projects that are the subject of our complaint and CRP to conduct its investigation in parallel to the implementation of Step 4 (implementation and monitoring) of the OSPF problem solving process.

Whilst the chiefs decided to transfer the complaint to the CRP, they will nevertheless constructively engage in the consultation process being worked out by the consultant and government promised to commence in May. CRP is requested to investigate whether the ADBs safeguard policies, including the Indigenous Peoples policy, were complied with because chiefs do not believe that some of the central concerns with past reforms affecting customary land tenure will be addressed.

Specifically, the chiefs are, amongst others, concerned with failure to comply with protection of customary lands as provided under the constitution, the implications that are associated with the Land Titles and Registration Act 2008, the registration under the LTRA of all leases under the Alienation of Customary Lands Act 1965 and decisions of the Lands and Titles Court in relation to customary lands, the advisory roles vested in the Customary Lands Advisory Commission Act 2013, the use of the agribusiness project component to expand customary land leases registry under LTRA, the real concern that land taxes underpin these land reforms, the concern this will lead to alienation of customary lands, the failure of ADB to stop the activities of past Phases I and II until the Samoan peoples have been meaningfully consulted as there has been no meaningful consultation with the peoples of Samoa in full tenure of the TAs over the last twelve years of project implementation.

The chiefs believe that an independent investigation by the higher level of governance and grievance mechanism of ADB through CRP is necessary because of the gravity of what is at stake in Samoa - the very fabric of the customary way of life and cultural references of all Samoans, the integrity of the matai (chief) system, the inter- and intra-generational responsibility to ensure protection of customary lands, the real danger that the TAs will amount to alienation of customary lands, to name a few are inevitable as a result of these projects.

They also wish to take this opportunity to ask all Samoans at home and seek out all the Samoan peoples around the world to rally around this complaint as collective customary landowners Every Samoan and those with a stake in this are requested to actively participate in the proposed consultations to ensure they are meaningful and that their voices are heard in support of the desires of the framers of our constitution to prohibit any alienation of our customary lands.

Complainants:

Leuluaialii Tasi Malifa  matai o Afega/lawyer/Libra Law

Dr Lilomaiava Lavea Talotuoge Ken Lameta  matai o Vaimoso and Safotu, Veterinary Doctor

Teleiai Dr Sapa Saifaleupolu (PhD)  matai o Samatau/consultant

Fiu Mataese Elisara  matai o Sili
A school of cave molly fish in Southern Mexico seems to be on its way to becoming a distinct species. The fish, which live in toxic waters, have developed several remarkable adaptations that helped them survive their surroundings.

According to BBC, the cave where these mollies live -- called Cueva del Azufre (Sulfur Cave) -- is poisoned with hydrogen sulphide. Natural oil deposits and volcanic activities added to the enrichment of these poisonous gases. As a result, they become dense and leak into the air inside the cave. What's even more remarkable is that they are somehow surviving a religious ritual that involves poisoning them on purpose.

Once a year, the indigenous Zoque people ask their gods for a bountiful season by heading to the caves and tossing leaf bundles with paste made from the mashed-up root of the Barbasco plant -- an anesthetic that according to Discover Magazine, proves toxic for the fishes. When the fish get stunned from the poison and go belly up to the surface, they are considered by the Zoque people as gifts from the underworld. Then they scoop up the fish and bring them home for supper.

It is also interesting to note that that fish from different chambers of the cave are distinct from each other. Scientists believe that they are adapting to each of their own unique environment -- since each pool differs in darkness as well as toxicity levels of hydrogen sulphide gas.

The high toxicity of the water somehow helped the fish develop a resistance to toxins -- over time, more and more fish have become immuned to the barbasco posion. In fact, they have evolved so much that they have become genetically distinct from the rest of the species -- even those living just meters away from the cave.

There is a reason why these fish don't interact with each other though: near the water surface are giant water bugs that prey on the mollies with their spear-like mouth. They hunt cave and surface mollies alike, and it was found that the different mollies are more akin to fighting the predators while in their own environment, which is why it is sufficient that they are kept away from each other.
On the shores of Mauritius lived a plump, flightless bird that became food for the Dutch sailors arriving on the shores. The Dodo was hunted so often for its tasty meat. As a result, the Dodo became extinct within a century, or so we thought.

BBC reported that the story of how the Dodo came into extinction is largely incorrect. Apparently, waste pits from early Mauritian settlements were excavated in 2013, and although there are a lot of animal bones presumably from their dinner tables, none of them are from Dodo birds.

In fact, many of the presumptions about the dodos have been incorrect. They were not plump but rather lean. They were unlikely hunted into extinction because they lived in deep, impenetrable rainforests beyond the reach of committed hunters.

The problem likely came from ship rats and other animals that the settlers brought with them, which spread across the island and started eating the dodos, even competing with them for food. It was in the 1660s when the last sighting of the bird was reported, and the Dodo was forever lost.

Icons of human-induced extinction, a series of tragedies had lost the dodo at least twice more after that by the way they were treated after they were gone. Specimen of the bird were sent to Europe for scientific study, but despite being distributed to several museums and collections, few of their skeletons and taxidermied species survived, and preserved species dwindled to a mere handful.

At the dawn of the 20th century, amateur naturalist Louis Etienne Thirioux devoted most of his time reading natural sciences and looking for biological treasures -- and among his most valuable finds are a number of Dodo bones that he offered to sell. Offer was low, however, and he eventually decided to hold on to the skeletons until his death. Today, these skeletons can be seen at the Natural History Museum in Port Louis, Mauritius, and a second in the Durban Natural Science Museum in South Africa.

Unfortunately, the studies regarding Dodos can only be limited to the skeletons, which is to say that they aren't a lot. The land where Thirioux found the skeletons have also been filled in and can't be found, which is why, for the third time, humanity has failed the Dodo birds.
HARTSVILLE, S.C.  In years to come, officials with Sonoco Products will look back on 2013 as a milestone year in the history of the 114-year-old global packaging company headquartered in Hartsville.

The significant events and achievements include a new chief executive officer, the unveiling of a $75 million biomass boiler, increased sales and profits and the addition of Energizer brand battery products to its long list of packaging partnerships.

Im extremely proud and honored to be elected to lead such a great company, M. Jack Sanders said in April after becoming the companys eighth CEO. Sonoco was founded on creativity, hard work, a spirit of innovation and a focus on satisfying our customers while creating value for our shareholders. We want to continue building on past successes and defining a new future for this exceptional company.

Sanders succeeded Harris E. DeLoach Jr., who retired as CEO after a 27-year career with the company. DeLoach continues as the executive chairman of the Sonoco Board of Directors.

Coinciding with the change in leadership in April, the company announced it was awarded the primary packaging, retail display assembly and fulfillment of a segment of battery products for Energizer brands.

After a great deal of research and analysis, we found the most effective way to accomplish our packaging objectives was to work with Sonoco on a total solutions approach, said Chuck Marckwardt of Energizer. Well relocate the equipment to a Sonoco facility, where they will manage a turnkey operation  handling the design, material procurement, packaging production and distribution of all multiple SKUs. We felt that Sonoco could best provide this kind of support.

In the later part of January, the company saw its biomass boiler generating power. The new boiler, which was first announced in 2011, replaces two aging coal-fired boilers at Sonocos main Hartsville manufacturing plant. It is fueled primarily by woody biomass  wood debris left over from local logging operations, but it can also run on natural gas.

At its dedication in January, Gov. Nikki Haley hailed the boiler as a clear indicator of the global packaging companys commitment to Hartsville and South Carolina.

Sonoco is one of those very rare companies that we can say of them that they take care of those who take care of them, Haley said.

Also in January, it was announced that the company produced solid financial numbers in 2013. Net sales of $4.85 billion were up a little more than 1 percent, Net income was up 12 percent, and gross profit increased 4 percent to a record $874 million in 2013, compared with $844 million in 2012.

Sonoco also put a sizable dent in its total debt, $981 million at the end of 2103 compared to the companys 2012 year-end total of $1.37 billion.

We delivered on many of our financial, operational and strategic commitments in 2013 while launching an effort to re-envision Sonoco to achieve future accelerated growth, Sanders said. We delivered record sales, gross profits and cash flow from operations in 2013, while free cash flow more than doubled.

As for 2014 and the foreseeable future, Sanders forecast was promising.

We are optimistic that 2014 will prove to be another good year for Sonoco, he said. While economic conditions in certain emerging markets may prove difficult, we have identified several global growth opportunities. As we pursue our re-envisioning, we will continue the cultural, structural and operational changes needed to transform Sonoco from a packaging company that just happens to offer solutions to a solutions company that offers more than just packaging.

Other noteworthy events for Sonoco in 2013:

 An impact study by Joey Von Nessen, an economist at USCs Darla Moore School of Business, released in March states Sonoco has a $1 billion impact on the state, divided primarily between $403 million in the Upstate and $402 million in the Florence-Darlington area.

In March, the company announced the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Celaya, Guanajuato Mexico.

In May, Sonoco served as a co-host of the Ninth Supplier Diversity Trade Show and Business Conference at the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology. Partnering with Sonoco to host the event were JBE Incorporated and Maximizing Your Companys Assets (MYCA).

In August, Sonoco Recycling launched a new micro website.

The company continued its commitment to the region and surrounding community in many ways in 2013. Sonoco contributed $200,000 to the construction of a field house for Hartsville High School. It also donated $20,000 to Red Cross Disaster Relief
Press Release

April 14, 2016 BONGBONG MARCOS GETS SOLID SUPPORT OF BOHOL UNITED OPPOSITION Crossing party lines, the Bohol United Opposition (BUO) is throwing their support behind the vice presidential bid of Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. pledging to push for his candidacy as one solid group. BUO is a coalition of local leaders of the province from various political groups that have banded together to go against the ruling Liberal Party. Led by Bohol 2nd District Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado and Bien Unido town mayor Nino Rey Boniel, incumbent mayors and mayoralty candidates from 47 municipalities and the capital city of Tagbilaran pledged their support to Marcos during their lunch-meeting at the Shang Palace Restaurant in Tagbilaran on Thursday "We are united behind you," Aumentado told Marcos. Thanking the group, Marcos said what the opposition group in Bohol has managed to do is the same thing he has been pushing for in his campaign - unity. "And that is why I am very appreciative of your coming here today. I know that some of you have crossed the party national lines to be with us today and to offer your support for my candidacy for vice president, so thank you very much," said Marcos. Marcos said the political development in Bohol mirrors the realignment of political forces in other areas he has visited in the campaign, where groups from different political camps have thrown their support for his vice presidential bid. The senator has attributed the snowballing of support for his candidacy to his message of national unity and propelled him to take the solo lead in the recent surveys on the vice presidential race. Meanwhile, before the Shang Palace meeting Marcos also paid a courtesy call on Bohol Vice Governor Concepcion Lim, a member of LP, in her home at Valencia town. Marcos said the vice-governor used to be the provincial coordinator of the so-called "Blue Ladies" or the close friends of his mother. Asked by the local media if this means the vice governor would endorse his candidacy too, Marcos said: "It means that I went to visit an old friend."
CHIZ: STAKEHOLDERS, NOT OPAPP, SHOULD SET MINDANAO PEACE AGENDA

Independent vice-presidential candidate Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero said stakeholders should dictate the peace and development agenda in Mindanao and not the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Escudero said this is one lesson the next administration should keep this in mind as it pursues peace in the region.

"Sinolo ng OPAPP ang magandang intensyon, galing at talino. Sana kinausap nila ang lahat ng stakeholders. Kasi kung iyon ang ginawa nila, maayos na siguro ang Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)," Escudero said.

The draft BBL remains pending with Congress mainly due to the failure of the proponents to consult with other stakeholders apart from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He said the draft BBL bear many loopholes and devoid of the advocacies, positions and proposals being pushed by all stakeholders in the region.

Escudero has been batting for a more inclusive and meaningful consultation with local government units, non-government organizations, indigenous peoples, religious organizations and rebel groups, among others, for the crafting of the law that is envisioned to end years of armed conflict in Mindanao and bring about peace.

The veteran lawmaker said the future framework should be an improved version of the Malacanang-backed BBL drafted by the OPAPP.

"Dalangin ko ay kapayapaan para sa buong Pilipinas lalo na dito sa Mindanao. Tama na ang paggamit ng baril, bomba at patayan ng Pilipino laban sa Pilipino," he said.

The peace process, however, Escudero said should be complemented by increased government investments in Mindanao to stir economic activities and address the lack of infrastructure, jobs and basic social services in the region.

"Paano uunlad ang Pilipinas kung hindi tututukan ang pag-unlad sa Mindanao?" Escudero asked.

This is precisely the reason, Escudero said, why he and Poe plan to allocate P1 trillion, or about 30 percent of the 2016 of the current budget, to Mindanao in their first year in office to fast-track development projects in the region and encourage businesses, if they win in the national elections.

"Sa pamamagitan nito mas makakahabol at makakasabay ang Mindanao sa pag-unlad ng bansa, pag-unlad na matagal nang tila naging mailap sa ating mga kababayan dito," he said.
Henderson Alvarez threw a 30-pitch simulated game Friday and afterward said he believes he is ready for a rehab assignment.

No problem, he said.

The right-hander, a 2014 All-Star with the Marlins, had shoulder surgery July 28. He could be pitching for Oakland by mid-May should he be sent out to pitch in minor-league games soon.

Its pretty impressive, said outfielder Billy Burns, who hit off Alvarez. His heater was explosive with good movement, and his off-speed stuff, he was hitting his spots down in the zone.

Burns said he got one 3-2 fastball from Alvarez that painted the inside corner, a good sign he is close to ready. Even if a guy is in regular form, its tough to hit that spot there with a 3-2 count, he said.

Manager Bob Melvin said that no decision has been made on the next step for Alvarez but that hes ramping it up each time. He really looks like he could be in a game the way hes throwing.

Rotation flip-flops: The As did some switcheroos with their starters, swapping Sonny Gray and Chris Bassitt this weekend  Gray will go Saturday, Bassitt on Sunday with two days extra rest. Eric Surkamp and Kendall Graveman will then get flipped in New York next week, according to Melvin, with Surkamp going Tuesday and Graveman on Wednesday; that splits up the left-handers Surkamp and Rich Hill.

That does, mean, however, that Surkamp would pitch at Toronto against the Blue Jays notoriously powerful right-handed hitters, unless the As decide that that would be a good spot to call up right-hander Jesse Hahn, who is pitching well at Triple-A Nashville.

Briefly: Reliever Ryan Madson got his World Series ring from Royals manager Ned Yost. The big day was last year, Madson said. But this did bring back some memories of the excitement and the honor of playing for that team in that city in front of those fans. Nothing can top that. ... Utility player Eric Sogard, on the disabled list with a neck problem, returned from his rehab assignment with Class-A Stockton to get an MRI exam on his left knee, which has bothered him since spring training.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

On deck

Saturday

vs. Royals

1:05 p.m. CSNCA

Young (0-2)

vs. Gray (1-1)

Sunday

vs. Royals

1:05 p.m. CSNCA

Medlen (1-0)

vs. Bassitt (0-0)

Monday

Off

Leading off

Lots of activity: With the Warriors playing at Oracle Arena as the As play at the Coliseum on Saturday, team officials are encouraging fans to take mass transit and to arrive early. Parking will be $40 and lots open at 9 a.m.; Coliseum gates open at 11:05 a.m.

 Susan Slusser
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A UC Berkeley student who was removed from a Southwest Airlines plane after a fellow passenger heard him speaking in Arabic on his mobile phone is still waiting for an explanation and an apology from somebody.

Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a 26-year-old Iraqi refugee and the son of a slain Iraqi diplomat, had just boarded his Oakland-bound flight at Los Angeles International Airport on April 6 when he called and spoke with an uncle on his mobile phone.

After the call ended, Makhzoomi said a female passenger looked at him, got up and left her seat. A short time later, an airport employee told Makhzoomi to get off the plane.

Makhzoomi said his phone conversation had been with an uncle in Baghdad. They had discussed a meeting of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council that Makhzoomi had attended.

After he was led from his seat, Makhzoomi said he was questioned in the aircraft jet way by a series of security and police officers. At one point, he told them he was a victim of discrimination.

I told them, This is what Islamophobia looks like, he said. And thats when they said I could not get on the plane, and they called the FBI.

Makhzoomi, who is studying political science and near Eastern languages and literature at Berkeley, said he was interrogated at length, sniffed by police dogs and subjected to an intimate body search in front of passersby. FBI agents arrived and questioned him some more.

I had an emotional breakdown and cried a little bit, Makhzoomi said. I was so afraid. I was so scared.

Hours later, he was allowed to leave the terminal and his Southwest ticket was refunded. He bought a ticket from another airline in Los Angeles and arrived in Oakland nine hours late.

We were asked to respond, and we determined no further action was necessary, said Ari DeKofsky, a spokeswoman for the FBIs Los Angeles office. She declined to elaborate on what actions agents took when they responded.

Southwest, in a statement, confirmed it had removed Makhzoomi from the plane because of what it called potentially threatening comments made aboard our aircraft and further discussion. The airline said it would not have acted without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedure. It declined to elaborate.

Southwest said it would not identify the person who complained or specify what the person reported to have heard. The airline issued a statement that said it regrets any less than positive experience on board our aircraft.

Islamic leaders said they were disappointed to learn of what happened to Makhzoomi and worried that racial profiling was involved in his being removed from the plane.

Were concerned that this is part of a trend of Muslims being profiled and their right to travel being impacted, said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Billoo said the airline owed Makhzoomi and the public a clear explanation of the incident and a promise to review its procedures for handling similar incidents.

For whatever reason, he was not allowed to fly on the airplane and yet he was cleared by law enforcement, Billoo added. We worry that theyre being overzealous.

The incident in Los Angeles was followed by a similar removal of a Southwest passenger from a flight in Baltimore on Wednesday. That passenger, a woman wearing an Islamic scarf, was asked to leave the plane after she attempted to change seats during an intermediate stop on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Chicago. No other details about that incident were immediately known.

Makhzoomi, who said he has taken two dozen flights on Southwest in the past year or so and is a member of its frequent flier plan, said he was seeking nothing more from the airline than an apology.

I dont want money, he said. I dont care about that. The message of Islam is forgiveness. Thats all I want.

Steve Rubenstein and Kimberly Veklerov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF, @KVeklerov
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

San Francisco police have identified the officers who shot and killed a homeless man in the Mission District this month who police said charged at them with a large kitchen knife.

Sgt. Nate Steger and Officer Michael Mellone were identified by a department representative as the officers involved in the April 7 incident.

The two fired four beanbags and seven bullets at 45-year-old Luis Gongora within 30 seconds of stepping out of their patrol vehicles on the 400 block of Shotwell Street, according to video footage of the shooting.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said at a neighborhood meeting Thursday that the officers feared being stabbed to death after Gongora picked up a large knife and ran at them.

Mellone made headlines last year for being the first San Francisco police officer to administer a life-saving dose of Naloxone to a man who had overdosed on heroin near 16th and Capp Streets in the Mission District.

Steger and Mellone encountered Gongora when they arrived at the scene about 10 a.m. April 7 after receiving a call for assistance from city homeless outreach workers, Suhr said.

The workers had responded to reports of a baby crying, but instead encountered Gongora forcefully kicking and bouncing a ball off parked cars when they arrived. The workers reported that Gongora appeared to be in an altered mental state, Suhr said. Gongora had settled into sitting on the sidewalk with the knife in his hand by the time officers arrived. He briefly put the weapon down after the officers asked him to do so in English and Spanish, but then picked it back up and charged the officers, Suhr said.

Several witnesses have disputed that account, saying Gongora was not acting aggressively when the officers arrived. Community leaders have also criticized the officers rapid decision to shoot rather than do more to de-escalate the situation.

This was the first fatal officer-involved shooting in the city since the controversial Dec. 2 killing of Mario Woods, a 26-year-old stabbing suspect who police said had a knife when officers shot him in the Bayview.

Gongora, who lived at a homeless encampment nearby, was identified as a Mexican immigrant whose wife and three children still live in the Mexican state of Yucatan.

Independent investigations into the April 7 shooting are being conducted by the Police Department, the Office of Citizen Complaints and the district attorneys office. The officers have been placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is investigated, in accordance with standard protocol.

Marissa Lang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mlang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Marissa_Jae
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Monica Leon waited outside the Cow Palace Saturday morning, beneath a low-lying cloud that lingered above the heads of the 100 or so people waiting in line around her. She took a long drag from a joint and passed it to the guy next to her.

People cheered with excitement. Loud reggae music echoed out of the nearby building. A strong aroma filled the air.

It was the second day of HempCon, the popular cannabis industry event that fills the Cow Palace a few times each year with an array of eager-to-sell medical marijuana vendors, paraphernalia enthusiasts, marijuana activist groups and interested medical marijuana cardholders.

A large group of people waited eagerly in the parking lot for the doors to open at 11 a.m.

The whole event is quite an experience in itself, said a Hayward man who only identified himself as Leon and came to HempCon with friends and family. You can leave with a whole bunch of free goodies and just have a good time. I really dont think weed is as bad as people think.

Different vibe for some

More than 10,000 medical marijuana cardholders and 250 vendors were expected to fill the aisles of the Cow Palace over the weekend, sampling cannabis-laced popcorn, body lotions and even French macaroons.

Despite the excitement and positive vibes, Saturdays event seemed to have a different feel to many in attendance.

With a possibility of a marijuana legalization initiative appearing on the November ballot, event organizers, vendors and medical marijuana users alike were excited about the change, but wary of HempCons future.

Grandaddy Mike was one of these people. He rode a large Segway up and down the aisles of the Cow Palace Saturday afternoon, his tall stature, long silver braid of hair and marijuana-leaf-decorated hat setting him apart from the crowd.

Officially Michael Grafton of Oakland, Grandaddy Mike attended the event as a proponent of the Marijuana Control, Legalization & Revenue Act, a California initiative he hopes to get on the November ballot.

He is one of many people who fear the future of HempCon because another initiative, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, with more financial backing than the initiative he supports, stands more likely to pass. And that, he said, would come with drawbacks.

That competing measure wouldnt allow any of this to happen, Grafton said, referring to parts of the initiative that would prohibit public consumption of cannabis and possibly mean the end to HempCon as everyone currently knows it.

Fearing for events future

Chris Cope, CEO of iBudtender, a company Cope calls the Consumer Reports of the marijuana industry, said he would imagine a similarly bleak future for the event if the more restrictive measure passed.

If it does pass, it could really hurt these events, he said.

Cope said what will happen really depends on the specifies of what gets enforced.

Results could range from large corporations taking over or stiffer regulations leading to a different overall structure and feel of the event, he said.

Thats what were afraid of, but know is coming, he said.

Cope was confident some sort of initiative would pass in California soon, if not in November.

The way the whole wave is going, Im sure its going to happen, he said. The tides have turned.

Many people at Saturdays event were thrilled at the idea of legalization.

Carleisha Outley of Sacramento was one of the more optimistic. She attended HempCon Saturday, wearing a Cheech and Chong T-shirt and a large grin. She said she loves the chill atmosphere and good times marijuana can bring to the community.

Legalization will make things better all around, she said. I think it could only make the event bigger and better than it is now.

Kevin Schultz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinEdSchultz
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Three hundred protesters, most of them supporters of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, demonstrated outside a San Francisco home Friday night where donors supporting rival Hillary Clinton had paid up to $353,000 to dine with her and Hollywood power couple George and Amal Clooney.

The Sanders campaign rallied its troops outside the swank Nob Hill home of venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar. They were kept about a block away from the actual event by a small contingent of police.

Your money cant buy Bernie, one sign read. You cant sit with us unless you have money, read another.

Potluck dinner for homeless

More for you Differences stand out in Sanders-Clinton debate in Brooklyn

Other signs compared Clinton to fabled French queen Marie Antoinette of Let them eat cake fame.

Hillary Clinton-ette is out of touch, said a sign carried by Sanders supporter Mark Noviski, who said Clintons big-ticket dinner puts her at odds with people on the street and what their needs are.

The band of Sanders fans had gathered in Huntington Park and held what they said was a potluck dinner for homeless people before marching a few blocks to the site of the pricey fundraiser, which Sanders had called obscene in a recent speech.

The crowd hollered, Bernie, Bernie and Feel the Bern, as well-heeled Clinton donors began to arrive for the event. Then they circled the block and tried to see who was showing up, but they were never allowed to get close enough.

One of the main points of the Sanders campaign is to get corporate money out of politics, said Sanders supporter Christine Jenner. I feel this type of fundraiser is obscene.

Another protester, Jake Barlow of San Francisco, carried a sign that read, We Cant Buy a Home in San Francisco for $353,000.

Im of the 99 percent, and I feel Bernie Sanders represents me, Barlow said. We need to take our country back from the billionaire class.

Rob Darakjian, 22, one of the protest organizers, called the dinner an extreme waste of resources.

While politicians are spending millions and millions of dollars, we have an ongoing housing problem in San Francisco, he said. Its palpable, the suffering thats happening.

Theyre bribes

One of the protest leaders, Tom Sliwowski, told the crowd through a megaphone that they were sending a message to America and to billionaires and the crowd roared its approval.

No one is paying $350,000 to sit at a table, he said. Theyre bribes. Theyre bribes to make their opinions worth more than ours.

High-priced chow featuring Clooney is nothing new. Four years ago, the actor raised $15 million at one dinner for President Obama. Tickets to that bash started at $40,000.

The cheapest ticket for Fridays event cost $33,000. For that, a contributor gets a chance to have a photo taken with Clinton. Prices and access go up from there. The $353,000 ticket is for premium dinner seating at the head table with the Clooneys and Clinton. The identities of the donors who had sprung for that were unknown.

The Nob Hill dinner comes at a time when Clinton is leading in national polls and well ahead of Sanders in Democratic convention delegates.

Jenna Lyons and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno, @SteveRubeSF
When Facebook was born in 2004, the oldest Baby Boomers were in their late 50s, and older members of the silent generation were reaching their early 80s. If you thought they were going to sit back and let GIFs, emojis and status updates pass them by, you were wrong, according to new research.

In a survey of more than 350 American adults between the ages of 60 and 86, researchers at Pennsylvania State University found that older people enjoy the same things their younger counterparts do: using Facebook to bond with old friends and develop relationships with like-minded people. They also like to keep tabs on their loved ones.

These motivations sound awfully similar to those that attracted college students, Facebooks first colonizers, to the platform  save for one key detail. For many of those surveyed, seeing photos and video of grandchildren were a powerful lure, according to S. Shyam Sundar, a co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State, who worked on the survey.

That was primarily the biggest driver, Sundar said, and the ease with which they can maintain what I call social surveillance, and keep an eye on whats going on with their children and grandchildren.

I decided to add my own survey to the research by interviewing my 61-year-old father, Richard, who has had me under Facebook surveillance recently.

From an academic-research standpoint, hes on the younger side of being old  and, like many his age, he feels younger. He successfully avoided social media for years. But after returning home to Indiana from my wedding a couple of months ago, he wanted to be better at keeping in touch with family and with the friends he remembers from my childhood. He told me over Facebook chat (naturally) that his curiosity about what others were up to was his main motivator in finally learning to navigate Facebook.

Now, like the rest of us, hes hooked. Hes had a ball wishing happy birthday to my friends, commenting on our status updates and sharing his own lifes highlights. He still signs comments with his initials, but hes learning. He has even joined a Facebook group for local music enthusiasts, sharing memories about his favorite concert (the Beatles in 1964) and photos of his drum set.

Initially, I think I viewed it as something newfangled that only the younger computer-generation used, he said. Then, like probably everybody, I started to become hooked as I saw just how expansive it is, and how much it seems to literally touch so many lives.

The findings might not come as any surprise to countless members of the digital-savvy generations who have watched (and cringed) as their parents fell in love with Facebook. But researchers say the online lives of older adults, who are a part of the fastest-growing demographic on social media, are much more mysterious than the much-scrutinized behaviors of younger generations.

As Facebook continues to be a bigger part of modern life, the ever-growing population of older Americans is figuring out how to adapt. As people grow older, peer communication through chatting, status updates and commenting will become more important, Sundar said, and Facebook will need to provide tools that are suited for an aging audience.

Research shows that older Americans are living longer than previous generations, and many of them prefer to stay in their homes, often called aging in place. Independent seniors will need to learn to use digital tools that will keep them engaged  and allow them to reach out for help if they need it, Sundar said.

The whole idea is to kind of give people a chance to be social when there are physical constraints, Sundar said, Create a virtual retirement community, if you will.

Katie Rogers is a New York Times writer.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Paul Chinn/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Paul Chinn/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of 3





A man who was convicted of the 1978 murders of two California Highway Patrol officers alongside Interstate 80 in West Sacramento, a stretch of freeway that now bears the victims names, has died of natural causes, prison officials said Friday.

The officers, Roy Blecher, 50, and William Freeman, 35, were shot to death with their own guns during predawn hours in December 1978. Luis Rodriguez, 23, and his girlfriend, Margaret Klaess, 19, who both lived in West Sacramento, were charged with the murders.
NEW YORK  Inside Trump Tower, altar to all things Donald, the throngs pouring into the soaring brass-and-glass atrium include both the true believers making a political pilgrimage and the truly turned off who still cant look away.

Such is the odd fascination with the Donald Trump presidential campaign that it has made his Fifth Avenue home a go-to destination for supporters and detractors alike.

Theres the famous escalator Trump rode down before launching his campaign with a speech labeling Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. Theres the shimmering waterfall thats been the backdrop for countless interviews. And theres the shiny elevator that many an Apprentice contestant has taken down after being fired. For better or worse, its a place many see as a reflection (in highly polished brass) of the man who built it.

Im not really quite sure what he stands for exactly  but it certainly seems to be wealth, said Gail Shields, a retired attorney from McLean, Va. She came to visit her banker son, who lives in the 58-story tower, where apartments can sell for more than $20 million.

Everybody knows his brand shows power, strength, beauty. It shows worth, said Jodi Flynn of Nanuet, N.Y., a huge fan who came to show her 9-year-old son the monument to Trump.

Flynn, who works in the hospitality business but has been out of a job for five months, said she believes Trump can boost employment better than any of the other candidates. Hes not an official politician, thank God. We need a breath of fresh air.

Trump remains an uneasy political puzzle to many, with visitors at the tower parsing pieces of the Republican front-runner as they stroll around the three massive levels of floor-to-ceiling marble, brass and chrome. Shops and eateries flash their names in bold, gold letters: Trump Grill, Trump Cafe and Trump Store, where Make America Great Again hats do a brisk business.

This is definitely not my style. I cannot relate to it  but Im fascinated by it, said Jacob Katz, a writer who lives in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish enclave of Monroe, N.Y. As far as the man himself, I have a lot of reservations about him. I think he is, quite frankly, arrogant.

Swedish tourists Ralf Bjerstrom and his wife stopped at Trumps Ice Cream while sightseeing and agreed that the over-the-top decor seems to match Trumps personality.

He is, in some ways, the archetype of an American. ... Sorry,  Bjerstrom said.
Hector A. Cafferata Jr., a former Marine private who received the nations highest military honor for single-handedly holding off an enemy regiment during the Korean War and safeguarding his comrades from a live grenade until he was felled by a snipers bullet, died Tuesday in Venice, Fla. He was 86.

His daughter, Deborah Cafferata-ReFalo, confirmed his death.

Mr. Cafferata, born in New York and raised in New Jersey, enlisted in the Marines when he was 19. Called for active duty in 1950, he had had only two weeks of training when he was assigned as a rifleman to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division.

Forced enemy to retreat

In subzero weather before dawn on Nov. 28, 1950, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, the Chinese staged an assault at Toktong Pass that caught the Americans by surprise.

Mr. Cafferata, a 21-year-old private first class, leapt out of his sleeping bag firing point-blank. For hours, armed with grenades and a rifle and wearing only socks and a light jacket, he filled the gap casualties had left in the companys defensive line and forced the enemy to retreat.

His commanding officer credited him with killing as many as 100 Communist Chinese troops, but reduced the number in the medal recommendation to 15 because he feared the actual count would not seem credible.

The citation that accompanied his Medal of Honor, awarded at the White House by President Harry S. Truman on Nov. 24, 1952, vividly captured Mr. Cafferatas gallantry:

Making a target of himself under the devastating fire from automatic weapons, rifles, grenades and mortars, he maneuvered up and down the line and delivered accurate and effective fire against the onrushing force, killing 15, wounding many more and forcing the others to withdraw so that reinforcements could move up and consolidate the position.

Later that morning, during a renewed enemy onslaught, a grenade landed in a shallow entrenchment occupied by wounded Marines, the citation said.

Mr. Cafferata rushed into the gully under heavy fire, seized the deadly missile in his right hand and hurled it free of his comrades before it detonated, it read, severing part of one finger and seriously wounding him in the right hand and arm.

After he was shot, he was evacuated from the field.

Hector Albert Cafferata Jr. was born Nov. 4, 1929, to Hector Cafferata and the former Helen Csigney. The family moved to Morris County, N.J., when he was 9. He graduated from Boonton High School and worked for Sun Dial Corp., a maker of precision dials and panels, in Caldwell, N.J.

Life after the war

After he was wounded in action, he was taken to a hospital in Japan and then treated at the Naval Hospital at St. Albans, Queens. He was discharged in September 1951.

In addition to his daughter, Deborah, he is survived by his wife, the former Doris Giblock; a son, Dale; two other daughters, Heather Cafferata and Lynn Cafferata-Coovert; six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; and a brother, William.

After the war, he sold weapons and ammunition, owned a bar in Warren County, N.J., and worked for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Game. He retired to Florida in the late 1990s.

It was waves of fear and fighting panic, he was quoted saying in Edward L. Dailys book MacArthurs X Corps in Korea: Inchon to the Yalu 1950, published in 1999. You didnt have time to think. ... Your fear is telling you, Lets get the hell out of here. Your brain is telling you, Theres no place to hide, youve got a choice  kill or be killed.
WASHINGTON  Bernie Sanders has released his full 2014 federal tax return, revealing that he mostly lives off a six-figure government salary and donated about 4 percent of his familys income to charitable causes.

Sanders and his wife, Jane, donated $8,350 to charity while reporting an adjusted gross income of about $205,000 that year, according to the couples joint tax return released Friday. The share of his familys income that went to charity was about one-third the percentage of income that his primary opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, gave to charitable groups.
Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

LAS VEGAS  Two sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and three other men refused to enter pleas in federal court in Las Vegas to charges in an armed confrontation with government agents two years ago.

Magistrate Judge George Foley Jr. entered not guilty pleas on behalf of each man during a sometimes contentious arraignment Friday that featured cat-calls and cheers from about 30 Bundy backers and defendants family members, under watchful eyes of about a dozen U.S. marshals.
VATICAN CITY  Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Democratic presidential candidate, met briefly with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday morning before the pontiffs trip to Greece.

I conveyed to him my great admiration for the extraordinary work that he is doing all over the world in demanding that morality be part of our economy, Sanders said during his flight back to New York from Rome. We have got to move toward a moral economy, not simply an economy based on greed.

Sanders, who had attended a conference at the Vatican on Friday, said he also thanked the pope for his encyclical last year calling for action on climate change.

Later Saturday, on his return from Greece, Francis described the meeting with Sanders as a brief encounter. Sanders and other participants in the conference were staying at the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican City guesthouse where the pope resides.

This morning when I was leaving, Sen. Sanders was there, Francis told reporters on board his papal airliner. He knew I was leaving at that time and he had the courtesy to greet me.

Francis said the two men shook hands, adding that he was simply being polite, not political.

This is called good manners, the pope said. If someone thinks that greeting someone means getting involved in politics, he added, laughing, I recommend that he find a psychiatrist!

The meeting lasted about five minutes, said the economist Jeffrey Sachs, an adviser to the Sanders campaign who said he was present.

The Vermont senator had hoped to meet with the pope during his short trip to Rome, for which he interrupted his campaigning for the New York primary Tuesday. But as recently as Friday, it appeared unlikely to happen, after the pope sent a note saying he would not be able to attend the conference because of his trip to the Greek island of Lesbos.

Michael Briggs, a spokesman for the Sanders campaign, said no photographs were taken, in accordance with rules at the guesthouse. Briggs also said the meeting was not political. The senator very explicitly said that this was not about politics, he said.
The tug-of-war between Apple Inc. and the FBI over encryption shows no signs of easing as the company reiterated its reasons on Friday for refusing to help investigators in Brooklyn.

After months of fighting, both sides are now deeply entrenched in their positions  arguments that have drawn other technology companies and government officials into an intensifying public debate over privacy. A day before Apples latest filing, Microsoft Corp. took a stand in defense of its customers data-protection rights, suing to overturn a law requiring it to comply with data requests without telling its customers.

In the Brooklyn case, Apple said a New York magistrate judges ruling is correct in determining that the company doesnt have to help prosecutors crack into a drug dealers iPhone.

The governments failure to substantiate the need for Apples assistance, alone, provides more than sufficient grounds to deny the governments application, Apple said in its filing.

In an email to The Chronicle, Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce responded: As we have made clear in our previous filings, Apple expressly agreed to assist the government in accessing the data on this iPhone  as it has at least 70 times before in similar circumstances  and only changed course when the governments application for assistance was made public by the court. Indeed, Apple has said it would take them only a few hours to open this kind of phone, because they already have a mechanism that would allow them to do so.

As we have noted in our court filings, the Supreme Court made clear nearly 40 years ago that the All Writs Act authorizes courts to require private companies to assist in carrying out search warrants. Since that Supreme Court ruling, courts have relied on the Acts authority to require companies to assist lawful investigations in a variety of circumstances, from executing search warrants for telephone information, to providing access to security camera footage, to producing credit card records.

The government has a week to respond to the Friday filing. Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell is set to testify Tuesday at a congressional hearing on encryption issues along with representatives from the FBI and the New York Police Department.

Tensions between the technology industry and the government have escalated sharply in the two months since a federal judge ordered Apple to help prosecutors access data on an iPhone used by one of the killers in the December San Bernardino attack. And this week, a draft was released of a Senate bill that would give courts more power to force companies to let investigators access secure information. The proposal has been denounced by civil libertarians as a ban on encryption, which they argue is needed to protect data from the growing threat of hackers.

While the government dropped the San Bernardino case after finding another way to access the data, it refused to back down in the Brooklyn case after the magistrate sided with Apple on Feb. 29.

Apple argued Friday that the magistrates ruling should stand, saying that Congress has the responsibility to define what technology companies must do to aid investigators. A decision on the matter could help establish who has the stronger arguments in future courtroom battles.

The phone seized from the methamphetamine dealer at the center of the case in Brooklyn runs iOS 7, which has weaker security than the iOS 9 operating system on the San Bernardino shooters device, or another one belonging to an alleged gang member in Massachusetts that the government also wants to get into.

Apple has said that the FBI is stretching the law beyond its limits, using the 1789 All Writs Act to compel companies to work on the governments behalf. Dozens of companies have sided with Apple in the debate, while law enforcement groups have generally echoed the governments view.

Christie Smythe and Alex Webb are Bloomberg writers. Email: csmythe1@bloomberg.net, awebb25@bloomberg.net
Whats hot at SFChronicle.com & SFGate.com, April 17

These articles and photo collections on SFGate and the premium SFChronicle.com got the most visits in the week ended Thursday at 10 a.m.

SFChronicle.com

1. Kitchen warrior Ayesha Curry cooks up her own career

2. Decade-long SF street redo ends in too-tight turns for Muni

3. Nevius: Warriors arena will make traffic worse, and thats a good thing

4. Reich has known Clinton 50 years, so why is he endorsing Sanders?

5. Blackhawks brown-lawn crackdown may flout Calif. drought law

SFGate

1. Rage Yoga encourages posing while drinking, listening to metal

2. Video shows San Francisco police shooting unfolded in 30 seconds

3. Charles Schwab study: You need $6M to be wealthy in the Bay Area

4. Uber passenger says drivers chase ended in death of SF pedestrian

5. Whats up with the black sand on SFs Ocean Beach?

Most popular searches

1. Golden State Warriors

2. Green moon

3. Nessie Thames

4. DEA marijuana

5. Tyler Summitt

Peter Hockaday, SFGate deputy managing editor
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SACRAMENTO  As procrastinators race to file their taxes by Mondays deadline, a majority of California voters say the amount they pay is too high, according to a new Field Poll that reveals just how divided liberals and conservatives are on the issue.

Overall, 54 percent of voters surveyed said their family pays too much in state and federal taxes. The poll, released Friday, comes after the tax deadline was extended to April 18 this year because of the Washington, D.C., Emancipation Day holiday.

The poll found that 40 percent of voters believe the amount of state and federal taxes they pay is about right, while 2 percent say it is too low.

Republicans were almost twice as likely to say taxes are too high, with 80 percent of GOP voters saying they pay too much, compared with 42 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of those with no party affiliation.

Republicans are very sensitive to tax issues and are generally supportive of smaller government, and here is another example of that sentiment, said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. Its a huge gap. If you look at it by income or other variables, there is no bigger difference than party affiliation.

There was little variance between voters who make $40,000 to $100,000 and those who make more than $100,000 when it comes to whether they think they pay the appropriate amount of taxes. Four in 10 voters from both income levels said taxes were about right, while 57 percent said taxes were too high.

Voters who made less than $40,000 were more likely, at 47 percent, to say taxes are about right. Forty percent of this group said taxes are too high.

Almost half of voters said they are doing better financially now than they were last year, compared with a quarter of voters who said there were worse off financially. Another 27 percent said they saw no change from last year. Thats a stark improvement from a 2008 Field Poll in which 14 percent of voters said they were doing better year over year.

Voters with household incomes of at least $100,000 were much more likely to say their finances were better than last year, with 61 percent reporting an improvement. Thats compared with about 40 percent of voters who make less than $100,000.

When it comes to the states pocketbook, 46 percent of voters felt California was in bad economic times, versus 39 percent who saw good times.

Still, the numbers represented a 15-year high for positivity, according to Field Poll data. Almost 70 percent of voters said the state was in good economic times in 2001 before that number plummeted to 20 percent in 2002 and down to a low of 2 percent in 2009.

Bay Area voters were the most likely to say California is in good shape, with 54 percent expressing that sentiment. Los Angeles County, other Southern California areas and the Central Valley recorded between 32 and 39 percent of voters saying the states economy is doing well.

If you look around, San Francisco is booming, DiCamillo said. This is a mini gold rush for the city with all the construction and high tech coming to the city, so its not a surprise that San Francisco is feeling more optimistic. The rest of the state doesnt look at the world the same way, such as the Central Valley, which has been slow to recover.

The Field Poll questioned 800 registered voters in California between March 24 and April 3. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.
MORIA, Greece  In an extraordinary gesture both political and personal, Pope Francis brought 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his plane Saturday after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europes migration crisis.

Refugees on the overwhelmed island fell to their knees and wept at his presence. Some 3,000 migrants on Lesbos are facing possible deportation back to Turkey under a new deal with the European Union, and the uncertainty has caused heavy strains.

Francis decided only a week ago to bring the three refugee families to Italy after a Vatican official suggested it. He said he accepted the proposal immediately because it fit the spirit of his visit to Lesbos.

Its a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same, he said of his gesture, quoting one of Mother Teresas phrases.

During the five-hour trip, Francis implored European nations to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores in a way that is worthy of our common humanity. The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its shores in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece. They came to give a united Christian message thanking the Greek people for welcoming migrants and highlighting the plight of refugees as the 28-nation EU implements a plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Francis insisted his gesture to bring the 12 refugees to Italy was purely humanitarian, not political. But in comments on the flight home, he urged Europe to not only welcome refugees but better integrate them into society so they are not left in ghettos where they can become prey to radicalization.

The Vatican said the three Syrian families, which including six children, who came to Rome will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italys Catholic SantEgidio Community. They were treated to a raucous welcome Saturday night in Rome, with drummers thumping, a crowd applauding and the three mothers receiving a single red rose.

I thank you for what you have done, Nour, a mother of a 2-year-old, said of the pope. I hope this gesture has an effect on refugee policy.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope.
BRASILIA, Brazil  Separated by only a boulevard, two rival camps of demonstrators in Brazils capital underscore the sharp ideological divide that is playing out in Congress as lawmakers debate whether to oust the president.

On one side of Brasilias showcase Eixo Monumental, which cuts through the center of city and dead ends at Congress, several thousand supporters of embattled President Dilma Rousseff have pitched a tent city, sleeping in hammocks and eating rice and beans served by volunteers at communal kitchens.

Presidents backers

Largely union members and land reform activists, and overwhelmingly poor, they have come by bus from across the vast country to defend Rousseff and her left-leaning Workers Party, which they credit for unprecedented improvements in their lives. They call the impeachment debate in Congress an attempt by Brazils elite to take back power after 13 years of Workers Party rule.

Theyre trying to knock down what the Workers Party conquered, what we conquered, said Francisco das Chagas, a 47-year-old mechanic who came from his home state of Alagoas, in the impoverished northeastern region thats Rousseffs stronghold. Its classist.

On the other side of the boulevard, several hundred better-heeled protesters are demanding Rousseffs impeachment, blaming her for the tanking economy and for the plague of corruption  problems reflected in the countrys high taxes and dismal public hospitals, schools and other basic services. They say a fresh start with a new president is the only hope for breathing life into an economy thats expected to contract around 4 percent this year.

Pro-impeachment protester Joao Pedro Netto says that while the Workers Party was born out of a desire to help the poor, it is now as corrupt as any other of Brazils more than 30 political parties. The 30-year-old small business owner said improving the countrys woeful public school system for his two small children is his top priority and for this to happen Rousseffs party must go.

Key vote Sunday

Both sides have pledged to flood the city with supporters ahead of a vote Sunday in the Chamber of Deputies that will determine whether the impeachment proceeds to the Senate. Proponents of impeachment need 342 of 513 votes, and tallies in the main Brazilian news outlets show them hovering near that number.

The proceedings stem from allegations Rousseffs administration violated fiscal laws to shore up public support amid a flagging economy. Rousseff says that such accounting was common practice, insisting that she committed no crime and denouncing the proceedings against her as a coup.

To oppose and criticize my government is part of Democracy Rousseff said in a signed article published Saturday in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. But overthrowing a legitimately elected president who committed no crime is not part of Democracy. It is a coup.

Her mentor and predecessor, former President Luiz Inacio Luiz da Silva, came to the pro-Rousseff camp on Saturday and delivered a combative speech that cast the impeachment process as an attempt by the traditional ruling elite to snatch the power back.

It seems to me the Brazilian elite doesnt like democracy, he said.

The political crisis has dragged on for months, hamstringing attempts to revive the economy and battle an outbreak of the Zika virus. The country is also gearing up to host the Olympics.
OZU, Japan  The wooden home barely withstood the first earthquake. An even stronger one the next night dealt what might have been the final blow  if not to the house, then to the Tanaka familys peace of mind.

The Tanakas joined about 50 other residents of the southern Japanese town of Ozu who planned to sleep in their cars Saturday after two nights of terrifying earthquakes that have killed 41 people and injured about 1,500 others, flattened houses and caused major landslides.

I dont think we can go back there. Our life is in limbo, said 62-year-old Yoshiaki Tanaka, as other evacuees served rice balls for dinner. He, his wife and his 85-year-old mother fled their home after a 7.3 earthquake struck Saturday at 1:25 a.m., just 28 hours after a 6.5 quake hit the same area.

Army troops and other rescuers rushed Saturday to try to reach scores of trapped residents in hard-hit communities near Kumamoto, a city of 740,000 on the southwestern island of Kyushu.

Heavy rain started falling Saturday night, threatening to complicate the relief operation and set off mudslides.

Daytime today is the big test for rescue efforts, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said early Saturday. Landslides had already cut off roads and destroyed bridges, slowing rescuers.

Nearly 200,000 homes were without electricity, Japanese media reported, and an estimated 400,000 households were without running water.

Kumamoto prefectural official Riho Tajima said more than 200 houses and other buildings had been either destroyed or damaged, and that 91,000 people had evacuated from their homes.

Hundreds of people lined up for rations at distribution points before nightfall, bracing for the rain and strong winds that were expected. Local stores quickly ran out of stocks, and people said they were worried about running out of food.

Police in Kumamoto prefecture said that at least 32 people had died from Saturday mornings earthquake. Nine died in the quake on Thursday night.

More than half the deaths were in Mashiki, a town on the eastern border of Kumamoto city that was hit hardest by the first quake.

Japans Kyodo news agency reported that four people were missing in Minamiaso, a more rural area farther east of Kumamoto where the landslides were caused by the second quake.
BENGALURU: Country's second-largest software services major Infosys today reported a 16.2 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,597 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

It had posted a net profit of Rs 3,097 crore in January-March of 2014-15, Infosys said in a BSE filing.

Revenue of the Bengaluru-based firm grew 23.4 per cent to Rs 16,550 crore in the March quarter compared with Rs 13,411 crore in the same quarter of 2014-15, it added.

On a sequential basis, Infosys' net profit rose 3.8 per cent from Rs 3,465 crore in the October-December quarter while revenue was up 4.1 per cent from Rs 15,902 crore during the same period.

Reacting to the results, the stock was trading at Rs 1,172.05, down 0.87 per cent, on BSE at 1002 hours.

Infosys Managing Director and CEO Vishal Sikka said: "Over the course of this year, we saw this strategy of bringing automation and innovation to our clients, on a foundation of learning and education, start to show results in the organic growth of our client relationships, in our win rates in large deals, and in the types of projects we are seeing in strategic areas where we never participated before."

In US dollars, Infosys net profit grew 7 per cent to USD 533 million in the March quarter from USD 498 million in the year-ago period while revenues rose 13.3 per cent to USD 2.44 billion from USD 2.15 billion a year ago.

For 2015-16, profit was up 1.9 per cent at USD 2.05 billion while revenues grew 9.1 per cent to USD 9.5 billion.

Infosys said it expects revenue for 2016-17 to grow in the range of 11.5-13.5 per cent in constant currency and 11.8-13.8 per cent in US dollar terms, in line with industry body Nasscom's estimate of 10-12 per cent for the fiscal.

Read Also:

India For Advancing Coop Among IORA Members

India's Exports May Settle At $250-260 Bn In 2015-16
Film: "Fan"; Director: Maneesh Sharma; Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Sayani Gupta , Deepika Amin and Yogendra Tikoo; Rating: ****

What a triumphant return to form for an actor whose career has been lately beleaguered by sub-standard scripts and mediocre directors.

This time Shah Rukh is in the mood to kill and we don't mean that just as a metaphor. As this far-from-frothy take on the very complex star-fan relationships develops into a ominous cat-and-mouse chase, Shah Rukh grips both the characters-yes, for those who came in late he plays both the star and the fan-in a firm grasp that makes us simply gasp.

Shah Rukh is in full command of both the characters. He gives both Aryan and Gaurav ample room to grow, grow apart and then clash in ways that shows what skilful scripting can do to a superstar's yearning to excel.

Outwardly playing Aryan Khanna, the superstar , would seem relatively easier for Shah Rukh than playing the obsessive fan. But playing the star is actually a far tougher task. Shah Rukh incorporates elements from his real life into the on-screen persona. Aryan Khan comes across as a very humane icon, there are bouts of charm and fits of rage going hand-in-hand here. He makes no attempts to deify himself. That's what gives the narrative its muscle and lubrication.

As for the fan Gaurav Chanana, the prosthetics go a long way in creating a character who is so believable and yet so distinguished Aryan Khanna that it's almost like two different actors playing the two roles. The voice, the body language and the complete character transformation, we've seen Shah Rukh do it in "My Name Is Khan" and "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi."

From the sunny to the sinister, Shah Rukh's Gaurav Chanana takes us on a rollercoaster ride across a plot which is propelled by pungency. The superstar gets some valuable support from co-actors like Sayani Gupta, Deepika Amin and Yogendra Tikoo whose presence is skillfully woven into the darkly disarming drama of a duel between the dapper star and his distressed disingenuous doppelganger.

Writer Habib Faisal seems to tap into the fan's inner-most adulation for the star. There is more angst than sweetness in the relationship. In scene after scene, even when the angry fan gets down to 'create a scene', Faisal conceptualizes the turbulent conflict between the idolized and the idoliser, with a keen eye on keeping the drama on a tight leash.

For a large part of the narrative the energy and mood are bridled and broken down to an acceptable and credible level. The director films the duel of deception in bright colours that flatter to deceive. The bonhomie wears thin soon enough. When it does, the narrative is ready to shift gears with brisk adeptness.

A lot of the credit for bringing the two protagonists' irreconcilable lives into a karmic clasp goes to editor Namrata Rao. She breathes an urgency into the proceedings without knocking the drama senseless . Towards the end, the plot begins to fall apart.

Which, in a way, is what is only to be expected. Doom, you see, a pre-condition in a relationship between unequals.

What "Fan" ultimately says about the star's equation with his admirers is that tragedy awaits any attempt to break the barrier that divides the heroes from their followers. Every star who thinks he and she must mingle with the fans and "belong" with them must see this film.

Read Also: 'The Jungle Book': Visually Breathtaking (IANS Review, Rating: ***1/2)

'Kung Fu Panda 3': Strictly For Kids
MUMBAI: Director Shane Black's upcoming film "The Nice Guys", which stars actors Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, is set to release in India on May 27 this year.

Set in the 1970s, the film's story stylishly follows the occasion when a down on luck private eye Holland March (Gosling) must work somehow together with his unlikely partner in crime Jackson Healy (Crowe) to solve the mystery of a missing woman, which is seemingly related to the death of a famous porn star.

"The Nice Guys" will also premiere at the 69th CannesInternational Film Festival in the out of competition category.

The film is distributed in India by PVR Pictures.

Read Also:

'Before I Wake': Unhurriedly Slow Scare Tease (IANS Review, Rating: ***)

'The Jungle Book': Visually Breathtaking (IANS Review, Rating: ***1/2

8 Indian Classical Music Festivals to Give you Relief from Bollywood Numbers
BENGALURU: Entering into a world of tranquility is an extra ordinary adventure in itself that gives inner peace to ones soul. Different people have different approaches toward achieving peace of mind; however, surrendering oneself into the aura of divine is a unique experience. One such place of nirvana is Gurdwara door to the teacher. The enticing ambience of Gurdwaras does not fail to captivate any person visiting in its sanctity. Here are five most beautiful Gurdwaras that one should visit, reports Gurmeet Kaur for Make My Trip Blog.

Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib, Manali

Located at the bank of Parvati River 45 km from Kullu, Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib is made in the memory of Guru Nanak Dev Ji when he lived there with other Sikh followers. The place is also popular for hot water springs which are considered to be auspicious.

Read Also: Maruti Ignis and Baleno RS to make its Debut in Festive Season

InMotion: Jaguar Land Rover's New Tech Startup Venture
By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent.

Agree
Best Canadian Blog

2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

About Kate

Why this blog?

Until this moment I have been forced to listen while media and politicians alike have told me "what Canadians think". In all that time they never once asked.

This is just the voice of an ordinary Canadian yelling back at the radio - "You don't speak for me."

(goes to a private mailserver in Europe) I can't answer or use every tip, but all are appreciated!



Katewerk Art

Support SDA

I am not a registered charity. I cannot issue tax receipts.



Reconnaissance Man

Economics for the Disinterested

...a fast-paced polar

bear attack thriller!



Want lies?

Hire a regular consultant.

Want truth?

Hire an asshole.



Weather Shop

Click to inquire about rates.

Dow Jones

What They Say About SDA

"Smalldeadanimals doesn't speak for the people of Saskatchewan" Former Sask Premier Lorne Calvert

"I got so much traffic after your post my web host asked me to buy a larger traffic allowance." Dr.Ross McKitrick

Holy hell, woman. When you send someone traffic, you send someone TRAFFIC. My hosting provider thought I was being DDoSed. - Sean McCormick

"The New York Times link to me yesterday [...] generated one-fifth of the traffic I normally get from a link from Small Dead Animals." Kathy Shaidle

"Thank you for your link. A wave of your Canadian readers came to my blog! Really impressive." Juan Giner - INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group

I got links from the Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Instapundit yesterday - but SDA was running at least equal to those in visitors clicking through to my blog. Jeff Dobbs

"You may be a nasty right winger, but you're not nasty all the time!" Warren Kinsella

"Go back to collecting your welfare livelihood."Michael E. Zilkowsky

Intelliweather

Seismic Map

Comments Policy

Read this

Best Of SDA

Hide The Decline

The Bottle Genie

(ClimateGate links)

You Might Be A Liberal

Uncrossing The Line

Bob Fife: Knuckledragger

A Modest Proposal (NP)

Settled Science Series

Y2Kyoto Series

SDA: Reader Occupation Survey

Brett Lamb Sheltered Workshop

Flakes On A Plane

All Your Weather Are Belong To Us

Song Of The Sled

The Raise A Flag Debacle

(Now on Youtube!)

(.mwv Video)

Abuse Ruins Life Of Girl

Trudeaupiate

Kleptocrat Jeans

Child Labour

I Concede

Small Dead Feminist

Protein Hoser: THK Interview

The Werewolf Extinction

Dear Laura (VRWC)

We Wait

Blogging The Oscars

Jackson Converts To Islam

Just Shut The HELL Up

Manipulating Condi

Gay Equality Rights


Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal.

Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.



We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.



A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
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(0x5612f00fdbb8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0119d38)', '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(0x5612f00fdbb8)') 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(0x5612f0119d38)') 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(0x5612f0215460)') 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(0x5612f0119d38)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0119d38)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ea8ffd68)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f02283d8)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f02283d8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
The home in Rockingham Close in Melbourne's affluent suburb of Kew. Credit:Wayne Taylor The Ostrava companies and a host of other entities associated with Grimm and Ash are in provisional liquidation and the regulator is seeking winding up orders so that full liquidation can be commenced. The couple's Collin Street offices, which were a mess when visited by Fairfax Media a year ago, are now vacant after they were turfed by the provisional liquidators. ASIC's investigation is still ongoing, but the regulator has flagged in court documents that its action could lead to criminal or civil charges being brought against Grimm and Vanessa Ash over their alleged mismanagement of Ostrava client money. Concerns were first raised over the management of the owner's affairs just months after he moved into the nursing home.

In January last year, Sue Lyttleton was appointed administrator to the elderly man's affairs by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in January 2015. Lyttleton alleges $832,013 was transferred in a "sequence of transactions" from the owner's superannuation trustee account into the bank accounts of Ostrava. The transfer was identified as a pension transfer. "The withdrawal and payment of the plaintiff's pension benefit into one or more Bankwest accounts operated by the Ostrava companies was unnecessary and of no benefit to the plaintiff (the owner)," the statement of claim says. The transfers were instead to the benefit of Vanessa Ash and Mr Grimm's Ostrava companies and to the benefit of themselves, Lyttleton alleges. Lyttleton alleges in late October 2015, the couple produced the "purported lease" drafted on December 24, 2014, over the Kew property. The lease names the owner as the landlord and Mr Grimm as the tenant yet Vanessa Ash, using her power of attorney, signed the generous five-year lease on behalf of the owner.

Lyttleton says this lease agreement was not to the benefit of the owner and rather to the benefit of Vanessa Ash and Mr Grimm. By September, Lyttleton sought to evict the couple from the home after forming "the view that it was in the best interests of the plaintiff for the Kew property to be sold with vacant possession and the proceeds to be available to provide for the plaintiff's care and needs". The administrator alleges for Vanessa Ash and Grimm have refused to leave the property. They have also declined to hand over the money from the owner's super fund. Indeed, Vanessa Ash and Grimm were home on Friday morning when visited by BusinessDay but declined to comment ahead of releasing a formal statement later on Friday. Lyttleton alleges the actions of the couple were "dishonest and fraudulent". She is seeking declarations the transfers and lease agreement were unfair to the owner, the return of the owner's money, compensation and costs.

Vanessa Ash says the allegations are wrong. "[The owner] would be horrified that this action was being taken on his behalf," she said. ''I am living in [the owner]'s house in accordance with the express wishes of him. "I am the joint executor and joint beneficiary of his will. My family and I visit him every week and love him dearly." Vanessa Ash says all of the couple's activities have been lawful and according to the owner's wishes and says the administrator did not know the owner when he had his faculties. "I have complete faith that we will get a fair hearing in court when we refute these allegations," she says. Grimm says the Ostrava matter was before the Federal Court on April 1 for directions where the judge ordered mediation, which will occur in mid-May. "We are hopeful that the matter will be resolved in that forum," he says. ASIC has declined to comment.

It's not the first time Grimm has been the subject of serious allegations. In May last year, Fairfax Media revealed ASIC had been warned about Grimm's business dealings in 2005 by Labor MP Luke Donnellan, who is now minister for Ports and Roads and Road Safety. Donnellan requested a review of Grimm's "fraudulent investment activities and the obtaining of financial advantage by deception" under parliamentary privilege. "Grimm is indeed the grim reaper in the Melbourne stockbroking world," Donnellan said. Donnellan alleged Mr Grimm raised $1 million from mum and dad investors leading up to and during the dot-com boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s through investment company Equity Partnership. Yet, ASIC took no action and Grimm has maintained the allegations stem from an embittered former business partner.
Some of the country's top tertiary campuses are facing a spate of aggressive, online harassment of female students, with most struggling to combat the issue and unsure of their authority over the perpetrators.

So far none of the male students behind a Facebook page which targeted female students at Melbourne University have been disciplined, despite some putting their names to highly offensive comments. The page, with more than 13,000 supporters, was taken down on Friday, four days after the launch of a petition calling for its removal.

Law student Laura Blandthorn led a successful campaign to get a Facebook page called "Hotties of Melbourne University" taken down. Credit:Penny Stephens

However, a similar page at RMIT, which was deleted, popped up again with a slightly different name, and is still active. A Monash Hotties page has been taken down but Hotties of Monash Malaysia continues.

Comments on the Hotties of Melbourne University page included, "This girl is a 0/10. I would not bang her even if they paid me". "100 % would bang" and "Shoot me with tranquilliser right now before I go out to hunt!"



While some photos may be self-posted, the sites mainly uses photos "fraped", or taken without permission from people's unsecure Facebook pages.
A man accused of raping a woman he offered to help outside a Civic nightclub has been remanded in custody after allegedly returning to the same venue in breach of bail conditions.

Kerry Roy Bye, 24, from Ngunnawal, was observed by police who were doing a walk-through of the nightclub about 12.36am on Saturday, and when asked told the officers he had bail conditions not to be in Civic, court documents said.

He was arrested and then allegedly told police he had consumed about six alcoholic drinks.

Bail conditions entered into on November 13 prohibited Bye from consuming alcohol and from being in Civic, Braddon, Reid or Acton between 9pm and 7am on any day.

The defendant pleaded not guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court in December to three counts of sexual intercourse without consent, committing an act of indecency without consent and sex assault second degree alleged to have occurred on November 13.
To claim that the Australian taxpayer is paying for an expensive "gala" lunch in China to woo investment rather misses the point that the many billions of dollars invested in Australian trade and tourism from China is covering that cost by a very significant quantum. The framing of this kind of "expense" as a burden on the taxpayer is a nonsense.

Simeon Glasson Elizabeth Bay

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

This demonstrates the contempt that our Prime Minister has for this wonderful country ("Taxpayers fund PM's $300k China lunch", April 10). He is not only content at selling off the country and making trade deals with China that will get us involved for years but he and his entourage have to demonstrate, by holding this lavish dinner, what he thinks about our pensioners and lower/working class people. He is all about the wealthy and is only governing the country to make them richer and to obtain more donations for the Liberal Party. The country can't afford this bloke, he is too expensive and a hypocrite when it comes to "spending"  because when spending is involved, if it is on himself and the Liberals, everything is OK, nothing matters.The people of South Australia will be pleased about this as their state suffers as a result of this government.

Bruce Apps Townsend
Melbourne retail is looking up  literally  with more and more being made of the spaces above the streets we know and love.

Colliers International executive of retail leasing Jarrod Herscu said the cramped market for commercial real estate in the city's central business district is prompting shops and their landlords to make more of their spaces.

Otto La Rosa owns dot Comme, a clothing store located at Level 3, Curtin house. Credit:Mathew Lynn

"We are seeing an influx of property buyers looking to secure long leasehold retail investments up to 30-100 years. In order to create upside, these investors are carving up the tenancy to increase the income," he said. This was the case whether the space were a basement, street level, mezzanine or higher.

Currently, buildings like Curtin House or the Nicholas Building on Swanston street, or Mitchell House on the corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale streets, are all filling or full with niche businesses  vertical laneways that both compete with and support each other in much the same way as businesses in the city's storied street-level laneways.
Did the bride and groom kiss? You bet. But they did it their way. Check out the video.

Melbourne has just hosted what might be its first gay marriage. Two citizens, out and proud, tying the knot.

Sure, one's a woman and one's a bloke. But that's the point. On Friday night, award-winning stand-ups Zoe Coombs Marr and Rhys Nicholson got married at the Comedy Festival club.
Kaldor Public Art Projects at Carriageworks - art is a big part of the venue's attraction. Credit:Zan Wimberley Visitor numbers have doubled every year for the past four years. Since 2011 when Havilah took over, they have climbed from 110,000 a year to 790,000 people a year in 2015. Plans for the site over the next six years include building a cinema, a 5000-seat music venue, more cafes and bars, and additional exhibition, studio and rehearsal spaces. While she clearly has a grand vision for Carriageworks, you don't have to spend too long talking to Havilah to realise she has no interest in self-aggrandisement. Carriageworks Farmers' Market: more restaurants and cafes are coming to the site. Sentences that might start with an "I" turn quickly to "we", meaning the Carriageworks team. Great big, arms open and yelling opportunities to highlight her personal and professional merits are met with that low chuckle and a modestly-worded response.

"What have I brought to Carriageworks? Experience. Practice. Twelve years of community-based arts practice in Wollongong and Western Sydney  " What about personal qualities? Silence. "I don't know." Brief laugh. "That's not a very good answer, is it?" Before taking the helm at Carriageworks, Havilah was the artistic director of the Campbelltown Arts Centre and during that time Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, the longstanding director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), said Havilah had "put Campbelltown on the national, if not the international, map for contemporary art". Last year, NSW Deputy Premier and Arts Minister Troy Grant described Havilah as "the driving force" behind Carriageworks' success. She is, he said, "doing an exceptional job". So, really, no, really, what is it that you, Lisa Havilah, bring to the Carriageworks success story? Long, thoughtful silence. "I guess I always feel like I am working in the service of others. I work in the service of artists or communities, to deliver their ambitions  I think the whole team at Carriageworks, we are working together in the service of others. I think that's a philosophy or type of practice that could maybe be seen as distinctive."

Havilah at least concedes that the service ethic she describes is part of who she is as a human being; it's not a professional facade or a theory. "I guess it is personal. You have to bring yourself fully to a role like this. You can't pretend. You wouldn't have the stamina," she says. Havilah began her arts career as a painter and then co-founded and ran Project Contemporary Artspace, a small enterprise for emerging artists in Wollongong. It's still going. "At the time, as a young artist, I had an aspiration to display my work and there was nowhere in Wollongong that would do it. I tried everywhere. I was in a community of artists [which included her husband, Glenn Barkley] so we thought OK, we will find a space to show our own work. It was like, there is no point waiting around for it because it was never going to happen." The exercise of persuading local government and businesses such as BHP to support an art gallery, then setting it up and running with it, was a turning point for Havilah. It demanded, among other things, the blending of creativity and business intelligence. "It taught me a lot about collaboration and partnerships," she says. In her current role with Carriageworks, she says, "it's not like the business is over here and the art is over there. They are fully integrated. I think that is part of why Carriageworks, not just me, is seen as this sort of new generation cultural institution. The old silos that sit within the more established, sandstone institutions, that historical practice doesn't exist here."

Havilah has an arts degree with majors in painting and creative writing, but has also studied law. She started the additional degree for the sole purpose of making amends to her father for her wayward teens. "I was so bad," she says. The comment is not a covert boast about having been some sort of cool young rebel. She seems genuinely ashamed. Havilah's mother, Lyn, is an artist, a ceramicist in particular. Her father, Euie, was a scientist, an agronomist in particular, and "very full on" about education. Havilah showed great academic promise in her early school years and her father "hot housed" her  as in educated her intensively, to a high level, at an unusually early age. "But then I went really bad," she says. "I was just so bored at school and dad was heartbroken because I was the oldest child and I was meant to achieve." The relationship broke down completely when Havilah decided to study art. "I studied law so I could fix my relationship with him," Havilah says. It worked. "We became really, really close after that," she says. Euie Havilah died three years ago and Lisa still misses him terribly. "He was a really good man," she says, wiping away tears and apologising. Studying law, however, also proved rewarding in and of itself. "Painting gave me a kind of discipline," she says. "But studying law almost changed my DNA. It gave me a different level of discipline. It's a discipline of thinking, which I really like  and you have to do it for hours and hours."

Havilah no longer paints and is adamant she doesn't miss it. "No, no, no, no, no," is her full answer to the question. "Being an artist is a very solitary practice and I think that once I switched over into running [Project gallery], and the collaboration and partnership side of that, I just found a more natural home for myself." Havilah's husband, Glenn Barkley, has almost done the reverse. The writer, co-founder of the Project Gallery and former curator at the MCA has, very recently, taken up ceramics. His work is being exhibited at the Adelaide Biennale. "He did a night class and just became obsessed with it," Havilah says. "He's getting really good  but he does spend a lot of time in his studio. I've forgotten what he looks like," she says, briefly displaying some examples of his work on her phone. In response to suggestions that her workload must be enormous, particularly given the breadth of the Carriageworks' repertoire, Havilah simply says "it's definitely a lifestyle" but not one she finds particularly wearing. "What I find is that there are about 3000 opportunities, all the time. [My job is] about making sure we are working on the best 20 of those and making sure we are putting enough resources into every given project." The incredible Carriageworks building itself, with its vast spaces and industrial steel and timbers, accommodates and inspires ambitious, large-scale projects, but art doesn't always go to plan. "Entering into the process with an artist is inherently risky precisely because it is a process," Havilah says. "You have to go in in good faith, not knowing where it's going to take you. Sometimes the work may not even end up here or it might not happen at all or it might turn into something else.
Nicole Kidman is reprising her acclaimed role in the West End production of Photograph 51 as it goes to Broadway.

The Oscar winner headlined the new play last year, and now she's heading to either the Broadhurst or Lyceum Theatres on the Great White Way this autumn, according to The New York Post.

Nicole Kidman as chemist Rosalind Franklin in Photograph 51.

In early April there were rumours that Kidman was looking to bring the play to her hometown of Sydney.
The crew and Australian mother Sally Faulkner remain in jail, facing kidnapping charges after they allegedly tried to retrieve the children from their father and Ms Faulkner's estranged husband Ali Elamine.

60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown and her crew, Benjamin Williamson, David Ballment and Stephen Rice, were arrested in Beirut on April 7.

Families of the 60 Minutes crew detained in Lebanon have described the situation as a "living nightmare," as they struggle to tell their children "when mummy or daddy is coming home".

The statement from their families comes as talks between Ms Faulkner and her estranged husband Ali Elamine break down over the custody arrangements of their two children Lahala, 6, and Noah, 4.

The 60 Minutes team in custody in Lebanon: Tara Brown, David "Tangles" Ballment, Stephen Rice and Ben Williamson.

In a joint statement issued by Cara Williamson, Denise Rice, John McAvoy and Laura Battistel - the partners of the Channel Nine crew - they said some were still yet to tell their children what was happening.

"It's not an easy conversation to have with a five or seven year old who ask as they go to sleep each night when mummy or daddy is coming home," the statement said.

"Our natural instinct was to fly over and be there for them. Immediately. But our desire to be over there, possibly see them for ourselves and to give them our love and support has to be balanced against the advice from the people on the ground and that's to stay here."
They are less than 7 per cent of the Army's numbers, but they made up half the combat deaths in Afghanistan.

The roughly 2000 soldiers who make up Australia's special forces  mostly the Special Air Service Regiment and the 2nd Commando Regiment  have done the lion's share of the heavy fighting in Australia's recent conflicts, particularly Afghanistan.

"My command in the last 12 years has seen quite a bit of action  thousands of combat missions, almost half the combat deaths," Jeff Sengelman, the head of Special Operations Command, told a Canberra audience last week.
Clive Palmer's political career is going down like the Titanic. The original one, not that replica that never got built.

His business empire is crumbling and the Palmer United Party will soon go the way of the dinosaurs.

Illustration: Matt Davidson.

And not a moment too soon. Palmer is a blight on Australian politics and the sooner we're rid of him the better.

He's behaved like a buffoon and a bully and he's treated everyone  his colleagues, the media, the public  with contempt from the moment he first arrived in Canberra.
There has been a bit of controversy surrounding Australian banks in recent weeks, and it's easy to take for granted how essential access to the banking system, including the availability of credit, is to not only our economy, but also social inclusion.

This was vividly demonstrated to me on a recent visit to the Philippines to learn more about the microfinance work of not-for-profit organisation Grameen Australia.

Reaping rewards: Savers can learn from the lending criteria that microfinance group Grameen places on loans in Third World countries. Credit:Bloomberg

Grameen provides small business loans to poor individuals, the majority of whom have never had a bank account and certainly would not be considered suitable borrowers by mainstream banks.

There are several requirements placed upon these very poor borrowers that, interestingly, read like a play book for good financial management in any country, even a rich country with a mature financial services sector like Australia.
The battle between hardliners and reformers over law and order policy in NSW has been playing out for decades  but arguably has never come to the point it reached this week.

A blistering attack from the Bar Association on proposed new "crime prevention orders" raised the alarm about how justice policy is being formulated in NSW.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Justice and Police Troy Grant. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

In effect it was an unvarnished attack on the ambitious Justice and Police Minister Troy Grant  who is also leader of the Nationals and Deputy Premier  that has fuelled concerns he has become a law unto himself.

The barristers' association took aim at the "draconian" proposed laws introduced by Grant that would allow the police commissioner, crime commission or state prosecutors to apply to a court for orders restricting movements of a person suspected of involvement in serious crime for up to five years.
Beirut: Lawyers negotiating on behalf of jailed Australian woman Sally Faulkner and her estranged Lebanese-American husband have failed to reach agreement, leaving Ms Faulkner as well as a Nine Network news crew in a Lebanese jail facing kidnapping charges.

Ghassan Moughabghab, Ms Faulkner's lawyer, says although Judge Rami Abdullah had "pushed" Ali Elamine and Ms Faulkner to reach agreement over the custody of the couple's two children, Lahala, 6, and Noah, 4, behind-the-scenes talks had broken down.

The children are at the centre of a failed child recovery operation that has also resulted in the arrest of Nine Network journalist Tara Brown and her 60 Minutes crew, Benjamin Williamson, David Ballment and Stephen Rice.
"It is our water," he said, "but if we don't fish there, how can we claim it is our territory?" Beijing is using the country's fishermen as the advance guard to press its expansive territorial claims, experts say. Experts say the battle for fisheries resources, an often overlooked destabilising influence in the South China Sea, is a source of unpredictability, volatility and risk. At the end of March, Malaysia's maritime authorities spotted about 100 Chinese fishing boats, accompanied by a Chinese coast guard vessel, in its waters. They were close to the Luconia Shoals, less than 100 nautical miles from Malaysian Borneo but 800 nautical miles from China's Hainan. Chinese Coast Guard officers, to the rear, approach Filipino fishermen on their boat on Scarborough Shoal last year. Credit:AP

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 Indonesia's 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. Tensions: A Chinese Coast Guard vessel sprays a water cannon at Filipino fishermen near Scarborough Shoal last year. Credit:AP Indonesia sets great store on 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". Defence 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 US-made F-16 fighter jets to the Natunas to ward off "thieves". China claims 90 per cent 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, Beijing's Foreign Ministry said, was operating in China's "traditional fishing grounds", though the incident occurred just a few nautical miles from the Natunas and about 900 nautical miles from Hainan. China's 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 industry's zone of operations, experts say. After the fishing boats clear the way, the coast guard is next, often followed by land reclamation on rocks and reefs and finally militarisation and control, said Alan Dupont, professor of international security at the University of NSW. "I call the strategy 'fish, protect, occupy and control'," he said. China blames the United States for militarising the South China Sea, citing President Obama's strategic rebalance to Asia, a recent deal to post US 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 Beijing's "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 China's ever-growing appetite for fish and its profitable and rapidly expanding fish export industry, already the world's largest. China's per-capita fish consumption was estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation at more than 36 kilograms in 2010, nearly double the global average, and is growing by roughly 8 per cent 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 and lobsters to be harvested - although competition is growing as more boats arrive. The government is also pushing the fishermen farther from shore. It provides fuel subsidies, with higher rates for bigger boats and journeys to the Spratlys. The Hainan government heavily subsidises 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 organises 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 China's version of the US Navy's freedom-of-navigation exercises in the South China Sea. They are, he said, designed to underline China's possession of "its waters." Embedded within the fishing communities and often organising these trips are what China calls its "maritime militia" - civilians trained in small-arms use whose job it is to help defend the country's maritime claims.

The Tanmen Maritime Militia is the most celebrated of the groups. It was honoured 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 China's 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 destroyer's bow, Defense News reported. Experts say those boats were probably manned by militia members. Andrew Erickson, at the US Navy War College's China Maritime Studies Institute, calls them China's "little blue men", comparing them to Russia's "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 US naval vessels.
British police arrested an 18-year-old man at Manchester airport on Saturday on suspicion of terrorism offences related to Syria's civil war.

The teenager from the central English city of Birmingham had posed no risk to the public, West Midlands Police said in a statement, without giving further details about why he was held.

The man, 18, was arrested at Manchester Airport. Credit:AFP

The detention was not connected to Friday's arrests of five other people from Birmingham, police said. Those were linked to last month's suicide bombings in Brussels, which killed 32 people, and November's attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, a security source said.

Earlier, police in Spain arrested a couple believed to be part of a group that supported and recruited Islamic State fighters, including individuals that had carried out suicide bomb attacks in Syria.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of VROMI, Mr. Angel Meyers, met with the President of the Indian Merchants Association Mr. D. Rawtani and Vice President Mr. C. Bijlani on Thursday April 14, 2016 to discuss the current issues regarding collection of Commercial Waste in the Philipsburg area, especially Front- and Backstreet. In accordance with the Waste Ordinance, collection and disposal of Commercial Waste is solely the responsibility of the businesses.

The representatives of the Indian Merchants Association expressed that they represent approximately 175 stores in Front- and Backstreet, and that most merchants had a Commercial Waste Collection agreement with various contractors.

The Indian Merchants Association is very willing to work collaboratively with Government and relevant contractor(s) to combat the situation of stray garbage in the commercial area of Philipsburg.

It is the intention of Minister Angel Meyers and the Indian Merchants Association to plan follow up meetings so that Government is kept abreast with the progress regarding the waste collections issues and other matters of importance.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee will meet in a session on April 18, 2016. The Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure will be present for the sitting of the House.

The Central Committee meeting has been set for Monday at 2.00 pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is the Draft National Ordinance amending the Ordinance spatial development plan in connection with the reintroduction of Article 28a.

This meeting is a continuation of the meeting that started on March 24, 2016.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com and via www.sxmparliament.org.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday April 11th and Tuesday April 12th a conference was held at the Divi Little bay Hotel in connection the realization of the Plans of Approach for 2016. The conference was opened at 09.00 a.m. by the Honorable Minister of Justice Edson Kirindongo who welcomed the delegations from The Netherlands, Curacao and Sint Maarten.

The minister then followed by stating that: This conference is being held due to the fact that in the month of October of this year the general order of Council regarding the execution of the Plans of Approach for the Police Force of Sint Maarten and the House of Detention will come to an end and that there must be a way for these two entities to maintain all that they have achieved thus far. In addition, the further strengthening of these entities should be worked on and also that this process be evaluated properly.

In other words we have to ensure that;

 the Plans of Approach are successfully finalized.

 the goals set in the Plans of Approach are achieved within the financial possibilities and that the milestone that have been achieved along those that are to be achieved be guaranteed.

The further building and strengthening of the KPSM and House of Detention to become better adequate organizations which can totally fill their roll in the safety and security of Sint Maarten has the fullest attention of country Sint Maarten.

The core question of this conference regarding the Plans of Approach is:

What can there be done to jointly achieve the outstanding aspects of the Plans of Approach and how do we move on after October 2016?

The conference ended positively with conclusion that both the House of Detention and the Korps Politie Sint Maarten will make a draft of their Plans of Approach which will be presented to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of General Affair who are responsible for the plans. After this documents have been discussed in the Council of Minister they will then be discussed in Second Chamber in the Netherlands on how to further process with the Plans of Approach.

The entities that were represented at this conference are namely: Representatives of the Netherlands in Philipsburg, members of the Progress Committee for the Plans of Approach for Sint Maarten, members of the Council for Law Enforcement, representatives of the Ministry Interior Affairs, representatives of the Ministry for Safety and Justice in the Netherlands, representatives for the Ministry of General Affairs, Finance and Justice on Sint Maarten. Representatives for the Police Force of Sint Maarten, House of Detention, Royal Dutch Marechaussee and the RST (Detective Collaboration Team).
GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government department under the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is advising persons living downwind from the landfill fire, to close windows and doors, especially persons who have a respiratory challenge. This action should also be taken in the future.

For persons who suffer from asthma, shortness of breath, or any other respiratory challenges, to close their windows and doors until the fumes clear.

Individuals who do not have respiratory issues but are residing downwind should also close their windows and doors if irritated by the smell from the fire.

Minister of Public Health Emil Lee commented, "The ministry is very much aware of the potentially negative impact that chemicals released into the air by the fire at the dump can have on the health of the population.

We advise the population to exercise caution when downwind of the fumes from the fire, and this also applies for future fire events at the landfill."

For information you can call CPS 542-2078 or 542-3003.
Dr. Paul Song also apologized, saying it was 'insensitive.'

Update: Dr. Paul Song abruptly resigned from his position on the progressive group called "The Courage Campaign," five days after making the controversial comments described below.

Dr. Paul Song, railing against the relationship between politicians and corporations before Sanders' supporters on Wednesday, said, "Medicare-for-all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma and the private insurance industry instead of us."

Song, a health care activist, tweeted later Wednesday that he was referring to some members of Congress.

"I am very sorry for using the term "whore" to refer to some in congress who are beholden to corporations and not us. It was insensitive," he tweeted.

I am very sorry for using the term "whore" to refer to some in congress who are beholden to corporations and not us. It was insensitive.

 Paul Y. Song (@paulysong) 6:00 PM - 13 Apr 2016

The comment drew criticism from Clinton supporters and others, who called on him to disavow it.

"Very distressing language to say the least. @BernieSanders should disavow," Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director tweeted.

Very distressing language to say the least. @BernieSanders should disavow. https://twitter.com/gideonresnick/status/720447169422090242 

 Jennifer Palmieri (@jmpalmieri) 3:50 AM - 14 Apr 2016

Jane Sanders, the senator's wife, told CNN's Chris Cuomo Thursday that she did not hear the phrase but guessed it wasn't about Clinton.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear it at all. Strange choice of words. I can't imagine that anybody was speaking about Secretary Clinton that way. I don't know who said that," she said on "New Day." "All the campaigns really need to take some responsibility for what surrogates say."

Sanders himself weighed in via Twitter. "Dr. Song's comment was inappropriate and insensitive. There's no room for language like that in our political discourse," Sanders tweeted Thursday.

Dr. Song's comment was inappropriate and insensitive. There's no room for language like that in our political discourse.

 Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) 5:33 AM - 14 Apr 2016

Bernie Sanders surrogate says his 'corporate whore' comment was 'taken out of context'

Thursday afternoon, Courage Campaign, a California-based progressive group that Song chairs, distanced itself from his remarks in a statement.

"Courage Campaign does not endorse political candidates. Dr. Paul Song, acting in his own capacity as a health care advocate, and separate from Courage Campaign, made comments at a rally in New York for Senator Bernie Sanders last night that are contrary to the values of Courage Campaign," the statement said. "These comments were unacceptable and that sort of rhetoric has no place in our political dialogue."

Song's wife is Lisa Ling, host of CNN's "This is LIfe with Lisa Ling." In his speech, he also said positive things about President Bill Clinton, who helped secure the release of Ling's sister from North Korea after she was captured in 2009.
European software market at a crossroads

[London, 15 April 2016] The European software sector is at a crossroads in 2016, with new models emerging and a driving pressure from customers anxious for changes in their competitiveness. The European Software and Solutions Summit 2016 ranged over issues as varied as cognitive computing, the emergence of ISVs from within enterprises to licensing and the timeframe for a successful software company buy-out.

The scene was set with a view of the trends in the software industry by Frost & Sullivans Martin Hoff ter Heide. Among the various trends examined was the increasing monetisation of personal data on the part of consumers, and the building of micro-income streams of businesses. He highlighted the impact of technology-driven change in Europe, including the loss of mid-income jobs in Europe from automation. This affects national economies while driving big changes in education; systems are continually applied for further cost reduction, he says, which drives further need for IT-based solutions.

The power of IT used for data analysis was a point well-made by IBM Watsons EMEA head, Paul Chong, with many examples of its transforming nature and the scale of resources invested in it. The use of the term cognitive computing was picked up and he explained that the AI (Artificial Intelligence) term was still associated with robots, with negative connotations. The power of Watson he said is available for ISVs to explore for themselves, at no cost.

Brussels-based Paul MacDonnell, from think-tank The Centre for Data Innovation is a close watcher of how the EU is moving towards data compliance and he was able to position how Europe, while being well placed in terms of skills and having succeeded in many technology areas, somehow fails to get coherence in terms of establishing standards. This may be because of a sense of distrust of the US giants, but, he said, Europe is not going to produce a Google or Facebook. It would do better to specialise in areas where it can make progress.

Every company is a software company, believes coMakeITs CEO Steven ten Napel. He viewed this, not so much as adding competitors to the ISV sector, but from the way almost every business and organisation is driven by applications and IT processes that it has created and understands. But the only way forward for ISVs of all types would be a wider ecosystem of supporters and partners. This is a cross-roads for the ISV, he explained, as they had to decide how to move forward in co-operation, in a market where skills would be scarce and the pace of development was picking up.

The well-attended breakouts covered the use of IoT and big data by ISVs, from presenters NaviSite and Panintelligence. ISVs were shown higher-margin alternatives to Oracle by Tmaxsofts UK MD Carl Davies, with IBMs ISV Business leader Bob Suter talking about new tools for ISVs to help the SaaS conversion, which will become available in the next few days.

The final rousing keynote was given by M&A specialist Hampletons senior director David Riemenschneider, who highlighted the IT sectors with the highest valuations, while also warning that it was sometimes less profitable to wait until a more mature business could be built; even early starters and start-ups can find a market, he advised and pointed to 2016 being a very successful year for activity.
Tellza Seeks Shareholder Approval for Share Consolidation

TORONTO, ONTARIO  (Marketwired)  04/15/16  Tellza Communications Inc. (TSX: TEL) announced today that it intends to propose a 15:1 consolidation of its issued and outstanding common shares (the Shares) at its annual and special meeting of shareholders to be held on May 26, 2016. The record date for the determination of shareholders entitled to receive notice of and vote at the meeting is April 6, 2016. If the shareholders pass the resolution to consolidate the Shares as proposed, management anticipates that it will effect the consolidation shortly after the meeting subject to the prior approval of The Toronto Stock Exchange. Upon the consolidation being effective, management estimates that there will be approximately 11,240,000 Shares outstanding. The management information circular regarding the annual and special meeting of shareholders and describing the proposed consolidation of Shares will be sent to shareholders and filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities in advance of the meeting.

Tellza has been profitable for five years and has grown significantly, while improving its balance sheet. At the same time, Tellza has not been successful in converting its operating success into recognized shareholder value. Management believes that the higher per share price resulting from a share consolidation could increase shareholder value as it may help generate interest in the Company among investors, reduce shareholder transaction costs and improve trading liquidity.

At current stock pricing, many institutional investors are simply prohibited from considering an investment in Tellza. By increasing the per share trading price, the proposed share consolidation could generate interest in Tellza among the larger investment community and enhance its value to our existing shareholders Said Gary Clifford, Executive Chairman.

About Tellza

Tellza is a Technology Company operating in the Communication market. The business is organized into three business units: Tellza Communications, Tellza Technologies and Tellza Investments. Tellza Communications is a global communications company operating under several brands: Route Dynamix, Phonetime, Tel3, and MatchcoM. Tellza Technologies provides real time big data management tools for the telecommunications market. Tellza Investments seeks portfolio investment opportunities in various market places. Tellza is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TEL).

The Companys financial statements and other disclosures are available on SEDAR.

The Companys corporate profile is located at .

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information:

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words like expects, anticipates, plans, intends, indicates or similar expressions. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. Tellzas actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors set forth in reports and other documents filed by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time. See which contains all securities files.

Contacts:

Gary Clifford

Tellza Communications Inc.

Executive Chairman

+647-281-1831

Michael Vazquez

Tellza Communications Inc.

Chief Executive Officer

+954-608-5058
Quote: MesaMan Originally Posted by .

It was like the inverse of an AV Moment: an out-of-the-blue urge/recall to not Drink.

I've not read much -- or anything -- about what you describe as the "inverse of an AV moment," Mesa, but I sure know the feeling. In fact, it's physical for me.My state is one of few that prohibits, for now, Sunday sales of alcohol. As things were getting worse, I'd find myself stopping at a gas station/convenience store about a mile outside my hometown on the way back from visits home. Ostensibly, to gas up, but usually to stock up, too. On some level, that was the indication to me that things were bad. I'd always say to myself "just to have a glass or two during 'Mad Men'" on Sunday nights. Yeah, right.I still stop there quite a bit when I'm home. And, like some sort of Pavlovian response, I'm struck by a wave of nausea when I get near the door. Not only that, even if I drive by the place, I feel a passing sensation like my stomach contents are about to come back up. Probably the closest thing to flashbacks since I've not stepped foot in a liquor store here (and you can only purchase booze in liquor stores in my state) for a very long time.The nausea never lasts more than a minute. Funny thing is, I'm pretty dang grateful for it, for the inverse AV effect.
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
Marquette springs upset, Slinger survives in football playoffs

The nine Milwaukee-area top-seeded football teams all won Friday night. The results across Level 1 set up some interesting games for the week ahead.
If your sky is clear early Sunday evening (April 17), be sure to look up to the southeast about an hour or so after sundown for a stunning cosmic duet. There, more than halfway up in the southeast sky you'll find an eye-catching sight: You'll immediately see the moon, which will be at its waxing gibbous phase, 85 percent illuminated, en route to becoming full during the overnight hours late Thursday night (April 21) to early Friday morning (April 22).

But on this particular Sunday evening, you'll also notice a very bright, silvery "star" shining with a steady glow to the left or upper left of the moon. That's not a star: it's the biggest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. Moon and planet will keep each other company as they move across the night sky through the course of the night.

Casual observers looking skyward will almost certainly wonder what that bright object near the moon happens to be, and I would encourage all of my fellow broadcast meteorologists to let their listeners and viewers in on what they're looking at on that night. [Big Dipper, Lyrid Meteors And More In April 2016 Skywatching (Video)]

Monday, April 18, 1 a.m. EDT. The waxing gibbous moon will pass just south of Jupiter. (Image credit: Starry Night Software

Jupiter is ideally placed for evening viewing, shining high and free of trees and other obstructions, and where even the distorting effect of the atmosphere is at its least. Jupiter currently shines in the constellation Leo. It reaches its highest point in the sky  transiting the meridian, as the astronomers would say  soon after 10 p.m. local time, and it sets during the predawn hours, around 4:40 a.m.

For amateur astronomers, Jupiter is the best of the planets; a superb telescopic object. Its disk shows more illuminated surface area than all the other planets combined. Users of the very smallest telescopes or even steadily held binoculars can identify some (or all four) of Jupiter's bright moons at any time.

But the planet's disk itself also draws a lot of attention. In large telescopes one can view its cloud belts; sometimes one or more can look strongly disturbed, full of knots and sprouting festoons or on the other side of the coin, perhaps looking like pale belts crossing the planet. Observing from Cebu, Philippines, Christopher Go, an assiduous watcher of Jupiter, recently described the famous Great Red Spot as "well resolved" with a dark core and containing dark streaks and tiny ovals. As always, seeing much detail on Jupiter requires a good quality telescope, good atmospheric seeing and patience behind the eyepiece.

Finally, if clouds hide your view of the moon and Jupiter on Sunday, don't fret. They'll be together again on May 14.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, N.Y. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Dig deep in the annals of astronomy and you'd be hard-pressed to find the name of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, a 19th-century astronomer whose ground-breaking insights about a special kind of star led to a cosmic yardstick for measuring the universe.

In 1923, Edwin Hubble used Leavitt's research to discover that a faint, fuzzy patch of light known as Andromeda was not part of the Milky Way, as scientists believed at the time, but instead was a separate galaxy. The universe suddenly became a much bigger place.

Photos: Hubble Logs Millionth Observation

Hubble had found a type of star know as a Cepheid variable, which brightens and fades in a predictable pattern, much like a lighthouse beacon.

But it was Leavitt, toiling away at the Harvard College Observatory more than a decade before Hubble, who realized that a Cepheid's cycle was related to its intrinsic brightness. That insight gave scientists a reliable tool to measure cosmic distances since a Cepheid, like a 100-watt light bulb, would appear to be dimmer the farther away it is.

Leavitt made her discovery from photographs of the Small Magellanic Clouds, though her work was published under the name of her boss, Edward Pickering, a paper presented at a 2004 American Astronomical Society meeting shows.

Who REALLY Discovered the Expanding Universe?

"Her assignment at the time was to catalogue stars, not to investigate them. She made this famous and extremely valuable discovery on her own initiative," wrote Pangratios Papacosta, a physics professor at Columbia College in Chicago.

"Hubble's underwhelming acknowledgment of Henrietta Leavitt is an example of the ongoing denial and lack of the professional and public recognition that Henrietta Leavitt suffers from, despite her landmark discovery," Papacosta added

"The vision of the cosmos was dramatically enhanced thanks largely to her discovery, yet no space telescope bears the name Leavitt and no USA postage stamp has been issued to honor her," he wrote.

Hubble's Recent Discoveries and Stunning Photos

More than a century after her ground-breaking work, Leavitt will be acknowledged by the highest office in the United States. President Obama will conclude his week-long stint as guest presenter on Science Presents DNews at 9pm ET/PT by talking about Leavitt's contributions.

Originally published on Discovery News.
The late "Star Trek" actor Leonard Nimoy, who died in February 2015, is the subject of a new film directed by his son, Adam, which is called "For the Love of Spock."

Like many people, Adam Nimoy has loved Mr. Spock from "Star Trek" since childhood.

But Adam Nimoy's feelings run deeper, and are more complicated than yours or mine. Spock was played by Adam Nimoy's dad, Leonard Nimoy, who died of a pulmonary disorder in 2015 at the age of 83.

Adam Nimoy's relationship with his dad, and his dad's relationship with Spock, are explored in detail in the new documentary "For the Love of Spock." After raising more than $600,000 on Kickstarter from "Star Trek" fans, Adam Nimoy and his colleagues premiered the movie at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on Saturday (April 16). A second screening will take place today (April 18). [The Evolution of 'Star Trek' (Infographic)]

"Spock resonated with so many people on so many levels," Adam Nimoy told Space.com. Spock's appeal, Adam Nimoy added, derives partly from the character's status "as an outsider on the [starship] Enterprise [who] tried to keep complete control of his emotions, which many of us aspire to do."

Spock was also a scientist, and his profession helped inspire many people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math  including a number of folks who ended up working at NASA, Adam Nimoy said.

For The Love Of Spock Teaser (opens in new tab) from 455 Films (opens in new tab) on Vimeo (opens in new tab).

Trekkie transformation

"For the Love of Spock" is a documentary about the life of Leonard Nimoy, Spock on "Star Trek," funded by fans through Kickstarter. (Image credit: For the Love of Spock)

Adam Nimoy said he has fond memories of watching "Star Trek" when the original TV series first aired, in the 1960s. But his father's celebrity eventually became a bit much for the younger Nimoy. So Adam Nimoy moved on, went off to college and stopped watching TV.

It was only after Adam Nimoy transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1970s that he realized a phenomenon was afoot: His college classmates would drop everything at 5 p.m., head to the TV room and watch "Star Trek" in syndication. (The original series aired from 1966 through 1969, and was canceled after three seasons.)

"Star Trek" was coming back, first with movies and then as a franchise that spawned multiple spin-off TV series, fan tributes and comic conventions.

The movie series was re-booted in 2009, featuring a new Spock played by Zachary Quinto, and another film hit theaters in 2013. Leonard Nimoy appeared in both of these movies (as an alternate-universe version of Spock) and publicly expressed support for Quinto; the two actors even did a car commercial together that poked fun at aspects of Spock's personality.

And the "Star Trek" renaissance goes on: Another film, "Star Trek Beyond," will hit theaters this July, 50 years after the original TV series debuted.

Constant evolution

Leonard Nimoy was always "artistically hungry," Adam Nimoy said. One famous example was Leonard Nimoy's request to direct "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984). The actor appears onscreen only at the very end of the film, so it was somewhat easier to manage being an actor and director at the same time, his son said.

But the elder Nimoy's decision to also direct "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986) made the actor's life "very challenging," Adam Nimoy said.

"He had to be on camera and behind the camera  he was sick a lot when making that film," Adam Nimoy explained.

But the result was a film that, to this day, is beloved by many "Star Trek" fans due to its (and Leonard Nimoy's) sense of humor. Adam Nimoy said one particular scene in "Star Trek IV"  which showed Spock neck-pinching a punk blasting music on a city bus  remains one of his all-time movie favorites.

Spock's evolution is shown throughout the documentary with a variety of classic episode clips, family pictures and interviews with key Hollywood players who worked with Leonard Nimoy.

Quinto and many other actors from the newest iteration of "Star Trek" films are interviewed in "For the Love of Spock," as are cast members from Leonard Nimoy's era, including William Shatner, George Takei and Nichelle Nichols. Astrophysicist and science popularizer Neil deGrasse Tyson also makes an appearance.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
2015 was an amazing year for entrepreneurs. With your leadership through #EntrepreneursUNite, we passed Goal 8, the global goal focused on job creation and economic opportunity for all, with support from more than 1.2 billion people -- now a top priority for the United Nations for the next 15 years.

The second-biggest accomplishment was completing an extensive quantitative study on women entrepreneurs in 31 countries around the world. The Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard comprised 70 percent of the worlds female population, to gain a macro perspective of what needs to change to help entrepreneurs scale.

Now that we know the roadblocks for small businesses and have succeeded in pushing them to the top of the U.N.s list, the hard work begins. Were in the mode of implementing key parts of Goal 8 to create the 600 million new jobs by 2025 that the United States needs to employ the entire eligible workforce. Were focusing on country-level initiatives, while working with world leaders to increase entrepreneurs access to our four pillars of success -- capital, markets, talent and technology.

Related: Why Overseas Job Creation Is Good for U.S. Workers

We are in an election year, and everyone is paying attention to you -- the job creators. Lets leverage; here is where we need your help:

Capital.

Its difficult, and sometimes impossible, for entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses when policies arent business-friendly. Crafting tax codes that support entrepreneurship and innovation that are easy to understand is key to unlocking a founders potential. In the long run, leaders are unlocking the potential for an entrepreneur to create the jobs needed to boost the economy, and making the nation as a whole more competitive. To the same end, creating a tax environment that allows entrepreneurs to fail and start back up again is equally as important. Were pushing hard for government leaders to recognize this, and were encouraging them to provide development grants and special compliance assistance to startups so they can scale.

Markets.

To be future-ready, entrepreneurs today must be global from the start. They must look for customers, partners, suppliers, workers and materials beyond their immediate region. To make it easier for small-town businesses to become global companies, were pushing for lower trade and non-tariff barriers and sound procurement policies. Were also calling for programs that make it easier for businesses to get started, such as a one-stop registration program. Thats how you break through barriers.

Related: 3 million new entrepreneurs to accelerate job creation in India & Africa

Talent.

Finding top-tier talent is essential for any ambitious entrepreneur. Networking groups, such as the Dell Womens Entrepreneur Network for global entrepreneurs and the Circular Board or 1776 for burgeoning American companies, make it easier for progressive people to meet like-minded folks. Immigration policies that welcome highly-skilled talent are also necessary to build competitive businesses. Lastly, we should be focused on encouraging entrepreneurship in children. So were focused on programs that inspire kids to think big and engage them in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, because this is how we create the new generation of talent.

Technology.

Emerging technologies are dramatically driving down the costs to start and scale a business. We need to keep building to enable every company to succeed. Dell has partnered with world-class technology leaders to keep businesses secure and agile, and it will continue to innovate. Weve also urged that leaders make access to high-speed Internet a priority, through public-private partnerships, municipal initiatives and financing, because it will help create new businesses that were never before possible.

Related: Putting Small Business on 'Fast Track' to Job Creation

By 2030, our vision is to enable a billion entrepreneurs to scale and be future ready. Were optimistic we can achieve that if we keep our focus on these four pillars and our wonderful partners!

Related:



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
A man is fighting for his life in hospital after falling from height at a construction site in central London.

Detectives are investigating after the man was injured at the building site, in the Victoria area, at around 4.10pm today, police said.

Paramedics and Londons Air Ambulance were called to the scene and the man was rushed to a major trauma centre.

He remains in hospital in a critical condition.

Police said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been informed.

The London Ambulance Service Joint Response Unit tweeted: Great team work earlier today with @LAS_HART @LDNairamb, a patient fell from height. Taken to a Major Trauma Centre.

Police have not yet released further details about the victim.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: Detectives from Westminster CID are investigating. Enquires continue.
P olice have made an arrest after a young man was stabbed near to a parade of shops in south-west London.

The victim, aged in his 20s, was knifed in Red Lion Road, at the junction with Thornhill Road, Tolworth, at about 2.55pm today.

He also suffered facial injuries during the attack, police said.

Police discovered the man after a shocked bystander approached an officer on patrol to tell them they had seen someone in the area with a knife.

Paramedics and Londons Air Ambulance attended and the man was taken to a south London hospital.

Police were not able to give further details about his condition.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: A man has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and he currently remains in custody at a south London police station.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.
T hree people were rescued after a fire broke out in a basement at a central London hotel.

Nearly 60 firefighters were sent to the blaze at a hotel in Princes Square, Bayswater, just after 11pm on Friday.

Crews managed to rescue three men from the burning premises, one from the first floor and two from the second floor of the five story property.

All three were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Around 200 people had managed to leave the hotel unharmed after it was evacuated.

Firefighters remained at the hotel for nearly three hours before they left just before 2am.

Crews from Paddington, North Kensington, Soho, Hammersmith and West Hampstead fire stations used an aerial ladder platform during the operation.

Station Manager Charles Hanks who was at the scene said: "Our crews worked hard to confine the fire to the basement and to stop it from spreading to the upper floors of the hotel.

Firefighters rescued three people and carried out a systematic search of the building to make sure no-one else was inside."

London Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
A row has broken out over the future of Highgate Cemetery which has led to fears the burial ground could become a Disneyland of Death.

An argument has erupted over the election of new trustees to The Friends of Highgate Trust to oversee the famous grounds where Karl Marx and George Eliot are buried.

It has been claimed the group is looking to attract more business brains over community minded volunteers as it looks to generate more cash from visitors.

The Camden New Journal reported tensions were further raised this week when one of the cemeterys protectors, who act as a watchdog to the trustees, resigned after she wrote a critical letter.

Janet Wolf is believed to have told the volunteer group there was a growing emphasis on the cemetery as a tourist attraction, with a constant drive to increase visitor numbers and visitor income. We are on the way to becoming a theme park.

Sam Perrin, a former guide at the cemetery and member of the friends group, said the elections had become like the next series of The Apprentice due to the importance given to corporate skills.

She said: It wouldn't surprise me if, in the future, the cemetery ends up a Disneyland of Death, the paper reported.

Chief executive of the group Dr Ian Dungavell dismissed comparisons the cemetery would be run as a theme park.

He told the Camden New Journal: Theres a lot of things we dont do that other cemeteries do. We dont do anything at Halloween to bring people here. We dont do spooky ghost walks.

If people are looking for Disneyland here, they are going to be very disappointed.

The elections are due to take place later this month.

Financial pressure has increased on the cemetery because of the number of people choosing to be cremated instead of being buried, meaning it is increasingly reliant on money from visitors.

Dr Dungavell told the newspaper: If you step back from the internal politics, it can be said there is a success story at Highgate.

People have strong views but we dont get any money from the local authority, which is thankful because local authority budgets have been reduced in austerity but it means we are reliant on income from visitors, burials and donations.
T his is the moment an audience member at a Vote Leave rally interrupted a Channel 4 journalist during a live broadcast after he was encouraged by Boris Johnson.

The strange incident happened on Friday as political broadcaster Michael Crick reported on the Mayor of London's speech in Manchester.

As Mr Johnson addressed the audience, he turned his attention towards Mr Crick who was giving a report at the back of the room.

He told the audience: Some chap from the media is trying to do his piece-to-camera. Shut up. Can someone go and interrupt Crick at the back there?"

Tell Crick, you can do your piece-to-camera when Ive finished.

One supporter then marched up to Mr Crick before he grabbed his arm and said do you mind.

Blocked: The man stood in front of the camera to partially block Mr Crick to viewer's screens / Channel 4

Mr Crick responded: Excuse me Im live on television, to which the man replied well keep quiet, the guy is trying to talk and youre interrupting.

The journalist said: Im just trying to explain whats going on here, before the man stood in front of the camera to partially block Mr Crick from viewers screens.

He was eventually led away.

Mr Johnsons behaviour was compared to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump following the incident but Mr Crick dismissed the claim on Twitter.

He told followers: Unfair for people on Twitter to compare Boris Johnson with Trump over what he did with me tonight. Johnson a very media-friendly politician

The speech was part of Mr Johnson's quickfire Brexit blitz which will see him continue the call for Britain to leave the EU in Leeds and Newcastle on Saturday.
I t was the week that saw thousands demonstrating against the right-wing party National Front in 1979 and a bomb explosion in Brick Lane injuring seven people in 1999.

In 1979, thousands of people protested against The National Front in Southall, west London. One of the protesters was Blair Peach, a member of the Anti-Nazi League from New Zealand, who was gravely wounded during the fights and later died in hospital.

In 1999, seven people were injured after a bomb  hidden in a car - exploded outside a cafe in Brick Lane. This was the second explosion within a week, with the first being detonated in Brixton and leaving 48 people wounded. Six days later, another attack killed three people in Soho. The suspected bomber was captured and sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in jail.

This week in London trawls the archives to bring you the key events that have taken place in the capital during the past century.

London Live's Toby Earle takes a look back at some of the highlights from the third week of April.

He finishes with Eric Scott breaking the world record for the fastest jetpack flight in 2004. At 68mph, Scott took only 26 seconds to fly up to 152ft above the castle in Stoke Newington.
A 29-year-old British traveller has gone missing after visiting a mountain in Peru more than a week ago.

The family of Harry Greaves, from Shropshire, said it is out of character for him not to contact anybody but stressed he was well-prepared.

The Lucie Blackman Trust, which works to support Britons in crisis abroad, said on its website that a thorough search had been made of the area Mr Greaves was visiting with no sign found of him.

The trust said furniture maker Mr Greaves flew to Peru on February 20. He was travelling in the country while visiting friends in Pisac, near Coscou.

The website said: "He attended a permaculture course before heading into the jungle with a group. He sent two very positive and happy emails home and seemed to be enjoying his time there."

The trust said that on April 7 he told friends he wanted to spend the day by himself on a mountain and they expected to see him back on April 10 but he did not return.

The website said: "Harry does often desire to travel alone and he is very practical, self-reliant and used to outward bound activities. He set out with full travelling kit including tent and sleeping bag.

"However, a thorough search of the area he intended to visit has been made without success."

It added: "Whilst it may be that he decided to explore another area than previously planned, concern is mounting for Harry's safety and well-being."

His sister, Ellen Greaves, told the BBC: "He's done a number of outdoor trips before. We understand he went with provisions - with a tent and food."

"We've contacted the Foreign Office here. Interpol now know all the details and, out there, his friends have contacted the local police, local bus stations, local taxis."
T he way broadband speed is advertised is misleading and needs reform, a group of MPs has said.

The British Infrastructure Group, made up of cross-party politicians, said internet providers are not in breach of advertising guidelines even if just 10 per cent of customers obtain the fastest advertised speed.

Former Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps hit out at the Advertising Standards Authority and said customers should be compensated and able to leave contracts if they have been misled.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: It seems to us that's extraordinary.

Clearly there is an issue with broadband in this country.

"This is talking about all internet service providers who are failing to provide anything like the speeds they are advertising. Of course, once you are in the contract you can't leave it and you don't get compensation."

The infrastructure group's report found that customers had "very few rights" and must be given more powers to act if broadband speeds do not reach the levels promised.

He added: "Rather than one in ten, it should be nine in ten people receive the speeds. You should get automatic compensation.

You should be able to leave the contract and if we can't get the internet service providers, or indeed, the regulators, to do that, well then parliament will need to act.

The Advertising Standards Authority said it was aware of concerns about speeds.

It said: "Our position on broadband speed claims in ads is based on extensive work undertaken in recent years, including a full public consultation on new guidance."
T he Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived at the Taj Mahal where they poignantly retraced the steps of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Prince William and Kate visited the Unesco World Heritage site in the Indian city of Agra on Saturday during their tour of India and Bhutan.

Diana, the Dukes mother, was famously pictured sitting alone in front of the monument in 1992, which prompted rumours about her marriage to the Prince of Wales and became the defining image of their tour.

Before the couple flew out for India, Kensington Palace said the prince was looking to create new memories by visiting the attraction.

Poignant: Prince William and Kate pictured in front of the Taj Mahal / PA

The royals arrived in India from Bhutan where they spent two days forming bonds with their hosts the Dragon King and his Queen.

The Cambridges' hosts held a welcome dinner for them on Thursday and the foursome talked long into the night with the gathering not finishing until 11pm - two hours over schedule.

Excited: The couple were said to be looking forward to visiting the world heritage site / PA

Kate left wearing a necklace - a present from the Queen - and was dressed in a cream outfit by Alexander McQueen.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in India and Bhutan 1 /54 Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in India and Bhutan The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their hike to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, near Paro, Bhutan, during day six of the Royal tour to India and Bhutan Joe Giddens/PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge overlook the Tiger's Nest Monastery, near Paro, Bhutan, during day six of the Royal tour to India and Bhutan Joe Giddens/PA Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge pose next to a prayer wheel on the trek up to Tiger's Nest during a visit to Bhutan Chris Jackson/Getty Images Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge pose next to a prayer wheel on the trek up to Tiger's Nest during a visit to Bhutan Chris Jackson/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a trek to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, near Paro, Bhutan, during day six of the Royal tour to India and Bhutan Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave the Taj Tashi hotel, in Thimphu, Bhutan, to attend a dinner with King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema on day five of the royal tour to India and Bhutan Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duchess of Cambridge reacts after firing an arrow at an archery event in Thimphu, Bhutan, during day five of the royal tour to India and Bhutan Joe Giddens/PA Prince William, Duke of Cambridge looks on as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge fires an arrow during an Bhutanese archery demonstration on the first day of a two day visit to Bhutan in Paro, Bhutan Splash News Prince William, Duke of Cambridge looks on as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge fires an arrow during an Bhutanese archery demonstration on the first day of a two day visit to Bhutan in Paro, Bhutan Chris Jackson/Getty Images The Duchess of Cambridge and The Queen of Bhutan Jetsun Pema (right) at Tashichho Dzong in Thimphu, Bhutan, during day five of the royal tour to India and Bhutan Joe Giddens/PA The Duchess of Cambridge and The Queen of Bhutan Jetsun Pema (right) at Tashichho Dzong in Thimphu, Bhutan, during day five of the royal tour to India and Bhutan Joe Giddens/PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pose for a photo with the sister of the King of Bhutan Chhimi Yangzom and her husband at Paro International Airport, Bhutan, during day five of the Royal tour to India and Bhutan Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Paro International Airport, Bhutan, during day five of the Royal tour to India and Bhutan Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Paro International Airport in Bhutan, during day five of the royal tour to India and Bhutan. Joe Giddens/PA The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at Paro International Airport in Bhutan, during day five of the royal tour to India and Bhutan Joe Giddens/PA Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, feeds a baby rhino at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Panbari reserve forest in Kaziranga in the northeastern state of Assam AFP/Getty Images Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge ride a car during a Game drive at Kaziranga National Park at Kaziranga National Park Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, pets a rhino calf at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Panbari reserve forest in Kaziranga in the northeastern state of Assam AFP/Getty Images Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, feeds a baby rhino at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Panbari reserve forest in Kaziranga in the northeastern state of Assam AFP/Getty Images The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Rangers in Kaziranga National park in Assam, India, on day four of the Royal tour to India and Bhutan Heathcliff O'Malley/Daily Telegraph/PA Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (C) and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (R) speak with an Indian forest official before leaving for a jeep safari through Kaziranga National Park on the fourth day of the royal visit to India and Bhutan AFP/Getty Images Kate during an art class run by Salaam Baalak, which provides emergency help to homeless children at New Delhi station The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arriving for a visit to a children's centre Dominic Lipinski/PA The couple met some of India's most vulnerable children at New Delhi station The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on the third day of their royal tour Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duchess of Cambridge next to the Indian Prime Minister at Hyderabad House Dominic Lipinski/PA The Duchess of Cambridge visited a charity that provides emergency support to homeless children Dominic Lipinski/PA Kate and her husband played games with children and helped them with their art Dominic Lipinski/PA Kate attended a garden party to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday on Monday in New Dehli, India Mark Large/Getty Images The couple laid a wreath at the Taj Hotel, scene of Mumbai terror attacks, on Sunday Mark Cuthbert/Getty Images They visited the Old Birla House museum on Monday Ian Vogler/Getty Images A wreath was laid to honour soldiers from Indian regiments who served in the First World War Dominic Lipinski/Getty Images Respects were also paid to Mahatma Gandhi at the spot where he was assassinated Dominic Lipinski/Getty Images The Duchess had a so-called "Marilyn moment" when her dress was caught in the wind Dominic Lipinski/Getty Images Kate showed off her big-hitting skills in a game of cricket with Indian children Rafiq Maqbool/AFP/Getty Images She met children from three non-governmental organisations and watched cricket at Mumbai's iconic recreation ground Chris Jackson/Getty Images) The game was played at the Oval Maidan during the royal tour Chris Jackson/Getty Images Indian cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar was the bowler as Kate dispatches him off one delivery Chris Jackson/Getty Images The royals arrived at a Bollywood inspired charity gala at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel on Sunday Chris Jackson/Getty Images Earlier Prince William met young entrepreneurs during a visit to Mumbai Heathcliff O'Malley/Getty Images He was joined by his wife as they discussed business with the country's emerging talents Heathcliff O'Malley/Getty Images

The couple were waved off by the Governor of Paro Chenko Tshering and education minister Norbu Wangchuk who greeted the couple when they arrived in Bhutan two days ago.

Speaking about the success of their tour, Mr Wangchuk said: 'I think our happiness index has shot up, this visit has been a blessing for Bhutan. It is wonderful they got to meet our King and Queen and the new prince."

The royals arrive in Bhutan

Mr Tshering, who was with the couple during their visit to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, said: '"They loved the walk and were very fit. William got to see a yak which he said was a first.

"They're a marvellous couple and it's been an honour to receive them. The relationship between our king and queen and the British people is a good one."

Additional reporting by PA
P ope Francis has taken three families of Syrian refugees back on his plane to Vatican after he visited the frontline of Europes migrant crisis in Greece.

The head of the Catholic church made the gesture after he visited a sprawling camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos where migrants wept at his feet, kissed his hand and begged for help.

Around 3,000 people are trapped at the Moira camp after the EU and Turkey struck a deal to halt the migrant flow last month.

Following a five-hour visit, Pope Francis welcomed a dozen refugees onto his plane.

Welcome: Pope Francis greets children on the Greek island of Lesbos / Andrea Bonetti/AP

A statement issued by the Vatican said: The Pope has desired to make a gesture of welcome regarding refugees, accompanying on his plane to Rome three families of refugees from Syria, 12 people in all, including six children.

The individuals were selected from lots drawn according to reports and will be looked after by Rome-based Christian community Sant'Egidio.

In a speech at the camp, Pope Francis said: I want to tell you, you are not alone.

"As people of faith, we wish to join our voices to speak out on your behalf. Do not lose hope."

TODO: define component type brightcove

As he walked through the island, migrants chanted freedom, freedom as adults fell to the pontiffs feet on at least three occasions.

Hundreds of people have died making the crossing from Turkey to the Lesbos shores in inflatable dinghies in the past year, and the island is full of unmarked graves.

The Pope and other Orthodox leaders later threw wreaths into the sea to commemorate those who lost their lives.
This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. To help you find what you are looking for:

Enter Search Term(s):

Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL.

Thank you for visiting state.gov.
Since the end of 2014, a Las Vegas-based debt collection firm has filed more than a thousand lawsuits against St. Louis area residents, claiming that they still owed money for treatment performed years ago at SSM Health emergency rooms.

The wave of lawsuits brought by CP Medical LLC, which even sued the pastor of a local Catholic church, has left many former SSM patients confused about their financial obligations and fearful of the legal consequences, which can include garnished wages and the seizure of money in bank accounts.

A Post-Dispatch analysis found that CP Medical has filed at least 1,078 lawsuits in St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County between Dec. 2, 2014, and March 10, 2016. After reviewing all the lawsuits, the newspaper found that 99 percent of the cases involved debt that originated from ER treatment at an SSM hospital.

Robert Swearingen, an attorney with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, said hes never seen medical debt pile up in the local courts like this before. He now represents multiple defendants in these cases.

I hardly ever see medical debt in St. Louis, Swearingen said. Although aggressive collection practices are common in other regions of the U.S., it may be a new trend in St. Louis, he said.

The fact that the lawsuits are directed at those treated at hospitals owned by SSM, a Creve Coeur-based Catholic and nonprofit health system, is surprising to some legal health experts, given its charitable mission to provide care to all regardless of their ability to pay.

But the litigation isnt being done on behalf of SSM Health or business partner Schumacher Clinical Partners, a for-profit firm that runs many of its local emergency rooms.

CP Medical LLC is one of several affiliates of Duluth, Ga.-based Capio Partners LLC, one of the nations leading medical debt collection companies.

During the last five years, Capio and its affiliated companies have purchased more than 19 million accounts across the country with a face value of more than $17 billion, according to its website.

SSM executives said they were unaware of the suits until the Post-Dispatchs inquiries.

Schumacher said litigation is common after a debt sale. The for-profit company declined to disclose how much debt it sold to Capio from ER treatment at SSM facilities.

How Capio got that debt is the result of outsourced medical services, and blurring lines between for-profit and nonprofit operations.

Capio, founded in 2008 by veteran collection agent Jim Richards, brags about a philosophy of Complaintless Collections on its website. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation in 2011 found the company has been sued 15 times in federal court alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The company declined several requests by the Post-Dispatch for comment.

OUTSOURCED MEDICINE

In the summer of 2012, Latonya Harris was working a minimum wage job and had no health insurance. When Harris struggled to breathe because of complications from asthma, her mother rushed her to St. Marys Hospital in Richmond Heights, the hospital closest to their red brick home in St. Louis.

Now Harris is being sued in a complaint filed Jan. 18 in St. Louis Circuit Court for $1,956.

I knew I had to have a bill, but I thought theyd try to work with you, she said. She was willing to pay but was hoping to work out a payment plan. She couldnt afford the whole amount upfront, but thats what the bill collector kept asking for, she said.

I still dont understand it completely, Harris said. I came back to get medicine because I couldnt breathe, and now Im getting sued for it.

What Harris didnt know is that St. Marys emergency room isnt run by the hospital but by a contractor.

Concerned about the rising cost and complexities needed to staff emergency rooms, SSM made the decision in 2008 to contract out most of its ERs to Lafayette, La.-based Schumacher Clinical Partners. Today, Schumacher runs all of SSMs local emergency rooms except those at Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital and St. Louis University Hospital. Many of the areas other local hospitals also outsource emergency services, but none uses Schumacher.

Its a common practice in the industry, but some legal experts say the nonprofit hospitals are exposing their most vulnerable patients, who are poor or uninsured, to potentially aggressive collection practices even when those patients would otherwise be eligible for discounts or charity care. Its these patients who often turn to the ER for medical care.

Youve got to think, especially for a hospital that is not only a nonprofit but supposedly a Catholic hospital, to be letting this happen in their community is appalling, said Chi Chi Wu, an attorney for the Boston-based National Consumer Law Center.

In exchange for a tax-exempt status, nonprofit hospitals are expected, and required, by at least the Internal Revenue Service, to provide financial assistance to the poor and uninsured. The IRS does not specify how much charity care or financial assistance tax-exempt hospitals should provide.

But that requirement does not explicitly extend to third-party contractors that the hospital hires, said Erin Fuse Brown, assistant professor of law at Georgia State Universitys Center for Law Health and Society.

On Jan. 10, 2014, Schumacher sold its unpaid ER bills to Capio Funding LLC, according to many exhibits contained in the lawsuits.

In an interview this month, a Schumacher representative said the company makes repeated attempts to contact the patient to collect some payment before the debt is sold.

Those accounts are on average like over 800 days old, so theyre really, really old, where the patient has more than likely ignored our efforts to try to get in touch with them, said Keith Cantrell, chief revenue officer with Schumacher.

He declined to say how much debt was sold to Capio.

The amount paid for debt varies by the type of debt. Typically, debt buyers will pay more for mortgage debt and less for medical and utility debt, according to a 2013 report by the Federal Trade Commission.

On average, debt buyers paid 5 cents for each dollar of medical debt purchased in 2008, the study found.

Brown said buyers such as Capio purchase medical debt in bulk for a specific price, and anything they can collect over that is a profit for them.

CAN CP PROVE DEBT?

Cathleen Schmidt was sued in November over a disputed $1,183 bill for care provided at St. Marys Hospital in 2011 when she was very ill from the flu.

Countless letters and calls came from a debt collector after her visit to the emergency room. The St. Louis woman was confused about owing any money because she was uninsured and a doctor said she wouldnt be billed.

Meanwhile, the price of the visit kept increasing on the bills the debt collectors sent her, leaving her even more confused, according to Schmidt. When she called the debt collector, the representatives couldnt even tell her who they were collecting for.

Once she found out from her lawyer that the bills stemmed from a visit to St. Marys, she called to obtain her records to figure out the cost of her visit. She said she filled out a form to get the information, but hospital officials said they couldnt process it without an exact date.

Unfortunately, its a tale thats all too common for patients being sued over past medical debt, said Jessica Curtis, attorney with Community Catalyst, a Boston-based nonprofit focused on consumer advocacy in health care.

They get stuck between the debt collector and the provider. The debt collector doesnt have enough information, and sometimes the provider no longer has a record, she said.

By this time, Schmidt sought help from Legal Services, a nonprofit that provides legal representation to low-income individuals.

In counterclaims, Swearingen, her lawyer, pressed CP Medical to prove its allegations.

Accompanying many of the lawsuits are affidavits signed by a Kristen Reed, custodian of records for CP Medical.

In the affidavits, Reed claims she could testify in court that she is personally familiar with the accounts of the defendants, including Schmidts.

Thats untrue, Swearingen said in a counterclaim made in Schmidts case. The lawyer claimed that Reed did not review any documents associated with Schmidts case, or others, and calls her a robo signor, or someone who signs affidavits without making sure theyre accurate.

Thats deceptive and misleading, Swearingen said. He said CP Medical overstates what they know as a ploy to secure default judgments against defendants.

The legal duel ended with a settlement in February. The terms cant be disclosed, but Schmidt said she was very happy with the resolution.

Schmidts favorable outcome appears to be rare in these kinds of cases.

Many defendants dont even show up to court after theyve received a summons out of fear of the consequences or the lack of resources to get to court or find a lawyer, Swearingen said.

The Post-Dispatch analysis of the 1,078 cases showed that a defendant had an attorney in only 17.

But if defendants dont show up, the case will likely end in a default judgment, paving the way for the debt buyer to come after bank accounts or garnish wages, he said.

That, of course, is what CP Medical is hoping for, Swearingen said.

Theyre a default judgment machine, he said.

The best action someone can take is simply showing up to court to ask questions.

If anybody stands in their way, they dismiss the case, Swearingen said. Their business model is not to prove anything.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?

Even though SSM hospital employees and Schumacher employees work under the same roof, the two entities are held to different standards when it comes to helping patients financially.

The hospital itself is under a charitable obligation, but not the contractor, legal experts said.

So thats the problem in this case, there is a middleman that is allowing them to skirt that requirement, Curtis, the health care advocate, said.

The contractor is not required by the same IRS rules as the hospital to maintain financial assistance policies and to only use extraordinary collection measures after making sure a patient is not eligible for assistance.

The physician practice doesnt have to comply with the tax-exempt standards, Brown, the Georgia State law professor, said of the contractor.

However, Schumacher said it matches the charity care or financial assistance its hospital clients such as SSM provide patients. Cantrell, the Schumacher executive, said his company wrote off 542 accounts in 2015 worth a total of $583,000.

SSM declined to say how much revenue Schumacher handles in the ER. Schumacher did not respond to a request for comment on this question.

But there may be a gap in whos getting help because of how that information is relayed between the two organizations.

Karen Rewerts, chief financial officer for SSM Health, said the burden is on the patients to tell Schumacher when theyve received financial help from SSM so Schumacher can match it.

Said Cantrell: When were informed, were absolutely matching what they (SSM) do.

But after the Post-Dispatch asked about the flurry of CP Medical lawsuits, Rewerts and Cantrell said they would re-examine their procedures. SSM said it plans to devise a way where it can inform Schumacher directly of the patients that received financial help from SSM instead of relying on patients to share that information.

Its possible somebody fell through the cracks, Rewerts said. If we didnt make it right, well make it right between our organizations.

Still, the aggressive collection activity by Capio seems at odds with SSMs own billing and collecting policies.

By its own account, SSMs own public policies says it provides care to all persons in need regardless of their ability to pay.

All billing and collection policies and practices will reflect the mission and values of SSM Health, including our special concern for people who are poor and vulnerable, SSMs policies say.

SSM said it will not initiate any extraordinary collection actions without first making reasonable efforts to determine whether the patient is eligible for financial assistance.

And SSM says it will only take legal action against individuals on a case-by-case review and only when it is clear that the patient has income or assets to pay the bill.

Even though SSM says it will not force the sale or foreclosure of a patients home, it may place a lien against the home, garnish a patients wages or obtain payment from bank accounts or other assets.

Any legal action, however, requires the approval of the director of the patient service center. According to electronic court filings in Missouri, SSM Health was listed as a plaintiff in six cases.

Schumacher says Capio uses a computer algorithm to determine which patients have the means to pay before bringing a patient to court for an overdue bill.

They dont just blanket-sue anyone, so I dont want you to have the impression that were out suing people erroneously without vetting through the accounts, Cantrell said.

The algorithm, however, didnt miss the Rev. Jack Siefert of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Brentwood. Archdiocese of St. Louis officials said Siefert would not comment on the suit.

Siefert was sued for $1,183 on Aug. 31, 2015, for services performed at St. Marys ER on Sept. 4, 2011. Attorney Phil Graham represented Siefert, and the case was dismissed on Nov. 24, 2015.

Siefert and other archdiocesan priests do have health care coverage and are responsible for copays, said Gabe Jones, spokesman for the St. Louis Archdiocese. Jones said the priests do make a modest salary.

NONPROFIT AT RISK?

The discrepancy between the way Schumacher and SSM handled medical debt could raise questions about SSMs nonprofit status, according to advocates.

If the contractor does not adopt the hospitals financial assistance policies, that puts SSM on shakier legal ground with regard to meeting the criteria for a federal tax exemption, Curtis said.

One of the requirements to run a tax-exempt hospital in the eyes of the IRS is to operate an emergency room open to all.

Brown, the law professor, agreed.

If the hospital outsources its emergency room care to a third party and doesnt cover that party with its financial assistance policy, it cannot say that it operates an emergency room open to all, which is one of the factors required by the IRS to qualify for tax-exempt status, she said.

The differences also raise a moral question for Brown.

It still is a terrible thing to happen at a nonprofit Catholic, charitable hospital, that probably has in its mission statement to serve the indigent and the poor, and then they come to the hospital and get financially ruined by their contractor, she said.

Walker Moskop and Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
In 1970, Donny Hathaway released his first single, The Ghetto. Rolling Stone hailed the him as a major new force in soul music. At the dawn of the decade, the performer and songwriter from St. Louis seemed to be at the dawn of his own brilliant career.

But Hathaway also had paranoid schizophrenia. In 1979, when he fell to to his death in New York, it was ruled a suicide. He was 33 years old.

His illness, as much as his music, drew actor Kelvin Roston Jr. to Hathaway's story. We tend not to talk about mental illness, especially in our community. There's a stigma, said Roston, author of and sole performer in Twisted Melodies. It opens this week at the Black Rep. It would have been easier to talk about if he'd had cancer. But we have to talk about this.

When Twisted Melodies debuted at Chicago's Congo Square Theatre last year, Roston had no idea how audiences would react. The whole point was to open up a conversation about mental illness, he explained. And we really did! It still boggles my mind.

Twisted Melodies turned out to be so popular that the whole production was revived. Most performances included post-show discussions coordinated with the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Now, the Chicago chapter of NAMI is about to give Roston its Light in the Darkness award, honoring him for the play and his efforts to break the silence.

The St. Louis production will also include talk-backs  the Black Rep is partnering with NAMI and other agencies for this production. No doubt there will be more discussions down the road, when Twisted Melodies opens in Baltimore.

Roston, who researched Hathaway extensively for the play, thinks he was probably ill even as a student at Vashon High, when he took multiple showers a day and wore his coat all the time. Still, he did so well in school that he won a scholarship to Howard, where he met both his wife, Eulaulah, and his frequent partner in music, Roberta Flack. (Among their songs: The Closer I Get to You and Where Is the Love?)

But as time went on, Hathaway's health deteriorated. Sometimes he watched static on TV (he saw patterns in it) or listened to blank tapes. Maybe he thought he heard something, or maybe he just liked the silence.

Roston, who dismisses the argument that Hathaway was pushed, doesn't even think the manner of Hathaway's was particularly shocking.

He was often seen hanging out of a window, screaming and yelling, said the actor, who moved from St. Louis to Chicago about nine years ago. When he was unmedicated, he was unbearable to be around. But when he took medicine  medicine in the 1970s, not today  the side effects were unbearable for him.

I don't know if he jumped on purpose or not. But I believe he wanted a way to quiet everything inside.

To some extent, Hathaway was cut off from friends and family by then, isolated and stigmatized by mental illness. That spoke to Roston, who has been aware of that stigma since his childhood in Wellston. His mother was diagnosed with a different mental illness, bipolar disorder.

Today Roston is a professional actor who works all the time (he's currently booked a year out, rare in the theater world). In June, he and his fiancee, actress Alexis J. Rogers, will celebrate their wedding (a theater wedding, he says, at Chicago's Black Ensemble Theater). He might have chosen to put troubling family issues behind him, But Hathaway's story has been on Roston's mind a long time  almost as long as he's loved performing.

Roston's grandfather  the late Pastor Roosevelt Bibbs, a man Roston calls the backbone of our family  turned Roston and his younger brother and sister into a singing trio. They performed at church events too small for the whole choir. There were plays in church, too, particularly exciting because, as an actor, Roston could sit in the important chair usually reserved for his grandfather.

Going straight through Catholic schools, he got involved in theater at Cardinal Ritter College Prep; soon, he drew his fellow-student and cousin Ronald Conner into the theater program, too. In the years since, both have become stalwarts of the Black Rep, often playing leading roles.

There was a gap, though. After college, Roston took a job in airline reservations. But when Conner told him he belonged with him, at the Black Rep, Roston listened. I quit my job to be a production assistant there, he said. I thought, this might be the only time that window opens, the window to what I really love  the arts.

He first thought about a play based on Donny Hathaway when the Black Rep's founder and producing director, Ron Himes, urged all the young interns and staffers to create one-person shows. Roston thought of Hathaway immediately, but the idea slowly simmered for years until he. At Congo, he talked it over with the artistic director, Sam Roberson, emphasizing his concern about stigma. He told me that was the point, said Roston, who began revising and rewriting the play for its Chicago debut.

A one-person show presents a special kind of challenge, of course. There's no one around to help if you run into trouble; the show's energy depends on you. Roston thinks he may continue to write for the stage, as well as to act. But if I write another one-man show, he said, it will be for somebody else.

"Twisted Melodies"

When  Previews Wednesday and Thursday; opening Friday and running through May 1

Where  Washington University's Edison Theatre

How much 
Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice is the perfect story.

In Elizabeth Bennet, it has a strong, sympathetic, intelligent heroine, with a quick wit that usually serves her well but sometimes gets her into trouble. In Fitzwilliam Darcy, we have a satisfying hero, a handsome introvert of plentiful intelligence whose nobility of spirit is not immediately evident to Elizabeth or the reader, but which comes through when it counts. In the host of secondary characters and subplots, we have Austens incisively drawn portraits and plenty of diversion.

The comedy of manners has been put down by some for what they see as its formulaic romance-novel plot line: The couple start off on the wrong foot, enjoy a period of mutual hostility and then realize that their love is strong and true. Whats not as widely recognized is that Austen invented the formula in the first place, and her comic take on it is eternally fresh.

Although set firmly in its place and time, Englands County of Hertfordshire during the Napoleonic Wars (not that youd ever know there was a major war going on from Austens novels), the story has a timelessness that transcends the centuries. The details of their daily lives differ vastly from ours, but the humanity of these characters and their pursuit of love and happiness remain the same.

Its easy to identify with Lizzy Bennet. Shes bright, warm, aggressively verbal, quick to judge and sometimes slow to reconsider those judgments. Like most of us, she makes some serious missteps in romance. Unlike many of us, she gets a second chance at her soulmate.

Although her situation demands that she marry or be condemned to a life as a spinster in her parents home or a wedded sisters household, Lizzy is a strong woman. No doormat, she spurns the odious Mr. Collins, where a more pragmatic woman  specifically, her friend Charlotte Lucas  would grab the financial security contained in his offer of marriage. Lizzy has both sense and sensibility; shes practical, but she requires a husband whom she can genuinely love, a true companion in every sense.

No wonder the 1813 book has been the launching pad for a score of spinoffs and adaptations, books and movies and television series, from Pamela Aidens Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy of novels, which tells the story from Darcys point of view, to assorted television miniseries, to Bridget Joness Diary to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Now comes Eligible, St. Louis-based author Curtis Sittenfelds contemporary take on the tale. Set in Cincinnati in the present, it uses Austens original as a starting point.

Deborah Yaffe, author of Among the Janeites, about Jane Austen devotees, says that most Austen fan fiction falls into one of two categories. Some is written by people who wish that Austen had written more books, and who want to relive the emotions they felt reading Pride and Prejudice or another of her tales.

The other category, she says, is by authors who give the familiar Austen characters new qualities or characteristics: Darcy might have an affair with Bingley, or the women might have contemporary feminist viewpoints.

Some of this is not bad, Yaffe says. Ive read some extremely entertaining Jane Austen fan fic.

When it comes down to it, though, the best version is still Austens original: witty, well-written, humane.

Heres a quick guide to a sampling of

Pride and Prejudice adaptations and knockoffs

Pride and Prejudice  1980 miniseries  The five-part BBC miniseries is on the slow side, but it has its charms. Chief among them are Elizabeth Garvies Elizabeth and the Darcy of David Rintoul.An Assembly Such as This

2003 novel  The first of Pamela Aidens Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy, this amusing novel gives us the story of Pride and Prejudice from Darcys point of view.

Bridget Joness Diary  1997 book; 2001 movie  This isnt strictly speaking an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but its certainly inspired by Austen; author Helen Fielding cheerfully admits to having stolen the plot. Renee Zellweger is the quasi-Lizzy, Bridget; Firth, as Mark Darcy, got his first comic role. Hugh Grant is Bridgets Wickham-esque boss.

Pride & Prejudice  2005 movie  Keira Knightley is a strong Lizzy Bennet, in a cast that includes Rosamund Pike as Jane and Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet. Not surprisingly, much has been cut for movie time constraints; with the films budget, though, one would think they could afford to make sure that the Bennet girls are all wearing bonnets when they venture out.

Adaptations we loved





In an informal sampling of the Post-Dispatch features department, respondents were almost unanimous in their favorite adaptation:

Food writer Daniel Neman: The Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth BBC miniseries. With a running time of six hours, it could tell almost the entire story  and at the leisurely pace the book demands. It had great production values and impeccable acting, plus a letter-perfect script that absolutely captured the amused tone of the book. Ehle may have been a bit too old to play Elizabeth (she was 25), but she was still a lot younger than Greer Garson, who was 36 and looked it.

TV critic Gail Pennington: Jennifer Ehle was Lizzy in the 1995 BBC miniseries. Thats the one in which Colin Firth, as Mr. Darcy, plunges into a lake and emerges in a wet shirt, so theres a chance some people dont even remember her. Darcy, of course, is the quintessential cold fish, but Firth makes us more inclined than usual to think hes merely misunderstood. Recently, though, TV brought us an even more adorable spin on the character. In the Hallmark movie Unleashing Mr. Darcy, Darcy is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel.

Book editor Jane Henderson: My admiration for the 2005 TV production depends not so much on Firth but on the fine performance of Ehle. Still, Ive watched the Knightley movie a couple of times (Knightley is probably too beautiful and modern for Lizzy, but what a problem to have). I also enjoyed Bridget Joness Diary. And when the next serious adaptation comes along, Ill watch it too!

Theater critic Judith Newmark: Garsons defining screen characteristic  apart from her chisel-cheekboned beauty and authentic accent  was her air of self-possession. This is exactly what Elizabeth needs to distinguish her from dozens of other heroines in bonnets, and what makes Garsons performance in the 1940 movie version sizzle with intelligence and style. Of course, it doesnt hurt that Garsons Mr. Darcy was one of the screens all-time-great brooders, Laurence Olivier.
Gail Pennington Gail Pennington is the television critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Gail Pennington 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

"Containment," 9 p.m. Tuesdays on the CW

Two and a half stars (out of four)

When most of us watch The Walking Dead or a movie like 28 Days Later, we dont actually worry about catching a zombie plague. The Strain doesnt make us fear a vampire virus.

But in the real world, Ebola may be rearing its head again, and were told that mosquito-borne Zika is even scarier than previously thought. Who knows what new catastrophic contagion could be right around the corner?

That makes Containment, arriving tonight (Tuesday, April 19) on the CW, horror drama of a particularly personal kind. Divorcing ourselves from the idea that the next big disease outbreak could hit home proves difficult, especially as Containment finds it striking and quickly crippling Atlanta, a large city not that different in some ways from St. Louis.

People die gruesomely in Containment, adapted from a Belgian series by Julie Plec, co-creator of The Vampire Diaries. The action starts well into the outbreak, then flashes back to brief, happier days when people could still shake hands and a sneeze didnt mean quick progression to bleeding from the eyes and nose, collapse and agonizing death.

Those in jeopardy include the obligatory busload of schoolchildren, a young pregnant woman, an immigrant family from Syria, and doctors and nurses at the hospital treating the first victims.

The government steps in to help, but the only solution is ordering containment, closing a chunk of Atlanta off from the rest of the city to stop the spread of the quick-incubating disease. Only 48 hours, the people in the quarantine zone are told. I know its an inconvenience, but trust me, it will be worth it, police insist. As if.

The point, Plec says, is to examine human behavior in the wake of a crisis, not simply to scare us.

The stuff I like to do is always grounded in really simple but honest and deep themes of love and family and friendship, Plec said when the CW introduced the series to TV critics meeting in Los Angeles.

To be able to drop that into an environment thats extremely chaotic and terrifying, its just its a different way of exploring a genre. Its a horror genre where the monster is an illness, is a virus.

While she was writing, life echoed art.

About the time I was finishing my first draft, the Ebola outbreak happened, and suddenly, it was exactly the cultural conversation, she says. You are seeing what you are trying to portray as what could happen in a very real-world situation, and then you turn on the news, and its happening in the real world.

At that point, she says, You feel this obligation to not aggrandize it and not exploit it, avoiding an icky, ripped-from-the-headlines (treatment), which of course is never the intention.

Icky, though, Containment certainly is. In just the first two episodes, there is enough blood and body fluid to make the strongest stomach turn.

Writers worked really hard to be grounded in medical realities, executive producer Chris Ord says. We had a representative from the CDC helping us with questions of this would happen or not happen. By putting in those rules ... you dont have to rely on supernatural or anything like that.

Containment adheres closely to real-life disease protocols, Plec says.

We talked to the Georgia Department of Public Health (and) were schooled very quickly in the hierarchy of how things need to happen, that it begins at a local level before it becomes the state, that the CDC doesnt immediately come in. They come in later to take jurisdiction.

Politics is always in play, Plec says.

Theres a lot of ways to ruffle feathers and to get people very upset if you make assumptions. I said, Well, when does the World Health Organization come in? They were like, Thats the worst question you could have ever asked us. We are offended deeply. So its a whole world of politics and hierarchy.

On set, actors learned they were infected when they showed up for the day, the producers said.

The makeup department essentially created, like, five stages of the disease, different looks for all five stages, Ord says. We as writers could say, This person is going to be at Stage 2 or Stage 4, or They are about to die at Stage 5. Having that structure in place made everything stay consistent and really adhere to how the disease would affect people.

The graphic symptoms also make Containment as chilling for viewers as any recent series, and those with sensitive constitutions may well find it too graphic.

Filming even left the cast shaken.

Sneezes are, like, a fear, says Kristen Gutoskie, who plays teacher Katie Frank, quarantined along with her whole class, including her young son. I was on the plane, reading a pilot on the way to Atlanta, and this guy kept sneezing beside me. And I just I could not sit still.

Even on set, When someone off camera sneezed, we just panicked, says George Young, who plays a doctor. I think a lot of people who watch this show will start to think of those day-to-day things, actually question those day-to-day things, shaking hands.

And avoid airports. Airports, Plec says, are the worst.

Executive producer Matt Corman says he can no longer take disease concerns lightly.

Often, when you have a medical fear and you talk to a professional, they say, Well, thats unfounded. People read the Internet too much. But in talking to the infectious disease specialists and the epidemiologists, they said, This absolutely could happen. Its something we are very nervous about, and the possibility of an Ebola-type outbreak sort of leaping over to America is something that keeps us up at night all the time. So Ive definitely bought some more Purell.

But the intent of Containment, Plec says, is to make viewers both contemplate how Americans react to a crisis and also ponder their own potential response.

My goal is that (the audience) will recognize the scripted drama component of the show, but also ask themselves the question that we asked ourselves when we made it, which is What would I do if this happened to me? ... What would I do if my loved one was infected? What would I do if I was stuck on the wrong side of that wall?

Its actually a very stimulating exercise to be able to sit around and discuss.

Containment may even prove to be a public service, says Claudia Black, who plays the government official trying to enforce the quarantine.

Weve heard from the showrunners from the original series (in Belgium) that its actually helping the public, she says. They are a very virus-prepared city now.

What "Containment"  When 9 p.m. Tuesday  Where The CW  More info cwtv.com/containment
ST. LOUIS  In 2010, Missouri officials renewed the license of a pediatric dentist who was serving a six-year federal prison sentence on a child pornography charge.

It would take until 2012 for the Missouri Dental Board to file a complaint seeking discipline against Anthony Tony Rizzuti. It was 2014 when the board struck a deal that allowed Rizzuti to keep his license, despite knowing that he had twice been accused of trying to arrange sexual encounters with underage girls.

Rizzuti, 36, is now out of prison. Although a registered sex offender, he is trying to work at a family dentistry practice in St. Peters that also has an informal day care center for employees children, the Post-Dispatch has learned.

Federal probation officials have balked, but a lawyer for Rizzuti says they overstepped their role by expanding the conditions of his supervised release beyond what a judge approved.

That lawyer, Adam Fein, said the dental board knew about all the accusations against Rizzuti, and was satisfied that he could practice under stringent conditions and maintain public safety.

Rizzutis case sheds light on limitations on regulators in disciplining professionals such as dentists, a process conducted in secret.

Rizzutis lawyer says his case also shows the burden of the severe restrictions placed on where sex offenders can live and work.

Id like to see Tony have a shot at having a life, Fein said.

Fein worried that publicity about the case could imperil the dental practice co-owned by Rizzutis father, who simply wants his son to get back on his feet.

I dont think the publics right to this information  is worth sacrificing that guys business for.

Rizzuti and his father declined through Fein to comment.

Chief U.S. Probation Officer Doug Burris declined to comment on specific cases. But as a whole, I will tell you that people that have been convicted of sex offenses involving children  we absolutely would not allow to be employed in a  business where children are present, he said.

A 6-year process

The dental board received a complaint about Rizzuti on June 25, 2008, from Maryland Heights police Detective Kendra House after Rizzuti was arrested in a sting. He had showed up to have sex with what he was led to believe was a 14-year-old girl named Hannah, police said.

House said the board told House it could not act until Rizzuti was charged.

The arrest triggered federal charges of possession of child porn and attempted coercion of a minor to engage in sex, as well as a charge in St. Louis County Circuit Court of attempted child enticement.

Rizzuti pleaded guilty to the federal child porn charge as part of a deal in which prosecutors dropped the coercion charge. He was sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison. St. Louis County prosecutors dismissed the enticement charge, citing the substantial federal sentence.

In November 2010, the board renewed Rizzutis license while he was behind bars.

It wasnt until June 25, 2012, that the board filed a complaint against him.

Rizzuti argued in an affidavit that he accepted computer files containing child porn in two different online chat room sessions without knowing the contents. He didnt go to police when he found out, he said, because he thought it was against the law to have them.

He said that he was repulsed, not aroused, by the pictures, and that he had never requested any pictures of child pornography. He also denied having any sexual interest in children, and said he would never harm a child.

One of his psychologists, Dr. Luis Rosell, wrote that he was aware of the Maryland Heights police allegation, but said it had no connection with the child porn case because the age of the girls in images did not match the age of the fictitious Hannah. Rosell also said that the circumstances of receiving the pictures  and physical testing  showed that Rizzuti was not sexually interested in children.

Rizzutis lawyers, echoing two psychological reports, argued that he had no prior convictions for hands-on offenses, and that evaluations showed that he was treatable  not the type of child porn defendant likely to commit such an offense.

The lawyers also said that Rizzuti cannot be disciplined for anything other than the charge for which he was convicted.

And they raised a constitutional issue, saying that a denial of his professional license for something unrelated to the practice of his desired profession would also deny him the right to maintain his livelihood.

On Jan. 16, 2014, the board had a 20-minute hearing on the case, long enough for lawyers to announce a settlement and its details.

Child porn and online chats

Rizzuti and his lawyer had made many of the same arguments in federal court: that he was not aware of the ages of two girls with whom he tried to arrange liaisons, that he did not seek out child pornography and was not likely to commit a hands-on offense.

They were all rejected by prosecutors.

In court filings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Livergood pointed out that while there was no evidence of hands-on offenses, there was evidence that Rizzuti tried to commit them.

Citing online chat logs, the prosecutor showed that Rizzuti repeatedly was made aware that he was talking to someone claiming to be a 14-year-old girl in Maryland Heights named Hannah in 2008, and a 14-year-old girl in Ohio named Allie in 2005. Both were actually law enforcement officers.

In 2005, Rizzuti went as far as buying Allie an airline ticket so she could meet him in California for sex, Livergood wrote in a court filing. He said Rizzuti canceled the ticket and stopped communicating with her after she refused to send him panties.

In the very first chat with Hannah, on Jan. 5, 2007, Rizzuti learned her purported age before asking if she liked older men and if she wanted to go out for drinks, police reports say. He promised to bring the alcohol.

Over the next 17 months, Rizzuti would talk about meeting Hannah at a hotel, or her house, the reports say. He would ask about sex acts and promise to teach her how. He also said he wanted to have sex with her, and claimed to be masturbating while chatting with her.

In late May 2008, Rizzuti arranged to pick Hannah up for a sexual encounter and asked her if he could take pictures of her during sex, the reports say.

Rizzuti was arrested by police while driving through a neighborhood where he thought she lived. Rizzuti had four condoms, Viagra and a digital camera with two memory cards.

Rizzuti confessed that hed agreed to meet the girl for sex, police reports say.

In a written statement, however, he said he was trying to meet someone from the Internet, but changed his mind because he decided that it would be inappropriate to live out my Internet fantasies. Faced with her disappointment, however, he decided to meet her in person to tell her. He said he brought the condoms in hopes of seeing his ex-girlfriend that night and said that the Viagra ended up in his car after cleaning out his deceased grandfathers house.

The report says police found emails indicating that Rizzuti had asked several underage girls for pictures of their genitals, and corresponding pictures.

Rizzuti admitted having sexually graphic chats with others but said that the youngest before Hannah was probably 16, the report says. He denied having any sexual contact with his dental patients.

Investigators were not able to identify the people with whom Rizzuti had been chatting.

Police also found child erotica, which they described as pictures of young children in swimsuits and underwear or sheer clothing.

In talking with a reporter, Fein disputed the accuracy of the police report, but would not go into specifics.

Asked about conflicts between Rizzutis affidavit in the disciplinary case and the police reports, Tom Rynard, his lawyer in the civil matter, responded, to the extent a police officer said something in the police report  why does that establish that as fact?

House, the detective, said her department stands behind its investigation.

U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said there were some  serious evidentiary issues with the federal attempted coercion charge. He said Rizzuti did agree as part of his guilty plea to a longer potential prison sentence than the porn charge would have required.

The dental board referred a reporters questions to Yaryna Klimchak, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration. In a written response, she said licensees are entitled to due process before discipline. She said they have a property interest in the license that enables their livelihood.

Klimchak said that the Administrative Hearing Commission holds a quasi-judicial hearing before deciding if there is cause to discipline. If so, there is a second hearing to determine the appropriate level of discipline, if any.

She would not comment on Rizzutis case, saying that Missouri law makes it all a closed record.

She said that the board can only discipline based on what the AHC identifies as cause to discipline in its order, and is limited by statute to acting upon the actual conviction to which the licensee either pleads or is found guilty.

Harvey Tettlebaum, a Jefferson City lawyer who represents health professionals in disciplinary cases, said most discipline cases get settled, because of the expense of pursuing them.

Rynard said that without a settlement, his client would have appealed. Some such cases goes all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court, he said.

Banned from Family Dental

Rizzuti was released from prison on Sept. 28, 2015.

In the settlement, the board agreed that Rizzutis license could be renewed but would be suspended until Jan. 1, 2016, and it would be on probation for five years after that.

In that period, he is not allowed to treat children, set up a solo practice or treat patients without another caregiver being there. He must notify patients about his conviction and comply with all the rules of his federal supervised release.

Rynard, who is not involved in the criminal case, said, I think if the terms of the settlement are followed, theres no danger to anyone in the public.

He also said that there has never been any allegation that this involved Tonys practice of dentistry.

But federal probation officials have refused his request to work at Family Dental Services in St. Peters, which is co-owned by his father.

Rizzutis lawyer, Fein, argued in a Feb. 12 federal court hearing that they were overstepping their authority, according to a transcript. He also said the pediatric portion of Family Dental Services is isolated in a way from the remainder of the practice.

Livergood, the prosecutor, responded that Rizzuti already had violated his conditions of release by failing a polygraph exam and accessing the Internet. He also cited concerns about the large portion of children seen by the practice and the supervision he might receive there.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel said that for now, Rizzuti would be barred from working there.

After Fein said that Sippel could have barred Rizzuti from dentistry as part of his sentencing, the judge responded, No. Why would I limit it to that? He cant have contact with children under the age of 18. I dont care if its at work, as a volunteer, or you know, a Sunday school teacher. Its not going to happen.

Sippel said that if Rizzuti disagreed with the probation office, he could file a motion. Fein vowed that he would.
COLUMBIA, Mo.  The University of Missouri is countersuing a law school professor who has asked a court to invalidate the universitys ban on firearms.

Royce de R. Barondes case has the potential to redefine the limits of acceptable gun regulations under the Missouri Constitution, which voters amended in 2014 to make the right to bear arms unalienable.

But since his attorney filed the lawsuit in September in Cole County, the universitys team of private attorneys has moved the case to federal court and sought a court order forbidding Barondes from bringing a gun onto campus.

Jennifer Bukowsky, the attorney representing Barondes, told The Associated Press that the universitys aggressive approach is slowing down the case and making it more expensive.

She wants to move on to arguing the merits of Barondes case, she said, but theyre making it very difficult to get to that point.

Barondes, a tenured professor who teaches a class on firearms law and is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, claimed the universitys rules against carrying a weapon on campus violate his rights under the U.S. and state constitutions, as well as a state law that allows public employees to keep guns locked in their cars.

In their court filings, the universitys attorneys wrote that the board of curators is charged with creating a safe environment, and the rule banning guns is narrowly tailored to achieve that objective.

The right to keep and bear arms under the federal and state constitutions is laudable, but not absolute, they write, noting that the university includes hospitals and day cares and hosts large events.

They also note that the states laws on concealed weapon permits do not allow people to carry weapons into a higher education institution without the permission of the governing board.

But Republican lawmakers are considering changing that. The House is debating a measure that would allow people with a concealed carry license to take guns some places on campus. Republicans have proposed similar measures in the Senate, though they have not advanced since a January committee hearing.

Meanwhile, Bukowsky argues that for the board of curators to withhold consent violates Barondes civil rights.

A spokesman for the University of Missouri System declined to comment other than pointing to the rule prohibiting weapons on university property. A spokesman for the Columbia campus did not return calls requesting comment, nor did the universitys attorneys at Bryan Caves offices in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Courts typically have been hesitant to rewrite gun regulations from the bench, said Gregory Magarian, a professor at Washington Universitys School of Law. But the caveat there is that state courts deal with different legal standards than federal courts, he said.

Bukowsky said Barondes is dropping his Second Amendment claims in an effort to bring the case back to state court

Generally speaking, Missouris 2014 constitutional change makes challenging a gun regulation substantially more likely to succeed than if you were only going on the Second Amendment, Magarian said.

Both Barondes and the university are seeking to recoup attorney fees and court costs  though Bukowsky says the possible cost of the universitys four attorneys is a daunting expense.
Why would scores of business tycoons from Manhattan to Silicon Valley lavish contributions of $50,000 or $100,000 or even $500,000 on a political novice running in a primary election for governor of a Midwestern state where none of them live?

One clue might rest in the Web address EricGreitensForPresident.com.

Eric Greitens reserved it himself. Seven years ago.

Greitens, a Rhodes scholar and former Navy SEAL, is known for bringing high ambition to everything hes done in his varied career. His first-ever political campaign, for the Republican nomination for Missouri governor, is apparently no different.

Five months before the first votes will be cast in the states hotly contested four-way GOP gubernatorial primary, many of Greitens supporters  and apparently the candidate himself  already are looking beyond the governors mansion in Jefferson City.

The Republican establishment along with their big donors believe he is presidential material, but first he has to win political office, said St. Louis University political scientist Ken Warren. They are not giving to him, they are investing in him.

One political operative with knowledge of the Greitens campaign put it more bluntly. Theres been a concerted effort to brand him as the next GOP wunderkind, said the operative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he still works in politics.

The reserved website isnt the only hint. Greitens state campaign in some ways looks like a national one. It employs a national finance chairman who used to hold the same position for the Republican National Committee and who has no previous ties to Missouri.

Greitens top donors are a whos-who of national GOP moneymen from all over America, people more commonly associated with presidential campaigns than with state primaries. More than a dozen were major donors to Jeb Bushs presidential super PAC this year, a Post-Dispatch analysis of records found.

Some of those backers have been quietly promoting Greitens as a future national contender.

This was a cultivation. It was all big-money people, said one source who attended a Greitens campaign reception for monied potential donors in the Connecticut home of professional wrestling magnates Vince and Linda McMahon in January, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Its not like theyre looking for a friend over there (in Missouri). Theyre looking to make an investment in young, up-and-coming leaders.

Greitens, 41, an ex-Democrat, St. Louis area native and a Parkway North graduate, never has run for elective office. Aside from his military career, he is an author of best-selling books about character and founder of the Mission Continues, a national philanthropic organization that helps veterans serve their communities.

Records show Greitens gubernatorial campaign has received more than $3.3 million in campaign cash from wealthy Republican donors in 37 states outside Missouri.

Thats almost twice as much money as he has raised from within the borders of the state he seeks to lead, which is an unusual dynamic in gubernatorial campaigns. All three of Greitens GOP primary opponents  businessman John Brunner, former Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder  have raised more than 90 percent of their money in-state. Greitens in-state take is about 36 percent of his total.

Thanks largely to his out-of-state donors, Greitens total in the past year is more than $5.2 million  almost as much as the totals of all three of his GOP primary opponents combined.

Greitens campaign points out he has raised more money from Missouri donors than any of his three GOP primary competitors. But the fact that almost two-thirds of his money has come from out of state has raised continuing questions about what it is those distant donors believe they are buying.

I just think its bizarre that somebody is writing six-figure checks to a candidate for governor of a state (when) theyve never stepped in the state, said U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., discussing Missouris lack of campaign finance limits during a recent meeting with the Post-Dispatch editorial board. Who are these people?

FAR-FLUNG DONORS

A Post-Dispatch review of Greitens campaign finances found that his biggest out-of-state donors are mostly CEOs, venture capitalists and other businesspeople with histories of national political activism.

Among them is Ronald Weiser, a former U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, former Michigan Republican Party chairman and former finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. Weiser  who has no ties to Missouri  serves as Greitens national finance chairman. He has personally donated $50,000 to Greitens and $398,000 more through the real estate management company he founded, McKinley Financial Partnership.

Some of it has to do with who is doing the asking. Eric is an extraordinary candidate, said Weiser, when asked why he and other national supporters are putting so much money on a state-level primary. I dont think people are supporting someone for governor of Missouri because he might be a presidential candidate some day. Thats a long way to look over the hill.

Those far-flung donors also include Steve Cohen of Greenwich, Conn., a hedge fund manager with a net worth of more than $12 billion. He contributed $2 million to a super PAC supporting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies former presidential campaign. He has donated $100,000 to Greitens.

There is Bernard Marcus of Atlanta, co-founder of the Home Depot home improvement store chain. He gives millions of dollars to pro-Israeli causes and gave more than $1 million to the Right to Rise super PAC in support of Jeb Bushs now-defunct presidential campaign. He has donated $75,000 to Greitens.

There is Marlene Ricketts of Omaha, Neb., whose family owns the Chicago Cubs  and who has spearheaded the Our Principles PAC, an anti-Donald Trump super PAC that has gotten under the controversial billionaires skin enough to prompt one of his trademark warnings that they better be careful. Ricketts donated $25,000 to Greitens in late March.

And there is Frank Kavanaugh, managing director of a California private equity firm, who has given Greitens $125,000 and also has donated to the Mission Continues. Hes part of what Greitens calls a tremendous amount of overlap between his philanthropic and political supporters.

Weve watched Eric, weve known him for a long time, and we just want to see more people like that involved, said Kavanaugh. He dismissed the suggestion that his support has anything to do with a future Greitens presidential run.

Greitens deluge of big out-of-state money was already raising eyebrows before the recent controversy surrounding one of those donors, Michael Goguen. Goguen, a California-based venture capitalist, is Greitens single biggest contributor, at $1 million.

In a lawsuit filed in March, a longtime female acquaintance accuses Goguen of sexual slavery, which has prompted demands from Greitens campaign opponents that he return Goguens donations. Greitens has declined, saying hes waiting for resolution of the civil case.

Sources who have attended Greitens out-of-state political events say the campaign and its supporters send subtle but clear messages that hes headed for bigger things.

One source who attended a New York dinner for Greitens last fall said the host joked to the small gathering about a Greitens presidential run. The source  who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was a private event  said the Republican establishment types in the room were openly vetting Greitens.

They were poking and prodding him over the fact that he used to be a Democrat, said the source. Part of the discussion, he said, included comparisons to 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. With Romney, there was an authenticity problem. (They wanted to know), Do we have that problem here?

The source who attended the McMahons Connecticut event said Greitens didnt pitch himself as a future presidential candidate but that others repeatedly touted him as a future national star.

Linda McMahon got up and said, You keep an eye on this guy, hes going places.

That source and others contacted for this story have no ties to Greitens Missouri primary opponents.

EricGreitensFor

Greitens last week shrugged off the suggestion that the campaign or its supporters are touting him as presidential timber, attributing his national funding to other factors. For a lot of them, they believe that the states are the laboratories of democracy, Greitens said.

So why, in 2009, did he reserve the website EricGreitensForPresident.com  and then renew the reservation last year, just as his Missouri gubernatorial primary campaign was taking shape?

I had advice from a Navy SEAL friend of mine whod run for office that cyber-squatting happens, said Greitens, referring to the practice of reserving a website in someones name and then forcing them to pay to get it back. Greitens said his friend told him: If youre ever going to be in public service, just do this so that you dont have people who abuse you. ... Unfortunately, there are some nasty people out there.

But if he wasnt contemplating running for president of the United States, then why would it matter if someone else owed EricGreitensForPresident.com?

You can serve in lots of different ways, Greitens said. There are presidents of universities ... presidents of city councils.

People who know Greitens, including friend and former Democratic Missouri Gov. Bob Holden, say ambition is a major component of his personality. If he wasnt ambitious, he wouldnt have done all the things hes done, said Holden.

As for a future presidential run, If his supporters are suggesting that, said Holden, Im sure he isnt trying to dissuade them.

Walker Moskop of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Retired Marine Daniel Lamb on Friday led an impromptu rendition of God Bless America with the U.S. Capital in the background and protestors chanting, one person, one vote, and money aint spending, corporations aint people.

Got arrested on Monday, said Lamb, 55, who was here with several hundred demonstrators as part of a Democracy Spring protest against big money in politics. The York, Pa., said he paid a $50 ticket and was back with protestors who rallied around the Capital.

The protestors were trying to highlight the influence of money in elections and what Lamb called a rigged political system stacked against politicians who dont have friends among the wealthy, like the one he supported, former Virginia Democratic candidate Jim Webb.

The DNC (Democratic National Committee) had their girl from the get go, Lamb said, referring to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who came under attack in a debate in Brooklyn Thursday night from rival presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for accepting large campaign donations and $225,000 speaking fees from Wall Street firms.

There were a handful of fresh arrests for civil disobedience again Friday as several hundred protestors circled the Capital on a bright spring day. The protests were organized by a group of mostly left-wing organizations, from the anti-war Code Pink to the East Coast Cannabis Coalition. Lamb said the aim was bipartisan, however, and he said he walked with Republicans on a 140-mile march from Philadelphia who were equally upset at the proliferation of big, and increasingly hidden, money in politics.

I havent seen this esprit de corps since I was in the (Marine) Corps, he said.

Demonstrators held signs saying Political Revolution Starts Now, and Defeat the Empire of Big Money. One speaker proudly told the crowd hed been arrested four times this week in acts of civil disobedience.

The Center for Responsive Politics says that the amount of dark money flowing into federal campaigns, mostly the presidential campaign, is three times what it was in 2012 at this time, and that year a total of more than $300 million of undisclosed money from large donors and corporations flowed through campaigns.

The anonymous donations, sometimes in seven figures, have proliferated since the 2010 Citizen United decision before the Supreme Court. In that ruling, a split court said that spending on campaigns was essentially free speech  hence the chant here of money aint speech.
Joseph F. Haas learned about baking from his father and passed the knowledge to his sons.

In between, he may have sold more gooey butter cakes than anyone else, said his son, Gary Haas.

Joseph Haas died of leukemia Sunday (April 10, 2016) at the age of 90. He made his mark on the region  and for a while, on the country  as president of the Haas Baking Company.

The company made all sorts of baked goods, from buns and breads to cookies and decorated cakes, but it was best known for its gooey butter cake.

With cheerful yellow packaging and a drawing of Charles Lindberghs The Spirit of St. Louis plane flying in front of the Gateway Arch, the Haas gooey butter cakes were a familiar sight for decades in grocery stores within 250-miles of St. Louis.

For a time, they were also distributed to national grocery chains.

He was meticulous. He would never give up trying to improve the product. He knew pastry, his son said.

Mr. Haas learned the trade from his father, Joseph Haas Sr., who was a bakers apprentice in Vienna before immigrating to the United States and opening a bakery in Soulard in 1925.

Joseph Jr. worked with his father and eventually ran the company with two brothers-in-law, John DiMartino and Thomas Red Caito.

Mr. Haas sons, Robert and Gary, came to work with their father in the 1970s. The company closed in 2012, and Haas retired then at the age of 86.

He was married for 62 years to the former Genevieve DiMartino, who died in 2013.

Along with his two sons, both of St. Louis County, survivors include eight grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Providence Church, 8874 Pardee Road.
WASHINGTON  Few things scream throwback like a contested political convention, an event that calls to mind conniving party bosses, clouds of stale cigar smoke and throngs of activists in Uncle Sam hats passionately waving homemade signs.

But although some of those retro touches will surely present themselves if Republicans arrive in Cleveland for their national convention in July with no clear nominee, the X factor in the fight could be an entirely new frontier of politics: the emerging technology of hunting for delegates.

A cottage industry of political techies already has emerged to pitch their wares to campaigns. Theyre promising that in the weeks leading up to the convention they can enable candidates to find and persuade the right delegates and then arm deputies on the convention floor with thousands of data points about delegates ideological leanings, social media proclivities and even TV viewing habits.

A contested convention would test the extent to which technology can be leveraged to push the outcome of a political event and the speed at which such technology could be built and deployed.

Every possible service you can think of, some vendor is going to try to sell to every campaign involved, said Benjamin Ginsberg, former general counsel to the Republican National Committee and national counsel to the campaigns of Mitt Romney and George W. Bush.

There will be lots of efforts to sell new products that may or may not work to accomplish a task with which nobody is really familiar. This is so unknown.

The last time Republicans had a contested convention was in 1976, when Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford squared off in an arena in Kansas City. Rotary telephones were still in vogue, and Apples Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had just formed their partnership in a garage in Los Altos, Calif.

There were no iPads. There were no iPhones. There were carbon paper and typewriters.

This time, if a contested convention happens, it will unfold in an age of data analytics and micro-targeting and social media scraping, where it is not unusual for campaigns to target voters through magazine subscriptions and grocery purchases.

Candidates will walk into the convention hall with tools unimagined four decades ago that they can use in a race to, among other things, find out everything they can about every delegate and develop a lightning-fast platform on which to share that knowledge with floor whips at crunch time.

There will be tons of (companies) crowding this space, said Brittany Kaiser, director of program development for Cambridge Analytica, a firm that has accumulated thousands of data points  from Starbucks preferences to vacation histories  on each of about 240 million Americans. It is going to be incredibly important to understand everything possible about every single delegate.

Kaisers firm  although not Kaiser herself  already has been working with the campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is likely to head into the convention with the second-largest bloc of delegates committed to him.

Cruz campaign insiders say tech already has been key to the edge Cruz has been gaining in delegates even in states where he lost the election to Donald Trump.

Many of the delegates who will be officially representing Trump from Louisiana, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona and North Dakota  all states won by the New York businessman  are actually Cruz sympathizers. Under convention rules, those delegates would be bound to Trump for the first round of delegate voting in Cleveland. But if no candidate receives a majority on the first ballot, many delegates will become free agents. Depending on state laws, others will be become free to vote for any candidate they choose after a second ballot or a third.

More than 2,400 delegates could ultimately end up coming up for grabs on the convention floor if no candidate clinches the nomination after the initial balloting.Some may have revealed on their Facebook pages that they are fans of Terminator movies, so a call from Arnold Schwarzenegger could be the nudge that wins them over. Or perhaps they are gun enthusiasts, in which case they might be awed by a convention floor chat with Wayne LaPierre, president of the National Rifle Association.

Cambridge Analytica claims to have developed a psychographic profile of every one of the delegates chosen so far. Such profiles, which are rooted in reams of consumer and personal background data acquired by the company, put people into such categories as stoic traditionalist or extroverted leader and are already being used to target voters.

But Kaiser says such profiles also have helped clients devise detailed lobbying strategies to move stubborn legislators, an application not dissimilar to what candidates would face as they set out to persuade delegates in Cleveland.

It helps you understand where each delegate stands, how persuadable they are to change their mind, Kaiser said.

There are also more nuts-and-bolts considerations for campaigns  knowing where any particular delegate stands at any particular moment, for example.

Speed is going to kill when votes are taken, and the campaign that can best use data quickly will have a huge advantage, said Mark Stephenson, who was Scott Walkers chief data officer during the Wisconsin governors short-lived presidential campaign.

You have to be able to persuade people fast, with that data at your fingertips. Technology enables you to be relevant when you are talking to your targets, he said.

Still, much of the technology that would be used on the convention floor does not yet even exist in beta form. As the GOP race tightens, and the likelihood of a contested convention increases, some political technologists foresee a weeks-long hackathon taking shape, as firms rush to get a piece of the business.

Patrick Ruffini, one of the few Republican digital strategists who has actually developed software successfully used by a candidate in a convention  albeit at the state level, in Virginia  said he anticipated a stampede.

The challenge for the campaigns, he said, will be sorting out the useful pitches from the deluge of marketing malarkey that tech firms tend to muster around such occasions.

I expect to see a lot of people arguing they have just the thing to solve your brokered convention problem, Ruffini said.
The body sat slumped near the dresser that Heather Jordan was inspecting for fingerprints. On the other side of the bedroom, her colleague took a small saw to some drywall, hoping to retrieve remnants of a bullet that had pierced the plaster.

The buzzing of the saw stopped.

Did you find it? Jordan asked.

No bullet, Cpl. David Vastag said. I got a bunch of dead bird parts, though.

Through a cloud of dust, Vastag pulled a tangle of desiccated feathers and twigs from a gap between the drywall and cinder block.

The gap extended down three stories, where Vastag suspected the bullet had disappeared.

So on TV, you know how they always find something? said 1st Sgt. Charles Montgomery, over Vastags shoulder. It aint necessarily so.

Television crime shows often end neatly with investigators arriving at a heinous scene, collecting decisive evidence and identifying a suspect in the span of an hour (with commercial breaks). But clues left at actual crime scenes arent always conclusive or easy to find. Fingerprints dont always appear or a DNA sample may be muddied by dozens of other people who touched an object long before a crime occurred. Investigators dont always uncover blood, an ammunition casing or other damning evidence.

In real life, recovering clues is physically, emotionally and mentally grueling work, as a night with a squad of crime-scene technicians in Prince Georges County, Md., showed.

Its going to be one of those extra long nights, Montgomery said, crouched on his hands and knees looking underneath the dresser for more evidence. I can see it now.

THE NITTY-GRITTY

Montgomerys team headed to an apartment in Oxon Hill, Md., shortly before midnight on a Friday. Officers found a man fatally shot in the bedroom.

As soon as a scanner finished capturing images of the scene  to later create three-dimensional models of the apartment  the team got to work.

Jordan drew diagrams of the apartment, depicting the positioning of the body (sketched as a stick figure), potential bullet holes and blood spatter. Vastag took photos. Officer LaToya Holmes, leading the investigation, prepared to bag beer cans, cigarette butts and other items to be tested later for DNA or fingerprints.

We have very minimal evidence, Holmes said. We want to get down to the nitty-gritty.

It helped that the apartment was small  easier to zero in on the proper evidence to collect. But it also made the work trickier. A dozen evidence technicians, police officers, homicide investigators and a medical examiner all tiptoed around potential clues through the night. Warnings of dont walk here and dont touch that wafted through the stuffy apartment along with the smell of stale cigarette smoke and ammonia.

Odors from crime scenes often linger in investigators memories. The meat aisle in a grocery store might smell strongly of blood, taking them back to a particularly gruesome case. Or the stench of rotting food reminds them of the day they spent digging through mounds of trash searching for a discarded gun.

I breathe through my mouth a lot, said Jordan, who has been a crime-scene investigator since 2011. You walk somewhere, you smell something and something brings you back.

Investigators, always wearing gloves, try to avoid contamination and touch only what they must.

At the Oxon Hill apartment, that meant a stereo blasting music continued to stream rhythm and blues during the seven hours they processed the scene. The only time the stereo was touched was to swab the volume knob for DNA.

The evidence technicians often arrive at scenes where televisions and radios are blaring, usually ramped up to hide an argument, gunshots or screams. Investigators work through the noise or turn the volume down after collecting what they need. But other sounds are harder to ignore.

Such as the persistent ringing of a phone in a victims pocket  a jangling reminder of someone elses fretting.

Someone is looking for them, and they dont know that theyre dead, Jordan said.

LOCARDS PRINCIPLE

Hours into the Oxon Hill investigation, yellow placards dotted the bedroom: No. 1, a shell casing; No. 2, drug paraphernalia; No. 3, a beer can; and on and on.

Okay, LaToya, Jordan asked Holmes after collecting fingerprints, what else is important here?

Investigators scanned the apartment, and everything was a potential clue. A screw in the wall from a distance looked like a bullet hole. Same with a cigarette burn in a comforter.

We know there is evidence in this wall or next to this wall, Montgomery said as he stood over the dead man, but we cant get to it until the body is moved.

The state of Maryland has custody of a body after a homicide, so investigators cant touch the deceased until a medical examiner properly prepares the body for autopsy. Doing otherwise could contaminate vital evidence.

That is why investigators dont cover bodies with sheets, move them from the scenes of crimes that occur in public view or outline them in chalk.

That restraint is because of the theory that drives crime-scene work, called Locards exchange principle, which holds that anytime someone makes contact with something they both leave and take away physical evidence. Thats why Jordans hair is always tied in a bun, why investigators sometimes don biohazard suits and why many are wary of touching door handles in public places.

Thirty years ago, scene investigators mostly snapped photos and dusted for fingerprints. But technology has improved. DNA tests can connect crimes to potential suspects through national databases  and through ever-smaller physical samples. Rather than needing a whole drop of blood to test for DNA, it can be gathered on objects that have simply been touched.

Shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and NCIS highlight  and sometimes exaggerate  such advancements while also conditioning jurors to expect clear forensic evidence in their case, said Hayden Baldwin, head of the International Crime Scene Investigators Association.

But fewer than 5 percent of law enforcement agencies have full-time crime-scene investigators, said Baldwin, who said he specifically watches crime dramas to see what jurors are likely to expect when he testifies in court.

Ive never solved a crime within an hour or have had DNA results back within five minutes, Baldwin said.

ANALYSIS IS KEY

The evidence that crime-scene investigators collect is important, but its analysis is vital.

Bad analysis not only can lead to an innocent persons being jailed but also can allow a perpetrator to roam free, said University of Virginia law professor Brandon Garrett.

Its a long-standing problem where there are a lot of criminal cases where there is information that is useful but not collected and tested, or really important crime-scene evidence that was handled improperly, said Garrett, a criminal justice expert.

A national movement to reform techniques has risen, with the Justice Department recently expanding its review of forensic testimony by the FBI.

Done right, forensic analysis can bring justice for victims and yield important answers.

Two years ago, when a 3-year-old girl died after her father kidnapped her and engaged in a shootout with police, Prince Georges investigators had to determine whose bullet had struck the child. Police officers  who hadnt known the girl was in the car with the suspect  feared that one of their guns had fired the fatal shot. Investigators worked quickly and found that the father had shot his daughter and himself.

The police department gets one chance to get it right for the victims and families, said William F. Greene, a 35-year investigator who is director of technical operations for the Prince Georges Crime Scene Investigation Division.

The music played on

By about 3:45 a.m., the medical examiner had arrived.

Were going to move him, she said. Just watch the blood, okay?

With a handful of officers and investigators, the medical examiner, in scrubs, carried the man onto a tarp, flipped him over and counted bullet wounds.

They wrapped his hands in paper bags and taped the bags shut  later to scrape material from under his fingernails  before zipping up the body bag and carrying him out.

Investigators handle more than homicides. They investigate sexual assaults, child abuse, robberies and burglaries. They work surrounded by the lives of crime victims: family portraits on the walls, a Barbie discarded in the corner, an abandoned pot of taco meat cold on the stove.

Some days can be mundane. Others days, haunting.

Sometimes, they are sent to a psychiatrist to talk through what they have seen. More often, they lean on dark humor or distractions.

During a brief lull at the apartment, someone stuck a pen in the bun piled high on Jordans head.

You look like a Teletubby, Greene said as the pen wobbled like an antenna.

The joke was a relief valve amid the gruesome hours theyd spent since midnight.

By 7 a.m., it was time to go. The placards were pulled up. And investigators conducted a final check under tables, between mattresses and behind sofas.

More work awaited at the lab. But for now, it was time for the investigators to shut the door and lock up the apartment.

Inside, the music played on.
SEATTLE  To Mike Coombs, owner of the Outdoor Emporium, a hunting, fishing and camping store, Seattles gun tax is unfair and aimed at driving him out of the city, if not out of business. To Seattle City Councilor Tim Burgess, the tax is a good way to fund medical research on reducing gun violence injuries.

The two represent the opposing poles in the debate over Seattles controversial tax on guns and ammunition that took effect Jan. 1 and puts this city at the center of a dispute over whether municipalities can tax firearms to pay for what they see as a public benefit or whether states alone have the power to regulate and tax guns.

The dispute, which emerged briefly last year in Baltimore and continues in Cook County, Ill., involves issues such as whether the taxes are designed to suppress gun sales or drive sales out of a city or county, and whether gun violence is a public health issue that justifies taxes on firearms and ammunition to help pay for their consequences in the same fashion as taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.

Here  where the city collects a $25 tax on every gun sale and between 2 cents and a nickel on every round of ammunition, depending on the caliber  Burgess and Coombs are equally wedded to their positions.

The $300,000 to $500,000 that the tax is expected to raise this year is earmarked to fund a study of gunshot victims, including medical and behavioral interventions, by the University of Washington and Harborview Hospitals trauma center, which treats most of the citys gunshot victims.

To Burgess, its good public policy. Designing a program where doctors, social workers and case managers attempt to help people who have been injured by firearms is not some wild-eyed, kooky, strange thing, he said. Its what we would do for any kind of health challenge.

To Coombs, the tax is not the only way the city can improve public safety. If they want to help with safety, he said of city leaders, they should help me pay for safety classes.

He said he suspected an ulterior motive behind the tax: to reduce gun sales or drive sales out of the city.

Business is down since the tax took effect, though by how much he wouldnt say. Already, one other store, Precise Shooter, closed its Seattle location and moved to nearby Lynnwood.

If the city wants to pay for research, Coombs suggested, it can use revenue from the sales tax on guns and ammunition, which already exists. But that revenue is declining, he said, as sales fall because of the new tax.

The arguments also are playing out in court. Gun rights groups, led by the National Rifle Association, are challenging Seattles tax on state preemption grounds. They argue that the city has no right to regulate firearms, because gun regulation is under state purview.

City officials say they are not trying to regulate guns but simply to tax them. City and local taxes are allowed under state law.

In their challenge, gun rights advocates cite an earlier case, in which Seattles attempt to ban guns from playgrounds and other child-friendly parks was thrown out on state preemption grounds. In December, however, Judge Palmer Robinson of the King County Superior Court ruled in the citys favor on the gun tax, calling it a lawful exercise of Seattles taxing authority. The NRA and others are appealing.

There is no way in the world that this so-called tax is in fact a tax, said Steve Fogg, a lawyer in Washington who is representing the gun rights groups. It is a straight-up piece of regulation that is designed to inhibit the merchant sales and use of firearms in the city of Seattle. We have a very strong clause in state legislation  only the state can regulate firearms.

Officials expect an appeals court ruling by late summer or early fall.

Cook county, ill., too

In Cook County, Ill., home to Chicago, where gun-related deaths have doubled in the first three months of 2016 compared with last year, a $25 gun tax also is being challenged in court and debated in the state Legislature on Second Amendment grounds.

The tax, which was created in 2012 and has raised more than $2 million for the countys general fund, wasnt designed purely to discourage sales, but also to help underwrite the consequential costs of gun violence, county officials say.

It is meant to raise consciousness about the potential impact of these weapons and help pay for the negative societal costs that the dangerous product has on society, said Frank Shuftan, director of communications for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

The cost of treating a gunshot victim in Chicago has been estimated at $52,000. There are currently no gun shops in the city of Chicago, Shuftan said, although there are some elsewhere in the county.

Illinois state Rep. Jerry Costello II, a Democrat, has sponsored a bill that would prevent counties and cities from passing a tax like Cook Countys. He has the backing of the NRAs lobbying arm, which accuses cities and counties that levy the tax of attempting to make an already expensive product even more so, potentially pricing law-abiding citizens out of exercising their Second Amendment rights.

Baltimore and the state of Missouri considered a tax on gun sales last year to pay for police body cameras before abandoning the idea bending to opposition.
MORIA, Greece (AP)  Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europe's migration crisis.

Refugees on the overwhelmed island fell to their knees and wept at his presence.

The Vatican said Francis wanted to make a "gesture of welcome" at the end of his five-hour visit to Lesbos, where he implored Europe to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores "in a way that is worthy of our common humanity." The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its beaches and rocks in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

"Today I renew my heartfelt plea for responsibility and solidarity in the face of this tragic situation," Francis said.

The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece to thank the Greek people for their welcome and highlight the plight of refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Many refugees wept at Francis' feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention center, where they greeted 250 people individually. Others chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" as the religious leaders passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. Clearly moved, the pope also blessed a man who wailed "Thank you, God. Thank you! Please Father, bless me!" A woman told Francis that her husband was in Germany but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos.

The Vatican said the three Syrian families, including six children, who were taken back with the pope will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italy's Catholic Sant'Egidio Community, which has been active in providing assistance to refugees.

Two of the families hail from Damascus and the third from Deir el-Zour, a city close to the Iraqi border that the Islamic State group has been besieging for months, leading to malnutrition among 200,000 people living in the area.

"Their homes had been bombed," the Vatican said of the three families.

At a ceremony in the port of Lesbos to thank Greeks, Francis said he understood Europe's concern about the recent migrant influx. But he said migrants are first of all human beings "who have faces, names and individual stories" and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

"God will repay this generosity," he promised.

In his remarks to the refugees, Francis said they should know that they are not alone and shouldn't lose hope. He said he wanted to visit them to hear their stories and to bring the world's attention to their plight.

"We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity," he said. "May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the Good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history."

Human rights groups have denounced the EU-Turkey deportation deal as an abdication of Europe's obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up.

Making sure not to violate the deal, the Vatican said the 12 Syrians coming to Italy with the pope had been in Lesbos prior to March 20, and thus were not subject to possible deportation.

During the visit, Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, signed a joint declaration calling on the international community to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need.

The declaration also called on political leaders to use all means to ensure that everyone, particularly Christians, can remain in their homelands and enjoy the "fundamental right to live in peace and security."

"The world will be judged by the way it has treated you," Bartholomew told the refugees. "And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from."

Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, lunched with eight of the refugees to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. They then went to the island's main port to pray together and toss a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didn't make the journey  hundreds of people this year alone.

Upon his arrival in Greece, Francis met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the airport and thanked him for the "generosity" shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles.

Tsipras said he was proud of Greece's response "at a time when some of our partners  even in the name of Christian Europe  were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life."

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the "globalization of indifference" that the world shows the less fortunate.

The wreath-tossing ceremony is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe. He made a similar gesture at the U.S.-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the U.S.

Winfield reported from Rome and Becatoros from Athens.
Edward Skett.

EDWARD Skett, whose company operated Stratford-upon-Avons markets for over 50 years, has died at the age of 84.

He was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, the eldest son of seven children, and is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and one great grandson.

After completing his National Service in 1951 in the Royal Engineers, Ted began selling army surplus at Kidderminster Market, where he met his wife Betty, who died in 2002.

Together they set up a market stall and business selling haberdashery and became known as Mr Buttons with stalls and shops around the Midlands.

In 1956 Ted was given the opportunity to manage Stratfords Charter Market in Rother Street, and E G Skett and Co continued to operate it until 2011, establishing one of the first farmers markets in the country.

He was also committed to supporting the Christmas lights and played a part in the creation of the mosaic around the American Fountain.

It seemed a natural decision to make this area the head office and also Welford his home, which he called his heaven.

Operations of other markets quickly followed in Warwick and Banbury, and several other towns throughout the Midlands.

It was in 1971, while on a family day out, that Ted discovered Halfpenny Green Airport near Stourbridge, and his dream of creating a huge outdoor market and family day began.

An exhaustive legal battle to see Sunday trading repealed followed, and he was one of the original campaigners, with many parts of this test case used for further influence for change.

The markets phenomenal success continued uninterrupted until 2002.

In 1986 his company acquired Pershore Airfield in Worcestershire, where the successful blueprint for Halfpenny Green Airport Market was reapplied.

Ted enjoyed a good retirement pursuing his hobbies of photography, travel and all kinds of gadgetry.

The company, which this year celebrates its 60th anniversary, remains in Stratford, and it was with great pride that Ted saw the firm continue to flourish and diversify with the third generation of the family.

His funeral will take place at Oakley Wood Crematorium at 3pm on Monday, 25th April.
LONDON, April 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- London based new crowdfunding platform LEOcrowd, will be launching globally in Stockholm, Sweden on April 16, 2016. The platform, www.LEOcrowd.com, was designed specifically for entrepreneurs and those with creative ideas to source alternate finance to bring their projects to life.

The LEOcrowd crowdfunding platform was born out of Learning Enterprises Organisation Ltd a global online business training company, and the creators of the groundbreaking digital currency, Leocoin. LEO, with their "Learn Earn Own" business philosophy empowers entrepreneurs through resources, education and now funding, so that they can have the tools necessary to be a success.

LEOcrowd's mission is to "set entrepreneurial spirits free" by bringing together those with business ideas, new innovative projects or exciting new inventions together with those who are willing to back such projects.

LEOcrowd General Manager David Johnstone, said "LEOcrowd is more than just another crowdfunding platform, it is a community devoted to bringing creative ideas or start up business to life. We want to help launch tens of thousands of businesses around the world."

Based in London's Tech city, the hub of the business startup community, LEOcrowd operates a REWARD based crowdfunding model that has distinct advantages.

Firstly through its relationship with Learning Enterprises Organisation it has a global footprint in 140 countries already.

Secondly it facilitates payment through digital currencies such as Bitcoin or LEOcoin, making it at the cutting edge of financial technology. Access to digital currency fundraising will enable projects to be more global and help strip down financial barriers typically in place when raising capital internationally. Mr Johnstone added, "Access to finance for startup businesses or those with great ideas has become increasingly difficult and we provide the solution"

The platform, currently in its soft-launch phase, already hosts several projects in the process of fundraising, and will formally launch at an entrepreneurial leadership event on April 16, 2016. The event from 1.00pm to 4.00pm is free and open to the public at The Brewery Conference Center Stockholm in Stockholm, Sweden.

For tickets or additional information visit Eventbrite, or email [email protected].

About LEO (Learning Enterprises Organisation)

Learning Enterprises Organisation, Ltd. (LEO, "Learn Earn Own") is an entrepreneurial membership network designed to deliver knowledge, resources and inspiration for entrepreneurs worldwide. Its motivational philosophy is centered around unleashing human potential for the betterment of entrepreneurs, small businesses and the global economy. The LEO ecosystem includes a vast array of products, services and educational tours designed for entrepreneurs including LEO eTutoring, multilingual training products LEO Coreline, LEOxChange digital currency exchange for LEOcoin, social network LEO Cafe, and LEOcharity. LEO has offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. To learn more go to www.learnearnown.com.

Video - https://youtu.be/smRWIJj--fw Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160415/355946LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leocrowd-crowdfunding-platform-for-entrepreneurs-to-launch-globally-at-stockholm-event-300252335.html

SOURCE LEO
(PRWEB) April 15, 2016

In recognition of World PH Day on May 5, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) joins 80 fellow international organizations to celebrate progress made in their unified, universal fight against an often misdiagnosed life-threatening, progressive lung disease.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is increased pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs that can lead to death from right heart failure. With symptoms that include shortness of breath, dizziness and fatigue, appropriate therapy is often delayed when the disease is misdiagnosed as another illness, such as asthma. Envisioning a world without PH, PHA credits progress with treatment, care, awareness and research to PH community-serving associations around the world working as allies in the fight against the disease.

"In 25 years, here in the U.S., we've gone from zero to 14 treatments, which is as many or more than the number of drugs approved to treat all but two of the roughly 7,000 rare diseases," said PHA President and CEO Rino Aldrighetti. "Many countries have seen similar progress. As an international PH-community, we stand with those worldwide who seek access to PH therapies. We're empowered in our fight to conquer this disease and improve life for PH patients and families universally."

This year's World PH Day commemoration comes as PHA marks its 25th anniversary and one month before PHA's International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions, where PH-serving organizations will gather patients, caregivers, families, clinicians, donors and researchers to network and exchange ideas and knowledge. The 2016 International Conference, June 17-19 in Dallas, Texas, is expected to draw nearly 2,000 people from over 30 nations.

In addition to hosting the International Conference, held every other year, PHA contributes to the world's PH support, awareness, medical education and research through Our PH Library, which it launched in partnership with PHA Europe in 2015. The online resource receives global visits, with individuals in nations as diverse as India, Argentina and Algeria represented among the many countries accessing the library's resources. PHA Online University, which provides certified medical training, has seen non-U.S. visits increase 31.5 percent from 2015  2016, on the heels of a 41.5 percent increase in non-U.S. visitor experienced the prior year. In addition, PHA mails its "Advances in PH" medical journal to 50,000 physicians worldwide each quarter. The U.S. association expects the global PH community to benefit further as it begins reporting data from its 2014-established PH Care Center accreditation and patient registry program and its recently launched Heart2CurePH (#Heart2CurePH) public awareness campaign.

In the U.S., PHA will recognize World PH Day 2016 with:





 A pre-World PH Day reception, where PHA will launch the Rino Aldrighetti: Leading from the Heart Fund, an opportunity for Silver Spring, Md., and Washington D.C.-area PH supporters to gather to honor PHA CEO Rino Aldrighetti for his 17 years of service ahead of his June 19 retirement. The event program will include celebratory video messages from international PH-organization leaders;

 A legislative briefing and lunch on Capitol Hill (bringing U.S. Senate and House of Representatives staffs together for lunch and programming to discuss PH-specific legislation and teach them a little more about the disease); and

 A World PH Day photo album to be posted on Facebook representing activities from PH-serving organizations around the world.

About the Pulmonary Hypertension Association: Headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., with a growing list of chapters across the country, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) is the country's leading pulmonary hypertension organization. Its mission is to extend and improve the lives of those affected by PH; its vision is a world without PH, empowered by hope. PHA achieves this by connecting and working together with the entire PH community of patients, families and medical professionals. Among its programs, PHA facilitates more than 245 support groups around the country and delivers continuing education for medical professionals through PHA Online University. For 12 consecutive years, PHA has received the highest rating -- four stars -- for fiscal accountability and transparency from Charity Navigator, placing it in the top half of 1 percent of all rated charities. For more information, please go to http://www.PHAssociation.org, @PHAssociation on Twitter or http://www.facebook.com/PulmonaryHypertensionAssociation.

To join the World PH Day event on Facebook, visit https://www.facebook.com/WorldPHDay/.

###

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/04/prweb13347306.htm
A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

By Nate Raymond and Dustin Volz

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unidentified American company was defrauded last year out of nearly $100 million by individuals who created a fake email address in order to pose as one of its legitimate vendors, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.

The details of the scheme came as the U.S. government filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan seeking to recover about $25 million in proceeds derived from the fraud held in at least 20 bank accounts around the world.

Nearly $74 million has been recovered and returned to the American company, authorities said.

The case appeared to be the latest, and one of the largest, examples of a "business email compromise," a growing type of cyber scam in which fraudsters target businesses that work with foreign suppliers or regularly perform wire transfers.

The FBI said in an alert issued to companies last week that businesses had suffered $2.3 billion globally in losses from email wire-transfer scams from October 2013 to February of this year.

The complaint filed on Thursday "appears to be the largest email scam that I've seen," said Tom Brown, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who is now managing director of Berkeley Research Group's cyber security practice.

The scheme at issue in Thursday's lawsuit took place from August to September and was identified after a Cyprus-based bank identified suspicious transfers, authorities said.

According to the lawsuit, the perpetrators carried out the scam by creating a fake email address that resembled that of one of the company's vendors in Asia.

The perpetrators then posed as a vendor while communicating with a professional services company that was hired to handle the details and logistics of vendor payments for the American corporation, the lawsuit said.

The fraud caused the American firm to send $98.9 million meant for the actual vendor to an account at Eurobank Cyprus Ltd, which discovered the fraud, the lawsuit said.

Eurobank, which did not respond to an email seeking comment, on its own initiative in September restrained nearly $74 million of the funds.

The remaining $25 million was laundered through other accounts in locations including Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Hong Kong, authorities said.

Foreign governments at the request of U.S. authorities have restrained 20 accounts worldwide that received portions of the remaining stolen funds, which are now the subject of the lawsuit, authorities said.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; and Dustin Volz in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
Vice Admiral James D. Syring, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, delivers a speech during a ceremony at the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry, in Bucharest, Romania December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Constant cyber attacks on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and its key weapons programs pose as great a threat as development of intercontinental ballistic missiles by Iran and North Korea, the admiral who heads the agency said on Thursday.

Vice Admiral James Syring told a House Armed Services subcommittee that the agency had taken "inordinate" measures to defend its own networks, but he remained concerned about potential vulnerabilities among defense contractors.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency develops and runs a multilayered system of defenses against ballistic missile attacks by potential enemies. The system includes ground-based interceptor missiles in Alaska and California as well as high-end radar equipment to detect attacks.

Syring said the agency carried out continuous monitoring of its classified and unclassified networks, but said cyber attacks were increasingly directed against private contractors and unclassified, controlled technical information that they housed on their networks.

"What weve got to do is get them up to where we are in terms of our protection levels, and I view it as a very near-term, very real requirement across the (Ballistic Missile Defense System)," he said.

U.S. defense officials have been increasingly vocal about escalating and constant cyber attacks originating from China, Russia and other countries.

Syring did not answer directly when asked about his knowledge of attacks on the agency's networks by China or the Chinese military, telling lawmakers he would provide fuller answers during a classified hearing.

Syring told a similar Senate hearing on Wednesday that the agency was working "hand-in-glove" with private contractors to ensure that future contracts contained the necessary cyber security requirements, protections and standards.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told Reuters this week that the Pentagon's Cyber Investment Management Board had prepared a list of top-priority weapons programs that required cyber security updates and investments.

He said the details were classified, but said some of those programs were launched years ago before cyber attacks became commonplace.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Four soldiers were killed and two wounded when a bomb hit a military vehicle traveling in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Friday, security sources said.

The vehicle was on patrol between the villages of Yazdir and Taslikli in Mardin's Savur district when a handmade explosive was detonated, the security sources said. The two wounded soldiers were being treated in hospital, they said.

In another attack in Sirnak, east of Mardin, one police officer died and seven security force members were wounded by a bomb during the search of a house by security forces, security sources said.

Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast has been hit by waves of violence in clashes between government security forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after a ceasefire fell apart last year.

On Friday authorities lifted a curfew imposed to fight Kurdish militants in an area of southeast Turkey's largest city, Diyarbakir. The one-day curfew in Silwan district was lifted from 4:30 p.m. (1:30 GMT).

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight for Kurdish autonomy last summer, ending a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and a peace process.

The government has ruled out any return to the negotiating table and has said it will crush the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

The bombing of security force vehicles and installations is common in the southeast. On Monday a car laden with explosives smashed into a military base in Diyarbakir province, killing one soldier and wounding 20, hours after the government cabinet adjourned in the region.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984.

(Reporting by Seyhmus Cakan and Seda Sezer; Writing by David Dolan; editing by John Stonestreet and Dominic Evans)
Migrant children play with rubber bullets and empty cases at a makeshift camp for refugees and migrants at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, April 11, 2016. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

By Emma Batha

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least 1,500 unaccompanied migrant and refugee children stranded in Greece have nowhere safe to stay, with many sleeping rough in the cold and others incarcerated, a charity warned on Saturday ahead of Pope Francis' visit to Lesbos.

Save the Children said Greece must stop locking up children and called on the European Union to help open more safe shelters for them.

"Children ... are sleeping rough in increasingly volatile unofficial accommodation sites, are being incarcerated in detention centers and are slipping through the cracks of the system," said Amy Frost, Save the Children's team leader in Greece.

"They are at risk of violence, abuse and exploitation by people traffickers."

The children - some as young as 10 - come from countries including Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many have fled war and other violence. Some have traveled alone to Europe, while others have become separated from their families.

Pope Francis will visit the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday in a trip which aims to draw attention to the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees entered Europe last year after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece.

But the European Union last month struck a controversial deal with Turkey aimed at closing the Aegean route, and Balkan states have closed their borders.

The closures have left an estimated 2,000 unaccompanied children trapped in Greece, but Save the Children said there were just 477 shelter spaces for them in the country.

The shelters have been full for weeks meaning some new arrivals are put in detention centers and police cells.

"SERIOUS CONCERNS"

Frost said some children were being held for weeks in police custody in "extremely bad conditions".

She criticized the European Union for rushing to close borders and implement the deal with Turkey.

"Pope Francis is telling the world there can be a more compassionate way to deal with the refugee crisis and Save the Children agrees," Frost said in a statement.

The charity said children at the overcrowded center in Moria - which the Pope is scheduled to visit - were getting sick.

It also had "serious concerns" about the mental and physical wellbeing of nearly 60 children detained in a section of Moria managed by the police.

"The conditions are very dirty, there are not enough beds and they do not have access to legal services," Save the Children spokeswoman Sacha Myers said by phone from Lesbos.

Other children are sleeping rough in Athens - some on park benches - and at Greece's northern border, where Myers said they were at risk of exploitation and abuse.

One 15-year-old Syrian boy, who spent several days sleeping in the rain and mud, described conditions at the border as "wretched".

"I want to cry, but I don't want people to see me crying," he was quoted as saying by the charity. He said he had fled Syria after being jailed and beaten. His boat from Turkey had nearly capsized twice.

The International Organization for Migration said on Friday that 153,362 migrants and refugees had entered Greece by sea in 2016, but numbers had fallen sharply in the last week.

(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.)
Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov shake hands with Croatian and Slovenian police officers deployed at Macedonian south border with Greece in Gevgelija, Macedonia, April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

By Kole Casule

SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov stood by his decision on Friday to pardon 56 officials in a wiretapping scandal despite days of street protests and mounting national and international calls on him to change his mind.

The amnesty granted by Ivanov this week prevents the 56 government and opposition officials from being prosecuted over revelations of a vast wiretapping operation that has pitched the Balkan country into a paralyzing political crisis.

Macedonia's three leading political parties wrote to Ivanov on Friday urging him to withdraw the pardons, and the United States and other governments have urged him to reconsider.

Ivanov said in a national address that he would not reverse his decision, but that any of the people who had received pardons and wanted to prove their innocence in court could ask for the pardon to be overturned in their case.

"I think the decision protects the state interest and I inform you that I am standing by it," Ivanov said.

"Anyone who thinks that a right has been taken from him or that I have done him a bad favor, or wants to prove his innocence in court, I call on him personally, in a written form, to submit a request to annul the decision regarding him."

Macedonia, a poor Balkan country of two million people has been in turmoil since the opposition accused then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his counter-intelligence chief in February 2015 of orchestrating the wiretapping of over 20,000 people.

The opposition said the recordings revealed government control over journalists, judges, public sector recruitment and the manipulation of elections.

Ivanov warned diplomats on Friday to be measured in their response to the pardons. Ambassadors from EU countries attended a news conference by a special prosecutor in Skopje on Thursday who said she would continue to investigate the wiretap affair.

"I call on the representatives of the international community to be careful in their behavior and activities and to remind them that they might be misinterpreted," Ivanov said.

European Council President Donald Tusk warned Macedonia on Friday not to let the political crisis endanger its ties with the European Union and NATO, both of which it aspires to join.

The former Yugoslav republic set an early parliamentary election for June 5 on Friday, as called for by an EU-brokered deal to end the political crisis.

However, Zoran Zaev, leader of the biggest opposition party, repeated on Friday that his Social Democratic Union would boycott the election. "Everyone knows that there are no conditions for fair, democratic and free elections. There is a coup d'etat in this country," he told a news conference, alluding to Ivanov's amnesty.

Zaev predicted an intensification of street protests.

Protesters demolished one of Ivanov's offices and stoned police during three nights of protests this week.

(Editing by Adrian Croft and Mark Heinrich)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The dividend payouts of state-controlled Russian companies should be kept at no less than half of their profits until 2019, with no exceptions, the finance ministry proposed on Saturday.

But there were mixed messages on the policy, with Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich saying some firms could be let off higher dividend payments on their profits from last year.

Russia, searching for ways of boosting budget revenue to offset the effects of lower oil prices and Western sanctions, has already proposed raising the dividend payout ratio for state companies to 50 percent of profit this year from a previous 25 percent. They should keep paying at least half of their annual profit in dividends in 2017-2019, news agencies quoted finance minister Anton Siluanov as saying on Saturday.

"This encourages companies to pursue their activities more effectively and yet shareholders should also benefit from the ownership of these shares," Interfax news agency quoted Siluanov as saying.

Siluanov was quoted as saying the state budget may receive up to 1.5 trillion roubles ($22.6 billion) in 2016-2017 from the sale of stakes in oil giant Rosneft , mid-size oil producer Bashneft , diamond producer Alrosa and possibly VTB bank , Russia's No.2 lender. Several state-controlled companies have asked the government for permission to pay less than 50 percent of their profit in dividends for 2015 because they need to continue their investment programs, Dvorkovich said on Saturday.

"The final decision is yet to be taken," RIA news agency quoted Dvorkovich as saying. "The general principle is 50 percent. Of course, there can be individual decisions," he added.

This view contradicts Siluanov's position, who said that the rule on dividends should not allow exceptions.

The state holding Rosneftegaz, which accumulates part of the dividend payments from oil giant Rosneft and state monopoly Gazprom , is currently excluded from this rule, Interfax quoted a source familiar with situation as saying. Dvorkovich told RIA the government is yet to take the final decision on the size of Rosneftegaz payments. The largest dividend payers to the state budget are Gazprom, Rosneftegaz, Alrosa and Bashneft. Russian state companies often calculate profit under both domestic and international accounting standards, but until now have often paid dividends based on lower profit numbers under domestic standards.

Siluanov's deputy, Alexei Moiseev, was quoted as saying state companies should use the higher of the two numbers when calculating their 2015 dividends.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Polina Devitt; Editing by Christian Lowe and Richard Balmforth)
The sale of the Ashburton District Council's Lot 9, which comes with resource consent to bottle 1.4 billion litres of artesian water each year, caused outrage - but the global beverage giants have been quietly bottling New Zealand's water for years CHARLIE MITCHELL reports.

Along a quiet, dusty road near rural Tai Tapu lies a nondescript water bottling-plant once backed by billionaires.

It's a corrugated iron structure, indistinguishable from the hay sheds scattered across the Canterbury Plains.

Kiwaii Water - made in NZ, but sold in US.

There is nothing to suggest it is connected to Lynda and Stewart Resnick, Americans with a fortune of about $6 billion.

READ MORE:

* For sale: 40 billion litres of Canterbury's purest water

* Outrage at plan to sell 40 billion litres of Canterbury water

* Second Canterbury property with water extraction rights up for sale

The town, which has a population of about 700, was chosen as the site for a plant used by SpringFresh, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Resnick-owned company Fiji Water.

PETRICE TARRANT/FAIRFAX NZ The Putaruru Blue Spring.

It is one of the world's largest bottled water brands, said to be the drinking water of choice for many celebrities, including United States President Barack Obama.

The water bottled there was sold under the SpringFresh brand within New Zealand. The plant was sold to Naturally Pure NZ in 2013.

The sale of the Ashburton District Council's Lot 9, which comes with resource consent to bottle 1.4 billion litres of artesian water each year, caused outrage - but the global beverage giants have been quietly bottling New Zealand's water for years.

A subsidary of Fiji Water is behind the SpringFresh bottling plant in Tai Tapu.

At the blue spring near Putaruru in Waikato, a town with a population of about 4000, Coca-Cola (annual revenue over $60b) extracts water for its Pump brand.

In Kaiapoi, Japanese company Suntory Holdings (annual revenue over $30b), which owns Frucor, bottles its South Island sourced water for its H2Go and Mizone products.

Oravida bottles water in the Bay of Plenty; a Latvian company sells water under the Tongariro Springs brand.

Kiwaii water, sold in 40 US states, is American-owned, and Chinese-backed companies who sell water across Asia bottle their water in Hawke's Bay.

Billions of litres of water leave the country every year for sale overseas, driven by some of the world's largest companies, who do not pay a fee to use the resource.

While such activity is met with outrage by some, others say the beverage giants are making the most of an opportunity New Zealand should have taken long ago.

"Perhaps we should applaud overseas companies for doing what New Zealand should have done years ago - sell the water rather than turning it into milk, with its associated environmental impact," says Roger Young of Canterbury's Water Rights Trust.

The group has opposed dairy intensification in the region, due to its affect on the environment. Bottling the water itself was both economically viable and more environmentally friendly.

Dr Daniel Collins, a hydrologist, has estimated about 250 litres of freshwater goes into producing a litre of Canterbury milk, primarily from irrigation.

Bottled water, comparatively, is more simple: 1 litre of freshwater equals 1 litre of bottled water for sale.

"It just seems so obvious to cut out all the dirty stuff involved in milk powder production and sell the fresh water instead," Young says.

"Selling the water rather than [turning it into] milk powder is the smartest thing to do with a valuable resource."

Of the 11 consents that allow water bottling in Canterbury, Ashburton's Lot 9 is by far the largest to be used primarily for bottling. There is no central register for water-bottling companies in New Zealand, which means the total volume of water they take is unknown.

Based on publicly available information, however, it appears the Ashburton take is among the largest.

Dr Eric Crampton, head of research at the New Zealand Initiative, says there would be few complaints if that water consent was bought by a dairy farm.

He says bottling water is more efficient than using it for dairy, and suggested it may be time to "cut out the middle cow".

"If a dairy farmer bought [a property with a water consent] and profited from drawing that water to produce milk, nobody would bat an eyelash.

"Shifting to a trading mechanism would make sure that New Zealand water were put to its best use."

Such a trading mechanism, however, looks unlikely. In the wake of the Ashburton deal, the government has re-iterated its position that water is owned by no-one.

When the Ashburton District Council applied for its water consent, Environment Canterbury (ECan) knew fully well it planned to sell it on for commercial purposes.

Similarly, in 2015, there were protests against the Hawke's Bay regional council after it gave several overseas companies consent to bottle hundreds of millions of litres of water.

They approve such consents because they effectively have no choice not to, says Dr Bryan Jenkins, water expert at the University of Canterbury

The Resource Management Act (RMA) means local authorities are unable to allocate water on merit. They cannot take into account debates about socially acceptable usage of water, which flare up when overseas companies apply to take the water.

"If we're going to have sustainable management of water, we do need something quite different from the RMA," he says.

"There are countries with more modern legislation than the RMA, which are considering what are the uses of water that are considered to have the highest priority for a particular society."

Jenkins - himself a former chief executive of ECan - says while bottling water has fewer environmental implications than water used for dairy farms, each country has to decide how it wants its water used.

Unless the RMA is changed, the debate cannot happen.

"[Bottling] is a lower impact activity than using water for irrigation on things like dairy farms. Clearly you don't have the water quality implications of land use intensification you get with things like dairying.

"Whether the RMA is the appropriate basis for making such decisions is another matter."
The new Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy was a tough businesswoman and lawyer prepared to take the steps necessary to crunch deals. Martin van Beynen revisits a deal which earned her firm an easy $20 million profit but also some criticism from the High Court.

It's not often New Zealanders get a Governor-General who is a highly successful business figure.

Even rarer is someone who kept company with such business titans and corporate raiders as Ron Brierley, (now Sir Ron Brierley), Bruce Hancox and Paul Collins (now Sir Paul Collins). Patsy Reddy is one of those rare individuals. She worked for Brierley Investments for 11 years. She then joined Collins in Active Equities after Collins was ousted from Brierley.

Dean Kozanic Justice William Young received the DCNZM in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2007.

Ordinary wage and salary earners would normally get no more than a glimpse into the cut throat world of corporate raiding, where millions are made and lost over morning tea.

One deal, however, that involved Reddy, got a lot more scrutiny than most because it ended up in court.

READ MORE:

* Dame Patsy Reddy was 'stunned' when offered the Governor-General role

* Who is Dame Patsy Reddy, and what will she do as Governor-General?

Marty Melville Sir Paul Collins has made a huge contribution to NZ sport since his corporate days.

The deal was caught up in a bitter dispute between two of NZ's biggest meat companies - Richmond, based in Hawkes Bay, and PPCS, based in Dunedin. PPCS wanted to take over Richmond and used a method ultimately declared illegal, with the courts frowning on what they deemed "seriously misleading" statements.

Richmond and others fought the takeover and in August, 2002 , then High Court judge Justice William Young (now on the Supreme Court) - ruled PPCS breached the takeover code in trying to secure a stake in Richmond.

Justice Young took a dim view of the shenanigans and forfeited 17.6 per cent of PPCS's stake in Richmond and cancelled PPCS's voting rights on the remainder of its stake. The Court of Appeal went on to uphold the forfeiture but returned the voting rights, essentially giving PPCS 63 per cent of Richmond.

The soon-to-be sworn-in Governor-General and her business partners were involved in a peripheral but important way which requires a bit of back tracking to explain.

Reddy and Collins were directors and shareholders of a company called Active Equities (AE) that had several subsidiaries. The company was formed in 1998 with Reddy one of the founding directors.

When PPCS, (now Silver Fern Farms) decided in the late 90s it wanted a piece of Richmond, it knew Richmond wouldn't be enthusiastic and fearing counter-measures, began to sneakily buy shares in Richmond through nominees.

The then Meat Board had a one third interest in Richmond and when it decided to sell, PPCS was of course very interested but wanted to hide that interest, knowing Richmond would be hostile.

To get around this, the company funded a colluding and well-compensated Maori farming entity called HKM to buy the Meat Board shares.

In 1998 the deal (about $15m) was finalised with a Westpac loan to HKM completely funding the deal. Richmond eventually found out and PPCS, for various reasons, some of which related to not wanting the underhand dealing to come out, decided to sell.

Patsy Reddy's firm AE was one of two possible buyers. It bought the shares for about $29m but did not have to spend a cent of its own.

This was because PPCS paid $12.5m for shares in a subsidiary of AE and guaranteed an $18m loan from Citibank to the AE subsidiary buying the Richmond shares. The extra $1.5m was to cover interest costs.

Richmond was suspicious - it had to approve the sale for the deal to go ahead - and asked the directors of AE for a statutory declaration. Collins provided the declaration, revealing something of the shares bought by PPCS but said nothing about a guarantee or indemnity. The declaration was in Justice Young's view "wrong".

In any event Richmond came to believe that AE was simply holding on to the shares for PPCS. Its view, subsequently found to be wrong, was initially reinforced by a fascinating bit of detective work. Its in-house lawyer arranged for a third party to sound out the Citibank officer behind the deal.

He had moved to London so the third party flew there and pretending to be looking for a banker for a particular client got the Citibank official talking about the AE deal. He disclosed his belief that AE was "warehousing" the shares for PPCS and revealed the guarantee PPCS had given to Citibank.

Richmond representatives were outraged and confronted Collins and Reddy. Reddy provided the response.

"The initial response which Reddy gave involved a denial that any guarantee had been given by PPCS, an answer which she considered to be strictly true (because she considered the indemnity not to be a guarantee) but which further increased suspicions about Active Equities," Justice Young later said of the exchange.

He said the documentation - structured as a deed of indemnity - was unusual because the solicitors involved wanted to avoid any argument that the arrangements were caught by the Securities Act. For this reason PPCS was not given some normal guarantor entitlements. Nonetheless, whatever it was called the arrangement was in economic substance a guarantee, Justice Young said.

AE sold the Richmond shares in 2001 to PPCS which paid AE over $50m. In the space of about a year, AE had made a $20m profit on a deal which did not require it to put any of its capital at risk.

In the High Court hearing before Justice Young, AE was not a party but figured prominently and was represented by one of NZ's top Queens Counsel Jim Farmer.

After the High Court proceedings, AE sought costs arguing it was a successful party and entitled to legal costs. Richmond opposed any award saying the behaviour of AE relating to the guarantee disqualified it from any relief.

Justice Young said in normal circumstances he would have awarded costs to AE but not in this case.

But AE had brought the litigation on itself, he said.

"I am satisfied that the statutory declaration by Mr Collins was false...The declaration is so obviously wrong that it is really difficult to see how any sensible commercial person could have regarded it as correct. The arguments advanced by Collins and Foley (AE's lawyer) struck me as being forced and artificial. The declaration was necessary if the AE transaction was to proceed smoothly. As a result of that transaction AE was, in due course, in make in excess of $20m.

"Although profits of that magnitude were not within the specific contemplation of AE personnel at the time, they did intend to make a profit and there was thus a strong motive for Mr Collins to do whatever it took to ensure that the transaction could proceed.

"...I am prepared to accept that there is a reasonable doubt on the issue of whether Foley and Collins managed to persuade themselves that the declaration was literally true. This might be thought to involve a pretty charitable view of their states of mind. On a common sense basis, it is certainly likely that they did know that the declaration was untrue."

Justice Young said the "mental gymnastics" involved in the "self persuasion exercise" would not have been known to the Richmond directors.

"...I am perfectly satisfied that even if Foley and Collins had convinced themselves that the declaration was literally true, they must still have known that it was seriously misleading."

In the costs judgement Justice Young also referred to Patsy Reddy's denial of the existence of a PPCS guarantee.

" I think that the indemnity was, in fact, a guarantee and that her denial of the existence of a guarantee was wrong. I accept that she believed that what she was saying was strictly speaking correct. It was nonetheless misleading and this in a context where the people she was speaking to had a fairly clear idea what the true position was. Her conduct further contributed to the suspicions which surrounded AE's role in these proceedings."

AE's "misleading conduct" made it inevitable there would be a legitimate inquiry into whether the Securities Amendment Act 1988 had been breached, Justice Young said.

Reddy declined to answer a number of questions put by Fairfax including how much she made personally from the Richmond transaction and what she knew about the declaration said by Justice Young to require mental gymnastics to believe it was true. She was invited but declined to comment on the ethics of the $20m profit.

In a statement she said the High Court found the transactions to which AE was a party did not breach the law nor Richmond's constitution.

"The Court found that the shortfall indemnity (this is the instrument Young said was a guarantee) provided by PPCS created no relevant interest in the shares and that PPCS did not have the normal entitlement of a guarantor."

"I acted correctly and honestly in all of my dealing in relation to these transactions, as I have done throughout my career....The events in relation to the Richmond/PPCS litigation are a matter of public record and were widely reported at the time. They were known to the those who have selected me for subsequent governance roles in both the private and public sectors."

* Guarantee: A pledge or agreement to be responsible for another's debt or contractual performance if that other person does not pay or perform.

* Indemnity: An indemnity contract arises when one individual takes on the obligation to pay for any loss or damage that has been or might be incurred by another individual.
Kakahi as it was in 2016. Once a boom town - now it's asleep.

Blinks Smith walks down the centre of a quiet country road in his pink and black striped board shorts, a bandanna on his head, a cap on his bandanna and a red Canon EOS camera hanging from his neck.

Mohio Road in Kakahi is quiet. Five tired old houses line the street.

The schoolhouse, recently painted bright orange with blue trim, sits abandoned at one end. It will be disestablished in April.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ It's better late than never for Blinks Smith, who after 58 years meets his siblings and discovers his Kakahi roots.

Adopted by a family in Hamilton and now living in Sydney, Blinks is in Kakahi for the first time.

He's on a mission.

He never knew his roots until now, never knew Kakahi was the answer to what had been nagging him for the best part of his 58 years, never knew where he was from.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Looking back up the Whanganui River from a lookout on State Highway 4 south of Taumarunui.

"Here I am today walking down the street," Blinks (real name Patrick) says. "Let's go and explore this little place."

DEATH KNELL

Travel 15 kilometres south of Taumarunui on State Highway 4, take a left-hand turn and you'll wind your way down Waitea Branch Road to a valley almost forgotten by time.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Renowned artist Peter McIntyre helped put Kakahi on the map with his paintings.

It's out of sight and out of mind for the thousands who, in winter, flock to the central North Island skifields less than 45 minutes away.

In its heyday, when the passenger train stopped at the station, Kakahi was the place to be.

Cross the Kakahi stream, past a laden Granny Smith apple tree and the welcome sign, is Kakahi village and its 50 or so houses.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Kakahi was once a booming town of 3000.

Some are occupied, some are not. Population: tiny.

There is an odd mix of optimism and despair.

Hundred-year-old timber buildings hang derelict from neglect, but gardens are proudly kept, fruit is abundant, livestock roam backyards.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Outgoing Kakahi School principal Angelina Cassidy.

Ramshackle houses and rusted cars contrast with renovated holiday homes and newly built houses.

There is a lack of work - cars stream out in the morning as workers head to Taumarunui - but there is a hunting guide operating, farms, a heavy machinery contractor and fields of commercial seed.

Even Kakahi School, with its vibrant exterior, modern playground and astroturf courts, belies the fact that the cries of children will no longer belong there.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ The trout fishing on the Whakapapa River near the confluence to the Whanganui River is famous.

Outgoing principal Angelina Cassidy says the decision didn't come easily.

"A lot of the community are attached to the school. They've either had generations that have attended the school, supported the school and have ongoing support for the school," Cassidy says.

"Those things we had to take into account and the Ministry [of Education] listened, but at the end of the day, they had to do what was viable for the students' learning progress and achievement."

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Kakahi Kaumatua Alan "Arana" Taumata.

Education Review Office reports from 2012 to 2015 held concern for student underachievement and management and in 2014 and 2015, the school was placed under statutory management.

When the school roll dropped below 15 in 2015 and an enrolment drive failed, the writing was on the wall.

"We found that getting towards the end, we weren't clutching at straws but where to now? What do we do here? How do we get the children transported out here?

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Kakahi General Store owner Manu Lala is the heart of the Kakahi community.

"Families have needs, so they have to provide for their families and do what is best for their families.

"Everyone is trying to do something for Kakahi and as one of the locals said, years past, everyone did things together, but it doesn't happen so much now.

Across the road from the school, Ngati Manunui kaumatua Alan "Arana" Taumata says the school closure is another step in a decades-long decline.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Manu Lala's shop has goods from a bygone era.

"The death knell? I'm sure it is, but not much of a death knell because, of the six [students], not one of them lived in Kakahi," Taumata says.

The dozen children who do live in Kakahi catch a bus to school elsewhere.

Whanau in Taumarunui, Matapuna or Manunui were trying to keep the school open, but they have other options.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Maxine Arden has been a Kakahi resident for five years. Maxine helps with the running of Kakahi Adventure Lodge.

"That was their way of preserving the mana ... even though they themselves were convinced their children weren't learning anything here.

"I accept that it has an inevitability. It was bound to happen. It's happening all over Aotearoa."

Taumata moved back to Kakahi in 1995 after years in the service of the Governor-General.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Kakahi Adventure Lodge has been open since August 2015.

Since then, the town has been on a gradual decline.

"When my sister says, How is Kakahi? I say it's asleep. Kakahi is asleep, fast asleep," Taumata says.

"Wake up to what? If that sounds despairing, then that's what it is.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Kakahi resident and district nurse Sara McIntyre enjoys the sound of the Whakapapa River flowing past her property.

"If it's taken 20 years to die. Well, we are lucky it took that long. We've had 20 happy years in Kakahi," Taumata says.

Boom Times

When the sawmills operated and the train stopped at the station, Kakahi was hustle and bustle.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Artwork at Maxine Arden and Michael Walsh's Kakahi home.

Manu Lala, known as Uncle Manu and described as "more Kakahi than Kakahi", is the heart of the community.

"When my dad first came here, the population was about 3000 people," says Manu who, as a teenager, took over the store from his ailing father in 1957.

"There were two picture theatres, boarding houses, a big railway settlement, three butcher shops.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Joy Savage rides her horses down the old cutting to the Whakapapa River.

"The town was buzzing, them days."

Inside his shop, an old tilly lamp sits on a dusty shelf, an old bacon slicer lies under plastic next to an old scale on top of an old shop counter.

Dozens of framed pictures - collectables now - line the wall.

He wants to sell the store and attached house, but has had little interest.

By the look of the shrine to his beloved town on the back wall, he doesn't really have the heart.

At the age of eight, Manu caught a boat to Sydney from Mumbai and a flying boat to Auckland with his mother.

"Dad met us there and brought us all the from Auckland to Kakahi by train. That's how I arrived in Kakahi. I couldn't speak a word of English."

He's an optimist, a businessman who has an eye for opportunity - based, of course, around his passion for trout angling.

As for Kakahi's fishing secret, he doesn't mind sharing.

"It's too late. The word has got around about our fishing. Even my children say to me now, Dad, close up and become a fishing guide."

There is scope for developing tourism around the glow-worm caves, too, he says. But new blood is needed.

"It'll be damned good for Kakahi again, you know?"

Maxine Arden drops into the shop to buy thick PVC electrical tape.

She lives next door to the general store and like Manu, she's an entrepreneur, running Kakahi Adventure Lodge.

Maxine moved to Kakahi from Auckland five years ago after striking up a relationship with long-time resident Michael Walsh.

She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Waikato University and post-graduate diploma in management.

"The quiet, the peacefulness, the light, the gentle energy, all of the above," Maxine says.

"You kind of breathe a sigh when you get around the corner and you head down into the valley."

Despite her foray into the accommodation business, She has her own thoughts on developing a tourism industry.

After all, freedom campers have been a problem.

"Why do we want to do that?

"The thing is, there is nothing to spend their money on except at the shop.

"There are no toilet facilities in the village for the public, so if you bring the public in, they use the infrastructure and there is really no great reward for the community."

Just beyond the general store, the tarseal road turns to gravel and a short drive takes you through a deep, overgrown cutting once used as a bullock track to the Whakapapa River.

At night, the cutting lights up with the silken thread of a thousand glow worms, fishing for their prey.

On this day, Joy Savage rides her horse down the slope from its dark entrance with a full smile.

"I've just finished five days trekking in North Taranaki with our Taumarunui Intrepid Trekkers group, which is abbreviated as TITs," Joy says with a laugh.

She "only" moved to Kakahi in 1980, when she spotted a farm for sale.

There is nowhere else she would rather be.

"The peace, the quietness, just the pleasure of being able to get out on my horse and ride whenever I feel like it.

"It's just beautiful here, I just love it. There is nothing more that I can say."

Up on the cliff, overlooking the Whakapapa River, district nurse Sara McIntyre sits on her front porch.

The roar of the Whakapapa below, as water surges across the rocks, is loud enough that several knocks at the back door go unnoticed.

Her father was well-known artist Peter McIntyre, OBE, who with wife Patty had a love affair with Kakahi beginning in 1960.

Sara and her brother inherited their parents' property and she moved back permanently five years ago.

"We sold our family home in Wellington and this is really our turangawaewae," Sara says.

The number of children in town has dwindled, she says, and Kakahi's community leaders - Manu Lala and Alan Taumata - are frail.

"It's sort of like a lot of parts of New Zealand. It's getting neglected and there is a lot of poverty here in Taumarunui and Kakahi," Sara says.

Future leaders are few and far between and it shows.

Community meetings are full of strong personalities and are "a drag", she says. Too many individuals with their own ideas of what's best for Kakahi.

"A lot of them are very misguided. A lot of hermit-type people."

But there is a widely held belief the school building could herald a new beginning.

Sara has her doubts.

"You just know it's not going to work," she says. "There is no one here that is capable of running a backpackers.

"They could do it really well for about two months and you know they'd get sick of it."

HOMECOMING

At the Kakahi Adventure lodge, Blinks reflects on his journey.

"Apparently, we've been here 600 years, our ancestors," Blinks says.

"It's ... ummm ... peace, a peaceful feeling come over me.

"That's why I was walking down the road. This is history. Take photos. There is just a calm feeling over me."

It was his biological sister who first made contact in 1992 who gave Blinks the motivation to find his family.

She's terminally ill now, so he and wife Noriko Smith have taken the first step.

"Many things have happened through the years and I always used to wonder. I wonder what it would be like to have a brother that looks like me, someone that I can sit down and talk to, talk about things that I want to talk about."

His brothers and sisters - the ones he knew nothing about - are about 20 years younger than he is.

He looks like them, behaves like them.

For Blinks, everything is new in Kakahi. Even the oldest building, with its moss-ridden walls, smashed windows and crumbling facade. Kakahi is a fresh opportunity to know more about himself.

"I can finally find out where I come from, I can finally meet my brothers and sisters. I've still got more people to meet and it's really hard to explain, to be honest.

"I'm slowly getting closure. It's just a great feeling. Fifty-eight years. It's better late than never.

"I can stop thinking, what if? Who do I look like?

"I've found them. I'm home."
After five years taking the lead in post-disaster Christchurch the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority is closing shop, MICHAEL WRIGHT reports on its legacy.

On Monday, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) will cease to exist. Born in April 2011, Cera oversaw more than 1200 building demolitions, the red-zoning of nearly 8000 residential properties and the development of a rebuild plan that will shape Christchurch for decades.

The law that established Cera is expiring and a suite of new outfits  Regenerate Christchurch, Otakaro Ltd and the Greater Christchurch Group  will pick up the mantle.



Can we say Cera has succeeded or failed in its job?

IAIN MCGREGOR/FAIRFAX NZ Critics have been harsh is attacking the slow pace of Christchurch's central city rebuild.

Last week, on The Nation, Gerry Brownlee, the Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration rated Cera's performance 7.5 out of 10. There is a list of achievements: It has presided over a recovery that has seen most of the Christchurch's broken road and pipe networks repaired; the residential red zone  a tough but necessary process  has been cleared and landowners compensated and a recovery plan for the central city has had nearly four years of work.



Within that plan the justice and retail precincts are progressing well and the private sector has warmed to the innovation hub in the southeastern corner of the CBD. The revamped Hagley Oval has been an unqualified success. A Cera survey, released this week, found 80 per cent of land in the four avenues either has development complete or in the building or planning stages.

However, things are a long way from perfect. Cera frequently found itself on the wrong side of public opinion. Critics point to its command and control approach, poor communication and interminable delays on major building projects under its remit. Cera's own wellbeing index has recorded a consistent drop in the public's confidence in the authority and its decision making since 2012. An objective measure is hard to nail down but comments from business, political and community leaders spoken to by Stuff combined with the above issues make Brownlee's appraisal seem a little charitable.

***

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ Warwick Isaacs, centre, and Roger Sutton look on as Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee announces the Central Christchurch Development Unit.

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act, passed in April 2011, received almost unanimous support despite opposition to the 'wartime' powers it granted. The act allowed the Government, through the minister, to change or revoke statutory plans, acquire land and demolish buildings. Early on, Cera deployed these powers to fast track housing projects including the Silverstream development at Kaiapoi and expedite problematic demolitions such as the Clarendon Tower.



The process was not without its troubles. In 2011, Brownlee pulled proposed changes to an urban growth plan out of the Environment Court to free up land for housing. That move was challenged and set aside by the High Court and an appeal by Brownlee and Christchurch councils was dismissed.



The case embodied a chief criticism of the recovery administration: that the Government was too controlling and too hasty in its decision making. Local leaders hopeful of a collaborative recovery effort were to be disappointed.



Former Christchurch mayor Sir Bob Parker said the level of Government control emerged soon after Cera established a presence in the city. Staff were recruited to do the same jobs the Christchurch City Council was people doing.



"Essentially we had, working in the city, a super-council," he said.



The tipping point came at the end of 2011 when the council delivered its Central City Recovery Plan to the Government. Its response was to establish a new entity to make an amended version of the plan happen and give it 100 days to come up with a blueprint.



The result was the document that perhaps more than any other will define Cera's legacy. The blueprint (also known as the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan) laid out the vision for the CBD rebuild. It would be led by the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU), which sat within Cera, and based around anchor projects that would spur organic development. Millions of dollars of public money would be spent acquiring the necessary land. The Government was now firmly in the driver's seat.

"We did feel pretty sidelined," Parker said.

It is those anchor projects that have become the standard-bearer for Cera's success and progress. Of all those listed in the blueprint, just three are finished, and only one of those (the Bus Interchange) was completed near the original timeframe. According to an "Indicative Project Delivery Schedule" in the current online version of the document, 10 of 16 anchors should be finished by now and the remaining six should be completed within a year.

DEAN KOZANIC/FAIRFAX NZ Cera's tenure in Christchurch ends on Monday. The handover to new recovery organisations in under way.

A little slack can be afforded here. Brownlee has spoken of his unease with assigning deadlines to rebuild goals. His trepidation is understandable: no planning document for an earthquake recovery could be watertight and the rebuild was bound to throw up delays and unforeseen hurdles. But the extent of the setbacks, postponements and cancellations has tried Christchurch's collective patience. Nowhere has this been more evident than the convention centre.



The centre, able to host 2000 people across multiple events in a complex including hotels, shops and restaurants. A consortium made up of global development firm Plenary Group, the property arm of Ngai Tahu and Christchurch's Carter Group was tasked with delivering it. Given its size the project had one of the longest "delivery" times  initially due to be finished in the first quarter of 2017. Last year, that was bumped to the end of 2018. Within six weeks Brownlee said it was "highly unlikely" the new deadline would be met either. Soon after, Prime Minister John Key said the centre could be downsized because of concerns about cost. Then came rumours negotiations on the project had ground to a halt, dismissed by the Government, and news that Ngai Tahu Property was considering pulling out altogether.



This week, Key said an announcement on the convention centre was "very, very close". That will be welcome news for nearby land owners sick of waiting. The area around the centre site and the adjacent Cathedral Square has languished while the saga played out.



"You cannot expect the development community to step in and risk its money without the certainty of those projects," developer Ernest Duval said.



"While we're in this holding pattern it costs those owners millions of dollars."



Cera acting chief executive John Ombler said: "It would be lovely to have been quicker. The critical thing is that there is a convention centre. Faster would be better but getting it dead right is incredibly important."



It has proved Cera's eternal struggle. Act too quickly and it is authoritarian and rash; too slowly and it is a lumbering government beast holding the recovery back. Somehow, both of those criticisms are valid.

"It is something that has played on our minds," Ombler said. "We've been criticised for it and probably justifiably sometimes."

For the most part, anchor projects have been led by the Government, via the CCDU. Some have been delegated  the Ministry of Justice is overseeing the Justice and Emergency Services precinct and the council is heading the central library build  but the bulk lie with the Government.

The formation of the CCDU brought a shift in Cera's image. Chief executive Roger Sutton was still the boss, but CCDU director Warwick Isaacs, formerly the authority's operations general manager, was increasingly prominent. More than a year after the devastating earthquake, the recovery focus was on rebuilding, particularly in the CBD. Whoever led that job would necessarily be to the fore.

If Sutton faded from the public eye he was thrust right back into it in November 2014 when he resigned following a sexual harassment complaint. The chief executive, until then a popular figure, was alleged to have made inappropriate jokes and comments and given a staff member an unwelcome hug. Sutton admitted his behaviour was unacceptable and walked. The fallout from his departure, including a badly-managed press conference, was the low point of Cera's tenure.

***

Cera's first job was disaster recovery. It took charge as emergency powers in Christchurch expired, when the city was still broken. Much of the rubble still had to be cleared. Damaged buildings had to be assessed and many of them demolished. This included thousands of homes in the city's eastern suburbs.

Two months after Cera was established a Crown compensation offer was made to property owners whose homes were on land too badly damaged to be economically repaired. It was a generous deal and ensured some stability would be retained in the housing and insurance markets. The land needed to be cleared for there to be any chance of it future use. The residential red zoning was a tough process that uprooted thousands of people, but it made that happen.

Again, though, there were problems: The Quake Outcasts group successfully challenged a lesser compensation offer to uninsured red-zoners (Brownlee acted against Cera's advice on the policy). Basing compensation on 2007 rating valuations created winners and losers, depending on what state your property was in just before and just after the earthquakes. And being presented an "offer" to walk away from your home, one that a government organisation strongly urged you to accept, could be a traumatic experience.

Leanne Curtis, a former spokeswoman for the Canterbury Communities' Earthquake Recovery Network (CanCERN) advocacy group, remembers that point being lost on Cera.

"There couldn't be a leak so you couldn't tell the homeowners so it was going to be announced before the homeowners knew and then there'd be public meetings set up after that," she said.

"It was not really until they were red zoning the Port Hills that we fully had them over the line that how the community needed to be supported far outweighed what the minister and the Government needed to do. That took years.

"By the end of it . . . they were telling the red zoners before it went to the media, they had identified the most vulnerable people, they'd put relationship services in place."

The change was welcome, but the need for it only reinforced the command and control criticism. Duval called it a lack of an "engagement loop".

"There was a perception in the business community that Cera was this closed organisation that was making decisions and then opening the door and saying 'This is what we're going to do' [and] people not having the ability to influence those decision for better or for worse."

***

A good chunk of Cera's achievement in Christchurch can be measured in things that haven't happened. The real estate and insurance markets didn't spiral out of control, homeowners were not left languishing in broken homes on broken land or (entirely) at the mercy of insurers. The plan to rebuild the central city is in place, despite innumerable delays, and nearly four years progressed.

"Just being able to address that whole issue and get it through the point now [where] there's 8000 households have had the opportunity to move on in their lives . . . That's an amazing achievement," Ombler said.

For that, it earns a pass mark, but only just. The red zoning process was fraught for many homeowners who ended up with less than what they had and the blueprint has many more hurdle to clear before it can be considered a success.

Of the new recovery organisations, only Regenerate Christchurch is a major shift from the old order. Local authorities have been granted much more power, but even as the changes draw praise, their success will hinge on how that power is used.
Development Bill to remove obstacles to growth, new tax incentives View(s):

The government will regulate and properly plan development activities in the country with the aim of accelerating economic growth and promote Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), moving away from the present system of foreign investment project approvals. A Development Special Provisions Bill has been finalised by the Prime Ministers Ministry National Policy and Economic Affairs for this purpose and it will be submitted for the cabinet approval soon, official sources revealed. The proposed bill has provisions to expedite foreign investment project approvals, spur job growth and boost the economy by helping to train workers and investing in new technologies, a senior official of the ministry told Business Times.

It will remove the obstacles facing investors and businesses concerning obtaining of land and buildings. More provisions of the draft bill provide for land ownership to be given to registered investors who meet the required criteria, without being affected by the Land Restriction and Alienation Act. It will regulate the use and management of land and buildings, and the design and construction of buildings; make provision for the maintenance and conservation of land and buildings where appropriate; and for other purposes. It also offers tax incentives to foreign and local companies that will locate in economically depressed rural areas in the country, a senior official said adding that the proposals will facilitate the governments one million job programme within five years.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told parliament recently that in order to achieve these (economic growth) results, we have to encourage foreign investment and investment by individuals. We lag behind other countries in the region when it comes to meeting investor requirements.

Sri Lankas FDI inflow has been disappointing, reveals new research findings contained in the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) conducted by the World Bank Group. FDI inflows to Sri Lanka have been largely focused on infrastructure (inclusive of real estate development), with a relatively small proportion reaching sectors of the economy that are associated with global networks of production.

However, it looks like year 2016 (based on the performance so far) will only have 0.3 per cent of the GDP as the total FDI. This means historically low FDI performance, a senior economist told the Business Times. He noted that this was a very scary situation which needs immediate attention and thus the need for the president and the prime minister to make the Board of Investment (BOI) regain direction and get back to genuine investment promotion. At the current rate, the BOI will not even be able to attract US$300 million as FDI this year. Despite the $5 billion talk and investment announcements, the entity has lost direction and innovation, he pointed out.

The BOI has signed 16 new project agreements for the first two months of this year, a media release issued by the investment promotion agency revealed adding that those agreements represent a cumulative future investment of $110 million. The BOI and Export Development Board are expected to become implementing arms of a new, higher level policy and strategy body on development and international trade consisting of proven performers from both private and public sectors following the enactment of Development special provisions bill soon, official sources said. -(Bandula)
More French firms to invest in Sri Lanka, says French envoy By Raj Moorthy View(s): View(s):

While Sri Lanka is gearing up to attract more foreign investments, French conglomerates are also eyeing the country for business opportunities particularly infrastructure, says French Ambassador in Sri Lanka, Jean-Marin Schuh. A lot of French companies are eyeing to invest in Sri Lanka if they are successful in initial geophysical surveys. French companies are more focused on water management, urban transportation and port facilities while they are also interested in some of the tenders issued by the Sri Lankan authorities, he told the Business Times on the sidelines of the Sri Lanka-France Business Council networking event organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce at the Colombo Swimming Club held recently.

Large French corporates that are already set up in Sri Lanka doing businesses here say that Colombo is strategically placed especially the Colombo port and are hoping to expand their businesses in the country. This year in late April or early May a brand new French freight will be arriving at the Colombo port which will strengthen the relationships between the two nations, he said. On the economic perspective Mr. Schuh stated that last year trade between Sri Lanka and France doubled. French connections with Sri Lanka have been in terms of aeronautics, water management, water supply and water sanitation since the companies are big and quite integrated.

In terms of energy management, a French oil and gas firm Total has come forward to provide services to Sri Lanka. France has invested in Sri Lanka in the cement industry, Lafarge which is today owned by Holcim, textile and many other sectors, he added. He also noted that as it was observed in 2009, hardly 30,000 tourists came to Sri Lanka from France but last year it was close to 100,000, more than triple that number. I hope that this trend will continue to grow because there are so many opportunities to do business in Sri Lanka while lots of developments are taking place in terms of tourism, safety, security, beaches, and so on.
Police inquiry into BT journalists complaint against Harry J View(s):

Police have begun probing a complaint filed by senior Business Times reporter Quintus Perera against powerful businessman Harry Jayawardena over an issue of abuse at a hotel event last month. After the complaint was filed at Police Headquarters, the journalist was summoned to Negombo Police SPs office on April 1 in the presence of Negombo ASP L.R. Gamage. Mr. Pereras complaint made in English in Colombo was re-recorded in Sinhala by the Negombo Police.

Police said Mr. Jayewardena was not asked to be present on (April 1) but would be called if necessary in the future. The journalist says that Mr. Jayawardena, Chairman, Aitken Spence Group, had abused him while the former was attending the launch of Heritance Negombo on March 21. Mr. Jayewardena had been angered over the reporting of a court case by Mr. Perera involving the former and a tea company.
Poverty in Rural Agriculture: Case for niche marketing By Nirmalal Dias View(s): View(s):

(Formerly Sri Lanka Export Development Board; former Consultant of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London and presently an importer of Sri Lankan groceries based in Melbourne) What Sri Lanka needs is a marketing system that would address market identification and marketability of produce based on the principle of competitive pricing, quality and services. The strategy proposed in this study revolves around the activation of agricultural output via market identification and marketability analysis.

The activator is the system identified as Improved Marketing, which initially would target 50 per cent of the annual agricultural (fruit and vegetable) production in a given period of five years. Activation of agricultural output is expected to activate supply of agricultural inputs and thereby bring about an ideal integration of agricultural outputs and inputs in a competitive environment. This system would help catch-up with the rest of the annual agricultural production once benefits are realised over time.

Primary shareholders would the rural farmers operating in socio-economically cohesive groups, linked to marketers who appreciate this improved concept. The middlemen can join this system, upon accepting this improved marketing mechanism. The public sector is encouraged to join as improved marketers but the alienable task of the public sector is to support the improved marketing of the private sector via the provision of required public goods.

The methodology of the proposed improved marketing system for marketing of fruit and vegetables could be extended to other sectors of rural agriculture. Agriculture is weather dependent, and if the state is less attentive to the needs of small farmers and agro-based traders in rural Sri Lanka, this group getting trapped in the vicious cycle of economic ups and downs, would be unavoidable.

Productivity a core issue

Agricultural productivity, the key to rural prosperity, has been hampered by inadequate attention on inherent rural scenarios of labour movement rigidity (inability of farm labour to move from one sector to another), seasonality in production and perishability of produce, rural attitude towards individualism, limited access to agricultural credit coupled with rural indebtedness, land fragmentation and the traditional marketing system with the conspicuous presence of the necessary evil, the unpredictable middlemen. They have all contributed to the stagnant farm productivity, especially in the small (fragmented) farm sector. Various views have been expressed by experts to tackle this rural behavioral syndrome; often with a foreign flavour not accustomed to rural Sri Lanka and not recognising the inter-connectedness of all these behavioral scenarios to the rural farm family. It is indeed a fault by respective Sri Lankan governments.

This article proposes an improved approach to marketing of fruit and vegetables; the methodology of which could be easily extended to other sectors in agriculture. It recognises the inter-connectedness of all rural behavioral scenarios in problem solving with greater emphasis towards an improved or advanced marketing system from that of the traditional marketing system. It is the view that for the success of the improved marketing system involving niche marketing, all rural behavioral problems got to be coordinated and resolved together in order to bring forth the ideal outcome to small farm families. The significance of this system is the building up of a closer relationship between the stakeholders including the supporting services along the supply chain.

This system had been tried out originally in the Export Production Village (EPV) concept of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in the 1980s and presently practiced by Sri Lankan supermarket chains and dedicated stake holders consisting of farmer groups and traders (inclusive of dedicated middlemen), in combination with input-output supporting services. It must be mentioned that the failure of the EPV concept was because of the lukewarm treatment it received from the EDB with change of thinking of the government hierarchy. It emphasises the importance of Government intervention with a set of well identified steady policies vis a vis on public goods.

Traditional marketing of fruits and vegetables:

Individualism of farmers prevails in the traditional marketing system where farmers act on their own in input purchase and in marketing. This situation is likely to increase the unit cost of inputs and reduce the unit price of output (farm produce) primarily due to the restricted bargaining power of a small farmer arising from individualism.

Shift from traditional marketing

The traditional marketing system normally functions on spot marketing without any long term agreements, thereby the value addition is not recognized. Situations of oligopsony where middlemen, as seen at Economic Centres and Wholesale Markets, collude, will further discourage value addition. As purchasing prices, down the marketing channel, are determined by daily supply and demand situations, without any consideration to future production that is expected to come to the market (lack of attention to futures marketing), the possibility exists for farm gate prices to be unrealistic.

This system fails to discourage significant post-harvest losses (30-40 per cent of the farm harvest) recorded in Sri Lanka. This will further stifle farm income. Nevertheless, the traditional marketing system, consisting of stakeholders, including middlemen, continue to play a significant role in supplying fruit and vegetables to Sri Lankans via the mainstream markets, ie  village markets, roadside vendors, grocery shops, etc. Even exporters tend to obtain their export supply by tapping at some point this traditional marketing channel.

Improved/advanced marketing methods:

In this process, a complete shut-down of the traditional marketing system is not advocated. A target has been set for improved marketing; to increase the intake of annual fruit and vegetable production from the present 8-10 per cent to 50 per cent within five years. In simple terms, the proposed improved marketing system is an attempt to redirect more fruit and vegetables to local and overseas markets via niche marketing against the present traditional local mainstream marketing system. The dedicated stake holders, namely the farmers, suppliers and traders (middlemen), agri-businesses, supermarkets, exporters and processors, have a responsibility to perform well: supply fruit and vegetables the way niche markets demand. Success of this niche-marketing philosophy should enhance demand driven production.

Advancing to the improved marketing system will incur significant changes; emergence of a breed of dedicated stakeholders consisting of farmers, suppliers, agri-businesses, supermarkets, exporters and processors along the shortened and more dynamic supply chain. Along with the dedication of the stakeholders, the oligopsony situation and individual approach of farmers should ease to that of oligopoly, a situation where farmers will act as a group. Prospects of group farming (group of farmers, producing to the needs of a particular dedicated buyer) will encourage adapting long term marketing strategies.

Niche marketing:

Niche marketing is a concept where comparative and competitive advantages in marketing are better exploited to provide a better deal to niche marketers and farmer groups. Prior knowledge of consumer behavior and the location identification of consumers and producers enable niche marketing to exploit comparative advantages. Product differentiation by way of demanded quality and agreed prices and service differentiation by way of timely supply, better product presentation and two way flow of product and market related information, are means of providing the competitive advantage in niche marketing.

Locally, similar consumer behavioral orientations suitable for niche marketing are evident in armed forces camps, tourist hotels, prisons, hospitals, retirement villages and in societies or communities with similar socio-economic background. Similarly, niche markets overseas could be identified among similar ethnic, cultural and economic standings. It should be noted that finding niches in the whole of the local or overseas mainstream markets are not practical and therefore, continuation of the traditional marketing system is also essential. With government intervention, the task is to find more and more niches and connect them to suitable niche marketers (groups of dedicated stake holders). Let us examine the potential that awaits groups of farmers and niche marketers. Inflow of demand (market) information and outflow of supply information will be evident in niche marketing.

Two-way flow of information is further strengthened by the flow of information on research and development, rural credit and crop insurance, input and equipment, markets and market behavior, technical and technological aspects, farmer education and training and including general information on well-being of stakeholders. Information sharing will strengthen the relationship between stakeholders and between niche marketing systems. Avenues will open for group farming (an oligopoly situation as against individualism), contract farming with formal and informal agreements, forward contracting, providing greater stability to pricing and quality supply, value adding, for instance contract farmers cultivating and presenting produce according to niche market demands and to reduce post-harvest losses by improved packing for instance in plastic crates.

Improvement in farm economies

Farm economies are bound to improve with niche marketing with the anticipated reduction in post-harvest losses on top of realistic integration of farm activities, vertically and horizontally. Vertical integration will bring the market and the farm closer, by the close involvement of dedicated farmer groups, traders (middlemen) and agri-businesses including exporters, thus preventing situations of oligopsony. Horizontal integration will enable farmer groups to purchase their requirements of farm inputs including farm household requirements in bulk, thus economizing on bulk buying and cost effective transport.

Farm surplus is an inherent problem; it is minimized in niche marketing as the production is planned (according to prior information at the time of cultivation) and still, in the event of surplus, management of the surplus and the consequences will become a group effort by a group of dedicated farmers and niche marketers. Above all, group farming will strengthen the bargaining power of farmers, even to bargain against the niche marketers, in ones own group, would thereby create a scenario of competition between niche marketing groups dealing in similar products. Outcome of niche marketing can be seen as a fair deal to both stakeholders  farmers and consumers.

Increase exports

Niche marketing has the added potential to increase exports because produce is supplied according to the demands of the overseas niche markets as directed by exporters. Farmer groups need not worry about price instability as the prices can be pre-determined to some extent before cultivation. This can cushion the farmer groups from natural disasters. Honouring the agreements between farmer groups and dedicated buyers at times of natural disasters, will be the strength of the bond. In these instances, actions of the dedicated buyers will be akin to a crop insurer.

The government ought to recognize such dedicated buyers. A major surplus is not expected as production is planned and producing to the export market is a continuous income generating process. Presently, Sri Lanka exports around 45,000 to 55,000 metric tons of agriculture products annually. Increasing exports have the dual purpose of earning more foreign exchange to the national economy and invigorating the ailing rural economy.

Government interventions:

The success of the state in business has seen mixed results. Instances of misallocation and misuse of scarce resources are many. It is not an exaggeration that appointment to government positions is not transparent while wage structures lag behind private sector wages. And as a result, the dedication that is expected to come from an efficient niche marketing operation may not happen. Additionally, fruit and vegetables are perishables and therefore much is expected from the niche marketers.

Under the present socio-political environment, whether government officers as niche marketers, can fulfill this task is debatable. However, the Marketing Department of Sri Lanka in a by-gone era, performed admirably in the traditional marketing system. Nevertheless, government intervention via public goods is essential at least in well thought out areas, where misallocation and misuse of resources can be minimised and where there are no alternatives in the private sector. The following areas are recommended for government intervention

- Facilitation and planning:

Recognition from the government that efficient marketing is the Engine of Socio-Economic Growth and therefore, recognition of the niche marketing system as a Lead Project. Appoint a specialized marketing body with powers to formulate and coordinate appropriate policies and incentives in liaison with parallel institutes and in coordination with stakeholders. This unit shall be under a high profile ministry suitable to deal with lead projects involving the rural economy.

Marketing body as provider/organiser

Design promotional activities, identify and organise niche markets and niche marketers and link them to compatible farming groups; provide training and required facilities and intervene in problem solving.

As a developer

Identify and coordinate rural infrastructure development ie  town and village markets; prioritise development of rural roads and storage facilities in order to provide accessibility to a network of niche marketer-farmer groups.

As input supplier

Create opportunities to establish One Stop procurement centres to cater especially in niche market-farmer group locations. Coordinate state rural credit and crop insurance, input and equipment supply institutions to function alongside similar private sector institutions. Involve Lak Sathosa as a provider of rural household groceries and intervene to defray losses of dedicated buyers, for honorring agreed prices especially at times of natural disasters.

As a research coordinator

Keep on feeding market signals to state research institutions for product development and for the development of demanded seeds and planting material. Socio-Economic Research on post-harvest grass root level surplus storage and transport techniques will be of much importance.

Promoter of state buyer

This is a sensitive area where use of state resources can be misallocated and misused. Nevertheless, Lak Sathosa is already a purchaser of the last resort of fruit and vegetables under the traditional marketing system. If Lak Sathosas economic viability and social acceptability of buying and selling via its supermarket chain is proven, it will become a yardstick for Lak Sathosa to enter the improved marketing system as a niche marketer. Presence of Lak Sathosa will have the added impetus of competition between the state and the private sector niche marketers.

As a monitoring mechanism

Evaluate and report to the line ministry, the performance of the above activities, at least annually. Continued monitoring of target achievement (within a 5-year period, movement of at least 50 per cent of the annual production of fruit and vegetables via the niche marketing system) is paramount.

Conclusion:

This is an effort to provide a fair deal to the stakeholders and a fairer deal to producers and consumers, by an improved marketing system involving niche marketing. The concept is not new to Sri Lanka and it is time tested. It doesnt replace the traditional marketing system but an attempt to improve it by the introduction of dedicated stakeholders. Dedicated government institutions could also be stakeholders. A target has been set (a practical but a subjective judgment), at 50 per cent of the annual production of fruit and vegetables (estimated to be around 2.75 to 3.25 million metric tons including pulses and cereals) from the present level of 8-10 per cent, to move through the improved marketing system, within a period of five years.

This system recognises the inter-connectedness of farm input-output and support services and assumes that dynamic marketing is the engine of socio-economic growth. Therefore, it considers marketing as having the potential to resuscitate especially the small farms of Sri Lanka, consisting of approximately two million active small holdings (having between 0.11 to 8 hectares per holding) occupying an area of approximately 1.45 million hectares.

(This article is based on a paper presented at the annual sessions of the OPA in September 2014 by the writer, who now lives in Melbourne. He says the contents address an important issue presently experienced in the rural economy of Sri Lanka and would be useful to policy makers, politicians, agri-businesses, farmers and consumers. He can be reached at nirmalal.dias@gmail.com)
Sri Lanka, in an unusual move, promotes visitors to China View(s):

Sri Lankas top state tourism chief found himself, recently, in an unusual position of promoting travellers to another country, besides Sri Lanka.

When a delegation from the tourism authority of Guangdong Province in China visited Sri Lanka late last month to promote tourism in that region, Sri Lankan Tourism Chairman Paddy Withana was invited as the chief guest at an event where some travel agents were also invited.

I find this an interesting moment where I am promoting visitors to China compared to inviting them here, he said, adding however that this is a unique opportunity because we are looking after each others interests.

China is Sri Lankas second largest source market after India with month-on-month surging growth. On the other hand, many Sri Lankans visit Guangdong for business with the annual China (Guangdong) International Tourism Industry Expo (CITE) event held every September, being a must-attend now for leisure companies. Mr. Withana said Guangdong is one of the strongest and richest parts of China with several places to see and visit like museums, parks and street markets. Sri Lankans will love this Chinese city as there is scenic beauty and they can also do a lot of shopping. There is good weather during the summer, he said.

The delegation was led by Huang/Guangzhi, Vice Director of the Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Tourism Affairs Section, who showed a promotional video while inviting Sri Lankans to visit Guangdong and the adjacent mainland territories of Hong Kong and Macau under a single visa facility. An official at Aitken Spence Travels Ltd, Sri Lankas biggest outbound travel agency, said they were hoping to promote resort destinations in the Guangdong province in a big way in the future.
To go or not to go? Govt. politicians provide contrasting views on West Asian labour migration policy By Quintus Perera View(s): View(s):

Contrasting statements by government politicians on economic and state policy surprised the audience attending an event connected to the proposed Cinnamon Trading Academy at Kosgoda, near Bentota last week. Initially Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Special Projects deputising for President Maithripala Sirisena (chief guest), speaking at the laying of the foundation stone for Stage 2 of the Cinnamon Training Academy at Kosgoda, said they were proud that Sri Lankan women working in West Asia earned to the tune of US$ 7 billion (annually) whereas the cinnamon industry earns only a meagre amount and that this sector should at least reach a billion dollars in earning.

Dr. Amunugama, left the event after he spoke, and when Southern Province Governor Hemakumara Nanayakkara took the podium, he had a different story to tell. He said the country should be ashamed to send mothers, sisters and daughters for slave labour which has (often) resulted in a father using the daughter as the wife. He said that it was miserable to see some Sri Lankan women return to the country with children fathered allegedly by Arab employers and hear dreadful stories of slave labour from these women which has affected their family lives forever.

Mr. Nanayakkara noted that individuals should not spell out economic policies on their own, but they have to be spelled out by successive governments.

Earlier in his speech, Dr. Amunugama also said that the economy and export trade should be geared to suit world trade and globalisation.

He said that there were too many regulations, bureaucracy and obtaining permits from various authorities when starting businesses and exporting products. These negative processes should be stopped, saying: Parana hampada neethi haa niladhari  waaaya ainkarala daanda oni. Sri Lanka is a small country with a small population and the economic survival of the country depends on increasing the exports as there is no large domestic market like India and China. He asserted that Sri Lanka is lagging far behind countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, etc which are far ahead. The country should not hold onto traditional cash crops like tea, rubber and coconut (for economic survival) owing to the high cost of production and competition in the global market which has become extremely tough.

Ayumi Fujino, Regional Director for South Asia, Delhi, UNIDO said that her organisation started supporting the revitalisation of Ceylon Cinnamons position on the global market in collaboration with the Standard and Trade Development Facility, WTO and the Spice Council of Sri Lanka back in 2010. The project envisaged three key objectives: enhancement of productive capacities, improvement of compliance towards food safety and hygiene standards and increasing the competitiveness of Ceylon Cinnamon globally. Ms. Fujino said, UNIDO considers it very critical to emphasise the importance of food safety and is fully committed to contribute towards achieving the production of safe food which is one of the most important interventions of our project.

Thus six processing centres have been upgraded for Good Manufacturing Practices Certification. Sarada De Silva, Chairman, Cinnamon Training Academy, considered the prime mover in this academy, elaborated on the history of cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka,how the industry has progressed and how the southern province became the cinnamon hub of Sri Lanka. He said that this academy is essential to attract youth to work in the cinnamon industry. It would also facilitate the food safety quality enhancement.
Voting rights to migrant workers View(s):

When discussing labour migration or Sri Lankas migrant workers (as they are often referred to), one name that springs up, as a dedicated supporter of the rights of these workers, is David Soysa. It was Soysa, a retired labour department officer, in the late 1990s who fashioned a stream of social groups (later transformed to NGOs) fighting for the rights of migrant workers (MWs). He died a few years ago, unfortunately not be able to see his pet project  voting rights for MWs  to fruition. His persistence on this issue with regular letters, requests and appeals to various authorities and the Human Rights Commission (HRC), led to the HRC chaired by Faiz Musthapa endorsing such a recommendation to the government, 15 years ago in October 2001.

Yes, we have agreed to make a recommendation to the government on the right of migrant workers to vote, Faiz Musthapa, HRC chairman told a Business Times reporter at the time. He had said the commission would recommend amending the election law and also suggest ways on how migrant workers could vote. Adding: We are in the process of doing this. This would apply to migrant workers only, not those who reside abroad. The same recommendation was sent to the Foreign Ministry. That was it. Nothing moved after that and despite, Soysas persistent efforts to convince the HRC that more than 1.5 million migrant workers overseas must get their right to vote, that yet-to-be implemented recommendation lies in an HRC file; one of the delays being the mechanism (overseas) through which MWs can exercise their right.

Voting has many advantages and benefits for MWs and their families. Consider the power a voting base of a near 3 million people (1.5 million MWs x 2  at-home-spouse) would have on the political environment? This group would have a much bigger political impact than plantation workers which is so far considered the largest, single base of around 500,0000 votes. MWs have strong yet-to-be-channelled political power. If they are granted voting rights and an effective mechanism found to conduct voting overseas or through a mobile technology (examine other examples in force by other labour-providing countries like the Philippines and Indonesia where MWs vote through embassies), politicians will fall over each other to canvass for their rights with BMW car-type benefits and other perks.

All this, for the sake of winning a seat in parliament, provincial council or local authority, and then, as the case has been proven over and over again, forget them till the next election comes around. This right to vote would strengthen migrant workers support groups and trade unions working on their behalf and ensure politicians and governments wont be able to get away with making promises only. Unlike plantation workers who are under the grip of plantation unions and dont have the ability to independently fight for their rights, MWs also have a strong collective of supporters through village community groups. Thus a Parliamentary Select Committee appointed last week to examine the possibility of providing voting rights to 1.5 million MWs is a welcome move with a solution not far away.

The HRC should be able to provide all the legal remedies and mechanisms suggested at the time to make this work, based on its recommendations in 2001. The committee was appointed based on a motion presented to parliament by 21 MPS. It said that Sri Lankans employed overseas have been deprived the chance to vote until now even though they make an invaluable contribution for the sustenance of the economy of Sri Lanka at present through the earning of foreign exchange. This is one of the few occasions where MWs have been given parliamentary and presidential importance. During former President Chandrika Kumaratungas 1994-2004 tenure, a presidential task force made a number of recommendations on labour migration including dealing with the social dimension which has led to family break-downs, suicides, incest and lack of parental care for children.

A National Labour Migration Policy for Sri Lanka was approved by the cabinet in April 2009 but no one knows its effectiveness as there hasnt been any proper follow-up on its proposals and recommendations. Over the years governments have woken up or gone to sleep over issues confronting MWs with one exception: the minister in charge of the subject and the government of the day getting up in parliament during the budget debate to delve deep into the subject and praise the foreign earnings from these brave Sri Lankan women. Thats all. For the rest of the year, it is not on the list of priorities until woken up through some connected issue. The rights of these workers are far beyond their earning capacity and thats not the only reason why Sri Lankans should be overjoyed.

Labour migration is another form of alleviating poverty and lack of employment in the village. In recent times, the government has been pushing for more professional and skilled migration discouraging women from going abroad as housemaids. Such a policy is discriminatory. Its the woman in the house that often faces discrimination as the man is considered the traditional breadwinner and the woman the housekeeper and binding the family unit, even though in modern society, both play (or should have ) equal roles. Though, many women face serious problems overseas, restricting their freedom to work abroad as a domestic worker is not only unconstitutional but also discriminatory. Women have the right to make an informed choice based on the information they have; not what is forced down. Often regulations imposed by the state on MWs is a blind-leading-the-blind or cart-before-the-horse approach, jumping blindly into regulation without consultation and study from all stakeholders.

This is the same case in policy-making strategies and pronouncements in this sector. Consider two diametrically opposite views expressed by two members of the same government: Sarath Amunugama (Senior Minister) and Hemachandra Nanayakkara (Southern Province Governor) last week. Speaking at the launch of the second phase of a Cinnamon Training Academy at Kosgoda last week, Amunugama said female migrant workers were a valuable part of foreign exchange earnings. Soon after he left, Nanayakkara said this was a slave trade that should never happen! While both views are factually correct, the two contrasting views exemplify the lack of a clear state policy pertaining to labour migration. The absence of a proper strategy has eluded this sector for many years. Lets not lose that opportunity once again, now that the trustees (parliamentarians) of the people have been assigned an important task of providing voting rights to migrant workers.
Japan gives rare G7 honour to Sirisena; meeting with Obama likely View(s):

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes decision to invite President Maithripala Sirisena as a guest at the G7 summit next month is a singular honour for Sri Lanka and underlines the significance of the relationship between the two nations. So far, the only other guest at the summit, scheduled to take place in Shima in Mie Prefecture on May 26 and 27, is Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The meeting of the worlds seven most powerful industrialised countries  Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States, along with the 28-member European Union  will be the 47th annual G7 summit, this time to be presided over and hosted by Japan.

According to the Japanese, the agenda will include one of the major issues confronting the international community: the growing uncertainty of the global economy, impacted by a range of factors, including slowdowns in emerging markets, the sharp drop in oil prices and weakening trade.

The hidden agenda, however, may include how best the G7 could cooperate in the battle against rising global terrorism. But, unfortunately, the agenda, does not include lessons learnt from Sri Lanka on how it wiped out terrorism  the end justifying the means.

There are diplomatic moves between Colombo and Washington to arrange a brief meeting between President Sirisena and US President Barrack Obama on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.

One of the lingering questions in the runup to the summit is whether the US President will make a side trip to the site where the United States unleashed a horrendous nuclear attack 71 years ago during World War II. The atom bombs killed more than 200,000 people, mostly civilians on the twin cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No sitting US President has either visited the site of the bombings or apologised for what would today constitute war crimes.

A visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki may also be a part of President Sirisenas itinerary. Japan has shown gratitude to countries which continue to sympathise with the indelible nuclear horror its people experienced in 1945.

IGP post: CC summons three for interviews tomorrow

The Constitutional Council (CC) has summoned the three candidates named by the President for the post of Inspector General of Police (IGP) tomorrow (April 18).

This is not for interviews and its sole purpose is to clarify matters should any issues arise, a source associated with the CC said.

The move will help the CC indicate a preference from among the three for the post of IGP. Those summoned in writing are Senior DIGs S.M. Wickremesinghe, Pujith Jayasundera and Chandana Wickremeratne.

The CC is to hold the meeting at 3 p.m. tomorrow after the Presidential Secretariat sent it a letter. It said President Maithripala Sirisena recommended the names of the three prospective candidates and sought the help of the CC to select one.

Senior DIG S.M. Wickremesinghe served for eleven years as head of the Presidential Security Division (PSD) under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was only after the presidential elections of January 8 that he began serving President Maithripala Sirisena. He hails from Polonnaruwa and is the son of a Govi Raja in that district. He holds a PhD in an agricultural subject.

SDIG Pujith Jayasundera is now in charge of Colombo. SDIG Chandana Wickremeratne, DIG Southern Province, holds a PhD in Defence Studies in Management. His post-graduate thesis was on conflict resolution and national security.

Anchor of Sri Lankan parentage on NY TV

Kala Rama, a woman journalist of Sri Lankan parentage, is now the weekend anchor and reporter for the New York City TV station WPX channel 11. She is the first TV anchor with a Sri Lankan lineage to get a break in a New York TV network.

Before her New York assignment, Ms. Kala worked as an anchor and reporter in Orlando, Florida where she was nominated for several Emmy Awards for distinguished TV reporting. According to her bio data, she received the Associated Press (AP) award for Breaking News at a TV station in Springfield, Massachusetts. She got her start in television news as an assignment editor at WTNH-TV in New Haven, Connecticut.

A graduate of Fairfield University, Connecticut, she earned her degree in political science and communications. The last name Rama is an Anglicised version of Ramachandran, and her father Dr. Myl Ramachandran is a retired physician originally from Sri Lankas Northern Province and currently living in Trumbull, Connecticut.

After leaving from back door, Jaffna DS slams front door

Jaffna District Secretary N. Vethanayagam has decided that he will no longer entertain any protestors inside his office.

This was after a group of protestors from the Northern Provincial Council and local council members walked into his office.

The public representatives cum politicians who serve at local bodies and NPC staged a protest on Monday against continuing land grabs by the Government for security purposes in the province.

After shouting in front of the District Secretariat for some time, they went inside to hand over a petition to the District Secretary. He accepted it and assured them he would take up the issues with the proper channels. The protesters demanded a quick reply and told him they would be waiting outside for the good news.

The protesters suddenly locked the door at the entrance to his office and sat on the hallway blocking the veranda. Police were called in but they could not make them move. After hours, the District Secretary left with no option but to leave through the back door. The District Secretary in addition has now sought police security. He has written to the Northern DIG seeking police security for his office and premises from trouble-maker protesters.

Pillow fight sends MP to bed

Parliamentarians of different hues cast aside their differences to celebrate the national New Year.

The event, organised by the Parliament staff, was held in the grounds opposite Parliament.

The pillow fight turned out to be an unfortunate encounter for Professor U. Marasinghe, an MP. He hit his opponent but fell when there was a retaliatory blow and is now limping.

They crowed too soon about Mattakkuliya park

Mattakkuliya residents were overjoyed with the news of the opening of a recreation park in the Crow Island area from where the Colombo Port and even Galle Face Green could be viewed. The news went around that the park was due to be opened on April 9. Accordingly the park was opened.

With the number of holidays during the week coinciding with the National New Year, hundreds of people, some of them in three-wheelers, came to the park. But, to their disappointment, a notice has been put up by the Colombo Municipal Council saying the park would be opened to the Public only from April 20.

If the politicians have opened it why cant they open it to the public? It may have been to suit their own convenience, remarked one of those who arrived there.
With rabies, avoid stray dogs; with malaria, avoid all Indians GMOA Secretary Dr. Heraths amazing warning to public View(s): View(s):

No one has the foggiest as to what the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) to be signed by Sri Lanka and India really is for the simple reason that no details as to its exact terms and clauses have so far been revealed.

But this has been no impediment for the Government doctors union, the GMOA, from launching a no-holds-barred campaign against its signing and subsequent implementation based on what has trickled down the grapevine. The possibility raised by some that Indians will be allowed to enter the Lanka job market has sent the doctors union up the gum tree, like it has done no other professional body.

Fearing an Indian medical invasion by an army of Indian doctors will commandeer Lankan doctors employment, the GMOA has raised the red flag and threatened to launch nationwide strikes if ETCA is implemented, the same tactic they adopted to protest against the Governments decision to withdraw the vehicle permit for doctors recently. More and more the GMOA has shown all the signs of turning from a professional body into a ragamuffin group of political activists whose sole interest had been to further their financial benefits.

They have abandoned their duty to demand of the Government better medical facilities for their patients, to fight for sufficient drugs to be available at government hospitals and at the Maharagama Cancer hospital, to call for better monitoring of the activities of private hospitals and private teaching hospitals and to act to advance the cause of their patients. Instead they have taken patients hostage and held their lives to ransom to win demands for themselves. In their quest to fill their coffers, they have had no qualms in using patients to fill coffins, if need be.

But now their anti-ETCA protest has taken a bizarre turn and shown that, in the depths to which they have sunk to achieve their aims, they have found a deeper still to stoop. The GMOA General Secretary Dr Nalinda Herath has thought it fit to pounce on an isolated case of an Indian national working in a construction site in Nuwara Eliya who has contracted malaria in the first week of this month and to hold his illness as a warning to the Lankan public as to what will happen if the ETCA agreement goes ahead and opens the floodgates for Indian doctors to come to Lanka and work here on a long term basis.

On Monday, the GMOA General Secretary held a media conference. The subject that hung heavy on his mind was this Indian who had taken ill. His concern, however, was not how the patient was faring and what steps have been taken to alleviate his medical condition or how he had come to acquire the mosquito borne disease. His motive was pure and simple: to use this case as evidence to brand a billion Indians as foul disease carriers who should not be touched with a barge pole. His aim was to cause widespread alarm amongst the public that if ETCA is signed by the Lankan Government, the nation will be embroiled in a malarial epidemic again.

After 2012 there have been no cases of malaria been contracted in Lanka, the GMOAs Secretary Dr. Herath declared at the media conference. But there have been cases where locals returning from Africa or India with malaria. There have also been cases where Indian tourists and other foreigners have come to Lanka with malaria. This case is one such instance. But in this case there is a difference. Though this man had come on a tourist visa he had not come to tour the land. For several months he had been working as a carpenter in Nuwara Eliya. This must not be taken lightly. Merely because malaria is not there today in Lanka if we allow people to come from epidemic ridden countries and allow them to stay here freely, then once more there will be a malaria epidemic in this country.

As recently as the year 2000, Sri Lanka had over 100,000 cases of malaria, Dr Herath continued. In 2012 malaria was eradicated. Our doctors and health officials worked hard to gain this remarkable achievement of making the country free of local cases of Malaria. We should not let it destroyed by any one. Indians have already started to work in our country even before the proposed ETCA is finalised. And as a result of that, our health status is dragging into danger slowly. If the ETCA is finalised, the situation will get worse. The authorities should do something to this in advance.

Get the drift. One mans infection has been raked up to raise a ruckus over ETCA and damned our billion Indian brethren as a diseased lot. With one swab dipped in vitriol Lankas closest neighbour and friend stands condemned as a diseased, epidemic ridden, malaria infected state whose citizens are walking corpses with malarial time bombs fused to explode without warning, infecting those in the vicinity indiscriminately. Run if you can or slink into the alley if you see one coming is the message. And if ECTA is signed it will be curtains for Lankas medical health.

So what must Dr. Nalinda Herath, the General Secretary of the Government doctors union, the GMOA, see this Sunday morning as he stares at his face in the mirror before leaving home to do his hospital rounds  or will it be to do his political trade union work on behalf of his members, Avurudhu Sunday notwithstanding?

Will he see a smug smile mushroomed on his shaved mug, flattered to bits of how he had singlehandedly struck a blow for his members last Monday when he exploited the ill health of a human being to make political capital and advance the GMOA interest? Will the smile be wreathed in glee when he recalls how he had ruthlessly used an Indians medical plight to protect the medical fiefdom of his members from Indian invasion? Especially from the thousands of Indian doctors whom the GMOA fears will pour into Lanka once the Government signs the ECTA agreement with India even though the terms of the agreement remain under wraps?

But even if Indian doctors are already packing their stethoscope into their medical bags and kissing their nurses goodbye before leaving for Lankas disease-free shores, was it right of him to have held up to scorn and ostracism the unfortunate case of an Indian who was diagnosed for malaria in Nuwara Eliya? Was it right for Dr. Nalinda Herath to have branded a billion Indians as possible carriers of foul diseases?

According to him the case of the Indian found in Nuwara Eliya is different because though this Indian has come on a tourist visa he has not come to tour the country. He had been staying in Lanka and had been working on a construction site in Nuwara Eliya for several months.

But according to established medical research, the signs and symptoms of malaria appear within 8 to 25 days of a person being bitten by a mosquito. In severe cases referred to as falciparum malaria it is nine to thirty days. If that is the case then did this particular Indian, who Dr. Nalinda Herath says has spent several months in Lanka, bring a malaria carrying mosquito in his hand luggage from India? Was the mossie released by him accidently a month ago when he unzipped his bag for a change of shirt? Funny, isnt it when you consider the mosquitos life cycle comprised of the egg, larval, pupal and adult stages, is just 14 days? It must also be noted that malaria is transmitted to humans solely through the mosquito. It is not transmitted by air or touch. It is like the dengue mosquito now rampaging in Lanka.

Perhaps malaria carrying mosquitoes are not dead for good in Lanka, after all. Hasnt the thought crossed Dr. Nalindas medical mind that the poor Indian instead of importing Malaria from India may have, to his misfortune, contracted it here, even as he can contract dengue in Lanka from the dengue carrying mosquito?

Of course, in certain cases malaria can recur after a symptoms free period. Recrudesce and re infection can occur within two weeks. Relapses can occur with 8-24 weeks though in certain malaria cases it can happen a year after the mosquito bite or even years after the first infection but this is rare. Research statistics show that in 2013 the average duration to diagnose malaria after arriving in Lanka was 3.6 days. All imported cases of malaria had been detected within 18 days of arrival from abroad though nothing is known of those who may have suffered relapses later.

As the GMOAs own website states in an article published this month on malarial imports, Although indigenous transmission of malaria has been controlled, Sri Lanka still gets imported malaria cases mainly from India and African countries. At present Sri Lanka is challenged with maintaining the achieved success as the potential for malaria resurgence is high as in the past due to presence of vector and increased migration to and from malaria endemic countries. There were 36 imported malaria cases in 2015, which includes 17 cases each of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum and two cases of Plasmodium ovale. In 2016 there were 14 cases of imported malaria up to March 2016.

So why was the Nuwara Eliya Indians case any different and why did Dr. Herath strive to make it different? Even if the Indian has suffered a relapse, the same can apply to any Indian tourist who arrives in Lanka and finds that he has suffered a relapse of the Malaria he had contracted a year or even years before back in India? What difference does it make whether he is an Indian who comes as a tourist or a doctor or a carpenter who comes as a worker? The danger of an epidemic breaking out is the same. What has ETCA got to do with it?

In 2013 there was no ETCA in the horizon but imported malaria cases abounded. The discovery of an Indian with malaria who had stayed here for several months is nothing new for Dr. Herath to hold media conferences and ring the alarm bells. A person who has once been infected of malaria can suffer a relapse at any time. It can happen to anyone of the twenty thousand Indians who come as tourists to Lanka every month on average. Or to any one of the thousands of Lankans who visit India on business, on holiday or on pilgrimage to the birth place of the Buddha, Dambadiva. Should they contract malaria, the relapse can occur in Lanka years after the first attack.

On that same basis, if indeed malarial imports were such a huge threat to Lankas good health as Dr. Herath painted it to be, what Dr. Herath should have asked for  to take it to its logical conclusion  is a complete ban on all Indian tourists and a complete travel ban for Lankans to visit India? Why the hush on that?

Is it because all he is interested in is to say that ETCA which may allow doctors to work in Lanka can also bring malaria and therefore the agreement should be abandoned? The inescapable fact that the thousands of tourists who come from India and the thousands of Lankans who return from India each month can also bring malaria with them and walk through the green channel without declaring it, is conveniently ignored by him not only for the implications such an issue will raise but because it will negate what he seeks to achieve which is to strangle ETCA at birth with the malarial virus Plasmodium ovale.

His true motive has been starkly revealed. So have the narrowness of his mind and the logical fallacy of his argument forwarded to justify the tearing up of ETCA.

But does this new anti-Indian phobia justify the GMOA to sink to the sewers of human callousness and denigrate, beyond cleansing even after sterilising, the immense respect and honour millions in Lanka still confer upon doctors? Consider the climax to Dr. Heraths media conference on Monday where he delivered a special message to the Lankan public.

Without a blush of remorse at his own oozing callousness he tells the media conference: The message I have to give the public is that when there is a dengue epidemic we tell the public to be careful of their environment and not to let water collect and not let mosquitoes breed. When there is a rabies outbreak and if you want to escape from getting it, we tell the public to be cautious of stray dogs. In the coming days we like to tell the people of this country that soon if Indian nationals come to your areas and stay near your homes then to be very cautious of all Indians.

What a boorish, uncaring, downright callous, insensitive statement for a Lankan doctor sworn to the Hippocratic oath and, as secretary of the Government Medical Officers Association, the chief representative of more than 16,000 doctors in this country to gratuitously make against an entire nation of people  the citizens of Lankas closest neighbour and friend  merely in order to create a mass anti-Indian feeling to torpedo a proposed economic and technological cooperation agreement the exact terms of which he is not even aware?

How would Lankans feel if Indian doctors were crass enough to take the same perverse line and stigmatise all Lankans as dengue carriers and asked the Indians to shun Lankan pilgrims visiting Buddha Gaya like lepers were avoided in an unenlightened era not long ago or like street mongrels are shunned during a hydrophobia outbreak? How will such an unwanted cussed comment cast by Indian doctors reflect on the state of the medical profession in India? Perhaps it is time the 16,000 members of the GMOA considered the suitability of Dr. Herath to occupy the position of General Secretary of their union and to represent them as their chief spokesman in this unbecoming manner which revolts all sensitivities and reveals lack of compassion toward the ill and suffering. Perhaps they should dole out the same treatment to him that he prescribes to the nation to give to Indian visitors loitering in the vicinity.
French romantic drama in cinema View(s):

French romantic dramas De rouille et dos (Rust and Bone) directed by Jacques Audiard and Lila dit ca (Lila Says) directed by Ziad Doueiri will be screened at Alliance Francaise de Colombo, Barnes Place, Colombo 7.

Made in 2013 De rouille et dos narrates the story of a struggling single father who helps a beautiful whale trainer recover her will to live following a terrible accident that leaves her confined to a wheelchair. It will be screened at 3 pm on April 19 and at 6.30 pm on April 20.

Lonely and destitute, Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) leaves the north of France for his sisters house in Antibes after becoming the sole guardian of his estranged five-year-old son Sam. When Ali lands a job as a bouncer in a nearby nightclub, things quickly start to look up for the itinerant father and son. Then one night, after breaking up a fight in the club, Ali 

Lila dit ca made in 2005 is the tale of Lila who is a gorgeous 16-year-old girl who has just moved in, with her rather strange aunt, into a poor neighbourhood populated primarily by Arab families.

The two leaders of the suburbs main gang fall in love with her. One is the films poetic narrator, a quiet boy with a talent for writing named Chimo; the other is Mouloud, a headstrong punk. One day, Lila dares Chimo to look up her skirt  if he can handle it  and by doing so, puts into motion a sequence of raw, devastating events. The ensuing maelstrom that develops out of this romantic triangle reveals the dangers inherent in sexual game playing.

The film will be screened at 3 pm on April 26 and at 6.30pm on April 27.
Cinnamon TBCasia: mega destination promotionwith SriLankan View(s):

Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, together with the national carrier SriLankan Airlines, is proud to present Cinnamon TBCasia 2016 from 2-7 June 2016; a mega destination event that brings together 60 of the worlds best travel bloggers to Sri Lanka in a global conference that will explore and evaluate the impact of travel blogging in the global tourism industry today.

Krishan Balendra, President of Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts commented Travel blogging is one of the most essential and undervalued components in marketing Sri Lankas tourism sector. It is in fact a necessary tool for the industry because the craft of travel writing and blogging encourages others to travel, more so than an advertisement or other forms of traditional media. It is also a far more personal way to reach audiences. Cinnamon TBCasia 2016 is the ideal platform for all travel and hospitality professionals to engage with top bloggers from around the world to be better involved in this digital revolution.

Blogging has also become a powerful tool in influencing consumer decisions and creating a strong appeal for any business or company in the current travel sphere. By the means of international exposure by sponsors and international media, Sri Lanka can greatly benefit from activities such as the Cinnamon TBCasia that garner mileage on online and digital space whilst reaching massive global audiences in a very short span of time.

The top travel bloggers visiting Sri Lanka will be hosted by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts on a pre-conference tour of the country, which will be followed by the full day conference on 7th June 2016. The tour is organized with four unique itineraries for the bloggers to explore all popular tourist locations in the island. Apart from hosting an incredible group of bloggers, Cinnamon TBCasia will also welcome many industry experts and social media gurus to speak at the conference.

Cinnamon TBCasia 2016 would not be possible without the support of SriLankan airlines; thereby, Chairman of SriLankan airlines, Ajith Dias stated, We are pleased to be flying in such a prestigious panel of speakers and travel bloggers into Sri Lanka, helping them engage with all that the island has to offer. The insights they will share with us during the conference will be invaluable to everyone in the tourism industry of Sri Lanka

This global event provides a golden opportunity for travel and hospitality industry professionals in Sri Lanka with the ideal platform to connect with award winning travel bloggers through a one day conference. The initiative will create a speed networking space for companies to meet and tie up with bloggers, helping businesses grow successfully.

The content rich event will consist of a variety of discussions which are designed to inspire and to provide key insights into a rapidly evolving tourism and hospitality industry: Developing corporate content and how Bloggers can help, The use of virtual 360 in the travel industry and experiential storytelling.

Refer www.tbcasia.com for registrations and further information.
Jams my mother made By Cecily Walker View(s): View(s):

Dasaman Wijesinghe brings back the flavours of tree tomatoes and rhubarb from her childhood days in Nuwara Eliya in her smallscale business venture

Up country Sri Lanka is home to some of the most exotic and delicious fruit, yet the average Sri Lankan may not be aware of all that is on offer. For example, it is unlikely that anyone would identify Tamarillo (tree tomatoes) as typically Sri Lankan yet they grow wild throughout Nuwara Eliya. Similarly, rhubarb is another fantastic local produce that grows extensively in this region, but with a slightly acquired taste and a vague foreignness for the Sri Lankan palate both ingredients are largely ignored in cooking. Dasaman Wijesinghe grew up surrounded by these flavours. Firmly convinced they are widely underrated she hopes her jams will appeal to the more adventurous taste buds.

Last year she returned to the Nuwara Eliya district where her mother grew up and was hit by the fond memories she has of devouring locally grown stewed rhubarb with condensed milk or tamarillo jam, homemade by her mother. Combining her mothers well-rehearsed recipes with an element of trial and error, Dasaman cooked up her first batch of Tantalising Tamarillo jam last year. Distributing it to friends and family she was overwhelmed by the positive feedback and how much people were enjoying this more unusual flavour, giving her inspiration to try her hand at rhubarb jam.

Since then Dasaman has recognised the gap in the market and whilst it may be niche there is clear potential to expand. Currently selling her jams for Rs. 320 at the Colombo Hippie Market, pop-up stalls and through word of mouth she is looking to further her client base. She is full of exciting plans with her husband to re-brand and break into the hotel and restaurant circuit, offering her jam as an accompaniment to traditional afternoon tea or breakfast. She also hopes to target cafes and shops in Colombo. Although the prospect of expanding excites the budding entrepreneur, Dasaman recognises that part of the charm depends on keeping it small scale and homely, it is all about finding the right balance.

The wonderful thing about her jams are the superb flavours so clearly homemade. She has successfully created the quintessential British jam but elevated it using local Sri Lankan produce. She samples the jams on cream crackers as she says they bring out the flavours well, however at home her family enjoy the jams on pancakes and waffles and she encourages her customers to do the same. Dasaman, aware of the high sugar content in jam, has reduced sugar as much as possible.

She is often asked if she plans to try other ingredients or even chutneys, and although she is not writing off the idea, at the moment she is keen to stick to what she knows best. However, after doing some research into flavoured vodkas, a new project on the cards is her first batch of tree tomato vodka. Watch this space, Dasaman has big plans  who knows it might even end up selling abroad. For more information, contact dasaman76@gmail.com
China urged to closely assess Lankas equity-swap proposal From Kapila Bandara in Hong Kong View(s): View(s):

Articles in the Chinese Communist Party-controlled newspaper have urged the Chinese Government to assess Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes proposal to lure Chinese state-owned companies into taking up billions of US dollar debt owed to China in exchange for shares in infrastructure projects and domestic companies.

An academic has proposed closer scrutiny of the proposal. A commentator demanded clean governance of the economy and argued for tougher negotiations on the idea.

International Trade and Development Strategies Minister Malik Samarawickrama is on record as saying that Sri Lanka is eager to reduce the current debt by inviting Chinese companies, Chinese investors, to look at some of the enterprises in Sri Lanka, the state-owned enterprises, with a view to taking at least part of that equity over. Mr. Wickremesinghe also said in Beijing, Sri Lanka had been talking with some companies and also the government of China about the possibility of some infrastructure projects becoming public-private partnerships, in which part of the debt will become equity held by the Chinese companies.

While details have not been made public, Mr. Samarawickrama mentioned state-owned enterprises.

There are 245 unviable state owned enterprises in Sri Lanka and these have become mini political fiefdoms with only 44 posting an operating profit, not net profit, in 2014. By Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayakes own admission, these enterprises do not comply with statutory obligations, many do not submit annual reports, do not respond to audit queries, violate procurement rules, and plunder public money.

An academic at a Beijing-based university suggested in the populist Communist Party mouthpiece, Global Times that Sri Lankas proposal is an attempt to disown the debt owed to China.

The Global Times writer also flagged dangers to China and its enterprises considering how Sri Lankas politicians dragged a Chinese state project in Colombo into the centre of political games.

Meanwhile, China itself is struggling with slower economic growth (6.7 percent in the latest quarter), worsening corporate balance sheets and staggering amounts of corporate debt, especially in sectors such as real estate, manufacturing, retail and wholesale, mining, and steel.

According to a recent estimate by the IMF, US$ 1.3 trillion (Rs. 188 trillion) of Chinese corporate debt is at risk of default. This accounts for 15.5% of total commercial bank loans to the corporate sector.

Loans at risk are loans for which a borrower is unable to pay interest payments.

Sri Lankas sovereign debt owed to China in comparison to Chinas trillion-dollar corporate debt is estimated at US$ 8 billion (Rs. 1.5 trillion).

Problem loans held by Chinese banks amount to US$ 641 billion, or 6 percent of GDP, the IMF says.

The IMF observes that the ability of many Chinese listed firms to service their debt obligations is eroding, with higher debt and declining earnings capacity.

But Chinas government has the financial muscle, bankers, and the mechanisms to handle such debt. It has done so before, efficiently through asset management companies such as China Huarong Asset Management Company. Sri Lanka does not.

Huarong is one of four asset management companies set up by the State Council to convert debt to equity.

The company posted 16.9 billion yuan (Rs. 378b) net profit the past financial year, up by 30%. It had 370.13 billion yuan of distressed assets and booked an income 40.65 billion yuan from that business. Huarong buys up distressed debt assets from financial institutions and non-financial enterprises through bids, public auctions, blind auctions or negotiated acquisitions.

Immediately after Mr. Wickremesinghe left Beijing, the Global Times article cited Zhuang Rui, deputy dean of the Institute of International Economy at the University of International Business and Economics, as saying that Sri Lankas request is, a kind of move to repudiate a debt.

The article also cited Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, as urging caution because of the risks to China. He says, The request needs to be further assessed to see whether the profits brought by the swap are higher than the cost in a bid to secure the Chinese capital. Mr. Bai casts a wary eye on the pitfalls of the proposal, including, no predictable profits and stable investment returns.

Referring to the delayed controversial Port City luxury property development, now being described by Sri Lanka as an international financial hub, academic Zhuang says it serves as as a warning to an increasing number of Chinese investors who are seeking to expand their business overseas.

A commentary in the Global Times cautioned of the potential problems from Sri Lankas proposal. It would be meaningless if China only swaps some bad debts for nonperforming assets in Sri Lankas enterprises. The two countries may need to set up mechanisms to ensure China has sufficient bargaining power in negotiations with Sri Lanka to obtain high quality assets, writer Hu Weijia argues.

Therefore, stakes in local companies running transport infrastructure may be attractive to China, but tough negotiations over this issue are undoubtedly needed.

Hu laments the lack of confidence in the continuity and stability of Sri Lankas economic policy and says Colombo must, learn to respect bilateral agreements and business contracts.

If China gets more deeply involved in the Sri Lankan economy by holding more assets instead of only lending money to the country, it will be increasingly important for Sri Lanka to run its economy free of political interference.

Mr. Hu added: As for China, the country not only needs to act prudently to protect its interests from Sri Lankas debt woes, but also should treat the economic ties between the two countries from strategic and long-term perspectives.

China may need to invest more in local industries which could create stable jobs for local communities to promote regional economic prosperity and social stability, ensuring that the country becomes more capable of repaying the loans offered by China.
Hot news: Why you are at fever level View(s):

A change in the wind direction over the Indian Ocean, the lack of cloud cover, rising ocean temperatures and the position of the sun directly above Sri Lanka have led to some of the hottest days in the countrys history.

The dry weather is likely to change with the onset of the monsoons in mid-May, but not before that, Meteorological Department Director Sarath Premalal said yesterday.

He said the Northern and North Central Provinces recorded the highest temperatures on Friday with Vavuniya blazing to 38.9C (102.02 F). The other fever-level areas included Anuradhapura 37C (98.6F), Polonnaruwa 36.9C (98.42F), Kurunegala and Ratnapura 36.2C (97.16F) and Pottuvil and Mattala 35.2C (95.36F).

In Nuwara Eliya where tens of thousands of holidaymakers gathered to escape the heat, the temperature was 25.4C (77.72F) in contrast to the average of 18 C (64.4F) during this month. As Colombos temperature reached 33C (91.4F), the humidity was 63 percent with a comparative low wind speed of 16 Km/h. Temperatures in other South Asian cities were also high with Bangalore recording 36C (96.8F) and Kolkata 37C (98.6F).
Lankan chefs in mid-air soup; SriLankan flight recalled to Singapore View(s):

A kitchen blowtorch in the checked-in luggage of a team of Sri Lankan chefs returning after a culinary exhibition in Singapore led to the recall of a SriLankan Airline flight soon after it had taken off from the Changi International Airport on Thursday.

The drama unfolded when five Sri Lankan chefs were returning to Colombo after they participated in FoodAsia2016, an International Exhibition of Food and Drinks. They were initially detained for interrogation by the authorities there before the flight departed on the night of April 14.

However, shortly after takeoff, UL flight 309 was instructed to return to Changi Intentional Airport due to security reasons. Upon its return, the Singapore Polices airport division had requested that all check-in luggage be subject to screening once more and also interviewed a few passengers, a statement from SriLankan Airlines said.

Accordingly, all baggage was offloaded and sent for security screening while three passengers were offloaded on the request of the Singaporean authorities for further questioning, the Airline said. The flight had returned to Colombo with the other passengers after a delay of about three hours.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Chefs Guild chairman Gerard Mendis said chefs were required to carry their own utensils for the live cookery event. Among their cookware was a portable blowtorch which is used to caramelise sugar and give artistic effect to their creations.

The blowtorch had been checked- in as unaccompanied luggage during their departure from Singapore. The blowtorch worked with a small gas cylinder and this was likely to have triggered the security scare.

However, before the Lankan chefs could board the aircfaft, they had been stopped by the Singapore authorities to question them about their cookware they were carrying. When the Chef s Guild was informed about the incident, we immediately contacted the exhibition organisers. They got in touch with the Singapore authorities to explain that the cookware had been brought for the exhibition, Mr. Mendis explained.

The detained Lankans who were questioned for several hours by the Singaporean authorities returned to the country last morning. The SriLankan Airlines statement said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore was yet to disclose the reasons that led to the recall of flight UL 309.

SriLankan was seekign a comprehensive report, as it believed that ideally all necessary inspections should have been completed by airport authorities before releasing an aircraft for departure, the statement added.
Probe company where former Ministry advisor was employed, Ranawaka tells FCID View(s):

Megapolis and Western Development Minister Champika Ranawaka has requested the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) to investigate whether a company in which a former advisor of the ministry was employed, was involved in any financial irregularities.

The request came as Vidya Amarapala, the advisor of the ministry stepped down from his post this week following media reports that a former company in which he was employed was involved in financial irregularities including the opening of off-shore accounts.

In a statement the Megapolis Ministry said that Mr. Amarapala who also served as the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) from 2010  2011 was previously employed as a Director of the Sovereign Capital Corporation between 2003 and 2010, but there had been no reports about any financial irregularities.

Mr. Amarapala yesterday denied any allegations that he was involved in any financial irregularities or in opening of off shore accounts.

Mr. Amarapala said that he stepped down from the Ministry advisory position on his own and was willing to face any investigation by the FCID.

Police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that the FCID is yet to commence an inquiry as requested by Minister Ranawaka.
Sampur project powers on despite protests By S. Rubatheesan View(s): View(s):

While the government is stepping up formal arrangements to set up the Sampur coal power plant, residents  including Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who resettled there recently  claim the plant threatens their livelihood and environment for generations to come.

Last Thursday, indigenous people living in Santhosapuram, an adjacent forest village near Sampur, staged a protest against the project.

The 13km long concrete fence marking the land for the power plant divides their village into two. They foresee the hardship that lies ahead as most of them are engaged in farming and hunting. A resident at the protest said he would not be able to go to the forest to collect honey once the plant is set up. These are our traditional lands. We have been here for ages, he said.

The land for the project has already been transferred on lease to Trincomalee Power Company Limited (TPCL), a joint venture company of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and NTPC Limited (NTPC) with 50:50 partnership by the government.

Activist Thirunavukkarasu Gopalan, a founding member of the Green Trincomalee Movement, is of the view that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report compiled by a New Delhi-based company contains misleading information and does not study long-term threats posed by the proposed 500 megawatt (MW) coal power plant to the regions eco-system.

The then Sri Lankan Government also facilitated moves to give away the land to India when the war was started. Soon after the local people displaced to Batticaloa, their homes, schools, wells and other buildings were totally demolished for no reason. Later, the government claimed that land, amounting to 500 acres, was marshland and acquired it for the project without any notice to the rightful owners, Mr. Gopalan said.

The EIA report has been prepared by M/s Mantec Consultants (Pvt.) Limited, a New Delhi-based company with input from local experts in oceanography, terrestrial ecology, marine ecology and social environment, the Lanka Hydraulic Institute and the Industrial Technology Institute under the terms of reference approved by the Central Environment Authority (CEA).

Under the topic Socio-Economic Environment the report notes that the land is free from human settlements or any other livelihood related activities except ten families living beyond 250m distance from the boundary. There are no other socio-economic infrastructure facilities established in the vicinity of the land.

Pointing to this as an example on how residential properties have been portrayed as abandoned land and tanks as no longer in use, Mr. Gopalan questioned the credibility of the report, which gave the green signal for the project. The report noted the proposed site was ideally suited for the project in terms of techno-economic, environmental and socio-economic considerations.

The former chairman of the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Dr. Hiran Jayawardene, who had been appointed to the EIA committee as a local expert, later resigned due to the internal manipulation of the committee, which failed to recognise severe threats posed by the proposed plant to the eco-marine resources in the Trincomalee area.

I was unhappy with the proceedings: they thought like developers and were not ready to listen to us on how the plant is going to destroy marine resources, Dr. Jayawardene said.

Dr. Jayewardene, who currently holds the post of Secretary-General at Officers of Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC), said after he studied the ecology of the Koddiyar Bay and Shell Bay he recommended that the then government preserve those resources as unique in the island but there was no followup action.

He says corals located in the surrounding areas of the construction sites might be completely damaged along with other soft coral species. In some instances, surfaces are covered with coralline algae and red, brown and green encrusting and filamentous algae. The reason there is such eco-marine diversity in the region is that thats where the Mahaveli River flows into the Indian Ocean, he said.

While civil protests against the power plant are spreading to other districts, with one being held in Jaffna last week, a resolution against the proposed power plant at the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) is in the pipeline.

Kumarasamy Nageswaran, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) provincial councillor representing the Trincomalee district, said the council will pass the resolution before the end of this month to put more political pressure on the central government to reconsider the project.

This is not an issue pertaining only to Sampur or the Trincomalee district: its environmental impact is going to be felt in neighbouring districts including Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Once the north-east monsoon season starts, toxic gases and dust particles emitted to the atmosphere from the plant will easily spread to other areas, he said.

Another worrying factor is the purchase of coal from foreign countries for massive amounts of foreign exchange. An industrial source familiar with the coal business said on condition of anonymity that the government is currently importing high-quality coal from South Africa, Indonesia, and Russia, and once the proposed power plant is set up, India will directly export coal to the nearest jetty, which is also included in the proposed plan.

Ahead all of this, the government is considering making coal a tax-free import item, which is quite unnatural compared to other countries, which have imposed high taxes for coal because of its effects on the environment and global warming, the source said.

Despite the concerns, the government vowed this week to implement the Sampur project to meet the medium-term power shortage crisis in the country, with hdro-power potential dwindling.

Describing the recent power outage as being symptomatic of an energy crisis, Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy Dr. B.M.S. Batagoda said the coal power plant was an immediate solution to the power crisis and that it would effective until 2050, by which time Sri Lanka will, he said, be self-sufficient in power due to renewable energy.

Every year the level of power consumed is increased by 200 MW. In 10 years it will be 4000MW. The government has taken steps to meet those demands with renewable energy projects such as solar power and liquefied natural gas plants but in the meantime we need coal power to meet the power demand, Dr. Batagoda said.

He dismissed the view that the residents of Sampur and neighbouring villages are against the proposed coal power plant due to its environmental effects, saying they were protesting because their paddy lands were going to be acquired for the industrial zone that is going to be located adjacent to the plant.
Some crossings to be removed to prevent pedestrian deaths By Anushiya Sathisraja View(s): View(s):

Pedestrians account for more than 75 per cent of the deaths on roads and so many of them die on pedestrian crossings that the authorities are going to remove some crossings to, they say, prevent further carnage.

A Buddhist monk died after being knocked down near dawn on a zebra crossing on the High Level Road at Pannipitiya late last month. The driver of the vehicle was arrested and the car impounded.

In Homagama, an 11-year-old schoolboy was killed on a crossing before his mothers eyes.

A school van transporting the student from the school had dropped him at the Godagama Junction and the chaperone was taking the student across the road on the crossing with the victims mother waiting on the other side of the road for her son when a speeding SLTB school bus knocked him down.

The National Council for Road Safety (NCRS) has decided to remove 55 pedestrian crossings in Colombo in high-risk areas following a study into the number of accidents occurring of these crossings.

NCRS Chairperson Dr. Sisira Kodagoda said there were various high-risk zebra crossings across the country and that action will be taken to make crossings safer with the assistance of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and the Road Development Authority (RDA).

We have also observed that many young pedestrians are in a hurry, he said. The reasons for the increase in pedestrian deaths is the increasing number of motor vehicles, rash driving, motorists driving on zebra crossings and pedestrians crossing roads without waiting for traffic lights to turn green, he said.

We are spreading road safety awareness with the help of exhibition vans which are sent to educational institutions weekly. Also, we have sent certain proposals for having the walkways improved so that more people use them, he said.

There has been a significant surge in the number of people  especially young people  using mobile phones illegally while driving, DIG Seneratne said.

A person using a hand-held device while driving is three times more likely to have an accident, the Head of the Department of Transport and Logistics Management at the University of Moratuwa, Dr. T. Sivakumar said.

He also said faulty road design and failure to strictly enforce the law were two major reasons for the increase in accidents and resultant deaths. The safety of road users such as pedestrians and cyclists was not considered when designing road infrastructure, Dr. Sivakumar said.

He called for schoolchildren to be educated in road safety by traffic instructors and teachers and for adolescents to be taught the principles of safe driving and good driving attitudes, and be regularly tested on knowledge of traffic laws.

Drivers, on the other hand, needed more awareness of the need to maintain a careful space between their vehicle and pedestrian crossings. When you drive at speed where you cant stop immediately you need to have distance between crossings. he said.

Experts recommend that before a long journey, a driver must have at least six hours sleep. They also advise drivers and those plans to go on long journey to cut short party time avoid alcohol, finish packing well ahead of time, and map out places where they could have a rest, break or nap and carry plenty of water to drink.

The Secretary of Automobile Association Ceylon (AAC), Dewapriya Hettiarachchi said many inexperienced drivers lacked basic training in driving. The AAC has a driver training school which offers tutelage to drivers in organisations that have more than 30 drivers, Mr. Hettiarachchi said. We give them defensive training on how to drive without accidents.

Motor car registrations have recorded 2,897 units in February, marginally up from 2,888 units on January and significantly down from 4,138 units 12 months ago. The number was 10,084 units in November and 14,544 units in September last year.

Three wheeler registrations recorded 2,909 units in February down from 3,468 units in January and 7,794 units 12 months ago. This is the lowest monthly registration recorded in the past 5 years, a senior official of Registration of Motor Vehicles (RMV) said.
VAT price bomb after May Day Living costs will soar for middle and low-income groups; big increase in utility bills View(s): View(s):

Low and middle income groups will be worst hit by the Governments move to raise Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15 percent from May 2.

Set to rise are their telephone, water and electricity bills. This is on top of their having to pay more for consumer items, medical bills and even private education.

The budget 2016 had proposed a two-band VAT rate  8 and 12.5 percent instead of a single rate of 11 percent. This was, however, not implemented. In March, the Cabinet of Ministers accepted a recommendation from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to raise it to 15 percent. This came in the backdrop of a deteriorating financial situation. At present, business concerns with a turnover of Rs. 3.7 million a quarter are required to pay VAT, but from May 2, the ceiling has been lowered to Rs. 3 million.

Though it was to take effect from April 1, it was put off in view of the then ongoing talks between an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission and the Government. President Maithripala Sirisena, too, had asked that the VAT increase be put on hold until the National New Year was over.

A study by the Sunday Times revealed that an average low income or middle class family may incur an expenditure of about Rs 10,000 or more, taking into consideration the rising costs of various items besides the increase in phone, water and electricity bills.

For example, a family paying a monthly landline telephone bill of Rs. 2,500 will have to pay an additional Rs. 375. This is besides charges for mobile telephones which almost every member of a household now possesses. Besides that, a water bill of Rs 1,500 would mean an additional Rs. 225 and electricity at Rs 5,000 would entail a further Rs. 750. Besides these costs, bills for private medical services and private school fees will add to the burden.

The escalating effect of the VAT increase will also be reflected in the rise in prices at food outlets, including hotels and restaurants.
World Central Banks devise safety net against hackers View(s):

Central Banks of International Monetary Fund (IMF) member countries have agreed to work together in setting up a safety net to prevent money being stolen through bank websites by computer hackers.

This follows the recent attempt to transfer more than 100 million US dollars from Bangladeshs account in the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told a media conference in Washington D.C.

This cyber crime came to light due to the vigilance of a Sri Lankan bank which detected the illicit money transfer when it was found that the recipients name was misspelt as Shalika fandation (instead of foundation)  with the large amount also drawing suspicion.

Sri Lankas detection of this international money swindling racket has prompted Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of IMF member countries to join hands in preventing and combating cyber-attacks on computers in banks worldwide, the minister said in response to a question raised by the Sunday Times Journalist at the G-24 media conference on Thursday.

This agreement was reached at the IMF spring meetings being held at its headquarters in Washington D.C. The need for coordinated efforts to tackle this cyber threat was also emphasised by Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Modalities of the safety net will be worked out with the assistance of world renowned IT experts and central banks IT professionals. Mr. Karunanayake said legal action was being taken against Shalika Foundation directors who were named as local recipients of around US$20 million the hackers wanted to transfer.

A case has been filed at the Colombo Chief Magistrates Court against Shalika Foundation directors Gamage Shalika Perera, Don Prasad Rohitha, Nishantha Nalaka Walakuluarachchi, Sanjeewa Tissa Bandara and Shirani Dhammika Fernando by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank.

Answering another question raised by the Sunday Times, Minister Karunanayake said the Central Bank was also examining documents to see whether any Sri Lankans were involved in offshore accounts as highlighted in the Panama Papers. In Colombo on Tuesday, Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran told reporters that the level of the probe on Sri Lankans having accounts as stated in the Panama Papers, revolved around the authenticity of these papers.

He said he was unable to speak about any preliminary investigations carried out as there seemed to be some doubt regarding the authenticity of the documents. I find it difficult to believe that so much money has left (Sri Lanka). I find it difficult to believe those large numbers, the governor said referring to media reports.
How to catch a croc the humane way Crocodile expert Peter Prodromou here to launch Operation Croc Rescue View(s): View(s):

Trussed up tightly, it was dragged here and there and hammered mercilessly on the head with an axe. This was after its insides had been torn asunder, on swallowing the chicken-bait in which had been embedded a four-inch vicious hook shaped like an anchor.

This was in February 2012 and the agony of the massive, 15-foot Salty in the throes of death in Ragama is seared into the minds of all those who witnessed this horrible slaughter by the public after it became the prime suspect in the killing of a man who was cutting grass in the marshes.

With the clearing of the marshes and people venturing into animal territory, the human-crocodile conflict (HCC) is seeing an increase and it is to thwart such massacres of this keystone species surviving from the time of the dinosaurs, that a different scene will be enacted on April 17 and 18 at the Bellanwila Wildlife Sanctuary.

Launched soon after the New Year, it augurs well for these much-maligned creatures, for renowned crocodile expert Peter Prodromou will be in Sri Lanka to carry out a training programme on how to catch, restrain and transport the dangerous ones.

It will be Operation Croc Rescue under which 50 personnel from the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) will be trained in a joint programme organised under the leadership of Dr. Tharaka Prasad, DWCs Director of Wildlife Health and Dr. Anslem de Silva, the Regional Chairman, Crocodile Specialist Group, South Asia and Iran, of the International Union for Conservation of Nature/Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC).

All the way from England, crocodile hunter nay rescuer Peter who runs safaripete.co.uk and his companion, Natasha Lewis, will be with the wildlife officials, day in, day out training them on how to capture dangerous crocodiles safely and humanely. Peter has honed his skills in this speciality in Florida, the United States of America, with alligators living in the wild.

Im very passionate about offering something that will be beneficial not only to crocodile conservation but also the communities that are facing challenges and living side by side with such predators, he says in an e-mail, adding that he feels that the only way we can protect crocodiles is by also showing great respect to humans who are in conflict with them.

While the training in Sri Lanka will take place at Bellanwila today and tomorrow, it will continue from April 19 to 21 at the Giritale Wildlife Training Centre, with the practical aspects being interspersed with power-point presentations on crocodiles by Dr. de Silva.

The training is done in a way to recreate realistic crocodile rescues, with the crocodiles struggling in nets, waterholes or even in confined rooms, without much space to deal with them, said Dr. de Silva, explaining that while continuing the National Crocodile Status Survey, awareness programmes on the importance of these reptiles will also be held among villagers.

Where the HCC is high, meanwhile, Peter willsponsor and help instal two metal crocodile excluding enclosures, along with training for wildlife rangers in this arena as well.

Currently, the IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group which also includes Adrian Gabriel, Avishka Godahewa, Madhava Botheju and M.M. Mafas, is conducting a three-year survey of crocodiles in the Bolgoda aquatic ecosystem.

The two types of crocodiles found in Sri Lanka are the Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and the Mugger (Crocodylus palustris), both playing an important role in our eco-system. They are apex predators and as adult crocodiles have no natural predators in the eco-system.

The Saltwater crocodile, meanwhile, has been designated as one of the eight top vertebrates in Sri Lanka by the DWC. (KH)
Pearls for a President Ramla Wahab-Salman traces the historical significance of the Mannar pearls and her familys long association with them View(s): View(s):

The mystery surrounding the living gem of the sea, the pearl, has long captured the interest of merchants, the imagination of poets and attention of historians. The existing fragmented narrative surrounding the once thriving cultures of diving, harvesting and trans-oceanic distribution of natural Mannar pearls is a rich part of Sri Lankas diplomatic, commercial and cultural histories. The story of the Mannar Pearl is one entrenched in cultural and diplomatic dialogues across time and space from ancient China to 20th century America.

Of the 3,600 marine species the Gulf of Mannar is home to, the celebrated Pearl Oysters of Sri Lanka are known to be found mainly in certain parts of the wide shallow plateau of the upper end of the Gulf of Mannar upto Chilaw. Mannar lies off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka to the south of Adams Bridge. It is probable that a pearl bank could once have existed in Mount Lavinia. Pearl banks also exist on the opposite coast of India.

The pearl fisheries of India, Sri Lanka and the Persian Gulf have been historically known to yield the highly prized Oriental Pearl and are probably the most ancient fisheries till their relatively recent staggered decline. A striking feature of early 20th century British records of pearl fishing in Sri Lanka is that the systems of fishery carried out in the 1900s were under very much the same conditions as 2-3000 years ago.

The Gem of the Moon and Sea

The natural pearl is a product of a living body. The oyster from which the pearl is produced inhabits the sea as its natural habitat. The oyster coats granules of sand or other foreign bodies which may enter its shell causing irritation with layers of Calcium Carbonate. In comparisons drawn between the lustre of good pearls and moonlight, pearls have been identified as the essence of the moon. An ancient theory from the Orient suggests that pearls were conceived by the penetration of moonbeams into the open bivalves of the oyster.

A golden map of Ceylon

My grandfather, the late Abdul Wahab, founder of Bullion Exchange Jewellers was an earnest collector of pearls. As related by his sons, the present partners of Bullion Exchange Jewellers, their father would carry sacksful of Mannar Pearls to Colombo in the trunk of his Hillman in the early 1960s. Each sack containing 600-700 oysters would be shelled in the compound of Bullion Exchange Jewellers in Bambalapitiya, just as cashew would be shelled in homes elsewhere. This process was very much a part of a home industry conducted within jewellery establishments in the mid 20th century.

In 1956, on the personal request of the fourth Prime Minister of independent Ceylon, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Bullion Exchange Jewellers produced a golden hand crafted bejewelled map of Ceylon to be presented by the Prime Minister as a diplomatic gift to President Eisenhower at the White House. This map had set on it among others, five Mannar pearls showcasing three extremely rare pink Mannar pearls. The golden map is currently preserved at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Texas.

The Ceylon Daily News on October 31, 1956 reported it thus:

A map of Ceylon studded with all precious stones will be presented by the Prime Minister, Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to President Eisenhower when he visits the U.S.AThis gift was completely designed and manufactured at Bullion Exchange. The Gems were selected from the private collection of Mr. M.A. Wahab, the firms Managing Director. The inner gem box is decorated with Buddhist Motifs and mounted on ebony elephants

The rare collection of Mannar Pearl jewels preserved at Bullion Exchange Jewellers include antique jewels produced by Punchi Singho & Bro. Jewellers of Colombo for the Gold Medal Wembley Exhibition in London in 1924 and an exquisite Mannar Pearl and cabochon Blue Sapphire set featuring 380 handpicked natural Mannar Pearls from 1860. Of the most precious of my grandfathers pearl collection was a perfectly shaped twin pearl which is a rarity to the extent of one to every 10,000 pearls shelled. A symbol of love and luck, this pearl was gifted to my grandmother and the family heirloom remains a part of the collection of the jewellers.

Pearling networks of the past

From ancient history into the early 20th century, the ports surrounding the pearl banks of Mannar have been an entrepot for traders, sailors, saints and merchant capitalists traversing the high seas from Europe and West Asia to the Far East and vice versa through Sri Lanka, the pearl on the Indian Ocean. While pearls are not usually a characteristic symbol of monetary wealth, they are of high symbolic significance owing to their putative powers, talismanic qualities and mysterious nature.

Gaining repute through traditional trading routes of old such as the Silk Road of the sea reaching kingdoms from Persia to Rome in the West and Peking in the East, pearls have been included in payments of tribute, rewards to successful generals and offered as presents cementing diplomatic friendships and marriage alliances. The natural pearls produced in the pearl banks of Mannar were bartered through extensive trade networks. Internationally, pearls from the Persian Gulf, Southern Arabian waters and the Sri Lankan side of the Mannar pearl banks were of equally high value and repute through ancient and medieval kingdoms across the world.

Venetian traveller Marco Polo who visited the Gulf of Mannar in 1294 relates the interconnectedness of the pearling industry to charms and magic. He notes the significance of the Abraiaman understood as the Brahman and fish-charmers who were rewarded handsomely by merchants for charming big fish surrounding the Gulf to prevent pearl divers from being attacked by them during the perilous dive in the banks of Mabar of India, 60 miles to the west of Sri Lanka. Similarly, the shark binder played a prominent role in keeping the sharks at bay. Through the use of prayers and charms these shark binders were believed to provide safety from shark bites and death. Their charms are said to have been aimed at the sharks around the Gulf of Mannar whose jaws would be bound over the duration of the dive, thus protecting pearl divers. Without the presence of at least two shark binders on the sandy coast, divers would not take the perilous plunge for oysters.

Pearl Fishing in Sri Lanka

Under a glaring sun, from an ocean

dotted with stout boats and bobbing black-

heads, the precious oysters are gradually piled up on the boats until about noon, when a gun

from the Government boats warns the fleet that

the time allowed for fishing has expired, and a

wild race takes place among the boats to reach

the beach firstand the beach becomes a screeching mass of

excited natives, jostling each other and shouting

in a hundred queer tongues

Carlo Lavi on The Pearl Fishers of Ceylon

The Wide World Magazine (1904)

The Tamil name for Mannar, capturing the significance of its richness and importance to locals is Salubham (Sea of Gain). The most famous ports of Sri Lanka in which pearls were acquired were Mantai and Arippuu. Dr. Roland Silva in the National Trust and Central Cultural Fund publication Maritime

Heritage of Lanka: Ancient ports and harbours, writes that in the field of navigation, all ships from the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf had to touch Sri Lanka on their way to the East. Thus, the north-western seaboard was an early port of call for many goods including natural Mannar pearls. Dr Silva further identifies the earliest and most accurate map of Sri Lanka being one prepared by John Davy in the early 19th century in which Arippu (known as the centre of northern fisheries) is distinctly marked as pearl fishing grounds. The pearl fishing season in Mannar according to Dr. Silva lasted for seven months of the year until the onset of the rough south-western monsoons in the month of May.

The dive was taken predominantly by Indian Tamils from Kilirarai and Arabs. Acrobats and snake charmers entertained the several thousand who gathered over this season. While the pearl harvesting festivities were underway, the potential fatal tragedies involved in harvesting the pearl always loomed.

The Decline of Pearling

The massive trading potential of natural pearls led to the successive and sustained interests by European colonial governments in dominating the pearling industry of Mannar and Ceylon. Rohan Pethiyagoda in Maritime Heritage of Lanka: Ancient ports and harbours estimates that in 1881 the pearl fishery of Sri Lanka grossed one million US Dollars which is the approximate value of twenty-five million US dollars in the present context. However, with such sustained interest came a level of exploitation of these precious natural pearl banks through overfishing. According to Mr. Pethiyagoda, the resource began depleting by the early 20th century citing the numbers of almost 82 million oysters being brought on shore in 1905 leading to the exhaustion of this precious gem of the sea unique to the pearl banks of Sri Lanka.
Restoring for posterity the home of a Sinhala scholar of yore By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s):

Far away from the salubrious climes of Kandawala, Katana, close to Negombo and what was his ancestral home set amidst groves of coconut palms, is a tiny plot in the arid peninsula of Jaffna all of his own.

What distinguishes him from numerous others in this final resting place in the heart of Jaffna town is not only the typical Sinhala kuluna (column) rising above the others to mark his grave but also the tribute from grateful students in all three languages.

Moss-covered and somewhat weather-beaten this grave-marker may be but it has withstood the test of time to stand tall in testimony of Mudaliyar Don Eustakius Johannes Senanayakes contribution to his mother-tongue.

Even now, more than a century later, Johannes Viyakarana is referred to with awe. This is what brought fame as well as a name (title) to him.

Johannes may have passed on more than a hundred years ago, but his meticulous compilation of Sinhalese Grammar  For use in schools lives on in the minds of many and his granddaughter, Prof. Priyadarshini (Preenie) Senanayake, is urging the Director-General of Archaeology, Dr. Senarath Dissanayake, to declare his home a national monument.

His home built back in 1908 which is also more than a hundred years old is the stately Senanayake Walauwwa at Kandawala, bordering the Negombo-Katana Road.

Contacting the descendants of Johanness 11 children, Priyadarshini has persuaded them to rummage through their antique almirahs and unearth sepia-toned photographs of the weddings of three of his daughters, Grace, Winifred and Beatrix. The marriages had been celebrated at the sprawling walauwwa in 1914, 1915 and 1916 respectively amidst much pomp, with the wedding parties posing in all their finery in the columned porch, the roof trim with lace-like edging.

By that time Johannes was no more having succumbed to a lung infection in Jaffna where he had been sent to recuperate. It is here at the largest Roman Catholic cemetery close to St. Patricks College that his remains have been laid to rest and marked with the kuluna as the tombstone hewn with the words: In memory of Mudaliyar D.E. Johannes Senanayake, the late Head Master of the Singhalese Dept. of the Govt. Training College Colombo; by his pupils not just in one but all three languages of English, Sinhala and Tamil. This is a privilege accorded to him in keeping with his significant contribution and knowledge, with most others lying beside him having the final farewell only in Tamil or English.

Many would have been the Head Masters of the Sinhala Department of the Government Training College, so why a special monument for Johannes? Priyadarshini is quick to produce a copy of the Sinhala Grammar compiled by her grandfather which her own father and Johanness youngest son, Oswald, re-published in 1949. An earlier much-yellowed and dog-eared reprint of 1929 is preserved in the National Museums Library in Colombo.

This is what Johannes had written in his Preface dated 1st December 1911 to the book: The Sinhalese Grammar called the Sidatsangara was compiled by a learned Buddhist priest who presided over the Patiraja Pirivena, a Buddhist College, some 600 years ago. It has been taught by Sinhalese teachers to pupils with respect and devotion ever since its compilation. Although the Sidatsangara can be highly commended for the nice arrangement of its rules (sutras) and examples, yet the language in which it is written is beyond the comprehension of beginners in grammar. I have therefore attempted in this work to provide those who are as yet not acquainted with Elu the ancient language of Ceylon, with a grammar written in language more familiar to them.

This book consists of all the useful and important rules given in the Sidatsangara as well as other information essential to a knowledge of modern SinhaleseAny teacher can select from this book the portions of grammar for each standard as required by the Code of the Education Department, such as the classification of letters of the alphabet, the gender and number of nouns and the three tenses of verbs for the 4th standard; the full declension of nouns and pronouns, a few rules of euphony and some moods to verbs for the 5th standard; all the rules of euphony and the full conjugation of verbs for the 6th standard &c.

Crystal clear and simple are his teaching methods, a pointer to what a good teacher of teachers should be.

Nivaredi Sinhala viyakarana pothak nirmanaya kare Johannes, says 86-year-old M. Norbert Costa, respectfully known as Gurunnanse in his village of Kandawala, explaining that a scrupulously correct Sinhala grammar book was created by Johannes such a long time ago. He would know, as he is a Sinhala trained teacher with 33 long years of service minus nine as a Principal in 11 schools across the country in the districts of Colombo, Badulla and Polonnaruwa. He had used this grammar book as his guide in his long years of teaching.

Tales abound about Johannes, says Mr. Costa, how he had heard that the famous grammarian, writer and poet, Cumaratunga Munidasa, was one of his students, while for services rendered to the language, then British Governor Henry Edward McCallum bestowed him with the nambu-namaya (title) of Senanayake Guru Mudali.

Mr. Costa sketches the life of Johannes: Born on May 22, 1855, he had entered the Sinhala Section of the Teacher Training College in 1870 as a student. Clever he had been and in two years begun lecturing at the Training College, with his career taking off from there. He had been bestowed the Mudaliyar title in 1913.

His name evokes reverence from people of diverse professions  an archivist recalls how easy it was to learn the language from the podi potha (small book) that was the Johannes Viyakarana. His father had been a teacher and this book was amongst his most prized possessions. Yes, Johannes Viyakarana is well-known and was the foundation on which Sinhala was taught those days, says a Sinhala professor.

Priyadarshini, meanwhile, laughingly points out that while Johannes was engaged in the national service of teaching teachers the best way to impart Sinhala to students across the country, it was his wife Elizabeth who attended to matters domestic including the building of the walauwwa.

As part of Priyadarshinis precious possessions is a note in beautifully-rounded Sinhala letters that Johannes had sent Elizabeth on February 11, 1908, while he was at the Teachers Training College in Colombo, with instructions regarding rain protectors (eaves) for the windows and what building material to use on the parapet wall encompassing the large coconut estate. Another memento that is given pride of place is the well-thumbed and falling-to-pieces Websters Unabridged Dictionary of Johannes.

As the Lady of the Manor presiding over 200 acres of land extending from Kandawala to Kochchikade, Elizabeth was the tough one. Adorned in white and black, with a large-beaded rosary wrapped around her wrist she would go on her rounds of the estate infested with nai and polongu (cobra and Russells viper) brooking no argument against her orders. Anyone who disobeyed would draw her ire and the punishment would be gahe bandinawa(being strung to a tree).

Priyadarshinis forays into the past to piece together the life of her grandfather indicates that Johannes was originally from Pamunugama, a depressed area from which his father moved to Kandawala in search of greener pastures.

She recalls how their faithful housekeeper, Ano Akka, would regale her with sad tales of how Johanness mother died when he was little and his father re-married a woman from Kandawala and in that bed had three more children.

The kudammma was a wicked one who ill-treated Johannes. He then ran away from home, seeking refuge in a Buddhist temple nearby, even though he was a Roman Catholic. It was in the serene and tranquil setting of the temple that he mastered Sinhala under the tutelage of the monks.

Much later, he had made a name for himself and a niche in the hearts of the Sinhala teachers. However, as suspected pleurisy wracked his body, the authorities sent him to Jaffna, from where he would never return to his beloved walauwwa. He died at 58.

With no facilities to bring his body back home, wife Elizabeth and eldest son, Cyril, journeyed to the north to bid a permanent adieu to Johannes.

He would not be able to see his youngest son Oswald who was born in 1911 after he left for Jaffna, says Priyadarshini, recalling how her father would reminisce how he came upon the princely sum of two thousand rupees left amidst the leaves of a book by Johannes.

When my late father saw my grandfathers grave in Jaffna on a visit there, he was visibly upset, she says, adding that she believes that her father had taken to medicine and was heavily involved in the treatment of tuberculosis because of his own fathers demise due to such an illness.

And so, as Priyadarshini who has returned to Sri Lanka after a long and successful career as an award-winning Research Scientist in America, dips into the past, there is only one fervent wish  to restore for posterity, the glory of Senanayake Walauwwa, the home of an eminent Sinhala scholar of yore.
A century to Mrs B, the woman who took Sri Lanka to the world! Dr.Sulakshi Thelikorala View(s): View(s):

The 100th birthday of Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike falls on the 17th of April 2016. Mrs Bandaranaike has been the most charismatic and influential female leader in Sri Lankan politics. Known as Mrs B, Sirima, Sirimavo or methini, Sirimavo Bandaranaike holds the honour of first female Prime Minister of the world.

Late 20th century saw a few remarkable Asian ladies revolutionising the global political arena, pioneering the entry of women into world politics. Mrs B was one of them, succeeding after her husband and coming to power in an era where women were not eminent in world politics, later followed by leaders like Indira Gandhi from India who was worlds longest serving woman Prime Minister.

Mrs B was the successor to Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leadership after the assassination of her husband, starting a family lineage of well-known Bandaranaikes in Sri Lankan politics. Her terms in office led to a golden era of Sri Lankas foreign relations. She has left indelible memories of Sri Lanka in world history with her middle-path foreign policy. She was highly recognised in politics despite being a woman, a leader with very good diplomatic skills, charisma and charm.

Digging a bit into history, SirimaRatwatte was born to Barnes Ratwatte and Rosalind MahawelatenneKumarihamy on 17th April 1916, a century ago! She was the eldest daughter of a family of six, with four brothers and one sister. The ancestral family, Ratwattesbelonged to an aristocratic background the Radalaswho stand high in the local caste hierarchy. The family had hailed from Matale and was well connected to local politics as one of theirancestors was known to be the signatory on behalf of the Sinhalese to the Kandyan Convention of 1815. Her father Barnes Ratwatte, has been a Disawa (local leader) in Sabaragamuwa and her mother coming from a respected lineage of the Mahawelatenne Walauwa in Balangoda.

Sirima was educated at one of Colombos most elite private girls schools, St Bridgets Convent, and was not a political figure until the demise of her husband. In 1940, at the age of 24, Sirima had married politically affluent Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike. He hailed from a political family and was then a member of the State Council. He was also the founder of SLFP and later the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon. Sirima and SWRD had three children  Sunethra, Chandrika and Anura  who are also well known in Sri Lankan politics.

Sirimas entry to politics is quite sudden following the demise of her husband, SWRD Bandaranaike. SWRD was shot on the 26th of September 1959 by a man dressed in a yellow robe when he was serving as the countrys fourth Prime Minister.

Several key political issues within the SLFP led Sirima to make her way as the legitimate successor of the party. One such reason was the leadership vacuum created in the SLFP after a sequence of events, especially the 1960 March elections defeat under the leadership of Wijeyananda Dahanayake. Within months of her leadership, Sirima led the party to a landslide victory. The SLFP won the 1960 July General Elections taking 75 out of 150 seats and defeating the Dudley Senananayake led UNP. Thus, she became the first woman Prime Minister in the world.

It is believed that her pledge to the nation  she would follow in the footsteps of her husband and his socialist policies supported the victory. Moreover, it is believed that promising to bring forth the Sinhala Only Act and carry out repatriation of the estate Tamils to India too played a helping role in securing votes. Known as the weeping widow for frequently bursting into tears during the election campaign, was also contributory to her fame during this period.

Taking a look at Sri Lankan foreign policy, the post-independent era foreign policy has followed much of a pro-West approach under the rule of the UNP regime until 1956. (D.S. Senanayake  1948 to 1952 , Dudley Senanayake  1952 to 1953 and Sir John Kotelawala  1953 to 1956). Nevertheless, in 1956 the Sri Lankan foreign policy underwent a significant drift with Mr. Bandaranaike winning a landslide election, ending the UNP regime of eight years. Unlike the UNP regime, the Bandaranaike regime was supported by the Communists and other socialist groups of Sri Lanka, thus it deviated from the pro-West to a more socialist approach, yet neutral in the international arena.

The Bandaranaikes were known as socialists. They described themselves as leaders representing the little man, thus they were largely supported by socialists groups in the country. Mrs B was no different from her husband. Coming to power Mrs B followed in the footsteps of SWRD Bandaranaike and was principally supported by a strong team of Communists in Sri Lanka. She started her journey with the principle of nationalisation of many sectors of the Sri Lankan economy. She nationalised schools, banks, insurance and petroleum. She changed the countries official language from English to Sinhala and conducted all government business in Sinhala.

The policy of nationalism led to the deterioration of relationship with the West. The relationship with USA deteriorated due to nationalisation of oil importation and distribution in Sri Lanka. The oil monopoly of Sri Lanka after independence was mainly held by the west accounting to 80% of Sri Lankas oil requirement. The importation and distribution of oil in Ceylon was handled by two American companies  Caltex and Standard Vacuum American, and Shell, a British company. As a result the prices of oil were subjected to skyrocketing monopolistic prices. In reducing the import cost of oil to Sri Lanka whilst saving foreign exchange, the Sirimavo government established the Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation in 1961. By the 1st of January 1964 Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation came into being with the sole and exclusive right to import, export and distribute specified petroleum products in Sri Lanka, breaking down the monopoly of western oil companies and partially taking them over. As a result, the country faced repercussions such as suspension of foreign aid by the US.

Thus, the pro west nature of Sri Lankan politics in the previous UNP regime changed even though Bandaranaikes were not considered anti west. As a result, Mrs Bandaranaike moved closer to China and the Soviet Union. Mrs B during her tenures made several visits to China where China had a unique stay in her relations.

Mrs.Bs mediation in the China-India border dispute was a remarkable milestone in world history. It illustrated her close friendship with both countries as well as her good diplomatic skills. Hence, she played a neutral role as an arbitrator to end the China-India border dispute in 1962. It became an easy task to take both parties to the negotiable table due to the cordial relationship she maintained with these two countries and the high regard she had from both these countries.

The foreign policy started by SWRD Bandaranaike, later followed by Mrs Bandaranaike is known as neutral. SWRD Bandaranaike believed in friends of all and enemies of none, not aligned to any power bloc at the dawn of the Cold War. The Bandaranaike regime was able to make Sri Lanka stand out in world politics as an influential independent nation with neutralism coming close with nonaligned policy.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)came into play in the light of cold war. NAM is a group of states which are not formally aligned with or against any of these major power blocs. It was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely conceived by Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru; Indonesian president Sukarno; Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghanas President Kwame Nkrumah; and Yugoslavias President Josip Tito. Mrs. Bandaranaykes role in NAM was highly respected and accepted by the world leaders. She was chosen as the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement and hosted the fifth summit in Sri Lanka from 16th to 19th August 1976 with the participation of numerous heads of state. To this day it is believed to be the largest event hosted in Sri Lanka, attended by most of the world leaders.

She was gathering popularity as a world leader and enjoyed continued success in foreign affairs unlike any other Sri Lankan leader in the past. Her diplomatic ties extended worldwide, where Sri Lanka commenced diplomatic relations with Egypt, Nepal, Soviet Union, China and Poland. Sri Lankan benefited from her close liaison with several countries by receiving gifts of new industrial plants to Sri Lanka such as the Kelani Tyre factory, Textile factory and the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).

Mrs Bandaranaikesrelations with India was special. India being the super power of South Asia, she maintained close links with India as well as with the governing Nehru family. Harnessing her close ties with India she took steps to repatriate estate workers brought to Sri Lanka to work in the plantations during the British rule. After negotiations with Indian Prime Minister LalBahadurShastri, she signed the Sirima-Shasthri Pact in 1964 to grant Ceylonese citizenship to 300,000 of the Indian population in Sri Lanka, while 525,000 would be repatriated to India which later in time did nothave complete success. The Kachchathivu agreement was another significant pact signed during Mrs.Bs regime. Ownership of the Kachchathivuwas a controversy until 1974 when the island was administered by both countries. Nevertheless after negotiations, Mrs B signed an agreement known as the Sirima-Indira pact, in terms of which India recognised Sri Lankas sovereignty over Kachchathivu despite the opposition from South India.

Mrs.B had her contribution to world politics in her own way. Shedeclared the Indian Ocean Peace Zone at the Non-Aligned Movement Conference held in Lusaka, the reason being Diego Garcia, an atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean. It was used by the US as a naval base. This was a potential threat to shipping routes from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Therefore, with the approval NAM, Sri Lanka initiated the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace to the agenda of 26thUN General Assembly in 1971.

Leaving international fame aside, Mrs. B faced great challenges and difficulties as a political leader on home soil compared to many other local leaders. The initial challenges came her way at the beginning of her political career with a significant coup against the government. Next was in 1971, a year into her second term in office when a youth movement came forth with arms. Yet, it is believed that Mrs. B had faced those challenges much better than a mature politician. The final challenge came her way, giving her long pause from politics when her civic rights were taken away in 1977 by the J.R.Jayewardene regime, keeping her out of politics for many years. She was not given any opportunity to return to politics until her daughter led a coalition to victory in 1994. However, Mrs B is remembered even today as the first female Prime Minister of the World and the leader who obtained for Sri Lanka its due recognition in the international political arena. (sulakshi.thelikorala@gmail.com)
Her strength was her ability to overcome challenges By S.S. Sahabandu, PC View(s): View(s):

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the worlds first woman Prime Minister, was the wife of the late Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, founder of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and chief architect of the 1956 peaceful revolution, popularly called the Era of the Common Man.

Ms. Bandaranaike saw the light of this world on April 17, 1916, exactly 100 years ago.After her schooling at St. Bridgets Convent in Colombo, she married S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike on October 3, 1940. Mr. Bandaranaike was then Local Government Minister in the State Council set up under the Donoughmore Constitution. In the early years of her married life, she participated in many social service activities and served in several social service institutions. She became an active member of the Lanka Mahila Samithiya and was a member of its main committee. She became the treasurer of this organisation in 1945.

Well acquainted with village life, she visited villages to serve the people. Though her political baptism was mainly through her husband, she was no stranger to politic s. Her father Barnes Ratwatte was a candidate for the Balangoda by-election for a State Council seat against the late A.F. Mollawure in 1943. She had an insight into money power, thuggery, and the power of officials in this by-election in which her father was defeated.

Though she maintained a low political profile when her husband was alive, during the period he was Minister in the UNP government and the years in the wilderness during the early period of the SLFP, she had a close view of political events and personalities of the time. Then came the 1956 victory, which was a watershed in the countrys history.

The assassination of her husband in 1959 was a turning point in her life. She had the burden of looking after a young family and also an obligation to her husbands political life and his supporters who were without his able leadership. The knowledge she had gathered by silently watching his political career now was of singular assistance in her future life.

One of her great qualities was her ability to take decisions. A leader must be a good decision maker. She took the plunge into active politics, especially after the defeat of her party at the election in March 1960. She had common sense and knowledge about the countrys affairs. She became the leader of her husbands party and Prime Minister in July 1960. She was a great believer in her party and was loyal to its members and helped them in many ways. She did not tolerate those who betrayed the party as she realised that her power base was within the party.

She was exposed to intra-party crises when a group led by Mapitigama Buddharakitha Thera assassinated her husband. The same thing had happened to Julius Caesar centuries ago when the last person to stab him was Brutus. In July 1960, she headed the government. Though she had the knowledge of handling the machinery of power, she always took advice on technical matters. During this period, she faced the biggest challenge to the state in the attempted coup detat by a group of police and army officers. When this was brought to her notice, she acted fast to bring the situation under control and ordered the arrest of those involved. By this action she saved Sri Lanka from a military government that would have endangered its democratic values.

She presided over the takeover of assisted schools that had existed from colonial times. Her party was defeated at the election of 1965  again as a result of an inner party revolt, this time when a group led by C.P. de Silva left the party. She strongly condemned those who left the party and betrayed it.

It was when she was in opposition from 1965 to 1970 that she exhibited her real leadership qualities. Her party members had to face election petitions and harassment at the hands of the UNP government. Some of her family members were also harassed. She faced all this harassment with great courage and determination. The year 1967 saw the birth of the SLFP Lawyers Association in which she had much confidence. This organisation helped her and her party cadres who had to face election petitions, police harassment and thuggery during elections.

During her second term as Prime Minister, she faced the JVP insurrection another challenge to the state  and with limited resources she was able to bring the situation under control. Her Land Reform policy, though it had many good features, was not successful in its implementation. The Peoples Bank opened the door of the banking to the rural poor.

Following her defeat at the 1977 elections, the introduction of the Presidential and proportional representation systems were seen as attempts to prevent the SLFP from winning elections and bring about a repetition of 1956. During this period she lost her civic rights, but her political life continued and it culminated in her becoming the Prime Minister under her daughters presidency later.

In foreign relations, she continued the policy of non-alignment, which was in vogue at the time. Her good relations with India and China benefitted the country. She became the head of the Non-Alignment Movement at the Colombo Conference in 1976. She settled the vexed question of Kachchativu with India.

She was a devout Buddhist and was responsible for helping in many ways the Bhawana Centre in Colombo, Bauddhaloka Mawatha. She was assisted in her efforts to perpetuate meditation by Mrs. Sri Nissanka and Mrs. T.U. de Silva.

She had firm principles in her politics and personal lives. I would end this tribute with words of Professor E.F.C. Ludowyke: Her deficiencies were offset by the spirit in which she faced difficulties such as no party leader in Ceylon had to encounter.
Close to 300 people and their cars and motorbikes, descended on Te Wairoa Marae in Bethlehem this morning for an unveiling of a mate, who died tragically last year.

This and the police operation that accompanied it, caused major traffic delays throughout the area. SunLive readers have reported traffic was backed up as far as Omokoroa.
Three Bay of Plenty Justices of the Peace have honoured the district and worked hard to earn their lifetime membership certificates that were awarded earlier this month.

The certificates were awarded to past Bay of Plenty president Heather Waldron, past federation president Robyn Patterson and past registrar Dick Williams, on March 23 along with several other long service certificates presented.

Dick Williams with Hon Simon Bridges.

Immediate past president Lloyd Davies says life membership is awarded to JPs who have provided exceptional service or honour to the Bay of Plenty Association either through local or national service.

Heather Waldron was president and an excellent training officer, Robyn Patterson was a past registrar and federation president, and Dick Williams was our registrar for 12 plus years.

The long service certificates - certificates of appreciation -were issued in this instance to JPs who had completed between 30 and 44 years service, says Lloyd.

Heather Waldron with Hon Simon Bridges.

As part of their ongoing professional development, more than 90 members of the Bay of Plenty Justices of the Peace Association recently attended presentations by Associate Minister of Justice and local MP Hon. Simon Bridges, and Dan OBrien who, in addition to his Department of Justice regional responsibilities, is the designated sheriff for the central region of the Ministry.

The Royal Federation of Justices of the Peace Associations agreed at its last conference to introduce voluntary accreditation for JPs and the professional development sessions form a crucial part of the process of achieving accreditation status.

Association training officer Michael ONeill provided an update on the operation and implications of the accreditation programme.
Syracuse, N.Y.  The Preservation League of New York State has given its Excellence in Historic Preservation award to Syracuse's newly restored Babcock Shattuck House.

A project team led by the University Neighborhood Preservation Association performed a $1.4 million renovation that converted the interior of the 1895 Queen Anne house into four condominiums. Located at the corner of Westcott and East Genesee streets, it features a large center hall and a three-story turret-like section on one side that creates round rooms inside.

Originally owned by Dr. Archer D. Babcock, the home later became the residence of local businessman Frank Shattuck and served after World War II as a Jewish War Veterans post.

By the 1990s, the home was vacant and deteriorating, a blight on the entrance to Syracuse's Westcott neighborhood. The renovation, completed in 2015, restored the home to its former glory.

"The effort has restored the pride of the neighborhood," Preservation League President Jay DiLorenzo said.

The league's award honors notable achievements in retaining, promoting and reusing New York's "irreplaceable architectural heritage."

The award will be presented at a ceremony at the New York Yacht Club in New York City on May 11.

In addition to the University Neighborhood Preservation Association, the project team consisted of Crawford & Stearns Architects & Preservation Planners, of Syracuse; CNY Builder Services LLC, of Lafayette; McGinnis-Nelson Construction, of Manlius; and project partner Home HeadQuarters, of Syracuse.

The other winners of the award are:

 Renaissance Albany Hotel (historic DeWitt Clinton Hotel) in Albany

 Apple Store in Manhattan's Upper East Side

 United Nations campus headquarters glazed facades replacement in Manhattan

 Spirit of Life & Spencer Trask Memorial in Saratoga Springs

 845 Commons (historic Mica Insulator Co. building) in Schenectady

 T.G. Hawkes Glass Co. Apartments in Corning

 Maverick Concert Hall in Woodstock

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
DeWitt, N.Y.  Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam showed up unexpectedly at the union picket line in DeWitt Friday and engaged in a spirited conversation with strikers.

Dressed in a black sweatshirt, blue jeans and sneakers, McAdam hopped out of a Ford Taurus unannounced and approached about 30 members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers walking the picket line in front of the Verizon office on Thompson Road around noon.

"I could sit in my office in New York or I could come out and talk to you and hear what's on your mind and then you hear what's on my mind," he said. "The No. 1 thing I want people to know is I don't want people out here. This makes no sense to anybody. To be honest, I'm not sure why you're out here."

McAdam said he did not understand why the unions, who represent approximately 36,000 Verizon workers, rejected the company's request that the two sides bring in mediators to help reach an agreement on a new labor contract. The unions walked off the job Wednesday morning.

"I don't know what you're being told about why the union leadership didn't accept mediation," he said. "For me, if there's a disagreement and after 10 months you can't get there, mediation makes a lot of sense."

Maryjo Arcuri, president of IBEW Local 2213, told McAdam the unions "have been working hard to get a contract."

"We understand you're in business to make money, but we want a fair contract and these people deserve it," she said during the exchange, which was recorded on video by a striker and posted on YouTube. "We want to help our customers and we want to keep our jobs."

Other union members told McAdam they want the company to stop sending customer service jobs overseas to places like the Philippines. McAdam said Verizon had only sent customer service jobs related to the company's DSL service, an older technology that represents a small part of its business, to the Philippines.

The strikers replied that Verizon has sent customer service jobs related to its high-tech FIOS high-speed internet and cable television business to the Philippines, too. They said they were surprised he did not know that. McAdam said he would "ask about that."

"At 178,000 employees, you think there might be things going on around the business I don't know about?" he said.

McAdam said the company would like to do away with contract restrictions that prevent it from moving members of one union local into the territory of another union local to install new fiber optic lines  for example, moving workers from New York City to northern New Jersey and vice versa.

After speaking with the strikers for about 15 minutes, he went into the Verizon office and met with managers. In total, he spent about an hour and a half in the Syracuse suburb before leaving.

Karen Sakowski, a member of CWA Local 1123, said the union members were pleased that he showed up but were upset that he was unaware of  or at least claimed to be  the degree to which the company was outsourcing jobs.

Chris Ryan, president of CWA Local 1123 in Syracuse, said the union was not told ahead of time that McAdam was coming, but that managers apparently were because some came out of their office, cell phone cameras at the ready, right before he arrived.

He said McAdam may have come to the picket line in response to bad press the strike has generated for the company or "maybe because he just wanted to get out and talk to people." He said he did not know why he chose the DeWitt office.

"The only thing I know for sure is he didn't come here to announce we have a deal," he said.

Ryan said the unions see no need for mediation because "we have a bargaining committee that is ready and willing to meet" directly with the company's negotiators.

McAdam made a similar appearance at a picket line outside a Verizon network facility in Manhattan on Thursday.

On Wednesday, he lashed back at Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who earlier in the day stood before striking Verizon employees in Brooklyn and accused the company of trying to take away health care benefits for its workers while paying McAdam $20 million a year.

"Big companies are an easy target for candidates looking for convenient villains for the economic distress felt by many of our citizens," McAdam wrote. "But when rhetoric becomes disconnected from reality, we've crossed a dangerous line."

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
Drugs in Bag.JPG

Irene O. Dixon, 34, of Ithaca, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Authorities said Dixon had 90 pounds of marijuana in her car when she was pulled over in Nebraska.

(Lancaster County Sheriff's Office)

Authorities said Dixon had 90 pounds of marijuana hidden in several bags and suitcases.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- An Ithaca woman convicted of falsely billing a healthcare company for thousands of hours was arrested in Nebraska after authorities found 90 pounds of marijuana in her vehicle.

Irene O. Dixon, 34, of Ithaca, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office said.

Dixon was driving Thursday on Interstate 80 outside Lincoln, Nebraska. The sheriff's office said deputies pulled her 2016 Ford Explorer over at 2:14 p.m. for following another vehicle too closely.

The sheriff's office said Dixon agreed to let deputies search her vehicle.

Irene O. Dixon

Deputies found two large bags and three other pieces of luggage in the back of the Explorer, which contained heat-sealed bags of high-grade marijuana totaling 89.47 pounds, the sheriff's office said. Deputies estimated that the drugs had a street value of more than $400,000.

Dixon was held pending arraignment.

Earlier this year Dixon was charged by Ithaca police with bilking the home healthcare company she worked for out of more than $30,000. Police said she submitted phony time sheets for more than 2,500 hours.

She was convicted last month of fourth-degree grand larceny. She was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution.
Natural Gas Tops Coal

This June 12, 2014 file photo shows Dominion Energy's Cove Point LNG Terminal in Lusby, Md. Natural gas overtook coal as the top source of U.S. electric power generation for the first time ever in April 2015,

(Cliff Owen / AP)

Editor's note: This is part of the last batch of letters we'll publish before Tuesday's primary.

O'Sullivan serves as the general president of the Laborers' International Union of North America.

By Terry O'Sullivan | Special to Syracuse.com

We've been hearing a lot from Sen. Bernie Sanders recently about energy policy. Listening to his stump speeches, I'm reminded of Sen. Patrick Moynihan's wise words "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."

Sanders' approach might seem more environmentally responsible, but his rhetoric is not backed by a single proposal that would move our nation towards a carbon-free future while keeping our lights on - and he demonstrated yet again at Thursday's debate that his energy platform makes the perfect the enemy of the very good. Here's the reality: Contrary to what Sanders says, natural gas is the most viable, abundant and economical solution to meet future electricity needs and New York's clean energy goals.

As New York's Democrats consider their presidential options, let's establish the facts around how we meet our clean energy goals, do some simple math, and consider the economics.

First, what are our clean energy goals? The Clean Power Plan, proposed by President Obama last year, challenges the United States to reduce our carbon emissions by nearly a third by 2030. Every state has a target under this plan, and New York must reduce its carbon pollution from the power sector by 10 percent. It's a tougher goal than you'd think. In fact, New York faces a real challenge to meet it.

How? Let's look at the numbers. First, over the next decade and a half, demand for power is projected to increase by 14 percent. Second, New York's James A. FitzPatrick nuclear energy plant in Oswego will close in 2017, eliminating enough carbon-free power from the grid to serve 650,000 homes. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to close New York's three remaining coal plants by 2020, which is notable in terms of reducing carbon pollution but also removes the energy needed to power 416,000 homes every year.

What does this mean? Research conducted as part of a broader study underway by the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) has found that New York will face a drastic energy shortfall of 29 million megawatt hours of electricity, or the equivalent of lights out for 2.4 million New York homes.

How do we make up this energy shortfall while also meeting clean energy goals? Renewables certainly must play a part, but by themselves they are not nearly enough. To fill the 21 percent deficit in the power sector alone, New York would need 100,000 acres of solar panels - or an area six times the size of Albany.

Sanders says he wants a clean energy future, yet he rejects the best method for producing cleaner burning local natural gas and has no plan to replace the carbon-free power from the Indian Point nuclear energy facility - which supplies New York City with 25 percent of its electricity. He only wants investments in solar and wind, which while promising in the future, does not produce energy when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. In fact, Sanders' own campaign website doesn't mention how we will power New York, and for that matter, the country, while waiting for his clean-energy utopia.

It's time for a fact-based conversation on New York's energy needs. And contrary to what Sanders says, natural gas is the most viable, abundant and economical solution to meet future electricity needs and the carbon emission reduction targets. Bottlenecks in New York's approval process are holding up critical natural gas projects, such as the Constitution pipeline and Access Northeast - projects that will help New York meet their clean energy needs.

Fully two thirds of New York's clean energy requirements could be met by using natural gas: without it, there is not a realistic scenario for meeting these goals. It's time for New Yorkers to ask Senator Sanders how he plans to keep the lights on.
GOP 2016 Trump

People protesting against Donald Trump, foreground, stand near a crosswalk as a crowd leaves the site of a campaign appearance by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Bethpage, New York, Wednesday, April 6, 2016.

(Craig Ruttle / AP)

Editor's note: This is part of the last batch of letters we'll publish before Tuesday's primary.

To the Editor:

In anticipation of Donald Trump's visit to Syracuse, a coalition of Syracuse-area groups and people have joined together because we want a Central New York where immigrants and refugees, Muslims, and Latina/o/xs are welcome, without misogyny, homophobia, or transphobia, without discrimination against people with disabilities, without violence against dissenters and protesters. We are Central New Yorkers who reject the violence Trump inspires and emboldens.

Trump's hateful message endangers us all, and some of us much more than others of us. We must stand together as a community to reject this hate and the violence it inspires. Particularly in Syracuse, a refugee-resettlement city, we believe it is an act of violence to bring statements of hatred into our area.

We are Central New Yorkers who come from many peoples, places, and points of view. We support a variety of presidential candidates or no one at all. We state a resounding no to the cruel ideas that Trump represents, but understand that he is tapping into and feeding existing resentments and feelings of economic insecurity that we know too well.

We can relate to feelings of anger and desire for change in a country in which a small number of unaccountable CEOs and shareholders hold undue power and influence over us all. Jobs in upstate New York were not lost as a result of immigration. They were lost because of trade agreements like NAFTA. Vilifying immigrants or Muslims, using them as scapegoats, so that the systems behind the problems are hidden or ignored, is not the solution.

We seek to use this opportunity to come together as a community. Many of us didn't know each other before but are meeting each other and working together in solidarity in rallying against Trump's campaign stop in Syracuse.

We live in a society where systems and institutions profit off our labor and our division. We call on others to rise up against these forces, to face our collective histories of violence endured under capitalism, heteropatriarchy, and jingoism, and to work together for a just and welcoming Central New York.

Brian Escobar

Syracuse Peace Council

Rebecca Fuentes

Workers' Center of CNY

Ruth Heller

VP 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Dave Kashmer

Veterans for Peace

Becca Shaw Glaser

THE General Body

and many other groups and individuals.
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, gestures while Hillary Clinton speaks during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Thursday, April 14, 2016, New York.

(Seth Wenig / AP)

Editor's note: This is the last batch of letters we'll publish before Tuesday's primary.

Clinton offers lip service to climate change crisis

To the Editor:

As a rationale for an endorsement of Hillary Clinton by the League of Conservation Voters, your Op-Ed columnist ("NY's choice on climate is between progress and denial,'' April 15) states that "[n]either [Ted Cruz or Donald Trump] have a plan to address the negative economic, health and environmental impacts of climate change." But Clinton has not articulated a plan either! At least not a serious one. Indeed Dr. James Hansen, the world's most renowned climate researcher, has called her proposal for tax incentives for solar panels as a climate solution as "just plain silly." Dr. Hansen continued by saying, "you cannot solve the problem without a fundamental change, and that means you have to make the price of fossil fuels honest."

That means placing a price on carbon pollution, ideally in the form of a carbon tax that returns the revenues to households to offset the higher cost of energy. Although a strong case can be made that Bernie Sanders, as a Democratic Socialist, is a flawed messenger for such a proposal, it must be acknowledged that he stands alone among presidential candidates in endorsing a legitimate climate strategy in the form of a carbon tax.

Self-described environmental organizations should do far better than endorse candidates who offer lip service to the environmental crisis that is climate change and should instead be pressing them to support legitimate, proven solutions.

Kyle E. Thomas

Syracuse

Sanders sets a firm course on Middle East policy

To the Editor:

Sen. Bernie Sanders recently published a comprehensive platform statement on the Middle East policy should he be elected president. On this issue it is impossible to please everyone, not to mention politically suicidal to question the accepted truth in regard to such issues as the actual role of the CIA in the rise of ISIS in Syria, Libya, and Iraq. If you read carefully you will see that Sanders has put a ton of thought into his goals and compromising them to produce a statement that can appeal to most people, and be achieved. He assures Israel that he will stand by her security and right to exist, but he also demands that they roll back illegal settlements, end the occupation and use proportionate force in response to attacks. He appeals to the U.S. to stop interventionism, but also keeps the military option on the table if the US must fight ISIS. He supports the Iran nuclear deal, pointing out that many Israelis do as well. He has serious concerns with the Iranian government, but also with Saudi Arabia: a repressive regime that is invading Yemen and supplying Jihadis regionally and globally. On Syria and Libya he calls for a political settlement -- with Iran and Russia at the table! This is not your ordinary establishment line folks, but it is the best option to promote stability and prevent further military engagement for our recovering soldiers.

I think he has showed that he will follow that path to peace. With our country still traumatized by 9/11, Bernie manages to allay our fears that his administration would be too soft on terror through a specific plan of action. While Donald Trump espouses vague admiration for Putin's Russia, Sanders outlines concrete ways the U.S. can work with Putin to solve the conflicts underlying Middle Eastern extremism. Hillary Clinton has been keen to parrot Sanders' domestic approach throughout the primary battle (when her focus groups approve), but she can't close the gap that separates warmonger from peacemaker. No candidate other than Sanders has taken the risk of nailing down a policy statement that hold the promise of such a profound change of direction.

You get the impression that Sanders sets his rudder in a single course, while Clinton and Trump are content to blow where the wind may. This firm leadership is just what America needs in her captain!

Seth Rutledge

Syracuse

Sanders isn't leading Democrats 'off a cliff'

To the Editor:

It pains me to have seen an unsubstantiated hit-piece like the one written by Stuart Rothenberg published. He talks a lot about the economy and the costs of Sen. Bernie Sander's proposals, yet fails to give a single statistic to defend his commentary.

Meanwhile, detailed explanations of all of Sander's proposals and how to pay for them, are on his campaign website, berniesanders.com. Proposed there, is Sander's Wall Street Speculation Tax, which would generate more than enough revenue to pay for the "free college" which has put the fear of the Red Scare back into Mr. McCarth-, I'm sorry, Mr. Rothenberg.

There, he would also find the endorsement of over 170 economists, who say Bernie's plans to tax Wall Street, break up the Big Banks, and bring jobs and a living wage to the disappearing middle class, would bring sustained growth to the economy, rather than our current cycles of bubbles and busts.

This isn't about the Democratic Party moving to the left, it already has. It's about bringing about the true change, promised to us, but never fulfilled by President Obama. The future of the party will not be the center-bred neoliberalism of the past, championed by the Clintons. Bernie Sanders represents the Progressive future of this country, people who are tired of corporate greed, interventionist wars in the Middle East, and promises of moderation, when our country and planet are threatened by our unwillingness to address climate change with the deliberate outrage it deserves.

Robert Elder

Syracuse

Vote for Sanders is vital to future generations

To the Editor:

I am asking you to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders on April 19, because he addresses "Combating Climate Change to Save the Planet" which I believe should be our number one priority as a nation. Studies show that the next 5-10 years will determine the fate of our planet.

We are rapidly approaching a "tipping point" with our environment. It is crucial that Sen. Sanders wins the election so he can move ahead with his initiatives. After all, if the planet dies, we will have nothing. No food. No water. More wars.

In 1999, an 88-year-old activist, (the late) Doris "Granny D" Haddock walked from California to Washington, D.C., to bring attention to Campaign Finance Reform. Until Bernie Sanders started running for president, we heard virtually nothing about how corporations buy elections. It is speculated Hillary Clinton's super PACs have taken $1.8 million to $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry. Undoubtedly, she will not go against the corporations who help get her elected.

Your vote for Sen. Sanders proclaims your clear understanding of the importance of electing a president who will handle the impending environmental crisis with urgency and effectiveness.

Barbara Maltese

Spencerport

Dry your tears, Donald

To the Editor:

Tell Donald Trump to stop crying. Al Gore got the popular vote and he lost the election. He behaved like a gentleman with his loss.

Frances Davis

DeWitt

On Democratic side, vote practicality over ideological purity

To the Editor:

In 1972 I was young, naive and idealistic. I was also an elected official ( A County Legislator at age 23). I ran for and was elected a delegate for George McGovern, for the Democratic National Convention in Miami , from my NNY Congressional District.

I was there when McGovern gave a wonderful and empassioned speech entitled "Come Home America!" The problem was that he delivered it at 4 a.m., and other than the political zealots, no one else was was watching. McGovern went on to win the District of Columbia, and the state of Massachusetts. Richard Nixon won everything else. Say Goodnight, Irene.

Fast forward 44 years, and we have hoards of idealistic young people supporting a self described ideologically committed democratic Socialist from Vermont for President.

He is vying against an establishment Democratic candidate, whose negatives are very high. Could he win the nomination? Yes. That is a possibility. Could he win the general election? That is far less probable.

So what to do, what to do on April 19th in the NY Primary? Vote for ideological purity and take a stand, or vote for practicality and the Democratic tried and true, in the hope that the Commonweal can still advance?

At this stage of my life, practicality matters more to me than ideological purity. I do not oppose the potential of a Bernie Sanders, and indeed the reformer in me is drawn to his candidacy, but the adult in me is drawn toward Hillary Clinton, and it is the adult in me who will be casting a vote on Tuesday, April 19 for Hillary Clinton.

John T. Sullivan Jr.

Saratoga Springs

The writer is former mayor of Oswego.

Say 'no thanks' to Clinton's warmongering

To the Editor:

In response to the categorization of Bernie Sanders as a "Brooklyn Brawler" in a recent letter to the editor I guess Senator Clinton could be catagorized as "Attila the Hun."

Sen. Clinton supported the war in Iraq, a trillion dollar failed foreign policy which led to a massive migration of refugees. Sen. Sanders opposed the war.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advised President Obama to support the overthrow of Gadhafi in Libya which is now a failed, lawless state.

In response to the killing of Gadhafi, CBS News reported in Oct. 2011 that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared a laugh with a television news reporter moments after hearing Libyan leader Gadhafi had been killed. "We came, we saw, he died," she joked when told of news reports of Gadhafi's death by an aide in between formal interviews.

Rep. Gabbard from Hawaii, former vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and a Iraq war veteran, recently supported Sen. Sanders. She said she "wanted to take a stand and support someone who will not waste precious lives and money on interventionist wars of regime change."

Sen. Sanders has my support.

Pete Wirth

Fayetteville

Good reasons why Clinton couldn't keep Upstate jobs promise

To the Editor:

Hillary Clinton promised voters to bring 200,000 jobs to New York state during her first senatorial campaign in 2000. She won the election and was sworn in as our senator in January of 2001. What happened to those jobs that were supposed to be delivered over the next six years?

Oh yes....New York City was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, and thousands died as the towers came down. Hillary and Chuck Schumer went to work on securing $21 billion in funding to resurrect those towers.

Hillary also led the efforts to deal with future health issues for those all-important first responders.

The jobs issue resurfaced during her 2006 senatorial campaign and she promised to make good on her original promise. What happened?

Oh yes....a problem called the Wall Street Financial meltdown began in 2007. The entire nation was on the brink of economic collapse over the next few years.

I thought that those voters who choose to denigrate Mrs. Clinton on her failure to deliver on her jobs promise needed to be reminded of what really happened back then.

Kathleen S. D'Amico

Cicero


2016-04-16-ss-Clinton arriv.JPG

Former President Bill Clinton arrives to speak to a crowd at a get out the vote rally for Hillary Clinton on April 16, 2016 at Fowler High School in Syracuse, N.Y.

(Scott Schild)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Central New York got its first taste of intense presidential campaign politics this month as all five candidates held rallies in Syracuse.

All five candidates - Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and Republicans Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich - attracted overwhelmingly white audiences to their rallies.

Former President Bill Clinton - the man who some have called the first black president - attracted a more diverse audience Saturday at a rally at a high school in one of Syracuse's poorest neighborhoods. Clinton came to Syracuse to get out the vote for his wife, Hillary Clinton, three days before the New York primary.

There were more white people at the rally at Fowler High School than people of color. But there were black people there - maybe a quarter of the crowd.

That wasn't the case earlier this week at the rally for Ted Cruz in Cicero or for Donald Trump in Rome and Syracuse, where few black supporters were seen.

The crowds at Bernie Sanders' Syracuse rally earlier this week attracted few black voters, as did the Hillary Clinton rally earlier this month at the Central New York Regional Market, according to a reporters.

In the Southern states during this year's primary campaign, Hillary Clinton's campaign has received huge support from black voters.

Bill Clinton has come under fire in recent weeks from protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement who say that the crime bill he signed into law as president unnecessarily incarcerated black Americans for non-violent drug crimes.

Nancy Pollard, of Syracuse, a fan of Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, waits in line at a rally where Bill Clinton will speak on April 16, 2016 at Fowler High School in Syracuse, N.Y.

Hillary Clinton said in the Democratic presidential debate Thursday night that the crime bill had had unfortunate unintended consequences.

Nancy Pollard, a black woman from Syracuse, was among those attending the get out the vote rally for Hillary Clinton Saturday at Fowler High School.

She said she voted for Bill Clinton twice for president, for Hillary Clinton twice for U.S. senator, and even voted for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in 2008 during the Democratic presidential primary election.

"He was a person for all people," Pollard, a retired Syracuse schools teacher aide, said of Bill Clinton. "I just like him as a person."

She said she was lucky to get a photo of herself taken April 1 with Hillary Clinton during her campaign visit in Syracuse. She put the photo in a frame. It's sitting on the mantel in her home.

"I hope she becomes the president. Not because she'd be the first woman president. She'd be the most qualified president of the candidates," said Pollard, 72. "I just believe in her."

Contact Mike McAndrew anytime | email | Twitter | 315-470-3016
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Bill Clinton has visited Syracuse more than any president. At least any president in the past six decades.

He'll return Saturday to speak at 3:45 p.m. at a rally to get out the vote for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in an event at Fowler High School. Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state and U.S. senator, is running against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in the April 19 New York presidential primary.

Above is a gallery of photos showing President Clinton on his past visits to Syracuse.

Syracuse.com journalists will cover the rally live. Check back on Syracuse.com around 2 p.m. for the live coverage.

Contact Mike McAndrew anytime | email | Twitter | 315-470-3016


AliciaColon.jpg

Alicia Colon, of Syracuse, was asked by Trump security to leave the line for the candidate's rally on Saturday.

(John O'Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, NY - Donald Trump is the first of the five presidential candidates who visited the Syracuse area to have private security patrol the lines outside.

A Syracuse woman who planned to disrupt the Trump rally today said she was ordered out of line and banned before she got to the door.

A security man in a suit told people in line, "If you see anyone who doesn't support Trump, you let me know, and I'll take care of them."

The people in line thanked the man.

Alicia Colon, of Syracuse, said a member of Trump's own security detail ordered her out of line.

"He said, 'I know exactly who you are and you won't be going inside,' " Colon said.

The guard had been called over by Trump supporters after they saw Colon writing a phone number on her arm, she said. They asked what she was doing. Colon told them to get our of her space and they started yelling for security, she said. She left the line.

A Syracuse police officer escorted Colon back in line, she said. But soon after, a police officer told her Trump's security said she would be blocked at the door, she said. She left the line again.

Had she been allowed to enter, Colon said she planned to yell during the rally that Trump is a racist.

Katrina Tulloch and Chris Baker contributed to this report.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Former President Bill Clinton spoke for nearly an hour Saturday at Fowler High School about his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

But before he said a word about his spouse, who's running in the New York primary in three days, Clinton gave a shout-out to some Fowler High School students he met who are performing the musical "Aida" on Saturday night.

"I saw the set," Clinton said to the crowd of about 400 people. "I said, 'You mean to tell me a high school in Syracuse, New York, is putting on 'Aida.' That's normally reserved for the metropolitan opera. If you can do that, you can do whatever you want."

Before the former president took the stage shortly after 4 p.m., he met a small group of Fowler students, including Bonke Rugira, an immigrant from the Congo who has lived in Syracuse seven years. Rugira plays three roles in the school's production of "Aida" - a soldier, a minister and a slave.

Bonke Rugira

"I got to meet him, shook his hand," an excited Rugira said. "He said he wished he could stay tonight to watch 'Aida.'"

'Aida,' a musical with music by Elton John, is based on Giuseppe Verdi's Italian-language opera of the same name.

"I mean him recognizing us, and the Fowler community and the school here, it's great to be recognized," Rugira said. "Fowler has great teachers. Many students come from all over the world."

Don't forget to tell the reporter that you're heading to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, yelled Fowler Principal Matt Williams, as he and Rugira stood in the line waiting to shake Clinton's hand after the speech.

Contact Mike McAndrew anytime | email | Twitter | 315-470-3016
Donald Trump

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives thumbs up to the crowd as he arrives at a campaign rally, Friday, April 15, 2016, in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Trump will make his first campaign stop in Syracuse on Saturday, April 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

(Elise Amendola)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Donald Trump said Friday he would order the use of remotely piloted drones for 24-hour surveillance on the U.S. borders if he is elected president.

Trump told Syracuse.com that he wants to significantly expand the use of drones on both the Mexican and Canadian borders under the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, who began domestic drone flights in 2006.

The Republican presidential front-runner said he would not advocate the use of armed drones or military drones in the United States.

"They would work in conjunction with the Border Patrol, who are fantastic people who want to do their job," Trump said. "I want surveillance for our borders, and the drone has great capabilities for surveillance."

Trump made his comments during a brief interview in advance of his Syracuse visit on Saturday to rally voters before New York's April 19 presidential primary. He spoke by telephone from Plattsburgh, minutes before he addressed a rally of 3,000 people Friday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has steadily increased its reliance on surveillance drones along the southwestern border for almost a decade, with a goal of four flights a day for 16 hours each, according to the Washington Post.

But a federal audit last year found the border drones were grounded most of the time and had helped apprehend only a small percentage of those who illegally crossed the border.

Trump said he would also expand the use of military drones used by the United States in overseas conflicts, such as the MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by the Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing in Syracuse.

Trump said he was not aware that pilots based in Syracuse remotely operate the Reaper drones for surveillance and combat missions over Afghanistan.

"It's amazing that you can do that from Syracuse," Trump said, adding, "I would absolutely keep and expand that capability in Syracuse."

Making America and Syracuse great again



Trump, asked about his campaign slogan "Make America Great Again," offered an explanation about the last time America truly was "great."

"If you're talking about really greatness, I would say World War II -- the end of World War II," he said. "You look at what it was, and the power. Our military was powerful and our country was powerful."

He said the nation almost recaptured that greatness during former President Ronald Reagan's two terms in office from 1981 to 1989.

"I think that the Reagan years were good," Trump said. "I disagreed with the trade. You know, the trade was not -- that would be the one element that I wouldn't have agreed with, frankly. Because as you know, they had trade policies that were not what I would have."

Reagan advocated for free trade, and set the foundation for what would later become the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

"I would say I was not in love with those policies," Trump said. "But the image of our country and the status of our president, I think, were really great."

On Syracuse's poverty

Trump was asked what specific plans he has to address poverty in places like Syracuse, which a 2015 study found has the nation's highest rate of extreme poverty concentrated among black and Hispanics.

The billionaire businessman said the answer is to negotiate new trade deals, and bring back high-paying manufacturing jobs from overseas by imposing taxes or tariffs of 35 percent on goods made by U.S. companies overseas for domestic consumption.

"I mean we're losing millions of jobs," Trump said. "We're just losing them because of our bad trade deals. We have the worst trade deals of any country ever. We don't win on any deals because we have the wrong people negotiating the deals."

He said Syracuse and Upstate New York will see an "amazing difference" with new and better job opportunities if he is elected president.

"Syracuse is a place that has great potential," Trump said. "But the jobs are being stripped away. I ask for statistics to different places before I go there, and it's so sad what's happened to New York state. Not only Syracuse. I'm talking about New York state generally."

He added, "It's almost like just a duplicate every place -- they're 50 percent down, they're 70 percent down in jobs -- and such potential. Such beauty and such potential and they just don't have it. It's just not happening."

Asked if he had other solutions to address chronic poverty among blacks and Hispanics, Trump said that the best approach is to renegotiate trade deals.

"I'm all for free trade," Trump said. "But it's no longer free trade. It's stupid trade and it's destroying our country. When I'm up in Syracuse and I'm up at the different places like Albany and all of the places where we have these big crowds with unbelievable people -- you know how good the people are -- and they're getting just decimated."

Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
Students of Fabius-Pompey Middle/High School celebrated at their junior/senior prom Friday night. The event's theme was Neon Masquerade and it was held at Highland Forest's Skyline Lodge, 1254 Highland Park Road, Fabius.

Above is our gallery of photos from the event.

Buy photo reprints

As you're browsing the gallery, look for the "Buy" button to order high-quality reprints and other products.

 Or visit our photo reprint store to purchase photos of this event

More prom photos

Check out all our photo galleries from proms, senior balls, and other formals around Central New York.

 See all prom photo galleries and stories on Syracuse.com

Was anyone you know captured in our photos?
WESTLAKE, Ohio -- Two men could face charges after a suburban Cleveland father tricked his sons by having a friend pose as a stranger looking to enter their house Thursday, police said.

The 46-year-old man tried to test his 14- and 16-year-old sons to see if they might let a stranger into their house, police said.

Once inside, the friend pretended to be an ex-convict and threatened to harm the teens. The teens escaped the house through a bedroom window and called 911 from a neighbor's house, police said.

The Westlake Police Department released a recording of the 911 call on Friday. An edited version of the recording is included in this post.

Westlake stranger trick 911

The friend, a 45-year-old Cleveland Heights man, knocked on the door when the father wasn't home. The younger son let the friend in the house.

The friend then claimed the father owed him $1,500, the older son told a police dispatcher.

"He's screaming and he's like, 'if I start chopping up bodies then I'm going to be the bad guy. I just got out of jail two weeks ago,'" the older son told the dispatcher.

The frightened teens locked themselves in a bedroom. They climbed out a window onto a garage roof, then hopped to the ground and ran to a neighbor's house to call 911.

The 16-year-old scraped his knee while climbing out of the house.

Officers arrived and spoke with the friend, who was on the phone with the father. The friend wanted to admit it was a ruse but the father refused, police said.

The father refused to acknowledge the emotional effect the trick had on his sons and instead called their actions an "epic fail," police said.

A Westlake prosecutor will review the incident to determine if the father and friend will face child-endangering charges.
SHARE The Martin County Sheriff's Office is looking for a suspect in three armed robberies, two that occured in the county on Friday. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY THE MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE) Surveillance video shows an armed robbery suspect. (PROVIDED/MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE) Surveillance video shows an armed robbery suspect. (PROVIDED/MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)

By Nicholas Samuel of TCPalm

MARTIN COUNTY  Deputies are searching for a man they say robbed three stores while armed on Friday afternoon, two in Martin County, Sheriff William Snyder said.

A suspect described as a heavyset, Hispanic man first robbed a Publix store at 3:30 p.m. in Tequesta in Palm Beach County, then at 5 p.m. robbed another Publix on U.S. 1 in Stuart, then held up a Walgreens at South Kanner Highway and Salerno Road about 6:40 p.m., Snyder said.

The suspect, described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, walked into the Walgreens on Friday with a gun behind his back, Snyder said. He told the clerk he had a gun and to give him the money because he was desperate.

Snyder said the suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash from all three stores.

He was last seen wearing camouflage shorts and a black T-shirt. The suspect left in a white Nissan Altima that was stolen from Port Canaveral a month ago.

"We don't have any new leads," Snyder said. "This guy could be anywhere."

Martin County authorities believe the suspect may be heading north. Both Martin and St. Lucie county authorities were still searching for the suspect Friday evening.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-273-8477 or 911.
SHARE

Travis Kenyon, 29, 5500 block of Northwest East Torino Parkway, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, child neglect, sale, manufacture or delivery of cocaine.

Leon George, 36, 1200 block of Nobles Terrace, Fort Pierce; warrant for battery, prior conviction.

David Long, 47, Sebring; warrant for violation of probation, resisting an officer with violence, possession of cocaine, fleeing and eluding an officer.

Desmond Sanders, 16, 2500 block of Kerr Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for first-degree murder.

Gregory Albury, 55, 100 block of 19th Street, Fort Pierce; possessing a forged driver's license or I.D. card; resisting an officer  fleeing/eluding an officer with lights/sirens active.

Regina Wright-Williams, 32, 2200 block of Southwest Franklin Street, Port St. Lucie; warrant for giving false statement for public aid, grand theft.

Erskin Hall, 29, 3200 block of Louisiana Avenue, Fort Pierce; sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area.

Benjamin Olsen, 20, 5400 block of Northwest Evanston Avenue, Port St. Lucie; intimidation  write/send threats to kill or injure.

Gibson Charles, 31, Boynton Beach; warrant for failure to appear, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Deloris Hawes, 41, 2500 block of Wilkens Avenue, Fort Pierce; warrant for driving while license suspended.

Straton Heywood, 28, 2500 block of Perugia Street, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, resisting arrest with violence, battery on an officer.

Heather Smith, 37, 4500 block of Southwest Oscar Court, Port St. Lucie; warrant for worthless check.

Sarah Laframboise, 31, 5800 block of Northwest Hann Drive, Port St. Lucie; out-of-county warrant, Martin County, manufacture of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of listed chemical.

Cornelius Osborne, 36, Fort Lauderdale; out-of-county warrant, Broward County, grand theft.

Kaitlyn Vernon, 18, Royal Palm Beach; vehicle theft  grand theft of a motor vehicle.
SHARE

Clarence Griffin, 50, 1400 block of 35th Street, Fort Pierce; possession of cocaine.

Daryl Banks, 45, 800 block of Saint Julien Drive, Port St. Lucie; warrants for aggravated assault on an elderly person with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer with violence.

Roger Lawrence, 40, 8400 block of Paso Robles Boulevard, Fort Pierce; warrant for lewd or lascivious behavior on a victim 12 years or older and younger than 16 by offender over 18.

Nicole Paulson, 30, St. Petersburg; warrants for violation of probation, criminal mischief, battery on an officer, resisting an officer without violence, battery.

April Spatzer, 47, St. Petersburg; warrants for violation of probation, grand theft, uttering a forged instrument.

Travis Kenyon, 29, 5500 block of Torino Parkway, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, child neglect, sale, manufacture or delivery of cocaine.

Fred Champagne, 50, 300 block of Romar Drive, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, obstruction of a criminal investigation, possession of cocaine.

James Roberts, 24, 2200 block of Rainier Road, Port St. Lucie; out-of-county warrant, Miami-Dade County, violation of probation, robbery while armed with firearm or deadly weapon.

Willie Clay, 72, 700 block of Seventh Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for dealing in stolen property.

Pierre Mesadieu, 31, Riviera Beach; warrant for violation of probation, driving while license suspended, prior conviction, DUI.

Luis Nazario, 34, 200 block of North Macedo Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; driving while license suspended, habitual offender.

Michael Hodge, 50, 300 block of 18th Street, Fort Pierce; destroying, tampering with or fabricating evidence.

Shane Mott, 29, 4700 block of Mica Court, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, dealing in stolen property, giving false information to a pawnbroker, giving false ownership or I.D. information to a secondhand dealer.

Nicholas Lewis, 28, 2000 block of Beauregard Street, Port St. Lucie; readmit, sale, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to sell, possession of cocaine, resisting an officer without violence.

Barbara Lewis, 58, 2000 block of Beauregard Street, Port St. Lucie; readmit, sale, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to sell.

Danielle Lebofski, 39, Hollywood; readmit, driving while license suspended.

Casanova Hernandez, 19, 1600 block of Lennard Road, Port St. Lucie; warrant for lewd or lascivious battery. Arrested in Indian River County.

Christopher Rubestello, 35, 7200 block of Pine Lakes Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; warrant for amended violation of probation, possession of heroin. Arrested in Martin County.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (File Photo)

By Isadora Rangel of TCPalm

A construction company owned by U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy's father cut a $300,000 check last month to support his U.S. Senate bid.

Federal campaign finance records available Friday showed Miami-based Coastal Construction Group was the largest contributor in the first quarter of 2016 to the Super PAC Floridians for a Strong Middle Class, which is supporting Murphy's candidacy. That was just days after Murphy's campaign announced Monday he raised about $2 million in the first quarter of 2016.

Super PACs can receive unlimited contributions from each donor, while campaigns have a $2,700 per-race cap from each donor. Murphy, D-Jupiter, has spoken many times against the influence Super PACs have in the political process and has called for campaign finance reform.

His father, Thomas Murphy, gave $200,000 to Floridians for a Strong Middle Class last year and the PAC has raised $965,000, with $405,000 from January through April. Super PACs and candidates' campaigns aren't allowed to coordinate their efforts under federal law.

The second largest donor to Floridians for a Strong Middle Class in the first quarter was Alabama's Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which operates casinos and gave $50,000 for a total of $100,000 since last year.

Thomas Murphy contributed to another PAC that launched attack ads against his son's 2012 House opponent Allen West in the most expensive congressional race of that year. Patrick Murphy won that race to represent District 18, which covers Martin, St. Lucie and northern Palm Beach counties. He is facing U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in what's shaping up to be a contentious contest.
Following Apples announcement last week, I noticed a number of reports on how disappointed customers were that there was nothing they wanted to wait in line for hours to buy. I personally thought they should have been excited about that, because I hate to stand in lines. Ive never really figured out an Apple fanatics penchant for pain.

Still, it is very clear that todays Apple is a very different company than it was just six years ago. That got me thinking. Dell, HP and Lenovo also are very different. They all have nearly completely different personalities  and only Dell is run by the same guy (and almost wasnt).

Ill point out the big changes  some that I think are kind of insane  and close with my product of the week: a little gadget that can make your car smart (well, smarter anyway).

2000: The Decade It All Changed

It was apparent, soon after Steve Jobs return to Apple, that hed not only studied Louis Gerstners turnaround at IBM, but also had decided to go one better. He set what is now the gold standard in turnarounds. Jobs did that by cutting Apple to the bone, massively simplifying its product lines, and convincing Bill Gates to invest in Apple (which had to be incredibly painful for him).

Dell, on the other hand, appeared to be at the top of its game, tied at the hip to Microsoft and doing very well. All was not well under the covers, however. Michael Dell wanted to retire, and Microsoft was well into making what likely was its biggest mistake: pivoting from a focus on users to a focus on companies. Microsoft also was reeling from an antitrust action. On top of that, and likely because of it, Bill Gates wanted out.

HP was sick, in need of fresh blood, and basically treading water. It wasnt clear if it knew who its customers were. It was in far too many businesses, with little resources to fully fund any of the efforts. It looked a lot like IBM did before it collapsed in the 1980s, and if one word could have summed up the firm, it might have been geriatric.

Lenovo largely was unknown in North America. It was a powerful company in China, but China had yet to become a true world power in technology  and like most Chinese companies, Lenovo was having trouble breaking out of the region. It desperately needed an edge, but it wasnt clear where it could get one, and few outside of China took the company seriously.

2010: The Decade It All Changed Again

This decade found Apple as the most valuable company in the world and Steve Jobs the CEO of the decade. He had done something amazing at least twice  first in seeing the opportunity of the iPod and pivoting the entire company to it, and next in cannibalizing the iPod for the iPhone.

He nearly singlehandedly created the impression the PC was dead, which is kind of interesting since Apple really launched the modern PC.

Dell had been through a number of changes and was in the midst of a major transformation. There were doubts that Dell would survive. Its attempts to follow Apple in both MP3 players and smartphones had failed spectacularly, leading some to doubt the firm had long to live.

There wasnt a death watch, as there had been with Apple, but Dell was in trouble  largely because Microsoft had lost its way, and its pivot from users to enterprises had gone very badly for the PC business.

HP, which was headquartered near Apple and followed IBM closely, had observed both successful turnarounds  but it ignored everything it learned. It seemed there was no mistake it didnt want to repeat.

Then it brought in an industry expert, Mark Hurd, and he was making solid progress. HP seemed to be out of the weeds, and it even bought Palm and had a solid plan on how to pivot the company to compete better with Apple. Everything was looking pretty good.

After acquiring IBMs PC business, Lenovo had become a force to be reckoned with. It reversed a bad decision to divest phones and was back in that business, but still mostly in China. It was the only company heavily in the PC business, other than Apple, that could showcase success in phones as well.

Lenovo was making it clear that a Chinese company could execute out of China. Its headwinds increased animosity between the U.S. and Chinese governments, which created a drag on business but not execution.

2016 Status Report

Apple is weakening, but its far from being in trouble. It doesnt seem able to lead anymore, however. Rather than following Steve Jobs model of focused, simple products, it now offers products that are starting to look like the industry standard. They are relatively difficult to use (compared to earlier Apple offerings), and theres an increasing number of products to choose from.

Tablets are in decline, smartwatches have yet to take off, and the companys risky pivot to cars has yet to materialize. The move away from phone subsidies appears to be killing its unusually high market share for a premium product (its typically closer to 10 percent than the near 50 percent it once enjoyed) and forcing it to bring out cheaper phones. Instead of leading, it appears to be following  at least with tablets.

Dell did the impossible and went private, realizing that a big part of the problem with every company in this segment is the forced focus on quarterly results and expensive efforts to prop up valuations.

For once, Apple seems to be following it into business with a tablet line (iPad Pro). However, Dell still lacks any smartphone presence, and that is likely its biggest client exposure.

Microsoft has a subject matter expert running the firm, and it appears to be recovering as a result, though its move into hardware with the Surface line has introduced a new exposure for Dell.

Dell currently is in the process of buying EMC  and if successful, that could make it the most powerful company in enterprise technology, with a blend of software, services and hardware that could be unmatched. That potential has yet to be realized, though, because the merger isnt complete.

Having seen the Apple turnaround, the IBM turnaround, Lenovos growth after buying the PC business, Suns failure to pivot to software, and Mark Hurds success, HP came up with a new plan.

After being proven right in deciding that keeping PCs was a good idea, it first decided to pivot to software with a new CEO who didnt even last a year. Then it brought in a CEO who had even less industry experience than Carly Fiorina had, and she decided to ignore everything  most recently spinning off the PC and printer business.

What remains are two companies  both now far better focused, but also with reduced economies of scale. HP Inc. has the stronger management team, but it is saddled with both massive debt and printers. HP Enterprise is relatively debt-free, but it lacks experienced leadership.

HPs last 16 years  with the partial exception of Mark Hurds time there (he did showcase why office affairs are dangerous)  provide a strong example of what not to do.

Lenovo is now a world power, on paper. Having recently acquired both Motorola and IBMs server business, it now is the only company with credible presence not only in every major market, but also in every major computing arena.

It has a significant world presence in smartphones, tablets, PCs and servers. It is light on software, preferring partnering to owning, and it is light on services. However, in terms of computing hardware breadth, it is unmatched.

Lenovo currently is experiencing financial pain as a result of two huge simultaneous mergers, but it actually appears to be pulling the move off, and it has been making major staffing realignments to finish the process.

Looking Forward

Apple appears to be pivoting from consumer to enterprise, and it likely should take a look at how that screwed up Microsoft to see what not to do. Its choice to partner with IBM and Cisco rather than do it all is a good indicator that it actually may avoid repeating some of Microsofts mistakes.

However, tight partnerships arent Apples strength, and the firms will need to become closely coupled  at least with regard to their joint business efforts  in order to work. Still, the market hasnt adjusted to looking at Apple the way it is rather than the way it was. When it does that, the result could be economically painful. Still, I expect that will leave Apple in a better place with more reasonable expectations.

Dell has to complete the EMC merger and address, either through product or partnering, its lack of presence with handheld devices. It could pivot the market, like Apple did, but it cant continue to act as if smartphones dont exist.

However, once it completes the EMC merger and both firms are private, it will have a flexibility that no other firm in its segment has, as well as resources that match or exceed all other players. If it plays its cards right, Dell has the best chance to emerge at the end of 2020 as the most powerful U.S. tech company. Whether it is the most powerful in the world likely will depend on what happens between the U.S. and China.

HP well, HP as we knew it effectively is gone. It has been replaced by two smaller, more focused companies. The PC firm is back where Dell was in 2000 but with printers. The enterprise firm is a weak clone of IBM.

Focusing on the PC side, HP needs some kind of an iPod breakout product. 3D printing could be it, and it could flip printing from a liability to an asset again. I actually see some good things out of the printer unit in product and marketing execution, and it has a strong leadership team. However, Im seeing more folks angling to get out of both companies than Im seeing at any other firms in technology, and that makes HPs future less certain.

Lenovo has to lock down the Motorola and IBM server mergers, and it appears to be nearing the end of that process. Once done, it has to be able to show some kind of end-to-end synergy for the market to truly get excited about the result.

It remains the only firm trying to replicate Steve Jobs with Ashton Kutcher, a strategy that still has unmet potential. It also has one of the strongest product marketing people (David Roman) Ive ever met.

Lenovo is now the strongest technology company in China, and it has a shot at becoming the strongest technology company in the world in 2020. That depends on what happens between the U.S. and China. Lenovo is more of a multinational, though, and that may give it a unique edge.

Wrapping Up

Now there are a number of other major and fringe players that could disrupt the hell out of all of this. Amazon in particular, with its heavy focus on cloud services  even though it bounced with smartphones  could be the tech company to watch.

Samsung, LG, Huawei, Alibaba, and others from overseas also could disrupt this entire process by the decades end. Thats not even considering the impacts of war or massive natural or manmade disasters that could change dramatically what people buy.

Finally, robotics, 3D printing and artificial intelligence could change the tech landscape massively by decades end. As a result, the only thing we can be sure of is that 2020 will be very different from 2016.

Unless its a Tesla, my advice on the cusp of the era of self-driving cars is to not buy a new car right now. The reason is that Im told that once self-driving cars hit critical mass, insurance companies will change fees dramatically, and cars that arent self-driving will become too expensive to own.

That said, a lot of the smart connected stuff is just arriving on new cars, and some of it is pretty cool.

Automatic is the best tool to bring some of this smart technology into an older car that Ive yet seen.

Automatic Connected CarAdapter

Its big value is that if you get into an accident, it automatically will use your phone to call for help. Also, it will give you Fitbit-like reports on your driving, helping you to drive more safely and economically. It will connect to an increasing number of third-party apps to provide other functions connected to your smartphone.

What makes Automatic nice is that it costs just US$99, and there is no subscription. It will give you a feeling for what is coming without buying a new car (it worked fine with my 2008 Audi A3), and it is very easy to install.

Be aware that it pulls power, so you dont want to leave it attached if you are away from your car for a long time.

Because Automatic makes a dumb car a tad smarter  oh, and it works with Amazon Echo  it is my product of the week.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday issued a warning to remove Apples QuickTime for Windows. The alert came in response to Trend Micros report of two security flaws in the software, which will never be patched because Apple has ended support for QuickTime for Windows.

Computers running QuickTime are open to increased risk of malicious attack or data loss, US-CERT warned, and remote attackers could take control of a victims computer system. US-CERT is part of DHS National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.

We alerted DHS because we felt the situation was broad enough that people having unpatched vulnerabilities on their system needed to be made aware, said Christopher Budd, global threat communication manager at Trend Micro.

Apple has not discontinued security updates for QuickTime on Apple computer systems. It is not clear why Apple made the decision to end Windows support.

Apple has posted a link that instructs users how to remove QuickTime for Windows. The instructions advise those using a QuickTime 7 Pro registration key to save the key before uninstalling.

Zero Day Warning

Trend Micros Zero Day Initiative learned about the vulnerabilities from researcher Steven Seeley of Source Incite, who is named in the warning, Budd told TechNewsWorld. ZDI then issued advisories detailing the critical vulnerabilities:

The Apple QuickTime moov Atom Heap Corruption Remote Code Execution vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable installations of QuickTime. The problem first came to ZDIs attention late last year. The number of users at risk is unknown at this time.

The QuickTime Atom Processing Heap Corruption Remote Code Execution Vulnerability allows an attacker to write data outside of an allocated heap buffer by providing an invalid index.

Software makers regularly retire applications, so it was not unusual that QuickTime would be vulnerable, Budd said.

However, it was odd that Apple did not issue a public statement about ending its support for QuickTime for Windows and that the software was still available for download, he added.

Increasing Software Vulnerability

QuickTime joins a growing list of software that is not supported any longer, Budd noted in a Trend Micros Thursday call to action. That list includes Microsoft Windows XP and Oracle Java 6, which means users of those operating systems increasingly will be vulnerable to attack.

DHS didnt have any comment to add to its alert, said spokesperson Scott McConnell, who referred questions to Apple. Apple did not respond to our request to comment for this story.

The warnings come amid a spate of recent reports about computer system vulnerabilities, including one issued just days ago about a vulnerability in Adobes Flash Player that could leave computers open to ransomware, which can lock up entire systems until an attacker is paid to release control.
Racial bias in Chicago Police District (CPD) is very strong especially against African Americans, and it's getting worse, says a new task force report.

Blunt and honest, the 22-page report by the Police Accountability Task Force released on April 2016 points out that "racism and maltreatment at the hands of the police have been consistent complaints from communities of color" and that it has been going on for many years with Laquan McDonald's death as the most recent tipping point.

The 17-year-old juvenile with a 3-inch knife was shot 16 times including additional shots when he was already on the ground by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke. Initial reports suggested possible cover-up based on narrative inconsistencies among police officers and the 13-month-delay release of the dash-cam video capturing the shooting.

His case sparked multiple protests including the demand of resignations of police officers and the possible conviction of Van Dyke to life imprisonment.

About 74 percent of the 404 shootings in Chicago reported between 2008 and 2015 were directed against African Americans, a huge contrast from 14 percent of Hispanics and 8 percent of whites, said [PDF] the report. African Americans also received 76 percent of 1,886 taser discharges between 2012 and 2015, and 46 percent of 100,676 traffic stops in 2013.

Further, both Hispanics and African Americans were searched with or without permission for contraband more than thrice the whites even if these illegal items were often found among the latter.

Young African Americans were also not spared from racial profiling, based on the task force's survey among 1,200 Chicago residents between 16 years old and above.

About 70 percent of young African American males reported to have been stopped while in the car and 56 percent when they were on foot, and only a few of them were ever arrested, brought to the police station, or ticketed. They were also threatened more often than whites with weapons and subjected to physical force.

Creating more cracks on the public trust toward the CPD is the "unscrutinized" disciplinary process that the task force largely blamed on the collective bargaining agreement that were partial to the police officers.

Between 2011 and 2015, 40 percent of the complaints didn't have any affidavit, which meant they were never investigated fully. Thirty-seven percent were not sustained, and 15 percent were unfounded. Only 7 percent were regarded as sustained to cause a disciplinary action while 1 percent were exonerated.

The report ended with a detailed list of recommendations that "if adopted, will fundamentally change the way in which the public engages with the police, create more effective oversight and auditing, and create a transparent system of accountability and responsibility for all stakeholders."

However, to reform the system, the task force asserts that the Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city council should pursue aggressive approaches within 90 to 180 days.

The mayor has since acknowledged racism in the police force and is open to the task force proposal but has yet to read the findings.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Many countries consider marijuana as illegal, but some governments have already approved the medical use of it, including the state of Pennsylvania.

The state's House of Representatives has approved legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes with a 149-46 vote. This bill will make Pennsylvania the 24th state in the United States to legalize medical marijuana.

The 80-page bill is now on the desk of Gov. Tom Wolf (D), who promised to sign the bill on April 17.

"Today the House passed SB3, sending the medical marijuana legalization bill to my desk. I am proud and excited to sign this bill that will provide long overdue medical relief to patients and families who could benefit from this treatment," said Wolf.

Opinion polls have shown that more than 88 percent of the state's population agrees on using medical marijuana.

"Every day we roll the dice on our child's or our loved one's life," said Christine Brann, who has a son with Dravet Syndrome, a rare and severe type of epilepsy.

She added that without the medical marijuana law in Pennsylvania, it is like a risk that their child might not survive another day.

"Marijuana is medicine and it's coming to Pennsylvania," said Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Penn.), who is one of the bill's sponsors.

The Bill

Medical marijuana advocates have long been clamoring for this bill, if passed, it will benefit those who are looking for an alternative treatment for conditions such as epilepsy, autism, seizures and nausea.

The Pennsylvania Senate bill, through the Department of Health, will allow, regulate and monitor the growing, distribution, taxing, regulating and use of medical marijuana.

However, medical marijuana can only be dispensed and used in the form oil, liquid or tincture, pill, topical cream, gel, ointment and medical form of nebulization or vaporization. It cannot be smoked.

Patients who have one of the 17 conditions highlighted by the bill, such as cancer and Parkinson's disease, which recognize the use medical marijuana as a part of treatment, must first obtain a certification from their respective registered physician.

Pennsylvania would license 25 growers and 50 dispensaries, which must be located more than 1,000 feet away from schools and needs to follow zoning laws. Unfortunately, patients are not allowed to raise their own marijuana plants.

The state will regulate and monitor the flow and use of marijuana in the area through maintaining a database on the ins and outs of the drug from growers, dispensers, advertisers, users and those who prescribe them to the patients.

Medical marijuana will have a 5 percent tax on the gross receipt from dispensaries and growers.

The Department of Health will be involved in all the transactions and regulations of the medical marijuana.

Photo: Guilhem Vellut | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
No, the banks are not dying. Regulators just want to make sure that the economy does not die in case the big ones go.

Five of the biggest U.S. banks have failed the living wills test and could face stricter requirements, federal regulators said on April 13.

The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) both rejected the resolution plans of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo and State Street. The regulators found out that in the event of a financial crisis or bankruptcy, none of these banks can show a systematic way out without resorting to a bailout.

"The FDIC and Federal Reserve are committed to carrying out the statutory mandate that systematically important financial institutions demonstrate a clear path to an orderly failure under bankruptcy at no cost to taxpayers," asserted Martin Gruenberg, FDIC chairman.

The regulators did give Citigroup a passing grade, but they found some shortcomings. The plan of Goldman Sachs was rejected by the FDIC while that of Morgan Stanley was faulted by the Fed. Since the rejection did not come from both regulators, the Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley plans were not considered "not credible."

The regulators continue to examine the plans of four foreign banks considered systematically important, namely Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and UBS.

Reasons

The assessed banks failed for various reasons but mainly shortcomings on liquidity requirements, operations and governance.

For example, Citigroup did not have governance mechanisms for a timely funding of its subsidiaries. The plan also lacked the ability to accurately estimate the amount of minimum operating liquidity.

Bank of America's plan also did not include a process of estimating liquidity requirements, determining the triggers to inject liquidity and making it available to its important entities.

Goldman Sachs' plan had shortcomings in the operational aspect of carrying out a resolution in a timely manner, aside from a deficiency in liquidity management for each material entity to operate.

Deficiencies in liquidity management and governance mechanisms were also found in Morgan Stanley's plan, as well as non-inclusion of hedging costs for winding down its trading portfolio and incomplete details on the size and composition of the portfolio.

The banks have unti Oct. 1 to iron out the deficiencies.

Reactions

JPMorgan's bank executives expressed disappointment over the findings. "It's more about reporting, legal entities and things like that. And if other firms can satisfy that I'd be surprised if we can't," said the bank's chief executive Jamie Dimon, adding the bank has "tons of liquidity."

Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon and State Street all said in separate statements that they will do their best to address the deficiencies by the set deadline.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce shares its own thoughts on the living wills process, saying the process "is broken."

"Contradictory outcomes through different tools such as stress tests and living wills harm the ability of regulators to achieve financial stability and for market participants to understand what regulators are doing," quipped David Hirschmann, head of the chamber's capital markets center.

Possible Leak

Meanwhile, the watchdogs of the Fed and the FDIC are looking into the possibility of a leak to the Wall Street Journal. The living wills assessment results were first reported on Tuesday evening in the Journal and made public on Wednesday.

Senator Bob Corker, R.-Tenn., who is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, found the leak baffling, adding that it erodes the credibility of the exercise and cripples the assessment process. He said that he expects the person or persons responsible to face the consequences.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Oil Industry officials knew fossil fuels were capable of producing dramatic climate change during the 1960's, according to the Center for International Environmental Law. A new report claims some people in the industry even joked with one another about their ability to melt polar ice caps. According to the group, fossil fuels executives have been working since the 1940's in an effort to spin the propaganda narrative over the environmental consequences of their industry.

The role of fossil fuels in driving up concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide has been discussed by scientists since the end of the 19th century. During the first half of the 20th Century, most researchers believed greenhouse gases would largely be absorbed by oceans around the globe.

"In 1957, a landmark paper by Roger Revelle and Hans Suess of the Scripps Institute upturned that conventional wisdom, demonstrating that far more CO2 would remain in the atmosphere than previously assumed, potentially accelerating the impact of global climate change," The Center for International Environmental Law stated on its website.

Air pollution in the form of smog over Los Angeles in the 1940's led to the establishment of the Smoke and Fumes Committee. The express goal of this group, made up of representatives of the nation's largest oil companies, was to present environmental regulations as costly and unwarranted.

That group continued, under various names, for several years after their formation. By 1958, the re-branded committee was sponsoring the reports diminishing the role of fossil fuels in rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Stanford Research Institute scientists released a report to the American Petroleum Institute in 1968, highlighting the potential dangers of fossil fuels to the environment. The team put out a stark warning that rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would lead to warmer oceans, rising sea levels and thinning ice caps. The Robinson Report placed the blame for rising sea levels on the use of fossil fuels by human civilization.

Exxon, an oil company which has often been accused of manipulating climate data, is targeted once more in the latest report.

"Exxon has said its research widely mirrored the global understanding of climate issues at the time. The company last year accused climate researchers and other investigators of cherry-picking its record on the issue by largely ignoring its work on climate issues," UPI reported.

Image: Mikael Miettinen | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Oklahoma Senate has approved legislation requiring health insurance companies to cover treatment for children with autism.

The body voted 36-5 in favor of House Bill 2962, returning it to the House for consideration of Senate amendments.

This legislation requires insurance coverage for the screening, diagnosis and appropriate treatment of individuals younger than age 9 with autism spectrum disorder. This measure provides children the access to applied behavior analysis for up to 25 hours weekly, capped at $25,000 per year.

Oklahoma is one among only seven U.S. states that does not require health insurers to cover children with autism, who struggle with a range of social, behavioral and communication challenges.

An estimated one in every 68 kids suffers from the developmental disorder that currently has no cure. Researchers, however, suggests early intervention to help improve their condition, which affects processing of sensory information and ability to relate and interact with others.

The Washington Senate also passed and sent to the House on April 14 two bills that will revise the way Delaware caters to students with autism.

The first overhauls the Delaware Autism Program to better use local programs and increase parental input. It paves the way for new training specialist posts  currently at about 15  to assist teachers and other school staff dealing with these students.

According to the bill, there should at least be one training specialist per 100 students classified with autism, with the position subject to available funds from the local school districts and the state.

A companion bill creates a framework through which a new Delaware Network for Excellence in Autism at the University of Delaware would offer training and technical assistance.

Findings from a study earlier this month highlighted an eye-tracking technology used to monitor the eye movement of children with autism during conversations, which researchers deemed critical in spotting who has the developmental issue.

Monitoring the eye movement of kids with and without an autism diagnosis, the team from University of Vermont found that those with autism were more likely to focus on the mouth of the speaker instead of the eyes during that point of the conversation where emotional topics  such as what makes the kids sad or afraid  were discussed.

And it could be because the conversation strains their executive function, according to the researchers.

Photo: Lance Neilson | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Thousands of workers around the United States took their demand for $15 minimum wage raise to the streets on April 14, a few days before 2016 tax day.

From nursing assistants to fast-food servers, hundreds of workers banged their drums and carried their banners when marching at Broad Street in Philadelphia, while in New York throngs of low-wage earners took over the iconic Times Square.

Workers in Boston, Massachusetts, rallied in front of the statehouse as workers in Central Florida were in Orange Blossom Trail, planning to continue their protest until the next day.

The $15 movement is definitely alive and well in America even after four years since it began. Back then, countless fast-food workers walked off their jobs and occupied the streets of Manhattan, New York, requesting for higher wages, better working conditions, and prevention of wage theft by their respective employers.

The revolution then expanded to include other low-wage workers across many industries and demand for participation or creation of unions, which various unions support.

"We in the union who have good wages have to stand with those working for low wages. If we defend the rights of all workers, we defend the rights of union workers," explained union president Jed Dodd, who joined the Philly rally.

Although the movement is gaining traction, it still receives criticisms from groups like Employment Policies Institute, which has already published ads that purportedly show the "real-world consequences" of wage hikes. Companies like Carl's Jr. have also expressed the possibility of using robot workers.

Presidential candidates also seem to be divided on their stand on $15 increase, which has already figured its way in their debates. While Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, has expressed support, his strong rival Secretary Hillary Clinton would agree with conditions.

At $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage is less than half of what the workers are currently demanding. Certain states have already increased their minimum wage based on legislation or cost of living, in which case the raise may be automatic, but only New York and California so far have passed a law that will set the minimum wage to $15 between 2018 and 2023.

The workers therefore may have to wait a while before reaping the benefits of their fight, "but the success has given me a little gas to go on. I am really thrilled to have won that fight. I have a lot of hope for the future," said Rebecca Cornick, who works at Wendy's for $10.50 an hour.

Photo: Annette Bernhardt | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Samsung reportedly signed a deal with Apple for the manufacturing of OLED screens that would fit the 2017 iPhone 7s Plus, or whatever it may be called.

The report comes via the Wall Street Journal (China edition), which references a Korean source. According to the information, Apple signed a three-year contract with Samsung for the delivery of 100 million OLED displays that will be part of iPhone 7s Plus's specs.

Previous rumors hinted that the two tech companies would join forces in the upstream manufacturing process. The new report gives a tangible sense of Apple's plans for upcoming flagships, with numbers and figures.

The source mentions that Samsung's role in the contract is to provide Apple with 100 million 5.5-inch OLED panels, which will most likely equip the iPhone 7s Plus. Another variant, however improbable, is that the future model of iPhone SE will get a significant display size boost.

Samsung purportedly designated a full production line at its Asian plant to meet the order.

The OLED iPhone release could happen faster than it was previously expected, according to this report. So far, the media indicated that Apple plans to release such a smartphone in 2018 or 2019, and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously vouched for the timeline.

The new information, however, seems to place the release of the OLED-equipped iPhone for 2017.

A number of mobile display manufacturers were rumored to be negotiating with Apple for large OLED screen panel orders. It seems that out of the myriad of competitors, such as Sharp, JDI, AUO, LG and Samsung, Apple chose the latter to provide the edge for the visuals of the iPhone 7s Plus.

Speculations roam free on whether the screen will be flat or curved, but seeing the general trend, a flexible OLED panel does not seem like something the iPhone manufacturer would be interested in.

It is also plausible that Samsung wants to keep the curved display exclusive to its proprietary handsets, in order to have a distinctive product on the demanding flagship market.

Apart from the display, other major features are expected to grace Apple's future flagship, such as an HD selfie cam with flash, waterproof capabilities, an upgraded rear camera and the intimidating A10 CPU processor.

As for what to expect from Apple this year, check out Tech Times' earlier coverage.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple's lead on pressure sensitive displays on smartphones ends in 2016.

Besides a range of new emojis (and many other features) being baked into Google's upcoming flavor of Android, reports reveal that codes in the core OS hint at support for pressure sensitive displays.

Apple calls it "3D Touch" on its iPhones ("Force Touch" on its Macbook trackpads), but no name has been revealed yet for what Google may be calling the same feature in Android N.

Other features we know will be gracing the upcoming OS include Unicode 9 support for even more emojis, a new API called Vulcan that will give developers more control over the GPU for more powerful apps, and of course, Launcher Shortcuts.

It's the wording used in support docs for Android N's Launcher Shortcuts that sparked curiosity among the Android developer community. These shortcuts would allow users to initiate specific actions within an app.

For example, in sending a message to a person or in navigating home from within Google Maps, it remains to be seen just how exactly one would initiate those specific points within an app. It does sound very much like iPhone's 3D Touch feature, so Kevin Barry (who developed the popular Nova Launcher) attempted a crack at the upcoming feature himself, but did not succeed.

His failure to engage the feature, however, is more due to the fact that no hardware exists just yet to support what may be "3D Touch" or "Force Touch" in Android N. The first hardware device most likely to make use of such a feature, however, would be this year's upcoming Nexus handset.

So far, nothing but rumors prevail online regarding Google's next Nexus, but speculation suggests that HTC might be making another comeback to the Nexus lineup. As a reminder, the Taiwanese manufacturer made the Nexus One back in 2010 and the Nexus 9 tablet in 2014, and a new HTC Nexus is rumored for this year.

At best, the feature should arrive on other flagships later in the year, after Google's annual I/O developer conference, which is set to take place from May 18 to May 20 in Google's hometown of Mountain View.

Specifics surrounding Android N will be revealed then. In fact, we already know quite a bit since Google surprised the developer community by releasing not just one, but two Android N developer previews so far.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Contrary to previous claims, getting circumcised does not diminish penile sensitivity and reduce sexual abilities among males, a new study revealed.

Led by human sexuality expert Jennifer Bossio, a team of researchers examined the sensitivity of male organs  including tactile detection, warmth detection, and pain threshold  among men who have been circumcised and men who have never had the procedure.

Participants in the study were between 18 and 37 years old. Thirty-two participants have never been circumcised and 30 were circumcised. Sensitivity tests revealed that there was no difference between the two groups.

Next, researchers tested the participant's sexual abilities, taking into account intercourse satisfaction, desire, and overall satisfaction through a 15-item measure of men's functioning over a four week-period. In the end, they found no difference.

"This study indicates that neonatal circumcision is not associated with changes in penile sensitivity," said Bossio, who is from Queen's University in Ontario. She added that the foreskin is not the most sensitive part of the male organ.

Circumcision is opposed by many because they deem it as an unnecessary medical procedure, but proponents say it is a "religious right" and actually has several health benefits.

In the United States, about 75 percent of American males have been circumcised. But today, only about 55 percent of newborn babies in the country undergo this procedure, the BBC said. The rate is dropping by 1 percent annually.

According to The Independent, circumcision is historically promoted as a way to prevent boys from stimulating their genitalia. Catholic, Jewish and Islamic communities also practice circumcision among males.

In the United Kingdom, circumcision was common among one in every three men prior to the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948. But as soon as the NHS was at work, it concluded that the procedure was not medically essential.

Operation costs were not covered for males. As a result, rates plummeted and it is estimated that only 8.5 percent of men in the country are circumcised.

On the other hand, proponents of the procedure say that circumcision has reduced rates of urinary tract infections among men and lowered HIV transmission by 50 to 60 percent. Circumcision is also used to remove cancerous cells that may lead to penile cancer.

"The scientific evidence is clear that the benefits outweigh the risks," said Jonathan Mermin, an expert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In the end, the decision to undergo circumcision rests in the family of youngsters and the person himself.

The findings of the study are featured in the Journal of Urology.

Photo : Frankie Leon | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple's Chief Design Officer Jony Ive, together with his team, has created an exclusive 12.9-inch iPad Pro, iPad Pro Smart Cover, plus an Apple Pencil holder that will be sold as part of the fundraiser to help in the efforts for the London Design Museum relocation.

The iPad Pro will be auctioned off at an estimated value of 10,000 - 15,000 ($14,202 - $21,303). The "Time for Design" live auction kick starts on April 28.

Chromed with bright yellow dye, this iPad Pro designed by the Apple Design Team stands out among other Apple's typical color lineup of Rose Gold, Silver, Space Gray and Gold. Its yellow shade proves to be brighter and lively as opposed to the Gold iPad Pro.

The iPad Pro Smart Cover comes in blue French leather, while the orange Italian calf leather used to craft the Apple Pencil Holder cannot be missed.

All these products are for the exclusive use of the Design Museum. Stamping its exclusivity are the words "Edition 1 of 1" that were etched on iPad Pro's back surface, and Smart Cover's interior surface.

Ive is no stranger to Design Museum, for he received the museum's inaugural "Designer of the Year" award in 2003 for designing iMac. He likewise showcased a mobile prototype at the museum in 1990.

It is also not the first time that Apple and Ive donated exclusive items for charity purposes. In the past, Ive also created solid gold EarPods and a red Mac Pro for charity auctions.

Aside from Ive, other prominent designers and collectors around the globe have also showed support for the Design Museum's fundraising campaign. These include the Zaha Hadid Foundation, which donated three "Mercuric" collection tables; Ron Arad, who pledged his striking and stainless steel "D-sofa"; and pop-philanthropist Bono, who has given up his Gretsch "'Irish Falcon" guitar for the fundraiser.

And for all these collective efforts, Design Museum curator and auction co-curator Deyan Sudjic could just be so overwhelmed.

"We are extremely grateful to the friends of the museum who had donated such outstanding pieces to help us fulfill our ambition of creating one of London's most important new cultural sites," Sudjic told Wallpaper.

Apart from the one-of-a-kind Apple iPad Pro, there are still 38 lots to be auctioned. The Design Museum has partnered with Phillips to make this charity event possible. The auction, which main purpose is to raise funds for the museum's relocation in Kenningston, will be held in Berkeley Square.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
It was a scene straight out of a nightmare for any parent: cradling the lifeless body of your own baby. Kristian Jaworski from the United Kingdom died five days after his birth in June last year, incurring brain damage from a prolonged and extended instrumental delivery.

Baby Kristians mother, Tracey Taylor, said she repeatedly insisted getting a caesarian delivery after a previous childbirths complications  but still underwent vaginal delivery allegedly due to costs.

Now in a report sent to the Department of Health, senior coroner Andrew Walker informed of future death risks if the National Health Service (NHS) in the country continues to favor vaginal delivery over C-sections due to cost concerns.

The report described how Tracey told the medical staff of North Middlesex University Hospital many times that she needed a C-section following complications from giving birth to her elder child, Sebastian, Three and a half years earlier. Doctors at that time told her she maintained a narrow birth canal and thus needed the C-section if she will ever give birth again.

The information, the report added, was not logged into her medical notes, with her pleas for a caesarean ignored during a lengthy, difficult labor. According to the inquest, doctors repeatedly tried to deliver baby Kristian using suction and forceps, until they decided to conduct an emergency C-section under general anesthetic.

Kristian suffered oxygen deprivation and severe brain damage upon his birth, never able to recover.

The cause of death is likely to have been asphyxia as a consequence of prolonged and extended instrumental delivery, the coroner explained in the report.

I feel that I was treated like an over-anxious woman who was too frightened to give birth, said Tracey in a BBC radio interview.

The university hospital has since accepted responsibility over the death. Although admitting they made mistakes, director Dr. Cathy Cale said their own investigation showed that cost was not their consideration  the team instead decided to do natural delivery for clinical reasons alone.

[I]n theater, the registrar made an assessment of Miss Taylors birth canal and reached the conclusion trial of instruments would be appropriate, part of the statement read.

Cale added that new guidance has since been drawn up for staff to limit prolonged instrumental delivery to avoid the consequences.

The health department, which has about 50 days to respond to Walkers report, estimated the average cost of vaginal delivery to be at 1,985 ($2,819), versus the average cost of 3,781($5,370) for Caesarian operation.

Health minister Ben Gummer expressed deep sympathies for the family and said they have been let down terribly in a tragedy that he said should not be repeated anymore.

Rebecca Schiller of nonprofit group Birthrights asserted that the babys death is telling of the importance of listening to womens choices and decisions in maternity care.

From caesarian section to homebirth they all-too-often find services that dont exist or are barred to them, she said.

Photo: Sara Neff | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is reportedly funding companies that spy on Twitter and Instagram feeds to monitor any signs of "unusual activity."

Through its venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel (IQT), the CIA has made investments in "social media mining and surveillance" companies previously undisclosed. These include PATHAR, TransVoyant, Databricks, Dataminr, and Geofeedia.

The information was obtained from a document released by The Intercept, detailing the schedule of a recent "CEO Summit" of 28 IQT portfolio companies concluded in February. From the itinerary, the standout companies provided "unique tools to mine data from platforms such as Twitter."

PATHAR

PATHAR has a product called "Dunami" that monitors social media sites for "networks of association, centers of influence and potential signs of radicalization." These social media sites include, but are not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

TransVoyant

TransVoyant offers procedures that analyze multiple data points to determine potential "decision-makers" who could organize "gang incidents" and situations threatening to the press. The tech company recently worked with the U.S. military to utilize satellite, radar, and drone surveillance data.

Databricks

Databricks' "Spark" can sort through big chunks of data rapidly, which the International Business Machine (IBM) has labeled as "the most significant open source project of the next decade." The tech company utilizes the cloud to host "big data analytics and processing platforms."

Dataminr

Dataminr has automated learning machines that mark trends in streams from Twitter by cross-referencing data gathered from other unusual clusters. These processes "directly license" Twitter data streams, for clients such as police departments, to "visualize" any sign of purported tendencies.

Geofeedia

Geofeedia employs geotagging technology to monitor real-time movements, such as Greenpeace mobilizations, student protests, minimum wage rallies and other political activities. The data is utilized by corporations, including McDonald's and the Mall of America, and law enforcement agencies in Detroit, Oakland, and Chicago, among other police departments.

A Violation of Privacy Rights?

Senior staff attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union, Lee Rowland, believes such surveillance tactics employed by the CIA and other government bodies, along with private sectors, may infringe upon the public's rights due to unwarranted suspicion.

"The courts have rightly recognized that when millions of bits of data are aggregated into a dossier about your behavior, that is no longer properly public and violates privacy rights," said Rowland.

"When you have private companies deciding which algorithms get you a so-called threat score, or make you a person of interest, there's obviously room for targeting people based on viewpoints or even unlawfully targeting people based on race or religion," Rowland explained.

Photo: Ludovic Bertron | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Justin Trudeau made history when he took the seat of Prime Minister of Canada and unveiled his cabinet consisting of exactly 50 percent women.

Trudeau also recently went viral when he was snapped in a pretty tricky yoga pose that his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was also photographed in decades earlier.

Now, Trudeau is showing that he's not one to let a smart-aleck reporter try to let one past him by schooling him a bit about quantum computing.

According to CBC News, the incident happened when the Prime Minister was speaking at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario to affirm a $50 million research budget for the school.

The budget was reportedly part of a program to support women in STEM and in attendance were some 200 high school students  mostly young women.

However, when the floor was opened for questions from reporters, one decided to use the event to question Trudeau about Canada's mission against ISIS instead of about the scientific thinktank.

"I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing, but ..." the reporter said.

Instead of brushing aside the question, Trudeau one-upped the reporter on his bluff by giving him exactly what he wanted: a lesson in quantum computing.

"Very simply," Trudeau began, "How normal computers work is there's either power going through a wire or not. It's one or zero. They're binary systems. What quantum states allow for is much more complex information to be encoded into a single bit."

Check out the Canadian Prime Minister's full explanation below:

Feeling smarter yet?

Back to the event at hand, Trudeau said the budget affirmation was not only to support women in STEM but also to help the country strengthen itself in the scientific world.

"It's extremely important to underline just how essential the work being done here is, not just for Canada but for the entire world."

"The investment we're announcing today will strengthen the Perimeter Institute's position as a world-leading research center in helping advance Canada's role as a leader in the global scientific community," he said.

Apparently, Trudeau was not the only quantum computing genius at the event. Welcoming him via video was theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 241 to 173 for the passing of H.R. 2666, the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act.

The bill has the potential to block or severely limit FCC's actions in enforcing net neutrality laws.

In theory, the bill is supposed to keep the FCC from regulating prices imposed by broadband data carriers on their customers. As the net neutrality rules went live in 2015, the agency made clear that it will not use its authority to force providers to certain data tariffs.

This seems like a positive idea, but the devil hides in the details.

The bill is phrased in such a way that it leaves room to interpretation. One possible reading could actually have FCC bound hand and foot from backing users' rights. The best case scenario is that the H.R. 2666 will deliver unknown and legally attackable consequences. The worst case scenario is far bleaker: the bill could be a premeditated action to sabotage the net neutrality principles that the tech community, open Internet groups and regulators strived for during the last years.

Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, commended the lower chamber's decision as he views the passing of the bill as a way to protect the Internet freedom of the American citizens.

"There is no authority or need for the federal government to regulate the Internet," Ryan says.

He went on to add that the Congress's action was paramount in maintaining the Internet as "a free market." In Ryan's view, passing the bill ensures that unelected bureaucrats in Washington are kept away from "dictating how people use the Internet."

Tom Wheeler, the leader of the FCC, warned that the bill will have nefarious effects on the broadband market. According to him, the bill makes it impossible for the Commission to penalize ISPs that make use of blocking, throttling and paid prioritization rules.

For the bill to take effect it has to check two more phases. First off, it has to pass the Senate's vote. Then, the bill will reach the White House for the final signature.

President Barack Obama recently swore that the bill will get a veto from him. Just as a reminder, Obama's mandate ends in January 2017.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Magistrate Judge Paul Singh Grewal ruled on April 15 that the case between Oracle and Google needs to be tried twice.

While the CEOs of both companies had a six-hour settlement conference, they did not agree to any settlement. Consequently, the court scheduled a new trial for May.

The case started back in 2012, when Oracle accused Google of infringing the Java platform by incorporating it into the Android OS. As a result, Google earned billions in profits while Java's chance of success in devices such as tablets and smartphones was crushed.

"After an earlier run at settling this case failed, the court observed that some cases just need to be tried," reads a court docket text shared by MLex senior correspondent Mike Swift on Twitter.

Oracle is seeking up to $8.8 billion in profits related to Google's use of some Java language. Google defended the use of Java and said that it is protected by the "fair use" legal doctrine. Using this doctrine, Google argues that it is therefore allowed to copy Java and use it without the need to pay a fee.

During the trial in 2012, the jury deadlocked on Google's defense that was based on the fair use doctrine. The judge of a San Francisco federal court ruled that Google's use of the Java APIs was non-copyrightable.

Oracle filed an appeal and in May 2014, and won the ruling against Google. The table was turned and this time, the appeals court sided with Oracle and said that an APIs "structure, sequence and organization" was copyrightable.

Both Oracle and Google are said to have participated in the settlement conference as ordered by the court in an attempt to avoid a retrial, which is expected to occur in May.

Obviously, a settlement was not achieved and the retrial will push through as scheduled.

"This case apparently needs to be tried twice. However unsuccessful, the court appreciates the parties' settlement efforts earlier today - especially those of Ms. Catz and Mr. Pichai," adds the court docket.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos, arriving at what is considered the heart of Europe's refugee crisis on the morning of April 16.

Pope Francis was looking to bring sympathy and attention to the situations of the migrants on the island, as a recently a deal between the European Union and Turkey will send all migrants arriving in Greece after March 20 to be detained and then deported back to Turkey unless they are able to succeed in applying for asylum in the country.

Lesbos has served as the first port of call for thousands upon thousands of people who are seeking refuge in Europe as they attempt to escape war, poverty and oppression in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. However, since the controversial ruling was implemented, Lesbos has also seen hundreds of deportations as families from Turkey who wished to seek refuge were instead turned away.

Pope Francis met with refugees in a detention center and shared a meal with them while listening to their stories. His Holiness also tossed a floral wreath into the ocean to honor the memories of the people who were not successful in making the journey to Greece from Turkey or elsewhere.

"We are going to encounter the greatest human catastrophe since World War II," said Pope Francis before boarding his flight to Greece from Rome, adding that the trip is marked by sadness due to the suffering that the refugees have gone through.

The Vatican, however, claims that the visit by Pope Francis is purely religious and humanitarian in nature, and not a criticism of the deal struck between the European Union and Turkey. The Pope, however, hopes that his visit to Lesbos will stir the conscience of Europeans in accepting the refugees seeking for help away from the difficulties that they experienced in their home countries.

Pope Francis, in a dramatic humanitarian act, also offered to take back to Italy three Syrian families upon his departure from Lesbos.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Are you looking for The Pirate Bay proxy list for 2022 to unblock the pirate bay torrent site?

Dont worry anymore, as in this article we have shared some of the best Pirate Bay Alternatives and TPB Proxy and Mirror Websites that are working.

The first word that probably strikes our mind when we talk about Torrent Sites is The Pirate Bay.

This immensely popular BitTorrent website uses peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing technology and has stood the test of time and is by far one of the most reliable torrenting websites.

However, due to legal issues, you might not be able to access the pirate bay in several countries.

This blockage can be bypassed using pirate proxies.

NOTE: Techworm does not condone using torrents to illegally obtain content. Using the following torrent websites for illegal purposes is done entirely at your own risk.

Techworm takes no responsibility for any legal problems you encounter.

One the earliest Pirate Bay Alternative when any of the top pirate bay proxy servers were not working. Kat torrents have all the latest films, movies, music, and more releases.

Due to copyright violations, the original domain kat.cr was blocked in several regions. You will find a wide range of Kat proxy domains to help you access this TPB alternative.

1337x was the ultimate torrent site back in the period between 2010 to 2014. Then like every popular torrent site, it was blocked virtually everywhere.

According to TorrentFreak, it is amongst the third most popular torrent sites. You will find quality torrents here, contributed by groups such as Yify, EZTV, RARBG, and others.

There is also a Top 100 torrents section that houses the most sorted out and trending torrents right now on the website.

TPB houses everything ranging from retro games to movies, and it is considered the best torrent site out there. Consider Yify/YTS as the best for movie torrents, having the best prints available in the least possible size.

You will find Yify movies torrents in different places as it is widely popular and considered the benchmark for quality video torrents.

Yify offers torrent files alone, and there are no magnets links available. Use the torrent files for downloading movies on your device using an excellent torrenting client.

We have Torlock, where all the torrents are verified, hosting a tracker library of over seven million torrents.

As we were lurking on the site, we came across a distinct category  image, which we dont often find on other torrenting sites.

Along with that, we can also create an account on the site to maintain a list of the favorite bitrrorents.

The last one here is Anidex, which is the best TPB alternative for downloading anime and manga torrents.

They house over a million different anime torrents here, with the manga ones in .cbz format, easy for reading. Find diverse anime games here in a dedicated section.

Finding the proper subtitles is a real problem for Animes. Search for them here as they are listed in a different language, from German to Arabic.
Textalyzers will help NYPD to determine if drivers were distracted by using their phones before an accident

If a proposed law passes the state legislature in New York, then drivers might soon be subject to on-the-spot analysis of their mobile phones to determine whether they were distracted by their devices in the run-up to accidents.

This new device called a textalyzer will help police determine whether drivers involved in the crash were being unlawfully distracted by their mobile phone.

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

New York Senator Terrence Murphy and Assembly Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz have partnered with Distracted Operators Risk Casualties (DORC), an awareness organization, to propose a bill that would allow authorities to examine phones at an accident site.

Under legislation proposed in New York, drivers involved in accidents would have to submit their phone to roadside testing from a textalyzer to conclude whether the driver was using a phone ahead of a crash. The law enforcement officers would be able to see when a phone had been used but not conversations, phone numbers, photos or any information on the device.

I have often heard there is no such thing as a breathalyzer for distracted driving  so we created one, Ben Lieberman, co-founder of DORC, said in a statement. Respecting drivers personal privacy, however, is also important, and we are taking meticulous steps to not violate those rights.

Failure or refusal to hand over a device would result in the revocation of the drivers license or permit. Police officers would also be able to assume that the driver was using their phone at the time of the incident. If the driver does refuse, a warrant could be obtained by the police.

The roadside technology is being developed by Cellebrite, an Israeli firm specialising in mobile forensics, who is also believed to have assisted the FBI in cracking the San Bernardino iPhone last month. The company already has working technology that would be able to examine a phone at the side of the road.

With basic mobile forensic knowledge and minimal training, field professionals can perform mobile device examinations, in real time, as part of their daily operations, the companys website claims.

The legislation was prompted, in part, by the death of Ben Liebermans son, Evan, who was killed by a distracted driver in New York in 2011. Lieberman, who founded DORC in the wake of his son Evans death, said that drivers need to be held accountable to keep people from dying.

Distracted driving should be taken as seriously as drunk driving, Lieberman said. Its time to recognize that distracted driving is a similar impairment, and should be dealt with in a similar fashion.

Drivers who text behind the wheel are 23 times as likely to crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

After Evans death, the other drivers phone sat in a junkyard for weeks, and was never looked through by the police. Lieberman finally had his attorney subpoena the records for a civil suit.

The driver of the car that killed Evan was texting throughout the drive leading up to the crash, said Lieberman.

Liebermans family settled the civil case out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Deborah Becker, DORCs co-founder, said in a statement, According to the National Safety Council, car crash statistics spiked significantly this year and that is the first increase after 10 years of steady decline. Since drunk driving is down and todays cars are built better than ever, the addition of mobile devices in our lives becomes the most likely reason for this sudden increase.

Currently, before the New York Senate Transportation Committee, the legislation makes specific note of this provision for privacy, stating that no such electronic scan shall include the content or origin of any communication, game conducted, image or electronic data viewed on a mobile telephone or a portable electronic device. However, if the legislation receives a green signal, it will change the law so that drivers give implied consensus for police to find out whether they were using a mobile telephone or portable electronic device at or near the time of the accident or collision.
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
Babu Failed To Get Tickets For THIS Movie

Getting tickets for a hit film is quite tough for common audiences but not for film celebrities who can manage to grab their ticket for the film of their choice. But surprisingly star hero and Collection King Mohan Babu couldn't get tickets and that too for his son Manchu Vishnu's film!

Mohan Babu was thrilled with his son Manchu Vishnu's recent release Eedo Rakam Aado Rakam. The actor took to twitter said that he did not get tickets in Multiplexes due to the hit talk. However film producer Anil Sunkara was successful in getting few tickets to the actor but not as many as Mohan Babu demanded for.



Mohan Babu tweeted ''This is what I call a clean Super Hit Wanted to watch #EedoRakamAadoRakam in the theatre amongst the crowd. To enjoy their reaction. But I couldn't get tickets in Multiplexes today and @AnilSunkara1 had to be bullied for a show tomorrow in the theatre. And finally he managed But he could get far lesser tickets than I wanted. Cause they we are already sold! Congrats to the whole team. @AnilSunkara1 @itsRajTarun & Of course quite happy for @iVishnuManchu. His combination with Dir GNR proved successful again. Congratulations once again! Lot more to come (sic)



The film which was released yesterday is going with decent collections. But Onlookers feel that this tweet from Mohan Babu looks more of an exaggeration than appreciation.











News Posted: 16 April, 2016








Aruna alleges scam in Palamuru RR tenders

Hyderabad, April 16 (INN): Congress MLA D.K. Aruna has alleged that a huge scam took place in survey tenders for Palamuru Ranga Reddy project in Mahabubnagar district.



Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan here on Saturday, Aruna said that tenders worth Rs. 100 crore were called for survey of four out of six packages. However, she alleged that tenders have been allotted to ineligible companies in violation of set norms. She also alleged that those companies were 'benamis' of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.



Aruna said that the Palamuru Ranga Reddy irrigation project was originally conceived by previous Congress regime. Stating that the project was good and it would help the farmers when completed, she accused the TRS Government of deviating from the original place. She demanded immediate cancellation of tenders.









News Posted: 16 April, 2016








Heat wave warning for three more days

Hyderabad, April 16 (INN): The India Meteorological Department on Saturday said that dry weather was likely to prevail over Telangana State. Most places of Telangana State are very likely to record maximum temperature between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius, the Met Department said in its bulletin.



Issuing a heat wave warning for next three days for Telangana, the Met Department said heat wave conditions are very likely to prevail over many parts in the districts of Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Medak, Mahaboobngar, Nalgonda and Warangal. There was rise in maximum temperatures at one or two places over Telangana on Saturday. The highest maximum temperature of 45 Deg Celsius was recorded at Nizamabad followed by 44 in Adilabad and Medak, 43 in Badrachalam, Hanmakonda, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Ramagundam, 42 in Khammam and Hakimpet. The maximum temperature in Hyderabad was 41 Deg Celsius.









News Posted: 16 April, 2016








ACCC chairman Rod Sims. Japanese shipping company NYK has pleaded guilty to criminal cartel conduct. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims says retailers need to tread carefully in making any demands for ad hoc payments, especially if the amounts of money are large or any commercial "threats" are connected to non-payment. "If the demands are not in accordance with a contract or if it relates to significant sums of money or is accompanied by commercial threats, we would of course pursue it," Mr Sims says. "I would hope our court case we established with Coles sends a message about what can and can't be done [with suppliers]." Wesfarmers did not comment on the supplier claims beyond its statements in relation to the rebate issue from earlier in the week.

It's a shadowy part of the retail landscape and most suppliers are too frightened to speak out publicly for fear of losing their contracts. Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder says he first became aware of the rebate scandal on March 24 and an internal investigation was launched. The probe claimed the scalp of Target's outgoing managing director Stuart Machin before it was even released. It's understood the details of the rebate debacle were leaked to the media from a senior source within Wesfarmers, forcing the conglomerate to act quickly to limit any further damage and defend its much-admired corporate culture. Speaking after the report was released, Mr Goyder described the use of rebates to boost Target's earning as "breathtakingly stupid". The scandal centred on about 31 overseas suppliers, which allegedly agreed to pay Target additional rebates in exchange for higher prices on their product lines before the end of the financial year.

But it appears local suppliers were also under pressure to make extra contributions, including advertising and promotional charges as Target's senior team turned to creative accounting to polish up the half-year result. These charges fall outside the fixed-rebate agreements and are part of the far murkier world of levies and charges that suppliers pay to keep their products on the shelves of Australia's big retail chains. It's a shadowy part of the retail landscape and most suppliers are too frightened to speak out publicly for fear of losing their contracts. There's nothing unusual about the big chains charging suppliers for products to appear in catalogues, but demands for large advance payment, such as the small Target supplier received, are uncommon, according to experienced retailers.

A manufacturer says he was routinely asked to contribute one-off promotional charges on purchase orders that basically "wiped out" his profit margin on the sale. He says retailers dangled the big carrot of future orders to justify the charges but orders depended on a range of variables such as seasonal demand, pricing and how products were promoted. In its death throes late last year, it's understood collapsed electronics brand Dick Smith pressured its suppliers to bring forward all possible payments, including advertising charges and promotional costs, as it battled to make up for sagging sales. Another supplier revealed Target approached it late last year with a request for six months of advertising charges. The small business agreed to the big charge as long as Target would raise purchase orders through to the end of the financial year. Target notionally agreed to raise the orders but they never materialised  and then the advertising charge was deducted from the supplier's monthly invoice.

The supplier strongly objected to this and after considerable haggling the funds were eventually paid back. It appeared that Target was "testing" the supplier, a source close to the retailer says, to see if it could get away with the charge without sharing any of the risk with the supplier. Negotiations with suppliers have already landed Wesfarmers in hot water after it was fined $10 million in 2014 for unconscionable behaviour towards suppliers at Coles and forced to pay back $12 million to grocery suppliers after a review found its buyers acted in a threatening and aggressive manner. And Woolworths' demands for Mind the Gap payments from suppliers landed it in court this year after the ACCC launched proceedings in December over allegations that Woolworths developed a strategy, approved by senior management, to urgently reduce a $50 million shortfall in its first-half profits. Woolworths is defending the legal acton. The concentration of ownership in the Australian retail sector, including the major supermarket chains, has pushed retail rebates beyond similar charges in Britain and the US, and market watchers claim it partly accounts for the high prices Australians pay for groceries and general merchandise.

Rebates are based on a fixed percentage charge that is deducted from a supplier's invoice, or the wholesale cost of an order, to fund promotions or discounts. On top of these charges the suppliers get hit with a range of more ad hoc charges to cover things such as catalogues or special advertising campaigns. "Rebates are pretty much a fixed percentage of our trading terms agreement, they come off all purchases made through our warehouse and they're exorbitant," a supplier says. "The catalogue advertising requests that come through from all retailers, except Aldi, are over and above these rebates. "Buyers tend to understand that we build in these costs into the products. However, the official party line from retailers is they expect suppliers not to build the cost in and provide this as a genuine volume discount. "They have normal margin expectations when selling product and fail to consider any rebates when calculating margins at retail. It is almost like rebates go into a separate profit centre for the business."

A supplier who sells into the Australian and British retail markets says Australian retailers often complain about products selling for less in Britain than in Australia. He says the biggest difference between the two territories was the cost of rebates, which run 8-10 per cent overseas in his slice of the retail market, compared with up to 15 per cent in Australia. "I often have retailers asking why certain products are cheaper overseas than in Australia and this is why," he says. He said the growth of rebate rates, which are up more than 20 per cent at some big-name retailers in Australia, meant it was unlikely they would be unwound any time soon, despite pressure for chains such as like Aldi, which does not charge rebates. "I've been in retail since the 1980s and rebates have always been there but over that journey they have taken on a different role," he says.

"What would happen if everyone gave up rebates? There would be a huge hole ... there is just that much income generated from rebates." An experienced retailer said it was essential companies had strong financial controls to ensure transparency over supplier rebates and charges. "Rebates are tricky and complex because there are many ways to skin that cat," he says. "They can be used, which is what happened at Target, to bring forward earnings ... they can be messy and often hard for auditors because they are not transparent." Wesfarmers said this week there was no excuse for the conduct that had occurred at Target and Mr Goyder said there was no reason or suggestion that rebates had been used at any of its other retail businesses to bolster earnings.

Retail analyst Brian Walker says retail rebates are all about "squeezing as much money out of suppliers as possible" and illustrate the uneven power relationship between producers, suppliers and the major retail brands in Australia. He says the problem in Australia, with the concentrated ownership of big retail brands, is that "quite often retailers were big enough to monopolise supply and that's a difficult situation for suppliers". However, Walker says Australia's ongoing appeal to the big, international retail brands was slowly breaking the stranglehold of the major brands. "Rebates will come under more and more pressure as competition opens up the market."
In 1955 a 13-year-old schoolgirl named Bronwyn Setright told her friends she was going to be the first female prime minister of Australia. They laughed at her of course but she very nearly got there.

She joined the Liberal Party at 17 and after dabbling in law  and acting on the 1960 TV drama show Divorce Court  she began climbing the political ladder, her eye always on that ultimate prize.

Now named Bronwyn Bishop, last night her career was hanging in the balance as she battled for pre-selection in Mackellar, the Sydney seat she has held for 22 years. And she was not going down without a fight.

Ms Bishop made six unsuccessful attempts to get into parliament before finally winning a Senate seat in 1987.
Ghassan Moughabghab, the lawyer for Ms Faulkner, confirmed negotiations between the two parties were underway.

But the father, Lebanese man Ali Elamine, is said to be unwilling to drop charges against the 60 Minutes crew, amid reports the Nine Network gave Ms Faulkner more than $100,000 to fund the child-retrieval operation.

The parents at the centre of a bungled child-recovery operation are attempting to negotiate a custodial agreement, the lawyer for Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner has told Fairfax Media.

He said Mr Elamine was seeking that the pair's divorce be concluded in Lebanon.

Ali Elamine with his children Lahala, 6, and Noah, 4. Credit:Channel Nine

Ms Faulkner is demanding access to her children, reportedly either in Lebanon, Australia or a third country, and is said to be willing to drop her claim for custody if Mr Elamine drops abduction charges against her. She has provided Fairfax Media with 150 emails she says she sent over the past 12 months begging her ex-husband to let her see her children.

Ms Faulkner said Mr Elamine never answered her requests. Ms Faulkner has an Australian custodial ruling in her favour while Mr Elamine has a Lebanese custodial ruling in his favour. Mr Moughabghab said Mr Elamine was prepared to drop charges against Ms Faulkner if she was prepared to drop charges against him in an Australian court.

The judge, Rami Abdullah, who is presiding over the case, which has gained international media coverage because of the Nine Network's role in the dramatic child-recovery operation in Beirut, is said to be sympathetic to Ms Faulkner's case. He does not see her actions as a kidnapping but rather a desperate attempt by a mother to reunite with her children.
The CFMEU's national secretary has described an Australian Federal Police officer's alleged decision to bring up his knowledge of the personal details of the ACT branch secretary's children during a raid last year as "cowboy activity".

The union's lawyer, Phillip Pasfield of Slater and Gordon, sent a letter to the Commonwealth Ombudsman last week detailing allegations of police heavy-handedness against members in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland.

CFMEU ACT branch secretary Dean Hall's children were mentioned by an AFP officer during a raid last year, according to a letter the union has sent to the Commonwealth Ombudsman. Credit:Jay Cronan

The letter details a conversation between the union's ACT branch secretary Dean Hall and an AFP officer during a raid in August last year, during which the latter allegedly scrolled through the former's mobile phone and found his wife by name.

Mr Pasfield claims Hall said words to the effect of, "have you gone through all my finances and everything?" to which the officer replied: "you are giving me too much credit".
Hundreds of additional police and specialist officers will be funded in this month's state budget as the Andrews government moves to tackle Victoria's rising tide of youth crime, family violence and drugs.

Weeks after the latest official statistics revealed crime rates soared by 8.1 per cent last year, Premier Daniel Andrews has sought to ramp up his law-and-order credentials with plans for more cops on the beat and a much-needed boost in equipment and technology.

The Andrews government will be funding hundreds of additional police and specialist officers. Credit:Justin McManus

A budget package to be unveiled on Sunday will include 20 new Special Operations Group (SOG) officers to help police respond to terrorist threats and other risks; a new special operations training facility; and a further 24 forensic experts to improve crime scene investigations.

More than 300 new officers are also expected to be funded, fulfilling a promise to give Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton additional resources to keep the community safe in the wake of events such as last month's gang-related Moomba brawl in the heart of Melbourne's CBD.
It has only taken 70 years, but the newfound transparency in the method for choosing the next United Nations chief is certainly welcome. At the UN headquarters in New York last week, nine quality candidates outlined their vision for the global organisation  the first time such a canvassing process has ever been undertaken. It should be a normal practice. The job of UN secretary-general is vital, the ideal of one person to speak as a voice of conscience for 7 billion. The entire world should have a chance to judge the character of those aspiring to lead.

But in keeping with the reality of global power that has so hobbled the universal "we the peoples" aspiration the UN was meant to embody, the organisation's next chief has always previously been anointed in a backroom deal by the great powers. This could again happen after the incumbent Ban Ki-moon finishes his second five-year-term at the end of this year. The permanent members of the Security Council  Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States  wield a veto over the appointment. Russia has taken a particular interest, given the expectation the next secretary-general will hail from the eastern European group of countries, but all the great powers will insist on a say.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will step down from his role at the end of this year. Credit:AP

Since its founding after the ashes of the Second World War, the functioning of the UN has been hostage to great power rivalry. In an editorial in November 1945, just months after the UN Charter was signed, The Age warned of the importance of unity to the gigantic task of peace-making. "Unless accord can be established, the auspices for a smooth working of the United Nations' organisation are not very promising." So it has come to pass.

But while the UN is far from perfect, it would be a mistake to dismiss the worth of the global organisation altogether, or pretend the choice of leader is incidental. The UN has struggled to ameliorate the scourge of war, as was its mandate, but the organisation has quietly succeeded in the goal of promoting global co-operation. The World Health Organisation, for instance, has demonstrated the importance of a system that transcends the borders of countries, where no virus will stop to have a passport stamped. International telecommunications and postal services are also areas where the UN has helped connect a world otherwise divided.
The PM again trots out the well-worn phrase that "we must live within our means". Does this mean $4000 helicopter rides are a thing of the past? That we will dispense with the ludicrous idea of paying politicians $273 a night to live in their Canberra homes when Parliament is sitting? When it comes to largesse, politicians make the rules and lead the way. Is it any wonder they are held in such low regard by the majority of taxpayers. Hans Pieterse, Narre Warren North New slogan is meaningless and unhelpful The slogan that we must "live within our means" is as meaningless as it is useless. Most people try to do just that. But, of course, there are those who live well beyond the means of others; many even need accounts in tax havens to help them make ends meet. And if we all lived within our means and resisted borrowing, surely that wouldn't be good for the banks and the economy? Henry Herzog, St Kilda East

Protect embryo donors IVF has achieved amazing results. But many patients experience a emotional roller-coaster of loss, grief and finally exhilaration when there is a pregnancy and the birth of a much-wanted child. The roller-coaster can continue regarding whether surplus embryos should be destroyed or donated. The emotional impact of embryo donation can be far-reaching, affecting the donor, their children and their extended family. And it affects the recipient who, while thrilled to have a child, may grieve about the lack of a genetic connection. These emotional aspects should be further understood so that appropriate counselling procedures are developed. Appropriate legislation is vital to ensure all parties are treated respectfully. A donor acting in good faith should not be left to sort out all the ethics with little support. It would appear the media became Natalie Parker's main source of help ("Probe launched into donor case", 10/4). She was trying to ensure children born from donated embryos had basic human rights. These include access to one's genetic family who can provide ongoing information about heritage and medical background, rights that most people take for granted. Name withheld, Mont Albert

A danger to science Adam Morton's missive "Science friction" (10/4) exposes big holes in CSIRO boss Dr Larry Marshall's idea of how to manage the organisation. That scientists should focus on work that can be sold is daft. Only four out of 1000 patents ever make money; picking a winner is akin to gambling. Second, his justification for cutting climate measurement and sacking scientists in that field is a phoney one. Ask the scientists with enormous knowledge whether the problem is proven. If they answer yes, then ask them to find a solution to global warming, instead of sacking them; they are best placed. Third, Marshall's thesis that "the days of science for science's sake were over" should be rejected out of hand. Contemplate what Leonardo da Vinci said 500 years ago: "He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards a ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast." Marshall is a danger to Australian science. Bill Mathew, Parkville Beware the rising anger

Noel Whittaker writes that $45,000, saved in one year, "would be an adequate deposit for most properties". The mean price of residential dwellings sold in the quarter ending December 31, 2015, was $612,100, according to the ABS. Meanwhile, Nicole Pederson-McKinnon suggests it would take a 20 per cent deposit to provide a buyer with a "decent equity margin and ... avoid extortionate lenders' mortgage insurance". This implies a deposit of more than $120,000  Mr Whittaker's potential buyer is only a third of the way there. In a separate column, the suggestion is that the "bank of mum and dad" might help. It is hardly fair that a major determinant of whether the next generation can buy a home is how willing their parents are to assist them. A sensible discussion would focus on policies that are distorting the property market and costing the budget significant sums each year. These include the capital gains tax exemption on the family home ($46 billion), negative gearing (in the vicinity of $5 billion) and the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for investors ($5 billion). Political parties will eventually need to tackle this foregone revenue, for budgetary and populist reasons. The shift of wealth from general taxpayers to property owners will become ever less acceptable as an increasing proportion of voters is locked out of the property market. Andy Bubb, South Yarra Bank of mum and dad

Gab Doquile argues that children should be "kicked out of home" once they finish school (Opinion, 10/4). She plans to make her son move into a share house, to teach him independence, as well as gaining her freedom back. What sort of independence is her son gaining if mum and dad are still paying his bills? The other people in the share house will indeed find their flatmate spoilt and indulged, as they pay their own way. The skills that Doquile suggest can only be mastered out of home  shopping, cooking and cleaning  can certainly be learnt at home. Mary-Jane Boughen, Murrumbeena Include school fees The Bracks funding review ("Education 101: put student needs first", 10/4) gives Victoria a golden opportunity to fix two serious problems. First, as teachers make up more than 80 per cent of the core running costs of a school, it is vital that funding be based on an explicit staffing formula. Due to changes the Coalition made in 1992, secondary schools had 2578 fewer teachers last year than they would have had in 1981. Second, making the Victorian government responsible for funding schools in all sectors would bring us closer to the integrated system we need for higher achievement. But such a scheme cannot be the Howard/Gonski socioeconomic funding model  which ignores school fees. It has to be one that makes the Catholic and other low and no-fee non-government schools partners in providing education to all types of students, as is the case throughout the OECD. Both needs would be helped if we had one teachers' union and one award for teaching conditions throughout the state and, eventually, the country.

Chris Curtis, Hurstbridge Promoting inequality Farrah Tomazin (10/4) refers to the PM's "question why performance (in education) has declined despite increased investment in real terms". Unfortunately the money is being spent in ways that entrench inequality between school sectors and hence students. If this were due to carelessness that would be regrettable. But when it is driven by an ideology that sees the purpose of education as perpetuating inequality, it's a disgrace. Jim Spithill, Ashburton Constant uncertainty

We have magicians in Canberra. We are told we can feel pleased as all children are now out of detention. With a sleight of hand the government has reclassified sections of detention centres as "community detention"; therefore the children aren't in detention any longer. And for all those people who think community detention is a picnic  how would you like to live with: a) permanent uncertainty of what is going to happen to you; b) knowing that with only 72 hours' notice you could be sent back to Nauru or Manus or deported; c) Boredom  no work rights or any occupation that would allow you to be part of the community; and d) very little money to survive on. Try public transport more than once a week with your family and see how far the money goes. Joan Lynn, Williamstown End lorry limbo Wouldn't a simple boom across Montague Street  20 metres before the bridge and set at the same height  emblazoned with the words, "If you hit this, you'll hit the bridge!" do the job (News, 10/4)? Enough of the lorry limbo. Steve Trumble, Brighton
Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison will share a stage at the Australian Christian Lobby's annual conference with a radio host who compared the advancement of gay rights to the rise of Nazism in pre-war Germany.

Conservative American commentator and author Eric Metaxas, a keynote speaker at Saturday's event in Sydney, is also a supporter of gay conversion therapy and claims "normalising" homosexuality is an attempt to break down all sexual boundaries.

Treasurer Scott Morrison will speak at the Australian Christian Lobby's annual conference, sharing a stage with anti-gay rights figures.

In a 2011 interview he drew parallels between the current push for equality and the Church failing to stand up to the Nazi party.

Another star attraction, Jeffery Ventrella, is a leading attorney with the US Alliance Defending Freedom  a Christian legal juggernaut bankrolling an international push to restrict LGBTI rights  who believes homosexuality is a "profound risk" to physical and mental health.
A Sydney mother-of-four claims she has been left in limbo six months after being threatened with deportation from Australia and separated from her young children.

Venezuelan-born Ivonne Henriquez managed to win a visa extension last year to allow her to stay in Australia while she and her former husband sorted out custody arrangements for their children, aged between 7 and 13.

Mother of four Ivonne Henriquez is facing deportation and separation from her children when her visa expires. Credit:Facebook

However, Ms Henriquez said the case has dragged on and her temporary visa is due to expire in August.
Brisbane is only beginning to realise one of its most significant exports to the world - punk rock.

And at a Brisbane Open House event  Punks on Petrie - at Petrie Terrace's Lefty's Old Time Music Hall on Saturday, the incubation of that 40-year export to the world will be unpacked.

The Saints' 'I'm Stranded' album cover.

Brisbane's western suburbs spawned The Saints, who recorded and released the world pioneering punk rock single "(I'm) Stranded" in Brisbane in September 1976.

Fans loved it, but It was ignored by major reviewers in Australia until Britain's Sounds magazine declared it "the single of this week and every week".
A compromise deal has been struck on one of Victoria's longest-running planning sagas, with the Turnbull government brokering an agreement for a multi-million-dollar research centre at Point Nepean National Park.

Following years of angst over the park's fate, the redevelopment of Point Nepean is one step closer after Melbourne University was given the green light to build a National Centre for Coasts and Climate on the site of the old Quarantine Station.

Part of the Quarantine Station at Point Nepean.

The Sunday Age can reveal that a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the university and the Andrews government, unlocking $2.1 million in federal funds to create a marine centre for research on coastal ecology and management as well as delivering teaching in those areas.

Once the centre is formally approved it will form part of a larger master plan that could pave the way for other tourist drawcards such as restaurants or low-rise accommodation.
Amalie experiences countless seizures each day of varying degree. "It could be a 15-second drop seizure where she loses muscle tone and her head will fall and her limbs will drop, she might have short moments of eyes flickering. They can last anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes," Renae explains. "Anything longer than a five-minute seizure, we have to give her what we call 'rescue medication' to help bring her out of the seizure. They're like a sedative so they slow everything down. She's non-mobile and non-verbal, so I have no idea how it affects her." Perth mother Kylie* administers an oral capsule form of medicinal cannabis to her four-year-old son Joseph* who suffers from Dravet Syndrome, an extreme form of epilepsy. Prior to using this therapy he was having major seizures at least once every 10 days. "When he seizes he goes into what they call a status seizure, which is anything over 20 minutes," she explains.

"The last seizure he had, he seized for seven hours. They have a whole protocol of drugs that they go through, but they ended up having to put him in a coma and put him in ICU on a ventilator to try to stop it. "The first time he used medicinal marijuana he was 18 months old and went six months seizure-free. He started talking in sentences, and he started going from a fairly unsteady walk into a strong walk, and then started running." Kylie says the drug needs to be regulated so its effectiveness can be accurately assessed. "His quality of life has gotten a lot better, his communication has gotten better, he's able to tolerate things a lot more," she says. "But it needs to be legalised so we know its consistency, so it's a pure drug, so we know there aren't any other chemicals in there and know it was processed the right way. It would take the fear out of that and it would take the fear out of getting in trouble about it."

Chief executive officer of the Epilepsy Association of WA, Suresh Rajan, says of the 24,500 West Australians with epilepsy, some 7500 have an uncontrolled type. He estimates 10 per cent of those illegally use marijuana in some form. "Anecdotally, I have people who have gone from 300 seizures a day down to 200 or 300 days seizure free," Mr Rajan says. "This is significant improvement." Legislation allowing for medicinal cannabis in Australia was passed through Federal Parliament in February 2016. Under the new scheme, patients with a valid medical prescription can possess and use marijuana products manufactured from marijuana legally grown in Australia, provided the supply has been authorised under the Therapeutic Goods Act and relevant state laws. The next step is conducting clinical trials to determine which of the 48 different types of epilepsy it affects, which of the patent medications it can replace and what side effects can occur.

According to Amalie's neurologist, she should take part in a trial when one comes to Perth. "We'd love for it to happen," Renae says. "It all depends on when it comes on board. We've been waiting for quite some time and trialling different medications and dosages, which have had no effect on the number of seizures or the length of seizures that she's having. "Some of them can have extreme side effects like deadly rash, swelling of the face and lips, muscle weakness, kidney and liver disease, bone volume reduction, behavioural issues, and depression and suicidal thoughts. Those worry me because she can't tell me how she's feeling." Renae says the benefits of medical marijuana could be life changing for Amalie and her family.
Fireball Tim's Malibu Vlog - Ferraris, 650hp Dodge Viper and Jerry Seinfeld's Porsche GTS +VIDEO







HOLLYWOOD USA - April 16, 2016: Top episodes this week includes Fireball visits Ferraris by driving the amazing 650hp 2016 Dodge Viper SRT GTC, spots Jerry Seinfeld's Porsche GTS in Malibu, Actress Alexandra Paul's Heath Tips from CHRISTINE and Corvettes of Aliso Viejo. Be sure to Subscribe to the Show!

FIREBALL MALIBU VLOG is an Automotive Hollywood Video Blog starring Filmmaker, Hollywood Car Designer and Host Fireball Tim. He takes us on a weekly automotive journey through his show from the beaches of Malibu and Southern California, featuring amazing CAR CULTURE, CELEBRITY Interviews and Automotive DESTINATIONS. Fireball is a legend in the Car Design world, having conceived vehicles for over 400 of Hollywood's biggest films, Author and Award Winning Filmmaker and has been a Host for Speed, TLC, Discovery and Velocity. He's also the Host of THE MALIBU CARS & COFFEE Event showcasing some of the best cars and celebs in the world. Subscribe to his Vlog on Youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/fireballtim) hit his Automotive Blog ( http://www.fireballtim.com) & be sure to check out the VLOG STORE https://shop.spreadshirt.com/fireballmalibuvlog
When I last spoke with Danny DeVito at the Sundance Film Festival in January, he was feeling the Bern pretty strong. But now that Bernie Sanders has closed the gap with frontrunner Hillary Clinton, winning seven of the last eight Democratic primaries, the lovable star of films such as Twins, L.A. Confidential, and Romancing the Stone, has ramped it up to 11.

Last month, DeVito introduced the Vermont senator at a rally in St. Louis, Missouri. With a wooden box in tow, he stepped up to the lectern, and, addressing a crowd in the tens of thousands, proclaimed, We need you Obi-Wan!

Im seated with DeVito in Tribeca, where hes promoting his heartwarming short Curmudgeons, which made its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Last night, of course, his candidate went toe-to-toe with Clinton at a CNN-hosted debate in Brooklyn, and DeVito felt the moderators gave his guy a raw deal.

The debate last night was like the Clinton News Network, he says. I was hoping somebody would time the amount of times Wolf Blitzer butted in on Bernie Sanders and let Hillary continue. I think that red light was blinking like crazywe couldnt see itand every time Bernie raised his hand, they just let Hillary go.

As far as the contenders performances go, DeVito took issue with the way Hillary handled a question posed several times to her by CNN moderator Dana Bash about her continued refusal to release transcripts of the six-figure speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs.

Show us the transcripts of the speeches to Goldman Sachs, DeVito says of Clinton, Time and time again shes been asked that question. Look, I think shes an intelligent woman and I voted for her husband twice. Shes a lawyer from Illinois whos adopted New York State because it was the smart thing to do, and thats OK because, hey, thats politics. But why wont she answer a question? Why does she keep saying, Ill show you the transcripts when anyone else does?

One of the biggest moments of Thursday nights Democratic debate concerned Israel, and the way its treated the Palestinian people. On the heels of Hillarys recent pro-Israel comments at AIPAC (which Bernie did not attend), both candidates were asked about the ongoing situation in Gaza. While Hillary double-down on her pro-Israel stance, Bernie scolded Israel, calling its 2014 war on Gaza a disproportionate response to Palestinian terrorist attacks, acknowledging the high civilian death toll, and closing with a message to the Israeli prime minister: There comes a time when if we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that [Benjamin] Netanyahu is not right all of the time. Oddly, the comments came the same day the Sanders campaign chose to suspend a staffer for being critical of Netanyahu.

Watching at home, DeVito says he was impressed with Bernies answer, and disappointed in Hillarys canned response.

I thought last night, in New York City, where the Israeli lobby is big and everybody is talking about Israel, Bernie really stood up for the Palestinians, says DeVito. Just say that you think there was excessive force the last time the Israelis attacked Gaza! No. She couldnt say it. Its gettin sticky because you dont want the same thing to happen there that happened in South Africa. You dont want that.

DeVito is also adamant that, despite Hillarys imposing superdelegate advantage over Bernie, her current lead among pledged delegates, and her presumed victory in Tuesdays New York Democratic primary, Bernie can carry his current momentum all the way to the nomination.

Its a lot of people thinking, I dont matter. My vote does not matter. And every vote does matter. If we can mobilize people this week, get em to the polls on Tuesday, thats the thing that will lift up the Democratic Party and absolutely take the nomination for Bernie, he says. I really think he can win. I do, continues DeVito. The superdelegates, we all know they can change your mind. But the will of the people can win; its not so much anything else. You can try to pour tons of corporate money into the system and steer it by having the mainstream media be run by all these corporations in this club, but the peoplethe middle class, the students, the people in debt up to their eyeballsthose people are the ones that will get out in the streets and get things done. If you put Bernie Sanders in the White House, the rest is gonna fall into place, because what he wants people are going to give him, because hes a man people trust.

To play devils advocate, I asked DeVito why, if Bernie cares so much about issues like racial prejudice and inequality, hed choose to decamp from his native Brooklyn to Vermont because, as hes said, he was captivated by rural life. While Vermont is indeed a beautiful state, with its 94 percent white populationthe second in the country behind Maineits not all that representative of modern America.

The question seems to stump DeVito. Right Why did he go to Vermont? he says, before breaking for a long pause. Thats a great question. Did anybody ever ask him why he moved to Vermont? We need to get to the bottom of this.
Whether or not Donald Trump knows it, hes running his presidential campaign out of Eric Hoffers playbook.

That would be The True Believer, published 65 years ago this spring, a book about mass movements. Hoffers big insight was that the followers of Nazism and Communism were essentially the same sort of true believers, the most zealous acolytes of religious, nationalist, and other mass movements throughout history. In 1951, it was stunning to Americans to be told that ultra-right-wing Nazis and ultra-left-wing Communiststheir recent enemies of World War II and current enemies in the Cold Warwere, according to Hoffer, cut from the same cloth.

All mass movements, he explained, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they project, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred, and intolerance.

Hatred and hope were the most important lures, Hoffer contended, hatred much more than hope: Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.

Trumps followers have responded most enthusiastically to the candidates diatribes against such devils as Mexicans and other illegal immigrants, Muslims of any stripe, unattractive or pushy women, clueless policy-makers, loser opposing candidates, and reporters who ask him other than softball questions.

The pollsters tell us that Trumps followers share a decided affinity for authoritarianism, as well as beliefs that government causes more problems than it solves and that immigrants (and people with darker skins, and women) have stolen their jobs and their futures.

More: Trumpsters have little regard for facts that contradict their stances. Hoffer could have predicted this. It is the true believers ability to shut his eyes and stop his ears to facts that do not deserve to be either seen or heard which is the source of his unequaled fortitude and constancy. He cannot be frightened by danger nor disheartened by obstacle nor baffled by contradictions because he denies their existence.

Hoffer described in detail who the true believers were: the frustrated, the disaffected, the dissatisfied with the status quo, those who put their faith in a leader promising simple yet radical solutions to their and societys problems. We join a mass movement, Hoffer wrote, to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the young Nazi, to be free from freedom.

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the loss of faith in ourselves.

All mass movements deprecate the present, wrote Hoffer, and there is no more potent dwarfing of the present than by viewing it as a mere link between a glorious past and a glorious future. Thats what Trump is doing when he vows to make America great againcelebrating what was and will be, while denigrating what is.

Trumpsters are predominantly white, native-born American males who do not have college degrees, and are economically in the lower middle class rather than among the very poorest. Actually, in these ways they are more like Eric Hoffer than many other Americans. In a 1964 article, Hoffer identified himself and his fellow longshoremen as white men from poor backgrounds, with little education and no skills except for their willingness to do backbreaking manual labor, who do not feel that the world owes us anything, or that we owe anybodywhite, black, or yellowa damn thing.

Hoffer was the only child of Alsatian immigrants, born in the Bronx around the turn of the 20th centurysometimes he said 1898, at others, 1902who grew up poor. When he was 5 he and his mother fell down a flight of stairs; she died and he went blind. His blindness prevented him from going to school, and upon regaining his sight at 15 he continued studying on his own until he was 18, when his father died. Using a small death award from his fathers union, Hoffer traveled to Los Angeles and in the 1920s became a day-worker and Skid Row denizenreading voraciously in libraries between gigsin the 1930s an itinerant agricultural field hand, and in 1943 a unionized San Francisco dockworker, a position he retained even after becoming a best-selling author, and until he reached mandatory retirement age in 1967.

He initially took that job on the docks to have more stability to write, but retained the wariness of the itinerant, knowing, as he told his first editor, that he must guard against fear, self-righteousness, and wishful thinking, for these blunt the mind and the senses. In the same vein, Hoffer chose not to read Freud, Marx, or other influential intellectualshe hated intellectualsso that he would not be swayed by their explanations and jargon. During his itinerant years he began jotting down his thoughts in 3-by-5 inch notebooks carried in his pockets and backpacks, which I was able to consult at the Hoover Institution for my 2011 biography, American Iconoclast: The Life and Times of Eric Hoffer.

Unlike Trumps followers, Hoffer early on understood that undesirables were not the enemy. That revelation occurred in 1934, when as a transient fruit-and-vegetable picker he was swept up and placed in the El Centro camp at the edge of the southern California desert near the Mexican border, and for the first time had to co-exist with 200 other men. Prior to that, he considered himself just a human being, neither good nor bad, and on the whole, harmless, but after a month at El Centro he realized he belonged to a certain type of humanity, the undesirables.

Some were lame, some were foreign-born, some were tramps, some were much darker-skinned than the rest but, he concluded, all were the same as the undesirables who for generations had fled from Europe and Asia and became American pioneers, the people who for 300 years had built our farms and roads and cities and institutions.

Throughout the rest of his life, Eric Hoffer continued to venerate and celebrate the undesirables as Americas real founding fathers.
LESBOS, GreeceIf he could have, Pope Francis would have surely packed all 4,000 or so refugees of various nationalities stuck on the Greek island of Lesbos into the back of the papal plane when he flew home to Rome on Saturday. As it happened, he could only take 12, including six minors ranging in age from two to 17, who were chosen by a draw and given special clearance for relocation to Italy.

The refugees wont live inside the Vatican walls. Instead the Rome-based community of SantEgidio will see to their housing in Rome and the Vatican will pay for it and help them find jobs, Francis said on the papal plane back to Rome, just as they already do with two other Syrian families they sponsor in Rome.

Quoting Mother Teresa, who he will be canonizing into sainthood in September, Francis told reporters on his plane the decision to bring back refugees was nothing but a drop of water in the ocean, but without that drop it wouldnt be the same sea, he said. I answer like this, its a small gesture, but a small gesture every man, every woman should do to help those in need.

Now the question is whether or not anyone else will follow suit. The Syrian refugee crisis is not going away any time soon. As many as 2 million Syrian refugees are trapped in Turkey according to the European Commission. The fact that human traffickers taking people from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos have largely been put out of business thanks to a contentious accord between the European Union and Turkey only means they will have to find another way to relative safety.

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, referred to as one out, one in, refugees arriving illegally on the island after March 20 are subject to deportation back to Turkey. In exchange for every refugee deported, no matter where they might be from, vetted Syrian refugees stuck in Turkish camps will be flown to European countries for official relocation. There is no word whether or not the popes 12 Syrians will factor into the formula or if it will be seen as a sort of aside. Either way, there were plenty of protesters in Lesbos during his visit trying to get his attention with banners and chants like, E.U., Shame on you.

During his brief time on the island, he visited the infamous Moria detention camp, surrounded by razor wire where refugees told The Daily Beast that ahead of the papal visit the camp had been tidied up. The bathrooms had been cleaned and the sewers that are normally overflowing drained. They also said they had been given showers and clean clothes for the first time in weeks. I wish the pope would have stayed an Afghanistan woman told The Daily Beast through the razor wire fences. This is the best we have ever been treated.

The pope, who visited the island with Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and Greek Archbishop Ieronymos, was clearly moved when he visited the camp. "I want to tell you, you are not alone," he said. "As people of faith, we wish to join our voices to speak out on your behalf. Do not lose hope.

As he met a line of refugees, a young Christian woman wearing a large crucifix made her way through the barrier and threw herself at Franciss feet wailing, No camp, no camp, she said. I want to go

Several other refugees broke down, crying uncontrollably as Francis tried to comfort them. Many refugees handed Francis and his handlers pieces of paper. The scene was like none other the pope has encountered on an apostolic visit and he was clearly moved.

Before Francis set foot in Lesbos, the Vatican said that the trip was strictly humanitarian not political. But the unprecedented gesture of actually taking refugees off the island, essentially leading by example, came as a shock to many. The pope announced his quick trip to the island just a week ago, as deportations of refugees back to Turkey were underway, but it is not clear how long the negotiations were in place. He told reporters on his plane that the idea was suggested to him by an unnamed collaborator with whom he immediately agreed.

As the plane returned to Rome, the Vatican press office sent out a prepared statement. These are all people who were already in camps in Lesbos before the agreement between the European Union and Turkey, they said, no doubt to stem concern among aid workers on Lesbos that cutting corners or essentially allowing refugees to jump the line would only cause tension among those who may be stuck in purgatory for six or seven months while their cases are heard.

The Popes imitative was brought to fruition through negotiations carried out by the Secretariat of State with the competent Greek and Italian authorities.

Two of the families are from Damascus, and one from Deir Azzor, now an ISIS stronghold. All of their houses were destroyed, the pope said after he spent the first part of the journey sitting with them on the flight, according to those on the plane.

Francis has embraced the refugee crisis since his first day on the job. His very first papal trip was to the Italian island of Lampedusa, which has, until Lesbos, been the symbolic gateway to Europe for refugees and migrants and where, like he did in Lesbos, he held a memorial ceremony for those who had died trying to make the journey.

During the flight back to Rome, he showed reporters the many drawings children now housed in despicable conditions made for him. Some showed people drowning at sea. One showed the sun crying. Children have these things in their minds and it will take time before these memories go away, he said, according to press reports from the plane. If the sun is able to cry, so can we. A tear will do us good.
It only took one hour to dismantle a nearly 200 year old Polish national treasure, and now one month later, the world class reputation of Polands state run Arabian horse breeding program is laid out on the ground like shattered glass. The destruction of the program, and the bewildering manner in which it occurred is illustrative of a far more troubling trend in the country. The unrelenting interference of Polands newly elected government.

On the very eastern edge of Poland, just 3km to the border with Belarus, where the European Union ceases to exist, there is a small village. It would be much like any other Polish town if not for it the iconic Arabian horse state stud farm, Janow Podlaski. Initiated in 1665, under the guidance of Louis XIV of France, state stud farms were designed with one purpose, to produce quality horses for local breeders and farmers. Janow Podlaski, built with the authorization of Tsar Alexander I in 1817, was designed to do the same. Theyve perfected breeding to the point where, Jaroslav Lacina, the President of the European Conference of Arab Horse Organizations, tells the Daily Beast that Janow simply has the highest reputation in the entire world.

The men I was fired alongside with had worked in their profession for 40 years, and Id been in this for 21 years, Anna Stojanowska, the former Chief Arabian Horse Specialist of Polands Agricultural Property Agency tells the Daily Beast. In one hour, we were all gone, and by all accounts, the people theyve chosen to replace us with arent capable of running the operation.

Stojanowska, along with Marek Trela and Jerzy Bialobok, the two directors of Polands world renowned studs at Janow Podlaski and Michalow, were summarily fired on February 19th of this year. Her dismissal came as a shock says Stojanowska, but at least she received a specific explanation, even though the accusation of mismanagement had nothing to do with her realm of responsibility. That was the funny part, I have no control over the thing they said Id done wrong. The other two, Trela and Bialobok were relieved of their duties without explanation.

Thanks to a newly established law by the now ruling government of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, the firings were well within the law. They were among hundreds of directors and managers of state enterprises who were sacked and replaced without any sort of competitive process. Warsaw based Lawyer Krzysztof Izdebski told the Daily Beast that although its quite common for every new party in power to bring in their own people, the scale with which PiS has done so makes it different. They created a whole new law on civil service which allowed them to rid of state officials at once without any need to look for justification. He adds, to be honest the former government was only a bit better, but at least they didnt risk putting loyal but incompetent people in significant posts.

The PiS slogan during the election campaign had been, Dobra Zmiana, or Good Change, and it had been incredibly successful. However, what happened next had Poles on social media sarcastically asking, is this what they meant by good change?

In mid March, just weeks after Trela had been released, he had been replaced by an economist loyal to the PiS party. A man who publicly admitted he had no previous horse experience. Shortly after he assumed responsibility for Janow, a horse owned by Shirley Watts, the wife of the drummer for the Rolling Stones and a 25 year client, suddenly died.

Now the situation was spiralling out of control for Polish officials. The firings had sparked the ire of the horse world, with organizations like The World Arabian Horse Organization (WAHO), a nearly fifty year old apolitical non profit dedicated to the preservation, improvement and preservation of Arabian horses, issuing supporting statements and sending concerned letters to Polish officials. But the death of Shirley Watts horse set off serious concern within Poland itself.

Ironically, the intestinal ailment that caused this horses death had been the same one that killed another horse in October. That horses value was pegged at 3 million euros. Nearly six months after it was gone, but shortly after the firing, in a response to public pressure for a justification, the death was blamed on Marek Trela.

An investigation into the death of Mrs. Watts horse was promptly announced the next day. It seemed that the hiring of a new and untrained director might have been a factor, but the allegations were quickly brushed aside by the head of the Agricultural Property Agency, Waldemar Humiecki, who said it happens quite often with horses. It was astonishingly brazen. Two deaths, both with the same cause. One led to the ending of a 40 year career, the other elicited a shrug of the shoulders.

Rafa Trzaskowski, a member of Parliament for the opposition party Civic Platform told the Daily Beast that this attitude is characteristic of PiSs wanton meddling. They think that positions in all aspects of the state should be occupied by PiS. The sheer magnitude of the changes and the chutzpah with which they are implemented, its unprecedented. They just dont care, they are not making any effort to hide what they are doing. The chutzpah with which they operate is the most dangerous part.

That Chutzpah would be challenged heavily just days ago, when another of Shirley Watts horses succumb to illness at Janow. This time the scrutiny and repercussions were much greater however. Two prize horses, belonging to a valued 25 year client and public figure, had died within weeks of each other.

When asked if there was any chance this could be a freak coincidence, a representative of the World Arabian Horse Association told the Daily Beast that coincidence is a funny thing. WAHOs Katrina Murrary said, I know that the new management did make a strange decision. They transported her to have her foal at a clinic in Warsaw, now bear in mind that the stud at Janow has been breeding horses for 200 years with very experienced staff. For whatever reason, they took her to Warsaw to have her foal and then brought her back, merely by doing that, is highly dangerous. Colic, which the horse died from, is very complex, but you cannot induce it by giving a drug or poisoning oats. You can however increase dramatically the risk of colic by moving a mare away from her familiar surroundings a few days before her foaling date.

Shirley Watts immediately began procedures to remove the remaining two horses she kept at Janow, sending a signal to the horse world. Two of the best trainers at Janow quit in protest after we were fired, says Anna Stojanowska. And then two of Shirleys horses died. We have world class horses from all over the world that come to Janow. Do you think they want to keep their horses in Poland in these circumstances? If I was in their place, I would take my horses back.

And some have, including Jaroslav Lacina, who told the Daily Beast that although hes not sure of who else has taken their horses away, he arranged to have his 3 year old colt taken away last week.

PiS, in another troubling characteristic thats quickly coming to define their tenure, sought out someone to blame. The new agriculture minister announced that the deaths were the result of foul play, hinting at a conspiracy to bring down PiS.

However, in Katrinas eyes, that doesnt hold any weight. Theyve alleged foul play. As I understand, they had samples taken of the feed and theres traces of an antibiotic that isnt normally used in horses in a couple samples of the oats. It wouldnt cause colic anyway, and secondly it wouldnt be a sufficient amount to kill a horse.

The investigation into the deaths is ongoing, with the media tightly focused on the results. Horse experts and vets now grace the screens of Polish television, keeping viewers informed of every potential detail. Either way, the damage to Polands legendary Arabian horse program seems set in stone while three extremely qualified people who could flip the switch remain on the outside looking in.

In a stunning allegation, Anna Stojanowska told the Daily Beast that she quickly realized why shed been fired. Senator Jan Dobrzinski of PiS, is also an Arabian horse breeder. He bought some mares and sent them to me for breeding. Well, one of his newborn foals died from a viral epidemic that killed several other foals. He asked for compensation of around $40,000 USD, which is much higher than the value of the foal. It was refused and at the end, the Senator said that sooner or later hed fix it. I believe that our dismissal was a result of private revenge.

Lawyer Krzysztof Izdebski thinks thats just par for the course at this point. Of course it was initiated by the politicians, and this was certainly a political decision but it is only the peak of the mountain when it comes to cronyism in Poland right now.

Senator Jan Dobrzinski and representatives of the Polish ministry of agriculture did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

In a dejected aside at Arlington National Cemetary in Virgina days ago, former Polish Prime Minister and current President of the EU was asked to comment on the situation and said, Maybe its because these things have symbolic weight. Personally I have to say that for me as a Pole, someone who takes actions that lead to the deaths of horses, and in a stud like Janow, is doing something terrible.

Finally, in reference to the iconic white birds, deeply beloved by Poles, which have migrated thousands of kilometres for centuries on end to spend summers bearing their young amongst the picturesque Polish countryside, he quipped, Im just wondering if theyre going to start shooting the storks.
Famed in sentimental ballads as Irelands fair city, during the 1919-1921 Irish War of Independence Dublin was anything but.

In the countryside what is also known as the Anglo-Irish War was largely a guerrilla conflict, waged by the Irish Republican Army against the British-controlled police and Crown military forces. The rural fight was characterized by ambushes, attacks on isolated outposts and reprisals against civilians by army auxiliaries known as Black and Tans. In Dublin the struggle was a shadow war, a lethal game of cat and mouse in which the British sought to capture or kill IRA members who, in turn, attempted to neutralize the police and army through assassination, intimidation and covert penetration. It was a brutal urban conflict in which pistols were the preferred weapon, battles were fought at close range, and quarter was rarely given.

In the spring of 1920 Pennsylvania-born Peter Ashmun Ames joined the fight in Irelandon the British side. It was the worst decision of his life.
Hector Luis El Guero Palma is scheduled for release from federal prison in Atwater, California, on June 11. Palma was the business partner of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman in the early 1990s during the grisly war for succession in the Pacific Cartel.

A U.S. court sentenced Palma to 16 years in prison in 2008, but the judge credited him for time served in Mexico, knocking off nearly eight years from the sentence. An Atwater prison spokesman told the Univision/Disney website Fusion that Palma, 55, will walk free via the good conduct time release program.

But he may be a dead man walking, and U.S. officials certainly know that.

El Guero (meaning Whitey, or Blondie) Palma and El Chapo (meaning Shorty) Guzman got their first taste of power as hit men in the 1980s working for Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, known as El Padrino, the Godfather, who was one of three kingpins in the Pacific Cartel.

El Padrino and his partners Rafael Caro Quintero and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo had led the effort to merge what previously were disparate drug-trafficking operations into one central enterprise, interlocked with Mexican state and federal security forces and government officials.

Over a decade, the original bosses of the Pacific Cartel amassed enormous fortunes. Eventually they came to feel invincible, so much so that when a gumshoe DEA agent named Enrique Kiki Camarena began making large-scale busts, confiscating their merchandise and seizing their assets, they had him abducted in broad daylight.

Camarena was tortured for 30 hours, his skull, jaw, nose, cheekbones, and windpipe crushed, a hold drilled into his skull with a screwdriver. He reportedly was injected with drugs to keep him conscious during the ordeal. His body, wrapped in plastic bags, was dumped on the side of a road outside Guadalajara.

The fallout from the Camarena murder was immense, and it exposed for the first time the massive scale of the drug business in Mexico. But for El Guero Palma and El Chapo Guzman there was a silver lining. Fonseca and Caro Quintero were arrested in 1985, and El Padrino Felix, sensing his own days were numbered, divided up his empire and put Palma and Guzman in charge of his affairs. He was arrested in 1989 and sentenced to 40 years for drug trafficking and his role in the Camarena murder.

The careful plans he had made for his own succession, however, were in vain. El Padrino Felix had given strict orders for El Guero Palma to run the business in consort with El Chapo Guzman and El Padrinos nephews, a clan of five temperamental brothers in Tijuana who formed the eponymous Arrellano-Felix Organization. But even before El Padrino was arrested, a deadly rift developed between his nephews and his erstwhile hitmen.

In 1988, the Arrellano-Felix brothers had El Guero Palmas wife murdered in San Francisco, and her head delivered to him in a giftwrapped box. El Gueros ghastly calling card back when he worked for El Padrino had been to place the head of his victim in a cooler and have it delivered to the victims family. In the days that followed the wifes murder, Palmas two young children, ages 4 and 5, were abducted and pushed to their deaths from a height of 500 feetaccounts differ as to whether they were pushed from a bridge or a low-flying plane.

Jorge Godoy was there in the pre-trial lockup when El Padrino regretted his decision to promote El Guero and El Chapo. Today, Godoy is a federally protected witness in the United States, but in the 1980s he was a homicide detective in Guadalajara who moonlighted as a bodyguard for the crime boss Fonseca. Godoy went to jail with Fonseca in 1985, and was there when the guards brought in El Padrino in 1989.

The bosses may have been behind bars, but they were still calling the shots, and Godoy was privy to meetings with big-time traffickers on the outside, like El Azul Esparragoza, who paid a visit to El Padrino in prison. I was there, I saw when they put Chapo Guzman in command, Godoy told The Daily Beast. Godoy also overheard El Padrino bemoan having asked Palma and his nephews to work together and share the spoils.

Then, said Godoy, El Guero Palma betrayed them.

Godoy recalls the reports that trickled into the jail that El Guero wasnt following orders; he was freelancing, doing private deals on the sly, and hiding the money from his boss, Godoy recalled. Blood was thicker than water in the Pacific Cartel, and when the nephews requested El Padrinos blessing to eliminate El Guero Palma, he gave it.

Hector Berrellez, the DEAs lead investigator on the Camarena murder, recalls the ensuing vendetta as the most gruesome wave of cocaine-related violence ever to seize the northern Pacific coast of Mexico. El Guero was unhinged; he sought to avenge the murders of his wife and children by the Arrellano-Felix brothers at all costs and with every violent means at his disposal.

Scores of innocent people died in the crossfire. There were indiscriminate bombings, public shootouts, a massacre at a discotheque in Puerto Vallarta; the high-profile murder victims included the attorney general for the state of Sinaloa, Francisco Rodolfo Alvarez Faber; the Sinaloan human rights activist Norma Corona, and the Archbishop of Guadalajara Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas y Ocampo.

El Guero shifted his base of operations to Tepic, the largest city in the western state of Nayarit, and built his organization to serve as a conduit for smuggling Colombian cocaine into the United States. A court filing from the U.S. Attorneys office estimates that from 1991-93 El Guero Palma, in an alliance with El Chapo Guzman that would become the Sinaloa Cartel, sneaked 25 tons of cocaine across the border hidden in cans of jalapeno peppers.

The Mexican Army arrested Palma in 1995 at the home of a federal police supervisor in Zapopan. At the time, he was with a security detail of several armed men carrying authentic federal police credentials. In Mexico, between the years of 1995 and 2004, Palmas lawyers succeeded in having at least 20 criminal charges against him dropped, including multiple charges for murder and drug trafficking.

It is rumored that Palma aided in El Chapos first prison escape in 2001, even though he himself was still in prison. In 2007 then-Mexican President Felipe Calderon had Palma extradited to face charges in the U.S.

The bitter blood feud with the Arrellano-Felix brothers had continued, and Agent Berrellez believes the extradition in 2007 may actually have saved Palmas life. Once Palma is deported back to Mexico, as expected, after his release from U.S. federal prison in June, his old enemies in the Felix family will be waiting for him. I dont know if hes going to go back to drug-trafficking or what hes going to do, Berrellez said. But its going to be very dangerous for him to return to Mexico.

There is, for example, the likely vendetta tied to the fate of Francisco Rafael Arrellano Felix, one of the brothers, who was released from prison in the U.S. and deported to Mexico. In 2013, at a celebration of his birthday, he was murdered by a cartel assassin disguised as a clown; the order is widely believed to have been come from El Chapo Guzman.

Palma may have another reason to worry about his safety in Mexico. Legal observers in Mexico anticipate that El Padrino Felix, 70, will be granted humanitarian release later this year. El Padrino has nine years remaining on his 40-year sentence for the Camarena murder; his lawyers are arguing that his advanced age and reportedly delicate state of his health merit a special dispensation of house arrest for the don.

Lawyers for Ernesto Fonseca, 87, the second of the three imprisoned bosses of the Pacific Cartel, are similarly optimistic about the capos chances for humanitarian release later this year. Fonseca has 10 years remaining on his 40-year sentence.

Indeed, history in Mexico doesnt stay in the past very long. Talk of a Pacific Cartel revival began with the 2013 release of Rafael Caro Quintero on a dubious legal technicality (The DEA stated it was deeply troubled by the release.) That ruling was overturned by the Mexican Supreme Court, but by then Caro Quintero was long gone, and sources in law enforcement suspect he has resumed leadership of cartel activity on the Pacific coast.

Prison may be a kind of living death, but the original bosses of the Pacific Cartel are still very much alive, not to mention very wealthy. The U.S. Treasury Departments blacklist of Mexican businesses linked to drug cartels shows that of the 216 money-laundering business fronts tied to Mexican drug cartels, 64 percent of the total were tied to leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, and 44 belonged to Rafael Caro Quintero alone.

Mexico doesnt stop being corrupt in protecting these guys, said Agent Berrellez. I mean, thats the way they operate down there.
So what do we make of Bernie Sanderss continuing habit of denigrating the Democratic voters of the South? He did it Wednesday night on Larry Wilmores show, when he said that having early Southern primaries distorts reality. And he did it again in the debate, when he dismissed the importance of Clintons votes from the South because the region is the most conservative part of the country.

Okay. Im (in)famously on record as saying the Democrats should just forget the South. The argument of that column, admittedly florid rhetoric aside, was that for the purposes of general elections, the Democratic Party shouldnt even try very hard in the South anymore. The party should of course fight to hold the African American House seats, and there might be occasional opportunities to swipe a seat in a college town. But other than that, for the foreseeable future, the South is gone, I argued, and the Democrats shouldnt throw good money after bad down there. You can agree or disagree with that, but it is an argument about general elections (I wrote it right after Mary Landrieu lost to Bill Cassidy in a Louisiana Senate race).

Primary elections, however, are completely different animals. Primary elections are about voters within a political partyand sometimes without, in open primaries, which are another debate that we may get to in the futurehaving their shot at choosing which candidate their party should nominate. There are of course some states that matter more than others. But there arent any individual votes that matter more than others, at least among primaries (caucuses dont usually report individual votes). For Sanders to dismiss Clintons Southern votes as distortions of reality is hugely insulting to Democrats from the region.

And to one group of Democrats in particular, who are concentrated in the South and who happen to be the most loyal Democratic voters in the country. I dont think Sanders has a racist bone in his body, but is there not a certain racial tone-deafness in dismissing the votes of millions of black voters as distortions of reality? This is the one moment, their states presidential primary, when these African American voters have a chance to flex some actual political power in the national arena.

And then to write off Clintons Southern votes as conservative is just a lie intended to fool the gullible. Sure, the South is conservative at general-election time. But at Democratic primary time, its pretty darn liberal. Its blacks and Latinos (where they exist in large numbers) and trial lawyers and college professors and school teachers and social workers and the like. Theyre not conservative, any more than the people caucusing for Sanders in Idaho and Oklahoma are conservative, and he knows it.

The topic of Sanderss own red state wins actually raises another point. Hes won seven states that both he and Clinton would/will lose by at least 15 points in November, and in many cases more like 30: Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and Alaska, along with the aforementioned two. And he won them in caucuses, not primaries, which nearly everyone agrees are less democratic, less representative of the whole of the voting population.

Now lets look at Clintons red-state wins. Shes won 10 red states: Texas, Arizona, Missouri, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina (Im calling North Carolina purple, and of course Virginia and Florida and Ohio). Neither she nor Sanders would probably win in these states either, although a Clinton win over Donald Trump seems conceivable in a couple of them.

In any case, yes, theyve both won states that are unwinnable in the fall. Yet do you hear Clinton going around saying that Sanderss victories in these states are distortions of reality? I dont. But Sanders goes around bragging, as he did at the debate, about winning eight of the last nine contests, many of them by landslide margins, referring to these very states where he or Clinton would get walloped in the fall, while denouncing her red-state wins as aberrational. What is it about his red states that countor more to the point, perhaps, what is it about hers that makes them not count?

I try to set a limit on the number of times I use the imagine if device, because candidates have different histories, and those histories provide the context for our reactions to the things they do. But here goes. Imagine if the situation were reversed and Sanders had won the Southern states, and it was Clinton dismissing Southern Democratic votes as meaningless. The more sanctimonious among Sanderss supporters would have tarred and feathered her as a racist weeks ago. Her very reputation among Democrats would likely be in tatters.

Im not sure what the thinking is in Sanders land. Their collective back is against the wall, and theyre in a high-stress situation. But Sanders and his teamwife Jane, campaign manager Jeff Weaverhave been saying these things repeatedly now, for weeks. I guess its part of an electability argument. Even that is wrongas I noted above, a couple of Clintons red states are possibly gettable in the fall, while none of Sanderss states are. But insulting your own partysoh, wait. Ah. Maybe that has something to do with this too. Whatever the reasonsnot a good look.
LESBOS, Greece  Bernie Sanders can officially thumb his nose at all the naysayers who criticized the political wisdom of a Democratic presidential candidate taking 36 hours off the campaign trail to travel to Rome just days before a major primary. He had come on a wing and a prayer, as it were, to speak briefly at a Vatican conference, but there was nothing on the popes schedule suggesting the two men would meet. Then, in the early hours of Saturday morning, the gamble paid off: Sanders got five minutes of facetime with Pope Francis.

As luck would have it for Sanders, panelists who speak at Vatican-sponsored events are given the rare opportunity to stay at the Santa Marta guesthouse inside the walls of Vatican City. Most decline. Who would want to stay in such Spartan digs in what is essentially a hostel for clerics when the glory of Rome calls? But for Sanders, the sacrifice of a midnight stroll through Romes cobbled streets or a toss of a coin into the Trevi Fountain paid off before sunrise this morning, when the Santa Martas other VIP guest, Pope Francis, was in the foyer of the hotel getting ready to leave for Lesbos, Greece. Thats where the two met for around five minutes, Sanders told the Associated Press. No photographer was present.

On the flight back from Lesbos, Francis confirmed the encounter, but played it down considerably. This morning as I was leaving, Senator Sanders was there, Francis told reporters on the plane. He knew I was coming out at that time, and he had the kindness to greet me. When I came down, he introduced himself, I greeted him with a handshake, and nothing more. Its common courtesy, this is called common courtesy."

Then, for good measure, he added, If someone thinks that greeting someone is getting involved in politics, I recommend that they find a psychiatrist.

Still, it would be unfair to call what the senator did doorstepping. Francis would have had to approve the encounter, and his security detail would have made sure Sanders wasnt just milling about the foyer when the pope was heading out if the pope wasnt inclined to meet him. Although the Vaticans official channels had nixed the possibility of a private audience, they always conceded that with this pope you never know for sure. Francis had sent a personal note to participants in the conference on Friday, apologizing for not being able to swing by to see them, though he did meet Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales Ayma during a private audience.

By Friday night, the senator hadnt given up hope. In an early-morning interview with the AP Sanders said, We had an opportunity to meet with him this morning. It was a real honor for me, for my wife and I to spend some time with him. I think he is one of the extraordinary figures not only in the world today but in modern world history.

Sanders, who faces a make-or-break primary in New York against Hillary Clinton next week, said he was humbled to meet the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, an organization with which he differs on almost every topic except the evils of capitalism and the dangers of climate change. I told him that I was incredibly appreciative of the incredible role that he is playing in this planet in discussing issues about the need for an economy based on morality, not greed, the candidate said.

Sanderss visit had raised eyebrows last week amid conflicting stories about just who invited him to speak at the conference and why. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences has been described as a think-tank sponsored by the Vatican, and the Vatican press office made it clear that the invite did not come directly from the pontiff, who does not busy himself with the approval of various speakers at the Vaticans wide-ranging organizations.

In the end, it clearly didnt really matter who invited the senator.
According to the Washington County District Attorney Office, Robert Jarrad Clark, 33, of Houston was convicted Thursday afternoon and sentenced Friday. He was arrested in Brenham on April 6, 2015, after he followed an elderly Brenham couple home from the bank, pushed the 84-year-old man to the ground and took the couple's recent cash withdrawal. During the punishment phase of the trial, officers from the Houston Police Department testified about previous dealings with Clark, including charges of burglary of a vehicle and engaging in organized criminal activity.
Entertainment / TV Guide

by Pamela Shumba

THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and Broadcasting Services has said Zimbabwe is on the verge of achieving universal television and radio coverage due to the ongoing digitalisation programme.The MPs, who were accompanied by Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister Thokozile Mathuthu and senior officials from the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) and Trans Media, yesterday toured the ZBC Montrose Studios to assess progress made on the revamping of studios as part of the ongoing digitalisation programme.Committee chairperson William Dewa expressed satisfaction with progress made so far in terms of infrastructure renovations and new programming systems."I'm impressed with the progress we just saw here. It makes me happy that the country will soon achieve universal television and radio coverage. The ground work that's going on here is remarkable," said Dewa.Committee member James Maridadi said he was impressed with developments at Montrose studios."The level of facelift is amazing. The last time I came here this place was run down and dilapidated but the structural renovations have changed everything."What I'm particularly happy about is that the improvements that are being undertaken on the studios, other buildings and the purchasing of the vehicles are being done from internal resources. I think this is the way parastatals must go. They mustn't continue to be a burden on the fiscus but be self-sustainable," said Maridadi.Another committee member Madodana Sibanda said some parts of Matabeleland South, which had no access to local channels will soon be covered."Areas such as Shape, Matshetsheni, Mangwe, Kezi, Mzimuni and some parts of Beitbridge are still watching radio and television programmes from Botswana and South Africa. I'm happy that they'll now enjoy local programmes like everybody else," said Sibanda.
Darrin Phegley / The Gleaner Cypress trees protrude out of the wetland waters at Audubon Wetlands Tuesday afternoon, October 13, 2015.

SHARE Darrin Phegley / The Gleaner A panorama view of one of the secluded wetlands at Audubon Wetlands Tuesday afternoon, October 13, 2015.

By Tom Lovett of The Gleaner

The deal is finally done. Audubon Wetlands is officially part of John James Audubon State Park.

A deed finalizing the sale of the 649-acre tract between Wolf Hills Road and the Ohio River was recorded Wednesday.

"It's the culmination of a long and convoluted road," said Leslie Newman, president of the Friends of Audubon. "I was happy to see the deed recorded in office of Henderson County Clerk."

Newman said there's been interest in adding the wetlands to the park for at least 20 years, but it wasn't available.

In 2011, the Oliver estate put the land up for auction but the state wasn't able to bid on it, so six area residents  Robbie Williams, Scott Keach, Houston Keach, Will Esche, Tom Dempewolf and Tommy Dempewolf  bought the wetlands at auction, paying $1.75 million with the goal of securing it for future Audubon Park annexation.

They transferred it to the Southern Conservation Corp., a nonprofit agent for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and was purchased Wednesday with money from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Imperiled Bat Conservation Fund.

"We had high hopes that it was all going to work out and it did," said Tom Dempewolf. "It's just taken a while for everything to fall into place."

One of the things that made the project more complex as it developed was the opportunity to get federal designation on roughly two-thirds of the property as a protected Wetlands Reserve through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

That aspect of the land use dictated some meticulous mapping to establish easements for Audubon Park and the current boardwalk trail, expansion of the trail system and other services that would make the wetlands area an even more valuable public resource.

"It took a quite a bit of time for all t's to be crossed and i's dotted," Newman said.

The wetlands is believed to be home to endangered species of bat, including the Indiana bat.

"When developers want to work in habitat where the Indiana bat lives, they pay into a fund that goes to create and save habitat for them elsewhere," said State Sen. Dorsey Ridley. "That bat fund helped make this purchase possible."

The remainder of the money came from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund, which is funded in part by the sale of "Nature's Finest" license plates and is the Commonwealth's primary source of funding for natural areas.

Now that the wetlands are part of the park, work can begin on more than six miles of trails, as well as tree plantings and wildlife habitat improvement projects.

"One of most exciting things ... is we have been able to establish this land will be handicap accessible and make this an outdoor classroom that is unique in this part of the country," Newman said. "It will give people in wheel chairs a greater ability to experience nature."

Dempewolf credits Williams and Esche for the spearheading the accessibility effort.

"Robbie (Williams) involved Will Esche, who is in a wheelchair ... and was active in (the project.) He wanted it all to be handicap accessible ... the boardwalk out into the sloughs area is  that's going to be wonderful for teaching and children and adults of all ages ... it's very accessible."

Newman said the one question she gets over and over is "When can we see it?"

"That's been a burning question, but we don't control that. The decision comes from Department of Parks and that will come after construction of things such as an entrance and parking lot," she said.

She said there was an agreement in the deed requiring Henderson County to help build the lot.

"It's an amazing place ... it has so much potential but that potential requires money. ... Our park has almost doubled in size and that creates a desire in to increase out (FOA) membership because we have so much more to do and take care of."

In a statement, Dr. Richard K. Kessler, conservation fund chairman and environmental studies program coordinator chair at Campbellsville University, called the purchase an example of the conservation fund at its finest.

"Cooperation between private, local, state and federal partners has resulted in the addition of one of the finest examples of Western Kentucky wetlands to one our state's most beloved state parks."

A dedication ceremony will take place at the park on May 16.
SHARE

As a self-styled outsider candidate taking on the political establishment, billionaire casino mogul Donald Trump has always been running against the Republican Party to some degree. Lately, though, his efforts to delegitimize the party and its rules have become more explicit.

His current grousing was prompted by the state GOP convention in Colorado last weekend, where Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walked away with all 34 delegates. This, to Trump, amounted to highway robbery. He called the GOP nominating process a "rigged, disgusting, dirty system."

On first glance, Trump's complaints fit his pattern of blaming someone else each time his campaign has stumbled. The rules governing the nominating process, however, have been clear at least since last October, when each state's procedures for picking delegates were finalized and revealed to all the candidates. And at the moment the rules seem to be helping Cruz, who is every bit as much an anti-establishment figure as Trump. The difference between the two appears to be that Cruz's campaign understood what Trump's ignored. Funny how someone who holds himself out as a masterful deal negotiator would fail to read all the way through the fine print.

If anyone can legitimately complain about the Byzantine nominating process, it would be voters. Participants in a primary election or a caucus may not understand that they're not casting an ironclad vote for a candidate. Their ballots tell the state's delegates (often chosen later at state party conventions) how to vote at the national convention, but those instructions are binding for as little as one round. If no candidate is supported by a majority of the 1,237 delegates after the national convention's first round, the delegates can start shifting their allegiance to rival candidates.

Recognizing the very real possibility that Trump won't go into Cleveland with a majority, the Cruz campaign has tried to load state delegations with as many Cruz supporters as possible. That way, after the first round, it will be easier for him to round up delegates whose initial votes were pledged to Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich or a half dozen GOP candidates who have dropped out of the race.

Again, it may surprise Trump supporters to learn that the delegates he won in their states may not stay loyal to the former reality-show host when the going gets tough. Is that undemocratic? Yes, but primaries and caucuses aren't designed as exercises in direct democracy. They're designed to help the national party pick a nominee with broad-based support within its ranks, on the assumption that it will improve the party's chances of winning in November.

Trump's argument seems to be that, as the longtime front-runner and the leading vote-getter, the party should hand him the nomination even if he doesn't win a majority of the delegates. But there's a good reason behind the majority rule: The party wants a nominee who has a chance of winning a general election. Most Republicans who've cast ballots thus far have voted for someone other than Donald J. Trump. Unless delegates were allowed to switch horses after the first round or two of balloting, the party would never break the looming stalemate between Trump and Cruz or find a consensus nominee.

The GOP finalized in September 2014 the broad framework for how states would choose delegates, and the rules for the nominating processes in each state were set in stone in October 2015. So if the party designed the process to frustrate Trump, that plot had to have been hatched long before he started winning primaries and scaring the bejeebers out of the party establishment.

By the way, the rules that will govern the convention in Cleveland in July will be set by the convention delegates, a plurality of whom will almost certainly be pledged to Trump. That voting bloc should give his campaign considerable influence over those rules  assuming that Trump is paying attention. Given what happened in Colorado, he probably will be.

This editorial was written by the Los Angeles Times.
News / International

by Thulani Nkala

Thulani:

Christopher:

Thulani:

Christopher:

Thulani:

Christopher:

Thulani:

Christopher:

Thulani:

Christopher:

Thulani:

The ZAPU Europe PEC's term of office comes to an end on the 30th April 2016 where a new administration will be elected, here we retrace the footsteps and gauge the milestones of the outgoing executive. We were lucky to have the opportunity to catch up with Mr Christopher Maphosa the out-going chairperson. Below are the excerpts of the interview.Your term of office is coming to an end and I understand that you will be holding and elective AGM on the 30th April 2016 in Leicester, would you mind to share with us the challenges you faced as the chair of ZAPU Europe and what do you deem as the successes and achievements of your executive?We are indeed heading for the end of term. Our elective AGM is on the 30th this month as you stated. Yes, there were challenges. When we took office the province was in disarray and a sinking titanic. It is no secret that there was so much internal strife and divisions, members differing on a number of issues. This was the biggest challenge we inherited. Ours was to calm the waters, stabilise the situation, gain the trust of all comrades and get them working together. It was never easy as some thought we were representing certain forces in the party against other comrades. I'm glad to say that was never the case but a genuine approach. On that front I think we succeeded. The province has no squabbles and we have laid ground work for future construction and development of our organisation in the province. It is an achievement we are carrying with to the elective AGM as a present to the membership and the incoming executive.What is the state of the province right now?The party is growing, the spirit is high, members are looking forward to our AGM of the 30th where they exercise their democratic rights to elect a new PEC and give it the mandate it deserves to discharge its political duties for the next four years and also prepare the province for the forthcoming party National Congress back home. We have opened a vibrant branch in Belfast, Northern Ireland and they are sending a strong delegation to join us at the elective AGM in Leicester.What would you say would be the focus of the incoming PEC?I hope you will appreciate that I won't be dictating to the new PEC on where they should focus. Remember, they will be elected on a new mandate and they will be accountable to the membership who elected and mandated them. It will be disrespectful of me, not only to the new PEC but to the membership in general if I were to begin to tell the newly mandated PEC where to focus. They will be entrusted with wielding executive powers of the province and therefore at liberty to make their own priorities.We have been informed that you have been earmarked for a National Executive position, could you confirm whether it is true? Would you be standing for the position of chair or any other, yes or no, please give us the reasons?No, I will not be standing for any position including that of Chairperson of the province. I have made a decision not to stand for any position on the 30th elections as I must attend to a few personal matters that require my full attention. Only time will tell how long but I'm certainly not retiring from the campaign to bring about democracy and uplift the living standards of the masses of our people especially the poorest of our poor. There is no reason to retire when the people of Lalapanzi (Lalaphansi) still have no running water, while those of Kafusi, Binga rural and Mandidzudzure are still worse off that they were when they toppled the Smith regime.On a positive note, my not standing for election on the 30th affords the membership the opportunity not only to freely elect the new leadership of their choice but to ENJOY the kind of democracy that exists in our organisation.Do you have any message to the incoming PEC?My prayer is that they work together and closely with the membership in peace, harmony, respect, unity and party discipline as this will ensure that stability is maintained in the province and party growth accelerated. Any individual, group or team that will drag the province back to the ugly scenes of yesteryears we witnessed as a province will be just as good as committing a war crime. Our people have suffered enough and can no longer afford unnecessary delays in their freedom campaigns.I wish the AGM a free, fair, transparent and democratic election that will guarantee credibility. I wish the new PEC every success in its mammoth task of running the affairs of the province for the next four years. Last but not least; I appeal to all our members in the province to rally behind the new PEC and support it in every way we can and that our top leadership of the party also support our province. Thank you.Thank you Mr Maphosa, it was an incredibly journey over the past four years talking with you and enlightening us on the work of your party, whatever you decide to do we wish you all the best and we hope in the future we will talk to you again.Mr Christopher Maphosa is largely credited for bringing stability in peace in ZAPU Europe. "Mr Maphosa has brought a culture of openness, transparency and collaborative working" concluded Mr Siqhelile Ndlovu, the Secretary of Finance.
SHARE

By Jules Witcover, Tribune News Service (TNS)

WASHINGTON  House Speaker Paul Ryan tried again this week to discourage speculation that he might be a compromise presidential choice at the coming Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July.

He echoed the famous rejection of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who told Republican suitors in 1884, "I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected."

In his own statement, Ryan put a fine point on it: "I should not be considered. Period. End of story."

Ryan, who in 2012 was perfectly willing to run as the vice-presidential nominee with Mitt Romney, said that as co-chairman of the 2016 convention he would seek a rule restricting candidates to those who ran in the primaries.

But because Ryan also dismissed the notion that he would become House speaker before agreeing to fill that role, the chatter of his availability is likely to linger. In a party depleted of credible alternative candidates, the establishment's desperate search for a savior will go on.

Flat statements of unavailability for the highest offices have on occasion not held up. Most notably, President Theodore Roosevelt, who had announced in 1912 he would not run again, changed his mind in 1916 and launched a losing campaign against his chosen successor, President William Howard Taft, leading to the election of Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson.

More often, presidential hopefuls have declared their unavailability for the vice presidency as if it were beneath them, only to accept when the top prize went elsewhere. In 1980, when George H.W. Bush was losing his challenge to Ronald Reagan for the Republican presidential nomination, he often was asked by reporters whether he was persevering in hope of being the vice-presidential nominee.

He steadfastly and with some disdain would ever-so-cleverly answer: "Take Sherman and cube it," referring to the old Civil War general's disavowal of presidential ambition. But after Reagan was nominated, and briefly flirted with taking on former President Gerald Ford as his running mate, the senior Bush eagerly grabbed the offer, putting himself on the path to the Oval Office eight years later.

Earlier this year, a cocky Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, wrongly anticipating his own presidential nomination, floated the notion that he would take fellow presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his running mate. His equally cocky target replied that a ticket with Walker might not be a bad idea, but the other way around  Rubio for president, Walker for veep, a pipedream either way.

Currently, frontrunners Trump and Cruz, in a tough fight for the top spot on the GOP ticket, are keeping their own counsel on a running mate. As for Walker, who has endorsed Cruz after his early nosedive in the presidential race, he has said speculation that Trump might choose him was "almost breathtaking" and he's "just happy being governor."

Rubio, meanwhile, hasn't endorsed anyone and is holding on to the 171 delegates he won in the early primaries, possibly as bargaining chips to salvage something from his once-hopeful campaign.

At last word, no present-day Sherman-like statement about the presidency or vice presidency has been heard from anybody else, beyond the well-courted Paul Ryan, who may already regret saying "yes" to becoming speaker of the House, given the gloomy GOP outlook.
NORWALK-- In a proposed state budget littered with funding cuts, Norwalk was among only a few Fairfield County districts with no reductions made to their public school funds.

This could be seen as a positive for the Norwalk community. But Michael Lyons, chairman for the local Board of Education, isn't exactly over-the-moon.

"It's nothing to somersault over -- but it's better than it could be," he said.

Under this adjustment offered by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, surrounding public schools in Wilton, Weston, Westport, Darien, Easton, Greenwich, Ridgefield and Fairfield would be "zeroed-out" from current levels of funding, forcing local taxpayers to pick up the entire difference, which in Greenwich's case would be $3.4 million.

"If I was them, I wouldn't be happy about it," said Lyons. "But it wouldn't be a catastrophe the way it would be for a city."

Stamford, Bridgeport, Danbury, Ansonia and Derby are among those districts that would see no changes in funding levels.

Lyons said that Hartford legislators unfairly characterize Fairfield County, letting a few wealthy towns represent the whole. He said Norwalk suffers as consequence. "We have all the socioeconomic qualities of a city, but we're treated by Hartford as if we're wealthy," he said. "It's a misconception."

But the budget is far from set in stone. As the details of the plan began to sink in to state lawmakers on Wednesday, they said the governor's proposal is dead on arrival in the General Assembly.

And even if this budget held, Lyons said Norwalk's schools could still take a blow -- by way of town funding cuts.

"The city was promised by legislators that we were going to get 4 or 5 billion from the city's budget," he said. "If that money goes away, if the city loses the money from the state it's been promised, they're going to cut from the city side of the budget and from the board of education budget as well."

Statewide, nearly 30 school systems would lose all of their state funding.Malloy's proposal would also reduce municipal revenue sharing by $109 million statewide.

"I'm beyond disappointed, I'm devastated," said state Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, whose district includes Weston and Westport. "It almost shows a lack of effort in trying to fully understand what kind of impact you're going to have on those towns' educational budgets. A zero number shows to me that there really wasn't an effort to try to ease the burden on specific municipalities. To me, it was a clear division between urban and suburban schools."

Lyons' frustrations with public school funding in Connecticut led him to join the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding nonprofit, which filed a lawsuit against the state in 2005. The case went to trial this January and is expected to last until May.

"As unfairly as we've been treated, at least in this current crisis freefall we're not losing.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Norton residents have claimed that the council is not giving them bill statements since 2010.Harare Residents Trust said the it conducted a Needs Assessment meeting in Norton, Maridale."A needs assessment is a process used by the HRT to record how services are supplied and accessible to a resident from the council and service providers for instances water provision, health services, security, environment, transportation, representation and so forth," said the trust. "This information will shape the programming of the institution and follow up with relevant service providers on issues raised."The trust said residents reported that the Norton City Council is not giving residents bill statements since 2010."The Council charges residents $5 to print a statement so most residents are told their statements by mouth. Residents were issued final demand letters from Paul Mangwana," said the trust."Norton residents reported that it is almost 20 years without Municipal water. In Maridale suburb residents confirmed that they only have one borehole of which everyone depends on that borehole. They also said they have dug wells on their yards but the water is not healthy because they have both septic tanks and wells on a 150 square meter piece of land."The trust said residents in Maridale do not have a sewer drainage system."Stands in Maridale are small to have both a septic tank and a well on the small space. They reported that the Norton City Council is not coming to empty the septic tanks," the trust said."There is no Public Clinic in the suburb of Maridale residents survive on one Clinic in Katanga. One Hospital covers residents from Norton, Mhondoro and Zvimba of which nurses are under staffed people wait long queues to get treatment. Ward 12 Councilor Pretty Kurera does not even conduct feedback meetings residents do not know where their 10% refund is going. Only to mention a few of the service delivery issues being faced by Norton, Maridale Residents we noticed that the resident's rights are being violated by Council officials."
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Zimbabwe National Army has not renewed Brigadier-General Fidelis Satuku's contract, while his counterpart Brigadier-General Herbert Chingono has been confined to the "officers' pool" in what is seen as punishment for secretly meeting former United States ambassador to Harare Charles Ray in 2010.Chingono was quoted leaked diplomatic cables describing Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga as a "political general" who has "very little practical military experience or expertise".Relations between the two brigadier-generals and Chiwenga deteriorated in 2011 after leaked WikiLeaks cables revealed details of the meetings with Ray.Chiwenga, whom military officers say was hurt by the assessment of the generals, pushed for disciplinary action to be taken against the duo, resulting in investigations being initiated, but the move divided the army and senior Zanu-PF officials who were implicated in the WikiLeaks scandal causing the probe to be called off.The army, however, halted promotions for the two senior officers and ensured they are not given prominent roles despite their expertise and knowledge, before eventually offloading Satuku this year."Chiwenga has never truly forgiven the two generals since the cables were published. So they were being treated with suspicion although many senior officers, as well as the men and women in the army, respected them because of their deep knowledge and expertise. Both are well-read and competent commanders," said an officer."At the time the cables were published, Satuku, who was the ZDF Director-General for Policy and Personnel, was studying in Pakistan. He was earmarked to run the Zimbabwe Defence College (ZDC) on his return, but was however, overlooked for the job."After being given virtually nothing to do over the years, he was finally laid off and is now concentrating on farming in Odzi, in his home province of Manicaland, although he is from Nyanga."The ZDC was officially opened by President Robert Mugabe in September 2012. It is mandated with conducting training on the formulation of a comprehensive national security strategy.At the time the cables were published, Chingono was the Inspector-General in the Zimbabwe National Army and was tipped for promotion to the rank of major-general.The promotion was, however, halted. He was asked to stop reporting for work while investigations were being carried out.Chiwenga and his backers wanted Chingono and Satuku charged with "treason or subversion" for secretly meeting Ray to discuss Zimbabwe's "sensitive military issues" and politics in contravention of the Defence Forces Act, their code of conduct and ethics.In September 2011, Zimbabwe national Army (ZNA) spokesperson Colonel Overson Mugwisi confirmed to the Zimbabwe Independent the two army generals were under investigation."WikiLeaks is a new phenomenon. But in internal matters to do with discipline, we investigate and then take appropriate action," Mugwisi said then."Where there is need for public consumption of the findings, we make our findings public. In this case, we are likely to do that."Both Satuku and Chingono are war veterans and widely respected in the army. They are considred as some of the best brains in the army.Chingono is an artillery officer and was the last ZNA officer to train under the International Military Education and Training programme at the US' National Defence University where he graduated in 1999.Satuku received his military training in Britain.
The Illinois Metro East Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is celebrating along with its clients, a mother-daughter team who has opened a creative studio in downtown OFallon, Ill.

Art Gecko Creative Studio, 125 East State Street, is the brainchild of retired art teacher Robin Springer and her daughter and fellow designer, Cory Hollerbach, both SIUE alumni. Their new business is the culmination of a dream for the duo that has already shared a lifetimes worth of creative, artistic expression.

The studio officially opened its doors on Monday, April 4. A ribbon cutting by the OFallon-Shiloh Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 7.

I grew up with an artist, said Hollerbach. My passion, and my moms too, is to show others how to express themselves through art. Our studio offers classes and opportunities for all levels of abilities. Our greatest joy is assisting those who have thought they were never any good at art, and then are amazed when they see the beauty theyve just created in our studio.

Mother and daughter teamed up to feature their hand-painted boxes for an OFallon High School craft fair last November. The two enjoyed combining talents so much, said Springer, that the retired art teacher and the stay-at-home mom decided to launch a business to instruct and encourage others artistic talents as well.

The pair praises the generosity of time and business expertise given to them from SBDC Director Patrick McKeehan.

Patrick provided us with an outline from which we generated our business plan document, Hollerbach said. His assistance was essential to our launch. He thoroughly explained the process of starting a business and helped us work through it and progress to the point where we were ready to open. Patricks phenomenal expertise came to us at no cost, which is incredible. Were extremely thankful to him and the SBDC for being a huge resource.

According to McKeehan, the feeling was mutual.

I always enjoy working with the creative entrepreneurs, especially those willing to share their artistic talents with others, said McKeehan. Businesses like Art Gecko build a sense of community and add to our regions quality of life.

Art Gecko Creative Studios mission, Hollerbach said, is to encourage children and adults to experience art in a fun, creative way.

Springer agrees. Everyone has an art spirit within them, she said. They just need to tap into it and try.

Classes at Art Gecko Creative Studio include: basic drawing, basic painting, printmaking and mixed media. The studios owners say they hope to attract the home schooling community as a creative outlet to fulfill art requirements. In addition to formal instruction, the studio welcomes all ages for a menu of social offerings such one-hour Mommy and Me morning art classes, a junior art club for ages 8-13, an adult art class and more. Art history and art culture are also taught.

For more information on the new studio, visit www.artgeckostudio.org, find the studio on Facebook or call (618) 206-6222.

The Metro East SBDC assists start-ups like Art Gecko Creative Studio and existing businesses with presence in the nine Illinois counties of Calhoun, Jersey, Madison, Bond, Clinton, St. Clair, Washington, Monroe and Randolph. It is a no-cost service to the region funded, in part, by the SBA, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunities, and SIUE.

By aiding entrepreneurs and companies in defining their path to success, the Illinois SBDC Network positively impacts the Metro East by strengthening the business community, creating and retaining new jobs and encouraging new investment. It enhances the regions economic interests by providing no-cost, one-stop assistance to individuals by means of counseling, connections, research and resources to small businesses. When appropriate, the SBDC strives to affiliate its ties to the region to support the goals and objectives of both the SIUE School of Business and the University at large.

To learn how the SBDC can help your small business, contact the Metro East SBDC at (618) 650-2929 or sbdcedw@gmail.com.

SIUEs School of Business and the accountancy programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, representing the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. The Princeton Review lists SIUE as one of the top 295 business schools in the U.S. for the 10th-consecutive year. Undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered in accounting, computer management and information systems, economics, finance, management and marketing. More than 20,000 alumni have earned degrees from the SIUE School of Business. For more information about the School of Business, visit siue.edu/business.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Niniek Karmini (Associated Press) Jakarta  Sat, April 16, 2016

Indonesian authorities on Saturday moved Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a convicted terrorist leader, from Nusa Kambangan Prison Island in Central Jakarta amid demands by his lawyer to end his "inhumane" treatment.

The ailing 77-year-old Ba'asyir was confined to a tiny isolation cell on Nusa Kambangan in the wake of the Jan. 14 suicide bombings in the Indonesian capital Jakarta to prevent him from radicalizing other prisoners and to cut him off from extremist networks.

Hendra Eka Putra, the chief warden, said Ba'asyir was moved to Gunung Sindur prison, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Jakarta. He was transported in an armored car from Jakarta to the prison in an operation involving more than 230 officers.

Ba'asyir's lawyer Mohammad Mahendradatta said Thursday that the condition of Ba'asyir's two-square-meter square cell was "simply shocking and inhumane treatment against him is causing his health to deteriorate."

"His transfer was made on the basis of humanity because of his old and health-related rights," Putra said. "The government has considered that he needed a prison that has better health facilities and doctors."

Ba'asyir, the spiritual leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) radical organization, was imprisoned after the South Jakarta District Court found him guilty of funding a terrorist training camp in Aceh and sentenced him to 15 years in 2011.

Prosecutors said he was a key player in funding a militant training camp in Aceh that brought together men from almost every known extremist group in predominantly Muslim Indonesia. A higher court later cut the sentence to nine years.

Mahendradatta had told The Associated Press that Ba'asyir was kept in his isolation cell for 23 hours a day and slept on thin mats over a cement floor without blankets. He was denied reading materials and personal items, regularly awakened from his sleep because of mosquitoes, and consultations with medical staff took place behind barriers.

Putra declined to say whether authorities would continue to isolate Ba'asyir in his new prison. He said Ba'asyir would not be denied basic rights.

The Gunung Sindur maximum-security prison in Bogor regency, West Java, which was built in 2010, is equipped with high-tech security measures including cellular signal jammers to prevent unauthorized communications by inmates. (bbn)
News / National

by Staff reporter

SEVERAL MDC-T officials, including deputy national organising secretary Amos Chibaya (Mkoba MP), Harare West MP Jessie Majome, and other ordinary members of the opposition party allegedly received death threats ahead of Thursday's successful mass protest against grinding poverty and corruption.Chibaya and Majome yesterday confirmed receiving death threats on their mobile phones from an anonymous number written "Hitman"."I am aware of your involvement in the MDC-T demonstrations on Thursday. Your participation will be met with death.You will die together with your wife and children. Zimbabwe was borne (sic) through bloodshed," the messageread."I have plenty of space to bury your corpse, be warned. Your involvement is clear indication of joining your ancestors. I am watching your steps 24/7. Don't try to be a hero, be warned of your participation in the planning of tomorrow's demonstrations. MDC-T demos invite death at your footstep."The message further reads: "I have killed many. If you want me to add your name on my death list, continue participating in tomorrow's MDC-T demo."Chibaya said he was unfazed by the death threats."They won't deter me at all. I won't be victimised because I do not fear anyone. All that I want is to free the people of Zimbabwe," he said.Chibaya said he had reported the matter to the Zimbabwe Republic Police Base 27 (First Street) under reference number 1590-16.Majome said she got the death threats two days before the Thursday MDC-T demonstration, while she was travelling on Parliament business."They said I should not turn up for the demonstration and even threatened my 13-year-old son. I am worried because my previous experience with these death threats proved that they are difficult to investigate due to that one cannot tell which network was used. The messages have no number and the source is only identified as Hitman," she said."They are very ugly messages, and last time, they were copied to my son. All I can say is that the Lord is my shepherd, and that the people who are sending the messages should identify themselves. I suspect it is State machinery at work."MDC-T spokesperson, Obert Gutu confirmed that different MDC-T activists had received the death threats."We are not surprised because Zanu-PF is in panic mode, as they now see the MDC-T in resurgence. They are not sleeping, they are worried because they know they cannot beat us. We are going to continue to fight for democratic change," he said.Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said the issue would be investigated if the MDC-T officials make formal police reports.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 15, 2016

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has challenged Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama to sue the agency if he is not happy with the results of an audit it did into the procurement of land by the city administration.

"The results of the BPK's investigation have already been handed over to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Please, if you want to, just sue us," BPK chairman Harry Azhar Aziz said in the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

Speaking to journalists after being questioned by KPK investigators on Tuesday, Ahok slammed the BPK report. "The BPK report is deceitful. Their findings of state losses do not make any sense," Ahok said.

KPK investigators questioned Ahok for 12 hours on Tuesday regarding the land procurement, which the BPK claimed had caused state losses of Rp 191 billion ($14.5 million). They were related to the procurement of 3.6 hectares of land for which the city administration had paid Rp 755.69 billion, whereas the taxable value of the property (NJOP) was only Rp 564.35 billion.

Harry insisted that an investigative audit shows that the purchase of land for Sumber Waras Hospital in West Jakarta had potentially caused state losses. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Badung, Bali  Sat, April 16, 2016

Hundreds of ecstasy pills and 15 small packages of crystal methamphetamine or shabu-shabu have been seized during a raid at Kerobokan Penitentiary in Bali.

The raid, conducted by a joint security team comprising personnel from the Law and Human Rights Ministry, National Narcotics Agency (BNN), police and military, took place on Thursday morning. Two inmates were subsequently taken to the police station on suspicion of dealing drugs within the prison.

Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Hery Wiyanto said the drugs had been found in cells inside the prison. He declined to give more details about the two inmates taken to the police station. "We will conduct further investigations to uncover the prison drug ring," Hery said.

In the raid, which started at 4 a.m. local time, the joint team searched all blocks in the prison. Apart from drugs, several glass pipes or "bongs", sharp weapons and a number of mobile phones were also confiscated in the raid. In a urine test, six inmates also tested positive for drugs.

Kerobokan prison warden Slamet Prihantara professed ignorance at how the narcotics had entered the prison, and called on the police to investigate further.

"If any prison guards are involved [in the drug ring], they will be fired," Slamet said.

He added that the prison authorities had recently conducted a string of raids to clean up the prison from drugs.

A shortage of prison guards was partly to blame for the prevalence of drugs, he went on. "We have only 12 prison guards to handle and monitor more than 1,100 inmates," Slamet revealed. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 16, 2016

Two Indonesian-flagged ships have been hijacked in waters between the Philippines and Malaysia; four sailors are being held hostage, the Foreign Ministry says.

"The ships were on their way home from Cebu in the Philippines to Tarakan [in North Kalimantan], the Foreign Ministrys Indonesian citizen protection director, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said in a press statement on Saturday.

The incident comes on the heels of the March 26 hijacking of two Indonesian-flagged vessels, the Brahma 12 tugboat and the Anand 12 barge, and the kidnapping of their crews, numbering 10 men in total. The hostages are being held by the Abu Sayyaf militant group in the southern Philippines, pending payment of a ransom of 50 million pesos (US$1.07 million).

According to Iqbal, two Indonesian ships -- the TB Henry and the Cristi -- were hijacked on Friday at 6:30 p.m. local time.

During the incident, one sailor was shot, five escaped and four were kidnapped. The injured sailor was rescued by Malaysia's Maritime Police and is currently being treated in Malaysia; he is understood to be in a stable condition.

The five crew members who evaded capture have been taken to Lahat Datu port, also in Malaysia.

The Foreign Ministry is currently communicating with the owners of the ships and the Philippine and Malaysian governments, Iqbal said, adding that the Indonesian consulate in Tawau, a town in Malaysia's Sabah state, was in contact with local authorities there.

The government is determined to take measures against the frequent hijackings in the area. Indonesia will ask neighboring countries to strengthen security, Iqbal added. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 16, 2016

Indonesian officials will discuss the initial phase of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the EU (CEPA) with its European partners during President Joko "Jokowi" Widodos visit next week, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong has said.

The government has 14 issues to discuss with the EU, including non-tariff barriers as a priority topic.

"Once the scoping paper is finished, the next step is formal negotiations, possibly running for two years, then finalization and ratification," Thomas said after a press conference on Jokowi's working visit to four European countries at the State Palace on Friday.

The scoping paper phase, Thomas continued, aims to determine the desire of each party to enact the comprehensive economic partnership.

"How deep and how wide the coverage we want will guide the following negotiations," he explained.

"The scope of CEPA itself is very broad, covering not only trade in goods and services but also hygienic standards for horticulture, livestock and rules regarding investment," Thomas said, adding that both Indonesia and EU would have to amend dozens or even hundreds of rules to synchronize, tighten supervision and facilitate customs procedures.

The govenrment's scoping paper covers trade in goods, customs and trade facilitation, technical regulations, trade in service and investment, public procurement, intellectual property rights, competition policy, transparency of regulations, dispute settlements and trade and sustainable development. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 16, 2016

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has requested that the Jakarta administration stop the Jakarta Bay reclamation project temporarily until it meets the sufficient requirements in accordance with the law.

The controversial megaproject of the 17 man-made islets off the Jakarta Bay does not meet existing regulations even though the authority lies in the hands of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, Susi said on Friday.

"We want the reclamation to be halted for a while until all the requirements are fulfilled as mandated by the law," Susi told journalists in a press conference at her official residence.

Reclamation projects could proceed, but the Jakarta administration must follow procedures, the minister said.

Based on a 1995 presidential decree issued by the late president Soeharto, the Jakarta governor has the authority to issue reclamation permits. However, a 2012 presidential regulation stipulates that reclamation permits must be based on the ministry's recommendations as Jakarta was included in the national strategic areas.

Moreover, Susi also pointed out that the reclamation projects had been started despite the lack of Jakarta's coastal area spatial planning bylaws. The Jakarta City Council halted the deliberations on the bylaws on Tuesday on the back of legal issues following the arrest of councillor Muhammad Sanusi over alleged bribery on the discussions of the bylaw.

The ministry and House of Representatives Commission IV overseeing agriculture, forestry and maritime affairs had also agreed to stop the reclamation projects during a working meeting at the House complex on Wednesday.

The ministry initiated a meeting with all relevant stakeholders of the project, such as the Jakarta administration, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and developers to settle the dispute, Susi said.

The discussion was needed to clarify the overlapping regulations regarding the megaproject, for which investment is estimated at Rp 150 trillion ($11.4 billion), to bring a win-win solutions for all stakeholders, especially the public.

The ministry will also push for public facilities in the planned 5,100 hectares of reclaimed islets, Susi said.

"We have to monitor the access of the public to the beach. Currently many people can't access the beach because corporations have plotted the beach for their own benefits," Susi added.

The ministry has asked the Jakarta administration to cooperate to settle any disputes regarding reclamation, she added.

Separately, Governor Ahok has claimed that he has the support of the President in regard to the reclamation projects.

"The President sees nothing wrong with the reclamation. Most importantly don't damage the environment, president said," he added. (rin)
(lead article)

We need to overthrow the dictatorship of capital

Militant photos: above, Carl Weinberg; inset, Bernie Senter Above, Dan Fein, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois, talks with participant at April 9 rally in Indianapolis against anti-abortion law. Inset, SWP vice-presidential candidate Osborne Hart, left, pickets with California Cartage warehouse workers in Los Angeles during one-day strike April 6.

Every place Ive gone on this West Coast visit, supporters have taken me to labor battles and social struggles  berry pickers fighting against Driscolls bosses in Washington, families fighting cop killings of their relatives in Bakersfield, strikers at Cal Cartage here in Los Angeles, Socialist Workers Party vice-presidential candidate Osborne Hart told workers and students at a program at the University of Southern California April 9.

We are fighting for $15 an hour and for water and heat breaks, Victor Gonzales, one of the workers who struck at California Cartage April 6, said in the discussion. Well continue to have strikes until they get the message. And its not just us. It was good to hear about the other struggles taking place that you talked about tonight.

This is the kind of response the Socialist Workers Party candidates are getting when they present the party and its revolutionary class-struggle perspective to workers, on picket lines, protest marches and on their doorsteps.

I think this election is going to be a changing moment, 18-year-old Tori Gill told SWP presidential candidate Alyson Kennedy as they marched in Indianapolis April 9 in defense of womens right to choose abortion. Im volunteering for Bernie Sanders because I dont want to live in a country where Ted Cruz or Donald Trump are in charge.

In 1964, when Republican Barry Goldwater and Democrat Lyndon Johnson ran, there was a lot of hysteria with people saying that if Goldwater won there would be war, Kennedy replied. Johnson won, but then he was the one who escalated the Vietnam War.

This woke me up to the reality of politics under capitalism, Kennedy said. They try to make us believe we can change things by voting, but its just not true. What ended the imperialist Vietnam War was the relentless fight of the Vietnamese people for national liberation and the anti-war movement it inspired in the U.S. And that fight changed the way millions of workers, including among the GIs, looked at things.

Capitalism is in crisis today, and the employers and their government are taking it to the working class. By fighting back  and we will, by the millions  well get more confidence to rely on ourselves, she said. What we have here is a social dictatorship. The capitalists hold the power and rule in the interests of their class.

We wont change things by pulling a lever, but by building a revolutionary party to take political power, she said, like they did in Cuba in 1959.

The decades-long crisis of capitalist production and trade is worsening today. Manufacturing and mining have plummeted, from China to Brazil, affecting exports across Europe and the U.S. Recent headlines in the Financial Times have recurring themes  like Grim Manufacturing Data Dent UK Recovery and Grim Year Forecast for Developing Nations.

Coal and oil bosses in Wyoming alone have tossed some 5,500 workers out on the street as markets dry up and prices fall.

While government officials keep saying unemployment is under 5 percent and the U.S. economy is doing well, conditions worsen for millions. Because Washington says the recession is over, more than half a million people who get food stamps will see them cut off now because they havent found a job.

In this context, the Socialist Workers Party is getting a broader hearing and more volunteers. And for this reason, candidates like Republican Trump and Democrat Sanders, who say theres a crisis and claim theyre running against the powers that be, are drawing thousands to their meetings and winning primary contests.

Anti-Trump hysteria

Bourgeois liberals and conservatives are pulling out the stops to defeat Trump. Theput a fake front page on their Sunday edition dated April 9, 2017, with made-up stories they said could happen if Trump is elected.

The pro-Democrat Globe editors urge primary voters to back anybody but Trump, in hopes of denying him enough delegates to win the Republican nomination on the first ballot, leading to an open convention fight. This is also the strategy of Republican contenders Cruz and John Kasich.

The editors, as well as many in the Republican Party hierarchy, say they hope Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will then be picked to represent the party in November. But Ryan called a special press conference April 12 to say again he isnt running.

All these attacks havent stopped Trump. He is currently leading polls in New York by more than 30 points, with Cruz coming in third.

Petty-bourgeois radicals of every description say Trump is a fascist, as dangerous as Nazi Adolf Hitler. We intend to do what the citys elected so-called leaders refuse to do  and shut down Trump from spreading his hateful message, the Workers World Party said on its website under the header No Fascist Movement.

There is no growing ultra-rightist or fascist movement today. The bosses dont need one, because the working class is not yet strong or organized enough to challenge their rule.

Sanders is facing parallel attacks from the liberal Democratic Party establishment. Sanders Over the Edge, headlined an April 8 New York Times column by Paul Krugman. Attacking Sanders proposals for reforms to save capitalism as it faces hard times, he says Sanders has character and values issues. Worst, Krugman says, is that Sanders and his followers might not rally behind the party banner if Hillary Clinton wins the nomination.

Many workers see Trump and Sanders as similar. At a March 31 South Bronx Sanders rally, Stephanie Edwards told the Financial Times she backed him over Clinton. She could see herself voting for Mr. Trump over Mrs. Clinton, despite the fact she is both female and African-American, the paper reported.

Neither Sanders nor Trump offer a road for workers to fight back. Both promote America first nationalism in an effort to tie workers fate to the fate of the bosses.

The Socialist Workers Party is a working-class party with a revolutionary perspective that is involved in working-class struggles today, Kennedy told Shobi Pratap at the Indianapolis abortion rights action. We are building a revolutionary working-class movement to overthrow the dictatorship of capital and take political power. We will join with other working people worldwide in transforming the world.





Related articles:

Help Socialist Workers Party get on ballot and campaign

Communist League in UK: No road to fair capitalism

SWP: Workers control needed for nuclear safety

Solidarity with Verizon strikers!

Help get the Socialist Workers Party presidential ticket on the ballot!

Spring subscription drive April 2-May 17 (week 1)

Militant Fighting Fund April 2-May 17







Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




(front page)

Repeal Indiana law that restricts right to choose

We wont go back to days of illegal abortion

Militant/Betsy Farley

INDIANAPOLIS  We wont go back! and My body, my choice! chanted demonstrators outside the Indiana Statehouse April 9 demanding repeal of the states new anti-abortion law. Many in the largely young crowd numbering some 3,000 held homemade signs.

HEA 1337, signed by Gov. Mike Pence March 24, bans abortions performed because of a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other disability. Posing cynically as a civil rights measure, the law also prohibits abortion based on the race, color, sex  national origin or ancestry of the fetus. And it mandates that fetal remains that are aborted or miscarried be buried or cremated, adding additional costs to the woman.

The new law requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital or an agreement with a doctor who does, renewed yearly. It also says a woman must have the opportunity to view an ultrasound and hear a fetal heart tone 18 hours before an abortion, requiring two appointments. Such restrictions have already reduced the number of abortion providers in the state to six, down from 12 in 2011.

Indiana is one of many states where government officials have imposed increasingly onerous restrictions on abortion access. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill March 30 requiring doctors to administer anesthesia to any woman having an abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy or later, adding unnecessary risk to the procedure.

This is my first protest ever, said Theresa Carper, 22, a DePauw University student, at the rally. This is so important, because pregnancy must be a womans choice and nobody elses, her friend Courtenay Graham added.

Its about abortion, but its a question of wages too, said Ashley Moore, a 26-year-old warehouse worker, pointing out that there is no union at her job.

We discussed this law and the protests against it at our Women of Steel meeting last week, said Rosa Maria Rodriguez, a steelworker in East Chicago and an officer of United Steelworkers Local 1010. We then took it right to the floor of the union meeting, winning support, including from the men. A large percentage of our members are women and it has to be our choice, she said. Theres no other voice loud enough to be heard like a union.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1. The suit calls the law unconstitutional because it violates the 14th Amendment guarantee of the right to due process and equal protection under the law by imposing an undue burden on a womans right to choose.

The ACLU stands firmly against discrimination in all forms, but that isnt what this law is about, Jane Henegar, executive director of the Indiana ACLU, told the media. Unnecessary restrictions, like those recently signed into law, demean women and threaten the quality of their health care.





Related articles:

Rallies in Poland seek to defend, extend legal abortion







Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




(front page)

Unraveling of European Union deepens crisis for Mideast refugees

One result of the coming apart of the old imperialist Mideast order and growing divisions born out of the conflicting interests of the individual states in the European Union is the deteriorating situation faced by millions of people forced from their homes in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. This includes more than 52,000 people trapped in crowded Greek refugee detention camps after officials in Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia sealed their borders.

Many refugees and immigrants trying to enter Europe are stuck in camps on Greek islands where they landed, such as Lesbos, Chios, Kos and Samos, located close to Turkeys Aegean coast. Under a March 18 accord between the European powers and Ankara, Turkey began accepting migrants deported from Greece. Some 325 people were returned the first week.

The imperialist governments actions pit workers of different nationalities against each other. Syrians are still considered for asylum and settlement in Europe, in a very slow process. But since February immigrants from war-torn Afghanistan are not.

Fights broke out among nearly 1,000 Syrian and Afghan asylum-seekers at a detention center in Chios April 1, leaving five people seriously injured. Cops allowed the melee to go on for six hours before intervening. About 800 people then broke out of the camp and marched to the port, where they set up tarps and tents. They were attacked April 7 by some local residents shouting anti-immigrant slogans and hurling small firebombs, and police forced most of them to move to a nearby shelter.

At Piraeus, Athens tourist port on the Greek mainland, a recent fight between young Syrian and Afghan men lasted three hours. Some 4,600 refugees live in tents and warehouses at the port, and the social democratic Syriza government wants to get rid of them before Orthodox Easter May 1, the beginning of the peak tourist season.

Do not lose your courage, we stand by you, we love you, read a government flyer distributed in Arabic, Farsi, Greek and English to migrants. Then it threatened, The port of Piraeus cannot host you any more and you have nothing to win by remaining here. In a few days the port of Piraeus will be emptied (evacuated).

Athens is in the process of selling Piraeus Port Authority to Chinese shipping giant COSCO in the second large privatization move carried out by the Syriza government since last year. Dockworkers struck and marched in Athens April 8 protesting the sale and the job losses they anticipate as a result.

In Idomeni, Greece, a small town on the Macedonian border, a group of refugees, including many women and children, held a demonstration and sit-in on railroad tracks, demanding to be allowed to cross the border, the Greek press reported April 8. Thousands of people, including some 4,000 children, live in unsanitary conditions in the camp there.

Millions displaced in Syria, Iraq

The partial cease-fire brokered by Washington, Moscow and Tehran allows the government of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, aided by Russian airstrikes, to continue its attacks on Nusra Front, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda. Other opposition groups have been hit as well.

In Iraq, thousands of civilians fled heavy fighting April 8 in the Islamic State-occupied town of Hit in Anbar Province, which Iraqi government forces are fighting to retake.

Some 12,000 families have returned over the past month to parts of Ramadi that have been cleared of land mines set by Islamic State forces before they were driven out of the city by Iraqi government forces in December. Half a million people used to live in the city, which the war has reduced to rubble.

The military campaign pressed by Washington and its allies to retake the city of Mosul in northern Iraq from Islamic State has made little progress. Iraqi regular army forces outside of Makhmour havent been able to oust 100 to 200 soldiers of the brutal Islamist group, in spite of Washingtons airstrikes and shelling by a U.S. Marine artillery contingent on the ground.

The fighting has forced many civilians to flee. More than 2,000 people have overwhelmed a camp in Makhmour that the Iraqi army is not prepared to maintain. Many of the refugees, the majority of them Sunni, distrust the largely Shia government and militias. The Iraqi army had no plan for us and were 2,000 people, Abu Noor, a teacher from a nearby village, told a Wall Street Journal reporter at the camp. What will they do with Mosul? Thats two million!





Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




News / National

by Staff reporter

DA leader Mmusi Maimane told thousands of party members who had marched to the Constitutional Court on Friday morning that President Jacob Zuma must "voetsek"."Zuma must voetsek, he must just go now... Zuma is a tsotsi," Maimane said."We the DA are here to say, Jacob Zuma, your days are numbered," he said, pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist.As the sea of blue made its way to the highest court in the land from Pieter Roos Park earlier, some sang "Voetsek Zuma, Fokof Zuma".The march follows a recent Constitutional Court judgment that President Jacob Zuma failed to uphold the Constitution when he did not comply with Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's remedial action regarding payments for the non-security upgrades to his Nkandla homestead.Maimane told the crowd outside the court that Madonsela knew that she was not just "fighting" Zuma, but the whole ANC as well."She knew she was fighting against big skeletons the Guptas, Zuma, the ANC."He said people could not talk about freedom in the country without the Constitution."How do you say you are free when the Constitution is being trampled on by the ANC?" Maimane asked.There have been numerous calls, including from ANC stalwarts, for Zuma to either step down or resign.Maimane was joined in the march by DA Gauteng leader John Moodey, Johannesburg chairperson Khume Ramulifho, Tshwane mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga, MP Makashule Gana, mayor of Midvaal  the only DA-run municipality in Gauteng  Bongani Baloyi, and Western Cape leader and Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille.Moodey told the crowd earlier: "We are no longer spectators, we are going to take this country in our hands and move forward. Jacob Zuma needs to step down."De Lille told the crowd that the party was marching to defend South Africa's Constitution."In our Constitution we are all equal before the law, and Jacob Zuma is not above the law," she said"Many people died for and fought for this freedom and this Constitution. But Zuma and his ANC is showing disrespect for the Constitution. [By doing that] they are showing disrespect to all of us."
(special feature)

NY meeting celebrates Natalie Bombaros life as

SWP cadre

NEW YORK  From her late teens, Natalie Bombaro spent her life building the Socialist Workers Party and the international communist movement, Norton Sandler told participants at a meeting here April 3 to celebrate her life and political work. She was a cadre  a word we use with pride in describing someone who works collectively, in a disciplined way, toward the partys goal of overthrowing the dictatorship of capital that we live under today.

Bombaro died March 20 from a stroke. The night before she had participated in a New York meeting to hear a delegation from the Federation of Cuban Women.

Among the 95 people at the celebration were Bombaros sister, Gerre Carr, and many relatives of her longtime companion, John Studer.

Meetings like the one today tell you a great deal about an individual like Natalie, said Sandler, organizer of the SWP in New York, but also about what her party was part of over five tumultuous decades.

Other speakers were Janet Post, a leader of the party in Philadelphia, and Don Mackle. Gale Shangold chaired the meeting. Mackle and Shangold are supporters of the SWP and members of the Print Project, made up of some 250 volunteers who produce the books on working-class politics used by the party in its work. Bombaro was one of these volunteers since the projects inception 18 years ago.

Bombaro grew up in South Philadelphia and graduated from a Catholic girls high school that tracked students to become secretaries. Young men at Catholic schools in that area were directed to the nearby shipyard. She became a secretary at the University of Pennsylvania, where students and others introduced her to the civil rights movement, the Cuban Revolution, the growing struggle against the Vietnam War and the womens liberation movement.

She joined the Young Socialist Alliance and later the SWP in 1969, convinced that to be effective she needed to be part of a party with a continuity going back to the Russian Revolution and before, with a leadership of current mass struggles and a clear programmatic course for the working classs march to power, Sandler said.

Photos on displays prepared for the meeting gave a feel for the times. One showed young Black Panther members in 1970, stripped to their underwear and lined up in public against a wall by Philadelphia cops under Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo. Bombaro was part of the SWP and YSA speaking out against this attack on political rights.

In a poster put out to build the April 24, 1971, march in Washington, D.C., against the war in Vietnam, Bombaro is marching arm-in-arm with a whole group, including an active-duty GI.

Another photo showed the August 1970 Chicano Moratorium march in Los Angeles of 25,000 against the war, the largest working-class protest opposing the war up to that point. Bombaro, at the request of the party, moved to Los Angeles in 1971.

Learned organization and discipline

I learned organization and discipline from her example, Jim Gotesky, who was a new party member in Los Angeles at the time, said in a message. Natalie was full of fun, optimism, and good humor. I will always remember her standing big-eyed, bouncing with energy, and grinning ear to ear with a stack of thenewspaper under her arm or walking on the beach handing out flyers for an anti-war march.

In the mid-1970s she took an assignment in New York as part of the secretarial staff under the direction of the central leadership of the SWP. She had special responsibility in relation to the partys international work, including handling correspondence to and from comrades in countries where there was dangerous political repression and a misaddressed letter could cost lives.

She was part of the party leaderships secretariat at the 1979 world congress of the Fourth International, at the time the international organization of the communist movement. It was an important meeting. To be part of a new rise of resistance among working people, the Socialist Workers Party had organized over the preceding year to get the majority of its members into industrial workplaces organized by the trade unions. Similar opportunities existed in other countries.

Also that year working people in Iran overthrew the hated U.S.-supported shah. And in Nicaragua and Grenada, popular revolutions overthrew dictators and established workers and farmers governments.

The debates and fights over these questions were decisive in winning the forces in Australia, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere who are today part of our world movement, Sandler said. Natalie knew in her bones the strengths of our program and her loyalty and party patriotism never wavered.

In 1988 Mark Curtis, a union packinghouse worker and member of the SWP in Des Moines, Iowa, was framed up on rape charges while part of a fight against an immigration raid targeting some of his co-workers. Bombaro and Studer moved to Des Moines. Studer organized the more than seven-year defense effort and Bombaro was a stalwart of the work.

Natalie was right in the thick of the battle with us, Kate Kaku, Curtis wife, wrote in a message signed by both. She had such a way with people, making them feel welcome and appreciated. This was very important since we had to take the fight to the people and win over supporters, especially in Iowa.

Over the years, Bombaro also built the party in San Antonio, Phoenix, Boston and Chicago.

After leaving active party membership in the early 1990s, Bombaro remained a supporter for the rest of her life, taking on various responsibilities.

When Studer and Bombaro moved to Philadelphia in 1999, Post said, the party mostly carried out propaganda work in the northern part of the city, which was majority African-American. Natalie was confident that workers in South Philly  with its mix of Irish, Italian, Eastern European, Latino and Black workers  would be just as interested in the Militant and Pathfinder books, Post said. She was right.

In recent years in New York, Mackle told the meeting, Bombaro helped strengthen the Supporters Monthly Appeal, which raises monthly contributions to sustain the partys work.

In concluding, Sandler noted that the best tribute to Bombaro was to build the SWP and a powerful movement that can fight for the emancipation of the great majority of humanity.

Before and after the program participants enjoyed a plentiful spread of food. A fund appeal raised $5,216 to build the party.





Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




Communist League in UK: No road to fair capitalism

LONDON  The Communist League offers a perspective of independent working-class political action, Jonathan Silberman, Communist League candidate for mayor, told a March 31 meeting of 30 rail workers hosted by the Regional Council of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union. Among those present were tube (subway) drivers who had held a 24-hour strike the previous week over safety and company intimidation.

Green Partys mayoral candidate Sian Berry also spoke, saying organized labor has an important role to play in creating a fair society.

Whats needed is not a perspective of trying to make capitalism fair, Silberman replied. Whats needed is the road of revolutionary struggle to overturn the dictatorship of capital and establish a workers and farmers government.

All capitalist politicians say what they will do for Londoners, including the Greens, he added. But the emancipation of the working class must be conquered by the working class itself. It will not be bestowed upon us by a reforming London mayor.

Silberman, 64, a pharmaceutical worker on a zero-hours contract through an agency, is a member of the UNITE union, and has been active in the labor movement for decades. The unions must organize all workers  permanent and agency, British-born and foreign-born  and use union power to defend workers interests, Silberman said.

What you said about forging united action and organizing agency workers hit the mark, a tube driver Silberman had met on the picket line told him. Many agency workers are immigrants. Their conditions are inferior. And its a divide-and-rule opening for the employers. He bought a Militant subscription and a copy of The Cuban Five Talk About Their Lives Within the US Working Class. Five others at the meeting bought copies of the Militant.

A dozen Communist League members and supporters went door to door the next day in the Higham Hill area of the North East London Assembly constituency, where Silberman is on the ballot. Yuki Tsugehara, an exchange student from Japan, joined the effort. We met all sorts of people, she said. Some had jobs, some were retired, some were students, but they were all working people. We introduced them to a new perspective. Over two days of door to door campaigning 14 people signed up for Militant subscriptions.





Related articles:

Help Socialist Workers Party get on ballot and campaign

We need to overthrow the dictatorship of capital

SWP: Workers control needed for nuclear safety

Solidarity with Verizon strikers!

Help get the Socialist Workers Party presidential ticket on the ballot!

Spring subscription drive April 2-May 17 (week 1)

Militant Fighting Fund April 2-May 17







Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




SWP: Workers control needed for nuclear safety

Militant/Steve Warshell

HOMESTEAD, Fla.  Two hundred people showed up March 31 for a meeting here on safety at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant after weeks of reports about radioactive tritium leaking into Biscayne Bay. Among those attending were members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, some of whom work at the reactor.

Florida Power and Light bosses and officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tried to prevent the open house from becoming a forum, angering many.

Cynthia Jaquith, above, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Senate, and supporters distributed a campaign statement pointing out that one-third of the worlds population has no access to modern energy. Today, working people can only fight to close that gap through nuclear power. But that doesnt mean we have to accept dangerous conditions, Jaquith said.

The fight for safety at Turkey Point is linked to the fight for $15 an hour and a union, against police brutality and for womens access to abortion. In each of these battles we are up against not only our bosses but the two parties they control, the Democrats and Republicans, and the regulatory bodies they appoint, she said. The Socialist Workers Party calls for a labor party based on the unions that champions the fight for safety as part of organizing working people to take power out of the hands of the capitalists who poison our water, air and land and to replace their system of exploitation with one that guarantees working people safe conditions of life and work and energy to meet human needs.

Workers should control safety conditions and should shut down any facility found to be operating unsafely until the problem is solved, Jaquith said.

Many union members liked this approach. If I am told to do something unsafe, I am expected to report it. Thats why I like the union, IBEW apprentice and construction worker Mario Garcia told Jaquith.

 STEVE WARSHELL
Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here

You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: 

Home Page
News / National

by Staff reporter

War veterans have once again demanded that President Robert Mugabe must fire Zanu-PF commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, days after the veteran ruler refused to entertain their demands to rein in the G40 faction now calling the shots in the ruling party.Mugabe met the former fighters at a meeting attended by over 10 000 people in Harare last Thursday where he deliberately avoided responding to demands for him to act on factionalism tearing Zanu-PF apart.He insists that war veterans are mere affiliates of the party and cannot dictate how Zanu-PF should be run.This followed a vote of no confidence passed by the liberation war veterans on Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo, Kasukuwere and Indigenisation minister Patrick Zhuwao.Mphoko and the ministers are linked to the G40 faction, allegedly led by First Lady Grace Mugabe.The war veterans reserved most of their venom at the meeting for Kasukuwere, but Mugabe ignored them. But Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) spokesperson Douglas Mahiya said they were not giving up the fight against Kasukuwere, setting the stage for another confrontation with Mugabe."The NEC [national executive committee] reviewed the meeting with the president and thanked members for their sincerity and commitment to the party through the recommendations they made to their patron and the president," he said."The recommendations were made within the spirit of keeping the ideals of the revolution and in all honesty."He [Kasukuwere] is not only unsuitable, but also not qualified because he has not been through the mill."He did not go through the ideological education and orientation that war veterans went through. That is why the party is facing so many problems".Efforts to obtain comment from Kasukuwere were fruitless as his mobile phones went unanswered yesterday.Mahiya said they would find a way to ensure that Mugabe listened to their demands."We have made our position clear and the leader of our party and county, our commander is aware of the feelings of the revolutionaries in Zanu-PF," he added."He is aware of the feelings of the very people he commanded during the struggle and the authors of our nation."We will give it time so that the president will find a way of dealing with these issues."We also think that if Kasukuwere understands the value of the struggle, the reason why so many people died he would step down."He said he saw nothing wrong with war veterans demanding that their party be led by people who understood its ideology."We will continue to push for the implementation of our resolution and through the proper party channels," he said."There is nothing wrong with war veterans making these demands and recommendations because they are meant to sustain the revolution and make sure that the party does not die or disintegrate."At the meeting with Mugabe last Thursday, the former freedom fighters demanded that they be given control of the ruling party's welfare, lands, security and commissariat department.They claimed the ruling party has lost its way and in danger of implosion.Mahiya said the war veterans leadership was "dismayed" by the contents of the welfare committee's presentation."It seemed the recommendations and resolutions had been doctored and we will be revisiting that to investigate what might have happened. We were really disappointed," he said.The presenter of the resolutions under the thematic committee of statutory benefits breezed through and took less than ten minutes while other presenters seemed to have more detailed reports.War veterans are linked to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa's faction, which is fighting against G40 in the battle to succeed Mugabe.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The government says it is committed to fulfilling its international obligation to ensure social protection for refugees and asylum seekers staying in the country.Zimbabwe is hosting a total of 10 823 refuges and asylum seekers and has pledged to follow international laws and the Zimbabwe Refugees Act to ensure refugees have access to social protection.Addressing delegates attending this year's International Day of Social Workers in Harare, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Prisca Mupfumira said government appreciates financial and material assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other stakeholders.She, however, said extreme weather conditions and economic recession being experienced in the world affects efforts to protect the vulnerable.Mupfumira urged other stakeholders to support vulnerable groups to compliment government efforts adding that social workers should be dynamic to keep pace with changes in the society.Social Workers Association president Dr Aaron Zinyanya commended government for promoting the interests of the vulnerable, adding that his organisation is crafting a volunteer programme to compliment government efforts.This year's social workers commemoration is running under the theme: 'Promoting the Dignity and Worth of People Focusing on Refugees and Displaced Persons'.Zimbabwe is a signatory to the 1969 Organisation of African Unity Convention governing specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa.
News / Press Release

by RTUZ

The Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) has set 29 April 2016 as the day it would mobilise its members and go into the streets and peacefully protest against various government policies.The Ministry of primary and secondary education and the Public Service Commission (PSC) have been making a litany of policy pronouncements which have resulted in making the conditions of service for teachers very difficult.At the end of 2015, the government announced that it was deducting 7.5% pension from the salary of every civil servant. This move was clearly ill timed as it was done at a time when the salaries for government workers are still below the poverty datum line.At the start of the year, the Ministry of primary and secondary education unilaterally scrapped vacation leave for teachers and went on to recall teachers who had gone on leave.When these policies were announced, the union made attempts to engage the government but the various departments spurned the union's attempt to engage them.The lack of concern by the government is what has pushed the union to take to the streets and push the government to listen to the demands of the teachers. The protest is part of the campaign for the restoration of dignity to the teaching profession which was launched by the January 4 bonus demonstration.The demonstration will be in form of a march to the Ministry of primary and secondary education offices and the PSC where copies of a petition with union demands will be submitted.In addition to the issues which a peculiar to teachers, the protest will also register the union's displeasure over the US$15 billion which was looted by companies and government representatives in Chiadzwa diamond fields.Had such a large amount of money been deployed to the education sector then the sector would have been completely transformed. The government thus must account for how such a large sum of money was looted right under their nose.
How to watch and what to know about South Dakota State at North Dakota
News / Religion

by Staff Reporter

A REVEREND with Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, Gladman Chauya, who was accused of raping a female congregant, was last Friday acquitted of the charges when he appeared before Rusape regional magistrate, Livingstone Chipadza.Manica Post reported that scores of relieved Methodist Church in Zimbabwe members danced in jubilation at Mutare Magistrates' Courts just after Chauya's acquittal.Representing Chauya were Mutare lawyers, Innocent Mandikate and Mr Justin Fusire, while Malvern Musarurwa represented the State.In passing his sentence, Chipadza said the complainant's two witnesses' testimonies were so contradictory that they cast a doubt to whether any of them were ever informed of the alleged incident or not.He termed the contradictory as "discrepancy".Chipadza said one of the witnesses, Superintendant Florence Marume, who is also a senior member in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe as well as in the Zimbabwe Republic Police, was expected to initiate investigations and do something to have the matter reported early.In this matter, the complainant made a report a year later after the alleged rape had taken place."The witness, Florence Marume did not even initiate investigations and yet she testified that on various occasions she was interacting with the victim."There appears to be machinations between the two witnesses against the accused."Their testimonies are both fallacious since they differ from what is in the State outline."Both the witnesses' conduct after receiving the report from the victim leaves a lot to be desired. They gave different versions and so one will obviously wonder which of the two versions is true."He said it also raised eyebrows on why the complainant a 35-year-old woman did not tell her mother or sisters of the alleged rape matter, but confided in Ndebele, a male church elder who stays in Sakubva while she stays in Dangamvura."That just proves that it was church politics as Chauya testified in his defence."The court also questioned the authenticity of the audio tapes of the phone calls that were played in court.Chipadza said it had been the State's duty to prove that the phone calls had been between Chauya and the victim's number and bring in a voice expert, but it failed to do so."The State should have furnished the court with a printout on the conversations from the service provider and a voice expert should have been brought to court to prove the authenticity of the tapes, but nothing was done. The State was supposed to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the conversations between the two were not mere assumptions," he said.The State, however, represented by Malvern Musarurwa, said it would appeal against the acquittal.
Its a chilly Friday night outside Cabbagetowns FAmelia restaurant but inside, all things are warm: the conversation, the candlelit-dotted trattoria and of course the food.

The four women at the table ooh and aah as they inspect and discuss each others Italian dishes  plates of beef Carpaccio, lasagna, wild mushroom risotto, arugula salad and Osso buco get sampled and shared by this clearly close group of friends.

Its the last Friday of the month and this nameless dinner club has a standing reservation for this evening to dine at a different restaurant. The venue is determined monthly. The regular group is a sixsome, including Treva Goodhead, 42, Julie Hollingbery, 54, Debbie Edwards, 59, Heather Webb Makin, 48, Donna Smith, 52, and Maire-Anne Doyle, 59, has been meeting various restaurants across Toronto monthly for 13 years sharing meals, conversation and lifes events.

So we started picking restaurants alphabetically by countries of the world, says Goodhead. Once wed kind of done as many as we could, we started alphabetically by restaurant name and now were doing alphabetical by street.

Thats how they ended up at FAmelia on Amelia St. for their 143rd meal together (they double up at Christmas time to do a November/December restaurant). If we didnt have a system to pick a restaurant, itd be like herding cats, Goodhead says.

It was the common goal to get fit that brought these women together 13 years ago. They met at Curves, the womens only fitness chain. Familiarly led to friendly chats and when a receptionist announced she was leaving, a group of women decided to take her out to dinner as a thank you gesture. The group, which started out with 12 women, gelled and a monthly gathering was born.

Goodhead and Doyle are largely tasked with restaurant selection and they have not returned to the same establishment twice. Yelp and other customer review online sites and foodie boards such as Chowhound have made informing themselves about the restaurants easy.

The group has certain parameters when selecting a venue. Smith is a vegetarian, so there always needs to be a vegetarian option on the menu, while Edwards is allergic to peppers and mushrooms.

Money also plays a role because in these 13 years weve gone through layoffs and home expenses too, so we have to pick a restaurant thats not too expensive, says Goodhead.

Chocolate also needs to be on the dessert menu. Donnas a chocoholic but she will not share her dessert! says Edwards. Maybe her entree  but definitely not her dessert.

Altogether, their selection system has led to many interesting choices over the years. Theyve dinned at Bistro Camino, a Japanese-French fusion restaurant on Danforth Ave. and Simba Grill, a Tanzanian restaurant on Donlands Ave. Sometimes their limitations have uncovered more unusual choices for eateries including a trip to Ikea to tuck into a Swedish menu or the Latvian Canadian Cultural Centre to try a Latvian meal. And then there was Iceland.

I picked I for countries and I couldnt find anything for Iceland, says Webb Makin. So I called the Icelandic Consulate General and asked if they could suggest an Icelandic restaurant. They said no, but that they were having a gala dinner two months away and they would love to have us. So the group attended the dinner with Icelandic dignitaries, including city counsellors from the capital Reykjavik. They enjoyed lamb and fish dishes and knocked I off the list.

Not all their choices have been as successful. One year, their Christmas dinner gathering came to an unfortunate end.

There were 10 of us and the wait staff was rude and inattentive, says Webb Makin. We didnt give him a tip and he came back and argued with us about it so we then got the manager. It turned into a fight  the waiter was yelling at us  and the manager gave us our dinners for free.

Then there was the shady restaurant where the group wasnt exactly sure what was going on. We ordered and the waiter was Oh we dont have that. So we chose something else and he said We dont have that either. says Edwards. Things got even more puzzling when the group spotted the waiter slipping out the door and returning a short while later with grocery bags. A drive by the restaurant the next day put the final piece in the puzzle  it was closed for business.

While the food stories are shared like appetizers, reflecting back makes the women realize that the food is merely the conduit that brings them together. Theyve been through births, firings, milestone birthdays and much more. We meet each other on a monthly basis and we really dont speak to each other during the month, says Hollingbery. We save any stories from the month to share with the group.

The women come an array of working worlds as diverse as finance, media, education, human resources and dog sitting. So stuff you go through at work, you can run it by the group because they dont know who youre talking about, says Hollingbery. It makes it so much easier to share something youre struggling with.

Theres no struggle to finish off the meal this night. The lemon brulee tarts and flourless chocolate tortes have long disappeared. As the group heads out into the chilly night, the waiter calls out to them.

Good night ladies, he says. And good luck with B!

SHARE:
Nobody ever accused tiki of being subtle.

Consisting of palm fronds, bowls of flaming punch and kitschy statuettes of dancing hula girls, some might even go so far as to call tiki of being outright tacky. To others, though, its the perfect way to inject a little levity into the occasionally-too-austere world of cocktail bartending  a correction to the recent spate of hushed speakeasies. After all, its hard to take yourself too seriously when youre drinking sweet cocktails from a coconut, all the while wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

Which is probably why Torontos having more tropical fun these days, with the recent launchings of the Shore Leave in the citys east end and, in Parkdale, Miss Things and the Shameful Tiki Room. The latter, with its bamboo walls, Arthur Lyman soundtrack and menu of 30-something potent tropical drinks, is the most faithful re-enactment of tiki a genre of bars that was established in California soon after Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

With their get-as-much-rum-as-you-can-fit-into-a-glass philosophy, tiki cocktails were a defiant backlash against the 14-year dry spell that came before. Its faux-Polynesian decor, exotica music and over-the-top cocktail vessels and garnishes also provided welcome distraction from the Great Depression  at least for anyone who could afford it.

Not everybody feels they have to recreate a carbon copy of Trader Vics to get their tiki on, though. Miss Things, for example, opted for elegant and understated tropical decor instead of arguably distasteful Moai statues. Regular bars as diverse as Rush Lane, The Drake Hotel and Piano Piano honour the trend with a featured tiki cocktail on the menu, but eschew overall aesthetic. At Civil Liberties, the bar pays quiet tribute to tiki with a pineapple logo and a willingness to make crazy rum drinks, but thats where the resemblance ends.

Over on the Danforth, at Shore Leave, owners Zach Littlejohn and Julian Altrows interpret #tikionthedanny with a traditional bamboo bar, vintage glassware and Palm Beach-coloured walls, but tone down many of the drinks, including the Anchor Ship  a sturdy, spirit-forward rum cocktail served in a plain rocks glass with an understated lemon twist for a garnish.

It does throw some people off, since everyone expects their tiki drinks will arrive in a garish ceramic cup or big decorative vessels, says Littlejohn. But we wanted to be able to offer something to our customers who just want a more classic approach. Although purists might disagree, the Anchor Ship still smacks of tiki, since the drink has a complex herbal/fruit flavour that comes from the combination of potent rum and aromatic liqueurs.

And if the Anchor Ship isnt fun enough for people looking for cocktail parasols and flower garnishes, Shore Leave also offers up super-exotic options, such as the Kon-Tiki, a pineapple/passionfruit rum cocktail or, for small groups who believe that anything worth doing is worth overdoing, its signature punch bowl full of Jungle Juice.

Not your style? Littlejohns got you covered with plenty of modern classics like the Anchor Ship that embody a new concept, one that might have previously considered an oxymoronSubtle Tiki.

The Anchor Ship

1 oz El Dorado 12-year-old rum

1 oz Plantation Grand reserve rum

1/2 oz D.O.M Benedictine

1/2 oz Lustau Oloroso sherry

5 drops solera date bitters (can be bought at Shore Leave, itself)

A dash of cherry syrup

Combine all ingredients in mixing glass. Add one scoop of ice and stir six times. Double strain into rocks glass. Add king cube and garnish with cherry and orange rind ribbon

SHARE:
House-hunters Sam and Dalia Esaad were searching along Richmond Hills Yonge St. corridor when they found their perfect fit at Ideal Developments townhouse community, Modern Manors.

The Esaads were excited to find their 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom urban townhouse, with terrace, at a great location  Yonge and Jefferson Side Rd.  for about $600,000. Weve got a nice view of the ravine across the road (where a pathway winds around ponds and creeks), he says. And its right on Yonge, so were pretty excited.

Their daughter, Pakinam, newly graduated from university and launching a career, got a two-bedroom flat, a corner-lot unit. The three will move from the home they share in Whitby next year when the new digs are ready.

Adding to the thrill of their new homes was the discovery that, for every home purchased at Modern Manors, including theirs, Ideal Developments  through the Ideal Hope Foundation established by the founder  will build a home for a needy family in the developing world.

Ive never heard of a builder doing something like this, says Esaad. It makes me feel great to know Im part of something like this, even though its not coming directly from me. Its good to help others.

His drive to help others spurred Shajiraj Nadarajalingam (Shaji Nada for short), the founder of Ideal Developments, who immigrated to Canada from Sri Lanka as a 19-year-old refugee, to launch Ideal Hope Foundation  a non-profit organization that has applied for charitable status. The non-profit is run by Sri Nithya Omkarananda (Omkara).

Growing up over there, and experiencing what I did, created a blueprint within me, he says.

I vowed that, once I was a success here, I would go back and help my people.

His overseas program, dubbed Build Haven, was launched last summer alongside the construction of Phase 1 of Modern Manors, a collection of 60 stacked townhomes that sold out in a matter of hours, according to Ideals sales and marketing director Natascha Pieper. The Markham-based builder introduced the stacked town concept to Richmond Hill, she says. And while it took a bit of time to educate the local buying public, we quickly saw huge demand for the product, largely owing to its relative affordability in an area where detached homes start at about $1.5 million.

The sellout of Modern Manors first phase has led to construction of 36 houses in the village of Naguleswaram in Sri Lanka, where Nada was born and raised amid a civil war that lasted from 1983 to 2009. An additional 24 homes are currently under development, equalling the 60 homes sold at Modern Manors.

The Naguleswaram homeowners receive deeds to the properties, and in many cases are involved in the construction of their humble abodes (two-room concrete structures with septic toilet systems), acquiring skills to help sustain themselves moving forward.

Ideal Hope is also working to bring back water wells destroyed during the war, and building several new ones to supply fresh water to the community.

Building homes is not the only way Nada is helping. For a decade hes sponsored hundreds of Sri Lankan children, paying for their food, clothes and educations. The foundation also supports mentally and physically challenged kids living in an orphanage in India.

And it micro-finances widows who lost husbands in the war. I wanted to help them get back on their feet, Nada explains, so I bought 40 cows for them, and now they survive and take care of the children by selling the milk.

But the construction of housing for a population in desperate need is where Ideal Hope is having its greatest impact. Nada notes that $5,000 from the profits of every home sold in the GTA is spent to create one through the Build Haven program.

While more projects are planned for Sri Lanka, Ideal Hope is gearing up to build 22 homes for a community in Chenai, India, which was ravaged by floods in late 2015. And there are plans in place for Guyana and Bangladesh, too.

In all, Nada says the aim is to build 1,000 homes over the next five years to match the number his company forecasts it will sell in the GTA through various projects. (In addition to Modern Manors this includes YU Condos, a 750-unit development in Unionville, across from the future York University satellite campus. It launches this fall.)

It means a lot of work ahead on opposite ends of the globe, but Nada is more than eager to take it on. When I get letters from people over there telling me how much weve helped them out, thats inspiring, he says. It pushes me to want to continue to make the world a better place than how I found it.

A second phase of Modern Manors is slated to launch in June, with 36 townhomes (traditional-style, back-to-back, and rear-lane), some as large as 2,317 square feet, and priced from the mid-$600,000s. With the sale of these homes, another 36 will be built in Naguleswaram.

Hope around the world

Sri Nithya Omkarananda (Omkara) oversees Ideal Hope Foundations various initiatives. When we talked with him  by phone  he was in Naguleswaram, Sri Lanka, meeting with jubilant new homeowners:

Q: So, hows it been going?

A: Ive been running around a lot. Right now Im in Jaffna, the district where Naguleswaram is located, We built the first 36 homes here in just six months. Before this, I was in Chenai, India, where for the next project well be building houses for flood victims. Im also working with a group in Guyana to build housing for indigenous people who lived in the floodplain and had their mud homes destroyed.

But its not just building homes. Weve sponsored kids who lost parents during the war, with a scholarship program to pay for their education. We just added 60 children, and are aiming to have 500 by years end.

We also have a cattle-funding program for widows or single mothers. And there are some orphanages in Sri Lanka that can no longer sustain their operations, so were trying to see if we can take one over and run it.

Q: Whats the back story to the homebuilding program?

A: During the war here, many lands were taken over as high security zones and people became homeless. When the war ended in 2009, most lived in refugee camps or tried moving into relatives homes, but they were often belittled  these were stories they told me. When the new government came in, they worked with local authorities to release some security zone lands back to the people who lived there originally.

Its one thing for us to build houses for them, but the key is to make sure these people can sustain themselves in these communities. Many were farmers before the war, so weve talked with USAID about giving them seeds and watering equipment to help them get back to farming. And weve asked Canadian donors to help fund a library and school facilities, so the children can get an education.

Q: Talk about the homes youre building

A: We needed a basic form of home because we want to build as many as possible, so it needs to be an easily duplicated system. Also, we couldnt provide some families a luxury setup and ignore others. So weve built simple homes with a two-room layout  with a bedroom and living area  and each includes a three-pit septic toilet system. And there are six wells in Naguleswaram, which were in bad shape, so we cleaned them up, and dug two others to supply water to homes.

Q: What has the response been from the new owners?

A: When I came here in September and met with the people, they were in tears telling me their stories and begging us to build them houses. But they were skeptical; they said, Many organizations come here, take our pictures, listen to our stories, but never come back. Hope you dont do the same thing. So yesterday when I met with them, one of the elders came running up and said, I cant believe you guys completed all this in six months. I talked to other people whod been living in huts covered only by their saris; they said, Youve given this to us and now my children are safe, now we have a place to live. Thank you.

*

Ideal Hope Foundation

idealhope.org

416-754-3500

info@idealhope.org

SHARE:
Easter Island sits like an emerald in the middle of the aquamarine Pacific Ocean. While famous for the giant, human-shaped stone sculptures that line its shorefront, this island  known locally by its traditional name, Rapa Nui  offers much more than funny-faced photo ops. There are crystal clear waters, breathtaking cliffs and soaring ancient volcanoes all begging to be discovered. Explora Rapa Nui is an environmentally conscious, 30-room hotel sitting on nearly 24 acres of pristine, partially wooded land.

LOCATION: About 3,512 kilometres west of central Chile, Rapa Nui is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, with a population of a little more than 6,000. Herds of semiwild horses graze and chickens happily peck about in the rich volcanic soil. Explora Rapa Nui is a bumpy 20-minute drive from the main town, Hanga Roa, and the islands only airport.

PRICE: Minimum three-night stay: $2,538-$5,220 (U.S.); four-night stay, $3,088-$6,628; six-night stay, $3,852-$8,580; rates include all meals, open bar, exploration activities, and pickup and drop-off from the Easter Island airport.

DINING: The rotating menu at Explora Rapa Nui was designed to highlight local seasonal produce  namely seafood, as well as fruits and vegetables, such as wild guava and taro  but also to provide guests with clean energy for the daily hikes and mountain biking the ecolodge is known for. Meals and drinks are covered in the all-inclusive fee and are served in the stunning wood-and-glass dining room thats perfect for watching the sun dip down over the horizon while sipping a delicious Chilean Carmenere. Its a selection of wines that changes as the harvests and quality changes, says Explora Rapa Nui manager Francisco Covarrubias. We love wine and our guests do, too. No arguments there.

COMFORT AND DESIGN: The rough-wood-and-smoothed-concrete guest rooms are comfortable and clean with a private view of the sea, while the common areas are filled with floor-to-ceiling windows, white overstuffed couches and gorgeous leather swing seats. We want to make our guest feel like were receiving you in our house, says Covarrubias. Its a relaxed hotel with a focus on the outdoors. We want guests to be in their hiking shoes  its encouraged! Explora Rapa Nui is LEED certified; there is an on-site water purification system (guests receive a personal canteen upon arrival), and rooms are fitted with energy-saving light fixtures. Chilean architect Jose Cruz Ovalle has designed an organic-looking masterpiece that showcases the landscape. The concept of not having a TV or Internet in the room (only in the lounge), its because we want you to recover your energy for the next day, and be ready to go outside and explore again, says Covarrubias.

SERVICE: Within an hour of arriving at Explora Rapa Nui, I had checked in, eaten a specially prepared lunch, spotted my first stone statue, and was walking along a rocky waterfront trail with four other guests, led by our guide, David Torres. Look down by the water, says Torres. Each important bay on Rapa Nui has a stone platform lined with moai (the ancient stone statues). There are over 20 half- or full-day hikes, bike rides, and snorkelling and fishing expeditions, led by one of the lodges guides, most of whom are ancestrally Rapa Nuian. We define ourselves as a travel company, not as a hotel, says Covarrubias. We always say the most amazing thing happens outside of the hotel. The guides are all trained in history, ecology, and first aid. They can tell what their grandfathers taught them about fishing or told them about the moai, says Covarrubias.

DOWNSIDE: It can take up to two days to get to Rapa Nui from Canada, and airfare can be quite expensive. Only the Chilean carrier LAN flies passenger planes from Santiago International Airport to Isla de Pascua Airport. LAN does operate out of most major North and South American cities, and they are full-service flights (Food! Wine! Blankets!).

Emma Yardleys trip was sponsored by Explora and the Chile Tourism Board, which didnt review or approve this story.

SHARE:
Andrew Loku was shot dead on our behalf. He was killed by a police officer we employ, using force authorized by us, with a weapon we supplied. That officer was acting in our name.

We  you and I, the people of Toronto and Ontario and Canada  deserve to know why, and how, and by whom this action was taken. But we dont, really, for now. We have only the description of what is said to have transpired  and that description is contradicted by the only two known civilian eye witnesses  and the word of one government figure that the officer who fired the gun was within the ambit of justifiable force in the circumstances.

Thats a problem. A problem bigger than the single incident of Andrew Loku.

Because this is standard in cases of police shootings and other violent incidents involving officers. They are investigated by an independent civilian body, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), whose workings are shrouded in secrecy from beginning to end, and whose conclusions we are forced to accept without knowing important details. That should change.

The time to make changes, to bring investigations into police conduct out of the shadows, is now. Because the mandate and practices of the SIU, headed by Tony Loparco, are being reviewed as part of an overhaul of the Police Services Act now. And many of the needed changes, as former ombudsman Andre Marin  who wrote reports in 2008 and 2011 urging reforms  tells the Star, are as long overdue as they are obvious. The thrust of the most essential reforms is transparency: police are our agents, acting in our name. We deserve detailed explanations when they inflict violence or death on our behalf, so we can assess how comfortable we are with those actions.

We will find out the details in the Loku case, in time, thanks to a coroners inquest that could begin late this year, one announced this week in response to a public outcry by Black Lives Matter and the media spotlight on the case. But that inquiry  which sets out to prevent problems in the future, not to provide accountability for the past  will only tell us what some people, the director of the provinces special investigations unit, and Ontarios Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur, already know. The SIU has already conducted what were told is a detailed investigation. But the public is not allowed to read the report.

In this case, like in virtually all others in which the SIU finds no wrongdoing, we do not know the name of the officer who shot Loku, nor do we know anything about the officers service history. In many other cases, we never even learn the name of the victim. We do not know the names of the SIU investigators, nor do we know in any detail how they conducted their investigation. We do not know the names of any of the witnesses they spoke to, except those who have come forward to the media on their own. We do not know what the various conflicting accounts from witnesses said  only the directors summary of his own conclusions. There is a video showing parts of this incident, but we cannot see it for ourselves.

That information is, presumably, contained in the report that the SIU director files with the attorney general. But those reports are not made public. They should be, especially when no criminal charges are pursued, by default  if there are safety or privacy reasons to withhold some names or details, the attorney general could withhold those on a case-by-case basis. But everything should be presumed public, as Marin recommended in 2008 and again in 2011.

The current fog of public ignorance applies at every step of the process. Once the SIU invokes its mandate, its staffers are the only source of information about the incident. And when they launch an investigation, they provide few details. They do not (typically) release the name of the deceased or injured party or the name of the officers involved. Often there is no information about whether the person shot by a police officer was even armed, or reported to be armed.

How can members of the public make known any information they have that might bear on the case if they arent told enough to realize they have that information, or that it would be useful? How can the public accept conclusions if they arent given enough information to evaluate the evidence they are based on? If, instead, one thing they are certain of is that pivotal pieces of information are being intentionally and systematically concealed from them?

Craig Bromell, a former head of the Toronto Police Association who has long been known as an advocate for officers rather than for stricter accountability, recently joined critics in complaining about the lack of information from the SIU during investigations. This silence will cause more suspicion on any investigation involving police, he wrote last month on his website, Copfather.

When the Homicide Unit investigates a homicide in Toronto, or any city in Ontario, they will get out information all the time, constantly updating the public through press conferences on TV when it involves a homicide. The SIU will say nothing and let false accusations swell over the course of weeks or months while the subject officer is under a cloud, along with the police service.

That Bromell feels more transparency will vindicate police officers in almost every case highlights the important point that a desire to overhaul the SIU to make its work transparent is not some anti-police campaign. It does not reflect inherent mistrust in police officers. Instead it reflects a strong desire  a need  to know we can trust them. That they have nothing to hide, and are therefore hiding nothing. Good accountability mechanisms, openness to public inspection, availability of information: these things dont point to a lack of trust. They are the very things that ensure trust. And right now, we do not have them.

Those who oppose more openness and other accountability reforms in SIU investigations often say that police should be held to a different standard than others because they are in a special position: we have employed them specifically to serve and protect us, we send them into situations that may be dangerous and ask them to risk their lives, we arm them and authorize them to use force  sometimes deadly force  to protect themselves, and to protect us.

But that special role in society  not just a job but a public trust  is precisely why we need an extraordinary level of accountability and transparency when examining their behaviour. They are acting on our behalf, in our name, with our authorization. Which means we need them to be accountable to us.

Edward Keenan writes on city issues ekeenan@thestar.ca . Follow: @thekeenanwire

SHARE:
I planned a trip to Switzerland to watch a stranger die; the prospect made me queasy. I had been at deathbeds before, but only for people I knew and loved. This time I would be an observer, not a mourner, and that bothered me.

The more I thought about the scheduling  as I noted the appointment in my electronic calendar  the more bizarre it seemed to know the precise day and time that death would occur, not to mention the cause, a lethal injection triggered by the patient. What I have learned is that all my naive assumptions about a natural death and the sanctity of the last breath evaporate in the face of crude circumstances. People who are terminally ill or experiencing excruciating and irremediable physical or mental pain are often desperate to shed a life that has become oppressive in the pain and suffering it imposes. And if that means having a journalist watch them die, so be it.

We see horrific images of murders, plane crashes, suicide bombers and school shootings all the time. Blood, gore and grief taser our consciousness, leaving a permanent buzz in our memories, but the collective shock gradually numbs us unless we recognize one of the victims as our lover, friend, parent or child. Sometimes, the most seemingly benign image, say, of a drowned toddler lying face down on the shore, is the most shocking because for a blissful moment we recognize him as our little boy collapsed into sleep after playing with us in the waves. Then the dream shatters and we realize the child is dead and we are bereft.

The personal is what moves us. Being there when a child is born or a parent dies makes us part of the journey, links us intrinsically to the promise of a new life and the sorrow of an ending one. Being there with a loved one marks our place in the continuum. Witnessing the planned death of a stranger is something else: deliberate, scheduled, and filmed for police scrutiny. It resembles an execution, with one huge caveat: instead of death being the ultimate punishment, death is an escape from a life that has become tyrannical in its suffering. The lack of spontaneity, the embrace of death as a deliverer, the conscious decision to rip the carapace from something we have always thought of as mysterious and beyond our control are among the reasons we are leery of assisted death and euthanasia.

The Supreme Courts Carter decision (which struck down Canadas ban on assisted suicide) gave us a new way of thinking about death  our choices and our responsibilities. The courts recognized that a good death is our final human right. Now we have to figure out how to make that value work ethically and equitably. Carter isnt the end of the struggle; rather, it is the beginning of a new stage in a different debate. How do we reconcile the Charter rights of patients and doctors, guarantee autonomy to suffering patients, protect the vulnerable from coercion, juggle the competing interests and duties of federal, provincial and territorial governments, balance the diverse goals of regulatory bodies and ramp up services in rural and remote parts of this vast country?

We know who the patients are likely to be, but how do we identify the doctors? Helping somebody die is and should always be a difficult decision. Should only palliative care doctors take it on, because they have developed an expertise in physical, emotional and psychological symptom relief at the end of life? Or should it be primary care doctors, because they have come to know the hopes and fears of their patients and their families through years of treatment and care? These are thorny issues.

Looking elsewhere is a good place to start seeking answers. So while the politicians were stalling, the doctors were plumbing the depths of their conscientious objections and the regulatory bodies were drawing up schedules and guidelines, I headed to Switzerland, the destination of many suffering patients seeking an exit.

Is it different if it is your mother and not a stranger who wants a hastened death? Yes, says John Colapinto, the Toronto-born journalist and staff writer for the New Yorker. He went with his mother and three siblings to Switzerland early in the fall of 2014 so his mother could have an assisted death at Dignitas, the first and most famous facility that caters to foreigners.

While determined to protect his familys privacy, Colapinto shared some of the logistics with me. His mother, whom I will call Sarah, had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She knew, Colapinto told me, that her disease was incurable, untreatable and fatal, and that her standard of living would decline daily. As a former nurse who had cared for patients with the same neurodegenerative disease she now had, Sarah was under no illusions about how bad an ending it is, her son said, pointing out that his mother was a singularly practical person who had no intention of subjecting herself, or her family and caregivers, to any greater suffering than necessary.

Colapintos mother lived in Toronto, and Canada at the time did not allow medically assisted death. So she went on the Internet and watched videos of people dying at death clinics in Switzerland, the only country that allows doctors to provide foreigners with assisted suicides. Satisfied with what she had seen, she applied and paid for a membership in Dignitas and began amassing the necessary paperwork.

Observing his mother organize the details of her death, the way she had approached so many other challenges, filled Colapinto with admiration. I learned how tough, determined, focused, courageous, funny and single-minded my mother was  even when almost completely immobilized with her disease, he said. He can still remember how she stayed on the phone haranguing government officials for the necessary documents, and then emailed and googled with her failing arms and hands, sticking with it until she got the green light, the provisional acceptance for an assisted death at Dignitas.

No matter how much he admired his mothers determination, Colapinto admitted the prospect of watching her swallow a lethal poison, the standard method at Dignitas, was frightening, but he had long since accepted it as the only sane and humane option  to say nothing of the fact that I knew my mother ardently wished it. That was by far the most important consideration, he said. Six months after his mothers death, he told me he had no regrets. In fact, he has nothing but gratitude. I thank heaven regularly that Dignitas existed as an option, he told me. Im delighted that my mother was able to take control of her dying, just as she had always taken admirable control of her living.

Before I began writing this book, I had thought about death, by which I mean the mechanics of how we shut down forever, only in the abstract. Pondering death made me think about what I want  natural if possible, assisted if necessary, surrounded by people I love. A pretty ordinary desire, but I know that it wont just happen. I need to talk to my family and my doctors about my wishes, prepare a legally robust advance care directive and check out long-term residences and hospices. Will I do all that? Ask yourself the same question.

Even the notion that we can have options when it comes to dying reminded me once again of my mother, the most troubling, unresolved and significant death in my life. I have not had to survive the death of a child or a spouse, which is probably one of the reasons my mothers death looms so large. She became a character in my palliative care chapter, and now she has appeared again in my thoughts and in my fingers as I type these words. Was her death so monumental because she was my mother? Or was it because the end was so protracted? As always, it is personal experience that moulds our memories and our wishes for ourselves.

By the time my mother died, after struggling for more than a decade with metastasized breast cancer, my father, my sisters and I were all prepared to see an end to her agony. What still bothers me, though, is that we never talked, my mother and I, about fear, treatment, how she hoped to be remembered or what she wished for her children. She was so angry about her fate, so ashamed to have cancer  especially in a form that compromised her femininity  so afraid of what was to come that we were all sworn to silence about her illness, lest people pity her or, worse, whisper about her disfigurement.

The last excruciating weeks of her life were punctuated by rare moments of recognition as she lay in a hospital bed, unable to speak, often moaning in discomfort, surrounded by the screams of a demented patient across the corridor, while her flesh wasted away and she grew ever more cadaverous because her robust and stubborn heart refused to stop pounding.

What I remember equally well, 30 years later, was how the stress of deathbed logistics overwhelmed everything, pushing grief aside for later. My father visited three times a day, before, during and after work; my youngest sister took care of him and also visited around her work schedule. But the rest of us were far away. My older sister lived in England. I lived in Toronto. We both had small children. Another sister also lived in Toronto, but she too had a hectic life/work schedule. We were all dreading the phone call telling us to make our way to Montreal as quickly as we could. It was even worse for my English sister, who had to make the hard decision to keep a lonely vigil by the telephone and make a solitary journey after the fact for the funeral.

Inevitably, my father called me early on a morning when my husband was away and I had a pressing work deadline. That day, just after Thanksgiving 1982, one of the nurses had greeted my father at the elevator, put an arm around him, walked him down the hall to my mothers room and said, We think today might be the day. I barely registered the implication of my fathers words as I swung into action, calling my Toronto sister, who made plane reservations, while I scrambled to put off an editor and to find somebody to take care of my 3-year-old son. In those pre-cellphone days, we were incommunicado once we put down the receivers on our land lines, so every delay in check-in, takeoff, landing and collecting our baggage was fraught with worry that our mother would die before we made it to her bedside. Would we be in time to whisper endearments and farewells, or would we arrive to see a body covered with a sheet, or worse, an empty bed?

One of the blessings of that day  although I am not religious  was spotting our fathers minister striding towards us through the arrivals lounge. He grabbed our bags, including mine, which had at least five hardcover books I had to read for an assignment, and nearly toppled over in the process. As he righted himself, he answered the question we were unable to voice: Your mother was alive when I left the hospital. Such a kindness, such an understanding of human nature  it still makes me weep when I think about it.

Despite our fears, we had a long vigil. We clustered round my mothers bed as the minister gave her the last rites. Whatever happened to the religious wars, I wondered, the years in which my mothers Catholicism battled for supremacy over my fathers Calvinism? Then we waited, rubbing her back and listening to her agonal rattling breaths gradually become weaker and further apart until they eventually stopped around 10 oclock, some 14 hours after my fathers phone call. I had no idea that a welcome death could take so long and be so hard to achieve. And yet, we were lucky, compared to many others who have watched their parents scream in agony and thrash about seeking release.

It never occurred to us to think about hastening her death. But now I wonder, What would have been the harm in cutting short those nine weeks in a hospital bed after the cancer moved into her brain stem? My mother was suffering. She could no longer speak or move. We could all  including my English sister  have gathered to usher her out calmly and lovingly. Is that what she would have preferred? We will never know.

Excerpted from A Good Death by Sandra Martin,  2016. Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correction, April 21, 2016: This article was edited from a previous version, which mistakenly said John Colapinto went to Switzerland with his parents in 2015, and that Colapintos mother lived in New York state.

SHARE:
LONDONWhen Elena Sablinas daughter Alina was killed in a car crash in Moscow two years ago, she was devastated.

One month later, Sablina accidentally discovered from a forensic report that six of her 19-year-old daughters organs, including her heart and kidneys, had been removed for transplant.

I was shocked that organs were taken from my child without my permission, Sablina told The Associated Press.

Yet all of that was legal. Russian law explicitly allows doctors to take organs from deceased patients without informing their families. Sablina sued for damages in five Russian courts and has lost every challenge. In frustration, she recently filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, contending that the removal of her daughters organs violated several articles of Europes Human Rights Convention. Sablina also hopes her daughters case will prompt a change in Russian law.

(Doctors) just came with a briefcase and took what they wanted, said Sablina, who said she would not have agreed to the donation even if asked. Who gave them the right?

More than a dozen countries in Europe, including Russia, have a presumed consent donation system, where, in an attempt to boost the number of available organs, the government assumes people will be donors unless they specifically opt out. Others, like England, require people or their relatives to provide permission before anything can be taken.

In some countries with presumed consent, including Spain and Belgium, doctors still consult family members before removing organs. But in Russia, doctors dont always seek the familys permission beforehand.

A recently proposed amendment, however, would require Russian doctors to inform a patients relatives within 12 hours of their loved ones death of any intention to remove organs or tissue, giving the family time to object. But the amendment does not make it mandatory for doctors to obtain the familys consent before taking organs. The proposal is still awaiting approval and there is no timeline on when Russian lawmakers might debate it.

Still, that would only be a partial solution, critics say, since Russia still lacks an organ donation infrastructure, including a viable way for people to opt out.

After her daughters accident in Moscow, Sablina and her husband flew from their home in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg to be with her at the hospital. The doctors told them to prepare for the worst. After five days, Sablina said the doctors said they were too busy to talk, that she and her husband could not see Alina that day and asked them to leave.

The following morning, Sablina got a telephone call from a funeral home informing her that her daughter had died. She inadvertently discovered the organ removal as she reviewed a criminal case file against the driver implicated in the fatal collision.

One doctor had removed her daughters heart while another took her kidneys. Doctors also cut out part of her aorta, her adrenal gland and a piece of her right lung. Sablina sued the hospital and two other institutions involved. Her lawyer, Anton Burkov, said Russian law gives doctors a disturbing amount of discretion.

Every single act of organ removal is conducted without any permission from the relatives, he said. Doctors can freely ignore the families since it is completely legal to harvest organs in secrecy.

Burkov said they have requested priority status with the European Court but that a judgment could still take two to four years. A similar case filed by a Latvian mother resulted in a ruling against the country and a modified law.

The Russian ministry of health did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the case.

Alexei Starchenko, chairman of Russias National Patient Safety Agency, said every hospital that performs organ transplants has its own waiting list, describing the system as corrupt since there is little transparency to explain how organs get distributed, unlike the clear criteria used by most other Western countries.

Russian lawmakers say the taking of organs without permission is partly out of consideration for grieving families. In a 2003 ruling upholding the law, the constitutional Court said it is inhumane to put the question of harvesting organs or tissues to a persons relatives at practically the same time as they are notified of his death.

Some experts backed Russias approach, saying it ultimately serves a greater good.

My sympathies lie more with the governments that are trying to save lives through transplantation of healthy organs that are absolutely of no use to the deceased or their families, said Robert Wintemute, a professor of human rights law at Kings College London. If we stop and ask whose organs these are, they dont really in any sense belong to the family.

Others said stronger safeguards were needed in Russia.

To behave as the doctors in Russia behaved, is totally unacceptable, said Dr. Roberto Cacciola, a transplant surgeon at The Royal London Hospital in Britain.

In England, he said, multiple doctors and nurses must ensure consent has been obtained from the family before removing any organs.

For Sablina, the lawsuit in the European Court is an attempt to honour her daughters memory.

If I dont start to fight against such an inhumane, cruel law, if I just stop and forget about it, I will betray my girl, Sablina said. This law should be changed. The law should be humane.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Opinion / Columnist

City transforming from chaos of traffic congestion, rickety buses and pickpockets

"Manhattan" rises offshore

Fashola's strategy

The journey is not finished

An oft-told tale of Lagos's once-notorious traffic jams is that of a taxi passenger stuck in a snarl-up who left the vehicle, wandered into a roadside restaurant to eat, drank a beer, took a nap and returned to the vehicle that had not moved an inch. He reached his destination several hours later.First-time visitors to Lagos about 10 years ago were warned, "This is Lagos." That meant that you should not expect help from anyone  but brace up for hard times ahead.Fast-forward to 2016 and the traffic congestion, high crime rate, clogged gutters and roads filled with garbage could soon become just a bad dream. These days Lagosians still regale each other with anecdotes of the dystopian city even as positive changes can be seen in Africa's most populous city, with 21 million people. These days the greeting "Welcome to Lagos" portends better news.Transformation foundationThe transformation of Lagos started during the tenure of Bola Tinubu, Lagos State governor from 1999 to 2007. Mr. Tinubu set forth a rescue operation that his successor, Babatunde Fashola, later continued.There were political and economic benefits for such efforts. "Lagos is Nigeria's richest state, producing about $90 billion a year in goods and services, making its economy bigger than that of most African countries, including Ghana and Kenya," notes the Economist.A fast-growing population (600,000 people added annually), without commensurate improvements in social services such as housing, water and transportation, had pushed Lagos to the cliff's edge.There have been impressive infrastructural developments, but the plan to create a "new city" at the edge of Lagos is probably the most audacious. Dubbed the "Manhattan of Africa," Eko Atlantic on Victoria Island consists of 10 million square meters of land reclaimed from the ocean and protected by an 8.5 km seawall. Construction began in 2008, and it consists of seven districts along the oceanfront, including a business district that is expected to host major banks and insurance and oil companies, as well as the Nigerian stock exchange, once construction is fully completed.Lagos's government reduced crime rates by providing logistical support to the police force run by the federal government. It installed closed-circuit television in most parts of the city and established skills acquisition programmes for the "area boys"youths, mostly jobless, who extort money from drivers and passengers. It also set up mobile courts to summarily try cases.Oshodi market, located about five miles from Murtala Mohammed International Airport, used to represent the good, the bad and the ugly of Lagos: thousands of people to-ing and fro-ing; a cacophony of voices at the highest decibels; rickety buses meandering through a sea of human beings; pickpockets on the prowl; people fighting at one end, others dancing to loud music at the other end. Currently, most of what used to be Oshodi market has been demolished, to make way for a "world-class bus terminus," according to government officials."The place [Oshodi] was harbouring criminals and a number of untoward activities," said Steve Ayorinde, the current Lagos state commissioner for information and strategy, according to the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard. Mr. Fashola himself regards Oshodi's transformation as a watershed moment. During his tenure, he often reminded Lagosians that, having transformed Oshodi, there was nothing they couldn't achieve.Lagos is becoming a clean city. Thousands of workers can be seen late every night sweeping the roads and taking away the dirt. An efficient garbage collection service supports the cleaning efforts. More than one million tons of waste was deposited in public landfills in 2015, up from 71,000 tons in 2004. About 72% of Lagos residents currently use a government-regulated waste disposal service; in 2005 only 42% used such a service.Nigerians are generally in disbelief regarding the new Lagos. "This is not the Lagos I used to know," says Sanusi Turay, who manages a private security firm in the city. The new Lagos is a bit of an anomaly, Mr. Turay explains, with a tinge of sarcasm. "But, honestly, we are very happy things are changing for the better."Just before Mr. Tinubu took over as governor in 1999, the BBC reported that "the realities of Lagos may thwart Mr. Tinubu's ambitious plans; the city is collapsing as fast as it grows, disappearing under a mountain of rubbish." But after 15 years of painstaking efforts, that image of Lagos is slowly changing.After Mr. Tinubu exited, Mr. Fashola's strategy was focused on three fronts. First, he solicited citizens' support for a new vision of Lagos. The slogan Eko o ni baje (Lagos must not spoil) rallied Lagosians against the status quo. Second, he reformed the tax system, which resulted in an increase in tax revenues to $115 million per month in 2015, up from $3.2 million in 1999. Tax compliance increased to 80%, up from about 30% in 2005. Third, Mr. Fashola used the tax revenues to undertake ambitious transportation and sanitation projects, including the creation of a rail network, bus lanes and a waste collection system, as well as massive road rehabilitation.Under the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, Lagos transportation "became faster, safer, predictable, relatively cheaper and more comfortable," reported Vanguard. The BRT itself created jobs for 2,500 people. Most of Lagos' notoriously old and dangerous commercial buses, called Molues, were replaced by swanky new ones that use designated bus lanes. With support of private operators, the government procured about 1,300 taxicabs to run in the city.In addition, an ambitious multibillion-dollar light rail project that began in 2010 is set to be completed by December of this year. The project consists of seven lines, which, on completion, will further ease Lagos city traffic.Nowadays Mr. Fashola's efforts have won bipartisan praise, a phenomenon rarely seen in Nigeria. Nobel laureate and social critic Wole Soyinka says, "Fashola diagnoses the problems and goes at it like a skilled mechanic.""There is no finish line in this journey," says Mr. Fashola, whose term expired in 2015 and who now oversees Nigeria's federal ministries of energy, works and housing. Both he and his predecessor Mr. Tinubu set a high bar. The jury is still out on the current governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who took the reins in May 2015. But for Lagos, the city of the late Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti and the city from which Africa's richest person, Aliko Dangote, manages his business empire, the mantra continues to be Eko o ni baje indeed.
MORIA, GREECEPope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in how to treat refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the hard-hit Greek island of Lesbos.

The Vatican said the three families, including six children, would be supported by the Holy See and cared for by Italys Catholic SantEgidio Community. SantEgidio has worked out a program with the Italian government to grant deserving refugees humanitarian visas to live in Italy while their asylum applications are being processed.

The Vatican said Francis wanted to make a gesture of welcome at the end of his five-hour visit to Lesbos, where he implored Europe to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores in a way that is worthy of our common humanity. The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its shores in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home.

Francis visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece to thank Greece for its welcome and highlight the plight of refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey.

At a ceremony in the port of Lesbos to thank locals, Francis said he understood Europes concern about the migrant influx. But he said migrants are first of all human beings who have faces, names and individual stories and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected.

God will repay this generosity and that of other surrounding nations, who from the beginning have welcomed with great openness the large number of people forced to migrate, he said.

Many refugees fell to their knees and wept at Francis feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention centre. Others chanted Freedom! Freedom! as they passed by.

Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet sobbing uncontrollably. A woman told the pope that her husband was in Germany but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos.

In his remarks to them, Francis said the refugees should know that they are not alone and shouldnt lose hope. He said he wanted to visit them to hear their stories and to bring the worlds attention to their plight.

We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity, he said. May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the Good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history.

Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, then signed a joint declaration calling on the international community to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need.

The declaration also called on political leaders to use all means to ensure that everyone, particularly Christians, can remain in their homelands and enjoy the fundamental right to live in peace and security.

The world will be judged by the way it has treated you, Bartholomew told the refugees. And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from.

Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, lunched with eight of the refugees to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. They then went to the islands main port to pray together and toss a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didnt make the journey  hundreds of people this year alone.

Earlier Saturday, Francis met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and thanked him for the generosity shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles.

Tsipras said he was proud of Greeces response at a time when some of our partners  even in the name of Christian Europe  were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenceless people from seeking a better life.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the globalization of indifference that the world shows the less fortunate.

The wreath-tossing ceremony is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe. He made a similar gesture more recently at the U.S.-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the U.S.

He is slightly provocative, said George Demacopoulos, chair of Orthodox Christian studies at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. Citing Francis Mexico border visit in February, in the heat of a U.S. presidential campaign where immigration took centre stage, he added: He is within his purview to do so, but that was a provocative move.

The March 18 deal between the EU and Turkey stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up.

Human rights groups have denounced the deal as an abdication of Europes obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

SHARE:
Jasmine Jae has joined fellow porn stars Tanya Tate, Lisa Ann and Bobbi Eden to offer her fans an interactive masturbation experience, thanks to Datoro Media and sex toy creators Kiiroo.

For the first time, fans of the top British XXX star will be able to feel Jasmine's erotic movements in real time through interactive videos using the Onyx masturbator. The smart toy syncs with the videos to mimic Jasmine's actions and create an intimate one-on-one type experience.

Representatives of Kiiroo and Jasmine first met at the 2016 AVN Expo because they recognized Jasmine from the demo video they were using to promote their product.

"I am thrilled to add Jasmine Jae as our newest star to the virtual family," said Kiiroo CEO Toon Timmermans, "I am excited that we can collaborate with her to offer her fans a completely new experience."

Jasmine said, "I am ecstatic to be welcomed into the Kiiroo family with my very own personalized interactive package. I have been exploring a few options for my own line of adult toys and Kiiroo stood out a mile with their unique smart Onyx masturbator. I know my fans enjoy my unique performances and talents in the videos they watch and I'm so excited that they will now be able to experience that for themselves."

Fans can purchase their own Jasmine Jae interactive porn experience online through FeelJasmineJae.com, which is made possible through the partnership of Datoro Media and Kiiroo.

Jasmine Jae ventured into the adult industry four years ago as a hardcore performer, and has quickly established herself as one of the world's top adult stars. Follow Jasmine Jae online on Twitter and Instagram.
CLEARWATER, FL StorErotica Magazine has opened pre-nominations for the 10th Annual StorErotica Awards. Held Monday, July 18, the SE Awards recognize excellence in the adult retail community, honoring the best in the retail storefront, distributing, and manufacturing levels of health and sexuality products.

From our first StorErotica Awards Show 10 years ago, at one of the largest adult nightclubs in the country  Sapphire in Las Vegas  to our new home at the ANME Founders Show, its always been our pleasure to honor the pleasure products industry, says StorErotica PR Manager Kristofer Kay. Were very grateful to ANME Director Valerie Jones, her team, and, of course, the Founders, for giving StorErotica such a grand stage to present our awards and to honor the best that our industry has to offer.

The 20 categories honored this year for the 2016 StorErotica Awards include the new categories Brand Ambassador of the Year, New Product of the Year (International), Luxury Line of the Year, LGBT Company of the Year, Adult Game / Gag Gift of the Year, BDSM Product of the Year, Retailer Favorite of the Year, and more.

Each year, we joke about being the fastest awards show in the industry, adds Kay. Thats been our blessing and our curse, really, but being that this is our tenth year, we felt like expanding the ceremony to emulate the dynamic growth of our industry. The world of erotic retail is constantly evolving to adapt to new clientele, and our awards will always strive to match this evolution. StorErotica is honored to distinguish those professionals and brands which contribute to the overall vitality of the adult retail community.

Professionals from throughout the industry are invited to visit the StorErotica Awards site, to enter their recommendations before the June 1 deadline. To enter pre-nominations, visit StorEroticaAwards.com.

Winners will be announced at the industry gala during the summertime ANME Founders Show in Burbank, CA. Held at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport July 17 - 19, the semi-annual ANME Founders Show showcases the top brands in the adult toy and novelty industry. For more information on ANME, visit ANMEFounders.com.
The door has been opened, and the world is rushing in.

Or perhaps to be more accurate, the American business world is rushing in.

The brand race, particularly among travel-related businesses, has certainly begun when it comes to U.S. companies expressing interest in Cuba now that relations have warmed between the two countries.

Over the past month or more, a few of the travel industry's biggest names have made headlines, announcing their ventures on the island nation.

Among the most notable, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced in March that it had signed three hotel deals in Cuba, and in so doing, became the first U.S.-based hospitality company to dip its toe in the market in about 60 years. The announcement came after the company received the go-ahead from the U.S. Treasury Department to operate hotels in Cuba.

Starwood will take over long-time Havana icon Hotel Inglaterra, which will join the brand's Luxury Collection. Cuba's Hotel Quinta Avenida meanwhile, will become a Four Points by Sheraton. In addition, Starwood signed a Letter of Intent to convert Hotel Santa Isabel into a member of the Luxury Collection.

Starwood's announcement however, was just the tip of the iceberg.

Marriott has also declared intentions to start doing business in the country. Carnival Corporation, meanwhile, will bring the first American cruise ship to the island in more than 50 years on May 1, and Airbnb has been doing business there since last year.

And those are just the big players.

Gerry Weber, president and CEO of Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repairs, a nationwide franchise, will be leading a fact-finding and trade trip to Cuba in May, as part of the Strategic Forum, a program of Nova Southeastern University.

Weber will be joined on the trip by about two dozen business owners and leaders from South Florida, among them CEOs, entrepreneurs, advertisers, and investment bankers, all from the Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach area.

Weber says the warming of relations with Cuba is a story with particular relevance in South Florida.

"It's a market that when you are in Key West, you're only about 90 miles away from," says Weber. "South Florida has always had very, very close ties to Cuba, particularly because of the population who came here from Cuba when they were young. We have that simpatico relationship with the people, not the regime. There is absolutely money to be made there."



One member of Weber's upcoming trip, the CEO of Stonegate Bank, has already purchased land in Cuba in order to get ahead of the anticipated rush of American businesses.

Still, Weber predicts the first wave of American companies that might be needed in Cuba are those that deal in infrastructure -- hotels, construction, financing and more.

As anecdotal evidence of that fact, Weber notes that his group has been working on planning the logistics of their visit to Cuba for nearly five months, and still they have not been able to secure enough hotel rooms to accommodate a mere two dozen travelers.

"Just look at what we're going through, and the hoops we're jumping through, not politically, but just to plan the trip. If just our small group is overwhelming them, you can imagine what a planeload of hundreds of people will do," Weber says. "My feeling is that the first order of business there is going to be infrastructure -- getting the basics in place. That's the first opportunity for American companies, people who do infrastructure work."

"My business would probably be quite a ways down the road -- jewelry and watch repair is probably not a top priority in Cuba," he added.

Not all that far down the road, however, is the wave of American tourists.



A survey of more than 1,500 American adult Internet users, conducted by Skift in March during President Barack Obama's visit to Cuba, found that while more than 70% of respondents have no interest in visiting the island, about a quarter do, which the report says translates into almost 75 million adult Americans.

The Skift survey also found that the richer the Americans, the more they're interested in visiting Cuba. About 60% of those with more than $150,000 in income want to go. That's in addition to the 46% of Americans who earn $100,000 to $149,000 annually, who have also expressed interest in visiting in the coming year.



If those sorts of numbers come to fruition, the hotels and infrastructure Weber talked about will be desperately needed. Just how long it will take to establish, remains an open question.

"To get a property built, you're probably talking two to five years depending on how strict the bureaucracy is," says Skift's Jason Clampet, who added that for now, cruise companies definitely have the competitive advantage when it comes to Cuba.

"In terms of getting a business going and offering a product, cruises bring their hotel rooms with them," Clampet continued. "Hotels are rushing to get there just because they want to be there first, so they can create a level of expectation with consumers. But they won't be making money hand over fist right away."

That may be particularly true because of the many challenging regulations foreign businesses still face, not the least of which is America's remaining economic blockade, which can only be lifted by Congress. There's also the lack of administrative and judicial transparency in Cuba, and the fact that the Cuban government has not yet lifted restrictions that would facilitate freer trade and commerce, including such things as letting U.S. companies export directly to the country.

None of which comes as a surprise to Eddie Lubbers, CEO of the Cuba Travel Network, who has been doing business in the country for 15 years, lived there until recently and still has about 55 Cuban employees on the ground.

"What businesses are going to find today is that there's still a lot of regulations in place on the U.S side and Cuban side, depending on the industry," says Lubbers, who's married to a Cuban woman and now lives in the Netherlands. "Tourism-wise, we've all heard the recent announcements from Starwood, Marriott and Booking.com -- that they've received authorization, but to be honest, I'm quite skeptical about the fine print on those transactions. ... Booking.com for instance still does not sell Cuban hotels from U.S.-based IP addresses. ... Starwood has signed Letters of Intent, but how will that arrangement work?"

When it comes to matters such as construction laws, Lubbers questions whether American companies in Cuba will be free to hire any local construction firm. And if they do, which firms exactly would be hired, given the dearth of local expertise when it comes to building hotels to standard, he noted. If companies are not able to find or hire local construction workers, will they be allowed to bring in foreign companies to get the job done?



"And then there is the question of how Starwood will get all the materials they will need," Lubbers continued. "Will they import everything? There are a lot of unknowns about those deals that have been announced."

The country also lacks a wholesale market, Lubbers noted, which poses challenges for restaurants seeking to buy the goods that end up on a customer's plate.

In addition to all of the hurdles already noted, Lubbers points out that it remains out of the question for foreign companies to buy property in Cuba, because foreign ownership is still not allowed. As a result, many of the ventures and forays into the Cuban market that are being announced are likely based on management deals, not equity ownership, he said.

The moral of the story? American businesses may need to start at a very basic level in Cuba, says Lubbers, suggesting that the country is an ideal great market for a home improvements store perhaps, and maybe also retailers of low-end consumer goods.

Still, all of the bureaucratic challenges and hurdles aside, the opportunities presented to American businesses right now as a result of the opening of the Cuban market, have few previous parallels.

"There was the reunification in Germany, and Vietnam has gotten hot, but both of those are very long distances away," says Weber, of Fast-Fix. "This is just offshore, which gets people excited. Money that might have gone into Costa Rica and Panama, will now likely go to Cuba. Businesses are taking a close and saying 'We can do this.' "
The United States deficit will increase this year, but Fitch Ratings said it's not a current threat to Uncle Sam's credit worthiness. Fitch affirmed the United States' top-notch AAA rating, and issued a stable outlook on the debt, in part, because of investor appetite for government bonds.

"The U.S. government debt is everyone else's preferred reserve asset," explained Charles Seville, senior director at Fitch Ratings and head of North American Sovereign Ratings. Fitch expects a gradual rise in general government debt over the next decade, and notes the deficit will widen this fiscal year for the first time since 2009.

But what Fitch finds more troubling is the lack of progress in Washington on various fiscal issues. "We don't see a lot of action toward resolving medium-term fiscal issues in the U.S., the main one being the steady growth in mandatory spending, which is not being offset by additional sources of revenue," said Seville.

At the end of 2015, Congress lifted the debt ceiling until March 2017 and was able to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown. But those are short-term stopgaps. Fitch notes that resolving any fiscal issues will require bipartisan agreement in Congress, something that gets even more challenging in an election year.

Seville also commented on the economic proposals put forward by the presidential candidates, saying the United States' fiscal health will be impacted. "On the Republican side, those plans revolve around tax cuts and would probably result in wider deficits. And on the Democratic side, we're looking at higher tax revenues and higher spending," said Seville.

Fitch believes the most immediate fiscal challenge is to shore up Social Security, saying the system has been projected to run out of cash by 2029.
Despite an improving job market, far too many Americans feel insecure about their finances, according to a new study. Some 75% of the more than 1,200 American workers surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch said they feel financially insecure. Some 60% of respondents said their finances were causing stress, up from 50% in 2013.

"People now are just beginning to realize, even if they're working, that their income levels are just beginning to go up," said Kevin Crain, head of workplace financial solutions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, adding that over the past few years, incomes haven't moved that much. "There's still a level of job insecurity."

The unemployment rate stood at 7.6% in March 2013, compared to 5% in March 2016. The S&P 500 was trading in the high 1,500s around this time three years ago, and is now close to 2,100.

"I think people now are just beginning to focus on saving money and feeling like they can save money," he said. The financial crisis interrupted people's abilities to save for retirement and plan for the future because they were forced into survival mode amid the overwhelming number of job losses in 2008 and 2009.

Crain said employers can play a huge role in reversing Americans' financial insecurity, aside from merely giving employees a raise. "Employers have to do as good job educating employees on the basics of savings and using financial wellness programs," he said.

Crain said employers that provide incentives will drive better financial habits among employees. "A company match in a 401(k) drives more savings," he said.

The survey also found that employees are having trouble estimating just how much they'll need in retirement. Some 40% of respondents said they'll need assets under $500,000, but a couple could spend that entire amount on healthcare costs alone during retirement.

"Those people that took planning seriously were more conservative [in their estimates] and thought they needed a larger amount for retirement," Crain said, adding that employers should be offering tools and advice programs that teach people about how to manage their assets.
For some, this weekend will be all about taxes. But those who invest in hedge funds could be excused for forgetting. They don't seem to consider taxes nearly as much as they should.

Hedge fund presentations can be very persuasive. Some have produced attractive returns and many suggest additional potential benefits such diversification and downside protection.

A sample of the salesmanship that I've encountered:

"Don't you want to invest in a similar fashion to investment luminaries such as David Swensen, the chief investment officer of Yale's endowment?"

"As fiduciaries on behalf of your family, isn't it prudent to invest like Yale in an endowment-style portfolio that includes a world-class mix of hedge funds?"

But, if you consider taxes, it's not that prudent. And even Yale's vaunted endowment, which invests heavily in hedge funds would agree. Allow me to explain.

I mentioned David Swensen because, under his leadership, Yale has produced some of the best returns of any endowment in the U.S. In addition, the publication of Swensen's first book, in 2000, Pioneering Portfolio Management, is largely credited as the blueprint for what is called the endowment investment model.

But, remember: Swensen's book was designed for tax-exempt investors. Yale's fund is tax exempt, which, of course, affects investment strategy. We may soon find out just how different Swensen's strategies might be if Yale's endowment had to pay taxes on, say, it's $2.6 billion in investment gains last year.

The cash-strapped state of Connecticut is considering a law that would tax huge endowments like Yale's. If that were to happen, Swensen's celebrated strategy of investing in hedge funds wouldn't be so effective anymore.

As mentioned above, hedge fund presentations are impressive, but they often fail to point out that they frequently generate large short-term gains, which carry taxes that can exceed 50% in states such as California. I specifically mention California not only because of its high concentration of wealthy individuals but also because it is the home of the Aperio Group, which published a study with researchers at the University of Berkeley titled, "What Would Yale Do If It Were Taxable?".

The team collected endowment asset allocations and asset class returns, volatility and correlation data from multiple third-party sources, including Yale's annual report and an independent study of endowments by the Commonfund and the National Association of College and University Business Offices (NACUBO). They then took these data and calculated pre-tax and after-tax returns for Yale's asset classes. Lastly, using an allocation optimizer, they generated a tax-adjusted optimal asset allocation -- evaluating, in other words, what Yale might do differently if it were taxable.

The chart below illustrates some of their conclusions. The yellow column presumes that the equity allocation in the portfolio is available only through active strategies, while the blue column presumes that indexed equities are also available.



Please see Aperio's important disclosures about its assumptions and methodology.

After factoring in taxes, what does the model recommend allocating to absolute return (a term Aperio used as a proxy for hedge funds)?

Zero.

The researchers reached this conclusion assuming that hedge fund strategies would otherwise benefit the portfolio by offering diversification through a low correlation to equities. In fact, however, many hedge funds, such as long-short strategies, have a relatively high correlation to equities (for example, the well-respected HFRI Fund Weighted Composite hedge fund index has a 0.88 correlation to equities), making the case against using them for diversification even less attractive. As the study concludes: "If a hedge fund strategy reflects the risk patterns of the HFRI index, with its higher correlation to equities, then the model never allocates anything to hedge funds."

Admittedly, coming up with metrics to evaluate returns and annual taxable gain assumptions across a range of hedge funds is difficult (transparency on returns, turnover and the mix of long-term versus short-term taxable gains is limited).

I don't think it's a stretch, though, to suggest, as John Rekenthaler from Morningstarwrote, that "hedge funds are notoriously tax-inefficient" and that a sizable portion of yearly returns comes in the form of short-term taxable gains.

The Aperio and Berkeley findings are based on many assumptions, but Matthew Klein, writing for BloombergView in 2013, highlighted research from Greenline Partners (staffed by folks who once worked at the well-regarded hedge fund Bridgewater Associates) that used relatively simple math. Greenline calculated that hedge fund investors, on average, keep only about 40% of gross returns after fees and taxes. Of the Greenline research, Klein wrote:

"To get an equivalent return after taxes and fees [to that of a low-cost index fund that tracked the S&P 500], an investor would have to find a hedge fund that consistently earned almost 21 percent a year. ... Even the best hedge funds usually earn much less than that."

Of course, some hedge fund managers are outliers and have produced attractive after-tax returns, but solid academic evidence and the simple calculations make me question the use of most hedge funds in most taxable portfolios.

"For me, what keeps me up at night is overly compensating my portfolio manager friends [performance fees], Wall Street managing directors [trading fees] and government coffers [taxes]," my friend Greg Rogers -- president and founder of Raylign Advisory and former managing director at a leading institutional investment consultant, RogersCasey -- noted. "In the case of a fund of hedge funds [how the endowment investment models are often delivered], the investor is asking heroic results from manager selection, strategy allocation and the hedge fund managers themselves -- all three competencies have proven to have limited sustainability over extended periods of time, to say the least."

This is a reality that even Swensen himself seems to be reckoning with. In his second book, Unconventional Success (this one for taxable investors), he writes:

"The management of taxable ... assets without considering the consequences of trading activity represents a ... little considered scandal. A serious fiduciary with responsibility for taxable assets recognizes that only extraordinary circumstances justify deviation from a simple strategy."

So, the next time you hear the hedge fund or fund of funds endowment model pitch, ask the following question: "As a fiduciary, how do you factor in taxes?"

If they hedge too much in their answer, it's probably not worth it when tax day comes around.

This article is commentary by Preston McSwain as an independent contributor and does not reflect the views of Fiduciary Wealth Partners.
You won't believe how much some diamonds are selling for.

"Colored diamonds used to make a $1 million per carat, which was a great price and today, $4 million a carat is the new normal," said Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie's International. "We've seen prices for white diamonds at over $250,000 per carat, which is a price that's five times higher than 10 or 15 years ago."

On May 18, Christie's is set to auction a rare blue diamond in Geneva, Switzerland, that could fetch more than $45 million.

"At the highest end, there's a great shortage of fine gem stones, fine jewelry, fine colored gem stones and there's a big group of buyers out there who want to buy the very best, which is what's driving these prices."

While Kadakia said the demand for these stones changes based on different economic cycles, it's consistently strong among buyers in certain areas.

"You always have Asian clients, who have been big connoisseurs of great gems," he added. "The Middle East has constantly been buying with us. Russia has been buying lately and established collectors in the U.S. and Europe who are always there."

Since the start of the year, economists have been worried about a global recession. China, the world's second-largest economy, is undergoing a massive economic transition that is set to bring about lower growth. During first quarter, its economy grew by 6.7%, compared to 6.9% for all of 2015.

But Kadakia isn't worried about slower growth in the world's biggest economies.

"Things can't keep going up forever," Kadakia said. "They have a little dip, they correct themselves, and they come right back up, and we saw that when the market got a little quiet in 2008, but it bounced back very quickly in just about a year."

Within the broad diamond market, Kadakia said colored diamonds are performing "extremely well."
An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in the indictment of a former Chattanooga police detective on charges of tampering with evidence and official misconduct.

At the request of 11th District Attorney General Neal Pinkston, TBI special agents, with the assistance of the Chattanooga Police Department, began investigating then-Chattanooga police officer Karl William Fields on Sept. 9, 2014.

During the course of the investigation, special agents developed information that while Fields was investigating a rape case, he withheld evidence related to that investigation. Fields employment with the Chattanooga Police Department has since been terminated.

On Wednesday, the Hamilton County Grand Jury returned a two-count indictment charging Fields, 43, with one count of tampering with evidence and one count of official misconduct.

Fields turned himself in at the Hamilton County Jail and was booked. He was released after posting a $5,000 bond.
Backdropped by St. Peter's Basilica dome, US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders meets reporters outside the Perugino gate at the Vatican, Friday, April 15, 2016. Sanders spoke at a conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of "Centesimus Annus," a high-level teaching document by Pope John Paul II on the economy and social justice at the end of the Cold War. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP)


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Recover your password.

A password will be e-mailed to you.
I hope the School Board will do the smart thing and choose Principal Jill Levine as the next Superintendent of Hamilton County schools. Her record of success is unassailable and excellent. She has taken a failing school and turned it into one of the finest public schools in the nation. Don't we want the same for all of the public schools in our county?

As much as I'd hate to lose Ms. Levine as principal of our child's school, the School Board has a golden opportunity to do something that drastically will improve the educational opportunities available to all of Hamilton County's children. Think about that: we have the chance to select a leader capable of providing an outstanding education to every child enrolled in Hamilton County public schools. The greatest enemy of poverty and crime is education. Accordingly, this is a crucial decision, and I hope the School Board will get it right.

I encourage other parents, business owners, and residents of Hamilton County to consider the qualifications of the applicants for this important position and to contact their School Board representatives regarding the future of our public schools. Their contact information is available at http://tinyurl.com/jpwkfht.



Joe DeGaetano

Chattanooga

* * *

I have mixed emotions about the recent article about the HCDE interim Superintendent candidates because in many aspects it is true but in others it couldn't be more jaded. Hamilton County Schools is probably one of the only places where an education professional can be recognized as one of the best Education Leaders in the US by the highest office governing the Nation's public education, only to return home and be underutilized. Jill Keegan Levine is an amazing school leader and would bring the focus of student centered decision making back to our district. The article stated that Mrs.Levine had a limited track record of working with poor students. A few people have questioned her ability to mange a large organization from a fiscal prospective.... I would like to say any of these doubts presented are a gross misrepresentation of the ability that she embodies.



Jill " The Educator of All Students"

Some critics question Mrs. Levine's ability to teach students from impoverished communities. These reservations are prematurely stated and unwarranted.



As a teacher Jill served at the now closed White Oak Elementary school here in Chattanooga. Prior to its closing in 2006, where over half of its student population qualified for free/reduced lunch. She also taught in one of the roughest cities in the nation for education, New Orleans, La. at the New Orleans Free School. This school was known for its unconventional ideas and practices from outside the mainstream realm of education and more than two-thirds of its population qualified for free/reduced lunch as well. Since this is often the number that is used to determine the socioeconomic representation in a school, I felt it pertinent to state this fact because many times we think that poverty only exists in certain parts of our county or city, but it is everywhere. So yes, Jill has been on the front lines of educating some of the poorest students.

As an assistant principal, Jill served at Calvin Donaldson elementary school before the "rebirth"(side eye) of the Southside. Everyday she faced some of our city's poorest students while in this role. I'm sure every morning Jill had to wrestle with many of the things that goes hand in hand with one who lives in poverty, as students from the community walked their often ignored "societal ills" into the school building daily. Nevertheless, her job was to aid teachers as an assistant principal in educating these students by any means necessary, and this is exactly what she did.



Jill "The Visionary Leader"

While many are aware of the vast successes of The Normal Park Museum Magnet School, Jill Levine's direct leadership is often understated in that narrative. No school leader ever has the amount of success that Jill has had without being a well rounded educational leader. This is not a data cruncher, but a person who understands that data should drive instruction while also understanding that there are many things about students that no assessment can measure.



The second thing that a successful school leader has is the ability to "build an effective team." I think one would be pretty hard pressed to find a local school leader who has either hired or developed a team of amazing educators. A great school leader understands his or her student's demographic in such a way that when it comes to staffing, they know who they need. It is imperative for students that they have the best educator possible that the school leader can find. Jill has shown that she knows educational pedagogy, but she also knows people.



Jill "The Fiscal Fatale"

Jill Levine has shown our community that the right financial diversification growth plan will allow you to design a school that will become the stellar learning center that Normal Park Museum Magnet School has grown to be. With an amazing fundraising strategy, several aggressive capital building fund expansion/enhancement projects, a parent teacher organization that fiscally supports the instructional vision of the school, a growing self sustained community fund, and countless awarded grants, as well as state and federal public school funding.....the fiscal management of the Normal Park Museum Magnet School budget would rival that of any Fortune 500 company.



Jill "The Woman"

As a young professional new to Chattanooga 12 years ago, I didn't know many people. However, as I matriculated through the educational world of Hamilton County and my career advanced, it wouldn't be long before I learned of what I like to call "The Levine Legacy." The Levine Legacy is the idea that a determined woman with an unapologetic passion for education and a relentless love for children can help shape the landscape of public education in Hamilton County. While there were tons of controversy around Normal Park Museum Magnet's establishment, many would deny that this school is an asset to our public school offerings.



I have experienced Jill as a colleague and as community partner, but my most important interaction was as a parent. After the death of their mother and the murder of their older brother, two little boys from a gang ridden, drug infested, low income community in west Tennessee found themselves relocated to Chattanooga with a family member who they had only recently discovered four months prior, and physically met one time in there lives. These little boys were my half brothers. Jill Levine was one of the very few education leaders that embodied the balance of compassion, discipline, structure and support that would be needed for these boys to be educationally successful. As a new parent, it was awesome to have not only the instructional support but the emotional support that was need to aid my brothers in their transition to Chattanooga. Jill was there every step of the way ensuring that the students, the teachers, as well as my husband and I, experienced the best possible outcome for our boys' future.



So why did I take the time out of my extremely busy life to write this extremely long message? It's because Jill Keegan Levine deserves a fair assessment of her qualifications as she moves forward in the Interim Superintendent search. She is a great educator, leader, financial manager, and asset to our community's youth. Our students deserve an innovative leader like Jill.



Lakweshia Ewing

* * *

Jill Levine is an educational trail blazer. She has flipped two schools from a systemic culture of failure from students, teachers, and parents. She knows how to address the culture of failure that dominates so many of our schools.

What I adore about Jill Levine:

1) She does not let politics drive her educational decisions. She is all about doing what is in the best interest of the children, regardless of the motives of others.

2) She knows how to break up school cultures of failure, and will fire teachers not willing to achieve the highest standards.

3) She is genuinely kind and her motives are all about the best educational interest of children.

Jill Levine is the most accomplished educator in Hamilton County Schools, and our children would be greatly served by her leadership. Gosh, if you only knew what she is capable of as a leader, there would be no further discussion.

She is the woman to be our school superintendent.

Aprile Eidson

* * *

There is no one who is more qualified and could do a better job than Jill Levine as the next superintendent of the Hamilton County School Department.





I had the good fortune of being a parent at Normal Park Museum Magnet (NPMM) the second year it was a magnet school and our son was there for five years until we moved out of town. What an amazing opportunity he and our family had being a part of the progressive, hands-on learning that took place at NPMM. Children from all over the county, most who did not know each other, came together to create a school that embraced individual learning, meeting children where they are and supporting them in every way. Children came from all corners of the district and Jill Levine helped all of them succeed, whether it was in reading or math, music or art, or just being a good citizen. Every child there, along with their families, were treated to the best of education - a community of people that extended far out into the broader community in Chattanooga and Hamilton County. There is a reason that the school has won many awards - Jill Levine - and the leadership she has provided for the years she has been a teacher and administrator.

My husband and I have raised and educated five children, the last of whom will graduate in May. I have seen strong schools and ones that don't measure up. I have come to believe that the difference in a superb school that educates all children, regardless of where they come from, is all leadership. A strong leader sets the tone, creates the plan and executes it with total focus. Jill Levine created just such a plan at NPMM and executed it with total focus. She chose the most committed teachers and staff and set the expectations clearly and at the highest level. Families and children in the school had the highest expectations for the school and the commitment to also be a part of making it great.





I was a part of the work that led NPMM to extend into the middle school in 2008. What an undertaking that was but Jill Levine inspired community partners all over the county to be a part of the transformation and create a special school without dollars from the HCDE to do it. People flocked to transform a tired, but beautiful, old building and make it colorful and fill it with life for kids to extend the wonderful work that the elementary school was doing into a middle school that had previously been a failing school. Creating partnerships in a community is critical to the success of the school department and no one has done that more effectively than Jill Levine.

Strong leadership is what attracted the Department of Education to bring Jill Levine into their fold, to help them find the answers that seem to allude most school departments. If the Department of Education thinks Jill Levine was the principal in the country to help them sort our education for children, imagine how fortunate Hamilton County would be to have her sort out education for the children living in the surrounding area. Her leadership, focus, highest of expectations and ability to bridge the gap for all children, no matter what their economic status or start in life, makes her the person who should be embraced as the next superintendent of Hamilton County. The Hamilton County Department of Education could do no better than to call Jill Levine their next superintendent.





Susan S. Taylor

Charleston, S.C.
Unloved commodity, Brazil and Russia funds have finally come good of late while former biotech and healthcare favourites hit the buffers, new research reveals.

A recovery in commodity prices has boosted investment trusts specialising in the sector and regions heavily exposed to it, according to performance tables for the past three months from QuotedData (see below).

But investment trusts focused on the formerly popular biotech and healthcare sector are among the worst performers due to an anticipated squeeze on drug prices if, as widely predicted, the Democrats win the US election this November.

The recent reversal in investing trends - which offers a nice lesson in how a 'buy cheap and avoid anything expensive' strategy can pay off - came during a period of high market volatility caused by fears about the Chinese economy. Stock markets have since rebounded and the FTSE 100 hit 2016 highs this week.

READ THE FULL INVESTMENT TRUST PERFORMANCE TABLES BELOW

Political protest: Momentum is building to oust Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, whose government is unpopular with investors

Investment trusts are a popular choice among savvy investors. There is no initial charge and smaller annual fees mean they eat up much less of your returns than funds.

Trusts often outperform their fund counterparts, while carrying a slightly higher degree of risk and volatility - because they are listed on the stock market, they are directly vulnerable to 'boom or bust' changes in trading sentiment.

As well as price performance, the QuotedData tables below highlight changes in 'net asset value'. Some investment trusts trade at a premium and others at a discount to their NAV, or value of the assets they hold.

When an investment trust trades at a premium to NAV that means it is expensive, which might please existing investors but those buying in at that level could find it harder to make decent returns.

Bargain-hunters prefer to seek out investment trusts trading at a discount to NAV because they are cheap, but investors taking this approach should tread with caution because there are often good reasons why the companies are unpopular. Read more below about how investment trusts work.

Trading trends: The median - meaning the middle figure taken from data - discount in the investment trust sector has widened over the past year making them cheaper (Source: QuotedData)

Best and worst-performing investment trusts of the moment

'The uplift in the commodities sector benefited funds such as BlackRock World Mining, BlackRock Commodities Income and City Natural Resources,' says Matthew Read, senior analyst at QuotedData, an arm of financial research firm Marten & Co.

'Iron ore prices in particular were quite a bit higher over the quarter. Many commentators are still wary of the sector however.

'A recovery in commodity prices is good news for Brazil and Russia, helping push JPMorgan Brazil, JPMorgan Russian and Baring Emerging Europe into the top performing funds.

'In Brazil though there is added excitement as momentum builds to removing the scandal-hit president, Dilma Rousseff.

'Investors have not been fans of the Brazilian governments economic policies. This also helped propel regional funds such as Aberdeen Latin American Income and BlackRock Latin American higher.'

Turning to the worst-performing funds, Read says: 'There has been an obvious shift in sentiment away from the biotechnology and healthcare sector.

'This could be because the Democrats look more likely to win the US election  both leading Democrat candidates [Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders] have warned that they would clamp down on drug pricing.'

He went on: 'The sell-off in the biotechnology and healthcare sector took its toll in British & American (whose largest investment is a biotech company), International Biotechnology, Biotech Growth and Worldwide Healthcare.'

Best performing funds in price and NAV terms in the first quarter of 2016 (Source: Morningstar/QuotedData)

Other performance highlights from the tables are:

FastForward Innovations: The trust has been expanding as it develops its new strategy of focusing on intellectual property rights, according to QuotedData.

'It has been able to issue shares at quite hefty premiums to net asset value and this has helped push its asset value higher over the quarter.'

Reconstruction Capital II: Its interest in a dairy company is being sold at a decent premium to its valuation, explains QuotedData.

Taliesin Property: The trust invests in residential property in Berlin, and reported quite a big uplift in its NAV early in the quarter, says QuotedData.

Aberdeen New Thai: 'The Thai market was strong over the quarter as GDP growth came in ahead of expectations,' notes QuotedData.

Worst performing funds in price and NAV terms in the first quarter of 2016 (Source: Morningstar/QuotedData)

Candover: The trust suffered as it wrote down the value of what was its largest investment, Expro International, and has been hit badly by the fall in the oil price, says QuotedData.

Menhaden Capital: 'A relatively new fund in the environmental sector. It lost quite a lot of money investing in solar company, Sun Edison, and two associated funds.'

Macau Property Opportunities: 'Hurt as falling gambling revenues in the territory weigh on the local property market.'

Schroder Japan Growth: The trust said its gearing - a measure of how much a company has borrowed - has had the effect of making it underperform its benchmark index, according to QuotedData.
The price of land is falling at its fastest rate since the financial crisis. A report by property experts Knight Frank found the cost of an acre of farmland was 7,907 in March, a drop of 3 per cent in just three months and the biggest quarterly fall since the end of 2008.

Farmers blame this on the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote. UK farmers receive about 2.5billion in subsidies from the EU. These payments can amount to up to 60 per cent of an average farmers income.

Taking them away could even force some farmers out of the business, it has been suggested.

But while land prices have tumbled agriculture funds which invest in the shares of businesses in the farming and food business are enjoying a stellar run.

Going cheap: A report by property experts Knight Frank found the cost of an acre of farmland was 7,907 in March, a drop of 3 per cent in just three months and the biggest quarterly fall since the end of 2008

The Sarasin Food and Agriculture Opportunities Fund has returned 16 per cent over the past three months. Think of agriculture investing and you may suspect your money was in land, food and machinery.

But as Gertjan Van Der Geer, manager of the Pictet Agriculture fund, explains: We are investing in packaging, technology and nutrition.

Agriculture businesses operate in some niche areas but they are experiencing increasing demand for their expertise across the globe as farming modernises and populations increase and become wealthier.

For example, animal feed supplement firm Anpario, is an Aim-listed firm based in Worksop. It exports to 70 countries and in its last results reported sales growth of 34 per cent in China because of rising demand for pork, as well as double-digit growth in the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam.

Even where managers are investing in foods, its not the ones you might think.

Prices of so-called soft commodities  grains and edible oils such as wheat, rapeseed and corn  are low after three consecutive good harvests have helped create a stock pile. Its a simple case of supply and demand which is hurting profits.

James Govan, manager of the Baring Agriculture fund, is trying to find the companies that benefit from this. He likes Tyson Foods, a US protein producer.

Protein is becoming increasingly important, particularly as developing countries start to consume more meat, but also with the rising popularity in the US of ingredients such as whey used for protein shakes.

Govan also likes AGT Food & Ingredients, a Canadian lentil producer. Its having a bumper year because demand has surged after a monsoon meant a poor crop in India.

Govan says: Its the year of the pulse. Theyre high protein, high fibre, low fat and virtually allergen free.

He also likes Tate & Lyle. Typically thought of as a sugar firm, it actually sold that part of its business and is now involved in food ingredients.

They produce salt and sugar substitutes to help manufacturers try and make food healthier, as well as bulking agents and products which improve the texture of food.

Both the Baring and Pictet funds invest across the globe. Tellingly, at least 40 per cent of each is in US firms.

Just 3.5 per cent of Govans fund is in the UK, and even less in Van Der Geers. Perhaps thats the reason they have had such a good run  both are up around 11 per cent over the past three months.

Making bacon: Animal feed supplement firm Anpario reported sales growth of 34 per cent in China because of rising demand for pork

But over the longer term the picture is less rosy  Barings Agriculture is down 11 per cent over 12 months.

Govan says fertiliser stocks such as Mosaic and Potash performed poorly because of oversupply and reduced demand. He has since sold these holdings.

Jason Hollands, managing director of Bestinvest, says: There are a number of specialist agricultural funds but we think these are too niche for most people and their returns have been very volatile. For those willing to take a punt, Sarasin Food and Agriculture has been one of the least volatile funds of this type.
It's become clearer each month to me why there is so much confusion regarding our local schools.Judging from the recent school board meeting local business leaders are making many requests of the schools. Generally that sounds reasonable until you look at specifics.The Chamber of Commerce recently indicated they have thousands of jobs they can't fill because of no skilled laborers. This implied the schools are failing them. Back in the Jesse Register era, vocational education was drastically cut.And even further back in the epoch days of Harry Reynolds, a wonderful school, Kirkman Technical High School, which supplied many trained laborers to the local work force, was closed and torn down.Now school officials are being told that "blue collar jobs need to be filled by white collar workers" implying vocational education is not enough. One business owner stated he wanted "third shift workers to be able to read a manual without having to call a supervisor."I hate to burst his bubble, but questions must be asked like how much training did his company offer that worker, did they check the trainees' reading levels at employment and how much do they pay third shift workers? Also how technical is the work requirement?All of this should have been considered when Jesse Register and a few board members made the drastic switch from a multi-track system to a single track college-prep system.That brings us to the question asked by board member Greg Martin, who is positioning himself to run for County Commission: can a principal have more say in who they hire for their school?Under the county administration of Dr. Don Loftis, principals had that authority. But with the advent of Jesse Register, human resources dictated much of the hiring. So is Martin implying this policy led to some of the current situation the board and officials are trying to fix?Clarity is so needed here to understand how our schools got to where they are today and then what and how to improve them. Certainly resolving some of these issues can lead to that. But until then business leaders need to tell the board what they expect from workers. It then needs to be decided if those needs are realistic and how much funding local leaders are willing to support to bring those changes about.And by the way, would someone reveal where those thousands of jobs are the Chamber keeps tossing around?Ralph Miller
Devious: Fund groups are charging for funds which they claim are managed, but are actually trackers

Savers are being overcharged on more than a quarter of their investments.

Fund groups charging too much for funds which they claim are managed, but are actually trackers which blindly follow an index, could be costing UK savers 1.8billion in unnecessary fees, according to digital wealth manager MoneyFarm.

These so-called closet trackers charge a high fee for a manager but then just copy the stock market in the same way as a tracker fund, which charges just a fraction of the cost.

Closet trackers have come under the spotlight recently, with as many as one in three funds across Europe suspected of employing the shady practice.

The latest study to emerge suggests 26 per cent of the 911billion invested in UK funds is not being managed properly.

Roberto Rossignoli, portfolio manager at MoneyFarm, says: Practices like these are what give the fund management industry a bad name.

Closet tracking is like selling someone a Ferrari with a Fiat engine in it, without telling them.
Two crusading US senators are urging an American crackdown on HSBC and other banks at the heart of the Panama Papers tax avoidance scandal.

Senate banking committee members Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren have written to US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to strongly urge action on revelations that the super-rich used Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to hide money offshore.

It could see the nations fearsome regulators step in with billion-pound fines or even criminal prosecutions for banks found to have acted wrongly.

In the frame: Two crusading US senators are urging an American crackdown on HSBC and other banks at the heart of the Panama Papers tax avoidance scandal

The move is particularly bad news for HSBC, which is mentioned in a letter to the Treasury secretary. If investigators find it guilty of wrongdoing, it risks losing its US licence.

Brown and Warren have a long history with the British bank and have been some of its most fearsome critics.

They clashed with bosses after HSBC was found by the Senate to have links with drug kingpins and rogue nations in a 2012 Mexican money-laundering scandal.

Authorities decided not to prosecute after that crisis, opting instead for a 1.2billion fine. If they had pressed criminal charges, it would almost certainly have led to a US ban.

Warren railed against the decision, asking officials why there was no hearing to consider shutting down HSBCs actives in the US.

Last year, when the bank was in the spotlight once again over its support for wealthy tax avoiders in Switzerland, Brown demanded to know if the Government had allowed it to escape accountability for promoting evasion of US tax laws.

HSBC has emerged as a key Mossack client in the papers, which are the biggest leak in history. They show that the bank and its affiliates used the law firm to set up 2,300 shell companies on behalf of clients.

HSBC denies any wrongdoing and says the allegations all relate to historical behaviour.
Revolt: Shareholders are protesting at plans to make Shroders ceo Michael Dobson the chairman

The multi-million-pound earning bosses of investment giant Schroders, miner Anglo American and drugs group Shire are next on the shareholder spring hit list.

Following a staggering 59 per cent vote against the 14million pay of BPs Bob Dudley on Thursday, the rebellion against the outrageous pay deals and controversial management decisions of a number of FTSE giants is set to shake boardrooms.

Next to come under the spotlight of investors is Michael Dobson, the chief executive of Schroders who has earned more than 50million in pay and perks over the past decade.

In March it was announced that Dobson would step down from this job  but would be handed the top role of chairman.

This is a generally considered to be a breach of corporate good practice as it can lead to accusations that the independence of the chairman could be compromised.

Dobson, who earns around 8million, will also be paid 625,000  almost double the 325,000 paid to predecessor Andrew Beeson.

There is already anger at Dobsons excessive pay, but shareholders emboldended by the success of the BP pay vote look set to turn their fire on him at the fund groups AGM later this month.

Dobson has helped grow Schroders and tripled its assets under management to more than 300billion.

However, shareholder groups have advised against the appointment. The Institute of Directors said Dobsons appointment raised concerns and that strong performance is no excuse for ignoring the corporate governance rules.

Schroders argues the code is guidance not strict rules and that individual circumstances should be taken into account.

Any vote against Schroders decision to promote Dobson will serve as a public embarrassment to a fund manager that has itself attacked other corporates  that it owns stakes in  over governance issues.

Before the fund managers AGM though, Anglo American boss Mark Cutifani faces a vote over a pay deal. H

e was paid 3.4million for 2015 but ShareSoc estimates for this current year he could receive 6.3million if he meets targets, and up to 8.8million if he beats them.

Investors claim this deal is too high as the company suffered a loss of nearly 4billion and its dividend payments have been suspended.

Around 20 per cent of investors could vote against the deal with a both advisory groups ShareSoc and ISS recommending it be rejected.

The maximum possible bonus for each of the directors at Anglo, including Cutifani, is 210 per cent of base salary and a spokesman for Anglo said its pay policy resulted in Cutifanis remuneration decreasing substantially last year.

He said: His bonus was reduced by 40 per cent, his variable pay was one fifth of the maximum achievable and his salary frozen, as it was for all our management team.

Shire chief executive Flemming Ornskov is also on the hit list of angry shareholders.

His pay package of 14.6million is also expected to cause issues for some investors who deem it too high.

As other bosses come under fire, some are questioning the chair of BPs pay committee Ann Dowling. Dowling, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a member of the governments business board since 2014, has been on BPs board since 2012.

Sir Vince Cable, former Business Secretary, said BP investors should now demand heads over Dudleys pay.

However, 98 per cent of shareholders voted to re-elect Dowling.

She said: I take the feedback around this years report seriously and it raises some fundamental questions about our policy that we will consider over the coming months. She promised to review the pay policy and to engage directly with major shareholders.
Waitrose is to export its products to China for the first time in a deal with internet giant Alibaba.

The grocer has agreed a deal through Chinese operator Avenue 51 which will see it ship items to China including Earl Grey tea and shortbread biscuits.

This is the first time the middle-class favourite has shipped to China since it began exporting 20 years ago. Its first overseas export market was Japan and China is its 59th country.

Go East: Upmarket grocer Waitrose is to ship goods China for the first time since it began exporting 20 years ago

It is also the first time it has exported to a country only via a website, rather than through physical shops.

It will initially sell 30 products but will grow this by the end of the year.

Tea, biscuits and baby and childrens products are very popular in China so it will also be selling ranges including Waitrose Duchy Organic, and its own label skin cream called Baby BottomButter.

Waitrose, which has 346 shops in the UK, will launch the website on Monday.

Commercial director Mark Williamson, said: The potential for Waitrose in China is huge and although its a relatively modest start its our ambition to see it become our biggest international business in the next three to five years.

The launch is being handled by Chinese internet specialist Avenue51 which has already worked with 50 British brands.

British luxury brand Burberry has a store on Alibabas Tmall  a type of online shopping centre which hosts shops for hundreds of brands.

The Royal Mail shop is run in partnership with Avenue51. It will be through this Royal Mail tie-up that Waitrose will sell its products.

Other British brands on the site include handbag company Cambridge Satchel Company, bike maker Brompton Bicycles and gift shop Halcyon Days. It is the first grocer to open a shop on the Royal Mail branded website.
British tax authorities are heading for a showdown with the media groups behind the Panama Papers expose, demanding they hand over the cache of documents.

The Government has pledged 10million for a task-force to investigate the Panama data, but it is understood the authorities have so far only managed to get hold of some of the 11.5million documents.

Revenue & Customs told The Mail on Sunday it was determined to get hold of the leaked information to pursue criminal investigations against tax fraudsters and would explore every avenue, nationally and internationally.

Demand: Revenue & Customs told The Mail on Sunday it was determined to get hold of the leaked information

It said: While we appreciate that the media is not an arm of law enforcement, given the seriousness of the allegations that they have published and the calls they have made for action to be taken, we would reasonably expect them to co-operate in giving us access to the Panama data.

The documents were leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to organisations including The Guardian and the BBC, leading to headlines around the world alleging widespread tax evasion and to calls for a crackdown.

Tax authorities from 35 of the richest nations met last week to discuss how to get hold of the Panama leaks and to manage the sharing and exploitation of the database. Sources suggested that they had already obtained part of the database, but not all of it.

Guardian News and Media and the BBC both argue they have only electronic access to the papers. GNM suggested Revenue & Customs should contact the UK office of Mossack Fonseca directly.

The German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which was leaked the data, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which coordinated the newspapers investigation, have said categorically that they will not hand it over.

If the data was held in the UK, Revenue & Customs could obtain it through a court order. Lawyers said German and US tax authorities may also be able to take similar action.
The nations farmers are poised to wade into the EU debate tomorrow with a special meeting of the National Farmers Union council set to declare its official position.

The NFU has so far avoided coming down on either side of the debate, but most observers expect the group to favour remaining in the EU.

The critical meeting follows a series of 28 roadshows organised by the union over the past fortnight, and a report, UK Farmings Relationship With The EU.

'Critical': Farmers make big exports to the European Union

Though not setting out a formal position, the report stated: For some sectors the EU market is critical. Thirty-eight per cent of all lamb produced in the UK goes to Europe. France alone purchased more than 200million worth of UK lamb in 2014.

The report says the UK is a net importer of agri-food products, totalling 39.6billion in 2014. We import nearly twice as many agri-food products from the other EU countries than we export, however our exports are significant.

In 2014, we exported 12.8billion worth of products. Approximately 73 per cent of our total agri-food exports were destined for other member states.

The NFU in Scotland and Wales have declared they are in favour of staying in the EU.

But the Country Land and Business Association has stayed neutral. In a letter to it last week, David Cameron said leaving the EU would be a leap in the dark for farmers.

Our farmers have often spent generations building up their businesses; what they do not need is the uncertainty and risk that would come with leaving the EU.
The Chattanooga Zoo is bringing back the Run Wild 5K and one-mile races to help raise funds for the Zoos future expansion and growth efforts.. Taking place on Saturday, April 30 at the Chattanooga Zoo, the 5k race will begin at 8 a.m. with the one-mile race beginning shortly after at 8:30 a.m.



The 5K race will feature a challenging run through historic Warner Park and surrounding neighborhoods, beginning and ending at the Chattanooga Zoo. The one-mile race takes place within the Zoo.

Runners will be greeted at the finish line by some of the Zoos animal ambassadors, along with refreshments, music, and more.

"Participants in both races are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite animal so they can really run wild," organizers said.

We would love to see our entire community running wild for the Zoo. This is a great chance for all to participate in a fun exercise activity all while supporting the Chattanooga Zoo, said Chattanooga Zoo President and CEO Dardenelle Long.



All Run Wild registrants will receive a complimentary Run Wild t-shirt and packet, as well as Zoo admission for the day. Awards will be presented to overall winners for the 5K and one-mile races following the completion of the races.



Registration is available online at www.chattzoo.org/runwild through April 29. Pre-registration packet pick up will take place at the Zoo on Friday, April 29 from 5-8 p.m. and Saturday, April 30 beginning at 7 a.m. Onsite registration is available on race day at 7 a.m. Strollers are allowed.



Run Wild Sponsors include: IHeartMedia, Fleet Feet Sports, Two Men and A Truck, Scenic City Multisport, EPB Fiber Optics, The Johnson Group, BASF, New Balance, and NoogaVision.
TIME magazine on Friday published a profile exposing the desperate plight of the between 20 million and 36 million people suffering in modern slavery and the bipartisan effort to pass legislation authored by Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that is devoted to ending this vicious practice once and for all.

The End Modern Slavery Initiative Act, which passed unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will provide funds to a transformative, non-governmental organization (NGO) with a goal of achieving a 50 percent reduction in modern slavery in the areas where the initiative is operating. All of the funds authorized in the amended version of the bill will flow through the appropriations process, which are fully covered by long-standing prohibitions on those funds being used for abortion. The funds the U.S. government provides for this entity will have the same abortion protections to which countless NGOs that currently receive federal funds must adhere.

This fund is being established to free slaves, both in sexual servitude and forced labor, and prosecute their captors, said Senator Corker. The legislation does not provide for abortions and has no pro-life issues. It would seem that those claiming otherwise either haven't read the current version of the legislation or have other reasons for trying to kill a bill focused on rescuing the over 27 million women, children and men enslaved today around the world.

TIME described the wide-ranging support for the legislation from dozens of faith-based organizations and leaders, including many that are avowedly pro-life. They include the Alliance to End Slavery & Trafficking (ATEST), International Justice Mission (IJM), United Way Worldwide, Freedom House, Rotary International, the End It Movement, and Circle of Friends, Inc., among others.
Mr. Alfred H. Tipps and Mrs. Jean Elliott Tipps will celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. The couple were married at their pastor's house in Lynchburg, Tn. on April 19, 1941.

Mr. Tipps had enlisted in the U.S. Army, joined Battery A, 191st Field Artillery Battalion, and eventually landed on Utah Beach on August 13, 1944 in France. After the war, the couple moved to Chattanooga, Tn.



Mrs. Tipps created a happy home for her husband and their three sons in Red Bank, her family said.

Mr. Tipps began working at the American Lava Company on Cherokee Boulevard where he became the plant manager. American Lava Company was later acquired by 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing). Mr. Tipps was transferred to 3M headquarters in Minneapolis, Mn. as manufacturing director of Chattanooga and Laurens, SC plant operations, and finished his career as an executive in 3M International Ceramic sales.



Mr. Tipps retired from 3M after 35 years and they moved back to Chattanooga. The couple has three sons: Dr. Wayne E. Tipps, Dr. Steven P. Tipps, and J. Mark Tipps, eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

They currently reside at the Terrace at Mountain Creek.

The Tipps family will be celebrating the anniversary event with a party on Sunday.
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Madina Toure

The city is planning to demolish a block of auto repair shops in Willets Point as part of the $3 billion Willets Point Development Plan.

The shops along 126th Street between Willets Point Boulevard and 38th Avenue are now behind a fence that went up last week, according to a spokesman for the city Economic Development Corporation.

No work is imminent, but the shops have since relocated to make way for the demolition, the spokesman said.

In 2015, the New York State Court of Appeals said it would hear an appeal by the developer, Queens Development Group, after an appellate court ruled in July that the proposal could not proceed without legislative approval, since it was proposed that a megamall be built on parkland.

In December, the City Council voted 46-2 to pass a resolution allowing the Council to issue an amicus brief in favor of the developer in the pending case. City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) and City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) voted against the resolution.

In 2013, the City Council had voted to approve the overall project by a vote of 42-3.

The Willets West mall is part of the redevelopment of Willets Point into a new neighborhood with commercial, retail and residential space.
SHARE

Beverly Drive United Methodist Church, 813 N. Beverly Drive: Family Fun Day, originally set for today, has been moved to May 7 due to unpredictable spring weather. The Covenant group will not meet Monday, when church members will be conducting services at Faith Mission starting at 7:30 p.m. Lay speaking training will be offered noon to 5 p.m. April 30.

Christ Tabernacle Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God, 112 Patterson St.: The Sunday school program will be presented at 5:45 p.m. today. Speakers will include Hazel Barnes, of New Jerusalem Baptist Church; George Ransom, of Bethlehem Baptist Church; and Iesha Geter, of Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. Guest musicians will include Samantha Brown, of Eastside Faith Center; Men and Boy, of Impact Word of Faith; choirs from the Church of Living God Nos. 9 and 327; and the New Jerusalem Baptist Church Male Choir.

Covenant Faith Center, 2904 Borton St.: The sixth church anniversary will be celebrated today and tomorrow. Wesley Holmes, pastor of Old Path Church, will be the speaker at 6:30 p.m. today, and evangelist Timothy Cook will be featured at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Faith Free Will Baptist Church, 36th and Armory Road: Barry Kelly will be the evangelist for revival services at 7 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday.

First Christian Church, 3701 Taft Blvd.: The April fellowship dinner will be at noon Sunday. Christian Women's Fellowship groups will meet Monday, including Group 1 at 1:30 p.m. at 4911 Neta Lane; Group 2 at noon at the church; and Group 3 at 2 p.m. at the church. Ministry meetings on Tuesday include education, membership, stewardship and world outreach at 6 p.m., and worship at 7 p.m. Meteorologist Kevin Selle will be the speaker for the Christian Men's Fellowship dinner at 6:30 p.m. April 21. The Cruisin' For Christ Kick Off Car Show will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 23 to raise money for youth mission trips. Entries cost $20. For entry information, contact Justin Dickey at 692-2282 or jdickey14@gmail.com. Chi Rho and the Christian Youth Fellowship will have a fundraising pancake breakfast from 8:30-10:30 a.m. April 24. Cost is $6.

Floral Heights United Methodist Church, 2214 10th: Encore! and Bravo! choruses will present a concert at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Jackson Memorial Church of God in Christ, 615 Marconi St.: The church homecoming service will be at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, with Minister David Cleaver as the preacher. Music will be provided by various choirs and Jonathan Rice. A fellowship gathering at Sunnyside Community Center in Jalonick Park will follow the service.

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 4605 Cypress: Post-confirmation youth will take a trip to an art museum April 16. Pairs & Spares will meet at 6 p.m. Sunday. The outreach ministry will meet at 5:15 p.m. Monday. The Thursday morning Bible class will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 513 Fort Worth St.: Pastoral anniversary services for Pastor and Mrs. Don Washington Sr. will continue at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The Rev. Angus Thompson, pastor of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, will be the speaker, when guests will come from New Jerusalem, Antioch, Mount Pleasant, Bethlehem, New Birth and Vernon New Hope Baptist churches, and Anderson Chapel AME Church.

St. Marks United Methodist Church, 4319 McNiel Ave.: The United Methodist Men's breakfast will be at 9 a.m. today. On Sunday, the praise hymn band will perform during the 10:45 a.m. service and the United Methodist Women will meet at 2 p.m.

St. Paul Lutheran Church, 11th and Holliday streets: Tabitha Joy Lutheran Women's Missionary League will meet at 9:15 a.m. today.

Shiloh Baptist Church, 2506 Sheppard Access Road: The church will be host for the monthly Male Chorus Extravaganza at 7 p.m. April 23.

Trinity United Methodist Church, 5800 Southwest Parkway: The Followers class will have its monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. today, with Jerry and Betty Culley as host. The Growing Center families, teachers and board will be celebrated during the 10:30 a.m. service Sunday with a musical performance by students from the child care facility. A lunch for those associated with the Growing Center will follow the service. A song service will be at 5 p.m. Sunday. The church food pantry will be open 6:30-8 p.m. Monday.

University United Methodist Church, 3405 Taft Blvd.: The annual Angel Wings High Tea will be at 3 p.m. April 24, with food and uniquely decorated tables. The monthly birthday lunch has been re-christened Out to Lunch, which will meet at 11:30 a.m. April 26 at Los Tres Amigos. Reservations are requested.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church will celebrate its 125th anniversary June 3 with a special Mass by Bishop Michael Olson and a community dinner. According to Father Jack McKone, the cradle of the faith is family and Sacred Heart has been blessed with many generations of faith-filled families.

SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Children pose for a commemorative photo in 1958 after celebrating their first communion at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Monsignor Anthony Daly, who was pastor from 1949 to 1962. TRN archives The late Ruth Jones O'Keefe, of Archer City, took this photo of Wichita Falls' Catholic church in 1906, when she was among the first students at the Academy of Mary Immaculate at Ninth and Holliday streets, across the street. The church had been built as St. Patrick's on Austin Street, but was moved by dairy wagon to its new location in 1906 to be closer to the school. At some point, the church was renamed Sacred Heart.

by Sarah Johnson

This summer, parishioners at Sacred Heart Catholic Church will celebrate 125 years in Wichita Falls. After more than a century, it's not brick and mortar that holds a church together  it's the people.

"Togetherness makes this church," David Bindel, pastoral assistant at Sacred Heart, said. "Togetherness, the love of the church and the love of Jesus Christ."

Sacred Heart has enjoyed a long history as one of the oldest churches in the city, surveying downtown from its perch at the corner of Holliday and Ninth streets. The community is invited to join in a celebration June 3 with a Mass by Bishop Michael Olson at 5:30 p.m. at the church and a dinner at 7 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Events Center. Tickets are $20 and are available at the church office, 1504 10th St., or at the MPEC.

"My wife, Linda, and I have been parishioners for more than 30 years," Bindel said. "But it's been a blessing not only to be part of the workings of this church, but also to celebrate it as a community member. To see the growth and development of families is amazing."

In 1881, 12 Catholic families, served by circuit rider priest Father O'Riordan, erected a church building on Austin street between Seventh and Eighth streets and named it St. Patrick's Church. After a tornado ripped off the roof, another larger church was built on the site in 1894. In 1905, the Sisters of St. Mary opened the Academy of Mary Immaculate at the corner of Holliday and Ninth streets. The next year, St. Patrick's was moved by dairy wagon and mules across the street from the school.

Sometime between 1907 and 1914, the parish became Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Stories and legends abound, but no one really knows when or how the name change occurred. In 1915, the church was moved 100 feet to make room for the new, red-brick church and the old building became the parish hall.

Father Jack McKone, who has been at Sacred Heart since 2012, is grateful and inspired by the people of Sacred Heart parish.

"While I am blessed to be pastor of this faith community, I see so many people who actively engage in service to the greater community," McKone said. "And I often think about the countless men and women who have raised their children, worshipped, worked, played and contributed to the growth of Wichita Falls through the Depression of the 1890s, two World Wars, the Dust Bowl and Depression of the 1930s, a devastating tornado, and numerous floods and droughts. But what defines these people is not the history of events that have happened to them, but rather the way they have responded to them. A strong faith in God is essential to a community of hope, and the foundation for Christians called to service by Christ and his Gospel."

McKone regards faith as a hand-me-down enterprise.

"The moms and dads that teach their children their prayers, offer healthy examples of forgiving and asking for forgiveness, and strive every day to provide loving family support for each other give witness to what they profess on Sunday," he said. "We will never remember most of their names, but the old saying that we stand on their shoulders is so true. When I walk through Sacred Heart Cemetery I see so many names  German, Hispanic, Irish, Vietnamese, Filipino and other ethnicities  that I also see today on parish roles. The cradle of the faith is the family, a little community of salt and light. And Sacred Heart has been richly blessed with countless families. I believe that families of faith have always been, and always will be, the indispensable core of our parish."

Over its long history, Sacred Heart has had a strong presence in the community, forming bonds with Interfaith Ministries, Pregnancy Help Center, Faith Mission and Faith Refuge. Long-running programs have touched the lives of so many people in need.

"Though our St. Theresa flower ministry, volunteers take bud vases to the hospital to brighten the lives of patients," Bindel said. "Our lunch sacks full of donated food from parishioners are given out from the office location on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Some weeks we may hand out 200 sacks to hungry people."

McKone is confident the next 125 years will bring the same kind of family, faith and service to Sacred Heart.

"In the mid-1890s, the fastest thing on earth was a train and if you wanted to hear music, you most often had to make it yourself," McKone said. "I don't know what the future holds, but I recall an abbot at a retreat told us that God always lights our way through the wilderness. But He normally only shows us the next step, not the entire path. Our strength will be God's unchangeable truth. And, of course, Jesus' common instruction was, "Be not afraid."

For more information about Sacred Heart's 125th anniversary celebration, call 723-5288.
TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Dr. William Cook, chairman of the biology department at Midwestern State University, refers to an image of a Solastella cookei, a legless worm lizard fossil that was named in honor of Cook after it was discovered by University of Texas at Austin anthropology professor Chris Kirk. The discovery occurred at the Dalquest Desert Research Station in West Texas, which is owned by MSU.

SHARE TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS This computer image is from the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology and was used in a University of Texas at Austin research report about the discovery of a new species of legless worm lizard, Solastella cookei. The fossil was discovered by UT-Austin anthropology professor Chris Kirk and named in honor of Dr. William Cook, a professor of biology at Midwestern State University. Cook helped Kirk and a team of researchers gain access to the Dalquest Desert Research Station in West Texas, which MSU owns. TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Midwestern State University biology department chairman Dr. William Cook describes the differences between legless lizards and snakes. Cook found out a new species of worm lizard was named in his honor, Solastella cookei, a Latinized version of Lone Star lizard. The fossil was discovered by University of Texas at Austin anthropology professor Chris Kirk at the Dalquest Desert Research Station in West Texas. TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Midwestern State University biology professor Dr. William Cook points out characteristics of a hackberry plant he studied at the Dalquest Desert Research Station. Cook found out a newly discovered species of legless worm lizard was named in his honor. The Solastella cookei fossil was discovered at the DDRS by Chris Kirk, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

By Lana Sweeten-Shults of the Times Record News

It's not every day a lizard is named after you, much less a legless one belonging to a category of lizards with the most unfortunate of monikers: "worm lizard."

But Midwestern State University botanist Dr. William Cook is the namesake of a newly discovered species of extinct legless lizards dubbed the Solastella cookei, or the Lone Star lizard (sola for lone and stella for star, in Latin).

The lizard was unearthed by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences while scuttling about MSU's Dalquest Desert Research Station in the West Texas Chihuahuan Desert, near Big Bend Ranch State Park. One of the primary researchers was UT-Austin anthropologist Dr. Christopher Kirk, and their study was reported in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

"He (Kirk) did it because he's a nice guy," Cook said with a smile of the lizard named in his honor. "I'm a botanist, but I support the people who are there for the lizards."

It is not the first time Kirk has celebrated MSU and its scientists.

He also named an ancient primate he found at the desert research site after Dr. Norman Horner  the Mescalerolemur horneri. The name is derived from the Mescalero Apache Indians in the area and a primitive lemur. Another primate fossil, Diablomomys dalquesti, was named after the research station's namesake, late MSU professor Dr. Walter Dalquest. Diablo refers to the Devil's Graveyard Formation, the canyon lands at the research station whose name comes from the ranchers who have long lived in the area.

"It was probably in 2002 that he (Kirk) first contacted us," Cook said, and he has been returning to Dalquest ever since.

MSU calls the remote research station its jewel in the desert, a pristine biome relatively untouched by humans that has become a rich resource of fossils, plants, mammals and other scientific data for not only MSU researchers but for scientists from other universities.

The Solastella cookei is the first known example in Texas of a worm lizard, or amphisbaenian, having lived during the late Middle Eocene, a geological period about 40 million years ago. Its closest living relatives are in Florida and Mexico.

What researchers have found so neat about the Lone Star lizard is that its eye socket was fully enclosed, which is not the case in living worm lizards.

Also, Cook said what is important about the discovery is what it tells scientists about the area's climate at that time. Since lizards are coldblooded and need a heat source like the sun to survive, their existence at Dalquest means Texas was a warm refuge for animals in a cooling climate.

Ironically, Kirk isn't a herpetologist. His work at Dalquest has been mainly in paleontological fieldwork.

"He is interested in mammal fossils," Cook said. "He was looking for lemur-sized mammals."

The Dalquest site, as it turns out, is rich in primate fossils.

According to Horner, long thought of as the caretaker of the Dalquest site: "That area of Texas was tropical and a prime habitat for the early development of primates 45-50 million years ago."

As a botanist, Cook doesn't know as much about lizards as some of his fellow scientists. He studies the plants at Dalquest, though even he meanders off the beaten path in his research there: "My main job is to collect weather data," he said.

Cook travels to Dalquest about once every three months, piling in a truck on the weekend for the 10-hour drive there, all to do research for a day or so before making the 10-hour trek back to Wichita Falls and MSU for Monday classes.

Collected in his office from recent trips to the site is a stack of pressed plants, flattened between newspapers and ready for analysis and categorization.

He shuffles through some of those plants, such as mesquite and hackberry.

Then he talks about his favorite, the ipomopsis: "You can see why I like it; it's got pink speckles. ... Why would that plant have pink speckles?"

He says few pollinators thrive in the desert, so plants need to be vibrant if they want to survive.

"You've got to put on a show," he said.

Unlike Kirk, he has yet to discover a new species at Dalquest, plant or otherwise.

"I haven't touched 50 percent of the plants, obviously," Cook said. "I've got presses full of plants that need to be processed."

No worries. His name will forever be immortalized in one legless Lone Star lizard.
SHARE

By John Ingle of the Times Record News

Data analysis of 446 cities across the United States by New York-based tech company SmartAsset showed Wichita Falls is the second best place for working parents to live.

The company looked at nine different areas of interest from Bureau of Labor Statistics, including unemployment rate; median household income; median annual housing costs; percentage of workers who work more than 49 weeks per year; average commute time to work; violent crime rate; average cost of childcare; average high school graduation rate and state ratings from the National Partnership for Women & Families. Wichita Falls was ranked just after Orem, Utah.

"Frankly, it reaffirms what we've thought about Wichita Falls all along that aspects of the city like commute time and cost of housing and cost of child care are really important to people when they're picking a place to live," said Henry Florsheim, president and CEO of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "It was great to see that this wasn't a survey. This was actually a study that was done out of that many cities and we landed No. 2."

Florsheim said businesses looking to relocate or set up a new operation often look at aspects of an area that will have an impact on the employee's happiness. He said they want to be in a place where people want to live, and the study shows that people want to be in Wichita Falls.

SmartAsset's entry for Wichita Falls said: "Median annual housing costs in this North Texas city add up to just $8,880, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That includes expenses such as a mortgage payment, insurance costs and Texas property taxes, and it makes Wichita Falls the 32nd most affordable place in SmartAsset's analysis. At the same time, Wichita Falls offers families a good school system, with an average graduation rate that places in the top 10 percent of the 446 cities in SmartAsset's analysis."

Others listed after Wichita Falls and Orem include: Irvine, California; Iowa City, Iowa; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Columbia, Missouri; Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Palo Alto, California; Provo, Utah; and Edmond, Oklahoma. Round Rock and Mission were the only other Texas cities listed in SmartAsset's top 25, and Norman, Oklahoma, also made the list.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Colonie

Former President Bill Clinton promised about 600 people Saturday that his wife's presidency would bring a can-do attitude  as well as deep understanding of the problems that upstate New York faces  to the White House.

Three days before Tuesday's presidential primary, Bill Clinton stood in front of the New York state flag, with the U.S. flag nowhere in sight, a visual display that reflected the five remaining presidential candidates' laser focus on the delegate-rich Empire State.

"Tuesday is every bit as important as Election Day ... and Hillary needs your help," Bill Clinton said his audience at The Desmond, adding that state voters know his wife well.

The campaign visit to support Hillary Clinton was the latest in a series of high-profile visits to the Capital Region this week. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke Monday.

In Colonie, Bill Clinton began his half-hour speech just before 10:30 a.m. and hit upon familiar themes but connected several aspects of his message to New York voters. He was scheduled to appear in Watertown, Syracuse and Binghamton later in the day.

He said the country must improve broadband infrastructure to give opportunities for small businesses, and he spoke of the need to boost manufacturing jobs.

Lessening the burden paying for college by helping graduates manage loan payments, he said, would "revolutionize" young people's potential.

And he said alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide must be treated like public health problems.

"Hillary knows that a lot of these people are dying because of a broken heart," he said, later adding, "we have to give people something to look forward to in the morning."

Bill Clinton connected his wife's "change-maker" attitude as a New York senator to what she could accomplish as president, recalling how "her eyes would just dance" as she described small companies and their accomplishments.

"The big things are made real in small steps," he said.

"She's the best change maker  not just in this race. She's the best change maker I've ever known."

That sentiment echoed Bill Clinton's introduction from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who raised an implicit contrast between Clinton and Sanders, whom he did not name.

"The question is not what do we want to do, the question is, who can get it done and who can win?" Cuomo said. "The answer to the question is Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko and New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli spoke before Bill Clinton took the stage. Former Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and other local politicians also attended.

Attendees lined up outside the hotel to hear Bill Clinton speak just after 5 a.m. The morning atmosphere outside was decidedly more calm than last Monday's Sanders and Trump rallies, where chants and shouts in support of the speaking candidates mixed with the sounds of businessmen peddling campaign buttons and T-shirts, many of which criticized Hillary Clinton.

Attendees interviewed Saturday said they had supported Hillary Clinton's candidacy for years, and others added that the historical value of being in the presence of a former president was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Sonya Sidhu-Izzo, 46, of Queensbury, unsuccessfully waited in the snow to see Hillary Clinton speak in Cohoes on April 4, but made it into the room to hear the former senator speak in Rochester later that week.

"I'm a little surprised at how it's becoming vicious," she said of the relationship between Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Sidhu-Izzo, who works at St. Mary's Hospital, said she supports Hillary Clinton because of her experience. "I jokingly say she did a very good job as president in the '90s."

John Ellis, 52, of Ballston Spa said the near-frantic feel to the race is "great" for the Democratic party.

"It gets people excited," said Ellis, a CSEA union member who works on the grounds of the Ballston Spa school district.

lellis@timesunion.com  518-454-5018  @lindsayaellis
Lori Van Buren

The Founding Fathers and those who fought and died in the American Revolution more than two centuries ago did so to leave for future generations a table filled with the bounty that Americans today enjoy.

I believe the table that holds this bounty is set on four sturdy legs. I call those legs economic justice, social justice, racial justice and religious justice.
There's a lot of stagecraft in politics, and this year's big partisan shows have been lighting up New York's Great White Way  and its more far-flung neighborhoods, including ours  for a couple of weeks now. The players on two stages are set in their characters, with the cast (slimmed down from the cattle call that showed up for out-of-town previews) reciting lines we by now mostly know by heart. So it's about time for all of us to file our reviews.

We can tell when the actors aren't comfortable in their roles. Hillary Clinton, who expected to have this spotlight all to herself, can't fully mask exasperation at what she sees as amateurism better suited to a civic theater in the man who plays opposite her. Can't the audience tell, she seems to be wondering, that he's not up to this role?

For his part, Bernie Sanders struggles to get outside the constrictions of the character many have described as the grouchy uncle at Thanksgiving. You know he has more range, but the smiles he has added during the extended run still seem forced, and since he started combing his hair he has too much of the look of Dick Cheney to avoid the inevitable conclusion that they must be alter egos.

On the other stage, the all-male cast is led by Donald Trump, the reality TV veteran, who has been scorned by critics but still thrills audiences with his canny improvisations. You never know what he might do next, and the crowds keep cheering  much as they did for those big cat shows in Las Vegas, until the day that a tiger horrifically fulfilled the crowds' secret wishes by trying to eat his tamer. You have to wonder: Whose blood might Trump draw next to similarly excite his fans?

More Information Rex Smith is editor of the Times Union. Share your thoughts at http://blog.timesunion.com/editors. See More Collapse

The other players have had their chances for break-out roles, but they're clearly just supporting cast members on the big stage of New York. Ted Cruz is the latest to fill the recurring role of Sanctimonious Senator (more convincingly, indeed, than such predecessors as Rick Santorum). He is as unctuous as any character invented by Charles Dickens, which may be more off-putting to New Yorkers than to voters elsewhere.

John Kasich, reprising the role Jon Huntsman Jr. so effectively developed four years ago as The Sensible One, offers a mild-mannered persona that apparently bores a GOP audience that these days clearly craves muscular shoot-'em-up leading men. The crowds applaud and remain grateful that he is in the cast, but there are few autograph-seekers at the stage door for him.

In most years, New York is more a backdrop for political theater than a place where the shows get fully staged. It's where show runners, as they're known in television  consultants, in this realm  turn to find producers, also known as big donors. But this election year neither party has gotten its show together as quickly as usual, so the audience here matters, for once. Still, there are New Yorkers among the producers who have lined up behind the notorious Koch brothers, according to the author Jane Mayer. Her book "Dark Money" says they have pledges of more than $800 million to produce a showstopper in the fall aimed at whoever emerges on the Democratic stage.

Polls suggest the frontrunners aren't likely to be tripped up here Tuesday. A Marist-NBC4 poll released Friday showed Clinton widening her lead over Sanders, and Trump running away from Kasich and Cruz. That means most of each party's voters are comfortable with the prospect of autumn's big nationwide show being a contest between the incremental liberalism of Clinton and the radical authoritarianism of Trump.

If that turns out to be the outcome when Wednesday dawns, it will mean that New York has passed up its chance to truly unsettle American politics, for good or ill. But whatever happens, change is coming.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

Wins here would energize the campaigns of Sanders or Cruz, and either as the nominee of his party would unhinge longstanding realities, shifting the fulcrum of American politics to the left or right, with corresponding pushback from the other side.

A Trump nomination might lead many Republicans to stay home in November rather than having to choose between him and, say, somebody named Clinton. That, in turn, would make Democratic gains in House and Senate races more likely, perhaps lessening paralysis in Washington.

And if Clinton wins here, it will become more nearly inevitable that a woman will be a major party's presidential nominee. That's an event whose historic nature we tend to forget by virtue of her long presence on the New York stage.

What's left now is for the audience to do its part. The stage is set, the curtain up, and New Yorkers are ready to react to the show.
Bord Bia and GIY have launched a competition to dig up Tipperarys biggest Spudlover and crown Irelands Top Tuber.

GIYers and budding Spud growers are now invited to sow their potatoes and join in SpudLove 2016, an initiative which is encouraging Irish communities to fall in love with the spud all over again by hosting a local Spud Off competition, with the aim of finding the countrys favourite spud.

SpudLove 2016 is a fun way to learn how to grow a variety of Irish potatoes with a Spud Off Tool Kit devised to ensure even the greenest of growers cant go wrong!

According to founder of GIY Michael Kelly, this is the ideal time to sow your potatoes and summer is the ideal time to plan a Spud Off competition when the tubers will be ready for harvesting. Potatoes are my absolute favourite thing to grow. They are really straightforward  stick a spud in the ground and it turns in to a plant that produces 10-12 spuds. Simple as that. Harvesting the first new potatoes is always my top moment of the growing year, and I love that I get to try lots of different varieties of this wonderfully diverse vegetable.

Michael said, Potatoes have had a bit of a hard time of late and lots of the commentary around them is simply overhyped or untrue. Potatoes are one of the worlds healthiest foods, they are naturally fat free and gluten free, a great source of B and C vitamins, potassium and fibre and they really should be part of the weekly menu in every Irish household.

The Spudlove campaign is also appealing to GIYers to show their love for the wonder-spud by sharing their top spud-growing moments on social media with the hashtag #spudlove. Plenty of inspiration and a host of nutritional and seasonal recipes for potatoes can be found at www.potato.ie.

Commenting on the partnership and the SpudLove competition Lorcan Bourke of Bord Bia said, Bord Bia is delighted to work with GIY on this to encourage people to grow, cook and eat a wide variety of potatoes.

Interested families, individuals, workplaces and groups can check out the Spud Rules and register to host a Spud Off at http://www.giyinternational.org/spudlove
Mystery surrounds the location of the famous Holycross Abbey Trophy which was presented to the winner of the Holycross Show - that wonderful festival which ran in the parish for nearly three decades to help raise funds for the restoration of Holycross Abbey, writes Noel Dundon.

The magnificent trophy was commissioned from Waterford Glass in 1970 and displayed the Abbey as it was before restoration. Competition for the Holycross Abbey Trophy was always the highlight of the Show which attracted the very top jockeys in Ireland and from abroad including the likes of Paul Darragh, Eddie Macken, Willie Mullins, Capt. Con Power, Capt. Gerry Mullins, Francis Connors and Tipperary's own Capt. Larry Kiely to name just a few.

The trophy, it is believed, was presented right up to 1995, but now nobody seems to known where it is. Donors who contributed to the purchase of the trophy include the late Canon Patrick J Lynch, PP Holycross; the late Patrick J O'Meara, Killough Castle; the late Thomas Hickey, VS Killinan; the late James Cahill, Holycross; the late John Doyle, Glenbane, Holycross; Tom O'Donoghue, Holycross and one anonymous donor. Only two of the original donors remain living and the hope is that the Trophy can be located and perhaps returned to the legal owner - the Parish Priest of Holycross of the day.

The Trophy was one of the first of its kind and it became one of the most coveted on the jumping scene. It later served as a model for trophy makers.

Holycross Show grew from humble beginnings to become one of the most important events of its kind outside of the famous Dublin Horse Show. In 1977 one of the largest crowds ever attended and the then Chairman of Bord na gCapall, Mr Stan Diffley said in his address at the event that  it was a revelation to find this out of the way show in such a fantastic location, coupled with the fact that the people had gotten together over the winter and made their own fences - all of this at a time when the Bord is being pressed by people looking for handouts.

The sense of community spirit which prevailed in the parish of Holycross Ballycahill and its surrounds was central to the success of the Show and in 1978 it was up-graded to the status of full horse show, rather than gymkhana.

Paul Darragh, one of Irelands most celebrated riders wrote in the 21st anniversary souvenir booklet of the Holycross Show that 'Holycross does more than honour its heroes, it plays a big role in making them. Those of us who bring horses or ponies, jumping or showing, know the standards will be high. There is quality organisation and quality competition with a quality venue. To win at Holycross is a comforting indicator.

Such was the prestige of the Show that in 1980 the three times Aga Khan Trophy winners made their first appearance outside of Dublin when they arrived in Holycross. All four riders - Eddie Macken, Con Power, Paul Darragh and James Kernan had all won the Holycross Abbey Trophy and it was fitting that they should attend the event to be feted by those who came to Holycross annually.

Such was the repute of the Holycross Abbey Trophy that former Taoiseach Charles J Haughey, a regular contributor to the Show, asked for permission to take the Trophy to his home in Kinsealy to show it to friends who were coming from France. He also ensured that the Trophy was displayed at the RDS with all of the details of its origins and it generated a lot of interest from the spectators who attended the annual event.

Before each of the Holycross Shows, the Holycross Abbey Trophy was displayed in the shop window of Messrs. Ryans Jewellers, Liberty Square, Thurles - the late, very talented jeweller Matty Ryan had designed an octagonal base for the glass trophy and engraved the winners name on it each year.

Any information on the whereabouts of the famous trophy can be furnished to us here in The Tipperary Star and we will pass the information on to the relevant people. Please help out to locate the trophy if you can at all.
Paycheck Fairness

Final note for tonight . . . There are a great many. . . Equal Pay Day this week and Kansas City's Congressman Cleaver took a moment to address this aspect of gender equality.Take equality . . .On Tuesday, we marked Equal Pay Day, the day when, more than three months into the year, womens wages finally catch up to what men were paid in the previous year. Once again, I call on all Members of Congress to come together in support of the passage of the critical Paycheck Fairness Act. More must be done to close the wage gap that still exists between women and men.According to the National Womens Law Center, the women in our state of Missouri still earn only 77.4 cents for every dollar earned by men. And nationwide, women earn only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, putting Missouri behind the national average. The Equal Pay Act was passed in June of 1963, but a new study finds that women wont see pay equity with men until 2059, based on the rate that the pay gap has been closing since 1960.Today, women make up about half of the workforce, and it is wrong that on average they are still being paid less than men. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. While womens role in our economy has changed dramatically, Americas workplaces have simply not kept up.I am a proud cosponsor, along with every other House Democrat, of the critical Paycheck Fairness Act, which is designed to help women finally achieve equal pay for equal work, by strengthening and closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963.The Paycheck Fairness Act would prohibit employer retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers; require employers to show that pay disparity is truly job-related, not based on gender; strengthen remedies for women experiencing pay discrimination; and empower women in the workplace through a grant program to strengthen salary negotiation and other workplace skills.We must do something real about closing the wage gap  by taking up the Paycheck Fairness Act for full consideration. Equal pay is not simply a womans issue  it is a family issue. When women bring home less money each day, it means they have less for the everyday needs of their families. We should not rest until we achieve true pay equity for women  ensuring that all American women in the workforce are receiving equal pay for equal work.###########Developing . . .
Kansas City White Dudes Talk Weekly News!!!





It doesn't happen all the time but when it does, it's always boring and uneventful and mostly slanted to the left . . . Why does that sound dirty???



Anyhoo . . .



CELEBRATE A BUNCH OF WHITE DUDES TALKING THE KANSAS CITY NEWS THIS WEEK!!!



Actually, it's not that bad and there are a couple of good talking points here from these local white dude media people who still, strangely, don't seem to have much in common with the Kansas City viewing public.



Check the description . . .



"Nick Haines, Steve Kraske, Steve Vockrodt, Neal Jones and Dave Helling discuss the debate over renovating or repairing KCI and when voters might have a chance to weigh in at the ballot box, the implications of MIssouri's Religious Freedom Amendment, the final results of Missouri's primary, the anniversary of the JCC shooting, the new Cadillac coming to the Fairfax GM Plant & SKC's 20th birthday."



More later . . .
LIKE IT OR NOT KANSAS CITY RESIDENTS AND AIRLINE PASSENGERS ARE GOING TO BE PAYING FOR THIS DECISION IN THE LONG RUN NO MATTER WHAT LIES LOCAL POLITICOS ARE PUSHING ON THE PUBLIC!!!

One thing that was brand new that we had never heard before is that our current configuration is holding us back when it comes to more flights, and that is because we do not have a good connectivity experience here, Airport Committee Chair Jolie Justus said.





The unconnected terminal design means most amenities for passengers are on the other side of security. Thats not the case at Love Field in Dallas, though the airport has fewer gates.





Whether they had to wait 30 minutes or five hours there was something for everybody, Justus said.









A billion-dollar question is on the table and what's troubling is thatare pretty much excluded from the decision making process in favor of sponsored opinions from Mayor, Council, The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the airlines and a small army of consultants.Accordingly . . .MSM media is pretty much transcribing the chatter on this one out there without any tough questions.Here's an example featuring the latest on a recent junket . . .Links . . .Developing . . .
The American President believes that debt relief is necessary and Grece needs more help with refugees

In his meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hanover on the 23rd of April, US President Barack Obama is expected to express his support for Greece in relation to the financial and refugees crises.to

Mega Channel correspondent Michalis Ignatiou reported that the White Houses Senior Director for European Affairs Charles Kupchan informed the press that the American President will argue that the relief is necessary to make the Greek debt sustainable.

In relation to the refugee crisis, Mr. Kupchan stressed that the US government is seeking to work with Greece separately, as it estimates that Greece is bearing an excessive burden in the management and accommodation of refugees.

NATOs involvement in the Aegean Sea, will also be on the agenda, in order to ensure that the agreement with Turkey is effective. The US President intends to propose solution for the refugee crisis on a broader scale.

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
Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten,  , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei,  , holidays in Turkey,   , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas,

This site is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+, at a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768.
Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed on Friday to improve economic cooperation, with banking a priority, prime ministry sources told Reuters, following the lifting of international sanctions on Iran.



The two countries also agreed to increase trade and mutual investments, the sources told Reuters.



Iran is frustrated that few trade deals have been implemented since the nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, as foreign banks still steer clear of processing transactions.



On Friday it called on the United States and European Union to help it access the global financial system, but the White House said the nuclear deal did not include giving Tehran such access.  Reuters
A consortium of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the gas-rich emirate, CVC Capital Partners and Canadian property group Brookfield have abandoned a secret plan to bid for British supermarket group J.Sainsbury, Sky News reported on Saturday.



QIA has an around 25 per cent stake in Sainsbury's.



Sky said the trio had dropped a planned takeover, hatched in the autumn, after Sainsbury's made a 1.4 billion pound ($2 billion) bid for Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos.



The report could not immediately be verified.-Reuters


The jury of the Tiantan Award, headed by director Brett Ratner, met the press in Beijing on Friday and said they will excise their duty to select the best film and try to find inspiration during their stay.

Seven jurors, led by director Brett Ratner, met the press in Beijing on April 15, 2016. They will decide the winners of the Tiantan Award, a competition section of the 6th Beijing International Film Festival. [China.org.cn]

The jury president Brett Ratner, who also produced this year's Academy Award-winning film "The Revenant," said that jurors are coming from different countries and regions with different cultural backgrounds, so they will definitely have different opinions, which for him is the most exciting part because only good film can ignite discussion. He said the films on the shortlist are all good films and it will be very hard for them to decide the best, but he looked forward to it and the jurors will fulfill their duties seriously.

He will work with six other jurors including Hong Kong director Teddy Chan ("Bodyguards and Assassins"), German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck ("The Lives of Others"), Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu ("The Treasure"), Japanese director Yojiro Takita ("Departures"), Bosnian and Herzegovinan director Danis Tanovic ("No Man's Land") and Chinese actress Xu Qing ("Mr. Six").

The 6th Beijing International Film Festival has received 433 films from 42 countries and regions for the competition section, including 230 international films and 203 domestic films. After four rounds of selection, 15 finalists have been shortlisted for the 10 awards.

Japanese director Yojiro Takita said though every nation and people have different languages and cultures, they can gain recognition through film and that's the power of motion picture arts. He thought there would be a common aesthetic standard for films worldwide and any filmmakers can make a great film of high quality when they candidly capture and exhibit their own cultures with confidence.

Chinese actress Xu Qing said the Beijing International Film Festival is a young festival and hoped that she will grow with it and learn different things from it to help her evolve.

German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck said the award-winning films and directors will get more opportunities for investment, so they will treat the voting very seriously to find the best and find resonance.

Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu and other directors all expressed the draw of China's booming film market and the charm of Chinese history and culture. They hoped to have communication and exchange with filmmakers from all over the world and hope to find more inspiration for their new projects in Beijing.

Beijing Television (BTV) is hosting this years Tiantan Award with help of the Beijing Film Academy. Two Chinese films, notably, the comedy-drama film "Go Away Mr. Tumor" by Han Yan and martial arts film "The Master" by Xu Haofeng, will join the race with films like "A Perfect Day," "Aferim!," "Klezmer," "The Final Lesson," "Under sandet" and more.

The winners will be announced at the closing ceremony of the Beijing film festival which will run from April 16 to 23, 2016.
German carmaker Daimler on Friday launched its car2go rental service in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, marking its entry to the Asian market.

The service, already popular in Europe and North America, allows users to access nearby for-rent cars via a mobile app, saving them the lengthy paperwork and other inconveniences of the traditional car rental business.

Sam Guo, COO of car2go China Co., Ltd., said 400 Mercedes-Benz Smart vehicles will be available for rent in the city. Users can park their cars anywhere in an area of 60 square kilometers in the city after use.

"China is our third key market after North America and Europe," Guo said.

Rainer Becker, CEO of car2go China, said they hope car2go can alleviate the traffic congestion in many big cities. Chongqing was selected as their first step in Asia given its supportive government and the locals' high acceptance of new ideas.

The company said it will add more cars and launch the service in more cities, if this model proves popular.
You are here: Home

The Canton Fair, the largest import and export expo of its kind in China, opened on Friday in the southern province of Guangdong, with the majority of participants being small and medium-sized firms.

A foreign buyer poses for photo at the 119th China Import and Export Fair, or the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province, April 15, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 119th China Import and Export Fair has an exhibition area of 1.18 million square meters and about 60,000 booths for more than 24,000 companies from home and abroad.

More than 90 percent of the firms are small and medium enterprises.

Fair spokesperson Xu Bing said over the past three years the fair has helped more and more small- and medium-sized Chinese firms to develop their unique, quality products.

Companies from regions and countries along the "Belt and Road" account for more than 60 percent of all participants in the import section.

To boost foreign trade for Chinese firms, the fair cut the fee for each booth by 4,000 yuan ($615) on average, or 18 percent, compared with the 117th Canton Fair.

China's exports saw a turnaround in March, while a decline in imports narrowed, customs data showed on Wednesday, adding to signs of stabilization in the economy.
The Supreme People's Court has amended the Rules of Court to better protect the rights of all parties involved in trials.

Under the revised rules, which take effect on May 1, suspects on trial are no longer required to wear prison uniforms, vests or clothes that carry logos of prisons or detention houses.

The changes are part of the country's reform of the judicial system, said Hu Shihao, director of the reform office of the Supreme People's Court.

"The new set of regulations requires courts at all levels to strictly abide by the procedural law in trials and is expected to fully protect the rights of all people and entities involved in a trial," he said.

Hu said suspects are allowed to wear civilian clothes during trial, and under normal circumstances should not be subject to restraining devices, such as handcuffs. However, suspects in cases of serious violent crimes should still wear such devices because they are likely to pose a danger to people in a courtroom, he said.

Wei Jie, a lawyer at Jieqiang Law Firm in Beijing, said the revision has put an end to the decadeslong tradition of requiring suspects to appear in prison uniforms and is a great improvement in protecting people's rights.

The Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that no one shall be announced guilty without trial, and the principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty is one of the most important rights embodied in criminal justice systems.

"The revision conforms to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law. It has a great significance because it removes the prejudice against suspects who wear prison uniforms in court, which helps ensure justice," Wei said.

Under the new rules, defense lawyers are allowed to bring their own laptops into court for trials, and they will enjoy equal status and treatment with prosecutors in court.

The new rules also suggest courts use video equipment to allow witnesses to testify outside courtrooms and protect the personal information of the parties involved.
Premier Li Keqiang urged universities to enhance innovation in scientific research and technological development during visits to top Chinese universities on Friday.

Premier Li Keqiang poses for a selfie taken on Friday by Melissa Ann Kidson, an art student from the United States, at Peking University after an inspection tour of the campus. [Photo/China Daily]

The premier visited Tsinghua University and Peking University, both of which have long enjoyed prestigious reputations among Chinese students and parents.

Several professors at Tsinghua University reported their achievements to the premier in fields such as the internet, gas turbines and new-energy vehicles. To improve scientific research in these fields, the school has introduced a large number of overseas scholars, many of whom are younger than 40.

"As shown in your school song, we have to adopt good aspects from Chinese and Western countries. In promoting innovation, we should do so the same way," Li told the professors.

Collaboration among universities and research institutes is crucial, the premier said. Otherwise, resources will be wasted on similar research programs.

With funds from the government, these institutions can more easily promote innovation in various fields while working together, he added.

Xia Xueluan, a professor of sociology at Peking University, said innovation is a key concept for the premier and the central government as the country seeks new models for economic restructuring.

Hundreds of students at both schools greeted Li during his visit, and he had discussions with them about various fields. He told the students to contribute to social progress in pursuit of social welfare and justice.

The premier took selfie photos with enthusiastic students in the library at Tsinghua University, which will mark its 105th anniversary at the end of this month, and outside the Law School at Peking University.

"Welcome back again," students at Peking University, from which Li earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, told the premier upon his departure in the afternoon. It was Li's first visit to the school as premier.
Customs officers in Chengdu City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, have intercepted a package sent from Germany containing over 100 live ants, customs authorities said Saturday.

Each of the black ants, which measure 1.5 to two centimeters long, was shipped in its own test tube filled with some water. Three were identified as ant queens and are about three cm in length. In the tubes of the queen ants, some small ants had hatched from their eggs.

In November 2015, Chengdu Customs also seized more than 1,000 live ants, also sent from Germany.

Big ants are usually kept as pets. Non-native ant species have no natural predator in China, which could endanger the environment.

Import of hazardous species has also been on the rise.

According to the quarantine bureau of Henan Province on Saturday, during the first quarter of 2016, the province seized 707 batches of non-native hazardous plants and animals, which belonged to 68 different species, a growth of 219.9 and 23.6 percent from the same period last year.
 Flash

The United Nations on Friday again urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to exercise restraint after the country made a failed ballistic missile launch attempt earlier in the day.

While answering a reporter's question on the UN reaction to DPRK's missile launch, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said that "we are certainly aware of the recent report of the activity by the DPRK, which is alarming. We once again call on the DPRK to exercise restraint."

The DPRK sought to launch a ballistic missile, which is believed to be a medium-range Musudan missile, into its eastern waters early Friday, but the attempt appeared to have failed, according to Yonhap News Agency of the Republic of Korea.

In order to curb DPRK's nuclear and missile programs, the UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions, with the latest one adopted in March imposing the most severe sanctions on DPRK, including an export ban and asset freeze.
Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 15

It has been more than three weeks since the city police had registered an FIR against four persons in connection with the suicide case of a 55-year-old man at Ali Mohalla, but the police have not arrested any of the accused in the case.

Ashok Kalyan (55), who was working as a Public Relations Officer with a private hospital, had consumed some poisonous substance on March 19 and died the next day leaving behind a suicide note against four persons who had been pressurising him to return the loan amount.

After the return of his wife Neena, who was working in Cyprus, the family had lodged the complaint under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC but there has been no arrest so far.

Brother of the deceased, GL Kalyan, who works as a bank cashier, said his younger brother had taken some money on interest. He said, He (Ashok Kalyan) was not able to meet his expenses and both his children are still studying. On March 19 at 1 pm, Darshan Lal, alias, Bholu; Subhash, alias, Badshah; Sunny Kalyan and Jolly had come to our house and pressurised my brother to return the amount. He went into depression and chose to end his life, leaving behind a suicide note against them. The accused are roaming free but the police have not acted against them yet.

SHO Jeevan Singh said the accused were on the run and they would nab them soon.
Srinagar, April 14

One person was killed and three others were injured as security forces opened fire on Friday in Kupwara district of Kashmir to disperse protesters who were pelting stones on an Army camp during a demonstration.

Protests rocked many places in Kupwara and its adjoining areas to mark the fourth day of death of three persons who were killed in firing by security forces in Handwara town on Tuesday following allegations of molestation of a girl.

A police official said four persons were injured when security forces opened fire at a group of protestors who were pelting stones on an Army camp in Kupwara's Nathnusa area, about 100 km from here.

Among the injured, a youth, Arif Ahmad, was hurt critically and succumbed to his wounds later, sources said.

With the latest casualty, the death toll has risen to five in the unrest that began on Tuesday following allegations of molestation of a girl in Handwara.

An Army official said the forces opened fire only after the mobs tried to storm the camp.

A group of protesters were pelting stones at the (Army) camp but the soldiers exercised restraint. However, the situation started going out of hand as a large number of them tried to storm the camp from all directions, the official said.

The situation in the north Kashmir district has worsened following fresh casualties as more people are taking to streets against the killings.

Reports of protests were also received from parts of south Kashmir and Srinagar city but there were no casualties in these incidents, the official said.

Separatist groups including hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed ALi Shah Geelani have called for a shutdown tomorrow to protest against the fresh killing.

Kashmir University has announced postponing of all examinations scheduled for tomorrow.

A spokesman of the varsity said fresh dates for these examinations would be notified later.  PTI
New Delhi/Srinagar, April 16

Concerned over violence in Jammu and Kashmir during the last four days, the Centre on Saturday decided to rush 3,600 additional paramilitary personnel to the Valley and asked the state government to ensure that there is no further loss of lives.

Meanwhile, the family of the girl, whose alleged harassment led to a spate of violence in Kashmir, on Saturday claimed that she was pressurised into giving a video statement, denying she was molested and has approached court seeking an independent probe into the incident.

My girl is just 16 years old and was alone in the police station when her statement was recorded. She was pressurised by the police to give that statement, her mother claimed.

The decision to send more forces was taken at a high-level meeting in New Delhi, where situation in Jammu and Kashmir was discussed extensively.

Curfew-like restrictions continued for the fourth day in parts of Kashmir following the killing of five persons in security forces action during violent protests since Tuesday.

The Central Government is concerned over the loss of human lives in the state, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

Finance Secretary Ratan P. Watal, who is holding the additional charge of Union Home Secretary, chaired the meeting which was attended by senior officials from Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Defence, Central Armed Police Forces and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The meeting reviewed the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley and assessed the requirements of the state government to bring the situation under control and ensure no further loss of lives, he said.

While 12 companies of paramilitary personnel were reaching the state today itself, 24 more companies will reach there by tomorrow. One company of paramilitary comprises of about 100 personnel.

The Home Ministry is in regular touch with senior officials of Jammu and Kashmir and has been monitoring the situation on a regular basis. It has assured full cooperation and support to the state government to bring back normalcy.

Curfew-like restrictions were imposed in the Valley following the death of three persons during protests against alleged molestation of a girl by a soldier in Handwara town on Tuesday. Two others died later following police firing.

Todays meeting also took stock of the development package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kashmir in November 2015. The package is being expeditiously implemented for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesperson said.

The package is expected to generate employment for local youth and bring overall prosperity in the state, he said.  PTI
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 15

India and the US, at the latest meeting on defence-related matters, promised to continue engagement but disagreed on issues of transfer of technology and stopped short of indulging in public embrace.

For New Delhi, the next week starts with a diplomatic tango with Russia, which has so far not reacted publicly, and to smoothen the wrinkles with its neighbour China, which has been guarded in its initial response.

Commencing on April 18, key members of Prime Minister Narendra Modis team will be in Moscow and Beijing. Parrikar and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval are separately heading to Beijing and will possibly explain there that the LEMOA is not a military pact. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be at the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral in Moscow on Monday.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter and Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on April 12 announced an in-principle decision to ink the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) for which a draft is being prepared.

Even as Carter was explaining to a crowd of mediapersons about the benefits of the LEMOA, Parrikar in a matter-of-fact tone interjected and clarified: This does not mean stationing of US troops on the Indian soil. What Parrikar and Carter have okayed is a re-jigged version of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), a cast-in-iron framework, which the US was keen on getting India to sign.

Parrikar is fully aware of the impact this can have on Indias relations.

An angered Moscow could hold back crucial nuclear technologies for the three Arihant class of nuclear submarines, the BrahMos supersonic missiles and even stop the impending lease of another nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Akula class. As per a report by the Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), realised in February this year, Russia was the biggest weapons supplier to India between 2011 and 2015. Russia supplied 70 per cent of Indias arms imports, the US 14 per cent, the report said.

Another thing that has emerged from the latest Parrikar-Carter meeting is that the two sides are not on the same page in terms of technology transfer, a pre-requisite India has said if the US-based companies are to participate in the Make in India programme for fighter jets. The US has, so far, been non-committal. At the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on April 8, Carter had termed the technology transfer challenges as surmountable. The US team has been told that the US government has to assure on technology transfer. The US has promised help in the third sea-borne aircraft carrier technology.

Former Indian Defence Secretary Sekhar Dutt, during whose tenure the Defence Framework agreement was first signed in 2005, says: Technology is one issue in which we can benefit from the US.

What Carter and his team have promised under the much talked about Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), have been low-end products and not the transformative technology needed by India. The DTTI has basic technologies such as mini UAVs, which India may not even want and even rejected two of these.
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 15

Accusing the SAD-BJP government of receiving huge kickbacks from private power companies, senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar today claimed to have unearthed a scam in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), running into thousands of crores of rupees.

Jakhar alleged that the PSPCL had extended undue benefits to the tune of Rs 7,500 crore to private-sector power players, allowing them to raise their power-selling variable costs arbitrarily. The former Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader said the matter came to his notice after he raised a question in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, to which Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal gave a reply.

Jakhar claimed that at the time of signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the per-unit purchase cost of power from the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant was fixed at Rs 2.36; Rajpura thermal plant, Rs 2.89; and Goindwal Sahib thermal plant, Rs 2.69.

Even as the rates were fixed, the PSPCL purchased power from private thermal plants at much higher rates. Per-unit power purchased from the Talwandi Sabo plant stood at Rs 6.66. In the case of the Rajpura thermal plant, it was Rs 4.05, he said.

The Congress leader added that the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) report for the current financial year mentioned that power being purchased from the Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura thermal plants was at the rate of Rs 7.5 and Rs 4.25 per unit, respectively.

The lions share of Rs 1,700 crore was paid last year to the Talwandi Sabo plant out of the total payment of Rs 2,300 crore. So, where is the levelled tariff promised by the CM? he questioned, alleging favouritism by the ruling alliance.

Jakhar said the Talwandi Sabo plant was scheduled to be operational by 2013, but it got delayed.

Due to the delayed commissioning of thermal units in the private sector, the PSPCL had to make power purchases at exorbitant rates, but still it has not recovered the penalty for late commissioning. For the Talwandi Sabo plant, the charges work out to be Rs 951 crore; for the Goindwal Sahib plant, the figure is Rs 250 crore, he claimed.

Jakhar announced that once voted to power, the Congress government would get the matter inquired through a sitting judge assisted by retired officials of the power corporation. After the investigation, whatever amount would be recovered would be distributed as subsidy among the weaker sections of society, he said.
Kuldip Dhiman

Life is a voyage. Voyage entails danger. There is attraction in danger. It is this attraction that impels men to undertake dangerous travels. Voyages beckon adventure seekers, but voyages also displace them, they take them away from their lands, their relations, their friends. Having gone too far-flung regions, there is always a longing to come back.

This is the underlying sentiment of Kanishk Tharoors debut collection of 12 short stories Swimmer Among the Stars. The theme of separation in this volume is not a mere coincidence, considering that the author is of Indian origin who lives in New York. Then, being son of a well-known politician also creates an unseen barrier between him and others. For a displaced person, not only it is a question of readjustment, or in other words adapting to a new habitat, one also has to realign ones sentiments with new people.

In A Lesson in Objects, the vegetarian narrator finds himself as an oddball among those to whom vegetarianism is a curiosity. As a result, he begins to keep away from people. In due course, his girlfriend leaves for Senegal to work on her French. After her departure, another girl moves into her room, and the narrator feels odd about another body occupying his girlfriends space. Sheer isolation brings them together. It was comforting to think that for both of us, love was a remote land, somewhere far away on the other end of a cell phone.

Tharoors characters come from different ethnic backgrounds, and he sets his stories in different parts of the world, who find themselves interacting and exploring each other. This is rare for Indian writers of fiction.

The Astrolabe is set in 1442. A ship goes round Bojador past Gibraltar, the sailors talk about whirlpools and other dangers. The brave Arab captain ignores their talk as mere bilge-speak. In a while, a storm hits the sea and the ship gets wrecked. He somehow survives, only to find himself among goatherds who do not understand Arabic. What follows is the captains strange encounter with a grey-haired woman who, fortunately for him, knows French.

The title story, Swimmer Among the Stars, is about ethnographers interviewing a woman who is the last surviving speaker of her language. You can imagine her agony. With no co-speaker left, she starts speaking to pots and pans.

Sometimes a gift becomes a problem, both for the receiver as well as the giver. Elephant at Sea is a piquant story. Set in the late 1970s, we meet the second secretary of the Indian embassy in Morocco, who is shocked to see an elephant being sent to the embassy. He protests in return. However, the elephant is displaced from its native land along with its mahout.

The UNO, United Nations in Space, is orbiting in space because it is unsafe on Earth. The ambassadors are trying to find a site where they can reinstall the council on Earth. The Mirrors of Iskandar is a kaleidoscope of story-vignettes that were inspired by the accounts of exploits of Alexander the Great.

Tharoors plots are inspired by legends and history, and personal experiences. His characters do readjust to alien lands, but just about. These stories are intriguing, albeit a bit weird, and will be enjoyed by readers looking for something out of the ordinary.
Rajnish Wattas

Growing up on college text books, one always believed that the centre of gravity of world history lay in the West, more specifically, Western Europe. Common worldview always held the globe tilting towards the awesome achievements and advancements of the Western world and the East seen as mostly backwards, mired in strife, poverty and wars  except perhaps for India and China during the 16th century. Under the British rule, with Thomas Babington Macaulays Minute on Indian Education whatever pride in our ancient national heritage was left, too, was erased.

Ironically, the strife-torn world of Middle East, great cities of Syria, Iraq  now engulfed in sectarian and religious wars and becoming theatres of Western power play  were once upon a time great centres of learning, culture, literature, scholarship and pulsating hubs of world trade.

While other histories put the Mediterranean at the centre of the story, Peter Frankopans The Silk Roads places it as the, Western end of a transcontinental trade with Asia in silks, spices, slaves and ideas. This is the central point of this extremely well-researched, ambitious magnum opus of nearly 600-plus pages.

World histories generally tend to be classified in chronological orders and structured according to geographies, empires, rulers and wars, etc. However, this unique work takes the central premise that trade routes (primarily the ancient Silk Routes and its off-shoots) across the world were the real growth arteries.

The Silk Roads of the title are the arteries along which people, goods, ideas, religions, disease and many other things have flowed. Although the term Silk Route was coined only in the 19th century, historical routes between China and the Mediterranean Sea running through what have today tragically become some of the worlds most disturbed conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan have long been trodden before documented history.

Indias history changed dramatically with the invasions of Mongols and the subsequent rise of the Mughal Empire, which really happened as an off-shoot of the Silk Road syndrome. As Central Asia was the land where the best horses were bred, their swiftness and prowess enabled the Mongols to invade India and constantly pose great threats to the adjoining Persian Empire. Contrary to the common barbaric perception of the mighty Mongols, Genghis Khan at least allowed his retinue to practice whatever religious beliefs they wanted and viewed with respect not only Muslims but also Christians and idolaters.

However, along with empire building, Alexanders campaign in the East, brought Greek culture to the Indus valley, as a result of which the Buddha was given form  and a recognisably Greek form at that  and Buddhist sculpture, so familiar today, became popular. Therefore, along with conquests came cross-fertilisation of ideas, cultures like a healthy by-product. And the sweep of the book, starting from Alexanders campaigns, goes right up to the recent global churnings and the famous revival of the Silk Road project by China recently.

The enormous research done by Frankopan unearths amazing, lesser-known facts. For instance, its not usually realised that Greek was in daily use in the Indian subcontinent for more than 100 years after Alexanders death. Some of edicts issued by Mauryan ruler Ashoka the Great were made with parallel Greek translations.

Similarly in northern Afghanisthan, maxims from the Oracle of Delphi were carved on to a monument including: As a child, be well behaved/ As a youth, be well controlled/ As an adult, be just/ As one dying, be without pain.

So widespread was slavery in the Mediterranean and the Arabic world that even today, all over Italy when people meet they say sciavo from venetian dialect. ciao as it is more commonly spelt, does not meet hello; it means I am your slave.

In the 8th-9th centuries, prospects in the marshes of Italy, central Europe and Scandinavia didnt look enough promising for men to make a name and money. They were drawn to the Muslim world of Baghdad and centres of learning like Bukhara, Merv and Ghazni. Also there were materials and texts on science, math, astronomy written in Sanskrit, translated by Arabic scholars.

Another brilliant book on world history by Niall Ferguson Civilization: The West and the Rest too explains the emergence of the West over the ancient centres of prosperity and culture due to its superior naval power and the scientific development of gun powder and muskets. Also, Britains empire building was helped by the fact that it had no land borders to defend and could therefore spend on building a powerful navy to create the Ocean Silk routes that allowed it an edge over France and Germany or the Dutch.

By the 16th century, Europe with riches excavated from America, the ability to pay for luxury goods from Asia, such as spices like pepper, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, that transformed the bland food stuffs and for their medicinal value rose dramatically.

Coming to a more contemporary history, Frankopan reveals that during the World War II, Germany committed the folly of invading Russia primarily for wheat and other grains in case of a naval blockade on its Mediterranean coast. This eventually changed the course of the War and led to the Allied victory.

Frankopan asserts that the age of the West is at crossroads, if not an end. And perhaps he is right. Recently, the first cargo train from China to Iran completed its 6,462-mile journey from Zhejiang province just south of Shanghai in China to Tehran. The trip took just 14 days, a full 30 days shorter than the maritime voyage from Shanghais port to the Iranian port at Bandar Abbas.

Notwithstanding the excellent research and the grand canvas of the book  one wishes that the text in the initial chapters dealing with early stages of world history was less dense, and the baffling names of tribes, rulers and places  quite unfamiliar to a lay person  were written in a more reader-friendly style. Also maps of the ancient world are scanty, leaving the reader disconnected with the present names of the places.

But make no mistake. The Silk Roads are rising again.
Dodo, an extinct bird whose name has entered popular parlance as a symbol of stupidity, was actually quite intelligent, new research suggests.

The overall size of the dodo's brain in relation to its body size was on par with its closest living relatives: Pigeons  birds whose ability to be trained implies a moderate level of intelligence. "It is not impressively large or impressively small  it's exactly the size you would predict it to be for its body size," said lead author Eugenia Gold from Stony Brook University in New York. "So, if you take brain size as a proxy for intelligence, dodos probably had a similar intelligence level to pigeons. Of course, there's more to intelligence than just overall brain size, but this gives us a basic measure," Gold noted. The researchers also discovered that the dodo had an enlarged olfactory bulb  the part of the brain responsible for smelling  an uncharacteristic trait for birds, which usually concentrate their brainpower into eyesight. The study was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a large, flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. They were last seen in 1662. "When the island was discovered in the late 1500s, the dodos living there had no fear of humans and they were herded onto boats and used as fresh meat for sailors," Gold pointed out. "Because of that behaviour and invasive species that were introduced to the island, they disappeared in less than 100 years after humans arrived. I think that's why we have given them this reputation of being dumb," she explained.

Even though the birds have become an example of oddity, obsolescence, stupidity, and extinction, and have been featured in popular stories ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Ice Age, most aspects of the dodo's biology are still unknown.  IANS

Male gorillas sing and hum during supper

German researchers have found that gorillas, well-known for their booming and chest-beating roars, also 'sing' and 'hum' frequently while eating food. This behaviour is more prevalent among adult males than their female or younger counterparts, the findings showed. Singing' and humming' was observed more frequently in association with food, especially while eating aquatic vegetation, flowers, and seeds.

The researchers believe that the calling linked with food could to be a means of expressing well-being. It could also aid in group coordination and social cohesion. For the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers tracked two wild western lowland gorilla populations in the Republic of Congo, assessing only 20 gorillas in both the groups.

They recorded and analysed the 'singing' and 'humming' calls that gorillas of different ages and sexes produced in response to various foods.

Females and juveniles were quieter, perhaps to reduce these vulnerable individuals' risk of predation, the researchers pointed out adding that the findings provide new insight into the vocal abilities of gorillas.

"Similar to the function of food-calls in chimpanzees, gorillas may call to let their group mates know when it is time to finish eating," said one of the researchers Eva Maria Luef from Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany.

"Silverback males may have to call more frequently since they are often the ones initiating changes in group activity," she added.

Many mammals and birds vocalise when finding or consuming certain foods. The phenomenon had been earlier studied in chimps and bonobos.  IANS
Vishav Bharti in Chandigarh

The Komagata Maru, historian Hugh Johnston says, was a minor event, generally unknown and unmentioned in standard histories of Canada. But it has catapulted into a striking symbol of positive change won by determined efforts of the Indo-Canadian community, he says.

Prof Johnston, who authored the seminal book 'The Voyage of the Komagata Maru', says the fact that Indo-Canadians can now demand and obtain an apology - with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announcing to offer it in the House of Commons next month - shows how far they have come. "Otherwise an apology doesn't change anything. Their most important victories, in winning full citizenship rights and immigration reform, came long ago," says the professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canada.

On May 23, 1914 Komagata Maru, a Japanese steamship hired by Baba Gurdit Singh, had 376 Indians on board. It set sail for Canada. The Indians were not allowed to disembark at Vancouver and the ship was sent back. On reaching India, the ship was anchored at Budge Budge port near Kolkata, the British government ordered firing, in which around 20 of them were killed and others imprisoned.

The Canadian PM's apology has been long due, feels Canada-based Iqbal Ramoowalia, who has been a member of the Indo-Canadian Advisory Committee for Historical Recognition Projects. "The apology will bring relief not only to the families of the victims but also the Indian community living in Canada," he says.

However, the announcement of apology does not have much value beyond the symbolic importance, says Prof Harish Puri, former head department of political science, GNDU Amritsar, who has done extensive research on the subject.

"In Canada, it had almost become a fight against forgetting," he says. "It is an emotional issue for those who are staying in Canada. They feel the apology will restore the idea of self-respect which was denied to them." Even then in all these years the racial discrimination has not ended completely, he says.

However, the announcement of apology seems to have reopened the old wounds. A fresh debate on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and Budge-Budge killings has started. A common question is: Why is UK not being asked to tender an apology for both the massacres?

Prof Puri says one thing that can't be forgotten about Komagata Maru is: Whatever the Canadian government did came on the directions of the British empire. "If they were allowed entry, it was done on the directions of the British. The firing squads too opened fire at Budge-Budge on the directions of the British. That was much more brutal and tragic than allowing passengers of Komagata Maru. But nobody has apologised for that," he said.

Agrees Mejindarpal Kaur, international legal director with United Sikhs in Canada. She says an apology is the beginning of reconciliation. "Justin Trudeau will be apologising in the House of Commons and that's something that Sikhs have been seeking," she says. Mejindarpal feels that a much bigger apology is expected from the UK for what it did at Budge Budge in Kolkata. "The UK has never apologised for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It will be interesting to see how a new India extracts such an apology," she says and tosses a question: "Has anyone in India asked for an apology for the Budge Budge massacre? Why not?"

Then, it was time for Ghadar

Around the time of Komagata Maru incident in 1914, the pre-independent India had several strands of thoughts struggling to find expression to free the country of the British yoke. One was Ghadar movement, formed on April 21, 1913.

In 1905, Both Canada and India were British colonies. The impoverished Indians were ready to work at much lower wages and the Canadian companies took advantage of their 'slave' status. While the first batch of Indian emigrants landed at Canada in 1905 had only 45 people, the number rose to 5,179 in 1908.

More emigrants meant more racial antagonism. By 1909, severe immigration restrictions virtually ended legal Indian immigration to Canada. In USA too, widespread hostility led to racial riots. Lala Hardayal, a revolutionary and a polymath, inspired many students studying at the University of California at Berkley. Two of his students, Kartar Singh Sarabha and Vishnu Govind Pingle, later played a very dominant role in the Ghadar movement.

Lala Hardayal organised a meeting of some patriots on April 23, 1913, in Astoria in Oregon where they formed Hindustan Association of the Pacific Coast (HAPC). Sohan Singh Bhakna was elected president and Lala Hardayal, general secretary. The effect of the literature written at that time followed the Komagata Maru incident. Rebellion erupted and hundreds died. Sarabha, too was killed. After the Komagata Maru tragedy, Lala Hardayal fled to Europe. He died in 1939 in the US.

Rachna Khaira/Jalandhar
Beijing, April 16

A college student in southwest China's Sichuan Province has been detained by the police after he allegedly beheaded his roommate following an altercation over music.

Police in Chengdu city has confirmed the detention and the murder which took place last month.

The victim, identified by his surname Lu, was a freshman in Sichuan Normal University.

He was stabbed over 50 times and beheaded by his roommate, identified by the surname Teng, around midnight, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Lu's relative as saying.

Lu, 20, allegedly got into an altercation with Teng on March 26 over Lu's singing in the dormitory.

But two other roommates helped the two make amends.

Teng left the campus on March 27, and returned to his dormitory late at night, and asked Lu to accompany him to a nearby study room.

Teng later returned to the dormitory, asking the other roommates to call the police and went back to the study room and locked the door.

Teng was arrested at the school.

Campus murders resulting from dormitory disagreements in recent years have raised concerns about students' psychological state and interpersonal relationships.

In 2004, Ma Jiajue, 23, a biochemistry student at southwest China's Yunnan University, killed four roommates after what were described as "trivial squabbles".

Another famous case involved a medical student, Lin Senhao, who poisoned his roommate Huang Yang at Fudan University in Shanghai in 2013.  PTI
Lesbos (Greece), April 16

Pope Francis received an emotional welcome on Saturday on the Greek island of Lesbos during a visit aimed at showing solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty, a small group of whom he hopes to bring back to the Vatican.

The pontiffs landmark visit comes amid controvery over a deal last month to end Europes refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.

At a refugee camp, where refugees knelt before the pope, one man cried Father bless me as the pontiff smiled and placed his hand on the mans head.

This is a voyage marked by sadness, a sad voyage, the pope told reporters during the flight from Rome.

We will witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War. We will see so many people who are suffering, who are fleeing and do not know where to go, he said.

And we are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived, he said.

An official from Greeces state refugee coordination agency said Francis, who has repeatedly spoken out about the plight of the migrants risking their lives to reach Europe, wanted to take back a small number of refugees from Lesbos.

The chosen refugees are expected to be from those who arrived on Lesbos before the EU-Turkey deportation deal took effect in March, the official told AFP, without specifying whether this would take place immediately after the popes five-hour visit or at a later stage.

Greek public television ERT said three families from Kara Tepe refugee camp on Lesbos, who were chosen in a draw, would be the ones to go.

Lesbos has been the first port of call in the EU for hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing war, poverty and persecution in the Middle East and Asia across the Aegean Sea from nearby Turkey in the past year.

The influx has sparked fierce disagreements between EU members and brought the blocs system of open borders to the brink of collapse.

Lesbos has also become the focus of criticism of the EUs deal with Turkey to take back migrants who travel to the Greek islands on boats operated by people smugglers, in return for billions in EU cash.

New arrivals on Lesbos are being detained while waiting to be processed to determine whether they have a legitimate claim to protection from conflicts like the war in Syria or from fear of persecution.

Pope Francis, who was accompanied by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, visited the Moria processing centre, which is currently housing around 3,000 people.  AFP
The Williams-Energy Transfer Equity merger is the source of considerable anger and anguish for Tulsas business community.

Theres enough of it that it galvanized two politicians  a mayor running for a re-election and a sitting governor  to join the Tulsa Regional Chamber and others in a last-ditch trip to New York Friday to stop the gutting of Tulsas premier companies.

Oklahoma, along with Louisiana, Alaska and North Dakota, is used by some as a poster child for the pitfalls of a state depending on oil. But to the states themselves, the pressure to diversify their economy is as real as the need to keep the energy jobs that remain.

In an interview with World Tuesday, Gov. Mary Fallin said the trip to New York to stop the merger was about convincing Williams that Oklahoma, and Tulsa, need their jobs and investment.

Energy is an important resource that were fortunate to have and a lot of states dont have, Fallin said. The key to Oklahomas prosperity is not only to develop our energy resources but to continue to diversify our economy.

Thats pretty much Oklahomas feelings about oil in a nutshell: cheap oil is a bitter economic pill, theres a need to diversify and a persistent belief that oil will never truly go away as an Oklahoma economic mainstay.

Tom Seng, a professor of energy economics at the University of Tulsa, sees another oil uptick in Tulsas and the countrys future.

He frequently stares at the screen in his office, watching the prices of future contracts tick back and forth. When he visited the World last Thursday, the future price of a barrel of oil was a little above $42 well into 2017, likely not high enough for domestic producers to add back most of the jobs theyve shed over the past 15 months.

When it will be higher than that? Seng  or anyone else, really  doesnt know.

He points out that the increasingly abundant reserves of oil and natural gas juxtaposed against the expensive and extremely subsidized renewable energy market make a full-scale switch and desertion of fossil fuels unlikely.

Energy will remain a core business in Tulsa and Oklahoma because of the natural resources and technical know-how present in the state, he said.

Seng would rank Tulsa fourth among oil-and-gas cities behind Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Denver. Oil is a part of the citys heritage, he explains. It was once the worlds oil capital. Then slowly but surely the bigger companies, such as Amoco and Citgo, headed south to Houston.

Gabe Klein, former Chicago and Washington, D.C., transportation head, told a Tulsa crowd two weeks ago that energy would be free in a few decades. But he wasnt the first outside expert to tell Tulsa about the death of oil in 2016.

Burt White, an investment adviser with LPL Financial, said on Feb. 10 oil could some day be replaced by lithium as the energy commodity of choice and crudes high prices of a half-decade ago were an anomaly.

The price of oil bottomed out the next day.

The national media has jumped in on the act. Bloomberg News has run stories predicting electric car demand will cause the next oil bust.

The next bust is less of a concern to Tulsa than where it will be when the next boom happens. That question hinges on Williams.

Williams potential departure could change Tulsa leaders thinking about energy, Seng said, and make them more receptive to another industry becoming what oil is now.

Tulsa is more diversified now than in the 1980s when the bottom fell out last, Seng said. He noted the current economic pain in Houston and small housing crisis its experiencing.

In Oklahoma, he said, Oklahoma City has been harder hit.

One energy town that has seemingly spared the storm is Boulder, Colorado, the subject of a New York Times story about the success of some cities in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

Start-ups such as Ibotta, Craftsy, Home Advisor and Gnip found a foothold in Colorado, which once attracted people just for its lifestyle and landscape. This has cushioned the blow and formed a critical mass of companies in Boulder and the surrounding metro area to attract talent.

Its the outcome of really about 30 years of diversifying our economy away from fossil-fuel industries and military contractors, Tom Clark, chief executive of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, told the Times. In the 1980s, we were Coors, carbon and the Cold War.

If Williams leaves, Tulsa would tumble down Sengs internal rankings of energy cities. Hes not sure where it would land.

Where the displaced oil talent from Tulsa and statewide would land is another question too, he added. He said if people dont find jobs soon they could leave the city and state and look for work elsewhere or leave the industry altogether.

Losing that talent would be another blow for Tulsa, he said. If there isnt talent available during the next upswing, local firms will continue to struggle.

Dixie Agostino, CEO of Switchgear Recruiting, which places energy workers, said there are jobs available in other industries that suit displaced workers skills but not their salary, which is a big barrier.

Agostino said in the past workers went to other cities like Houston, but the downturn hasnt hurt everyone and workers arent leaving.

She added that theres still a lack of skilled workers in finance, engineering and operations that other industries like aerospace have a need for. Shes optimistic, she said. Even if Williams leaves.

I think the balance (labor supply meeting demand) will be found pretty quickly, Agostino said. I dont think it will feel like it did in 2009.
S tate and local officials traveled to New York City on Friday in what appears to be a Hail Mary attempt to keep Williams Cos., one of Tulsas biggest employers and greatest benefactors, in the city.

The purpose of the trip was to meet with Williams Cos. Chairman Frank MacInnis to emphasize Williams importance to Tulsa in light of the companys possible merger with Energy Transfer Equity. If that deal closes, it would likely bring the companys relationship with the city, and all of Oklahoma, to an end.

Williams has a long, 100-year history headquartered in Tulsa, and is one of the regions most successful corporate citizens. The loss of these wonderfully talented, and extremely valuable employees would be devastating to our regional economy and the many families employed by Williams, said Tulsa Regional Chamber Chairman Jeff Dunn.

Since the Williams-ETE deal was announced Sept. 28, there have been lawsuits, plummeting stock prices and a shocking announcement from ETE: The company now says it will eliminate jobs or move most of them to Dallas.

In recent months, a question has loomed over the complicated, acrimonious deal: Will ETE and Williams ever finalize the merger?

The question is whether this merger actually gets to a vote, said Ethan Bellamy, a Denver-based research analyst with R.W. Baird.

That answer is nearly as complex as the deal itself. In interviews with analysts, the financial and energy experts are saying that its possible the two boards of Williams and ETE could come together and negotiate an end to the transaction.

However, the more likely scenario is for the deal to go to shareholders to decide. Thats the outcome that the Tulsa-based company has said repeatedly that its committed to.

What the decision of that vote would be is murky, but this much is clear: The deal will continue to generate lots of interest before it closes  or doesnt close  within the expected June 30 time frame.

In or out?

According to those who have been watching the deal, the boards of directors of Williams Cos. and Energy Transfer Equity have the option of negotiating a way out of the transaction.

Bellamy said that his firm believes that ETE and Williams negotiating an end to the deal would be the most beneficial move for everyone involved.

In a plan filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 9, ETE announced it had carried out a private stock offering many perceived to benefit company insiders. Williams responded with a lawsuit, attempting to block that offering.

The convertible offering at ETE for insiders and the lawsuit against ETE insiders by Williams are tit-for-tat negotiating chips in a game of brinksmanship, Bellamy said. The parties could still unwind the merger at the negotiating table, with ETE likely paying a fee. We view that as the solution that benefits the most stakeholders.

Albert Alfonso, a contributor to the investment research platform Seeking Alpha, also said that there is the outside chance of some kind of an agreement between the two parties.

The companies had held talks before, Alfonso said, referencing a February report from The New York Times that said ETE had considered offering Williams $2 billion to let it walk away from the deal. Maybe theyll do so again.

But Alfonso, a Florida-based financial writer who focuses on the energy industry and owns share of Williams Cos., said the most likely way for the deal to be terminated is if Williams shareholders reject the deal in a merger vote.

The date for a vote has yet to be set because disclosure documents are still waiting on final comments from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. But Williams has said repeatedly that it is committed to mailing the proxy statement, holding the stockholder vote and closing the transaction as soon as possible.

Decision makers

As of Dec. 31, the top 10 institutional shareholders owned about 35 percent of Williams issued shares, with East Coast-based Vanguard Group controlling the greatest portion.

Keith Goddard, a chartered financial analyst and the CEO of Tulsa-based Capital Advisors Inc., said the decision of institutional investors will certainly be important if the deal goes to a vote but that the amount of institutional ownership in the stock is somewhat misleading because individuals who own their shares through brokers will have the opportunity to vote.

No doubt the decision that Vanguard or State Street makes is important, Goddard said. But if youre an individual shareholder, dont despair. Go vote because your vote counts.

Arbitrageurs will say yes

If the deal does go to a vote, there is one group who will definitely vote in favor of the transaction, most of those interviewed said: the merger arbitrageurs.

Arbitrageurs are people or institutions who engage in the investment strategy of simultaneously buying and selling the stock of two merging companies for profit. These traders dont typically care about the strength of the deal, experts say. They care about the transaction closing.

If this goes to a vote, the merger arbitrageurs who now own the Williams stock will vote for the deal to close out their trade, Bellamy said. They are the only ones better off after this merger.

Assuming the transaction does close, Alfonso said its a risk-free trade for this group of investors.

There is a ton of money being bet on the merger going through, Alfonso said.

For each share of Williams common stock, ETE is offering $8 in cash and 1.5274 common shares of the new entity Energy Transfer Corp.

On April 13 that deal was worth around $22.30, Alfonso said. At the time, Williams was trading for around $18.35, which implies a merger arbitrage of 22 percent, a figure he describes as huge.

Brent Nyitray, a New York City-based chartered financial analyst and risk arbitrage analyst at Market Realist, said that merger arbitrate pros are steering clear of the deal entirely because Williams shareholders arent getting shares of ETE, theyre getting shares in a new company, Energy Transfer Corporation.

My guess is that it will probably be illiquid, at least at the beginning, Nyitray said. That is the big reason why merger arbitrage pros are staying out  they cant hedge the ETE/ETC. Institutional investors may be worried they will be stuck with an illiquid stock they cant get rid of. Given how out-of-favor the sector is at the moment, that is a valid concern.

Nyitray said there are institutional shareholders who still might vote for the deal because they believe in the economics of the transaction but that the hostile actions between ETE and Williams would be hard to ignore.

ETE has already poisoned the well with their forward guidance and now the convertible preferred issue, and now WMB is suing ETE, Nyitray said. As an institutional investor, you have to ask yourself if this marriage is going to work given the bad blood already.

Reasons for a no vote

A combined Williams and ETE would have enormous debt, and that is one of several reasons sources said shareholders would possibly have for voting no if the deal goes to a vote.

The post-merger company will be saddled with a ton of debt and will need to finance this debt somehow, Alfonso said. A credit downgrade is almost a sure thing. They have a short-term bridge loan which will bide them over for two years. After that, they need to issue bonds, cut the dividend, or sell equity, all of which are bad for shareholders.

Goddard pointed out that, especially without the $2 billion in synergies, the merger agreement that was made in the fall is unrecognizable in its current form.

There are all sorts of reasons that this transaction is not even in the same ballpark as the one agreed to in September, said Goddard, who owns Williams shares.

Goddard also pointed out a theme that Energy Transfer has of reassuring investors about the broad spectrum of resources it can tap to gain capital.

Former Chief Financial Officer Jamie Welch told CNBC in December that the family of companies has many levers it can pull to acquire financing. That message was repeated by current CFO Tom Long during a February earnings call.

Welch, an architect of the Williams-ETE merger deal, was abruptly fired as CFO earlier this year.

But that message doesnt make sense in the context of the highly controversial private offering that ETE announced in early March, Goddard said. That funding ability is either no longer there, was never there, or ETE management is throwing Williams shareholders under the bus, he said.

Either the optionality for funding the companys business plan has disappeared, if it was ever there in the first place, Goddard said, or the optionality is still there, but ETE management chose a funding vehicle that lines their own pockets at the expense of WMB shareholders, in spite of having other choices.

All drama and intrigue of this deal aside, the message investors have been getting is that the transaction decision will be made by June 30, the end of the second quarter.

All the decision makers here are going to have to eat crow, Bellamy said of the officials who negotiated the deal. The question is how much of that big, nasty meal they can stomach.

WMB Top Institutional Holders

Top Institutional Holders Holder Percent Vanguard Group, Inc. 5.86% Corvex Management LP 5.56% State Street Corporation 4.47% Lone Pine Capital LLC 3.86% Morgan Stanley 3.44% Soroban Capital Partners LLC 2.80% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. 2.60% FMR LLC 2.44% BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. 2.39% Shaw D.E. & Co., Inc. 1.80% Total 35.22%

Source: Yahoo! Finance as of Dec. 31
Minister to Youth and Families Kevin Knight has completed his first month with Broken Arrow Church of Christ.

Knight has been a full-time minister since 1997. He was at Delta Junction, Alaska, for five years and spent eight years ministering at North Pole, Alaska.

"There is a Santa house there," he says, and he has seen he reindeer, but he's never seen Santa fly.

Knight said he wants to spend his first year at the BA Church of Christ building relationships.

"Ministry happens on a deeper level when relationships are built," he said, adding it's important to be around the kids and families building trust. "That's when ministry happens."

In addition to building relationships, Knight sees the first year as a year of learning. "Then we can access," he told the Ledger. "We can determine our short-term and long-term goals and discuss what we need to change."

According to Knight, the BA congregation is a very busy one. "They are doing a lot of neat stuff," he said.

Right now he's involved in working with the youth on a prom alternative, Bible camp, weekly activities, and there is a senior trip every year.

The young men meet once a week for a teen-led devotion and relationship building. The girls have a weekly team study at the minister's house with the minister's wife.

"It's a very busy and active church, and that's what I wanted, a congregation doing what we want to be doing, building each other up and building the church.

Knight says many youth ministers focus on the kids, but he would like to work on the "family side." Part of that is the plan to offer a dynamic marriage study, something his wife is interested in introducing.

"When we offer that, we will offer it to the public as well as members. It's not just for troubled marriages but for strengthening marriages in general." The kids are not excluded from this focus because the point is to reach out to strengthen families.

"I see youth ministry as assisting the parents and teaching and training their children. I see it as a partnership with them."

Knight was a pulpit minister for 13 years. "Many would think going from preaching to another position is a step down. I don't look at it that way at all. I wanted the opportunity to work with kids. I am thrilled to be here."

Kevin Knight and his wife Kristin have two sons, Kael, 18 and Kodiak, 15.
Newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. came to Tulsa on Friday to hear how local teachers and school administrators worked together to reduce student testing time by half.

King said Tulsa Public Schools example is aligned with President Barack Obamas new Testing Action Plan to eliminate unnecessary testing and will be held up as a case study for other districts to consider.

Im certainly very encouraged by the ways in which you have thoughtfully gone about reducing assessment time to improve instructional quality, King told a panel of Tulsa teachers, principals and district administrators.

Tulsa Superintendent Deborah Gist shared with King that one of her first orders of business after she was hired last summer was to meet with the districts Assessment Study Group.

That group was formed after two local first-grade teachers made national headlines when they refused to administer any more surveys and tests to students.

Teachers and principals from across TPS came together to examine the issue for months and ultimately determined that students spent about 8,100 minutes on district-mandated tests in 2014-15.

In August, Gist announced a roll-back in nonmandatory check-in and reading tests that would reduce student testing time to 3,700 minutes for the 2015-16 academic year. Those changes represented a reduction of 54 percent, or more than 72 hours.

In a panel discussion held Friday at Rogers Early College Junior High and High School, King heard testimony from local teachers and principals about the positive outcomes.

Meredith Brown, who teaches sixth-grade math and science at Thoreau Demonstration Academy, said she has had more time to integrate math and science standards into projects for students.

Instead of collecting data, Im able to figure out how to use data to best meet the needs of my students, she said. (Through integrated projects) we can help students understand how these things work together, which is more applicable outside the classroom.

Caleb Starr, principal at Hale High School, said his faculty seems happier.

Teachers are leaders  they are leaders in their classroom. Youre more likely to get a more creative teacher when theyre less bound by regulation, Starr said. They have the opportunity to create more. You can feel it when you walk into classrooms, its more qualitative than quantitative.

Stephen Hoch, director of data quality and use at TPS, said the district is also working to shift the significant burden for analyzing and interpreting data away from teachers and principals.

Our teachers and principals arent averse to data, but they dont want to spend their time in spreadsheets. What were focusing on at the central office is using the data to provide actionable information back to schools, Hoch said. Were not there yet, but thats the big press.

In October 2015, President Obama announced a set of principles to promote a smarter approach to testing students and new support for states and school districts to develop and use better, less burdensome assessments.

The U.S. Department of Education on Friday set priorities for the Enhanced Assessment Grant, a $9 million, competitive grant program for states and consortia of states to improve state assessments. The grants will be awarded to states later this year, and King told local reporters gathered after Friday mornings panel discussion that Tulsa could benefit if Oklahoma applies and wins a grant.

Kings visit was part of a series of events focused on the idea of promoting a return to well-rounded public school education. On Thursday, King visited Las Vegas, Nevada, and later Friday, he was set to visit Springdale, Arkansas.
Correction: This article incorrectly stated the date of the June 28 primary. The article has been updated.

The president of Tulsas police union replied Saturday to a Dewey Bartlett campaign post on Facebook, claiming Bartlett asked the union to just stay out of the campaign for mayor but then posted a 3-year-old letter to give the appearance of union support.

Police officers deal in facts and facts matter to me, Clay Ballenger, Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93 president, said in a statement. Please remove the post from your campaign pages and website, Mayor Bartlett, out of respect for our organization and me and our current neutral position on this election.

Bartlett responded to the post Saturday afternoon, saying the letter was meant to serve as proof of Bartletts longtime support of Tulsas dedicated public-safety tax.

Just to put your mind at ease, Clay, I dont want this to look like an endorsement, Bartlett said. The people of Tulsa have elected me twice  both times without the support of unions and special interests like yours.

Ballenger quoted the mayor in his post, saying Bartlett expressed to me their desire for the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police to just stay out of the 2016 mayoral election and remain neutral.

He also stated that Bartlett said, Last time you all got involved, it didnt work out too well for you.

Ballenger said the statement apparently referred to the unions endorsement of former Mayor Kathy Taylor, Bartletts opponent in the 2014 election.

Then, for Mayor Bartlett to use the name of the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police and my name for his political campaign purposes seems inconsistent at best, Ballenger said in the reply on social media. I feel that I have now been pulled into a matter on which I, as president of the FOP, have remained neutral thus far.

Bartlett said Saturday evening that the statements Ballenger quoted were true, and it was just a suggestion to him.

It was just a conversation, Bartlett said. All I said was, If I was him I would just stay neutral,  Bartlett said. That way no one has to take a position of support and guess wrong.

The FOP has a history. Whenever they do take a position, that person does not win. That was my suggestion. I didnt mean anything by it.

Bartlett said the Facebook post was not in any way meant to appear as a vote of support for his re-election campaign.

That was the absolute last thing I was thinking about, Bartlett said. I didnt think it had anything to do with an endorsement at all.

Bartlett said writing about Ballengers letter was purely to serve as proof that he had voiced support for dedicated public safety as early as three years ago.

Bartlett recently included links and references to Tulsa World articles that showed his early support for the same topic. Bartlett said Ballengers letter was supposed to show additional proof.

It was the same thing, Bartlett said. It was just another thing to point to.

Bartlett has long expressed his support for public safety and strongly supported Vision Tulsas permanent, dedicated public safety tax.

Despite his support, Bartlett has had several disagreements with the police union during his tenure as mayor  largely over budget cuts and contract talks.

The letter Bartlett posted in a series called Dew You Remember? was a May 24, 2013, correspondence in which Ballenger was applauding Bartletts efforts to allocate 60 percent of the .167 4 to Fix the County sales tax to the Tulsa Police Department. Those efforts later failed.

Bartletts reference to the letter involved a post about Bartlett and his prioritization of public safety.

Todays Dew You Remember? focuses on that effort and the positive response it has received from our Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, Bartlett stated in the campaign post, leading into the text of the letter.

I cant express how disappointed I was when I saw this post on Mayor Bartletts campaign page last night, Ballenger said in his reply Saturday. Bartletts post was made Friday.

Shortly after noon on Saturday, Ballengers post had been removed from Bartletts campaign page. The post had 40 likes and had been up for a little more than an hour. It appeared again shortly after 1 p.m.

Ballenger said the reason for his reply is to make the unions position clear.

To set the record straight for all who might see this post on Mayor Bartletts page, the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police nor I have made any decision to support Mayor Bartlett politically at any time in the past or present, Ballenger said. In fact, we have fewer officers today than we had three years ago when the letter was sent encouraging Mayor Bartlett to hire more officers to keep this city safe.

Earlier this month, voters approved the Vision Tulsa tax which would fund more than 160 additional police officers. The measure, a result of the councils public safety task force, was supported by all nine councilors and Bartlett.

Bartlett was the first to publicly announce a plan to have a dedicated public-safety tax several years ago and claims credit for establishing the structure that allowed the measure to pass in Vision Tulsa.

Saturdays social media back-and-forth comes days after a similar criticism from Councilor Blake Ewing, who accused Bartlett of being absent from months of meetings that developed Vision Tulsas tax package.

Ewing took to his own Facebook account Saturday afternoon after Ballengers post to again criticize Bartlett.

Campaign season rolls around, and were supposed to forget half a decade of failure to support law enforcement, Ewing said in his post. Yes, we Dew remember, and its not good.

In his response to Ballenger, Bartlett said he would continue to set the record straight.

My opponents continue to distort the truth, Bartlett said. I will continue to correct any distortions about my work that created a dedicated funding source for police and fire without raising taxes.

Voters will have the first opportunity to vote in the election between Bartlett, Councilor G.T. Bynum and three other candidates for mayor in a June 28 primary.
DENVER  Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is trying a new tactic in his fight to have Colorados legalization of marijuana for recreational use overturned.

Pruitt and his Nebraska counterpart are asking an appeals court to allow them to join a court case that may decide whether federal law against marijuana preempts Colorados legalization.

The two attorneys general on Thursday jointly asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow them to intervene in the case. Opponents of legalized marijuana are pursuing that case at the Denver-based appeals court.

The appeal seeks to overturn a lower-court decision which concluded that pot opponents had no right to sue on their claim that federal law preempts Colorados legalization.

The Oklahoma and Nebraska attorneys general contend that marijuana coming from Colorado has burdened law-enforcement authorities in their two states, where marijuana is illegal.

Because the people of Nebraska and Oklahoma have determined the marijuana is harmful and should be illegal, Nebraska and Oklahoma have a duty to protect their citizens from the continuing harms resulting from Colorados illegal activities, the attorneys general wrote in Thursdays request to the Denver appeals court.

The two states request to join the appeal is a new tactic after the U.S. Supreme Court on March 21 refused to let them sue Colorado.

Thursdays filing states that some defendants in the pending appeal oppose the request of Oklahoma and Nebraska to intervene. Those defendants are officials of Pueblo County, Colorado, who have licensed marijuana businesses in that county.

The appellate judges are not expected to decide before late this month whether to allow the two attorneys general to join the case and submit arguments against Colorados position.

The appellate judges are not expected to decide until at least later this year a basic issue of the appeal: whether federal law preempts Colorados legalization.

One opponent that sued in the case that is on appeal is Safe Streets Alliance, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., that supports enforcement of federal drug laws. Another opponent who sued owns land adjacent to a pot-growing site in Pueblo County.

In their unsuccessful effort at the Supreme Court, Oklahoma and Nebraska likened Colorado to a drug cartel that is causing drug-related problems in their states and others.

Colorado voters in 2012 approved a state constitutional amendment that allows, with restrictions, recreational use of marijuana. The state has a regulated process for cultivation and distribution.

The state and local governments raise revenue from marijuana users and businesses.

The attorneys general argued that Colorado created a dangerous gap in the federal drug control system enacted by Congress.

Marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining Plaintiff States own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and placing stress on their criminal justice systems, their filing states.
A domestic disturbance led to a man fatally shooting his father Friday at an east Tulsa home, according to police who went to the scene.

A call came in at 5:02 p.m. from a woman who said her son had just shot her husband at a residence in the 8800 block East Admiral Boulevard, Cpl. J.P. Ward said.

Police responded and within minutes had set up a perimeter. The suspect had fled on foot and headed east, Ward said.

Officers caught up with the man after a few minutes in the parking lot of a flea market nearly a half-mile away. He was arrested without further incident, Homicide Sgt. Dave Walker said.

The suspect was identified as 28-year-old William Bly III, Walker said.

Officers brought him to the Detective Division downtown for questioning. Bly was booked into the Tulsa Jail about 11 p.m. on a complaint of first-degree murder, jail records indicate.

The man who was shot, 55, was dead from a gunshot wound to the head when police arrived. Inside the home was a shotgun believed to have been used in the shooting, Walker said.

An ambulance transported the woman who called about the shooting to be treated at a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. Investigators were unsure how she was hurt, Ward said.

I think there was probably some sort of physical confrontation going on before the shooting, he said. Maybe she was involved in that.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that another woman had been at the house at some point before the incident. She was not there when police arrived, Walker said.

The best we could tell was that she had already left before the confrontation occurred, he said.

Police were unsure what started the confrontation and will have to interview witnesses, including the woman who had been at the home, Walker said.

Her husbands dead and her sons the suspect, he said. I cant think of anything more that would upset your life other than that right there.

The death marks Tulsa's 16th homicide of the year.
Allen G. Breed's story on the rejection of his request for an interview with "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee was, perhaps, as revealing of her nature as an interview ("Politist rejection," Feb. 21).

Her gracious handwritten refusal, as well as her honesty in the admission of her failing eyesight was typical of the dignity of a Southern lady of generation. I enjoyed both of Lee's books because they have such a strong sense of place, something I treasure after having lived some years in Georgia.

I can't help wondering what other Southern authors' names came to Breed's mind. I would suggest Anne Rivers Siddons if he still is considering his project on "Southernness." She captures so beautifully the feeling of the low country in many of her novels. Reading those, I could recognize the people, their speech patterns, their distinctive relationships and even the smell of the humidity in the air.

I hope Breed continues to pursue his project. I would be interested in the results.

Editor's note: Harper Lee's second novel, "Go Set a Watchman," was published last year.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.
Visit many of Americas top landmarks, and amid the crowds of tourists, youll find hip, young people in pink, mustache T-shirts. This small army, spread across 20 of the largest U.S. cities, has been out in full force since late last year, handing out $50 Lyft ride vouchers to anyone passing by.

For those who happen to miss the street teams, Lyft Inc. has been running giant billboards in Times Square and on bus stops around the country. Once a customer signs up, the company keeps them coming back by offering half-off fares on weekdays in Atlanta, Chicago, Miami and other cities.

All these promotions are not cheap. In January, Lyft said it raised $1 billion, which is helping fuel the spending spree and steal market share from Uber Technologies. To keep costs in check, Lyft has promised investors to cap its losses at no more than $50 million a month, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.

Meanwhile, Uber has been working to fulfill its own promise to shareholders and employees that it would achieve profitability in North America by the second quarter of 2016, a milestone it says it has now reached in the U.S. and Canada. In February, Uber earned an average of 19 cents per ride in the United States, according to previously undisclosed financial documents.

Uber takes about a 25 percent cut of a typical fare, most of which goes to antifraud efforts, credit-card processing, customer support, marketing and software development, the documents show. Not included in Ubers profitability calculations are interest, taxes or equity-based compensation for employees.

Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanicks commitment to profitability has left an opening for Lyft, and the smaller upstarts free-spending strategy is starting to pay off. While each company offers differing market-share numbers, they agree that Lyft is expanding in major U.S. cities. Because its a two-sided market, its really important that these firms build up substantial market share, says Evan Rawley, a business school professor at Columbia University. Its a good strategy for Lyft. I think it makes a lot of sense.

Lyft says it has captured 45 percent of trips in Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles and 43 percent in San Francisco, where both companies are based. Uber says it had 55 percent of ride-hailing sales in Austin, 75 percent in Los Angeles, and 66 percent in San Francisco, citing third-party credit card data from the first two weeks of March. Uber says Lyft has shaken loose only a few percentage points.

From everything Im looking at, were gaining share in all top 20 markets, which is where 80 percent to 90 percent of rides happen, says Lyft President John Zimmer. This continues to prove what we said all along, which is once you hit a certain level of scale, its a natural duopoly.

Outside of big cities, though, its still Uber country. Of 169 million trips booked through Uber worldwide in March, the company says 50 million of those were in the U.S. Lyft says it did 11 million U.S. rides that month, up from 7 million in October.

Lyft continues to devise new-and often expensive-ways to expand in the U.S., the only country in which it operates. When a Lyft driver refers someone to sign up as a new driver, both get a $750 bonus in some cities. And Lyft has the capacity to keep spending. Zimmer says the company still has by far the majority of the $2 billion its raised from investors. This allows us to control our own destiny. We do not need to raise any additional capital, and its just a fantastic position to be in.

Whether Lyfts gains will stick remains to be seen. Uber says customers lured away by subsidies are the most likely to return if Lyfts prices go up. Its easy enough to buy trips with heavy subsidies for drivers and discounts for riders, Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for Uber, wrote in an email. But to build a successful, long-term business, you need a path to profitability-which Uber has always had.

Uber isnt limited by a lack of funds, either. The company is sitting on at least $6 billion in capital, along with a $2 billion credit line, according to people familiar with the matter. But Uber had said it would spend at least $1 billion in China last year and plans to drop another $1 billion there this year. In the first three-quarters of 2015, the company lost $1.7 billion on $1.2 billion in revenue globally, Bloomberg reported in January.

Uber needs to show investors, who have given the company a valuation of $62.5 billion, that its capable of turning a profit at home if it intends to sink more money into Asia, says Arun Sundararajan, a New York University business school professor. The expectations on when Uber will hit profitability have a shorter clock on them because Ubers valuation is so high, he says. Lyft has a little more runway.

Uber lost money for years in the U.S. and has only just started to turn a profit. That hasnt stopped the companys backers from grumbling about its rival spending aggressively on growth. Bill Gurley, an Uber board member, says Lyfts price war is bad for business. As long as private companies are allowed to recklessly burn massive amounts of capital, well simply have no idea how sustainable their businesses are, he says. Gurley then made his views official with a on Tuesday: Excess capital is really bad for founders. Leads to excessive competition and poor returns.
It's Divali time so at TV6 over the next few days, we bring you some of the interesting aspe
Walking Dead prequel Fear the Walking Dead has been renewed for a third season less than a week after its second season premiere.

What (creators) Dave Erickson and Robert Kirkman have invented in Fear The Walking Dead is to be applauded, said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios.

Watching Los Angeles crumble through the eyes of our characters and seeing each make decisions and try to figure out the rules of their new world  its fresh, eerie and compelling and were all in for the ride.

Deadline notes Season Two was down 34% in total viewers from its 2015 premiere but is still the second highest rated show on US cable in the 18-49s demos, behind only The Walking Dead itself.

A 16-episode run will debut in 2017.

Season Two is currently screening in Australia on FX.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has donated the first lot of equipment for the removal of unexploded ordnances to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine within the framework of the project Assistance to the Government of Ukraine in Clearing the Territories in the East of Ukraine from Explosive Remnants of War.

The official ceremony of signing the agreement on donation of equipment took place in Kyiv. The document was signed by Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Mykola Chechetkin and Deputy OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Jeffrey Erlich, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The equipment and tools will be used by the demining teams in Donetsk and Luhansk region to clean up the territories from the explosive remnants of war safer and more efficiently," Chechetkin said.

He added that the donated equipment would enhance the capacity of the State Emergency Services teams to deal with urgent explosive remnants of war clean-up tasks in eastern Ukraine and thus contribute to the overall efforts of the Ukrainian government to eliminate risks to the local population posed by the unexploded ordnance.

The equipment includes 22 sets of bullet proof vests and Kevlar helmets, 22 handheld radios and 4 vehicle radios, 3 desktop computers, 5 monitors and 5 GPS devices.

ol
On Monday, the heads of the defence ministries of Ukraine and Lithuania will sign a memorandum of understanding on the implementation of the activities of the military training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This is reported by the press service of the Defence Ministry of Ukraine.

"On Monday, April 18, Defence Minister of Ukraine, General of the Army of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak will meet with Minister of National Defence of Lithuania Juozas Olekas and the negotiations between the delegations will be held at the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine," reads the statement.

Following the talks, the parties plan to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania on the implementation of the activities of the military training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

ol
Ukraines Minister on the Temporarily Occupied Territories and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Vadym Chernysh believes that the state should not stop paying pensions and social allowances to the population of Donbas if Ukraine really wants to return this region.

He said this in an interview with ZN.UA news portal.

"All the citizens of Ukraine have the equal rights. This is a key message. It explains everything, including pensions and all kinds of social assistance. My position on this is unequivocal. To pay. If we integrate these territories and people in Ukraine, as declared by the President and the Prime Minister, as confirmed by billions of social payments, what has the economic blockade to do with it? These are two trends of completely different public policies, Chernysh said.

ol
Poland does not want to isolate Russia but it does not agree to the lifting of sanctions against Moscow amid its breach of international law in Ukraine.

Secretary of State at the President's Chancellery Krzysztof Szczerski said this to PAP news agency, commenting on the NATO-Russia Council meeting, scheduled for April 20.

"We [Poland] consistently oppose the isolation of Russia. However, it does not mean that we support the lifting of the sanctions," Szczerski said.

He stressed that the NATO-Russia meeting did not mean the transition to the normal relations between Brussels and Moscow, which had been prior to the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

"The idea is to strengthen the communication channel for the Russian side to receive from NATO a precise, clear answer that NATO is the alliance that will take care of safety of its immediate environment. NATO is obliged to inform the Russian partners that peace in Ukraine is the element of the normal interest of the Alliance," Szczerski stressed.

ol
UNHCR welcomes the Pope's demonstration of solidarity with the world's refugees today on his visit to the Greek island of Lesvos and by offering a home to three Syrian families.

Pope Francis travelled back to Rome from Lesvos today with 12 Syrians, including three women, three men and six children aged from four to 14 years of age. The Vatican is sponsoring the group's move to Rome and ensuring a home for the refugees who had arrived on Lesvos on 18 March and had been waiting for relocation to another European country. The Syrian families (two from Damascus and one from Dier ez-Zor) arrived just before the EU-Turkey agreement came into force on 20 March.

Today, the Pope visited refugees and migrants at a centre in Moria, Lesvos, and greeted children, women, and men who have fled war and human rights violations. At least two refugees broke down in tears as they approached the Pontiff to get his blessing.

"The Pope's latest gesture is a powerful demonstration of solidarity. It must inspire governments and societies in a world where the desperate plight of record numbers of forcibly displaced is too often met by barriers, rejection and fear," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

During his visit, Pope Francis together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece called on world leaders to respond with courage in facing this massive humanitarian crisis and its underlying causes, and to provide protection and long term solutions for refugees fleeing war and violence.

UNHCR has long been calling for countries around the world to take in a greater share of refugees from the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and to provide safe and organized ways for Syrians to find safety in third countries, including in Europe.

Last month, the agency hosted a high-level meeting in Geneva calling on governments to provide new 'pathways' for legal entry to their countries, including boosted resettlement, private sponsorship, family reunification and work and study visas.

UNHCR is aiming for 480,000 places to be available in the next few years, representing 10 per cent of the current registered refugee population (of 4.8 million) in countries neighbouring Syria. UNHCR is also calling on EU governments to increase and quicken the pace of relocation of refugees from Greece to EU member states.

So far, only 2,958 relocation places have been pledged by EU member states despite EU commitments to relocate 66,400 persons from Greece, and only 615 persons have been transferred to EU countries under the relocation scheme.

Media contacts:
Pope Francis arrives at a camp for refugees in Moria, on the Greek island of Lesvos.  EPA/O.Panagiotou

LESVOS, Greece, April 16 (UNHCR) - The UN Refugee Agency welcomes the Pope's demonstration of solidarity with the world's refugees today on his visit to the Greek island of Lesvos and by offering a home to three Syrian families.

Pope Francis travelled back to Rome from Lesvos on Saturday (April 16) with 12 Syrians, including three women, three men and six children aged from four to 14 years of age. Two families are from the capital, Damascus, and one from the city of Deir ez-Zor.

The Vatican is sponsoring the group's move to Rome and ensuring a home for the refugees who had arrived on Lesvos on March 18, and had been waiting for relocation to another European country.

The Syrian families arrived just days before the EU-Turkey agreement came into force on March 20, to stem the large-scale arrival or refugees and migrants to Greece and beyond into Europe.

"The Pope's latest gesture is a powerful demonstration of solidarity. It must inspire governments and societies in a world where the desperate plight of record numbers of forcibly displaced is too often met by barriers, rejection and fear," said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

War, conflict and persecution have forced around 60 million people worldwide to run for their lives, the largest number since World War II. Nearly 20 million of these are refugees and more than half are children.

The conflict in Syria is the main driver of this global crisis, forcing more than 4.8 million Syrians to become refugees in its neighbouring countries alone, with more seeking safety further afield.

The Pope visited refugees and migrants at a centre in Moria, Lesvos, and greeted children, women, and men who had fled war and human rights violations. At least two refugees broke down in tears as they approached the Pontiff to get his blessing.

During the visit, Pope Francis together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece called on world leaders to respond with courage in facing this massive humanitarian crisis and its underlying causes, and to provide protection and long term solutions for refugees fleeing war and violence.

UNHCR has long been calling for countries around the world to take in a greater share of refugees from the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and to provide safe and organized ways for Syrians to find safety in third countries, including in Europe.

Last month, the agency hosted a high-level meeting in Geneva calling on governments to provide new 'pathways' for legal entry to the countries, including boosted resettlement, private sponsorship, family reunification and work and study visas.

UNHCR is aiming for 480,000 places to be available in the next few years, representing 10 per cent of the current registered refugee population of 4.8 million in the countries neighbouring Syria. The UN Refugee Agency is also calling on EU governments to increase and quicken the pace of relocation of refugees from Greece to EU member states.

So far, only 2,958 relocation places have been pledged by EU member states despite EU commitments to relocate 66,400 persons from Greece, and only 615 persons have been transferred to EU countries under the relocation scheme.

By Boris Cheshirkov in Lesvos, Greece
The outrage expressed by the college students demanding the removal of a racist from their school buildings.

Princeton students protest on the naming of their Public and International Affairs school after Woodrow Wilson. Ted Cruz, Princeton grad and presidential candidate for the Republican Party, even called these students as pampered teenagers. However, these students have their own reason to protest.

According to the Princeton students, Woodrow Wilson was a racist that did not seem to represent the campus' equality right. They disapprove the name to appear in one of the college majors due to the fact that the former president was an advocate of racial separation, stating that black people were "happy to be called so." According to the Washington Post, the students' request to remove his name from the residential college and that the mural of him in the dining hall must also be taken down.

Racial issues have been coloring the United States as the clashes happen in many sectors. Many race-related debates have been a political need instead of a serious concern.

The protest, however, did not lead to renaming the school. Officials of the Princeton University announced that the school will continue to bear Woodrow Wilson name. According to the university committee, students should reflect on the positive side of the 28th president in an honor to his achievements, -- which is the reason why the school is named after him -- without having to point out his failures.

The university administration and the Black Justice League reached an agreement of removing former President's mural from the dining hall but regarding the rename, University President Christopher Eisgruber is said to discuss further on the topic along with many other lists demanded.

The issue has made headlines and many have said to be surprised in finding out such complex history of Woodrow Wilson.
Lake Michigan College President Jennifer Spielvogel has been suspended last week for improper spending of funds and poor school management. Additionally, she has also been accused of policy violations and improper behavior. She may face termination soon when the accusations have been proven.

Jennifer Spielvogel was a former Cuyahoga Community College administrator, who became Lake Michigan College's president in January. She was suspended by the college's board of trustees, according to a special board meeting minutes, Cleveland.com notes.

Expense reports led to LMC president suspension: We are learning more about why Lake Michigan College suspende... https://t.co/fuA5ilTazh  ABC57News (@ABC57News) April 13, 2016

"The Board explained that it believes just cause may exist to support the termination based upon the following factors: inadequate goals and objectives, unapproved and unauthorized costs expensed to the college, policy violations, renovations to the president's office, her planned inauguration, purchase of a chain of office medallion, improper management behavior, improper comments, and lack of professionalism," the minutes of the special meeting said.

The board and officials were previously pleased that Spielvogel was addressed as the college's president. However, the accusations against the suspended president proved otherwise. CBS Local shares that Spielvogel will have a hearing on May 6 with the board of trustees.

Spielvogel's attorney, Bradley Glazier, spoke with the South Bend Tribune to address the issue of improper spending. Spielvogel has been accused of questionable medallion purchase and office renovations.

"She was acting within her discretion to order those things," Glazier told the outlet. "Instead of denying the expense items or reviewing the college's travel expense policy, the board appears poised to terminate Dr. Spielvogel's employment."

Spielvogel is currently suspended with pay. The Lake Michigan College will be paying the former president until the end of her contract on June 30, 2018 if she is terminated without "just cause."
The Microsoft Corp is suing the U.S. government over a federal law that allows the latter to search and look at customer data. The multinational technology company is fighting over privacy issues and their prerogative to tell their customers of when a federal agency is looking at their emails and documents.

The lawsuit was filed in a Seattle court. Microsoft says that the U.S. Justice Department has asked for customer information for more than 5,000 times in the past 18 months. According to Mashable, the authorities put a gag order on Microsoft on the requests. The technology giant says that the customer data searches violate the constitutional rights of free speech and protection against unreasonable searchers under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).

Microsoft sues Justice Department for transparency in government data searches https://t.co/XbCSmMgvbX by @kateconger  TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) April 14, 2016



"We appreciate that there are times when secrecy around a government warrant is needed," Microsoft Corp President Brad Smith said as reported by ABC News. "But based on the many secrecy orders we have received, we question whether these orders are grounded in specific facts that truly demand secrecy. To the contrary, it appears that the issuance of secrecy orders has become too routine."

Microsoft adds that the government is exploiting cloud storage for their searches as more and more people are storing their data online. Department of Justice spokeswoman Emily Pierce says that the federal agency is looking at the lawsuit. Reuters shares that Microsoft's lawsuit came a day after reforms of the ECPA was voted for by the US congressional panel. It is not known if the bill will go through the senate, get approved and be a law this year.

What do you think of Microsoft's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice? Is it business-motivated or are they doing their part of protecting their customers against unwarranted data searches from the government? Tell us your opinions in the comments below.
Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) includes urothelial bladder carcinoma (UBC), renal pelvic carcinoma (RPC) and ureter carcinoma (UC), and its incidence varies dependent on geographical areas and tumor locations, which indicates different oncogenic mechanisms and/or different genetic susceptibility/environment exposure.

The activating mutations of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter are the most frequent genetic events in UCCs. These mutations have clinical utilities in UCC initial diagnostics, prognosis, recurrence monitoring and management. However, the vast majority of the results are obtained from studies of UCC patients in Western countries, and little has been known about these in Han Chinese patients. In the present study, we screened the FGFR3 gene and TERT promoter for mutations in 116 UBC, 91 RPC and 115 UC tumors from Han Chinese patients by using Sanger Sequencing. TERT promoter mutations occurred at a high frequency in these UCC patients, comparable with that seen in Western patients, however, the FGFR3 mutation was surprisingly lower, only 9.4% for UBCs, 8.8% for RPCs and 2.6% for UCs, respectively. Taken together, the FGFR3 gene is an infrequent target in the pathogenesis of Han Chinese UCCs, and its mutation detection and targeted therapy have limited clinical utility in these patients. Our results underscore the need for extensive characterization of cancer genomes from diverse patient populations, thereby contributing to precision medicine for cancer treatment and prevention.

Oncotarget. 2016 Mar 26 [Epub ahead of print]

Xiaotian Yuan, Cheng Liu, Kun Wang, Li Liu, Tiantian Liu, Nan Ge, Feng Kong, Liu Yang, Magnus Bjorkholm, Yidong Fan, Shengtian Zhao, Dawei Xu

Department of Central Research Laboratory and Urology, Shandong University Second Hospital, Jinan, China., Department of Urology, Shandong University Qilu Hospital, Jinan, China., Department of Medicine, Division of Haematology and Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMM), Karolinska University Hospital Solna and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden., Shandong University Nursing School, Jinan, China., Department of Pathology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China., Department of Central Research Laboratory and Urology, Shandong University Second Hospital, Jinan, China., Department of Central Research Laboratory and Urology, Shandong University Second Hospital, Jinan, China., Department of Central Research Laboratory and Urology, Shandong University Second Hospital, Jinan, China., Department of Medicine, Division of Haematology and Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMM), Karolinska University Hospital Solna and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden., Department of Urology, Shandong University Qilu Hospital, Jinan, China., Department of Central Research Laboratory and Urology, Shandong University Second Hospital, Jinan, China., Department of Medicine, Division of Haematology and Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMM), Karolinska University Hospital Solna and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27029078
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Cabot Properties has acquired this 96,850-square-foot industrial building at 3850 Royal Ave. in Simi Valley.

SHARE George Thurlow IV Sara Miller McCune Mark Lisagor Pat Costello

AGOURA HILLS

Hixme selects sales vice president

Hixme has announced the appointment of Chris Pliha as regional vice president of sales.

Pliha will be responsible for recruiting, retaining and expanding Hixme's sales team and will lead the strategic effort to introduce Hixme to key markets across the United States. A 17-year veteran in the enterprise industry, he has led successful strategic selling efforts at Workday and Oracle, among other enterprise-focused companies, Hixme said.

"We are fortunate to be able to build our own dream team over the past few years, said Denny Weinberg, Hixme CEO. As our latest recruit, Chris will bring years of experience and passion to Hixme. We take finding the right people very seriously. We never compromise. Like our platform, we match the right person with each role, whether its Head of Sales or an entry-level marketing position. Were building a platform to disrupt an industry that has been operating within the same rules for over 100 years, and it takes special people who can see that vision and help us change the benefits industry for both employers and employees.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led a $10.5 million Series A round in funding for Hixme last year. This staffing announcement also comes on the heels of the companys official platform launch last month.

Pliha will be joining these executives on the Hixme leadership team:

 Denny Weinberg, CEO: Weinberg is a 25-year veteran executive in health care financing and operations including a 20-year tenure as co-founder and executive vice president of WellPoint. He also served as CEO of a number of WellPoints operating companies.

 Dan Peate, VP of Marketing: Prior to joining Hixme, Peate was senior vice president of Sales and Marketing for Gallagher Benefits Services. He has also held senior roles at SGJB Insurance Brokers and Aon Hewitt. Peate devotes time to serving on the boards of Hixme, CardiacDirect.com, Boom Studios, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles and several others.

 Karen Albanese, VP of Product & Operations: Albanese joined Hixme after spending 20 years at top-tier consulting firms including Deloitte & Touche, Marsh & McLennan, and Aon Hewitt. Albanese specializes in working with large and mid-size employers to develop and implement innovative, best-in-class employee benefit strategies.

 Erik Wissig, VP of Finance & Strategic Relations: Wissig was CFO of Nationwide Medical Inc. where he oversaw the companys Mergers & Acquisitions, Accounting, Banking and Strategic Planning divisions. Wissig also served as director in the Investment Banking group of Duff & Phelps LLC, where he advised companies in mergers and acquisitions, raising capital, leveraged buyouts, going private transactions and recapitalizations.

 Amir Pirnia, VP of Engineering: Pirnia came to Hixme after overseeing large-scale software development projects at well-known startups such as LegalZoom and ABC Mouse. At ABC Mouse/Age of Learning, a leading online childrens education platform, he served as VP of Engineering. Prior to Age of Learning, Pirnia was senior director of Engineering at LegalZoom.

 Tammy Olson, VP of Client Services: As leader of Client Services, Olson guides employers to meet their strategic employee benefit goals using Hixmes innovative migration plan and intuitive technology platform. She has more than 20 years of benefits consulting experience with mid to large employers and served as principal and West Market Exchange sales leader for Mercers private exchange solution.

Hixme says its scalable cloud platform leverages data science and analytics to personalize and package employee benefits into logical "bundles," while providing benefit administrators and employees with a simple, easy-to-use portal to select and manage their benefits. Employees set up their individual and family profile with Hixme, then the platform aggregates this information and presents the employee with plan options tailored to their specific needs, preferences and lifestyle.

CAMARILLO

2 to receive honorary degrees

The founder of an academic and professional publishing company and a Camarillo dentist who offers free care to people in impoverished countries will receive honorary degrees from CSU Channel Islands.

Sara Miller McCune, founder and executive chairwoman of SAGE Publishing, will receive her degree at the second annual SAGE Student Research Conference on May 14.

Camarillo children's dentist Mark Lisagor will be presented with his honorary degree on May 21 at CSUCI's commencement ceremonies.

Included in the nomination letter President Richard Rush sent to the CSU chancellor's office was a detailed account of the generosity Lisagor has shown through his involvement with numerous community, state, national and international boards and organizations.

Last spring, Lisagor was in Nepal leading a team of 14 dentists when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the country.

"He and his team supported children, families and entire communities during this desperate time of need," Rush wrote in his nomination letter.

Rush's nomination letter for McCune highlighted her passionate support for the arts, social issues and her long-term sponsorship of academic and University initiatives.

"She is generous with her time, talent and treasure," Rush wrote in his nomination letter.

"And as a result, she has enabled the creation of transformative educational experiences, she has supported those in need and she has facilitated the restoration and beautification of historic structures."

McCune said she will be honored to accept a Doctor of Humane Letters from CI.

"Since its founding 14 years ago, CSU Channel Islands has lived up to its very noble mission of putting students at the center of the educational experience," McCune said. "This focus has had a profound impact not only on individual students, but on the Channel Islands community and far beyond."

Hospital's ICU receives honor

St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital's intensive care unit in Camarillo has been recognized with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses' bronze level Beacon Award for Excellence, the hospital said.

The award recognizes individual units that distinguish themselves by improving every facet of patient care, according to a news release from the hospital.

The Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and meet the following evidence-based criteria:

Leadership structures and systems.

Appropriate staffing and staff engagement.

Effective communication, knowledge management, learning and development.

Evidence-based practice and processes.

Outcome measurement.

"The Beacon Award is a reflection of the Intensive Care Units' commitment to exceeding the standards of care," said Darren Lee, president and CEO of St. John's hospitals in Camarillo and Oxnard. "We are honored to receive this national distinction and to be recognized as a leader in clinical excellence."

OAK VIEW

Market joins U-Haul network

Ojai Valley Ranch Market has signed on as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer.

The market, 445 Ventura Ave., will offer U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment, support rental items and in-store pickup for boxes.

Hours for U-Haul rentals are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. every day. After hours drop-off is available for customer convenience.

Reservations can be made by calling 715-4918 or visiting https://www.uhaul.com/Locations/Truck-Rentals-near-Oak-View-CA-93022/055022.

OJAI

Community bank fills key position

Ojai Community Bank announced that George Thurlow IV is joining the bank as vice president, credit administration.

His background includes a number of years working in commercial lending and loan administration in the Santa Barbara area, the bank said. He obtained a master's in business administration in finance from Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and a bachelor's degree from UC Santa Barbara.

"As a longtime Central Coast resident, George has a expansive knowledge of the local market. He will work with customers to find solutions and assist them in meeting their financial goals," stated Dave Brubaker, President/CEO of Ojai Community Bank. "He brings a wealth of community banking experience and the hometown spirit that defines our bank."

Nonprofits invited to apply for grant

Ojai Women's Fund is accepting grant applications for nonprofits serving the Ojai arts, education, environment, health care and social services sectors.

The deadline to submit grant applications is May 13.

Apply online at http://www.ojaiwomensfund.org.

The fund is an all-volunteer collective giving circle dedicated to making annual grants to nonprofit organizations that target critical needs in the Ojai Valley.

SANTA BARBARA

Brokerage company set to open office

GPS Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. announces the opening of its Santa Barbara office, 1129 State St., Suite 3.

The new commercial real estate brokerage company serves Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties with the leasing and sale of retail, mixed-use, land and investment properties.

"I am excited to open the doors of our brokerage company," said Pamela Scott, founder of GPS Commercial Real Estate. "The office is beautiful, overlooking State Street in downtown Santa Barbara and is in a great central location to serve our tri-county clients."

The office will open Monday.

SIMI VALLEY

Industrial building changes hands

Cabot Properties, a private equity real estate investment firm, has acquired a 96,850-square-foot industrial building in Simi Valley as a leased-investment property in a transaction negotiated by Colliers International.

Colliers Senior Executive Vice President John DeGrinis, Senior Vice President Patrick DuRoss and Vice President Jeff Abraham represented Cabot in the transaction. The seller was Pacific Equities of Los Angeles.

Located at 3850 Royal Ave., the building is 50 percent leased to Bellami Hair LLC, a worldwide shipper and supplier of hair products and beauty supplies used by hair salons, spas and other beauty-related companies around the world.

"The 47,740 square-foot vacant portion of the building is where Cabot has a chance to really add value," DuRoss said. "The space has a 17,000-square-foot office mezzanine that presents challenges for most users in today's market. Cabot is planning on contributing significant capital towards demolishing the mezzanine, adding functional loading and upgrading the image of the building to accommodate the bulk of today's tenant demand."

VENTURA COUNTY

Credit union earns Diamond Award

Ventura County Credit Union was recently presented with a Diamond Award by the Credit Union National Association Marketing & Business Development Council.

Award winners were recognized at the council's 23rd annual conference, which took place March 20-23 in Anaheim.

Ventura County Credit Union was acknowledged by CUNA in the award's plastic access card design category for the aesthetics of the credit union's new MasterCards. With a series of eight designs, the local credit union's credit cards feature landscape photos of Ventura County's iconic coastlines, piers, trails and beyond.

"We are thrilled to be recognized with this prestigious award and credit our marketing team on their hard work to make all aspects of VCCU's branding engaging and relevant to our members," said Tina Estes, the credit union's assistant vice president of marketing. "VCCU is a community-chartered credit union and these designs really pay tribute to our commitment to Ventura County and its local residents."

Professional joins real estate office

SVN-Rich Investment Real Estate Partners announced that Pat Costello has joined the firm's Ventura County office.

Costello has more than 11 years of successful commercial real estate experience specializing in retail, office and multi-family properties. She has brokered sales and leasing negotiations of several transactions.

Prior to joining SVN, Costello was an asset manager for a private family trust, responsible for managing a portfolio of commercial real estate assets totaling $205 million.

In 2011, she sold a distressed shopping center for $17.5 million, which was $4 million over its most recent appraised value by CBRE.

Costello was also the point person for the development of a 72,000-square-feet shopping center with two out-parcels.

Costello's volunteer experience includes AARP's tax aide counseling, California School Employees Association and Toastmasters International.

Staff reports
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR George Zaki (left) and his son Roy, of ERG International, sit on the new collection, which includes a telephone booth chair that comes with a plug and USB charger.

SHARE JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Alejandro Martinez puts on the finishing screws on a Raven sofa at the ERG International in Oxnard, which is celebrating 35 years of making furniture. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Angela Moreno works on sewing vinyl at the ERG International in Oxnard, which is celebrating 35 years of making furniture. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Maricruz Carrera works on nailing and putting fabric over a chair at ERG International in Oxnard. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Eloy Lorenzo (left) and Virgilio Flores move a finished Raven sofa at the ERG International in Oxnard.

By Mike Nelson, Special to The Star

In 1981, Greek immigrant George Zaki was selling real estate on Los Angeles' west side when he was invited to join a new San Fernando Valley-based business  importing commercial and industrial furniture, about which he knew virtually nothing.

Operating with two employees (including himself) from a 1,000-square-foot building in Sun Valley, Zaki's business did $220,000 in first-year sales.

Thirty-five years later, Zaki's business  ERG International, with more than 200 employees and 150,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space in five Oxnard locations  is approaching $30 million in sales, and growing.

"The last five years, we've seen spectacular growth, and this year we expect more," said Zaki, chairman of the company, which designs, manufactures and ships furniture for offices, meeting rooms, waiting areas, lecture halls and more to educational, health care, government and business institutions across the U.S. and into Canada.

ERG's clients include Ventura College, Oxnard College and the University of California; Community Memorial Hospital and Kaiser Permanente; United Airlines and American Airlines; and Wells Fargo and Union Banks; the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears; and NASA. ERG furniture is sold through 24 sales organizations and 90 sales representatives across the country.

"We're prepared for growth, too," Zaki said. "We're working a second shift in all departments, with 225 employees, and looking to reach 250 this summer."

This is, in fact, a growth period for the U.S. Office furniture market. According to the Business & Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association, industry sales in 2015 totaled $10.2 billion, up 4.8 percent from 2014 (after reaching a low of $7.8 billion in recession-ridden 2009).

A slight increase for 2016 (to $10.3 billion) is forecast by IHS Global Insight, followed by a 4.8 percent gain in 2017 (to $10.8 billion). But ERG's ability to exceed that growth rate, officials say, is bolstered by its diversification.

"We're not pigeonholed into one area," said Roy Zaki, ERG president/CEO and son of the founder. "If one market isn't doing well, we can do well in another. We've had some tough years, but we always pull through stronger than we were before."

ENERGETIC LEADER

One reason for that is the drive of its founder. Whether leading a tour through one of ERG's showroom displays, greeting dozens of employees on a quick factory walk-through, or welcoming guests to the firm's recent 35th anniversary celebration breakfast, George Zaki seems as energetic and enthusiastic about the business as ever  an observation shared by many longtime employees, including his son.

"Dad always has ideas," Roy Zaki said with a smile. "He's a brainstormer, a problem solver, a visionary, and he hasn't stopped. With him, it's always, 'Let's brainstorm, let's have a meeting' on a new product idea. And he has good ideas."

Indeed, new ideas are essential to ERG's success.

"If you don't always introduce new items, this market becomes very hard to compete in," George Zaki said. "Within a year, people are asking you, 'What else is new?' Sure, our furniture is guaranteed for life, but if you want your office to look up-to-date, you have to renovate every five to seven years.

"And maybe in that time your staff changes, so the people we sold to aren't with that business anymore, and we have to start over. It's nice to be there first, but that's no guarantee we'll be there forever. So it makes us work harder to be current and compete."

Two employees, the husband-wife team of Sal and Angela Moreno of the upholstery and prototype department, have been with ERG since the early 1980s, when the firm operated in Sun Valley and, later, Van Nuys, and moved with the company to Oxnard in 1991.

"We've stayed with ERG because it's like family," Sal Moreno said. "We don't feel like employees, because George cares about the people who work here; he cares about our families, and we care about his. And this business has been good to us."

The Zakis, who recently began a scholarship program to support employees' children desiring college, feel likewise.

"We have great people, a good management team, and we promote from within," George Zaki said.

INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

With most U.S. manufacturers of institutional furniture based back East (led by Michigan, North Carolina and Indiana), ERG is constantly challenged to maintain, much less increase, its market share, especially in the face of imported goods, which dominate the residential furniture market.

But, as a "fully integrated" domestic manufacturer, ERG's ability to quickly develop its own designs into marketable products is a huge advantage, George Zaki said.

"It starts with quality," he said. "We bring in the steel, cut it, weld it, grind it and paint it. We stain the wood; we buy the foam in blocks, cut and glue it. The result is furniture that is very crisp and sharp, and guaranteed for a lifetime."

Roy Zaki added: "There is also the issue of customization, which many of our customers want  in color, fabric, size  because they employ designers who specify a particular color or shape. That requires flexibility and quick turnaround time on the part of the manufacturer, and you can't get that with imported merchandise. It's something we can offer as a domestic manufacturer."

As a Ventura County manufacturer, ERG also faces the challenge of finding skilled labor and maintaining costs.

"People who work here have to be able to afford to live here, and we get that," Roy Zaki said. "Oxnard is not a cheap place to live, and companies in other states where the cost of housing isn't as high have that advantage over us. But we still do well, and our people are terrific  a great management team, loyal and caring employees, open communication, and it makes a difference."

GRATEFUL FOR SUCCESS

Gratitude was in evidence at ERG's recent 35th anniversary celebration, at which George Zaki, a devout Catholic, led an opening prayer, a local priest read from Scripture and sprinkled holy water over employees, guests and family (including his wife, Veronique, and daughter Joy, a partner in the corporation), and all recited the Lord's Prayer.

"We are all blessed by God," George said, "blessed to live in this great country, and blessed by so many great people who work for us and with us."
LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR Spicy tuna hand rolls garnished with lotus root and pipettes of soy sauce await serving while chef Kenji Nakamura works in the open kitchen at Q Sushi & Kieu Hoang Wine Lounge in Westlake Village.

Lisa McKinnon Columnist SHARE LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR Binh Hoang, owner of Q Sushi & Kieu Hoang Wine Lounge, left, joins executive chef Mikiko Ando and Bishop Junkun Imamura Thursday in preparing for a Shinto ceremony before opening the Westlake Village restaurant to the public. LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR Westlake Village mayor Brad Halpern, left, chats with RAAS Nutritionals founder Kieu Hoang as Miss World Mireia Lalaguna and restaurateur Binh Hoang, holding son Kade, await the ribbon cutting Thursday at Q Sushi & Kieu Hoang Wine Lounge at the Shoppes at Westlake Village. LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR Q Sushi & Kieu Hoang Wine Lounge opened Thursday at the Shoppes at Westlake Village. The restaurant features an open kitchen, private booths and a communal table. LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR Non sushi dishes at Q Sushi & Kieu Hoang Wine Lounge in Westlake Village include American Kobe beef, served in slices arranged in a lidded ceramic bowl.

The mayor, a pharmaceuticals billionaire and the reigning Miss World walk into a Westlake Village sushi bar, and ... well, I can't think of a punch line because that's what really happened.

The unlikely trio of Westlake Village Mayor Brad Halpern, RAAS, Inc. founder and Agoura Hills businessman Kieu Hoang and Mireia Lalaguna of Spain were in attendance Thursday for the grand opening of Q Sushi & Kieu Hoang Wine Lounge at the Shoppes at Westlake Village.

So were seemingly hundreds of diners who arrived in a steady stream throughout the night, their appetites for maguro sashimi, Japanese Wagyu beef and craft cocktails piqued after months of watching the upscale restaurant take shape at the new shopping center.

The reaction was what first-time restaurateur Binh Hoang had in mind when he started thinking about the project two years ago.

"I've lived in Westlake Village for 30 years but have traveled the world and eaten a lot of sushi while on business with my father's company," said Hoang, an entrepreneur who also has worked in the high-tech sector. "I wanted to bring some of that experience back to my home."

The restaurant's executive chef, Mikiko Ando, wasn't taking any chances Thursday. Originally from Nayoro, Japan, she invited Bishop Junkun Imamura of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles to perform a Shinto ceremony in the dining room to ensure "joy and harmony" before the doors opened.

"I'm Vietnamese-Amercian, but our menu is Japanese. So this really fits," Hoang said after a brief rehearsal.

During the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting that followed, the elder Hoang chatted about the visits he and Lalaguna had paid earlier in the day to homeless-aid organizations in Orange County and Simi Valley. Binh Hoang introduced his 12-week-old son to well-wishers with wife Nikki Hoang and daughters Quinci and Reese at his side

Then the doors opened, giving diners their first official look at the restaurant's multilevel dining spaces outfitted with marble counters, sleek wood bar stools and a back wall paved with metallic ceramic tiles. A chandelier of tree branches hugs the ceiling over the communal table that separates the bar bar from the sushi bar.

"It's a real mix of traditional and contemporary materials. We wanted to create a space that feels timeless and comfortable," said Eddy Bitton of Bitton Design Group of Westlake Village.

A staircase that rises to the side of the open kitchen leads to two private rooms that also serve as wine cellars. On opening night, the by-the-bottle selection ranged from a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand ($35) to Opus One's Overture red blend from Napa Valley ($175).

Kieu Hong Winery selections are among those available by the glass ($12-$20) and bottle ($40-$70).

Labels for the winery, which the elder Hoang expanded after buying the Michael Mondavi Family winery in Napa Valley, feature a design inspired by what the cells of a wine grape look like when viewed through a microscope.The same design appeared in the matching blue-and-green print shirt and tie that Kieu Hoang and Binh Hoang wore, respectively, to the grand opening.

The restaurant's beverage list includes sakes, bottled and draft beers, and cocktails like the Uji Collins ($14), made with Bombay Sapphire East gin, matcha green tea, house-made lemon grass syrup and Westlake Village-based Bloom Honey. The green drink is garnished with an orange edible flower.

Executive chef Ando oversees a team of no fewer than six chefs in the open kitchen surrounded on three sides by the sushi bar.

From my perch there on Thursday night, I'd say the list of Most Popular Dishes includes sashimi pizza ($18), fashioned from a corn tortilla topped with Hawaiian amberjack, yuzu avocado aioli, dots of deep-pink beet cream and a sprinkling of flower petals, then served with DIY squeezable pipettes of wasabi oil. American Kobe beef ($20) also saw a lot of action, sliced and served in a lidded ceramic dish with wasabi mashed potatoes and an assortment of spices on the side.

Ando will introduce an omakase menu  also known as chef's choice  in the coming weeks.

For now, hours are from 4:30 to 10 p.m. Sundays and Tuesdays through Thursdays, and from 4:30 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (30770 Russell Ranch Road, Unit A, 818-540-3231, http://www.qsushi.com).

OPEN, SHUT AND IN BETWEEN

A Smart & Final Extra store opened Wednesday at what used to be Haggen's (and Vons, before that) in Newbury Park. It sells the usual grocery-store stuff, along with sushi, oven-roasted chicken and baked goods made on site. Hours are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily (2100 Newbury Road, 805-375-0400, http://www.smartandfinal.com).

But Big Daddy O's Beach BBQ in the Silver Strand area of Oxnard was closed March 29 by the Ventura County Environmental Health Division due to "repeated and serious violations." Two inspections in November found issues with food-handler cards as well as unsanitary conditions involving equipment and the facility itself. There is no indication that the restaurant's owners plan to reopen. A "closed" sign is propped up on the dilapidated wooden stairs that lead to the front door, the business phone rings without answer, and the Facebook page hasn't been updated since June 2015 (2333 Roosevelt Blvd., 805-984-0014).

Los Caporales Restaurant & Tequila Bar will close April 24 in Ojai. Its final day will come after more than 20 years of business  and after an April 16 farewell party. For a previous Star interview with owners Ruben and Leticia Salinas, click on http://bit.ly/1p4Q88m (307 E. Ojai Ave., Suites 104 and 105, 805-646-5452).

In Ventura, a restaurant that will be operated by Cali Subs LLC is under construction at what used to be Chicago's Finest in the Montalvo Square shopping center. It does not have an opening date (1780 S. Victoria Ave., Suite C).

And in downtown Ojai, construction has started on what will be the public tasting room for Majestic Oak Vineyard in the space below the Danski clothing store (321 E. Ojai Ave.) The tasting room will open in "spring," according to a sign posted on the gate. The boutique winery has a small, estate vineyard in the Ojai Valley. Its wines will be featured May 3 during Flavor of Ojai, a dinner prepared by chefs from the Deer Lodge and the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. For tickets, $75 per person, click on http://bit.ly/22Aai7i.

REALITY BITES

A "Celebrity Cupcake Wars" episode inspired by the Scripps National Spelling Bee is scheduled to debut at 8 p.m. Monday on the Food Network. It will feature Joey Lawrence, Holly Madison, Matt Moy and Dita Von Teese as bakers, with 2015 Bee co-champs Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam among the judges.

UPDATES

Here's the latest on restaurant projects mentioned in previous Cafe Society columns.

The Camarillo location of Agave Maria's Restaurant & Cantina did not open on its announced debut date of April 11 because it did not have a "valid permit to operate," according to the Ventura County Environmental Health Division. A note signed by owner Tracy Jeffares and taped to the front door asks patrons to "please stay tuned" (710 Arneill Road, 805-383-2770, http://agavemarias.com).

The Big Yellow House in Summerland is once again available for lease, more than a year after the owner of an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles County told the Montecito Journal he planned to turn it into a second location.

Built as a private home in the 1880s, the structure operated as a restaurant from the 1970s until about 2008. After extensive renovations by a new owner, the building welcomed a yoga studio on its top floor in February 2015. Efforts to open the Italian restaurant Pace (PA-chey) on the floor below never progressed beyond putting up supports for new interior walls and applying for an alcohol license (still listed as pending on the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control website). Pace's owner has not returned calls seeking comment.

Andria Kahmann of Teles Properties in Montecito has the listing. Click on http://bit.ly/1VckAey.

SAVE THE DATE

The focus will be on two longtime players on the Ojai Valley food-and-wine scene when Suzanne's Cuisine and The Ojai Vineyard team up for a "winemaker evening" at the restaurant on April 28.

Flavors "curated" by founding chef Suzanne Roll will be paired to wines by Adam Tolmach during the five-course meal. Selections will include pan-roasted smoked duck breast with a Marsala brown sauce and apricot-ginger-orange reduction, served with glasses of 2014 Kessler-Haak pinot noir. For required reservations, $95 per person, call 805-640-1961.

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. Her Cafe Society column appears in the Sunday Life section and Fridays in the Time Out section. For between-column updates, follow 805foodie on Twitter and Instagram and "like" the Facebook page VCS Eats. Please send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com.
ROB VARELA/THE STAR Thousand Oaks police are still investigating a robbery and a shooting at a jewelry store Tuesday in Thousand Oaks.

SHARE

By Staff Reports

As the community seeks answers, authorities released no new information Friday regarding an attempted robbery and shooting earlier this week in Thousand Oaks.

Capt. Garo Kuredjian, of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, said there is an active and ongoing investigation into the incident reported shortly after 1:15 p.m. Tuesday at Albert's Jewelry Design store in the Oakbrook shopping center on the southwest corner of Erbes Road and East Avenida de Los Arboles. Deputies responded to the area that day to a report of gunfire, officials said.

At least two men fled the scene in a vehicle described as a newer-model dark-colored luxury vehicle, possibly a Jaguar, authorities said. They left the store empty-handed, officials said. Investigators have not released descriptions of those involved.

It is believed one man stayed in the vehicle, which was parked in front of the business, and the other went inside the store, authorities said. There was an exchange of gunfire between a store employee and the man who went inside but it was not known whether the man was actually firing the gun at the employee, officials said.

Evidence at the scene indicated the man may have been injured, most likely by gunfire, but no other injuries were reported, authorities said. There were no customers inside the store at the time of the incident, officials said.

Investigators were checking surveillance footage from inside the business but it was not known how much of the incident the camera may have caught, authorities said.
<p>CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR</p><p>Jerry Kroger, from Apple Valley, is hooked up with a yellowfin tuna on a two-day fishing trip aboard the sportfishing boat Constitution out of H&M Landing in San Diego thatas captained by Frank Ursitti, of Santa Paula. Paul Gonzalez (background), of El Cajon, is also in bendo mode with a yellowfin. A total of 275 yellowfin and eight dorado were boated.</p>

SHARE CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Captain Frank Ursitti (left), of Santa Paula, owner/operator of the Constitution out of H&M Landing in San Diego, and Malcolm Bryce, of Agua Dulce, are shown with Bryceas 34-pound, day one, jackpot-winning yellowfin tuna caught on a two-day fishing trip near San Clemente Island. Bryce brought home the legal limit of 20 tuna from a two-day trip. The allowable amount is 10 a day. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Manny Vargas, deckhand on the Constitution out of H&M Landing in San Diego, leaps onto a cart of yellowfin tuna after a successful two-day trip with Captain Frank Ursitti, of Santa Paula, owner/operator of the sportfishing vessel. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Galley girl Ginger Fawn and Frank Ursitti, owner/operator of the Constitution out of H&M Landing in San Diego, tag yellowfin tuna on a two-day trip near San Clemente Island. CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Frank Ursitti, of Santa Paula, owner/operator of the Constitution, Ranger 85 and Coral Sea out of H&M Landing in San Diego, talks by radio to another captain as they follow the yellowfin tuna. Many captains agree with Ursitti, who stated, aStops for over 100 fish are common. This has been the best season in decades.aA

By Joe Curley of the Ventura County Star

Theres a reason why Malcolm Bryce is popular with his neighbors.

Like so many Southern California recreational fishermen this year, Bryce returned from an offshore fishing trip last week with the maximum amount of yellowfin tuna allowable by law.

Ive learned to make my own sashimi and sushi, said Bryce, whose eventual bounty was about 150 pounds of filleted fish, much of which was given to neighbors or sealed into vacuum bags and frozen for future consumption. Ill barter it off any way I can.

(Interactive: Sea birds, fish follow warm water to Ventura County)

An atypically warm year on the water has meant a rare season for fishing tuna, which are closer to the Southern California shore than theyve been in years and closer to Ventura County than theyve been in more than a decade.

This is huge, said Mike Thompson of Channel Islands Sportfishing. In the fishing world, this is huge for us.

For the first time in recent memory, yellowfin have been within range of boats leaving local landings this month. Boats leaving San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Dana Point, and even Oxnard and Ventura have been fishing tuna.

A lot of people are shocked at this point, Thompson said. It hasnt happened in so long.

The conditions are inspiring sea-salted veterans to harken back to legendary El Nino-inspired bites of 1997-98, when tuna was being caught off the Santa Monica pier, and 1982-83, when tuna was being hooked in county waters.

It was gnarly, Thompson said. We had tuna six miles out of our harbor.

On the Edge

Game fish like yellowfin typically feed where the warm offshore waters mix with the cooler coastal waters, which are full of plankton and smaller species.

You can see it from space, said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. The offshore tropical waters tend to be clear and the coastal waters tend to be dark.

That line, which usually can be found in Mexican waters more than a hundred miles southwest of San Diego, has been pushed north this year by climate conditions.

Tucker McCombs, of Thousand Oaks, took an educated guess earlier this month while captaining a private charter aboard the Mirage out of Channel Islands Sportfishing.

I saw a good temperature break down there between Santa Catalina and San Clemente Island, McCombs said. The fish will be pushed up on that edge. We took a gamble, went down there and got lucky.

When the first yellowfin hit the deck after biting on a trolling rod, there was an audible gasp. It was the first of 50 that day.

Everybody was like Oh, my God,  McCombs said. We had no idea those fish were there. ... Its been a long time since anybody has had any yellowfin up here.

The Mirage since Sept. 10 has returned to Oxnard with 315 yellowfin tuna, 25 skipjack tuna, 292 yellowtail and two dorado from 10 overnight trips. There have also been sightings of more tropical fish like marlin and wahoo in that same area between Catalina and San Clemente.

It had been so long, McCombs said. A lot of guys havent caught tuna out of Channel Islands. People were shocked that it was happening up here.

Career Year

The potentially mild El Nino may not help the drought, but it has been a huge boon for fishing boat captains in the San Diego fleet, who in recent years have had to collect fuel surcharges to fish more than 100 miles offshore.

Ventura County captains like Frank Ursitti, of Santa Paula, and Pat Cavanaugh, of Ventura, typically spend nine months of the year at local landings like Channel Islands Sportfishing and Ventura Sportfishing, respectively, fishing for halibut and white sea bass.

They spend the summer months in San Diego, fishing the warmer waters off the Mexican coast for yellowfin, yellowtail and dorado.

Things has been so busy that Ursitti recently acquired a third boat, the midsize Constitution, to what he jokingly called his fleet, the 85-foot Ranger 85 and 60-foot Coral Sea.

It has been an incredible year and continues to be an incredible year, Ursitti said.

Cavanaugh owns the Pacific Dawn and has been fishing for tuna for more than 35 years.

We had yellowfin show up in May, which is unheard of, Cavanaugh said. Usually, the yellowfin dont show up until fall. ... Its been the most consistent season of fishing close to home that Ive ever seen in my career.

In a typical year, the San Diego fleet has to travel about 80 miles for tuna. That distance grew in recent years to 150 miles, putting financial pressure on the captains.

Fuel is by far the biggest part of a vessels overhead, which means this summer has been a welcome experience for the boats.

We spent the entire month of August inside 30 miles, which, in my career, is almost unheard of, Cavanaugh said. Its obviously a lot more economical. ... This summer has been a relief that the San Diego fleet needed desperately after several tough seasons in a row. Guys could barely keep their businesses going.

Now there are days when the anglers cast out in the morning, reel in 10 tuna apiece and have to return land with the fish still biting.

Weve done that several times, Cavanaugh said.

While the summer is over, the tuna season is expected to continue.

This is going to be one of those years where were going to run out of anglers before we run out of fish, Ursitti said. Well get into November and folks will have the holidays on their mind, but were still going to have tuna to fish.

To catch a tuna The 10 to 15 boats that make up the San Diego fleet work together to track the fish. A school of yellowfin tuna leave telltale signs for experienced captains, like rippled water called a breezer or a flock of birds picking on the surface. SomeAtimes they make it easier by leaping right out of the water. Sometimes the symptom is more Aominous. If you see a hammerhead shark, youre going to see a school of tuna behind it, said Pat Cavanaugh, who captains the Pacific Dawn. But dont take too long once you hook up. One of the bigger tuna I had, a hammerhead came along and bit everything but the head, said angler Malcolm Bryce, who caught a limit of 10 yellowfin on a trip aboard the Frank Ursittis Constitution last week. It happens right in front of you and theres nothing you can do. Its actually impressive to see going through the water. The most popular bait is live anchovies and sardines, although some anglers used specific lures.
SHARE

Gov. Jerry Brown joined other political figures one recent evening to raise money for a Capitol internship program and deliver a paean to political compromise.

"Don't stick too hard to your principles," Brown advised his fellow politicians, citing his own experience with Proposition 13, the iconic 1978 property tax limit.

Brown, then in his first stint as governor, strenuously opposed the ballot measure, calling it "a ripoff," but immediately after its overwhelming passage, he energetically embraced it.

At the internship event, Brown described his change of position as merely recognizing Proposition 13 was law, but that was revisionist history. Brown actually declared himself a "born-again tax cutter," championed a state income tax cut that put the state budget in an operational deficit, then ran for president in 1980 as a critic of the unbalanced federal budget.

Brown delivered his latest remarks just a few days after agreeing to an increase in the state's minimum wage, now $10 an hour, to $15 by 2022  after months of resisting such a boost, during which his Department of Finance said even a smaller boost to $13 would be economically harmful.

As with Proposition 13, Brown's turnabout on wages aligned himself with a shift in underlying political dynamics  a union-backed ballot measure to boost the wage level to $15. And true to form, Brown not only agreed to the wage boost he had opposed, but essentially claimed ownership.

"Morally and socially and politically, they (minimum wages) make every sense because it binds the community together and makes sure that parents can take care of their kids in a much more satisfactory way," Brown declared as he signed the bill.

"This is about economic justice," Brown said. "Let's keep it going. It's not stopping here."

Brown's flip-flop on minimum wages illustrates another aspect of his second governorship  an appetite for big, even historic, policy moves whose consequences won't become evident until well after he's left the political stage.

The minimum wage boost may positively affect the personal finances of millions of Californians  not only those earning minimum wage now but those a rung or two higher on the pay scale.

But when fully implemented, it will raise employers' costs by tens of billions of dollars a year. And as Brown's Department of Finance had said earlier, it also could have the negative effect of eliminating jobs, particularly those that can be automated or are in marginal segments of the economy, including agriculture.

We won't know its net impact, however, before Brown departs in 2019, just as we won't know whether his school finance overhaul will raise achievement of poor or "English-learner" students, whether the state budget will remain balanced, whether his "WaterFix" will actually fix vexatious water problems, or whether his bullet train will be anything more than a train to nowhere.

Dan Walters writes for the Sacramento Bee. Email him at dwalters@sacbee.com.
CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR Silhouetted against the late-afternoon sun, kids play on the new playground that replaced the one that burned down at Las Piedras Park in Santa Paula. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this week, youngsters entertained themselves on the structure that includes slides, a balance beam and a climbing wall.

SHARE

California doesn't make playgrounds like it used to.

Fifteen years after the state legislated compliance with national safety standards for new and renovated public playgrounds, I can take the Three Stooges  my three sons under age 8  to parks around California confident I'll see the same safe equipment: low swings, low slides, ubiquitous guardrails and super-soft rubbery mats to cushion falls.

But all that safe sameness is boring. Today, the playground pieces that once enthralled children  merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters, ropes, high monkey bars, flat swings  are nearly impossible to find. It turns out that safer playgrounds, while producing less litigation over injuries, carry their own risks.

Pediatric researchers warn that today's playgrounds no longer provide the fast-moving kinds of play that help children overcome fears and develop sensory and motor skills. Older kids, finding safer equipment less challenging, may be using playgrounds less.

California parents can counter these trends by seeking out classic playgrounds too old (before the mid-1990s) to comply fully with today's regulations. So I've been introducing the Three Stooges to dangerous old playgrounds.

On road trips, we've visited Santa Barbara's Kid's World playground, a giant wood fort with so many places to hide that you can't keep your eyes on your kids. We love La Laguna in San Gabriel, where the Mexican artist Benjamin Dominguez created 14 somewhat scary concrete structures a half-century ago. And on a recent trip to the Bay Area, I decided to stop at the mecca of old-school California playgrounds: the Dennis the Menace Playground at El Estero Park in Monterey.

Dennis the Menace has had safety updates, but it remains much the same place put together in the 1950s by Hank Ketcham, creator of the troublemaking comic strip character for whom the park is named. A suspension bridge hangs high and long over the playground's center. The park is full of extra long and twisty slides. Our only disappointment was that you can no longer play on the old rail steam engine. A sign says the city is seeking a way to allow access that complies with safety laws.

After an hour on the playground, I drove the family north to Grandma's, muttering about playground greatness being a thing of California's past. But a few days later I was proven wrong, when I took the Stooges to Palo Alto's Mitchell Park, where the Magical Bridge playground opened just last year.

Magical Bridge is annoying in the way of so many Silicon Valley enterprises; it's not content to be smart, it has to tell you how smart it is. Playground signs cite research on how its equipment improves your children's vestibular development, and even offer links to a website boasting that Magical Bridge is "the nation's most innovative and inclusive playground." There's a donor wall honoring the tech worthies who covered the $3.8 million cost, a "Kindness Corner" with anti-bullying messages, and "a patent-pending safe slide landing."

In spite of its preciousness, the place is great.

Magical Bridge is the brainchild of a mother who wanted a playground to serve children with disabilities, including her own daughter. The place achieves a magical combination: It's at once more inclusive and more challenging than the standard California playground.

Large disc and bucket swings can accommodate kids with disabilities but create speedy movement to satisfy risk takers. There are multiple bridges, a two-story playhouse and a theater  all fully accessible. A 24-string laser harp allows children of all abilities to make music with movement.

The slides are tall, and there are two 21st-century versions of the merry-go-round. One connects a spinning circular platform with a cone of ropes that allows kids to climb as they spin.

At the top of the merry-go-rope structure, the Stooges enjoyed a 360-degree view of this new and classic playground. They also loved the dangerous and novel feeling of being so high that they were out of their parents' reach.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square.
SHARE

Over the past year, our nation has seen a proliferation of "religious freedom" laws, the stated intention of which is to "protect individuals from government interference when practicing their religious beliefs."

In effect, however, these laws codify bigotry, deny rights and liberties, and sanction discrimination against the LGBT community.

Such state action violates the Constitution and allows for unlawful religious accommodations regarding marriage, sexual orientation, workplace sex equality and gender identity. Through these laws, those with certain religious beliefs are given the green light to refuse service to certain customers and discriminate in a variety of contexts, including housing, employment, public services, education and adoption.

The United States is a country of great diversity in culture, religion and ethnicity. If you engage outside the confines of your religious institution, you enter a pluralistic society that represents many views and belief systems. Our Constitution mandates a clear demarcation line between religious beliefs and secular society, including legislation that applies equally to all. The marketplace of commerce and a sociopolitical society requires that we not be allowed to use religion to deny rights to others.

The Establishment Clause disallows legislative accommodations for religious beliefs where they deny others the ability to participate equally in the social and economic life of our country. These discriminatory laws cause great damage, specifically to those who identify as LGBT.

More than a dozen law professors with expertise in constitutional and civil rights law signed a memorandum that analyzed two so-called "religious liberty" bills recently passed in Mississippi and Georgia. They concluded that religious belief and practice already receive strong protection under state and federal law, and further stated, "Rather than strengthening religious liberty protections, these bills radically overreach by favoring religious believers at the expense of other private citizens. This amounts to a violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause."

Their analysis agreed with Supreme Court Justice Kennedy when he said "a desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot constitute a legitimate governmental interest" and that such a desire cannot be justified in the name of religious liberty.

Religious encroachment into secular law and policy was deliberately and carefully contemplated by those who founded this country. Religious freedom is extremely important. Just as the government is to leave religious practice free, however, so also must religions and their leaders not exercise political authority.

"The idea that a business that opens itself to the public has to serve everybody in a nondiscriminatory way is a well-founded feature of civil rights law," says Nelson Tebbe, a professor at Brooklyn Law School in New York. "But the North Carolina law not only declines to protect LGBT people in its statewide civil rights law, it prohibits localities from protecting LGBT people in their local civil rights laws, and that's probably unconstitutional."

Our sociopolitical laws must remain independent of religious tradition or tenet. The guarantees provided in the Constitution of equal protection, free speech, privacy and due process protect us against the imposition of specific religious ideologies.

We all have the liberty of practicing a religion, of holding dear our religious beliefs and values; that never will be taken away. And we all have the right to live in a country where the laws uphold the rights and liberties of all citizens and where religion is not used to harm others.

"One nation under God with liberty and justice for all."

Mary Haffner is a Ventura Unified School District board member and a partner of the Haffner Law Group.
SHARE

What if California voters repealed a law, but it remained the law anyway?

That's a situation the state may soon face if a yet-unnumbered proposition aiming to repeal a 2014 statewide ban on plastic grocery bags passes in November. The statewide law also requires stores to offer paper bags for at least 10 cents each.

The bottom line on this referendum measure, which qualified for the ballot within a mere five months of when legislators passed the plastic bag ban, is that it likely won't matter much.

In fact, there's little effect from the fact that the state ban is not in force today, almost two years after it passed. Any law challenged by a referendum gets suspended until the outcome of the vote is official.

There's a pretty simple reason why neither the vote nor the law's suspension matters much: Many local governments have their own bans in place, 146 cities and counties  about one-third of all California communities, containing a large majority of the populace. Repealing the state law would not affect those laws.

Try to get a supermarket plastic bag in any of California's largest cities. Can't do it in Los Angeles. Nor in San Francisco, nor anywhere in Los Angeles County, nor many others.

This infuriates makers of plastic bags, which have pretty much disappeared from the shoulders of major highways they once littered.

Grocers at first opposed the plastic bag bans, protesting the inconvenience to themselves and their customers from forcing consumers to bring their own bags or buy paper ones at checkout counters. They've been converted and now support the bans.

"Early polling is that consumers are adapting to no plastic bags," Ronald Fong, head of the California Grocers Association, told a reporter. "It's really unfortunate that out-of-staters are sinking millions of dollars into telling us that we're wrong here in California."

Altogether, more than $4 million has been raised to fight the statewide plastic bag ban, only a small fraction of it raised in California. An industry association, the American Progressive Bag Alliance, which represents the plastic bag industry nationally, raised more than $4 million from its members shortly after the state ban passed. None came from California.

Contributors were led by South Carolina's Hilex Poly ($1.9 million), with companies like Superbag (Texas), Advance Polybag (Texas) and Formosa Plastics (New Jersey) also among the big donors.

"We believe California voters share our concerns and will make their voices heard at the ballot box," the pro-plastic alliance's director, Lee Califf, said in a statement. The statewide ban, he said, threatens thousands of jobs and will have "no meaningful effect on the environment."

While removing the statewide ban would not kill any of the local ones, it could perpetuate some confusion, as the state law was intended to standardize regulations that differ slightly among localities.

What's more, say backers  state and local  the bag bans are taking millions of unneeded bags off the street. "When they have to pay, customers avoid buying the bags," Mark Murray, executive director of the group Californians Against Waste, said recently. He cited figures showing the number of grocery customers buying no bags (usually because they've brought their own) has jumped from about 10 percent to more than 35 percent.

Califf and the pro-plastic group maintain the bag ban and fee have been "a massive, billion-dollar giveaway to grocers under the guise of environmentalism." The plastics alliance hopes to qualify a second measure for a November vote, earmarking the 10-cent bag fees for environmental causes rather than letting grocers keep them. The state legislative analyst estimates this could provide $10 million or more to such causes, but nowhere near billions.

The bottom line on this is that aside from any environmental benefits of banning plastic bags, this has devolved into a fight between two well-heeled interest groups: Grocers now love the ban on plastics because it gives them a new revenue source while they no longer must buy plastics. Meanwhile, the plastic bag companies desperately want back into the huge California market, something that's looking more and more like a pipe dream.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com.


LAX Nightclub presents Demetrious Mighty Mouse Johnsons Official After Fight Party.

UFCs first and only flyweight titlist, Demetrious Mighty Mouse Johnson is known for his speed and technique. After defeating big names like Joseph Benavidez, John Dodson and John Moraga, Johnson is officially a force to be reckoned with inside the ring. He is looking to secure his 23rd win at UFC 197 against Henry Cejudo on April 23, 2016.

Spinning the jams for the night will be one of Las Vegas favorites, DJ Cyberkid followed by UFCs official DJ AL3, who will keep the party going until dawn.


Nevada-based volunteers gather for a fundraising event, titled The Dream Flight, which will feature live musical performances, celebrity appearances, an open bar presented by LVMH brands, pop-up nightclub, restaurants and much more (Pictured: host Brett Raymer, star of The Animal Planets TANKED).

Each purchased ticket will enter each guest into a drawing to win a seat on The Dream Flight. The Dream Flight will be a foodie tour weekend June 2- 5 that will be on a private plane donated by Cirrus Aviation and will be leaving from Vegas and heading to San Francisco, Seattle and back.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youths 4969 Retrofit Project and a donation of funding will also be given to Miracle Flights, the nations leading non-profit health and welfare flight organization.

Pop Up Celebrity Chefs and areas include:

Chef Jamaal | Border Grill

Chef Sheridan Su | Flock and Fowl

Chef Sean Collins | RM Seafood

Chef Justin Hall | SloBoy

Chef Javier Anaya | Pinches Tacos

Chef Carlos Buscaglia | Due Forni

Chef Geno Bernardo | Herringbone

Chef Benoit | Southern Wine and Spirits

Additional alcohol and food sponsors include: Dom Perignon and Makers Mark, Makers 64, Woody Creek Distillery, Dessert Donut Mania, Cupcakes by Kate & Popped LV, and Fruits & Roots. Sponsors include: Cirrus Aviation, Findlay Cadillac & Findlay Honda

Hosts Include:

Brett Raymer , star of Animal Planets TANKED

, star of Animal Planets Jessica Moore , NBC News 3 Anchor

, NBC News 3 Anchor Live performances by Recycled Percussion and DJ Turbulence

and Local influencers including The Refined Agency, RAW Fitness and Cirrus Aviation
Armed police stand on duty at the French Embassy in London, England. (Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images/AFP)

LONDON: Five people have been arrested for alleged terror offences in Britain -- including one man stopped at an airport -- in an investigation involving French and Belgian authorities, police said on Friday (Apr 15).

Four of the arrests -- three men aged 26, 40 and 59 and a 29-year-old woman -- were in Birmingham in central England on Thursday, while a 26-year-old man was arrested at London Gatwick Airport on Friday.

"This action forms part of an extensive investigation by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, together with the wider counter terrorism network, MI5 and international partners including Belgian and French authorities to address any associated threat to the UK following the attacks in Europe," senior police officer Marcus Beale said in a statement.

"The arrests were pre-planned and intelligence-led... There was no risk to the public at any time and there is no information to suggest an attack in the UK was being planned," Beale said, adding that police were searching a number of properties in Birmingham.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper quoted government ministry sources as saying that the arrests were "significant".

Contacted by AFP, a police spokeswoman declined to comment further including on any possible link to attacks in Belgium last month and in France in November in which a total of 162 people were killed.

Belgium's federal prosecutor's office also declined to give further details on the investigation. "The federal prosecution office wishes to emphasise the good collaboration with the British authorities," it said.

Top Brussels and Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini, who was arrested in Belgium earlier this month, was spotted in Birmingham last July, according to reports.

Abrini has confessed to being the "man in the hat" caught on video with suicide bombers at Brussels airport on March 22 shortly before they detonated their devices. Abrini is charged with "terrorist murders".

He is also linked to the Paris massacre after being caught on video at a motorway gas station with top suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is now awaiting extradition from Belgium to France.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper cited unnamed Western officials last year saying several people with connections to the Paris attacks' suspected planner Abdelhamid Abaaoud live in the Birmingham area.

Suicide bombings at Brussels' airport and on a metro train killed 32 people last month, while jihadists killed 130 people in a bombing and shooting spree in Paris in November. Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.
Zalora, Rocket Internets fashion-focused site that raised over US$250 million in equity funds when it started in 2012, unveiled it is shedding the two lacklustre country businesses to cut down on costs, said TechCrunch.

When it started Lazada and Zalora in 2012, Rocket Internet made big moves to fill the e-commerce void in Southeast Asia, a region with over 550 million people without any services from Amazon or eBay.

Both companies eyed profitability by 2015, but they continued to pull in heavy losses last year thanks to a combination of factors including aggressive early targets and slow market growth.

Zalora, Rocket Internets take on Zappos, has deemed its businesses in Thailand and Vietnam surplus to requirements - and it is in the process of selling both, a source close to Rocket Internet told TechCrunch.

A Zalora spokesperson declined to comment.

Zalora covers 11 countries across Asia Pacific including Indonesia, Taiwan and Australia.

A source said the company is now focused on countries where it is on the verge of profitability and Thailand and Vietnam dont figure in that equation. Zalora may opt to sell other business further down the line to further streamline its spending.

Like Lazada, Zalora has been shopped to investors and potential purchasers for some time, said sources of TechCrunch. However, while Rocket Internet was seeking to exit Lazada in its entirety, it is breaking Zalora out into chunks that are for sale in specific markets.

TechCrunch understands that a local conglomerate has agreed to purchase Zalora Thailand for just US$10 million, although the deal is not closed yet. The potential acquirer of the Vietnam business is not known right now.

Southeast Asia has long sat in the shadow of larger markets like China and India, but, with over 500 million consumers and a raising middle class, it has potential to be very significant.

However, with just three percent of commerce happening online, inconsistent logistics and differing cultures across the region, building a successful e-commerce business is hugely challenging and capital intensive.
President Dilma Rousseff's fate in an impeachment vote in Brazil's Congress on Sunday is being decided in deals struck at lunch tables and behind the mirrored windows of luxury hotels in Brasilia, where the tide has turned decisively against her.

Rousseff's survival hinges on winning over a dwindling number of undecided lawmakers who are also being courted by the man poised to take over if she is ousted, Vice President Michel Temer.

Frenzied horse trading by both camps is taking place not only in their offices and official residences but inside congressional cafes and corridors, and in the glossy eateries of the futuristic capital.

At the luxurious Royal Tulip hotel - a marble-floored red crescent on the outskirts of Brasilia that is home-from-home for Brazil's political elite - former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has set up camp with the aim of saving Rousseff, his protege and successor.

Rousseff faces impeachment on charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014, and her position has been weakened by a deep recession and a massive corruption scandal centered on state oil company Petrobras.

A former Marxist guerilla and now Brazil's first female leader, Rousseff denies any wrongdoing and has branded the process a "coup" to strip power from her leftist Workers' Party, which has won four straight presidential elections.

The situation remains fluid, legislators said, but there is a growing sense that even Lula's storied negotiating skills - which helped him rise from a union leader to Brazil's first working class president - cannot secure the one-third of votes in the lower house of Congress needed to save Rousseff.

"Lula is a superb negotiator but it's too late," said a senior senator from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) led by Temer. "These smaller parties ... want to be on the winning side."

The biggest force in Congress, the PMDB broke with the unpopular Rousseff last month after spending a decade in the ruling coalition. It has been followed in recent days by a series of smaller parties that have thrown their weight behind impeaching her.

If the lower house votes on Sunday to send Rousseff for impeachment in the Senate, the upper house could agree as early as May to hold the trial. At that point, Rousseff would be suspended for up to six months and Temer would take over. She has branded him a traitor.

Aides to Rousseff insist Lula could yet save her, despite corruption charges hanging over him. A hero to many poor Brazilians thanks to anti-poverty programs launched by his government, Lula would be the front-runner for the 2018 presidential election should he choose to run, polls say.

"People trust him and we are betting on that to win on Sunday," said one aide on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Another Rousseff confidant said Lula has been tasked with leading negotiations over senior government jobs and ministries in a new coalition.

"It's a tough negotiation because Temer's group is negotiating in parallel with the same people," he said.

With poppy Bossa Nova echoing amid the curved walls of its jasmine-scented lobby, the Royal Tulip hotel seems an unlikely setting for Brazil's bitter political warfare.

Yet insiders say it is here that Lula is waging his campaign to convince PMDB lawmakers to defy Temer and vote against impeaching Rousseff.

Carrots and Sticks

The government's principal weapon is the ability to offer up positions in ministries with enormous budgets to lawmakers in exchange for their loyalty, along with ramped up pork barrel spending for their pet projects.

But those enticements only work if lawmakers have faith that Rousseff will actually survive, and they increasingly do not.

Temer and the ardent pro-impeachment factions have growing momentum among lawmakers ahead of Sunday's vote, making it easier for them to convince lawmakers that siding with Rousseff is pointless if she will soon no longer be the president.

"What can Lula offer? Any promises have a short time span," said a senior PMDB official close to Temer and involved in the negotiations. "Politicians have a big sense of survival. We can offer them governability."

The shift in Congress toward impeachment allows Temer's camp to simply offer up the same rewards of government jobs and pork spending to legislators who vote against Rousseff.

It has also happened just as polls show the public's appetite for impeachment has slightly diminished.

The Datafolha polling group's latest survey taken on April 7-8 showed that 61 percent of Brazilians favor impeachment - down from 68 percent three weeks earlier.

As part of the negotiations, Ricardo Barros, a lawmaker with the Progressive Party (PP), was recently floated as top candidate to take over as Rousseff's next health minister, the ministry with the largest budget.

But the PP broke away from the Rousseff coalition on Tuesday and Barros told Reuters he would vote now for her impeachment.

Denouncing "this delivery of government jobs" in return for votes, Barros said that what should matter is whether or not lawmakers think Rousseff committed an impeachable offense.

Whoever is in Brasilia's modernist Planalto presidential palace in the wake of the impeachment process will have accrued a large number of political debts. That means a future government will have to share power and policy-making more widely - something the Workers' Party has been criticized for failing to do during 13 years in power.

For Jose Cardoso, 70, a retiree who lives in Brasilia's blue collar commuter suburb of Taguatinga, the round of frenzied political negotiations is another disappointment

"These negotiations are just another means of putting money in the pockets of the politicians," he said. "I don't believe in politicians but something has to change. They cannot stay like they are. I think she needs to leave the presidency."
The head of Britain's digital spy agency has apologized for historic prejudice against gay people while paying tribute to Alan Turing, whom he called the organization's most famous member.

Government Communications Headquarters Director Robert Hannigan said Friday that Turing, who committed suicide at age 41, was famous for breaking secret Nazi war codes and for his "horrifying" treatment by Britain's criminal justice system.

Following his work cracking Germany's Enigma code, which helped end World War II, Turing was convicted on criminal charges for having a personal relationship with another man and was ordered to be chemically castrated. He died in 1954.

In a speech honoring Turing, Hannigan told the Stonewall Workplace Conference, "I am happy to ... say how sorry I am that he and so many others were treated in this way, right up until the 1990s, when the policy was rightly changed."

Turing's life story was told in the 2014 Oscar-winning film "The Imitation Game," starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Often called the father of the modern computer, Turing led a group of scientists who decoded an encryption device used by the Nazis. They obtained secret messages that enabled the Allies to anticipate German war strategies. He posthumously received on official apology in 2009 from then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a pardon in 2013 from Queen Elizabeth II.

In his rare public appearance, Hannigan said he was urged to issue the apology on behalf of Britain's GCHQ by a former spy who was forced out of the service in the 1960s while under suspicion of being gay.

Hannigan said the fact such treatment was common practice for decades "reflected the intolerance of the times and pressures of the Cold War, but it does not make it any less wrong."
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter compared the Islamic State group to cancer on Saturday, saying the insurgent group must be destroyed in Iraq and Syria because that is where the whole thing arose.

He spoke during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, part of an effort to get Gulf nations to help Iraq as it fights the Islamic State. He said it would be vital to have a capable local force in place once IS was defeated to be sure someone keeps them defeated.

Carter toured Al-Dhafra Air Base, where he was briefed by key U.S. military and diplomatic officials. The U.S.-led coalition has used the base to launch airstrikes against IS militants, as well as for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions.

This Middle East portion of a lengthy diplomatic trip by Carter will include talks with Gulf Cooperation Council defense leaders in Saudi Arabia.

President Barack Obama, who is to join Carter in Riyadh, will most likely ask for contributions to rebuild areas of Iraq damaged by the fight against IS when he speaks with Gulf partners. Thats a global effort in which many countries can make a contribution, Carter said.

The secretary also plans to talk with GCC leaders about how to fight IS more effectively. Were going to accelerate the military campaign he said.
Official results have yet to be released from Chad's April 10 presidential election. But opposition candidates say their vote count indicates the country is headed to a run-off, and they will not accept any other results. It is the latest sign of tension as President Idris Deby seeks a fifth term in office.

Mahamat Ahmad Alhabo, president of the opposition Party for Liberty and Development (PLD) and spokesperson of opposition presidential candidates, says the political opposition is poised for a run-off after result sheets from their representatives in all poling stations indicated no candidate had won an absolute majority in the first round of polling Sunday.

He says they are surprised that although no candidate won the first round of the presidential election incumbent President Idriss Deby is already asking them to accept results being prepared by the country's electoral commission to declare him as winner for the sake of peace. He says they will never accept such an abuse of democracy and are therefore calling for the second round of the polls to be organized, according to Chad's constitution.

Mahamat did not give details of their count.

Chad's electoral commission has two weeks from the day of the election to proclaim results. Mahamat Zen Bada, Deby's campaign manager, says all candidates should be ready to respect the verdict of the ballot.

He says they are committed to respecting republican values and democratic principles and that he is inviting other candidates and their political parties to maintain the peace and serenity that has characterized the election so far.



Dioncounda Traore, former president of Mali and head of the African Union Observer mission, acknowledged irregularities marred the election, but said it was peaceful and fair.

Deby and his ruling party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, came to power after ousting President Hissene Habre in a 1990 coup. Deby, an ex-army commander, has since then resoundingly won the first round in presidential elections, except the first multi party election in 1996. Deby changed the constitution in 2004, eliminating its two term limit on presidential tenure.

Thirteen candidates, including Deby, competed in this year's election.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz continued Saturday to erode front-runner Donald Trump's lead in the Republican presidential campaign, taking all 14 delegates at stake at the Wyoming state party's convention in Casper.

Cruz also was Wyoming's top candidate at the county conventions last month, when he took nine of the 12 available delegates.

Cruz's sweep Saturday represented a relatively small number of delegates, but the win helped the senator keep up his momentum aimed at denying Trump the ability to secure the nomination before the party's national convention.

A count by the Associated Press showed Cruz with 559 delegates and Trump with 742. It will take 1,237 delegates to secure the presidential nomination.

Wyoming's contest Saturday was the kind of party-run nominating contest that Trump has bitterly complained about in recent days. The New York businessman has struggled to compete in such contests, where political organizing and connections with party activists are keys to winning delegates.

Trump has performed better in contests decided at the ballot box, instead of caucus-style events run by party insiders with sometimes complex rules.

Republican Party leaders have brushed off Trump's contention that some contests are unfair, saying that the rules governing the events were decided months ago. They've blamed his poor performance on poor organization by his campaign.

Cruz attended the state convention in Casper. Trump spent the day campaigning in New York, which hosts the next primary on Tuesday.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has announced a plan to allow local residents to vote in November on whether the nations capital should try to become the countrys 51st state.

Speaking at a breakfast Friday to commemorate the end of slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862, Bowser said the ballot initiative would send a bold message to the Congress and the rest of the country that we demand not only a vote in the House of Representatives. We demand two senators  the full rights of citizenship in this great nation.

The district is now represented in Congress only by a single, nonvoting delegate in the House of Representatives; the current officeholder is Eleanor Holmes Norton. Territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have similar representation in Congress, but their residents do not pay federal income taxes, as D.C. residents do.

The situation has given rise to use of the "Taxation without representation" slogan that is embossed on city vehicle license plates  including the limousine of President Barack Obama.

District residents would most likely approve the ballot initiative Bowser is seeking. A Washington Post poll from November showed that about 70 percent of district residents support statehood, and the idea has also has received some high-profile support from both sides of the political aisle.

Obama has publicly expressed support for statehood, and front-running Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said in August that he favored whatevers best for D.C. residents, including statehood.

No power to change

But despite the idea's popularity among residents and political figures, the initiative would carry no legal power to change D.C.s status. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the sole power to admit new states into the union. The Constitution also expressly establishes the district as the seat of government and gives Congress exclusive power over it.

That means the D.C. ballot initiative appears to be largely an exercise in gauging district residents support for the idea; it cannot force Congress to consider statehood.

A spokesman for Bowser did not return several requests for comment about the initiative.

The effort to become the 51st state must be fertilized on a continuing basis to have a fair chance of succeeding, Norton said in a statement. The effort should be judged not by whether it achieves statehood, but whether it brings much-needed energy to our push to become the 51st state.

Norton has introduced legislation in the House several times that would transform D.C. into a state called New Columbia, most recently in January 2015. That bill has been languishing in the House Rules Committee since it was introduced.

The call for statehood may further inflame tensions between Democrat Bowsers municipal government and the Republican-controlled Congress that has final say over all laws passed in D.C.

Bowser is already battling with Congress over the citys budget, which, for the first time this year, will be enacted without going through the congressional appropriations process.

In March, a D.C. Superior Court judge ruled that the district doesnt have to wait for congressional approval to start spending local dollars. Prior to the ruling, the city had to wait for approval before it could spend its money.
In New York City, opinions on the U.S. presidential candidates are as diverse as the city itself.

Some New Yorkers are pro-Donald Trump, like Jane Jimenez. I think hes a good businessman and I think, financially, we need someone with that type of experience, she said.

New Yorker Sharon Simpkins on the other hand, is not a big fan. Trump? Forget it. Were not gonna talk about him, she said.

But at a rally this past Wednesday in Washington Square Park, there was no mistaking who brought everyone out. A reported crowd of 27,000 showed up to support Bernie Sanders, brandishing homemade signs and proudly sporting Bernie 2016 stickers. Among the crowd were many young, first-time voters like New York University student Azza Awad.

Sense of history

I wanted to be a part of history. Its my first time voting ... and being in the flesh will make this more surreal, the whole voting process, said Awad. As a young Muslim, Awad also felt Sanders was more tolerant than other candidates. He makes me feel like an American, and thats, like, the best thing that you can feel, especially during these times.

He doesnt want to profile us like some of the other candidates do, Awad added.

Another NYU student, Rose Fitzmaurice, said she felt she needed to attend: I think that its really important to show that theres a lot of support for him physically, because I dont think its really being shown in the media right now.

Framed by the historic Washington Square Arch, rock bands Vampire Weekend and the Dirty Projectors performed to an energized crowd. Young supporters were eager to explain why Bernie Sanders was their pick for president.

"Hes had a really consistent message, starting back from when he was part of the civil rights movement," said NYU freshman Stephanie Hauck.

For Nitza Epifanio, who attends John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the rising cost of college tuition was another reason to support Sanders. Bernies fighting for us to get a free education, but of good value. And I think that will not also affect me, but also future generations that will be going off to college, said Epifanio.

Other attendees came out in the hopes of being persuaded to vote one way or the other.

No decision yet

Student Katie Ho was undecided between Hillary Clinton and Sanders. "I'm in between. I've always really liked Hillary Clinton because shes a powerful woman and thats what our country needs. But I also really do like Bernie and what he stands for."

Out on the streets, other young voters raised more specific concerns. Maxine Armstrong was excited to be voting for the first time and wanted a candidate sensitive to the needs of the LGBT community.

"I think trans, especially trans black women, are dealing with a lot of discrimination," noted Armstrong. Bernie has spoken about the trans community and the LGBT community and I havent heard anything from Hillary.

New Yorker Jennifer Jones wanted more specifics on employment opportunities for minorities. "Hillary Clinton talks about equal pay for the same job and things like that, but most minorities, many of us just want a good job," she said.

While their issues may vary, these voters can all agree that participating in the electoral process is vital.

NYU student Melissa Bruno-Piverger emphasized, Whoever youre voting for, just vote. Because voter turnout is horrible in the U.S. So honestly, if youre Republican, you want to vote Trump, fine. Just vote.
Fresh clashes are being reported between government and opposition forces in South Sudan, just ahead of the expected arrival of former rebel leader Riek Machar in Juba.

A spokesman for the SPLA-In-Opposition (SPLA IO) said government forces attacked its bases in Unity states Rubkona County. The government acknowledged that fighting took place but blamed the rebels for the clashes.

SPLA IO deputy spokesman Major Dickson Gatluak said government troops attacked the rebel-held area Wednesday and Thursday.

"The government has launched offenses in our defensive position in Rubkona County in a certain area called Turkei," Gatluak said. "They also attacked our defense position in Waak and several areas around the northern part of Unity state."

Gatluak said the government and its allied militias had repeatedly violated the cease-fire stipulated in the August peace agreement.

Army spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang acknowledged the two sides exchanged fire, but said the government was performing what he called its "usual role" of protecting people and their property.

"Some elements from [SPLA] IO went to loot some cattle from a nearby cattle camp at a place called Wicok," he said. "They attacked some cattle owners and they stole some cattle. What we did was respond to the threat. ... We went to the defense of the civilians. That is how it all started."

Koang alleged that rebels stole an unknown number of cattle from the area.

Both Koang and Gatluak said both sides suffered losses, but neither disclosed the number of causalities.

Land-grabbing accusations

Gatluak said government forces were simply trying to grab more land before the peace deal is implemented.

"They are trying to push out our forces from the assembling points, which is unacceptable," he said. "But our forces managed to repulse them back from Wancien where they came from, and also the reinforcement that came out from Bentiu town  we also managed to repulse them back. We really condemn this, because this is one of the stumbling blocks towards the implementation of peace."

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission has reported violations of the permanent cease-fire by both sides since the peace agreement was signed by the leaders of both sides in August 2015.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war. War erupted anew in December 2013, however, after President Salva Kiirs dismissal of his then-deputy, Machar.

Machar, the first vice president-designate, fled South Sudan after being accused by Kiir of plotting a coup. He is due to arrive in the capital, Juba, on Monday.
Ethnic Armenians fleeing Syria are finding safe routes to their ancestral homeland where they are welcomed, resettled and provided citizenship in a few months.



Their journey is in sharp contrast to the plight of millions of other Syrian refugees who endure difficulties being resettled in foreign lands after perilous journeys, mainly to Greece and Turkey.



Armenia is home to all people of Armenian background, said civic activist Ara Sisserian, who lives in Armenian capital Yerevan and advocates for newcomers from Syria. Those Armenians coming from Syria come here because they consider this as their motherland.



Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, more than 17,000 Syrian citizens of Armenian background have arrived in Armenia. More than 80 percent have remained and found protection in Armenia, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR).





The numbers are minuscule when compared to the more than three million Syrians who fled abroad, analysts say, and that makes efforts to resettle them in Armenia more manageable.

90 Armenian churches destroyed

Christians of Armenian background have had a long history in Syria. Many families ancestors arrived in the country escaping persecution during the Ottoman Empire. They have lived in Raqqa, Hasaka and Aleppo for hundreds of years.



But as Syrias civil war unfolded, Armenians faced religious and social persecution, analysts say.



The Armenian population has dramatically dropped the Rev. Haroutioun Selimian, head of a relief organization for Syrian Armenians in Aleppo, told VOA. Their rights are being violated and their lives are at risk Ninety Armenian churches are completely or partially destroyed.





And in areas under control of the Islamic State, Armenians face increased peril.



With the rise of extremists, being a non-Muslim minority is the last thing you want to be in Syria now, Sisserian said.



IS militants have imposed a set of strict rules on Christians, forcing them to adhere to Muslim dress codes and to pay Jizya, an Islamic form of taxation designed for non-Muslims to live in Islamic territories.



IS has also confiscated their land and used them as human shields to deter international coalition and Syrian warplanes from hitting its positions in Raqqa and elsewhere.



Christians are the most vulnerable group in the country, said Hussam Issa, an activist with Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a group that monitors IS activities in the city.

Routes to freedom

Initially the first flow of refugees to Armenia came from the Syrian city of Aleppo, where nearly 40,000 ethnic Armenians lived, in late July and early August of 2012.



The primary route was the weekly direct flights between Aleppo and Yerevan, said Sarkis Balkhian, a board member of the U.S.-based Aleppo Compatriotic Charitable Organization.



After the shutdown of the Aleppo International Airport in 2013, leaving became more difficult.



Fleeing Syrian Armenians now take underground smuggling routes using taxies and trucks that other Syrian refugees use.



But they usually head to Lebanon rather than Turkey because of the embittered history between Armenia and Turkey.





Once in Lebanon, Syrian Armenians connect to a social group set up by Armenia groups and funded by donations from the Armenian diaspora in Europe and the U.S.



Contrary to advice from our local Armenian leaders asking us to stay, my husband and I lost our patience and fled Aleppo in late December, said Adriana Aessianians, a Syrian Armenian refugee from Aleppo who recently settled in Yerevan.



We drove our car all the way to the border. With the help of an Armenian underground escape network, we managed to cross the border. After spending almost three months in Lebanon, we flew to Armenia, she told VOA.



Now she said she feels safe away from IS fighters who were approaching her neighborhood when she fled. Aessianians and her husband have applied for Armenian citizenship and they are expecting to get it within months.



The United Nations is seeking more money to help the refugees, saying $6.4 million is needed for resettlement efforts.



Despite the recent outbreak in violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh  the worst since 1994  Syrian Armenians have little pause as to whether they should flee Syria, activists say.



For them, Armenia is still better than Syria and other countries with conflicts, Sisserian said.
A key official of the International Monetary Fund is urging China to continue the sometimes difficult effort to reform its huge and growing economy by making it easier to change the ownership and management of failing companies and by making bank loans and currency exchange more market-oriented.

At a discussion with Chinese financial and business leaders, David Lipton said China needs to support economic areas that are likely to grow, and be careful not to prop up sectors that have excess capacity.

Speaking Saturday in Washington at a global gathering of IMF and World Bank members and officials, he said policies that boost household spending would be good for the Chinese economy, and for the economic health of its trading partners.

Chengyu Fu, who headed two large Chinese oil companies, said he had seen some encouraging signs that excess capacity in the petroleum and coal areas was diminishing. But he said he wasn't certain the trend would continue and added that the transition to a leaner workforce could take three to five years.

Fu said China must retrain large numbers of workers who have outdated skills, while some Chinese companies also face the costs associated with huge numbers of retired employees.

News reports have said China's banks face a large number of loans that are not likely to be repaid. Huang Haizhou, managing director of China International Capital Corporation, said China has a high savings rate and is a net exporter of capital.

He said the large pool of savings would ease problems with bad loans, and that nonperforming loans were concentrated in state-owned enterprises. He said other sectors were doing better.

Also speaking Saturday in Washington, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Chinas economic transformation was one of the most important global economic challenges.

He urged China to strengthen its social safety net, cut overcapacity and open key sectors to competition. Lew said there were challenges, but China has the tools to build a more sustainable economy based on consumer demand in that nation.
Iran's foreign minister said Saturday that Washington should do more to remove obstacles to the Islamic Republic's ability to do business with non-U.S. banks.

Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran's goal in nuclear talks was to gain access to the global financial system.

While Washington and the European Union ended the sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program, U.S. banks are still blocked for Iranian businesses, and some U.S. sanctions aimed at alleged Iranian sponsorship of terrorism remain in place. That makes European banks reluctant to do business with Tehran for fear of legal problems stemming from the remaining U.S. sanctions.

Zarif spoke at a news briefing in Tehran after meeting with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini.
Malian security forces have made some 2,000 arrests since November, when a state of emergency was introduced after an al-Qaida attack on a luxury hotel, the West African nation's security minister told Reuters on Friday.

Some 700 searches have been conducted and around 50 weapons seized, said Colonel Major Salif Traore. He did not say how many of those arrested were eventually imprisoned.

"We are the police," Trafore said. "We arrest people. We detain them 48 to 72 hours. And after, we send them before a judge who decides what happens next."

Gunmen from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the group's North African affiliate, killed 20 people when they stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, on Nov. 20. Mali's parliament voted Thursday to prolong the ensuring emergency measures another three months.

France led a military intervention in 2013 that drove back militants who had seized Mali's desert north a year earlier.

However, Islamist violence is mounting again in West Africa, with militants striking ever further afield.

The attack on the Radisson Blu was followed in January by an assault on a cafe and hotel frequented by foreigners in neighboring Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou. Dozens were killed. And last month, al-Qaida fighters struck the Ivory Coast beach resort town of Grand Bassam.
Fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops has increased sharply in eastern Ukraine in defiance of calls to observe a year-old peace agreement, the head of an international monitoring mission said Friday.

The February 2015 Minsk cease-fire deal failed to completely halt the conflict that is now in its third year. Both sides accuse the other of violating the terms of the truce  which includes a pullback of heavy weapons  and casualties among soldiers or civilians are reported almost daily.

"We have been registering with great concern the deterioration of the situation in the east for months now," said Ertugrul Apakan, chief monitor of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's monitoring mission to Ukraine.

"It is regrettable that the sides did not heed our many calls for restraint," he said in an emailed statement.

The continued fighting has helped sap public confidence in Ukraine's Western-backed leadership, which underwent its biggest reshuffle since December 2014 this week with the appointment of a new prime minister and cabinet.

Twenty Ukrainian soldiers were reported killed in March  the army's highest monthly death toll since August, while seven have been killed so far in April, according to Reuters calculations based on military data.

In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian positions on the front line experienced the heaviest attack from mortar and light weapons since Aug. 27, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in daily televised briefing.

The government-held town of Avdiyivka, north of rebel-controlled Donetsk, was the focus of the majority of the attacks, he said.

Over 9,000 people have been killed since fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels seeking independence from Kyiv erupted in April 2014.

Kyiv accuses Russia of seeking to destabilize Ukraine for seeking closer ties with Europe by supporting the separatists with weapons and fighters  a charge the Kremlin denies.
Pakistans military announced Saturday it has taken control of an ongoing police-led security operation to evict gangsters from their island hideout in the countrys most populous province of Punjab.

Whatever resources required will be employed to accomplish the mission, said army spokesman Lieutenant-General Asim Bajwa.

The move came as police and paramilitary forces have been struggling for days to dislodge the so-called Chotoo" gang believed to be deeply entrenched in the 10-kilometer long island in the center of the Indus River.

The operation near the poverty-stricken district of Rajanpur has so far left six policemen dead and several others wounded. The gangsters are holding at least 24 personnel hostage, officials said.

Authorities blame the heavily armed criminal gang for hundreds of cases of kidnapping for ransom, robbery and murder in Punjab and the neighboring Sindh province.

Pakistani authorities identified the gang leader as Ghulam Rasool, commonly known as "Chotoo," who is alleged to have links to influential politicians.

Pakistani troops have for years conducted operations against militant strongholds in northwestern lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but this is the first time the military has been engaged in security operations in Punjab.

The Pakistan army has already carried out several targeted operations this year in the province against what it said were facilitators and financiers of militant groups that were operating in the tribal areas.
The visionary 87-year-old jazz pianist Cecil Taylor received a standing ovation as he walked slowly to the stage at the Whitney Museum of American Art, using a cane and holding his assistant's arm.



No one in the audience Thursday night knew quite what to expect from Taylor. This was only his fourth public performance in the past four years, the last a brief solo at the June 2015 funeral of Ornette Coleman, who along with Taylor revolutionized jazz by launching the free-jazz movement in the late 1950s.



But though frail in body, Taylor was strong in spirit. Once his hands touched the keyboard, he again displayed his orchestral approach and commanding virtuosity, with percussive flurries, sudden changes in loud-soft dynamics and dancer-like leaps across the octaves.



After the performance, Jason Moran, a leading contemporary jazz pianist who was in the audience, said he was impressed with just how much ferocity, integrity, pacing and care Taylor showed.



"With Cecil, it's like all of a sudden the years peel away,'' said Moran, who considers Taylor one of his main influences. "That's the elixir of the music. .. When musicians get really excited about an idea, it gives them that much energy.''



The performance opened an exhibition titled "Open Plan: Cecil Taylor,'' running until April 24.



Taylor performed with two long-time collaborators, Britain's Tony Oxley on electronics rather than his usual drum kit and Japanese modern dancer Min Tanaka.



The energy from Taylor's piano flowed to Tanaka who moved around the room, shifting from graceful slow-motion movements to frenetic gestures in response to the music. As the music subsided, he waved his arms around Taylor before settling into repose.



It was an appropriate opening for an exhibition celebrating not only Taylor's music, but also his deep connection to dance, poetry and other art forms.



"I want people to understand why this person who is truly a maverick is an utterly important 20th-century artist,'' said the Whitney's Jay Sanders, who co-curated the exhibit with Lawrence Kumpf, artistic director of the Brooklyn-based Issue Project Room. "We want to bring his past forward in the present.''



Though Taylor eschews revisiting his past, the exhibition includes audio and video listening stations, offering music dating back to his 1956 debut album "Jazz Advance.''



On display are album covers and concert posters, scores with his personalized notation system, and hand-written pages from journals of unpublished poems.



The scheduled events include performances by past Taylor collaborators and film screenings.



The curators hope the Whitney experience will encourage Taylor to perform. The pianist went through a rough patch when his one-time friend and contractor was sentenced to prison for stealing most of the $500,000 he received by winning the prestigious Kyoto Prize in 2013.



Taylor, who has a long association with the Whitney, has been coming to the museum's new building several times a month to practice on a baby grand piano in the private trustee room.



It's not known whether Taylor will play again during the exhibition, but he did give an unannounced performance Thursday night after the trio's set with an octet he called The New Unit, including spoken word artist Jane Grenier Balgochian and saxophonists Harri Sjostrom, Elliott Levin and Bobby Zankel.



With a broad smile on his face, Taylor percussively slapped his hands on the piano as the music built to a cacophonous, free-form climax before settling down with Taylor standing up to incant his own verse.

He closed a triumphant comeback with a quiet "Thank you'' to the audience.
Conservative and independent protesters channeling themes from the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders dumped faux contributions into Boston Harbor on Friday, one of some 30 demonstrations planned across the country against big money in politics.

In Washington, about a dozen members of a more liberal group called Democracy Spring cuffed themselves inside the Capitol rotunda in a protest of the influence of special interests in U.S. politics and to denounce laws making it more difficult to vote.

The Democracy Spring demonstration followed the arrest of hundreds at events all week including a sit-in protest on the steps of the Capitol, the seat of the U.S. Congress.

Both the weeklong protests in Washington and Friday's nationwide demonstrations led by the activist group Represent.Us have tapped into some of the voter frustration seen on the presidential campaign trail.

"From super PACs [political action committees] to lucrative job offers and campaign contributions, there are tons of perfectly legal ways to bribe a politician," said Charlotte Hill, communications director for Represent.Us.

The group, which has promoted anti-corruption resolutions in American cities, says it neither endorses nor opposes any presidential candidate. Represent.Us said it would stage events in 33 cities.

Trump, a billionaire Republican, and Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist running for the Democratic nomination, have both denounced the influence of large campaign contributions in their surprising runs for the White House.

"Our message is it doesn't matter if you're conservative or progressive. Two hundred and forty-three years after the original Boston Tea Party, Americans of all political stripes are still facing taxation without political representation," said Dan Krassner, political director of Represent.Us.

About 40 activists attended the symbolic re-staging of the Boston Tea Party near the spot where American colonists dumped tea into the harbor to protest taxes levied by the British.

Represent.Us activists tossed a stack of wooden crates into the water, representing campaign contributions.

"We've got to get the money out of the system. Our country's going to be run by global corporate wealth," said Richard Painter, an activist with Take Back Our Republic, a group promoting campaign finance reform.

In Washington on Friday, Democracy Spring activists cuffed themselves to scaffolding in the Capitol rotunda. A video provided by the group ended when Capitol Police advised them they would be arrested because demonstrations inside the Capitol are prohibited.

"We the people demand a democracy free from the corruption influence of big money and voter suppression," the protesters said in unison. "We demand a democracy where every vote is counted and every voice is heard."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that the world's current refugee crisis, with more than 70 million displaced people, has become "totally unmanageable" and "uncontrollable."

Speaking at the World Bank headquarters in Washington at a panel discussion on the refugee situation, Ban called for political solidarity as the world faces the "biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time."

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told the panel that development solutions for countries facing refugee problems must come just as quickly as humanitarian help.

"We can no longer wait for the humanitarian experts to do their work while we enter later at some point with our long-term solutions after months or sometimes after years. We know we can no longer wait as countries implode and say, Well, this is not our job, " he said.

Kim said the World Bank is working on a plan to loan money at zero percent interest to groups that will hire refugees.

"So how do you solve this problem of so many refugees who don't have livelihoods, who don't have income, and at the same time not just simply burden a country like Jordan with debt?" Kim asked.

The panel also featured leaders from Lebanon and Jordan  two of the countries most affected by the Syrian civil war.

10 South Carolinas

Queen Rania of Jordan said one out of every seven people in her country is a Syrian refugee.

"To put that in context, if the United States received an equivalent influx, it will mean accommodating 50 million refugees. Think about that, 50 million. That's almost 2 more Floridas, five Ohios, 10 South Carolinas," she said.

Queen Rania said the refugee crisis was a global one, adding, "We are deluding ourselves if we think it can be contained. We know all too well in our interconnected world a crisis in one place is a crisis in all places."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker said the crisis is testing the values and will of the European Union.

"It is reminding us that solidarity is not only a moral virtue, but an essential part of the European Union," he said.

Migration is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, and Europe "will be defined by how we respond," Junker said.
Nine Yemen nationals have been transferred to Saudi Arabia from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the Obama administration pushes to close the controversial facility despite strong opposition from congressional Republicans.

Television footage late Saturday showed the detainees, captured in the U.S.-led war on terror, arriving in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where they underwent medical exams and where a top Yemen official awaited their arrival. Several detainees thanked the Saudi government for taking them in.

"We are looking to carry out a genuine program that gives them hope and a window into the future ... part of this society, one that is based on peace," said Yemen Human Rights Minister Ezzeldin Al-Abahi.

The transfer, announced by the Pentagon earlier Saturday in Washington, came just weeks after President Barack Obama announced an accelerated plan to try to shutter the prison before he leaves office in January 2017. It also came days ahead of Obama's scheduled arrival in the Saudi capital for a summit of the six-nation security and economic forum known as the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The transfer followed extended negotiations with Saudi officials, who eventually agreed to take in the detainees and put them through a government-run rehabilitation program that seeks to reintegrate militants into society.

The Obama administration has ruled out sending Yemenis to their homeland because it is engulfed in civil war and has an active branch of al-Qaida.

Hunger-striking inmate

Saturday's transferred prisoners included Tariq Ba Odah, a hunger-striking inmate whom the U.S. military began force-feeding in 2007.

At its peak, Guantanamo housed as many as 780 inmates. With the latest transfers, the Pentagon said the prison population now stands at 80. The remaining prisoners include 26 detainees already cleared for release in the coming months by a U.S. government interagency task force.

Obama is seeking to make good on a 2008 campaign promise to close the facility, a vow that has met stiff opposition from Republicans both inside and outside the government. Republican 2016 presidential hopefuls have vowed to send more terror suspects to the facility rather than close it.

Guantanamo is a U.S. naval base on the southeastern Cuban coast that former President George W. Bush designated as a prison for enemy combatants just months after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The designation classified the detainees as unlawful combatants, who were not afforded legal protections under the Geneva Conventions.

Since then, the inmates' legal status has been challenged in numerous court cases.
French President Francois Hollande arrives in Egypt Sunday for a visit intended to shore up security cooperation and produce lucrative weapons deals despite sharp criticism by rights groups.

Hollandes Cairo leg is part of a four-day trip to the Middle East that began Saturday in Lebanon and ends Tuesday in Jordan. There, he will address shared concerns with Arab allies, ranging from terrorism and instability in Iraq, Syria and Libya, to the refugee crisis and the long-simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Monday, Hollande and Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi will oversee the signing of arms agreements worth roughly $1.1 billion, including Egypts purchase of a French military satellite communications system, according to Frances La Tribune website.

Arm sales



The acquisitions add to a string of high-profile French weapons sales in recent months, including multi-billion-dollar deals in which Egypt and Qatar will each buy 24 French Rafale fighter jets. Paris is in discussions to complete another Rafale agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

The weapons sales underscore Frances new role as top weapons supplier to Egypt, edging out the United States and bringing in needed revenue, says Paris-based Defense News correspondent Pierre Tran.

It also sends a message to the United States, which suspended military aid to Egypt in 2013 following the ouster of former leader Mohamed Morsi. While Washington lifted the freeze last year, Egypt has diversified its arms suppliers. Washingtons role in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was another strike against it.

Theyre thumbing their nose at the U.S., which has disappointed Arab nations specifically because of the agreement with Iran, Tran said.

By contrast, Paris scored points with its hard-line stance during the Iran nuclear talks, he added. The payback partly came with Hollandes invitation to become the first Western leader to attend the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council summit last May.

He was there while the U.S. was not, Tran said.

France and Egypt may also sign a deal Monday for Cairos purchase of four French warships, La Tribune reports. Once again, Irans growing regional clout is a driving force.

Its all about Iran, Tran said. The Gulf is why Egypt wants warships  to patrol and control the security of the Gulf where all the trade flow happens.

Rafale sales



The Rafale sales, however, also reflect shared concern about the growing regional threat posed by the Islamic State militant group, he added.

Hollandes visit to Egypt comes amid growing international criticism over Cairos deteriorating human rights record since Sissi took power in 2013. Earlier this month, Italy recalled its ambassador to Egypt, accusing Egyptian authorities of failing to fully cooperate in a joint investigation into the death of an Italian student whose battered body was found in February next to a Cairo-area highway.

In an open letter published in the Le Monde newspaper on Friday, five prominent rights groups urged Hollande to press Sissi to abandon a crackdown against Egyptian nongovernmental groups, and to demand answers on the 2013 death of Frenchman Eric Lang while in Egyptian police custody.

They also called on Hollande to ensure Egyptian authorities will not use weapons purchased from France for internal repression.

France will bear a heavy responsibility if it abstains for bringing up these points in discussions with Sissi, warned the groups, which included Amnesty International France, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights.

On Lang, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that Paris is mobilized so all light is shone on this tragedy.

A New York Times editorial this week sharply criticized Western countries that trade with and arm Egypt for failing to speak out against the countrys human rights abuses.

Noting Hollandes upcoming visit, it added, there has been a shameful silence from France.
Zambias ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party has dismissed a political report by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), published by the British-based magazine The Economist, predicting that main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development, (UPND) will win the August 11 presidential election.

In its analysis, the Economic Intelligence Unit said recent defections from the ruling PF party to the UPND, coupled with the endorsement of Hichilema by former vice president Guy Scott, a leading member of the PF, boosts the chances of the opposition leader to defeat incumbent President Edgar Lungu in the August presidential poll.

Frank Bwalya, deputy spokesman for the PF party said Zambians are solidly behind Lungu and the governing party after rejecting the electoral prediction as not a true reflection of issues on the ground.

Predicting results



He said the PF party is only interested in knowing what the EIU says about Zambia in the run up to the election. Bwalya said the EIU has often wrongly predicted several Zambian elections, which he said undermines the prediction of the opposition leaders alleged victory in the upcoming vote.

Bwalya also dismissed suggestions in the report indicating that the endorsement by Guy Scott will help the opposition leader to win the presidential vote. He said reports of defections of hundreds of supporters from the governing PF party are misleading and inaccurate.

Zambians dont read the Economist Intelligence Unit report for a simple reason that they repeat what Zambians already know through their own local economists and other social commentators. So that Economist Intelligence Unit never comes up with anything new, said Bwalya.

Dr. Guy Scott has never been a politician who is self-made. His popularity in the country was as a result of sitting at the feet of one of the most intelligent, shrewd and accomplished politicians in our country in the name of the late Michael Sata Now that he has betrayed the vision, the legacy of his friend, Zambians have no respect for Guy Scott.

Economic situation



But supporters of the UPND said the governing PF party appears to be in a panic mode following the release of the EIU report on the election. They said the report is proof that the ruling party has failed to keep its promises to improve the living conditions of the people. They also said the EIU report gives their presidential candidate momentum to win the presidential vote despite the alleged power of incumbency.

PF party deputy spokesman Bwalya disagreed.

It will not give them momentum, but of course they would be [deceived] by that, said Bwalya. Momentum does not come because somebody says you are going to win. In politics, momentum comes because you are gaining more numbers, you are becoming more appealing to the public or the voter and thats how momentum comes. And these guys are not appealing to the voters. And this is why most of the people who are working with them from PF are actually saying they are not UPND they are just working with UPND.
Villagers in Masvingo province say the politicization of the land reform program has resulted in the implementation of a scheme that favours supporters of President Robert Mugabes ruling Zanu PF party.

The villagers are unhappy over the manner in which the land redistribution exercise was conducted. Among the dismayed local people is Timothy Mambava of Bikita district, who says it is worrying that the land question remains unresolved almost 36 years after the country attained independence from British rule.

Personally I am not content with the land issue. The land redistribution was politicized and those who were supposed to benefit did not benefit. If you were not coming from a certain political party you could not benefit and those who benefited are politicians who are underutilizing the land.

"The intended beneficiary the ordinary man got nothing ... are still stashed in small pieces of land in the villages.

Another villager, Onisimo Guvava, from Dzoro communal lands in Zaka, says he is also disappointed about how the land issue is being handled by the government.

I cannot actually say the land issue has been resolved. Those who went to war wanted to get back their land and redistribute it everyone but if you look at it only Ministers, MP and government officials used their political muscles.

Critics have over the years claimed that some state and ruling party officials grabbed several farms while ordinary Zimbabweans were left out of the agrarian reforms, which started in 2000.

Like most Zimbabweans, Gutu villager Samuel Tutsirai says there should be a land audit to determine the current land distribution pattern in the country.

I think those politicians who own more than one farm would be audited and give back some farms. The farms should then be given to those peasants who have nothing so that they become commercial farmers and have a source of income to fend for their families.

Villager Netsai Kurai adds that women and youth were left out of the land reforms, making it a lop-sided scheme.

  36 years youths have not benefited from the land exercise and also women have been sidelined. So the issue of land still needs to be addressed and land distributed to women and youths. The

exercise should be fair to all age groups and sex.

Lands Minister Douglas Mombeshora could not be drawn to comment about the land reforms as he was not reachable.
Super pals. Photo: Monica Schipper/2016 Getty Images

You know how theres always that person who says the thing thats on everybodys mind? Ten times out of ten, that person ends up being Chris Rock. At the Tribeca Film Festival this week, Rock talked with J.J. Abrams about the challenges of directing franchises films, and he did not hold back. Did you see that Superman Batman shit? He asked the Star Wars director. What the fuck was that? I cant say anything, they werent going to cast me anyway.

Rock continued with a deep dive into the logic of the Superman/Batman fight, something many have tried and failed to piece apart. Superman cant fight a guy that drives a car! Rock pointed out. He gets a flat. Like hes going to fight Superman. Needs AAA, but yeah, he can fight Superman. Hes got jumper cables, and hes going to fight Superman. Someone should probably have brought in Rock  or anyone, really  to consult on the film.

Still, Rock has faith in Abrams, and he asked the director if he could tackle the Fantastic Four, his favorite comic book movie. Could you direct the Fantastic Four? Rock asked. I love the Fantastic Four and they keep fucking it up! Like, God damn it. Its the Fantastic Four. Get in there with Denzel, man, Abrams joked. And you do it. To that, Rock said he was too old to direct a film like that. Too bad.

So in a mire of confusing superhero adaptations decidedly not endorsed by Chris Rock, what should you watch? Go see that Disney animated movie, Rock told the crowd. They dont let you down. You heard the man. Go forth and indulge in less confusing cinematic endeavors.
Cyndi Lauper, whose nonprofit the True Colors Fund fights to eradicate homelessness among LGBTQ youth, announced on her website that she will be donating all of the profits from her June 4 concert in Raleigh to Equality North Carolinas efforts to help repeal HB2. In the last few weeks, a host of musicians have announced various forms of protest and activism to rectify the anti-trans law. Lauper writes:

I have seen time and time again what can happen when people join together to do what is fair and the effort to repeal HB2 is the right and fair thing to do. I am hopeful that all of the current efforts to repeal HB2 will be successful and the True Colors Fund and I will continue to do all that we can to help. In that vein, the best way I know how to make a difference is what I have strived to do my whole life and that is show up for my family, friends, and fans in the LGBT community. So, for that reason I think the best way I can do my part is to turn my show in Raleigh on June 4th into an entire day to build public support to repeal HB2.

I will be donating all of the profits from the show to Equality North Carolinas efforts to repeal HB2 and I am proud of my manager and agent for joining me in this effort by donating their commissions from the show to this vital effort. I look forward to coming to North Carolina and standing up for equality and fairness. If we truly want an inclusive society, we all have to include ourselves in the effort to make that happen. This is the best way I know how to include myself and urge you to join me in the best way you know how.
Photo: Pool/Getty Images

Nicki Minaj, Ludacris, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Chance the Rapper, Alicia Keys, J. Cole, and other famous rappers sat down with Obama and some of his advisers to discuss criminal justice reform and the My Brothers Keeper Initiative, the AP reports. Just leaving the White House  I never got to go on my elementary school field trip there, Pusha T tweeted Friday. Thanx for the invite @POTUS. Minaj has been outspoken about her support for Obamas criminal justice initiative, saying its close to her heart:

Obamas anaconda dont want none unless you reform the justice system, hun.
A Waco man who befriended his neighbors and then abused their daughter for five years was sentenced to 55 years in prison Friday and fined a total of $40,000.

Jurors in Wacos 54th State District Court deliberated about two hours Friday before determining punishment for Sean Jeffrey Foster, who previously rejected a 20-year plea offer from prosecutors.

Jurors recommended sentences of 30 years in prison after convicting the 55-year-old swimming pool company owner on Thursday of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit indecency with a child. Jurors also returned three 15-year sentences on indecency with a child by contact charges and a 10-year term after convicting him of indecency with a child by exposure.

By statute, the burglary charge must run concurrently with the other counts. But Judge Matt Johnson ordered Foster to serve the remaining counts consecutively, meaning he stacked the four counts for a total of 55 years in prison.

Foster, who showed no emotion as the verdicts were read, must serve at least 271/2 years in prison before he can seek parole.

He was convicting of fondling his neighbors daughter beginning when she was 9 and pulling back a shower curtain at least twice to see her naked.

Prosecutors Evan ODonnell and Hilary LaBorde abandoned a sixth count at the close of evidence that charged a second count of indecency by exposure.

Fosters mother, Dorien Hammann, of Wisconsin, wept quietly in the arms of her husband and spoke out angrily in court after the trial was over.

Fosters victim, who is now 16, her mother and father gave emotional victim-impact statements spiked with anger, with both the girl and her father ending their statements by telling Foster to go to hell.

I hope there is a special place in hell for people like you, Sean, the father said. And I hope you suffer there for the rest of your life.

I hope you feel what I felt, the girl said, noting that Foster was not looking at her. You know what you did. We both know what you did. Now you are going away for a long time. I hope while you are in there you remember who put you away. It was me, the little girl you abused.

The girls mother said the ordeal has been nightmarish for her family, causing her to question her maternal instincts for missing that this horrible person who pretended to be our friend was molesting my daughter.

Her father, a former Marine who caught Foster pulling back the shower curtain in an attempt to see his daughter in June 2014, said he never before has thought that the world would be a better place if someone had not been born. But he does now.

I loathe you with every fiber of my being, he said.

The girl and her family testified that Foster, a Wisconsin native, became a close friend to the family after they moved from Wisconsin and were adjusting to their new surroundings. They lived across the street from Foster for about four years and even called him Uncle Sean before the family moved to Lorena.

The girl told jurors that Foster grabbed her buttocks and breasts on almost every occasion that they were alone together beginning when she was 9.

She finally told her mother and a friend about the abuse when she was 14 after Foster, who gave the girl a job with his company, became more aggressive and said he wanted to have sex with her, she said.

Fosters attorney, Cody Cleveland, declined comment after trial.
Big sounds are coming to Hewitt this week when The United States Air Force Airmen of Note perform a broad repertoire of jazz pieces that span the decades.

The 19-piece premier military jazz ensemble will perform a free concert at the Midway Independent School District Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Friday. The bands Waco concert is a stop on a tour through Texas and Louisiana that includes Denton, Dallas and San Marcos, among others. The tour will end in New Orleans.

Fridays show is free, but tickets are required and can be reserved at the Midway Fine Arts web page. The concert is expected to last about an hour and a half.

Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Burns, who plays trumpet, said the Airmen of Note perform big band dance music from the 1930s but include a hefty selection of pieces written by members of the ensemble, giving the band its own jazz sound.

Most of our show is written by our own folks, Burns said.

He said its been years since the group has been able to make a stop in Waco during a Texas tour, and the members are excited to visit again. Burns said they love honoring veterans when they play and look forward to meeting any retired service men and women during this trip.

Its been a long time since weve been directly in that area, he said.

Playing for the Airmen of Note is a unique military posting because its a permanent position within the Air Force, Burns said.

The musicians go through a rigorous audition process where applicants send in a recording, and if selected, come in to play with the band. Applicants often solo as well as play with the ensemble.

The need is someone who can play at the top professional level and can fit in with the group, Burns said.

Rare opening

Open spots are incredibly rare, he said, but in a recent opening for alto saxophone, they had more than 100 applications for the spot.

Midway High School Band Director Stephen Henry is thrilled to have the musicians visiting the district and has encouraged all of his students to attend.

To expose the kids and the community to such a high level of music is very exciting, Henry said.

In his 27 years of teaching, Henry said hes been able to see the Airmen of Note multiple times, and they are always incredible.

The community would really be very entertained by this group because theyre just fabulous, he said.

Its also a great opportunity for high school students to see different types of musical careers.

They get to see there is life in band beyond high school, Henry said.
As survivors of sexual assault begin to rebuild their lives, legal issues may arise that affect their safety, security, privacy and well-being. Coinciding with Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month in April, the Texas Access to Justice Foundation has announced Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault (LASSA), a new and vital network of services now available to survivors of sexual assault in Texas who qualify for legal aid.

In Texas, one in five women and one in 20 men have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime, according to the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. More than 90 percent of Texans who have been sexually assaulted did not report to law enforcement.

Survivors now have access to a statewide toll-free number [1-844-303-7233 (SAFE)] to call for representation and referral to nine legal aid organizations who are partnering with domestic violence and rape crisis centers across Texas for community outreach, education and referrals. This is the first statewide, collaborative effort to ensure critical civil legal services for survivors are available from anywhere in Texas.

Representation by legal aid programs, which have done an admirable job advocating for survivors in the domestic violence arena, has not been widely available for sexual assault survivors in Texas. Services delivered to sexual assault survivors in this manner are an emerging trend based on increased awareness and knowledge of the devastating effects of sexual assault on the whole of the victim. This level of trauma can be debilitating without trauma-informed, client-centered responses to every aspect of the persons life. The civil legal challenges that arise are no different.

Last year, Texas legal aid programs helped more than 18,000 survivors of domestic violence obtain access to the justice system for civil legal problems. Unfortunately, many of these Texans are also victims of sexual abuse. The legal help provided to these survivors positively affected the lives of approximately 26,482 children and other family members who benefited from safe resolution of their issues. And still, more help is needed.

The LASSA initiative was made possible through $10 million in funding from the 84th session of the Texas Legislature for the 2015-2017 biennium, and the funds are distributed by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation to grantees across the state.

The LASSA Network intends to serve every Texas county, providing survivors of sexual assault with a wide range of free legal services, from general advice to holistic, direct representation in civil legal matters stemming from the sexual assault. Survivors legal problems can include privacy violations, physical safety threats, school accommodations, employment sanctions, financial problems and housing problems.

Each organization in the network has identified a niche for services. Some will be focusing on Title IX outreach, education, referrals and representation; some will be tackling the consequences of survivors of human trafficking. Others will focus on basic needs such as housing, employment and education issues that arise from the aftermath of trauma.

Legal aid services can help survivors of sexual abuse  including victims of human trafficking  achieve safety, security and stability. These Texans deserve access to justice and information to help them on their road to recovery. Help is one free and confidential phone call away at 1-844-303-7233 (SAFE). Please help spread the word.

Justice Eva Guzman has been a member of the Supreme Court of Texas since 2009 and is the courts liaison to the Texas Access to Justice Foundation and the Texas Access to Justice Commission.
Free market & Big Pharma

An ad published recently in the Waco Tribune-Herald implored us to call U.S. Rep. Bill Flores and oppose House Resolution 3061. The bill would allow Medicare (Part D) to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Shortly thereafter I received a four-page glossy flier by the same organization that ran the ad imploring me to contact the congressman for the same purpose.

My first thought was, Doesnt the government already do this? Researching the question, I learned that Congress currently prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices. In other words, the drug companies set the prices and they want to keep it that way. And HR 3061 would change that.

In reading the data (all minus citation) in the ad and the flier supporting their position, I recalled something I learned during my 27-year career in the U.S. Air Force: Figures lie and liars figure. And who is the American Action Network (AAN)? According to a number of sources easily accessible on the Internet such as Sourcewatch.org, AAN was created after the Supreme Courts decision to permit corporations to spend unlimited money influencing elections (Citizens United).

I learned  again from multiple online sources  that a major contributor to AAN is (tada!) Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). In other words, Big Pharma.

You can draw your own conclusions, but as for me, I did contact Bill Flores  not to encourage him to oppose the bill but rather to support it.

Doug Jackson, USAF (retired), Woodway

* * *

In the April 8 Trib, Congressman Bill Flores had a half-page ad against letting Medicare negotiate drug prices. Someone please inform me as to why this is a bad idea. To my understanding, health-care entities such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and others negotiate prices now. His ad states Part D spending (on pharmaceuticals) is nearly 50 percent lower than original projections for the years 2004-2013. If they negotiate, would it not be lower?

Why would this be a bad idea?

Allen Lyman, Speegleville

Congressman Flores responds: The American Action Network paid for the ad in question and our office had no involvement with it. The letters author has asked about my stance regarding Medicare Part D; so, I would like to let the constituents of the 17th Congressional District know the following:

Medicare Part D is one government program we can all agree is working better than forecast. When Part D was enacted in 2003, Congress aimed to leverage competition among prescription drug plans to offer beneficiaries choices that best fit their health and financial needs. As a result, the program has exceeded all expectations  94 percent of beneficiaries are satisfied with their coverage and Part D has come in 45 percent under its original budget.

Despite this success, there are some folks in Washington who are proposing the introduction of government price controls and interference into this highly successful program. Such interference threatens to undermine its free-market-based foundation. While Congress must continue to look at ways to address our debt and to strengthen and secure programs such as Medicare, proposals to add government control to Part D are not the solutions we should be looking toward. In a nutshell, government price controls for Part D coverage would lead to reduced patient access to critical life-saving drugs.

Hidden agenda?

Regarding the controversial proposal to redistribute students between Rapoport Academys two elementary campuses, I am curious if there is a hidden agenda. The East Elementary campus has recently failed to meet the states accountability standard, netting a Needs Improvement designation, while the North campus has consistently met standard and earned some designations of excellence.

Since after three years of Needs Improvement designations, a campus is assigned a Texas Education Agency monitor to suggest ways of improvement, could reapportioning students in this case be more about keeping the TEA wolves at bay than evening out curriculum? After all, the grades of the new East campus would not take STAAR tests and would therefore not earn the campus an individual accountability rating.

Furthermore, the scores of the third and fourth graders would be the average of the current two campuses scores, potentially earning the district marks just good enough to meet standard. It seems to me that Superintendent Alexis Neumann may be stealing a page from the Waco ISD playbook here, as the larger district has in the past combined campuses in order to avoid TEA monitors.

Nathan Wade, Hewitt

A peoples musician

Reading local attorney and former state lawmaker Jim Dunnams heartfelt April 7 column about David Zychek reminded me again how many peoples lives Zychek touched. He was an incredible guitar player, musician, song writer, sound tech and just all-around good guy.

I knew David for 40 years. Next month my wife Kyle and I will celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary. We had a big wedding on a farm that belonged to a good friend, Louis Duhr. David, Gary Boom Boom Pavleka and San Davis  The Groove Kings  played at our wedding. The music was loud and high energy and the wedding stuck. The atmosphere David created made everyone around him a better person.

He has done so many good things for so many people. He will be missed but never forgotten.

Don Blount, Waco

Nudity amok at Baylor?

I am here to address the issue of the Baylor University pep squad and cheerleaders and their penchant toward nudity again. Baylor is a Christian school and all should dress accordingly. In Jesus name, I hope Baylor leadership gets Gods message.

Lowell T. Adkins, Waco
Michael Dorf PresentsMichael Stipe was one of the many artists to honor the late David Bowie during the two star-studded tribute concerts held in New York City's Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall two weeks ago. The former R.E.M. frontman sang the Bowie classic "Ashes to Ashes" at both shows. In a note posted to R.E.M.'s website, Stipe reflects upon the performances and explains why he chose "Ashes to Ashes."

"For Carnegie in particular, I wanted the room to be the main instrument," Stipe writes. "Its reverberation and energy is profoundly weighted and airy all at once -- it can transform music into something holy -- so that informed our arrangement choices for 'Ashes to Ashes.'"

"Radio City Music Hall is a way different room, but equally resonant," he adds. "It was two stunning evenings, hearing songs that I grew up with, all contributors honoring the output of such an astonishing songwriter."

Days before the tribute shows, Stipe also performed Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" on The Tonight Show.

"In one week I got to interpret and perform two of my top 20 favorite songs of all time," Stipe says.

In other Bowie tribute news, The Flaming Lips, who also performed at both the Carnegie Hall and Radio City shows, have released a music video for their cover of "Space Oddity." The fittingly strange video is now streaming on YouTube.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit

Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools:

Portfolio Monitoring

Top Stock Lists

Premium Reports

Stock Screeners

Live News Feed

Premium Support

Free for your first month.
Beijing: It is not uncommon for China's state-owned media to editorialise around the visit of some foreign leader, but the sharp tone and particular timing of Thursday's China Daily article was uncommonly direct. Threatening even.

The message to an Australian Prime Minister arriving that very morning for his first official visit, was unmistakable: Be very careful. Opposing us on the South China Sea will put the lucrative Australia-China economic relationship in peril. Through its obedient press, Beijing was making a public play. It wanted Malcolm Turnbull to feel intimidated.

Turnbull is new in the job, but he's been around the block a few times, including in China. And he knows bluff and bluster when he sees it. His assessment? It's all part of the theatre. A complex interplay which is layered with domestic considerations, elaborate posturing, and tactical forays designed to provoke over-reaction or better still, capitulation.
More field and grass fires flare in Graves, Calloway, McCracken counties
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 16, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 16, 2016 | 12:29 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Reliable sources are telling West Kentucky Star that the suspect in the McCracken County double homicide from earlier this week has been found, dead, in a different state. McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden declining to comment midday on Saturday, indicating that the investigation was ongoing, but that he expects to give an update on the case later in the day, Saturday.



Earlier this week, Hayden told West Kentucky Star that foul play was suspected in what officials began calling a homicide investigation that took place Tuesday evening at a home on Riegel Lane in Paducah.



According to Hayden, at around 6:50 pm a neighbor called 911 from the home after finding the woman who lived there, 67-year-old Billie Potter unresponsive. Responders arrived and also found 73-year-old Gerald Boyes at the home. Both Potter and Boyes were dead by the time authorities arrived.



Investigators remained at the home until around 6:00 Wednesday morning processing the scene. Autopsy examinations for both victims have been scheduled.



Hayden says investigators have learned that the couple moved to the area from out of state about a year ago.



West Kentucky Star will have more on this story as the information becomes available.






By Matt McClain, West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 16, 2016 | 01:42 PM | PADUCAH, KY

West Kentucky Star has learned that the person of interest in the Paducah homicide case, Gerald Robert Boyes, 53 of Jacksonville, Florida, was a man on the run from authorities in Florida.











Hayden says investigators have learned that the slain couple moved to Paducah from out of state about a year ago. The investigation is ongoing, and more details are expected to be released in the coming days.









The son of a Paducah man, killed earlier this week in a homicide, has been shot dead by police outside a pizza place in a northwestern suburb of Chicago. That son has now been named as a suspect in a homicide case in Paducah.Meanwhile, McCracken County Coroner Dan Sims has now concluded that the cause of death in the Paducah homicide case was multiple blunt force trauma to both victims, Billie Potter, 67, and Gerald Boyes, 73. The murder weapon that is believed to have been used has been recovered from the scene, according to McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden.Hayden says the Paducah connection to this story began at around 6:50 pm on Tuesday when a neighbor called 911 from the home after finding the woman who lived there, Potter, unresponsive. Officials arrived and also found the elder Boyes at the home. Both Potter and the elder Gerald Boyes were dead by the time authorities arrived.Lake County Illinois Major Crime Task Force Assistant Commander Tom Nugent confirmed to West Kentucky Star that four sheriff's deputies from two different counties northwest of Chicago (Lake and McHenry counties near the Wisconsin border) cornered Boyes at a pizza place in Antioch shortly after midnight, Saturday, and was shot multiple times by police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.An autopsy was scheduled on the younger Boyes body on Monday in Lake County, Illinois.Hayden says McCracken County detectives reached out to the Jacksonville-Duval County Florida Sheriffs Office earlier in the week. Surveillance operations were immediately underway there, as well as intelligence gathering. It was determined through the inquiries being done there, that the son had rented a white 2015 Ford Flex from a car rental agency there on March 9, 2016. The vehicle was supposed to have been returned on March 11, but was not.Sheriffs investigators in Florida were able this week to get this vehicle entered into the National Crime Information Center as stolen.On Thursday evening around midnight, Detective Captain Matt Carter and Detective Sergeant Darrin Frommeyer were on their way to Jacksonville, Florida to meet with investigators there, but then learned that the younger Boyes had allegedly pawned an item at a pawn shop in Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, at around 2 pm earlier in the day. The detectives immediately turned around and headed to the Chicago area, arriving there Friday morning.On Friday in Paducah, sheriffs detectives began combing through surveillance video that had been recovered from area homes and businesses in the area of where the murders occurred. A 2015 Ford Flex that appeared to be the same vehicle as Boyes had stolen in Florida was seen in some of the footage, on the same day and time as the murders are suspected to have occurred.Hayden says subpoenas and search warrants were obtained and served throughout the week as detectives continued to obtain records and documents related to this investigation.Detectives Carter and Frommeyer arrived at the pawn shop in northern Illinois on Friday to recover the item that was pawned by Boyes, which was a wallet that is believed to have belonged to his father in Paducah. Investigators noted that the elder Boyes' wallet was missing when his body was recovered.Detectives' Carter and Frommeyer met with multiple law enforcement agencies, federal, state, and local in the Chicago area. A special law enforcement Intel bulletin was sent out to the entire northern Illinois law enforcement community on Friday afternoon, alerting them to the stolen vehicle that Boyes was in, as well as that he was a suspect in the double murder in Paducah.Hayden says teams of investigators conducted surveillance operations in the Chicago area and located the stolen vehicle at a pizza place. The younger Boyes was observed leaving the establishment and getting into the stolen vehicle. As law enforcement officers approached, and after a handgun was brandished, shots were fired and Boyes was killed.Both Carter and Frommeyer were in the area when the incident occurred, but Hayden says they were not present or involved in the shootout. They remained in the Chicago area Saturday, working with investigators there, conducting interviews, and collecting possible evidence related to the murder case in Paducah. At around 3:30 pm Saturday afternoon at the medical examiners office in the Chicago area, detectives recovered a prescription pill bottle belonging to the elder Boyes, containing medication, with the Reigel Lane address and indicating that it was recently filled in Paducah.Police in northern Illinois, McCracken County and Florida are now trying to figure out why Boyes was in northern Illinois."That's one of the questions we are working on answering," Nugent told the Chicago area newspaper, The Daily Herald.Hayden confirmed to the paper that Boyes' brother was an Antioch motorcyclist who was struck and killed by a driver in the Antioch area in August 2015.The paper says Gregory Boyes, 50, was hit by a woman who authorities say was drunk and fled the scene. She later was arrested.In 1984, Boyes was sentenced to more than 60 years for armed robbery and grand theft in Broward County, Florida, and in 1989 he escaped from a prison in Orange County (Orlando), according to the Florida Department of Corrections. He was released on parole in October 2013 and was listed as a fugitive earlier this year, records show, for apparently violating parole after the rented vehicle was not returned.

On the Net:
Laurie Sansom will step down from the National Theatre of Scotland after three years as artistic director.

Sansom will leave the company at the end of his initial contract this year, the year the company celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Lucy Mason will take over as chief executive - a role Sansom also holds - in the interim, from July. The company's permanent home in Glasgow is expected to be ready later this year.

In a statement Sansom said: "It has been a privilege to play a part in shaping the story of an amazing first decade in the life of one of the world's great new national theatre companies but I believe it is time for new leadership to take the company into its next decade as it moves into its new creation centre. I can't thank enough the artists and audiences who have made this such a rewarding and inspiring time for me".

Chair of the National Theatre of Scotland Dame Seona Reid said: "Laurie is without question one of the world's leading theatre directors. It is entirely fitting that his three years at the National Theatre of Scotland come to a close as the epic trilogy of The James Plays which he has nurtured and directed have been playing to Scottish and international audiences and to critical acclaim.

"We wish Laurie every success for the future. He is a special talent and we thank him warmly for his defining contribution to theatre-making in Scotland."

Sansom plans to continue directing in the UK and internationally. While under his direction, the company has produced a wide variety of shows, including the hit James Plays which follow the stories of Scottish kings James I, II and III. Laurie took over from the founding artistic director Vicky Featherstone, who now runs the Royal Court in London.

The company was founded in 2006 and has since created over 200 productions.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/04/2016 (2381 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NATIONS representing almost 60 per cent of the worlds oil production will gather in Doha, Qatar, April 17 to discuss freezing their output at January levels in an effort to stabilize prices. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela made a preliminary deal in February and are seeking to add more producers and extend the recent price recovery.

Q: Whos going?

A: In addition to the four signatories to the preliminary deal, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman and the United Arab Emirates will attend.

Q: Whos not attending?

A: Some of the worlds biggest producers including the United States, Canada, China, Brazil and Norway wont be showing up. Among the 13 nations in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, only Libya  whose output is crippled by conflict  has ruled out going to Doha. The key OPEC member resisting a production freeze is Iran. While it will send a representative to observe the discussions in Doha, Iran has insisted it wont constrain production before restoring output to pre-sanctions levels.

Q: How likely is an agreement?

A: Forty traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg this week were evenly split on whether there will be a deal. While Russias Energy Ministry is optimistic and Qatars has a positive feeling, Saudi Arabia has said it will only cap its output if Iran follows suit  a notion Tehran has dismissed as ridiculous.

Q: What impact would a freeze have on oil prices?

A: Crude has rallied more than 30 per cent to above US$40 a barrel since the preliminary freeze accord in mid-February prompted a shift in market sentiment. A final accord could lock that gain in place, or even extend it to US$50, said Bank of America Corp. Yet a freeze will do little to mop up the glut because Saudi Arabia and Russia  the worlds biggest crude producers  are already pumping near-record levels. Morgan Stanley said our downbeat oil view is unchanged by the prospects of a freeze.

Q: How much oil supply is at stake?

A: Producers that have confirmed they will consider joining the freeze produce about 47 million barrels a day of crude. Many of those nations were already pumping flat out in January, with little scope for increasing output. Russia and Saudi Arabia both held production steady this year, even before a final agreement to freeze.

Production from the 11 members of OPEC that are backing the agreement is already almost half a million barrels a day lower than January.

Q: Would the freeze make a difference?

A: With most Doha participants already expected to keep output steady, much more important for the oil market will be what happens in the U.S. and Iran. Declining shale-oil production is expected to make up the lions share of the 710,000-barrel-a-day reduction in output from non-OPEC countries this year, according to the International Energy Agency. Iran plans to increase production by about 700,000 barrels a day this year from the 3.3 million pumped in March.

Q: What would the accord mean for U.S. producers?

A: Any deal that pushed up prices would be self-defeating because it would allow a revival of drilling by U.S. shale producers, who can return to work at US$55 a barrel, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. That would only postpone the supply curbs analysts say are needed to rebalance overloaded global markets.

Q: How would the freeze be monitored and enforced?

A: During previous supply cuts, OPEC monitored members compliance using data on their production provided by external sources such as news agencies and tanker-trackers. It has no mechanism to punish countries that flout their limits, and members habitually exceeded the groups quotas, before production targets were effectively abandoned in December.

Q: What happened when OPEC last made a deal with non-members?

A: OPEC has grounds to doubt the sincerity of its partners. The last time it struck a deal with rival suppliers was in late 2001, when Russia, Mexico, Oman, Angola and Norway promised to cut supply by a combined 500,000 barrels a day.

 Bloomberg News
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/04/2016 (2382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada closed its offices in Winnipeg, Toronto, and Regina Friday after protesters occupied parts of the buildings.

In Toronto, more than 20 protesters were inside the offices of INACs Ontario regional office in reaction to the suicide crisis happening in Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario.

In Winnipeg, more than 40 people were reported inside INACs Manitoba regional office downtown, to show solidarity with the suicide crisis in Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba as well as Attawapiskat.

A small group of people huddled outside the Winnipeg offices Friday, standing in the rain, drawing faint warmth from a fire burning in backyard-style firepit set up in the parking lot.

A protester from inside the building agreed to speak to a reporter at the doors and said 40 to 50 people had started the protest the day before, spending the night inside the offices.

Were not saying anything to the media. We issued our statement this morning, and we agreed to wait for 24 hours before we talk to media, said the protester, who did not give his name.

In a written statement posted to Facebook using the hashtag #occupyINAC, the Winnipeg group said this issue is inseparable from the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women; the legacy of residential schools; the 11,000 and counting children in care in Manitoba; and the theft, pollution, and exploitation of the land, water, and air.

The Winnipeg protesters made several demands including the abolition of the Indian Act, the reserve system and numbered treaties, which are systematic violations of the sovereignty of our people.

They also want an end to the denial of adequate health care, housing and education, the restoration of culture and spirituality to indigenous communities, a respect by the colonial state of the land and water and an end to two-spirited discrimination causing much of the suicidal crisis our youth are facing.

We will continue to assert our sovereign right to occupy this space until the Crown, so-called Government of Canada, and so-called chief and council, acknowledge this statement and the commands within, the statement concludes.

Similar protests also closed INAC offices in Regina, and at INACs head office in Gatineau, Que, a protest closed the status card office.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, protesters Ishkodai Bishiki, Animikii-Gekek and Stefan Vloknar by their sacred fire burning in a parking lot on Hargrave St. across from the Government of Canada's Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development office Friday morning. Protesters have been peacefully occupying the Winnipeg office for the past 24 hours in response to the suicide epidemic in Attiwaspikat and Pimicikamak. The protesters joined the #OccupyINAC campaign that originally began in Toronto on Wednesday.

Further protests are planned for Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, the posts reported on Facebook and Twitter, under the hashtag #occupyINAC.

Manitoba Grand Chief Derek Nepinak visited the Toronto protesters Thursday evening and posted on Facebook he was going to go and give my thanks to those standing up to the systemic indifference built into the colonial construct and manifesting as the bureaucracy of the Department of Indian Affairs. Those who know that it will take a lot more than short-term funding for mental-health workers to talk to people.

Late Thursday Nepinak posted hed spoken with Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, describing the conditions at the Toronto sit-in and telling her the Toronto police had allowed food and water, but the bathrooms had been locked to prevent them from using the facilities, which is not right, Nepinak said.

I told her this is a national issue, not confined to one community but tragedy unfolding everywhere, breaking all of our hearts at once. She agreed with me, Nepinak said.

Bennett issued no public statement on the protests by Friday, but she is scheduled to fly Monday to Attawapiskat with NDP MP Charlie Angus, who represents the federal riding. They are expected to meet with community leaders.

Federal and provincial officials have been responding for days, flying in suicide workers to help the northern Ontario community after Attawapiskat became international news.

Activists with the Toronto based-Black Lives Matter group were reported to have visited the Toronto INAC offices in a show of support Friday.

The social justice advocacy group the Council of Canadians, issued a statement of support online Thursday and chronicled the sit-in over the past three days, citing news reports along with Facebook posts from the Manitoba grand chief who visited the protest.

The council stands in solidarity with Occupy INAC, a statement from the social advocacy group said Friday.

In Ottawa, Indigenous Affairs issued a statement late Friday about the protests at its offices, saying they were peaceful and at the end of the day, protesters in Gatineau had gone home.

The offices in Toronto and Winnipeg remained closed to ensure the safety and security of the public.

Other INAC regional offices, including Gatineau, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Quebec are currently operating but closed to the public, including the publicly accessible Registration Office. If required, we are working to resume registration services from alternate locations where needed, the statement said.

We recognize the publics right to engage in peaceful protests and lawful assembly and are balancing that against the need to ensure public and staff well-being, the statement said.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
As they reach the halfway point for the 2016 legislative session, local lawmakers are mostly cautiously optimistic about hitting their goals.

Going in, the Senate and House both set ambitious goals of finishing the short session with a transportation bill, tax bill and bonding bill on the books.

Just finishing week five out of 11, they still have those on their mind.

But the negotiations are just starting now, and the real changes will come in conference committees as House and Senate, and Democrat and Republican work out the details of the larger bills.

Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, said that though there were still fair amounts of rhetoric, members of both parties and both chambers are hoping to finish the larger bills in the conference committees over the next several weeks.

Thats where Republicans and Democrats will have to realize that well have to work together to get things done, Miller said. Im still optimistic we can get those three priorities done this session.

In more local impacts, Miller said he is also concentrating on trying to keep the WSU Education Village and Lanesboro Dam Project in the bonding bill.

Sen. Matt Schmit, DFL-Red Wing, similarly said hes hoping for a compromise on the larger issues, and that he was cautiously optimistic that theres a path forward.

Schmit said that one of the things he was working on with a local tie in was the Border-to-Border Broadband Development funding proposal.

Gov. Mark Dayton had put a proposal of $100 million in his budget; the Senate proposed $85 million, Schmit said, and the House less than $40 million.

Still, Schmit said he thought that was a sign of potential ability to compromise.

The fact that everyone is talking about our broadband funding and the need  is a good thing, Schmit said.

Schmit said one of the main goals for the rest of the session would be using funding in a moderate way, neither relying too heavily on the budget surplus or tax cuts as a strategy but instead find a combination of several.

He predicted the budget surplus estimates would continue to fall as the year went on, and leaning too heavily on them could put the state back into a deficit.

Some bonding, some spending, Schmit said. But were also going to have to find some new revenue as well.

Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, said the House has been working on those issues, but has also been somewhat held up by its discussions on supplemental spending, separate from the bonding projects.

The House has set their funding goals as zero dollars for supplemental funds for kindergarten through 12 grade, higher education and Health and Human Services, among other things, cutting off the option of increases in operational funds.

Pelowski said that amounted to hearing dozens and dozens of bills, which only amounted to using up time out of their already shortened session, which he called a disservice to the public.

So we spent weeks, sometimes into the night, for which there would never be any money, period, Pelowski said.

Pelowski said the same large ticket issues, of taxes, transportation and bonding are priorities in the house, but they may have an issue creating a the bonding bill with a proposal to bond the costs of a transportation bill as opposed to using a gas tax or ongoing revenue streams.

The proposal would use half of their bonding budge, about $300 million, for transportation, leaving the remaining money to cover the spate of statewide capital improvements projects.

Ultimately, Pelowski felt that on some of the larger issues there was still a distinct possibility of deadlock similar to last session.

Pelowskis House colleague Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, thought that adjusting the expectations of both parties would be in order but they could make things work.

Davids used the tax bill as an example. Even though the House kept the same tax bill going forward as when it stalled last session, he said they realistically arent expecting the $2.2 billion in proposed cuts and would more likely be looking at $400 to $500 million.

Head of the Houses Tax Committee, Davids said he has been focused like a laser on the tax plan and working it out.

Davids said he felt it was a bonding year not a spending year, and didnt think some of the area projects, like the potential for a Fillmore County Veterans Home, would be funded.

But Davids said go big or go home was the policy when it came to the larger goals.

Well get a tax bill together. I believe we can do that, Davids said. Ill be very disappointed if this thing falls apart.

Another goal Davids said he, and Miller, are working on this session was initiatives to straighten out Minnesota and Wisconsin tax reprocity. Davids felt that Minnesota had done as much as possible in the past to negotiate a deal but it fell to Wisconsin to come to an agreement.
April 6

No time  6 EMS Medical Calls

7:26 p.m.  Department responded to the intersection of Gilmore Avenue and Cummings Street for a motorcycle accident with no injuries. WFD removed hazards and cleared roadway of debris.

April 7

No time  7 EMS Medical Calls

April 8

No time  2 EMS Medical Calls

6:02 p.m.  Department responded to the 800 block of East Fourth Street for an active CO detector alarm activation. WFD monitored the scene and found no abnormalities. The detectors were beyond their service life and WFD advised the residents to replace their detectors.

April 9

No time  2 EMS Medical Calls

April 10

No time  No EMS Medical Calls

10:16 a.m.  Department responded to the 200 block of West Sanborn for an alarm activation with no fire. WFD investigated upon arrival and no hazards were found.

7:08 p.m.  Department responded to the 60 block of Center Street for a smoke detector activation. Upon arrival WFD found the residents outside and they stated they were cooking food when the alarm went off. WFD investigated and found no fire, and the alarms were reset.

April 11

No time  4 EMS Medical Calls

2:28 p.m.  Department responded to the intersection of Laird Street and Wabasha Street for a motor vehicle accident with injuries. WFD assessed for injuries and assisted in cleanup of the street.

8:24 p.m.  Department responded to the 700 block of Terrace Heights for a smoke detector activation with no fire. WFD investigated upon arrival and found an overloaded washing machine caused the alarm to trigger due to smoke.

8:35 p.m.  Department responded to the intersection of East Second Street and Chatfield Street for the report of a power pole on fire. Upon arrival WFD found the power pole transformer blackened, but no fire was present.

9:42 p.m.  Department responded to the 300 block of West Sarnia Street for a report of someone burning furniture in their backyard. Upon arrival WFD found an open ground fire pit with household furniture burning and no spark arrester cover. WFD advised the homeowner of city code and extinguished the fire.

April 12

No time  4 EMS Medical Calls

1:21 a.m.  Department responded to the 50 block of Franklin Street for an alarm system malfunction. Upon arrival WFD found the alarm panel showed fire pump and riser flow. WFD investigated all floors with the night supervisor. The fire pump was running and the riser dumped pressure. Maintenance later arrived on the scene.

3:44 p.m.  Department responded to the 200 block of West Wabasha Street for a cooking fire confined to a container. The tenant stated they were preheating oil in a pan on the range and walked away. The oil began to burn and the alarm was activated. The tenant denied any injury and refused medical care. The tenant was advised to use safer cooking practices.

1:51 p.m.  Department responded to Service Drive for a motor vehicle accident with no injuries. An elderly patient was driving east on Service Drive when they struck a parked car in the left rear quarter panel and left rear tire. The patient said they were not hurt and did not need to be transported by EMS. WFD cleaned up the oil with floor dry.
Today

The Baraboo Hills Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance will hold a chapter meeting/workday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Riverland Conservancy Barn, S6770A Highway 113, Baraboo. For more information, call Donna Meier at 608-356-7678.

The Honey Creek Rod and Gun will hold a merchandise shoot at 10 a.m. at E7412 Highway C, Leland. Lunch and refreshment available. For more information, call Rick at 608-477-0895.

The Sauk Prairie Area Literacy Council will partner with Papa Murphys in Prairie du Sac to help community members learn English. For each regularly priced pizza sold, Papa Murphys will donate $2. The funds will go towards the purchase of study materials. To become a volunteer tutor or a student, call Heather at the Ruth Culver Community Library at 643-8318 or visit www.saukprairieliteracy.org.

The Tripp Heritage Museums Ochsner Gallery, 565 Water St. in Prairie du Sac, will present Roger A. Shanks  From the Heart of Lake Wisconsin, the life and art of the village of Merrimacs long-time postmaster from 3-5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Happy hour refreshments will feature Old Postmaster wine, the creative label designed by Shanks himself, Italian soda, and appetizers.

The North Freedom American Legion Post No. 172, 106 E. Walnut, will hold a walleye dinner from 4-8 p.m. The menu includes walleye fillets, baked beans, potato wedges, coleslaw, dinner rolls, coffee, milk and ice cream. Cost is $10.

American Legion Post No. 242 will host a steak feed from 4:30-7 p.m. in its clubhouse at 116 Main St. in LaValle. Cost is $10.

The Sauk County Fairest of the Fair and Junior Fairest of the Fair competitions will be held at 6 p.m. at Clarion Hotel, 626 W. Pine St., in West Baraboo. Admission is $3. For information visit www.saukcountyfair.com/fairest-of-the-fair.

University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County Theatre will present the musical Spring Awakening at 7 p.m. today at 1006 Connie Rd., Baraboo. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and $7 for UW-Baraboo students. For more information, call 608-355-5238.

The Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., and Playtime Productions of Madison present Childrens Theater: Sleeping Beauty at 7 p.m. at the River Arts Center, 105 Ninth St. in Prairie du Sac. Tickets are not required. For more information, call Jill at 643-8346.

The Reedsburg Area High School drama kids will perform their spring production of Rumors by Neil Simon at 7 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday at the CAL Center, 1100 S. Albert Ave. Tickets are $6 and will be available at the door.

Devils Lake State Park will host Lawn Chair Bird Watching from 8-10 a.m. Bring a lawn chair and binoculars for this morning bird watch. Meet at the Steinke Basin parking lot.

Sunday, April 17

Wisconsin Womens Health Foundation will hold an Every Womans Journal workshop, an introduction to proactive health journaling from 1-3 p.m. at St. Pauls Lutheran Church, 727 Eighth St. in Baraboo. All materials will be provided. To register, call Kristi at 608-356-3230 and leave a message with name and phone number.

The Reedsburg Area High School drama kids will perform their spring production of Rumors by Neil Simon at 2 p.m. at the CAL Center, 1100 S. Albert Ave. Tickets are $6 and will be available at the door.

University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County Theatre will present the musical Spring Awakening at 2 and 7 p.m. at 1006 Connie Rd., Baraboo. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and $7 for UW-Baraboo students. For more information, call 608-355-5238.

Book signing for Celebrating Home: A Handbook for Gracious Living by author Christy Rost will take place at 4 p.m. at Arcadia Books, 102 E. Jefferson St., Spring Green. Rosts acclaimed cooking, lifestyle and entertaining guide, is inspired by her year in Paris and the signature hospitality and culture of the American West and Southwest. She will share personal stories of her conversations with Julia Child, photographs, and items from Julias French kitchen. This event is free and open to the public.

Monday, April 18

Agrace HospiceCare will hold a Journey Through Grief grief support group from 6-8 p.m. at 1670 South Blvd., Baraboo. The group will meet every Monday through May 23. For more information or to register, call Jody at 608-327-7118 or visit agrace.org/griefgroups.

The Baraboo Branch of the American Association of University Women, in partnership with the Baraboo Public Library and the University of Wisconsin Baraboo/Sauk County Library, will host a showing of the Wisconsin Public TV documentary Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines, at 7 p.m. at the Circus World Museum Theatre, 550 Water St., Baraboo. The screening is free and open to the public. For more information, email Amy Johnson at pajohnson@charter.net.

Tuesday, April 19

The Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., will hold Teens Underground: Cupcake Wars at 6 p.m. Teens can decorate cupcakes then submit their creations for judging. Winners will receive books to keep. Materials are provided.

A Culinary Tribute To Julia Child, French cooking class and book signing for Celebrating Home: A Handbook for Gracious Living by author Christy Rost will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Carr Valley Cheese Cooking School, 807 Philips Blvd., Sauk City. Rosts acclaimed cooking, lifestyle and entertaining guide, is inspired by her year in Paris and the signature hospitality and culture of the American West and Southwest. She will share personal stories of her conversations with Julia Child, photographs, and items from Julias French kitchen. Students will learn how to recreate French recipes and flavors inspired by Julia Child. The class is $55. For reservations, visit www.carrvalleycheese.com.

The Fortnightly Literary Club will meet at 7 p.m. at the home of Jerry and Pat Bullard, E10085 Buck Bay West, Reedsburg. Continuing the theme of Women of Influence, Pat Bullard will give a program about Cleopatra. Visitors always are welcome. If planning to attend, call 608-355-7559.

Wednesday, April 20

The early history of Spring Green will be the subject of a presentation by Sauk County Historical Society Executive Director Paul Wolter on at 7 p.m. at the Spring Green Community Library, 230 E. Monroe St. Topics explored will range from the naming of the community to the villages early years as a temperance community and much more. The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Sauk County Historical Society at 608-356-1001.

The Ice Age Trail Alliance Lodi Valley Chapter will host a walk under the full moon hike at 7 p.m. Meet at the Robertson Trailhead on Riddle/Springfield Road. Dress appropriately and bring a flashlight or headlamp. Leashed dogs are welcome. For directions, visit https://goo.gl/maps/RE2C5. For more information, contact Bill at 843-3926.

The Baraboo Area Senior Center will host adult coloring time from 10 a.m. to noon at the Baraboo Area Senior Center, Room 24, 124 Second St. Usborne book dealer Marcie Drexler will bring some coloring pages or bring a coloring book of your own. Adult coloring books will also be available to purchase. There is no cost for the program. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

The Reedsburg Public Library, 370 Vine St., will offer the Palm of the Hand Memoir Writing Group at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room. The group will meet on the third Wednesday of each month. For more information, call 768-READ (7323).

The 2016 Severe Weather Seminar will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 505 Broadway St, Room B-24, in Baraboo. The Severe Weather Spotter Class is conducted by the National Weather Service and is designed to teach first responders and volunteers interested in becoming storm spotters. Registration is not required, but encouraged by calling 608-355-4411.

Thursday, April 21

The Ice Age Trail Alliance Valley Chapter will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. at the Lodi Medical Clinic, 160 Valley Drive, Lodi. Learn more about what is happening with the Ice Age Trail. For more information, call Amy at 608-213-9855.

Friday, April 22

The Bank of Prairie du Sac will hold its annual Shred-Fest event from 1-4 p.m. Shred-it and Helping Hands Recycling will be at the main branch 555 Park Ave. in Prairie du Sac where the community can safely dispose of papers. A maximum of five small moving boxes of paper will be accepted. Home electronics also can be safely recycled; visit www.bankpds.com for pricing and event details.

River Arts on Water Gallery, 590 Water St. in Prairie du Sac, will hold an art opening featuring new steel sculpture artist John Pahlas from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Meet some of the 40 artists and see the new gallery look while enjoying beverages and appetizers. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.riverartsinc.org or call 608-643-5215.

Emanuel United Methodist Church will hold a fish fry by Elite Catering from 5-7:30 p.m. at 101 14th St., Baraboo. A two-piece fish and one-piece chicken dinner or a three-piece chicken dinner will be offered. The cost is $10 for adults, $1 per age for children 4-12 and children 3 and under are free.

The Sauk Prairie High School drama production of Crazytown by Jonathan Rand will take place at 7 p.m. today, Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the River Arts Center, 105 Ninth St. in Prairie du Sac. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults available at the door.




China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page
Students Take Part in Welsh Language & Health Workshop at Coleg Cambria

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Apr 16th, 2016

Health and Social Care Students from Coleg Cambria recently attended a workshop about the importance of the Welsh Language within the care sector.

The workshop was held at the colleges Welsh language centre, CAMU, and was part of a project aimed at raising awareness of the need for Welsh language skills in the workplace.

Over 30 students attended the workshop which involved presentations from practitioners in the health sector.

Guest speakers included Dr Meilyr Emrys from the Welsh Language team at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Glain Vaughan-Evans who is in her second year studying Nursing at Bangor University and Sandie Grieve from The Care Council for Wales.

All three talked about the importance of using the Welsh Language with patients and within the health profession.

Sandie Grieve also talked about the scheme More than Just words which is a framework to ensure that the Health Service is accessible to Welsh Speakers by implementing the principles of the Active Offer where patients can expect a Welsh medium Service without having to ask, and ensuring a bilingual workforce for the future.

Dr Meilyr Emrys added: It was a pleasure to be part of this workshop and great to see a number of students asking for additional Welsh lessons at the end of the session.
Friday was the first official day of the ten-week referendum campaign leading up to the June 23 vote on British membership of the European Union (EU).

The British population will be bombarded over the coming months with propaganda from two right-wing campaigns. While the Leave campaign is headed by right-wing Thatcherite forces within the Tory party and the leader of the anti-immigrant UK Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage, the Remain side has the backing of the deeply unpopular government of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and the vast majority of the opposition Labour Party.

Polls indicate the vote will be close, with one ITV survey showing 40 percent in favour of staying within the EU and 39 percent in favour of leaving. Other surveys have divided the population 50-50.

The referendum is taking place under conditions of a deepening crisis for the Conservative government of David Cameron, which was shaken over the past two weeks by revelations from the Panama Papers. These shed light on just a portion of the criminal practices engaged in by Britains super-rich, who stash their wealth in offshore tax havens while demanding that workers pay for the economic crisis with cuts to wages and public services.

In the lead-up to Fridays launch, the Electoral Commission designated Vote Leave as the official campaign for a Brexit (British withdrawal from the EU), while Britain Stronger in Europe (BSE) was selected as the official Remain group. Both organisations will be able to spend up to 7 million, including 600,000 in public money, and will be given the opportunity to send a mail shot to every address in the UK.

Vote Leave, which combines nationalism with appeals to anti-immigrant chauvinism, is headed by London Mayor Boris Johnson, six Tory ministers and former chancellor under Margaret Thatcher Nigel Lawson.

The Remain campaign is based on the reactionary deal negotiated by Prime Minister Cameron and the other 27 government heads in Brussels. It includes a clampdown on immigration to Britain by preventing new arrivals from claiming welfare benefits and an exemption from EU financial regulations for the City of London.

Britain Stronger in Europe is chaired by Stewart Rose, the former head of retail giant Marks and Spencer, and has the backing of a significant section of FTSE 100 companies and major British banks. Among BSEs main donors are Lord Sainsbury, the former chairman of the supermarket chain, and Goldman Sachs bank.

Farage accepted the commissions decision, noting that he would be willing to cooperate with all pro-Brexit forces in the upcoming campaign. Significantly, he said Vote Leave was on board with the immigration issue, making clear it had accepted UKIPs xenophobic stance.

Although Vote Leaves official status means that Grassroots Out, the group cofounded by UKIP and a number of Tory MPs, will receive the far smaller sum of 700,000 in public funds, UKIP is entitled as a political party to spend 4 million during the campaign. The Midlands Industrial Council, a group of businesses who favour a Brexit, has already pledged up to 5 million to Grassroots Out.

Vote Leave began its campaign by fraudulently posing as a defender of public services. Johnson and Labour MP Gisela Stewart, who co-chairs Vote Leave, proclaimed that the 350 million allegedly saved per week by leaving the EU could be reinvested in the National Health Service (NHS). Johnson combined this by striking a thoroughly dishonest pose as the defender of Britains democracy and freedom against EU bureaucracy.

Johnson and Stewart are members of parties that, whenever they have held power over the past three decades, have taken the axe to public spending and built up antidemocratic state structures under the guise of the war on terrorism. The privatisation of the NHS, begun under the previous Labour government, has been accelerated under Cameron with the full backing of the entire ruling elite.

Remain left it to Labours Yvette Cooper to answer Vote Leaves claim to support further NHS funding. Cooper was a minister in the former Labour government, which oversaw deep cuts not only to healthcare spending, but also to education, social welfare and other public services.

A day prior to the launch of the campaign, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn delivered a speech in which he reversed his previous opposition to Brussels, based on a programme of economic nationalism, and lined up with the dominant sections of big business in favour of continued EU membership. He laid out his own nationalist programme, urging the EU to adopt protectionist trade measures to prevent the dumping of Chinese steel on the continents market, and claimed that the EU, which has served as the chief instrument for imposing ruthless austerity on workers in Greece and other countries, could defend workers rights.

In a speech Friday, former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling spoke on behalf of the dominant sections of the UKs financial elite, who fear that the city of Londons position as a global financial centre will be threatened by leaving the EU. They cant guarantee trade without tariffs, Darling said of the Brexit supporters, which would put prices up. They cant guarantee investors wont leave Britain, risking jobs. They cant guarantee our service sector will have free access to Europe, hitting growth.

The deepening crisis of global capitalism is driving concern internationally that a vote by Britain to exit the EU could have disastrous consequences. The International Monetary Fund declared this week that a British decision to leave would create uncertainty for investors. A Brexit could result in severe regional and global damage, it warned.

US President Barack Obama, who is set to visit Britain, has long indicated the White Houses preference for Londons continued membership. On Friday, a spokesman said that Obama would speak out in favour of the UK staying in the EU if asked. Ben Rhodes, Obamas deputy national security adviser, said the president will be very straightforward and candid as a friend on why its good for the UK to remain in the European Union.

Concern about the impact of a Brexit was bolstered by a report released by the London School of Economics, which projected that of Britains 1 trillion in foreign direct investment, one quarter would be withdrawn over the next decade. It warned that real incomes would decline by 3.4 percent.

The Bank of England projects that sterling would decline in value by 20 percent following a vote to leave. At its Monetary Policy Committee meeting in April, the Bank predicted that a Leave vote could produce an extended period of uncertainty about the economic outlook, including about the prospects for export growth.

There is no avenue on either side of the official campaigns for the interests of the working class to be expressed. A victory for the Leave campaign would strengthen the most right-wing political forces, who are attempting to advance the interests of British capitalism with reactionary appeals to national unity.

The success of Remain would result in Britain continuing as a member of an institution whose programme is leading to the fracturing of Europe and encouraging the re-emergence of the nationalist divisions that plunged the continent into two world wars in the first half of the 20th century. The vote takes place under conditions where the EU is pursuing an inhumane and xenophobic policy towards refugees and imposing devastating austerity measures on workers in every country.

Working people can find a voice only in the campaign of the Socialist Equality Party for an active boycott of the referendum. This is the precondition for the development of a political movement in the working class, fighting on the basis of a socialist and internationalist programme, to oppose the EU and its pro-capitalist, nationalist critics and lead a continent-wide offensive for the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement by the United Socialist States of Europe.

The author also recommends:

For an active boycott of the Brexit referendum!

[29 February 2016]

Labours Corbyn pledges to lead pro-EU referendum campaign in UK

[15 April 2016]
Hundreds of London residents took part in a national rally against the Conservative governments Housing Bill in March.

Set to be passed this month in parliament, the Bill would put an end to secure tenancy agreements for new social renters, impose higher rents for some higher earning council tenants and add a requirement for landlords to check a tenants immigration status.

The Housing Bill also forces the sell-off of valuable council homes in order to fund the extension of the governments Right To Buy policy to housing associations.

Anna described to the WSWS the situation faced by many:

Im paying 150 a week and if the bill goes through, it will go up to 675. This means our family will have to give up working. We will be living out of food banks.

Daniel lives in a council flat in Camden. He and his wife have a combined income of just over 40,000: We dont have enough money to buy or to pay for the increase in rent. The current market rate where we live in Kings Cross is between 3,200 and 3,000 a month. If you tally it up it is almost what we earn together.

I have heard cases in Southwark and Tottenham and in Haringey where Labour councils are selling social housing and the people don't have anywhere to turn. None of the big parties are on their side.

There are a lot of ordinary people in social housing who try to work and get on with their lives. This is what is called social cleansing, which is totally unfair. Building houses for the poor was something that was done in the past and we need to get off this neo-liberal agenda.

Price of London housing continues to soar

Figures from the Land Registry show an annual house price rise of 13.5 percent in London--double the national average. According to the Office for National Statistics, in January of this year average prices rose nearly 500 a day in the capital, taking the average cost of a house to a record 551,000.

Rents have also increased, with the average tenant in London paying 3.8 percent more than this time last year. Wages have not even kept half-pace, growing only 1.6 percent in England and Wales over the same period.

London prices, with all of their associated social ills, are beginning to spill over into nearby commuter cities and counties as people priced out of their homes in the capital drive up demand. Slough, Luton and Reading saw annual price rises of 19 percent, 17 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. In Thurrock, Essex, a 17.2 percent rise was recorded.

Persistent overcrowding in London boroughs

A small number of high profile raids by police and local authority housing officers in March found 70 people living in four homes in the Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

In one property, on Green Lane, eight people were found living in a single room. The raids are ostensibly directed towards enforcing landlords to pay a new license fee, but are in fact targeted against immigrants.

Local councillor and Labour Party member, Laila Butt, commented, We will not tolerate or accept this attitude from rogue landlords.

She said much the same in July of last year, when 21 people were found living in five bedrooms across two homes--one of which had six children and seven adults sharing the space.

In response to the discovery of 50 migrant workers living in just four houses in October 2015, her co-councillor, Labours Darren Rodwell, said, We've got to have a really serious talk about how London can accommodate the new people coming in but also the existing people that are already here.

The truth is that the Labour council is complicit in the housing crisis, having imposed savage budget cuts estimated at 185 million between 2010 and 2020. It has roughly 13,000 people on its housing waiting list.

Housing charity sells 63 homes to private developer

In a meeting in parliament in March, Keith Nunn, chairman of Glasspool Trust housing charity, brushed off the eviction of former tenants, whose houses had been sold by the charity to a private developer.

Glasspool Trust provides accommodation at below market rents. In January, it sold 63 of its houses at Butterfields Estate, Walthamstow to a private developer Butterfields E17 Ltd. Tenants have since been evicted to allow the developer to sell their homes on at a profit. Nunn said that the charity had made money and that such things happen.

Butterfields E17 is looking to take advantage of the ongoing redevelopment of Walthamstow to suit the needs and tastes of richer layers of society. Prices in the borough have risen 32 percent in the last year as part of a general process of gentrification. The Butterfields estate is close to the desirable locale of Walthamstow Village.

Discrimination against benefit claimants

Digs, a group supporting private renters in Hackney, has launched a campaign against landlords deliberately rejecting potential tenants on the basis that they claim housing benefit.

The problem extends beyond landlords to the mortgage providers with whom they have a contract. Most buy-to-let contracts state that housing benefit claimants are not to be accepted as tenants.

Those contracts allowing for tenants claiming housing benefits tend to charge much higher rates. Likewise, insurance against damaged property and non-payment of rent is hard to obtain for landlords who wish to house benefit claimants. For private landlords, the easier and more profitable course is to reject these potential tenants.

Renters outnumber homeowners in London

Data from the governments English Housing Survey shows private renters in London now outnumber homeowners.

The number of tenants in privately rented housing has more than doubled since 2003/4, from 405,000 households to 898,000. This compares to 883,000 households living in mortgaged homes--down 17 percent on last year.

Confirming recent research, a PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) report indicated that younger people--aged 20 to 39--are especially likely to be forced into rented accommodation. According to the Inter-generational Foundation, the number of those under 34 renting has doubled in the past ten years.

PwC indicates that this trend is likely to continue, with the expectation that 60 percent of households will be private renters by 2025 and 40 percent mortgage owners, reversing the situation in 2000.

Historic shopping centre to become luxury apartments

The Whiteleys shopping centre--the first department store in London located in Bayswater--is set to be redeveloped into 103 luxury homes, none of which are scheduled to be listed as affordable.

The build will also include shops, a gym, a boutique hotel and an underground cinema. Over 1,000 local residents have signed a petition against the development, protesting the neglect of affordable housing and the destruction of an historic landmark.

Property developers reduce affordable housing quotas

Property developers are doing all they can to avoid meeting required allocations of affordable housing in London new builds. Just 8,374 affordable homes were built in the capital in the year 2014/15, roughly 5,000 short of the 13,200 target set by the Mayor of Londons Office.

London is being refashioned as a private city of the rich. This is the content of the support of Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate for London Mayor, for the demolition of Londons council estates.

In Brixton, May Developments is building a 37-unit tower block of which only seven units are to be listed as affordable. Lambeth Council nominally requires a figure of 40 percent. Even seven units was considered too high, with May Developments speculating in a report to the Planning Committee, We wonder with how much enthusiasm the affordable units will be marketed?

Given Lambeth council had 22,000 people on its waiting list for affordable housing last year, May Developments is hoping to keep the properties unsold for long enough to justify raising the price to an intermediate rent.

Protest at lack of affordable housing at redevelopment of West Ham United ground

The redevelopment of West Ham Uniteds Boleyn Ground stadium by Galliard Homes is scheduled to include only a small fraction of affordable housing.

On March 10, protesters demonstrated outside the Old Town Hall in Newham against a development of more than 800 new homes incorporating just 25 percent of affordable housing. The Boleyn Ground is located in Newham, and the Galliard proposal was accepted by Newham council at the meeting being lobbied--despite the Labour-run council normally stipulating that new developments include between 35 and 50 percent of affordable housing.

Just 211 homes in the development are classed as affordable, including 84 available for shared ownership. In its original proposals, Galliard offered just 61 shared ownership homes and no social housing.

Galliard Homes bought the land from West Ham United for an undisclosed fee and will take ownership of it later this year when the club moves to the former Olympic Stadium in Stratford. The Olympic Stadium was taxpayer funded and has so far cost more than 700 million to construct and transform into an all-purpose stadium. West Ham United paid just 15 million as a one-off upfront cost and agreed an annual rent of around 2.5 million to be the anchor tenants on a 99-year lease.

As of August 2015, there were a total of 15,721 applicants on Newham's waiting list for social housing. Nearly 3,000 of these have been waiting a decade or longer and 3,370 for between five and 10 years after applying for housing. Social rents in the borough are the highest in the country on average, at 128.89 a week, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Asia

Philippines workers strike over victimisation and poor conditions

Workers at South Korean-owned electronics subcontractor Seung Yeun Technology Industries Corp (SYTIC) in the Philippines Cavite Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) went on strike on Monday. They are demanding reinstatement of 20 workers fired for carrying out union activities and are opposing company breaches of labour standards on working conditions and wage payments.

The SYTIC strikers claim that deductions are made from their wages for meals and to fund various company events. The company has also organised work schedules in order to avoid paying overtime and failed to provide a doctor and nurse on site as required by law.

The strike erupted after two mediation sessions before the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) failed to resolve the issues. The strikers are picketing the plant and held marches in the economic zone calling on other workers to support their struggle. The Cavite EPZA has 60,000 workers and is the largest economic zone in the Philippines.

SYTIC manufactures plastic products used to ship integrated circuits and electronic components. It supplies these to local subsidiaries of big US electronics companies such as ON Semiconductor, a Motorola spinoff, Texas Instruments and Analog Devices.

Vietnam: Electronics workers strike for better wages and conditions

Nearly 1,000 workers at the South Korean-owned Bluecom Vina electronics company in Vietnams northern city of Haiphong began an indefinite strike on April 11 to demand improved wages and working hours and the right to form a union. They also want two Saturdays off each month.

The workers claim that the company, which produces TV speakers and earphones, does not operate official working hours. Employees are expected to start at 8 a.m. and continue until management allows them to finish. This is usually at 9 or 10 p.m., including Saturdays. Workers are only paid $US165 per month and a total of just $4.50 per month for extra hours worked.

Sri Lankan electricity meter readers protest enters second week

Striking workers employed on contract by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to read household meters are continuing a fasting protest opposite the Power and Renewable Energy Ministry. The protest, which involves 800 of the workers and family members, entered its second week on April 11.

About 1,400 contract meter readers service 5.5 million households across Sri Lanka. Many of them have worked at CEB for more than ten years. They are demanding that the government honour an election promise made by President Maithripala Sirisena to make them permanent.

Protestors told the media that they had to read meters at 150 residences per day in order to reach the company target of over 3,000 meters within 25 days. The contract meter readers are not provided with motor cycles to do their rounds and have no medical coverage for work accidents or dog bites. A spokesman for the Billing Officers Union said the workers would maintain their protests until they were given a written assurance from the government that they will be made permanent employees.

Unions end Colombo port work-to-rule

Unions have called off a work-to-rule campaign by Sri Lanka Ports Authority workers at Colombo, claiming that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had agreed to pay a full New Year (Sri Lankan) bonus.

The port workers, who had been promised a special New Year bonus and productivity payments from December 2015, began their work-to-rule on April 6 with a demonstration and picket outside the port.

After meeting with Wickremesinghe and Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, officials from the 17-union Port Trade Unions Collective said that the government had agreed to establish a committee to organise payment of the special allowances.

Union officials also claimed that Wickremesinghe would investigate workers other demands, including removal of recruitment anomalies and stopping the privatisation of port assets after April 22. The unions have also called for dismissal of the ports minister and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman, and for action against corrupt port officials.

Pakistan railway workers strike

Pakistan Railways loco-shed workers at Karachi Cantonment Station went on strike on April 11 over several issues, including promotions and the lack of basic safety conditions and facilities, such as clean water.

While most of the workers have over 25 years of service they have not been promoted to higher pay grades. According to workers, management has ignored the results of a January investigation to determine a scale-upgrade. The All Pakistan Railways Shed Technical Staff Union called off the strike shortly after meeting with the management.

Police attack Pakistan doctors protest

Police in Quetta in Pakistans Balochistan province attacked a Young Doctors Association protest on April 7 on the orders of the provincial government. The doctors were demanding a pay rise, job permanency, positions for unemployed doctors and for the provision of basic facilities in the hospitals.

Police used batons, tear gas and fired warning shots into the air to break up the demonstration which was being held outside the Quetta Provincial Assembly. Ten doctors were arrested and at least eight others badly injured, including one who may have been blinded.

Young Doctors Association members began boycotting duties on April 8 in hospital outpatient departments and imposed bans on the governments vaccination campaign in protest against the police attack. The government has responded by deploying large numbers of police to hospitals in a bid to intimidate the doctors.

Indian contract teachers protest job losses

Contract teachers protested outside the deputy chief ministers residence in New Delhi on April 9 over job losses and to call for permanency. Over 1,900 teachers employed under the federal Indian governments Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Scheme lost their jobs on March 31 when the Human Resource Development ministry refused to renew their contracts.

The scheme was introduced in 2001 and is operated in conjunction with Indian state governments. It was designed to provide extra teachers to understaffed schools and legally mandates a 1:40 student teacher ratio in schools. Teachers contracts are normally renewed between March and May each year.

In a separate dispute, lecturers from two private colleges in Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, held a sit-down protest outside the joint director of educations office on April 12 over unpaid wages. The 42 lecturers were not paid because the director of collegiate education had delayed approving their appointments.

Karnataka: Textile workers strike continues

Close to 3,500 workers at the Gokak textile mill in the Indian state of Karnataka are maintaining strike action which began on March 8 over harassment by mill management and the suspension of 16 employees. Mill management responded to the walkout by locking out workers on March 17.

Ramesh Jarkiholi, who is a legislative assembly member for Gokak and a union official, has held reconciliation talks with the mill management but failed to get any agreement on workers demands. Further negotiations are scheduled for April 18.

Tamil Nadu council and ambulance workers walk out

Contract sanitary workers in the Anakaputhur Municipality near Chennai went on strike on April 11 over their exclusion from the Provident Funds scheme. The workers were excluded from the scheme after the municipal authority outsourced waste collection to Srinivasa Waste Management. The strike was called off after municipal officials agreed to address the issue.

In Madurai 108 division ambulance and paramedics demonstrated on April 11 to oppose the GVK Emergency Management and Research Institutes employee-appraisal system.

Workers claim that the system is being used to avoid paying correct salary levels and allowances. They are also protesting the lack of any mechanism to register grievances and want the institute to stop targeting workers involved in union activities.

Australia and the Pacific

Port workers in Sydney strike for 48 hours

Waterside workers at the Asciano-owned Patrick Stevedores container terminal at Port Botany, Sydney, went on strike for 48 hours on April 13 as part of a national dispute over a new enterprise bargaining agreement.

The stoppage follows two 72-hour strikes at the companys terminal in Fremantle, Western Australia earlier this month. A 48-hour strike is planned for the Brisbane terminal on April 20. Senior Patrick Stevedores executive Alex Badenoch threatened to consider all the options available to us under the present system, including the possibility of a lockout.

Year-long negotiations between the company and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have failed to resolve differences over a new rostering system. The MUA has agreed to allow its members to work more midnight and weekend shifts and forgo higher penalty rates in exchange for the reduction of the working weekfrom 35 to 32 hourswith no loss of pay. The union also wants curbs on further casualisation of work.

MUA Sydney branch secretary Paul McAleer told media that the union saved $1.5 million on our previous proposal and made it cost-neutral. Its incredibly disingenuous of them (the company) to reject it.

Over the past two years the union has collaborated with Patricks to introduce remotely controlled cranes and other technology, slashing the companys Port Botany workforce from 440 to 260.

The MUA has also endorsed the axing of jobs at DP Worlds and Hutchisons Australian port facilities. Last November they negotiated a deal with Hutchison to eliminate 65 jobs, extend the working week from 30 to 32 hours and expand the number of casuals. The MUA claimed it was a victory.

Solomon Islands nurses union calls off strike

The Solomon Islands Nurses Association (SINA) last week called off a strike planned for April 8 and extended its strike notice by a further 30 days. The initial 28-day notice of industrial action lapsed on April 7.

SINA claimed it cancelled the strike to give the government more time to address an outstanding pay issue. A union spokesperson said that multi-allowances and special-duty allowances had not been paid to a large number of nurses since 2013.
The Mexican National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) announced Thursday that federal police played an active role in the disappearance of 43 student teachers from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College in the southwestern state of Guerrero in September 2014.

The new revelations, stemming from previously unpublished testimony by federal police officers themselves, prove that the federal government has been lying for a year-and-a-half about their involvement in the attacks on the normalistas, as the student teachers are known.

On September 26, 2014, police monitored a group of students traveling by bus to protest against cuts to education by the administration of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. The students were stopped and attacked by a group that included local and federal police, and 43 of them have not been found since. Ever since the immediate aftermath of the attack, the government has lied to the public and the families of the student teachers, resorting to violence and intimidation against those protesting the disappearances.

Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez, CNDH President, told the press Thursday, "Today we now know information that exposes the participation of elements of [local police] from Huitzuco and elements of the Federal Police" in the attacks.

Since the attack itself, the Mexican ruling class has been attempting to sweep the disappearance under the rug by stating that the students were attacked by members of a gang working in alliance with corrupt local police. The direct involvement of federal police in the attack exposes this story as false. All signs point to the fact that the highest levels of the Mexican state were involved in the attack and its cover-up.

As more facts emerge showing federal complicity, the federal government is trying to close investigations into the massacre. Earlier in April, the government announced it would seek to shut down by April 30 an investigation carried out by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI). The GIEIs probe has undercut the official version of the massacre, most recently by producing evidence placing in question the governments claim that the bodies of two teachers were placed in a garbage dump by gangsters. Parents of the disappeared teachers made a statement yesterday, following a meeting with government prosecutors, announcing that they would fight to keep the GIEI investigation open until their children were found.

Parents of the disappeared teachers also learned yesterday that their phones had been tapped by the government for a year and five months. Mario Cesar Gonzalez, the father of one of the disappeared normalistas, told the press: "Why did they not use this technique against those responsible" for the September 2014 attacks? "If they thought that criminalization was going to separate us, they are wrong and the result is to the contrary, we are more united than ever. The only thing the government wants is for its version of the story to prevail."

The revelations could not come at a worse time for President Pena Nieto. A poll released this week by the Mexican daily Reforma shows his administration is the most hated since polling began in 1995.

According to the poll, 66 percent of Mexicans oppose Pena Nietos presidency, an increase from the 58 percent who opposed him in a December 2015 poll. In the latest poll, 56 percent said the economic situation in the country has worsened in the last year, with only ten percent responding that it had improved. Sixty-eight percent oppose Pena Nieto's handling of poverty and employment.

The government is preparing to meet the growing social opposition with police state forms of rule. In two months, the "Atenco Law" will take effect, granting the government of the State of Mexico the ability to cancel democratic rights in case of social protests or strikes. A similar bill, amending the Mexican Constitution to grant the president emergency powers, was passed out of committee in the Chamber of Deputies earlier this month.

In preparation for the outbreak of social struggles, the ruling class has increased its ties to the US military, militarized its own southern borders and laid the foundations for police state rule.

Meanwhile, the Mexican economy remains mired in crisis as the fall in commodity pricesin particular the price of Mexican crude oilhas been used to justify a renewed assault on the living standards of the Mexican working class. This week, the Mexican government pledged $4 billion USD in aid for the struggling state-owned oil company, Pemex. The bail-out funds were provided on the express condition that Pemex carry out further cuts to oil workers pensions, which were already slashed with the help of the trade unions late in 2015. Renewed calls for austerity at Pemex come after the government cut federal spending by $10.1 billion USD last year, a figure totaling 0.7 percent of GDP.

While Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said these cuts would be made to programs "without a high economic and social impact," the Pemex bailout strongly suggests that low commodity prices are forcing the Mexican bourgeoisie to intensify its attacks against the working class with rapidity and with less attention to mitigating social tensions. Edward Glossup, emerging markets economist at the firm Capital Economics, said that the Pemex aid could mean the government needs to announce more fiscal austerity measures to bring the deficit under control.

These cuts will lead to a further deterioration of living standards for the already deeply impoverished Mexican working class and peasantry. A report released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) in March revealed that poverty in Mexico increased from 51.6 percent in 2012 to 53.2 percent in 2014.
Microsoft Corp. filed suit in federal court Thursday against the Department of Justice and its head, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, over government data requests under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986. Microsoft is specifically challenging the governments prohibition barring it from notifying customers about official requests for access to their private communications.

The companys complaint makes clear that it regularly receives requests from the government for its customers private data stored on Microsofts remote servers. It states, Between September 2014 and March 2016, Microsoft received 5,624 federal demands for customer information or data. Of those, nearly half2,576were accompanied by secrecy orders, forbidding Microsoft from telling the affected customers that the government was looking at their information.

Corporations and individuals increasingly store their data on remote servers operated by Microsoft and other technology companies, a practice known as cloud storage. US intelligence and police agencies look on the growth of the Internet cloud as an opportunity to further expand their already massive surveillance of people both at home and abroad.

Microsoft notes that documents stored physicallyfor example, in a desk draweror digitally on local computers and on-premises servers can be accessed only with a warrant and with notice.

The government is using cloud computing to bypass notification. Microsofts brief before the federal court in Seattle contends that this practice violates the US Constitutions Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures and its requirement that the government obtain a court warrant based on a showing of probable cause. The company argues that the transition to the cloud does not alter the fundamental constitutional requirement that the government mustwith few exceptionsgive notice when it searches and seizes the private information or communications of individuals or businesses.

The ECPA, signed into law by then-President Ronald Reagan, allows courts to issue what are essentially secret warrants to search data stored by electronic communication service providers. Under the ECPA, courts can issue these warrants with orders that the provider (in this case, Microsoft) not notify the targets of surveillance that they are being targeted, potentially indefinitely.

Microsofts suit follows on the heels of the legal battle between Apple Inc. and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in which the FBI attempted to force Apple to unlock the iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the deceased perpetrators of the December 2015 San Bernardino terror attack. The FBI ended its legal case on March 28 after it claimed to have successfully hacked the phone.

Neither Microsoft nor Apple have any genuine interest in protecting democratic rights. They are concerned that customers will shun their services if they are compromised by the FBI or National Security Agency. Both companies have cooperated with the NSA in its PRISM program, revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013. Microsoft, in particular, has been a close partner of the American surveillance state. It unlocked Outlook.coms encryption for the NSA prior to its launch and helped the NSA triple the amount of intercepted Skype video calls within nine months of Skypes purchase by Microsoft.

In a related development, reddit, the popular aggregator site, removed a so-called warrant canary from its transparency report in March. The canary was a paragraph that stated it had never received a classified request for data. Its removal means that the web site, the worlds 33rd most popular, has likely received a request for user information that it is not allowed to discuss publicly.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said, Ive been advised not to say anything one way or the other. Even with the canaries, were treading a fine line.

Meanwhile, the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, ruled on April 13 that the government does not need a warrant when requesting cell-site location information. This ruling, which affects Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, allows the government to obtain approximate location data for cellphone users during the course of an investigation.

Investigators generally use this information to establish suspects locations after the fact, not in real time. However, this use of warrantless cellphone data-gathering requests parallels the use of Sting Ray devices, for which the FBI now supposedly obtains a warrant, and similar, cheaper devices for which police departments and the federal government do not obtain warrants.

The 6th Circuit Court ruling allows the government to seek only a court order, which requires the reasonable grounds standard, rather than a warrant, which requires a stricter probable cause showing. The ruling echoes decisions in the federal appeals courts for the 5th and 11th circuits, which together cover Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. However, it contradicts laws and court rulings in New Jersey, Maine and Montana. These conflicting rulings can be resolved only through a Supreme Court decision.
In the campaign for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination, Walter Mondale, citing a then-popular advertising tagline, reproached his chief rival Gary Hart for empty platitudes and lack of substance, asking him repeatedly, Wheres the beef? In the 2016 campaign, a similarly blunt question could be posed to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders: Wheres the socialism?

Sanders rocketed to prominence last summer as a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, striking a pose of intransigent opposition to Wall Street and the domination of American politics by the millionaires and billionaires. He has capitalized on the growing popularity of socialism among millions of students and younger workers, winning more than 7.5 million votes and posing a substantial challenge to the Democratic frontrunner, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

His identification with socialism has been critical to Sanders winning support among the younger generation of working people, who have seen capitalism produce nothing but economic decay, financial crisis and never-ending war. One recent poll showed that voters under 30 preferred socialism to capitalism by a sizeable margin, 43 percent to 32 percent, despite the nonstop media demonization of socialism.

But aside from the label, which Sanders now rarely uses, his socialism is invisible. He has not called for a single industry to be placed under public ownership and democratic controlnot the oil companies, not the arms manufacturers, not the utilities, not the Wall Street banks that plunged the US and world economy into the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The completely vacuous character of Sanders socialism was on display in his debate Thursday night in Brooklyn with Hillary Clinton, when Sanders was questioned about his call to break up the biggest US banks, bailed out by the federal government in the 2008-2009 Wall Street crisis. CNN journalist Dana Bash asked why he proposed to let the banks themselves decide how the breakup would proceed:

Sanders: The point is we have got to break them up so that they do not pose a systemic risk and so that we have a vibrant economy with a competitive financial system. Bash: But Senator, you didnt answer the specific question, which is not just about breaking up the banks, but why allow the banks to do it themselves? Sanders: Because Im not surewhat the government should say is you are too big to fail. Youve got to be a certain size. And then the banks themselves can figure out what they want to sell off. I dont know that its appropriate that the Department of Treasury be making those decisions.

There is nothing at all radical here. Sanders argues like a free-market conservative, declaring it isnt appropriate for the government to make decisions about the sell-off of bank assets. And this after repeatedly declaring that the business model of Wall Street is fraud. Apparently, the fraudsters can continue their operations unhindered, just on a somewhat smaller scale.

Sanderss proposal to break up the major Wall Street banks, is not, as the WSWS has explained, a socialist measure. He does not propose placing the banking system under public ownership and democratic control, so that the resources of society can be used for human need and not the accumulation of personal wealth by a financial aristocracy. Instead, he advocates maintaining the private ownership of the banks, only dividing them into smaller units to create what he called in the debate a competitive financial system.

His call to downsize the biggest banks is, in fact, the position of a faction within the ruling class and the financial bureaucracy itself. The Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank and its president, Neel Kashkari, are holding public symposiums promoting the proposal. Kashkari, a former Goldman Sachs banker and Treasury official in the Bush administration, was the administrator of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program bank bailout.

In his only public address devoted to the question of socialism, last November 19 at Georgetown University, Sanders presented his policies as an extension of Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal and Lyndon Johnsons Great Society, both efforts at liberal reform to save capitalism, not put an end to it. He declared categorically, I dont believe government should own the means of production I believe in private companies that thrive and invest and grow in America.

The policies Sanders advocates on jobs, health care, education and the like would not have been out of place in the Democratic Party of the 1960s, and are far less radical than those proposed by the Populists of the 1890s and the Progressive and Farmer-Labor parties of the early 20th century, which called for public ownership of the railroads and utilities, and the breaking up of corporate monopolies.

What Sanders is proposing now for Wall Streeta self-directed breakuphas a noxious historical precedent: the breakup of the telecommunications industry in 1984. Under government prodding, the telephone monopoly AT&T broke itself up into seven component parts, initiating a process of deregulation, asset-stripping and mergers that has produced an unmitigated disaster for the workers of that industry, as demonstrated by the current strike by telecommunications workers at Verizon.

Sanders made an appearance on the Verizon picket line and has been endorsed by the leadership of the Communication Workers of America, the union that has sold out strike after strike and is preparing a similar fate for the current struggle. A socialist would raise the demand that Verizon and the other telecommunications companies be nationalized under the democratic control of the workers. But Sanders is not a socialist.

Toward the end of the Brooklyn debate, Sanders boasted that he had brought millions of new voters, both independents and young people, into the Democratic Party. I am proud that millions of young people who previously were not involved in the political process are now coming into it, he said, and I do believe that we have got to open the door of the Democratic Party to those people.

Sanders is like the rooster who thinks his crowing causes the sun to rise. Millions of workers and youth are moving to the left, not because of the senator from Vermont, who is a temporary and undeserving beneficiary of this process, but because of the crisis and breakdown of American and world capitalism.

While Sanders seeks to keep this movement trapped within the straitjacket of the Democratic Party and offers his socialist persona and anti-Wall Street rhetoric as a means of doing so, it would be wrong to confuse the aspirations of those supporting him with the calculations of the senator himself. There is an objective logic to politics. The support for Sanders is only a transitional stage in a political radicalization that is placing mass struggles against the capitalist system on the agenda in the United States.

What is needed is the building of a new political leadership among workers and youth that can explain what socialism is, why it is necessary, and how it is to be achieved. That is the task the Socialist Equality Party will undertake in the course of the 2016 elections and beyond.
The German government has given the green light to criminal proceedings against the satirist Jan Bohmermann for supposedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the move in a statement at the Chancellery on Friday.

Merkel has given in to pressure from the Turkish government, which has been demanding Bohmermanns prosecution. Ankara acts mercilessly against oppositionists and journalists inside Turkey; there are currently more than 1,800 such legal proceedings for insulting Erdogan, and over a dozen journalists are in prison.

Paragraph 103 of the German Penal Code, under which Bohmermann is being prosecuted, is a relic of authoritarianism. It makes the insulting of the institutions and officials of foreign states a punishable offence. The penalty ranges from a fine to up to three years imprisonment, and five years in the case of supposed defamation.

In the Kaisers Empire, Paragraph 103 protected crowned heads. In 1948, the news magazine Der Spiegel was banned for two weeks for revealing that Prince Bernhard, the spouse of Dutch Queen Julianne, had been an honorary SS officer. In the 1960s, the Persian royal family used it to suppress criticism of its regime of torture. And in 1975, it was used to prosecute demonstrators who correctly characterised Pinochets military dictatorship in Chile as a band of murderers.

Unlike other sections of the penal code, paragraph 103 requires the direct authorization of the Federal government. In order not to jeopardise the dirty deal with Turkey to stem the influx of refugees to Europe, and to suppress opposition to the persecution of refugeees, Berlin has imported Erdogans authoritarian methods into Germany.

Merkel is trying to disguise this reality by promising to abolish paragraph 103 by 2018 and declaring that the governments decision to apply it in the Bohmermann case does not amount to a rush to judgement. She has justified its application, saying it was not a matter for the government but for the state attorneys and courts to weigh up the personal rights of those affected and other concerns about the freedoms of the press and artistic expression.

But that is a sham. In reality, Merkel condemned Bohmermann shortly after his controversial broadcast, when she telephoned Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and assured him that she considered it to be consciously damaging.

Erdogan himself had not reckoned with the German government agreeing to the use of paragraph 103, and as a precaution had instigated a private libel suit under paragraph 185, which foresees far milder penalties.

The vast majority of the German population oppose the prosecution of Bohmermann. In a poll conducted by Emnid, more than two thirds said they thought Merkel was making too many concessions to Erdogan in this case. Many prominent artists have expressed their solidarity with Bohmermann.

An open letter published in news weekly Die Zeit, signed by many renowned actors, states: Discussions about and criticism of Jan Bohmermanns Erdogan poem belong in the countrys literary supplements and not in a Mainz court room... Art cannot take place in a climate in which artists have to have second thoughts about whether their creations may lead to legal proceedings, and begin to censor themselves, or be censored.

Even the German government is divided. There were differing views between the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, Merkel said. While the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) agree with the application of paragraph 103, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) rejects it. I think the decision is wrong, SPD parliamentary group leader Thomas Oppermann commented on Twitter. Penalising satire for Lese majeste does not sit well in a modern democracy.

The broadcaster ZDF, which transmitted the controversial episode of Bohmermanns satire programme Neo Magazin Royale on March 31 on its ZDFneo channel, has taken down the episode from its web site, saying it did not meet ZDFs quality standards, but would defend Bohmermann legally.

The form and content of the satirical contribution were not meant to impugn the honour of the Turkish president, but were part of a critical debate, according to the legal submission made by ZDF to the State Attorney in Mainz. The constitutional guarantee of freedom of satire embraces especially in connection with matters of public interest the use of coarse stylistic devices. It is part of the essence of satire that well aimed excesses, which are meant to elicit emotions and reactions in the public, draw attention to a topic and express criticism.

Standing in front of a Turkish flag, Bohmermann recited a poem against Erdogan that viciously insulted the Turkish president. He employed obscene insults and vulgar racist swear words. He called the poem abusive criticism, and stressed several times that he was seeking to make clear what was not permitted in Germany, what traverses the boundaries of the freedom of satire and was punishable.

He was reacting to the attempts of the Turkish government to censor a song, broadcast on March 17 by ARD and entitled extra 3, that mocked Erdogan. This satirical song had not personally vilified Erdogan, but criticisedcompletely legitimatelythe limiting of press freedom, the persecution of critical journalists, the suppression of the Kurds and other human rights violations in Turkey.

Nevertheless, the Turkish government summoned the German ambassador and demanded that the satirical song be deleted. The ambassador declined to do so, with reference to the freedom of expression, but the German government did not make the incident public, and did not take a position.

When parliamentary deputy Sevim Dagdelen (Left Party), who had spoken to the ambassador, reported this, the government came under fierce criticism. It was accused of sacrificing freedom of expression in the interests of the EU deal with Turkey.

Bohmermanns abusive criticism must be seen in this political context. By illustrating what, in contrast to extra 3, is not permitted, he provoked a debate. It is not abusive criticism, but playing with it, as Der Spiegel put it, and is therefore protected as freedom of expression.

The approval of criminal proceedings against Bohmermann reveals the true character of the German government. Last year, Merkel was celebrated as the refugees chancellor, whose welcoming culture stood in contrast to those who sought to close off the borders.

At the time, we explained that Merkel was not concerned for the fate of the refugees, but for the preservation of the European Union, which Germany needed in order to again play the role of a world power.

But after concluding the deal with Erdogan, refugees fleeing war who made the life-threatening sea crossing over the Aegean are being locked up, mistreated and brought back to Turkey, where the Turkish government detains them and deports them.

In response to the growing criticism of the EUs refugee policy, the German government has acted with the same methods as Erdogan: suppressing and persecuting dissenting voices.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an agreement on Monday with the Sri Lankan government on a reform program, in return for a bailout loan to avert a balance of payment crisis.

The IMF did not specify the amount of the loan facility but the Colombo government indicated it could be between $US1 billion and $1.5 billion. The deal will be finalised for a 36-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program during a further two weeks of discussion with the IMF.

An IMF team led by Todd Schneider was in Colombo for nearly two weeks from March 31 to review the economy and discuss the governments loan request. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was personally involved in the final discussions, in order to convince the IMF his government would implement the required reforms.

Announcing the agreement, Schneider said Sri Lankas fiscal deficit expanded, public debt increased and the balance of payment position deteriorated.

Official figures provide some indication of the precipitous fiscal crisis. Foreign loan repayments due this year total more than $4.56 billion, around 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Gross foreign reserves stand at $7.3 billion.

The countrys outstanding debts rose by 12 percent to $57 billion during the first nine months of last year, with foreign debts alone increasing by 5 percent to $22 billion. By the end of 2015, the annual balance of payments deficit had reached $1.5 billion.

According to Schneiders statement, the IMF-Sri Lankan government agenda includes improving revenue administration and tax policy; strengthening public financial management; state enterprise reforms; and, structural reforms to enable a more outward-looking economy, deepen foreign exchange markets, and strengthen financial sector supervision.

These so-called reforms will undoubtedly produce further attacks on the living standards of working people, by increasing prices of essentials, slashing subsidies, eliminating jobs and pension rights, and cutting public education and health.

The IMFs main emphasis was on a drastic reduction of the budget deficit from 7.2 percent last year to 5.4 percent this year. The government has to reduce the deficit to 3.5 percent by 2020.

On March 8, Wickremesinghe unveiled a value added tax (VAT) increase from 11 to 15 percent and other tax proposals. However, at President Maithripala Sirisenas request, the government postponed these measures until the end of this month, fearing they would provoke outrage among workers and the poor during the festival season in April.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the government would look at privatising non-strategic investments and listing some state-owned bodies on the Colombo Stock Exchange within three months.

The IMFs reference to strengthening public financial management means slashing subsidies and cutting expenditure on public services such as health and education. In preparation for the IMF talks, the government reduced subsidies for flour, increasing the price by 8 percent for one of the main staple foods of workers, particularly in the plantations.

From this year, the government has already stopped supplying fertiliser at subsidised rates. Thousands of farmers around the country demonstrated against these cuts.

The IMFs insistence on an outward looking economy and deepening foreign exchange markets requires a totally market-driven local currency to make Sri Lankan exports cheaper on global markets. This will further erode workers real wages. During the past eight months, since it was officially floated by the Central Bank, the rupee has devalued by nearly 10 percent, going from 135 rupees to 150 to the US dollar, increasing the prices of imported goods, including essentials.

Sri Lankas economy is being battered by the global slump. Its export earnings decreased by 5.6 percent in 2015. Income from garments and textiles fell by 12.8 percent in December, reflecting the recessionary tendencies in the key markets of the United States and the European Union. Remittances from Sri Lankans working overseas declined by 12.8 percentone reason being the tensions and the conflicts stoked by US imperialism in the Middle East.

The crisis is such that Central Bank Governor Arjun Mahendran told the Sunday Observer the government was waiting for the IMF loan approval in order to use it as a guarantee to seek $5 billion worth of loans from other sources. Those sources include the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japanese international lenders and Indian and Chinese banks.

The government has already initiated, as temporary measures, a $1.5 billion currency swap from the Reserve Bank of India and a $1 billion currency swap from Central Bank of China. It also announced $3 billion in commercial borrowing through sovereign bonds.

Wickremesinghe devoted a visit to China at the end of March to inviting new investments, while seeking measures to reduce the burden of debt from that country. Sri Lanka obtained around $8 billion in loans from China during the previous government of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

As soon as Sirisena came to office in January 2015, many projects funded by China, including the $1.4 billion Colombo Port City Project, were halted, pending reviews. The real reason was that the US demanded a distancing from China. Sirisena was effectively installed via a regime-change operation orchestrated by the US, assisted by India, to end Rajapakses close economic and political relations with Beijing.

During his visit, Wickremesinghe asked the Chinese authorities to transform some of the loans obtained from that country into equities. He also agreed to allow the Colombo Port City Project to resume, with some changes to the agreement so that the development would be leased for 99 years to the Chinese company involved, rather than be owned by it.

At a press conference last Sunday, Wickremesinghe blamed the global economic crisis for the desperate IMF loan request. He said the IMF was downgrading its global economic growth forecasts every three months. We are like a small boat in the sea, he said. The sea will get rough. I cannot prevent that, but I will make sure the boat does not overturn and we will go over head.

Like governments around the world, the Sri Lankan government is seeking to implement far-reaching attacks on living conditions and social rights. This will inevitably set the stage for sharp struggles of workers, peasants, and students.
Contingents of police violently attacked two demonstrations of students and young people in Sydney and Melbourne last week, leading to allegations of police brutality at both events.

Both protests were called in opposition to the federal Liberal-National governments plans to deregulate university feesa move that would result in course costs skyrocketing by tens of thousands of dollars a year. The policy is a continuation of the decades-long assault on higher education, carried out by successive Labor and Liberal governments and aimed at transforming universities into corporatised, for profit entities.

At the University of Sydney, as many as 20 riot police set upon a protest of around 30 students affiliated with the Sydney University Education Action Group at the main library. The students were demonstrating against federal education minister, Simon Birmingham, who was present to adjudicate an annual debating competition organised by the Liberal Party student club.

In the days prior to the event, Birmingham had issued a series of provocative comments making clear that the government was pressing ahead with its plans to deregulate fees and deepen the pro-business restructuring of universities. The governments plans will effectively shut out tens of thousands of working-class students from higher education.

The protesters entered the library chanting slogans against the cuts to education and making a series of speeches prior to the start of the debating competition. After around 15 minutes, riot police surrounded them. Video footage published by the student newspaper, Honi Soit, showed the police forcibly pulling protesters to their feet and pushing them out the librarys glass doors.

A number of the protesters have alleged that the police carried out violent assaults. Georgia Mantle, the SRCs general secretary and indigenous officer, told Honi Soit that the police, put me in a wristlock and pulled my hair and lifted me up by the ankles. Another student, Cameron Caccamo said, They pushed us up two sets of stairs ... and at least two students were knocked to the ground. Photos published online showed one of the librarys electronic gates, through which the protesters had been pushed, visibly damaged.

Honi Soit reported that members of campus security had indicated that the police had been called at the request of the event organisers. The University of Sydneys administration has a documented history of collaborating with the police, including riot police, against students and staff.

In 2013, Tom Raue, then University of Sydney Union (USU) vice-president, leaked a section of a confidential report prepared by the USU to Honi Soit. It indicated that police and university management had closely coordinated their response to limited strike actions and protests called by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and student groups in response to moves to sack hundreds of staff. During strike and protest actions, and the accompanying clashes with police, in the course of the year, 11 students were arrested, another was left with a broken leg, one suffered internal bleeding and one was placed in a dangerous chokehold by police.

The report implied that police had at times been operating under the direction of university administration. It reported the comments of one officer, who told a USU staff member that police were not in a position to do anything but follow them (protesters), unless instructed otherwise by the University. The university had denied any collusion with the police.

The University of Sydney Unions board responded by seeking to remove Raue, including through legal action in the Supreme Court. In 2015, it moved to pursue Raue for legal costs of up to $50,000.

In 2014, riot squad and public order police also clashed with students protesting that years debating competition organised by the Liberal Club at the University of Sydney. Police have become a regular fixture at protests on campus.

As one of Australias two elite sandstone universities, the University of Sydney is one of the most corporatised in the country. At the end of last year, university administration announced a major pro-business restructuring, which will include the slashing of undergraduate degrees from 122 to as few as 20, and the merger of its 16 faculties and schools into just 6 faculties and 3 schools. The move is based on a model implemented at the University of Melbourne, which resulted in the destruction of hundreds of staff jobs.

University administration has also carried out blatant political censorship, banning a Socialist Equality Party meeting against the glorification of militarism and the drive to war over the Anzac Day weekend last year. The decision underscored the central role universities are playing in the broader campaign to suppress widespread anti-war sentiment, amid an eruption of militarism around the world and Australias integration into advanced US plans for war against China. The United States Studies Centre, a major think-tank whose aim is to promote the US-Australia alliance, is centred at the University of Sydney.

At a protest in Melbourne last Friday, outside a Liberal Party function in the Docklands area attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Prime Minister John Howard, some 150 demonstrators were met by 50 police, along with five mounted police and officers from the Australian Federal Police. The protesters, who included a number of students and young people opposing the assault on education, were indiscriminately targeted with pepper spray. Around 20 people, including a cameraman from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, were sprayed with the substance, which can cause serious injuries.

One of the protesters, Matt Munro, told the Age that he had been sprayed at close range in the eyes and mouth after questioning an officer, whom he claimed had punched a friend of his. Munro commented, I was just trying to protect a friend and there was no need to spray me.

Monash Student Association president Abby Stapleton told the ABC, I saw a man who was pulled by his hair and thrown to the ground and then kicked in the stomach by a policeman. Absolutely horrendous. We were all manhandled quite a bit, we were shoved and pushed and pulled to the ground and kicked and beaten essentially. She said that a 10-year-old child had been among those pepper-sprayed.

The perspective of the protest organisers, however, many of whom were from pseudo-left groups such as Socialist Alternative, is utterly bankrupt. Their noisy stunts are aimed at presenting the attacks on universities as being a result of the right-wing predilections of individual Liberal Party politicians and university vice-chancellors. This goes hand in hand with their promotion of the lie that a Greens-backed Labor government would be a lesser-evil that would halt fee deregulation and other regressive measures.

Despite our irreconcilable political differences with the pseudo-left, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality unequivocally opposes the use of police violence against such events. It constitutes an attack on the democratic right to protest and establishes a dangerous precedent. Amid mounting hostility among workers, students and youth to the entire political establishment, to the imposition of austerity measures targeting healthcare, education and other social services, and the growing dangers of war, the resort to police violence against a handful of student protesters is a warning of the preparations for a far broader crackdown on political and social struggles.
A massive survey of millennial adults in the Arab world was carried out recently in an attempt to understand burgeoning trends in the Arab mindset.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The survey was conducted by the Asda'a Burson-Marsteller institute, and was based on face-to-face interviews with 3,500 young Arab adults between the ages of 18-24 from 16 Arab countries.

It showed a significant decrease in millennial support for ISIS, and shows that although the Israeli-Palestinian conflict worries them, it's far from being considered the most pressing issue in the Middle East.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems to be just the seventh most pressing issue for millennials in the region, after the rise of ISIS, terrorism, unemployment, political instability, the cost of living, and the absence of strong political leadership in the Arab world.

According to the survey, only 13% of young Arab adults could imagine themselves supporting ISIS. 77% said that ISIS worries them, and 76% believe that it will fail to establish an Islamic Caliphate. Regarding what they believe drives people to join ISIS, 25% said unemployment, 13% said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and 25% said that they have no idea why someone would support the organization.

77% of young Arab adults are worried by ISIS.

My new friend Iran

The young adults also worry about the deep influence religion has on their societies, about the internal conflict within Islam, and how the conflict affects their current situation. 52% of respondents stated that they believed religion plays too central of a role in the Middle East.

The rate of people giving these answers is higher in the Gulf countries (62%) than in the Levant (44%) or in North Africa (47%).

Furthermore, 47% say that relations between Sunnis and Shiites have deteriorated in light of the Arab Spring, and 72% of respondents said that the deep rift between the two sects is one of the primary reasons for instability in the region.

Yet another surprising trend seen in the survey is in the improved image Iran has amongst Arab young adults. 13% of respondents viewed Iran as their country's primary ally, and it took fifth place overall in regards to which country Arab millennials view as an ally. This is different than was the case in previous years, when Iran didn't even make it onto the list. Overall, Saudi Arabia was ranked in first place (31%), UAE second (28%), USA third (25%) and Egypt fourth (15%).

The countries where people were most likely to support Iran are, unsurprisingly, Iraq (51%) and Lebanon (49%). Iraq is majority Shiite and Hezbollah  the strongest military and political force in Lebanon - receives much of its support from Iran. Surprisingly, 43% of respondents in the Sunni-dominated Palestinian Authority also supported Iran.

Several issues take precedence over the Palestinian issue (Photo: AFP)

Regarding the nuclear agreement with Iran, 45% of Arab millennials support the agreement, while only 39% expressed disagreement with the deal. Although Gulf countries were amongst the most vocal critics of the deal, respondents from these countries actually were the most supportive of the deal out of the three sub-regions in the survey (57%).

When discussing the United States, 63% of Arab young adults view the US as a friend, while 32% view the country as an enemy state. 85% view the US favorably in the Gulf, whereas only 33% of people in the Levant hold a positive view of the country. Meanwhile, 66% of North Africans have a favorable view of America.

However, a vast majority of Iraqis view the US as an enemy state (93%), as do those in the Palestinian Authority (81%). 57% of Lebanese also view the US in a hostile manner.

The dream: Tweeting in Dubai

Five years after the start of the "Arab Spring," only 36% of young people in the Arab world believe that the situation in Arab countries has improved - a drop from 72% in 2012. The only country which feels differently is Egypt.

Palestinians prefer Rouhani. (Photo: AFP)

Another disappointing statistic for anyone who had hope that the "Arab Spring" will bring about change for the better is the fact that most Arab millennials (53%) believe it's more important to have stability than democracy. However, 67% responded by saying that Arab leaders must work harder to improve the human rights situation and privacy rights of citizens in Arab countries. 67% also responded that Arab leaders need to do more to promote the rights of women. There is almost no difference in the percentage of men and the percentage of women who support more women's rights.

The survey also reveals a deep worry about the economic situation in the Arab region. 56% of millennials in the Palestinian Authority, 56% in Tunisia, 47% in Lebanon, 49% in Iraq, 71% in Lebanon, and 82% in Yemen believe that there is little to no possibility of employment where they live.

However, it seems that Arab millennials are most jealous of their counterparts in the UAE, the country which - according to the survey - young Arabs most want to live in. The next two preferences are the US and Germany, followed by Saudi Arabia, Canada, and France. The UAE is the country that Arab millennials want their country to emulate the most. The two biggest reasons cited by the survey for the desire to live in the UAE is due to its security and due to employment opportunities.

Dubai, Arab millennials' number one choice. (Photo: Reuters)

The survey also sheds light on the lifestyles of Arab millennials in the digital age. 32% get their daily news from the internet, while 29% get it from TV. Meanwhile, only 7% get their news via physical newspapers.

Amongst the overall Arab population, TV is still the leading medium, with 63% of Arabs receiving the news in this manner, while 45% of Arabs use news websites. Radio comes in last with only 17% of respondents in the Arab world using this medium as their primary news source.

Arab millennials' favorite apps are also not outside the global norm, with 62% using WhatsApp every day, 55% using Facebook, 33% using YouTube, and 28% using both Instagram and Twitter every day.
The members of the opposition are deathly afraid. Not of policemen coming at night and throwing them in jail, but of something much greater: Not being a part of the national consensus. At the end of the Netanyahu era, the Israeli consensus is mostly demonization-based. The other side of the argument is non-human, in the full sense of those words. It doesnt consist of men, women, and children who have been living under our rule without rights or hope for decades, but of bloodthirsty monsters.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



That assumption started small: With a declaration, which has since become an article of faith, that there is no partner (for peace). Suddenly, the world became simpler: Were the good guys, theyre the bad guys. Dont nag us with talks of a solution. There is no solution.

PM Netanyahu. A mostly demonization-based consensus. (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

The first thing to go was empathy  basic human empathy. Since they were no longer human, there was no need to treat them as such. Then we looked for ideological fortification for this belief, and found it: The Jewish religious leadership was eager to dish it out in generous portions.

Great Torah scholars stated that those who were not Jewish were not really people, that tolerance towards non-Jews is a sign of weakness. We used to dismiss these kinds of comments. Now we see the logic in them. Consensus.

Then came the expansions: Not only are the Arabs on this side of the Green Line (may it rest in peace) the enemy, but also the Arabs who live on or side of it and have Israeli citizenship. In quick succession, their supporters, whatever their religion, became outcasts as well.

This entire hysterical nationalistic concert was conducted by Netanyahu and performed by his orchestra of cheerleader-commenters, using their favorite rhythmic chants: Holocaust, a vital threat (Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Balad, BDS, Breaking the Silence, MK Zouheir Bahloul, Chanel 2 investigative journalism program Uvda), leftists.

MK Bezalel Smotrich. Racist statements? The opposition responds with a light finger-wag. (Photo: Amit Shabi)

Whoever wasnt with us (that is, with Netanyahu, Smotrich, Bentzi Gopstein, and the Rabbis Shmuel Eliyahu and Yitzhak Yosef) was against us. Only a traitor would believe in something that makes us, the consensus people, feel bad about ourselves  even for a second.

The right to pass criticism was narrowed down to the point that it only applied to socio-economic issues. You may be against Netanyahus gas plan. But you cannot speak out on matters of the new consensus-religion (there is no solution, Arabs are animals, everything we and our dear children do is sacred). Those who separate themselves from the rest (by, for instance, not supporting the Hebron soldier) are committing a sin.

What is the role of an opposition in these cases? Its role is to smash the evil consensus, tear apart the net of prejudices that have become commonplace, and to offer an alternative  hope, a plan for the future. But the Zionist opposition in Israel feels bad being outside the consensus. Its busy obsessively trying to clear itself of the accusations of treason that have been slung its way.

MK Bahloul said (correctly) that theres an essential difference between attacking armed soldiers (resistance) and attacking civilians (terrorism)? Better state our shock at his comments and condemn him. Breaking the silence are labeled traitors and calls to execute them are heard? Lets lightly wag our fingers. No, thats not very good. An exaggeration. Whats that? MK Smotrich said something very very racist? Thats not great either. Another light finger-wag. And off we go to continue our behind-the-scenes unity-government negotiations with PM Netanyahu.

MK Zuheir Bahloul. Instead of standing by him, his fellow opposition members bow to the consensus and condemn him. (Photo: Knesset Spokesperson)

The state of Israels main problem is not that people act badly towards each other. Its not even the fact that we have a violent public discourse. That discourse is problematic, but Its merely a symptom of the larger disease.

That disease is the fact that Israel not only has exerted control over another people for decades, but has also denied them basic rights for all of that time. And we treat this fact as if its a rash, rather than a malignant tumor.

The Israeli disease is the fact that the Jewish state does everything it can to prevent any kind of diplomatic solution  by disinheritance, settlement, and theft. The disease is the fact that its convenient to say that a solution isnt possible in order to justify its unwillingness to engage in a solution. Its the fact that the state defines any resistance to this long-standing wrong as treason or terrorism.

An opposition that cannot and will not stand up and say these things loudly and clearly, without fear or shame, an opposition that sees its role as bringing an enlightened attitude to the occupation instead of ending it, is no opposition at all. Its an imitation Likud. And when voters look at both, theyre going to prefer the original.
The Tel Aviv Hilton Makes Another Healthy Move

The Lounge Restaurant at the Tel Aviv Hilton has started using an innovative new salt substitute as a means of reducing the amount of sodium in the food it serves. The novel ingredient is Umamix, a liquid version of umami, a Japanese discovery of natural vegetable essences that enhances flavor in foods to which it is added. The Hilton is the first establishment in the country to incorporate Umamix, a product of Israeli company Salt of the Earth, in its food preparation.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Rafik Jabarin, executive chef of the chains Tel Aviv property. Hilton mandates that every hotel offer at least four menu items that meet the criteria of this category; Project Umamix integrates this concept, beginning with our Lounge Restaurant in the hotel lobby.

Umamix, Photo: Buzzy Gordon

After being trained in the proper use of Umamix by Salt of the Earth, the Hilton invited food journalists to a luncheon featuring dishes in which Umamix replaced the usual salt. We even tasted the same dish -- baked sea bream fillet atop a ricotta blini served on a bed of pea puree -- made with salt versus made with Umamix; not a single one of us could detect a noticeable difference in flavor. Neither was there any discernible lack of salt in either the fish or the excellent artichoke ravioli with eggplant cream, in spite of approximately a 75% reduction in the sodium content.

It is estimated that, largely because of the way food is processed, people consume twice as much sodium as is good for us. It is good to know that places like the Hilton are looking out for their customers -- especially as Pesah approaches, and kosher for Passover dishes by Chef Jabarin can be ordered to take home for the holiday.

Hilton Tel Aviv, Hayarkon 225, Tel. (03) 520-2222

Zou Bisou Dinner Party Unveils Its Spring Menu

Chef David Frenkel is widely acknowledged to be one of Israels best chefs. He certainly can claim to be one of the most energetic, as head chef and co-owner of three Tel Aviv restaurants: Pronto, Pronto Kiosko, and Zou Bisou Dinner Party, a popular restaurant-bar on Ben Yehuda Street in north Tel Aviv.

Zou Bisou, Photo:Buzzy Gordon

Whether you read the restaurants menu in Hebrew or English, you will find Frenkel has inscribed it with his motto for Zou Bisou (in English: Guilty Pleasures in Small Doses.) In essence, therefore, Zou Bisou is a tapas restaurant, serving small plates of food, meant to be washed down with premium wines, craft beers or exotic cocktails. The name dinner party hints at the secondary purpose of the place: a DJ is on hand to play rhythmic music, creating a party atmosphere, which is not particularly conducive to quiet conversation.

We visited on a Thursday night, when reservations are a must: both the indoor and outdoor seating areas were full to overflowing. Between my companion and myself we sampled four of the six house cocktails, each more complex and inventive than the next. I especially enjoyed the El Matador: a blend of coconut tequila, red chili, coriander and orange liqueur, for a sweet and spicy refreshing drink. The Bronx was another bracing cocktail, which leaves a pleasant aftertaste of heat in the mouth.

The small plates range from the esoteric to the familiar, covering all possibilities -- hot and cold, raw and cooked -- and a wide range of cuisines: American, Asian, European and Mediterranean. There are also good vegetarian options. But the most unusual is an entire category of dishes defined by the unique oven in which they were cooked: the Josper, a combination oven-grill.

Zou Bisou, Photo:Buzzy Gordon

Among the standout dishes at Zou Bisou were: roasted kohlrabi with Hame'iri cheese, resembling a vegetable carpaccio; an authentic Caesar salad, down to the real anchovy in the dressing; the best buffalo wings I have had in Israel; sashimi and escabeche with the freshest fish imaginable; and butchers cut -- slices of tender, succulent beef atop a nicely seasoned freekeh wheat salad with yogurt tehina and tomato salsa.

The desserts are delicious fun: rich cheesecake with a robust raspberry sorbet; chocolate fudge -- actually a mini-souffle -- with peanut-caramel ice cream; and Amaretto French toast, a warm brioche with caramelized burnt almond cream icing.

It would take more than several visits to indulge in all of the tempting dishes here worth trying.

Zou Bisou Dinner Party, Ben Yehuda 186, Tel. (050) 830-3158

Cheese House Boutique Opens at G Tzameret

The G Tzameret Mall in north Tel Aviv has become a shopping complex known as much for its restaurants and culinary destinations as for its retail outlets; and its latest tenant certainly reinforces that reputation: Beit HaGvinot (House of Cheese), a small chain of gourmet food stores specializing in high-end cheeses and prepared foods.

G Tzameret, Photo:Buzzy Gordon

Recently, Beit HaGvinot inaugurated its newest branch by inviting renowned chef Shaul Ben Aderet to lead a cooking workshop using ingredients on sale in the store. Ben Aderet, chef at the Blue Rooster, a popular restaurant also located on the top floor of the same shopping center, prepared three hot dishes and one cold salad while interacting with the crowd. The dishes ranged from the simple -- cheese simmered in honey -- to the more complex: pasta with artichokes and cheese, and shakshuka with a salty white cheese.

The cheese samples from around the world were quite extraordinary and ran the gamut in taste -- from sharp to mild -- and texture, from hard to smooth and creamy. There is also a tantalizing selection of smoked fish, salads and spreads. Suffice it to say that Beit HaGvinot would have anything the discerning host might want for holiday entertaining.

G Tzamerets newest occupant joins several upscale food emporiums selling prime cuts of meat and export quality fruits and vegetables, as well as two highly regarded restaurants in addition to The Blue Rooster: Reviva and Celia and Brown. It is an address that belongs in every connoisseurs smartphone.

G Tzameret, Nissim Aloni Street 10

Loveat Expands Its Menu

The Loveat chain rose to prominence as a purveyor of organic coffee, thus creating a brand that has become associated with a commitment to quality. Over the course of its 20-year history, the chain has grown to five branches in Tel Aviv and Jaffa by serving

healthy, natural food at affordable prices.

Loveat, new main course, Photo:Buzzy Gordon

Recently, the chain introduced new dishes to its menu and invited food journalists to sample them. There were three kinds of bulging wraps: chicken shawarma, chicken with avocado and a vegan alternative, tofu shawarma; fresh salads; and pasta dishes with vegetables. Side dishes included Loveats signature whole grain red rice, and baked potato and sweet potato wedges with the chains homemade ketchup. Most impressive of all were the veggie burgers made from sprouted lentils and ground almonds.

A meal at Loveat will not break the bank: satisfying and filling dishes start at only NIS 35. There are also daily deals, wherein the price of a main course will also get you a complimentary side dish and drink -- including fruit juices squeezed fresh on the premises. The latest addition to the chains drink lineup is the cold brew -- cold coffee served in small, individual-sized bottles.

Loveat has also launched a new childrens menu, with appetizing choices for kids. Being easy on the budget makes for a very family-friendly place, while parents and children eating wholesome food together rather than junk food is another good reason for making an outing to Loveat a family affair.

Loveat (five branches in Tel Aviv-Yafo)
Palestinian security sources informed Ynet that Israel transferred to them on Thursday the corpse of the ax-wielding terrorist who attacked IDF soldiers in front of the Al-Arroub refugee camp. Several hours later, the IDF Spokesperson announced that the transfer was "a mistake following a misunderstanding that will be investigated."

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



At the end of March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon not to return any more terrorists' corpses in the IDF's possession to the Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu's decision at that time was contrary to the positions of Ya'alon, Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eisenkot and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Yoav Mordechai.

Ax used in Al-Arroub attack





The IDF Spokesperson announced after the transfer was complete, "The policy for returning bodies is set in accordance with the decisions of the political echelon."

IDF force in Al-Arroub

A senior officer in the Central Command explained this week that most of the terrorists' bodies were returned to the Palestinians in recent months and that the security services had the remains of only three West Bank Palestinian terrorists, all from the most recent terrorist attacks.

"Professionally, we said what places we think that it would be correct to return the bodies to," said the officer. "The West Bank is not monolithic; what is appropriate for one place may not be appropriate for another."
According to the head of a major real estate franchise, the vast majority of Australian real estate investors arent getting the maximum benefit from their depreciation claims.

Almost 80% of landlords fail to maximise depreciation claims against their investment property, potentially missing out on thousands of dollars come tax time, Raine & Horne executive chairman Angus Raine said.

The problem is that many landlords either aren't aware of the benefits associated with depreciation, or don't have an up-to-date depreciation schedule, which enables them to claim against the reduction in value of items such as carpets, curtains, stove cook tops, some light fixtures, shower heads and so on, Raine said.

With landlord able to claim between 10% and 40% off a variety of depreciable items each year and in some case 2.5% of the building cost, Raine said investors are possibly missing out on thousands of dollars each year.

Raines depreciation reminded comes not long after one issued by Bradley Beer, chief executive officer of BMT Quantity Surveyor, who said investors are likely costing themselves by doing their own depreciation claims.

Because its a tax issue people probably think their accountant looks after it and their other people who just make some guesses, Beer told Your Investment Property Magazine.

The thing we need to do is get inside the head of investors and give them a bit more education about whats involved and how they can get the most out of it, he said.

Beer those doing DIY depreciation claims are likely to miss out due to a poor understanding of both what can be claimed, especially when it comes to older properties, and how to pull costs apart to maximise the claimable amount.

While Beer said those who do their own depreciation claims are likely to cost themselves money, he also said theyre taking other risks as well.

Its definitely reducing the risk by getting an expert to claim the right things. We wont put something on there that you cant claim and we know the correct methodology to value things for the purpose of depreciation, he said.

If something does come up were the ones youre going to come back to and were going to back it and talk to the ATO about what weve done and were confident we know the rules.
Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.
New Delhi: With the second day of the second phase of the odd-even scheme underway in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday came out guns blazing on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of wanting the traffic-control formula to crash and burn.

BJP appeals ppl to break odd-even. BJP auto union calls strike.BJP wants odd- even to fail.But Del will fail BJP(1/2 pic.twitter.com/IghmuqjU4f  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 16, 2016

In Jan too, BJP tried to fail odd-even by orchestrating officers' strike. Ppl failed BJP n made odd-even success(2/2 pic.twitter.com/EhHPMq1CK6  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 16, 2016

However, he asserted that the people of Delhi will once again place their trust in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the next Assembly polls causing the BJP to fail yet again.

RSS n BJP want odd-even to fail but Delhi will fail BJP yet again https://t.co/TFpDPSPk7n  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 16, 2016

Kejriwal`s blistering attack came in response to BJP leader Vijay Goel asserting that he will violate the odd-even scheme and that he was ready to pay the fine of Rs 2,000, imposed on violators, for the "symbolic protest".

"The CM is spending public money worth crores on advertisements. This is the tax payers` money and no one is saying anything about it," he said.

Goel went ahead and dared Kejriwal to `permanently` impose the scheme if it was actually successful.

Echoing similar statements, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit accused Kejriwal of heavily publicising the scheme in a blatant attempt to fool the public into believing that the formula was a raging success.

"I really don`t see any benefit here. This is nothing, but inconvenience. They should have gone ahead with the programme only if they honestly thought it was a success. They should also ensure adequate transportation to people, which is not there right now. Half of the buses are broken down, how are people supposed to travel now," Dikshit told ANI here.

She further accused Kejriwal of going out of his way to publicise the scheme, saying that the Chief Minister was trying to make the scheme sound like a one of a kind, never heard before formula.

The second phase of the scheme which began yesterday saw around 1,311 challans being issued against violators, showing there would be stricter enforcement during the 16-day phase II of the road-rationing measure and fairly empty roads were seen with mostly odd-numbered cars indicating high compliance.
Washington: World finance ministers pledged to boost growth today at IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings tainted by lingering worries about the dragging global economy and hints of discord.

Pounding home the message that each country needs to take action to ramp up growth, and following another week of relative calm in financial markets, the IMF leadership said they were "positive" about the outlook, even as they warned of high risks.

Yet with a rising number of developing countries approaching the two powerful institutions for support to deal with the plunge in commodity markets and tighter credit, there was no clear response to calls to organize an international backup plan if growth begins to stall again.

"The IMF is alert but not alarmed," said Agustin Carstens, chairman of the IMF's steering committee, as the meetings wound up in Washington.

Fund members had agreed on the need to quickly take "mutually reinforcing" actions to support global growth, he added.

The IMF began the week announcing it had slashed its outlook for global growth this year to a low 3.2 percent.

It warned that refugee flows, more volatility in financial markets, a surge in corporate defaults and "Brexit" -- Britain's threatened pullout from the European Union -- were all serious threats to the precarious global economy.

But after dozens of meetings with Fund members large and small, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde was more optimistic at the close.

She characterized the week as "a bit of collective therapy, to move from the negative situation that we are facing, and the challenges on the horizon, to a positive approach in order to identify the solutions."

"You don't make any progress unless you have a positive attitude," she quipped.

At the same time, she added, "Clearly the question is, how much is going to get done?"

The commitments of each country to the lender's "three-pronged approach" to firing up growth remained vague -- another sign of concern for experts.

The Fund has called for countries to act with monetary policy, fiscal spending and structural reform to boost economic activity.

But with a number of top central banks having already taken their interest rates negative and others at ultra-low level, many fear the further impact of monetary policy is limited.

And many countries lack the surplus financial resources to increase spending to spur growth.
Ahmedabad: Resuming their agitation for reservation, members of the Patel community will court arrest en masse in Mehsana tomorrow as part of the second round of the stir, even as the district administration issued notice to the campaign organisers terming it as illegal.

Agitators under the banner of Sardar Patel Group (SPG) with the support of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) will gather in Mehsana to form a human chain.

They will then move towards the Mehsana sub jail and court arrest, a senior SPG member told PTI, claiming that around 50,000-1 lakh agitators from across Gujarat are expected to reach Mehsana.

Talks with the Gujarat government over the 27-point demands on April 11 failed and hence, SPG has decided to resume the stir, the leader said.

SPG convener Lalji Patel said the planned 'Jail Bharo' agitation is being organised as their one-month ultimatum to the government to concede to the demands expired with "no favourable result".

"We had given the government one-month ultimatum to meet our demands. But during this period, the government only talked and did nothing. This has forced us to go ahead with our planned agitation," he added.

Patel quota stir leader Hardik Patel, presently in judicial custody, said he will compromise with the state government on the issue of reservation only if it is "in favour of their community".

"We will surely compromise (on the reservation issue) if it is in favour of our community," Patel told reporters when he was being produced before a local court.

Meanwhile, Mehsana collector Lochan Sehra said the district administration has served notice against the stir terming it as "illegal".

"The organisers had intimated the mamlatdar (government official) that they are going to hold 'jail Bharo andolan'. The mamlatdar has served them notice stating that they can't hold the stir as it is illegal. They have also been told that they will be held responsible for any law and order problem," Sehra said.

A Committee of Ministers headed by state Health Minister Nitin Patel, formed to negotiate with the Patel leaders, had recently handed over a report on a compromise formula to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
Columbia: The International Monetary Fund said Friday that the fiscal projections underpinning Greece`s proposals for moving ahead in its bailout program are not realistic.

Poul Thomsen, director of the IMF`s European Department, raised questions about the forecast that Greece could maintain a 3.5 percent budget surplus for years as part of its plan for debt relief from European Union creditors.

"We question whether it is plausible for a country with such high unemployment and the attendant social pressures to be running such big surpluses over many political cycles to come," Thomsen said at the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington.

"So we are cautioning that... the debt relief needs to be calibrated on something that we think is more realistic."

Thomsen was speaking after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wrote in an article published in the Financial Times that the IMF should stop tinkering with the country`s latest bailout with European creditors, blaming the global lender for causing a delay in talks.

The IMF has been standing by with the possibility of adding its funds to the country`s third bailout program with the EU but says it needs to see a strong package of structural reforms and a "credible" plan for growth and fiscal adjustment going forward.

Thomsen said the IMF could back the outlined EU-Greece plan but has to understand how fiscal targets and a return to economic growth can be achieved.

To reach the 3.5 percent target, he said, Greece would need to take large fiscal measures, the equivalent of around 4.5 percent of GDP.

"We think that`s a lot. That`s a lot of -- if you want -- austerity," he said.

"If Greece and its European partners want to stick to that target, we can accept that target. But we need to see the measures."

He said the IMF still believes Athens needs to prioritize structural reforms, particularly in tax collection.

"Tax evasion has kept on going up and up, and tax collection rates have gone down and down and down... the numbers are truly extraordinary," he said.

He noted that Greece exempts 55 percent of households from taxes, compared to two percent in Portugal.

"What we need to do is to broaden the tax base... that`s the first point of discussion."

Speaking later, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew called for the parties to move urgently to resolve their differences.

"This is a problem that needs to be solved and it needs to be solved as quickly as possible," he told journalists.

"The solution is not for any one party to say they would walk away, but for all the parties to make the tough decisions about how to get those issues resolved."

"Greece has implemented many difficult policies but there`s still a gap and that gap needs to be fixed," Lew added.
Washington: India today asked the World Bank to increase its developmental fund to USD 100 billion a year from the existing USD 50-60 billion and called for enhancing the share and voice of developing nations in the management of institutions providing assistance under it.

The World Bank provides developmental assistance through International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

"These three institutions provide approximately USD 50-60 billion per annum in concessional, non-concessional and private sector resources," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his address to the Development Committee of the World Bank.

"Within next five years, we should work to raise annual financing volumes from the World Bank Group to USD 100 billion a year," said Jaitley, who is here to attend the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"This would be a kind of minimum contribution from the Bank Group for the developing countries, in their task of bringing about development and finance reconstruction," he said.

Observing that the World Bank is highly capital constrained, Jaitley said the IFC has no space to invest today even at low level volumes it has been doing for some years.

IBRD would not be able to maintain lending levels of even USD 20 billion per annum in two years' time, he said.

To better reflect the increasing weight of Developing and Transition Countries (DTCs), their share and voice in the management of these institutions also needs to grow, Jaitley asserted.

"We should therefore plan to have a Selective Capital Increase (SCI) to raise Developing and Transition Countries (DTCs') voting share to 50 per cent and a large general capital increase in IBRD and IFC for being able to finance USD 100 billion per annum going forward," he said.

Jaitley stressed that the time has come for raising partnership of DTCs in the IBRD and IFC to 50 per cent.

This would require that the economic weight captured by GDP remain the primary factor in the formula, with share of purchasing power parity (PPP) based GDP of not less than 60 per cent.
Agra: Where Princess Diana went alone, her son Prince William visited the Taj Mahal with his wife Kate on Saturday, bringing the British royal couple's week-long South Asian tour to a poignant close.

William and Kate sat side by side on the same bench where his late mother was photographed on a solitary visit in 1992.

Kate wore a slimline white dress with a circular navy pattern while William braved intense afternoon heat in a blazer and open-neck shirt.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were rounding off a tour in which they met another glamorous young royal couple, the king and queen of Bhutan, and saw rhinos and elephants in a national park in Assam.

The final stop at the Taj Mahal was an emotional one for William, who was 15 when Diana died in a car crash in 1997. He has often spoken of how much he misses his mother, and that he thinks of her every day.

Diana`s solo visit to the 17th-century mausoleum - built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife - came to symbolise her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles.

The couple separated months later.

Three of the Taj Mahal`s four minarets were swathed in scaffolding for repairs. Still, images of William and Kate sitting before the onion-domed monument, its ivory coloured marble translucent in the afternoon sunshine, were striking.

It was raining earlier in the day when the couple flew out of Bhutan`s only international airport, a day after they trekked to a Buddhist monastery 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) up a mountain.

They landed in Agra in afternooon temperatures that reached 41 degrees Celsius (105.8F). Much of India is suffering a heatwave and severe drought after two years of failed monsoon rains.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will hold talks with top Chinese political and defence leaders during his five-day visit to that country beginning on Saturday which comes amid strains in bilateral relations over Beijing's move to block India's attempt in the UN to clamp a ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar.

Defence Ministry sources said the focus of the visit, which comes days after India decided to sign a logistics support agreement with the US, will be to deepen military-to- military ties and focus on the border issues.

Parrikar will be the first Indian defence minister to visit China since 2013, the last being his predecessor A K Antony.

He is expected to hold talks with top Chinese political and defence leaders. No agreements are expected during Parrikar's visit, they said.

Parrikar's trip follows high-level visits by top Chinese defence officials including Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman General Fan Changlong to India last year.

CMC, headed by President Xi Jinping, is the highest commanding authority of the 2.3-million strong Peoples' Liberation Army.

While the two sides had set up a dialogue mechanism under special representatives of both the countries to find a solution to the vexed boundary dispute spanning 3,488 km, they also operationalised a Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination to address tensions arising out of aggressive patrolling of the disputed boundary.

So far, the special representatives have held 18 rounds of talks. The two sides have also opened more border points for regular interactions between their officers and men to build a friendly rapport.

Parrikar's visit comes amid concerns in India about China's move to block its bid to have JeM chief Azhar designated as "terrorist" by the UN in the aftermath of the terror attack on an air base in Pathankot in January.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday appealed to non-BJP parties to make a 'Sangh-mukt' (Sangh-free) country "to save democracy".

"Sangh-mukt Bharat banane ke liye sabhi gair BJP parties ko ek hona hoga (to usher in a Sangh-free India all non-BJP parties have to come together)," the new JD(U) chief said at the 'Advantage Conclave' here.

"Uniting against BJP and its divisive ideology is the only way to save democracy," said Kumar, who has already talked about "largest possible unity" among secular parties.

The Chief Minister said he was not against any party or individual, but against "divisive" ideology of the Sangh, the ideological parent of BJP.

"The three stalwarts of the BJP -- Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi -- have been sidelined within the party and power has gone to people who have no faith in secularism and communal harmony," he said.

A day after becoming JD(U) president, Kumar had on April 11 said he would strive for forging the "largest possible unity" against BJP by bringing Congress, Left and regional parties on one platform before the 2019 general elections.
Washington: There could be "stray" incidents of people on either side of the political spectrum making irresponsible statements but this could not be generalised as prevalence of a climate of intolerance in the country, Union Minister Arun Jaitley has said.

Dubbing such incidents as "terrible", the senior BJP leader, however, said that they are "rare" in a large country like India.

"There could be stray incidents of irresponsible statements by individuals on either side of the political spectrum, that does not mean that zamin per koi iss tarah ki activity hai (intolerance exists)," Jaitley said during a media roundtable with Indian reporters here.

"These are bad incidents. These are terrible incidents, but these are extremely rare in a large country. Historically stray incidents have taken place," he said when his attention was drawn towards some of the specific such incidents.

Responding to a question on alleged prevalence of intolerance in the country, Jaitley described this as a creation of media.

"On the ground, my own understanding of the subject is, are there a lot of things happening that show this (intolerance)? The answer is no."

"There could be in a large country like India some incident or the other, which takes place one time, which could be considered highly improper and condemnable," he said.

When asked if there is any introspection within the party, he said: "Actually neither in the party agenda nor on the ground there is any such activity wherein in a large country like India it (incidents of intolerance) is happening state after state."

"A news channel can show same four people giving irresponsible statements and build a story around it. That seems to be more of what is happening."

"What gets projected is in a large body of politics there would always be three or four people who would react aggressively and disproportionally to events," he observed.

"So loose comments, loose statements, improper statements, when the television camera confronts you, you say what you should not say, aise char, panch, chhe log hai (there are four, five, six such people), usko aap environment of intolerance kah do? (and you describe them as an environment of intolerance)?" the minister asked.

The Finance Minister is currently on a week-long tour of the US primarily to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

He also had the annual India US Economic and Financial Dialogue on Thursday and bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Luxemburg and Bangladesh.

Over the weekend, he would travel to New York to interact with the business community there and address a meeting at the United Nations.
Bhopal: Expressing concern over the pendency of nearly three crore cases in the country, Union Law minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Saturday said it is a "worrisome backlog".

"Although the continuing growth of pending cases in courts has been stemmed in the last three years, the mountain of more than three crore pending case still remains as a worrisome backlog," Gowda said, addressing the fourth retreat of Supreme Court Judges at the National Judicial Academy here.

The minister said the government has taken steps to remove hundreds of obsolete laws from the statute book.

"We have taken steps to remove hundreds of obsolete laws from the statute book. We are revising the National Litigation Policy in order that the government discharges its role as a responsible litigant and to reduce unwarranted government litigation," he said.

"We have taken up the amendments to Arbitration and Conciliation Act. We have passed the legislation setting up specialised Commercial Courts to resolve Commercial disputes expeditiously.

"All these measures reflect the government's commitment in making India an ideal destination for foreign investment, a hub of arbitration and to choose a path where the growth and development go together to transform our Country," the minister said.

Gowda, however, said these measures would remain inadequate unless justice is "available" to the common man.

"Dispensation of justice is also vital for maintaining law and order and peace in the society. It is normally said, if you want to work for peace, work for justice. In fact, the foundation of civilisation rests on a Just society," he said.

On the improved infrastructure in judiciary, he said "In the field of infrastructure for courts, a lot of government's measures have yielded good results.

"Provision of funds to states for construction of

court buildings and residential quarters for judicial officers has increased manifold in the last few years. Rs 3,691 crore has been released by Centre to state governments since 2011. State governments have contributed Rs 5,751 crore in the last three years alone," Gowda said.

"Rs 1,947 crore was released under the 13th Finance Commission award to state governments for various activities, such as establishment of ADR Centres and judicial academies, conduct of Lok Adalats and Legal Aid services and training of Judicial Officers and public prosecutors," he added.

The 14th Finance Commission, he said, has endorsed a proposal for expenditure of Rs 9,749 crore during 2015-2019 by the state governments on similar activities.

More than Rs 600 crore have been spent by the central government under Phase I of the eCourts Project and another Rs 1,670 crore has been sanctioned for Phase II due for completion by 2019.

Most of the district and subordinate courts are now computerised and made available online case data, orders/judgements and cause lists to lawyers and litigants alike.
Bhopal: President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday cautioned judges against the perils of "judicial activism", saying the equilibrium in the exercise of authority must be maintained at all times and self-restraint should be used when confronted with such a situation.

Maintaining that the Constitution is supreme, Mukherjee said "each organ of our democracy must function within its own sphere and must not take over what is assigned to the others".

"Judicial activism should not lead to the dilution of separation of powers, which is a constitutional scheme. The balance of power between the three organs of the state is enshrined in our Constitution," he said, stressing that "the Constitution is supreme".

The President said that the equilibrium in the exercise of authority must be maintained at all times and noted that the exercise of powers by the legislature and executive is subject to judicial review.

"However, the only check possible in the exercise of powers by the judiciary is self-imposed discipline and self- restraint by the judiciary itself," he said while inaugurating the fourth retreat of the judges of the Supreme Court at the National Judicial Academy here.

Mukherjee, however, maintained that the independence and integrity of the judiciary is "of the highest importance, not only to the judges but also to people at large who seek judicial redress against perceived legal injury or executive excess".

"The Constitution invests our independent judiciary, especially the apex court, with extensive jurisdiction over the acts of the legislature and the executive.

"Judicial review is part of the basic structure and cannot be altered even by taking the procedure provided in law. It is the judiciary which ensures the effectiveness of judicial review," he said.

He also lauded the judiciary for "enlarging the scope of justice" in a developing country like India.

"For the enforcement of our developing country, our judiciary has enlarged the scope of justice. For the enforcement of fundamental rights, the Supreme Court, through judicial innovation and activism, has expanded the common law principle of 'locus standi'," he said.

The President further noted that "it has been made possible for courts to permit anyone with sufficient interest and acting bona fide to maintain an action for judicial redress and to activate the judicial process".

"In the support of rights, courts have found a postcard written by a citizen or newspaper article to be material enough to set off judicial action. This has helped to bring justice closer to the common man," he said.

The President said the judiciary, which is one of the three important pillars of our democracy, is the final interpreter of the Constitution and laws.

"It helps maintain the social order by swiftly and effectively dealing with those on the wrong side of the law. As an upholder of the rule of law and enforcer of the right to liberty, the role of the judiciary is sacrosanct.

"The faith and confidence of people in the judiciary must always be maintained. For justice to have meaning to the people, it must be accessible, affordable and quick," he said.

Talking about the Supreme Court, Mukherjee said the apex court has "captured the ethos" of India's developing society while interpreting the mandate of good governance in the light of contemporary situations and challenges facing the country, "whether due to global winds of change or from within".

"This has not been merely an exercise in interpretation of laws or legal order, much less an exercise in edifying jurisprudence, it has captured the ethos of our developing society as it has evolved from the colonial shackles to a social order replete with the essence of human dignity, of aspirations of a populace maturing into a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic as mandated by the makers of our Constitution," he said.

The President further emphasised that the Constitution is "a living document, not a relic cast in stone".

"It is a magna carta of socio-economic transformation," he said.

The President said that an "affordable" judicial system is a must in a country like India, where a section of the population is at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid.

"Access to justice for the poorest would ensure justice for all," he said, noting that Mahatma Gandhi had said his "notion of democracy is that under it the weakest shall have the same opportunities as the strongest".

Mukherjee also stressed on the need for greater efforts to ensure legal literacy. "Instilling positive values in our young lawyers is vital," he said.

Talking about the issue of delay in providing justice, Mukherjee said that "quick delivery of justice is sine qua non for efficient jurisprudence" and used the old adage "justice delayed is justice denied" to stress his point.

"Justice should be speedy, accessible and affordable," he added. In this regard, the President also rued that the courts

are "overburdened" on account of the large number of pending cases.

"There are over three crore cases pending in various courts throughout the country. Out of these, about 38.5 lakh cases are pending in 24 high courts.

"The pendency of cases in the high courts has slightly declined from 41.5 lakh in 2014 to 38.5 lakh in 2015, but we still have a long way to go," he said.

Mukherjee said pending cases must be "quickly cleared" through multi-dimensional efforts, using statutory and procedural norms in areas like process service, adjournments and delivery of judgements.

"I am sure a paradigm shift in the way the public perceives the legal system will come through persistent efforts by judges to clear case backlogs and reduce life cycles of cases. This must be taken as an opportunity to bring in innovation in speedy dispensation of justice.

"Use of information technology and e-governance can make a positive impact in this regard," he said.

Talking about vacancies in courts, he rued that the high courts in the country were functioning with only 60 per cent of their sanctioned strength and lauded Chief Justice TS Thakur for speedily filling up vacancies in the high courts and the apex court.

"Since the assumption of work of Collegium from the first week of January this year, total 145 appointments were made as on April 12. This shows the speed with which the Collegium is now functioning," Mukherjee said.

He also showered praises on the apex court, saying it has earned a global reputation for its superior standards and lofty ideas.

"Landmark judgements passed by this court have not only strengthened the legal and constitutional framework of our country but are widely cited by the judiciary in many other countries seeking to build progressive jurisprudence. The bench of the Supreme Court is known for its intellectual wisdom and legal scholarship.

"(It) has over the years been served by judges who have provided intellectual depth, vigour and vitality necessary to create a world-class institution. I am confident this court will always remain a sentinel of justice," he said.

This is the fourth Retreat of Supreme Court Judges after the first one in 2005.

During the event, CJI Thakur, Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court Justice AM Khanwilkar and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also present.
Pune: A local court today sent to 14-day judicial custody two former policemen arrested in connection with the 2010 murder of Pune-based RTI activist Satish Shetty.

A CBI team produced both the accused B R Andhalkar, former police inspector with local crime branch (LCB) and his subordinate, former Assistant Police Inspector (API) Namdev Kauthale, in Shivajinagar court, where Additional Sessions Judge S B Kachare remanded them to judicial custody.

Citing a threat to their clients' lives inside the jail, counsel of both the accused requested the court to move them to some other jail. However, the court rejected the plea and ordered to keep both the suspects in separate barracks in Yerawada jail.

The defence counsel told the court that their clients were previously attached to the LCB of Pune Rural Police and during their stint, they sent many criminals behind the bars, hence there will be a threat to their lives inside the jail as several such criminals are still inside the prison.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the murder case, had arrested the then police inspector, Andhalkar and Kauthale recently and got their custody to "unearth" the larger conspiracy behind murder.

According to CBI, Andhalkar was arrested after it emerged that he had allegedly "conspired with others and fabricated and manipulated evidence" whereas Kauthale was accused of "creating false evidence and fake eye-witnesses to shield the real conspirators and killers".

Shetty was murdered in Pune by unidentified assailants when he had stepped out of his house for morning walk at Talegaon Dabhade town in Pune district on January 13, 2010. He had been attacked with swords.

After filing a closure report in a local court in August 2014 saying that it could not find any prosecutable evidence against the suspects, CBI in early 2015 reopened the probe in view of new evidence recovered in searches in Pune and Mumbai.

CBI had carried out the searches at 21 locations to probe allegations of land-grabbing along the Mumbai-Pune Highway on the directions of the Bombay High Court.

The case had been reopened following the searches.

NNNN
Tehran: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Iran on Saturday on a two-day visit to boost ties with a focus on raising India's oil imports and enhancing trade with the powerful Persian Gulf nation which has opened several lucrative sectors after sanctions against it were lifted under a historic nuclear deal.

The visit by Swaraj to the oil-rich country comes amid a rush for investment in the resource-rich nation by global economic powers including Japan, China, the US and several European countries after Iran invited foreign companies for joint ventures in many of its crucial sectors including oil and gas.

India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up USD 20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.

Swaraj's visit is seen as a balancing act by India as it came nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Saudi Arabia, another West Asian power which considers Iran its rival.

Iran is an important country for India for its energy security as well as to get access to oil and gas-rich Central Asian nations.

India imports close to 12 million tonnes of crude from Iran and it is looking at increasing the oil import from the country.

Swaraj will hold extensive talks with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif tomorrow during which entire gamut of bilateral relations will be reviewed with a major focus on ramping up ties in energy, trade and banking? sectors.

The External Affairs Minister will also call on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Iran has ended free shipping of crude oil to India and terminated a three-year-old system of getting paid for half of the oil dues in rupees and the issue is likely to figure in talks between Swaraj and Zarif.

Iran is now insisting on being paid in Euros for the oil it sells to Indian refiners. It also wants refiners like Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MPRL) to clear nearly USD 6.5 billion of past dues in Euros, according to officials.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had paid a two-day visit to Tehran from April 9 during which he discussed with his Iranian counterpart the repayment of nearly USD 6.5 billion that Indian refiners owe to Iran.

This was the first visit by an Indian minister since the US and other western powers lifted sanctions against Iran in January.

During Swaraj's visit, sources said, the two sides will

also explore ways for cooperation in areas of banking and review of implementation of the Chabahar port project in which India is a key partner.

Swaraj and Zarif will also review implementation of the decisions taken by the two countries during the last joint commission meeting here in December.

The two Ministers are also likely to deliberate on bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism, situation in Afghanistan and in Syria besides other regional issues.

New Delhi is looking to increase engagement with the sanction-free Iran by raising oil imports and possible shipments of natural gas.

It also wants rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf discovered by OVL.

Sources, however, said a deal for the field was not signed during Pradhan's visit as Iranian Parliament, Majlis, is yet to approve the new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) under which the Farzad-B field is to be given to the OVL-led consortium.

Indian firms have so far shied away from investing in Iran for the fear of being sanctioned by the US and Europe.

The same was deterring New Delhi from claiming rights to invest nearly USD 7 billion in the biggest gas discovery ever made by an Indian firm abroad.

But after the lifting of sanctions, India is making a renewed pitch for rights to develop 12.8 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves OVL had found in 2008.

Pradhan also conveyed to the Iranian side that both countries must expand the basket of oil and gas trade.

He had also expressed India's interest in importing LPG from Iran and said companies from both sides could discuss setting up an extraction plant in Chabahar, if required.

From Iran, Swaraj will leave for a two-day trip to Moscow to attend the annual Foreign Ministers' meeting of RIC (Russia, India and China).

On the sidelines of RIC, Swaraj is expected to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during which she is likely to raise the issue of China blocking India's bid at the UN to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.
Mumbai: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who will leave on Saturday to attend the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral in Moscow, will raise the proscription of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar with her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting.

"I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishma Bhonsle is on my agenda," Swaraj tweeted.

She added that she will also be taking up the matter of Yasir, an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed in Kazan in Russia.

After the attack on the Pathankot airbase in January, India in February had written to the UN calling for immediate action to list Masood Azhar under the UN Sanctions Committee.

All were told that if there are no objections were raised, the designation will be announced after the expiry of the deadline, but just hours before the deadline, China requested the UN. committee to keep on hold the designation.

China said, that any listing would have to meet the requirements, stressing that it was the Council members' responsibility to ensure that the criteria were followed.

Swaraj will embark on a two-nation visit today where she will travel to Iran for a Joint Commission meeting and from there she will fly to Russia for the trilateral.
Miami: A Malayan tiger attacked and killed a veteran keeper at a South Florida zoo, officials said.

Stacey Konwiser, 38, was killed yesterday by the 13-year-old male tiger in an enclosure known as the night house that is not visible to the public, Palm Beach Zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter said. It's where the tigers sleep and are fed.

The tiger was tranquilised and authorities had to wait until the sedative took effect before they could come to Konwiser's aid, West Palm Beach police spokeswoman Lori Colombino said.

Media reports said guests were herded into the gift shop for a short time out of an abundance of caution. Police also confirmed that the tiger was in a contained area and guests were not at risk.

"At no time was any guest or visitor in danger. At no time was any animal loose," Carter said.

The zoo said it will remain closed yesterday, and Carter said they will make a determination about today later.

Zoo officials said Konwiser's husband was also a zoo keeper there. Grief counsellors had been sent in for the staff, and zoo officials said they were reaching out to Konwiser's family members, who live out of state. They declined to comment on whether there had been other incidents with the tiger.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said they planned to investigate. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was also investigating.
Srinagar: Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday asked the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take up with India the issue of "grave human rights situation" in Kashmir.

Mirwaiz wrote a letter to Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani saying "it is high time that the OIC, along with the support of International Community especially the influential nations, actively involves itself".

He also asked the OIC to involve itself in finding an "honourable and lasting solution to the pending Kashmir issue which is the main cause of misery and suffering of the people of this land."

In the letter, he referred to the death of five civilians in the last few days in firing by security forces on stone-pelting and violent mobs.

"Repeated imposition of curfew and severe restrictions on the movement of the people has virtually turned the entire Kashmir Valley into a large prison," the Hurriyat leader said, adding all the separatist leaders have either been placed under house confinement or detained in police stations.

Meanwhile, hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani blamed mainstream political parties for the current situation and said they should be socially boycotted, as they have brought "nothing" but "destruction".

He said the mainstream parties like the PDP, the National Conference, Congress and Peoples Conference are responsible for the situation.

"We must not only socially boycott them but to boycott during the polls as well," he said in a statement here.

Geelani asked what people of Jammu and Kashmir have achieved under the rule of Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti.

"Nothing other than massacres, genocides, rapes, molestation and destruction," he alleged while expressing anguish over the "merciless killings" of youth in the Valley over last few days.

Castigating state police, he said "they are also equally responsible and in fact, hand in glove for the sake of rewards and medals and behaving like more loyal than the king."
Srinagar/New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday visited curfew-bound Handwara town to take stock of the situation even as the central government has decided to send more paramilitary forces to the state - on the boil for four days over civilian killings by security forces.

Mehbooba Mufti was accompanied by state Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, Chief Secretary BR Sharma and Director General of Police (DGP) K Rajendra Kumar. She met relatives of the youths killed on Tuesday in the security force firing in Handwara.

Five civilians have been killed in five-day long violence in north Kashmir Kupwara district since Tuesday in security force firing.

Her visit to Handwara comes as restrictions imposed by authorities and the protest shutdown called by separatists continued in Srinagar for the fourth day.

Meanwhile, the mother of the young girl allegedly molested by a soldier in Handwara town, the incident that triggered the violent protests in the Valley, on Saturday approached the state high court maintaining that her daughter was being held in "unlawful confinement" by the state police.

The chief minister, meeting with relatives of the killed youths, expressed condolences and asserted that the state government would ensure that anybody found guilty of having violated the standard operating procedure (SOP) during Tuesday's incident would face the process of law.

"I had wanted to visit Kupwara with a special economic package, but it is unfortunate that I had to come to console the bereaved families," Mehbooba Mufti said.

She also promised ex gratia relief to the next of kin of the slain youth.

Authorities had enforced curfew restrictions strictly in the town during the chief minister's visit. She interacted with relatives of the victims and senior officials of the district administration at the Kupwara Dak Bungalow in the town.

In New Delhi, union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in a meeting of senior officials from the Intelligence Bureau, ministry of defence, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the ministry of home affairs reviewed the situation in the Valley and assessed the requirements of the Jammu and Kashmir government to bring the situation under control without any more loss of life.

"The central government is concerned over the loss of human lives in J&K during the last four days. It was decided to send additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to strengthen the security grid in the Kashmir Valley," a home ministry statement said.

The statement said the ministry has assured "full cooperation and support to the government of J&K to ensure that there is no further loss of lives".

The statement also said the development package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kashmir in November last year "is being expeditiously implemented for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir, which will generate employment for the local youth and bring overall prosperity in the State".

On Friday, protesters attacked the Natnusa camp of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) in Kupwara.

Soldiers at the camp fired at the protesters who army said had tried to enter the camp.

One teenager was killed in the Natnusa firing incident while three others were injured.

Police said 60 people were injured in violence in the Valley on Friday of whom 40 were security personnel while 20 were stone pelting protesters.

Fearing escalation of violence, authorities imposed restrictions in Handwara, Kupwara, Baramulla and Pulwama towns in addition to areas falling under the jurisdiction of seven police station areas in Srinagar on Saturday.

In Srinagar city, some skeletal private transport and three-wheelers were seen moving in the civil lines and outskirts areas.

Some shops also opened in civil lines and outskirts areas of Srinagar city where locals were seen buying essentials.

Restrictions imposed by the authorities and the protest shutdown called by the separatists continued in Srinagar for the fourth day Saturday.

Train services between the Valley and Banihal town also remained suspended for the fourth day while board of school education and the University of Kashmir postponed all exams scheduled for the day.

Meanwhile, the mother of the girl allegedly molested by a soldier told the state high court that her daughter was being held in 'unlawful confinement' by the state police.

The girl's mother has also alleged that the statement attributed to her daughter in which she said there had been no molestation attempt on her had been obtained by police 'under coercion'.

The state high court has directed the state police to come up with its reply quoting the provisions of law under which they were holding the girl in custody.

The high court also ordered that the police will not record any statement of the young girl till April 20 and she be produced before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Kupwara on that day where her statement will be recorded by the CJM in camera.
London: Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Panama Papers revealed that his children ran shell companies through which they owned expensive property in London, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said the Prime Minister never thought to clear the air on the issue.

On the contrary, he said, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who was also facing the charges under the Panama Papers revelations, made his tax payments record for the past five-six years public."How will he (Nawaz Sharif) as a Prime Minister tell others to declare assets when he himself has not done so," asked PTI chairman, during his visit to UK over for two fundraisers and a jalsa in `Birmingham for Kashmir`.

"I want to ask Mian Saheb (Nawaz Sharif), what was the need to open fraud accounts?"In a series of tweet on Friday, Khan said, "Spanish minister resigns in wake of Panama Leaks & no inquiry committee was needed as he lost all moral authority to hold the position.

Why doesn`t our PM realise that in a democracy once a PM loses moral authority he cannot hold that office?"

Earlier, he had rejected a one-member judicial commission announced by Prime Minster Sharif to probe his family.He rather demanded fresh elections and probes by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Board of Revenue, and the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Rampur: Samajwadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Azam Khan has accused BSP and BJP of celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar for political benefits.

Addressing mediapersons yesterday at Jauhar University, who he is lifetime chancellor of, Khan said the BJP's celebration of Babasaheb's birth anniversary was an "attempt to garner political mileage".

"Prior to this birth anniversary of the architect of the Constitution, why the BJP never preferred to pay respect to the dalit leader," he asked.

Political parties organised several programmes on April 14 to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

Khan also alleged Mayawati's BSP took advantage of the great leader and Congress also followed their tactics. "And now the BJP is taking the similar route because its decline has begun," he said.

"When a political outfit loses its credibility and people start calling it a symbol of falsehood and baseless promises, then it does what the BJP is doing now by exploiting the name of Ambedkar," he said.

Khan also criticised Mayawati for her advice to people to remain alert to the "theatrics" of RSS, asking her to clarify why she had shared power with the BJP in the past.

Last week, the militants killed 18 soldiers and wounded more than 50 others in an ambush on Basilan island, prompting a massive army offensive with artillery and aerial bombings. The military said 28 rebels had died in the week-long fighting.

On nearby Jolo island, the militants gave a final deadline on April 25 for payment of 300 million pesos ($6.50 million) ransom for each of the two

Canadians and a Norwegian captive or they will behead the three foreign captives.

Security is precarious in the resource-rich south of the largely Christian Philippines, despite a 2014 peace pact between the government and the largest Muslim rebel group that ended 45 years of conflict.

Abu Sayyaf militants are holding other foreigners, including one from the Netherlands, one from Japan, one from Norway, two from Canada, four Malaysians and 10 Indonesian tugboat crew.
The Taj Mahal is ready for the hyped visit of British royal couple, prince William and Kate, on Saturday.

According to the programme released here, the royal couple will have lunch and dinner at hotel Amar Vilas. They will see the Taj Mahal around 4.00 p.m., and leave late in the evening for Delhi by a special chartered plane.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will not be coming to welcome the dignitaries, as was earlier reported by a section of the media, and some hoardings placed.

The famed Diana seat on the central pool has been repaired, and the staircase also given a fresh coat of paint.

On Friday, municipal workers were seen cleaning up the whole area in Taj Ganj.

The almost 10 km long stretch of road from Kheria airport to the hotel Amar Vilas has been spruced up and barricades ready to be placed to stop traffic when the dignitaries pass the heavily guarded Mall road.

"Clearly there is no excitement among the people here, for whom they remain symbols of imperialism that subjugated India for over two centuries. Although the media is trying hard to hype the visit of the royal couple. For us it is like any other VIP visit," commented social activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

William and Kate are following the footsteps of the prince's mother, Princess Diana, who visited the symbol of love 24 years ago.

Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1631 to hold the body of his wife as an enormous, opulent expression of his love.

The visit to the Taj will be the last stop for Prince William and the duchess, the former Kate Middleton, on a seven-day tour to India and Bhutan.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of trying to "unleash" CBI and ED on Trinamool Congress as it speaks up against them and alleged that the Election Commission was working on the instructions of BJP.

"Even If Modi, BJP, Congress and CPI(M) join hands I am not afraid of them. You can unleash CBI and ED if you want. Everyday you people are insulting us. I will not tolerate this, I will give reply to such attacks," the Trinamool Congress supremo told a party rally at Satyanarayan Park in Central Kolkata.

"The CPI(M), Congress, BJP along with Modiji are trying to malign us. They are inflicting torture on us. I am not afraid of Delhi, I am not afraid of Congress, I am not scared of CPI(M), I am not afraid of Modiji," Banerjee said.

The BJP might be in power in Delhi but that has not given them the right to insult and torture someone, she said.

"You (BJP) may have come to power, but that does not mean that you will remain in power for entire life. Whoever is not agreeing with you people, you are engaging CBI, Income Tax and ED after them. More than 70,000 industrialists have left the country because of the income tax torture," Banerjee said.

Banerjee alleged that the Election Commission was working on the instructions of BJP.

"There are few leaders of BJP who demand some officers be transferred, and he is transferred. They are demanding that a showcause notice be sent to Mamata Banerjee and a showcause notice is being served. I will not say anything against Election Commission, because it is the BJP, CPI(M) and Congress who had levelled charges," the TMC chief said.

Arguing that the decision to form a new district (Asansol) had been taken in December last year, Banerjee said, "Before taking a decision, you (EC) should have asked us whether the complaint is true or not.

Banerjee said, "You (EC) could have asked government

officers. Its okay you have felt like showcausing (me) and you have showcaused. I am grateful to them that they have served me a showcause. But this is not the way that you will act on the orders of BJP leaders."

Her comment comes in the backdrop of Election Commission serving her a notice on April 14.

Referring to the Narada sting operation, Banerjee questioned how a decision on it could be reached even before the probe of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee is over.

"They want to remove five (TMC) MPs in the name of sting operation. If someone raises his voice he will be removed. They are saying that Ethics Committee will decide on that matter. If Ethics Committee will decide on the matter then how come they can say that they will be removed (from their MPs' post) already. Who are you to remove them?," She wondered.

"They (BJP) will remove whoever they want to. Will the country and the state be run like this? They (opposition in Bengal) have created a situation where killing me will help them in cooling their brains. They have so much dislike towards me," Banerjee said.

Banerjee alleged that BJP President Amit Shah is visiting from Delhi time and again and issuing "threats and the work is being done."

"The Congress, CPI(M) and BJP are working in tandem. The BJP is jealous of me." she said.
Brasilia: President Dilma Rousseff is set to fight for her political life on Saturday backed by vast crowds of supporters as Brazil prepares to vote on whether to drive her from office.

The tomorrow vote in Congress could topple the 68-year-old leftist leader, in a political crisis threatening to destabilize Latin America's biggest economy as it struggles through a crippling recession.

It will be a rare outing for Rousseff, who has preferred to remain at her official workplace, the Palacio do Planalto, encouraging supporters from afar.

Rousseff will meet with the supporters camped out at the Mane Garrincha stadium who have turned out to support her bid to remain head of state.

"We came to join the defense of democracy and the government that was legitimately elected in 2014," said Tiago Almeida, 35, a metal worker from the state of Sao Paulo who has been at the camp for days.

Organisers hope that more than 100,000 will gather at the rally and the support camp this weekend.

Rousseff's opponents also plan rallies over the weekend as lawmakers debate a motion to send her to an impeachment trial in the Senate.

Police tightly guarded the area around Congress, which was surrounded with metal barriers.

Pro- and anti-Rousseff rallies are also planned in other cities tomorrow, including the economic capital Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where the Summer Olympics will be held in August.

Lower house lawmakers were due to make further speeches today and tomorrow before voting late tomorrow on whether to call for an impeachment trial.

Rousseff faces charges that she illegally used creative accounting to mask government shortfalls during her 2014 reelection.

She accepts the claims, defending her behavior by saying that previous governments used similar measures.

In a rowdy opening session yesterday, the government's top lawyer Jose Eduardo Cardozo drew noisy complaints when he repeated Rousseff's claim that the impeachment drive was a "coup."

"This is a historic process, there's no doubt," said House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, one of the leaders of the push to remove Rousseff.

Cunha has his own problems: he has been charged with taking millions of dollars in bribes linked to a massive embezzlement cartel centered on state oil company Petrobras. He also allegedly hid the money in Swiss bank accounts.
LONDON: At least 1,500 unaccompanied migrant and refugee children stranded in Greece have nowhere safe to stay, with many sleeping rough in the cold and others incarcerated, a charity warned on Saturday ahead of Pope Francis` visit to Lesbos.

Save the Children said Greece must stop locking up children and called on the European Union to help open more safe shelters for them.

"Children ... are sleeping rough in increasingly volatile unofficial accommodation sites, are being incarcerated in detention centres and are slipping through the cracks of the system," said Amy Frost, Save the Children`s team leader in Greece.

"They are at risk of violence, abuse and exploitation by people traffickers."

The children - some as young as 10 - come from countries including Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many have fled war and other violence. Some have travelled alone to Europe, while others have become separated from their families.

Pope Francis will visit the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday in a trip which aims to draw attention to the frontline of Europe`s migrant crisis.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees entered Europe last year after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece.

But the European Union last month struck a controversial deal with Turkey aimed at closing the Aegean route, and Balkan states have closed their borders.

The closures have left an estimated 2,000 unaccompanied children trapped in Greece, but Save the Children said there were just 477 shelter spaces for them in the country.

The shelters have been full for weeks meaning some new arrivals are put in detention centres and police cells.

Frost said some children were being held for weeks in police custody in "extremely bad conditions".

She criticized the European Union for rushing to close borders and implement the deal with Turkey.

"Pope Francis is telling the world there can be a more compassionate way to deal with the refugee crisis and Save the Children agrees," Frost said in a statement.

The charity said children at the overcrowded centre in Moria - which the Pope is scheduled to visit - were getting sick.

It also had "serious concerns" about the mental and physical wellbeing of nearly 60 children detained in a section of Moria managed by the police.

"The conditions are very dirty, there are not enough beds and they do not have access to legal services," Save the Children spokeswoman Sacha Myers said by phone from Lesbos.

Other children are sleeping rough in Athens - some on park benches - and at Greece`s northern border, where Myers said they were at risk of exploitation and abuse.

One 15-year-old Syrian boy, who spent several days sleeping in the rain and mud, described conditions at the border as "wretched".

"I want to cry, but I don`t want people to see me crying," he was quoted as saying by the charity. He said he had fled Syria after being jailed and beaten. His boat from Turkey had nearly capsized twice.

The International Organization for Migration said on Friday that 153,362 migrants and refugees had entered Greece by sea in 2016, but numbers had fallen sharply in the last week.
Athens: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said reform talks with the country's EU-IMF creditors, delayed by disagreements over pension cuts and bad loans, could conclude by May 1.

"I believe the target I have specified, to conclude (the talks) by Orthodox Easter (on May 1)... Is feasible," Tsipras told state television ERT yesterday.

"We are on the verge, I believe we will have an agreement very soon," he said.

He added that Athens has already carried out "three-fifths" of its obligations under the latest EU bailout.

Greece has so far adopted economising measures worth 63 billion euros since the start of the crisis in 2010, and will now economise another 5.4 billion euros (USD 6.1 billion), Tsipras said.

However, the International Monetary Fund says some 8.0 billion euros in savings are needed to meet fiscal targets.

The IMF worked with the EU on two previous bailouts for Greece since 2010 but the Washington-based lender has said it would not participate in the third rescue plan Tsipras brokered with the EU last summer without credible reforms and an EU agreement to ease Greece's soaring public debt.

The talks, which are to resume next week, have mostly hinged on an unpopular pensions overhaul and the management of bad loans weighing down Greek banks, with Athens resisting pressure to sell them to distress funds.

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos last week said there could be a preliminary agreement before a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on April 22.

The latest round of creditor talks were clouded by a WikiLeaks report alleging that senior IMF officials sought to engineer a Greek default.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde dismissed the claims as "nonsense".

Tsipras yesterday also hailed last week's decision by the European Central Bank to include Greek banks in its asset purchase programme known as quantitative easing or QE.

In another positive sign, US President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the Greek bailout with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Hannover on April 23, Tsipras said.
Baltimore: In the port city of Baltimore, where Europeans once streamed into America after crossing the Atlantic by ship, a 47-year-old immigrant named Rhonda is in a desperate position. She said she wants to provide for her teenage daughter but cannot get a work permit because she is in the United States illegally.

"I`d like, as a parent, to provide for my daughter`s needs. Homelessness and moving around has been rough," said Rhonda, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who has lived in the United States since 2001 and spoke on condition that her last name not be used to protect her daughter.

In Houston, Daniel Castillo Garcia said he is apprehensive about his toddler son`s future because the 19-year-old Mexican native is in deportation proceedings after being picked up by U.S. federal agents near the border.

"I`m very worried for my son because I need to provide for him," said Garcia, who has lived in the United States since being brought into the country by his mother as a child in 2007.

For these two and many others like them, perhaps their only realistic hope is that the U.S. Supreme Court revives President Barack Obama`s 2014 executive action on immigration, which was thrown out by a lower court.

That plan was designed to let roughly 4 million people - those who have lived illegally in the United States at least since 2010, do not have a criminal record and have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents - get into a program that shields them from deportation and supplies work permits.

Rhonda`s 16-year-old daughter and Garcia`s 2-year-old son are citizens by virtue of being born in the United States.

The court hears the case on Monday and is due to rule by the end of June.

Rhonda said she cannot get a work permit because she overstayed her original 10-year visa. She and her daughter are staying in temporary housing provided by her church because she has no income. For a year, she was separated from her daughter, who plays the violin and hopes to attend college, because they could find nowhere to live together.

`VERY ANXIOUS`

Rhonda, who said her Christian faith keeps her positive, believes work authorization would make the difference because employers increasingly demand such documentation.

"That`s why I`m in such hardship. I`m very anxious for something to happen," she said.

In Baltimore`s heavily Latino Fell`s Point neighborhood, South Broadway is lined with store fronts advertising services in Spanish, ranging from tax preparation to cellphone providers. Catholic Charities runs an immigrant resource center offering legal advice as well as education and health services.

Its managing attorney, Adonia Simpson, said about half the roughly 600 people she counsels annually have no option beyond Obama`s program, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), if they want to legalize their status and get work permits.

Initial enthusiasm about Obama`s plan waned when a federal judge put it on hold in February 2015, just before it was due to begin. All Simpson can do for now is ask clients to gather documentation to be ready to apply.

"The community is getting very discouraged," Simpson said.

In Maryland alone, about 56,000 people could be eligible for the DAPA program, according to the Migration Policy Institute think tank.

Obama`s plan was challenged by Texas and 25 other states that argued he exceeded his authority in bypassing Congress to take the actions.

"The president has violated the Constitution, and we are trying to prevent the president from implementing executive action that we believe is lawless," Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.

The Supreme Court is hearing the case at a time when immigration has become a hot issue in the U.S. presidential campaign, with top Republican contenders calling for all illegal immigrants to be deported. An estimated 11 million immigrants are in the country illegally.

In Houston, Garcia has pinned his hopes on the court reinstating Obama`s program.

"DAPA will help me get that freedom and help me to keep going and have a good future for myself and my son," Garcia said in an interview translated from Spanish by his attorney.


Beirut: The Islamic State group has captured more than a dozen villages and hills during a fresh offensive in norther Syria, opposition activists said on Saturday.

The IS territorial gains bring the extremist group close to the main highway that links the capital, Damascus, with the country's largest city of Aleppo.

IS also clashed with rival insurgent groups near the border with Turkey where they have been on the offensive for days, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee toward safer areas near Turkey.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting between IS and government forces is concentrated in areas east of the town of Khanaser, which has changed hands several times in recent months.

An activist based in Aleppo told The Associated Press via Skype that IS launched its latest offensive in the area a day earlier and by today was in control of some 18 small villages.

The activist spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from IS.

Khanaser is strategic since it's on the highway that links government-held parts of Aleppo with the rest of the country. The extremist group has cut the highway several times in recent months but government counteroffensives were able to push them back.

The Observatory said traffic on the highway was interrupted by IS shelling of the area today before resuming as usual.

To the north, IS continued in its offensive near the Turkish border capturing the village of Tal Shaaer from opposition fighters.

"Daesh is advancing against the regime and the rebels at the same time," said the Aleppo-based activist.

Around 30,000 displaced persons have fled from their shelters near the Turkish border, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Medicins Sans Frontieres, also known as MSF or Doctors Without Borders, said it was "extremely worried" about the displaced people's security and access to health care.

The international medical relief organization said it knew of just five operating hospitals in the Azaz district, where much of the fighting is concentrated.

The violence came as Syrian government and opposition delegations are taking part in indirect peace talks in Geneva aiming to end the country's five-year civil war that has killed more than 250,000 and displaced half of Syria's population.

Near the city of Aleppo where government forces have been on the offensive for days, the situation was relatively calm Saturday after rebels captured some areas back from government forces, the Aleppo-based activist said.
Mexico City: The Mexican army made a rare public apology over a scandal in which two soldiers and a policewoman tortured a terrified woman in a video that went viral.

It is just the latest allegation of abuse committed by security forces in Mexico, who are often accused of violent acts against civilians, including murder.

General Salvador Cienfuegos, the defence minister, read out the apology before 26,000 soldiers assembled at a military base in Mexico City yesterday.

"In the name of all of us who make up this great national institution, I offer my heartfelt apology to all in society wronged by this impermissible event," Cienfuegos said.

In the video, which went viral on social media this week, a barefoot woman is seen crying and screaming on the floor as a female soldier puts the muzzle of an assault rifle to her head.

A federal policewoman is then seen handcuffing the woman and proceeding to tightly wrap a plastic bag around her head while one of the officials demands threateningly: "Are you going to talk?"

The incident is reported to have taken place in February 2015 in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, in the southern state of Guerrero.

The defence ministry says it only learned of the video in December.

The male army captain and the female soldier seen in the video were arrested in January and charged with disobeying orders.

Mexican authorities are investigating a policewoman to determine if she was the one in the footage.

"It's necessary to publicly express our outrage over the regrettable events that occurred nearly 14 months ago," Cienfuegos said.

"Bad members of our institution besmirch the honourable behaviour of thousands of women and men in military uniform," he added.

"Although isolated, (such incidents) damage in a major way our image and the prestige we have worthily earned."

Cienfuegos told the soldiers they would continue to be on the frontlines of Mexico's war against drug cartels.

But he stressed: "We must not, nor cannot, confront illegality with more illegality. Crime is contained with the law in hand."

Federal prosecutors have been investigating the case officially since January 7 and they plan to try the three troops in a civilian court.
Mashiki: Rescuers desperately searched through the night for victims trapped in rubble after a powerful quake hit southern Japan, killing at least two and causing major damage, just over a day after another strong tremor in the same area.

The quake on the southwestern island of Kyushu sparked a fresh wave of destruction and was followed by a wave of aftershocks in the region where nerves are already frayed following Thursday`s earthquake that killed nine people.

The powerful shaking triggered a huge landslide that swept away homes and cut off a highway in one area, and unlike the earlier quake which mostly affected old houses, larger buildings were damaged and some toppled across Kumamoto prefecture, the epicentre of the quakes.

Public broadcaster NHK said that at least 470 people were injured in the latest tremor, while a government spokesperson said scores were trapped or buried alive.



Eleven people were stuck in a damaged apartment building in Minami-Aso near the landslide, a Kumamoto prefecture official said.

"We don`t know their condition," he said, declining to be named.

Meanwhile, a large fire that broke out at an apartment complex in Yatsushiro city killed one person, city official Kiichiro Terada confirmed.

"We are also checking if any more people failed to escape," he said, adding that the fire was under control.

NHK reported four dead in total, but Kumamoto officials gave a total a tally of two.

In nearby Kumamoto city, authorities were evacuating patients from a hospital over fears it could collapse and images showed the building slanted.

Hisako Ogata, 61, evacuated to a nearby park with her daughter, where some 50 other people sat on blue plastic sheets.

"We left my house as we could not stay due to continuous jolts," Ogata told AFP.

"It was so scary," she added. "Thank God we are still alive."

An AFP journalist in the city at the time said he was jolted awake by powerful shaking, which sent the television set in his hotel room crashing to the floor. Staff urged guests to evacuate.A ceiling at Kumamoto airport collapsed from the shaking, forcing the airport closed, Jiji Press reported, with no immediate plans to resume flights, and communications in the area were spotty.

The quake, measured at magnitude 7.0 by the US Geological Survey, struck at 1:25 am (1625 GMT Friday) at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles).

The Japan Meteorological Agency, which put the magnitude at a revised 7.3, initially issued a tsunami warning for the western coast of Kyushu but later lifted it.

Thursday night`s quake was measured at magnitude 6.2 by USGS, and 6.5 by the Japanese agency.

Some 20,000 soldiers will be deployed to the area over the weekend to help rescue efforts, Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters.

Shotaro Sakamoto, a Kumamoto prefectural official, said Saturday`s quake felt comparable

to Thursday`s.

"It was really strong... many people on the street appeared panicked," he told AFP.

Meteorological agency official Gen Aoki said Saturday`s earthquake was the strongest to hit Japan in recent days, and said Thursday`s was merely a "precursor".

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was due to visit Kyushu later Saturday to inspect damage and rescue efforts, but Jiji Press reported his trip was cancelled.



"We are trying our best to assess the damage situation as it could spread," he told reporters early Saturday.

Japan, one of the most seismically active countries in the world, suffered a massive undersea quake on March 11, 2011 that sent a tsunami barrelling into the country`s northeast coast.

Some 18,500 people were left dead or missing, and several nuclear reactors went into meltdown at the Fukushima plant in the worst atomic accident in a generation.

A nuclear plant on Kyushu was unaffected by Saturday`s quake, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the top government spokesman, told reporters.


Berlin: Cologne's public prosecutor and tax authorities are examining claims, which have come to light via the leaked Panama Papers , alleging that leading German private bank Berenberg helped clients to evade tax, news magazine Der Spiegel reported today.

The German authorities launched an inquiry into the allegations covering "bank officials in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg" earlier in the week, according to Spiegel.

Bank head Hans-Walter Peters, who has just taken over as president of the powerful German association of private bankers, is "in the (investigators') sights," Spiegel added.

A Berenberg spokesman told AFP by email that the bank was in contact with the prosecutor's office but added that no judicial procedure was underway against Peters.

The prosecutor's office was unavailable for comment.

Peters took over from outgoing Deutsche Bank co-CEO Juergen Fitschen at the head of the private bankers' association last week with the latter embroiled in a longstanding legal case involving the collapse in 2002 of the Kirch media empire.

Hamburg-based Berenberg is mentioned several times in the huge offshore Panama Papers data dump unveiled earlier this month by international media.

The bank said last week, "like many others," it had managed offshore accounts for clients but insisted it had done so "in line with the law."

Spiegel also returned to the Panama Papers theme in alleging that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble had "for years" not engaged with a reported whistleblower whom it said had offered to hand over evidence of wrongdoing regarding links between the Bundesdrueckerei printing house, which the ministry oversees, and shell companies in Panama.

Earlier this week the finance ministry denied it had ignored warnings from an informant in South America.

Last Sunday, Schaeuble urged countries to work together in the fight against tax cheats and money launderers by sharing national lists naming the beneficiaries of shell companies while warning that recalcitrant countries could be blacklisted.

"We need total transparency," Schaeuble told Bild newspaper.
Lesbos: Pope Francis received an emotional welcome Saturday on the Greek island of Lesbos during a visit aimed at showing solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty, a small group of whom he hopes to bring back to the Vatican.

The pontiff`s landmark visit comes amid controversy over a deal last month to end Europe`s refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.

At a refugee camp, where refugees knelt before the pope, one man cried "Father bless me" as the pontiff smiled and placed his hand on the man`s head.

"This is a voyage marked by sadness, a sad voyage," the pope told reporters during the flight from Rome.

"We will witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War. We will see so many people who are suffering, who are fleeing and do not know where to go," he said.

"And we are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived," he said.

An official from Greece`s state refugee coordination agency said Francis, who has repeatedly spoken out about the plight of the migrants risking their lives to reach Europe, wanted to take back a small number of refugees from Lesbos.

The chosen refugees are expected to be from those who arrived on Lesbos before the EU-Turkey deportation deal took effect in March, the official told AFP, without specifying whether this would take place immediately after the pope`s five-hour visit or at a later stage.Greek public television ERT said three families from Kara Tepe refugee camp on Lesbos, who were chosen in a draw, would be the ones to go.

Lesbos has been the first port of call in the EU for hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers fleeing war, poverty and persecution in the Middle East and Asia across the Aegean Sea from nearby Turkey in the past year.

The influx has sparked fierce disagreements between EU members and brought the bloc`s system of open borders to the brink of collapse.

Lesbos has also become the focus of criticism of the EU`s deal with Turkey to take back migrants who travel to the Greek islands on boats operated by people smugglers, in return for billions in EU cash.

New arrivals on Lesbos are being detained while waiting to be processed to determine whether they have a legitimate claim to protection from conflicts like the war in Syria or from fear of persecution.

Pope Francis, who was accompanied by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, visited the Moria processing centre, which is currently housing around 3,000 people.

The religious leaders were to later issue a joint declaration on the refugees plight, and hold a prayer at Lesbos harbour in memory of the hundreds of migrants who have drowned in the Aegean.

They were also to have lunch with a small group of asylum-seekers followed by a larger meeting with around 250 migrants and brief discussions with Greek coastguards and local residents.

Tsipras told the pope his visit "is a very important opportunity to highlight the need to stop the war (in Syria), the exploitation of people, and to provide the opportunity for a legal route for these people leaving their homes, seeking a better future in Europe."

Migrant flows to Greece have drastically fallen since the EU-Turkey agreement took effect.

The number of deaths in the perilous crossing have also been cut -- though not entirely eliminated.

Francis has framed his visit as an awareness-raising exercise and his spokesman insisted this week that its purpose was "strictly humanitarian and ecumenical, not political".Francis himself said the goal of his trip was "to show closeness and solidarity with the refugees as well as the citizens of Lesbos and to all the Greek people who have been so generous in their welcome".

The use of the term `refugee` was not accidental. The former Jesuit priest has repeatedly said he does not accept the EU`s distinction between those fleeing conflict and those fleeing poverty and starvation created by global economic inequalities.

That line has been backed by Bartholomew, the Turkey-based leader of the world`s Orthodox Christians, who said Europe as a whole must display the same generosity as the people of Lesbos.

On a 2013 visit to Lampedusa, the Italian island which has witnessed several deadly sinkings of migrant boats off its shores, the pope made one of the defining speeches of his papacy, denouncing the "globalisation of indifference" which has allowed thousands to perish at sea.

Over one million people crossed clandestinely from Turkey to Greece in 2015 and some 150,000 have made the trip since the start of this year.
Skopje: Protesters took to the streets of Skopje for the fourth night in a row, after Macedonia confirmed snap June 5 elections as the country grapples with a bitter political crisis.

The date was officially set despite the angry anti-government rallies in protest at President Gjorge Ivanov's decision to halt probes into more than 50 public figures, including top politicians embroiled in a wire-tapping scandal.

"Based on my constitutional and legal authority... I today signed the decision to call early elections... On June 5, 2016," parliament speaker Trajko Veljanoski said in a statement.

The early elections, originally agreed for April 24 and then postponed in February to June 5, are part of an EU-brokered agreement to solve the country's seething political feud.

But Zoran Zaev, leader of the main opposition SDSM, insisted yesterday that he would boycott the vote, claiming that conditions for a free and fair vote were not in place.

Ivanov, however, pledged to push ahead, vowing that the ballot would be a "new chapter for Macedonia".

Thousands of people, mainly SDSM supporters, took to the streets again yesterday, demanding Ivanov either revoke his decision or resign, as well as calling for the election to be postponed.

Police responded by blocking off traffic near parliament and deploying four armoured vehicles and a water cannon.

One placard read: "Exchange the president for 10,000 refugees" -- a reference to Europe's migrant problem and the fact that Macedonia last month closed its border with Greece where thousands of Syrian and other migrants are camped in squalid conditions as they attempt to reach Western Europe.

An AFP reporter witnessed no serious incidents before the crowds on the streets dispersed in the evening.

Macedonia's political crisis began last year when the SDSM accused then-prime minister Nikola Gruevski of wiretapping around 20,000 people, including politicians and journalists, and said the recordings revealed high-level corruption.

The government denied the accusations and, in response, filed charges against Zaev, accusing him of "spying" and attempting to "destabilise" the Balkan country.

Gruevski, who had been prime minister since 2006, resigned in January in order to pave the way for early elections.
Kumamoto: Scores of people were feared buried alive on Saturday after two powerful quakes hit southern Japan a day apart, killing at least 32 people, and as a forecast storm threatened more devastating landslides.

Homes, roads and railway lines were swept away when huge hillsides collapsed, as thousands of tonnes of mud was dislodged by the thunderous seismic tremors.

Buildings were reduced to rubble, including a university dormitory and apartment complexes, with dozens of people unaccounted for over a wide area.

"We are aware of multiple locations where people have been buried alive," chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

"Police, firefighters and Self Defense Force personnel are doing all they can to rescue them."

Around 70,000 people have been evacuated, including 300 from an area close to a dam thought to be at risk of collapse.

A hospital was left teetering by Saturday morning`s 7.0 quake, with doctors and patients rushed from the building in darkness.

Isolated villages in the mountainous area of Kumamoto were completely cut off by landslides and damage to roads, with at least 1,000 people believed trapped in one area alone.

Aerial footage showed a bridge on a main trunk road had crashed onto the carriageway below it, its pillars felled.

The quake came as emergency responders were working to reach areas already affected by a 6.2 magnitude tremor that struck late Thursday.

Adding to worries was the eruption of a nearby volcano, although seismologists cautioned there was no evidence of a link and said activity was limited.Aftershocks continued to rock Kumamoto and its surroundings, an area unaccustomed to the powerful quakes that regularly shake other parts of seismically-prone Japan.

Thursday`s initial quake affected older buildings and killed nine people, but Saturday`s brought newer structures crashing down, including a municipal office in the city of Uto.

"The total number of deaths rose to 32," Yumika Kami, a spokeswoman at the Kumamoto prefectural government, told AFP.

Nearly 1,000 people have been hurt, 184 of them seriously, she added.

Tokai University announced that two of its students, who were among around a dozen trapped in a dormitory building in Minami-Aso, were now known to have died.

"We offer our sincerest prayers for the two," said a statement on its website. "We`re trying to confirm the safety of other students."

At least one of those who died was killed when a fire ripped through an apartment complex in the town of Yatsushiro, a local official said.

In nearby Kumamoto city, an AFP journalist said he was jolted awake by powerful shaking, which sent the television set in his hotel room crashing to the floor. Staff urged guests to evacuate.

Kumamoto airport was forced to close after a ceiling collapsed, Jiji Press reported, with no immediate plans to resume flights, and communications in the area were spotty.

Nearly 400,000 households were without a water supply, and electricity was cut off in 170,000, the government earlier said.Japan Meteorological Agency official Gen Aoki said Saturday`s quake was the strongest to hit in recent days, and that Thursday`s was merely a "precursor".

The agency said rain was expected to hit Kumamoto from Saturday evening, and some areas would see heavy downpours on Sunday, raising the risk of further landslides in places where soil and rock has already been loosened.

The town of Misato advised more than 10,000 people to evacuate Saturday over fears of a landslide, national broadcaster NHK reported.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he was sending 20,000 emergency responders to the area, including troops, firefighters and medics.

"From tonight, we are expecting rain and winds and deteriorating weather in the Kyushu region," he told a press conference.

"There are fears of possible landslides and other secondary disasters."

"The time is now. What we can do during daylight will be key."

Japan, one of the most seismically active countries in the world, suffered a massive undersea quake on March 11, 2011 that sent a tsunami barreling into the country`s northeast coast.

Some 18,500 people were left dead or missing, and several nuclear reactors went into meltdown at the Fukushima plant in the worst atomic accident in a generation.

Japan`s only working nuclear plant, which is southwest of Saturday`s quake epicentre, was unaffected, the government has said.
Tokyo: A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan early on Saturday, killing at least 16 people, injuring hundreds more and trapping people in collapsed buildings, barely a day after a quake killed nine people in the same region.

Rescuers dug through the rubble of collapsed buildings and mud and debris on Saturday to try and reach those trapped, but continued aftershocks hindered rescue efforts and fuelled fears of more powerful quakes.

"We have already seen of several of the mid to upper 5 plus magnitude range, and over the next several days and weeks, we would not be surprised to see more earthquakes of this size," said John Bellini, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Factories producing auto parts and tech components for companies including Sony Corp and Honda Motor Co halted production as they assessed the damage.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said rescue efforts were critical with wet weather forecast overnight, which could further damage weakened buildings and cause landslides.

"Nothing is more important than human life and it`s a race against time," Abe said at a government meeting after the disaster. "I want rescue activities to continue with the utmost effort."

The epicentre of the quake was near the city of Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu and measured at a shallow depth of 10 kms (6 miles), the USGS said.

Damage from Saturday`s quake covered a wide area with reports of fires, power outages, collapsed bridges and gaping holes in the earth. Residents near a dam were told to leave because of fears it might crumble, broadcaster NHK said, while the 400-year-old Kumamoto Castle in the centre of the city was badly damaged.

The quake triggered a tsunami advisory which was later lifted and no irregularities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the area, a senior government official said. People still reeling from Thursday`s 6.4 shock poured onto the streets after the Saturday earthquake hit at 1:25 a.m. (1625 GMT).

TV Asahi showed rescue efforts for what it said were 11 people trapped in a university apartment in the town of Minami Aso and NHK reported that people were trapped in a nursing home in the town of Mashiki.

NHK reported 16 deaths and more than 1,000 people treated in hospitals.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said nearly 80 people were believed trapped or buried in rubble. Extra troops would be sent to help, with up to 20,000 due by Sunday, as well as more police, firefighters and medics, he said.

"We are making every effort to respond," Suga said.

Many frightened people wrapped in blankets sat outside their homes while others camped out in rice fields in rural areas surrounding the main towns. About 170,000 households were without power and 385,000 without water, Suga said.

The region`s transport network suffered considerable damage with one tunnel caved in, a highway bridge damaged, roads blocked by landslips and train services halted, media reported. Kumamoto airport was also closed.

There have been more than 230 aftershocks of at least level 1 on the Japanese scale since Thursday`s shock, said Japan`s meteorological agency.

Japan is on the seismically active "ring of fire" around the Pacific Ocean and has building codes aimed at helping structures withstand earthquakes.

A magnitude 9 quake in March 2011 north of Tokyo touched off a massive tsunami and nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima. Nearly 20,000 people were killed in the tsunami

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, speaking at a G20 event in Washington, said it was too early to assess the economic impact but bank operations in Kumamoto were normal.

Manufacturers including Honda, Renesas Electronics Corp and Sony halted production after the tremors but no major damage was reported.

The 2011 quake temporarily crippled part of Japan`s auto supply chain in particular, but some companies have since adjusted the industry`s "Just in Time" production philosophy in a bid to limit any repeat of the disruption.
Geneva: Syria's opposition has rejected a proposal from the UN envoy brokering peace talks in Geneva that would have kept Bashar al-Assad as president with three deputies of his opponents' choosing, an opposition source told AFP Saturday.

Staffan de Mistura made the proposal for Assad to remain in office during a transitional period to the High Negotiations Committee -- the main Syrian opposition body -- during a meeting late Friday, the HNC source said.

"He proposed that President Bashar al-Assad would appoint three vice presidents that we choose, and that he would transfer his military and political prerogatives to them," the source said.

"Effectively, Assad would stay in a ceremonial position... But we categorically rejected the proposal."

The HNC and the government delegation are in Geneva for a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving Syria`s five-year war.

The UN-backed effort has called for a political transition, a new constitution, and parliamentary and presidential elections by September 2017.

Assad`s ouster has been the key demand of Syria`s opposition since the uprising broke out in March 2011, but Damascus says his departure is not on the table.

While the opposition insists on forming a "transitional governing body" without Assad, the regime says it wants to form a broader "unity government."

The HNC source said de Mistura had presented the idea as a way to end that "vicious cycle" of debate.

"This way, the president could transfer his prerogatives based on the current constitution, which does not include the formation of a transitional governing body," the source said.

According to him, de Mistura told the HNC committee that the proposal "was not his personal view... but that he hoped to hear our thoughts".

On Friday, HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet told AFP that Syria`s opposition would be willing to cooperate with regime "diplomats and technocrats" in a transition period.

He insisted that there would be no role for Assad or anyone who had played a central role in the civil war, which has killed 270,000 people and displaced millions.
London: Tens of thousands of people marched through London on Saturday in protest against government spending cuts, with some activists demanding Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation over his family's offshore finances.

Demonstrators converged on Trafalgar Square calling for increased investment in the health service, housing, education and public sector pay, as well as action to stop the loss of thousands of steel workers' jobs in Wales.

"No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts," they chanted.

Some protesters also demanded Cameron quit following revelations that he had shares in an offshore fund set up by his late father, holding up banners saying "Ditch Dodgy Dave" and "Cameron Must Go -- Tories Out!".

"For somebody in that position, you have a duty of care to the people of the country to be very open, very transparent. Just because something is legal doesn`t always make it right," protester Sarah Henney told AFP.

The march was planned before Cameron`s family finances were revealed in the so-called Panama Papers, but organising group The People`s Assembly said it "proves that this is a government for the privileged few".

Trade union leaders and politicians addressed the crowd gathered in a rainy Trafalgar Square, with the opposition Labour party promising to end years of austerity imposed following the global financial crisis.

In a video message, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "The austerity we are in is a political choice, not an economic necessity."

Cameron said he sold his offshore holdings before taking office in 2010 and denied allegations that his father had set up his fund to avoid paying tax.

But the row has put the premier under pressure at a difficult time, as he seeks to manage an increasingly bitter fight within his Conservative party over the upcoming referendum on EU membership.

Some 128 of the 330 Conservative lawmakers in parliament and several of Cameron`s own ministers are campaigning against him in favour of leaving the EU ahead of the June 23 vote.

Veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke warned Saturday that if Cameron loses the vote, he will be forced out of office.
Washington: Twenty-two women currently training to become US Army officers will be allowed to enter the service as second lieutenants in the infantry and armor branches under historic new rules that allow women to serve in combat jobs, the Army said on Friday.

The women, who are nearing the completion of officer training and will be commissioned in the coming weeks, had requested permission to serve in the newly opened roles upon entering the service, the Army said in a statement.

Thirteen have been approved to enter the Army as armor officers and nine have been approved for the infantry. All 22 must complete their remaining training before fully qualifying as infantry or armor officers, the statement said.

The women currently are in school at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, taking reserve officer training at universities or are in officer candidate school in the military.

After they are commissioned, the women will have to undergo armor- or infantry-specific training at Fort Benning, Georgia, before being assigned as officers in charge of armor or infantry platoons.

Recruitment of female officers into leadership roles in combat units is seen as an important step toward successfully integrating women of all ranks into ground combat jobs that were previously closed to them.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in December that the U.S. military services, after years of study, had decided to strike down gender barriers by opening all jobs to women who qualify.

The decision paved the way for opening some 220,000 additional jobs to women.

Previously, women had been excluded from strictly combat positions. Inability to serve in combat made it difficult for women to advance to some high-ranking military positions, and the wars of the past 15 years had increasingly erased the distinction between front lines and rear echelons.

Some 300,000 women have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and women represent about 2 percent of U.S. casualties in the conflicts.
Brazzaville: Longtime Congolese leader Denis Sassou Nguesso was sworn in for another five-year term today following a contested presidential election last month that has raised tensions in the country.

At an inauguration ceremony that formally extended his 32-year grip on power, Sassou Nguesso vowed to focus on boosting the economy and tackling youth unemployment.

"This five-year term will be that of the economy," he said in an address in Brazzaville attended by several other African heads of state.

"All our efforts will be on strengthening the national economy so that it is deeply diversified, dynamic and flourishing and most of all creating thousands of decent jobs."

He also said he would strive to "eradicate unemployment" among young people.

Some 60 per cent of young people are out of work in Congo, a small but oil-rich country of some four million, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The Constitutional Court earlier this month confirmed Sassou Nguesso's first-round win in Congo's March 20 presidential polls, with more than 60 percent of the vote. The opposition however condemned the election as a "massive fraud".

Sassou Nguesso's win only became possible after an October constitutional referendum ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates, allowing the former paratrooper to run again in a move denounced by his opponents as "a coup". Congo has been on edge ever since.

The day the president's re-election was confirmed on April 4, heavy fighting erupted in southern Brazzaville districts loyal to the opposition. The army was deployed and thousands of residents fled their homes.

The government said at least 17 people, including two civilians, were killed in the violence, which it blamed on a "terrorist attack" by the disbanded Ninja Nsiloulou militia.

Members of the opposition however have dismissed the official version of events and accuse the government of trying to quell post-election protests.

The runner-up in the presidential election, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, last week urged his supporters to accept the vote outcome despite "all sorts of irregularities" to avoid further unrest.

Adding to the criticism of last month's polls, the United States has said it was "profoundly disappointed by the flawed presidential electoral process".

Sassou Nguesso first served as president from 1979 to 1992, returning to power in 1997 following a civil war.
Alabama governor Robert Bentley left his wallet in Tuscaloosa when he headed off for his beach house. So his aides sent a state police helicopter to fetch it, at a public cost of about $4000.

"I requested they deliver my wallet, I didn't know how they were going to do it," the governor told AL.com. "I did not request that a helicopter was used. You have to have your wallet for security reasons. I'm the governor. And I had to have money. I had to buy something to eat. You have to have identification."

Bentley's about to be impeached, but over an unrelated a sex scandal.
Edmonton police headquarters looks smaller from the outside.

But when you start exploring inside, the size of the building and its rich, 124-year history are staggering.

In 1892, the town of Edmonton was incorporated with a population of 700, with Matthew McCauley as the first mayor. The Edmonton police department was created with a single constable to watch over the newly created town.

By 1908, following the Klondike years, police membership had risen, and included horses named Tom, Dick and Harry.

As Edmonton grew, so did the department. By 1912, it had about 60 members, including the first female officer, Annie Jackson.

Over the years, the force has evolved to meet expanding city demands. But it wasn't until 1947 that an official training course began. Before that, officers were sent out on patrol with just basic instructions.

For many years, female officers wore different uniforms. Some carried purses with special holsters for their firearms and handcuffs.

The department's fleet of vehicles has changed as well. It all started with a single Ford in 1911. Edmonton police, in 1919, became the first force to use an aircraft in a criminal pursuit. Motorcycles and bomb vans expanded the capabilities. Some Edmontonians will remember the yellow-and-white colour scheme used on police cars for more than 20 years.

The department moved into its new headquarters in 1982. The building includes a 911 call center, holding cells, parking garage, major crimes unit and the downtown division. The name was changed to the Edmonton Police Service in 1989.

There are now 1,790 sworn police officers, assisted by more than 700 civilians. In 2015, the department made 35,000 arrests.

Next year, Edmonton police will celebrate 125 years in operation. The department plans to roll out more of its history and is looking for assistance from people who have photographs or historical artifacts they may want to share. If you have something from the history of the Edmonton police, you can contact them at EPS125@edmontonpolice.ca

You can see more from Edmonton Police Service headquarters on Our Edmonton on Saturday at 9 a.m., Sunday at 11 a.m. and Monday at 11 a.m. on CBC TV.

Where should Our Edmonton visit next? You can email us at OurEdmonton@cbc.ca with your suggestions.
Montrealers will be able to use Bixi with their Opus cards

Bixi season is officially underway and it's kicking off with a bang.

Montreal's bike-sharing service launched at the stroke of midnight, and it's already surpassed objectives set by Bixi officials.

"Our objective was to gain 1,000 new subscribers, and we've already reached the 2,200 mark," said Sylvia Morin, a board member for Bixi.

"A lot of effort was put into making the customer experience a better one. The bikes are always in top-shape condition, we've changed the tariffs so that it would be easier to use, but I think it boils down to the customer experience, which has really been improved and the quality of the maintenance of the bikes."

This season's spike in membership comes after two successful years.

In 2015, Bixi saw a 9.4 per cent increase in the number of trips taken.

In 2014, after the city of Montreal helped Bixi out of bankruptcy, it ran a surplus of $818,000  the first time it was in the black since the service began in 2008.

"There's probably a sense that there's more stability around the service. For several years, it was up in the air whether the service would come back. But now we have stability in front of us and we have the City behind us for up to 5 years," Morin said, adding that the company Manulife has also partnered with Bixi.

Morin also hopes Mother Nature will co-operate.

"We've got gorgeous weather for the next week, probably, which wil be great because I think this is the first time Bixi starts its season with such great foreseeable weather."

Here are some facts about Bixi and what's new about the service this year:

1. Bixi by the numbers

- 5,200 bikes

- 460 stations

- 9,600 docking points

- 38,000 members in 2015

- 3.5 million rides in 2015

2. How it works

Bixi is a bike-sharing service where people can borrow a public bike from a docking station 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from April to November. Bixi stations are located across many parts of the city. You return the bike at any docking station when you arrive at your destination.

Story continues

3. More bikes in Griffintown

Morin says that Bixi officials have been keeping up with the shifting demographics of the city's neighbourhoods, and the location of its docking stations reflects that.

"The mapping of the stations has changed slightly and it mirrors the usage and the new areas and the new neighbourhoods of Montreal where people are using them more," Morin told CBC.

"For example, a year or two ago, Griffintown was an area where there were not that many docking stations. This year there will be more availability in that neighbourhood."

4. Free for one day a month

People who want to get around the city by bike can give Bixi a try for free.

All rides that are under 30 minutes will be free every last Sunday of the month, starting May 29.

5. Valet service during festivals

During Montreal's busy festival season, Bixi users don't need to worry about the docking station being full. Employees will be on site to manage the fleet during some events.

"If we want to encourage people to use the bikes to go to the festival, we'll have a valet service there. So anyone who takes a bike to go to Ile Notre-Dame, they won't have to be preoccupied with 'Will there be a station there for me to dock it?'" Morin said.

"There will be a valet service to take the bike for them, and when they want to leave at night there will be a bike for them to leave."

6. Prices

- $87 for one year

- $55 for half-season

- $30 for 30 days

- $14 for three days

- $5 for 24 hours

- $2.95 for a one-way trip
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.
By Luciana Lopez NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on Wednesday will propose the creation of a new national Office of Immigrant Affairs should she win the White House in November, as she seeks to woo minority and immigrant voters in New York less than a week before the state's primary. The office would coordinate policies and programs among federal agencies and with state and local governments, Clinton said at an event in New York City where she met with immigrant-rights activists. "It's an issue that cuts across all levels of government," she said. She added that it would expand the efforts of President Barack Obama's Task Force on New Americans, which was created in 2014 to help immigrants and refugees integrate better into the United States. In contrast, Republican candidates have largely proposed tougher immigration rules. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has called for building a wall along the border with Mexico and a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country. The New York primary on Tuesday could either help former Secretary of State Clinton consolidate her status as the Democratic front-runner or hand a significant victory to rival Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator seeking to defy expectations and win the party's nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Both candidates are campaigning across the state, looking to win over New York's diverse population, including voters from immigrant families. Around 19 percent of the state's population is Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census. With 247 pledged delegates at stake, the state is among the most significant nominating contests left on the calendar before the Democrats' July 25-28 convention in Philadelphia. Clinton holds a double-digit lead in opinion polls over Sanders in New York, the state where he was born and which she served for eight years as a U.S. senator. She also holds a commanding lead in pledged delegates overall so far, leaving Sanders only a narrow path if he is to win the nomination out from under her, a task some pundits say is already beyond him. A Democratic candidate needs 2,383 delegates to clinch the nomination. Those can come from any combination of pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses, as well as so-called superdelegates, who can vote as they choose. (Reporting by Luciana Lopez; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
Manitoba Green Party candidate David Nickarz said he is "optimistic" about winning over Wolseley voters in next week's election, as the provincial party received a boost from federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

May visited Winnipeg on Friday, making her the only federal party leader to come to Manitoba during the campaign leading up to Tuesday's provincial election.

"David Nickarz has a great chance to be the first Green MLA in Manitoba and I'll do everything I can to make that happen," she said to applause.

Rob Altemeyer of the NDP has held the Wolseley constituency since 2003, but Nickarz says he believes this year's election is about change, and that will help shift undecided voters his way.

"I've hit 3,000 doors myself, and there are arguably as many Green signs up in Wolseley as the incumbent," said Nickarz.

"We're confident that those undecideds will come our way, and we're optimistic because the whole election is about change."

Altemeyer did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Also running in Wolseley are Raquel Dancho of the Progressive Conservatives, Shandi Strong for the Liberals and Wayne Sturby of the Manitoba Party.

Nickarz said the Green brand is gaining credibility in Canada, helped in part because May successfully passed a private member's bill, the Federal Framework on Lyme Disease Act, and led an amendment to Bill C-46, the Pipeline Safety Act.

Beddome says he's seeing more support

May was joined by Manitoba Green Party Leader James Beddome as she made several appearances around the city on Friday, including one at an anti-poverty rally at the University of Winnipeg.

"She's a very inspirational woman and very knowledgeable woman and I do look up to her," Beddome said.

"I think having her here is important, I think that fact she's the only federal party leader that saw fit to come in and visit Manitoba during the general election shows the Greens do care about Manitoba," Beddome said.

Story continues

Beddome, who's running in Fort Garry-Riverview, said he's been getting a lot more recognition and support from people at the door since the televised leaders' debate on Tuesday night.

- PROFILE | James Beddome: A personal look at the politics of being Green

Beddome also took part in a CBC Manitoba candidates' debate and online forum on health care, while Nickarz participated in a forum on environmental issues.

"The reaction especially after the debate is really strong, a lot of people are recognizing me and confirming that they already voted for me in advance polls and really anything is possible, so I can see us putting several greens into the legislature," said Beddome.

He said having the federal Green leader visiting Winnipeg during a provincial election campaign helps.

"I've been hearing left, right and centre at the door from people that were voting NDP, people that were voting PC and people that were voting Liberal and people that were not going to vote at all that are coming our way at the very last little bit here and I think we can make this final push," Beddome said.

The Manitoba Green Party has a total of 30 candidates running in this election.

'They should have a chance,' says voter

Among those in Wolseley who plan to vote Green is Leni Morrison, who said she voted NDP in the last election.

Morrison, who came to Canada from the Netherlands, said she does not trust the other parties this time around.

"I think they should have a chance," she said.

"It's all about money, money, money, and they [Greens] care a little bit more  our country, our lakes, our water."

Chris Beauvilain said he previously voted for the NDP but is thinking of voting Green in this election as well.

"I'd just like to see a new direction in the province, and I don't like the Conservatives and I think the Liberals are a bit of a mess, so why not give the Greens a vote?" he said.

"I quite like Elizabeth May," he added. "I like the idea of having more than a two-party system  it's nice to have a little bit more in terms of democracy, [and] they've got a strong environmental stance."

Beauvilain said he's seen Nickarz out and about "more than anyone else."

"He seems to really be going door to door and he's been great," he said of Nickarz. "I'm definitely leaning towards voting for him."

Winnipeg-based political analyst Christopher Adams said if the Greens ever win a seat in Manitoba, it would likely be in Wolseley.

"We've never seen a Green Party elected in Manitoba, the polls don't show support for the Greens in a particular area. But if people did decide to take a flyer, it would happen in Wolseley," he said.

When asked why Wolseley, Adams said, "People are more environmentally conscious, there are more activists, and historically the Greens have done better in Wolseley."

Despite having a reputation for being more eco-aware, and hence Green-voting, citizens, lawns in Wolseley in fact have a vibrant array of orange, blue, red and green political party signs on them.

Adams added that the other possibility for the Green Party would be Fort Garry-Riverview, where Beddome is running.
By Phil Stewart and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering a request from the United Arab Emirates for military support to assist a new offensive in Yemen against al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate, U.S. officials tell Reuters. A U.S.-backed military push by the Gulf ally could allow the administration of President Barack Obama to help strike a fresh blow against a group that has plotted to down U.S. airliners and claimed responsibility for last year's attacks on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the chaos of Yemen's year-old civil war to become more powerful than any time in its history, and now controls a swathe of the country. The UAE has asked for U.S. help on medical evacuation and combat search and rescue as part of a broad request for American air power, intelligence and logistics support, the U.S. officials said. It was unclear whether U.S. special operations forces - already stretched thin by the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan - were part of the request. The U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the UAE was preparing for a campaign against AQAP, but declined to offer details, citing operational security. The UAE is playing a key role in the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen that are loosely allied with Iran. The White House and the Pentagon declined to comment. Government officials in the UAE did not respond to request for comment. Washington's consideration of the request comes ahead of Obama's planned trip next week to a summit of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia. The multiple conflicts in Yemen will be high on the agenda. Saudi-backed Yemen government forces and the Houthi fighters began a tentative truce on Sunday, although there have been reports of violations. Despite significant U.S. strikes, including one that killed AQAP's leader last year, U.S. counter terrorism efforts have been undermined by Yemen's civil strife. The worsening conflict forced the evacuation in early 2015 of U.S. military and intelligence personnel who had orchestrated an anti-AQAP campaign involving Yemeni special forces raids backed by U.S. air power. Renewed ground operations spearheaded by UAE special forces would fit the so-called "Obama doctrine" of relying mostly on local partners instead of large-scale U.S. troop deployments. Washingtons use of surrogate fighters has been criticized as inadequate in conflicts ranging from Iraq to Syria to Afghanistan. "LITTLE SPARTA" The officials said the U.S. government's consideration of the UAE's request in part reflected the Emirates' proven capabilities, including well-trained and resourced special operations forces on the ground. Michael Knights, an expert on Yemen's conflict at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he and a colleague estimated the UAE's presence in Yemen peaked at about 5,500 troops in July-October of last year and now is as low as 2,500 personnel. Knights said the UAE played a critical role in efforts by the Saudi-led alliance to push back the Houthis, employing a mix of capabilities, including mechanized infantry columns, that proved decisive. "The UAE has been the real central player in the ground war," he said. In contrast, Saudi-led air strikes drew sharp condemnation from the United Nation's top human rights official last month, who said the coalition may be responsible for "international crimes." In a nod to its capabilities, some U.S. military officials have nicknamed UAE "Little Sparta" after the ancient city-state known for its fighting prowess. Analysts note that the small Gulf state has also played an outsized role in other conflicts, from Libya to Afghanistan. Frederic Wehry, a Middle East expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a U.S. Air Force veteran, said the UAE's ability to combat AQAP would rest partly on its ability to navigate Yemen's complex web of tribal allegiances. UAE forces currently are concentrated mostly around the southern port of Aden where the embattled Yemeni government has found safe haven. But since retaking the city in mid-2015, they and local forces have struggled to impose order, opening the way for al Qaeda and Islamic State militants to operate there. AQAP is estimated to now control 600 km (373 miles) of Yemeni coastline and the southeastern port city of Mukalla, home to 500,000 people. The fight against AQAP is of greater importance to the United States than the battle against the Houthis, which until now has been a higher priority for America's Gulf allies. The Gulf states see the fight against the Houthis through the lens of a regional rivalry with Shi'ite Iran. One particular U.S. concern is Qassim al-Raymi, who last year succeeded Nasser al-Wuhayshi as AQAP's military commander after a U.S. drone strike killed Wuhayshi. One U.S official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said al-Raymi "appears to us to have intent as well as operatives with capability to be able to do external plots." The United States thinks there are dozens of AQAP operatives deemed to be "true threats" capable of mounting external attacks, the official added. Washington also has long sought Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, considered the most formidable extremist bomb designer. He is accused of a creating hard-to-detect bombs, including one used in a failed bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner in 2009. The United States has continued a campaign of sporadic air strikes in Yemen, including one in March on an AQAP training camp that killed at least 50 suspected militants. (Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumi. Editing by John Walcott, Warren Strobel and Stuart Grudgings.)
BERLIN (Reuters) - German public broadcaster ZDF will help comedian Jan Boehmermann fight any case brought by prosecutors for mocking Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan after Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to allow them to pursue the case on Friday. Erdogan had demanded that Germany press charges against Boehmermann after he recited a poem about the Turkish leader in a show on ZDF on March 31, suggesting he hits girls, watches child pornography and engages in bestiality. A section of the German criminal code prohibits insults against foreign leaders but leaves it to the government to decide whether to authorize prosecutors to pursue such cases. "We will accompany him through to the highest courts," ZDF director general Thomas Bellut told Der Spiegel magazine. Bellut said the case pushed boundaries, and he had therefore decided to pull the poem from the ZDF website due to his own "personal moral values", but the ZDF editor who approved the broadcast should not fear any disciplinary consequences. "It wasn't easy for me, but I still think it was the least bad decision that I could take," Bellut said. On Friday, Merkel said the decision to allow prosecutors to investigate was not a verdict on the merits of the case itself, but she came under fire from the Social Democrats (SPD), her center-left coalition partner, which had wanted the Turkish request to be rejected. Merkel was in an awkward position. She has been the driving force behind a European Union deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees into Europe and critics have already accused her of ignoring violations of human rights and media freedoms in Turkey to secure its cooperation. The cult comedian, who said before reciting the poem that he was intentionally going beyond what German law allowed, is reportedly under police protection and has canceled his last show on ZDF. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Louise Ireland)
By Patricia Zengerle MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned Carnival Corp on Thursday for barring Cuban-Americans from its planned cruises to Cuba and called on the Cuban government to change its policies to allow them. "Carnival needs to not discriminate," Kerry said in an interview with CNN Espanol and the Miami Herald. Cuban-born Americans cannot visit the island by sea, due to a Cuban law that dates to the Cold War era, and therefore are barred from joining in Carnival's sailings to the island, the Miami Herald has reported. People born in Cuba can, however, travel to the island on an airplane. "We call on the government of Cuba to change that policy and to recognize that if they want a full relationship and normal relationship with the United States, they have to live by international law," Kerry said during a trip to the Florida city. Carnival officials could not immediately be reached for comment. But the company has told the Miami Herald it had no choice but to enforce the rule when booking tickets for its new Miami-to-Havana route. It said it has asked the Cuban government to waive the rule before the first ship sails on May 1. Miami is the center of the U.S. Cuban-American community, and many of its residents from the island nation, who fled Cuba after its Communist revolution, are vehemently opposed to moves by President Barack Obama's administration toward more normal relations with Havana. Critics of the policy say Washington should not ease a half century of restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba until the island has free elections and its human rights record improves. Kerry, who gave two interviews to local media, met with business leaders and addressed college students, said Cuba could move more quickly to improve its rights record. But he said he was sure a more open relationship with the United States would yield positive changes. "I think more could happen faster. More should happen faster. But I'm not surprised. Nobody expected that. This has been 50-plus years of the status quo ... but there are changes that are in place for the positive," Kerry said. "If you look at our engagement with other authoritarian regimes around the world through history, have they changed overnight?" Kerry asked. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Dan Grebler)
A Belgian minister has quit after a report emerged criticising security almost a year before the Brussels Airport twin bombings.

Transport Minister Jacqueline Galant resigned on Friday after the EU document detailing lapses in airport security oversight was leaked.

The confidential report from April last year was made public by two Belgian opposition parties.

It said the oversight of security at the country's airports was flawed and cited serious deficiencies in the way safety checks were managed.

Prime Minister Charles Michel confirmed the resignation saying "the minister presented her resignation to the King and the King accepted it".

Galant had said she had not seen the document, but Mr Michel said "a summary of this report was discussed and sent to the minister's cabinet in June 2015".

Belgium's interior and justice ministers volunteered to step down last month, but their resignations were rejected.

The Belgian parliament has launched an inquiry into the attacks "to draw lessons for the future".

"The security of all Belgians is a priority for this government," Mr Michel added.

The resignation comes three weeks after two suspected Islamist militants carried out suicide attacks in the airport's main departure hall.

The bombs, and a separate one on a metro train in the city, killed 32 people - 16 at the national airport, including the bombers.

At least 270 people were injured in the 22 March attacks.

Zaventem Airport partially reopened earlier this month amid tightened security which included the installation of cameras to read number plates and random checks of vehicles.

In addition to passengers having to go through metal detectors, special arrangements have been made to check in luggage.

The airport is expected to fully reopen by the end of June or early July.
By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea attempted and failed to launch what experts believe was an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Friday in defiance of U.N. sanctions and in an embarrassing setback for leader Kim Jong Un, drawing criticism from major ally China. The U.S. Defense Department called the test of the road-mobile missile, which came as North Korea celebrated the birthday of Kim's grandfather and North Korea's founding father Kim Il Sung, a "fiery, catastrophic" failure. The test, on North Korea's so-called "Day of the Sun," followed its fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which led to new U.N. sanctions that have failed to halt Pyongyang's weapons programs. South Korean officials and international experts said the failed test heightened the possibility that North Korea would conduct a fifth nuclear test, possibly within weeks. The U.S.-based 38 North website, which specializes in North Korea, said there has been activity at the country's nuclear site based on satellite imagery and on Wednesday said the possibility of a fifth nuclear test "could not be ruled out." U.S. officials said the missile tested on Friday never got off the launch pad but further tests were expected. "We're still assessing the specifics of it but I can tell you that it was a fiery, catastrophic attempt at a launch," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told a briefing. "It was not successful." Davis said the U.S. military thought the device was a road-mobile missile because the launch occurred at a coastal site where Pyongyang ordinarily does not test rockets. He said North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and the United States and often fires missiles during periods of tension, remained a security concern in spite of the failure. "We know that this is a capability that they are aiming towards," he said. It's ... a missile system that they've displayed on multiple occasions and that is why we have a ballistic missile defense system that we have invested in very heavily to be able to outpace that threat as that threat develops further." CHINA ANGERED The White House strongly condemned the latest launch attempt and said Washington would work with China and other countries to put pressure on North Korea, which faced the prospect of further isolation. China, North Korea's most important economic and diplomatic backer, has been angered by Pyongyang's nuclear tests and rocket launches and has backed U.N. sanctions. "The firing of a mid-range ballistic missile on Friday by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), though failed, marks the latest in a string of saber-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere," China's official Xinhua news agency said in an English language commentary. "... Nuclear weapons will not make Pyongyang safer. On the contrary, its costly military endeavors will keep on suffocating its economy." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the U.N. Security Council was clear on North Korean rocket launches. "At present, the situation on the peninsula is complex and sensitive," he told reporters. "We hope all parties can strictly respect the decisions of the Security Council and avoid taking any steps that could further worsen tensions." In 2012, Kim Il Sung's birthday was also marked by an attempted long-range rocket launch, which also failed. The missile was likely a Musudan, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said, an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a design range of more than 3,000 km (1,800 miles) that can be fired from a road mobile launcher but which has never been flight-tested. Experts see North Korea's Musudan test as part of an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the mainland United States. The Musudan theoretically could reach the U.S. Pacific island of Guam. North Korea is to hold a congress of its ruling Workers Party - the first such meeting in 36 years - in early May, at which Kim Jong Un is likely to trumpet his achievements in building up Pyongyang's weapons prowess. South Korean officials and experts say he will be keen to go into that with a show of strength, not a failed rocket launch, making the possibility of another nuclear test more likely. In a new report on Friday, 38 North said it had seen fresh activity in satellite images of North Korea's main nuclear complex, suggesting that reprocessing may be under way to produce more plutonium for atomic bombs.[L5N17I4IM] 38 North predicted last year that North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile could grow to 20, 50 or 100 bombs within five years, from an estimated 10 to 16 weapons at that time. (Additional reporting by James Pearson in Seoul and David Brunnstrom, Mark Hosenball and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Bill Trott)
About 50 demonstrators gathered outside the Indigenous and Northern Affairs office in Gatineau on Friday to call on the federal government to take action on the suicide crisis unfolding in Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario.

The latest protest follows similar demonstrations in Toronto and Winnipeg this week.

Earlier this month, the chief and council of the remote community on James Bay declared a state of emergency after 11 people attempted to take their own lives on a single night.

The Cree community is home to about 2,000 residents. A total of 101 people  between the ages of 11 and 71  have tried to kill themselves since September.

On Friday morning, a dozen police officers in Gatineau blocked the entrance to the federal office, refusing to allow protesters inside the building even to use the washroom.

'You just can't stay silent'

Jocelyn Iahtail, who is originally from Attawapiskat, said her community is in dire need of help.

"We need people to have the compassion and kindness to hear the pleas of our people. You can't allow this to continue. And you cannot stay silent. You just can't stay silent," she said.

Iahtail said suicide has been an issue in her community for decades  and it's time that others know what's happening.

"We need other people to be saying that it's not okay to dehumanise our people, to subjugate and oppress our people," she said.

Some demonstrators, including Iahtail, were eventually allowed inside the building to meet with government officials. Another meeting has been scheduled for Monday.
By Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Donald Trump took fresh steps to reset his campaign on Wednesday, hiring a top Republican operative and scheduling a meeting between aides and U.S. lawmakers as he girds for a new phase in his White House bid. Trump is under pressure to professionalize his campaign beyond a close-knit group of advisers and expand the appeal of his anti-establishment candidacy in the face of fierce opposition from rival U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and a well-funded anti-Trump operation run by establishment Republicans. Trump announced he had hired Rick Wiley as his national political director. Wiley, a long-time Republican strategist, had been campaign manager for Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who dropped out of the presidential race last autumn. "He brings decades of experience, and his deep ties to political leaders and activists across the country will be a tremendous asset as we enter the final phase of securing the nomination," Trump said in a statement. In addition, Trump's campaign arranged a meeting in Washington of about a dozen U.S. legislators as the fierce anti-establishment candidate tries to build more relationships inside Washington and broaden his appeal. The meeting with the lawmakers and senior Trump adviser Ed Brookover is planned for Thursday morning on Capitol Hill, congressional aides said. About a dozen lawmakers are expected to attend, some of whom have endorsed Trump and some of whom have not but who are interested in his message. Trump will not be there. A series of policy speeches Trump plans to begin delivering soon could be among the topics discussed, one source said. "They're definitely planning several policy speeches ... and they are looking for input on those," a Republican source familiar with the situation said. KELLY: "CHANCE TO CLEAR THE AIR" The Trump campaign received some good news when Politico reported that campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was charged last month in Florida with battery on a reporter, will not be prosecuted. Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg is scheduled to announce the decision not to press charges on Thursday afternoon, Politico reported, citing sources with knowledge of the situation. In another development, Trump met privately at Trump Tower in New York with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly after months of attacking her for the tough questions she asked him at a Republican debate last August about his treatment of women. Tensions between Trump and Kelly, and controversial remarks he has made about abortion, have contributed to Trump's negative image with women. Opinion polls show the New York billionaire is viewed unfavorably by women by a wide margin. Kelly said on her Fox News show she had asked for the meeting and used it to request an interview. "We met for about an hour just the two of us and had a chance to clear the air," she said. In recent days Trump has attempted to soften his image with important constituencies such as female voters. A group interview on CNN on Tuesday night featured Trump, his wife, Melania, daughter Ivanka and sons Eric and Donald Jr., and showed a more personal side to the often-brusque businessman. Melania Trump said she had fussed at Trump to stop tweeting at night. "If he would only listen," she said, chuckling. PROSPECT OF CONTESTED CONVENTION Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said the hiring of Wiley and, two weeks ago, of delegate specialist Paul Manafort suggest that Trump is preparing for a contested convention in July should he not win outright the 1,237 delegates needed for the Republican presidential nomination. "Without having good people on your team who understand how to navigate those waters, you're in big trouble," he said. The steps point to a new phase of Trump's campaign after vulnerabilities were exposed when he was beaten in Wisconsin by Cruz and outmaneuvered by Cruz in the competition for delegates in Colorado. As the Trump campaign attempts to get a better handle on the complicated delegate selection process, Trump is expected to send a contingent to a Republican National Committee (RNC) meeting in Florida next week. Trump has been in a war of words with the RNC, accusing the party apparatus of having rules that, for example, allowed party regulars in Colorado to select delegates without giving Republicans there a chance to vote. Trump on Tuesday said that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus "should be ashamed of himself." Priebus, who met Trump two weeks ago at RNC headquarters in Washington, said the delegate-selection rules have been in place for a year and it is the responsibility of each campaign to understand them. "Complaints now? Give us all a break," Priebus tweeted. (Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
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
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
News

Microsoft Previews Skype Calls Using Edge Without Plug-Ins

Microsoft is previewing Skype voice and video communications using its Edge browser without the use of browser plug-ins.

It's possible to test these capabilities today under certain conditions. For instance, it'll work for one-to-one calling and for group calls if communications take place between Edge browsers. It'll also work between an Edge browser and some Skype clients, such as Skype for Windows and Skype for Mac, but just for one-to-one calls, per Microsoft's announcement.

If a call participant lacks the latest Skype client, they "may be prompted to install a plug-in," Microsoft explained. It's just supported on Edge using Windows 10 versions 10.0.10586 and higher.

Microsoft has multiple Skype clients that will support voice and video calling without plug-ins, including "Skype for Web, Outlook.com, Office Online and OneDrive," while using the Edge browser.

The aim of Microsoft's effort is not just to support voice and video in Edge without plug-ins, but for this capability to work across all browser makes as well. Here's how Microsoft's announcement characterized the effort:

Today's launch is exciting news and is the first step towards fulfilling the commitment we've made to support WebRTC in Skype and Skype for Business. But we want to bring seamless calling to everyone, not just people using Microsoft Edge. To make this a reality, we will continue to work on enabling audio and video interoperability with Chrome and Firefox browsers, once they both support the H.264 video codec.

WebRTC is a specification that emerged from work at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It started with the Object Real Time Communication (ORTC) specification for sending and receiving real-time media, which was originally proposed by Hookflash. Microsoft, Google and Hookflash later collaborated on that spec, producing ORTC APIs, which are the basis for the WebRTC 1.0 spec.

Some of the objects in the WebRTC spec are currently used in Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox browsers. The Edge browser currently supports Web RTC 1.0 APIs.

This history was outlined by Bernard Aboba, a principal architect at Microsoft, during a session at Microsoft's recent Edge Web Summit event. He explained that it has been a challenge to support Real Time Communications (RTC) applications that will work across the various Windows 10 devices. There are issues concerning bandwidth adaptation, as well as resolution and frame-rate support. In addition, mobile device use of voice and video present problems such as burst loss. Glitches can happen when mobile devices are moved between networks, he said.

Aboba showed the following slide, which outlines Edge browser RTC support plans:

[Click on image for larger view.] Microsoft's Real Time Communications support plans for its Edge browser. Source: Microsoft Edge Web Summit session.

Microsoft is backing cross-browser support for the H.264/AVC video codec with "the eventual goal of an interoperable RTC experience," the Edge team explained in a blog post. Support for H.246/AVC is showing up in Firefox, as well as in a test version of Chrome, the team noted. This video codec support will get previewed in a future Edge browser release, too.

"We expect to provide a preview release in the next few months with updated H.264/AVC and RTP/SAVPF support in Edge so developers can enable basic video scenarios across all major browsers."

Microsoft is looking into VP8 support in Edge, too. VP8 is the open source video codec shepherded by Google under the WebM open media project. VP8 was later beset by patent claims by MPEG LA, a consortium of H.264 patent holders. This codec war emerged after vendors couldn't reach agreement at the W3C on HTML5 standards support for native video.

Microsoft is working on H.264/AVC support first and then will commence work on interoperable VP8 support in Edge. VP8 work is getting deferred because "there is not yet broad hardware offload support for VP8 encoding and decoding," the Edge team explained.
By Joseph Menn and Mark Hosenball SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The company that helped the FBI unlock a San Bernardino shooter's iPhone to get data has sole legal ownership of the method, making it highly unlikely the technique will be disclosed by the government to Apple or any other entity, Obama administration sources said this week. The White House has a procedure for reviewing technology security flaws and deciding which ones should be made public. But it is not set up to handle or reveal flaws that are discovered and owned by private companies, the sources said, raising questions about the effectiveness of the so-called Vulnerabilities Equities Process. The secretive process was created to let various government interests debate about what should be done with a given technology flaw, rather than leaving it to agencies like the National Security Agency, which generally prefers to keep vulnerabilities secret so they can use them. The government's efforts to force Apple to help it unlock the San Bernardino iPhone have reignited a national debate about encryption, security and privacy that continues to rage two weeks after the Justice Department said it broke into the phone without Apple's help. The sources said the technology used to get into the phone was supplied by a non-U.S. company that they declined to identify. Without cooperation from the company, the FBI would not be able to submit the method to the Vulnerabilities Equities Process even if it wanted to, the sources said on condition they not be named. The FBI itself probably does not know the details of the technique - just enough to determine that it worked, according to government sources and Rob Knake, who managed the White House process before leaving last year. The FBI said in February that it was unable to get into the iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook without help from Apple, and it won a court order compelling the Silicon Valley icon to break into the device. Apple, backed by much of the tech industry, complained that the order would in effect make businesses arms of the state. The Justice Department dropped the matter the day before a crucial court hearing, saying it had found a way to get into the phone. At the time, Apple said it hoped the maneuver would be disclosed so that it could fix the flaw before it is discovered and exploited by criminals. In a separate New York case, the Justice Department is trying to force Apples help in extracting data from a drug dealers iPhone 5s. For technical reasons, that would be easier for Apple to do, though it would be much harder for the FBI or a contractor, said phone security expert Dan Guido. The two battles spotlight a long-running but seldom aired conflict over whether information about software security lapses should be kept secret by law enforcement or intelligence agencies, who want the knowledge to snoop, or disclosed to the technology companies so they can patch the holes. After questions were raised about the Vulnerabilities Equities Process in 2013, White House cybersecurity policy coordinator Michael Daniel said it was "reinvigorated," though information as basic as which departments are involved remained undisclosed. Daniel has written that the factors to be weighed include how easy a flaw would be for outsiders to find and how much danger would be posed to society. But Knake said the procedure had been created in 2010 to handle situations like an FBI technologist in a lab inventing a method for circumventing security. It was not set up for a world of commoditized exploitation, where major defense contractors buy and sell flaws for millions of dollars. (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyberweapons-specialreport-idUSBRE9490EL20130510) There is no way the government could force companies to share the methods that they are trying to sell, or any way to stop government agencies from buying from those companies, he said. Knake said the process could be improved if it were revamped again to deal with the reality of the exploit marketplace. The White House referred questions to the FBI, which did not respond to emails seeking comment. (Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Mark Hosenball in Washington. Additional reporting by Dustin Volz. Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bernard Orr)
AFP News

Ukraine on Sunday denounced as dangerous lies suggestions from Russia that it was preparing to use a "dirty bomb". Its western allies also dismissed the allegations from Moscow, just hours after Russia went public with the claims. In conversations with his British, French and Turkish counterparts, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu conveyed "concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a 'dirty bomb'", Moscow said. Russia did not mention the alleged "dirty bomb" allegation in its statement following Shoigu's call with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin. "If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on social media. "I believe that now the world should react as harshly as possible." Earlier Sunday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denounced Moscow's claims as "absurd" and "dangerous". "Russians often accuse others of what they plan themselves," he added. A British defence ministry statement said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had "refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation". And in Washington, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson dismissed Moscow's "transparently false" claim. "The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation," she added. - 'Vile strikes' - Russia also announced Sunday that it had destroyed a depot in central Ukraine storing over 100,000 tonnes of aviation fuel. Kyiv's energy operator meanwhile said scheduled power cuts had been introduced in the Ukrainian capital due to Russia's repeated strikes on the nation's power network. The blackouts started from 11:13 am (0813 GMT) with consumers in Kyiv divided into three groups "disconnected for a certain period of time", energy company DTEK said. DTEK reiterated calls for residents to use electricity "sparingly" and for businesses to limit their use of external lighting. More than one million Ukrainian households have lost electricity following recent Russian strikes, according to the Ukrainian presidency, at least a third of the country's power stations having been destroyed ahead of winter. Zelensky condemned the "vile strikes" in comments late Saturday, after Russian attacks caused power cuts across the country. - 'Save your strength' - In the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig, deputy mayor Sergiy Miliutin was dealing with emergencies and power outages from his underground bunker, used as a venue for a children's martial arts competition. "I've reached a point where I just survive on my drive. You have to stay level-headed and save your strength. No one knows how long this will all last," he told AFP. The intensification of Russian strikes on Ukraine, particularly energy facilities, came after the bridge linking the annexed Crimea peninsula to mainland Russia was partially destroyed by an explosion earlier this month. It was another major setback for Moscow's forces, battling to contain a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south and east of the country. French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that it was for Ukrainians to decide when "peace is possible", in comments made in Rome at the start of a peace summit. Ukraine reported three deaths in an overnight Russian artillery strike in the Toretsk area, a governor of the eastern Donetsk region said. Inside Russia, two lines of defence have been built in the border region of Kursk to deal with any possible attack, a local governor said on Sunday. On Saturday Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor in the neighbouring Russian border region of Belgorod, said the construction of defence structures had begun. Gladkov said two civilians had been killed in strikes there Saturday, and that 15,000 people had been left without electricity. - Kherson evacuations - Meanwhile Ukraine's SBU intelligence service said it had detained two officials of Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich on suspicion of working with Russia. The SBU said management at the company's plant in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region -- partly controlled by Russian forces -- had colluded with Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec. The suspects had supplied Russia with Ukrainian aircraft engines that were used to make and repair attack helicopters, the SBU said. In the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, which Russia claims to have annexed, pro-Moscow officials on Saturday urged residents to leave "immediately" amid a "tense situation" at the front. Kherson, the region's main city, was the first to fall to Moscow's troops and retaking it would be a major prize in Ukraine's counter-offensive. A Moscow-installed official in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, told Russian news agency Interfax on Saturday that around 25,000 people had left Kherson city to the left bank of the Dnipro River. Ukraine has denounced the removal of residents from Kherson, describing them as "deportations". bur-imm/raz/jj/lcm
Declaring "we are all migrants," Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday with a message of hope for those seeking asylum in Europe, 12 of whom he took home with him to the Vatican. His one-day trip to Europe's migration hotspot culminated dramatically when three Syrian refugee families, all Muslim, returned with the pontiff to Rome The pope told reporters that his gesture was "a drop in the ocean" but hoped that afterwards, "the ocean will never be the same again". "All refugees are children of God," he said aboard the papal plane on its flight back to Rome. The departure of the 12 refugees, who will be housed by the Vatican, was the climax of an emotional visit that saw migrants kneeling in tears before the 79-year-old Roman Catholic leader. "You are not alone... do not lose hope," the pope, who was accompanied by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, said at the Moria registration centre, where around 3,000 migrants are being held. The vast majority have requested asylum but will likely be deported under a controversial agreement reached last month to tackle Europe's refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey. - 'Save us, Papa' - As the pope was escorted through Moria to meet a select number of migrants, one man broke into tears as he knelt at the pontiff's feet, requesting his blessing. Another woman who slipped past security to approach the pontiff also broke down in tears as he paused to listen to her. Other migrants gathered outside held hand-made signs that read "We want freedom", "Let my people go" and "Papa cherche a nous sauver" ("Pope, try to save us"). A group of small children presented the pope with a dozen drawings. Lesbos is one of the first ports of call in the EU for the hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who have fled war, poverty and persecution in the Middle East and Asia across the Aegean Sea via nearby Turkey in the past year. The religious leaders said a prayer at Lesbos harbour in memory of the hundreds of migrants who have drowned during the voyage in overcrowded smuggler boats. "Merciful God... though many of their graves bear no name, to you each one is known, loved and cherished," the pope said. Earlier they signed a declaration calling on the international community to "respond with courage" to the humanitarian crisis and calling on religious communities to step up efforts to assist refugees. The pope stressed that migrants were not numbers but people with "faces, names and individual stories" who were preyed on by "unscrupulous thugs" and called for "resolute" efforts to clamp down on arms trafficking. "The world will be judged by the way it has treated you. And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from," Bartholomew said. - 'Worst humanitarian disaster' - The refugee influx has sparked fierce disagreements between EU members and brought the bloc's system of open borders to the brink of collapse. Lesbos has become the focus of criticism of the EU's deal with Turkey to take back migrants who travel to the Greek islands, in return for billions in EU cash. All new arrivals on the island are being held at Moria while they wait to be processed to determine whether they can legitimately claim asylum or should be returned as "economic migrants". Rights groups have accused Greece of turning the centre into a detention camp. Migrant arrivals in Greece have drastically fallen since the agreement took effect while the number of deaths among people making the perilous crossing has also dropped. Another 125 arrived via the Aegean in the last 24 hours, including 46 on Lesbos, the Greek government said on Saturday. The refugee families to be taken in by the Vatican, including six children, will be initially cared for by the community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, the Holy See said. They come from Damascus and Deir Azzor, an area currently occupied by jihadists, and lost their homes to bombings, it said. The pope said that all 12 had papers which were in order and that he had played no part in their selection. "There were two Christian families but their paperwork wasn't ready. (Religion) was not grounds for exemption. All refugees are children of God." Francis had framed his visit as an exercise in raising awareness of the "worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War". The former Jesuit priest has repeatedly said he does not accept the EU's distinction between those fleeing conflicts, like the war in Syria, and those fleeing poverty and starvation created by global economic inequalities. His trip to Lesbos followed an equally symbolic journey to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013. There, in the aftermath of several deadly sinkings of people smugglers' boats packed with migrants, he made one of the most famous speeches of his term in office, railing against the "globalisation of indifference" which has allowed thousands to perish at sea in their pursuit of a better life for themselves and their families. Over one million people crossed clandestinely from Turkey to Greece in 2015 and some 150,000 have made the trip since the start of this year.
By Ahmed Aboulenein and Eric Knecht CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of Egyptians angered by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's decision to hand over two islands to Saudi Arabia called on Friday for the government to fall, chanting a slogan from the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Their protests signalled that the former general, who is also under mounting criticism over the struggling economy, no longer enjoys the broad public support that let him round up thousands of opponents after he seized power in 2013. In the evening, riot police who had surrounded the site of the biggest demonstration, in the heart of downtown Cairo, dispersed the crowd with tear gas, Reuters witnesses said. Egyptian security forces detained a total of 119 protesters at several demonstrations, according to security officials. Sisi's government prompted an outcry in Egyptian newspapers and on social media last week when it announced an accord that put the uninhabited Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi waters. "The people want the downfall of the regime!" protesters cried outside the Cairo press syndicate, using the signature chant of the 2011 revolt against then-president Hosni Mubarak, who later stepped down. They also chanted: "Sisi - Mubarak", "We don't want you, leave" and "We own the land and you are agents who sold our land." In other parts of Cairo, police fired tear gas at protesters, security sources said. The U.S. government, which sees Cairo as a critical Middle East ally, will continue to watch carefully the situation in Egypt, the White House said. Saudi and Egyptian officials say the islands belong to the kingdom across the Red Sea and were only under Egyptian control because Riyadh had asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them. Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf Arab states showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid and grants after Sisi toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, following mass protests against him. But a sharp drop in oil prices and differences with Cairo over such regional issues as the war in Yemen have raised questions over whether strong Gulf Arab support can be sustained. MISHANDLED CRISES Egyptians are eager for an economic revival after years of political upheaval. But the islands issue seems to have hurt their national pride, prompting thousands to return to the streets to confront their leader. There are no signs that Sisi's rule is under immediate threat. However, even local media, which once suggested he could do no wrong, have been attacking the president. Critics say the government has mishandled a series of crises, from an investigation into the killing of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, 28, in Cairo, to a bomb that brought down a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula last October. Torture marks on Regini's body prompted human rights groups to conclude he died at the hands of security forces, which Egypt denies. That revived complaints of police brutality, one of the issues that led Egyptians to challenge Mubarak's 30-year rule. Sisi has made fighting corruption a top priority. But he drew fire last month after sacking Hesham Geneina, Egypt's top auditor, who had stirred controversy by publicly concluding that state corruption had cost the country billions of dollars. In a tweet, Geneina described the protests as the "purest, bravest and most noble demonstration of Egyptians" in decades. Many Egyptians enthusiastically welcomed Sisi when he took over. They turned a blind eye as Islamists and other opponents were rounded up, swelling the number of political prisoners to about 40,000, according to estimates by human rights groups. PATIENCE WITH SISI FADING A growing number are now losing patience over corruption, poverty and unemployment, the same issues that led to Mubarak's downfall, while Sisi has appeared increasingly authoritarian in televised speeches. "We want the downfall of the regime," said Abdelrahman Abdellatif, 29, an air conditioning engineer, at the Cairo protest. "The youth of the revolution are still here ... We are experiencing unprecedented fascism and dictatorship." There were also Sisi supporters, including a woman wearing a shirt with an image of the former military intelligence chief. In Alexandria, around 500 people gathered near a railway station. Meanwhile, 300 Sisi supporters holding up photographs of him demonstrated outside a mosque in the port city. Calls for protests have gathered thousands of supporters on Facebook, including from the outlawed Brotherhood, which accused Sisi of staging a coup when it was ousted and rolling back freedoms won after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians protested five years ago in Cairo's Tahrir Square against Mubarak. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Ola Noureldin, Ali Abdelaty and Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Larry King)
By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Miklos Heisler was 17 when the Arrow Cross Party took power in Hungary in the final years of World War Two and began a short reign of terror in which thousands of Jews, previously spared from deportation, were killed in Budapest. But Heisler was young and careless, and Arrow Cross paramilitary members caught him twice. The first time around, he was spared by an intervention from Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved scores of Jews. The second time, he and two friends were herded to the banks of the Danube, and like thousands of other Jews during those months, were shot in the head and left to die there. Heisler's nephew Andras is now chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary (Mazsihisz). He recounted that story this week ahead of the burial on Friday of dozens of people whose remains were found in 2011 under a Budapest bridge. The fate of the remains, which are almost certainly those of wartime Jews, illustrates the difficulty Hungarians still have in facing that past, including the fact that the descendants of victims and perpetrators still live together in Budapest. "We try to do the burial so it sends a message to society," Heisler said. "When these bones were found nobody could be sure they were all Jewish; probably some are not ... If remains of Jews and Goyim (non-Jews) are found together they must be put to rest together." Hungary's government, then and now dominated by the populist centre-right Fidesz party, has been criticised for paying lip service to combating anti-Semitism but white-washing the past when political interests dictated so. At the burial, Minister for Human Resources Zoltan Balog said Hungary faced a long road. "The loss of those people, ejected from the nation, robbed and bestially murdered, is our shared loss," Balog said. "A long road leads to honourable remembrance. Let us thank everyone who did not stop or turn back on that road." GRAPPLING WITH THE PAST Such rhetoric does little to allay the fears of many Jews of anti-Semitism. They point to attempts to erect statues of wartime anti-Semites. "The (government's) rhetoric is good; the statues are mistakes," Heisler told Reuters earlier this week. But Hungary is "passing the test today", he said at the graveside on Friday. The central European nation still grapples with its past, including its active role in deporting half a million Jews. The remains were unearthed five years ago by construction teams renovating a Budapest bridge. Clothing placed them in the 1940s, and bullet marks and a subsequent DNA analysis established that they were almost certainly Jews. It was no real surprise. In the final months of the war, Hungarian fascists executed thousands of Jews on the riverbank. Lined up in groups of 20 to 30, they were shot and forced into the icy waters. Miklos Heisler was lucky. One bullet bounced off his skull and another pierced his neck but left all vital tissue unharmed. He fainted. His two friends were shot and killed. Their bodies covered him. When he came to, he crawled to a safe house. "To this day his head bears the mark," Andras Heisler said. "He ... lives in good health in Israel." When the remains were found they were examined by experts but were not given the thorough DNA treatment that could have established their ancestry. After that there was nearly total silence, which surprised some outside observers. "The problem in Hungary, I realised, wasn't just the rise of anti-Semitic, neo-fascist voices and acts," former U.S. Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis wrote in her 2013 book about her time in Hungary. "Hungarian society at large was responding to those radical voices with disproportionate silence and apathy. In the case of the skeletons under the bridge, it seemed that most people preferred to keep old memories submerged in the cold waters of the Danube." To Vera Varsa Szekeres, a survivor of the Arrow Cross terror, anti-Semitic voices are a warning sign. "We were marked," she told Reuters by the Danube, holding the yellow star her mother once sewed on her coat. "I must be reminded of what happened until I breathe my last. As does my family ... this star is their heritage too." "We must process this, face it and counter it ... We resist at the first strange word." (Reporting by Marton Dunai, editing by Peter Millership)
The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out
- President Uhuru Kenyatta has dampened ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's hopes of trying three Kenyans who allegedly tampered with her witnesses in the Deputy President William Ruto and Joshua Sang's cases. President Uhuru, during a thanksgiving rally at Nakuru's Afraha Stadium, said that no Kenyan would stand trial at the court again

- Bensouda wanted the Kenyan government to hand over three individuals  Paul Gicheru, Philip Bett and Walter Barasa  she had accused of interfering witnesses. The ICC judges had concurred with her that there were troubling incidences of witness tampering in the cases

President Uhuru Kenyatta has indicated that no other Kenyan will stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Uhuru Kenyatta, on Saturday, April 16, said that no Kenyan would go to The Hague again as the country had its own judicial system.

READ ALSO: How Fatou Bensouda can restart Ruto and Sang cases at the ICC  experts

The Afraha Stadium rally was to celebrate the termination of the ICC cases against Deputy President William Ruto, Joshua Sang, Uhuru and the three Kenyans who had been named by Moreno Ocampo in 2010.

Other Kenyans listed by the then ICC chief prosecutor as having been the most responsible for the 2007/2008 violence were: Henry Kosgei, Francis Kimemia and Hussein Ali.

President Uhuru's declaration comes as a relief for three Kenyans  Paul Gicheru, Philip Bett and Walter Barasa  who are wanted at the ICC for allegedly tampering with prosecution witnesses.

READ ALSO: CORD leaders fail to show up at their prayer rally as Jubilees proceeds smoothly

ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, after the termination of Ruto and Sang's cases, called on the Kenyan government to hand over the three individuals for apparently obstructing the course of justice.

Fatou Bensouda stated that 17 witnesses who had agreed to testify against Ruto and Sang withdrew their cooperation with the court after being subjected to intimidation, social isolation and threats.

ICC judges, led by Chile Eboe-Osuji, had acknowledged that William Ruto and Sang profited from prosecution witness tampering. The judges also ruled that Bensouda had the right to re-prosecute the case at a later time.

READ ALSO: This is the only Kenyan who has been jailed for the 2007/08 violence (photos)

In September 2015, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II unsealed arrest warrants that had been issued against Gicheru and Bett in March that year for offences against the administration of justice.

The court found reasonable grounds to believe that Bett and Gicheru were criminally responsible for ICC witness tampering offences which were outlined by ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

READ ALSO: Martha Karua reacts to Railas controversial remark on termination of ICC cases

According to Fatou Bensouda, Bett contacted the witnesses and made withdrawal proposals; Gicheru finalised agreements and initiated reward payments. Bett allegedly approached Witness P-397 and introduced the witness to Gicheru who agreed to pay the witness KSh 5 million to withdraw statement. Gicheru apparently paid another witness KSh 1 million in two cash installments.

Fatou Bensouda maintained that her office had faced serious obstacles to unveil the truth, and to hold to account those most responsible for the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

In August 2013, the court had issued an arrest warrant against Barasa on similar charges of ICC witness tampering, contrary to Article 70(1)(c) of the Rome Statute.

READ ALSO: Jubilee tells Raila they do not want his crocodile tears sentiments

The pre-trial chamber refused to substitute the warrant of arrest with summons to appear as requested by Barasas lawyer Nicholas Kaufman. Kaufman said his client is willing to appear in court if the warrant of arrest is withdrawn.

The judges ruled that Barasa would have to be detained at The Hague, until an interim release is granted, if he eventually appears voluntarily.

READ ALSO: Stop dancing on PEV victims graves: See Railas letter to Uhuru

Source: TUKO.co.ke
By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - The African nation of Gabon wants to rejoin OPEC after more than two decades, two OPEC sources said, becoming the second former member in a year to seek a return to the oil exporters' group just as it is taking the first steps in years to prop up prices. If it returned, Gabon would be the smallest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and bring its ranks to 14 countries following last year's return of Indonesia, which had quit in 2008. "They sent the request to OPEC officially," said one of the sources, an OPEC delegate. An oil official in Gabon declined to comment. Gabon joined OPEC in 1975 and left in 1995 over the exporter group's refusal to grant its request for reduced annual contributions in line with the country's small production, news reports said at the time. The move to rejoin comes as key OPEC members and outside producers such as Russia are attempting to support prices through a deal to freeze output which will be discussed this weekend in Doha. The initiative has helped oil prices to start recovering from a 12-year low reached in January. OPEC in 2014 had abandoned its traditional role of cutting supply to support the market, accelerating a drop in prices which were falling due to oversupply and prompting critics to question its relevance. Gabon produces 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) according to the International Energy Agency, and output is in decline. Last year, the government launched an offshore licensing round in a bid to boost exploration. Ecuador, which pumps 530,000 bpd, is currently the smallest OPEC producer. The next step, the sources said, would be for OPEC oil ministers to discuss Gabon's request. They hold their next meeting in June. OPEC rules state that a country needs to have "a substantial net export of crude" in order to become a full member. Still, the ministers waived this requirement with the decision to welcome back Indonesia, now a net oil importer. Whether Gabon's return would be as straightforward is not clear. Indonesia was deemed by OPEC to have "suspended" its membership, while it calls Gabon's departure a "termination" - implying a more formal severing of ties. (Additional reportning by Joe Bavier; Editing by David Evans)
By Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by President Dilma Rousseff to avert an impeachment vote in Congress on Friday, further reducing her chances of survival as a new poll showed her short of crucial support from lawmakers. Rousseff's attorney general, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, had asked the top court for an injunction to suspend Sunday's lower house vote until the full court can rule on what he called procedural flaws in the impeachment process. But the court dismissed the motion 8-2 during a session that ran into the early hours. Before the decision, a new survey by the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper showed for the first time that Rousseff's opponents had already secured the 342 lower house votes needed to advance impeachment. Rousseff, an unpopular leader already struggling with Brazil's worst economic crisis in decades and a spiralling corruption scandal, has seen support from within her governing coalition steadily erode. If her impeachment is approved by the required two-thirds majority of 513 house members, the Senate must then vote on whether to go ahead with putting Rousseff on trial for breaking budget laws. That could clear the way for Rousseff's suspension and replacement by Vice President Michel Temer as soon as early May, pending a trial that could last six months. Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla, had not been expected to resort to the Supreme Court until after Sunday's vote. Cardozo's request to the court was seen as a sign, even before the latest newspaper survey, that her government now expects defeat. CONTINUED POLITICAL TURMOIL Vowing to fight to the end, Rousseff met with her political advisers as her government scrambled for votes to block impeachment, but defections by several centrist allies in her coalition have seriously compromised that effort. Brazil's largest political party, the president's main coalition partner until it broke away two weeks ago, said most of its members in the lower house will back deposing her. Leonardo Picciani, the lower chamber leader for the party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, told reporters that 90 percent of the 68 members of his caucus would vote for impeachment. If Rousseff is ousted, it would end the 13-year rule of her leftist Workers' Party, which has lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty and is overwhelmingly supported by the poor. Rousseff is not being investigated in the massive graft scandal surrounding state-run oil company Petrobras that has reached into her inner circle. She denies she broke budget laws, but opponents allege that accounting tricks helped her win re-election in 2014 by boosting public spending. Temer, who would serve out Rousseff's term until 2018 if she is ousted by the Senate, has little popular support. He would face a daunting task restoring confidence in a country where dozens of political leaders, including close associates of his, are under investigation for corruption. Rousseff's Workers' Party warned on Thursday that chaos will take hold of Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, if its democratically elected president is deposed. "It's a mistake to think that overthrowing a government will bring stability, peace, security and development," the party's leader, Rui Falcao, told reporters in Brasilia. "Not respecting the popular vote will plunge the country into chaos." Cardozo, Rousseff's former justice minister and the government's main legal adviser, has said previously that the impeachment process was unconstitutional. In his appeal to the Supreme Court on Thursday, he asked it to annul the report to the lower house by a congressional committee that recommended impeachment on Monday. He told a news conference Rousseff's defence had been obstructed in the committee and that testimony from a former ally of the president, Senator Delcidio Amaral, was obtained as part of a plea bargain deal and should have been considered inadmissible. (Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello, Marcela Ayres, Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle,; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Tom Brown and Nick Macfie)
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Chinese state television has aired confessions by two Taiwanese fraud suspects among dozens deported from Kenya to China, as Taiwan said it would send officials to China to talk about a case that has infuriated Taipei. Taiwan has said China effectively kidnapped its nationals. Kenya, however, does not have official relations with the democratic, self-ruled island, and considers it part of "one China", in line with the position of Communist Party leaders in Beijing. Kenya said the 77 suspects, 45 of whom were from Taiwan, were in the country illegally and were being sent back to where they had come from. On Friday, Chinese state television aired video of two men in orange jump suits with blurred-out faces, confessing to impersonating police in telecoms fraud in China. "I now know that carrying out these scams is wrong, and I will accept the punishment of the law," said one suspect surnamed Jian. "I hope that the government will give me a chance." Asked by a woman off-camera what he wanted to say to his "mainland compatriots", Jian, who had a Taiwanese accent, said: "Sorry to the people of the mainland". Reuters was not able to independently verify that they were from Taiwan. China's Ministry of Public Security has said the group detained in Kenya had operated out of Nairobi and were suspected of cheating people out of millions of yuan across nine provinces and cities in China. As most of the victims were in China, it said, they would be prosecuted there. The ministry has said China informed Taiwan of the situation and would invite its law enforcement officials to visit to discuss how best to tackle such fraud. It did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the confessions. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said it had received another letter from China inviting members to visit, and so will send a delegation on Monday to talk about the issue. "We have not seen those suspects ourselves. We have not seen any evidence ourselves. We are not in a position to comment at this point," the council's secretary general, Jeff Yang, told Reuters when asked about the confessions. The videos are the latest in a recent string of on-camera guilt admissions in China, which this time is likely to aggravate cross-Strait tensions. Though such displays of contrition have long been part of China's legal landscape, state media have increasingly used them, including in cases involving foreigners accused of crimes. That has prompted international criticism that the admissions could be made under duress and that the practice violates China's own laws on due process. (Reporting by Michael Martina and Natalie Thomas in Beijing and Faith Hung in Taipei; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jason Subler and Nick Macfie)
By Aditya Kalra JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - India's tobacco industry has sought to delay strict new health warning rules by appealing to the country's highest court, a move anti-smoking activists say could backfire given that the court has ruled against cigarette makers in the past. Earlier this month Indian tobacco companies, some backed by "Big Tobacco" firms in the West, effectively went on strike by closing factories in protest against demands that 85 percent of a cigarette packet's surface be covered by health warnings, up from the older requirement of 20 percent. The industry estimates the stoppages cost it as much as $68 million a day, taking cumulative losses to up to $850 million. Similar battles have played out around the world in recent years as governments try to discourage smoking. On a few occasions, major tobacco producers have resorted to drastic action by freezing output. That tactic worked in India in 2010, when the government delayed a set of warnings proposed at the time after the industry shuttered plants. But this time New Delhi's room to compromise is more limited, court documents and interviews with federal health ministry officials and activists suggest. The documents show how a small group of health activists have outmanoeuvred the $11 billion (7.78 billion) industry and cornered the government into implementing the rules on April 1. Their strategy has left the Supreme Court as one of the last avenues of appeal for cigarette makers. "The tide has turned and the tobacco industry is on a downhill slope," said one of the activists, Sanjay Seth. In 2013, the court pulled up the government for not being serious about tobacco-control laws. The Tobacco Institute of India, an industry lobby group, declined to comment for this story. It has called the packaging rules drastic and impractical, saying the law will increase smuggling of illegal cigarettes. "BIG TOBACCO" HOLDING OUT One small local producer, Golden Tobacco, has started selling cigarette packs that comply with the new rules. But the biggest companies - ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, and U.S.-based Philip Morris International's (PMI) India partner Godfrey Phillips - are holding out. On April 8, an industry group that represents makers of traditional smokes, or beedis, in south India went to the Supreme Court to challenge the rules, according to the filing seen by Reuters on Thursday. It was not previously reported. The plea, filed by the Karnataka Beedi Industry Association, seeks a stay in enforcing the new rules, saying that they would bring the industry to a "grinding halt" and "cause grave and irreparable harm and loss". A hearing is scheduled for April 22. The appeal against the packaging regulations, which are among the world's strictest, does not directly involve major cigarette makers, but any ruling could also apply to them. ITC declined to comment on the packaging row. BAT said it would be "inappropriate" to comment as they are "just shareholders in ITC". PMI referred questions to Godfrey Phillips, which did not respond to requests for comment. PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENT For Western brands, Indian cigarette sales represent a small yet significant part of global earnings, as they face long-term sales declines in developed markets and eye countries like India and its 40 million cigarette smokers for future growth. In its 2015 report, BAT said the "adjusted contribution" from ITC was 280 million pounds, about 5 percent of its annual profits. The factory shutdown is hurting government's coffers as well, costing it more than $10 million a day in tax revenues, according to industry estimates. More than 8 million workers and their families are affected, and farmers' groups are among those taking out large advertisements in newspapers criticising the legislation. But the government has kept a low profile. "We don't want to get into a duel with the industry on this," a health ministry official said, adding that public opinion appeared to be in the government's favour. Smoking kills more than 1 million people a year in India, said BMJ Global Health, published by London-based healthcare information provider, BMJ. The World Health Organization says tobacco-related diseases cost the country $16 billion annually. The new rules, which have been shown to help reduce tobacco consumption, put India, along with Thailand, at the top of the list of countries with the most stringent cigarette labelling. FAVOURABLE VENUE The new rules were proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in 2014. Initially, they were to be implemented from April 2015, but a parliamentary panel that included a lawmaker with a tobacco business forced the government to delay them as it assessed their impact on the industry and farmers. That was when Seth, who works with the non-profit campaign Voice of Tobacco Victims, said he and a handful of other activists got involved. Their strategy, he said, was to find a court that was likely to be sympathetic to their cause and then get someone to file a case challenging the delay. The high court in Rajasthan state was that venue, because then-Chief Justice Sunil Ambwani was seen as someone who would favour public health over big business. Seth's idea was incorporated into a tobacco-control case that a father-son team of lawyers with a history of such activism, Sita Ram and Rahul Joshi, were filing in the high court in Jaipur city last year. Within days, Ambwani ordered the government to implement the rules without delay. Ambwani told Reuters he ruled on the merits of the case. The government won a six-month extension, but has so far ignored the parliamentary panel that last month urged it to set warnings at 50 percent. (Editing by Paritosh Bansal and Michael Collett-White)
By Alonso Soto BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Vice President Michel Temer is considering a senior executive at Goldman Sachs Group Inc and an experienced money manager as candidates to join his economic team should he take over the presidency in coming weeks, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. Paulo Leme, the chairman of Goldman Sachs in Brazil, may be picked to serve as finance minister or central bank chief, said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous because the selections are still under consideration. The sources added that Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, a former central bank official and founder of asset manager Maua Capital, could be tapped as Treasury secretary or for the central bank. "They are two economists whose names have been brought up in discussions but that does not mean they will be part of the team," said one of the sources. "It's still being decided whether to tap a team of prominent people or technocrats to run the economic team." The sources declined to say whether Leme or Figueiredo had been directly contacted by Temer. Leme, who for years was Goldman's chief Latin America economist, did not respond immediately to calls and messages seeking comment. Figueiredo did not respond to an email or calls to his Sao Paulo office. Temer, the head of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), could become Brazil's next leader in coming weeks. The lower house of Congress will vote on Sunday on whether President Dilma Rousseff should be impeached for breaking budget laws, a vote that the leftist leader is widely expected to lose. Brazilian markets have rallied in recent weeks on the prospect of a Temer government that will be more friendly to investors as Brazil struggles with its worst recession in more than a century. The impeachment process remains clouded by uncertainty, however. Wellington Moreira Franco, coordinator of the PMDB's economic plan, told Reuters on Wednesday a Temer administration will gradually rebalance the country's depleted public accounts and launch an aggressive private concession plan. Leme and Figueiredo were consulted for the drafting of the PMDB's economic program dubbed "A Bridge to the Future," the sources said. Other names being considered for top cabinet posts under Temer are former central bank chief Arminio Fraga and opposition Senator Jose Serra, a former planning and health minister, the two sources said. A small group of Temer confidants are analyzing a short-list of names for the economic team that they hope will rebuild credibility in Brazil and restore growth to Latin America's largest economy. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; Additional reporting by Tatiana Bautzer and Guillermo Parra-Bernal in Sao Paulo; Editing by Tom Brown)
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.
By Patricia Zengerle MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned Carnival Corp on Thursday for barring Cuban-Americans from its planned cruises to Cuba and called on the Cuban government to change its policies to allow them. "Carnival needs to not discriminate," Kerry said in an interview with CNN en Espanol and the Miami Herald. Cuban-born Americans cannot visit the island by sea, due to a Cuban law that dates to the Cold War era, and therefore are barred from joining in Carnival's sailings to the island, the Miami Herald has reported. People born in Cuba can, however, travel to the island on an airplane. "American citizens, Cuban Americans have a right to travel, and we should not be in a situation where the Cuban government is forcing its discrimination policy on us," Kerry said. "So we call on the government of Cuba to change that policy and to recognize that if they want a full relationship, a normal relationship, with the United States, they have to live by international law and not exclusively by their own," he said during a trip to Miami. Carnival officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the company has told the Miami Herald it had no choice but to enforce the rule when booking tickets for its new Miami-to-Havana route. It said it has asked the Cuban government to waive the rule before the first ship sails on May 1. A State Department official said, "Secretary Kerry in no way meant to convey that Carnival is supporting policies that are discriminating against Cuban American travelers." Miami is the center of the U.S. Cuban-American community, and many of its residents from the island nation, who fled Cuba after its Communist revolution, are vehemently opposed to President Barack Obama's moves toward more normal relations with Havana. Critics of the policy say Washington should not ease a half century of restrictions on travel and trade until Cuba has free elections and its human rights record improves. Kerry, who gave two interviews to local media, met with business leaders and addressed college students, said Cuba could move more quickly to improve its rights record. But he said he was sure a more open relationship with the United States would yield positive changes. "I think more could happen faster. More should happen faster. But I'm not surprised. Nobody expected that. This has been 50-plus years of the status quo ... but there are changes that are in place for the positive," Kerry said. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Dan Grebler and Diane Craft)
Pope Francis has taken 12 Syrian refugees, including six children, home to Rome with him after visiting migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos.

The hugely symbolic gesture will be seen as a damning indictment of European leaders' reaction to the migrant crisis on Europe's and the EU deal to deport migrants to Italy.

The Pope said he wanted to make a "gesture of welcome" by taking the three families back to the Vatican with him, where they will be cared for and supported.

During his visit, Pope Francis said the migrant crisis was the "greatest humanitarian catastrophe since World War Two" and said Europe must deal with the migrant crisis in a "way that is worthy of our common humanity".

He said his visit was "marked by sadness" and as he visited the shores, where hundreds of migrants have lost their lives attempting the dangerous crossing to Lesbos, he threw a wreath into the sea saying: "we are all migrants".

Migrants at the Moira detention camp, where 2,300 people are housed, wept as they met the Pope, some held signs saying "We are also human" and "Pope you are our hope".

:: Bernie Sanders Meets Pope In Vatican Sleepover

He was shown artwork by some of the children there and was given a picture by one girl, telling his staff: "Don't fold it, I want it on my desk."

The three families left the island with the Pope on his plane after addressing the crowds, telling them: "We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity."

Two of the families came from Damascus and one from Deir Azzor. All of them had seen their homes bombed.

Pope Francis was greeted by the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who said the visit was "historic and important".

He said he was proud of his country's response to the migrant crisis when other countries in Europe were "erecting walls and fences to prevent defenceless people from seeking a better life".

Story continues

Macedonia, Croatia and Hungary have erected razor-wire-topped fences to keep stop refugees from crossing.

Greece, still suffering from the recession, had continuously appealed to the EU for help after borders were closed to migrants trying to cross, putting more pressure on the impoverished country.

But the EU agreement to send refugees back to Turkey to try to stem the flow has been controversial and the Pope's visit will shine a spotlight on the human cost of that deal. The first 325 migrants were sent back last week.

Relief agencies have criticised conditions in the camp as "unacceptable", with "unaccompanied minors locked up behind barbed wire".

Gauri van Gulik, deputy Europe director at Amnesty International, said: "The Pope's visit comes at a pivotal moment: right as Europe is gearing up to send thousands of refugees back to Turkey, locking them up in the meantime in horrible conditions.

"These are people who fled the horrors of Islamic State, the Taliban, bombings in Syria and more. They deserve Europe's protection and care, and hopefully the Pope can shed light on their plight."

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, has criticised David Cameron's resettlement programme for Syrian refugees, saying it was a "great disappointment".

He told the Radio 4 Today programme that British help for refugees was too slow and "we could be doing more".

Italy has it own migrant crisis to deal with on the island of Lampedusa, which also sees hundreds trying to cross each year, and the country has repeatedly asked the EU for help.

Pope Francis visited refugees there in 2013 where he spoke of the "global indifference" to the plight of refugees.
By Pap Saine BANJUL (Reuters) - Human rights groups voiced concern on Friday over arrests in Gambia after a rare public demonstration in the West African nation, where President Yahya Jammeh has come under regular criticism for his increasingly authoritarian rule. Jammeh, a former soldier who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has made headlines for eccentric proclamations, including a claim to have invented a cure for HIV/AIDS and his recent surprise decision to make Gambia an Islamic republic. But he has also come under fire from rights groups and foreign governments for employing strong-arm tactics to stamp out political dissent, making Thursday's small protest particularly noteworthy. A small group of demonstrators waving banners with slogans including "We need electoral reforms and freedom of speech" gathered in Serekunda, just outside the capital Banjul, before their rally was broken up by security forces. Jammeh, who expected to extend his rule in elections planned for December, was in Istanbul attending a summit of Islamic countries at the time. Police sources said a number of people, including Solo Sandenga, a prominent youth leader from the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), were arrested and that an investigation was being carried out. Seydou Gassama, the head of Amnesty International in Senegal, said the government's response was worrying. "We are very concerned by the violent and disproportionate reaction of authorities in Gambia against a group of people who were protesting peacefully ... President Jammeh could see this as an attempt to destabilise his regime," he said. A failed attempt to depose Jammeh orchestrated by Gambians living abroad led to a wave of arrests last year. The government was quick to downplay Thursday's protest. "A few agitators wanted to cause a breach of the peace and public order but they were reined in by the able security forces ... There is no need for alarm," government spokesman Sheriff Bojang told Gambia's the Standard Newspaper. Jammeh once told a reporter he could rule Gambia, a tiny sliver of a country surrounded by Senegal and home to 2 million people, for "a billion years". He has scrapped term limits from the constitution, and the regional bloc ECOWAS refused to send observers to the last elections in 2011, citing intimidation of the opposition and the electorate. Jeffrey Smith, an international human rights consultant who works closely with Gambian activists, said he'd received reports of mass arrests and alleged torture of protest organisers by the National Intelligence Agency in the wake of the demonstration. However, he said that growing discontent could fuel further protests in the run-up to the polls. "I think Gambia's political opposition and civil society, or at least what's left of them, are spoiling for a fight ahead of December's election ... There's a reason why he has rarely travelled outside the country over the past year." (Additional reporting by Diadie Ba in Dakar; Writing by Marine Pennetier; Editing by Joe Bavier/Mark Heinrich)
By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, with one official describing them as one of the most aggressive interactions in recent memory. The repeated flights by the Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes, which also flew near the ship a day earlier, were so close they created wake in the water, with 11 passes, the official said on Wednesday. The planes carried no visible weaponry, the official said. A Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter also made seven passes around the USS Donald Cook, taking pictures. The nearest Russian territory was about 70 nautical miles away in its enclave of Kaliningrad, which sits between Lithuania and Poland. "They tried to raise them (the Russian aircraft) on the radio but they did not answer," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding the U.S. ship was in international waters. The U.S. military on Wednesday released photos and videos of the incidents. In one photograph, an SU-24 appears to pass at extremely low altitude over the Donald Cook's bow. The events were reminiscent of the Cold War, when a series of close calls led to a bilateral agreement aimed at avoiding dangerous interactions at sea that was signed in 1972 by then-Secretary of the Navy John Warner and Soviet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov. The agreement prohibited "simulated attacks against aircraft or ships, performing aerobatics over ships, or dropping hazardous objects near them." The accord can be seen here: http://www.state.gov/t/isn/4791.htm White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, "This incident ... is entirely inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international water and international airspace." The incident came as NATO plans its biggest build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War to counter what the alliance, and in particular the three Baltic states and Poland, consider to be a more aggressive Russia. The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined both NATO and the European Union in 2004, have asked NATO for a permanent presence of battalion-sized deployments of allied troops in each of their territories. A NATO battalion typically consists of 300 to 800 troops. Moscow denies any intention to attack the Baltic states. "We cannot treat this as anything else than provocation, yet another example of aggressive intentions towards NATO, towards the United States, towards Poland," Poland's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz told private radio RMF. The USS Donald Cook had just wrapped up a port visit in the Polish city of Gdynia on April 11 and proceeded out to sea with a Polish helicopter on board. The first incident took place on April 11, when two SU-24 jets flew about 20 passes near the Donald Cook, coming within 1,000 yards (meters) of the ship, at about 100 feet (30 meters) in altitude. That was followed by even closer passes by the SU-24s the following day and the passes by the Russian helicopter. The U.S. defense official said the commanding officer of the Donald Cook believed that Tuesday's incident was "unsafe and unprofessional." The U.S. military's European Command said in a statement that "U.S. officials are using existing diplomatic channels to address the interactions, while the incidents are also being reviewed through U.S. Navy channels." "These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death," it said. U.S. Representative J. Randy Forbes, who chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee on seapower, said in a statement that "U.S. naval activity in Europe must be expanded accordingly to address the threat posed by Russia's international behavior." The U.S. Navy's video of the incidents can be seen here: https://youtu.be/e-pLgvJULOM https://youtu.be/5deRj1umjM0 https://youtu.be/y8D48itR2cg https://youtu.be/vkkCZwiENh8 (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington and Wiktor Szary in Warsaw; Editing by Warren Strobel and James Dalgleish)
By Rania El Gamal DOHA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's top oil official, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said Riyadh could boost output immediately and almost double it long term, in comments that could threaten the signing of a global production freeze deal planned for Sunday. The second in line to the throne of the world's largest crude exporter added in remarks to Bloomberg that the kingdom would only restrain its output if all other major producers, including Iran, agree to freeze their production. His remarks appeared to cast doubt on a freeze plan to be discussed by producers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC member countries such as Russia on Sunday in the Qatari capital Doha. Iran, a fellow OPEC member but also Saudi Arabia's regional arch rival, has already said it would not join the freeze, as it seeks to raise its output and market share to pre-sanctions levels. Iran will not be represented at the talks - as requested by OPEC Gulf members who insisted that only countries prepared to freeze output should attend. Yet OPEC delegates told Reuters there was still a chance for a deal on Sunday if participants can find a compromise - and avoid a repeat of the last OPEC meeting in December where Iran and Saudi Arabia clashed over output policy. The fact that Tehran's stance has not torpedoed the convening of the meeting suggests fellow producers may be prepared to tolerate a rise in Iran's output, provided there is no new price rout. The freeze proposal has helped oil prices to rise over 60 percent from a 12-year low near $27 a barrel hit in January, despite little change to the market's supply glut. "I am optimistic," acting Kuwaiti oil minister Anas Khalid al-Saleh said on Saturday regarding prospects for a deal. Several sources told Reuters there was support among the producers, including another OPEC delegate who said: "I still think there will be a deal." Delegates said a number of approaches were being discussed and there was talk of setting up a committee to monitor compliance. "We have a deal," one senior oil source told Reuters, referring to a proposal backed by several producers for an output freeze at January levels that would last until October. MARKET SHARE Producers have struggled for nearly two years with low oil prices and an oversupplied market but have been loath to cut output as that would cede market share to rivals. Sanctions imposed by the United States and other world powers were lifted in January in return for Tehran agreeing to long-term curbs on its nuclear programme. Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia would cap its market share at about 10.3 million to 10.4 million barrels a day (bpd), if producers agree to the freeze. "If all major producers dont freeze production, we will not freeze production," he said. The prince, who has emerged as Saudi Arabias leading economic decision-maker, said Riyadh could increase output to 11.5 million barrels a day immediately and go to 12.5 million in six to nine months "if we wanted to". If the kingdom chose to increase investment in its oil industry, production capacity could be increased to 20 million bpd, he said in remarks made on Thursday and published on Saturday. "I dont suggest that we should produce more, but we can produce more," said the prince. It is not clear to which extent his comments reflect the thinking of the Saudi leadership and king. They contrast with mostly conciliatory statements from market players in recent weeks. Iran's production has already surpassed 3.5 million bpd and exports are set to reach 2 million bpd next month, Iran's deputy oil minister was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal, Katie Paul, Parisa Hafezi, Tom Finn, Sam Wilkin, Reem Shamseddine; writing by William Maclean; editing by Jason Neely)
By Tiisetso Motsoeneng JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling ANC Women's League and main trade union federation (Cosatu) have accused banks of pulling a "political stunt" by cutting ties with a company whose owners are under scrutiny for having undue influence with President Jacob Zuma. Oakbay Investments, which holds the Gupta family businesses, is scrambling to restore banking relationships after all four major South African banks severed links following allegations that its owners have undue political influence with Zuma. The president and the Guptas reject the claims. "A political stunt is being pulled by banks here," the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Women's League's general secretary Meokgo Matuba said on Friday. "We raise these pertinent issues based on our interests on the livelihood of dependents of the workers of the company." The ANC has not yet publicly commented on the issue, and officials at the party were not available to comment. Cosatu also said the decision to stop doing business with the Guptas would lead to job losses. Nazeem Howa, Oakbay's CEO, has said the firm's 7,500 employees could lose their jobs as it will be unable to pay their salaries if he fails to restore ties with the banks. Oakbay, which runs several businesses ranging from technology to mining and media, had been turned down for a meeting to review its ties with at least one of the banks, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday. Barclays Africa's Absa, First National Bank (FNB), part of FirstRand, Standard Bank, Nedbank, investment bank Sasfin and the local unit of global auditors KPMG cut their business ties earlier this month. The banks have declined to give reasons for their action, citing client confidentiality agreements. Standard Bank and FirstRand declined to comment on the allegations by the League and Cosatu. Nedbank and Barclays Africa denied that their decisions to cut links with firms associated with the Gupta family were politically motivated. Cas Coovadia, Managing Director the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA), has dismissed speculation that banks acted in concert when cutting ties with the Guptas, saying they took the decision independently and separately. Although the Guptas' relationship with Zuma has been a source of controversy for years, it burst into the open last month when a government minister alleged that the family had exerted undue influence, including offering cabinet positions, claims which both Zuma and the Gupta family reject. (Editing by James Macharia and Ed Osmond)
By John Irish and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria's chief government negotiator sought on Friday to steer a new round of peace talks away from the political transition that U.N. mediators hope to promote, as increased fighting near Aleppo threatened to undermine a shaky truce. Bashar Ja'afari said his focus was to submit amendments to a framework document for the talks, prompting accusations from the head of the opposition negotiating team that Damascus was "not serious" about seeking a political solution to the five-year conflict. The Syrian government, buoyed by Russian and Iranian military support, arrived in Geneva six days after U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura had hoped to begin negotiations. The previous round of indirect talks ended on March 24, with de Mistura issuing a document on 12 guiding principles and vowing to shift the focus to a political transition, which the camp of President Bashar al-Assad has refused to discuss. After almost two hours with de Mistura, Ja'afari told reporters that he had given the U.N. envoy amendments to his document and would wait for him and his team to "study in-depth" the paper over the weekend and submit it to other groups. "We will once again discuss our proposal the next time we will meet on Monday," he said. Ja'afari declined to answer questions, and de Mistura canceled a planned news briefing. 'DIVORCED FROM REALITY' The main opposition delegation, the High Negotiations Committee, has been in Geneva for two days. After meeting de Mistura on Friday it said the push on Aleppo by forces loyal to Assad showed the government did not want to negotiate a peace deal. "Today, as usual, the regime ... is sending a strong message that it doesn't want a political solution, but a military solution that will bring destruction to the whole country," said team head Asaad al-Zoubi, referring to intensified fighting in the northern city. He said the government amendments made to de Mistura earlier in the day highlighted Damascus was "not serious about the political solution" and "divorced from reality." The opposition told Reuters on Thursday that it was willing to share seats on a transitional governing body with members of Syria's government, but Assad must leave power and it was now time to discuss a transition. Assad has rejected the idea of a transitional governing body, saying instead he could broaden the government to include what he described as opposition and independent figures. Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Assad's future was not up for negotiation in Geneva or elsewhere, Russia's TASS news agency quoted him as saying in Damascus. A senior Western diplomat close to the talks said it was clear that Syria's government had no intention of negotiating in good faith. "The regime is doing everything it can to kill the negotiations," the diplomat said. "If there was one moment when it shouldnt launch an offensive (in the Aleppo region) then it really shouldnt be the day before the government delegation arrives in Geneva." (Editing by Mark Heinrich and John Stonestreet)
By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - A group of Taiwanese deported from Kenya to China after being acquitted of cyber crime are wanted for suspected fraud in China, the Chinese government said on Wednesday. In a case that has enraged Taiwan, which has accused Beijing of kidnap, 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 democratic Taiwan and considers the island part of "one China", in line with the position of Communist Party leaders in Beijing. China's Ministry of Public Security, in a statement released via the official Xinhua news agency, said Kenya had decided to deport 32 Chinese and 45 Taiwanese to China, of whom 10 had already arrived and another 67 would leave on Wednesday. Xinhua showed some of them arriving in Beijing with black hoods over their heads, escorted by police. Taiwanese had been heavily involved in telecoms fraud in China and had caused huge losses, with some victims killing themselves, the ministry said. Taiwanese criminals "have been falsely presenting themselves as law enforcement officers to extort money from people on the Chinese mainland through telephone calls", the ministry added. The group detained in Kenya had operated out of Nairobi and were suspected of cheating people out of millions of yuan across nine provinces and cities in China, and as most the victims were in China, they would be prosecuted there, it said. China had informed Taiwan of the situation and would invite Taiwan law enforcement officials to visit to discuss how best to tackle such fraud, the ministry said. An Fengshan, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan needed to view the case rationally. "The victims abhor this kind of fraud. I hope the Taiwan side can give more thought to the victims when it looks at this issue," he told a news conference carried live on Chinese television. According to Taiwan's foreign ministry, one of the Taiwanese sent to China was also a U.S. national. The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it was aware of this report, but was not able to discuss it "due to privacy considerations." On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the department, Anna Richey-Allen, said the United States was following the issue closely and added: "We encourage Beijing to engage with Taipei to resolve this issue on the basis of dignity and respect." CHINA'S JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN QUESTION China views Taiwan as a wayward province and has not ruled out the use of force to ensure unification. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after the 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, with its leaders in Beijing. Taiwanese lawmakers grilled government officials during parliamentary committee sessions about the case. "The Chinese judicial system is in question for many people in Taiwan," said Lo Chih-cheng, a lawmaker for the ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. "They are wondering if those people can get a fair trial in China." Rachel Liu, the mother of 28-year-old Liu Tai-ting, who was deported to China on Tuesday even though a Kenyan court had acquitted him last week, also said she did not know about China's judicial system. "We hope any trial can be conducted in our own country no matter if guilty or not guilty," she told Reuters. Some comments on Taiwan social media questioned whether a precedent was being set of Taiwanese abroad being "taken away" by China, drawing a parallel with the case of five booksellers in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong who temporarily went missing in mysterious circumstances. Hong Kong authorities are still waiting for detailed explanations from China regarding the booksellers, who produced and sold gossipy books critical of Chinese leaders, amid suspicion among some that they were abducted by Chinese agents. China has denied any wrongdoing. China's influential state-run Global Times said Kenya was right to send the people to China and added: "The mainland's handling of the case is supported by international laws." (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by J.R. Wu and Carol Lee in TAIPEI and Davi Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Editing by Nick Macfie, Robert Birsel and Michael Perry)
By Feroz Sultani KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Hundreds of Taliban insurgents have launched an offensive to seize the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, which they captured and held for several days last year, provincial officials said on Friday. The offensive around Kunduz began only days after the Islamist group announced their annual spring offensive, vowing to launch large-scale attacks using suicide bombers and guerilla fighters to drive the Western-backed government from power. Fighting broke out on Thursday in six districts in Kunduz province, a crucial northern stronghold close to the Tajikistan border, as well as around the provincial capital, with Afghan security forces battling militants through the night. "There is heavy fighting going on but the militants have failed to capture any areas and we are pushing them back," Kunduz police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh told Reuters. Taliban fighters briefly captured Kunduz city last year in a major blow to President Ashraf Ghani's government. They also threatened to take Helmand province in the southern heartland of the insurgency after overrunning several districts. With those memories still fresh, officials took to the airwaves to try to head off panic among the public. "We will assure our people that the situation is under control and we will never allow the catastrophe that happened last year," Jangalbagh said. The insurgency has gained strength since the withdrawal of international troops from combat at the end of 2014 and the Taliban are stronger than at any point since they were driven from power by U.S.-backed forces in 2001. The sound of gunfire and explosions could be heard as far as 5 km (3 miles) from the eastern outskirts of Kunduz city, witnesses reported. Fearful residents hid in their homes and many shops remained closed on Friday. The highway between Kunduz and neighboring Takhar province was also blocked, officials said. Imamuddin Qureshi, chief of Kunduz's Imam Saheb district, said several security outposts had already fallen to insurgents and called on the government in Kabul to send reinforcements and air support immediately. Outposts were also overrun in other districts and security forces fled to Kunduz city to regroup, Khanabad district chief Ayatullah Amiri said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said fighters had captured outposts in six districts and that three bomb blasts had killed seven members of the Afghan security forces just outside Kunduz. Those claims could not be verified immediately. The brief capture of Kunduz last September was one of the biggest territorial gains made by insurgents since they were ousted from power. (Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Paul Tait)
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)
Venezuela is moving its time zone forward by 30 minutes because of a national electricity crisis.

From May, the country will return to four hours behind GMT to lengthen the hours of daylight in the evening, when demands on power are higher.

It is the latest power-saving measure in Venezuela, where the electricity shortage is being blamed by the government on drought.

The move reverses a ruling by the late President Hugo Chavez, who had clocks turned back by half an hour in 2007 so it would be light when children woke up for school.

The country has suffered repeated blackouts in recent months, leading to the introduction of a four-day week for public sector workers until 6 June, and an extension of the Easter holiday.

Government ministries and state-owned companies have been ordered to cut electricity consumption by a fifth, while shopping centres have had their opening hours reduced.

President Nicolas Maduro has also asked the country's 29 million people to dry their clothes on a line and not use hairdryers.

Water and electricity outages are frequent because a reservoir that provides much of the country's hydroelectric power has been hit by low water levels blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Opposition politicians have accused the government of under-investment in the water system, which it says is failing to meet demand.

Venezuela owns the world's largest crude oil reserves, but the government has resisted using it to generate electricity, calling it inefficient.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have taken on one of Bhutan's toughest challenges to climb to the 1,500ft high Tiger's Nest monastery.

The trip to the top took William and Kate three hours as they walked hand-in-hand along a winding path that led through a pine forest.

The Duke admitted at one stage as he wiped the sweat from his brow that it was "quite tough on the way up" while the Duchess joked: "It's a great way to burn off the curry."

En route, the couple met three Americans who were coming back from the monastery.

Lauren McKennan, 29, Chris Steele, 27, and Alex Willmore, 28, stopped to chat with the royals.

Ms McKennan said: "They were pretty altogether. There wasn't a single trail of sweat. They stopped to talk to us for three to five minutes and were absolutely charming."

Mr Willmore added: "They asked us how long we had been here and talked about how lovely the weather was. They said how rainy it had been when they were doing the archery and how glad they were doing the trek today.

"We asked for a photograph. They just laughed and wouldn't do it. But they were absolutely charming, very cool, very nice. They kept on saying how beautiful it was."

The royal couple poised for pictures at the half-way point for the limited number of media permitted to accompany them on this part of the tour.

Husband and wife then headed off on the last leg of the trek with their arms around one another.

At the top, the pair stopped to admire the views from the 17th century Paro Taktsang, perched on a sheer cliff face.

On their return back down to the valley, the Prince said: "It was amazing ... beautiful scenery it was stunning to walk up there".

William also joked he would remind his father, Prince Charles, that he made it to the top.

The Prince of Wales completed half the trek on a visit in 1998 but decided against going any further because of the height.

Kate and William also admitted on Friday that they were missing their children "massively" during the trip but added they are in "good hands".

George and Charlotte have remained at home during the week-long tour of India and Bhutan.

Kate and William fly back to India on Saturday and will visit the Taj Mahal.
Pressure is growing for greater international action to combat unnecessary antibiotics use, particularly in the livestock sector.

In a global call to arms, chancellor of exchequer George Osborne told leaders at the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington this week that superbugs resistant to antibiotics are on course to kill 10 million people by 2050  more than will die from cancer.

Mr Osborne said he wanted to see faster diagnostic systems and the slashing of unnecessary antibiotics use.

The cost of doing nothing, both in terms of lives lost and money wasted, is too great, and the world needs to come together to agree a common approach, he added.

See also: Poultry sector publishes detailed antibiotics data

His comments came as academics, medics and vets were told at a conference in London that China is poised to introduce a ban on the use of colistin in all farm animals following the discovery of resistant bacteria last year.

The cost of doing nothing, both in terms of lives lost and money wasted, is too great, and the world needs to come together to agree a common approach George Osborne

Tim Walsh from Cardiff University told the Antibiotics and Farming  Prescriptions for Change conference that China would outlaw the antibiotic either later this month or in May.

It will pave the way for China to introduce the drug, which is seen as the antibiotic of last resort, in human medicine in the autumn.

Prof Walsh, who has been working with scientists in China, said research had shown resistance had begun to take off in 2008-09 due to the overuse of antibiotics in Chinas increasingly intensified poultry and pig sectors.

China produces about 17.5m tonnes of poultrymeat and 567m tonnes of pigmeat. About 20 companies produce and market colistin in China, which has an economic value of US$50m (353m).

Reaction

Coilin Nunan from the Alliance to Save our Antibiotics praised the Chinese for their vigilance. It was Chinese surveillance that found colistin resistance  they picked it up and we didnt. The EU wont be banning colistin in April, but they are moving forward, he said.

Following the discovery, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Public Health England carried out an extensive survey of bacterial samples. APHA found colistin-resistant bacteria on three pig farms and Public Health England found 15 cases in samples taken from 2012-15.

Nigel Gibbens, Defras chief veterinary officer, praised the decision taken by China, saying they had seen a problem and taken action.

The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance announced at the end of last year voluntary restrictions on colistin use in UK livestock.

Daniel Parker, veterinary adviser to the British Poultry Council, told the conference that colistin was not being used in the industry today.
Brexit campaigners have welcomed David Camerons commitment to support agriculture if the UK leaves the EU, but said that he might not be around long enough to see it through.

The prime minister made the pledge in a letter to the Country Land and Business Association, but warned that he could not make the commitment on behalf of future governments.

In the letter, Mr Cameron said: As long as I am prime minister, I would make sure that an agricultural support system would be properly maintained.

But he added: However, I can obviously not make the same guarantees for future governments.

Defra minister George Eustice, who is campaigning for the UK to leave the EU, said he welcomed Mr Camerons comments.

See also: Cameron commits to supporting farmers if UK leaves EU

Mr Eustice said: The prime minister has made clear that the government will continue to support British farmers financially if we vote to leave, and I agree with him.

If we stopped sending 350m a week to the EU, we would save more than enough money to fund a national agriculture policy.

While the official government position is that there is no plan B, I have done a lot of thinking about what a replacement policy would look like.

I already have nine meetings scheduled with farming unions and environmental organisations to work out a more detailed plan for Brexit.

Ukip MEP and agriculture spokesman Stuart Agnew also welcomed Mr Camerons comments, but said it was unlikely that the Tory leader would remain in power in the event of an EU exit.

Farmers were deserving of government intervention and nobody in the out campaign was arguing for anything but ongoing support, said Mr Agnew.

I welcome David Camerons statement that he would support agriculture in an independent UK, but note that he is unlikely to have the opportunity to do so, given that his leadership would be made untenable by a public vote for Brexit, he said.

The real issue highlighted by the farm subsidy controversy was that the farming industry urgently needed to address its chronic lack of leadership in the debate, said Mr Agnew.

The industry has become good at playing the hard-done-by role to garner public support for our benefit dependency, but it doesnt present a positive case for ring-fencing farm support.

The 3bn received by UK farmers was less than the NHS overspend in 2015  and a small amount in overall budgetary terms  but few in farming were making that case.

As an industry, we seek all too often to rely on politicians to solve our problems, particularly when it comes to managing supply and demand.

The UK farming industry needed to have clear and cohesive message about the purpose of farm payments and why they were so essential to the country as a whole, said Mr Agnew.

He added: The opportunity to create an independent UK farm subsidy system, with all the advantages it could bring, should not be disregarded in a hurry.
(April 15, 2016) California nurses are heralding the advance of a State Senate bill that would significantly expand public oversight and protections for one of the least reported problems in U.S. hospitals  the placement of patients in observation status, where they can be held for hours or days with less public oversight and fewer protections.

SB 1076, introduced by Sen. Ed Hernandez of West Covina and sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, sailed through the Senate Health Committee Wednesday night on an 8-1 vote and next heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.Use of observation status is an escalating abuse that puts patients at health and financial risk, nurses say. The bill would extend protections for observation patients that are provided to other patients in the hospital setting.CNA contends that hospitals increasingly use observation status  which can mean holding a patient in a hospital bed or even on a gurney in a hallway for long periods of time  specifically to avoid admitting patients in need of more specialized hospital care.In part, the goal is to avoid federal penalties for patients who are frequently re-admitted to hospital care after discharge; the same penalties do not apply for a patient re-admitted after discharge from an observation unit. Observation status is treated as outpatient, not inpatient care, and is billed by hospitals on an hourly basis rather than on an inpatient daily rate  an economic incentive for hospitals to warehouse patients in observation status to increase their profits.A further problem is that patients held under observation for the entire duration of their hospital stay who are then discharged to a nursing home or other long term care facility do not qualify for the same Medicare reimbursement, and can face mammoth out-of-pocket costs.Medicare requires patients to be admitted as inpatients for three days before coverage for long-term care will kick in. However, time spent in observation does not count, as observation services are outpatient services.Making the problem worse, patients held in observation in a hospital are frequently not told of their hospital status."As a perverse response to federal incentives, we are seeing a dramatic upward trend in the use of observation  more patients, sicker patients, for longer periods of time. And, in many places, the creation of specialized observation units where patients look like they are hospitalized, feel like they are hospitalized, receive many of the same treatments as hospitalized patients but  because they are not officially admitted  are under a lower level of regulation and, too often, at a level of staffing not really appropriate to their condition, said CNA Board member David Welch, a Chico RN, in testimony to the Senate Health Committee Wednesday. Depending on the way that the particular hospital handles observation patients, these safety issues may or may not exist. We think its entirely fair that patients placed on observation status be informed that they are on that status and what that may mean to them in terms of their care and its costs."SB 1076:* Clarifies that observation units must meet the same staffing standards as emergency rooms.* Builds on the federal NOTICE Act by requiring hospitals to provide notice to patients that observation services are outpatient services and third-party reimbursement may be impacted.* Requires, if a hospital provides observation services in a dedicated unit that is neither the emergency room nor part of the normal inpatient beds, that this unit be marked with signage identifying the area as an outpatient area.* Requires hospitals to report observation services to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.* Prohibits hospitals from evading the requirements by disguising observation units with a different name.California Nurses Association Press Release, 4/15/16National Nurses United
This Week in Palestine, April 15th, 2015 by IMEMC

Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, http://www.imemc.org , for April 9, to the 15, 2016.

Listen now: Copy the code below to embed this audio into a web page: <audio preload="none" src="https://www.indybay.org/uploads/2016/04/15/thisweekinpalestine-15-2016.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>

Islamic states leaders affirm their support to Palestine, meanwhile one Palestinian was killed at least 6 others injured by Israeli attacks targeting Palestinian communities in Gaza and the West Bank this week. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.





The Nonviolence Report



Lets begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities organized in the West Bank. scores of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation fired by Israeli troops who attacked on Friday anti wall and settlements protests organized in West Bank villages. IMEMCs Majd Batjali with the details:



This week anti wall and settlements protests were organized in the central west Bank villages of Bilin, Nilin, and al Nabi Saleh. In addition, protests took place in the villages of Kufer Qadum in northern West Bank. Israeli soldiers used live rounds, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets against the unarmed protesters.



Scores of residents and their international supporters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly protest organized in Kufer Kadum village. Troops also fired tear gas into residents homes after invading the village.



In Bilin and Nilin ,protesters managed to reach the Israeli wall. Meanwhile in al Nabi Saleh village, Israeli troops fired several rounds of rubber-coated steel bullets at the villagers as soon as they reached the village entrance. In Bilin village, tear gas bombs fired by Isralei soldiers caused a fire at a nearby olive groves owned by local farmers. A number of trees were damaged before residents and their supporters managed to but off the fire.



For IMEMC News this Majd Batjali.





The Political Report



This week Istanbul Islamic states summit affirm standing by Palestine. IMEMCs Rami Al Meghari has more:



Islamic states concluded this week a yearly summit meeting in the Turkish capital of Istanbul. The summit meeting comes in the backdrop of stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process, over continued Israeli illegal settlements building.



The Islamic nations asserted on the need for convening an international peace conference for peace in the region.



In the meantime, candidate for US presidency, Hillary Clinton voiced out concern over Israeli settlements building, dubbing it illegal and a stumbling block on the path of peace in the middle east.



On the internal Palestinian level, Palestinian factions in Gaza, affirmed need for unity, as a way out of current political and economic problems.



For IMEM News I am Rami Al Meghari in Gaza





The West Bank and Gaza Report



This week Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man and demolished homes during invasions targeting West Bank communities, meanwhile in Gaza navy and troops attacks on Palestinians leave one farmer injured. IMEMCs Ghassan Bannoura Reports:



On Thursday evening, 54 year old Mohammad Baradeyya was killed after being shot by Israeli troops near the al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian sources announced that the soldiers fired several rounds on him, causing a very serious injury that led to his death before an ambulance managed to reach him.



The Israeli army claimed that the Palestinian attempted to attack the soldiers with an axe, before they shot him dead, and that the reported attack did not cause any injuries among the soldiers.



The Israeli army invaded al-Arroub refugee camp and clashes with local residents on Thursday afternoon. Five residents were reported injured and many others suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.



Earlier in the week, Israeli soldiers, accompanied by a number of bulldozers, invaded on Tuesday morning that al-Walaja village, northwest of Bethlehem in southern West Bank, and demolished three under construction homes allegedly for being built without construction permits.



Last week, the soldiers invaded al-Walaja, photographed several homes and handed a few Palestinians demolition orders. The area has been subject to frequent Israeli military invasions and violations, locals told media. The Israeli army claimed that the area falls under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem City Council, and that the Palestinians cannot build there without the councils approval.



Also this week, the Israeli army conducted at least 93 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem. During these invasions Israeli troops kidnapped at least 79 Palestinian civilians, including 12 children.



In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian shepherds in the central Gaza Strip injuring one shepherd. Amer al-Tarabeen, 14, sustained a bullet wound to the right arm while grazing the sheep, , 300 meters away from the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.



On Tuesday several military vehicles and bulldozers invaded Palestinian agricultural lands, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and uprooted lands while firing live rounds.



Moreover Israeli navy ships opened fire on Saturday at Palestinian fishing boats off the northwest of Beit Lahia shore, north of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian fishing boats were sailing within 2 nautical miles off shore.



For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura.





Conclusion



And thats all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for April 9, to the 15, 2016. From the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www-dot-imemc-dot-org, This weeks report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi and me Eman Abedraboo-Bannoura.
- President Muhammadu Buhari is not yet one year old in office and Nigerians are already calling for his head despite inheriting a 16-year national problem

- The citizens of Nigeria are one of the most difficult to satisfy in the world

- There was hardly any president or Head of State who ruled the country at one point or the other that people did not throw banters at

- Nigerians should not blame anybody but themselves as this was exactly what Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos said about the current economic Ebola the country is suffering from

It is no longer a news that Nigeria is one of the most naturally endowed countries of the world. However, the paradox is, the country leads in terms of corruption, corrupt practices and bad leadership.

READ ALSO: UK trained lawyer faults Buhari's anti-graft war

There is always a blame game used either by a ruling party or the opposition. But what ought to be done is not done by the leaders. However, the trio problems of high foreign exchange rate, fuel scarcity and epileptic power supply, should not be put at the door post of the leaders alone, but the citizens likewise, because a good number of Nigerians, benefit whenever there is a national challenge, just like fuel scarcity.

Is President Buhari responsible for hoarding petroleum products? The oil marketers, the petrol station manager and petrol attendants, one way or the other, collude to defraud the poor populace by hiking fuel pump price, due to artificial scarcity, and wish for no end in sight for fuel problem and other national problems likewise.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Another angle to the issue of corruption presently in Nigeria is the alleged Panama paper issue, where some serving Nigerian politicians were said to have been involved. Is Buhari also at fault regarding this?

READ ALSO: 3 reasons GEJ could face the EFCC

The under-listed reasons have been written for Nigerians themselves to ruminate over, and tell themselves the gospel truth on who and who should be blamed more for the incessant national problems, which seem to resist solution.

1. It is easier to destroy than to build a nation in ruins

2. Democracy is not military rule where decisions are taken by a fiat

3. National Assembly not helping matters

4. Prejudicial judgement and sentiments on part of some Nigerians

5. The kettle calling the pot black

6. Foreign trips not an exercise in futility

7. Inherited corruption impeding economic prosperity

Conclusively, President Buhari needs the support and prayer of every Nigerian and not otherwise.

Source: Legit.ng
- It is no longer news that Nigerians are experiencing an economic downturn at the moment

- The situation has also affected Christian places of worship

- The situation has reduced the financial commitments to members towards the church

A report by The Punch has chronicled how churches are experiencing financial downturn as Nigeria's economic crisis bites harder across the nation.

The report stated that members have now turned to their church leaders for financial support towards feeding, accommodation and childrens tuition.

Some of the churches claim they are helping some of their members financially this period

READ ALSO: Good News: Buhari reveals huge new plan to transform Nigeria

A situation that has now increased the already depleted financial reserves of the churches.

Speaking on the issue, the general overseer of Holy Spirit Mission (Happy Family Chapel), Bishop Charles Ighele, described the economic situation in the country as never been this bad.

The bishop confirmed that members of some of the churchs branches had been affected by the economy.

His words: ''It is a big problem with people losing their jobs and the prices of things increasing such that sachet water that used to sell for N5 is now N15 in some towns. The situation is really bad.

''Over the years, we have been redirecting the focus of our members towards entrepreneurship, so the situation has not really affected the headquarter, but the cash inflow of the branches of the church where we did not drive such teachings down well has been affected.

''In those branches, it has affected the cash inflow, so we have it good in some places and in some; the cash inflow has been affected. The welfare department of the church has been strengthened more to help people with feeding, and so on.

''So, many members have nowhere to stay; some are unable to pay their house rents, so we have such things to handle. We have people still under the effect of the economic condition and it is really tough on them. And it is not only about members of our church as other people also keep coming for help.''

On his part, Pastor Festus Oyewunmi of Arise and Build Bible Church, Ibadan, said: ''The church is a component of the society. So, what is happening in the society will affect the church.

''Before, members would pay little, but now, they are not ready to pay anything. In fact, they are looking for ways to get something from the church.

''They want the pastor to dip his hands into his purse and pay for their transport and feeding for a whole month, especially in smaller churches in places like Ibadan.''

In Bayelsa, Pastor Elijah Oigbochie of the Mark of Overcomers International Church, Yenagoa, confirmed the situation the churches are facing.

He said: ''If you do not get your salary, definitely, you will not be able to pay your tithe. Actually, it has in one way or the other affected the income of the church because you pay from whatever you earn.''

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the ushering committee in Gospel Faith Mission International in Ado-Ekiti, said: ''We have noticed the decline in payment from members, but we understand the situation.''

READ ALSO: Badnews: Read what Nigeria recently lost

Meanwhile, as Nigerians continue to groan under harsh economic conditions, President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that his trip to China yielded about $6 billion investment for Nigeria.

The president posited that his one-week trip would positively impact on key sectors of the Nigerian economy including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation.

Source: Legit.ng
- Nollywood actress Mide Martins reportedly moves out of her matrimonial home in what has been described as a break up with her husband

- Mide and her director husband Afeez Abiodun have been married for years and the couple has two daughters together

- Unconfirmed sources say the break up hovers around issues of infidelity, distrust and whatnot

Unconfirmed reports say the union between Nollywood actress Mide Martins and her movie director husband Afeez Abiodun has ended in a rather unusual way.

Celebrity marriages and break ups in Nigeria have become so habitual today they make no difference anymore to fans and industry critics.

According to Bestofnollywood.tv, the couple has split with each party staying in separate apartments owing to speculations of infidelity and distrust among other things.

Bestofnollywood sources say Mide and Afeez have lived apart for some months and the situation is so critical they arent even on speaking terms at present.

Nollywood actress Mide Martins reportedly moves out of her marriage with Afeez Abiodun

READ ALSO: Harrysong reveals secrets behind hit song Reggae Blues, more plans to surprise the fans

The rumour mills say Mide and an Abeokuta based property merchant have maintained a pretty close relationship in recent times, a situation her husband is uncomfortable with.

Things reportedly aggravated when the seemingly wealthy merchant made the actress a brand ambassador as well as rewarded her with other goodies.

It remains to be seen how this ends but it really isnt looking good at the moment.

Insiders say after close friends mediated and tried to resolve the issues, Afeez reached out to Mide on social media but she kept mum which has led to more worries among those around them.

Other sources say since moving out of her matrimonial home to an unknown location, Mide has refused to comment on the nature of things in the stormy marriage.

Their alleged break up is not the first of its kind among celebrities in Nigeria.

In 2013, Mide and her husband had issues which bothered on her alleged infidelity.

Relationships among celebrities are known to suffer from heavy scrutiny, criticisms and more. These are some of the reasons behind failed marriages in the entertainment industry.

In addition, there have been cases of infidelity and deception among celebrity couples because the limelight exposes them to loads of attentions from admirers and prospective lovers which presents distractions in many cases.

As a result, only the very steadfast get to remain in stable relationships while maintaining celebrity status.

Mide Martins is the daughter of late Nollywood veteran Funmi Martins who passed on in 2002 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Her marriage to Afeez Abiodun is blessed with two daughters.

In 2015, she told Vanguard that celebrity marriages collapse as a result of lack of of trust and understanding.

Nollywood actress Mide Martins reportedly moves out of her marriage with Afeez Abiodun

According to her: Many men cant tolerate seeing their wives playing sexual roles. Also, many people believe that we (actors) practice what we act in the films. Another factor responsible for marriage collapse is that many women try to change their husbands after marriage, this brings disarray into the home. Women need to be more cautious.

READ ALSO: Nollywood actress recounts problems associated with stardom

She added that her marriage to Afeez has managed to weather the storm owing to the understanding and trust between them.

Clearly, things are not what they used to be between the couple as it stands and efforts from Legit.ng to reach both parties for comments have proved abortive as they have neither picked up their phones nor replied their messages.

Source: Legit.ng
Legit.ng is #1 online trusted source of the latest news in Nigeria. We are covering Nigeria news, Niger delta, world updates, and Nigerian newspaper reviews. We guide our readers to the world of politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle and human interest stories.
REQUEST INFORMATION

First Name*

Last Name*



Email Address*



Phone Type*

--- Select --- Mobile Landline

Country Code*

--- Select --- United States (+1) Afghanistan (+93) Aland Islands (+35818) Albania (+355) Algeria (+213) American Samoa (+1684) Andorra (+376) Angola (+244) Anguilla (+1264) Antigua and Barbuda (+1268) Argentina (+54) Armenia (+374) Aruba (+297) Ascension (+247) Australia (+61) Australian External Territories (+672) Austria (+43) Azerbaijan (+994) Bahamas (+1242) Bahrain (+973) Bangladesh (+880) Barbados (+1246) Barbuda (+1268) Belarus (+375) Belgium (+32) Belize (+501) Benin (+229) Bermuda (+1441) Bhutan (+975) Bolivia (+591) Bonaire (+5997) Bosnia and Herzegovina (+387) Botswana (+267) Brazil (+55) British Indian Ocean Territory (+246) British Virgin Islands (+1284) Brunei Darussalam (+673) Bulgaria (+359) Burkina Faso (+226) Burundi (+257) Cambodia (+855) Cameroon (+237) Canada (+1) Cape Verde (+238) Caribbean Netherlands (+5993) Cayman Islands (+1345) Central African Republic (+236) Chad (+235) Chatham Island, New Zealand (+64) Chile (+56) China (+86) Christmas Island (+61) Cocos (Keeling) Islands (+61) Colombia (+57) Comoros (+269) Congo (+242) Congo, Democratic Republic of the (Zaire) (+243) Cook Islands (+682) Costa Rica (+506) Cote d'Ivoire (+225) Croatia (+385) Cuba (+53) Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (+5399) Curacao (+5999) Cyprus (+357) Czech Republic (+420) Denmark (+45) Diego Garcia (+246) Djibouti (+253) Dominica (+1767) Dominican Republic (+1809) Dominican Republic (+1829) Dominican Republic (+1849) East Timor (+670) Easter Island (+56) Ecuador (+593) Egypt (+20) El Salvador (+503) Ellipso (Mobile Satellite service) (+8812) EMSAT (Mobile Satellite service) (+88213) Equatorial Guinea (+240) Eritrea (+291) Estonia (+372) Ethiopia (+251) Falkland Islands (+500) Faroe Islands (+298) Fiji (+679) Finland (+358) France (+33) French Antilles (+596) French Guiana (+594) French Polynesia (+689) Gabon (+241) Gambia (+220) Georgia (+995) Germany (+49) Ghana (+233) Gibraltar (+350) Global Mobile Satellite System (GMSS) (+881) Globalstar (Mobile Satellite Service) (+8818) Greece (+30) Greenland (+299) Grenada (+1473) Guadeloupe (+590) Guam (+1671) Guatemala (+502) Guernsey (+44) Guinea (+224) Guinea-Bissau (+245) Guyana (+592) Haiti (+509) Honduras (+504) Hong Kong (+852) Hungary (+36) Iceland (+354) ICO Global (Mobile Satellite Service) (+8810) India (+91) Indonesia (+62) Inmarsat SNAC (+870) International Freephone Service (+800) International Shared Cost Service (ISCS) (+808) Iran (+98) Iraq (+964) Ireland (+353) Iridium (Mobile Satellite service) (+8816) Isle of Man (+44) Israel (+972) Italy (+39) Jamaica (+1876) Jan Mayen (+4779) Japan (+81) Jersey (+44) Jordan (+962) Kazakhstan (+7) Kenya (+254) Kiribati (+686) Korea, North (+850) Korea, South (+82) Kosovo (+383) Kuwait (+965) Kyrgyzstan (+996) Laos (+856) Latvia (+371) Lebanon (+961) Lesotho (+266) Liberia (+231) Libya (+218) Liechtenstein (+423) Lithuania (+370) Luxembourg (+352) Macau (+853) Macedonia (+389) Madagascar (+261) Malawi (+265) Malaysia (+60) Maldives (+960) Mali (+223) Malta (+356) Marshall Islands (+692) Martinique (+596) Mauritania (+222) Mauritius (+230) Mayotte (+262) Mexico (+52) Micronesia, Federated States of (+691) Midway Island, USA (+1808) Moldova (+373) Monaco (+377) Mongolia (+976) Montenegro (+382) Montserrat (+1664) Morocco (+212) Mozambique (+258) Myanmar (+95) Namibia (+264) Nauru (+674) Nepal (+977) Netherlands (+31) Nevis (+1869) New Caledonia (+687) New Zealand (+64) Nicaragua (+505) Niger (+227) Nigeria (+234) Niue (+683) Norfolk Island (+672) Northern Mariana Islands (+1670) Norway (+47) Oman (+968) Pakistan (+92) Palau (+680) Palestinian territories (+970) Panama (+507) Papua New Guinea (+675) Paraguay (+595) Peru (+51) Philippines (+63) Pitcairn Islands (+64) Poland (+48) Portugal (+351) Puerto Rico (+1) Qatar (+974) Reunion (+262) Romania (+40) Russia (+7) Rwanda (+250) Saba (+5994) Saint Barthelemy (+590) Saint Helena (+290) Saint Kitts and Nevis (+1869) Saint Lucia (+1758) Saint Martin (France) (+590) Saint Pierre and Miquelon (+508) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (+1784) Samoa (+685) San Marino (+378) Sao Tome and Principe (+239) Saudi Arabia (+966) Senegal (+221) Serbia (+381) Seychelles (+248) Sierra Leone (+232) Singapore (+65) Sint Eustatius (+5993) Sint Maarten (Netherlands) (+1721) Slovakia (+421) Slovenia (+386) Solomon Islands (+677) Somalia (+252) South Africa (+27) South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (+500) South Sudan (+211) Spain (+34) Sri Lanka (+94) Sudan (+249) Suriname (+597) Svalbard (+4779) Swaziland (+268) Sweden (+46) Switzerland (+41) Syria (+963) Taiwan (+886) Tajikistan (+992) Tanzania (+255) Thailand (+66) Thuraya (Mobile Satellite service) (+88216) Togo (+228) Tokelau (+690) Tonga (+676) Trinidad and Tobago (+1868) Tristan da Cunha (+2908) Tunisia (+216) Turkey (+90) Turkmenistan (+993) Turks and Caicos Islands (+1649) Tuvalu (+688) Uganda (+256) Ukraine (+380) United Arab Emirates (+971) United Kingdom (+44) United States (+1) Universal Personal Telecommunications (UPT) (+878) Uruguay (+598) US Virgin Islands (+1340) Uzbekistan (+998) Vanuatu (+678) Venezuela (+58) Vatican City State (Holy See) (+379) Vietnam (+84) Wake Island, USA (+1808) Wallis and Futuna (+681) Yemen (+967) Zambia (+260) Zanzibar (+255) Zimbabwe (+263) Yugozlavia (+381) Phone Number*



Country*

--- Select --- United States Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu UAE Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe State



Mailing Address*



City*

Zip Code



Preferred Start Date*

--- Month --- Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

--- Year --- 2022 2023 2024 2025

Program Type*

--- Select ---

Program of Interest*

--- Select ---

--- Select ---

Location of Interest --- Select ---

How Did You Hear About Us?*

--- Select --- TV/Radio Station Event/School Fair Referral Magazine/Newspaper Outdoor Advertisement Search Engine Social Media Network Website NYFA Campus/Location NYFA Cafe Other

Please Specify:* --- Select --- New York City Los Angeles, California South Beach, Florida Queensland, Australia Disney Studios, Florida Harvard University, Massachusetts Florence, Italy Paris, France Moscow, Russia Minsk, Belarus Kiev, Ukraine Athens, Greece Amsterdam, Netherlands Beijing, China Shanghai, China --- Select --- NYC Cafe- Battery Park Amsterdam Cafe China Cafe

Highest Level of Education:*

--- Select --- Master's Degree Completed Bachelor's Degree Completed Associate's Degree Completed Attending College High School Graduate High School Student Middle School Student Elementary School Student

Graduation Year:

--- Select --- 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 Never Graduated from High School

Have You Served in the U.S. Military, or Are You a Dependent of a U.S. Military Service Member?*

Yes No





* Required Information
Following US President Donald Trump and the US administration voicing its displeasure over high import duties charged by India on bikes made and exported from US markets, the Government of India has slashed Customs Duty on imported bikes.

The import of bikes with engine capacity of less than 800cc used to attract 60% duty while those of 800cc and above used to attract 75% duty. The government has now rationalized Customs Duty structure to 50% across range for imported bikes. However, for Completely Knocked Down (CKD) units, duty has been raised from 10% to 15% and for Completely Built engines (CBU) from 20% to 25%.

Indian Motorcycles current lineup and price list following price cut ranges from the lowest priced Indian Scout Sixty at INR 10.99 lakhs going up to the India Roadmaster which is now priced at INR 39 lakhs onwards. At these new and reduced prices, the American luxury bike maker expects to see increased sales in the country.

The new price list is as follows:

Indian Scout Sixty Rs 10,99,500

Indian Scout Rs 12,69,500

Indian Scout Bobber Rs 11,99,000

Indian Chief Dark Horse Rs 18,81,000

Indian Chief Classic Rs 21,29,500

Indian Chief Vintage Rs 25,32,500

Indian Springfield Rs 33,50,000 onwards

Indian Chieftain Rs 32,01,000 onwards

Indian Roadmaster Rs 39,00,000 onwards

Following this reduction on Customs Duty other bikemakers such as Harley Davidson and Ducati have also slashed prices of their range on sale in India.

The Indian Motorcycle bike range is on sale at all company dealerships in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Jaipur / Cochin / Guwahati (Coming soon).
University of Twente's Robird will make its first flights at an airport location in February. Weeze Airport in Germany, just across the Dutch border near Nijmegen, will serve as the test site for this life-like robotic falcon developed by Clear Flight Solutions, a spin-off company of the University of Twente. The Robird is designed to scare away birds at airports and waste processing plants.

'Finally, this is a historic step for the Robird and our company', says Nico Nijenhuis, Master's student at the University of Twente and the CEO of Clear Flight Solutions. 'We already fly our Robirds and drones at many locations, and doing this at an airport for the first time is really significant. Schiphol Airport has been interested for many years now, but Dutch law makes it difficult to test there. The situation is easier in Germany, which is why we are going to Weeze.'

Training the robot and human operators

Clear Flight Solutions is benefiting from the more relaxed rules at Weeze, as well as the relatively limited amount of air traffic there. The airport handles around 2.5 million passengers annually, most of whom come from the Netherlands. Schiphol Airport handles 55 million passengers annually. In addition to testing the Robird, the company will also train the Robird's 'pilot' and 'observer' (who watches other air traffic). 'If you operate at an airport, there are a lot of protocols that you have to follow', says Nijenhuis. 'You're working in a high-risk area and there are all kinds of things that you need to check. We use the latest technologies, but the human aspect also remains crucial.'

No option but to cross the border

Nijenhuis thinks it is a shame that the situation at Schiphol Airport is so difficult, but he also says that a lot of work is currently being done to accommodate the drone sector in the Netherlands. 'Airports are very important to us, however the law in the Netherlands means that this kind of testing is very sensitive. There are major differences with countries like Germany and France. It is unfortunate to see that so much activity in the drone sector is being drawn away from the Netherlands. Fortunately, our politicians are starting to understand this. Meetings between the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment and the drone sector are going well, so I'm very happy about that. Finally we are all talking about the rules together. At the moment, it is often the case that professionals are not allowed to do anything, while amateurs are can do whatever they want. Luckily, that situation is changing. The government has also launched an awareness and information campaign. That is another positive development.'

The Robird

The cost of bird control at airports worldwide is estimated in the billions, and does not consist only of material damage, as birds can also be the cause of fatal accidents. Birds worldwide also cause damage running into billions in the agrarian sector, the waste disposal sector, harbours, and the oil and gas industry. A common problem is that since birds are clever they quickly get used to existing bird control solutions, and simply fly around them. The high-tech Robird, however, convincingly mimics the flight of a real peregrine falcon. The flying behaviour of the Robird is so true to life that birds immediately believe that their natural enemy is present in the area. Because this approach exploits the birds' instinctive fear of birds of prey, habituation is not an issue.
Butterfly monitoring schemes are at the heart of citizen science, with the general public and researchers collaborating to discover how butterfly populations change over time. To develop the concept further, a new paper in the journal Nature Conservation shows how systematically placed, grid-based transects can help schemes by reducing habitat bias.

Rapidly increasing in number and popularity, Butterfly Monitoring Schemes have proved to be a method generating important, high-resolution data. Reliant on enthusiastic volunteers, who record butterflies along freely chosen transects, the collected observations are then used to explore and understand trends in butterfly numbers and distributions.

However, there is a risk associated with free site selection: some habitats can become underrepresented and monitoring results therefore less general than intended.

Butterfly hot-spots, such as semi-natural grasslands, tend to be favoured over less well-known environments. This means that butterflies living in other 'less popular' habitats, such as forests and wetlands, are covered less thoroughly and population declines of these species risk going undetected.

A team of Swedish researchers have now investigated the potential of a new, complementary grid-based design, where butterfly recorders are to walk systematically placed transects across the country.

The results of testing the new method showed that butterflies were abundant in traditionally overlooked habitats such as coniferous forests, bogs, and clear-cuts. Additionally, the systematic transects also performed well in avoiding habitat bias.

"Butterfly Monitoring Schemes are likely to benefit from adding grid-based butterfly transects as a complement to free site choice designs," explains Dr. Lars B. Pettersson from Lund University. "Free and systematic site selection should not be seen as mutually exclusive, instead they can be used together to ensure high quality and inclusiveness of data for better assessing of future biodiversity trends."
Greek dancing improves the jumping ability of elderly patients with heart failure, according to research published today in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.1 Patients randomised to Greek dancing jumped higher and faster than their sedentary counterparts. Those who danced had stronger legs and could walk further.

"Greek dancing is an important part of weddings and other celebrations, and is popular among older people," said Zacharias Vordos, an exercise physiologist at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece. "We believed dancing would increase the attractiveness of rehabilitation programmes for patients with chronic heart failure. This was the first study to assess the impact of traditional Greek dancing on jumping ability."

The study included 40 Greek patients with chronic heart failure who were randomly assigned to a three month rehabilitation programme based on traditional Greek dancing or to their usual sedentary lifestyle. Exercise training took place at three municipal gyms and consisted of three 40 to 65 minute weekly sessions. Patients were 73 years old on average and none had done any exercise in the past year.

At the beginning and end of the study, the researchers tested patients' jumping ability using a Myotest-Pro dynamometer. Jumping ability included jump height, amount of time the feet were in contact with the ground, and strength and speed during the jumps. In case patients were hard of hearing, both an audible alarm and visible signal from the researcher were used to tell patients when to start each jump.

Strength of the leg muscles was assessed with a leg-chest dynamometer. Endurance of the leg muscles was evaluated using the six-minute walking test.

There were no differences between groups in any of the measurements at the start of the study. After three months, patients who participated in Greek dancing jumped higher and faster than the sedentary patients. They also had stronger legs and could walk further, demonstrating more endurance.

When the researchers compared the performance of the dancing group at the start and end of the study, they found that their endurance and leg strength had improved by 10%, and they jumped 10% higher and around 6% faster. The sedentary group showed no change between the initial and final measurements.

"Our study shows that traditional Greek dancing improves strength, endurance and jumping ability in elderly patients with heart failure," said Mr Vordos. "Patients who participated in Greek dancing jumped higher at the end of the training programme, probably because they had stronger leg muscles."

He continued: "The physical benefits of Greek dancing should give patients more independence in daily life by helping them to walk and climb stairs. It should also improve their coordination and reduce their risk of falling and being injured. It is possible that Greek dancing also gives cardiac benefit as demonstrated by Zumba fitness programmes with Latin music."

Mr Vordos concluded: "Attendance at the dancing sessions was more than 90% which suggests that this type of cardiac rehabilitation could attract more patients than the usual programmes. Traditional Greek dancing is enjoyable and sociable, and we have now shown that it leads to health benefits in elderly patients with chronic heart failure."
Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing advanced squamous non-small-cell lung cancer benefit most from necitumumab added to gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy, according to a subgroup analysis from the SQUIRE trial presented today at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The randomised phase III SQUIRE trial demonstrated that the addition of necitumumab to gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy improved overall survival in patients with stage IV squamous non-small-cell lung cancer by 1.6 months compared to chemotherapy alone. The current study analysed outcomes in the subgroup of patients with EGFR expressing tumours compared to those with no EGFRs.

Out of 982 patients in the SQUIRE trial, 95% had EGFR expressing tumours and 5% had tumours with no EGFR protein. The addition of necitumumab to gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy improved overall survival and progression free survival by 21% and 16%, respectively, as compared to chemotherapy alone in patients whose tumours expressed the EGFR protein. There was no benefit in patients with no EGFR in their tumours.

Dr Luis Paz-Ares, Chief of medical oncology at the University Hospital 12 De Octubre in Madrid, Spain, lead author, said: "Necitumumab is targeted at EGFR so it makes sense that the drug is active in patients with the receptor. Our analysis showed that the drug had no effect when the receptor was absent, presumably because there was no target to bind to. We cannot make robust conclusions because the subgroup of patients with negative EGFR was very small, but the hypothesis generated here is that those tumours do not respond well to necitumumab."

"Based on this analysis, the European Medicines Agency has decided that necitumumab is approved only for patients with EGFR expressing tumours," continued Paz-Ares. "On the other hand the US Food and Drug Administration has taken the more conservative approach which recognises that SQUIRE was designed for all-comers without prior selection, and this subgroup analysis is insufficient evidence to conclude that patients with EGFR negative tumours are not candidates."

He concluded: "Our results need to be interpreted with caution. A confirmatory study in patients with EGFR negative tumours is needed to assess whether they are good candidates for necitumumab or not."

Commenting on the findings, Prof Robert Pirker, programme director for lung cancer at the Vienna General Hospital in Vienna, Austria, not involved in the study, said: "This subgroup analysis shows that the effect of necitumumab was slightly greater in patients with EGFR expressing tumours than it was in the entire SQUIRE population. It indicates that immunohistochemical detection of the EGFR receptor improves clinical activity of necitumumab. The findings are consistent with previous studies suggesting that monoclonal antibodies in combination with chemotherapy work better in patients with EGFR expressing cells."

Pirker added that a more thorough analysis is needed. He said: "Information on outcome of patients with cut-off levels higher than in the current analysis would be of interest. We also need to know the effect of necitumumab according to both percentages of positive cells and their staining intensity. This could be combined with fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) analysis to detect gene amplification. This could give us a clearer picture of which patients benefit most from necitumumab."
The expected odds of children having a genetic condition which causes learning difficulties and tumours have been dramatically cut, thanks to genetic analysis led by The University of Manchester and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Writing in the journal EBioMedicine,the researchers have identified the underlying genetic mutation which causes neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). By RNA testing 361 patients, the researchers were able show that the probability of a child having the severest 'constitutional' form of the condition after negative genetic testing is not 6 in 9, but 1 in 9.

Professor of Medical Genetics and Cancer Epidemiology at The University of Manchester and Saint Mary's Hospital, Gareth Evans, led the study. He said: "The severe form of NF1 can be a terrible illness and to be able to reassure parents that it is less likely that their children will be diagnosed with it will take a significant weight off their shoulders."

NF1 is currently diagnosed by the identification of six or more birthmarks, known as cafe au lait spots, on the body. In severe cases there is a ten percent chance that people with NF1 develop brain, eye and, extremely seriously, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours over their lifetime. Around 60 percent of patients have learning difficulties. MF1 can also cause problems with vision, growth, blood pressure and epilepsy.

Many of these problems only manifest in later life, so parents of children with the cafe au lait spots are left with a worry that their child has a 66 percent chance of having a potentially severe form.

The new 11 percent figure has been arrived at through the use of RNA testing which is more sensitive than even DNA testing. The University researchers, who are based at the specialist Centre for Genomic Medicine at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester investigated patients with the six spots which the US National Institutes of Health guidelines recommend as a good indicator of NF1.

The RNA tests were able to identify varying degrees of severity which most often resulted in less serious forms, or to show that patients didn't after all have NF1.

Professor Evans said: "Before we developed this technique we would have had to follow a large group of children over their whole lives to come up with accurate probabilities -- something that is just not possible with the resources we have at our disposal.

"We still need to study children to see if they are at risk of other health complications, but it is reassuring to be able to clear the vast majority of severe NF1 using RNA tests."

Dr Tim Corn, Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Neuro Foundation, the UK charity for people with Neurofibromatosis said: "We welcome this advance in genetic research that goes some way to address the anxieties felt by many parents with NF1 in their family. As NF1 is both unpredictable and variable, parents describe it as like sitting on the edge of a volcano waiting for it to erupt. Clearly there is still some way to go but this new test will bring clarification and some peace of mind for many worried parents. This is very timely news ahead of World NF Awareness Day on May 17."

The paper, 'Comprehensive RNA analysis of the NF1 gene in classically affected NF1 affected individuals meeting NIH criteria has high sensitivity and mutation negative testing is reassuring in isolated cases with pigmentary features only', was published in the journal EBioMedicine.
Researchers at Kingston University have developed a new way to more accurately assess the outlook for the world's biggest economy. The new model highlights the interdependence of household, business and government expenditure and international trade in the United States and is rooted in a new approach to economics teaching.

Financial forecasting can be as perilous as trying to predict the weather, but researchers at Kingston University have developed a new way to more accurately assess the outlook for the world's biggest economy. The new model highlights the interdependence of household, business and government expenditure and international trade in the United States and is rooted in a new approach to economics teaching.

Studying economists have predominantly been taught one theory; Neoclassical economics. However, since the global financial crisis hit the headlines in 2008, students across Britain have increasingly been calling for reform in the way their subject is taught.

"The crash showed the weaknesses in Neoclassical economics -- we need to hear more than one theory," Kingston University PhD candidate Rafael Wildauer, who developed the model in collaboration with fellow PhD candidate Javier Lopez Bernardo, explained. "Kingston University has already responded to post-crash shifts in economic thinking, teaching Keynesian and post-Keynesian theory as an alternative to mainstream classes. This way of thinking is increasingly important," he said.

This reformed approach is evident in the financial balances model, designed to assess the sustainability of current to medium term trends in the American economy.

The Kingston Financial Balances Model (KFBM) is built around the idea that the financial balances of different sectors are all relevant for an understanding of the evolution of the economy as a whole. The model breaks down the economy into three sectors -- the private sector balance is the expenditure of households and firms; the public account balance is the revenue and expenditure of federal and local government; and the current account balance is the revenue and expenditure between the US and the rest of the world, with trade the most important part.

advertisement

"The financial balances approach is different from what is traditionally taught in a macroeconomics class," Mr Lopez explained. "We rely on the simple but powerful insight that the expenditures of one sector are the revenues of another -- a fact often overlooked in standard macroeconomic models. Other models don't have this structure. Some look at household expenditures but don't look at trade, for example. We consider all sectors of the economy together -- so if households are saving, what does this mean for the corporate sector?"

The KFBM uses United States Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts of GDP, government expenditures and revenues until 2018 to predict the public account balance. The current account is forecast based on a statistical model which relies on CBO data, and the private sector balance is derived as the residual between the current and public account.

"The inter-relatedness of the sectors means that if a government administration chooses a certain fiscal path -- trying to reach a particular reduction in the public deficit, for example -- this has a profound effect on other sectors of the economy," Mr Wildauer said. "Governments can only really decide expenditures, and this does not seem to be properly recognised -- particularly by the media."

Kingston University's Head of Economics Steve Keen is a leading voice in demanding the reform of economics teaching to encompass more relevant applicable theories. He places great importance on giving colleagues the freedom to develop new ways of working.

"We teach economics as if money really matters -- which mainstream economics doesn't do," said Mr Keen. "We have a sufficient number of staff embracing new thinking to develop alternative approaches. We analyse the economy as if it can be out of equilibrium, where mainstream thinking assumes stability."

The first KFBM report, published in February, predicted a baseline current account deficit of 4 per cent, leading to an increased deficit of 4.7 per cent by the end of 2018. According to the report, global demand is likely to remain weak in the medium term due to a troubled Chinese economy, low growth in commodity-exporting countries due to low prices, and an unsuccessful export-focussed recovery strategy in Europe.

A negative financial balance of the US private sector has only been seen prior to the financial crises of 2001 and 2006, Mr Lopez explained. "Although US private sector deficits might continue to support national and global growth rates in the short-run, there is a lack of worldwide demand and already high private sector debt levels," he said. "The KFBM report concludes sustained economic expansion in the United States is highly unlikely."

Mr Keen was impressed with the findings. "I like the conclusions of the report," he said. "Just as savings affect cash flow, this applies to current trends. What this leads to is an impossibility of sustained growth in the US economy."

The next KFBM report is due to be published in September. Mr Wildauer and Mr Lopez plan to use the next tranche of data to examine what the forecasts imply for American unemployment figures. They also hope to model households and businesses separately to make the findings more accurate.
In a small, phase I clinical trial, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers say they show for the first time that the experimental drug guadecitabine (SGI-110) is safe in combination with the chemotherapy drug irinotecan and may overcome resistance to irinotecan in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Results of the study are expected to be presented April 17 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2016 in New Orleans (abstract CT017).

Guadecitabine works to reverse a so-called epigenetic change in cancer cells known as methylation, which may alter genetic activity in cells in a way that can block the action of tumor-suppressing genes, pushing cells to become cancerous and resistant to therapy. By reversing this change in cancer cells, the drug restores cancer cells' vulnerability to drugs such as irinotecan.

The clinical trial included 22 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who had been treated previously with irinotecan and whose disease was progressing. The patients were divided into four groups, each receiving different doses of guadecitabine in combination with irinotecan, over an average period of four months.

During the study, 15 patients had at least one imaging scan to retest the extent and location of their cancers -- with 12 patients experiencing stable disease -- for more than the four-month period, on average, and one patient experiencing a partial response to the treatment (measured as at least a 30 percent reduction in the size of the tumors.)

Although the study's main purpose was to test the safety rather than the effectiveness of guadecitabine doses, "we were very happy to see some patients who benefited from the combination of the therapies for many months to more than a year," says Nilofer Azad, M.D., professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study also showed signs that guadecitabine reduced methylation among the cancer cells. "We did see that giving a higher dose of the drug seemed to produce a better methylation response among patients," says Valerie Lee, M.D., a fellow at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. "However, it seemed that patients were responding at all levels of the drug."

Among the side effects of the combined treatment, 16 patients experienced neutropenia, a low count of the infection-fighting white blood cells called neutrophils; five patients with neutropenia had fevers; three patients became anemic; and two patients developed thrombocytopenia, a lowered count of blood-clotting platelets. Other side effects included diarrhea (three patients), fatigue (two patients) and dehydration (two patients). There was one death during the study, possibly resulting from febrile neutropenia caused by the treatment.

advertisement

The current study was based on previous studies in the laboratory of Nita Ahuja, M.D., director of the Sarcoma and Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Program and professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which showed that guadecitabine limited the growth of colorectal cancer cell lines when combined with irinotecan, says Azad.

The drug combination is being tested in an ongoing phase II clinical trial (NCT01896856) in a larger group of metastatic colorectal cancer patients at multiple institutions to determine the effectiveness of the dual therapy compared with chemotherapy regimens that do not include guadecitabine, says Azad.

Scientists leading the new study will also look for biomarkers in patients that could help determine which of them are most likely to benefit from guadecitabine and irinotecan. Lee says the research team will measure the amount of methylation in patients' cells when they begin their treatment and the presence of genes associated with irinotecan resistance, among other possible biomarkers.

In 2015, there were more than 130,000 people in the U.S. diagnosed with colon cancers. Five-year survival rates among people with localized colon cancers are more than 90 percent, but they are only 20 percent in those with metastatic cancer.

Guadecitabine is an experimental drug that has not been approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is manufactured by Astex Pharmaceuticals, a supporter of the Johns Hopkins-led study. The research was also supported by the Van Andel Research Institute SU2C/AACR Epigenetics Dream Team.

Other scientists who contributed to the research include Judy Wang, Anup Sharma, Zachary Kerner, Stephen Baylin, Ellen Lilly, and Thomas Brown from Johns Hopkins; Anthony El Khoueiry from the University of Southern California; Henk Verheul and Elske Gootjes from Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands; and Peter Jones from the Van Andel Research Institute.
Women with epilepsy are just as likely to achieve a successful pregnancy as women without the neurological disorder, according to a new study led by research teams at multiple centers, including NYU Langone Medical Center.

In a prospective study, women with epilepsy had a comparable likelihood of achieving pregnancy, time taken to get pregnant, and pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage, compared to a group of healthy peers. These findings, presented April 17 at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, contradict previously held beliefs in the medical community regarding the fertility of women with epilepsy.

More than 1.1 million U.S. women with epilepsy are of childbearing age and approximately 24,000 babies are born to women with epilepsy each year, according to figures from The Epilepsy Foundation, which funded the new research.

Previous studies have found infertility rates up to two to three times higher for women with epilepsy, or that as many as one-third of women with epilepsy may experience difficulty with pregnancy. But, a comprehensive study has not been done to date to confirm this until now, according to the researchers.

"We hope our findings reassure women with epilepsy and clinicians who are counseling these women on family planning," says Jacqueline French, MD, professor of Neurology and Director of Translational Research and Clinical Trials at NYU Langone's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and the study's first author and co-principal investigator.

The researchers led a multicenter observational study called The Women with Epilepsy: Pregnancy Outcomes and Deliveries (WEPOD) from 2010 to 2015. Women with epilepsy and healthy control participants who were between the ages of 18 and 41 seeking pregnancy and less than six months removed from contraception were followed throughout the duration of their pregnancy. Electronic diaries captured use of anti-epileptic medications, seizures and facts about participants' sexual activity and menstruation cycles.

In total, 89 women with epilepsy and 109 healthy controls with similar demographics were compared for the study. The proportion of women who achieved pregnancy was 70 percent for women with epilepsy and 67.1 percent for healthy controls.

Average time to pregnancy in women with epilepsy was 6.03 months, compared with 9.05 months for healthy controls, and after controlling for age, body mass index, parity and race, there was no difference across groups for time to pregnancy.

Of the pregnancies that occurred, a similar proportion resulted in live birth (81.8 percent women with epilepsy and 80 percent controls), miscarriage (12.7 percent women with epilepsy and 20 percent controls), or other outcomes (5.4 percent women with epilepsy compared to 0 percent healthy controls).
An experimental antibody treatment decreased by half the number of cancer stem cells that drive the growth of tumors in nearly all patients with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow and bone tissue, according to results of a preliminary clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists.

The antibody, called Medi-551, was tested in 15 newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma who also received a monthly regimen of lenalidomide and dexamethasone -- already approved chemotherapy drugs that are often prescribed to treat multiple myeloma. The scientists are expected to present their findings April 19 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2016 in New Orleans (abstract CT102).

The researchers, led by myeloma experts William Matsui, M.D., and Carol Ann Huff, M.D., measured the impact of the drugs on cancer stem cells by counting the stem cells in bone marrow and blood samples drawn from the patients at several points throughout the seven-month study, which ended in March 2016.

Bone marrow-derived cancer stem cells at first increased by an average of 2.5-fold in the patients after two cycles of lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone. After MEDI-551 was added in the third and fourth months of treatment, the number of cancer stem cells decreased by half, on average, in 14 of the 15 patients.

By contrast, five newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who did not receive the extra antibody treatment had their cancer stem cell numbers swell 9.3-fold after an average of four months' treatment with the other two drugs. There were no serious adverse side effects among the patients in the study of the antibody.

Matsui and Huff are part of the Johns Hopkins research team that in 2002 was among the first to identify and isolate cancer stem cells in multiple myeloma, which is diagnosed in approximately 30,000 people in the U.S. annually. Their subsequent research showed how these cancer stem cells contribute to relapse in patients with multiple myeloma, and the scientists have been looking for new ways to target these cells with treatments that can halt their ability to create mature tumor cells and trigger relapse.

The antibody MEDI-551 targets a specific protein called CD19 found on the surface of multiple myeloma cancer stem cells, explains Matsui. "We chose to carry out this clinical trial in newly diagnosed patients because our original data showed that CD19 was almost always expressed by myeloma stem cells in these patients, whereas we don't know if that is the case in more advanced patients," he says.

The researchers also tested two different ways to measure cancer stem cells in patients: in tissue samples aspirated from bone marrow and in blood drawn from the patients throughout the study. "We wanted to see if these two assays gave similar results, and in this clinical trial, they were almost identical," Huff says. "Since it is much easier to draw blood than bone marrow from our patients, we think that we can primarily use blood to track multiple myeloma stem cells in the future."

Although most of the patients experienced a decrease in multiple myeloma cancer stem cells after three doses of MEDI-551, these stem cells increased in two of the patients, each of who had their cancer grow or spread during the course of the study.

Matsui, Huff and their colleagues plan to conduct further studies to determine the long-term impact of the antibody treatment in patients with multiple myeloma and to find out how the antibody might work in combination with other treatments.

"In other studies at Johns Hopkins, we have found that antibody therapies can work much better after a bone marrow transplant, especially allogeneic transplants, where patients receive bone marrow cells donated from a relative," says Matsui.
<p><a href="https://www.edgarsmission.org.au/" target="_blank">Edgar's Mission</a></p>

Anyone who grew up with a sibling probably knows the difficulties of sharing your stuff. I mean, how annoying it is when your brother or sister wants to touch all of your things, and get involved with everything you do?

Dodo readers might remember Fifi the lamb at Edgar's Mission in Australia, who found a way to fit inside her cat sister's bed ...

... even if her sister was less than impressed.

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Rescued Wild Horse Loves To Play With A Little Donkey

Fifi has gotten a little bigger now - too big to fit inside a cat bed. But she still wants to share any bed that Jessica - her sister - wants to snooze on. "You're going to sleep on a blanket on the ground?" says Fifi. "OK then me too!"

Jessica the cat still isn't impressed.

But Jessica has finally gotten a break. Supporters of Edgar's Mission saw photos on Facebook of Fifi trying to squeeze into Jessica's bed, and decided to donate a new bed for Fifi and Jessica to share.

"A kind lady contacted me, and her entire family - mum, dad and the two kids - drove up from Melbourne just to deliver the bed along with the sign they had made," says Pam Ahern, founder of Edgar's Mission. "They left the bed in the barn with the sign on it. Funnily enough, when I returned to the stable a little while later, Fifi had already laid claim to the bed. She really is one funny little sheep."

According to Ahern, Fifi got hold of a Sharpie pen to claim the bed as hers. Cheeky lamb.

That's okay. Jessica the cat also knew how to use a sharpie pen. "Fifi's bed?" says Jessica. "Pffth. Pu-leaze."

The bed wars may continue, but Fifi and Jessica have some new competition.

After all, Ruby the dog thinks this bed is just her size.

And when it comes to snuggling with Ahern, Ruby's absolutely sure she can squeeze between her cat and lamb sisters on Ahern's lap.


Italy offers more wine-grape varieties than any other country; here, a visitor looks at wine bottles displayed at the 50th Vinitaly international wine and spirits exhibition in Verona last week. (Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

Springtime always refreshes my curiosity and ignites my wanderlust. Not that I drop everything and hit the road, but I start rummaging through my wines looking for something different to quench my thirst. No more bold, warming reds or full-bodied whites. I want something light, something different. And that often means something from Italy.

Traveling up and down the boot courtesy of my corkscrew gives me opportunities to taste an amazing variety of wines  red, white or sparkling. Italy has more wine grape varieties than any other country, and many of them have not been successfully grown elsewhere, for some reason. Ian dAgata, in his superb reference book, Native Wine Grapes of Italy (University of California Press, 2014), counts 377 varieties he describes as native, meaning they originated there or are identified almost exclusively with Italy. Some may have been carried westward by the ancient Greeks or Phoenicians, but over the centuries they have thrived in Italy but not elsewhere, qualifying them as native in dAgatas reckoning. The number is almost certainly fluid as DNA recognition of grape varieties improves; some varieties may yet be identified as an Italian name for a well-known foreign grape. But consider this: There are nearly 1,400 wine grape varieties grown worldwide, according to the most authoritative book on the subject, Wine Grapes, by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamoz (Harper Collins, 2012). If dAgatas count is correct, then more than a quarter of the worlds wine grape varieties are Italian.

That gives Italian vintners a lot to play with.

The trump card for Italian wine producers is their potential to make world-class wines that exhibit aroma and flavor profiles altogether different from those well known to the wine-buying public, dAgata writes: In other words, Italys native grapes and wines offer jaded wine-loving consumers something new and interesting, at times even something wild and wacky. These wines are every sommeliers dream: delicious, food-friendly alternatives to the all-too-often overly alcoholic, oaky, tropical-fruit, or chocolate bombs that can be some chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons.

Italian white wine varieties are especially fascinating. Unfortunately, ask consumers to name an Italian white wine and most would probably think of pinot grigio, which translates into plain English as boring. (There are exceptions, of course. Look for pinot grigio from the mountain vineyards of Alto Aldige in northern Italy. But pinot grigio is just the Italian name for the French pinot gris.) A little sleuthing in finer wine shops will uncover some delicious and exotic gems ideally suited for lighter cuisine we tend to favor in warmer weather.

Piemonte, the region of robust Barolo and Barbaresco reds from the nebbiolo grape, counters with a racy, delicately floral white wine called Roero dArneis. Garganega may be Italys stealth white: The grapes name rarely appears on labels, but it plays top fiddle as the grape of Soave from the region around Venice.

In the Marche, verdicchio produces a medium-bodied, earthy white with a floral note echoing Riesling and an appealing bitter almond flavor on the finish. Falanghina, from the region where mozzarella reigns supreme, is an ideal partner for caprese salad or pizza margherita.

Lets not forget the islands. Sicilys grillo is terrific with seafood seasoned with olives and capers. And Sardinias vermentino seems to capture the essence of the Mediterranean. Its citrus and sometimes tropical flavors are accented by herbal notes of wild sage, rosemary and thyme, plus a salinity that suggests the sea breeze cooling the island vineyards.

Italy can help us celebrate lifes victories with bubbles, of course. Prosecco is a soft, enjoyable and affordable fizz unencumbered by the luxurious prices and expectations of champagne, while Franciacorta, made in the Champagne style, lends sophistication.

Let the wine travels begin.
Recommendations   Exceptional  Excellent Very Good Availability information is based on distributor records. Wines might not be in stock at every listed store and might be sold at additional stores. Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.



(Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Italy offers an amazing array of wines from nearly every region, made from a legion of grape varieties. Here are five delicious whites  including a bargain sparkler  to get you started on your explorations.

 D.M.

Argiolas Costamolino Vermentino di Sardegna 2015

  

Sardinia, Italy, $16

Wow. Fresh and bursting with orchard fruit flavors, this lovely wine sings for seafood. In recent years, vermentino has caught on in Virginia, and this wine helps explain why. Alcohol by volume: 14 percent.

Distributed by Winebow: Available in the District at Burkas Wine & Liquor, Cairo Wine & Liquor, Calvert Woodley, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, MacArthur Beverages, Pauls of Chevy Chase, Pearsons, Rodmans, Whole Foods Market (P Street, Tenleytown); on the list at 2 Birds 1 Stone, Brick Lane, Coppis Organic, La Tomate, New District Kitchen, the Source by Wolfgang Puck, Tail Up Goat, Tartufo. Available in Maryland at Beer, Wine & Co. in Bethesda; Old Line Fine Wine, Spirits & Bistro in Beltsville. Available in Virginia at Balduccis (Alexandria, McLean), Twisted Vines Bottleshop in Arlington; on the list at Assaggi Osteria in McLean, Fontaine Caffe & Creperie in Alexandria.

Tenuta di Tavignano Villa Torre Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 2014

 1/2

Marche, Italy, $14

Apricot and peach flavors make this wine refreshing and delicious, while a nutty, bitter almond finish adds length and complexity. ABV: 13 percent.

Distributed by Bacchus in the District and Maryland; Free Run in Virginia: Available in the District at A. Litteri, Grand Cata; on the list at 2 Birds 1 Stone, Johnnys Half Shell, Park Tavern. Available in Maryland at Midway Discount Liquors in Joppa, Wells Discount Liquors in Baltimore. Available in Virginia at Au Domaine in Alexandria, Grape+Bean (Old Town, Rosemont), Vienna Vintner, Vino Market in Midlothian, Vinosity in Culpeper; on the list at Pizzeria Paradiso in Alexandria.

Cantina del Taburno Falanghina del Sannio 2014

 1/2

Campania, Italy, $17

Falanghina is thought to be the grape of the famous wines from Falernia in Roman times. The Taburno shows firm acidity that allows the underlying fruit flavors to emerge with a little patient coaxing  this is a white wine to consider decanting an hour or more before drinking. (If refrigerator-cold when decanted, the time will allow it to warm to the ideal temperature.) I actually preferred it the second night after opening. Its rich enough to pair with semi-soft cheeses such as mozzarella. ABV: 13 percent.

Distributed by Bacchus in the District and Maryland, Country Vintner in Virginia. Available in the District at Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor, MacArthur Beverages, Schneiders of Capitol Hill; on the list at Cashions Eat Place, Compass Rose, Iron Gate, Maple, Masseria, Osteria Morini, Raku. Available in Maryland at Balduccis in Bethesda, Bin 201 Wine Sellers in Annapolis, Bin 604 Wine Sellers, Wine Source in Baltimore, Edgewater Liquors, Finewine.com in Gaithersburg; on the list at Cinghiale, Pazo in Baltimore. Available in Virginia at Arrowine and Cheese in Arlington, Balduccis (Alexandria), the Italian Store-Westover in Arlington.

I Stefanini Il Selese Soave 2014

 

Veneto, Italy, $16

Tart apple yields to ripe peach flavors in this refreshing and attractive white wine. Great as an aperitif or with lighter fare such as salads and smoked fish. ABV: 12.5 percent.

Distributed by Country Vintner in the District and Maryland, Roanoke Valley in Virginia. Available in the District at Rodmans, Schneiders of Capitol Hill; on the list at Room 11. Available in Maryland at Edgewater Liquors. Available in Virginia at Camdens Dogtown Market in Richmond, Cheesetique (Alexandria), on the list at Screwtop Wine Bar in Arlington, Tavola in Charlottesville.

Elisabetta Abrami Franciacorta Brut

 

Lombardy, Italy, $23

Franciacorta generally starts at around $30, so to find one in the low $20s is quite rare. This example, made from organically grown grapes, is crisp and delicious, a refreshing bubbly to start an evening on an elegant note. ABV: 12.5 percent.

Distributed by Dionysus. Available in the District at A. Litteri, Moms Organic Market, Rodmans. Available in Maryland at Balduccis, Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, Moms Organic Market in Rockville. Available in Virginia at Balduccis (Alexandria, McLean), Moms Organic Market (various locations), Unwined (Alexandria, Belleview).
Two candidates in Marylands 6th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. John Delaney and Republican challenger Amie Hoeber, hold overwhelming fundraising advantages in their party primaries, according to new campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Delaney, seeking a third term, reported first-quarter contributions of $63,750 and $273,406 in cash on hand. These are relatively modest numbers for a candidate who spent about $4 million of his own money on his first two races.

[Delaney makes transition from financier to life as a congressman]

One outlay in last weeks report stands out: $16,900 to SKDKnickerbocker, the political media company, for digital advertising and the truck billboard that circled the Maryland State House last month, calling on Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to take a position on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Delaney spent more on the Hogan billboard than his Democratic primary opponent will probably muster for his entire campaign. Mortgage loan officer Tony Puca said Friday he has raised about $2,500  below the $5,000 threshold that triggers a requirement to report to the FEC.

[Md. Republicans still eyeing Delaneys seat]

Hoeber, a defense consultant and former Army deputy undersecretary, reported $21,134 in contributions and $77,245 in cash remaining from fundraising in 2015. She also lent her campaign $150,000 in personal funds, adding to the $200,000 she had put in last year.

But the real wind under Hoebers wings comes from Maryland USA, the super PAC established by her husband, former Qualcomm executive Mark Epstein. Epstein, the PACs principal donor, has contributed $1.8 million  of which $830,000 has gone to advertising, polling and mail on Hoebers behalf.

Federal law bars any coordination between super PACs and campaigns. In an interview last December and another Friday evening, Hoeber said she has no specific knowledge of her husbands activities with Maryland USA.

Its nothing I have any control over. Im entirely away from it, said Hoeber, who lives a few doors away from Delaney in the Bradley Hills neighborhood of Potomac, which lies outside the 6th Congressional District, in the 8th. The 6th District includes parts of Potomac and stretches west along Marylands panhandle to the borders with Pennsylvania and West Virginia.





Hoebers seven opponents trail significantly in fundraising. Businessman Frank Howards filing was not yet posted on the FEC site Friday evening. He said it would show first quarter contributions of $26,600 and $25,000 cash on hand. Washington County Commissioner Terry Baker collected $11,214 and reports cash on hand of $1,933.

Lawyer and ballot measure activist Robin Ficker reported no contributions and $40,695 in operating expenses supported by almost $41,000 in personal loans. Del. David E. Vogt III (R), Montgomery Village bioscientist Scott Cheng, Marine veteran Christopher Mason and Gaithersburg accountant Harold Painter had not filed reports as of Friday evening.
Republican primary voters in Marylands 8th Congressional District have a choice between a staunch conservative and four candidates closer to the center  including an African American woman who was a Democrat a year ago and an independent until February.

The GOP last held this seat in 2002, when moderate Rep. Connie Morella was voted out of office after eight terms, the victim of gerrymandering by the states Democratic governor and legislature. The Democrat who beat her, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), is running for the Senate, creating a rare open seat.

Another round of redistricting in 2010 put a few more Republicans in the 8th, which is shaped like a mushroom cloud that originates at the southern end of Montgomery County and rises north before spreading through parts of Carroll and Frederick counties to the Pennsylvania border.





But the numbers remain daunting for whoever wins on April 26: Democrats maintain a 2-to-1 registration advantage in the general election. Any GOP path to victory would have to include a message that appeals the districts 100,000 independents.

Here are the contenders:

Dan Cox

A Frederick County attorney, Cox, 41, is the most conservative of the five GOP hopefuls. He supports Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in the presidential race and subscribes to Cruzs Five for Freedom plan, which includes abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and the departments of Energy, Education, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development.

Like Cruz, Cox said that if elected, he would move to scrap Obamacare, which is wreaking havoc on Republicans, Democrats and independents alike, he said.

Cox also advocates eliminating payroll taxes and establishing a 10 percent flat tax for incomes over $36,000.

As a small-business man, I really see the importance of making sure that we grow jobs, and the key to that is small business as well as lowering taxation for everybody, he said.

On immigration, Cox supports the full enforcement of existing laws and passage of Kates Law, which would establish mandatory minimum five-year prison sentences for any immigrant convicted of reentering the country after being deported. The bill is named for a San Francisco woman who was killed, allegedly by a previously deported immigrant.

Cox, who was raised in Taneytown in Carroll County, said his political roots go back to campaigning with his parents for Ronald Reagan in 1980. A graduate of the University of Maryland and Regent University School of Law, he worked for 1996 Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes and as an aide to former U.S. House member Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) He opposes abortion rights.

Cox also served as president the Town Commission in Secretary, Md., a town of 500 in Dorchester County. He lives in Cascade, Md.



Republican candidate Jeff Jones, second from left, greets other candidates before a forum. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

Jeffrey Jones

Jones, 64, is senior pastor at North Bethesda United Methodist Church and a first-time candidate who believes that he is best suited to bring a calming influence to a Congress paralyzed by partisan strife.

The squabbling, to me, sounds more like the couples who come to get some help, he said.

Jones, who likes to say were all immigrants, is the only GOP candidate in the 8th who favors a path to citizenship for the countrys 11 million undocumented immigrants. He also rejects Donald Trumps call for a ban on Muslim immigrants.

Muslims and the Koran speak very highly of peace and cooperation and working together, and its a real disservice and prejudice to think everyone is lumped in with radicals, he said. Thats like saying Christians who handle snakes are the way all Christians behave.

Jones, who supports abortion rights, said that if elected to Congress, his top priorities would be improving the nations education system and a large-scale infrastructure project to generate jobs by repairing roads and bridges.

Born in Baltimore, he spent his childhood in Congo and Belgium with his missionary parents before moving to Montgomery for middle and high school. Jones has an undergraduate degree in sociology from Western Maryland College (now called McDaniel College) and attended seminary at Emory University.

His 40 years of pastoring throughout the region, he said, gives him a unique insight into peoples needs.

Ive done the weddings, Ive done funerals and participated in the lives of folks, he said.

He supports Ohio Gov. John Kasich for the Republican presidential nomination.



Republican candidate Liz Matory, standing, speaks during a debate for the 8th Congressional District seat. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

Liz Matory

Matory, 36, co-founder of a business consulting firm, completed an unusual transition over the past year. She initially entered the congressional race as an independent after leaving the Democratic Party in the summer of 2015. She said her departure was driven by the injustice of gerrymandering and her belief that, for years, blacks and women had been taken for granted by the party.

As an African American woman, Matory had never seriously considered becoming a Republican. But conversations with GOP voters left her believing that there was more common ground than she thought. In February, she decided that the quickest and boldest way to make a difference was with the GOP.

Lets face it. The House will stay in Republican hands, she blogged on her campaign site. Do we need another Democrat debating from [the] fringes or do we need a congresswoman who has the courage to unite us by joining the conversation?

Matory, a graduate of Howard Law School who holds an MBA from the University of Maryland, said decades of Democratic orthodoxy have done nothing to help the poor.

She opposes abortion rights and supports economic policies that cut taxes and regulation. Matory would work to end crony capitalism, which she describes as the corrupting influence of lobbyists, PACs and other special interests.

Matory, whose Filipino mother immigrated to the United States legally, does not support citizenship for the undocumented. It negates and devalues every single immigrant who came here legally, she said. Nor does she favor deportation. The solution, she said does not currently exist.

She also supports Kasich in the presidential race and says she rejects the Republicanism embodied by Trump.

Matory was born in the District, the daughter of two surgeons at Howard University Hospital. She grew up in Montgomery and attended Sidwell Friends School, then Columbia University. She lives in Silver Spring.



Aryeh Shudofsky, Republican candidate for Congress in Marylands 8th District. (Courtesy of Aryeh Shudofsky)

Aryeh Shudofsky

At 35, Shudofsky is the youngest candidate in the Republican field. A former aide to Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) who previously worked as a financial analyst, he now is a consultant to CRTV, or Conservative Review TV, a political media company.

He said he wants to return to Capitol Hill because members of Congress are so mired in partisan bickering that theyve lost sight of what the electorate is actually looking for.

Shudofsky promotes common-sense solutions to create jobs, such as a simplified tax code and tax credits for start-up businesses. To help low-income working Americans find their footing, he would incorporate earned income tax credit payments into paychecks instead of delivering the credit as an annual lump sum. He also wants to see U.S. schools require financial literacy courses for all students.

We need to foster economic growth, said Shudofsky, who ran unsuccessfully for Montgomerys Board of Education in 2012.

Support for Israel is a major part of Shudofskys message. In addition to bolstering Israels military defenses, he said the United States needs to be more supportive in often-unfriendly venues, such as the United Nations.

Shudofsky opposes any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants but supports allowing them to come out of the shadows and requiring them to pay taxes to support public services, including school systems. He opposes abortion rights.

Shudofsky was born in Teaneck, N.J., and grew up in a Democratic family, the son of educators. He received a degree in finance from Yeshiva University. He lives in Silver Spring.



Republican candidate Shelly Skolnick during a debate for the Maryland 8th Congressional District seat. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

Shelly Skolnick

Skolnick, 72, a Silver Spring lawyer, lost bids for the District 8 Republican nomination in 2012 and for an at-large seat on the Montgomery County Council in 2014.

His platform is the most detailed and the least traditionally Republican. Skolnick favors raising the gas tax 1 cent per month for a year and then 1 percent annually to pay for highway repairs.

To cut the cost of health insurance, he would replace President Obamas Affordable Care Act by expanding Medicare Part A (hospitalization) to all citizens, financed by a new value-added tax.

Skolnick proposes revamping the tax system for fairness and simplicity, establishing five brackets from 5 to 25 percent for individuals and businesses while eliminating the capital gains tax and other special tax rates for different kinds of income.

To cut college debt, Skolnick wants to convert Pell Grants into Shell Grants of up to $10,000 a year to students who volunteer as first responders or school tutors or aides.

I think I can move moderates and liberals toward my candidacy with creative, practical solutions, he said.

Skolnick favors a pathway to green cards, not citizenship, for undocumented immigrants. One exception: those who volunteer for the military.

On abortion, he describes himself as pro-status quo.

Skolnick, who was born in Suffern, N.Y., and raised in Montvale, N.J., received a BA in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a law degree from Boston University. He lives in Silver Spring.
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed this month alleges that the Prince Georges County school system failed to conduct a proper background check on a teaching assistant with a previous history of alleged sex abuse who was later convicted of molesting an elementary school student.

The suit, filed in federal court in Greenbelt, comes four months after the school system settled a similar civil rights complaint and as it finds itself amid a wide-reaching child-pornography investigation involving a volunteer teachers aide.

The case filed April 5 involves a former Glenn Dale Elementary School teaching aide and an 8-year-old student. Jason Jamar Howard, 33, was charged with sexual abuse of a minor in April 2013 after a teacher witnessed him sit next to the child, place his hand under her skirt and fondle her in the middle of the school day, according to police. Howard later admitted to abusing the girl between 10 to 15 times over the course of two school years, according to court documents.

Howard, who is no longer with the school system, pleaded guilty to sex abuse in Prince Georges County Circuit Court six months later and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The students family contends that the Prince Georges County school system should not have hired Howard in 2011 because he had been charged with assault and sex offenses in 2002, according to online court records. The 2002 charges were dropped.

The school system breached their duty by either failing to conduct a criminal background check on Howard, which would have revealed Howards past charges of assault and sexual offense or by conducting a criminal background check and hiring him despite the charges, the familys attorney alleged in the legal complaint. The complaint also alleges that the principal at the time failed to immediately disclose the abuse to authorities and the childs parents.

[For years, Pr. Georges didnt strengthen school sex-abuse policies]

Officials in Prince Georges would not comment on the pending lawsuit, saying it is the school systems practice not to comment on legal issues. But in a response to the complaint filed in court, attorneys for the school system denied many of the allegations set out in the lawsuit. Attorneys for Howard and the principal named in the suit did not respond to requests for comment.

The school system is in the middle of reviewing policies and practices in light of the recent arrest of a Judge Sylvania W. Woods Elementary School volunteer charged with child sex abuse. According to police and prosecutors, Deonte Carraway, 22, abused and filmed inappropriate behavior with students during the school day and on school grounds since at least January 2015. Carraway, authorities said, also abused children between the ages of 9 and 13 at a local town center, church and in private homes, and has claimed at least 17 victims.

The case deeply upset parents in the city of Glenarden, with many of them demanding to know how Carraway was given so much time alone with children to allegedly perpetrate such acts and why other adults in the school didnt notice or report problems sooner. The Carraway case has also prompted at least five civil suits against the school system, including a class-action lawsuit.

[An elementary school volunteer filmed child pornography at school, police say. These tweets show parents anger and anguish.]

School officials have said Carraway, who was hired to be a paid employee in 2014 before budget cuts eliminated his position, passed a background check.

Dianne Stewart Hamlin, an attorney for the family of the student abused by Howard, said she believes there is a pattern of carelessness on the part of the school system that allowed for the continuing abuse in her clients case and the most recent Carraway case. Hamlin said a simple Internet search revealed the past charges against Howard.

I have children and I always do a background check on their babysitters, Hamlin said. If there were even a hint of a possibility that something would be out of line, I wouldnt hire them. The school board has a higher threshold because theyre responsible for other peoples children.

Donna St. George contributed to this report.
Christian Lemus Cerna, an MS-13 gang member, allegedly set out into a wooded park in Fairfax County in May 2014 to find a pair of graves. With him was a local MS-13 leader, known as Junior, who wanted to spook some new recruits by showing them where the bodies of two wayward members were buried.

The previous October, Cernas clique had allegedly lured one member into the park, stabbed him to death, hacked his body up and buried him. Several months later, they did the same to another member who broke gang rules, according to prosecutors.

Junior asked Cerna, then an 18-year-old in high school, to show him the grave sites. Cerna obliged. The men walked in the park for half an hour before they came to the right spot. Cerna told Junior that hed have to hold his nose. That stuff is like a skunk, he said.

What Cerna didnt realize was that Junior was a paid confidential informant for the FBI. He had infiltrated Cernas clique months prior and wore a video wire during the trip into the park, recording the entire meeting.

Junior is a star witness for the government in a criminal case underway accusing MS-13 members of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy. The 33-year-old has worked for the FBI for the past decade, earning more than $40,000 and providing authorities with a critical view into the inner workings of one of the Washington areas most violent street gangs. The Washington Post is not identifying Junior by his real name at the request of prosecutors, who said he could be in danger.

1 of 9 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Faces of MS-13 View Photos The Mara Salvatrucha gang, the transnational gang known more colloquially as MS-13, is involved in criminal activities in most parts of Latin America, as well as the United States. The gang originated in Los Angeles and spread from there, and now has a large presence in Fairfax and Prince Georges counties. Caption The Mara Salvatrucha gang is involved in criminal activities in most parts of Latin America, as well as the United States. Sept. 7, 2006 A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, known more colloquially as MS-13, is presented to the press in San Salvador after his arrest. Some 130 gang members suspected of committing homicides were arrested during a police operation in different departments of the country. Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

In more than 15 hours of testimony last week, Junior described how he secretly recorded hundreds of phone conversations and in-person meetings with the defendants, during which prosecutors say gang members admitted their roles in the alleged crimes.

Thirteen alleged gang members have been charged in connection with the two killings in the park as well as a shooting in Alexandria and an attempted slaying in Woodbridge, Va.

A trial for half of the defendants began in late March in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Six defendants have accepted plea agreements, and some of them are cooperating with prosecutors. One defendant will be tried separately.

[Alleged MS-13 members accused in three slayings in Northern Virginia]

Juniors cooperation enabled prosecutors to charge a large group of defendants at the same time. But it also sheds light on the complications of building a case that relies heavily on testimony of a known gang member and immigrant trying to gain legal status.

In court last week, Junior was soft-spoken and clean-cut. He said he came to the United States from El Salvador in 2000, crossing the border illegally and settling in Northern Virginia. After dropping out of high school as a senior, he was recruited into an MS-13 clique called the Silvas Locos Salvatrucha.

[Video: El Salvador's rival gang leaders discuss recent cease-fire]

At some point in 2005, Junior began working with the FBI. Its not clear how he became involved  prosecutors declined to say  but he told the court that he quickly became disenchanted with the lifestyle. He testified that he had brushes with the law and had been arrested on charges of grand larceny and disorderly conduct.

That was not the life that I wanted to live, he testified. It was pointless, doing violent stuff for something that makes no sense.

Junior had multiple FBI handlers that he worked with for years.

In check-ins by phone or in person, sometimes as often as once a week, Junior would share intelligence on the gangs activities, including killings, he said. He was prohibited from engaging in any violence himself, but with special permission, he was allowed to take money from gang activities involving drugs, prostitution and extortion.

In 2006, Junior testified in the same federal court in the trial of Wilfredo Montoya Baires, a member of MS-13 who fatally shot another member. Baires was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

The Justice Department has paid Junior roughly $42,000 for his services over the past decade, including about $12,000 for expenses that included payments to fellow gang members, according to his testimony. The FBI has also filed paperwork to help him become a legal resident in the United States, he testified.

Amid all that, Junior maintained the guise of an MS-13 member. In 2012, he was even promoted to first word, or leader, of the Silvas clique, he said.

Attorneys for the defendants questioned how Junior was able to move up within the gang without participating in violence or other crimes. Junior said he succeeded by knowing how to talk to them and buying time to find ways to avoid criminal activity.

It seems like you were buying time for 12 years, said Manuel E. Leiva, an attorney for one of the defendants.

Twelve years doesnt mean I was in the streets 24/7, Junior said.

Defense attorneys also said that Junior was motivated to exaggerate to the FBI because he needed money and help with his immigration status. They pointed to his attempts to become a legal resident as well as a 2015 bankruptcy petition Junior filed, in which he told a court that he was unemployed.

Under questions from Cernas attorney, Junior admitted that he lied about his employment status. In earlier testimony, he said he had always had a full-time job while working as an FBI informant.

Junior told jurors that he became involved in the investigation of the slayings after hearing in late 2013 that the defendants had killed Nelson Omar Quintanilla Trujillo, a member they believed was cooperating with police.

Junior said the FBI gave him a cellphone that automatically recorded all calls and texts. He used that phone for close to a year.

He also wore body wires to the monthly general meetings the gang held in hotels and parks in Woodbridge.

In those recordings, prosecutors said, gang members told Junior how they killed Trujillo and buried him in Holmes Run Stream Valley Park in Fairfax County.

They also told him how, in March 2014, they stabbed and decapitated another gang member, Gerson Adoni Martinez Aguilar, and buried him nearby, according to prosecutors. In later calls, prosecutors said, gang members told Junior about how they shot a man named Julio Urrutia in Alexandria.

In court, prosecutors asked Junior to interpret transcripts of the recordings translated by FBI contractors. Junior said multiple gang members took credit for the killings.

Defense attorneys, however, contended that Junior couldnt be trusted to accurately interpret the exchanges, some of which took place more than two years ago.

Prosecutors said the afternoon of May 15, 2014, marked a breakthrough in the case. In a series of phone calls, Cerna had agreed to take Junior that day to visit a hill in Holmes Run park where Cernas clique allegedly buried Trujillo and Aguilar.

Its like a small incline, Cerna told Junior, according to a transcript of a call presented in court. It takes some effort to climb.

Junior had met two FBI agents near the park earlier. They searched him and confiscated a marijuana joint he said he planned to smoke with Cerna. Then they outfitted him with an audio and video recording device.

Junior testified that he met Cerna at a nearby McDonalds and that the two spent about 30 minutes trekking to what Junior said were the grave sites.

Prosecutors played video in court that showed a young man they said was Cerna, in plaid shorts and a dark polo shirt, brushing leaves and dirt aside with a stick. Junior can be heard breathing heavily and speaking in Spanish with Cerna, who, according to testimony, described how gang members poured acid on Trujillos grave to dissolve his remains.

Junior said he drove Cerna home and immediately went back to show FBI agents the site. In the following days, prosecutors said, authorities returned with cadaver-sniffing dogs and excavated the two bodies.

Authorities have since taken steps to protect some of Juniors family members, he testified. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Martinez, the lead prosecutor in the case, asked Junior why he risked his life to locate the remains of the two men.

It just didnt feel right. I had to do something, he said. The FBI can only do so much.
OmniRide, a commute bus that runs to Metro stops, picks up a rider on Center Street in old town Manassas. ( Margaret Thomas/The Post)

Falling revenue from a regional gas tax earmarked for transportation, including Metro, has Northern Virginia governments scrambling for cash to maintain their transit systems. And in the most critical cases, jurisdictions are considering service cuts and fare increases.

Plummeting gas prices have been good for motorists, but they cost Northern Virginia $24 million in lost revenue last year, down about 40 percent since 2013. The situation is most dire in Prince William County, where transit service is almost entirely funded by the regional gas tax, and that has threatened the viability of the bus system that serves 12,000 riders in and around the county and links the area to job centers in and around the District.

Its a doomed scenario, said Prince William Supervisor Frank J. Principi (D-Woodbridge), chairman of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC), which covers Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties and the cities of Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg.

PRTC operates commuter and local bus service and co-sponsors Virginia Railway Express. The commission faces a $9.2 million deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The question becomes, how do we pay for operating and capital expenses next year? Principi said. And the larger question is, if gas prices stay where they are now, what is the solution to the long-term sustainability of the transit system?

In the short run, those who ride PRTCs OmniRide and OmniLink buses should expect a 5 percent fare increase and reductions to service starting in July. But more significant cuts are possible if Prince William doesnt approve a proposed $6 million subsidy for the system in the countys fiscal 2017 budget, scheduled to be voted on Tuesday.

So far, other jurisdictions arent as pressed by the losses, in part because they have multiple revenue streams to fund transit. Still, to offset the declining fuel-tax revenue, many are tapping their general funds  putting transit in direct competition with such other priorities as education and public safety, according to government and transportation officials.

When the states landmark transportation bill was approved two years ago, it included built-in protections to provide stable funding tied to the state gas tax should gas prices fall below a certain level. This year, efforts to create a similar provision for the regional gas tax were approved by the Senate. But the House of Delegates failed to act on the legislation in what some local officials say was a slap at traffic-choked Northern Virginia and its efforts to boost transit.

This is a classic man-made crisis, said David F. Snyder, a member of the Falls Church City Council.

State legislators opposed to the provision called it a tax increase on drivers, Snyder said, but in failing to support it, they are forcing local officials to choose between using taxpayer money to offset transit costs or reduce service  and taking money from other priorities.

We ought to be increasing transit, not reducing it, said Snyder, who also serves on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, which facilitates transportation planning and funding for the region and is a PRTC partner in VRE operations. We have highway congestion that is out of control. And we have lots of people who would take transit if it were more attractive. And then there are those who absolutely have to take transit because they have no other alternatives.

The gas-tax revenue is used for capital and operating expenses for transit. Prince William uses it to pay for bus service. Fairfax and Arlington counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church allocate it to Metro.

In Fairfax County last year, the regional gas-tax revenue was $7 million short of projections, officials said. The county was able to absorb the cost because that revenue is not the primary source of its transit funding, Transportation Director Tom Biesiadny said. The county also maintains a reserve fund it can tap. But that strategy isnt sustainable if prices continue to fall, Biesiadny said.

In the short term, we can handle it, Biesiadny said. If gas prices stay at $2 or below, that would be much, much more of a concern to us.

Transportation officials are already projecting lower revenue this year, which is why Prince William is considering a 10 percent reduction in bus service, including eliminating some Friday trips, dropping service to Capitol Hill and restructuring its bus lines. Those cuts, combined with the 5 percent fare increase, would save PRTC $4 million. The annual budget for the agencys bus division is $34 million.

PRTC officials say the slipping gas-tax revenue has only exacerbated a nearly decade-old problem it has had since losing its county funding.

Eight years ago, in the midst of the recession, Prince William eliminated its general-fund contribution for transit, leaving the countys share of the regional gas-tax revenue as PRTCs main funding source. That wasnt a problem when gas prices were high. In fact, PRTC was even able to build a reserve fund during those fat years. But as prices at the pump have plummeted, that reserve has dwindled, and it is expected to be fully depleted in the coming fiscal year.

Now, the future of the transit system that serves Prince William, Manassas Park and Manassas City is uncertain. It could continue next year with the proposed service adjustments and if the Board of County Supervisors approves the $6 million subsidy. But the subsidy is tied to the approval of a budget that includes a controversial property tax increase of nearly 4 percent.

[Pr. William supervisors deadlocked over proposed real estate tax increase]

If the subsidy isnt approved, riders will see significant service cuts, officials said.

What we will end up doing is parking a whole lot of buses and laying off bus drivers and mechanics, Principi said.

PRTC Executive Director Eric Marx said that the agency would be forced to end its long-haul routes to Washington and the Pentagon and feed only to Metro. That could test Metros rush-hour capacity on the already crowded Blue Line. It also could put more people on the congested Interstate 395 corridor.

Moving forward, officials say, PRTC needs to find a long-term solution, while the regions leaders say they will once again push state legislators to approve a provision to protect the regional gas tax from wide price fluctuations.

Riders, not surprisingly, hope the systems 23 routes are saved and fares kept flat. The proposed changes come on top of previous service cuts and a cumulative fare increase of 30 percent since 2009, PRTC officials say.

Art Narro, a software developer who commutes between Woodbridge and Rockville five days a week, said fares are already expensive for the bus ride to the Springfield Metro station and to get to downtown Washington, where he makes another Metro transfer.

He slugs regularly to save money, but the Omnibus-to-Metro ride has been part of his commute for more than 20 years. Raising fares and cutting bus service that is already less timely than ideal would further discourage transit use, he said. But even more disturbing, he said, is the possibility that service would disappear altogether.

The buses are good. The drivers are very friendly. They do a good job, he said. At the very least, keep the current service.
I am the unnamed historian George F. Will disparaged in his April 10 op-ed, A battle to save a battlefield. Will was wrong about the Battle of Princeton, my report assessing the geographical site of the battle and the Institute for Advanced Studys plan to develop faculty housing. The dispute over the Jan. 3, 1777, Battle of Princeton concerns whether a significant engagement occurred on land that the IAS owns and wishes to develop.

I am neither hostile to history nor a postmodernist who thinks history is merely a social construct. I do not dislike commemorating history made by white men with guns, as Will wrote. The IAS hired me to evaluate a 2010 report by John Milner Associates, a consulting firm hired by the Princeton Battlefield Association. The report said new evidence allowed it to pinpoint the precise location of Gen. George Washingtons charge against Lt. Col. Charles Mawhoods British regiments, a turning point in the battle. The location the Milner report suggested was on the land where the IAS had long-standing plans to build housing.

Surviving evidence from 1777 lacks the geographical accuracy necessary to pinpoint many events. My analysis was a step-by-step assessment of whether the evidence offered by the Milner report supported its claim that Washingtons charge took place on the IAS land. I concluded that the reports evidence was flimsy and its hypothesis unsubstantiated. A key question is the route of a long-vanished back road to Princeton taken by Washingtons army. Knowing its route would be essential to identifying the location of many parts of the battle, but the conjectural route proposed by the Milner report is extremely unlikely. The Princeton Regional Planning Board agreed with my assessment after a hearing on the evidence, and a New Jersey state court upheld this decision.

The IAS is not vandalizing this land, nor has the state scandalously neglected it. In 1973, the IAS conveyed to the state 32 of the Princeton Battlefield State Parks 74 acres. Later, the institute preserved 589 acres of woodlands directly south of the park. The housing is planned for seven acres near the institute campus and includes a buffer zone of 14 acres adjacent to the battlefield park. While meeting its housing needs on its own land, the IAS is preserving additional land around the park that it has already done much to expand.

Mark Peterson, Berkeley, Calif.
The April 12 editorial The FEC snoozes through the campaign was right on the mark. However, The Post has been ignoring another agency, the Federal Communications Commission, that is specifically tasked with preventing dark money ads and has snoozed through the last campaign and this one.

On the pretense of being too busy, the FCC has sloughed aside its responsibility under the Communications Act and its long-established rule to require the true identity of the sponsors of political and controversial-issue ads. As the Supreme Court has made clear, the lack of transparency undermines the democratic process.

Henry Geller, Washington

The Post need look no further than Capitol Hill to find a bipartisan solution to fix the Federal Election Commission so it will no longer be an accomplice to dark money donors.

The Restoring Integrity to Americas Elections Act by Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) and Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) was introduced in the House last year to overhaul the dysfunctional FEC. Most notably, this legislation would solve the problem of deadlocked watchdogs by reducing the number of commissioners, including the chair, from six to five. The chair would serve a single term of 10 years, and other members one six-year term. And by creating a blue-ribbon advisory panel  composed of retired federal judges, former law enforcement officials and individuals with experience in election law  the bill would ensure that all nominees to the FEC would be vetted for experience.

When dark money is being spent more rapidly and widely than ever by both parties, we encourage Congress to pass this bipartisan legislation and begin restoring Americans trust in their government.

Gabriela Schneider, Washington

The writer is senior director of communications and strategy for Issue One.
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS in Ukraine have often been hamstrung by infighting, and the coalition that took power following the pro-democracy uprising of 2014 unfortunately was no exception. Now President Petro Poroshenko has moved decisively to consolidate his control, engineering the installation of a close ally as prime minister and filling other key posts with cronies. The result is that Ukraines attempt to fend off Russian aggression, stabilize its economy and integrate into the democratic West will now rise or fall with a leader whose commitment to reform is questionable. Without robust intervention by Ukraines Western allies, failure is probable.

Mr. Poroshenko and his new prime minister, Vladimir Groysman, talked a good game as Mr. Groysman presented his cabinet to parliament last week. They said they were committed to continuing an International Monetary Fund program that is keeping Ukraine financially afloat, to fighting corruption and to rejecting the economic populism proposed by many in parliament. But neither man has a record of supporting the radical steps Ukraine needs, including a sweeping reform of the judiciary, big increases in energy prices for consumers, and an uncompromising assault on corrupt oligarchs and vested interests.

In recent months Mr. Poroshenko has blocked a necessary clean sweep at the state prosecutors office, which has been protecting rather than prosecuting corrupt businessmen. Though he promised to sell his own business when he took office, Mr. Poroshenko did not do so, and the Panama Papers revealed that he had set up offshore accounts for his assets. For his part, Mr. Groysman put himself at odds with the IMF late last year by opposing a critical tax reform and delaying the adoption of this years budget, according to Anders Aslund of the Atlantic Council.

While former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk feuded with Mr. Poroshenko and protected oligarchs close to his own party, he presided over a cabinet seeded with capable technocrats from outside Ukraine. Now they are all gone, including American-born Natalie Jaresko, who oversaw negotiations with the IMF and a debt restructuring as finance minister.

The good news, perhaps, is that Mr. Poroshenko cannot afford to break with the IMF or with European Union governments that, together with the United States, are helping to finance Ukraine and  barely  restraining Vladimir Putin from resuming military aggression. IMF aid has been frozen since last October; to restart it, the government should be required to take reform measures it has been resisting, such as an increase in gas prices. E.U. governments will pressure Mr. Poroshenko to implement constitutional changes that are part of a stalled peace deal with Russia. However, a recent escalation of attacks along a cease-fire line by Russian-backed forces should push that issue to a back burner.

The Obama administration has pressed the cause of reform in Ukraine, correctly noting that 2016 could be a turning point for the country if it cleans up its government and establishes the rule of law. Vice President Biden visited Kiev in December and has been prodding Mr. Poroshenko and Mr. Groysman with phone calls. According to a White House statement, he urged the new prime minister to move quickly on IMF commitments and the confirmation of a reformist chief prosecutor. Ukrainians can only hope their leadership was listening.
When Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced last June that a woman would be featured on a redesigned $10 bill, women across the country rejoiced.

Unfortunately, it now seems clear that Treasurys plan falls far short of what women expected. Instead of our own bill, we may get a woman on only some $10 bills or a woman on the back of the bill, with Alexander Hamilton remaining on the front. The benefit of giving millions of American women representation on our currency apparently is not worth the cost of potentially diminishing the prominence of a single American man. That is not the message Treasury should want to send.

I like Hamilton and would be happy for him to appear on a different bill. But if women are denied this opportunity for the $10 bill, it could be years before the next bill is redesigned. American women have waited long enough.

Diana Simpson, Takoma Park
Bruce LeVell, executive director for the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, is on a mission to change what he believes is an unfounded and unfair perception that Donald Trump is racist. (Kevin D. Liles/For the Washington Post)

The National Diversity Coalition for Trump is not very large, but it is indeed diverse.

The groups Web page features a technicolor photo gallery of men and women from many backgrounds: Vietnamese, Arab, Muslim, Indian, Turkish Cuban and Mexican American  even a Sikh man wearing a turban printed with Donald Trumps signature slogan, Make America Great Again.

If such a groups existence seems improbable given the Republican presidential front-runners attacks on undocumented immigrants and Muslims  and his deep unpopularity among women and minorities  Georgia businessman Bruce LeVell believes that is because people dont really know the man.

LeVell is a black man on a mission to change what he thinks is an unfounded and unfair perception that Trump is racist. He dismisses accusations that Trump has exploited racial tensions. He is even trying to persuade other people of color to support Trumps campaign for president. He sincerely believes, he said, that Donald Trump is a really, really good guy.

And on Monday, he and other members of the group he co-founded will hold a coming-out party at Trump headquarters in New York  with the candidate.

Simone Perry, a strategic partnership manager for Tea Party Patriots and a Ted Cruz supporter, says she believes Donald Trumps rise is crippling the partys efforts to attract more people of color. (Kevin D. Liles/For the Washington Post)

Of those who view Trump unfavorably, LeVell said: I swear, I dont know where thats coming from. This man is no more racist than Mickey Mouse is on the moon!

LeVell, 52, faces a huge challenge, given that Trumps favorability ratings among women and minorities are not only underwater  theyre on the ocean floor. According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 91 percent of African Americans and 81 percent of Hispanics have an unfavorable view of Trump. Among women, the figure is 75 percent.

[67 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump]

Despite those numbers  as well as images of African American protesters being beaten and tossed out of his rallies  the New York billionaire has throughout his campaign boasted an eclectic collection of supporters who defend him on cable news and speak at his rallies.

And LeVell, who owns a custom jewelry company in suburban Atlanta, has amassed his own eclectic group of Trump boosters  34, to be exact, according to the website.

The coalition includes such familiar names as Omarosa Manigault, perhaps the most famous graduate of Trumps reality television show, The Apprentice. The group also includes Pastor Darrell Scott, a Cleveland minister whose plan to announce the endorsements of more than 100 black clergy members for Trump imploded following outrage from other black religious leaders.

Dahlys Hamilton is listed as the chairman of Hispanic Patriots for Trump. Recently she announced on her Facebook page, in all capital letters, Im getting off Lyin Teds Cruz ship and boarding the Trump train!

The coalition also includes individuals who claim to represent Asian Americans, Turkish Americans, American Indians, Sikh Americans and Muslim Americans.

LeVell and other minority supporters use the same arguments as his white defenders: that the news media and Trump haters have taken his comments out of context and blown incidents at his rallies out of proportion.

And Im not being paid! LeVell declared, a point he likes to make after a recent appearance on an urban radio station during which callers asked how much money he was getting to talk up Trump. I make my own money. I have a five-star-rated business.

LeVell said the group is not a political committee and will raise no money for Trump. Trump spokesman Hope Hicks confirmed that the group was created independently from the campaign. They are not affiliated with the campaign, she said, adding, Mr. Trump is incredibly grateful for their support.

LeVell was among those invited by Scott to the ill-fated endorsement event last fall in New York. During his visit to Trump Tower, LeVell said he saw he saw people of many races and ethnicities working in the billionaires headquarters, including several women in senior management positions. The imagery stuck with him.

You cant have all these folks in your campaign and your firm who are culturally diverse and say hes a racist, he said. If you say hes brash and rough around the edges, I agree with you totally. But I will stand in front of a freight train and defend that this man is nowhere near racist.

He will do it in front of a crowd, too. After the New York trip, LeVell flew back to Georgia with Trump on the candidates private jet. At a rally that night in Macon, Trump called LeVell, a former Republican county chairman in Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta, onto the stage. Donald Trump is not a racist, guys, LeVell assured the mostly white crowd.

Party of opportunity

In the past two election cycles, minority support for the Republican nominees dropped to near-record lows; 19 percent of voters of color cast ballots for Mitt Romney in 2012. Some GOP strategists predict that support will fall further if Trump is the nominee this year.

Simone Perry, a black tea party activist, says Trumps rise is crippling the partys efforts to attract more people of color.

We can no longer claim to be the party of freedom when we nominate a fascist, and we cant be the party of opportunity if we decide a racist can represent our values, said Perry, strategic partnership manager for the Tea Party Patriots in Georgia.

Joseph Hunter, a black conservative blogger in Chicago, said he will not vote for Trump because of his rhetoric about Hispanic immigrants. Also, Trump isnt a conservative, he said. Hes a liberal!

Baltimore-area businessman Chandhok Jasdip Singh is a member of LeVells coalition and the head of Sikh Americans for Trump. His friend Sajid Tarar started Muslim Americans for Trump. They say that Trumps comments on immigrants and Muslims have been distorted to make him appear xenophobic; Trump just wants to keep the country safe, a goal they share.

Singh, 47, voted for the Republican nominees in 2008 and 2012. He said he chose to come to the United States from India 30 years ago to study for a business degree because he thought it was the greatest country in the world. But he fears it has lost its swagger on the world stage. Make America Great Again resonated with him so much so that he wears a turban bearing those words.

Last month, Singh and Tarar went to a Trump rally in Cleveland. It was two days after a rally in Chicago had been canceled and violent clashes with protesters had dominated the news. Singh said he was alarmed by the images and wanted to see for himself what it was like at a Trump rally.

I was a little nervous, he admitted. I was the only person wearing a turban. There were 10,000 people there, and you wouldnt believe the kind of support and love we got from his supporters. Not a single person asked us what the hell were we doing there. There was nothing racial going on there.

Tarar said selling Trump to other Muslims has been a challenge.

In the beginning it was completely no. People looked at me like Ive done something wrong, like Im a traitor against Islam and Muslims, he said. Then, I try to explain it to them. He has never mentioned American Muslims. So they say they will think about it.

Singh explained it this way: Its like if you go to a wedding and they announce that the buffet is open, and everybody waits for somebody to go first and then they follow. Nobody wants to be the first one to pick up a plate. People waited for me and my business partner to come out in support of Trump, and now a lot of people are following.
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders dont think much of each other. One is a billionaire capitalist builder, the other a democratic socialist who rails against billionaires. Each believes that the other would be a disaster for the country as president. But there is more to their story than that.

The two outsiders have rattled the political establishment. Each has created a movement of passionate supporters who want them to upend the political status quo. And for two men who seemingly couldnt be more different, their views have sometimes converged in surprising ways  no doubt more than theyd want to admit.

Start with some aspects of their campaigns. Both like to talk about polls.

No poll seems to escape Trumps attention  good polls, bad polls, scientific polls, unscientific polls. He cites them for proof of his popularity and mercilessly to put down his opponents.

Heres how Sanders started his opening statement at Thursdays rowdy debate with Hillary Clinton in Brooklyn: When we began this campaign almost a year ago, we started off at 3 percent in the polls. We were about 70 points behind Secretary Clinton. In the last couple of weeks, there were two polls out there that had us ahead.

Both denounce super PACs and neither has to spend time asking wealthy people for money, as Clinton must do constantly. Trump is largely self-funding his own campaign, although he does get contributions from individual supporters. Sanders has a grass-roots money machine that has produced a record number of individual contributions, which he says average $27.

Both have grievances about party rules. Trump says the delegate selection process, particularly in states such as Colorado, where voters didnt cast ballots, is fundamentally unfair  rigged against him. Sanders has a beef about the potential role of superdelegates, those party leaders and elected officials who have automatic slots at the convention and a big majority of whom already are pledged to Clinton.

[Trumps fight with GOP hierarchy escalates.]

The rules cut both ways, of course. Both Trump and Sanders have been beneficiaries of the quirks of the their partys regulations. Trump won only about one-third of the popular vote in the South Carolina primary but got all 50 delegates. Meanwhile, Sanders would be much further behind in pledged delegates if Democrats allowed winner-take-all primaries, as Clinton has captured more of the big-state primaries.

Both Trump and Sanders feel under attack  probably for good reason.

Trump believes the national party leadership wants to deny him the nomination, and theres good evidence of that. Sanders not only sees the party hierarchy favoring Clinton  although Democratic National Committee officials swear they have maintained their neutrality  but also points to corporate leaders as his enemies.

On some policy issues, Sanders and Trump also agree. The most obvious is trade, where they share almost identical positions.

1 of 42 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Highlights from Bernie Sanderss campaign, in pictures View Photos The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. Caption The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clintons rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. June 14, 2016 Bernie Sanders arrives at the Capital Hilton to meet with Hillary Clinton in D.C. Matt McClain/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

From the start of his campaign Trump has railed against what he says are horrendously bad trade deals that have hurt the country, setting himself at odds with mainstream Republican policy. Many more Democrats agree with Sanderss opposition to trade agreements. Hes not really out of the mainstream. But his position runs counter to the policies of President Obama and former president Bill Clinton, and he has pushed Hillary Clinton to the left on this during the campaign.

Iraq is another issue on which they have agreed. Sanders has made his opposition to the war and Clintons vote for the 2002 congressional measuring authorizing it a central line of demarcation in his campaign  a test of presidential judgment. Trump has gone rogue with the GOP, not only by declaring that the decision to invade was a costly mistake, but also by arguing during a debate earlier this year that President George W. Bush lied about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to justify the 2003 invasion.

Thursdays Democratic Party debate highlighted two other policy issues where Sanders and Trump sound alike: the U.S. role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and this countrys posture with regard to Israel and Palestinians.

[Sanders, Clinton stage acrimonious debate in Brooklyn]

Trump made headlines recently when he spoke to The Washington Post editorial board and questioned whether NATO had become obsolete. He argued that European nations should carry a bigger share of the financial burden. I do think its a different world today, and I dont think we should be nation-building anymore, he said. I think its proven not to work, and we have a different country than we did then.

Thats not a lot different from the position Sanders enunciated many years ago. At Thursdays debate, CNNs Dana Bash confronted Sanders with a 1997 quotation in which he said, It is not the time to continue wasting tens of billions of dollars helping to defend Europe, let alone assuming more than our share of any cost associated with expanding NATO.

Bash asked Sanders how he differed from Trump. You got to ask Trump, he replied. Noting problems of poverty and crumbling inner cities, he also sounded like a candidate who thinks nation-building should start at home.

I would not be embarrassed as president of the United States to say to our European allies, You know what, the United States of America cannot just support your economies,  he said. You got to put up your own fair share of the defense burden. Nothing wrong with that.

Trump raised a ruckus in February when he told MSNBCs Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough that he would be evenhanded  a neutral guy  when it came to negotiations between Israel and Palestinians.

He was denounced by his rivals and tried to make amends by backpedaling when he spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ). He has said since that nobody is more pro-Israel than he, but his initial comments continue to raise questions about his true feelings.

On Thursday night, Sanders called himself 100 percent pro-Israel, but he also criticized Clinton for not speaking about the plight of Palestinians when she recently addressed AIPAC, and he laid out a view that sounded quite similar to Trumps earlier comments.

Of course Israel has a right to defend itself, Sanders said. But long term there will never be peace in that region unless the United States plays a role, an evenhanded role, trying to bring people together and recognizing the serious problems that exist among the Palestinian people.

There are obviously profound differences between Trump and Sanders. The senator has called Trump a pathological liar and has denounced Trumps comments about immigration, abortion and other issues. Trump sees Sanders as a wild-eyed leftist who would raise taxes or spend the country into bankruptcy or both. That makes the areas in which they seem to be in agreement one more oddity of this surprising campaign season.
Chinese police released a lawyer detained after he used social media to poke fun at President Xi Jinping over the naming of a close relative in the Panama Papers, the mans attorney said Saturday.

Ge Yongxi, a civil rights defense lawyer, had posted an edited image mocking Xi on the WeChat messaging service about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Around midnight, plainclothes police officers came to his house in Guangzhou and took him away, according to Ges attorney, Chen Jinxue.

Ge was released at 9 p.m. Friday with a warning, Chen said. The reporting from the international media definitely helped his release. Also the authorities dont want to draw further attention to Panama Papers.

The Panama Papers  data leaked from a Panamanian law firm that exposed offshore accounts held by prominent politicians and others  have become a source of embarrassment for Chinas Communist Party despite the absence of direct evidence of wrongdoing. The party habitually clamps down hard on stories about the wealth of top leaders and their families, and has instructed local media not to cover stories about the data leak. Social media references to it have been deleted.

Ges post purported to show past and present Chinese communist leaders Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Xi Jinping bare-chested and up to their waists in water.

The image was labeled The Panama River.

Deng says, It is really deep!

Jiang says, So easy to get drowned.

Xi says, Dont be scared, I have a brother-in-law.

Xis brother-in-law, businessman Deng Jiagui, was among a handful of elite Chinese citizens with family ties to at least eight current or former top leaders who were named in reporting and documents about offshore holdings published this month by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The term brother-in-law briefly became the subject of jokes on Chinese social media after the Panama Papers were released  and before Chinese censors went to work. It was not clear whether Ges post had been circulated beyond his circle of immediate friends.

Police at the Yanbu detention center, under the Foshan police station in the southern province of Guangdong, declined to comment on the case.

This week, the State Department criticized Beijings severe crackdown on lawyers and law firms who cover cases that the Chinese government considers politically sensitive.

Ge has been active in civil rights cases since at least 2013, according to media reports. He defended Tang Jingling, a prominent rights lawyer who was sentenced to five years in jail in January for subversion. Ge was banned from leaving China while defending Tang.

He was detained in June while defending another lawyer and again taken for questioning in July over his involvement in the lawyers rights movement.

Read more:

As Panama leaks spread, Chinas Red Nobility would rather not talk about it

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande submitted to a lengthy televised interview for the first time in months. His mission: to convince those who elected him in 2012  the young and the Socialists  not to abandon him in the presidential election next year.

Many already have. As the French unemployment rate hovers just over 10 percent, Hollandes approval levels have plummeted to a historic low of 17 percent, according to a poll last month. Despite a momentary boost in popularity after the November terrorist attacks in Paris, the Socialist incumbent is now increasingly scorned  especially by those in his own camp.

Many in his party now view their leader as a traitor who has increasingly inched to the right in the wake of the November attacks. Hoping to field a different candidate in next years election, many leftist politicians and intellectuals have called for an open primary, a move with little political precedent in France.

Although whether this will happen remains unclear, Hollandes low approval ratings have made such a primary more possible.

Those who want Hollande replaced have criticized his attempt to pass a constitutional amendment that would have permitted stripping French citizenship from dual citizens convicted of terrorism and proposed labor reforms that would weaken protections for French workers. Both were seen as affronts to the fundamental values of the French left as the party of social equality.

[French Senate effectively kills controversial nationality law]

Hollandes administration has been rife with internecine struggles that have paralleled the larger divisions outside the Elysee Palace. Christiane Taubira, Hollandes justice minister, resigned over the proposed nationality law in January, and Emmanuel Macron, the economy minister, has even launched his own political movement, conspicuously declining to rule out a bid for the presidency in 2017.

For Aurelie Filippetti, Hollandes former culture minister, the president has squandered the national unity he inherited in November, after terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State killed 130 and injured hundreds more in a series of coordinated attacks on a stadium, a concert hall and cafes across Paris.

Unfortunately, he lost it with the decheance and the loi de travail, she said in an interview, referring to the nationality law and the labor reforms. These were absolutely catastrophic, and they have completely fractured the country.

Without a primary and, eventually, a different candidate, Filippetti said, the left unfortunately risks Le Pen, referring to Marine Le Pen, the outspoken leader of Frances far-right National Front party.

Patrick Weil, Frances preeminent historian of immigration, said the nationality law in particular was a point of no return for many who had previously supported Hollande. A lot of people are saying its finished and that theyll never vote for him again, he said.

Initially perceived as a contradiction to the hallowed principle of equality before the law, the proposed constitutional amendment eventually came to represent little more than the political impotence of the sitting president. The measure was ultimately trounced in the French Parliament, and late last month even Hollande publicly withdrew his support for a provision that he had championed for months.

The presidents televised appeal to the nation Thursday coincided with the countrys largest popular protest in recent memory, the Nuit Debout, sometimes translated as Standing Up at Night. Centered in Pariss Place de la Republique and carried out at other sites across France, the protest is a loosely organized movement of hundreds of thousands of young people and union members without a clear platform but with a definite sense of dissatisfaction.

[Humanitarian groups accuse French authorities of brutality against migrants]

To some extent, the movement is Frances answer to Occupy Wall Street  a group of predominately white youngsters suspicious of the governments perceived embrace of neoliberal policies and workers outraged by the prospect of reforms.

On Monday, the government tried to appease these protesters, promising subsidies for recent graduates as they look for work. But even after police cleared their temporary structures in the Place de la Republique this past week, the protestors showed no signs of stopping.

For Gerard Grunberg, a prominent historian of French socialism based at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, this widespread dissatisfaction with the current government is fundamentally existential rather than political.

France, in his analysis, is a nation that has historically required its leaders to demonstrate the public strength  and even the ego  that Hollande forfeited in his campaign, when he promised to be a normal president distinct from the larger-than-life characters that have run the country since 1958, the dawn of the Fifth Republic.

If Hollande was never a Charles de Gaulle or even a Francois Mitterrand, this, for Grunberg, was his first mistake. The spirit of the institution is that the president must be a real leader, able to decide, said Grunberg. The French do not want a normal president. They want a leader.

When he appeared in prime time Thursday evening, Hollande was greeted mostly with hostility. When he declared before millions of viewers that the French economy, the third largest in Europe, is getting better, one of the journalists conducting the interview interrupted with a simple question.

Is that a joke?

Read more

Brussels attackers initially planned to attack in France, Belgium says

Belgium confirms arrest of man in the hat at airport bombing

Belgian security official: Key Paris attack suspect arrested

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Smoke rises from an oil facility in northern Libya's Ras Lanouf region in January after it was set ablaze following fresh attacks by the Islamic State. A militia commander says he soon will reopen it. (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

The rapid deterioration of Libyas oil-dependent economy is threatening the objectives of the countrys new Western-backed government and budding efforts to confront the Islamic State in North Africa, political and security analysts say.

Within hours of arriving in Tripoli two weeks ago, the government made controlling the nations oil a priority. It persuaded a powerful militia to hand over three oil terminals, and the national oil company gave its support.

But the road to securing Africas largest reserves is riddled with even greater obstacles, and bringing the battered industry back to its full potential promises to be a colossal mission. With global crude prices in a slump, there is a sense of urgency for the unity government to boost oil production and alter Libyas trajectory.

Libya is on the verge of economic and financial collapse, said Claudia Gazzini, senior Libya analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Instability has sharply reduced production levels as armed factions have taken over oil and gas regions. If the government fails to exert control, the contest for energy resources could deepen political fissures and trigger more violence, preventing the unified front that Washington and its allies seek against the Islamic State, analysts say.

Resurrecting Libyas oil production is crucial to preventing economic ruin, which could force the country to become heavily dependent on Western aid and propel more Libyans to flee to Europe, adding to the refugee crisis there. Its also vital for the governments survival.

As far as the economy is not solved, as far as the economic power has not been shared, you will not be able to find a political solution, said Merin Abbass, regional director of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a German political foundation working on peace-building in Libya. Who has the access to the oil in Libya has also the political power.

The challenges include regional and ethnic power struggles, and independent efforts to sell or smuggle oil. Two other self-declared governments  one in the capital, Tripoli, the other in the eastern city of Tobruk  are also competing for influence. Many militia members, whose loyalties are fickle, still receive government salaries that hinge on oil production. Key oil fields and pipelines are closed as a result of insecurity, militia rivalries and labor disputes. And after years of civil war, oil infrastructure is in disrepair, analysts say.

Moreover, Islamist militant groups are increasingly targeting the industry in North Africa. They view oil production as a theft of natural resources perpetrated by Western oil companies. Attacking facilities is a high-profile way of undermining national economies and generating propaganda to gain recruits.

Last month, al-Qaedas North Africa branch asserted responsibility for a rocket attack on an Algerian gas plant operated by European oil companies, and it vowed more assaults on Western oil firms. Last August, the Islamic State affiliate in Egypt kidnapped and beheaded a Croatian employee of a French oil and gas firm.

In Libya, the Islamic State has attacked several petroleum facilities, including storage tanks that were set on fire in January at the Ras Lanuf and As Seder terminals, which are among the countrys largest.

The Islamic State has resorted to trying to destroy the oil sector in order to prevent any of its antagonists from benefiting from the hydrocarbon sector revenue, said Geoff Porter, the head of North Africa Risk Consulting, a political and security risk firm. Attacking the hydrocarbon sector fits the jihadi narrative.

The Libyan economy has long relied almost entirely on oil and gas extraction, which accounts for 95 percent of its export earnings and 99 percent of government income, according to U.N. statistics.

Five years ago, before the violent revolution that ousted dictator Moammar Gaddafi, Libya was producing 1.6 million barrels of oil a day. Although there was significant mismanagement and corruption, the revenue paid the massive government workforce, strengthened Libyas currency and brought economic growth. Even as the regime committed abuses, it improved housing for average Libyans, provided free public education and medical care, and built good roads.

After Gaddafi was killed, oil became an attractive prize. As Libya plunged into civil war, powerful warlords battled for control, especially in Libyas oil crescent along the Mediterranean. The absence of a cohesive security system for oil and gas infrastructure made it a target of the Islamic State.

Today, Libyas oil production stands at roughly 360,000 barrels a day  a 78 percent drop from five years ago.

On the ground, loopholes are being exploited by armed actors who have been seeking to generate financial and political gain from the control of oil fields, pipelines and export terminals, fueling local conflicts, U.N. investigators wrote in a report released last month.

It is unclear whether the unity government, which is sponsored by the United Nations, has the clout to bring Libyas rival factions and militias  and by extension, the oil  under its control. Its leadership, known as the Presidential Council, has not gained the approval of either of the two rival governments. Instead, it has sought legitimacy through pledges of support from the various armed factions.

Ibrahim Jathran, a commander of a militia that controls several oil facilities, recently announced that his group would back the unity government and reopen oil terminals in Ras Lanuf, As Seder and Zuetina. Ras Lanuf and As Seder, which shut down in December 2014, alone have the capability to export 550,000 barrels a day.



The announcement raised hopes that Libya could increase its exports again. But a new dispute has thrown the oil terminal openings in doubt. A faction broke away from Jathrans group and declared its allegiance to a powerful anti-Islamist general, Khalifa Haftar, who commands the forces of the rival Tobruk government and also seeks to control oil ports.

The eastern government, which has created a rival National Oil Corporation to sell oil, has not accepted the unity government, with some top officials publicly threatening to secede from the west.

Even if the unity government regains control of the oil, restarting Libyas production could be months away, and may never reach the heights of five years ago, analysts said.

Many of the eastern oil fields are either offline due to damage or under control of groups more loyal to Haftar than to the Presidential Council, or are hostile to Jathran, Gazzini said. So switching on the oil production button will not be so easy.

Read more:

Another Western intervention in Libya looms

In Libya, the Islamic States black banner rises by the Mediterranean

Does the U.S. military think Libyans will fight the Islamic State together? Not necessarily.

U.S. strike on Libya camp escalates campaign against Islamic State
By visiting Lesbos, the pope is making his strongest statement yet on migrant rights, an issue he has made perhaps the single most important of his revolutionary tenure. (Griff Witte,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

By visiting Lesbos, the pope is making his strongest statement yet on migrant rights, an issue he has made perhaps the single most important of his revolutionary tenure. (Griff Witte,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

For the hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants who have made landfall on this verdant jewel in the Aegean Sea over the past year, there had been only two ways off the island: a ferry bound for a new life deeper in Europe or a deportation order that led straight back across the sea.

But that was before Saturday, when Pope Francis whisked in and pioneered a third: a ride with him on a jet bound for Rome.

The Popes visit to the Greek island of Lesbos had already been emotional, provocative and deeply symbolic before he gave it a dramatic and unexpected twist in its closing minutes on Saturday.

But when he boarded his Alitalia return flight along with 12 Syrians  including six children  who had lost their houses to bombs, the gesture offered the most vivid illustration yet in the popes quest to prick Europes conscience over its treatment of refugees.

May all of our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity, Francis told a group of hundreds of asylum seekers during a visit to the islands migrant detention facility.

Hours later, in a life-changing moment for a dozen among the tens of thousands of migrants stranded in Greece by Europes closed borders, he acted out his counsel that refugees be embraced, not shunned.

The plan to bring three refugee families to the Vatican, the pope told journalists during his flight back from Lesbos, was a last-minute inspiration that came together last week. Although all three families were Muslim, he said, they had not been selected based on faith but based on their eligibility.

As late as Friday night, officials in Lesbos had still been sorting out who would accompany the pope, and even turned to chance  selecting names from a box  to narrow the field.

We wanted to be fair to everyone, said Stavros Mirogiannis, director at the Kara Tepe camp where the 12 Syrians had lived until they relocated to Vatican City. They won the lottery. Today is the best day of their lives.

Francis said that once they arrive and settle in, they will be given assistance to find work.

Everything was arranged according to the rules, the pope said. They have their documents. The Holy See, the Greek government and the Italian government have checked everything.

Asked about Europes plan to shut down the migrant waves by sending people back to Turkey, the pope called on Europe to implement policies that welcome migrants, give them jobs and integrate them. Francis said he understood that some governments and people are afraid, but that it did not lift from them a responsibility of welcome.

It was a more direct critique than he had offered while on Lesbos. But just by visiting the island that has been the primary gateway for refugees to Europe  and that just two weeks ago was the scene of hundreds of deportations  he was making a dramatic statement.

Upon Franciss arrival Saturday at the tiny Lesbos airport, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called the visit historic, saying that it came at a time when some of our partners  even in the name of Christian Europe  were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life.

The centerpiece of Franciss visit was a tour of the Moria detention facility, where he sat down for lunch with some of the 3,060 men, women and children who are held in overcrowded conditions awaiting a likely deportation order.

The pope was given a heros welcome, with people cheering, clapping and whistling as he shook hands one by one with residents who had lined up to greet him. Some held signs praising Francis and pleading for his help.

Welcome to Moria, many people told him as they clasped his hand. The pope smiled broadly in reply.

As he made his way through the camp  surrounded by high fences and patrolled by police  children handed him their drawings. He complimented them on their artistry.

Dont fold it. I want it on my desk, he told a young girl. When greeting observant Muslim women, scarves pulled over their hair, he placed his hand atop his heart and gently bowed.

Several people knelt at his feet, weeping uncontrollably. Periodic chants of Freedom! Freedom! broke out in the crowd, punctuated by the cries of babies and young children.

We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity, Francis told hundreds of migrants who had gathered beneath a plastic, pre-fabricated tent to hear him speak. He had come, he said, to tell the Moria residents that you are not alone.

[Read the full text of the popes remarks]

In an important symbol of reconciliation within the Christian faith, the pope was accompanied by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the worlds Orthodox Christians, as well as by Greek Archbishop Ieronymos II.

In remarks to the migrants at Moria, Ieronymos denounced government policies that have brought these people to this impasse.

Bartholomew vowed to do everything to open the eyes and hearts of the world.

The world will be judged by the way it has treated you, he said.

Later, in a ceremony in the main port of Lesbos, the three men threw laurel wreaths into the sea in remembrance of the thousands who have died making the voyage to Europe.

In the port, the pope gave a speech on the exact spot where, less than two weeks ago, the European Unions Frontex border officers escorted migrants to waiting ferries that returned them across the sea to Turkey.

Francis urged the world to resist the temptation to build walls. He also thanked Lesbos residents  and people across Greece  for keeping open their hearts and doors.

Many ordinary men and women have made available the little they have and shared it with those who lost everything. God will repay this generosity, he said.

The surprise ending to the visit featured two families from Damascus and one from Deir al-Zour in an area of Syria controlled by the Islamic State. The Vatican said the families had arrived in Greece before the E.U.s plan to deport people back to Turkey took effect. The Catholic SantEgidio community will take care of the refugees as they settle in, the Vatican said.

It is unclear whether Franciss statements on Saturday will have any meaningful effect on Europes refugee debate. E.U. officials have expressed satisfaction that the number of arrivals has fallen precipitously in recent weeks  from dozens of boats a day to one or two.

But the popes message was clear.

He is telling Europe that it is denying its Christian roots when it turns its back on those in need, said Thomas J. Reese, senior analyst with the National Catholic Reporter. He is telling Europe that Jesus would not close the doors to those fleeing war and persecution.

As night fell at the detention center on Saturday, residents said most had appreciated what the pope had to say.

Rehan Ahmed, a 25-year-old Pakistani detainee who faces the threat of deportation, said expectations in advance of the visit had been sky-high.

Everyone was hoping that the pope would come and announce that he was opening the borders, said Ahmed, speaking from behind the barbed-wire that marks the centers boundary.

When the Pope offered no concrete change in Europes policies, some at Moria were disappointed. But most, he said, were simply grateful for Franciss message of love.

Hes with us, Ahmed said, and thats enough.

Faiola reported from Berlin.

Read more:

How Europes migrant policy is tearing families apart

Europe begins sending people back across the sea, defying human rights outcry

As the route to Europe closes, migrants journey through grief

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Brazil is on the verge of a historic impeachment vote in its National Congress that could oust Dilma Rousseff, the president of South Americas most populous country.

If two-thirds of lawmakers in the lower house opt for an impeachment trial in a vote that starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday, and the upper house later endorses the decision by a majority, the leader of the worlds fourth-biggest democracy will be suspended for 180 days and replaced by her vice president, Michel Temer.

A trial in the Federal Senate  which could happen while Rio de Janeiro stages South Americas first Olympics in August  would follow. But by then, Rousseffs presidency may well be over.

The country is looking nervously over the brink, divided over its future and the very legality of the process that Rousseff and her supporters say is an institutional coup and an attack on Brazils young democracy.

Brazils two-decade military dictatorship ended in 1985, and it has already impeached one president  Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992  since then. But Collors impeachment, on corruption grounds, was widely supported, and Brazil is split over Rousseffs fate.

1 of 28 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Brazil sets impeachment vote on President Dilma Rousseff View Photos Brazilians lawmakers weigh whether to oust the president as supporters and opponents took to the streets in protest. Caption Brazilians lawmakers weigh whether to oust the president as supporters and opponents took to the streets in protest. April 17, 2016 In Brasilia, deputies fight during a session to discuss the admissibility of the impeachment request of President Dilma Rousseff. Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

Pro- and anti-impeachment protesters are camped out in Brasilia, and a metal barrier has been erected outside Congress to keep them apart. Inside, politicians are fighting a last-minute battle to persuade a dwindling group of deputies yet to make up their minds.

On Friday afternoon, the pro-impeachment camp said it had enough votes to win. Hours later, the government had turned some deputies back in its favor and was claiming it could survive.

Lets add up the nos, the abstentions and the absences, said Afonso Florence, leader of the Workers Party caucus in the lower house.

Rousseff, who was narrowly reelected in 2014, is accused of breaking a responsibility law in using state bank funds and accounting trickery to cover gaps in her budget. She denies the allegations.

Hanging over the process is an enormous corruption scandal involving billions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks at state-run oil company, Petrobras, which has entangled lawmakers and officials from her own Workers Party and its coalition allies. Last month, her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was taken in for questioning in connection with the case.

Politically, if not legally, this is as much a part of the impeachment process as the accusations over fiscal irregularities.

The scandal has prompted street protests across Brazil over the past year calling for Rousseff and Lula to be jailed. In polls, a majority of Brazilians support her ouster.

To confound her problems, Brazil is swamped by its worst economic recession in decades. In Congress, key parties in Rousseffs ruling coalition have progressively abandoned ship.

Temer, who Rousseff accuses of conspiring against her, has been holding talks with queues of politicians at his official residence, the Jaburu Palace. Pro-impeachment deputy Levy Fidelix said there were about 40 lawmakers waiting when he jumped the queue there last Wednesday. Lula has also been hosting negotiations with lawmakers in a luxury hotel near Congress. Its a war of up and down. Its like the stock exchange, he told supporters during a speech in Brasilia on Saturday.

Lelo Coimbra, a federal deputy for the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, said he will vote for impeachment. You have a government that cannot perform its functions, he said. A paralyzed government.

Until last month, his party was Rousseffs biggest ally in Congress. Now most of its deputies will vote for impeachment. But a few will vote against  such as Health Minister Marcelo Castro, who stood down last week in the midst of Brazils Zika epidemic so that he could cast his vote as a federal deputy.

Rousseffs supporters question the legal basis for her impeachment and say those orchestrating the vote, such as lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha, are guilty of corruption and that Rousseff is innocent. Cunha has been charged by Brazils Supreme Court for his involvement in the Petrobras scandal, and Rousseff has not.

It is not just unconstitutional. It is not just illegal. It is immoral, said Jean Wyllys, a federal deputy for the small Socialism and Freedom Party. Across Brazil, actors, feminists, university students, rural workers groups and trade unions have staged events protesting impeachment.

I did not commit a crime of responsibility. There is no charge of corruption or diverting public money against me, Rousseff said in a video speech released Friday on the Internet.

Her opponents counter that she was chair of the Petrobras board and head of the Mines and Energy Ministry while much of the corruption was going on. A former government senator has accused her of attempting to interfere in the investigations.

Legal experts are divided as to whether the fiscal maneuvers she is accused of, also utilized by previous presidents such as Lula and Fernando Cardoso, justify impeachment. Brazils Federal Court of Accounts used them to reject Rousseffs governments 2014 accounts.

This was never considered illegal, said Camilo Zufelato, a professor of procedural law at the University of Sao Paulos law faculty in Ribeirao Preto.

I dont see why that means that she should be acquitted. At some point we are going to have to start taking the law seriously, said Ivar Hartmann, a law professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundations law school in Rio de Janeiro.

Even some who had voted for the Workers Party said they believed it  and all parties in Brazil  was corrupt. These are things that everyone did, said Sao Paulo bus driver Veronica Gusmao, 26. She would still vote for Lula if he ran in the 2018 election, she said.

In a sign of the divide that has split Brazil, her boyfriend, Cherlys Meira, 43, also a bus driver, said he would not.

The politicians are all focused on this business of impeachment and forgot the rest of the country, he said.

Read more:

How Brazil, the darling of the developing world, came undone

Brazilians ask: Does Brazils vice president want the top job a bit too much?

How Brazils impeachment process works

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
The Kennedy family has a long history of hiding its scandals behind closed doors, and it was no different with Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy's controversial marriage to a Protestant future duke named Billy Hartington.



Devout Catholics Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife, Rose, were mortified by their favorite daughter Kick's decision to marry outside the faith. To make matters worse, the marriage came just as her brother John F. Kennedy, with an eye toward the presidency, was considering running for Congress in Massachusetts.



In the new biography Kick Kennedy, which offers a fresh look at the rebellious Kennedy who died in a plane crash at 28, author Barbara Leaming writes that the Kennedys believed Kick's marriage "threatened to be very much a liability among Irish Catholic voters in Boston."





How Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy's Scandalous Marriage Was 'Political Poison' to JFK's Path to the White House| politics, Books, John F. Kennedy









"In the event that Jack run for Congress, it was thought best that she remain offstage as much as possible ... the problem was her troubling association with one of the great Protestant families of England," Leaming writes.





How Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy's Scandalous Marriage Was 'Political Poison' to JFK's Path to the White House| politics, Books, John F. Kennedy



For much more on Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, the "rebel Kennedy", pick up a copy of this week's PEOPLE magazine, on newsstands Friday.



"Any prominent participation by Lady Hartington at campaign events in Boston was likely to be political poison."



It was a huge blow to Kick, who from the time she was a child had "championed Jack in the face of formidable opposition and seemingly impossible odds," writes Leaming.





How Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy's Scandalous Marriage Was 'Political Poison' to JFK's Path to the White House| politics, Books, John F. Kennedy





Ultimately, Kick returned to her husband in England, where she followed the campaign from afar "with intense interest and enthusiasm."









JFK won the race and went on to represent Massachusetts's 11th congressional district from 1947 to 1953. By the time he was elected president in 1961, Kick had been dead for 13 years. She was killed in a plane crash in 1948, and nobody from the Kennedy family attended her funeral.



 Reporting by LIZ MCNEIL
From Esquire

Earlier this week, the men and women aboard the USS Cook, a guided-missile destroyer operating on a training mission with Poland in the Baltic Sea, got a bit of an airshow: Two Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft buzzed their ship repeatedly, and then a Russian helicopter came sniffing around, too. CNN has good video of the incident.

It might seem like a simple case of a territorial pissing match. But let's not forget that the Russians have a long history of Maskirovka, or military deception, so it could be argued that one can never tell with them. Indeed, during the Cold War, there was an entire sub-industry in the West's intelligence community known as Sovietology, devoted to deciphering what the Soviets meant in each of their statements and actions. Nowadays it is a resurgent field, albeit under another name: Kremlinology.

Kremlinologists must be bored as of late, because the Russians have been quite transparent in their actions. In this case, it seems they were doing the military equivalent of a 5-year-old screaming, "Look at ME, Look at ME!," mixed with a dose of "Oh shit, we are surrounded."

It should be made clear that this whole "buzzing" incident was essentially harmless. At almost any instant the USS Cook could have blown the planes from the sky-not just close in, but more than 100 miles out-without so much as a hiccup. All parties involved knew that. All parties also knew that Russia's actions were for media attention and provocation.

But it was also because of their paranoia. To understand that, look at where these aircraft probably came from: Kaliningrad, formerly known as Konigsberg until the Soviets took over after World War II. Poland and Lithuania border it, and the city (and surrounding territory) is a "Russian exclave," the equivalent of if we tucked Long Island somewhere inside of China's borders. This is one of Russia's only ports that can operate year-round. It is not attached to Mother Russia at all. Check a map.

So, if you are both paranoid and want to show that your nation matters, what do you do? Duh, you buzz a U.S. ship working with your ancestral enemies in the region, the Poles. You show that rascally Poles, Lithuanians, and especially Americans cannot push you around. You show them who is STRONG, and when they see that, they will PAY. Show, indeed.

As always, I can be reached at R_Bateman_LTC@hotmail.com.
Marseille (AFP) - A total of 116 migrants were plucked to safety from the Mediterranean on Saturday, three of whom had week-old bullet wounds, rescuers said.

Rescuers found 20 women and a child amongst the men and teenage boys on board, three of whom "presented with gun wounds dating from around a week ago," humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee said.

The migrants were picked up by the Aquarius, a former North Atlantic fisheries protection ship now used by SOS Mediterranee, following a distress signal alert from the Rome-based Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre.

Two of the injured were said to be teenagers aged 15 and 17.

The Aquarius ship, which has doctors and nurses on board, has picked up some 700 people in distress so far this month as migrants from Syria and elsewhere seek to reach Western Europe and start new lives.

Meanwhile 50 migrants attempted in vain to force their way across the Italian border with France in the early hours of Saturday, a local French official said.

"All the migrants who managed to get past the border crossing, as well as those who travelled along the rail line from Italy , were detained and not allowed into France," an official from France's Alpes-Maritimes region said.

Italy insisted Friday it is not facing an "invasion" after a spike in migrant boat crossings from Libya exacerbated fears the country was on the verge of becoming the main entry point for people trying to reach Europe.

Fears are running high in Italy that it could pay the price of EU moves to close routes through the Greek Islands and the Balkans.

The French regional official said there had been a slight rise in the numbers seeking to cross over from Italy to France in recent days.

Italy and France are both members of Europe's free-travel Schengen zone but Paris has re-established its border controls following a string of deadly jihadist attacks in Paris last November which left 130 people dead.
Dhaka (AFP) - Bangladesh police on Saturday arrested a magazine editor over an alleged plot to kill the prime minister's son, officials said, the latest in a series of journalist detentions that has sparked fears of a press crackdown.

Three plainclothes officers entered the Dhaka home of 81-year-old Shafik Rehman in the early morning claiming to be from a private television station and took him away, his wife Taleya Rehman said.

Police later announced that Rehman, who is also a British citizen and was formerly a speechwriter for the opposition leader and arch-rival of the Bangladeshi prime minister, had been arrested.

Police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder initially told AFP that Rehman was arrested for sedition, but later said the charge was "conspiracy to commit crime".

Officers said they had found evidence linking the editor to a plot to murder Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who lives mainly in the United States, in a case filed in August.

"He (Rehman) visited the US in 2013 and took part in the conspiracy against Joy," said police spokesman Sorder.

Police found "connections in a conspiracy to abduct and murder" the premier's son, according to M. R. Khaled, a deputy police commissioner.

Rehman is the third pro-opposition editor to have been arrested by the government, triggering repeated calls by rights groups for their release.

Two other top journalists, who edit the country's leading Bengali and English newspapers, have also been charged in criminal lawsuits including dozens of defamation and sedition cases.

Rehman was a long-time editor of Jai Jai Din, a mass-circulation Bengali daily. He now edits a popular Bengali monthly magazine called Mouchake Dhil.

He previously served as a speechwriter for opposition leader Khaleda Zia, a two-time former prime minister who is involved in a deeply bitter feud with the current premier.

In recent months Rehman became the convenor of the international affairs committee of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and headed a pro-opposition think-tank named G-9.

Story continues

Last week the high court suspended 72 defamation and other criminal lawsuits filed by government supporters against Mahfuz Anam, editor of The Daily Star newspaper, over a challenge to their legality.

Human Rights Watch is among those which have slammed the lawsuits against Anam, saying they "are part of a larger, organised assault on independent media".

It comes amid widening fears for freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority nation, which has seen a spate of Islamist killings of secular bloggers and publishers.
Brussels (AFP) - Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said Saturday that a "significant" part of the Muslim population celebrated attacks, blaming the country's policies for failing to integrate migrants into society.

He did not explicitly refer to last month's jihadist attacks on Brussels' airport and metro system that killed 32 people

"A significant section of the Muslim community danced when attacks took place," Jambon said in an interview with the Flemish-language De Standaard newspaper.

The Belgian minister also accused Muslim residents of Brussels' largely immigrant Molenbeek neighbourhood of attacking police during an operation last month to arrest a suspect in connection with the deadly attacks in Paris last November.

"They threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. This is the real problem. Terrorists we can pick up, remove from society. But they are just a boil. Underneath is a cancer that is much more difficult to treat. We can do it, but it won't be overnight," he said.

Jambon, whose New Flemish Alliance party has been a key part of Belgium's ruling centre-right coalition since 2014, previously offered to resign in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

In Saturday's interview he said that the danger linked to the radicalisation of youth from third and fourth generation families is "too deeply rooted" in some areas because Belgium "have for many years ignored the warning signs".

Following the November 13 attacks in neighbouring France, Jambon sparked controversy when he promised to "clean Molenbeek" when it emerged that several of the attackers had links to the impoverished district of the Belgian capital.
Washington (AFP) - Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders briefly met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, using the lightning visit to align his White House bid with the popular pontiff's advocacy of a "moral economy."

Sanders, who broke away from the presidential campaign trail to travel to Rome, spoke of the five-minute meeting afterward in interviews with CNN and ABC, calling the pope "a beautiful man."

There were no cameras at the meeting, which was described as an encounter in a foyer at the pope's residence at Santa Marta, shortly before he departed for the Greek island of Lesbos to see the plight of refugees.

The quick meeting was particularly striking because Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, is a secular Jew whose positions on social issues are far from those of the pope.

"I was leaving Santa Marta. He knew that I was leaving and he was kind enough to greet me," the pope later told reporters on the flight home from Lesbos.

"I greeted him and his wife and another couple who were with them and staying at Santa Marta. Nothing more," the pope said.

"It was a matter of politeness and if anybody thinks that greeting somebody amounts to meddling in politics, they should go find a psychiatrist," he said.

But it clearly was a dramatic way for Sanders to gain attention for his campaign, just three days before a crucial primary in New York, where he faces off against frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Sanders has made attacks on Wall Street, the "billionaire class" and a growing rich-poor divide the core of his campaign, and he seized the opportunity Saturday to identify with Francis's calls for greater economic equality.

"I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the planet and injecting the need for morality in the global economy," Sanders told ABC.

Story continues

On CNN, Sanders praised the pope's call for "a moral economy" and the need to "transform our energy system so as to prevent climate change from wreaking havoc on this planet."

He said he wanted Francis to know "how appreciative I was of the extraordinary role he is playing throughout the world in raising consciousness about massive levels of income and wealth inequality, greed such that the top one percent now owns more wealth globally than the bottom 99 percent."

- Differences -

Sanders, who is enjoying a string of primary successes but still faces a monumental task in overhauling Clinton for the Democratic nomination, acknowledged his differences with the Catholic Church on several sensitive topics.

"It is no secret that my view on women's rights, on gay rights, on contraception is different than the church's," he told CNN.

"But in this world what we have to do is work with people when we can work with them."

Sanders' wife Jane, who is Catholic, was also at the meeting along with Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the Argentine head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a kind of Vatican think tank on social, economic and environmental issues.

Sanchez Sorondo had invited Sanders to come to the Vatican for a conference on Friday.

Sanders was returning to New York on Saturday for an afternoon rally.

The Brooklyn-born Sanders lags behind Clinton in the polls in New York by more than 10 points, according to a RealClearPolitics average.

But he attracted thousands to a rally in New York's Washington Square earlier this week, demonstrating the pull of his well-funded campaign, particularly among young voters.

The Democratic race has become increasingly acrimonious, with Sanders and Clinton sharply attacking each other's qualifications to lead the country.
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - A vote to leave the European Union in the British referendum would weaken the bloc's efforts to maintain a determined front against Russian aggression, the Minister of State for Europe said on Saturday. NATO remained the main player in European security, David Lidington told the Globsec security conference in Bratislava, but the EU could play a strong role in responding to Russian challenges in the field of energy, use of information and cyber capabilities. The "In" camp holds a one-point lead ahead of Britain's June 23 referendum on whether it should remain in the 28-member bloc, according to an online opinion poll by YouGov released on Friday. "In terms of maintaining a determined front in the face of Russian aggression - that would be weakened," Lidington said referring to the impact of a possible decision to leave. "Europe's foreign policy and security capacity would be weakened because you'd be taking out one of its biggest diplomatic and military players," he said. Lidington said that, apart from the conventional military threat, Russia posed challenges to European security in its use of energy resources, how it used information to reach its goals and its cyber capability. "Those are things that the EU, and not simply NATO, needs to be equipped to respond to," he said. Estonia has accused Russia of cyber-attacks in the past and the EU set up an information unit last year to counter what it says is deliberate misinformation coordinated by the Kremlin over Moscow's role in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe. Russia has also repeatedly cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, with an impact on supplies to Europe, and has been seeking to build a new pipeline, Nord Stream-2, directly to Germany, which would bypass Ukraine, currently the transit route for roughly half of the gas Russia supplies to the EU. Many EU governments say this increases dependency on Russia's Gazprom, which already supplies around one third of EU gas. (Reporting By Tatiana Jancarikova; Edioting by Richard Balmforth)
(Reuters) - British police arrested an 18-year-old man at Manchester airport on Saturday on suspicion of terrorism offences related to Syria's civil war. The teenager from the central English city of Birmingham had posed no risk to the public, West Midlands Police said in a statement, without giving further details about why he was held. The detention was not connected to Friday's arrests of five other people from Birmingham, police said. Those were linked to last month's suicide bombings in Brussels, which killed 32 people, and November's attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, a security source said. Earlier, police in Spain arrested a couple believed to be part of a group that supported and recruited Islamic State fighters, including individuals that had carried out suicide bomb attacks in Syria. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel warned earlier this week that further threats to Europe were still a possibility, and that security forces had to stay alert. (Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Helen Popper)
LONDON (Reuters) - The head of Britain's security agency GCHQ has apologised for its ban on homosexuals which led to the dismissal and subsequent suicide of one of its most brilliant code breakers, Alan Turing, in the 1950s. Robert Hannigan told a gay rights workplace conference in London that Turing had been an example to others because he was not afraid to think "differently and radically", according to a statement released by GCHQ. "(I want to) say how sorry I am that he and so many others were treated in this way," Hannigan said. "Their suffering was our loss." GCHQ's ban on homosexuals was only lifted in the 1990s. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is one of three intelligence and security agencies in Britain, along with MI5, the domestic spy agency and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), which gathers intelligence from abroad. The agencies had historically seen homosexuals as a security risk, considering them much more vulnerable to blackmail. In an illustration of how far attitudes to homosexuality in Britain have changed, earlier this year MI5 was rated the country's most gay-friendly employer. Just six years ago it had ranked at 134th in the index. Hannigan paid homage to Turing, subject of the film 'The Imitation Game', for his mathematical genius which cracked a German code and shortened World War Two. He also created the world's first digital computer. Turing was dismissed in the 1950s, prosecuted for his sexuality and chemically castrated. He killed himself in 1954. "To do our job, which is solving some of the hardest technology problems the world faces for security reasons, we need all talents and we need people who dare to think differently and be different," Hannigan said. "We need different backgrounds, experiences, intellects, sexualities, because it is in mixing all of those together that you get the creativity and innovation we desperately need." (Reporting By Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Brussels (AFP) - Brussels airport will fully re-open in June, its chief executive said, after suffering extensive damage when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the departures hall last month killing 16.

"We will be 100 percent operational again in June," Brussels airport chief executive Arnaud Feist told Belgian newspaper Le Soir published Saturday.

"But it will be a basic service, the facilities will not be fully renovated. We will... reflect on the terminal's future and therefore probably won't restore it identically.

"Starting in May we are going to open 100 check-in counters in the part of the departures hall that was least damaged, which will permit us to increase our capacity to 70 percent and give us more flexibility."

The damage from the double blasts on March 22 was severe, with pictures from the scene showing the building's shattered glass-fronted facade, collapsed ceilings and destroyed check-in desks.

The airport was completely closed to passengers for 12 days following the attack.

The airport was only able to reopen partially thanks to two large white tents that served as temporary check-in facilities, initially allowing 20 percent of flights to operate as normal.

Security inside the tents was tight with passengers required to walk through metal detectors and have their bags screened before checking in and being allowed to enter the main building.

Brussels airport, which claims to contribute some three billion euros ($3.4 billion) annually to the Belgian economy, has not released any figures on the economic impact of the shutdown. But Brussels Airlines, the national flag carrier, said it was losing five million euros daily following the blasts.

"We have nearly 20,000 passengers departing each day, instead of the normal 40,000," said Feist.

As well as the airport blasts, the Brussels metro was also attacked. A total of 32 people were killed in the coordinated attacks.
Reuters

Moscow provided no details on the conversation with Austin, which came after the two men spoke on Friday for the first time since May. Its readouts on the other calls said Shoigu had said the situation in Ukraine was worsening. "They discussed the situation in Ukraine which is rapidly deteriorating," the Russian defence ministry said of Shoigu's call with French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
By Frank Jack Daniel and Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) - President Raul Castro warned Cubans on Saturday that the United States was determined to end Cuba's socialist revolution despite restoring relations and a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, saying one-party Communism was essential to defend the system. "We must be alert, today more than ever," Castro said, speaking in front of a giant portrait of his brother Fidel Castro at the inauguration of the Communist Party's first congress in five years. He called Obama's desire to end U.S. sanctions on Cuba a change of "method", in reference to efforts by Washington to bring political change to Cuba ever since the Castro brothers toppled a pro-American government in 1959. Obama and Castro announced in December 2014 they would end decades of enmity and normalize relations. Obama made a historic trip to the island last month but angered the government with calls for more political freedom and democracy in the one-party state. Castro and his lieutenants, many of them in their 70s and 80s, faced some discontent ahead of the congress among younger members who are critical of their slow delivery on promised economic reforms in the past five years and a lack of transparency on discussions. Castro said the reforms should be implemented faster, but said Cuba was not moving towards capitalism, citing China and Vietnam as models, while emphasizing that social ownership and cooperatives were mostly preferable to private property. Castro said he remained convinced of the benefits of improved relations with the United States and said Cuba was committed to the diplomatic thaw. But he made clear he did not believe Obama's promise that the United States would not impose political or economic change on Cuba. "The goals are the same, only the methods have changed," Castro said, adding that U.S. migration policies that encourage Cubans to defect were "a weapon against the revolution." "These practices do not correspond to the declared change in policy towards Cuba, and cause difficulties in third countries," he said. Migration has surged since the 2014 detente as Cubans take advantage of a U.S. policy that grants them citizenship as soon as they arrive. Bottlenecks of migrants in transit have formed in Central America. Cuba's top leaders started their careers as young guerrilla fighters who overthrew a U.S. backed government in 1959, and a few years later repelled the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion - which the party congress is timed to commemorate. Castro said the one-party system was the greatest defence against Washington's past attempts to dominate Cuba. "If one day they manage to fragment us, that would be the beginning of the end of the revolution, of socialism and independence in our homeland," he told 1,000 delegates gathered for the congress. Castro is 84 and his top lieutenant in the party, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 85. Castro is due to retire as president in 2018 and by the end of the four-day congress it will be clear whether he remains as party leader until 2021, or whether somebody younger takes over the leadership. Founded in 1965, the Communist Party is seen as more powerful in Cuba than the government. It was formally led by Fidel Castro until 2011, although his younger brother had effectively taken command several years earlier. (Editing by Mary Milliken)
We just can't get enough of Kate Middleton's royal tour style  and the Duchess of Cambridge did not disappoint as she visited the Taj Mahal with Prince William. The royal looked chic for spring in a blue and white dress by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan.

Inside Kate's tour wardrobe for India and Bhutan, outfit-by-outfit



CLICK TO VIEW GALLERY



Kate paid tribute to India by wearing a dress by Naeem Khan, an Indian-American designer who is a star fave Photo: Getty Images

"We are so honored," Naeem said alongside a photo of the moment on his Instagram account. And it's not the designer's first big moment of the year  first daughters Malia and Sasha Obama also chose two wear his creations to their first state dinner in March.

Naeem, a favorite with famous names like Michelle Obama, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lopez, created the dress Kate wore for his Pre-Fall 2015 collection.

The Duchess' best-ever royal tour hairstyles

Similar designs by the celeb fave worn by Diane Kruger, left, and Nina Dobrev Photo: Getty Images

It's no surprise Kate chose a designer with Indian roots for the visit. Throughout the week's tour of India and Bhutan, she has consistently impressed with thoughtful outfits that pay tribute to her host countries, including a locally-made pieces and a Beulah poppy print dress  the country's national flower  while in Bhutan.

The royal mom-of-two finished off the look with her signature nude heels and earrings that she had purchased locally the previous day during the royal couple's trek in Bhutan.

The Duchess completed the look with her signature nude heels and the earrings she purchased in Bhutan Photo: Getty Images

William and Kate arrived on Saturday, bringing their characteristic friendliness to the poignant Taj Mahal engagement, which saw them following in William's late mother Princess Diana's footsteps  and even re-creating her famous 1992 pose outside the historic building.

All the best photos from William and Kate's India and Bhutan tour

Earlier that day, the couple said goodbye to Bhutan, where they'd had a memorable visit, taking part in everything from an archery competition to a six-hour mountain hike.
TOKYO (Reuters) - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck southern Japan early on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, injuring hundreds more and trapping people in collapsed buildings, just over a day after a quake killed nine people in the same region. The natural disaster has also hit economic activity in the southern Japanese island of Kyushu which hosts a number of manufacturers. Below is a list of key companies affected by the quakes and the status of their facilities as reported by Reuters and other media. * Sony Corp halted production of image sensors at its plant in Kumamoto. It is inspecting the plant and does not have a timeline for resuming production yet. * Honda Motor Co Ltd halted production at its motorcycle plant in Kumamoto with an annual production capacity of 250,000. It will keep production on hold through Monday. * Toyota Motor Corp halted production at three plants producing vehicles, engines and transaxles in Fukuoka. It will decide on Sunday whether to resume production. * Nissan Motor Co Ltd halted production at its Fukuoka plant which produces vehicles including the Serena, Teana, Murano and Note. * Renesas Electronics Corp closed its plant in Kumamoto, which produces microcontroller chips for automobiles. It will not resume production until completing the assessment for potential damage. * Mitsubishi Electric Corp halted production of its two plants in Kumamoto which produce parts including liquid crystal display modules. It has no timeline for resuming production. * Tokyo Electron Ltd halted production of semiconductors its Kumamoto plant and is currently assessing the damage. * Medical technology company Hoya Corp halted production of photomasks and other products at its Kumamoto plant. It is mulling sending production elsewhere. * Tyre maker Bridgestone Corp halted production at its Kumamoto plant and will resume production once the situation is assessed. * Suntory Beverage and Food Ltd halted production of beer and other drinks at its plant in Kumamoto. * Yamazaki Baking Co Ltd, which had resumed production after halting in wake of the quake on Thursday, again stopped bread production at its Kumamoto plant. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro, Naomi Tajitsu, Makiko Yamazaki and the Tokyo bureau; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Cairo (AFP) - Eight people were killed in southern Egypt when a vehicle crashed into a passing train on Saturday, a health ministry official said.

Eight people were also injured in the accident in Aswan province, Ehab Hanafy said.

He said the driver of vehicle, which was transporting passengers for a fare, lost control and drove into the train as it was passing, crashing into its side.

It was not immediately clear whether the vehicle was a microbus or an old sedan fitted out to carry more passengers.

Such accidents are common in Egypt. In March 2015, seven people were killed when a school bus and a train collided near Cairo.
LONDON (Reuters) - Eni has declared a force majeure on Nigeria's Brass River grade of crude oil, a trader said on Friday, once again throwing a spotlight onto the unreliability of exports from a country plagued by oil theft. The trader said the force majeure was declared after a fire on a pipeline. Eni did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the outage. The force majeure on Brass River adds to one from Shell on the Forcados grade of crude oil that is still in place, meaning output for June is likely to be low. The June export programme was expected to start emerging next week. Repair work on the pipeline feeding Nigeria's Forcados crude oil to the export terminal is expected to take until June, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Nigeria's June export programme is set to come to market from early next week. Around 142,000 barrels per day of Brass River was due to be exported in May according to a loading programme seen by Reuters. (Reporting by Libby George, Alex Lawler and Simon Falush; Editing by Mark Potter)
By Mert Ozkan ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday his country and neighboring Iran must work together to narrow their differences in order to tackle terrorism and sectarianism in the region. Ankara and Tehran are on different sides of Syria's civil war, but they are looking to boost bilateral trade and improve banking relations following the lifting of international sanctions on Iran in January. Shi'ite Iran has stood by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the uprising against him, while mainly Sunni Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics, supporting his opponents and giving refuge to rebel fighters. "It is above all in our own countries' interest to strengthen our political dialogue and reduce our differences of opinion to a minimum," Erdogan told a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, in Ankara. "We have to work together to overcome the problems of terrorism and sectarianism and the related humanitarian crises that are shaking our region," Erdogan said. Erdogan's comments came a day after the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), meeting in Istanbul, accused Iran of supporting terrorism and interfering in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries including Syria and Yemen. Sectarian divisions have flared up in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia's Sunni allies rallying behind it as it cut diplomatic ties with Iran, the region's main Shi'ite power. Turkey has close ties with Riyadh. Besides their rivalry in Syria, Iran is allied with the Houthi movement in Yemen, which has been battling forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed president. Meanwhile, Turkey is seeking international backing for its view that Kurdish YPG forces in Syria are a terrorist group closely linked to PKK militants fighting in southeast Turkey. ROUHANI STRESSES BANKING Despite the political divisions, Turkey could be one of the major beneficiaries as Rouhani, bolstered by reformist gains in February elections, pursues plans to strengthen the private sector and welcome foreign investors. Turkey imports large amounts of natural gas from Iran and the two countries are looking to boost banking and trade ties, with the goal of tripling bilateral trade to $30 billion annually in the coming years. "The situation is ripe for cooperation between Turkey and Iran in the post-sanctions era," Rouhani said. "The most important part is closer ties between banks and credit lines. We decided to improve banking relations. Turkish banks can now establish branches in Iran to help facilitate economic relations between the two countries," he added. Iran's central bank governor called on Friday on the United States and the European Union to help it access the global financial system, including assets that Tehran says were supposed to be unfrozen following the nuclear deal. Iran is increasingly exacerbated that few trade deals are going through as foreign banks shy away from processing transactions with the country even after the nuclear-related sanctions were lifted. (Additional reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in Dubai; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Helen Popper)
By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Saturday that gunmen from South Sudan had killed 140 people in a raid in its Gambela region, and that Ethiopian troops had crossed the border to pursue the attackers. The attack took place on Friday in the Jakaya area that straddles the border, in a region that hosts alongside a neighboring province more than 284,000 South Sudanese refugees who fled conflict in the world's youngest nation. "140 civilians died in the attack carried out by bandits that crossed from South Sudan," a statement from the government communications office said. "Ethiopian troops are pursuing the bandits inside South Sudan. 60 of the assailants have been killed so far," it added. The gunmen had no relation to South Sudanese government troops or rebel forces who fought the government in Juba in a civil war that ended with a peace deal signed last year, the body said. South Sudanese officials were not immediately available for comment. Under pressure from the region, the United States, the United Nations and other powers, South Sudan's feuding sides signed an initial peace deal in August and agreed to share out ministerial positions in January. Fighting broke out in December 2013 months after President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar as vice president, exacerbating a political dispute that reopened ethnic rifts between Kiir's Dinka ethnic group and Machar's Nuer. Machar said last week he would return to the capital Juba on April 18 to form a transitional government with Kiir. Ethiopia's Gambela region has a sizeable Nuer population as well. (Reporting by Aaron Maasho; editing by Ralph Boulton)
By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Saturday it would support Iran's bid to join the World Trade Organization but it urged Tehran to refrain from further ballistic missile tests after the highest-level talks with Iran in more than a decade. Seeking to capitalize on last year's nuclear deal, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini led a team of seven European commissioners on a one-day trip to Tehran where they agreed to cooperate on everything from banking to energy to transport issues. "It is in the European interest and in the Iranian interest to make sure that banks engage and feel confident to come to Iran and facilitate and support this new economic engagement," Mogherini said at a news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran. With a view to opening a full EU diplomatic mission in Iran an EU liaison team will be sent to Tehran, Mogherini and Zarif said in a joint statement. "Today is a new beginning in Iran and EU relations. We hope this cooperation between the Iranian nation and European Union brings about shared interests and global development," Zarif was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. He also urged the United States to remove obstacles to Iran gaining access to the global financial system, saying this was the main goal of its nuclear talks with world powers. The EU executive's visit comes on the heels of trips to Tehran by European governments seeking to revive ties with Iran after the July 2015 nuclear deal. The EU and Iran will exchange business missions in the second half of this year and Brussels will assist Iran in becoming a member of the WTO, the statement said. On the issue of human rights, which also figured in discussions, Mogherini said the EU would continue to be firm on its principles while maintaining dialogue with Iran. The EU is troubled by the more than 1,000 executions in Iran last year, its ballistic missiles and its funding of blacklisted militant groups. Mogherini repeated that she did not see Iran's recent ballistic missile tests as a breach of the nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, though she added it was a "worrying step". "This doesn't mean that we are not concerned," Mogherini said. "On the contrary, we see this as a worrying step ... and we are encouraging (Iran) to abstain from further steps." The Iranian Revolutionary Guards' support for President Bashar al-Assad puts Tehran directly at odds with the West in Syria. Mogherini said the nuclear deal was important for improving the security landscape in the Middle East and the two sides had agreed to work together to foster dialogue in the region. "Any step that could pass different messages in the region, that could escalate tensions is not welcome from our side," she said. (Additional reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in Dubai; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union are expected to consider moving security personnel into Libya to help to stabilise the chaotic country if requested by a new United Nations-backed Libyan government, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters. Impetus for the move comes in part from fears of an uncontrolled new tide of migrants into Italy from Libya unless law and order can be rebuilt soon in the North African state. EU foreign and defence ministers will hold a special dinner in Luxembourg on Monday, when they are expected to agree to look into police and border training missions for Libya. Any such support would initially be in Tripoli, where the new government is trying to establish itself. "The EU stands ready to offer security sector support in response to possible (U.N.) Government of National Accord requests," according to a draft statement prepared by diplomats, though the text is still under discussion. "A possible civilian ... mission could support Libyan efforts ... through advice and capacity building in the fields of police and criminal justice," the draft said, referring to counter-terrorism, border management and the tackling of the smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe. Italy, which has been clamouring for coordinated action on migration, wrote to the heads of the EU Council and European Commission underlining the urgency of the situation. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government proposed a "constant European law enforcement presence in the Saharan belt" and expanding sea missions to disrupt trafficking and train the Libyan Coast Guard. An EU security presence in Libya, which would not involve soldiers, would be Europe's biggest step in the oil-producing nation since a NATO-backed mission led to the fall of Libya's long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. "DELICATE BALANCE" Diplomats said there had yet to be a detailed discussion with the new U.N.-brokered Libyan government in defining what kind of assistance they wanted from the EU, and that it is keen to avoid the impression of moving into the country uninvited. "It is a delicate balance," said one senior EU official involved in the plans. "We need to prepare to help Libya, but we cannot jump the gun." Libyan officials with the new unity government were not immediately available for comment on the specific document, but they have said that any international security cooperation must be Libyan-led and so far have made no detailed request for aid. However, such a request would be a sensitive subject for the new government, which opponents accuse of being a foreign-imposed body with no legitimacy. Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj will speak to ministers by video conference at the dinner on Monday. Talks on a possible EU security mission could give momentum to discussions among Italian, French, British and U.S. military planners on whether to send troops to Libya to help to protect key installations, government buildings, ports and the airport. The United States is eager to see Europe, not Washington, take the lead in a region on the continent's doorstep. The separate mission, which includes France, Italy, Britain and the United States and is known as the Libya International Assistance Mission, has already briefed EU diplomats about how it could have a military role in stabilising Libya. It may set up a secretariat based in Rome. Also under consideration is how the EU's so-called "Sophia" naval mission operating in international waters near Libya could move into Libyan waters to destroy boats used by people smugglers, catch the traffickers and head off an expected surge in migrants trying to reach Europe by sea from Libya. While the naval mission has been operating since mid-2015 and has saved more than 8,000 lives, it is unable to move into Libyan waters without a request from the Libyan government and a U.N. Security Council resolution. MILITIA INFIGHTING The problem has been finding an effective governing authority in Libya to deal with. Libya has been in anarchy for years, with two competing governments based in Tripoli and the far east and a plethora of militias dominating various regions. The new U.N.-backed unity government has yet to establish its authority in Tripoli, let alone the vast country at large. Previous training efforts ran into difficulties in 2012 and 2013 when Italy and Turkey started training police and, along with Britain and the United States, planned to build a force of 8,000 troops. Those programmes were hampered by militia infighting and political squabbling among Libyan factions. Renzi told reporters in Rome that the new U.N.-backed government in Tripoli would help to reduce the boatloads of migrants who dice with death to reach Europe from Africa. "It's fundamental that Libya has a government ... Now we can work with an executive that isn't at the height of its powers, but it exists," Renzi said. "In light of the fact that there is now a Libyan government, we will try to get the EU to invest in Africa to put a stop to the death journeys (on overcrowded boats) so we can have a decisively lower and more controlled migrant flow." In his letter, Renzi proposed that the EU share the cost of repatriations, screening of migrants and other logistical support for countries on migration routes. He suggested member states issue common bonds and provide new funds for African and other transit countries. He said a controversial deal whereby the EU will reward Ankara for taking back some migrants who pass through Turkey "should not remain an isolated event". EU ministers will also discuss whether the Sophia naval mission can work more closely with NATO's naval contingent in the Aegean, which aims to help Greek and Turkish coastguards tackle people smuggling and stem the record flows of migrants into the EU via Greece from nearby Turkey. (Additional reporting by Patrick Markey in Algiers and Steve Scherer in Rome; Editing by Francesco Guarascio, Mark Heinrich and David Goodman)
BERLIN (Reuters) - Two drivers for a private company serving the European parliament have been found carrying compact discs containing propaganda for Islamic State militants, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday. Citing several unnamed sources, Der Spiegel said both drivers - one in Brussels, one in Strasbourg - had been dismissed and Belgian police were investigating. The European parliament declined to comment because of security considerations. Belgian police were not immediately available for comment. Given other indications that some drivers had criminal backgrounds, Der Spiegel said the European parliament had decided on Monday to no longer employ private personnel but only drivers directly employed by the legislature, at an extra cost of 3.7 million euros ($4.17 million). The magazine said 65 drivers currently worked in Brussels for the 751 European parliamentarians and 85 in Strasbourg, in addition to 23 drivers employed by the parliament. Belgium is on high alert after suicide bombers killed 32 people and injured scores of others in attacks in Brussels airport and a metro train last month. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Praised in reviews, the Galaxy S7 and HTC 10 are the top Android handsets you can buy this year. But if youre a mobile gaming addict, then these devices arent the smartphones you are looking for. Instead, you should be picking up an iPhone 6s, iPhone SE or even the much older iPhone 6.

DONT MISS: HTC 10 review: An exciting new flagship phone that's better in every way

At least thats the conclusion Gizmodos Alex Cranz came to after looking at gaming benchmarks for the latest iPhones and the top new Android options out there.

Cranz explained that CPU and GPU benchmarks dont tell the full story when it comes to real-world mobile gaming. Furthermore, there arent that many dedicated services to offer testers a way to measure gaming performance on mobile operating systems objectively.

But it can still be done, and a service called GameBench has the answers you're looking for. The tests analyze FPS, CPU, GPU and battery consumption. GameBench also revealed that most games are capped at either 30fps or 60fps  at least, the more intense ones  to save battery life.

All the iPhones mentioned above can consistently offer frame rates of 60 fps, while top Android devices including the Galaxy S7, HTC 10 and LG G5 cant.

"The iPhone SE, Apples tiny 'budget' phone, features the same top of the line guts as the iPhone 6S, and it hits the cap. Every time," Cranz said. "Even my two-year-old iPhone 6 has no problem maintaining 59fps in Lara Croft Go (a wicked fun game with some sweet, if grueling, graphics)."

He continued, But the Samsung S7 Edge with its fancy Snapdragon 820 processor and Adreno 530 GPU? Hovers around 44fps. And the LG G5which features the same processor? 42 frames per second. Even the brand-spanking new HTC 10managed only 44 frames per second.

Its likely that older Android flagships or current mid-range devices do even worse in similar tests.

This problem will hardly be a big deal to many smartphone users. But it goes to show that beefing up Android hardware isnt enough to ensure an iPhone-grade gaming experience. What the Android gaming universe lacks is optimization from developers, which still big focus on the iPhone.

Story continues

Androids gaming future seems to be bright, though Android fans might have to wait to see any results. I think the iPhones supremacy is a legacy of how mobile has evolved, and doesnt necessarily dictate the future. The Android platform is moving forward (e.g. with the Vulkan API, which is the Android equivalent to Metal), and developers and middleware providers are taking Android much more seriously as a source of commercial success, so there is every hope that Android will catch up, GameBenchs Sharif Sakr told Gizmodo.

Meanwhile, Apples iPhone tech from last year beats the best Android can offer today when it comes to real-life usage and gaming performance. And the iPhone 7 is just around the corner.

Related stories

HTC 10 vs Galaxy S7: How their 5 most important features compare

What happens when an iPhone 6 Plus owner switches to the tiny iPhone SE

The new HTC 10 is here, but the Galaxy S7 might still be the world's best Android phone

More from BGR: The latest Super Mario Bros. world record run shouldnt have been possible

This article was originally published on BGR.com
By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - A NASA ground-control team on Saturday used a robot arm to unpack an expandable module and attach it to the International Space Station, setting the stage for a novel test of a habitat for astronauts, researchers and even tourists. The 3,100-pound (1,400 kg) module, manufactured and owned by Bigelow Aerospace, was launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule that reached the station on Sunday. The module was attached to the station at 5:36 am EDT (0936 GMT) as the station flew about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, the U.S. space agency said during a live broadcast on NASA TV. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, is scheduled to be inflated with air in late May, beginning a two-year experiment to see how it holds up in the harsh environment of space. Made of impact-resistant, Kevlar-like materials and other fabrics, the lightweight habitats could save millions of dollars in launch costs compared with metal modules. They may also offer better radiation protection for astronauts, officials with NASA and Bigelow Aerospace said before the April 8 launch. Bigelow, based in North Las Vegas, Nevada, tested two unmanned prototypes a decade ago, but BEAM is its first inflatable that will host astronauts. The company, owned by real estate billionaire Robert Bigelow, is working on operational modules 20 times larger than BEAM, which is about the size of a small bedroom. Dubbed the B330, it is designed primarily to be free-floating habitat, but Bigelow is talking with NASA about attaching one to the space station. It would add about 12,000 cubic feet, or 30 percent more space, to the outpost to support NASA and commercial projects. The company is developing time-share agreements to lease space aboard the module to commercial entities, research organizations and the occasional space tourist. Our hope is that NASA would be the primary customer for that structure, Bigelow said at a press conference on Monday at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. NASA is interested in expandable habitats to serve as crew living quarters during three-year trips to and from Mars. BEAM's test run is intended to see how it withstands the temperature swings and high-radiation environment of space. Members of the station crew also will install sensors to monitor orbital debris and micrometeoroid impacts. This type of architecture has never been flown before, Bigelow told reporters before launch. "Were not 100 percent sure of its behavior. It is a testing station. That is the whole point here, in all respects, Bigelow said. (Editing by Frank McGurty)
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Five people died and another five were hospitalized in critical condition on Saturday in Argentina's capital city Buenos Aires after attending an electronic music festival where authorities suspect they consumed illegal drugs. Initial toxicological results showed the victims had consumed the psychoactive drug commonly known as ecstasy, hospital sources told local daily Clarin. The five victims who died at Time Warp, a music festival originally from Germany, were aged 21 to 25. While the five people sent to the hospital, including an 18-year-old woman, are in intensive care and being assisted by an artificial breathing machine, according to daily Pagina 12. The second night of the music festival has been canceled. (Reporting by Maximiliano Rizzi; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Five young people died and five others were in critical condition after apparently taking drugs at an international electronic music festival in the Argentine capital, emergency responders said Saturday.

Autopsies will be needed to determine the substance involved, said Alberto Crescenti, head of the emergency health care system, which was summoned to the Time Warp music festival in Buenos Aires in the early morning hours.

The partygoers were mostly between the ages of 21 and 25, Crescenti said.

"The youths lost consciousness and rapidly went into a coma," he said.

Those in hospitals were in critical condition and had temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit), indicating severe poisoning, Crescenti said.

Organizers of the show at a venue on the city's riverside north end had two ambulances ready and waiting for the packed crowd of nearly 11,000 people.

But they were not enough, and the emergency services brought in six.

"There were a great deal of people. It was really hot inside. You could not be in there, literally," a young man who gave his name as Federico told TN news channel.

He said he left the event five minutes before it closed at 6:00 am, with no idea of the unfolding tragedy.

Another at the festival, Ignacio, told C5N TV that "people were offering drugs, pills, acid. They tried to sell me drugs four times."

It was the third Time Warp festival in Buenos Aires. The city government said that the venue, a large private events and exhibition center, had been approved to hold the festival and host as many as 13,000 people.

Prosecutors have urged people at the event to share any information that could help in their investigations and offered protection to potential witnesses.

Time Warp is a well-known electronic music festival, originating in Germany about two decades ago.

The line-up in Buenos Aires included DJs such as Sven Vath, Jamie Jones, Ricardo Villalobos, Maceo Plex and Tale Of Us.

The second night of the event, scheduled for Saturday, was cancelled.
By John Davison BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande said on Saturday that France would provide immediate additional military aid to Lebanon, and urged politicians to end a long-running crisis by electing a president as soon as possible. Hollande also said he had decided to step up assistance for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, giving 50 million euros this year and 100 million euros over the next three years to cope with the crisis. Lebanon hosts more than 1 million registered Syrian refugees, a quarter of its population. Hollande's Beirut visit, the first stop on a Middle East tour, came weeks after Saudi Arabia cut $3 billion of military aid to Lebanon, where violence has repeatedly spilled over from the Syrian war since it began in 2011. "We will work to provide immediate assistance to strengthen the military capability of Lebanon, specifically to combat terrorism but also to confront other threats," he said after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam. He said France's defense minister, who traveled with him, would assess the "material means that can be put at Lebanon's disposal to ensure its security", without giving further details. The Lebanese military has recently received additional support from both the United States and Britain as it seeks to defend the porous border with Syria. The army is carefully balanced among the country's sectarian groups and is widely seen as the backbone of the weak Lebanese state. Saudi Arabia decided to cut aid to the Lebanese army after the Beirut government failed to condemn an attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in January which was prompted by the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. Riyadh is concerned at the influence wielded by Shi'ite Hezbollah over Lebanese government, and has questioned the Lebanese military's independence from the Iranian-backed group. Hezbollah is part of a government grouping all Lebanon's main political parties and headed by Prime Minister Salam. The government is struggling to take even basic decisions, including over rubbish disposal. Political rivalries exacerbated by tensions in the wider region have left Lebanon without a president for almost two years. The position is reserved for a Maronite Christian. Hollande urged politicians to elect a president as soon as possible, saying it was in the country's and the region's interests to ensure the post was filled. "The answer to that is not in my hands. It is up to you to," he said. (Reporting by John Davison)
By Aidan Lewis TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The French and German foreign ministers visited Tripoli on Saturday to show their support for Libya's U.N.-backed unity government, saying they were ready to offer training for the country's security forces and border guards if it is requested. The West is counting on the unity government to tackle Islamic State militants in Libya and prevent new flows of migrants heading north across the Mediterranean, though the new government's leaders are still trying to establish themselves in Tripoli. After talks at the naval base where the government's Presidential Council has been working since its arrival late last month, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said European training for Libyan forces was likely to begin outside the country in the initial stages. "I think it is realistic enough to say we have to start training measures from my point of view outside of Libya," Steinmeier told reporters. He said training could be in Libya later, if the security situation stabilized. Steinmeier said EU states would only act once they received a Libyan request, and that the issue would be addressed at a dinner for EU foreign and defense ministers to discuss Libya on Monday. "Nothing will be done unless the government wants it and examines it in a very concrete manner," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. Libya slipped into political turmoil after a NATO backed air campaign helped rebels topple autocrat Muammar Gaddafi five years ago. Paris played a leading part in the campaign, but has regretted the lack of support given to the authorities afterwards. Previous foreign efforts to train Libyan security forces were hampered by militia infighting and political squabbling among factions. Since 2014 the country has had two competing sets of parliaments and governments in Tripoli and the east, both backed by loose alliances of armed brigades. "We will not repeat the mistakes of 2011, we need to be clear on that," Ayrault said. Ayrault said it was also "very important" for Libya's eastern, internationally recognized parliament to hold a vote on the new government. That vote has been repeatedly delayed, but the parliament is expected to convene on Monday. He said France was urging Libya's neighbors - including Egypt, which is close to military forces allied with Libya's eastern government - to get behind the U.N.-backed administration. "There is no other possible path," Ayrault said. Unity government head Fayez Seraj told reporters that the three priorities for his administration were reconciliation, security and trying to revive the country's economy, which has been hit by tumbling oil revenues. "We are seeking international support in Libya in fighting terrorism but we don't expect an international intervention in the field," Seraj said. "We're expecting cooperation in tackling illegal migration so that we can see Libyan beaches as they were before and not as a source of boats of death." The Presidential Council arrived in Libya by ship after its opponents shut down Tripoli's air space to prevent it from flying in. It has been working for months to secure the backing or acquiescence of powerful militias operating in the capital. Seraj told Reuters that the unity government would start moving into ministries in Tripoli "in the next couple of days", and that it would not wait for the eastern parliament to vote before doing so. (Additional reporting by John Irish in Geneva; Editing by Mark Potter)
DAKAR (Reuters) - Security forces in Gambia arrested senior opposition members and their supporters on Saturday after they accused authorities of killing a party youth leader who was being held in custody after a demonstration earlier in the week, witnesses said. Police stormed the home of Ousainu Darboe, leader of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), rounding up supporters and party officials who had gathered there, witnesses told Reuters by telephone from the capital Banjul. Darboe was among those arrested, family members said. He had earlier held a news conference where he demanded answers from the authorities amid reports that Solo Sandeng, the party's National Organizing Secretary, had been tortured to death while in detention. "I'm ready to die. I'm not going to ask for police permission (to demonstrate). I want to see the body of Solo, dead or alive," Darboe said, according to a witness who was present. The government of the tiny West African nation had acknowledged making arrests following Thursday's demonstration. Police sources confirmed Sandeng had been among those detained. The small protest, which called for election reforms and free speech protection, was a rare act of defiance and occurred while President Yahya Jammeh was in Turkey attending a summit of Islamic countries. Government and security officials were not available to comment on Saturday, but Amnesty International said that, according to information it had received, Sandeng had died. "The tragic death in detention of Solo Sandeng must leave no space for impunity. The authorities must conduct an immediate, thorough and independent investigation," said Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty International West Africa researcher. Amnesty said that another detained UDP member, Fatoumata Jawara, was also believed to be suffering from serious injuries. Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has made headlines for eccentric proclamations, including a claim to have invented a cure for HIV/AIDS and his recent surprise decision to make Gambia an Islamic republic. But he is also regularly denounced by rights groups and foreign governments for ruthlessly stamping out political dissent in the nation of 2 million people, which is a popular beach destination for budget-minded European tourists. The former military man, who once told a reporter he could lead Gambia for "a billion years", is expected to extend his rule in elections in December. He has scrapped term limits from the constitution, and the regional bloc ECOWAS refused to send observers to the last elections in 2011, citing intimidation of the opposition and the electorate. (Reporting by Edward McAllister; Writing by Joe Bavier)
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Jailed former Guatemalan President Otto Perez was accused on Friday of negotiating and receiving part of a $25 million bribe in exchange for granting a port concession to a Spanish company, the attorney general's office said on Friday. The latest accusation comes a year after a bribery scandal toppled Perez's government, forcing his resignation and landed him in jail. He is awaiting trial accused of leading a customs racket that swindled millions from the country's coffers. In 2012, Perez's government awarded a contract to Terminales Contenedores de Barcelona (TCB) to build and manage a terminal at the Quetzal Port, the poor Central American country's largest. The project, valued at $126 million, was set to be financed by funds from the World Bank and $8.5 million from the Spanish firm. Perez and his former vice president, Roxana Baldetti, who is also in jail awaiting trial, are accused of agreeing to collect nearly $25 million from 2012 to 2015. Prosecutors say they have documents that prove the former officials and their associates received some of the payments. Cesar Calderon, a defense attorney representing Perez, said he did not have details of the case and declined further comment. In addition to Perez and Baldetti, Supreme Court judge Douglas Rene Charchal has been fingered for possible involvement. Authorities said they will seek a preliminary trial to investigate him. It was not immediately clear who provided the alleged bribes to authorities. However, the police have detained nine people, including Juan Jose Suarez, the Spanish head of TBC's subsidiary in Guatemala. (Reporting by Sofia Menchu, editing by G Crosse)
Guatemala City (AFP) - Former Guatemalan president Otto Perez, who is in jail awaiting trial on corruption allegations, now also faces charges of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from a Spanish port company.

Perez, who took office in 2012 but was forced out after mass protests last year, used his position as president "to facilitate negotiations where he would obtain direct financial benefit in detriment to the interest of the nation," said prosecutor general Thelma Aldana on Friday.

Perez is accused of heading a "criminal network" that helped the Terminal de Contenedores Barcelona (TCB) firm win a 25-year contract to operate a new container terminal in Puerto Quetzal on Guatemala's Pacific coast.

Perez and former vice president Roxana Baldetti are in jail awaiting trial for allegedly heading a vast tax fraud network, which allowed companies import goods tax-free.

According to the new allegations, the contract with the Spanish company was signed in April 2012 and included $30 million in commissions for local and international negotiators.

Perez and Baldetti allegedly walked away with $4.2 million each.

This was "a criminal group with clearly defined roles" led by Perez and Baldetti, Aldana said.

Spanish businessman Juan Jose Suarez, head of TCB's local affiliate, was also arrested, along with eight Guatemalans including a former cabinet official under Perez.

Perez and Baldetti are accused of conspiracy, passive bribery, money laundering and fraud, said Interior Minister Francisco Rivas.

Both Perez and Baldetti, scheduled to appear in court next week, deny the charges.
(Reuters) - A helicopter that was inspecting power lines crashed on rail tracks near Baltimore/Washington International Airport on Saturday, sparking a brush fire and delaying Amtrak train service along a major passenger route, officials said.

The crash, which injured three on board, resulted in delays to Amtrak service between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., according to the railroad's statements and social media posts.

An Amtrak spokeswoman said that by mid-afternoon all service had resumed between the two cities. Airline operations were not affected, airport spokeswoman Whitney Kidd said.

The helicopter was flying at low altitude around a power line when it crashed a mile north of the Maryland airport, near Amtrak's BWI Station, the Federal Aviation Administration and Anne Arundel County police said.

The helicopter was destroyed in the crash and the three people hurt were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, said Ariel Jackson, a lieutenant at the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

No one else was hurt, the FAA and police said.

The crew of the helicopter, which was operated by a private contractor, was inspecting transmission lines for Baltimore Gas and Electric, a division of Exelon Company [EXCGC.UL], said BGE spokesman Justin Mulcahy.

The crash, which was reported just before 1 p.m. on the major passenger train corridor linking Washington and other northeastern cities, sparked a fire in the wooded area where the helicopter came down, but firefighters extinguished the blaze, Maryland State Police said in a statement.

Police said the cause of the crash was under investigation by federal transportation authorities.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinkskis in Los Angeles and Frank McGurty in New York; Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and G Crosse, Grant McCool)
(Reuters) - A powerful blizzard swept through Colorado on Saturday, dumping at least 2 feet (61 cm) of snow in some parts of the state and forcing the cancellation of most of the scheduled flights at the Denver airport, officials said. United Airlines [UALCO.UL] canceled all of its flights to and from Denver International Airport, the airport said in a statement. All told, more than 800 flights were grounded on Saturday, or more than 65 percent of all scheduled take-offs and landings at the airport, the FlightAware airline tracking website showed. Dozens of other flights were delayed. Denver International is the fourth-largest hub for United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, and the primary hub for Frontier Airlines, according to its website. A representative for the airport did not immediately return a call or email seeking comment. The heavy snow began falling on Friday night and was expected to continue through Sunday, the National Weather Service said. By noon local time on Saturday, nearly 5 inches (13 cm) had fallen in Denver, Colorado's largest city, while the storm dumped up to 2 feet (61 cm) of snow in the mountains and foothills, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Kalina. The utility Xcel Energy Colorado reported on its Facebook page that about 8,000 of its customers in the state lost power in the storm and that it had sent out extra crews to deal with problems. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by Grant McCool)
By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Friday it has reached a tentative deal to assist Tunisia with a four-year loan program worth about $2.8 billion tied to economic reforms. The loan program will be subject to approval next month by the IMF's executive board. In a statement, IMF Tunisia Mission Chief Amine Mati said the loan facility will support the Tunisian government's development goals of boosting growth, reducing vulnerabilities and fostering sustainable job creation. "To this end, the Fund-supported program focuses on boosting public investment, making the tax system more equitable and fair and improving access to finance for small businesses," Mati said. A Tunisian government official told Reuters in Tunis on Friday that the country also will go to international markets with a 1 billion euro bond issue next week to raise funds to help cover a budget deficit. The North African state's economy is struggling with a drop in tourism revenues after four major militant attacks over the past year, and an outbreak of social unrest over jobs and development at the start of this year. Tunisia's economic progress has fallen behind since the 2011 uprising against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali that bought the country to full democracy and triggered "Arab Spring" revolutions across North Africa and the Middle East. (Additional reporting by Tarek Amara in Tunis; Editing by Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities moved inmate Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the radical cleric and alleged mastermind of the Bali bombings, to a high security prison near Jakarta on Saturday, a government official said, amid security concerns. Ba'asyir, the spiritual leader of the Islamist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and its offshoots, was jailed for 15 years in 2011 following years of efforts to obtain a long sentence for the preacher seen as inciting hatred in his speeches. [reut.rs/1qNBwvC] Authorities have raised concerns about the cleric's continuing influence in radical networks. Ba'asyir was moved "according to schedule" to the Gunung Sindur maximum security prison in Bogor from the Nusakambangan prison in Central Java, Agus Barnas, a spokesman for the coordinating ministry of security affairs, told Reuters by text message. The transfer is an indication the govt is taking more seriously the management of prisons - a breeding ground for militants - after January's Jakarta attackers were found to have been influenced by prominent inmates. The gun and suicide attack in Jakarta in January highlighted concerns that in Indonesia's prison system staff shortages, overcrowding and corruption have allowed extremists to mingle and disseminate sermons by email, Facebook and telephone. "In the past, this rule was not enforced," Barnas said, adding that previously Ba'asyir had "freely spread radical teachings, through sermons or by cellphone." Ba'asyir, 77, was also moved to be closer to a hospital because of his old age, he said. A lawyer for Ba'asyir, Achmad Michdan, protested over the move which he said had been carried out without forewarning. "Suddenly on Saturday morning we got news there had already been a transfer," Michdan said. (Reporting by Agustinus Beo Dacosta; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Eric Meijer)
Stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC, ^RUT) are trying to build on a two-day rally, with crude oil slightly higher. Keith Bliss joins us live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to discuss the markets.

Joining Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous to discuss some of the other big stories of the day are Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer and our markets correspondent Nicole Sinclair.

Obama directs the Feds to spur competition



You know that cable or satellite box that sits on top of your TV? Its about to get cheaper. President Obama just directed every federal government agency to increase competition where there are currently bottlenecks. Step one is set-top boxes. Our own Nicole Sinclair sat down with the president. She tells us what's behind the move.

Big banks boost profits by cutting costs

Citigroup (C) reported this morning, and profits were down 27%. But that wasn't as bad as analysts expected, and the stock gapped up on the news. The reason for the beat is part of a broader trend with the big bankscost cutting. JPMorgan (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) also cut costs.

The future of the $10 bill

The musical Hamilton isn't just making waves on Broadway. It may impact the fate of our currency as well. The musical's popularity has shifted the debate about replacing Hamilton on the $10 bill with a female.
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Internet was abuzz with praise for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday after clips showing him schooling a reporter on quantum computing went viral. While political opponents learned a lesson about underestimating the photogenic Trudeau, 44, during last years surprise electoral upset, the unnamed reporter fell into the same trap during an event at a Canadian university on Friday when he jokingly tested the former teacher's knowledge. Trudeaus explanation on quantum computing generated cheers and applause from the room and set social media abuzz. "I was like YEAHH I voted for this guy," said a Twitter user with the handle @smoakoverwatch. Canadian writer Anakana Schofield tweeted about the reporter's experience: "This is what teenagers call 'getting owned,'" using a colloquial expression for utter defeat. The exchange began when the reporter told Trudeau: Morning, sir, I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing" but quickly added a question on when the prime minister expected Canada to resume its mission against Islamic State militants occupying parts of Iraq and Syria. Trudeau immediately shot back with an explanation on quantum computers, explaining how they do not operate on the principles of conventional physics and are more powerful than current mainstream computers. I wish there were more like him, said a Twitter user with the handle @tonticologo. Trudeau addressed Canadas actions against the Islamic State militants directly afterward, although he did not announce any new measures. The son of a former prime minister, Trudeau led his center-left Liberals to a majority victory in last years election with a campaign that emphasized hope and optimism. His political opponents had attacked him as just not ready for the job, implying his best feature was his hair rather than his intellectual prowess. (This story fixes typo in first paragraph, replacing "an" with "a") (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Internet was abuzz with praise for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday after clips showing him schooling a reporter on quantum computing went viral. While political opponents learned a lesson about underestimating the photogenic Trudeau, 44, during last years surprise electoral upset, the unnamed reporter fell into the same trap during an event at a Canadian university on Friday when he jokingly tested the former teacher's knowledge. Trudeaus explanation on quantum computing generated cheers and applause from the room and set social media abuzz. "I was like YEAHH I voted for this guy," said a Twitter user with the handle @smoakoverwatch. Canadian writer Anakana Schofield tweeted about the reporter's experience: "This is what teenagers call 'getting owned,'" using a colloquial expression for utter defeat. The exchange began when the reporter told Trudeau: Morning, sir, I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing" but quickly added a question on when the prime minister expected Canada to resume its mission against Islamic State militants occupying parts of Iraq and Syria. Trudeau immediately shot back with an explanation on quantum computers, explaining how they do not operate on the principles of conventional physics and are more powerful than current mainstream computers. I wish there were more like him, said a Twitter user with the handle @tonticologo. Trudeau addressed Canadas actions against the Islamic State militants directly afterward, although he did not announce any new measures. The son of a former prime minister, Trudeau led his center-left Liberals to a majority victory in last years election with a campaign that emphasized hope and optimism. His political opponents had attacked him as just not ready for the job, implying his best feature was his hair rather than his intellectual prowess. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
By Jarni Blakkarly MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian refugee advocates and opposition politicians on Saturday condemned the conviction of an Iranian asylum seeker on charges of attempted suicide, a criminal offence in Nauru where he is being held in an Australian-run detention center. Under Australias tough immigration policy, asylum seekers attempting to reach the country by boat are intercepted and sent to camps on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru, about 3,000 kms (1,800 miles) northeast of Australia, or on Manus island in Papua New Guinea to the north. Human rights groups, including the U.N. Refugee Agency, have criticized the harsh conditions at the detention centers, which have sparked riots and self-harm protests. The Iranian man, who has an eight-year-old daughter in the detention center, pleaded guilty to the offence of attempted suicide on Friday and was given a 12 month suspended sentence, according to a Nauru government statement. The Nauru government said prosecutors wanted to "deter other would-be offenders who resort to self-harm to avoid lawful actions against them or to get what they want". "We are concerned that this method of protest is being used and want to stamp out this practice," it said. Australia's Greens opposition party has been a long-time critic of Australia's offshore detention policy. "We've left them there languishing, destroyed all hope of ever coming to Australia, This poor guy wanted to take his own life and he is now being punished for that," Greens politician Sarah Hanson-Young told Australia's Sky News on Saturday. A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection said all refugees in Nauru were subject to that country's laws. The number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is small compared with those arriving in Europe, but border security has long been a hot-button political issue. Offshore detention is supported by both Australia's conservative government and main opposition Labor party. A national election is expected to be called within months. (Editing by Michael Perry)
Baghdad (AFP) - A group of Iraqi lawmakers said they would not take part in a Saturday parliament session to select a replacement for the speaker, apparently leaving it without the necessary quorum.

Iraq was on course to have two rival claimants to the speakership, further increasing chaos in parliament, which has already seen a vote to sack speaker Salim al-Juburi, a fistfight among MPs and a sit-in this week.

The political turmoil had sidelined Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's efforts to replace the current cabinet, a setback for the premier.

Both the United Nations and Washington have warned that the political wrangling could undermine Iraq's fight against the Islamic State jihadist group, which overran large areas in 2014 but has since lost significant ground.

MP Qassem al-Araji announced that 23 lawmakers from the Shiite Badr bloc would not participate in the session, saying the parliamentary division could result in two governments and undermine the fight against IS.

"We were living with two parliaments, and that could lead to two governments," Araji told journalists, warning that might result in "the collapse of the front" against IS.

"We are against dividing the parliament and we want to maintain the democratic political process in Iraq," Araji said.

Juburi rejected the Thursday vote to remove him on the grounds that the session lacked a quorum and called parliament to meet on Saturday, but cancelled the session over an unspecified security risk.

He later announced the official delay of parliament sessions and called for dialogue to end the current deadlock.

But Juburi's opponents insisted that the vote to sack him was legitimate and planned to hold their own session on Saturday to nominate replacements for him and his two deputies.

The Badr withdrawal effectively precluded the session from being held, though it was not immediately clear if it was final or just a strategy to gain concessions.

Story continues

Badr chief Hadi al-Ameri is a top commander of Shiite paramilitary forces fighting against IS, and also aspires to a senior government post.

MP Kadhim al-Shammari, a member of another bloc involved in the anti-Juburi session, called on the Badr lawmakers to return and "participate with their brothers in writing a new history for Iraq."

Abadi has called for the current cabinet of party-affiliated ministers to be replaced by a government of technocrats, but has faced significant resistance from the powerful parties that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds.

Those efforts have been put on hold by disputes over the new lineup and by the move to oust the speaker.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament canceled a session on anti-graft reforms on Saturday, state TV said, as some MPs disputed the legitimacy of the speaker to chair the meeting in an escalation of a political crisis crippling state institutions. The session is the third canceled this week as politicians bicker over a plan to overhaul Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's cabinet by bringing in technocrats in a bid to stem corruption. The session was scrapped because "parliament couldn't be secured" by the security forces, said a statement from the office of the speaker, Salim al-Jabouri. The statement was apparently referring to MPs who say Jabouri has no right to chair the session and who met on Thursday in his absence, holding a ballot to oust him. They say they have a majority in the assembly, which Jabouri disputes. Iraq, a major OPEC exporter which sits on one of the world's largest oil reserves, ranks 161th out of 168 countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. The dissenting MPs criticize Jabouri for not organizing a session to grill Abadi over his proposed cabinet line-up. Jabouri says it is the premier who failed to show up at the voting session he had called for on Thursday and that the quorum wasn't even reached to hold a simple debate. Both sides say they have a majority. State TV on Friday showed pictures of the assembly held by the dissenters on Thursday and counted 131 MPs. The parliament has 328 seats. Tussles between lawmakers broke out on Wednesday, a day after the first attempted vote. Abadi has warned the crisis could hamper the war against Islamic State militants who control regions in northern and western Iraq. Corruption became a major issue after global oil prices collapsed two years ago, shrinking the state budget at a time when it needed additional income to pay for war on the hardline Sunni group. (Reporting by Saif Hameed and Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Mark Potter)
By Maher Chmaytelli and Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr warned on Saturday he would re-start protests within 72 hours if the nation's leaders failed to vote on a cabinet of technocrats proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to tackle corruption. His warning came as influential politicians lobbied Abadi to modify his plan and appoint candidates of their choice. The political crisis is crippling parliament and Abadi says it threatens to hamper Iraq's campaign against Islamic State militants who still control swathes of territory in the north and west of the oil-rich state. Sadr addressed his warning to Abadi, who belongs to the Shi'ite majority, and to the two other top state officials, President Fuad Masum, a Kurd, and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, a Sunni Muslim. "The three presidencies should coordinate in order to hold a session and present a cabinet of independent technocrats," Sadr said, demanding that current ministers resign immediately. The cabinet overhaul should be presented "in less than 72 hours, while keeping the sit-in in parliament with unlimited popular support through peaceful protests", Sadr said. He was referring to a lawmakers' sit-in that began on Tuesday in protest over a modified list of candidates that Abadi had planned to present for a vote under pressure from leading politicians. The dissenting MPs say it will allow corruption to continue to flourish. Iraq, a major OPEC exporter which sits on one of the world's largest oil reserves, ranks 161th out of 168 countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Abadi's initial line-up, presented on March 31, was made up of independent professionals who he hoped could free their ministries from the grip of dominant political groups that have built their influence and wealth on a system of patronage put in place since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. ESCALATING CRISIS Parliament has already postponed the vote on Abadi's government overhaul three times. The crisis escalated further on Saturday when the dissenting lawmakers refused to allow Jabouri to chair a session of parliament, prompting him to cancel it. They accuse him of failing to allow a session for them to grill Abadi over his proposed cabinet line-up. Speaking on television on Saturday, Jabouri urged Iraq's political blocs to discuss how to end the stalemate. "The Iraqi parliament is one ... and we wouldn't want it to convene if we are not together," he said. Abadi announced his government overhaul in February under pressure from the Shi'ite clergy as the population continues to suffers from high unemployment and lack of basic services. Corruption became a major issue after oil prices collapsed in 2014, shrinking the state budget at a time when it needed additional income to pay for war on the hardline Sunni group. (Editing by Gareth Jones)
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's cabinet is to hold its weekly meeting Sunday on the annexed Golan Heights for the first time, Israeli media reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, contacted by AFP, declined to confirm or deny the reports.

Public radio said the premier was taking the step to make the international community understand that an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan was "in no way on the agenda, neither now nor in the future".

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 sq miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

According to media reports, Netanyahu fears Israel could come under pressure to return the Golan as part of a future peace deal for war-torn Syria.
By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO (Reuters) - The deadly earthquakes that struck the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on Thursday and Saturday breached the walls of Kumamoto Castle which had previously withstood bombardment and fire in its four centuries of existence. The fortification in the city of Kumamoto has stood as one of Kyushu's icons ever since it was built in 1607 by Kiyomasa Kato. He was a veteran military campaigner and feudal lord who took part in the reunification of Japan, which had been ravaged by a century of war. Television footage on Saturday showed a large section of the stone wall housing the castle collapsed in a dusty heap. A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan early on Saturday, killing at least 20 people, injuring more than 1,000 and trapping people in collapsed buildings, barely a day after Thursday's quake killed nine people in the same region. While the castle keep, which has so far withstood the series of quakes, is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, many of the stone walls are originals from the 17th century. Sections of the outer stone walls had already been damaged by Thursday's earthquake. Long after advancements in firearms made such fortifications obsolete, the castle withstood artillery fire when it came under siege from a rebel samurai army during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Much of the castle structure later burned down during the conflict, although the walls managed to stand firm. Now a popular tourist attraction, the castle's administrative office has closed the structure to the public. "Please do not go close to the stone walls as aftershocks continue," the office said on its Facebook page. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Martin Howell)
Prince William and his wife Kate will wrap up their trip to India and Bhutan Saturday with a visit to the Taj Mahal that carries poignant echoes for Britain's royal family.

When the late Princess Diana was photographed sitting alone outside the tragic monument to love in 1992, it sparked much media speculation and later became a symbol of her failing marriage.

India's most famous landmark holds a special significance for the young royals, with Kensington Palace saying Prince William feels "incredibly lucky" to visit a site where his mother's memory is so alive.

It follows a whirlwind week that saw the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge feed baby rhinos in northeastern Assam and trek to a mountain monastery in Bhutan -- retracing the footsteps of Prince Charles.

When they reach Agra, home of the Taj, waiting for them will be a 73-year-old fan whose family memories stretch back even further, to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1961.

"I have been dreaming of meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ever since I got to know they would be coming to the Taj," Surendra Sharma told AFP.

Sharma's late uncle Kailash Nath Sharma, a keen photographer whose studio in the city is still thriving, took several black-and-white pictures of the Queen and Prince Philip.

In one, the Queen is shown dressed in an elegant overcoat and a knee-length dress, sitting next to her husband in an open-top car.

Sharma may have reason to hope -- in Mumbai, the couple took time out from engagements to meet with a 93-year-old admirer, Boman Kohinoor.

The Britannia & Company restaurant owner became the star of a social media campaign that saw arrangements made for him to meet the royals at the last minute.

- Festive city -

Agra wore a festive look Saturday, with roads decked out in fairy lights and flowers as it prepared to welcome the high-profile guests.

Security has been beefed up around the monument, with several paramilitary personnel standing guard with sniffer dogs.

Story continues

The Duke and Duchess will arrive in a private jet before heading out to the Taj, a UNESCO world heritage site, after lunch.

The mausoleum is currently undergoing renovation work, with scaffolding covering two of the minarets -- and a senior archaeological official told AFP it would not be dismantled for the visit.

It marks the final stop on a hectic itinerary for the royal couple, on their first official trip to the country that the British ruled for close to 200 years.

Their whistlestop tour has seen them hobnob with Bollywood stars in Mumbai and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for lunch at a former palace in New Delhi.

They then spent two days in Bhutan, meeting the king and the queen of the remote Himalayan kingdom, trying their hand at the national sport of archery, and taking a mountain hike.

The couple are set to return to England on Sunday in time for the Queen's 90th birthday on April 21.

Crafted in white marble and inlaid with precious stones, India's most famous monument was built between 1631 and 1648 under Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Ljubljana (AFP) - More than 60 kayakers took to Slovenia's Lake Bohinj Saturday to kick off a 35-day environmental protest over plans to build dams on rivers in six Balkan countries.

The colourful flotilla, led by Slovenian Olympic rower Rok Rozman, embarked on a 22 kilometre-(13-mile-) long paddle along the lake that will continue along the Sava Bohinjka river.

The "Stop the Dam Tsunami!" movement aims at raising awareness of the impact of dam building on the region's waterways.

According to the Save the Blue Heart of Europe group's website, there are plans for more than 2,700 Balkan dam projects in the coming years, including 113 dams scheduled for construction inside the region's national parks.

"We would like to make people think on hydro energy in a slightly different way: green energy is renewable but the quality of water and environment will change (with the construction of dams)," Neza Posnjak, a protest organiser, told AFP.

She added that the action will continue over the next month when the kayakers paddle 18 mostly wild rivers in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro.

The rivers are renowned for their crystal clear streams, spectacular waterfalls and huge alluvial forests. Critics say dam building will affect river flow and damage biodiversity.

The group will finish its tour on Albania's Vjosa river on May 20.

"The most critical cases are the Sana and Una rivers in Bosnia, the Vjosa river in Albania and the dam in Macedonia's National park of Mavrovo," said Posnjak.

The environmental paddling action will include kayakers from all six Balkan countries, Germany, Austria and Italy, with local kayakers and environmental activists expected to join in at each stage.
Nakuru (Kenya) (AFP) - Kenya's president and deputy president called for "reconciliation" Saturday following International Criminal Court (ICC) decisions to drop charges against them over 2007 post-election violence that rocked the country.

War crimes judges dropped cases against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta -- the son of the country's independence leader Jomo Kenyatta -- at the end of 2014, and against deputy president William Ruto last week.

More than 1,300 people died and around 600,000 others were left homeless after disputed elections in 2007 in Kenya's worst outbreak of violence since independence from Britain in 1963.

Ruto was charged with three counts of crimes against humanity -- namely murder, forcible deportation and persecution during the 2007-2008 violence.

Kenyatta faced five charges including murder, rape and deportation for allegedly masterminding the post-election violence.

The ICC, however, said it was forced to declare the defendants had no case to answer because of a "relentless" campaign of witness intimidation as well as Nairobi's refusal to cooperate, a charge that Kenya denies.

Speaking at a meeting in Nakuru, western Kenya, on Saturday, the president urged Kenyans to work together.

"We are not here to celebrate but to remember and pray for each other. We dedicate ourselves to reconciliation and building a stronger nation," he said.

"We must reject ethnicity that builds animosity amongst our people. We must refuse to be divided," he added.

Kenya has led a high-profile campaign against the ICC among African nations, accusing the tribunal of bias against the continent.

Of the nine investigations the court has opened so far, eight are African -- Kenya, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda, Mali and Georgia.

The 2007 post-election violence in Kenya broke out after Rila Odinga, a member of the Luo ethnic group who was then the opposition leader accused then president Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, of rigging his way to re-election.

What began as political riots quickly turned into ethnic killings of the Kikuyu people, who in turn launched reprisal attacks.

Despite speculation in the Kenyan press that the president and his deputy would use Saturday's meeting to announce their intention to stand again in next year's presidential elections, they studiously avoided any mention of the polls.
Bucharest (AFP) - Simona Halep dug deep to seal her win over Andrea Petkovic to tie Romania's Fed Cup World Group play-off against Germany at 1-1 on Saturday.

Romania's Halep, ranked sixth in the world, needed just under three hours to secure her 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 win after Angelique Kerber had earlier put Germany ahead by beating Irina-Camelia Begu.

Halep twice wasted chances to win the match on her own serve, in the second set, which she lost on a tiebreak, then again in the third.

The match was often a scrappy affair, with Halep and Petkovic hitting over 100 unforced errors between them.

Halep will now face Australian Open champion Kerber in the first of Sunday's three rubbers at the Sala Polivalenta Arena.

Earlier, Kerber needed just under an hour and a half to convert her first match point to seal her 6-2, 6-3 win over Begu in Cluj-Napoca.

The German fired down the same number of winners (14) as Begu, but only half the unforced errors, 16 compared to the Romanian's 34, in front of a 7,500 crowd.

Germany are in the play-off after their 3-2 defeat at home to Switzerland in February and are bidding to stay in the top flight, as are Romania after their 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic.
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - At least 15 members of the security forces were killed and 40 wounded in two days of clashes in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a hospital source said on Saturday, as they try to consolidate gains made in February against Islamist militants. On Friday, two Islamic State suicide bombers staged attacks near a cement factory in the west of the city where fighters are holding out, though only one of the bombs caused casualties, army spokesman Milad al-Zawie said. Libya has been in crisis since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with violence escalating in 2014. Islamic State posted a message on social media saying dozens of soldiers had been killed by the bombers, but Zawie said just six soldiers were killed and 25 were wounded on Friday. A Reuters reporter saw the bodies of at least five militants, including two suicide bombers, killed in the clashes. Eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar launched his Operation Dignity campaign against Islamist militants and other opponents in Benghazi in May 2014 and that fighting has caused major damage to the city. Nevertheless, the military has been unable to achieve its stated aim of securing control of Benghazi. Haftar is allied to a government that moved to eastern Libya after a rival administration was installed by its armed supporters in Tripoli in 2014. A U.N.-backed unity government arrived in the Libyan capital late last month where it is trying to establish itself. The West hopes it can end Libya's security crisis and political turmoil and unite some of its armed factions to take on Islamic State. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Berlin (AFP) - Bayern Munich are ten points clear, and on the verge of an historic fourth straight Bundesliga title, after Robert Lewandowski netted twice in Saturday's 3-0 win over Schalke.

With second-placed Borussia Dortmund hosting Hamburg on Sunday, Pep Guardiola's Bayern took the chance to extend their lead at Munich's Allianz Arena.

With four league games left, and depending on other results, Bayern could be confirmed as the first club to win four straight German league titles when they host Borussia Moechengladbach in a fortnight.

Guardiola can sign off his three years in Munich with the treble before coaching Manchester City next season.

Bayern face Werder Bremen in the German Cup semi-finals on Tuesday and have drawn Atletico Madrid in the Champions League's last four.

After a disjointed first-half display in Munich, Bayern went up a gear after the break.

Arturo Vidal's header was chested down by Lewandowski, who turned and hit the back of the net on 54 minutes to end his dry patch after 390 minutes without a goal.

The Poland hot-shot headed home his 27th league goal of the season on 65 minutes to leave him as the Bundesliga's top scorer, four ahead of Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

"I feel good again. There are phases when things don't go that well," Lewandowski told Sky having failed to score in his four previous matches.

"We were slow in the first half, but played really well after the break."

Vidal then added Bayern's third when he tapped home after some superb individual skills from Franck Ribery who jinxed his way through the Schalke defence before providing the final pass.

Earlier, Bayer Leverkusen climbed to third, and are on course for a direct Champions League place next season, after their 3-0 win over strugglers Eintracht Frankfurt.

Kevin Kampl gave Bayer the lead on 70 minutes, just 43 seconds after coming off the bench for Leverkusen's top scorer, Javier Hernandez, who limped off after pulling up with an injury.

Story continues

Julian Brandt and Germany winger Karim Bellarabi then added further goals to leave Frankfurt second from bottom.

Leverkusen claim third from Hertha Berlin, who dropped one place after their 2-1 defeat at Hoffenheim.

Hertha, who are bidding for a first Champions League place since the 1999/2000 season, are winless in their last three games.

Hoffenheim earned the victory when Mark Uth headed home at the far post to move his side up to 13th -- three points above the relegation places.

Four days after their Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of Real Madrid, Wolfsburg lost again when they went down 3-2 at relegation-threatened Werder Bremen.

Having lost 3-0 in Madrid, Wolfsburg were well beaten as Claudio Pizarro scored his 102nd goal for Bremen, to become the club's all-time top scorer, by converting a first-half penalty.

Wolfsburg's France midfielder Josuha Guilavogui equalised before the break, but Bremen netted goals from Fin Bartels and Mali midfielder Sambou Yatabare.

Wolfsburg's director of sport Klaus Allofs was dismissed to the stands early in the second half after arguing with the fourth official.

The visitors pulled a late goal back when Dutch striker Bas Dost powered a header home, but Wolfsburg stay eighth.

Despite the win, Bremen are in the relegation play-off place, but just three points from 11th place as things remain tight at the bottom.

Augsburg stayed just above the relegation places with a 1-0 win at home to VfB Stuttgart.

Mid-table Darmstadt enjoyed a 2-0 win over Ingolstadt, while on Friday bottom side Hanover 96 enjoyed a 2-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach, but remain 12 points from safety.
BAMAKO (Reuters) - Malian security forces have made some 2,000 arrests since November, when a state of emergency was introduced after an al Qaeda attack on a luxury hotel, the West African nation's security minister told Reuters on Friday. Some 700 searches have been conducted and around 50 weapons seized, said Colonel Major Salif Traore. He did not say how many of those arrested were eventually imprisoned. "We are the police," Trafore said. "We arrest people. We detain them 48 to 72 hours. And after, we send them before a judge who decides what happens next." Gunmen from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the group's North African affiliate, killed 20 people when they stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, on Nov. 20 [nL8N13F14E]. Mali's parliament voted on Thursday to prolong the ensuring emergency measures another three months. France led a military intervention in 2013 that drove back militants who had seized Mali's desert north a year earlier. However, Islamist violence is mounting again in West Africa, with militants striking ever further afield. The attack on the Radisson Blu was followed in January by an assault on a cafe and hotel frequented by foreigners in neighbouring Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou. Dozens were killed. And last month, al Qaeda fighters struck the Ivory Coast beach resort town of Grand Bassam [nL5N16M30G]. (Reporting by Joe Bavier, editing by Larry King)
By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) - Older black women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)positive breast cancer are less likely than their white peers to receive targeted therapy with trastuzumab (Herceptin), a U.S. study suggests. When researchers examined data from Medicare, the U.S. health program for people over age 65, they found just 40% of black women with HER2-positive tumors received trastuzumab, compared with 50% of white women. "A very substantial racial disparity exists," said study leader Dr. Katherine Reeder-Hayers of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Although we don't know for sure why this is happening, the fact that the treatment is relatively new, expensive, and lengthy may all be contributing," Reeder-Hayes added by email. Reeder-Hayes and colleagues looked data on about 1,400 women diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer in 2010 and 2011 and examined how many of them received trastuzumab in the year after their diagnosis. After adjusting for tumor characteristics, poverty and patients' other medical problems, black women were 25% less likely to get trastuzumab than white women, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, online April 7. It's possible that some of the women didn't receive trastuzumab because of the risk of heart damage and other side effects that come with the drug, said Erica Warner of Massachusetts General Hospital. "I think concerns about toxicity, particularly cardiotoxicity, in women (who) may have other chronic diseases and limited life expectancy gives some clinicians pause," Warner, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. Because many women over age 70 don't receive chemotherapy or targeted treatments like trastuzumab, the racial disparities found in the study might not look the same among younger women, noted Dr. Richard Bleicher of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "At the extremes of older age, patients may die of other causes," Bleicher, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "That having been said, if the patient is appropriate for it, it should be offered." One limitation of the study is that Medicare data can't provide a full picture of medical conditions that might influence whether doctors give women trastuzumab, the authors note. In particular, they lacked data on heart conditions that might make this treatment too risky. "There is no way to fully understand what was recommended to patients, whether they refused treatment, or whether there was some other barrier," said Dr. Rachel Freedman of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Still, many women in the study were probably under-treated, and the racial disparities in trastuzumab therapy are consistent with earlier research, Freedman, who wasn't involved in the study, added by email. "The patterns observed for trastuzumab are not that different from disparities observed for most health care," Roshan Bastani, director of cancer disparities research at the University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, said by email. "Those less likely to receive optimal care tend to be poor, ethnic minority and the elderly," said Bastani, who wasn't involved in the study. "The consequence of this is that these groups are deprived the opportunity to benefit from scientific advances in care and are at increased risk for poorer outcomes." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1YydHma J Clin Oncol 2016.
Mexico City (AFP) - The Mexican army made a rare public apology on Saturday over a scandal in which two soldiers and a policewoman tortured a terrified woman in a video that went viral.

It is just the latest allegation of abuse committed by security forces in Mexico, who are often accused of violent acts against civilians, including murder.

General Salvador Cienfuegos, the defense minister, read out the apology before 26,000 soldiers assembled at a military base in Mexico City.

"In the name of all of us who make up this great national institution, I offer my heartfelt apology to all in society wronged by this impermissible event," Cienfuegos said.

In the video, which went viral on social media this week, a barefoot woman is seen crying and screaming on the floor as a female soldier puts the muzzle of an assault rifle to her head.

A federal policewoman is then seen handcuffing the woman and proceeding to tightly wrap a plastic bag around her head while one of the officials demands threateningly: "Are you going to talk?"

The incident is reported to have taken place in February 2015 in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, in the southern state of Guerrero.

The defense ministry says it only learned of the video in December.

The male army captain and the female soldier seen in the video were arrested in January and charged with disobeying orders.

Mexican authorities are investigating a policewoman to determine if she was the one in the footage.

"It's necessary to publicly express our outrage over the regrettable events that occurred nearly 14 months ago," Cienfuegos said.

"Bad members of our institution besmirch the honorable behavior of thousands of women and men in military uniform," he added.

"Although isolated, (such incidents) damage in a major way our image and the prestige we have worthily earned."

Cienfuegos told the soldiers they would continue to be on the frontlines of Mexico's war against drug cartels.

Story continues

But he stressed: "We must not, nor cannot, confront illegality with more illegality. Crime is contained with the law in hand."

Federal prosecutors have been investigating the case officially since January 7 and they plan to try the three troops in a civilian court.

- Abuse allegations -

Human rights groups say police and troops have committed a slew of abuses since the military was deployed to combat drug cartels in 2006 in a massive federal reinforcement surge.

Over the past decade, the violence linked to the drug war has left 100,000 people dead or missing.

And this week, the National Human Rights Commission said two Mexican federal police officers allegedly participated in the disappearance of 43 students -- implicating national agents in that 2014 case for the first time.

The attorney general's office declared last year that police officers from Iguala and the neighboring town of Cocula abducted the students and delivered them to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel.

The gang then killed the students, incinerated their bodies at a garbage dump in Cocula and dropped the remains in a nearby river.

But experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights who conducted an independent investigation said there was no scientific evidence the students were incinerated at the dump.

The case is considered the biggest challenge faced by President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration, prompting protests and causing his approval rating to drop.
Monte Carlo (Principality of Monaco) (AFP) - Rafael Nadal returned to the final of the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time in three years, the eight-time champion struggling to close out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Andy Murray on Saturday.

Waiting for him in his 100th ATP final is Gael Monfils, who hammered French compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-3, with the loser drawing jeers as he left the court in after 69 minutes.

Monfils, making his second consecutive Monte Carlo semi-final start, never allowed Tsonga a chance in their match, breaking six times.

Nadal will be playing his tenth final here and holds a solid 11-2 record over Monfils. He has not won a Masters title since Madrid, 2014.

"It's a very important week for me, being in a final here again in Monte Carlo, winning against very tough opponents," the winner said.

"That's a lot of great confidence, good news for me.

"Let's see if tomorrow I can play at the same level.

Spain's fifth-seeded king of clay showed hints of the form which took him to multiple seasons of total dominance on the surface as he overcame second seed Murray in a battle lasting for more than two and a half hours.

"I don't want to talk every day about if I am back or I am not back. I'm in the final of Monte Carlo. That's a great news.

"Every year is different. Every feeling is different. I don't want to compare myself or trying to analyse if I am the same like before or not.

"I want to be today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today, and after tomorrow better than tomorrow. That's it. That's my work today, and that's my motivation. I don't want to think about the past."

It was not all one-way traffic for Nadal, who spent 10 minutes in the final game between his first match points and his fifth in fighting off a late Murray charge.

The 28-year-old Murray saved four match points and had two break chances of his own before Nadal finally drilled over a winner which the Scot could not quite handle.

Story continues

Murray, who got into a verbal row with the chair umpire during frustrating moments, said: "Towards the end, it's obviously frustrating when the match is getting away from you.

"In the third, I didn't get off to the best start. I had a few opportunities in that last game to try to make it a bit more interesting, but couldn't quite get the break.

"I do feel like I played a pretty good level match today for the most part. Obviously there was a few dips. Also Rafa is allowed to play well sometimes, too. So you have to give your opponent credit.

"He's one of the best, if not the best ever, on this surface. When he plays well, you can't always decide the outcome. He played some good stuff today and deserved to win."

Murray was unable to maintain his winning momentum after lifting the opening set against the Spaniard who has spent the last 18 months recovering mental confidence after a deep slump.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion has not won a title of any kind since last summer in Hamburg.

Nadal improved to 17-6 over Murray, defeating him seven of the eight times they have met on clay.

Murray will need to step up his pace on clay after winning his first two trophies on the surface last spring in Munich and Madrid back-to-back.

The Scot won the opening set in 49 minutes with a single break, but could not carry on after being broken at the start of the second set.

The second seed got the break back a game later but then lost serve for a second time in the seventh game as Nadal made a winning return off a Murray overhead.

The Spaniard claimed the set after more than an hour as the total match time ticked over to two hours.

Murray's game went into collapse in the third set as he trailed 5-1 before his futile late rally.
MONTE CARLO (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal continued his resurgence with a thrilling 2-6 6-4 6-2 victory over world number two Andy Murray on Saturday to set up a Monte Carlo Masters final against Gael Monfils. Eight-times champion Nadal has struggled since losing the 2013 final to Novak Djokovic but overcame a strong early showing from Murray to book a spot in Sunday's final. Monfils beat eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 6-3 to become the first Frenchman to reach the Monte Carlo final since Cedric Pioline in 2000. "Its great to be back in the final," said Nadal. "Every year is different; I'll never be the same as I was in 2009 or 2013, I want to play better every day." Nadal started sluggishly, allowing an aggressive Murray to take the opening set before breaking serve in the seventh game of the second to take the initiative. Another Nadal break at the beginning of the third set was asign of things to come and the Spaniard demonstrated his mastery on clay as the momentum slipped away from the ill-tempered Murray to reach the 100th final of his career. "Rafa is playing better this year, his confidence is growing," said Murray. "I'm not surprised by his comeback. "I played a good match today for the most part," continued the Scot. "But you have to take your chances. It was frustrating to see it slip away." Monfils, the 13th seed, twice broke Tsonga to tear into a 3-0 lead before closing out the first set 6-1, as his opponent struggled to rouse himself. The second set continued much as the first had ended and Monfils raced into a 4-1 lead before Tsonga, perhaps drained after a testing quarter-final victory over Roger Federer, began to discover his rhythm. By then it was too late, however, and Monfils saw out the second set. "I tried to get into my game immediately and put him under pressure," said Monfils. "I'm happy to have qualified for the final. "I'm going to savor it and I hope that we'll deliver a good match on Sunday." (Editing by Tony Jimenez/Alan Baldwin)
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - NATO is ready to assist a new United Nations-backed Libyan government if it requests help to build up security institutions, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said on Saturday. The European Union is expected to consider moving security personnel into Libya to help to stabilize the chaotic country, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters, and Vershbow said NATO may also play a role. "The progress toward the consolidation of this new government of national unity in Libya is encouraging and we stand ready to assist the government if it requests," Vershbow said when asked if NATO could also get involved. "Two years ago we were very close to implementing a program to assist the government at that time in Libya ... to develop and reform its defense institutions," he told reporters at the Globsec security conference in Bratislava. "If this new government requests NATO assistance in the same area, we stand ready to help them out," he added. EU foreign and defense ministers will hold a special dinner in Luxembourg on Monday, when they are expected to agree to look into police and border training missions for Libya. Any such support would initially be in Tripoli, where the new government is trying to establish itself. Diplomats said there had yet to be a detailed discussion with the new U.N.-brokered Libyan government in defining what kind of assistance they wanted from the EU, and that it is keen to avoid the impression of moving into the country uninvited. In separate comments on a planned meeting of the NATO-Russia council on April 20, Vershbow said NATO would call for implementation of the Minsk agreement on eastern Ukraine and also discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting in Brussels will be the first for the council since 2014. NATO froze cooperation with Russia after its 2014 annexation of Crimea and the start of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, which NATO says is directed by the Kremlin. Moscow denies this. But the planned talks do not mean a return to normal relations between NATO and Moscow, Vershbow said. "The meeting of the NATO-Russia council on Wednesday next week is not meant in any way to signal normalization of relations with Russia. This is more of a resumption of dialogue, not normalization," Vershbow said. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova and Jan Lopatka; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Washington (AFP) - Nine Yemeni inmates have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said on Saturday, bringing the controversial military prison's remaining population down to 80.

It is the largest transfer from the facility since 10 Yemenis were sent to Oman in January and the first time Saudi Arabia has taken any Guantanamo inmates.

The men's release -- just ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to Saudia Arabia next week -- is the result of years of negotiations with the Saudi government and they will all participate in a Saudi rehabilitation and de-radicalization program.

The United States has in recent months accelerated the rate at which detainees who have been approved for transfer are released from the facility, which Obama urgently wants to close before he leaves office at the start of next year.

The Guantanamo prison has held about 780 inmates in all since it was opened shortly after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

"The United States is grateful to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The men arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier Saturday. Most had been recommended for release years ago, but faced delays owing in part to their home country sliding into civil war, meaning they could not be repatriated.

The nine inmates are: Ahmed Umar Abdullah Al-Hikimi, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Saleh Nasir, Ali Yahya Mahdi Al-Raimi, Tariq Ali Abdullah Ahmed Ba Odah, Muhammed Abdullah Muhammed Al-Hamiri, Ahmed Yaslam Said Kuman, Abd al Rahman Al-Qyati, Mansour Muhammed Ali Al-Qatta, and Mashur Abdullah Muqbil Ahmed Al-Sabri.

Ba Odah had been on hunger strike for years and was force-fed by the military.

According to The New York Times, officials are still deliberating whether to release a 10th Yemeni who has been recommended for transfer.

Story continues

Of the 80 remaining inmates, 26 have been approved for transfer and are expected to be released later this year.

Obama wants to send the rest, deemed to be the most dangerous, for incarceration in the United States but Republican lawmakers have steadfastly resisted any such move.

- 'Playing politics' -

Obama promised, on his second day in office in 2009, to close the Guantanamo jail within a year. His efforts floundered, however.

In February, the president presented Congress with a new closure plan for Guantanamo, which he says serves only to stoke anti-US resentment and fuel jihadi recruitment.

But the plan is likely doomed in the face of Republicans continuing to oppose the jail's shuttering.

Amnesty International USA's Naureen Shah said the latest transfers add to momentum to close Guantanamo.

"Despite repeated attempts by some in Congress to keep Guantanamo open, President Obama's continued transfer of Guantanamo detainees signal that he does not buy into their fear-mongering," she said.

"Congress cannot continue playing politics with the lives of detainees who may die behind bars without ever facing trial."

Guantanamo is a US naval base carved out of a remote chunk of land on the tip of southeastern Cuba. The administration of George W. Bush opened a prison there to hold terror suspects.

Republican presidential candidates have vowed that if elected they would send more terror suspects to Guantanamo instead of closing it.
Lesbos (Greece) (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday told refugees trapped on the Greek island of Lesbos that they are "not alone" in their plight, and called on the world to respond with "common humanity" to the migrant crisis.

"You are not alone... do not lose hope," the pope said as he visited Lesbos with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, calling on the world to respond to the tragedy "in a way worthy of our common humanity".

The three religious leaders then signed a joint declaration that calls on the international community to "respond with courage in facing this massive humanitarian crisis and its underlying causes through diplomatic, political and charitable initiatives."

The pope, who is next scheduled to say a prayer at Lesbos harbour for the hundreds of people of all ages who have died in the Aegean trying to reach Europe, has expressed a desire to take to the Vatican some refugees after his five-hour visit, according to an official from Greece's state refugee coordination agency.

"We are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived," he said before his arrival on Saturday.

There were emotional scenes as the pope visited the migrant facility of Moria, greeting unaccompanied minors, women and small children who gave him over a dozen drawings.

One man broke into tears as he knelt at the pope's feet, requesting his blessing. Another woman got around security to approach the pontiff, also breaking down in tears as he paused to listen to her.

Other migrants detained at Moria, unable to reach the pope, shouted and whistled.

Some held handmade signs that read 'We want freedom', 'Let my people go' and 'Papa cherche a nous sauver' ('Pope, try to save us').

The pontiff's landmark visit comes amid controversy over a deal last month to end Europe's refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - It would be hypocritical of President Barack Obama to support Britain staying in the European Union because Washington would never share its own sovereignty, London Mayor Boris Johnson said ahead of a visit by the U.S. leader. Obama is expected to back Prime Minister David Cameron with a show of support for Britain keeping its EU membership on a visit to London next week ahead of an in-out vote on June 23. Polls show the referendum, with important implications for trade and Britain's status in the world, could be a close call. "I just find it absolutely bizarre that we are being lectured by the Americans about giving up our sovereignty, when the Americans wouldn't even sign up to the international law of the sea, let alone the International Criminal Court," Johnson, who supports a British exit from the EU, told the BBC. "They wouldn't dream of sharing sovereignty," he said. "There is an intrinsic hypocrisy ... if that is what he is going to say." Obama will offer his view as a "friend" that the UK would be better off economically if it stayed in the EU if asked about "Brexit" during his visit, White House officials told reporters on Thursday. The International Monetary Fund said this week that a vote to leave the EU could deal a damaging blow to the fragile global economy, citing it as a risk alongside slowing Chinese growth. (The story was refiled to remove the day reference in paragraph 1) (Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary; editing by Jason Neely)
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's army on Saturday took over an operation to dislodge a criminal gang holding 24 hostages on its island hideout in the prosperous province of Punjab, the military's spokesman said. The security operation involving more than 1,600 security forces is now in its eleventh day and is an unprecedented use of force by the military in Punjab, which is the political power base of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The head of the army's publicity wing, General Asim Bajwa, announced that the army had been officially deployed to flush gangsters from the 10 kms (6 mile) long island in the center of the Indus River. "Army troops deployed. Take over charge of op," Bajwa said in a tweet. "Cordon reinforced, Police&Rangers already in op will cont to participate under Army." On Friday, the Punjab law minister had given the gang 48 hours to surrender or be wiped out. Pakistani TV stations reported early on Saturday that the head of the gang, Ghulam Rasool, also known as Chotu, a longtime criminal active in the border areas of the provinces of Punjab and Sindh, had surrendered. But the reports could not be independently confirmed and the army's latest announcement indicated that the siege was ongoing in the afternoon. While Pakistan's attention has for years been focused on the Taliban and al Qaeda threat on the Afghan border in the remote northwest, militants and criminals have quietly expanded their influence and won recruits in the country's heartland of Punjab. At least six police officials have been killed in the battle for the island, launched in a sweeping crackdown after a Taliban suicide bombing killed 72 people in Lahore, the provincial capital, last month. It was unclear just how many members of the "Chotu Group", blamed for hundreds of cases of kidnapping for ransom, murder and robbery, were trapped on the island but police said their families were believed to be accompanying them. A police spokeswoman said seven of the gang's leaders had been killed by police and eight injured, while six police officials had died and seven were hurt in clashes. Policemen were among the 24 hostages. The battle is taking place near Rajanpur, one of the poorest districts in Punjab, where the Panjnad River flows into the Indus, Pakistan's lifeline. Previous military crackdowns have focused on the lawless tribal regions where the Taliban and other militants are based. Paramilitary Rangers also launched a crackdown on criminals in the violent southern port city of Karachi in 2013. (Reporting and writing by Mehreen Zahra-Malik; Editing by Michael Perry)
Instead of leaving a cash tip, a group of women at a North Carolina restaurant left their waitress a Bible verse and the words "Praying for you!" at the bottom of the check.

According to Charlotte resident Alexandra Judd, the ladies were "very rude" and would "hardly talk" to her. The women left the oft-quoted Bible verse Leviticus 20:13, which reads:

"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them."

Judd has received religious-themed tips before, but never one this violent.

"I never expected a hateful gesture like this," Judd said to WBTV. "I've had a guest leave me a pamphlet to their church as a tip one time, but I didn't feel as if they were being hateful toward me."

Currently, North Carolina is a site of much controversy following the passing of the most sweeping anti-trans bill in the country.

While hate is written into the law  and several groups are trying to address it  this level of person-to-person disrespect still stings.

"I don't care what anyone says, this is the most disrespectful thing you can do," Judd wrote on the Facebook post. "Don't pray for me darling, I have everything I could possibly want and need in my life."
(Reuters) - Attackers threw Molotov cocktails at a police patrol north of Bahrain's capital on Saturday, killing one officer and critically injuring two others, the interior ministry said. The attack took place in the neighborhood of Karbabad outside Manama, the ministry said on its Twitter account, calling the unknown assailants a "terrorist group." Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has reported a growing number of attacks using home-made explosives in the last two years and has accused Iran and its allies in the Shi'ite Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of sponsoring the plots. The Gulf Arab state has experienced sporadic unrest since mass protests in 2011 led by majority Shi'ite Muslims demanding more rights and reforms and a bigger role in the Sunni-led government. Security forces put down the protests by force and launched a crackdown on dissent, arresting opposition leaders for incitement and revoking the citizenship of more than 300 people. The kingdom's police chief told Reuters in February the country was slowly returning to stability five years later, but still faced security threats from Iran-backed elements and militants linked to Islamic State. (Reporting by Katie Paul; Editing by Helen Popper)
Los Angeles (AFP) - Olympic superstar Michael Phelps saw plenty of room for improvement after winning the 200m butterfly at the wind-whipped Mesa Pro Swim on Friday in 1min 58.14sec.

"Not happy," the 18-time Olympic gold medallist said after winning in a time that didn't crack the top 20 in the world this year -- a list led by the 1:54.14 of Japan's Daiya Seto.

Phelps was in control at the 100m mark, but Pace Clark closed strong to finish second in 1:58.71 and Jonathan Gomez was third in 1:58.79.

Phelps said the wind, with gusts up to 30 mph (48 km/h) were a challenge.

"That wind, oh my gosh," Phelps said. "I felt like I was moving backwards with about 15 meters to go going into that wall."

Reigning Olympic 100m freestyle champion Nathan Adrian said it was howling so loudly in his ears he was afraid he wouldn't hear the start of the 50m free.

He managed, and won in 21.69sec, knocking one-hundredth of a second off his third-fastest time in the world this year. Anthony Ervin was second in 22.28 and Cullen Jones third in 22.30.

With the wind at her back, Madison Kennedy won the women's 50m free in a sizzling 24.45sec, sixth-fastest in the world this year.

In other events, Maya DiRado beat an impressive field in the 100m backstroke, winning in 1:00.71 ahead of Zimbabwean Olympic gold medallist Kirsty Coventry and Hungary's Katinka Hosszu.

David Plummer clocked 54.29 to win the men's 100m back over Ryan Lochte (55.35) with Russian-born Serbian Arkady Vyatchanin third in 55.39.

The wind was especially hard on the backstrokers, but it seems nothing can blow freestyle queen Katie Ledecky off course.

Ledecky won the 400m freestyle in 4:02.15, the second-fastest in the world this year behind her own 3:59.34.

American Cierra Runge battled with Denmark's Lotte Friis for second. Runge, who trains with Friis at North Baltimore Aquatic Club, nabbed second in 4:08.08 with Friis third in 4:08.89.
Compostie-cuba-ballet-dancer

On his recent trip to Cuba, photographer Omar Robles captured remarkable snapshots of ballet dancers expressing their art throughout the nation's culture-filled streets.

With 135,000 Instagram followers, Robles is known for his stunning photographs of dancers performing against cityscapes and urban backgrounds.

SEE ALSO: Striking ballet dancers pose against gritty urban backdrops

Robles told Mashable that visiting Cuba has been a lifelong dream. While he was there, he had the pleasure of getting to know some local dancers.

As he mentioned in his blog post, Cuban dancers are some of the best trained in the world  which is another reason he was eager to visit.

Image: Omar Robles

Image: Omar Robles

While in Cuba, Robles noted that he was deeply inspired by the people he encountered, and learned a great deal about their lives.

"I was moved greatly by the way Cubans live in general. The level of poverty is pretty strong. Nevertheless, you dont feel the amount of stress you can feel in big cities," he said.

"People are extremely courteous and respectful of each other. Children actually play in the streets and parks, music is played on public transport, people play chess and dominos in the street corners."

Image: Omar Robles

Image: Omar Robles

Image: Omar Robles

"All this makes a beautifully convivial experience of the everyday life where you feel a genuine connection to the people sounding you," Robles continued.

"Talking to some of the dancers, they mentioned how while they do get paid to dance professionally, like everyone else in the country, their salary is just not enough."

But despite their inadequate financial conditions, Robles calls the performers he spoke with "some of the most generous and kind-hearted dancers I have worked with.

"In our society, we grow with people telling us not to pursue art under any circumstance, or that it should just be a hobby. In Cuba, artists are greatly respected and they respect themselves as well."

Story continues

Image: Omar Robles

Image: Omar Robles

Image: Omar Robles





Image: Omar Robles

Image: Omar Robles

Robles says that these dancers are following their passions with great pride  and that their attitudes truly struck him in a life-altering way.
Lesbos (Greece) (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos for a high-profile visit that will again turn the spotlight on a controversial EU deal with Turkey to end an unprecedented refugee crisis.

"This is a voyage marked by sadness, a sad voyage," the pope told reporters during the flight from Rome.

"We will witness the worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War. We will see so many people who are suffering, who are fleeing and do not know where to go," the pontiff said.

"And we are also going to a cemetery, the sea. So many people never arrived," he said.

The Greek island, where hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers and other migrants have arrived in recent months, is on the frontline of a humanitarian crisis that has sparked disagreements between European countries and brought the bloc's system of open borders to the brink of collapse.

The island has also become the focus for criticism of the EU's March deal to ensure so-called economic migrants who travel to the Greek islands on boats operated by people smugglers are quickly sent back to Turkey, which has agreed to take them in return for billions in EU cash.

According to an unconfirmed report on the Greek state agency ANA, the pope will take back to the Vatican 10 refugees from vulnerable groups.

The EU-Turkey deal has resulted in new arrivals being detained on Lesbos pending processing to determine which of them have a legitimate claim to refuge from conflicts like the war in Syria or from fear of persecution.

Pope Francis, accompanied by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, will spend five hours on Lesbos where they will visit the Moria processing centre.

The facility, currently housing around 3,000 people, has been described as a centre for "arbitrary detention" by rights groups. Amnesty International has urged the pope to use his time on Lesbos to speak out against the EU-Turkey deal concluded last month.

Story continues

Francis has framed his visit as an awareness-raising exercise and his spokesman insisted this week that its purpose was "strictly humanitarian and ecumenical, not political".

The pontiff, however, has demonstrated in the past that he is not one to mince his words and his spokesman reiterated: "If he the pope has something to say he will say it."

- 'Open your doors' -

Francis said earlier this week that the goal of his trip was "to show closeness and solidarity with the refugees as well as the citizens of Lesbos and to all the Greek people who have been so generous in their welcome".

The use of the term 'refugee' was not accidental. The former Jesuit priest -- and son of an Italian emigrant to Argentina -- has repeatedly said he does not accept the EU's distinction between those fleeing conflict and those fleeing poverty and starvation created by global economic inequalities.

And that line has been backed by Bartholomew, the Turkey-based leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, who said Europe as a whole must display the same generosity as the people of Lesbos.

"This offends God himself," he said. "The segregation of certain groups of people to the advantage of others does not reflect His desire."

The Vatican's head of migration issues, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, has strongly criticised the EU-Turkey deal which he said treats refugees like "merchandise".

During their visit to Moria, the religious leaders are due to have lunch with a small group of asylum-seekers followed by a larger meeting with around 250 migrants and brief discussions with Greek coastguards and local residents.

On a 2013 visit to Lampedusa, the Italian island which has witnessed several deadly sinkings of migrant boats off its shores, the pope made one of the defining speeches of his papacy, denouncing the "globalisation of indifference" which has allowed thousands to perish at sea.

Over one million people crossed clandestinely from Turkey to Greece in 2015 and some 150,000 have made the trip since the start of this year.
ON BOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AFP) - Pope Francis, who visited the Greek migrant hotspot island of Lesbos Saturday, took three Syrian families with him on the papal plane back to the Vatican, describing the move as a "humanitarian gesture... (but) a drop in the ocean."

Speaking to reporters on board the flight home, the pope said taking in the refugees back had been suggested by an aide a week earlier.

"Everything has been done according to the rules, with the agreement of the Greek and Italian governments," he said. "They have their papers, and everything is in order."

The three families were all Muslim, the Vatican said in a statement earlier.

"I didn't make the selection. These three families had papers which were in order and it was feasible," the pope said.

"There were two Christian families but their paperwork wasn't ready. (Religion) was not grounds for exemption. All refugees are children of God."

Asked about the symbolic nature of his actions, as Europe struggles to deal with its biggest migrant crisis since World War II, the Argentinian pontiff paraphrased the sainted Mother Teresa of Kolkata in reply: "It's a drop in the ocean, but after this drop the ocean will never be the same again."

The pope said he understood European fears over the massive number of migrant arrivals but added that "we have a great responsibility for welcoming" them.

"To build walls is not a solution," he added. "We must build bridges but build bridges intelligently, through dialogue, through work."

The refugee families to be taken in by the Vatican, which include six children, will be initially cared for by the community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, the Holy See said.

They originally lived in Damascus and Deir Azzor, an area currently occupied by jihadists, and have lost their homes to bombings, it said.
By Philip Pullella ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday that his meeting with Bernie Sanders, contesting the Democratic candidacy for the U.S. Presidency, was not meddling in politics and that anyone who thought otherwise should look for a psychiatrist. Sanders and the pope met briefly on Saturday morning at the Vatican guest house where Francis lives and where Sanders and his wife spent the night after he addressed a Vatican conference on social justice. When I came down, I greeted him, I shook his hand and nothing more. This is called good manners and it is not getting involved in politics, the pope told reporters in answer to a question aboard the plane returning from the Greek island of Lesbos, where he visited a refugee camp. [L5N17J063]. If anyone thinks that greeting someone is getting involved in politics, I recommend that he look for a psychiatrist, he said, laughing. In an interview with ABC News after the meeting, Sanders called the pope a beautiful man, adding I am not a Catholic, but there is a radiance that comes from him. I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the planet and injecting the need for morality in the global economy, Sanders, a Brooklyn-born son of Polish Jewish immigrants, told ABC. The Democratic hopeful from Vermont has campaigned on a promise to rein in corporate power and level the economic playing field for working and lower-income Americans who he says have been left behind, a message echoing that of the pope. The meeting came just days before Tuesdays Democratic party primary in New York, where polls say he is trailing Hillary Clinton. After he won seven of the last eight state contests, a loss in Sanders home state would give front-runner Clinton a boost toward the partys presidential nomination. Sanders has said the trip was not a pitch for the Catholic vote but a testament to his admiration for the pontiff. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
Lesbos (Greece) (AFP) - Pope Francis wants to take back to the Vatican a number of refugees after his landmark visit Saturday to the island of Lesbos, an official of Greece's state refugee coordination agency said.

The refugees are expected to be among "vulnerable groups" who arrived on Lesbos before an EU-Turkey deportation deal took effect in March, the official told AFP, without specifying whether this would take place immediately after the pope's visit or at a later stage.

Greek state television ERT said three families currently staying at the open camp of Kara Tepe on Lesbos and who were chosen in a draw would be the ones to go.

The pontiff, who has shown a strong interest in the plight of thousands of refugees who have risked their lives to reach Europe, is on a five-hour visit to Lesbos, the frontline island in Europe's migration crisis.
By Adnan Abidi AGRA, India (Reuters) - Where Princess Diana went alone, her son Prince William visited the Taj Mahal with his wife Kate on Saturday, bringing the British royal couple's week-long South Asian tour to a poignant close. William and Kate sat side by side on the same bench where his late mother was photographed on a solitary visit in 1992. Kate wore a slimline white dress with a navy pattern by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan, while William braved intense afternoon heat in a blazer and open-necked shirt. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were rounding off a tour in which they met another glamorous young royal couple, the king and queen of Bhutan, and saw rhinos and elephants in a national park in Assam. The final stop at the Taj Mahal was an emotional one for William, who was 15 when Diana died in a car crash in 1997. He has often spoken of how much he misses his mother, and that he thinks of her every day. Diana's solo visit to the 17th-century mausoleum - built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife - came to symbolize her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles. The couple separated months later. Three of the Taj Mahal's four minarets were swathed in scaffolding for repairs. Still, images of William and Kate sitting before the onion-domed monument, its ivory colored marble translucent in the afternoon sunshine, were striking. Asked about her impression of the Taj Mahal, Kate could be heard saying over the clatter of camera shutters: "It's really stunning." It was raining earlier in the day when the couple flew out of Bhutan's only international airport, a day after they trekked to a Buddhist monastery 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) up a mountain. They landed in Agra in afternoon temperatures that reached 41 degrees Celsius (105.8F). Much of India is suffering a heatwave and severe drought after two years of failed monsoon rains. (Additional reporting by Sunil Kataria in Thimpu; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Louise Ireland)
By Adnan Abidi AGRA, India (Reuters) - Where Princess Diana went alone, her son Prince William visited the Taj Mahal with his wife Kate on Saturday, bringing the British royal couple's week-long South Asian tour to a poignant close. William and Kate sat side by side on the same bench where his late mother was photographed on a solitary visit in 1992. Kate wore a slimline white dress with a navy pattern by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan, while William braved intense afternoon heat in a blazer and open-necked shirt. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were rounding off a tour in which they met another glamorous young royal couple, the king and queen of Bhutan, and saw rhinos and elephants in a national park in Assam. The final stop at the Taj Mahal was an emotional one for William, who was 15 when Diana died in a car crash in 1997. He has often spoken of how much he misses his mother, and that he thinks of her every day. Diana's solo visit to the 17th-century mausoleum - built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife - came to symbolise her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles. The couple separated months later. Three of the Taj Mahal's four minarets were swathed in scaffolding for repairs. Still, images of William and Kate sitting before the onion-domed monument, its ivory coloured marble translucent in the afternoon sunshine, were striking. Asked about her impression of the Taj Mahal, Kate could be heard saying over the clatter of camera shutters: "It's really stunning." It was raining earlier in the day when the couple flew out of Bhutan's only international airport, a day after they trekked to a Buddhist monastery 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) up a mountain. They landed in Agra in afternoon temperatures that reached 41 degrees Celsius (105.8F). Much of India is suffering a heatwave and severe drought after two years of failed monsoon rains. (Additional reporting by Sunil Kataria in Thimpu; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Kinshasa (AFP) - The United Nations and Tanzania have opened a joint enquiry into alleged sexual abuse by Tanzanian troops serving in the UN peace mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the head of the mission said Saturday.

The UN Stabilization Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) "Is currently carrying out enquiries concerning several acts of exploitation and abuse implicating members of our Tanzanian contingent" in the eastern province of North Kivu, said Maman Sambo Sidikou, the UN's special representative in the country.

Under UN rules, the responsibility for investigating and prosecuting peacekeeper sexual abuse lies with the countries that contribute the troops and police to the peace missions.

The Tanzanian troops are part of the UN mission's elite intervention brigade deployed at Mavivi, a village near Beni, since September 2015.

A UN team was sent to the area last month on a fact-finding mission.

The United Nations has been rocked by a wave of allegations that its peacekeepers sexually abused civilians in DR Congo and the Central African Republic.

"Tanzania... has sent a team of investigators and we are carrying out a joint enquiry," Sidikou told reporters in Kinshasa.

So far 18 cases of sexual abuse have been reported and eight of the victims were minors, said Sidikou. Some of the women have since given birth.

Those cases involved a South African, a Malawian and 16 Tanzanian soldiers.

Sidikou described the allegations as "shocking" and bringing shame on the United Nations, its force and those involved.

Eleven of the cases concern UN troops on an earlier tour of duty up to July 2015.

Sidikou said he hoped those guilty would be punished swiftly and that their victims get medical and psychological help, "including the children, who must not be forgotten".

The United Nations last month reported a "deeply concerning" increase in allegations of sex abuse by its peacekeepers, with 69 claims last year against troops from 21 countries.

Most of the allegations involved troops and police from African countries: Cameroon, Congo, Tanzania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo.
Havana (AFP) - Cuban President Raul Castro rejected rapid privatization and vowed never to pursue "shock therapy," setting the tone for a Communist Party congress reviewing progress in revamping the island's moribund Soviet-style economy.

"Cuba will never permit the application of so-called shock therapies, which are frequently applied to the detriment of society's most humble classes," he said in a lengthy speech opening the congress, which takes place every five years and will stretch on for several days.

The main political event in a one-party system that brooks no dissent, the congress comes less than a month after US President Barack Obama's historic visit and with Havana normalizing ties with the United States, its longtime Cold War foe.

But if Cubans and international observers were hoping for a sign of significant political and economic change at the meeting, Castro -- the man responsible for setting in motion economic reforms -- swiftly signaled otherwise.

"The neoliberal formulas that promote accelerated privatization of state assets and social services such as education, health and social security will never be applied under Cuban socialism," warned Castro, who formally took over from his ailing brother Fidel in 2008.

Castro, 84, defended the slow pace of change to the island's economy, which has only cautiously and gradually opened up to some private entrepreneurship and foreign investment.

"Private enterprise will evolve within defined limits and will provide a complementary element of the country's economic framework," he added, in remarks broadcast to the country's 11.3 million people on state television.

Warming to the theme, he defended Cuba's one-party system that has seen dissidents arrested and locked up: "If one day they manage to divide us, it will be the beginning of the end."

And Castro again blamed Washington's more than five-decade-old embargo on the island for its economic impact on Cuba. The United States and Cuba are slowly normalizing ties, even reopening embassies in each other's capitals, but the trade embargo on Cuba remains.

Story continues

- Held in secret -

In contrast with the last party congress, which was preceded by a wide-ranging public debate, this one was being held in secret, with only the state-controlled press allowed to cover the proceedings.

The last congress, in 2011, introduced significant reforms of the island's economy, cracking open the door to small-scale private enterprise and foreign investment.

This one, the Seventh Congress, had raised expectations that it could set the stage for accelerated political and economic changes following the rapprochement with Washington.

But ahead of the meeting, Cuban authorities poured cold water on those hopes, signaling that continuity would be the watchword at the four-day, closed-door session involving 1,000 delegates and another 3,500 invited participants.

For the first time, the agenda of the Congress was kept secret and will not be debated publicly, something that has surprised even the ruling Communist Party's rank and file.

The congress was expected to approve an economic and social development program for the 2016-2030 period.

Cuban diplomacy has been very active over the past five years, its efforts crowned by the spectacular rapprochement with the United States and a dialogue that is now underway with the European Union.

But Cuba's opening to the West is also proving to be a gradual one, reflecting Raul Castro's caution as the island undergoes a transition to a new generation of leaders after more than 55 years under the Castro brothers.

"The fundamental problem is that there is a lack of consensus on the country's development strategy, on the changes that are necessary and on the pace at which they should be made," said Mauricio de Miranda, a Cuban economist at Colombia's Javeriana University, ahead of the meeting.

Experts say that Cuban authorities appear more interested in making it clear that there will be no capitalistic restoration, not now and not when Cuba's revolutionary leaders leave the scene.
Nico Rosberg roared to pole position for Mercedes after holding off a furious challenge from a resurgent Ferrari in Saturday's qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The German, who won the season's first two races, is joined on Sunday's front row by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo after a late burst left Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel on the second.

World champion Lewis Hamilton will start at the back of the grid, however, after mechanical failure effectively dashed the Briton's hopes of a hat-trick of wins in China.

"The pressure was on," Rosberg told reporters after qualifying, which was delayed for 20 minutes after Pascal Wehrlein crashed his Manor into a wall moments into the first session.

"Kimi did a better first lap so I needed to nail the lap -- which I did. Kimi was massively close and we are definitely aware of the threat from Ferrari, maybe Red Bull as well."

Raikkonen had looked set to claim his first pole since 2008 until a mistake at the hairpin left Rosberg celebrating his first of the season after being out-qualified by Hamilton in Australia and Bahrain.

"It's a shame," said Raikkonen, typically without a flicker of emotion despite blowing a golden opportunity. "We had a chance to be on top today but that's how it goes. I was quite a bit up on that lap but I ran wide on the hairpin and obviously lost a lot of time."

Ricciardo surprised even himself with his late heroics.

"Second is pretty awesome," beamed the Australian. "We didn't expect this!"

Rosberg will be favourite to claim his 17th career victory on Sunday and become only the fourth driver to win six Formula One races in a row after taking the last five chequered flags dating back to last year.

- Blistering pace -

But Ferrari, who have struggled with reliability this season, have shown blistering pace in Shanghai. Vettel insisted it was still game on, despite Rosberg making it three poles in a row for the Silver Arrows.

Story continues

"I think we can be quicker than the Red Bull," said the German, who posted the quickest time in a wet final practice on Saturday. "Tomorrow our target is to get forward from where we are now."

Hamilton, who will switch engines for the race, battled his way up to third in Hungary two years ago -- the last time he began at the back -- but was philosophical about a repeat performance.

"To get up to third, I think, is a very tough challenge," he said. "The Red Bulls are quick, there's the two Ferraris and there's Nico, so just getting points is my goal.

"There's been no luck whatsoever this weekend, but there's no need to be too stressed about it. All I can do is try to shape the future. It isn't over until it's over."

Former world champion Fernando Alonso, cleared to race this weekend after fracturing ribs in a horrific crash at last month's season-opener in Melbourne, starts from 12th.

Informed he had not made it into the final session of qualifying, which reverted to last season's three-period knockout system format after this year's system was ditched, Alonso screamed into the radio: "Aaaaaaaarrrrgggggh!"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Saudi Arabian government has threatened to sell of hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of American assets should the U.S. Congress pass a bill that could hold the kingdom responsible for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the New York Times reported on Friday. The newspaper reported that Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told U.S. lawmakers last month that "Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in Treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts." The bill, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year, would take away immunity from foreign governments in cases "arising from a terrorist attack that kills an American on American soil." The New York Times, citing administration officials and congressional aides, said "the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon." It added that the Obama administration had lobbied Congress to block the passage of the bill. The State Department said it stood "firmly with the victims of these acts of violence and their loved ones." "We remain committed to bringing to justice terrorists and those who use terrorism to advance their depraved ideology," said State Department spokesman John Kirby. In September a U.S. judge dismissed claims against Saudi Arabia by families of victims of the attacks, saying that the kingdom had sovereign immunity from damage claims by the families and from insurers that covered losses suffered by building owners and businesses. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by James Dalgleish)
By Rania El Gamal DOHA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's top oil official, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said Riyadh could boost output immediately and almost double it long term, in comments that could threaten the signing of a global production freeze deal planned for Sunday. The second in line to the throne of the world's largest crude exporter added in remarks to Bloomberg that the kingdom would only restrain its output if all other major producers, including Iran, agree to freeze their production. His remarks appeared to cast doubt on a freeze plan to be discussed by producers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC member countries such as Russia on Sunday in the Qatari capital Doha. Iran, a fellow OPEC member but also Saudi Arabia's regional rival, said it would not participate in Sunday's meeting as it could not accept proposals to freeze production. "We have told some OPEC and non-OPEC members like Russia that they should accept the reality of Iran's return to the oil market," Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the oil ministry's news agency SHANA. "If Iran freezes its oil production at the February level, it means it cannot benefit from the lifting of sanctions." Yet OPEC delegates told Reuters there was still a chance for a deal on Sunday if participants can find a compromise - and avoid a repeat of the last OPEC meeting in December where Iran and Saudi Arabia clashed over output policy. The fact that Tehran's stance has not torpedoed the convening of the meeting suggests fellow producers may be prepared to tolerate a rise in Iran's output, provided there is no new price rout. The freeze proposal has helped oil prices to rise over 60 percent from a 12-year low near $27 a barrel hit in January, despite little change to the market's supply glut. "I am optimistic," acting Kuwaiti oil minister Anas Khalid al-Saleh said on Saturday regarding prospects for a deal. Several sources told Reuters there was support among the producers, including another OPEC delegate who said: "I still think there will be a deal." Delegates said a number of approaches were being discussed and there was talk of setting up a committee to monitor compliance. "We have a deal," one senior oil source told Reuters, referring to a proposal backed by several producers for an output freeze at January levels that would last until October. MARKET SHARE Producers have struggled for nearly two years with low oil prices and an oversupplied market but have been loath to cut output as that would cede market share to rivals. Sanctions imposed by the United States and other world powers were lifted in January in return for Tehran agreeing to long-term curbs on its nuclear program. Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia would cap its market share at about 10.3 million to 10.4 million barrels a day (bpd), if producers agree to the freeze. "If all major producers dont freeze production, we will not freeze production," he said. The prince, who has emerged as Saudi Arabias leading economic decision-maker, said Riyadh could increase output to 11.5 million barrels a day immediately and go to 12.5 million in six to nine months "if we wanted to". If the kingdom chose to increase investment in its oil industry, production capacity could be increased to 20 million bpd, he said in remarks made on Thursday and published on Saturday. "I dont suggest that we should produce more, but we can produce more," said the prince. It is not clear to which extent his comments reflect the thinking of the Saudi leadership and king. They contrast with mostly conciliatory statements from market players in recent weeks. Iran's production has already surpassed 3.5 million bpd and exports are set to reach 2 million bpd next month, Iran's deputy oil minister was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal, Katie Paul, Parisa Hafezi, Tom Finn, Sam Wilkin, Reem Shamseddine; writing by William Maclean; editing by Jason Neely and Ralph Boulton)
By Makiko Yamazaki and Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO (Reuters) - Electronics giant Sony Corp said a factory producing image sensors for smartphone makers will remain closed while it assesses the damage from two deadly earthquakes which hit southern Japan. One of its major customers is Apple, which uses the sensors in its iPhones. Sony said it will extend the closure of its image sensor plant in Kumamoto, which is in the southern island of Kyushu, after major tremblors on Thursday and Saturday rocked the key manufacturing region. The PlayStation maker said operations at its image sensor plant in Nagasaki, also in Kyushu, will be partially suspended and it does not yet have a timeline for full resumption of operations. Sony controls about 40 percent of the market for complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, a type of integrated circuit that converts light into electrical signals. In smartphones they are used to convert images into digital data. We are not expecting any immediate supply disruption as we have some inventories right now," a Sony spokesman told Reuters on Saturday. "We will make an announcement promptly if any supply issues emerge. He said the company was hoping to resume operations as soon as aftershocks end, and would probably provide an update on late Monday afternoon. "We are still checking for potential damage to the plants, which usually operate on a 24-hour basis," he said. Apple could not be immediately reached for comment. Sony has two other CMOS image sensor plants in Japan. Samsung Electronics says it has diversified its sources for image sensors used in its smartphones and the quakes will have no impact on its flagship products. A devastating earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan in March 2011 temporarily knocked out part of Japan's auto supply chain. Some companies have since adjusted the industry's "Just in Time" production philosophy to limit any repeat of that costly disruption. Other electronics makers were also forced to stop production in Kyushu, which has grown as a manufacturing hub over the past two decades. Kyushu accounts for roughly 25 percent of semiconductor output in Japan by some estimates. Renesas Electronics Corp closed its Kumamoto plant, which produces microcontroller chips for automobiles. It will not resume production until it completes its damage assessment. Mitsubishi Electric Corp halted production at its two Kumamoto plants which produce liquid crystal display modules used in display panels for car navigation systems and semiconductor chips used in power inverters for various electrical products, including air conditioners and hybrid or electric vehicles. It uses some of the products itself and provides others to customers. We are still assessing the situation as we continue to have aftershocks," said a Mitsubishi spokesman. AUTOMAKERS HALT PRODUCTION Saturday's natural disaster also impacted major automakers, which had just stopped their production lines to inspect for any damage from Thursday's earthquake. Honda Motor Co Ltd halted production at its Kumamoto motorcycle plant, which has annual production capacity of 250,000. It said it will keep production on hold through Monday. Toyota Motor Corp halted production at three plants producing vehicles, engines and trans axles in Fukuoka. Toyota said there was no damage at its plants, but it was checking the status of its suppliers. It will decide on Sunday whether to resume production. Nissan Motor Co Ltd stopped production at its Fukuoka plant which produces vehicles including the Serena, Teana, Murano and Note. Kumamoto prefecture accounts for about 1.1 percent of Japanese GDP, compared to the combined 6.2 percent of the four prefectures which suffered the heaviest damage from the 2011 natural disaster, according to strategists at Barclays. "A relatively higher proportion of Kyushu's economic activity takes place within the region itself. Therefore economic impact on the rest of Japan stemming from any damages to Kyushu's manufacturing activity will be limited," Barclays wrote in a note to clients. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu, Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada in Tokyo; Writing by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Martin Howell)
Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - The leader of the Gambia's main political opposition was arrested Saturday following a second round of demonstrations in the country, with supporters demanding answers over the death in custody of a senior party figure.

United Democratic Party (UDP) chief Ousainou Darboe, a human rights lawyer, was hauled away by police with three other party leaders after beginning a protest march from his residence just outside the capital of Banjul.

Gambian security forces armed with assault rifles fired tear gas at the protesters, according to eyewitnesses.

"Ousainou Darboe and other senior executive members were arrested by the security agents who dispersed the crowd after firing tear gas on them," witness Modou Ceesay told AFP. "Several people were beaten," he added.

Around 150 supporters had joined Darboe to call for justice in the case of UDP organising secretary Solo Sandeng, who died in custody on Thursday, according to his party and the Amnesty International rights group.

Sandeng had led a protest which ended with Gambian security forces beating and arresting dozens for making a public call for electoral reform and the resignation of strongman President Yahya Jammeh.

The opposition leader gave a defiant speech at a press conference prior to his arrest calling for the release of his detained colleagues and the return of Sandeng's body.

"These people have done nothing wrong. They have exercised their constitutional right and that constitutional right we are now going to exercise," Darboe said.

"We are going out there to ask for Solo's body to be given to us. We are going to ask for Madam Fatoumata Jawara and the rest to be released."

Jawara is president of the UDP youth wing and one of two women believed to be in a coma in detention.

"We are not going to allow anyone to trample on our rights on the pretext you want to maintain security and stability in this country," Darboe told journalists.

Story continues

- 'Another crackdown' expected -

Amnesty International west Africa researcher Sabrina Mahtani told AFP that Sandang had "died shortly after his arrest for participating in what we've been told by eyewitnesses was a peaceful protest."

The circumstances of Sandeng's death were "as yet unknown", Mahtani added, calling on the authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation and to release any other UDP members still being held.

Gambia's information minister did not respond to a call for comment.

President Jammeh was out of the country when both protests took place, but was expected to address the nation upon his return, expected later on Saturday.

A military officer and former wrestler, he has ruled the tiny west African country with an iron fist since he seized power in a coup in 1994, and is regularly accused of sanctioning a catalogue of human rights abuses.

Amnesty's Mahtani said further repressive measures against opposition activity were likely in the run-up to a presidential election in December widely expected to return Jammeh to power for a fifth term.

"We are concerned with the election period coming up that there will be a further crackdown on fundamental human rights," she said.

A US State department report released this week accused the Gambia of torture, arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance of citizens, as well as routine harassment of critics.

The UDP has recently filed a lawsuit against the state for keeping the chairman of the electoral commission in power long after his mandate expired, alleging he was also a Jammeh ally in a supposedly neutral position.

The Independent Electoral Commission last year submitted a bill to parliament, later enacted into law, which opposition parties viewed as placing harsh restrictions on their ability to field candidates in elections.
Artists, want your artwork to literally take the spotlight onstage? Try designing costumes for rock stars.

Christian Joys fashion sense reaches deep into the subconscious, like a David Lynch film spiked with a shot of Looney Tunes. She can craft like a Midwestern elementary school teacher, but her creative risk-taking is more akin to that of her hero, John Waters. There seem to be no bounds to her amused forays into the experimental and downright bizarre. Shrimp and crustaceans, for example, are a recurring theme in her garments  need I say more?

Watch our video to learn the story of Joys connection to her muse: the kinetic Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whose punky glam outfits are Joys signature designs. The designer has also proved her ability to create more demure glamour with caped creations for Grammy Award winner Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes and space-age styles for the band Lucius. Whether sparkling, studded, stuffed, fringed or frayed, the creations that come out of Joys modest Brooklyn studio are sure to delight you.

Related Articles
By Frank Jack Daniel and Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) - President Raul Castro warned Cubans on Saturday that the United States was determined to end Cuba's socialist revolution despite restoring relations and a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, saying one-party Communism was essential to defend the system. "We must be alert, today more than ever," Castro said, speaking in front of a giant portrait of his brother Fidel Castro at the inauguration of the Communist Party's first congress in five years. Speaking for over two hours, Castro used a defiant tone that belied the breakthrough between the Cold War enemies. He said Obama's desire to end U.S. sanctions was welcome but just a change of "method", in reference to efforts by Washington to bring political change to Cuba ever since the Castro brothers toppled a pro-American government in 1959. Obama and Castro announced in December 2014 they would end decades of hostility and normalize relations. But on a historic trip to the island last month, Obama angered the government with a speech broadcast directly into Cubans' homes calling for more political freedom and democracy in the one-party state. Castro and his lieutenants, many of them in their 70s and 80s, faced some discontent ahead of the congress among younger members who are critical of their slow delivery on promised economic reforms in the past five years and a lack of transparency on discussions. "The key function of the congress is a message that the Obama visit has not changed anything. To reduce expectations," said Bert Hoffman, a Latin American expert at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies. Castro reiterated the party's commitment to the reforms which he said should be implemented faster. But he said Cuba was not moving towards capitalism, citing China and Vietnam as models, while emphasizing that social ownership and cooperatives were mostly preferable to private property. He celebrated Cuba's growing number of self-employed people but cautioned that the United States was seeking to turn them into a opposition force. Obama spent hours talking to small business people and entrepreneurs during his Havana visit. 'POWERFUL EXTERNAL FORCES' "We are not naive, and we are aware of powerful external forces that aspire to, as they say, 'empower' non-state actors to generate agents of change and finish off the revolution by other means," he said. Castro did not detail which reforms would be implemented next, although he singled out Cuba's complex dual currency system as a major economic distortion that needed to be rectified and emphasized the need for foreign investment. He said he remained convinced of the benefits of improved relations with the United States and said Cuba was committed to the diplomatic thaw. But he did not believe Obama's promise that the United States would not impose political or economic change on Cuba. "The goals are the same, only the methods have changed," Castro said, adding that U.S. migration policies that encourage Cubans to defect were "a weapon against the revolution." "These practices do not correspond to the declared change in policy towards Cuba, and cause difficulties in third countries," he said. Migration has surged since the 2014 detente as Cubans take advantage of a U.S. policy that grants them citizenship as soon as they arrive. Bottlenecks of migrants in transit have formed in Central America. Cuba's top leaders started their careers as young guerrilla fighters who overthrew a U.S. backed government in 1959, and a few years later repelled the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion - which the party congress is timed to commemorate. Castro said the one-party system was the greatest defense against Washington's past attempts to dominate Cuba. "If one day they manage to fragment us, that would be the beginning of the end of the revolution, of socialism and independence in our homeland," he told 1,000 delegates gathered for the congress. Recalling a conversations with one U.S. official, he said he told "el Americano" that the Democrats and Republicans were so similar that they were like one party. "It's the same as if in Cuba we had two parties, Fidel leads one and I lead the other," he joked to laughter and applause. Castro is 84 and his top lieutenant in the party, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 85. In a nod to the next generation of leaders, Castro said no one should be more than 60 years old when they join the party's main decision-making body. Castro is due to retire as president in 2018 and by the end of the four-day congress it will be clear whether he remains as party leader until 2021, or whether somebody younger takes over the leadership. Founded in 1965, the Communist Party is seen as more powerful in Cuba than the government. It was formally led by Fidel Castro until 2011, although his younger brother had effectively taken command several years earlier. (Additional reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Mary Milliken)
By Mfuneko Toyana PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma, facing calls to resign from within his African National Congress, will seek to win back support with the launch on Saturday of the party's manifesto in Port Elizabeth, where it risks losing an important poll. Losing power in Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, a stronghold of the ANC's fight against apartheid and named after its liberation hero, would be a symbolic blow for Zuma and his party nationally. Zuma has faced calls to resign from within the ANC since a court ruled this month that he breached the constitution by ignoring an order to repay some of the $16 million in state funds spent renovating his private home. Many South Africans are angry at corruption in the ANC and feel the liberation movement has not done enough to help lift people out of poverty since the late Nelson Mandela swept to power on a wave of optimism in 1994. "If Madiba was still alive I would have been the first one in that stadium," Patricia Domons, 58, told Reuters at her simple home in Port Elizabeth, using Mandela's clan name. "Now you find we have a president that steals, people are poor and they don't have jobs. Our country is going down and a hell of a lot needs to change." Creating jobs and improving service delivery are expected to feature heavily among the ANC's manifesto pledges. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said ahead of the launch that he was "convinced" the ANC would win the Aug. 3 vote and brushed off recent scandals. The ANC will be relying on loyal supporters who don't see an obvious alternative to a party they still associate with its leading role in ending apartheid. ANC FOR LIFE "We are ANC for life," Cumisa Msuthu told Reuters from the Nelson Mandela Stadium where tens of thousands of supporters danced and sang liberation songs. "The ANC is not Zuma. We have and will always be ANC." Zuma survived an impeachment vote last week thanks to the ANC's big majority in the 400-seat national assembly and hopes to now put the scandal behind him. He is required by law to step down in 2019 after two five-year terms. An Ipsos poll late last year suggested a very tight race in Mandela Bay, with the ANC winning only 43 percent of the vote against 42 percent for the combined opposition parties and 15 percent of undecided voters. In the 2011 local poll in Mandela Bay, where Port Elizabeth is the largest city, the ANC won 52 percent of the vote, against 40 percent for the main opposition Democratic Alliance. The constitutional court ruling against Zuma and subsequent splits within the ANC may have eroded its support base further since the Ipsos poll was taken, analysts say. Local governments manage large budgets and will be able to influence voters ahead of a presidential election in 2019. "This would be an extremely symbolic victory or loss for the ANC," said Joleen Steyn-Kotze, professor at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. "Should the ANC lose, it would send a very strong message nationally that within its own heartland and stronghold, people are losing faith in its ability to deliver." (Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Alexander Smith)
New York (AFP) - US entrepreneur Michael Pelletz's project of a rideshare service for women and children -- with vehicles driven by women -- has prompted such interest that he is postponing the service's launch date.

Chariot For Women, fully funded by its founder and close associates, was initially set to kick off on Tuesday.

Interest in the service has largely been driven by the apprehension some women have of male taxi rideshare drivers.

Several sexual harassment and even rape cases have been reported on rideshare vehicles driven by men.

Pelletz, a former part-time Uber driver, wanted to initially collect a roster of 1,000 potential drivers in the northeastern state of Massachusetts.

Like other rideshare services, these drivers would use their personal vehicle to drive on demand. However the drivers would be female, and their customers would be women and children.

Without spending a dime on advertising, no fewer than 7,000 female candidates contacted him in four days to offer to become company drivers.

"We need to make sure that our technology can handle the millions of people that are going to use our company," the Boston-based Pelletz told AFP on Friday.

"We're going to delay for a few months just to make sure."

In Boston, where the service is to be launched, rates will be about the same as Uber and Lyft, the two ridesharing giants, but without Uber's progressive pricing system.

Pelletz also said that the company would keep 25 percent of the first $100 earned daily by each driver, but nothing beyond that.

Uber takes a 25 percent share on all rides.

"I'm not really in this for the money but because there's such a need to keep women and children safe," Pelletz said.

Chariot For Women is not the first service to offer services in this niche, but none has ever been successful, in part due to charges of discrimination.

"Our legal department is well prepared" for any challenge Pelletz said.

He even hopes to be legally challenged "because laws can change if we show that there is a need," he said.
Paris (AFP) - Fightbacks from Switzerland against holders Czech Republic and France against the Netherlands left the Fed Cup semi-finals on a knife edge on Saturday.

Barbora Strycova got the Czech Republic off to a winning start in Lucerne, demolishing world number 17 Timea Bacsinszky 6-0, 6-2 in 65 minutes.

It was a first Fed Cup win for 33rd-ranked Strycova who had lost all three of her previous singles ties in the competition.

And it left the Swiss facing a tough battle as they bid for a first Fed Cup final appearance since 1998.

But Viktorija Golubic levelled with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Karolina Pliskova to leave the tie wide open at 1-1 ahead of Sunday's concluding reverse singles and doubles.

"It's an incredible feeling! I was nervous in the beginning, but then I felt the public's support!" Golubic posted on Twitter.

The hosts had suffered a blow as Swiss number one Belinda Bencic pulled out of the tie with a back injury.

The Czechs are aiming for a fifth title in six years.

In Trelaze, hosts France were trailing after Kiki Bertens saw off Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-2 in the opening rubber in the western town.

Bertens, ranked 96, dominated France's number two player Garcia, ranked 45, calmly converting her only break point opportunity in the first set.

She increased the pressure in the second to wrap up the tie after one hour and 11 minutes at the Arena Loire, to notch up her 14th win for just one singles defeat in Fed Cup.

"I think the key to my success was to serve well," said Bertens. "On my first service game I was 0-40, but I hit two aces and from that moment I gained in confidence."

But taking a leaf out of the Swiss book France dug deep and got themselves back level at 1-1 thanks to Kristina Mladenovic's 6-2, 6-4 win over Richel Hogenkamp.

In the pair's first meeting Mladenovic - ranked more than 100 places higher than her Dutch opponent - produced some powerful ground strokes to put Hogenkamp on the back foot in the opening set.

Story continues

Hogenkamp fought back in the second set, but to no avail.

France captain Amelie Mauresmo announced herself "satisfied" with France's position "after the initial defeat".

"We'd prefer obviously to be leading 2-0 but it's a scoreline that's fair."

She added she would be considering the options for Sunday's line-ups.

France are chasing a first finals appearance since 2005 and had gone into their tie on clay as heavy favourites against surprise semi-finalists the Netherlands.

"Tomorrow risks being a long day," added Mauresmo.

"I think we've still got a good chance."
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Government air strikes hit rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Saturday as rockets fired by insurgents pounded neighborhoods under state control, part of escalating violence in northern Syria that has undermined a truce agreement. Fatalities were reported on both sides of the city, the focus of a military escalation that has underscored the bleak outlook for U.N.-led peace talks being convened in Geneva. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the five-year-long war, said air strikes had targeted at least four parts of Aleppo. Opposition sources said there had been deaths, but the number was not immediately clear. The Observatory said three people had been killed in the rebel bombardment of government-held areas of the city. Syrian state news agency SANA put the death toll at seven, saying they had been killed by missile bombardments and sniper fire. Fighting has intensified this month to the north and south of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city and industrial center until the country's conflict erupted in 2011. The fighting has stretched to breaking point a "cessation of hostilities" deal brokered by the United States and Russia with the aim of allowing peace talks to start. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Helen Popper)
SHANGHAI/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan angered Beijing on Saturday by freeing 20 suspects in a telecom fraud case linked to China that has put more pressure on the sensitive relationship between the two countries. Malaysia had deported the 20 people, who were part of a group of 53 Taiwanese arrested there in March on suspicion of fraud, according to the Taipei foreign ministry. Taiwan's Executive Yuan spokesman Sun Lih-chyun told Reuters there was no legal reason to detain them. "The evidence is not with us. It is with China," he said, noting that Taipei has been talking to Chinese counterparts on the matter so investigations can begin on the self-ruled island. The decision was not welcomed by China. "By releasing the suspects, Taiwan authorities disregarded many victims' interests and harmed them a second time. It also harmed the two sides' cooperation in jointly cracking down on crimes," state-run Xinhua quoted An Fengshan, the Chinese State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman, as saying. Taiwan should give the suspects "the punishment they deserve", An was quoted by the news agency as saying. In a statement issued Saturday, Taiwan's cabinet said that the government would not shield people suspected of crime and that it had instructed the Ministry of Justice to gather information for investigation. Taiwan's justice ministry sent a formal letter requesting China's public security bureau to provide information on the crime once it knew the 20 suspected Taiwanese were returning to Taiwan from Malaysia, the statement said. Separately, Taiwan has objected to the forcible deportation of more than 40 Taiwanese people to China from Kenya also on suspicion of telecom fraud. China's Ministry of Public Security says Taiwanese people have been heavily involved in telecom fraud in China and had caused huge losses, with some victims killing themselves. Taiwanese criminals "have been falsely presenting themselves as law enforcement officers to extort money from people on the Chinese mainland through telephone calls", its has said. (Reporting by John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI and J.R. Wu in TAIPEI; Editing by Louise Ireland)
BOSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has recommended that Windows PC users uninstall Apple Inc's QuickTime video player after security software maker Trend Micro Inc <4704.T> said on Thursday it had discovered two new bugs in the software. Trend Micro said it had uncovered two critical vulnerabilities in the version of the QuickTime media player for Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, which could be leveraged to launch attacks on PCs if users visit a malicious web page or open a tainted file. The warning does not apply to QuickTime for Apple's Mac computers. A spokesman for Apple declined comment. Trend Micro said that it did not know of any cases where the bugs had been exploited by attackers, but urged Windows users to immediately uninstall it because Apple was phasing out the program, which means it will not fix the bugs. The Department of Homeland Security's United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, said in an alert on Thursday that the bugs put users at heightened risks from viruses and other security threats since Apple was ending support for the product. "The only mitigation available is to uninstall QuickTime for Windows," the alert said. (Reporting by Jim Finkle; editing by Grant McCool)
By Ginger Gibson CASPER, Wyo. (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Ted Cruz won all 14 delegates at stake on Saturday in Wyoming, besting rival Donald Trump, who made little effort to win the rural state, and further narrowing the gap in the race for the party's nomination. Cruz is trying to prevent Trump from obtaining the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination at the July convention in Cleveland. By continuing to rack up small wins, Cruz is gaining ground on the New York real estate mogul, who has thus far failed to shift his focus on the local-level campaigning necessary to win delegates. Trump has been critical of the process, again on Saturday calling it "rigged" while speaking at a rally in Syracuse, New York. He has repeatedly complained about Colorado, which awarded all 34 of its delegates to Cruz despite not holding a popular vote. Trump said his supporters are becoming increasingly angry with states such as Wyoming and Colorado. Theyre going nuts out there; theyre angry," Trump said in Syracuse. "The bosses took away their vote, and I wasnt going to send big teams of people three, four months ago, have them out there." While Trump has won 21 state nominating contests to Cruz's 10, the billionaire leads the Texas senator by only 196 delegates (755-559). That means he must win nearly 60 percent of those remaining before the party's political convention in July. Wyoming does not hold a primary vote. Instead, 475 party activists convened in Casper on Saturday to hold a state convention and award 14 delegates. Previously, 12 other delegates had been designated at county-level conventions. Cruz won 10 of those, with one going to Trump and another being elected as "unbound." Cruz spoke at the convention, capping off a months-long effort to organize support in the state. Trump had originally planned to send former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who remains popular among conservatives, as a surrogate, but she canceled at the last minute. Cruz spoke about local issues in Wyoming, the largest coal-producing state. He discussed the Democratic "attack" on the fossil fuel, saying President Barack Obama has tried to put the coal industry out of business through government regulations targeting air pollution. "America is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and we are going to develop our industry," Cruz said. At the same time, Trump was speaking at a rally in Syracuse, New York, ahead of the state's Republican primary on Tuesday. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Alana Wise; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Grant McCool)
By Minami Funakoshi and Kiyoshi Takenaka TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese authorities have ordered nearly a quarter of a million people from their homes after a deadly earthquake struck a southern island and the search for survivors went on into the early hours of Sunday amid worsening weather conditions. A 7.3 magnitude tremor struck early on Saturday morning, killing at least 32 people, injuring about a thousand more and causing widespread damage to houses, roads and bridges. It was the second major quake to hit Kumamoto province on the island of Kyushu in just over 24 hours. The first, late on Thursday, killed nine people. Heavy rain and wind were forecast overnight, with temperatures expected to drop to 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit). Firefighters handed out tarpaulins to residents so they could cover damaged roofs. "The wind is expected to pick up and rain will likely get heavier," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a government meeting. "Rescue operations at night will be extremely difficult ... It's a race against time." Television footage throughout Saturday showed fires, power outages, collapsed bridges, a severed road hanging over a ravine and gaping holes in the earth. Residents near a dam were told to leave because of fears it might crumble, said broadcaster NHK. "I felt strong shaking at first, then I was thrown about like I was in a washing machine," said a Tokai University student who remains isolated in the village of Minamiaso. About 422,000 households were without water and 100,000 without electricity, the government said. NHK said around 240,000 people had received evacuation orders across the affected region amid fears of landslides. Some shelters were too crowded to admit any more people, it said. Troops set up tents for evacuees and water trucks were being sent to the area. Around 25,000 extra soldiers were due to arrive, as well as more police, firefighters and medics. The National Police Agency said 32 people had been confirmed dead. The government said about 190 of those injured were in a serious condition. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said nearly 80 people were believed trapped or buried in rubble. Rescuers pulled 10 students out of a collapsed university apartment in the town of Minami on Saturday. "RING OF FIRE" Japan is on the seismically active "ring of fire" around the Pacific Ocean and has building codes aimed at helping structures withstand earthquakes. A magnitude 9 quake in March 2011 north of Tokyo touched off a massive tsunami and nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, contaminating water, food and air for miles around. Nearly 20,000 people were killed in the tsunami. The epicenter of Saturday's quake was near the city of Kumamoto and measured at a shallow depth of 10 km (six miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The shallower a quake, the more likely it is to cause damage. However, no irregularities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the area, a senior government official said. The city's 400-year-old Kumamoto Castle was badly damaged, with its walls breached after having withstood bombardment and fire in its four centuries of existence. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, speaking at a G20 event in Washington, said it was too early to assess the economic impact but bank operations in Kumamoto were normal. The USGS, which is a government scientific body, estimated that there was a 72 percent likelihood of economic damage exceeding $10 billion, adding that it was too early to be specific. Major insurers are yet to release estimates. Electronics giant Sony Corp said a plant producing image sensors for smartphone makers would remain closed while it assessed the damage from the quakes. One of its major customers is Apple which uses the sensors in iPhones. Operations at Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd were also disrupted. The region's transport network suffered considerable damage with one tunnel caved in, a highway bridge damaged, roads cut or blocked by landslips and train services halted, media reported. Kumamoto airport was closed. There have been 347 aftershocks of at least level 1 on the Japanese scale since Thursday's shock, NHK reported. (Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Elaine Lies, William Mallard, Shinichi Soashiro, Chris Gallagher, Jon Herskovitz and Jack Kim in Seoul; Writing by Mike Collett-White)
Skopje (AFP) - Thousands of Macedonian opposition supporters took to the streets for the fifth day on Saturday calling for President Gjorge Ivanov to resign and for legislative elections scheduled for June to be postponed.

"The people have come out on the streets again to send a message to President Ivanov." said Pavle Bogojevski, one of those taking part in the protest in the capital Skopje.

"He must resign... and parliament must meet to cancel the June 5 elections," he added.

The date was officially set on Friday despite the angry anti-government rallies that have been taking place each evening in protest at Ivanov's decision to halt probes into more than 50 public figures, including top politicians embroiled in a wire-tapping scandal.

The early elections, originally agreed for April 24 and then postponed in February to June 5, are part of a EU-brokered agreement to solve the country's seething political feud.

But Zoran Zaev, leader of the main opposition SDSM, has insisted he will boycott the vote, claiming that conditions for a free and fair vote are not in place.

There were no reports of major incidents as Friday's protest got underway in the capital Skopje, which Zaev joined.

Macedonia's political crisis began last year when the SDSM accused then-prime minister Nikola Gruevski of wiretapping around 20,000 people, including politicians and journalists, and said the recordings revealed high-level corruption.

The government denied the accusations and, in response, filed charges against Zaev, accusing him of "spying" and attempting to "destabilise" the Balkan country.

Gruevski, who had been prime minister since 2006, resigned in January in order to pave the way for early elections.

But tensions surged again Tuesday when Ivanov announced the halt of judicial investigations into 56 people, including his ally Gruevski -- still Macedonia's most influential political figure.

Story continues

Others affected by the decision included former interior minister Gordana Jankulovska, ex-intelligence chief Sasho Mijalkov, as well as Zaev and former SDSM leader and ex-president Branko Crvenkovski.

On Friday, opposition leader Zaev told the massed protesters; "It's either Gruevski or Macedonia. We are Macedonia!"

Ivanov's move has sparked condemnation abroad, with the United States and the European Union warning it raises questions about the rule of law in Macedonia and could hurt its aspirations to join the 28-member EU.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's armed forces killed 23 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the latest clashes in eastern Turkey, including three militants who died in an air strike, the general staff said on Saturday. Security sources said warplanes and attack helicopters fired on a mountainous, forested area in the eastern province of Tunceli after military drones spotted a group of about 20 PKK rebels there on Friday. The armed forces' statement said three of the militants were killed in the air strikes. Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight for Kurdish autonomy last summer, ending a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and shattering peace efforts. Turkish warplanes have frequently struck PKK targets since the conflict revived, mainly hitting the group's bases in northern Iraq. Security sources said on Friday that four Turkish soldiers were killed and two wounded when a bomb hit a military vehicle traveling in the southeastern province of Mardin. Elsewhere, in the southeast, the army killed eight PKK fighters in Silvan, six in Nusaybin and three each in the towns of Sirnak and Yuksekova on Friday, Saturday's statement said. The government has ruled out any return to the negotiating table and has said it will crush the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984. (Reporting by Seyhmus Cakan; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Helen Popper)
The final debate between Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders before the critical New York primary on April 19 was watched by 5.6 million viewers on CNN and NY1. CNN had the lion's share of viewers with 5.4 million, while 171,000 watched on Time Warner Cable-owned NY1. Among news' target demographic of 25-54-year-olds, CNN pulled in 1.7 million.

It was enough to make CNN the No. 1 cable-news network in primetime on Thursday night, with an average of 4.14 million viewers between 8-11 p.m., followed by Fox News Channel (2.4 million) and MSNBC (748,000); the latter hosted a town hall with Republican candidate Ted Cruz. Among adults 25-54, CNN had 1.3 million, Fox News followed with 409,000, and MSNBC had 211,000.

It was among the most contentious face-offs between the two Democratic presidential hopefuls, with Sanders and CNN moderator Dana Bash challenging Clinton to release the transcripts of her closed-door speeches at Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs, which paid her nearly $700,000 for multiple speeches. Clinton attempted to deflect by challenging Sanders to release his tax returns. But the Vermont senator neutralized Clinton's attempted counterpunch by promising to release his 2014 returns today. And he twisted the knife by noting that not only were his tax returns "very boring," with "no big money from speeches" and "no major investments," but that his wife, Jane O'Meara, files their taxes, and they've "been a little bit busy lately."

It was one exchange in a night of memorable and caustic exchanges in front of an audibly pro-Sanders crowd at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, mere miles from where Sanders grew up in the borough's Flatbush neighborhood. The candidates have, at this point, shed the collegial tone that marked their early primary debates and now have sparred on everything from gun control to climate change to the Iraq War. And it was a critical outing for both candidates, as Clinton is working to regain momentum after a series of losses, and Sanders is looking at his best and perhaps last chance of becoming a real contender in the Democratic presidential primary.

The previous debate between Clinton and Sanders on March 9 in Flint, Mich., averaged 5.95 million viewers on CNN and Univision.

See below for the increasingly long rundown of debate audiences to date.

RNC

Aug. 6 - 24 million (FNC)

Sept. 16 - 23 million (CNN)

Oct. 28 - 14 million (CNBC)

Nov. 10 - 13.5 million (FBN)

Dec. 15 - 18.2 million (CNN)

Jan. 14 - 11.1 million (FBN)

Jan. 28 - 12.5 million (FNC)

Feb. 6 - 13.2 million (ABC)

Feb. 13 - 13.5 million (CBS)

Feb. 25 - 14.5 million (CNN/Telemundo)

March 3 - 16.9 million (FNC)

DNC

Oct. 13 - 15.8 million (CNN)

Nov. 14 - 8.6 million (CBS)

Dec. 19 - 8.0 million (ABC)

Jan. 17 - 10.2 million (NBC)

Feb. 4 - 4.5 million (MSNBC)

Feb. 11 - 8.0 million (PBS/CNN)

March 6 - 5.5 million (CNN)

March 9 - 5.9 million (CNN, Univision)
By John Shiffman WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Maryland man believed to be the youngest person ever convicted of U.S. terrorism charges may not be deported to Pakistan because he would likely face torture there by government officials, an American judge has ruled. Mohammed H. Khalid, who legally moved from Pakistan with his family to suburban Baltimore as a young teenager, was arrested in 2011 at age 17 as part of the failed "Jihad Jane" conspiracy to murder a Swedish artist who had blasphemed the Prophet Mohammad. Khalid pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and cooperated with the FBI more than 20 times, teaching U.S. agents how to combat online jihadists, records show. But when his five-year sentence concluded late last year, U.S. officials sought to deport him to Pakistan, a move his lawyers said would likely subject him to torture. "This is a huge victory - immigration judges do this in one percent of the cases when someone argues they will be tortured if sent home," said Khalid's lawyer, Wayne Sachs of Philadelphia. In his decision, Immigration Judge Michael Straus wrote that Khalid "would more likely than not be tortured by government officials if returned to Pakistan." The ruling is dated April 8, but another lawyer for Khalid, Jeffrey Lindy, said it was not made public until late Friday. A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not immediately available for comment. The judge also cited Khalid's diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, an autism disorder that can affect focus and communication skills. The judge wrote that Khalid "fears his lack of eye contact and social cues would cause the Pakistan government to believe (he) is hiding something, leading to more torture." Khalid remains in U.S. custody, pending a hearing on whether he can live in the United States or may be deported to another country, Sachs said. Now 22 years old, Khalid was a high-achieving but socially-misfit high school junior when he met Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman known as "Jihad Jane," online. They became involved in a foiled plot to kill the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had enraged some Muslims by depicting the Prophet Mohammad's head on a dog. LaRose pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and is serving a 10-year sentence. Prosecutors say the alleged ringleader, Ali Damache, a dual Irish-Algerian national, lured LaRose to Europe with the promise of jihad and marriage. Damache was arrested in Spain in December on the U.S. charges and is fighting extradition. (Editing by Mary Milliken)
KINSHASA (Reuters) - The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo said on Saturday it had received new allegations of sexual abuse against its soldiers. The United Nations announced earlier this month that it was investigating accusations that Tanzanian peacekeepers based in northeastern Congo had sexually abused and exploited five women and six girls, leaving them all pregnant. The head of the U.N. mission in Congo, Maman Sidikou, told reporters in the capital Kinshasa that those 11 cases had involved members of Tanzanian units that left Congo last July but that seven more allegations had since surfaced. Five involve Tanzanian soldiers who arrived last September, one involves the South African contingent and the seventh case involves forces from Malawi. "All of these cases are presumed cases of either pregnancy or of paternity ... and eight of the victims are minors," Sidikou said, adding that investigations were underway. U.N. peacekeeping missions have been beset by accusations of sexual abuse. The United Nations reported 99 such allegations against staff members across the U.N. system last year. The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, which was initially established during a civil war that lasted from 1998-2003, is the world's largest, with around 20,000 uniformed personnel. (Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Gareth Jones)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned North Korea's failed ballistic missile launch, warning that it was a "clear violation" of U.N. resolutions and the council could take further punitive measures against Pyongyang. Experts believe North Korea attempted to launch an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Friday in defiance of U.N. sanctions. "The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the firing of a ballistic missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on April 15," the council said in a statement, using North Korea's official name. "Although the DPRK's ballistic missile launch was a failure, this attempt constituted a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," it said. The launch, on North Korea's so-called Day of the Sun which marks the birthday of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, followed its fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which led to new U.N. sanctions. The council said it "would continue to closely monitor the situation and take further significant measures in line with (its) previously expressed determination." (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Richard Chang)
London (AFP) - A senior lawmaker in David Cameron's Conservative party warned Saturday that the prime minister "wouldn't last 30 seconds" if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a June referendum.

Cameron confirmed this week that he intends to stay and oversee the process of leaving the 28-member bloc if voters back a so-called Brexit, despite leading the campaign to remain.

But Ken Clarke, a pro-European who served as a minister under Cameron as well as former Conservative premiers John Major and Margaret Thatcher, said such a situation would be "farcical".

"The prime minister wouldn't last 30 seconds if he lost the referendum and we'd be plunged into a Conservative leadership crisis which is never a very edifying sight," he told BBC radio.

At a rally for the campaign to leave the EU, leading Brexit supporter and London mayor Boris Johnson said the prime minister should stay in office regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

Johnson, a likely candidate to succeed Cameron as Conservative party leader, told a rally in Newcastle in northwest England that "obviously David Cameron should remain in place".

Asked if he would be prime minister on June 24, Johnson said: "I certainly won't".

Opinion polls suggest Britain is deeply divided on the issue of whether to stay in or leave the EU, and the Conservatives are also split.

Several of Cameron's ministers and about a third of his parliamentary party are actively campaigning against him and in favour of a Brexit.

Clarke warned that the Conservatives were "dangerously close" to the bitter divisions over Europe that split the party in the 1990s and left it so badly damaged that it was out of office between 1997 and 2010.

"The party was unelectable because it had just had the most appallingly bitter civil war and it was impossible to see how it could carry on. Now we mustn't repeat that," he told BBC radio.
Brazzaville (AFP) - Longtime Congolese leader Denis Sassou Nguesso was sworn in for another five-year term Saturday following a contested presidential election last month that has raised tensions in the country.

At an inauguration ceremony that formally extended his 32-year grip on power, Sassou Nguesso vowed to focus on boosting the economy and tackling youth unemployment.

"This five-year term will be that of the economy," he said in an address in Brazzaville attended by several other African heads of state.

"All our efforts will be on strengthening the national economy so that it is deeply diversified, dynamic and flourishing and most of all creating thousands of decent jobs."

He also said he would strive to "eradicate unemployment" among young people.

Some 60 percent of young people are out of work in Congo, a small but oil-rich country of some four million, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The Constitutional Court earlier this month confirmed Sassou Nguesso's first-round win in Congo's March 20 presidential polls, with more than 60 percent of the vote. The opposition however condemned the election as a "massive fraud".

Sassou Nguesso's win only became possible after an October constitutional referendum ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates, allowing the former paratrooper to run again in a move denounced by his opponents as "a coup". Congo has been on edge ever since.

The day the president's re-election was confirmed on April 4, heavy fighting erupted in southern Brazzaville districts loyal to the opposition. The army was deployed and thousands of residents fled their homes.

The government said at least 17 people, including two civilians, were killed in the violence, which it blamed on a "terrorist attack" by the disbanded Ninja Nsiloulou militia.

Members of the opposition however have dismissed the official version of events and accuse the government of trying to quell post-election protests.

Story continues

The runner-up in the presidential election, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, last week urged his supporters to accept the vote outcome despite "all sorts of irregularities" to avoid further unrest.

Adding to the criticism of last month's polls, the United States has said it was "profoundly disappointed by the flawed presidential electoral process".

Sassou Nguesso first served as president from 1979 to 1992, returning to power in 1997 following a civil war.

He won two successive terms in elections in 2002 and 2009, both of which were disputed by opposition parties.
Paris (AFP) - Twenty-two people were arrested in Paris during clashes with police at a demonstration over labour reforms seen as threatening workers' rights, French police said Saturday.

Some 3,000 people late Friday gathered in the Place de la Republique for another of the "Up All Night" protests, which has been taking place since March 31 over a government bill that will make it easier for struggling companies to fire workers.

About 100 of the protesters set rubbish on fire and pelted police with bottles, cans and stones during the night, the Paris police department said in a statement.

Officers responded with tear gas and then forced the protesters out of the square.

The violence continued in the northeast of the capital, where two banks and a building site were vandalised.

The police said 22 people were arrested and four officers were injured.

Hundreds of people have been gathering every night for the past two weeks at the Place de la Republique, the vast square in eastern Paris where a memorial has been erected to the 130 victims of last November's jihadist attacks.

The labour reforms are a unifying theme of the gatherings, but the "Nuit Debout" or "Up All Night" movement is broader, embracing a range of anti-establishment grievances.

The participants say they are drawing inspiration from the Spanish protesters known as the Indignados, who gave rise to the far-left Podemos party.

Sporadic violence erupted on April 9 when tens of thousands of people took to the streets in dozens of French cities as part of the movement.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Friday said 151 officers have been injured since the start of the protests, describing the incidents of violence as "intolerable".
BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG is offering bigger discounts in its home market to try to lure back customers after the automaker admitted using software to allow diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests, a German trade magazine reported on Saturday. Germany's Automobilwoche said Volkswagen was trying to boost the used car trade by raising discounts to up to 1,681 euros ($1,896.17)in April and May to win over buyers from alternative automakers. A Volkswagen spokesman said current promotions in Germany were around the same level as competitors. Beyond that, he said discounts were usual measures that allowed the company to react in a flexible way to comparable offers from rivals. The magazine cited a letter to dealers from Thomas Zahn, head of sales and marketing for passenger cars, that admitted VW had not won back trust as quickly as expected, describing delays to refit affected VW Passat cars as "disappointing". "We have not met our own plans and expectations," Zahn said. The magazine also said Manfred Bord, head of quality assurance for the VW brand, had been given the task of dealing with the emissions scandal in Europe. A Volkswagen spokesman confirmed the appointment. (Writing by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Gareth Jones)
(Reuters) - A Maryland volunteer firefighter critically wounded by gunfire that killed a colleague was struck four times, but is expected to survive, Prince George's County authorities said on Saturday.

Kevin Swain, 19, a volunteer firefighter in Morningside, Maryland, remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition after surgery. Two other volunteers with the department sustained less serious injuries while seeking cover in the shootings. They were released from the hospital on Saturday.

John Ulmschneider, a 37-year-old firefighter and medic, died as a result of his injuries at a hospital late on Friday, the local fire department said in a statement.

The firefighters were responding to a call on Friday to check on the well-being of a man whose relatives had been unable to reach him, Prince George's County police said on Facebook.

When no one answered the door, the firefighters began forcing their way into the house, Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said.

Several shots were fired from inside the home, striking both firefighters. A family member of the occupant was also struck, but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The shooter surrendered and was taken into police custody, authorities said.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Fla.; editing by Alexander Smith, G Crosse)
If only we all looked like this after a three-hour uphill hike. (Photo: PA Images)

Marvel that she is, the Duchess of Cambridge managed to complete a three-hour hike in Bhutan this morning without breaking a sweat  or messing up her blowout, for that matter. The royal, whos in the Southeast Asian country as part of a diplomatic tour, embarked on a rocky climb to a Himalayan holy site. She was accompanied by Prince William, lots of press, her hairdresser Amanda Cook Tucker, personal assistant and stylist Natasha Archer, and horses (sent by the king of Bhutan to help just in case the royal couple couldnt complete the climb).

The couple said they found the walk easy. (Photo: PA Images)



For the adventure, the duchess suited up in $673 Penelope Chilvers knee-high boots, which she has had in her closet since 2004, and a $700 nubuck shoot (thats a color) leather waistcoat. She finished the look with skinny jeans, a simple pair of drop earrings, and her trusty Ray-Bans. The duke, on the other hand, dressed in chinos, a blue button-down shirt, and walking boots. He looked a tad more flustered than his cool-as-a-cucumber wife  but said he found the trek easy when asked.

The king of Bhutan sent horses just in case either needed a lift  they didnt. (Photo: PA Images)

The trip took the royal couple 2,700 feet up through a pine forest to a remote monastery in the Paro Valley. At the top, over 10,000 feet above sea level, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge admired the 17th-century Taktsang Palphug Monastery, better known as the Tigers Nest, one of the most stunning temples in the world. When the duchess reached the peak, she admitted that the climb was quite rough but joked that its a great way to burn off the curry. As for Prince William, hes excited to have bragging rights over the Prince of Wales, who only made it halfway when he visited in 1996 due to vertigo. My father didnt make it to the top. So thats something Ill be reminding him of when I see him.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.


By Aradhana Aravindan and Eveline Danubrata SINGAPORE/JAKARTA (Reuters) - With its $1 billion buy of online retailer Lazada, Alibaba has signaled Southeast Asia as a regional e-commerce battleground - with 600 million people, and no shortage of logistical headaches. The region has the potential to help global retailers offset slowing growth momentum in their core markets, but it comes with complex regulatory, logistical and language barriers. Internet connections can be slow and the vast archipelago landscape can prove daunting to even hardened logistics experts. In an interview in October, Lazada's chief operating officer Pierre Poignant highlighted some of the hurdles in delivering packages in the Philippines, for example. "In some places, there's just no address. It's like 'take the house on the left'. And in many places you have to take a boat to get there... It can be several days or even weeks to reach some very remote island," he told Reuters. A study by CLSA last year showed that almost a quarter of the online orders it placed in the Philippines failed to arrive, and multiple delivery delays were reported. Such obstacles mean the market is highly fragmented, with no dominant force. Start-up funds say international companies wanting to get in are likely to follow Alibaba's route by buying existing operators rather than trying to go it alone. "The strategy of coming in, looking for a local player who has shown traction and buying them in order to get a foothold is a very good one, and we will see more of that," said Vinnie Lauria, a founding partner at Golden Gate Ventures which is invested in marketplace Carousell and online grocer Redmart. "Lazada has done a very good job of operating in multiple countries. That's not something Alibaba is familiar with." Headquartered in Singapore, Lazada also operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. "KOMODO IN THE JUNGLE" Though Lazada more than tripled the number of active customers to 7.3 million, its losses more than doubled last year, and experts warn that investors should be prepared for a long wait before the industry turns a profit. The region has dozens of other e-commerce players, including Amazon.com , Tokopedia, OLX, Qoo10, Zalora, Cung Mua, Blibli and Etsy - but no one platform controls more than a fifth of the market, according to Bain & Co. And the list keeps growing, with payment start-ups such as Fastacash, Xoom and GoSwift aiming for a foothold in the region. Lauria said it would be easier for an international player to acquire rather than "copy and paste", especially for online marketplaces. For those companies already scrapping it out for a small slice of the market, consolidation may be the route to survival. "The (market) shares of smaller players are definitely going to get smaller with Alibaba jumping into the region," said Cris Duy Tran, a consultant at Frost & Sullivan. "One way to survive is to partner with some of the other players to get bigger." A person with direct knowledge of the Lazada deal said Alibaba reviewed several targets before the acquisition. "(Lazada) gives them scale. Organically, it would have taken a lot of time to build," the person said. An Alibaba spokesman in Hong Kong said the e-commerce giant sees the Lazada deal as a "win-win investment." "We see SE Asia as a strategic piece of our globalization strategy. It's a market that shows significant e-commerce potential," with a robust economic environment, attractive demographics, low e-commerce penetration and some 33 million Chinese, who hold potential for cross-border commerce, he said in an emailed response to Reuters enquiries. Another source with direct knowledge of the Lazada deal said Alibaba would likely not stop at just one acquisition in the region. "It's a $200 billion company ... doing a $1 billion deal in one segment of e-commerce. Does that mean the end of it? I don't think so. They still have appetite," the person said. Other existing firms were primed for more competition. "I say today that Tokopedia is the komodo in the 17,000-island archipelago," said William Tanuwijaya, co-founder and CEO of SoftBank-backed <9984.T> Tokopedia, in response to Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma's one-time description of his e-commerce group as a crocodile in the Yangtze river. "Fighting in a river, the komodo will lose, but fighting in the jungle on one of our islands, the komodo has a pretty good chance to win," Tanuwijaya said. (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and Eveline Danubrata, with additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in SINGAPORE, Denny Thomas in HONG KONG and Paul Carsten in BEIJING; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
If there's one thing that every Marvel movie fan knows, it's that you can't leave the theater until the credits finish rolling. The post-credits scene has become a calling card for Marvel, setting up future movies months, or even years in advance. But not every post-credits scene makes the cut.

READ MORE: You can preorder Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on Blu-ray or DVD right now

Speaking with The Huffington Post this week, Captain America: Civil War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely explained why plans to give the Hulk a scene after the credits fell by by the wayside early on in the scripting process.

"We can clean that up real quickly," said Markus, regarding the Hulk scene.

"Mark Ruffalo shot no scenes. We talked about having Bruce Banner at the very end of the film, and it just, again, seemed like were sticking people in just to stick them in. He has clearly gone somewhere at the end of Ultron, and thats a story. Dont blow it off and put it in a little tiny chunk just to put in a little extra filigree on our movie. Thats a story."

There were also several reports of actor Mark Ruffalo actually appearing on the set during filming, but Stephen McFeely was able to clear that up as well:

"There was a draft with a stinger of him in it. But that was long ago, and reports of him actually filming stuff  the unit publicist on the movies [John M. Pisani] looks a lot like Ruffalo, so when people say, Hey, hes in Berlin dancing with Anthony Mackie, its John Pisani. Its not Ruffalo."

McFeely went on to explain that the big green guy wasn't the only Marvel hero who didn't quite fit in Civil War. There were also plans to bring in the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), but the team decided to "let the Ant-Man franchise show her come to her full fruition as opposed to just doing it offscreen."

Captain America: Civil War releases in theaters on May 6th.

Related stories

Story continues

Everything we know about the next Spider-Man movie

Watch the first teaser trailer for Marvel's 'Doctor Strange'

Marvel's Netflix miniseries 'The Defenders' will begin filming this year

More from BGR: The latest Super Mario Bros. world record run shouldnt have been possible

This article was originally published on BGR.com
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.
Conferencing Zone Week in Review: Revolabs, West United Communications, HealthITSecurity, More

Share Tweet

By Rory J. Thompson

Web Editor By Rory J. ThompsonWeb Editor

The conferencing industry was front and center this past week, and we have some of the stories that made news.

Up top, Revolabs (News - Alert) (a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corp), announced that it has achieved a 5-Star rating in a new Partner Program Guide. This annual guide from CRN is the definitive listing of technology vendors that service solution providers or provide products through the IT channel.







The 5-Star Partner Program Guide rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs, CRN said in a statement. 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. Go HERE to see how Revolabs did it.

Webcasting will be an essential part of how we interact, at least according to West United Communications. According to its recent survey, 54 percent of employees use video conferencing on a regular basis, and 70 percent of those use free services, like Facebook (News - Alert) or Skype. Some 23 percent use paid enterprise services. Video casting is good for a myriad of business functions; it can bring geographically dispersed teams together, help managers train remote employees, or allow sales professionals to close a deal in New York while theyre in Japan. Even marketers can benefit from video. Since popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter (News - Alert) allow users to share interesting links, using the aforementioned Live feature drastically increases your chances of exposure. Also, people are more likely to share an interesting video they came across rather than an article. More details can be found HERE.

As communication options expand for everyone, so too do the chances for security breaches. One area where this can be a huge problem is in healthcare. HealthITSecurity, an online site that deals with such issues, took a deeper dive into the rise of healthcare being addressed by the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) movement. Once patient contact moves out of the realm of a secure environment, not everyones privacy can be assured. Are you at risk? Go HERE to see more, and be sure to go HERE to daily updates as theyre posted.
When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.
It's now likely Republicans are headed toward a contested convention in July. But they might be headed toward more than that -- the party could be on its way to an internal version of the 2000 election, the race in which the candidate who lost the popular vote won the presidency, leaving injured feelings and diminished faith in the legitimacy of the electoral system.

And it could be worse than that. The 2000 winner of the popular vote, Al Gore, lost the presidency because of the constitutional structure under which electors, not popular vote totals, determine who enters the White House. Seeing the popular vote loser, George W. Bush, win the election was unfortunate -- it hadn't happened since the 19th century -- but it was specifically provided for in the Constitution. Democrats unhappily accepted the result because they accepted the Constitution as the bedrock of our system of government.

In an intra-party Republican fight, on the other hand, the winner of the 2016 nomination could be determined not by the Constitution but by rules written by party activists and insiders the week before the GOP convention. If those rules can be reasonably viewed as unfair, they won't command the fundamental respect and consensus of a constitutional provision. And the resulting nominee won't command that respect, either.

There's no guarantee it will happen. Right now, the popular vote leader, Donald Trump, is also the delegate leader. According to RealClearPolitics, through the Wisconsin primary Trump has won 8,197,535 votes to Ted Cruz's 6,263,349. Trump leads the delegate race with 743 to Cruz's 545. (Yes, there are complicated ways to count delegates, but Trump still has a substantial lead.)

Even with losses over the weekend in Colorado's delegate selection, it's possible Trump will win the 1,237 delegates required to clinch the nomination before the convention. If he did that, he would certainly be the vote leader, too. It's far less likely -- actually, almost impossible -- for Cruz to hit the delegate mark before Cleveland. But if he could pull it off, in addition to his delegate-convention efforts, it could only be by collecting many, many more votes than Trump in the remaining big contests.

The more likely scenario is that Trump will go to the convention leading in delegates and the popular vote. The delegate totals will change on multiple ballots. The popular vote won't; there will be no more to win. And at this point it seems difficult for Cruz to overtake Trump's 1,934,186-vote lead. So it seems possible that, should Cruz become the nominee, he would do so as the popular vote loser.

Of course, winning the popular vote over a series of primaries and caucuses is not the same as winning the general election popular vote on a single election day. But winning the popular vote is the single most important factor in the Republican primary and caucus system. Some states award delegates winner-take-all -- that is, to the winner of the popular vote. Other states award delegates winner-take-all to the winner of the popular vote in congressional districts, with an additional number of delegates going to the winner of the statewide popular vote. Other states award delegates proportionally, with the most going to the winner of the popular vote, either in districts or statewide.

All of those allocation methods are based primarily on the popular vote. It is the foundation of the primary and caucus system.

Republicans have not recently had to face the prospect of a popular vote winner losing the nomination. In 2012, Mitt Romney won 9,809,662 primary and caucus votes to second-place Rick Santorum's 3,909,460. In 2008, John McCain won 9,902,797 votes to Romney's 4,699,788. There was no question who won.

Democrats in 2008 faced a much more difficult situation, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ran neck-and-neck in the popular vote. In the end, Obama played Democratic Party rules much more craftily than Clinton, and won the delegate race. But he also came out ahead in the popular vote. By one count, Obama narrowly won -- really narrowly, by 41,622 votes out of 35 million cast -- while by another count, including vote estimates from some caucus states, Obama won by 151,844. Both were narrow, narrow victories, but victories nonetheless. Still, being close in the popular vote gave Clinton a powerful argument as she stayed in the Democratic race. When she said she was "proud to have put 18 million cracks in the highest glass ceiling," she wasn't talking about delegates.

Now, Republicans could be headed toward an end in which the popular vote loser becomes the party's nominee. Many Republicans undoubtedly have no problem with that. They are fond of pointing out that we live in a republic, not a democracy. That the rules are the rules. And that the Founders didn't much like democracy. There are counter-arguments for all -- we live in a representative democracy, the rules are changeable, and the trend in the past 150 years has been to make American electoral practices more democratic. But don't expect any of the arguments to be settled.

Donald Trump will spend the next few days, and perhaps weeks, railing about the unfairness of the system. Of course he's doing it out of self-interest. But his campaign has raised a healthy question for debate: How representative of the voters should a party's nomination process be?
WASHINGTON -- There is a consensus that aggression by one nation against another is a serious matter, but there is no comparable consensus about what constitutes aggression. Waging aggressive war was one charge against Nazi leaders at the 1946 Nuremberg war crimes trials, but 70 years later it is unclear that aggression, properly understood, must involve war, as commonly understood. Or that war, in today's context of novel destructive capabilities, must involve "the use of armed force," which the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court says is constitutive of an "act of aggression."

Cyberskills can serve espionage -- the surreptitious acquisition of information -- which is older than nations and not an act of war. Relatively elementary cyberattacks against an enemy's command-and-control capabilities during war was a facet of U.S. efforts in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, in the Balkans in 1999 and against insurgents -- hacking their emails -- during the "surge" in Iraq. In 2007, Israel's cyberwarfare unit disrupted Syrian radar as Israeli jets destroyed an unfinished nuclear reactor in Syria. But how should we categorize cyberskills employed not to acquire information, and not to supplement military force, but to damage another nation's physical infrastructure?

In World War II, the United States and its allies sent fleets of bombers over Germany to destroy important elements of its physical infrastructure -- steel mills, ball bearing plants, etc. Bombers were, however, unnecessary when the United States and Israel wanted to destroy some centrifuges crucial to Iran's nuclear weapons program. They used the Stuxnet computer "worm" to accelerate or slow processes at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility, damaging or even fragmenting centrifuges necessary for producing weapons-grade material. According to Slate magazine columnist Fred Kaplan, by early 2010, approximately 2,000 of 8,700 "were damaged beyond repair," and even after the Iranians later learned what was happening, another 1,000 of the then-remaining 5,000 "were taken out of commission."

For fascinating details on the episodes mentioned above, and to understand how deeply we have drifted into legally and politically uncharted waters, read Kaplan's new book, "Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War." Three of its lessons are that cyberwar resembles war, much of it is very secret and everything essential to the functioning of modern society is vulnerable.

The things controlled by or through computers include not just military assets (command-and-control systems, the guidance mechanisms of smart munitions, etc.) but also hospitals, electric power grids, water works, the valves of dams and the financial transactions of banks. And, Kaplan notes, unlike nuclear weapons or the ballistic missiles to deliver them, cyberweapons do not require large-scale industrial projects or concentrations of scientists with scarce skills. All that is needed to paralyze a complex society and panic its population is "a roomful of computers and a small corps of people trained to use them."

Clearly the United States needs a cyberdeterrent capacity -- the ability to do unto adversaries anything they might try to do unto us. One problem, however, is that it can be difficult to prove the source of a cyberattack, such as that which Vladimir Putin did not acknowledge launching, but almost certainly did launch, in 2007 to punish Estonia for annoying Russia.

To appreciate how computer keystrokes can do damage comparable to a sustained air campaign using high explosives, consider what happened in 1995 in the private sector. Barings, founded in 1762, was Britain's oldest merchant bank, having weathered the Napoleonic wars and two world wars, and its clients included Queen Elizabeth. One of its young traders, Nick Leeson, in the bank's Singapore office, was so skillful at navigating the derivatives markets that at one point he produced 10 percent of the bank's profits. Inadequately supervised, he created a secret Barings account from which he made risky bets, including a huge one on Japan's stock market rising. He did not, however, anticipate the Kobe earthquake. Japan's stock market plunged, causing enormous losses in Leeson's account that Barings could not cover. The bank quickly collapsed and was bought by a Dutch company for one British pound.

If one rogue trader's recklessness, motivated by mere avarice, can quietly and quickly annihilate a venerable institution, imagine what havoc can be wrought by battalions of militarized cyberwarriors implacably implementing a nation's destructive agenda. It is long past time for urgent public discussion of the many new meanings that can be given to Shakespeare's "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."
Country

Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Mike Coppola/Getty ImagesSteve Miller's not done with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A week after his induction on April 9, the guitar great is still criticizing the ceremony and the institution.

The 72-year-old rocker tells Billboard that it would have been nice if organizers had planned pre-ceremony events introducing the inductees and asking them to suggest how to improve and enrich the Rock Hall.

"There's really no concern for you as a musician or artist, or congratulations," he says. "[I]t's 'we're making a television show, it's our show, we're making money off this to run our museum, shut up and do what you're told to do.'"

Steve added, "The whole process feels like you're dealing with a company that wants you to give them everything and they're going to go make all this money and they're going to do everything with it, and you have no input into it, no say about any of it, take it or leave it."

Miller's comments continue a critique he began with a post-induction news conference and an interview in Rolling Stone.

In Billboard, Miller also addressed comments made by The Black Keys, the modern-rock duo that introduced Steve at the ceremony, who told Rolling Stone that they regretted having to induct him.

Miller tells the magazine that he had wanted Elton John to induct him, "because Elton knows my music and loves my music and we're friends, and I thought he would probably have a good historical perspective." He said the Rock Hall organizers told him "no, the Black Keys are going to do it." He also maintains that he wasn't even introduced to the band at the ceremony.

Miller said that in spite of how he may appear in the media, he's doesn't consider himself to be "a grumpy guy." He maintains, "I've spent 60 years performing and recording music and trying to grow as an artistI've demanded respect for myself and my band and my peers, I've demanded full artistic control for my music, I advocate for artists and music education wherever I can. And I'm a nice guy."

Read the whole interview at Billboard.com.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Washington: Acting in the wake of the 'Panama Papers' scandal, the G20 economies, including India, on Friday sought a crackdown on tax heavens, shell companies and terror financing by increasing financial transparency and sharing of key information in a timely manner.

A communique in this regard was issued by G20 countries after meeting of its Finance Ministers and Governors of Central Banks here on the sidelines of the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan attended the meeting on behalf of India. For India a crackdown on tax heavens and shell companies is a top priority, particularly in the aftermath of the release of 'Panama Papers' that have thrown up 500 names of Indians having opened up shell companies overseas allegedly to evade taxes.

"The G20 reiterates the high priority it attaches to financial transparency and effective implementation of the standards on transparency by all, in particular with regard to the beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements," the G20 communique said.

Improving the transparency of the beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements is vital to protect the integrity of the international financial system and to prevent misuse of these entities and arrangements for corruption, tax evasion, terror financing and money laundering, the communique said.

In the communique, the G20 Finance Ministers reiterated that it is essential that all countries and jurisdictions fully implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements and expressed determination to lead by example in this regard.

"We particularly stress the importance of countries and jurisdictions improving the availability of beneficial ownership information to and its international exchange between, competent authorities for the purposes of tackling tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering," the communique said.

"We ask the FATF and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes to make initial proposals by our October meeting on ways to improve the implementation of the international standards on transparency, including on the availability of beneficial ownership information and its international exchange," it said.

Seeking a crackdown on terror financing, the G20 Finance Ministers called on all countries to join its efforts including through swift and effective implementation of FATF standards, the new Consolidated Strategy on Combating Terrorist Financing and provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 2253.

The UN resolution mainly targets financial network of terror organisations like the al-Qaeda and ISIS. "We ask the FATF, working with the relevant IOs, to strengthen its work on identifying and tackling loopholes and deficiencies that remain in the financial system and ensure that the FATF (financial action task force on money laundering) standards are effective and comprehensive, and fully implemented," the G20 said.

"We call on the FATF-style regional bodies to be vigorous partners," the Finance Ministers said and called on international organisations like IMF and the World Bank Group to support FATF in addressing the evolving challenges by bringing in their own analysis, within their respective areas of expertise, of the sources, techniques and channels of illicit financial flows.

Reaffirming the importance of effective and widespread implementation of the internationally agreed standards on transparency, the communique called on all countries including all financial centres and jurisdictions, which have not committed to implement the standard on automatic exchange of information by 2017 or 2018 to do so without delay and to sign the Multilateral Convention.

"We expect that by the 2017 G20 Summit all countries and jurisdictions will upgrade their Global Forum rating to a satisfactory level," it said. Looking forward to the Global Forum report on transparency and information exchange for tax purposes before the end of the year, the G20 welcomed the collective and continuous efforts by countries and international organisations to build capacity on tax matters for developing economies.
Aishwarya will be seen essaying the role of Dalbir Kaur in the highly anticipated film 'Sarbjit'.

Mumbai: Big box-office clashes have always been ugly and business of both films have drastically been affected as was seen in the recent case of 'Dilwale' and 'Bajirao Mastani'. Hence, it came as a shock when it was announced that Aishwarya Rai Bachchans 'Sarbjit' will lock horns with Amitabh Bachchans 'TE3N' on May 20.

However, now in an interesting turn of events, Amitabh has averted the clash by postponing the release date of 'TE3N'. According to reports, Amitabh called director Ribhu Dasgupta and producer Sujoy Ghosh and asked them if they could shift the release date. After several discussions, the makers decided that it better to avoid the clash.

'Sarbjit' revolves around an Indian farmer who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan after he inadvertently crossed the border. It also stars Richa Chadha, who will essay the role of his wife, Sukhpreet Kaur.

Aishwarya will be seen essaying the role of Dalbir Kaur, who fought to have her brother Sarbjit Singh freed from the Pakistani jail where he was arrested on charges of spying.

On the other hand Sujoy Ghosh's film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vidya Balan.

Watch the trailer of Sarbjit here.
The actress wont be able to attend the trailer launch on Saturday to be held in Mumbai.

Kareena Kapoor, who is currently tasting the success of Ki And Ka was spotted in Muscat for a brand event. The actress was seen chilling with her girlies by a poolside. Dressed in black, Kareenas look rounded off with the perfect pout. She was also spotted donning a casual look while shopping.

Kareena will soon be seen in Udta Punjab opposite Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh that also stars Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the leads. Since Kareena Kapoor Khan is in Muscat, the actress wont be able to attend the trailer launch on Saturday to be held in Mumbai.
Shubhangi Atre, who had earlier replaced Shilpa in 'Chidiya Ghar', has been brought on board for 'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai'.

Mumbai: Shilpa Shinde has been in news ever since she decided to walk out of the show 'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai'. Shilpa's Angoori Devi was one of small screen's most loved characters and with Shilpa's sudden exit, the makers were left in a lurch.

Now, in an interesting turn of events, Shubhangi Atre, who had earlier replaced Shilpa in 'Chidiya Ghar', has been brought on board for 'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai'.

Read: Shilpa Shinde files police complaint against CINTAA

Producer Benaifer Kohli in a statement said, Shubhangi is an ideal combination of innocence and attractiveness. She is a fabulous actor and I think she will make an exceptional Angoori Bhabhi and will capture everyones heart with ease.

In March, Shilpa Shinde quit the show alleging that the makers "mentally tortured" her. The Cine and TV Artistes Association or CINTAA warned Shilpa for her utterly unprofessional approach and there were reports of a lifetime ban on her. Shilpa then filed a police complaint against CINTAA for banning her from working with any broadcaster after her spat with producer Binaifer Kohli.
Ramu has finally left Hyderabad, which has been his home for the last four years, to return to his filmi home turf, that is Bollywood. And if sources are to be believed the filmmaker has now returned to maximum city for good.

In fact, Ramu has built a brand new state-of-the-art office for himself in one of Mumbais central business areas. The office boasts of some of the most advanced interior equipment and reportedly cost Rs 15 crore to decorate.

Whats more, in typical RGV style, the filmmaker has named his new office Company. He earlier owned an office named Factory. For Ramu, this return to Mumbai comes after completing over six Telugu films since 2013.

Says a source close to the director, Ramu kept away from Mumbai to avoid all the flak he was getting for making repetitive films. He spent four years re-charging his batteries in Hyderabad.

Now, he is back in Mumbai. He has already completed the shooting of his next Hindi film Veerappan, starring Lisa Ray, and he also has plans to make a sequel to Company, which was one of his best films.
Last year, when Indian supermodel and former Miss India World Natasha Suri came to Kerala to participate in a beauty pageant, little did she know that it would add a new chapter to her life. It was an international beauty pageant and had people from various walks of life, including the casting director of the recently-released movie King Liar. He had seen Natasha walking on the ramp and suggested her name for a role in the movie.

Natasha, who is elated about the positive feedback for King Liar, says, I love South Indian movies. People are very professional here and they respect each other. Malayalam movies are brilliant. I have watched a few though I dont remember their names. Also, I am half-Telugu. Hence, I feel a special bonding with the southern film industry. I am looking forward to doing more movies here.

King Liar is Natashas first Malayalam movie as well as her first South Indian movie. I cannot tell you how many messages I receive everyday from families living in Mumbai and on Facebook. I feel happy when Malayalis living in Mumbai appreciate my role and ask for my autograph, says Natasha.

Her on-screen character is also called Natasha. Ive been fortunate to begin my career in the south with the Siddique-Lal team. I was really excited to work with them after listening to the script. My character, which is glamorous, appears in the last hour of the movie. It is a very meaty role. If it wasnt so, I wouldnt have done that, says the actress.

Natasha had a joyous time on the sets of King Liar. We had a 15-day shoot in Kerala and a five-day schedule in Dubai. Everyone on the set was truly encouraging. Working with Dileep ettan and Asha chechi was amazing. I have learnt a lot just by observing Dileepettan. Madonna (heroine) is so sweet, Natasha adds.

After participating in the Miss World competition, Natasha forayed into modelling and hosted a few television shows. I had been getting film offers while I was doing TV. But I didnt take it up. Now I want to focus on acting, be a part of good films.

Natasha feels that powerful characters suit her well. My body language can carry that well. The King Liar directors too told me that, says the actress, who will be seen in the garb of a business woman in her upcoming Bollywood project Baa Baa Black Sheep.
Hyderabad: Actor Jr NTR has created a record by paying Rs 10.5 lakh to get his lucky 9999 as the registration number for his new BMW 7 series car. The Rs 1.21 crore car will finally have the registration number TS 09 EL 9999.

Jr NTRs bid amount of Rs 10.5 lakh, including registration fee, was the highest. He has been allotted the number 9999, joint transport commissioner Mr T. Raghunath told DC.

Officials at Khairatabad RTA said this was the highest bid for any fancy number in RTA history. The second-placed bid was of Rs 6 lakh, from a construction firm. The process of bidding is not done orally. Bidders have to quote their amount for the fancy number and put the sealed covers along with the demand draft in a box.

The highest bid is given the number. The RTA had fixed the minimum price for the fancy number 9999 at Rs 50,000. Earlier too, Jr NTR had bid over Rs 5 lakh for the number 9999 for his luxury cars. The actors obsession with 9999 is not new. All his cars have 9999 on their plates.

In the past, he had registered a car at the Adilabad RTO, sparking a mini controversy as he is a resident of Hyderabad. The number allotment was cancelled and he later bid from Hyderabad  in accordance with the rules

He was also in the news recently when cops stopped his car (a Range Rover  AP 37 AX 9999) near Saradhi Studios and fined Rs 700 for tinted glasses.

On Saturday, the actor was not present at the RTA Khairatabad office himself because he was reportedly shooting for his upcoming film, Janata Garage.
Anjali Kumari, 7, and her 18-month-old brother Keshav Kumar are affected by a rare form of Progeria as well as a disease called Cutis Laxa. (Credit: YouTube/ World Media Channel)

In Ranchi, the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand, a brother and sister suffer from a rare disease that causes them to look many years older. Keshav Kumar, 18 months, and his sister, Anjali Kumari, 7, not only have extremely wrinkled skin and swollen faces but also have to endure pain in their joints. They are affected by a rare form of Progeria as well as a disease called Cutis Laxa.

The poor siblings are teased by other kids and have to make do with people staring at them wherever they go. Anjali says that she wants to be treated like a normal kid and wishes she was as pretty as her sister. The children in school call me names like daadi amma (grandmother), budhiya (old lady), bandariya (monkey), or hanuman (a Hindu monkey lord) and it annoys me, she told MailOnline in an interview.

Doctors in India say that the siblings' condition cannot be cured. They live with their parents, Shatrughan Rajak, 40, and mother Rinki Devi, 35. The childrens sister, 11-year-old Shilpi, who is the eldest of the three, was born normal.

Their father, Shatrughan, has to spend over Rs. 500 a month on the homeopathic treatment for Anjali and Keshav as they cannot afford allopathic medicines. Their distraught parents feel helpless seeing their children age faster than them.

Anjali and Keshav are prone to various ailments because of their low immunity levels and are already at a great risk of arthritis, chest infections and even heart attacks at such a tender age.
The toddler was trying to shoo away officials who wanted his grandmother to vacate as her makeshift shop was taking up too much sidewalk space. (Credit: YouTube)

Chinese social media is abuzz with a recently released video of a chubby toddler defending his grandmother in a marketplace in China with a metal pipe. Nope, we are not exaggerating at all. The angry little boy was trying to protect his grandmother from authorities who wanted her to move her make-shift shop as it was taking too much space on the sidewalk.

The tenacious toddler is heard screaming, Dont touch my grandma! Go away, dont touch my grandma! in Chinese while brandishing a metal pipe even as chuckling onlookers were recording his antics on video. Theres even a point, when the boy is ushered to a couch by an official but he quickly pushes him away with aggressive arm strikes.

The video, which had been shared first on the Chinese social network Weibo, has won praise from thousands of viewers for the little boys actions, according to the Peoples Daily Online.

Click on the link below to view the video:

Here's another video of the chubby toddler giving a good fight:
Mumbai: A 48-year-old Nallasopara man stabbed his 44-year-old wife to death after a domestic fight between them. The accused was immediately arrested from the spot by the Tulinj police.

A Tulinj police official told The Asian Age that the accused was arrested for murder under relevant sections of the IPC. He said that the accused and deceased had been suspecting each other of having an extra-marital affair, leading to heated quarrels between them.

The incident occurred around 10.30 pm on Thursday in Sai Ganesh Darshan Society of Shankheshwar Nagar in Nallasopara (east). Police sources said that the accused, Rajendra Sawant, stayed in the society with his wife, two sons, and wife and two daughters of his elder son. Rajendra and his son worked as drivers while the deceased, Ranjana Rajendra Sawant, worked as domestic help in homes in Bandra.

On Thursday, Rajendra had gone out for work with both his sons while Aniksha (28), wife of Rajendras elder son, Kiran, was at home with Ranjana. In the evening, Ranjana stepped out for the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar birth anniversary function being held nearby.

According to police officials, Rajendra returned home at about 10 pm on Thursday and did not find his wife at home, which angered him to the extent that he ordered Aniksha to bring Ranjana home. Later, when Ranjana returned home, he started fighting with her. In the course of the argument, Rajendra suddenly brought a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Ranjana. Seeing this, Aniksha tried to stop Rajendra, which led him to attack her as well, following which, she started screaming for help.

A few neighbours reached there and rushed Aniksha and Ranjana to a local hospital where doctors pronounced Ranjana dead on arrival. Aniksha was discharged after treatment. Later, the Tulinj police was informed and it arrested Rajendra from his house.

A Tulinj police official said that the Sawant couple had decided to separate in 2013 and had moved court for the purpose. However, Ranjana wanted Rajendra to give their Nallasopara house as compensation because of which, Rajendra refused to separate, according to Aniksha.
Both China and India are expected to review the status of the situation on the border and ways to maintain peace and tranquility there, the sources said. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: India and China will hold next round of Special Representatives talks on April 20 during which National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is expected to raise the issue of China blocking move to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as international terrorist.

The two-day talks in Beijing, 19th round of such parleys, will focus on boundary and strategic issues, official sources said here on Sunday. Doval, who is the Special Representative for Sino-India boundary talks, will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. He is also expected to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

At the 19th round of SR talks, the two sides are expected to review the status of the situation on the border and ways to maintain peace and tranquility there, the sources said.

"We want to move forward," a senior official said here about the ties with China. The talks are taking place in the backdrop of China blocking at the UN India's move to get Jaish-e-Mohammad chief designated as international terrorist. Doval is expected to raise this issue with Yang.

Last week, China stopped UN sanctions committee from designating Azhar as terrorist, maintaining that the case did not meet the requirements of the Security Council. This round of SR talks was earlier scheduled to be held in January but was postponed because of Pathankot terror attack on January one.

The last round of talks was held in March last year after which it was reported that Doval and Yang "exchanged in depth their opinions on the boundary issue" and made "strategic communications" on bilateral ties as well as international and regional issues of common interest.

The SR talks are designed not only to address the boundary question but also to facilitate exchange of views on subjects of common interest in regional and international developments. The two countries share a 4,057km long border on which they have differences of perception.

China says the border dispute is confined only to 2,000 kms mostly in Arunachal Pradesh whereas India asserts that the dispute covered the western side of the border spanning to about 4,000 kms, especially the Aksai Chin area annexed by China in 1962 war.
Rampur: Samajwadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Azam Khan has accused BSP and BJP of celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar for political benefits.

Addressing mediapersons on Friday at Jauhar University, who he is lifetime chancellor of, Khan said the BJP's celebration of Babasaheb's birth anniversary was an "attempt to garner political mileage".

"Prior to this birth anniversary of the architect of the Constitution, why the BJP never preferred to pay respect to the dalit leader," he asked.

Political parties organised several programmes on April 14 to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

Khan also alleged Mayawati's BSP took advantage of the great leader and Congress also followed their tactics. "And now the BJP is taking the similar route because its decline has begun," he said.

"When a political outfit loses its credibility and people start calling it a symbol of falsehood and baseless promises, then it does what the BJP is doing now by exploiting the name of Ambedkar," he said.

Khan also criticised Mayawati for her advice to people to remain alert to the "theatrics" of RSS, asking her to clarify why she had shared power with the BJP in the past.
In a bid to take control of the turbulent situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Centre has sent rush 3,600 additional paramilitary personnel to the Valley. (Photo: Habib Naqash)

New Delhi: Concerned over violence in Jammu and Kashmir in last four days, the Centre on Saturday decided to rush 3,600 additional paramilitary personnel to the Valley and asked the state government to ensure that there is no further loss of lives.

The decision to send more forces was taken at a high level meeting where situation in Jammu and Kashmir was discussed extensively.

Curfew-like restrictions continued for the fourth day in parts of Kashmir following killing of five persons in security forces action during violent protests since Tuesday.

The central government is concerned over the loss of human lives in Jammu and Kashmir, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal, who is holding the additional charge of Union Home Secretary, chaired the meeting which was attended by senior officials from Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Defence, Central Armed Police Forces and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The meeting reviewed the prevailing situation in Kashmir Valley and assessed the requirements of Jammu and Kashmir government to bring the situation under control and ensure no further loss of lives, he said.

It was decided in the meeting to send additional central armed police forces to strengthen the security grid in the Kashmir Valley.

While 12 companies of paramilitary personnel were reaching the state today itself, 24 more companies will reach there by tomorrow. One company of paramilitary comprises of about 100 personnel.

The Home Ministry is in regular touch with senior officials of Jammu and Kashmir and has been monitoring the situation on a regular basis. It has assured full cooperation and support to the state government to bring back normalcy.

Curfew-like restrictions were imposed in the Valley following death of three persons during protests against alleged molestation of a girl by a soldier in Handwara town on Tuesday. Two others died later following police firing.

Today's meeting also took stock of the development package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kashmir in November 2015. The package is being expeditiously implemented for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesperson said.

The package is expected to generate employment for local youth and bring overall prosperity in the state, he said.
Patna: While Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari gave his sanction to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday to initiate the procedure of prosecution against JD(U) MP Anil Sahani in LTC scam, Mr Sahani denied his role and termed charges against him as politically motivated.

While talking to this newspaper on the issue he said that he was planning to take legal help and will also file defamation suit against those trying to mislead CBI into the matter to malign my image.

Claiming that he was the victim of the racket which operated in raising fake bills for parliamentarians for their LTC he said he had raised his voice against it twice in the year 2013.

I am not the culprit but the victim. I tried to draw attention of the authorities that fake bills in my name were being raised against LTC. I am ready to cooperate with CBI if they want they can also check my bank details, he said.
Internet addicts have an impulse control disorder and it is a secondary manifestation of an underlying disorder in the person.

Hyderabad: Internet addiction is prevalent not only in major cities but also in small towns, according to a survey carried out by the Indian Psychiatric Society. The addiction was found to be as high as nine per cent.

Two colleges in Hyderabad and Nalgonda district  one government and one private  studied the pattern of usage among 1,000 students for a year. The results were released recently and it was found that the usage began first with games and continued as mood-regulator.

Dr G. Prasad Rao, director of schizophrenia at Asha Hospital who conducted the study, said, Internet is found to be more attractive to individuals who are lonely and also who lack face-to-face social competence.

People get hooked on to the Web in order to overcome these deficient social skills. The usage among some of them is as high as 15 to 16 hours per day. Generally, it is more during the night than day due to which sleep patterns of the users are also affected, he said.

Survey results showed that the pattern of usage and users behaviour were the same in both government and private colleges. Internet addicts have an impulse control disorder and it is a secondary manifestation of an underlying disorder in the person.

Students who are lonely suffer from anxiety and social isolation due to lack of inter-personal interaction and are thus found to be over dependent on Internet for socialisation.

Dr Naga Laxmi, psychiatrist, explained, Internet fulfills two important needs  one is to disclose feelings and the other is overcome shyness. When both these desires are fulfilled in an easy and cheap manner the person spends more and more time for the gratification derived.For this reason we are now seeing that an individual is different when on the Internet from what he or she is in real life.

Those who spend too much time on the Web suffer from mood disorders, impulse control, substance abuse and also severe anxiety. The students also reported staying up late at night while feeling tired the next day due to insufficient sleep and thereby missing classes. They also suffer from other side effects of various sleep disorders.

Psychiatrist Dr Rama Reddy said, Most of these symptoms only come to light when the Internet connection is disrupted or when there is a break of a few hours at a stretch. This is the time when the condition is detected. When there are continuous episodes of irritation, aggressive behaviour and also anger, that is when friends and the college management complain to the parents to take urgent action. Hence students mostly come to us at a stage where they are deep into it or their addiction has caused some social or moral problems in the society.

Behavioral therapy can cure net addiction

Relapse in Internet addiction is not as high as it is in alcohol and tobacco as behavioural changes have shown successful results so far.

Psychiatrist Dr Prasad Rao said, Behavioural therapy takes up to a year depending on the addiction but the results have shown that there is no major relapse.

The existing social structure is strengthened and they are able to deal with their problems later. The dependency factor on internet is found to reduce. Students who stay alone are advised to speak more to their real friends rather than only communicate via smart phones or Internet.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Patna: Rajya Sabha MP Anil Sahni, who was served a showcause notice by JD(U) on Saturday for his alleged involvement in LTC scam, pleaded innocence and said he would send his reply to the party.

"I have not received any show-cause notice. I am in Muzaffarpur and the notice might have been delivered in Delhi (residence). But I'll explain my position in my reply to the party," Sahni said.

Sahni, who is a second term Rajya Sabha member, reiterated his stand that he was innocent and had actually been implicated by those whom he had exposed in the LTC scam.

Asked if he has met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the new JD(U) President, Sahni said "not so far".

"It's a matter within the (JDU) family. Whenever I get a call from Kumar, I'll meet him and make my point and tell him the truth," Sahni said.

The JD(U) Rajya Sabha member asked the probe agency to look into his bank accounts to ascertain money flow on this count.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari had a few days back given his approval to CBI to prosecute Sahni against whom the agency had filed a chargesheet for alleged cheating and corruption in LTC Scam.

CBI had filed a chargesheet against Sahni alleging that he, in conspiracy with other persons, used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha to the tune of Rs 23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement without undertaking the actual journey.

Besides Sahni, whose term in Rajya Sabha ends in April 2018, others named in the CBI charge sheet were Anup Singh Panwar, an employee of Delhi-based Air Cruise Travels Private Limited, N S Nair, then Office Superintendent (Traffic), Air India and one Arvind Tiwari. Meanwhile, opposition BJP attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the issue.

"Despite Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari giving his permission to prosecute Anil Sahni in Rs 23.71 lakh LTC scam, why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is still maintaining silence?" senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said in a statement.

"Nitish Kumar who talks about zero tolerance on corruption should answer as why Sahni has not been suspended from the party so far?" Modi asked.
Mehbooba Mufti flew to Kupwara, the district headquarters, for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation arising out of current unrest and to hold a meeting with senior officials of civil administration. (Photo: Twitter/ANI)

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, said on Saturday that civilian killings are unacceptable and that she wont tolerate harm coming to civilians during the security forces dealing with law and order situations in the State.

She said she had a telephonic conversation with Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, on Friday evening and earlier met Udhampur-based chief of Armys Northern Command, Lt. Gen. D. S. Hooda, and told them that Handwara and Natnusa like incidents in which five people were killed in security forces firings and other actions are unacceptable and come as a major setback to the efforts of the State government in consolidating peace dividends in the state.

Read: Handwara firing: Family says girl forced to deny molestation charges

Mufti on Saturday flew to Kupwara, the district headquarters, for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation arising out of current unrest and to hold a meeting with senior officials of civil administration, police, Army and other security forces to discuss measures to contain it. An official spokesman here said that she also met the victims families to offer her condolences besides holding an interaction meeting with the prominent members of the civil society to seek their help towards defusing the situation. She was accompanied by BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh.

Read: Handwara firing: J&K police detains 16-year-old molestation victim, father

She said, Ive told Lt. Gen. Hooda to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with law-and-order situations. The Defence Minister has assured me of time-bound investigation into the unfortunate incidents that led to the death of civilians during protests at Handwara and Natnusa so that exemplary punishment is given to those found guilty. She said she wanted to be with the people at this hour, grasp the sequence of events that led to the cycle of violence and the action taken by the law-enforcing authorities.

Read: HC queries J&K police on 'detention' of girl, kin in Handwara

She said she was deeply saddened by the series of unfortunate events which led to the death of four young boys and a woman. I never dreamt of coming to Kupwara like this after taking over as the Chief Minister. It is most unfortunate, she said. She earlier told the official meeting that the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) should not remain a mere word but become a potent tool while dealing with law-and-order situations.

Read: Handwara firing: Centre sends more forces, asks J-K to ensure no loss of lives

Opposition National Conference (NC) said that Muftis Kupwara visit was a classic case of too little, too late, especially after the Chief Minister chose to remain in New Delhi while the youth were losing their lives in the Valley.

Former minister and NCs provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani said in a statement here that the Chief Minister held purely political and partisan meetings in New Delhi while the youth were being killed in Handwara and elwehere in Kupwara district and asked her to clarify what apparent sense of urgency compelled her to meet BJP president Amit Shah and national general secretary Ram Madhav in Delhi when she should have rushed back to the Valley as soon as possible.

Read: Handwara firing: Curfew-like restrictions continue in Kashmir

"All these meetings were aimed at safeguarding her own political interests and those of her party and her continued refusal to rush back to the Valley is unpardonable. Then the insensitive, ruthless act of presenting a bouquet of flowers to the Prime Minister at a time of such misery and pain in the Valley is contemptuous to the bereaved families and the people of the State in general, Wani said.
With infiltration bids from across the LoC showing a substantial decline, militants are now adopting a new tactic of recruiting locals, an army official today said. (Representational Image)

Jammu: With infiltration bids from across the LoC showing a substantial decline, militants are now adopting a new tactic of recruiting locals, an army official today said.

Col SD Goswami, PRO Defence, Northern Command said the militants so far were using traditional infiltration routes but they are looking into some other areas for sneaking into India.

"Seeing that infiltration is not really taking place and that the number of militants is dwindling, they have started new tactics of trying to recruit locals," he said.

He also said that social media and its blatant use by terrorists groups and separatists alike is emerging as a challenge from the security point of view.

"The security situation of J&K is at an important cross road of transcending from conflict stabilisation to conflict resolution domain," he said.

"The other areas are being monitored by ground sensors, thermal imagers and battle field surveillance radars. Surveillance devices provide signatures of the movement of terrorists in real time and enable troops to take appropriate action," he said.

According to Colonel Goswami, infiltration attempts have shown a decline from 221 in 2014 to 92 in 2015. In 2011, there were 247 infiltration attempts, followed by 264 in 2012 and 277 in 2013.

He said that 13 infiltrating terrorists were killed in 2012, followed by 38 in 2013, 52 in 2014 and 37 in 2015.
Washington: There could be stray incidents of people on either side of the political spectrum making irresponsible statements but this could not be generalised as prevalence of a climate of intolerance in the country, Union Minister Arun Jaitley has said.

Dubbing such incidents as terrible, the senior BJP leader, however, said that they are rare in a large country like India.

"There could be stray incidents of irresponsible statements by individuals on either side of the political spectrum, that does not mean that zamin per koi iss tarah ki activity hai (intolerance exists)," Jaitley said during a media roundtable with Indian reporters here.

"These are bad incidents. These are terrible incidents, but these are extremely rare in a large country. Historically stray incidents have taken place," he said when his attention was drawn towards some of the specific such incidents.

Responding to a question on alleged prevalence of intolerance in the country, Jaitley described this as a creation of media. "On the ground, my own understanding of the subject is, are there a lot of things happening that show this (intolerance)? The answer is no.

"There could be in a large country like India some incident or the other, which takes place one time, which could be considered highly improper and condemnable," he said.

When asked if there is any introspection within the party, he said: "Actually neither in the party agenda nor on the ground there is any such activity wherein in a large country like India it (incidents of intolerance) is happening state after state."

"A news channel can show same four people giving irresponsible statements and build a story around it. That seems to be more of what is happening.

"What gets projected is in a large body of politics there would always be three or four people who would react aggressively and disproportionally to events," he observed.

"So loose comments, loose statements, improper statements, when the television camera confronts you, you say what you should not say, aise char, panch, chhe log hai (there are four, five, six such people), usko aap environment of intolerance kah do? (and you describe them as an environment of intolerance)?" the minister asked.

The Finance Minister is currently on a week-long tour of the US primarily to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

He also had the annual India US Economic and Financial Dialogue on Thursday and bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Luxemburg and Bangladesh.

Over the weekend, he would travel to New York to interact with the business community there and address a meeting at the United Nations.
SPG convener Lalji Patel said the planned 'Jail Bharo' agitation is being organised as their one-month ultimatum to the government to concede to the demands expired with no favourable result. (Photo: PTI)

Ahmedabad: Resuming their agitation for reservation, members of the Patel community will court arrest en masse in Mehsana on Sunday as part of the second round of the stir, even as the district administration issued notice to the campaign organisers terming it as illegal.

Agitators under the banner of Sardar Patel Group (SPG) with the support of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) will gather in Mehsana to form a human chain.

They will then move towards the Mehsana sub jail and court arrest, a senior SPG member told PTI, claiming that around 50,000-1 lakh agitators from across Gujarat are expected to reach Mehsana. Talks with the Gujarat government over the 27-point demands on April 11 failed and hence, SPG has decided to resume the stir, the leader said.

SPG convener Lalji Patel said the planned 'Jail Bharo' agitation is being organised as their one-month ultimatum to the government to concede to the demands expired with "no favourable result".

"We had given the government one-month ultimatum to meet our demands. But during this period, the government only talked and did nothing. This has forced us to go ahead with our planned agitation," he added.

Patel quota stir leader Hardik Patel, presently in judicial custody, said he will compromise with the state government on the issue of reservation only if it is "in favour of their community".

"We will surely compromise (on the reservation issue) if it is in favour of our community," Patel told reporters when he was being produced before a local court.

Meanwhile, Mehsana collector Lochan Sehra said the district administration has served notice against the stir terming it as "illegal".

"The organisers had intimated the mamlatdar (government official) that they are going to hold 'jail Bharo andolan'. The mamlatdar has served them notice stating that they can't hold the stir as it is illegal. They have also been told that they will be held responsible for any law and order problem," Sehra said.

A Committee of Ministers headed by state Health Minister Nitin Patel, formed to negotiate with the Patel leaders, had recently handed over a report on a compromise formula to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
As per provisions of Indian Railway Vigilance Manual 2006, the financial powers have been withdrawn in respect of four officers and one officer is on long sick leave. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: In a major move against corruption, the railway ministry has branded 22 of its senior officials as tainted. These officials, for the time being have been kept away from any sensitive postings.

According to sources, the list of these tainted officials with doubtful integrity was provided to the railway ministry by the CBI. The list of tainted officials is also called agreed or secret list, they added.

Four officers of the Northeastern Railway are in the current agreed list. All the four officers have been posted on non-sensitive posts as per the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), sources said.

Besides, 18 officers of the Northeastern Railway are in the secret list also and 13 of them have been posted on non-sensitive posts as per CVC guidelines, they added.

Sources further said, Remaining five officers are working on sensitive posts. However, as per provisions of Indian Railway Vigilance Manual 2006, the financial powers have been withdrawn in respect of four officers and one officer is on long sick leave.

Meanwhile, in its bid to ensure that honest officers are not harassed by any prosecuting agency while seeking prosecution sanction from the concerned department or ministry, anti-corruption watchdog, the CVC, has already asked them to ensure that all guidelines for granting such sanctions should be strictly followed in letter and spirit as grant of sanction is not a mere formality. In a circular issued in June 2015 to all Central ministries and departments, the CVC said, The prosecution must send the entire relevant record to the sanctioning authority including the FIR, disclosure statements, statements of witnesses, recovery memos, draft-chargesheet and all other relevant material. The record so sent should also contain the material or document, if any, which may tilt the balance in favour of the accused and on the basis of which, the competent authority may refuse sanction. The authority itself has to do complete and conscious scrutiny of the whole record.
Tiruvallur collector E. Sundaravalli has arranged for safe drinking water tanks and also ORS booths (for countering dehydration) in all the five municipalities in her district.Public using the ORS booth at Poonamallee bus stand on a hot Friday morning. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: After alerting the state about the heatwave fryer, Regional Meteorological Department (RMC) on Friday said the city is off the threat and cautioned the interior districts over the abnormal temperature wave.

Sea breeze in the latter part of Friday acted as a rescue mechanism for Chennaiites panicked by the alert message. The city recorded the maximum at 37.2 degree C.

I skipped my work and stayed indoors as the messages on social media about heat wave were scary, said a sales executive, V. Raja. Dharmapuri recorded the maximum temperature of 40.8 degree C with Salem witnessing 40.6 degree C.

Attributing the appreciably above normal temperature to southwesterly winds, Director of Research section at Regional Meteorological Centre, S. Balachandran, said the cloudless condition had escalated the maximum temperature indicating a temperature wave.

Weather blogger S. Bhaskaran said slight showers would cool the atmosphere. Mild rains were experienced during April last year. As it is absent now, heat is being felt, he added.

District collectorates had issued a warning to residents and introduced preventive measures such as providing buttermilk. Deputy director of health services, Tiruvallur, Krishnamurthy told DC the department is providing Oral Rehydration Solution(ORS) to all healthcare centres.
Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Y S Chowdary's son, Karthik, has been booked for rash driving by Hyderabad Traffic Police, which also seized his Porsche car.

Karthik, 22, allegedly gave the police a slip when they tried to stop his car. However, he was caught after a brief chase.

During a special road safety drive conducted on Friday night by traffic cops, Karthik was found driving the vehicle allegedly in a rash manner between Jubilee Hills Check Post and KBR Park gate here.

"He was speeding, so when we tried to stop him, he drove past us. Later, he was taking a u-turn near a police checkpost, where we caught him," Banjara Hills Traffic Police Station Inspector N Vidya Sagar said.

"We caught him along with some other (motorists) during the special drive for different violations," the Inspector said, adding a case was booked on charge of rash driving against Karthik under section 184 (B) of Motor Vehicles Act and the Porsche car was seized.

The police officer said that Karthik has not been arrested, however, fine will be imposed. He also said that the 22-year-old was not drunk while driving.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: More than a month after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule for the state, both the ruling front and the opposition seem to be struggling to place a concrete agenda before the electorate. The UDF was banking on its liquor policy to fetch votes and to an extent had even put the CPM on the defensive repeatedly asking the Marxists to clarify their stand on the phased prohibition.

But CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechurys categoric statement ruling out the possibility of reopening of shut bars and rolling back of liquor policy, turned bar issue into a non issue. It also blunted Congress accusation of LDF-bar owner conspiracy to topple Chandy government.

The UDF which had gone on defensive mode being forced by Opposition to withdraw controversial land allotment decisions was also pinning its hopes on liquor policy. Congress MLA P C Vishnunath, however, says the UDF Governments performance spelt its poll agenda. It is a referendum on governments development agenda. We are seeking mandate on Vizhinjam seaport, SmartCity, Kannur airport, unprecedented social security schemes, Re 1 rice scheme and mass contact programme, he added.

Political observers say the LDF has failed to effectively target corrupt ministers. It is believed that the CPM had emphasised more on negative campaign, banking squarely on the allegations of Bar owners and Solar case accused Saritha S Nair to target Chandy. With High Court questioning the credibility of Saritha following her allegations of sexual harassment by Chandy, had the LDF stumped.

The LDF also failed to sustain its attack on the corruption issue. A section of CPM leaders believe that had the party devoted 10 per cent of the time and energy spent on Saritha accusations on the common mans issues, things would have been different on the ground.

LDF convenor Vaikom Viswan said Our focus is on the failures of the UDF Government. Corruption is a major issue that we have been raising all through the campaign. These issues will automatically come to the centre stage once the campaign pics up, he said.

Caught between the major fronts, the BJP led NDA has also failed to place an alternative agenda before the people. It has been harping on the match fixing between LDF and UDF referring to West Bengal.

The UDF also faced a scare following the Paravur fire tragedy. However, the government managed to neutralise the attack by calling an all party meeting. The political leaders, however, claim that with one month left for the polls the campaigning will pick up giving shape to a concrete poll agenda.
Chennai: DMK cadres on Friday continued to protest over the choice of candidates in over 12 Assembly segments across the state even as party treasurer M. K. Stalin launched his election campaign in Madurai.

Opposing candidature of former minister and sitting MLA T. P. Mohindeen Khan from Palayamkottai constituency, party cadres of Tirunelveli district staged a protest in front of DMK chief M. Karunanidhis Gopalapuram residence on Friday morning.

Raising slogans against Mohindeenkhan, the cadres alleged he was representing the constituency for the past 15 years, but did nothing for the constituency. Out of the 35 area secretaries in Palayamkottai, 31 are against his candidature. We want the party to change the candidate, a party functionary from Palayamkottai told reporters. At Palayamkottai, cadres burnt an effigy of the former DMK minister in protest.

In Sirkazhi, four DMK supporters attempted to self-immolate near the new bus stand there protesting against party candidate Killai Ravindran. The local party cadres are upset over the nomination of Ravindran who hails from Chidambaram. However, police pacified the agitating cadres.

Supporters of former DMK minister Selvaraj protested against allocation of Manachanallur Assembly seat that was previously held by him to Kattukulam Ganesan.
New Delhi: The second half of the Budget Session of Parliament could witness a crack in Opposition unity with the Trinamool Congress all set to take on the Congress owing to their bitter rivalry in the ensuing West Bengal polls. The crack in Opposition unity could help the government move forward on the goods and services tax. The second half of the Budget Session starts on April 25.

At this juncture, the Trinamool Congress is seething following Congress president Sonia Gandhis blistering attack on the outfit and comparing West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The much-flaunted Opposition unity, which had repeatedly disrupted Parliament proceedings during the first half of the Budget Session, could suffer a setback with the Trinamool Congress in no mood to latch on to the Congress bandwagon. On the GST Bill issue, speculation was rife that the Trinamool, which has 12 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, could support it openly or stage a walkout to facilitate the governments move to push through the contentious bill.

The Congress, which had joined hands with the Left, attacked the Trinamool with all guns blazing. What upset the Trinamool was Congress president Sonia Gandhis remark comparing Ms Banerjee with Prime Minister Modi. Both Narendra Modi and Mamata bluffed the people. Both are autocratic and two sides of the same coin, Mrs Gandhi had said at a recent public rally in Bengal.

Incidentally, though the BJP has also targeted Ms Banerjees regime to stay afloat in the electoral battle in Bengal, the Centre has been somewhat soft on Ms Banerjee at the national level. Lacking clout in the Rajya Sabha, the Modi government knows that it has to turn to Didi for her crucial support for contentious legislation. Eyebrows were raised when the Central investigating agencies adopted an evasive role on the multicrore Saradha scam. It may be recalled that Prime Minister Modi has not been missing any opportunity to reach out to regional players to further the Centres legislative agenda.

Mr Modi had gone to the extent of saying, In West Bengal, Mamata didi is trying to revive the state from 35-year-long misrule.

A senior TMC functionary, while making it clear that his party supports GST, refused to give any importance to electoral rhetoric. Things are said during elections. Thats taken for granted. We do not support BJPs ideology, but we also dont want to criticise the Centre even if it was doing a good job, he said.
Our capabilities gap in relation to a two-front preparation  taking both Pakistan and China into our security perception matrix  has stood exposed for some time in the matter of defending airspace. We are 150 to 160 aircraft short. The Modi government has done well to not allow price negotiations to linger and order 36 Rafale jets from France in a flyaway condition on the basis of a government-to-government agreement with Paris.

Evidently, negotiations and discussions on purchase-related matters for the remaining 90 or 100 planes will have to be resumed for the Rafale, or for its competitors, in due course. The off-the-shelf collection of the 36 Rafale fighters from France, now expected to be concluded in the next few weeks, as indicated by the government on Friday, is clearly a matter of meeting an expediency in the context of our immediate security requirements.

In 2012, the Manmohan Singh government had cleared the Rafale jets built by the French Dassault Aviation in preference to others like the Russian Sukhoi, the Eurofighter, and the American F-18s, with the US loudly complaining that the selection process appeared tilted against the American company.

Talks with Dassault were on to buy 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) when the Rafale had been selected. But close price negotiations with the company stalled the purchase from 2012 to 2015 until, on a visit to Paris last April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi politically persuaded French leader Francois Hollande to sell a specified number of Rafale jets to India under a governmental deal and on price parameters different from what was being negotiated with Dassault.

Even then the deal could not be clinched, although Mr Hollande, when he was the Republic Day guest this year, gave the impression that only small details remained to be sorted out. Clearly the pricing, and whether the price will cover a certain degree of avionics and in-built weaponry, remained a factor. That seems to have been resolved now, with the government indicating that the 36 planes will come at a cost of 7.8 billion euro, or about Rs 60,000 crore. The final word is not out, of course. But this is the nearest the government has come to signalling finality.

For the remaining 90 planes needed to meet the sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons and cover the capabilities shortfall, the government must insist on technology transfer in the purchase contracts with the manufacturers, one or several. The aim must remain the gaining of technological self-reliance in matters of sophisticated defence hardware.
Nitish Kumars Bihar win continues to resound across the world, especially among the alumni of Ivy League universities and our own IITs and IIMs. Mr Kumars ambitious Bihar Vikas Mission has evoked a lot of interest from the alumni who are queuing up to offer their talent to his government. According to sources, the state government has received an impressive 3,700 applications for 100 positions in the project in department such as management, finance, research and communications. The heavy influx of applications from high-profile alumni has put the government in a quandary.

Clearly Bihar officials are surprised at the response given that the tenure is only for 11 months and the salary offered is nowhere near what these applicants can get elsewhere. The missions screening committee, comprising chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, Cabinet Secretariat principal secretary Brajesh Mehrotra, finance department principal secretary Ravi Mittal, other senior bureaucrats and two members of Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna, are now pondering what selection process to adopt. Clearly theres too much talent to handle.

CBI vs AAP

When the Central Bureau of Investigation raided Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals office late last year while reportedly investigating corruption charges against his principal secretary, Indian Administrative Service officer Rajendra Kumar, it created a storm. The Aam Aadmi Party government, which is pitted in a relentless political slugfest with the Centre, had then accused the Modi sarkar of wreaking vendetta upon the state government. The CBI vehemently denied the charge, but now it appears that the Delhi government has reason to feel vindicated.

A special CBI court has sent a reference to the Delhi high court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the CBIs investigating officer in the corruption case. It also stated that the agency flouted procedures with impunity and for being conspicuously ambiguous in investigating the IAS officer and other officials.

Thats pretty serious stuff, coming from the special court. But CBI officials are nonchalant about what the court had to say about its investigating team. The agency is now planning to seek relief from the high court in the appropriate manner. Thats for later. For now, the Delhi government seems to have gained the upper hand and could keep the advantage.

Perks of being a babu

The perks of being heaven-born perhaps include not paying house rent for years if one chooses to. And when outed, it also helps that a sympathetic state government often decides to waive off 75 per cent of the rent arrears. Clearly this is a privilege, among many others, that only babus (and perhaps netas) enjoy in our country.

Recently, eyebrows were raised when the Telangana government provided relief to some 44 serving and retired All-India Service (AIS) officers for defaulting on the rent on their government-provided accommodation. Sources say that the state government rules stipulate that any AIS officer wishing to retain the government accommodation for personal purposes after transfer has to pay a rent of Rs 15,000 per month for the first two months and Rs 20,000 per month subsequently. But things were allowed to slide until these babus collectively owed the sarkar Rs 1.50 crore in rent arrears.

Among these dignitaries are DIG rank senior Indian Police Service officer P. Hari Kumar, R.K. Meena, V.S. Mann, P. Umapathi, G. Sudheer Babu and others. Obviously the news of the rent waiver has not gone down well with civil activists who now plan to raise the issue with chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. Watch this space for updates.
Well, as we all know that the consumer is what makes and breaks the manufacturers market share. So if the brand does not manage to fulfil the demands of consumers, they stand a higher chance of losing out from the big pie.

In the case of Xiaomi, the Chinese giant who entered into India two years ago, they had a huge fan following. And surprisingly, this they did not know in the initial month. When they entered India, they were a small brand, who they thought were not known enough. However, to their surprise, Xiaomi was a huge hit when they announced their presence in India and started with their first handset, the flagship Mi 3. The crowd applauded and fans were madly opting for the new handset that was insanely affordable and yet powerful, as compared to its rivals. This was the period when they partnered with Flipkart for their online sales, who, together with Xiaomi started the new process of selling the device with their flash sale methodology.

While registration and flash sales worked in favour of both companies, this later became a pain for the fans, who registered in numbers amounting to millions, but sadly, only a few thousand handsets were being stocked and sold. While Xiaomi mentioned that there were unaware of their popularity in the country and did not estimate the proportion of sales. This led them to manufacture more handsets just to meet the requirements in India alone.

Later they went ahead to launch new handsets in the country, which again went in their favour, and Xiaomi managed to get a huge chunk of the smartphone market pie. As their popularity grew, Xiaomi started promoting their brand by heavily using the social platform. Xiaomi does not believe in advertising and prefers making lower profits rather than suffering huge losses. Instead of making profits, they would prefer to pass that on to the customer by lowering the handset prices.

Later, with the release of new handsets, the flash sales became their only way of selling their handsets. However, with shortage of stocks and most people unable to buy handsets, this started taking a toll on their fan following. Fans registered in huge numbers, but only to see the buy now button for less than a second. This was, and is the same scene till date. The last two devices launched were the Redmi Note 3 and the Xiaomi Mi 5. While the Mi 5 was announced with only 32GB storage, the Redmi was announced with two variants, 16GB and 32GB. Xiaomi says that they are short in stock for the 32GB version and are only selling the 16GB version, that too in flash sales that are weekly and last just a few seconds. Customers who are opting for the Redmi Note 3 prefer the 32GB over the 16GB version as it holds more value for money with just a difference of Rs 2,000. However, the Redmi Note 3 32GB variant is nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, the company is also not transparent enough to give out the actual figures of the available devices before the sale. The flagship Xiaomi Mi 5 is also facing the same issues with availability. People have responded that it is better to buy another brand rather than stand in line and lose patience over the flash sales.

Xiaomis relationship with its fans has started turning sour by the day. Every post on Facebook by Xiaomi has attracted more negativity than praises. Posts by Hugo Barra, VP Global for Xiaomi, has attracted a lot of bad comments from his followers in India.

A recent post, where Hugo posted a photo of the earth captured from outer space by a Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone. There is absolutely no information about who shot it, when and how. Though there were a surprising 2,000 plus likes to the post, there were a lot of negative comments too, and some were hilarious. Angry fans and customers are trolling every Facebook post by Xiaomi to get their questions answered.

Here are a few comments that grabbed our attention. Check out some of the screenshots below:

In the line of comments itself, an angry fan had posted his comment with a screenshot asking Xiaomi for an explanation. The guy, named Neel Thakur, asked Hugo to justify himself and Xiaomi about the Mi 5 contest that was held earlier. The contest mentioned that one Mi 5 and 5 F-Codes would be given out to the lucky winners, provided they share the post and comment why the Mi 5 impresses them. However, Thakur highlights that the contest was simply made for promotional basis and create a huge publicity, which was later taken down without notice. He also claims that the contest winners were not even announced. Check out the post below:

Click on the above post to see all the comments.

In under two years, Xiaomi has grown to be one of the top smartphone brands in India. It presently occupies the slot of the top five smartphone manufacturers in the world, rubbing shoulders with top well-known, seasoned brands Samsung, Apple, Huawei, LG and others. India is the second largest consumer of smartphones and the 5-year-old Chinese startup has managed to capture the market in a very short span.

However, sadly, Xiaomi seems to have disappointed fans out hereeither knowingly or unknowingly. Their flash sales strategy seems to be pushing the customers patience to their limits, and in the bargain the brand may suffer, though slowly, in the Indian market. Xiaomi fans are slowly turning away, and the main reason is their flash sales and low stocks. Though their smartphones are impressive, surprisingly low costs and powerful hardware, Xiaomi could suffer because of various other reasons in India.

What do you think? Do you like the flash sales? Will Xiaomi lose ground in India? What do you propose Xiaomi should do? Would you prefer another brand over Xiaomi?

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Mexico: In an appalling incident, a Mexican man was arrested after he was caught on camera molesting his four-year-old daughter. The video was recorded by the waitress of the restaurant where the duo were having dinner.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the man had allegedly groped the 4-year-old when she was leaning on him. While the child was busy playing games, the father continued to touch her inappropriately.

After the video was uploaded on social media platform, it sparked off a furore that led to a nationwide hunt for the 48-year-old alleged paedophile.

The police caught hold of the man when he was about to board a bus. According to cops, the man was trying to flee the city as an arrest warrant had been issued against him on March 27, after he was recognised in the video.

Amid the hoopla, a new video has come to the fore which shows a woman, who claims to be the wife of the perpetrator, defending him.

Do you think the child would have been calm and composed if my husband was actually touching her inappropriately? questioned the woman.

She further added that the child has been going through a tough time owing to separation from the family.
For the first time 22 women will be commissioned as infantry and armour officers in US. (Photo: AP)

Washington: The US Army is commissioning 22 women as infantry and armour officers under historic new rules allowing females to serve in ground combat roles, USA Today reported on Friday.

Defence Secretary Ash Carter in December announced a sweeping directive to open all military occupations to women in the year, including frontline combat roles.

The 22 women have almost finished their officer training and must then complete their specialty schools and meet certain physical requirements before they are fully qualified to start, USA Today reported.

Armor officers are responsible for tank and cavalry operations. Infantry officers lead infantry troops and other armed forces during land combat.

The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Though women warriors have frequently found themselves in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, they had previously been barred from joining frontline combat roles, including the infantry and Special Forces.

Currently, women only account for about 15.6% of the 1.34 million active-duty personnel in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.

As the new rules kick in, 52 military occupations -- some 220,000 jobs -- will accept female applicants, who must still pass the same rigorous physical tests as men.
Michigan: A US coast guard accused of brutally raping an 18-month-old girl in a motel in 2012 and then urinating on her has been sentenced to 200 years in prison, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

Eric Devin Master, 29, had earlier been convicted of making sexually explicit videos of children. During the trial, he said that he had been addicted to child pornography and was a sex abuse victim himself.

Judge Mark Trusock of Michigan's Kent County Circuit Court told Masters that he does not deserve to live in society and should be put behind bars. Masters pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree sex assault involving minors.

Masters said that he had tied up the toddler's legs and arms to the bedpost and then brutally raped her while filming the entire act on camera.

He admitted to raping the minor three times in a span of eight days. He also filmed himself while urinating on her. Later, he exchanged the video clip with other people for child pornography.

The minor victim who has turned five recently, said that she remembered everything that she had to go through. The girl's mother begged the court to punish her daughter's rapist.

After hearing all the pleas, Masters has been sentenced to 200 years in prison for rape, molestation and possession of child pornography.
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras and Bartholomew I of Constantinople greet Pope Francis upon his arrival on the Greek island of Lesbos. (Photo: AFP)

Lesbos, Greece: Pope Francis travelled to Greece on Saturday for a brief but provocative visit to meet with refugees at a detention centre as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey.

Francis' Alitalia charter touched down at the airport on the Greek island of Lesbos shortly after 10 am, some 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met him on the tarmac, along with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the archbishop of Athens, who is the head of the Church of Greece.

The three Christian leaders, officially divided over a 1,000-year schism, will spend nearly an hour Saturday greeting some 250 refugees stuck on Lesbos. They will lunch with eight of them to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. And then they will pray together, tossing a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didn't make it.

The five-hour visit is meant to highlight the plight of refugees, thank the Greek people who have welcomed them in, and to show a united Christian response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding.

Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene.

Also ahead of the visit, municipal crews scrubbed the walls of Mytilene after graffiti reading "Papa Don't Preach" was sprayed in black at several points on the seafront in Mytilene. A handful of senior Orthodox clergy in Greece have been highly critical of Francis' trip, though the protests are nothing compared to the protests that greeted St John Paul II's visit in 2001.

The wreath-tossing ceremony scheduled for later Saturday is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe. He made a similar gesture more recently at the US-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the US.

"He is slightly provocative," said George Demacopoulos, chair of Orthodox Christian studies at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. Citing Francis' Mexico border visit in February, in the heat of a US presidential campaign where illegal immigration took center stage, he added: "He is within his purview to do so, but that was a provocative move."

The Vatican insists Saturday's visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature, not political or a "direct" criticism of the EU plan.

But spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters that Francis' position on Europe's "moral obligation" to welcome refugees is well-known, and that the EU-Turkey deportation deal certainly has "consequences on the situation of the people involved."

The Vatican official in charge of migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, was even more explicit, saying the EU-Turkey plan essentially treats migrants as merchandise that can be traded back and forth and doesn't recognize their inherent dignity as human beings.

The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted concessions including billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there, and a speeding up of its stalled accession talks with the EU.

Human rights groups have denounced the deal as an abdication of Europe's obligations to grant protection to asylum-seekers.

The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the "globalization of indifference" that the world shows the less fortunate.

Aside from the inherently political nature of the trip, it also has a significant religious dimension.

Lombardi said the ecumenical significance of a meeting between Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the head of the Church of Greece, Athens Archbishop Ieronymos II was "obvious." He credited Greece's politicians with their willingness to let the religious leaders take center stage as an "appreciated" gesture of discretion.
Swaraj's visit is seen as a balancing act by India as it came nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Saudi Arabia. (Photo: PTI)

Tehran: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Iran on Saturday on a two-day visit to boost ties with a focus on raising India's oil imports and enhancing trade with the powerful Persian Gulf nation which has opened several lucrative sectors after sanctions against it were lifted under a historic nuclear deal.

The visit by Swaraj to the oil-rich country comes amid a rush for investment in the resource-rich nation by global economic powers including Japan, China, the US and several European countries after Iran invited foreign companies for joint ventures in many of its crucial sectors including oil and gas.

India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up USD 20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.

Swaraj's visit is seen as a balancing act by India as it came nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Saudi Arabia, another West Asian power which considers Iran its rival.

Iran is an important country for India for its energy security as well as to get access to oil and gas-rich Central Asian nations. India imports close to 12 million tonnes of crude from Iran and it is looking at increasing the oil import from the country.

Swaraj will hold extensive talks with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif tomorrow during which entire gamut of bilateral relations will be reviewed with a major focus on ramping up ties in energy, trade and banking sectors.

The External Affairs Minister will also call on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Iran has ended free shipping of crude oil to India and terminated a three-year-old system of getting paid for half of the oil dues in rupees and the issue is likely to figure in talks between Swaraj and Zarif.

Iran is now insisting on being paid in Euros for the oil it sells to Indian refiners. It also wants refiners like Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MPRL) to clear nearly USD 6.5 billion of past dues in Euros, according to officials.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had paid a two-day visit to Tehran from April 9 during which he discussed with his Iranian counterpart the repayment of nearly USD 6.5 billion that Indian refiners owe to Iran. This was the first visit by an Indian minister since the US and other western powers lifted sanctions against Iran in January.

During Swaraj's visit, sources said, the two sides will also explore ways for cooperation in areas of banking and review of implementation of the Chabahar port project in which India is a key partner.

Swaraj and Zarif will also review implementation of the decisions taken by the two countries during the last joint commission meeting here in December. The two Ministers are also likely to deliberate on bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism, situation in Afghanistan and in Syria besides other regional issues.

New Delhi is looking to increase engagement with the sanction-free Iran by raising oil imports and possible shipments of natural gas. It also wants rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf discovered by OVL.

Sources, however, said a deal for the field was not signed during Pradhan's visit as Iranian Parliament, Majlis, is yet to approve the new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) under which the Farzad-B field is to be given to the OVL-led consortium.

Indian firms have so far shied away from investing in Iran for the fear of being sanctioned by the US and Europe. The same was deterring New Delhi from claiming rights to invest nearly USD 7 billion in the biggest gas discovery ever made by an Indian firm abroad. But after the lifting of sanctions, India is making a renewed pitch for rights to develop 12.8 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves OVL had found in 2008.

Pradhan also conveyed to the Iranian side that both countries must expand the basket of oil and gas trade. He had also expressed India's interest in importing LPG from Iran and said companies from both sides could discuss setting up an extraction plant in Chabahar, if required.

From Iran, Swaraj will leave for a two-day trip to Moscow to attend the annual Foreign Ministers' meeting of RIC (Russia, India and China). On the sidelines of RIC, Swaraj is expected to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during which she is likely to raise the issue of China blocking India's bid at the UN to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.
Beijing: Sticking to its guns, China on Saturday again justified its decision to block India's bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN and described its stance as "fair and based on facts".

"China always deals with the listing of 1267 committee based on facts and pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions and relevant rules in a fair manner," Chinese Foreign Ministry said in response to India's Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin's criticism of "hidden veto" in dealing with the listing of terrorist outfits and their leaders.

"We have noticed the remarks by India's Permanent Representative to the UN," the Foreign Ministry said in written response to a question from PTI.

Read: India slams 'hidden veto' at UN after China blocks bid to ban Masood Azhar

"Both China and India fall victim to terrorism and share similar positions when it comes to combating terrorism," it said.

China is one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC which plays a leading role in banning terrorist outfits.

"China supports the UN in playing a leading role in international anti-terrorism cooperation and takes an active part in international anti-terrorism cooperation," the Ministry said.

Read: India, China talks on April 20, Masood Azhar issue may figure

"In order to reach international consensus on counter terrorism, China encourage all parties to fully leverage the leading and coordinating role played by the UN and the Security Council and forge international synergy on counter-terrorism," it said.

This is the second time that China has defended the decision to put a technical hold on India's bid to ban Azhar, the mastermind of the January 2 Pathankot terrorist attack.

On April 1, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China dealt with the issues under the UNSC anti-terrorism committee based on "facts and relevant rules of procedures in objective and just manner".

The latest response comes in the backdrop of India taking up the issue directly with China.

China too acknowledged that it is in touch with New Delhi on this issue indicating that its position remained unchanged. The deadlock over the issue continued as both the countries are set for high-level engagements to discuss the state of bilateral ties.

While External Affairs Minster Sushma Swaraj is set to meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Russia, India, China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow on April 18, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar began his first visit to China on Saturday.

Soon after Parrikar's visit, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will be in China during which he is expected to hold 19th round of boundary talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

Doval and Yang, who are designated Special Representatives for boundary talks, also have the mandate to discuss entire gamut of bilateral issues.

The Azhar issue is expected to figure prominently in talks.

India had the same problem in getting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi of the Lashkar-e-Toyaba listed by the UN anti-terrorism committee when he was released from prison by Pakistan.

While it continued to assert that it is taking a fair stand, China is also reportedly asking New Delhi to resolve the issues with Pakistan directly, which has caused further alarm among Indian officials prompting India to take up the issue openly at UN.

While the two countries have improved relations in the last few years with high-level diplomacy, they hit a new roadblock, which officials say is similar to the one China began issuing stapled visas to the residents of Kashmir in 2010 to highlight its disputed status.
imaginethat said:



It's black and white to me. The notion of preemptive war never crossed the minds of our Founders. OK, so we discover one of our differences.It's black and white to me. The notion of preemptive war never crossed the minds of our Founders. Click to expand...

Yes. We do. It is always important to communicate what you will and won't do to our enemies and potential threats. I am a person who believes in being proactive not reactive. If we had information that North Korea had a missile capable of hitting the US and a nuclear payload ready to fire, I'd have no trouble removing that grid from the map.But I can understand that you would rather wait until we are burying the dead and cleaning up the rubble in what used to be Seattle before launching your strike. Some people are proactive, and others are reactive. You have made it clear that you would never preemptively go to war.
Cruz is no doubt a lying psychopath politician that hates the American people and the Constitution.This Monsanto lackey is a prime reason why all the sell-out politicians must be fired to preserve America.Colorado is proof that Ted Cruz has no hint of integrity and is more dangerous than Stalin.Ted Cruz want to hand this nation over to the communist, the chump is as phony as a wooden nickel and was not only born in Canada he was behind all the corruption that George bush put on America including 9-11.Trump is about building skyscrapers not destroy them with explosives and blames it on the enemies of the Israeli's!Taking back America involves seeing the enemy politicians for what they really are.
Release of Clintons Wall Street Speeches Could End Her Candidacy for President

The reason you and I will never see the transcripts of Hillary Clintons speeches to Wall Street fat-cats  and the reason shes established a nonsensical condition for their release, that being an agreement by members of another party, involved in a separate primary, to do the same  is that if she were ever to release those transcripts, it could end her candidacy for president.Please dont take my word for it, though.Nor even that of the many neutral observers in the media who are deeply troubled by Clintons lack of transparency as to these well-compensated closed-door events  a lack of transparency that has actually been a hallmark of her career in politics.Nor do we even need to take Clintons word for it  as we could certainly argue that her insistence that none of these transcripts ever be seen by the public is itself a confession that her words would cause significant trauma to her presidential bid.In fact, it appears theyd cause enough trauma that Clinton would rather publicly stonewall  to the point of being conspicuously, uncomfortably evasive  in public debate after public debate, to endure damning editorial after damning editorial, and to leave thousands and thousands of voters further doubting her honesty and integrity, all to ensure that no one outside Goldman Sachs, and certainly no voter who wasnt privy to those closed-door speeches, ever hears a word of what she said in them.Nor should we do here what Senator Sanders kindly declined to do at the Democratic debate last night, which is mention any of the proof  voluminous as it is, as Sanders conceded in a post-debate interview that cited Elizabeth Warrens criticisms of Clinton  that during the housing crisis Clinton acted precisely like a politician whod been bought off by Wall Street.
State-owned PetroVietnam and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. have agreed their cooperation could be lifted to strategic partnership.

There are several projects the two national oil companies can jointly work on, PetroVietnam said Saturday following a recent visit to Kuwait by its chairman.

Areas for bilateral collaboration discussed in the meetings between them included: expansion of Nghi Son oil complex, construction of a tank for storage of Kuwait crude oil in Vietnam, setting up of strategic oil storage system in Vietnam and construction of supporting plants for refining and petrochemical industry in Vietnam. The two companies also spoke about the possibility of KPC buying PetroVietnam Oils shares. In addition, PetroVietnam wanted to provide petroleum services to the Arabian Gulf through Kuwait.

KPCs international arm, Kuwait Petroleum International, has 35.1 percent stake in Vietnams Nghi Son refining and petrochemical project in the central province of Thanh Hoa. Other investors include PetroVietnam (25.1%), Japan's Idemitsu Kosan (35.1%) and Mitsui Chemicals (4.7%). The complex is designed to process 10 million tons of crude oil per year and is targeted for opening in 2017.
A consortium between Vietnams state-owned Viettel and two Myanmar partners will pour about $1.5 billion to build 3G and 4G telecommunication networks in Myanmar.

Viettel will hold 49 percent stake in the joint venture with the remainder owned by The Myanmar National Holding Public Limited and Star High Public Company Limited.

The Myanmar government has already granted Viettel the permission to form the telecom joint venture in the country and negotiations with the two local partners on business cooperation have almost been completed, a Viettels spokeswoman told VnExpress on Saturday.

The consortium hopes its network will provide telecom services covering about 95 percent of Myanmars population within three years, Viettel said.

Their license will be the fourth in Myanmar. Besides Myanmars state-owned telecom operator MPT, Norway's Telenor and Qatars Ooredoo were also awarded licenses to enter the southeast Asian nations telecom market in 2014.

According to Myanmar government, more than 60 percent of Myanmars population has smartphones. Notably, 80 percent of users choose smartphones when purchasing a mobile phone.

Telecommunication will witness fast development given rising annual economic growth of about 8 percent, according to Viettel.
SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Google Ad

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

Google Ad

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh

USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens

ANCA Issues National Call to Action to Stop Taxpayer Funding of Aliyevs Aggression
April war- basis for changing mentality (video)

The Armenian public had strong reaction to the war in Artsakh. The psychology of the civilians also changed fundamentally during the first four days of April. Who called heroes those people, who were martyred; today we have heroes, 18-year-old young people, who are heroes, as they assessed the situation more quickly, were more flexible, notes psychologist Anna Badalyan. Living heroes have had secondary position in the society during 22 years after Artsakh war in the 1990s, facing the indifference of the authorities. Mrs Badalyan notes, Those people are the real heroes, who faced indifference very often, being forgotten very often, became a fist and stood by the young. Maybe that was the aspiration to become a hero that many figures, not unequivocally accepted by the society, appeared at army posts, on hearing the news about the military operations. In any disastrous situation, in a drop of water a human nature can be seen; those, who are populists, want to prove themselves, says psychologist Irina Tsaturyan. The psychologists claim that the society must adopt a special stance toward the soldiers, who returned from the front to the civil life. We should understand that the painful memories of war will be engraved on his [soldiers] mind for a very long time and traumatic feelings will last for a long time. Anna Badalyan comments on the situation in this way, A friend, with whom he lived, with whom he may have had a quarrel, he will feel guilty about it for a long time. Here we need also a right approach by the society, which shouldnt express pity, but should be understanding until they adapt. Irina Tsaturyan adds, These guys must become an example; streets, schools, cities must be named after the deceased soldiers, so that it is preserved, by uttering the names of those guys we can win again. But the work to be done by our society doesnt end here. Euphoria that we have won shouldnt lead to the thinking that we can gain victory in any case. We should understand that we must be well-prepared both with arms and ideas. The specialists are sure that in spite of the painful losses April war caused, it may become the basis for changing the mentality, but for that, first of all, the mentality of the authorities must be changed.
DM spokesperson on lack of bullets: It is not serious

Those emotive stories that the soldier fired until the last bullet, doesnt mean that the soldiers didnt have bullets, spokesperson for the RA Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovhannisyan told the journalists during the press conference in the DA. He commented on the confessions of some soldiers, who participated in the four-day war, on various websites, according to which there was lack of bullets during the fight. Mr Hovhannisyan says that if a soldier says that he fired until the last bullet, we cannot say, what military task that soldier solved. In a military post the soldier can fire until the last bullet, as at that moment the supporting forces cannot approach due to the shelling in this or that army post; it is war, says the DA spokesperson. He considers the rumors that our soldiers had few bullets or didnt have bullets not serious, Especially after 2014, in our army posts our soldiers have been so densely armed, that there is even no such thing in the armies of many leading states. The spokesperson assures the journalists that the media outlets dont have any serious proof that there was lack of bullets.
Soldier: Four soldiers fought against forty (video)

A soldier, who on April 2 fought in one of the most dangerous spots, Talish, told A1+ how everything happened. Aram personally took part in the operation of returning the posts, On April 4 in the morning I went back to our posts, there was another position to be brought back, we hurried to help our 18-year-old soldiers, there was spate of shells. I got an injury from a shell. The fragment was removed; doctors assured him that he will fully recover and can return to the military duty. At present he thinks about his military friends, who are at the army posts. But he is happy that they were able to give an appropriate counterattack to the adversary, while the Azerbaijanis didnt expect it, In the way, that four soldiers fought against forty. The serviceman highlighted, the adversary planned the operations beforehand, They had prepared secretly, for if it wasnt done secretly, our frontier troops would have noticed. Our border guards are always awake and alert. Aram is also delighted with the consolidation of the people during these days, Maybe no one expected, there wasnt faith that our people can be so united. Everyone, even providing a little support, proved that we are united.
Municipality didnt authorize fundraising for deceased soldiers family (video)

Members of Lets support Qyaram Sloyans family initiative today have organized fundraising in the North Avenue in order to help the family of Qyaram Sloyan, who was brutally killed by Azerbaijanis. Member of the initiative Karo Ghukasyan told A1+ that they had applied to Yerevan Municipality for getting permission for holding the event, but they received refusal for unknown reasons, We spoke to Deputy Police Chief Valeri Osipyan. I didnt understand him. He says that we could have printed a statement on leaflets and distributed to the citizens, but maybe I want to transfer 1000 drams, do I have to go to a bank? We are neither holding an action, nor have brought grenades, so that to explode, I can see no sense in hindering. Later a little quarrel occurred between the members of the initiative and the police officers. The police officers claim that the fundraising is not legal, There is no clear decision from the Municipality that you can hold an action or a fundraising. We ourselves welcome it, but the fundraising is not controllable, it is not authorized, they said. Members of the initiative ask, Maybe I like keeping my money in a box or tour with a box in my hands instead of a wallet, whats the matter? Watch the video for details!
Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh (Source: VNA)

Speaking in front of over 100 lecturers, students, scholars, researchers and social activists, the diplomat reviewed the two countries cooperation in overcoming war consequences as well as in economic development.

He noted that bilateral trade increased 80 times over the past 20 years to more than USD40 billion in 2015. The US is now Vietnams seventh biggest investor with over USD11 billion.

Cooperation achievements have also been seen in the fields of science-technology and education, he said, adding that more than 19,000 Vietnamese students are studying in US universities, including the University of Virginia.

The two sides have also enhanced their collaboration in foreign affairs and security and national defence, while stepping up their coordination at international forums, including those on international and regional issues like climate change, diseases, natural disasters and maritime security and safety, he said.

The ambassador stressed that the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership, which was established in 2013, and the visit to the US by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in July last year have served as foundations for the two countries to further enhance bilateral ties.

Currently, the two countries are preparing for the visit to Vietnam by President Barack Obama, scheduled for May, Vinh said.

He underlined the need for the two sides to foster their affiliation in areas specified in the framework of the comprehensive partnership, and on the basis of the principles of equality, mutually benefit and respect for each others interests and political institutions.

The ambassador suggested the US increase its support for Vietnam in surmounting war consequences, foster economic and trade ties, remove its technical barriers against Vietnams goods and recognise Vietnam as a market economy.

He also called for the USs further collaboration in education, science-technology, climate change response and sustainable development in the Mekong River basin.

On this occasion, Vinh touched upon matters relating to the ASEAN Community, regional connectivity and maritime security and safety including the East Sea issue.

During the visit to the university, the ambassador held a meeting with US professors, where he talked about potential for cooperation between the university and Vietnam, especially in the training in the fields of public policy, international relations, science and technology.

He also lauded an advanced physics training programme jointly launched by the US university and Vietnams Hue University.

Prof. Allan Stam, Dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and other leaders of the University of Virginia expressed their hope that once the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement comes into force, it will bring about multiple opportunities for cooperation in various areas between the US and Virginia State in particular and Vietnam.

As part of his visit to the US university, Ambassador Vinh also met with a number of professors of Vietnamese origin, appealing to them to continue working as a bridge for education and training cooperation between the two countries./.
In Hue and Da Nang, in addition to meetings with local government leaders, on April 16th, the Ambassador will launch a pilot English language and hospitality skills training program, with seed funding from the Australian Government. The Da Nang-based project aims to help meet Vietnams increasing demand for skilled human resources as well as to enable local participants to take advantage of increased work opportunities in regional countries brought about by the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the ASEAN Economic Community.

Meeting with Australian volunteers in Hue

Meeting with Mr Phan Ngoc Tho, Standing Vice Head of the Thua Thien-Hue provincial People's Committee

Meeting with the Hue Univesrity

Posting at the front gate of the Hue Industrial College

On the same day, he is scheduled to attend the second disability inclusive fashion show I am beautiful and You too in Hoi An, organized by Australia Awards alumna Thao Van and her team at Will to Live and funded by the GPFD (Partnerships for Development program)s partnership between the Centre for Womens Development and Australias Flinders University. Twenty female models with disability from south and central Vietnam will participate in this show, which promotes equal opportunities for people with disability.





Then, the Ambassador will visit Hue University to encourage institutional partnerships between Australian universities and the Central educational hub as well as to introduce the Australian Governments signature New Colombo Plan and scholarship programs.

He will also meet Australian volunteers working in the city and attend a workshop on managing and preserving Hue Citadel - a joint project between students from South Australia University and Hue University of Science./.
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
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has dismissed Serhiy Haiduk from the post of commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The president signed relevant decree No. 161/2016 on Friday, the press service of the head of state reported.

A number of media outlets had reported in early April that Poroshenko had dismissed Haiduk, and appointed in his stead Lt. Gen. Ihor Voronchenko, a former deputy Navy commander for coastal defense, who took part in the special operation in Donbas.

However, Ukrainian Navy press secretary Cap. 1st Rank Oleh Chubuk denied these reports on April 4.

Haiduk has served as Naval Forces commander since March 7, 2014.
Lawyers for Russians tried in Ukraine uncertain whether court may hand down sentences on Apr 18

Valentyn Rybin, a defense lawyer for Russian military serviceman Alexander Alexandrov, who is standing trial in Ukraine, says the court might not hand down a sentence for his client by 2:00 p.m. Monday, April 18, contrary to what it vowed to do.

"The court announced a preliminary date. I cannot say for sure now that the sentence will certainly be handed down on Monday. Let's wait until Monday," Rybin told journalists on Friday, after the panel of judges of the Holosiyivsky District Court in Kyiv trying Russian citizens Alexandrov and Yerofeyev, retired for deliberations.

"Based on the evidence gathered, neither Yerofeyev nor Alexandrov can be found guilty," Rybin said.

"Yerofeyev and Alexandrov cannot be treated as parties to criminal proceedings in keeping with national law. The matter is about applying the Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War to them," he said.

Meanwhile, Yerofeyev's lawyer, Oksana Sokolovska, believes the court could well hand down its judgment on the Russians as early as Monday, even if it is able only to announce its key findings.

"I think the judges have known the criminal case materials for quite a long time, and they should have already drawn up some basic arguments and counts, if they believe our clients have committed criminal offences," she said.

Asked whether she believes the court might only announce its key findings on Monday, Sokolovska said, "Theoretically, yes. The court has the right to do so."

The lawyer is certain that "there can't be an acquittal," and "this will be a conviction in any case, and the only question is about the length of the sentence."

"Taking into consideration the existence of the Geneva convention ratified by Ukraine, Yerofeyev and Alexandrov must be eligible for all guarantees and principles stipulated by this convention," Sokolovska said.

"There is no proof of Yerofeyev's and Alexandrov's guilt of committing these criminal offences, and therefore, once they are recognized as prisoners of war, they are eligible for an exchange. In fact, this is what will happen in this case. It is my opinion that Ukraine needed this trial as yet another farce," Sokolovska said.

Judge Mykola Didyk, presiding over the trial, had said earlier on Friday, upon the conclusion of the legal debates and the defendants' last pleas, that the Holosiyivsky Court would announce the sentence on Yerofeyev and Alexandrov after 2:00 p.m. on Monday.
A meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at the level of Heads of State and Government will be held at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said at the opening ceremony of the 9th Kyiv Security Forum on April 14 in Kyiv.

He said that the Alliance will look at Ukraine and key partners  Germany, France and the United States. He believes that Ukraine has shown its goodwill in the implementation of Minsk agreements. Before holding the Russia-NATO meeting, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission will be held and Alliance members will be able to understand the position of Ukraine and what it has done for the implementation of Minsk agreements. The Alliance then will compare this with Russia's version.

Vershbow reminded that Minsk agreements demand the observation of Ukrainian legislation all over the country and the provision of real security under international monitoring.

He said that this security is impossible in the presence of Russian tanks and threatening people. Ukraine cannot fulfill its liabilities if militants make nothing, he said. It is important that the progress is parallel, Vershbow said.

Warsaw Summit is to be held in July.
The European Union demands to reverse the decision by the so-called prosecutor of Crimea to suspend the activities of Mejlis as an extremist organization, a spokesperson of the European Union External Action said on April 14.

"Yesterday's decision by the so-called prosecutor of Crimea to suspend the activities of Mejlis, a self-governing body of the Crimean Tatars, is extremely worrying and constitutes a grave attack on the rights of the Crimean Tatars. This decision, taken in the context of the on-going court case aiming at banning its activities as an extremist organisation, must be reversed immediately," the spokesperson said in a statement issued in Brussels.

"The EU has consistently reiterated its concern about the deterioration of the human rights situation on the Crimean peninsula since its illegal annexation by the Russian Federation in 2014, including as regards the persecution of persons belonging to minorities. The EU reiterates its call for full compliance with international human rights standards and other obligations under international law," the EU spokesperson said.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry expressed protest against the decision by the so-called prosecutor of Crimea to suspend the activities of the Mejlis, a representative body of ethnic Crimean Tatars in Crimea.

"This decision has become yet another step in the chain of crimes of the Russian occupying authorities against representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, indigenous people of Crimea. We consider it as a blatant violation of Russias commitments as an occupying power under international law, including under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination," the ministry said in a statement.

"Ukraine calls on all international community to urge the occupying power to immediately halt massive violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms in the peninsula and to provide access to international organizations to the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea for permanent monitoring of the situation in the field of human rights; unite efforts for de-occupation of Crimea," the ministry said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on April 15 via phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed the conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. Department of State reported on Friday.

According to the statement, "Kerry urged Russia to end the violence all along the line of contact, fully implement its Minsk commitments, and immediately release Nadia Savchenko and all other remaining hostages."

"Weve seen is a continued trend now over recent weeks of violations along the line of contact. And we have reason to believe that the majority of those are caused by the Russian-backed separatists, and so it remains a concern," Spokesperson of U.S. Department of State John Kirby said at a briefing on Friday.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov on April 15, 2016 as part of his visit to Poland visited the operations command headquarters of the Armed Forces of Poland and the GROM Polish Special Forces.

"Experience of Polish colleagues is very important for us, especially in the context of creating the special operations forces and the operations headquarters in Ukraine. Their tasks are similar to the tasks of the divisions which experience we today studied," the press service of NSDC reported, citing Turchynov.

He also said that despite of aggression against Ukraine lasted for over two years "we will reform the national security agencies, in particular, Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
Russian authorities have restricted freedom of expression for Crimean residents and took some measures against some media and journalists after occupying Crimea, according to a report by Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann on his human rights visit to Crimea published by the Council of Europe.

Stoudmann visited Crimea on January 25 through January 31, 2016.

"During its [delegation's] visit, many interlocutors confirmed to the delegation the restrictive effect of the application of the new legislation (since March 2014) to media outlets and journalists in Crimea," says the report.

According to the document, the delegation took note of allegations of restrictions to freedom of expression under the argument of extremist contents, including through the monitoring of social media.

The report mentions the closure of Crimean Tatar ATR TV and several Ukrainian newspapers from March 2014.

"There are indications however that a limited access to dedicated Ukrainian media is possible in some regions or through satellite TV," says the report.

"The situation regarding both Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian media confirms a reduction in media diversity after March 2014. In this context, the launch of a new Crimean Tatar media  Millet TV  should be considered as recognition of the needs and expectations of the Crimean Tatar community," the report says.

"Some civil society representatives shared the view that it is easier to attract the attention of media in Moscow than that of local media on issues of high sensitivity," the report says.

Stoudmann presented his list of recommendations on ensuring freedom of speech in Crimea. An easier access for foreign journalists to Crimea would be very important.

Programmes and approach of the newly created public Crimean Tatar TV Millet should respond to the needs and expectations of the whole Crimean Tatar community, so as to be perceived as a representative channel, truly contributing to media diversity.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov and leaders of the Polish force structures have discussed the deterioration of the situation in Donbas.

The press service of NSDC reported on April 15, Turchynov during his visit to Poland met Minister of National Defence of Poland Antoni Macierewicz, Special Services Coordinator in the Polish Government Mariusz Kaminski, Head of the National Security Bureau of Poland Pawel Soloch and Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Mieczyslaw Gocul.

"The sides discussed the deterioration of the situation in eastern Ukraine and Russia's attempts to foil the peaceful way of settling the conflict. Interlocutors paid special attention to forms and methods of resisting Russia's aggression," the press service said.

The reforms in Ukraine's security and defense sector, its switch to NATO standards and the functioning of the Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian brigade were also discussed.

Cooperation between the defense ministries and national security services of Ukraine and Poland and directions of defense cooperation were discussed.

"Ukrainian and Polish defense and industrial complexes have launched serious strategic programs and their implementation would significantly strengthen defense and security of our states," Turchynov said.

He pointed out the importance of building the united system to protect Europe from threats in the sea, land and air. He believes that the signing of the interstate agreement of cooperation in the defense area by Ukraine and Poland will be a milestone on this way.
The referendum in the Netherlands would not affect the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement and the visa liberalization regime for Ukrainians, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

"We are not planning to make any amendments to the Agreement. This is not only Ukraine's position, but the position of other EU member states which sent the ratification instruments to Brussels," Klimkin told reporters on April 15 on the sidelines of the 9th Kyiv Security Forum.

The minister said that the referendum in the Netherlands and events after it would not influence the process of introducing visa free regime for Ukrainians by the EU. It is pegged only to the observation of criteria included in the road map.

"We have implemented them [the criteria]. The European Commission in coming days is to start formal work with the European Parliament and the European Union," Klimkin said.

On April 12, the official results of the advisory referendum on the Act of the Dutch Parliament on the approval of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. Thus, 61% (2.509 million voters) voted against its passing, 38.21% voted in its favor (1.572 million voters) and 0.79% cast a blank vote (32,344 voters). Out of a total of 12.863 million persons eligible to vote, 4.151 million voters did exercise this right.

"This amounts to a voter turnout of 32.38%, meaning that the turnout threshold of 30% was reached. In consequence, the results of the referendum constitute an advisory opinion rejecting the Act approving the Association Agreement. This means that the government is to reconsider the Act. The results of an advisory referendum are not binding," reads a report posted on official website of the Dutch Electoral Council.
GUIYANG, April 15 -- A teacher in southwestern China's Guizhou has been suspended after he reportedly rated students' drinking capacity.

Gu Ming, who teaches Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) manufacturing at Guizhou Anshun Vocational Institute, has been removed from his teaching position after he asked students to down liquor shots at his office.

"Those who 'ganbeied' [finish] a full glass of liquor get a full 100 mark for their exam, half glass gets 90 marks, and a sip gets 60. Those who do not drink at all will fail," one student posted on Weibo.

Fu Guisheng, deputy director of the institute, told Xinhua that Gu may had meant it as a joke, but clearly his remarks did not go down well with netizens.

Several students were seen intoxicated on campus, he said.

The incident has drawn intense debate online, with many lambasting the teacher, while others sympathized, saying the teacher was only helping students get used to a usual social practice.

Many of students may go to sales meetings, and how much one can drink may decide how many deals he can seal, said Lapingjun, another Weibo user.

"There is a culture of gaining other people's trust and recognition through drinking, which is sad but true," he said.
BEIJING, April 15 -- Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected Nansha Islands in the South China Sea in recent days, the Ministry of Defense said Friday.

Fan, who was accompanied by military officers and civilian officials, met with officers and soldiers stationed on the islands as well as construction workers, the ministry said on its official website.

Fan was also briefed on the construction projects on Nansha islands and reefs.

The ministry said the construction projects are going smoothly. Those projects, including lighthouses, automatic weather stations, oceanic observation centers and oceanic research facilities, will provide public services for the international community.

Five lighthouses for navigation safety have been completed, and four of them are operative now, it added.
"You are a 'left-over' woman now," reads a screen shot from SK-II's "Change Destiny" advert. [Photo/Youku.com]

A tender and penetrating look at the fraught term "leftover women" in a documentary style, Japanese skincare brand SK-II's latest "Changed Destiny" ad clearly hit a nerve.

The four-minute video has taken Chinese social media by storm and sparked off another round of discussions over an increasingly noticeable group in China - single women at a marriageable age.

The campaign depicted unmarried women's struggles, a hot-potato topic in China that might sting some of the brand's targeted clients and lead to wider discussions beyond the topic to feminism and social change.

"Sheng nv", or "left-over women", is a derogatory term coined to label unwelcome women over the age of 27 who stay unmarried. Many of them fit the profile of being well-educated, career-minded and financially independent single female urbanites.

This relatively new, affluent class is one of the products of China's three-decade economic boom and social change. The rise of this group conflicts directly with traditional Chinese society which, in terms of women's roles, prioritizes marriage and motherhood. For bastions of traditional family values, these women, though in many criteria outstanding, are still labeled as losers simply because they don't wear a ring, yet.

The crux of the video featured the tension between worried and sometimes pushy parents and single daughters who were caught in between pursuing their own lifestyle and the guilt of disobedience.

For Chinese women, marriage is by no means a personal choice. It's a family issue. In a hierarchical family, still the social norm in China, children are supposed to be submissive. In the SK-II ad several single women opened up about the pressure they faced.

"I owe them an apology," a woman said, breaking down with tears. [Photo/Youku.com]

"I can't die peacefully without seeing you married," a father threatened.

"Staying unmarried is definitely one way of showing disrespect to parents," a woman confessed. Later she broke down with tears, saying, "I am so selfish. I owe them an apology."

The emotional climax of the video is when parents and daughters reconcile, going down to People's Park in Shanghai, a public leisure venue also known as a "dating market" where parents exchange information of their single children, such as job, salary and age with one another and arrange blind dates for them.

Posters featuring photos of these daughters, together with empowering messages such as: "I don't want to get married only to get married. This kind of marriage doesn't make me happy" are hung prominently in the space where parents usually "market" their children.

At the end of the video, one woman pinpointed the theme of the ad: "To be independent and confident and enjoy life."

An empowering message reads: "I don't want to get married only to get married. This kind of marriage doesn't make me happy." [Photo/Youku.com]

The video, described by many as tear-jerking, has earned more than 5,000 kudos on SK-II's official Weibo account and attracted mostly positive comments.

A Weibo user called AmeChang posted on the microblogging site: "Being single is nothing to fear. What should be feared is to do what you are expected to and what makes you unhappy. Marriage is something you are entitled to but not indebted to. It's not like only with marriage is your life complete."

Besides the clever timing of its release  it coincided with a headline-grabbing hotel assault case that provoked outrage nationwide about violence against women, the advert rode on the wave of a new marketing strategy.

The Japanese brand joined a host of consumer product companies and beauty brands with ads that sell ideas such as gender equality and women's rights alongside their products. Personal care brands Pantene, Dove and Always have led the way in such campaigns.

Screen shot of P&G Always' "Like A Girl" advert. [Photo/Iqiyi]

For example, P&G Always' "Like A Girl" ad showed how the phrase "like a girl" is perceived by young women, boys and girls, and had a similar impact in the USA in causing people to reflect on gender issues.

Instead of promoting the product's quality, these ads get touchy-feely by raising a topic the targeted clients can relate to personally.

SK-II's previous commercials featured actresses showing off their immaculate skins and sharing their own user experiences. Marketed as having age-defying effects, the brand's skin care lines have been pitched at women who deal with mature skin and thus have bigger purchasing power.

Some users compared the Changed Destiny campaign with a controversial advert of Baihe, a dating website, which was showered with criticism for guilting women into compromising with traditional values. The older ad showed how an ill grandmother managed to get her single granddaughter to give in by constantly nagging the younger woman. In contrast, the SK-II ad encouraged women to stay true to themselves under the pressure, ending with a morale-lifting message  don't let pressure restrict your future.

This, however, is not a happy ending. For free-spirited women, reconciliation with parents is only the first step as family is not the only source of the pressure. They have a whole society to reconcile with and to battle.
BEIJING, April 15 -- The environment body on Friday warned that the onset of an earlier and more serious flood season due to the El Nino effect, meant that environmental emergencies were more likely.

The Ministry of Environment Protection urged local environment departments to ramp up security checks of known polluting factories and facilities.

Nuclear facilities were identified as the top priority, the ministry said in a statement. Environmental indices around nuclear power plants will be monitored more regularly and there will be more checks on the storage and transportation of radiative substance.

In addition, the monitoring of major rivers, lakes and sources of drinking water will also be increased. All environment departments must share information and coordinate with weather, water resources and safety control agencies.

According to the Ministry of Water Resources, the El Nino event, which began in September 2014, has been the longest and strongest of its kind since observation records began in 1951.

As a result of the El Nino effect, serious flooding is highly possible in the Yangtze drainage area and the flood control and drought relief situation is extremely serious, said Liu Ning, vice minister of water resources, at a meeting last month.

The strong El Nino event, expected to come to an end in May, is similar to the one that triggered the heavy flooding of the Yangtze in 1998, which resulted in 1,320 fatalities.

In March, floods hit some tributaries of the Yangtze.
A New York judge has rejected a mistrial motion for ex-New York City police officer Peter Liang, who was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.

Supreme Court Justice Denny Chun's ruling means that Peter Liang will be sentenced on April 19th.

Liang was convicted in February in the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Akai Gurley in the darkened stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project in 2014.

The officer had been on a routine patrol, when he opened a door to a stairwell and accidentally fired his weapon. The bullet ricocheted and struck Gurley, who died at the scene.

Wu Yiping is the organizer of the Coalition of Asian-Americans for Civil Rights (CAACR).

"I am really unsatisfied with the judgment of the court today. I cannot say the judgment is not fair, but my heart is heavy seeing such a judgment even with the juror having such a big defect."

The "defect" Wu mentioned refers to the fact that Juror No.9, Michael Vargas, might have withheld information during the jury selection process.

Liang's attorneys argued that Vargas told lawyers that no one in his family had been accused of a crime. But after the verdict, he said that his father was sent to prison for accidentally shooting and killing a friend.

Liang's sentencing was delayed while the judge listened to both sides. But after a two-day hearing on the juror, Chun said that Vargas had not deliberately lied.

The court sentenced Liang in February to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors later proposed a probation of five years, resulting in protests from many from African-American communities.

Soon after, people from both Chinese and African-American communities made statements, saying the sentencing will not divide the two parties.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams delivered a speech during a meeting with Asian and African community leaders.

"We are clear that the incident that took place in 2014 on the stairwell of the Pink Houses was an incident that took place between two men. The future depends on the commitment of two communities. We will not allow what took place at that tragedy to divide and separate our communities. The purpose of the meeting today was to send a loud message that no matter what happens at this sentencing, it would not divide our community."

Wu Yiping with the CAACR echoes those beliefs.

"I have talked with African-Americans about many problems days ago. We want to get along well with African-Americans. I will not break off communication with African-Americans just because of a few people's behavior this year."
Photo taken on June 23, 2015 shows 9 years old "Tai Shan" who was born at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. on July 9, 2005, in Dujiangyan Base of CCRCGP. He returned to China in 2010 when he was 4 years old. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Liu Ranran]

Tai Shan, 11, a celebrity panda born and raised in the United States, on Friday attempted mating for the first time since his return to China in 2010.

He mated with Wen Yu, two years his junior, on Friday morning at the Ya'an base of the Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in southwestern Sichuan Province.

Observers said Tai Shan performed excellently in the 2-minute-6-second mating after nearly 90 minutes of "affective interaction" with his partner.

Tai Shan had suffered digestive problems since returning from the United States. He was put onto the center's reproduction plan this year after recovery.

Tai Shan, born at Washington's National Zoo to "Mei Xiang" and "Tian Tian," was a superstar during his five-year stay in the United States.

Photo taken on June 23, 2015 shows 9 years old "Tai Shan" who born at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. on July 9, 2005, in Dujiangyan Base of CCRCGP. He returned to China in 2010 when he was 4 years old. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Liu Ranran]
Chairman of Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha (R) talks with Jovair Arantes during a session to discuss the impeachment process against Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, in Brasilia, Brazil, on April 15, 2016. Brazil's Chamber of Deputies began on Friday a historical session with a vote on the continuity of the impeachment process against Dilma Rousseff. [Photo:Xinhua/AGENCIA ESTADO]

Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress, started the three-day hearings on whether to impeach President Dilma Rousseff on charges of manipulating government accounts.

On Sunday, members of the National Congress will officially vote on the matter. A two-thirds majority is needed to send the motion to the Senate. If the Senate endorses the move, Rousseff will be suspended from office for up to 180 days while an impeachment trial is held.

On Friday morning, Chamber of Deputies President Eduardo Cunha and Former Justice Minister Miguel Reale Junior opened the debate which featured deep rift among representatives over the issue.

The former justice minister said the illegal fiscal maneuvers allegedly approved by Rousseff were "a crime against the nation" which she hoped would hide the country's true financial state from the public.

Following Reale's statement, Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo said that Rousseff had not committed any wrongdoings as the fiscal maneuvers used to delay some payments to state banks were legal resources allowed by the courts at the time.

In a country rampant with structural corruption and bribery scandals, Rousseff has yet involved in any investigation, Cardozo noted.

Friday's session proceeded with party leaders making case for and against the impeachment till the end of the day.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP) has awarded a contract to Salzgitter Mannesmann International GmbH for the supply of approximately 110 km 36-inch offshore line pipes to be used in the 105 km section of the project across the Adriatic Sea, between the coastlines of Albania and southern Italy, the message of the consortium said.

In addition to Submerged Arc Welding Longitudinal (SAWL) line pipes, the contract also includes the supply of buckle arrestors, coating and anodes for the project's offshore section.

This contract award makes up more than 71,000 tons of offshore line pipe.

The TAP is meant to transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz 2 field in Azerbaijan to Europe. The approximately 870 km long TAP will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in southern Italy.

TAP's shareholding is comprised of BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

TAP's initial capacity will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year, expandable to 20 billion cubic meters. The pipeline's construction is planned to start in May 2016.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 17

Trend:

The draft agreement of oil-producing countries, which is expected to be signed on April 17 in Doha, involves "freezing" of production until October at the level of January 2016, Natiq Aliyev, Azerbaijani energy minister, told TASS.

"The draft agreement is small. It sounds as follows: the countries, gathered in Doha, came to the conclusion that with an eye to bring the price of oil in order, they agreed to keep production until October at the level of January 2016", the minister said.

Aliyev also said, that Azerbaijan is set to sign an agreement to freeze oil output along with other participants in the meeting.

He said, that an agreement in Doha to freeze oil output will be "gentlemen-like" as the draft stipulates no control mechanisms.

"The agreement is gentlemen-like as the countries realize that the maintained norms of output will suit the joint interests. It does not envisage any control mechanisms and each country should observe its implementation," Aliyev said.

"There is no need in a supervisory body," he said. "No proposals have come since it will have no influence on the countries".

The minister also said, that the oil price will be climbing up slowly and consistently to $50 per barrel by the end of 2016 after big oil producer countries seal a deal in Doha.

"The higher is the price the better," Aliyev said. "But we expect that it will be slowly and gradually increasing towards $50 per barrel by the year's end. The next year we will be satisfied with the price of $60 per barrel".
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 16

Trend:

Armenia's disrespect to decisions and resolutions of the international organizations in connection with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict shows that the country is far from the civilized world, Hikmet Hajiyev, the spokesperson of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said in connection with the statement of Armenian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shavarsh Kocharyan about the decision taken unanimously at the level of heads of state and government of the member countries of the OIC at the XIII Summit of the organization in Istanbul.

He noted that this omment of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, which is far from diplomatic etiquette, firstly should be assessed as disrespect to the member countries of the OIC.

"OIC member countries, on the basis of norms and principles of international law and the UN Charter, have a unambiguous and fair position on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. This position has found its categorical reflection respectively in the 16th and 17th paragraphs of the communique accepted unanimously at the level of heads of state and government of the member countries of the OIC at the XIII Summit of the organization in Istanbul", Hajiyev said.

Foreign Ministry's spokesperson said that the position of the member countries of the OIC regarding the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, requires Armenia's execution of UN Security Council resolutions number 822, 853, 874 and 884 and complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and other surrounding regions of Azerbaijan.

"Also in the final communique member countries categorically condemn Armenia's successive attacks in the occupied territories, which lead to damage of the civilian population, social and economic infrastructure, as well as other objects", he added.

He also added that according to the decision taken at the summit of the OIC the Contact Group on aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan at the level of foreign ministers was established.

Hajiyev said that the next Armenian provocation on the night of April 2 on the contact line of troops, which led to the death and injury of civilians, the country's disrespect to decisions and resolutions of the international organizations in connection with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict show that Armenia is far from the civilized world and Yerevan's regime poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability.

"There is a need for serious and effective steps of the international community to put an end to Armenia's lawlessness and impunity", Hajiyev stressed.

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. 16

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

Potential Iranian gas exports to the EU might be discussed, but not in the "near future", distinguished research fellow and emeritus professor of chemical engineering at Imperial College London, UK, author of the book "Powering Europe: Russia, Ukraine and the Energy Squeeze" Rafael Kandiyoti told Trend.

"That is for the future - six to ten years at least," he said. "There will be a whole lot of issues to resolve about gas transmission. Type of exports (i.e. pipeline through Turkey versus LNG) will be one of these issues."

Kandiyoti made the remarks within the framework of the visit of the EU high-ranking officials to Iran Apr. 16.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini arrived in Tehran, Iran, heading a high-ranking economic and political delegation Apr. 16.

Officials from Iran and the EU are expected to discuss cooperation in various fields, including climate, environment, economic and energy fields.

Industry and nuclear technology, agriculture, shipping and fishery, as well as drafting a roadmap on cooperation between Iran and the EU are among other issues to be discussed during the meeting.

Gas prices are low at present, Kandiyoti said, adding that both LNG installations and the (longish) pipeline through Turkey would represent large chunks of investment.

"At present gas prices, it is hard to see how either type of project could be made financially viable," he said.

He went on to add that Iran would also need to evaluate the implications of gas exports to Europe, within the scope of the country's relationship with Russia.

Speaking about possible routes for transportation of Iranian gas to Europe, Kandiyoti said there already are gas pipeline connections with Turkey.

In purely engineering terms, this would be the most practical (and probably cheaper) route, he said.

However, there will be a number of political problems to sort out, not least between Iran and Russia, he said, adding that much would depend on the volume of gas exported.

At present, the Tabriz-Dogubayazit-Erzurum gas pipeline is working at half its design capacity of 20 billion cubic meters per year, so part of the infrastructure for relatively small export volumes is already in place, according to him.

Speaking about the prospects of cooperation between Iran and the EU, Kandiyoti said there is a huge range of issues to discuss.

"I think the Iranians need more urgent cooperation with the European banking sector," he said. "In the short to medium term, Iran will want to establish routine payment mechanisms for oil exports."

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
The man, who beat an employee of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia, has been detained, Russian media outlets reported.

A few hours after the attack, the police established the identity of the man and brought him to a police station for further investigation.

The man who beat the Azerbaijani diplomat is Haybula Hajiyev, 31.

Head of the Consular Department at Azerbaijan's Embassy in Russia, adviser Emil Maharramov was severely beaten by a taxi driver in Moscow on Apr. 16.

Maharramov was taken to a hospital, where he received urgent medical aid, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia told Trend Apr. 16.

The embassy is working to establish the causes and circumstances of the incident.

The diplomat has already filed a complaint to the law enforcement agencies.
Details added (first version posted on 14:49)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

Trend:

Azerbaijan has plenty of seized secret maps, military and other documents belonging to the Armenian armed forces, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend Apr. 16.

The ministry was commenting on a statement by Armenian Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan that Azerbaijan allegedly was the first to launch attack.

Tonoyan made this statement at a briefing with foreign military attaches while presenting military maps.

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 Azerbaijani defense ministry said that though Tonoyan was in military uniform, making unprofessional judgments, he tried to cover up the Armenian military leadership's failure in these operations and deceive representatives of foreign states.

"Those maps are operation charts used during trainings and reflecting certain targets, flight routes of aircrafts," said the statement. "Thus, they don't prove that Azerbaijan was first to launch the attack."

"Azerbaijan is in a state of war with Armenia, despite the ceasefire was declared," the defense ministry said. "All combat documents used by military units and troops reflect the real situation and tasks lying ahead. The deployment and withdrawal of Azerbaijani military equipment, military vehicles, as well as troops to more favorable, superior positions serve our military interests. It is aimed at ensuring victory over the Armenian troops."

The defense ministry said that Azerbaijan also possesses sufficient confidential maps, combat documents and other documents belonging to Armenia, adding that the relevant services of Azerbaijan are investigating and analyzing them.

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. 16

Trend:

President of Malta Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov will arrive in Baku to participate in the VII Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) to be held April 25-27, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan told Trend Apr. 16.

During the three days it is planned to hold a meeting of senior officials and nearly 30 sessions. It is planned that Baku Declaration will be adopted during the high-level meeting of the UN Alliance of Civilizations.

In accordance with the decree of Azerbaijani president dated July 24, 2015, an Organizing Committee was created in connection with the holding of the VII Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Baku April 25-27, 2016.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 15

By Emil Ilgar - Trend:

OPEC's 17 April meeting with several non-OPEC producers over freezing the oil production level is unlikely to deliver real results, Wood Mackenzie said.

"Iran has declared it will not consider a freeze until it has returned to pre-sanction levels which isn't likely until 2017. With Iran ramping up output this year, Saudi Arabia said it does not want to accept a hold at January levels on its own production unless all OPEC members, such as Iran, also do so," Wood Mackenzie said in a press release.

Wood Mackenzie forecasted that OPEC output is to rise 0.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) year-on-year in 2016, with most of that growth coming from Iran and Iraq.

With or without an OPEC/non-OPEC freeze, the trend of lower global supply growth is already underway, the US oil supply is declining and globally the fundamentals are tightening, said the company's message.

"World oil demand outright will surpass supply by Q4 2016 necessitating a drawdown from inventories to meet demand and putting upward pressure on prices".

Wood Mackenzie reported that the intention of Doha meeting is to aim for a freeze on oil production for at least six months, and possibly until the end of 2016 and the idea of a production cut is not being considered.

The report added that Russian oil and condensate production reached a post-Soviet peak of 10.9 million barrels per day.

Also the Iraqi government reported January crude oil production at a record high, of around 4.5 million b/d. Whilst Iraq agrees with the sentiment of a plan to stabilize oil prices, it is still looking to grow output, and like Saudi Arabia, Iraq would not want to cede market share built up following the rebuilding of its oil industry,

"Iran's oil production has already increased by 375,000 b/d since sanctions were lifted on January 18. However, as we expected, this is less than the 500,000 b/d the country was planning," the report said.

The report added that for 2016, Iranian production is expected to grow by 450,000 b/d, much less than the 1 million b/d it had announced as the plan for 2016.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 16

By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) shows interest in the large-scale construction project of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the Turkmen government said in a message Apr. 16.

This issue was discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan.

In particular, Turkmen deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs Rashid Meredov, stated about the results of the Turkmen delegation's participation in the 13th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which recently took place in Istanbul.

It was emphasized that the international importance of major infrastructure projects initiated by Ashgabat was mentioned at the OIC summit, including the construction project of the TAPI gas pipeline, the implementation of which will give a powerful impetus to economic development of the region, contribute to strengthening peace and stability, solving important social problems.

"The OIC partners, including such a reputable financial institution, as the IDB, shows great interest in this large-scale project, which aims to become a true bridge of friendship and equal fruitful partnership among states and peoples," the message said.

In December 2015 it was reported that President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov invited the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to participate in Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project.

The president made the invitation during the meeting with the IDB Group President Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al Madani, who arrived in the Turkmen capital to participate in celebrations on the occasion of the Neutrality Day of Turkmenistan.

The main document for the TAPI, called the Ashgabat Interstate Agreement, was signed in 2010.

The groundbreaking ceremony for TAPI's Turkmen section was held in mid-December of 2015.

The pipeline's length can reach 1,814 kilometers, including 214 kilometers running through Turkmenistan, 774 kilometers - Afghanistan and 826 kilometers - Pakistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

Kazakhstan's trade turnover with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) countries amounted to $1.61 billion in January-February 2016, which is by 34.1 percent less than the same period of 2015, the Statistics Committee of the country's National Economy Ministry said Apr. 15.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's export to other EEU countries decreased by 24 percent - to $508.6 million, import - by 37.9 percent - to $1.1 billion, said the Committee.

A significant part ($1.53 billion) of Kazakhstan's trade turnover with the EEU countries accounted

for the trade turnover with Russia. Despite this fact, Kazakhstan's export to Russia totaled $471.5 million in January-February 2016, which is by 15.4 percent less than the same period of 2015. The country's import from Russia amounted to $1.05 billion in the first two months of 2016, which is by 26.9 percent less than the same period of 2015.

Kazakhstan exports mineral products (35.3 percent of the total volume of the country's export to the EEU countries), chemical products (22.9 percent), metals and metal products (19.4 percent), products with animal and vegetable origin, ready foodstuff (10.9 percent).

The country mainly imports vehicles and equipment (25.3 percent of the total volume of the country's import from the EEU countries), mineral products (18.8 percent), chemical products (16.9 percent), products with animal and vegetable origin, ready foodstuff (14.6 percent), metals and metal products (10.7 percent) from the EEU countries.

In 2015, Kazakhstan's trade turnover with the EEU countries decreased by 28.6 percent - to $15.77 billion as compared to 2014.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU) is an economic union of states located primarily in northern Eurasia. The EEU operates since 2015 and includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 16

By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:

Japarguly Orazov has been appointed the deputy chairman of Turkmenneft State Concern.

Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed the relevant decree on his appointment.

The state concern's activity covers more than 600 oil, oil & gas and gas fields, which are at the different levels of their development.

The concern has begun to carry out large-scale geological explorations in recent years at the Northern Goturdepe field in the Caspian Sea's Turkmen section.
Tehran, Iran, April 15

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj is traveling to Iran to pave way for a later visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sushma's trip to Iran follows by one week a visit by Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, IRNA news agency reported April 15.

She is believed to have on agenda to discuss a contract on Iran's Farzad-B gas field as well.

Tehran invited Modi to visit Iran in January, which Modi accepted. Yet, not date has so far been set for Modi's trip.

Iran and India signed an economic cooperation document in 72 articles in January.

India is also interested in running projects in Chabahar Port in southeastern Iran. Recently, New Delhi proposed investing $20 billion in petrochemical projects in the area. The port has also caught India's eye as a transport joint in that it could be used to beat China's Gwadar port project in neighboring Pakistan.

Iran and India are also pursing the transfer of gas via pipe on the seabed.

Iran holds 132 billion barrels of oil and 971 trillion cubic feet of gas. India's oil output covers only one tenth of its need. India has a population of 250 million and an economic growth of 7 percent.

India's oil import from Iran in March grew two times compared to February to hit 500 tbpd.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran stands ready to ensure the energy security of Turkey, said the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

He made the statement during a joint press-conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara Apr. 16, which was aired live by Iran's state-run IRINN TV.

"We promised Turkey that Iran is able to ensure Turkey's energy security," Rouhani said, adding Tehran can fully meet Ankara's gas, oil, electricity and petrochemical needs.

Rouhani also said Iran and Turkey agreed to expand ties in various areas, adding that the two countries' economies complement each other.

He added that after the removal of international sanctions, grounds are ready for boosting cooperation in various areas.

Closer banking ties have big importance, said Rouhani, adding that Iran and Turkey need to remove obstacles to expand ties.

The two sides also decided to expand banking ties, according to the Iranian president.

He added that Turkish banks can open their branches in Iran in order to facilitate the mutual trade and economic ties.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran stands ready to ensure the energy security of Turkey, said the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

He made the statement during a joint press-conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara Apr. 16, which was aired live by Iran's state-run IRINN TV.

"We promised Turkey that Iran is able to ensure Turkey's energy security," Rouhani said, adding Tehran can fully meet Ankara's gas, oil, electricity and petrochemical needs.

Rouhani also said Iran and Turkey agreed to expand ties in various areas, adding that the two countries' economies complement each other.

He added that after the removal of international sanctions, grounds are ready for boosting cooperation in various areas.

Closer banking ties have big importance, said Rouhani, adding that Iran and Turkey need to remove obstacles to expand ties.

The two sides also decided to expand banking ties, according to the Iranian president.

He added that Turkish banks can open their branches in Iran in order to facilitate the mutual trade and economic ties.

The cooperation between the Istanbul and Tehran stock markets can also lead to a very positive upheaval in the two countries' capital markets, noted Rouhani.

He also called on the two countries' private sectors to make mutual investments to the export of joint products to third-parties.

Rouhani said Turkey can invest in the infrastructure of Iran's tourism sector.

Cultural, academic and scientific cooperation, as well as, joint researches were also discussed at the meeting, added Rouhani.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president said regional issues, including the ongoing crises in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, were also discussed at the presidents' meeting.

"We should help regional countries, such as Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan, to resolve their problems," he noted.

Iran and Turkey have no principal differences in political matters, Rouhani said, underlining that the differences in "minor issues" are natural.

Rouhani arrived in Ankara on April 15 evening to hold bilateral talks with high-ranking Turkish officials, especially his counterpart Erdogan.

Tehran and Ankara intend to raise their bilateral trade to $30 billion per year.

Trade turnover between the two countries stood at $13.71 billion in 2014 and $9.76 billion in 2015.

Although the trade turnover dropped by 29 percent in 2015 compared to the preceding year, many observers believe that the decline came amid global economic crisis ruling out the role of the political disagreements.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has arrived in Tehran, Iran, heading a high-ranking economic and political delegation.

Mogherini is scheduled to take part in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later today, IRNA news agency reported Apr. 16.

Officials from Iran and the EU are expected to discuss cooperation in various fields, including climate, environment, economic and energy fields.

Industry and nuclear technology, agriculture, shipping and fishery, as well as drafting a roadmap on cooperation between Iran and the EU are among other issues to be discussed during the meeting.

Earlier, TASS news agency reported that the sides will discuss the possibility of importing gas from the Islamic Republic.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:

European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides has announced 16.5 million euro to Iran in an effort to address the needs of Afghan refugees.

During a meeting with Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli April 16, Christos Stylianides announced the EU decision to increase its financial aid to Tehran by 6.5 million euros aimed at addressing the needs of Afghan refugees in the country, IRNA news agency reported. Christos Stylianides said that the EU last year provided Tehran with 10 million euro in a bid to assist the country on the issue of displaced Afghans. The EU has decided to increase the figure by 6.5 million euro this year, Christos Stylianides added. Iranian officials have earlier announced that about three million displaced Afghans live in the country. Heading a high-ranking delegation including several EU commissioners, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has arrived in Tehran this morning.
Tehran, Iran, Apr. 16

By Mehdi Sepahvand and Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran and the EU are discussing the cooperation in the post-nuclear deal era, said Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with the visiting EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in Tehran Apr. 16, Trend's correspondent reports from the event venue.

Zarif said the European Union's cooperation with Iran in implementing the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aka nuclear deal) will benefit the EU in both economic and political areas.

Iran and the EU will cooperate jointly to remove the obstacles to full implementation of the nuclear deal, Zarif said, adding the two parties will discuss the cooperation in the peaceful nuclear area, which is envisaged by the JCPOA.

The economic and financial cooperation, as well as opening an EU office in Tehran, are on the agenda of the mutual talks, he added.

Iranian FM also said the fight against extremism and terrorism, and the refugee crisis will also be discussed during the EU delegation's ongoing visit.

Zarif added that Iran and the EU will hold fundamental talks on fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, and human rights issues in the future.

He said four statements will be issued at the end of the talks - the statements on roadmap of cooperation, peaceful nuclear cooperation, energy cooperation, and the statement on cooperation in scientific and research fields.

The Iran-EU cooperation will help Iran's development, as well as peace in the crisis-hit region, the top Iranian diplomat underlined.

Regarding Iran's recent missile tests, Zarif said that Iran's missiles are only for defensive purposes.

Iran's missiles are not designed to carry nuclear warheads and have nothing to do with the JCPOA or the UN Security Council Resolutions, he stressed.

In March this year, Iran test-fired several ballistic missiles from several bases across the country as part of massive missile drills.

While a couple of Western and regional states claim that the recent tests have violated a UN resolution, Iranian officials have constantly reiterated that Tehran's ballistic missile tests do not violate the nuclear deal reached with the P5+1, and are not in breach of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Paragraph 3 of Annex B of resolution 2231 (2015), adopted by the UN Security Council on July 20, 2015, endorsing the JCPOA, calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear warheads, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif said the Iranian people are to see the result of nuclear agreement as soon as possible.

He underlined that the other parties, in particular the US, should in practice fulfill their obligations under the nuclear deal.

Further during his speech, Zarif said Iran will put pressure on the US to pave the path for cooperation of non-American banks with Tehran, adding that Washington should do more to remove obstacles to Iran's banking system.

Earlier, Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's central bank, accused the US and the EU of failing to honor the JCPOA by keeping Iran locked out of the international financial system.

"In general, we are not able to use our frozen funds abroad," Seif said Apr. 15 at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US.

Mogherini arrived in Tehran, Iran, Apr. 16 on a one-day visit heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation comprised of seven European commissioners.
Tehran, Iran, Apr. 16

By Farhad Daneshvar and Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini says the EU and Tehran have agreed to expand bilateral ties in various areas, including energy and education in the post-sanctions era.

"Today, my message to Iran and to Iranian people would like to be that diplomacy is worthy. We want as Europeans Iranian people to have and to see the benefits of this agreement [the nuclear deal] turning into changes in their everyday life. We are on the same side on this," said Mogherini, reports Trend's correspondent from the event venue.

"Here I do not speak on my personal capacity. I am sure I speak on the behalf of my colleagues in the commission, but I dare to say I speak on the behalf of 500 million Europeans that are supporting the new era in our relations," she added.

"We come here today to resume constructive dialogue with Iran on many different fields," noted Mogherini.

She added that the ongoing dialogues are aimed at concrete results.

"Iran and EU have very long history of relations and despite the difficulties the nations had, they never experienced the challenge of being alien to each other," said Mogherini.

She also described the ongoing talks as "the dialogue of four Cs", which stands for "comprehensive, cooperative, critical (if needed), constructive (always)".

Mogherini also touched upon the Syrian issue and called for supporting the ongoing intra-Syria talks in Geneva.

"We believe Iran and Europe can do a lot to facilitate the political process," she added.

Speaking about cooperation in the field of education, she said the sides agreed on exchanging students and researchers, as well as cooperation between universities.

European programs on education and science are open to Iranian researchers, students and professors, added Mogherini.

She also said the Iranian and European negotiators have decided to launch cooperation in environmental issues, including the issues of water shortage, air pollution, as well as waste management.
Tehran, Iran, Apr. 16

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran and the EU are discussing the cooperation in the post-nuclear deal era, said Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with the visiting EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in Tehran Apr. 16, Trend's correspondent reports from the event venue.

Zarif said the European Union's cooperation with Iran in implementing the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aka nuclear deal) will benefit the EU in both economic and political areas.

Iran and the EU will cooperate jointly to remove the obstacles to full implementation of the nuclear deal, Zarif said, adding the two parties will discuss the cooperation in the peaceful nuclear area, which is envisaged by the JCPOA.

The economic and financial cooperation, as well as opening an EU office in Tehran, are on the agenda of the mutual talks, he added.

Iranian FM also said the fight against extremism and terrorism, and the refugee crisis will also be discussed during the EU delegation's ongoing visit.

Zarif added that Iran and the EU will hold fundamental talks on fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, and human rights issues in the future.

He said four statements will be issued at the end of the talks - the statements on roadmap of cooperation, peaceful nuclear cooperation, energy cooperation, and the statement on cooperation in scientific and research fields.

The Iran-EU cooperation will help Iran's development, as well as peace in the crisis-hit region, the top Iranian diplomat underlined.

Regarding Iran's recent missile tests, Zarif said that Iran's missiles are only for defensive purposes.

Iran's missiles are not designed to carry nuclear warheads and have nothing to do with the JCPOA or the UN Security Council Resolutions, he stressed.

In March this year, Iran test-fired several ballistic missiles from several bases across the country as part of massive missile drills.

While a couple of Western and regional states claim that the recent tests have violated a UN resolution, Iranian officials have constantly reiterated that Tehran's ballistic missile tests do not violate the nuclear deal reached with the P5+1, and are not in breach of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Paragraph 3 of Annex B of resolution 2231 (2015), adopted by the UN Security Council on July 20, 2015, endorsing the JCPOA, calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear warheads, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif said the Iranian people are to see the result of nuclear agreement as soon as possible.

He underlined that the other parties, in particular the US, should in practice fulfill their obligations under the nuclear deal.
Tehran, Iran, Apr. 16

By Farhad Daneshvar and Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

The European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has said that Iran's missile tests do not breach the nuclear deal with the world powers.

"We do not see the missile tests as a breach of the JCPOA," the EU representative said April 16 during a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran.

"This doesn't mean that we are not concerned," Mogherini added. Earlier in March, Iran test-fired Qadr-H and Qadr-F ballistic missiles during large-scale drills, code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat.

The US sources have claimed that Iran's missile tests violate the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the JCPOA.

Iranian officials have constantly reiterated that Tehran's ballistic missile tests do not violate the nuclear agreement it reached with the P5+1 group of countries and are not in breach of a United Nations Security Council resolution

Mogherini has arrived in Iran on a one-day visit at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation comprising seven European commissioners.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged for resolving the issues of the Islamic world without the interfering foreigners. "The problems of the Islamic world should be settled by Islamic countries without the interfering of foreigners," IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying at a meeting with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara.

Rouhani called on Turkey and all Islamic countries to join efforts to get use of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the favor of strengthening the unity in the Islamic world. Rouhani further called for the expansion of bilateral ties with Turkey and increasing the trade turnover between the two countries to $30 billion.

The Iranian president arrived in Istanbul to attend the summit meeting of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Turkish port city on Wednesday.

President Rouhani held bilateral meetings with heads of states on the sidelines of the 2-day OIC Summit meeting.

Rouhani alongside with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other officials refrained from attending the closing session of the OIC meeting.

The move followed "anti-Iranian" statements in the summit's final announcement, something pushed through by Saudi Arabia, Iranian media outlets said. Before the summit began, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif publicly objected to Saudi Arabia's attempt to introduce "anti-Iranian" articles in the draft declaration of the OIC.
Tehran, Iran, April 16

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran and the European Union have great opportunity for cooperation in the nuclear field, which will not be like many other countries' cooperation for Iran is able to offer special services, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrooz Kamalvandi said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting between EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Kamalvandi said the special opportunity comes from two aspects of Iran's nuclear program, Trend correspondent reported April 16.

"The first aspect is that Iran needs to be producing about 10 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy, and the second is that the country has a lot of expert human resources. We can offer help to the other sides, which means a different kind of cooperation with Europeans," the spokesman added.

Regarding hot events on agenda in the AEOI, he said AEOI chief Ali Akbar Salehi is scheduled to meet European Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic the following day.

Salehi is also going to travel to the Czech republic next week to discuss bilateral cooperation with that country as a leading power in nuclear technology, Kamalvandi added.

Asked by Trend about Iran's heavy water production and export program, he said Tehran is holding talks with various countries to that effect.

After the JCPOA went into effect on January 16, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US were lifted. Iran, in return, has put some limitations on its nuclear activities.

The EU and other powers have promised to help Iran modernize its nuclear industry.

Mogherini has traveled to the Iranian capital on a one-day visit at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation comprising seven European commissioners.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Iranian and Turkish officials signed several memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the sidelines of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Ankara Apr. 16, Iran's state-run IRINN TV reported.

The two sides signed documents for cooperation in various sectors, including social welfare, as well as culture, science, education and standards.

The justice ministers of Iran and Turkey also signed a joint statement on the sidelines of the meeting.

Rouhani arrived in Ankara on April 15 evening to hold bilateral talks with high-ranking Turkish officials, especially his counterpart Erdogan.

Tehran and Ankara intend to raise their bilateral trade to $30 billion per year.

Trade turnover between the two countries stood at $13.71 billion in 2014 and $9.76 billion in 2015.

Although the trade turnover dropped by 29 percent in 2015 compared to the preceding year, many observers believe that the decline came amid global economic crisis ruling out the role of the political disagreements.
Tehran, Iran, April 16

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran and Pakistan are going to hold a series of joint naval drills in the coming days, Iran's Naval Force Commander Habibollah Sayyari said.

Today Iran is host to a naval fleet from Pakistan which has docked at Bandar Abbas, he told Alalam TV April 16.

Sayyari added that the fleet will stay in Iran for 3-4 days, in the end of which period, drills will be performed.

Last year, Sayyari had said the Islamic Republic of Iran may hold joint drills with other countries.

"If the Navy sends its fleet to other countries, it will also put holding joint drills on the agenda," he had emphasized.

Two years ago, the Iranian Navy held joint drills with naval fleets of Russia and China.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) of Iran Ali Shamkhani has asked the EU to confront with what he called Washington's "obstruction" of nuclear deal implementation.

In a meeting with the visiting EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on April 16, Shamkhani underlined that the Europe Union played a pivot role in concluding the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aka nuclear deal), Iran's state-run IRINN TV reported.

Shamkhani further said that the achievement needs to be protected and implemented via continues cooperation of the EU.

He argued that the US is seeking to continue its sanctions policy against Iran and is troubling the implementation of the JCPOA, referring to Washington's approach as "undesirable and unconstructive".

Shamkhani further said that if the EU fails to adopt effective action against the US approach, the United States' present course of action will entail negative repercussions for continued cooperation and implementation of mutual commitments under the nuclear deal.

Earlier the same day, Iran's Foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, underlined that the other parties, in particular the US, should in practice fulfill their obligations under the nuclear deal.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Mogherini, Zarif said Washington should do more to remove obstacles to Iran's banking system.

Earlier, Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's central bank, accused the US and the EU of failing to honor the JCPOA by keeping Iran locked out of the international financial system.

"In general, we are not able to use our frozen funds abroad," Seif said Apr. 15 at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US.

Mogherini arrived in Tehran, Iran, Apr. 16 on a one-day visit heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation comprised of seven European commissioners.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 16

By Emil Ilgar - Trend:



Iran's Foreign Ministry re-affirmed during a joint press conference with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini that US should pave the path for cooperation of non-American banks with Tehran, adding that Washington should do more to remove obstacles to Iran's banking system.

A day before, Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's Central Bank, accused the US and the EU of failing to honor the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by keeping Iran locked out of the international financial system.

"In general, we are not able to use our frozen funds abroad", Seif said Apr. 15 at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US.

During last months, tens of deals were sealed between Iran and European companies, but about all of them were memorandum of understanding, yet to become the legal contracts.

The major obstacle is the remained American financial bans on Iran which make difficult putting investment in this country.

Washington says that providing the access of Iran to the American financial system has not been included in JCPOA.

Recently, Mohammad Reza Sabzalipour, chairman of Iran World Trade Center, told Trend April 12 that Iran will not be able to resume fruitful economic ties with leading European countries if its trade relation with the US is not normalized.

The 27 members of EU's exports to Iran has decreased from above $10 billion in 2011 to around $6 billion a year after imposing the western sanctions on Iran in 2013.

The current figures show no meaningful change despite the lifting of sanctions in January 2016.

Once, EU was consumer of 800,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil, but currently, only France's total intakes are about 160,000 per day of Iranian oil and negotiations with other companies from Italy to Greece haven't reached any result.

The Asian market may absorb Iranian oil, like what has happened during last months, but the Western markets and oil based deals on USD are important for Iran.

Iran has doubled oil exports to 2 million barrels per day in April year-to-year, but the country needs immediate investments and western technology to keep the production up.

About 80 percent of Iran's oil fields are in their second half life and loses around 8-12 percent of their output.

Iran also has plans to build LNG plants to export gas to European and Asian markets. Without cooperation with Western companies, there is no chance for Iran to go ahead.
Commander of Navy First Region Rear-Admiral Hossein Azad said on Saturday that two training and military ships named 'Rahnavard' and 'Nasr' from Pakistan arrived in Bandar Abbas to participate in joint Navy exercises with Iranian Navy, Irna reported.



The commander told a press conference that arrangements have been made in cooperation with the scientific, military and cultural centers of the two countries for the joint Navy exercises.

He said that the 40th flotilla of Iranian Navy were dispatched to north of Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, the Navy commander said that the Iranian Navy flotilla since beginning their mission have escorted 2,250 cargo ships in the area for 250 times to save them from armed conflicts with sea pirates.
The protest action in front of the Russian Embassy, which took place April 13, is historic, an independent Armenian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Tigran Khzmalyan said, the website 1in.am reported.

Khzmalyan went on to add that the large protest action against Russia's policy is being held for the first time in Armenia since 1921.

Khzmalyan noted the importance of the fact that the youth were the overwhelming majority of the people who gathered for the protest.

"It was a slap in the face not only for Russia," he said. "The uprising is the language of those who are ignored. This belligerent and perishing generation has made the only correct decision - to put an end to Russian occupation."

Khzmalyan said that the Armenian nation is probably the only one which has been glorifying their executioners for 100 years.

"This patience, this naivety and credulity showed by the Armenian people is unprecedented and absurd, the youth have freed themselves from an illusion, a disease, a virus," Khzmalyan said.

He went on to add that now it's necessary to create a political alternative, a pole, which will represent the interests of these young people and which will head for Europe.
Parliamentary elections in Georgia are scheduled for October 8, Sputnik reported.

"Dignified people, who have done a significant scope of work, are working in the government. It does not mean that after the elections or before them there will be no changes [in the government], such things could always take place," Kvirikashvili told reporters.

He added that there is no point to expect significant changes in the government before the elections.



Kvirikashvili from the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia political coalition. became country's prime minister in December 2015 after resignation of his predecessor Irakli Garibashvili.
Cataract Patients Undergo Eye Surgery On Lifeline Express (Photo : Getty Images)

The Peking University Third Hospital would file a lawsuit against Tianjin Jingming New Technological Development Co for supplying the hospital with medical gas that caused patients undergoing eye surgery to go blind on one eye instead.



The medical gas, or perflutren, is used as a temporary filler during the procedure. However, when the batch of perflutren was applied on 59 patients, 45 suffered eye injuries in June. Eighteen of the patients became blind on the left eye, reported China National Radio.



Advertisement

The incident led the China Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) to stop the sale of the medical gas and use of the same batch the destroyed the vision of some patients. Tainjin Jingming is the only registered supplier of perflutren in China.



The gas, explained Wang Enpu, a professor who specializes in eye surgery at the Air Force General Hospital, is used as a temporary filler to puff up the hollow part of the eye during surgery. It helps ensure the surgery would go smoothly and disappears after the procedure is completed. It is used for procedures such as vitrectomies and to correct retinal detachment.



But Wang added that only experienced doctors are capable of properly using the gas for eye procedures because it expands after the gas enters the eye. It is an alternative to silicon oil which needs to be removed after the surgery, otherwise it could cause side effects such as increased eye pressure.



Besides Peking University Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University in Jiangsu Province used also perflutren on 26 more eye patients, but it came from another batch. However, five patients also suffered became partially blind, reported Global Times.



The FDA send two teams to the two hospitals which used the medical gas and ruled out irregularities during the surgeries as a cause of the injuries. The manufacturer said that the gas has no side effects reported since Tianjin Jingming was established in 2001.






Need a company tonight but all your friends are busy? Theres an app that could be of help. A quick reminder, though: be prepared to pay by the hour. (Photo : Getty Images)

One may see a young girl together with a man who appears a bit older than her but wont be mistaken for a relative, not even a casual acquaintance because of the way he wraps his arms around her tiny waist.



Perhaps she prefers dating older guys.



Or it could be a spectacle that will expire in two hours--and for $30.



Advertisement

Come Rent Me, the loose translation of a Chinese app, allows smartphone users to hire someone to do an assortment of things for a corresponding fee, reported TomoNews U.S.



A person needs to log in to the Come Rent Me WeChat account of Hangzhou AiYo Technology, the company behind this startup, to be transported to a part of the cyberworld where strangers coming from different backgrounds advertise themselves to do specific tasks as long as one can afford their hourly rate.



How much? It could be as high as 200 yuan per hour.



After logging in, a client will select a person and specify the number of hours the person will be rented out. Then the company will text the client the WeChat ID of that person for the two parties to discuss the transaction between themselves .



In case the client gets rejected by that person, the company will refund the payment.



Were not a community platform. Were running an information service, said Fan Yulong, co-founder of the Hangzhou-based startup launched in June 2015.



Fan compared Come Rent Me to two transportation network companies, Americas Uber and the countrys Beijing-based Didi Chuxing in terms of providing people with an opportunity to earn money during their free time.



No matter what you do, whether its meeting someone or completing a task, you have a cost, said Fan.



Indeed, as many people might have already heard: There is no such thing as a free lunch.



The startup received fresh funding in March to the tune of 5 million yuan from an anonymous supporter, reported China Venture.



The app now deals with more than 500,000 registered users.



Wang Wenzi, 19, from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, charges $15 per hour for anyone who likes to rent her out. The college student said that most of her clients have been men, according to online magazine Financial Policy on April 12.



For those who want someone to accompany them for a movie night out or to go camping with them or to simply join them for lunch, theres an app they can use to find the right person to do that thing.



And for those who have free time, they can actually sell it.


Chinese chemical company ChemChina allayed fears that its recent purchase of Syngenta will cause the introduction of hybrid corn and other genetically modified crops. (Photo : Twitter)

Major chemical manufacturing firm China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) downplayed concerns about its acquisition of Swiss seeds and pesticides company Syngenta, saying that the deal will have a positive impact on global food security.



According to a spokesperson for the company, who declined to be named, the deal with Syngenta will be beneficial to farmers around the world as it will help them "increase production and maintain sustainable development," the Global Times reported.



Advertisement

ChemChina released the statement in response to an online protest against its $43-billion deal with Syngenta. The all-cash purchase, which was announced in February, is considered to be the largest foreign acquisition made by a Chinese firm, to date.



In February, Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson Shen Danyang said that his office supports the deal as it will help in improving global food security.



However, several groups have expressed concerns about Syngenta's manufacture and use of genetically modified organisms (GMO's) in its products.



In a letter signed by 400 concerned individuals and sent to the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), the signatories said that the deal could cause Chinese staple crops to be contaminated with GMT's. This, along with the use of agrochemicals that Syngenta is promoting, could potentially lead to the destruction of the country's agriculture, the protesters added.



According to Yang Xiaolu, one of the letter's drafters, ChemChina should immediately rescind the deal to avoid a potential disaster.



However, ChemChina did not say how the letter could affect the deal.



Syngenta, meanwhile, declined to comment, while an SASAC representative said that the office is still looking into the matter, Reuters reported.



In March, agriculture minister Han Changfu came under fire after he admitted that GMO corn was illegally grown in some parts of the country.


Biologist works with genetically modified mosquitoes on February 11, 2016 in Campinas, Brazil. (Photo : Getty Images/Victor Moriyama)

The United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fears the newfound deadly dangers from the fast-spreading Zika virus.



A new study reveals that the virus causes severe brain damage in developing babies and confirmed the first case of the sexually transmitted Zika virus on April 14, Thursday. According to the health officials, the first case is said to be between two gay men.



Advertisement

The case first came to light in January, as a Dallas man has been reported contracting the virus while traveling in Venezuela, wherein the virus is rife. According to the local media, the man's partner of 10 years has also developed the virus' symptoms shortly.



Now, the health officials confirmed that both Dallas men had the virus through a series of blood tests, adding that sexual contact was the most likely cause of the second man's infection. The health officials then cautioned the public by highlighting how the virus can be transmitted through anal and vaginal sex.



"Sexual transmission through both vaginal and anal sex is an emerging mode of Zika virus infection that might contribute to more illness than was anticipated when the outbreak was first recognized," The Daily Mail quoted CDC's representative as saying.



The CDC also urges the clinicians and health providers to remain vigilant for any associated cases of Zika virus, particularly those who engaged in unprotected sexual contact with a person who has traveled to an area where the virus transmission is dynamic.



Earlier this week, CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden cautioned mothers who are infected with the infected, stating that they are at high risk of giving birth to babies with Microcephaly, an uncommon birth defect where a child is born with an abnormally small head and extreme brain damage.



Nonetheless, the CDC also noted that there is still much that needs to be learned about Zika's effect on the fetal development as no one knows its accurate danger of brain-related birth defects to the child. Dr. Sonja Rasmussen pointed out that some Zika-infected woman has seemingly given birth to healthy babies, Medline Plus has learned.



Apart from that, the World Health Organization (WHO) already announced in February that Zika seemingly brings about Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare and serious disorder that may result in paralysis, to an individual.



Stay tuned for more news and updates. Check out the video below for more information:






According to the World Bank, there are at least 1 billion people in the world who lack access to electricity. (Above) Candles accompany young students in Bangladesh, a South Asian country. (Photo : Getty Images)

The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank entered into an agreement to co-finance development projects in Asia, according to a press release posted on April 13 on the World Banks website.



World Bank Group President Kim Jim Yong and AIIB President Jin Liqun signed the co-financing framework agreement.



Advertisement

As the worlds multilateral development banks collaborate ever more closely, leveraging each others financing and expertise, the people who will benefit the most will be the worlds poor, said Kim.



East Asia, Central Asia and South Asia will particularly benefit from the World Bank-AIIB investment projects, numbering to nearly one dozen.



The projects aim to address the needs of the sectors that include transport, water and energy.



Kim said that he was delighted with the partnership. Jin expressed a similar sentiment when he said that he was very pleased to sign the agreement.



 . . . we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with ongoing cooperation in project co-financing and other areas, said Jin, the countrys former vice minister of finance.



Kim, the 12th president of the World Bank, also said that signing the agreement serves as an important first step . . . to address the worlds huge infrastructure needs.



Some 1.2 billion people in the world lack access to electricity and 2.4 billion people dont have access to basic sanitation services, said the World Bank on its press release.



The two financial institutions were originally seen as possible rivals, according to The Economic Times.



Conceived in 1944, the World Bank, headquartered in Washington, D.C., endeavors to attain two bold goals by 2030, according to its website. The first one is to end extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day to no more than 3 percent. Second is to promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40 percent for every country.



President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang envisioned Beijing-based AIIB to promote interconnectivity and economic integration in the region" and "cooperate with existing multilateral development banks, according to its website.



AIIB welcomes all regional and non-regional countries, developing and developed countries, that seek to contribute to Asian infrastructure development and regional connectivity.



After signing the agreement, Jin thanked the World Bank for its generous and timely support when AIIB was establishing itself, according to the press release.


The logo of Tsinghua Unigroup is seen at its office in Beijing, China. (Photo : Reuters)

State-owned company Tsinghua Unigroup has bought a 6-percent stake in chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor Corp., signalling the company's serious attempts to foray into the overseas semiconductor market, particularly the U.S.



In a filing on April 13, Tsinghua Unigroup managed to acquire stake in Lattice via share purchases on the open market, said The Wall Street Journal. The deal is a welcome development after the Chinese company's failed attempts to invest in other U.S.-based semiconductor firms.



Advertisement

In February, Micron Technologies snubbed a deal with Tsinghua in favor of another Chinese partnership, according to a report in Investor's Business Daily.



Tsinghua's proposed Micron deal was "doomed from the start as U.S. regulators would have shut it down," added the report.



This was also the case in the botched Western Digital-Tsinghua investment plan, which was pegged at $3.8 billion. The deal was flagged for an investigation by U.S. authorities, told the Financial Times.



But with the inked deal with Lattice amounting to $41.6 million, Tsinghua now wants to test the waters--again--in the U.S. in attempts to solidify China's domestic semiconductor industry.



According to the WSJ, "the Lattice move appears to be a test to see if a modest investment would be allowed without running afoul of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. on national security grounds."



As early as now, however, Tsinghua is eliminating the possibility of a takeover. In a phone interview with the WSJ, the group's chairman Zhao Weiguo said that the deal is "purely a financial investment" and that they do not have any plans to acquire Lattice.



The U.S. chipmaker saw shares jump 18 percent to $6.36 on talks of potential acquisition.



Tsinghua is not the only China-based company who has shown interest in foreign semiconductor firms. Shanghai-based National Silicon Industry Group recently made a takeover offer for Finland's silicon wafer maker Okmetic, told the South China Morning Post.


Microsoft President and Chief Legal OfficerBrad Smith speaks during the Microsoft Annual Shareholders meeting. (Photo : Getty Images/Stephen Brashear)

Microsoft filed a suit on April 14, Thursday against the Department of Justice, asking the court to declare unconstitutional a section of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Apple's battle with the government about user privacy policy over the iPhone of one of the suspects in the San Bernardo shooting flooded the headlines. Now, it is the Windows software maker's turn to complain to the government regarding user privacy.



Advertisement

The Redmond-based company points to section 2705(b), which allows the government to order an electronic communications service provider not to reveal that a person's communication have been accessed for a period of time. The law does not give the government complete freedom to spy on citizens. However, they can, when a person's physical safety or life is endangered, or there is evidence tampering, intimidation of potential witnesses, flight from prosecution, an investigation is seriously jeopardized or when a trial is being unduly delayed.



Microsoft feels the government makes use of these orders so its spying practices need not be justified. Secondly, the government asks for thousands of information yearly without providing an end date.



Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith stated that the U.S. government required them not to disclose to customers its 2,576 legal demands that seeks their data. "Even surprisingly, 1,752 of these secrecy orders, or 68 percent of the total, contained no fixed end date at all. This means that we effectively are prohibited forever from telling our customers that the government has obtained their data." Smith stated on their company's blogs.



Microsoft does not intend to forbid the government to access data in exceptional cases, but said the privacy act's aforementioned section gives it too much power and unlimited surveillance, ExtremeTech has learned. It does not require justification of government's actions and does not allow a review of their surveillance order when circumstances change. The software titan claims Section 2705(b) also violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable seizure and search of digital information. The amendment likewise includes people's rights to know when authorities are searching their property.



Microsoft raises these issues since Congress has shown willingness to address privacy issues to digital records. Under the U.S. law, the government does not need a warrant, but a simple subpoena to read emails more than six months old.



While the Email Privacy Act does not address Microsoft's current concerns, it can perhaps signal a renewed willingness by the lawmakers to deal with some privacy issues regarding mass surveillance of Americans now that consumers are sharing their lives with cloud providers.



The video by Euronews below talks about Microsoft's lawsuit against the state.






HTC 10 is the latest flagship smartphone from HTC. (Photo : Twitter/OnLeaks )

HTC unveiled its latest flagship HTC 10 on April 12 and the manufacturer has confirmed that the phone will be available and compatible on various carriers in the United States. However, only the unlocked version of HTC 10 will be available on AT&T.



A statement released via HTC official website reads, "In the U.S., HTC 10 will be available across multiple wireless providers including Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile, which will announce colors, availability, and pricing. In addition, HTC will be offering an unlocked edition ... compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile networks."



Advertisement

The Taiwanese manufacturer is yet to confirm whether AT&T will offer the released HTC 10, but the head of communication at HTC Jeff Gordon tweeted that the carrier may not at first offer the smartphone. Those who pay for the phone outright have nothing to worry about the news; however, those planning to get the handset on an installment plan may be disappointed that AT&T will not offer the HTC 10.



The smartphone manufacturer is offering a 12-month installment plan, whereby customers who will purchase HTC 10 directly from its website will pay a monthly installment of $58.25. In addition, HTC has a promotion that allows clients to received $100 discount on HTC 10, bringing the cost down to $599. US buyers only need to enter HTC1008 in the box under promotions on the checkout page.



The preorder of HTC 10 began on April 12 via HTC website, and the shipping will start in next month. The manufacturer confirmed that the unlocked version available from the website will go for $699, and customers have the liberty to choose from two colors: Glacier Silver and Carbon Gray.



Furthermore, HTC has confirmed that purchasing the smartphone from its website will include "UH OH Protection," which provides one free replacement at no cost. As a result, clients can have their HTC unit replaced for damages or cracks within 12 months after purchase, as part of the protection plan.



While AT&T will not initially offer HTC 10, the carrier may offer the smartphone in the near future. It is unclear whether the non-availability of HTC 10 on AT&T will affect US sales.



Watch the sneak peek below for HTC 10 specs and features.






Medium Logo (Photo : Medium)

Medium, a blogging platform, was banned in China on April 12 by the countrys censors.



The confirmation that the platform was added to the growing list of prohibited websites in the Asian giant by the "Great Firewall of China" came from GreatFire.org, a site that monitors efforts by China to censor portals. The site was blocked 81 percent in the last 90 days.



Advertisement

Engadget reported that the ban was not surprising because the platform, which originally began as an easy and quick blogging tool, has evolved into a bigger source of news from known publishers and independent journalists. Medium plans to earn money from the platform by soliciting advertisements from companies such as Intel, Nest and Bose.



Mediums importance in news dissemination would place the platform in the dragnet of Chinese censors. Other large Web sites banned in China include Google, which bypassed the Great Firewall for two hours in late March, Dropbox, Facebook, YouTube and Dropbox.



Although there is no official explanation why Medium was blocked, ABC reported that it possibly is linked to a post in the blogsite last week about the Panama Papers leak which provided details on the offshore money of several national leaders and their kin, including China. Beijing has censored news about the Panama Papers leak.



Last week, Medium announced a dozen media outlets would start to publish on the platform which would allow content from publications with websites block by the Great Firewall in China.






Ending a life of brutal service, some of Egypt's donkeys meet gruesome fates, with others abandoned in desert lands. When alive, they fare little better, often facing abuse that amounts to torture

In Cairo's chaotic streets, Sukara's agonised wails drowned in the blare of car horns.

Abandoned in a pile of household garbage within sight of a mosque and a cafe, it was three days before anyone in the working class neighbourhood offered help. When local accountant Mohamed Mostafa eventually took pity on the stricken donkey  giving her some drinking water and arranging for a place in an animal shelter  it was already too late.

She was one of the worst cases I've ever seen. She was crying and wailing like a human being, recalls Salwa Abdoh, a volunteer at the Egypt Horse Project, a non-governmental organisation based in Giza. The torment didn't last much longer. Sukara, as they'd named her, died two days later.

Donkeys are as much a part of Egypt as the pyramids, a living, braying link between the agricultural heartlands and its choked metropolis. Whether carting produce, building materials and garbage in Cairo or tilling the fields of the Delta, it's hard to imagine the country without them.

Familiarity, though, has bred contempt. The most mistreated of all Egypt's animals, their name is a byword for laziness and stupidity in the local slang. Some farmers call donkeys mute birds  beasts of burden that take the stiffest punishment without a whine of complaint.

We don't have the concept of compassion towards animals in Egypt, says Abdoh. I've seen many animals abused in Egypt  dogs, cats, horses, you name it. But nothing compares to the abuse that donkeys in Egypt go through.



Built on a donkey's back

On a scorching day in early summer, veterinarian Shaaban Fayez is driving east along the four-lane highway to El-Saf, an area in Giza, which is home to hundreds of informal stone factories where animals still do much of the labour.

Fayez looks out the window of the car and gestures to the apartment blocks lining the road. Look around you. All these were built using a donkey's back, he says with a sad smile. You could say that donkeys built this country. Just look how they're treated.

In one of El-Saf's ramshackle outdoors factories, about 100 workers, some of them children as young as seven, are carting piles of stones to the furnaces that bake the bricks that made the apartments. Working alongside them for at least eight hours a day are about a dozen donkeys, each of them bearing deep lacerations across their backs and shoulders. Abdullah, a 17-year-old, says the whip in his right hand is vital to his success. I always whip the donkey in the same place  when you hit them on the wound, it really hurts and they move faster, he says.

One of his colleagues, Ahmed, 14, has worked in the factory for three years.

They tell me it's sinful to hit the donkey, but there's a lot of pressure on me too, so I end up beating him, he says with a shrug. It's a vicious circle. Our life is tough too.

This is where Fayez tries to make a difference. He works with the Society for the Protection and Welfare of Donkeys (SPWDME), a partner of the international Donkey Sanctuary, which offers free veterinary services to donkey owners in Egypt and runs mobile clinics in the capital and the Delta province of Qalyoubeya. When he visits El-Saf, he treats the donkeys' wounds and urges the workers not to mistreat or overload them.

Since the organisation began its programme, most of the factories now allow the animals to exercise and feed in outdoor yards, Fayez says, both making them healthier and more productive. They've also encouraged workers to use proper harnesses on the donkeys, rather than makeshift reins and tack that can injure them.

However, harnasses are not the only problem. Many donkey owners put wires on the donkeys nose, to cut the area and control them more. Other owners put sharp irons in the donkeys mouth which end up hurting their tongues and jaws.

Of course, after 10 years of hard work, their body begins to deteriorate and their joints break down, says Farid Shawky, the societys Harnass Project officer.

According to the society, Egyptian donkeys tend to live for 15 years only, whereas the life expectancy of donkeys should be 25 years.

The crack of the whip

Donkeys first appeared in Ancient Egyptian decorations around 3,150 BC, but debate persists over when exactly they were domesticated. The most common theory holds they were brought to Egypt in about 6,000-5,000 BC from the Near East, according to Salima Ekram, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. Another school of thought suggests they were domesticated within Egypt from African stock.

Until about 1,600 or 1,550 BC, donkeys were the only equines in Egypt, says Ekram. The horses were introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos, but donkeys were the main beasts of burden and sometimes people would ride on them, either straight, or with a chair on the donkey.

Donkeys were also slightly associated with the God Seth, which Ekram says was the God of "chaos, liminal spaces, the desert and wild unclaimed places."

Donkeys managed to get Egyptians up and down the Nile Valley and through the Eastern and Western Desert, and they were a key component for Egypt being able to communicate with Africa and the Near East, Ekram says. Their importance to trade made them second in value only to cows.

Their place in society was enshrined in Ancient Egyptian fables, like that of the so-called eloquent peasant, dating from the Middle Kingdom, about a donkey owned by a Wadi Natroun farmer which eats the crops from someone's field and causes upset.

The donkey that led to Egypts occupation

Abdel Moneim El-Gemeiy, an historian who penned 80 books about Egypt, says that in 1882 a donkey led to what is now known as the Alexandria riots.

The incident began on 11 June at 2pm, when a Maltese resident of Alexandria borrowed a donkey from an Egyptian Makkary, the term coined at the time for donkey owners.

However, the Maltese man did not return after the agreed upon hour. When he finally showed up, a fight erupted, which led the Maltese man to stab the Egyptian, wounding him. The crisis deteriorated leading Egyptian locals to begin clashing with the Maltese. Knives and daggers were drawn and European residents began shooting at pedestrians from their windows.

At the time, many foreign communities lived in Alexandria. And they often united against Egyptians when there was a crisis, says El-Gemiey.

The foreigners complained that Colonel Ahmed Orabi, the Egyptian nationalist and prime minister at the time, was not protecting them, leading to the British occupation of Egypt.

So, you can say that a donkey was the reason behind Britains occupation of Egypt, laughs El-Gemeiy.

Romy didnt want to die

The situation for donkeys dramatically changed in modern day Egypt. In a country where animal welfare is considered a joke by many, donkeys get the worst of the abuse.

Cats and dogs can run away, but the donkey is owned and tied and cannot run away from this abuse, says Amina Abaza, founder of the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights (SPARE), which shelters many abused animals.

Abaza also owns a donkey sanctuary in the Shabramant area of Cairo, which at one point had 18 donkeys. Now only four remain, after Abaza rehomed the rest.

Many of the donkeys we rescued died because they were badly abused, she says. But I tell myself that at least they had a peaceful time in the end. At least the last part of their life was good.

One of the cases that remains in Abazas sanctuary is Romy, who she rescued from the street in 2004. While driving her car, Abaza saw that the donkey was limping and his owner was hitting him hard with a stick. It turned out that Romy's owner was forcing him to work with a broken leg for one year.

Abaza convinced the farmer to sell the donkey to her for LE70, bought a truck and took him to the shelter. The vet took one look at him and told Abaza that he would not survive.

No way, I have to euthanise him, he told her. Give him three days of happiness and good food and I will come and put him down after that.

Abaza brought him carrots and she and her family made cuddling shifts, where they stroked, hugged and kissed the donkey. When the vet came three days later, he was surprised at how well he is doing, and the euthanasia was cancelled.

So, love and some clover resuscitated him, she says, smiling at the memory. Through the years, Abaza has helped many donkeys. There were times when the donkeys were in such bad condition their owners did not even bother to sell them to her.



Experts in cruelty

When it comes to cruelty, we have quite an imagination, Abaza says. They hit them on their sores to make them run faster. I have seen donkeys burned with cigarettes.

Abaza also points out that in Egypt many donkey owners scald their donkeys with a hot iron, thinking that this is a traditional cure for all ailments.

Last year, a couple of veterinary students sent Abaza photos of a baby donkey being electrocuted alive in the Cairo Faculty of Veterinary Sciences.

They cut them alive and electrocute them because they dont have euthanising compounds, says Abaza. Sometimes, they allow 40 students to put 40 needles in the same place in the same donkey to teach them how to inject animals.

Many foreigners who come to Egypt struggle to understand the abuse heaped on donkeys.

Australian Ashleigh Lotherington developed a passion for Egyptian donkeys and established The Egypt Horse Project on 14 November 2012, after a two week trip to Egypt. Lotheringtons shelter deals with horses and donkeys as well as small animals such as cats and dogs.

The project now has 12 donkeys under its care, many of them orphans, abandoned after their mothers died or were no longer able to nurse them.

Mr Donkey, one of the rescues in the shelter, was injured in a car accident and had motor oil thrown all over him. Lotherington discovered that he had a broken leg and treated him.

Mr Donkey has a owner who checks on him regularly, but he will never leave our care and he will never have to work another day in his life, says Lotherington.

To this day, Lotherington is baffled at the abuse heaped on donkeys in Egypt.

Donkeys are very friendly, and cheeky, and like to be around humans if they have been raised correctly. They also like to play together and groom each other, she says. Donkeys enjoy the company of other donkeys, dogs, humans and horses.

The problem is that donkeys find it hard to convey their pain when abused.

A dog or the horse, can express their agony. But donkeys cant, says Shawky. When people hit them, they cant express their pain, so people think they are just stupid.

But donkeys are not stupid, Shawky says. They are intelligent animals who are able to return home alone without their owner and have a very good memory.

Donkeys ruffle their hair when a tiny fly is on their body. So if they can feel a tiny fly, can you imagine how much they feel from the beatings?

Clash of civilisations

There are many reasons why donkeys are abused in Egypt. In modern Egypt, negative attitudes are often associated with animals. Thats why the word donkey, or 7omar in Arabic, is one of the most common insults in Egypt.

In fact, in April 2014, an Egyptian farmer was jailed after he called his donkey Sisi, after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who at the time was Egypts minister of defence  a man considered by many to be a national hero. In 2012, Egyptian MP Ziyad El-Elemy almost had his parliamentary immunity lifted after he likened former military ruler Mohamed Tantawi to a donkey. These are the more public spats, but the word donkey is used every day as an insult by Egyptians.

In modern day Egypt, there is a tendency to associate negatively anything related to animals, explains Egyptian scholar Adel Iskandar. The idea that humans are much more evolved creatures is something that is very entrenched in our culture. All animals are seen as negative, with the exception, maybe, of the lion.

However, he points out that the reason why donkeys are seen as negative have a lot to do with the rural-urban divide in Egypt. A few decades ago, many rural Egyptians began to move to the city, much to the chagrin of Egyptian urbanites.

The urban Egyptian elite, even the middle class, disavowed folkloric cultural roots. Everything to do with that environment was seen as anti-development and anti-modern., says Iskandar. Yes, the word donkey is used as an insult because it means that the person is stupid. But behind the scenes it is a critique of the agricultural life and its simplicity.

He adds that many Egyptians since then have become used to calling people who work for them, like the maid or bawab (doorman), who often came from the countryside, donkeys.

This is seen in stories about the fictional wise fool Guha, who is accompanied by a donkey. Stories about Guha are often told to Egyptian children to teach them moral lessons.

Guha is someone who is seen as a buffoon, dumb and simpleminded, explains Iskandar.

One of the most popular Guha anecdotes has him riding the donkey the wrong way.

The donkey is facing in one direction and he is facing the other, says Iskander. It is implied that the stupidity and simplemindedness is associated with the donkey.

Even when the word donkey is used in a positive light, it often has negative connotations. For example, in Egypt it is common to liken hardworking people to donkeys, as in he works like a donkey.

It means that if you want to exploit someone, you will work him hard and pay him little  just like a donkey, says Iskandar.

But the situation is different with Egyptian farmers.

There is an actual connection with Egyptian farmers and their donkey is a real connection, it is a very warm one, explains Iskandar. Its very much a rural-urban divide.

A servant to all

Indeed, in the small village of Tokh, the relationship between donkeys and farmers is a very strong one. Whereas city dwellers have a business relationship with a donkey, farmers have a more emotional attachment to the animal.

When I was born, there was a donkey in our house. I used to play with him, says farmer Mohamed Rageh.

Rageh, who plants wheat on his land, like many other farmers, uses his three donkeys to navigate through the fields and transport his produce. For most farmers, a cow, which costs around LE10,000-15,000 is the most precious animal. Donkeys in Egypt usually cost anything from LE200 to LE1,500.

Any farmer who owns a cow, will have to have a donkey, says Rageh. We use them to clean under the cows and other things. Yes, donkeys serve both humans and animals.

For the older villagers, the donkey is also used for transportation.

I use him to go to weddings and funerals and to travel to other towns, says 73-year-old Mohamed Aty. But the younger generation prefer to whiz around on tuktuks and motorcycles.

Nonetheless, there is no chance that donkeys will be outdated.

Tuktuks will never be able to walk through the narrow pathways in a field, he says. Farmers will never be able to give up donkeys.

Many farmers, though, feel resentment at how Egyptian urbanites perceive them.

A lot of the so-called effendis (a reference used for the urban, merchant class) are embarrassed from the farmers, says Ibrahim Khail, who himself works on the land. They think they're superior to us and thats why they make fun of the donkey.

The donkey symphony

The fact that Egypts farmers get more sidelined everyday by city dwellers inspired one Cairo-based artist to create the Donkey Symphony, a slow mournful piece of music in which donkey brays were mixed with classical instruments.

The sound of a donkey braying has always broken the silence of the Egyptian countryside, says Lara Baladi, originally Lebanese. And now it breaks through the noise of the Red City in an agonising cry.

The Red City, is name given by architects to the ashwiyat, or slums, that make up 40 percent of the capital. These ashwiyat have expanded in the past few decades, eating more and more of the countryside, based on false hope for a better life. The donkey, says Baladi, has made the transition along with the Fallahin (peasants) from the countryside to the ashwiyat.

In the song, the donkey brays are a cry for help, says Baladi.

Baladi is not the only artist to be inspired by donkeys. Painter Miriam Hathout sees so much beauty in these abused beasts that she opened a gallery made up only of donkey paintings.

I had about 50 paintings of different donkeys, says Hathout. A lot of people laughed at me. They asked me, why donkeys? I dont like that question. I just think they are beautiful. I love their outline. And their paintings sell.

The end of the journey

Many animal activists express concern on how donkeys meet their end. Fayez explains that it would cost LE150 to put down a 150 kilogramme donkey. As a result, donkeys are often passed from one owner to another until they die.

Abaza points out that in other cases donkeys are simply abandoned.

When the donkey gets sick and old, they just leave him in the desert so he can die alone, she says.

In some cases, they face an even worse fate.

Do you know that old donkeys, after helping and serving people, are sold to the zoo to be fed to the lions and tigers? asks Abaza. They put them in a long queue and make them wait to be slaughtered. They kill them one in front of the other, using small knives, and it takes them a long time to die. This is the thanks we give them for serving us. They live in humiliation, starvation and abuse, and this is the end for them.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


As Sally Yassin raced across early morning Cairo with four bedraggled dogs yapping in her car, she realised the toll animal rescue activities were taking on her life.

It was 6:30am when school teacher Yassin woke up and found a Facebook alert about a poisoned dog. She quickly got dressed, left her home in Tagammu and set off to track it down.

Finding the stray lying on a street, she drove him to a nearby veterinary hospital. They refused to admit him because he was a street dog, instead hooking him up to an intravenous drip while he lay in Yassins car.

Crossing the street to the pharmacy to fetch medicine requested by the hospital staff, she passed two boys dragging a puppy by a rope. They told her they planned to sell him to a veterinary school and so she offered to buy the dog herself. Deal done, she walked back to her car with her new charge, only to come across a couple of boys beating two other puppies. She grabbed her dog leash and wielded it like a weapon to scare the youngsters off, then carried yet more animals to her car.

I ended up doing three rescues at the same time, Yassin recalls. I went out to rescue one dog, and found myself going home with four.

Yassin, a lifelong animal lover, began rescuing animals off the streets 18 months ago. Her first case, Fathi, was a paralysed dog left abandoned in the attic of an apartment building covered in his own filth. She took Fathi to three vets and was repeatedly advised to put him down.

Three months later he made a full recovery and his pack came and called him and he went with them, remembers Yassin. It was my first and biggest case.

Life isnt easy for Egypts animal rescuers. The streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities are overflowing with stray animals, many  if not all of them  abused.

Ive reached a point where I cant go out in the street without returning home with a rescue, says Laila Hamdy Fayek, whos been involved in animal rescue since 2013.

Egypt has animal shelters, but theyre often overloaded with cases and lack both the space and money to take more in. This leaves independent rescuers like Yassin and Fayek to fill the gap.





Baladi breed

Many of the cats and dogs on Egypts streets are called "baladi"  a word for a native Egyptian breed. Looked down on by many Egyptians, who consider them dirty, useless and diseased, many of them are badly mistreated while on the street.

When I became involved in animal rescue, I started realising that not only do people not want baladi dogs in their homes, but they also abuse them, says Fayek. You dont have to feed them or give them water or take them in your home. All you have to do is just leave them alone.

But rarely are these animals left alone. The stories of abuse make even hardened rescuers like Fayek balk. Every time I think this is the worst case of abuse Ive seen, we find a case thats even more tragic, she says.

Some of the strays get hit by cars while living on the street, or are beaten with sticks by locals. Sometimes people tie ropes around their necks and drag them through the street. There have been cases of dogs being sprayed with pepper spray. Lately, says Fayek, people have begun throwing acid at stray dogs and cats. Some are badly dehydrated or have serious skin diseases. Others are poisoned by locals who want rid of them.

Each rescuer has countless heartbreaking stories of dogs theyve rescued. Take Dodge, a baladi dog, who was thrown from the fifth floor of an apartment building, sustaining multiple injuries. Or maybe Anubus, a 10-year-old baladi who had his snout cut off by someone on the street. Then theres Batout, another baladi, who was tied up to a tree and beaten until his leg broke.

Many of the Egyptian dogs end up being called Cleopatra or Cleo, after the famed 1st century BC pharaoh. But the most famous Cleopatra of all is Mama Cleo. Because even in a country rife with animal abuse, the case of Mama Cleo hit a nerve with many Egyptians as well as animal lovers overseas. An Egyptian baladi, Mama Cleo lived in Alexandria and had a litter of puppies. One of the residents in the area where she lived beat her puppies to death. A photo of Mama Cleo sitting forlorn next to her dead puppies went viral online.



Foreign breeds

But baladi dogs and cats arent the only ones suffering. Foreign breeds of dogs, like German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers, are sometimes found on the streets after their owners abandon them.

Many people buy animals for the wrong reasons, says Fayek. They want to show off or they want to get a foreign breed for their children. Or they like puppies but dont want them anymore when they mature or get sick, or they complain that the dog barks or pees.

Fayeks first rescue was of an Egyptian baladi dog whose 38-year-old owner died suddenly of a heart attack. The owners family wanted to get rid of the dog and put him back on the street.

I took him in and he ended up staying with me for five months, says Fayek.

Because Egyptian independent rescuers work informally, they often rely on the Internet and social networking sites like Facebook to do their work. Once a stray animal is found, an activist will post a photo along with the details of its plight and its location.

The first step is to get the dog off the street, explains Fayek. The second step is to try and figure out where to put the dog once hes rescued.

This is a tricky part for most Egyptian rescuers, because most shelters are already packed. So, instead they look for families willing to adopt the animals and give them a permanent home.

But most of the dogs we rescue are baladi dogs and Egyptians dont like to adopt baladi, says Fayek, whose pleas for Egyptians to adopt baladi dogs have fallen mostly on deaf ears. Its even more difficult if the dog is wounded or injured in some way, which is often the case with rescues.

So, rescuers begin looking for a home to temporarily foster the rescue, or a clinic where the animal can board until they find a home. But this carries a financial burden.

Once we find a place for the case to board we have to start gathering money to cover the expenses, and medical treatment, says Fayek. When I started, I used to spend from my own pocket. But the prices are crazy. One dog can cost you EGP 100 for boarding only, not including treatment.

Yassin, with the financial help of friends, opened a dog kennel with more than 40 berths, where she often puts her rescues and arranges for their medical treatment until they find an adoption or, as the rescuers call it, a forever home.





Overseas homes

Unwanted in Egypt, often the only solution is to find homes for their cases overseas, particularly Canada or the US. From December 2013 till April 2016, Fayek has sent 165 rescues to homes abroad.

Before sending the animals abroad, rescuers have to first find a foreign rescue group that will shadow the adoption. Then money has to be raised to buy flight tickets for the animals and a crate for it to be held during the journey. The animals then have to be prepped: there are import requirements, airline regulations and quarantine timelines that have to be adhered to. The animals must also be micro-chipped and fully vaccinated before being accepted abroad.

European regulations require that a blood sample is taken from the animal, after they are given a rabies shot, sent overseas for analysis. The animal is then allowed into Europe no less then three months after the blood was drawn.

Thats a very long time to have a case and you get a lot of pressure from the people who agreed to temporarily foster the animal in Egypt, says Fayek.

Thats why many Egyptian rescuers prefer to send their cases to the US or Canada where the procedures are more lenient and animals can enter only one month after they get the rabies shot.

Animals are not allowed to board a plane without an individual accompanying them. Because rescuers cannot hop on the plane every time they are sending a case overseas, they have to find a flight parent  an individual traveling from Egypt to the destination country. Rescuers then meet the flight parents at the airport, where they will take the animals with them, usually as excess luggage and not cargo. The price of the tickets depends on the destination. Egyptian rescuers have to raise approximately $150 for Europe and a minimum of $350 for Canada. But the prices change depending on the weight of the dog and the crate.

Some people think, why spend this money on a dog or why not treat the dog here? says Fayek. But if you pay this money, you know you sent a soul to live happily for the rest of their life. But if you keep him in Egypt in a shelter, he will take a place of another animal, or in the street he will be hit by a car, and you will end up spending much more money for treatment.

Once the case arrives at the destination, they are picked up by volunteers from the rescue group and will head to foster homes temporarily until they are adopted.



Night shifts



For this process to go smoothly, it requires a massive amount of networking by rescuers. Fayek says that she now sleeps during the day because she has to pull all-nighters in order to be able to network with rescue groups in the US and Canada.

The first case she sent overseas was Polo, a Golden Retriever, who was living with a family in Egypt until he was beaten with a garden rake, causing paralysis in the rear end. The family decided to put him in a shelter.

I was startled, says Fayek. This was the first time I hear of someone having a dog at home and putting them in a shelter. I felt bad for him.

She began sending countless e-mails to foreign rescue groups that deal with special needs dogs.

Some responded, some didnt. Finally, she found Golden Retriever Rescue, Education, and Training (GRREAT), a US-based NGO that finds homes for stray or unwanted dogs of that breed.

In all honesty, we thought it was a scam looking for money, so we ignored the plea, says Scott Daniels, a board member of GRREAT. [But] Laila was persistent and contacted us again the following month.

GRREAT decided to take on Polo and Daniels and his wife Kelly, who live in Delaware, USA, made the four-hour trip to meet Polo when he arrived at JFK Airport in New York.

We have [since] assisted and taken in six Goldens from Laila to date, and most with some health issue, says Daniels.

The Daniels also ended up giving a home to the famous Mama Cleo after they heard about her story.

She is now in our home with us and means the world to me, says Daniels. I know Laila is so at peace knowing her angel is with us and safe for the rest of her life.



Rife abuse



But peace is something Egyptian animal rescuers rarely get. Although happy endings keep them going, Egypts streets are still rife with abused and battered animals. Fayek, says that on any given day she has 10 open cases.

The situation is no different for other rescuers. In the past month, Yassin has 43 dog rescues boarding across clinics in Cairo. It consumes her life, she says. The night before she was at the vets clinic until 4am with one of her rescues. In fact, she spends most her days taking care of her dogs. She visits her small kennel early in the morning every day where she administers medicine to her sick or injured dogs, takes the dogs out for walks and takes photos of her rescues so she can post them online in order to find them adopters. After her work in the kennel is done, at five or six in the evening, she will make a round visiting the rescues she has placed in foster homes to ensure they are well.

These are the normal days. But they are very rare, laughs Yassin. Most of the time there are critical cases, so you find yourself running with your cases between the kennel and the clinic. I have learned to hook my rescues with an IV. Ive learned to give injections. Ive learned to be able tell the difference between the various skin diseases the dogs have.

Yassin, who lives in a studio above her parents home, also keeps many of the strays she has there. Five dogs and five cats live with her at the moment.

I also have a blind dog and a cat hidden in the attic, she laughs.

Although her family have gradually become supportive of her work, she finds that she sometimes has to hide cases so as not to make them angry.

The blind cat will be going to Ireland soon, says Yassin.

Yassin also does ground rescue, which could take hours because the animals are so abused they have become terrified of all humans.

One rescue took six hours, just so the dog is relaxed enough for me to approach him, she remembers. Unless the dog feels comfortable with us, then there is no rescue.

Another time, it took her two hours to rescue a dog and her puppies, but she found herself stuck with them in her car for eight hours because she couldnt find a place to temporarily put them until she found an adoption.

Time and money are not the only obstacles faced by rescuers in Egypt. Singer Dima Nagy, who has been a rescuer for 18 months, says that she found herself in several tough situations while trying to rescue an animal.

When you are a known rescuer, your number is with pretty much everyone, says Nagy. Sometimes there are fake cases. Sometimes people claim they want to adopt one of my rescues and I find out that they only want to meet girls, so are just pretending.

A few weeks ago, Nagy went out at 4am to rescue a poisoned dog. After she found the case, she went to the pharmacy to buy some syringes to give the dog a quick anti-poison injection.

When I returned, I found police standing next to my car, says Nagy. I had a bag full of syringes. It was very easy for them to think that I am the one who is taking these drugs.

After taking the dog she rescued to the clinic for treatment, she had to go the police station to be questioned.





Local mockery

Often while doing ground rescue, Nagy has to face mockery from locals in the street. Once, while trying to catch a dog who was maimed with acid, Nagy and her colleagues were heckled by over 200 locals watching from a nearby cafe.

But life isnt all doom and gloom for the rescuers. Once the animal is rescued and goes to their forever home, it pushes them to continue. Lucky, an Egyptian baladi saved by rescuer Marwa El-Gebaly, found a home with theatre professor Domenick Scudera in Pennsylvania in the US. El-Gebaly, who has been rescuing stray animals for six years, says he was one of the worst cases shes seen. He was hit by a car, paralysed, covered in mange, an inflammatory disease common in dogs, and caked in dirt and filth.

With the help of Fayek, El-Gebaly found him a home in the US through an American NGO, Special Needs Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation (SNAAR). His back legs had to be amputated because they were so badly mangled and he now has a wheeled cart to help him walk.

Lucky is very unique. He can walk, unaided and without a cart, by balancing on his remaining legs, says Scudera. He is one of the most amazing dogs in the world. I was attracted to him because he is such an inspiration of endurance and positivity.

Scudera hopes that one day Lucky will be a certified therapy dog to help people with medical problems.

Another rescue, Ms Cleopatra, was adopted by Kimberley Bailey in Ontario, Canada. Ms Cleopatra was rescued by Fayek when she was a five-month-old puppy. She was being strangled when Fayek took her and rehomed her with Bailey.

They are magnificent survivors, says Bailey about Egyptian baladI dogs. To watch Cleo walk, sit, just be, she has an incredible noble look that she would have deserved so many years ago, and now has that pride again.

Cleo is loved now. She and two other dogs led the wedding procession of Baileys daughter when she got married.

Seeing their rescues safe in loving homes after years of abuse on the street is heartwarming to the Egyptian rescuers. Sometimes the rescuers turn their homes into temporary shelters for their rescues before they travel and they end up getting attached to them. So, the moment they say goodbye is both sweet and sour.

I go to the airport every time, says Fayek. Its hard but you also know the kind of life they will end up having, so you are happy.

But as heartwarming as these stories are, there are still countless strays on Egypts streets in need of help.

I get so depressed, says Yassin. My heart is broken. I feel that no matter what I do, I am not fixing the problem. I am just putting a plaster on a very big wound.

Fayek agrees.

At first I used to be very happy when I see a happy ending, she says. What we go through is painful mentally. But now I am not happy for long. I close a case only to find another case waiting for help.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Protests opposing the governments decision to acknowledge Saudi Arabian sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir ended on Friday without casualties, with protesters vowing to stage another protest on 25 April.

Small protests took place in different parts of the country after Friday prayers but were dispersed quickly by security forces. The largest demonstration was at Egypts press syndicate in central Cairo, which witnessed several thousand protesters according to Ahram Online reporters, making the protest the biggest such gathering in recent months.

The protesters gathered at the press syndicate chanted against the decision but also used slogans familiar from the January 2011 revolution, such as "bread, freedom and social justice" and "the people want the regime to fall." One chant was "bread, freedom and those islands are Egyptians'."

Police stationed themselves near the syndicate, closing all the streets leading to the syndicate except one. Shops in the area had been told to close by the local municipality.

Khaled El-Balshy, the head of Freedoms Committee at the syndicate, told Ahram Online that the main demand of the protest was to cancel the governments agreement with Saudi Arabia to redraw the maritime borders.

"We have not forgotten that the regime cracks down freedoms in Egypt, but our main demand today is the cancellation of that agreement between the Egyptian government and Saudi Arabia," he said.

The demand of El-Balshy was echoed throughout the protest, with many demonstrators expressing similar sentiments while speaking to Ahram Online.

Egyptian political activists leading the protest at the syndicate announced that they would organise another one on Monday 25 April, which marks Sinai Liberation Day, to demand the cancelation of the Saudi agreement.

The April 6 Youth Movement, which participated in Friday's protest, also announced that there would be another protest on 25 April.

Despite the Muslim Brotherhood's announcement that they would participate in the protest, their presence was not discernable, with no pro-Brotherhood or pro-Islamist slogans visible or chants heard.

Protesters at the press syndicate decided to end the day and were granted a safe exit by security forces.

After the majority left, there were limited skirmishes between the police and some protesters and the former fired teargas and arrested some of them, according to eye witnesses.

Small protests

Earlier on Friday the police used teargas to disperse a number of small protests in other parts of the capital. But unlike previous demonstrations that ended with deadly clashes, no one was reported injured or dead.

An anonymously created Facebook page titled "The Land is the Honour" had called on Egyptians who reject the decision to join street protests in a number of cities on Friday.

Following Friday noon prayers, dozens of protesters gathered at Istiqama Mosque in Giza and at Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandeseen, apparently in response to the call on Facebook.

Police stationed near the two mosques quickly dispersed the protesters and arrested a few of them, a security source told Al-Ahram Arabic website.

The countrys interior ministry is yet to announce the numbers of those arrested.

In Egypts coastal city of Alexandria, police have also dispersed a number of protesters. A security source told Al-Ahram Arabic website that at least 25 people have been arrested for "protesting without a permit" but no official figures have been announced yet.

Protesting without a police permit has been illegal since 2013, and violators of the law are frequently jailed.

One demonstration which was not dispersed was a gathering in front of Alexandrias Qaed Ibrahim Mosque, where dozens of people chanted slogans in support of the government's decision to hand over the islands to Saudi Arabia.

In the Nile Delta governorates of Sharqiya and Mansoura, small protests were dispersed by security forces, according to Al-Ahram Arabic wesbite.

Security forces in Daqahliya governorate told Al-Ahram Arabic that 11 protesters were arrested in El-Thawra Square, the main square in the city of Mansoura, following noon prayers.

Last week Egypt stated that the two islands in the Gulf of Aqaba belong to Saudi Arabia and had only been placed under Egypt's control temporarily.

The government has released a slew of documents that it says support the Saudi claim, but the decision has still been strongly criticised on social media and by some public figures, who argue that Tiran and Sanafir are part of Egypt and use alternative documents and sources in support of their position.

For several hours, the hashtag Land_Friday was not only leading the Egyptian trending hashtags on Twitter, but leading worldwide hashtags, with more than 100,000 tweets.

On Thursday afternoon, Egypt's Ministry of Interior called on citizens not to be "duped" into following the calls made by the Muslim Brotherhood, which had also called for protests, warning against any attempts to upset the "legitimate order."

The ministry said it would take the necessary and decisive measures to ensure security and stability.

According to security sources that spoke to Al-Ahram Arabic website, one hundred protesters were arrested in nine different governorates in Egypt on Friday.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


When several thousands of protesters erupted into deafening chants in Downtown Cairo Friday, they made all the right noises before the watching eyes of Egypts security forces in a scene seldom seen for long.

The demonstration, which was originally planned as a nationwide spectacle before an expected confrontation with police forces saw marchers divert their paths to the press syndicate, was a display of rare defiance for weary non-Islamist protesters who have been largely idle since Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi came to power in mid-2014.

They were primarily protesting against a decision by the government to hand over two Red Sea islands to neighbour and ally Saudi Arabia after the two countries signed maritime demarcation accords during a visit to Cairo by King Salman last week.

Sisi, backing an earlier statement by the cabinet, said Wednesday that the islands belong to Saudi Arabia. The accord must be ratified by parliament before taking effect.

Protesters argue that the two islands, named Tiran and Sanafir, fall under Egypts sovereignty and that any decision over their fate must be put up for public debate and a referendum.

While demands that Egypt backpedal over the accord constituted the biggest chunk of their incessant chants, protesters sounded optimistic for other reasons.



Our message today is that we are still alive. No matter what happened over the past two years, we are still able to regroup and challenge injustice, said Mohamed Masoud, a 23-year-old protester who joined others at the press syndicate.

Whether or not their demonstration could yield tangible results remains unclear, but they took solace from the fact that they were finally able to challenge, en masse, a much-criticised protest law.

There have been some protests over the past few months over incidents of police abuse, including against doctors, but Fridays protest was different in the sense that it brought together disgruntled youth for a matter of national pride, protesters argue.

We are back to the scene and they (the state) should fully know that we are not going to simply let them do whatever they want," Masoud added.

A restrictive protest law, which was passed in late 2013, and a fierce crackdown on dissent saw authorities round up scores of Islamist and liberal activists, effectively putting an end to street demonstrations.

Fear barrier

Sisi, who admitted more than once that he has yet to reach out to angry youth, retains his popularity among many Egyptians but critics have grown more vocal in recent months, including some television presenters who are normally pro state.

A crumbling economy, an insurgency in North Sinai and incidents such as the killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni and the downing of a Russian passenger plane over Sinai increased pressure on Sisi as he approaches the second anniversary of his ascendancy to power.

He is unlikely to face an immediate threat, with some rival demonstrations that back him taking place in Egypts second biggest city Alexandria. But his adversaries believe they have at least managed to throw stones into a still pond.

The fear barrier has been demolished, the 6 April Youth Movement, which played a key role in the 18-day 2011 revolt which eventually saw autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak step down, said on its Facebook page.

Most protesters left the vicinity of the press syndicate after dusk fell and the remaining hundreds were dispersed with tear gas. Tens of demonstrators were detained nationwide, according to rights groups, but many were released in the early hours of Saturday.

That could be a sign authorities opted for a soft approach by their standards, but it remains to be seen whether this will be the case when protesters take to the streets again in a planned demonstration 25 April, which marks the day Israeli occupation forces completely withdrew from Sinai in 1982.

We will be back; its not over yet, yelled one protester as he left the scene.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Three of the wounded have mild injuries while five others are in critical condition

Eight died and eight others were injured when a train collided with a truck in the early hours of Saturday in Upper Egypts Aswan, a health ministry spokesman told MENA news agency.

The truck was loaded with people and was crossing the railway line when the incident took place.

The train derailed with the impact of the collision.

Three of the wounded have mild injuries while five others are in critical condition.

Egypt's railway system is operated manually, with employees responsible for managing the opening of crossings by communicating with drivers, a practice that has proved at times unsafe and unreliable.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Egyptian prosecutors questioned a number of protesters on Saturday who were arrested a day earlier while demonstrating against a government decision to hand over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

Several thousand people demonstrated in downtown Cairo on Friday in one of the biggest protests in recent months.

Dozens of protesters were arrested at the rally and at demonstrations in other governorates, security sources had said, after teargas was fired to disperse demonstrators. Many of them were later released.

Prosecutors in central Cairo opened an investigation on Saturday into the 26 protesters who were arrested at the main demonstration outside the Journalists Syndicate in downtown Cairo, a judicial source told Ahram Online.

They face charges of "protesting without a licence" and "possession of fireworks."

A controversial 2013 law bans all but police-sanctioned demonstrations; violators are often jailed.

The interior ministry has not provided the total number of those arrested during Friday's protests.

During a visit by Saudi's King Salman last week, the Egyptian government announced it was handing over the two islands in the Gulf of Aqaba to Saudi Arabia.

The announcement has sparked widespread public outcry, with critics accusing President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of "selling" the islands.

Egyptian and Saudi officials say the islands belong to the Gulf kingdom and were only under Egyptian control because Riyadh had asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The president stressed that the challenges facing the Middle East require increased coordination and cooperation between Egypt and the United States

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with the commander of the United States' Central Command, General Joseph Votel, in Cairo on Friday, and discussed the strategic relationship between the two countries as well as regional affairs.

El-Sisi stressed the strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States, adding that it is Egypt's wish to increase cooperation between the two countries, according to Al-Ahram Arabic website.

The president stressed that the challenges and disturbances facing the Middle East at the current moment require increased coordination and cooperation between Egypt and the United States.

For his part, Votel acknowledged Egypt's pivotal role in the region as a pillar of peace and stability, Al-Ahram reported.

The American general also praised Egypts efforts towards democratic change and economic development.

Also attending the meeting were Egypt's Defence Minister Sedky Sobhi and the American Ambassador to Cairo Stephen Beecroft.

The United States gives $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt every year and $150 million in economic assistance.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Cairo prosecutors have ordered the release without charge of 25 people who were arrested on Friday while demonstrating against a government decision to hand over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

The detainees faced charges including "protesting without a licence" -- an offence pubishable by jail under a controversial law that bans all but police-sanctioned demonstrations.

They were allowed to walk free on Saturday evening following investigations, a judicial source said. A security source earlier said 26 people had been arrested at the Cairo rally on Friday, one of whom was released before appearing before the prosecution.

Several thousand people demonstrated in downtown Cairo on Friday in one of the biggest protests in recent years, which was dispersed after several hours by police who fired teargas.

There were also protests on Friday in other Egyptian cities, including Alexandria, as well as several arrests. Many of those arrested have subsequently been released.

During a visit by Saudi's King Salman last week, the Egyptian government announced it was handing over the two islands in the Gulf of Aqaba to Saudi Arabia.

The announcement has sparked widespread public outcry, with critics accusing President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of "selling" the islands.

Egyptian and Saudi officials say the islands belong to the Gulf kingdom and were only under Egyptian control because Riyadh had asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A concerted United Nations effort aimed at ending nearly 13 months of war in Yemen sees peace talks resuming on Monday, but with a ceasefire barely holding.

Previous attempts have failed to stop the fighting which has killed thousands of people, forced almost 2.8 million from their homes and raised regional tensions.

A ceasefire that came into effect on Sunday at midnight to pave the way for the talks in Kuwait has been violated numerous times.

But the Iran-backed rebel Houthis, the government, and the United Nations, which sponsored the ceasefire, have avoided talk of it collapsing, as happened with three earlier truces.

The ceasefire does not apply to jihadist groups, which have exploited the chaos to strengthen their hold in the south.

The coalition led by Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia early this week described ceasefire violations as "minor". The coalition began air strikes in March last year to support Yemen's government.

Briefing the Security Council Friday ahead of the talks, UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who has conducted months of shuttle diplomacy, said Yemen has "never been so close to peace".

The government and the rebels and their allies last sat down to talk in Geneva in December, but six days of negotiations ended with no major breakthrough.

"We can expect a hard time" at the Kuwait talks, said April Longley Alley, a Yemen specialist at the International Crisis Group.

"In a best case scenario, the two sides will agree to a package of compromises that will build trust, strengthen the ceasefire, allow for an inclusive government to return to Sanaa and restart the political process," she told AFP.

"But this is a tall order."

In contrast with previous ceasefires, joint committees of rebel and loyalist troops were formed to monitor compliance.

However they have not really begun their work.

On Thursday, military sources reported at least 35 pro-government fighters killed in clashes with rebels over three days near the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The coalition -- which is not a party to the Kuwait talks -- intervened after the Zaidi Shiite Houthis overran Sanaa in September 2014 and later advanced to other regions.

Chaos and misery have ruled the Arabian Peninsula country since.

Rights groups criticised the civilian toll from coalition bombings, but also accused the Houthis of abuses.

Alley says the government and rebels remain far apart on matters of substance.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government insists on the rigid application of UN Security Council Resolution 2216 calling for the political process to resume and for rebels to withdraw from Yemen's cities while surrendering their weapons.

The Huthis are allied with elite troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Alley says rigid implementation of Resolution 2216 would amount to "a Houthi/Saleh surrender and is unrealistic".

It is also unclear if the Houthis would be willing to disband their "revolutionary councils" and allow a more inclusive government to return to Sanaa, she said.

Probably most important is for the two sides to agree on interim security arrangements essential for strengthening the ceasefire, Alley said.

This would also help prepare for other progress such as the return of the government and Huthi disarmament.

Yemen was already the Arab world's poorest country before the conflict escalated but now the humanitarian situation is "staggering", says the UN.

More than 6,300 people have been killed in Yemen since March last year -- around half of them civilians -- and 82 percent of the population need aid.

"We would of course hope and expect all the parties involved to respect the cessation of hostilities," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.

"We have seen that is not, unfortunately, the case but we do think it is largely holding. We are continuing and on track with the peace talks."

The United States, which provides precision-guided weapons and intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition, says the situation in Yemen "is far better than it was a year ago", according to Rob Malley, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama.

Alley believes both the Huthis and the Saudis appear to want a way out of the war.

But with neither side having been defeated militarily, she wonders "whether a compromise can be reached that addresses the core concerns of each".

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Twelve Syrian refugees were accompanying Pope Francis on his return flight to Rome after his visit to Lesbos on Saturday and will be housed in the Vatican, the Holy See said.

"The pope has desired to make a gesture of welcome regarding refugees, accompanying on his plane to Rome three families of refugees from Syria, 12 people in all, including six children," a Vatican statement said.

The families, all Muslims, had been in Lesbos before the March 20 EU-Turkey deal for returning migrants denied asylum, it said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The attempt by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the new chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran, at the summit this week did not succeed.

We tried to get them together; the Iranians were open or I should say maybe more open than the Saudis; the Saudis put too many conditions; it did not work, said a Turkish diplomat who asked to remain anonymous.

Erdogan was working to get King Salman of Saudi Arabia and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, who were both in Istanbul throughout Thursday for the OIC summit, to a meeting that could have eased regional tensions.

The Turkish attempt was supported by US diplomacy, according to the same Turkish diplomat.

He said that what the Saudis wanted ahead of any summit meeting was a promise of change in Iran's support for the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.

Riyadh is determined to overthrow Al-Assad, and also wants Iran to stop supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria.

But the three-way meeting was not held. Instead, diplomats from some OIC member states told Ahram Online, the Saudis executed a stronger-than-ever-before influence on the Islamic grouping, forcing the passing of a resolution that warns Iran against intervening in the internal affairs of other member states and that negatively brands Hezbollah.

The Conference rejects Iran's inflammatory statements on the execution of judicial decisions against the perpetrators of terrorist crimes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, considering those statements to be blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a contravention of the United Nations Charter, the OIC Charter and of all international covenants," the OIC statement read.

"The Conference deplores Iran's interference in the internal affairs of the States of the region and other Member States including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia, and its continued support for terrorism," it added.

The statement also condemned the attacks on Saudi missions in Iran in January.

Ultimately, the OIC summit emphasised "cooperative relations between member countries and Iran" that would be based on "the principle of good-neighbourliness, non-interference in their domestic affairs, respect for their independence and territorial sovereignty."

Both Salman and Rouhani were not present at the final session of the summit on Friday afternoon.

The resolutions adopted in the closing session of the OIC's highest meeting came as no surprise to the Iranians, given that the preparatory meetings that were held in Istanbul a few days ahead of the summit at the ministerial level had taken place without their attendance.

Iran had already slammed Saudi Arabias "destructive" move to include statements against the Islamic Republic and Lebanons Hezbollah resistance movement in the draft declaration of summit.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had said on Wednesday, the eve of the opening of the summit, that Riyadhs efforts to see four anti-Iranian paragraphs included in the summit's draft declaration and another against Hezbollah were against the spirit of Islamic solidarity. which can only serve the interests of the Israeli regime, IRNA agency reported.

Diplomats attending the summit told Ahram Online that at the closing session Iranian diplomats were promising that the organisation would regret taking the side of Saudi Arabia against Iran.

I am not sure that this is the end of our efforts to bring the two sides together; you know with diplomacy there are always several attempts during which you are bound to hear some strong, angry statements from all sides, the Turkish diplomat who spoke to Ahram Online over the phone said.

He accepted however that for now it could well be argued that Saudi Arabia has successfully sent Iran a strong message that it is expanding its regional influence.

The OIC summit came a few weeks after Saudi Arabia had hosted and chaired one of the largest military manoeuvres in the region, the Thunder of the North, with 20 Muslim states, not including Turkey, which is a NATO member.

"True, but it is also coming at a time where the Saudis are hosting some of the leading figures from the Houthis of Yemen to find a compromise, the Turkish diplomat said.

Saudi Arabia started a war against the growing political strength of the Houthis  said by Riyadh to be supported by Tehran  in Yemen over a year ago. Recently, it has been trying to reach a deal between its traditional supporters in Yemen, the immediate strategic backyard of the oil rich kingdom, and some of the Houthi leaders, to end a war that is said by European sources to be going nowhere.

Arab diplomats present at the summit say that it is clear that Saudi diplomacy is moving ahead with establishing Riyadh as the uncontested leader of the region: I mean this is clear from its relations with Egypt and it is clear from its gains in the Turkey-hosted OIC summit, said a diplomat from North Africa.

This diplomatic ammunition, Arab diplomats suggest, would be used by Riyadh when it receives US President Barack Obama on Wednesday for a meeting with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The US has been putting pressure on its long-time Gulf ally recently to open up to Iran. Obama has openly criticised the failure of the Saudis to live up to the demands of regional stability, and he said recently that the assailants in the 9/11 attacks were mostly Saudi, not Iranian.

Iran and regional stability at large are to figure high in the Riyadh talks. Also on the agenda of the unusually tense meeting are the Saudi threats to sell off hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the September 11 attacks.



Search Keywords:

Short link:


US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday for a six-day Gulf tour aimed at galvanising support for Iraq as it battles the Islamic State group.

Washington is eager to see the Gulf Arab monarchies do more to help Baghdad at a crucial moment in its fight against the militants.

"The success of the campaign against ISIL in Iraq does depend upon political and economic progress as well," Carter said ahead of his visit, using another acronym for the jihadist group.

"It's important that we continue to support" Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in his efforts to build a "multisectarian" country, he said. "That's the challenge in Iraq."

Abadi is grappling with plummeting oil prices and a political crisis that led to scuffles in parliament this week, hindering his efforts to replace the cabinet.

Carter will hold talks with regional leaders including Saudi King Salman and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and join US President Barack Obama at a Gulf summit in Riyadh on Thursday.

He will also meet US officials overseeing the campaign against IS group.

Washington has urged its allies to increase support for the fight against the jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Although the militants maintain a firm grip on vast areas of the two countries, they have suffered some serious setbacks including the loss of Ramadi in Iraq.

Retaking Iraq's second city of Mosul is among the US-led coalition's top objectives but the battle is expected to be one of the most difficult yet.

Washington says it has nearly 3,900 troops in Iraq, mostly in training and support roles.

It is said to be preparing to announce a further increase of troops, after deploying a unit specialised in ground raids to capture or kill IS leaders at the start of the year.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A total of 116 migrants were plucked to safety from the Mediterranean on Saturday, three of whom had week-old bullet wounds, rescuers said.

Rescuers found 20 women and a child amongst the men and teenage boys on board, three of whom "presented with gun wounds dating from around a week ago," humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee said.

The migrants were picked up by the Aquarius, a former North Atlantic fisheries protection ship now used by SOS Mediterranee, following a distress signal alert from the Rome-based Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre.

Two of the injured were said to be teenagers aged 15 and 17.

The Aquarius ship, which has doctors and nurses on board, has picked up some 700 people in distress so far this month as migrants from Syria and elsewhere seek to reach Western Europe and start new lives.

Meanwhile 50 migrants attempted in vain to force their way across the Italian border with France in the early hours of Saturday, a local French official said.

"All the migrants who managed to get past the border crossing, as well as those who travelled along the rail line from Italy , were detained and not allowed into France," an official from France's Alpes-Maritimes region said.

Italy insisted Friday it is not facing an "invasion" after a spike in migrant boat crossings from Libya exacerbated fears the country was on the verge of becoming the main entry point for people trying to reach Europe.

Fears are running high in Italy that it could pay the price of EU moves to close routes through the Greek Islands and the Balkans.

The French regional official said there had been a slight rise in the numbers seeking to cross over from Italy to France in recent days.

Italy and France are both members of Europe's free-travel Schengen zone but Paris has re-established its border controls following a string of deadly militant attacks in Paris last November which left 130 people dead.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


French President Francois Hollande on Saturday pledged financial and military support for Lebanon and urged its paralysed political class to elect a president, at the start of a regional tour.

Deep political divisions have left Lebanon without a president since May 2014, and parliament has extended its own mandate twice since 2009.

Beginning a four-day Middle East tour, Hollande met Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

He announced 100 million euros ($113 million) in assistance in the next three years for Lebanon which is hosting more than one million Syrian refugees, as well as "immediate aid to strengthen Lebanon's military capacity".

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia suspended a grant to finance $3 billion worth of French weaponry for Lebanon's security forces.

The Lebanese army and police receive weapons and training from the United States, Britain and other Western countries.

On the political front, Hollande said it was time for Lebanese leaders to overcome their differences.

"This is a crucial moment, because you need to resolve this crisis and give Lebanon a president," Hollande said after meeting Berri in downtown Beirut.

"I believe in you and I know that you will succeed," he added.

Hollande told a news conference that he recognised "the particularly difficult circumstances" facing Lebanon, which is hosting more than one million refugees from the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

The large refugee community means that Lebanon -- whose own population is just over four million -- has the highest refugee-to-resident population in the world.

"In addition to... facing terrorist threats, Lebanon has hosted and continues to host a very high number of refugees," Hollande said.

Berri said it was necessary "to find a political solution to lift the burden" created by the refugee population on the country.

On Sunday, the French leader will travel to an informal Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley to speak to families who will be resettled in France.

France hosts more than 10,000 refugees.

It is Hollande's second visit to Lebanon since 2012. He will travel on to Egypt and Jordan after his two-day visit to Lebanon.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


European training for Libyan forces could more realistically be started outside the country in the initial stages as part of efforts to rebuild the North African state, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Saturday.

Steinmeier and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault visited Tripoli for talks with the new Libyan unity government in a show of support to end fighting among rival factions, and combat militants and migrant trafficking.

"I think it is realistic enough to say we have to start training measures from my point of view outside of Libya," Steinmeier told reporters, when asked about European training plans. He said training could be in Libya later.

Diplomats say there has yet to be detailed discussion with the new UN-brokered Libyan government in defining what kind of assistance it wants from the European Union.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday he would ask Gulf states next week to contribute to efforts to rebuild parts of Iraq devastated by the fight against Islamic State group.

Carter spoke at the start of a regional trip during which he will meet leaders of Saudi Arabia and other US allies in the Gulf to discuss the battle against the militant group and other defence issues, such as Iranian actions in the region.

President Barack Obama will also attend the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and will meet with King Salman in Saudi Arabia.

Islamic State group, also known as IS, has seized large portions of Iraq and Syria since 2014. Iraqi forces have won back some of the territory, such as the provincial capital of Ramadi, but often after long battles that have left the cities destroyed.

"For the defeat of IS to stick in Iraq and Syria, these badly broken places destroyed by IS, pillaged by IS, mistreated by IS, are going to need to be rebuilt," Carter said, adding that a global oil price slump was hampering Iraq's reconstruction efforts.

Iraq will need economic, political, and military help to recover, Carter said.

"Even as we're looking to make contributions in all three of those areas, so also can the Gulf partners, and we'll want to talk to them about that," he said.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other Sunni Gulf states are also major oil producers that have faced financial pressure because of low crude prices.

Carter added that Washington was looking for ways to intensify its push against Islamic State, which includes air strikes, US special forces and a strategy to target the group's extensive finances, which it earns from illicit oil sales, taxation in areas it controls and other methods.

"You should expect to see us doing more," Carter said, speaking at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts about 3,500 US troops as well as fighter and reconnaissance aircraft used against IS group.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford said in March that he expected to increase the level of US forces in Iraq from the current 3,800.

The extra troops would bolster the capabilities of Iraqi forces preparing for a major offensive against IS group in Mosul.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


One by one, Brazilian lawmakers rise on national television, faces red with indignation, voices shaking, to demand impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.

The problem with this righteous scene playing out in Brazil throughout this weekend? An astonishing number of those deputies are themselves accused of crimes.

In Brazil's often surreal politics, the oddest -- and most ignored -- aspect is that many of the politicians baying for Rousseff's head should be in as much trouble as she is, or worst.

Rousseff faces impeachment on charges that she illegally used creative accounting to mask government shortfalls during her 2014 reelection. She does not deny this and defends herself saying that previous governments used the same tricks, a mitigating factor that numerous legal experts consider legitimate.

Now consider Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress and architect of the impeachment process plunging Brazil into political war.

He has been charged with taking millions of dollars in bribes linked to a massive embezzlement cartel centered on state oil company Petrobras. The Bible-quoting wheeler and dealer allegedly hid the money in Switzerland.

Far from being damaged, Cunha denies the charges and continues to wield huge power, fending off a congressional ethics committee where he is accused of lying about the Swiss accounts. On Sunday, he will oversee the lower house vote on whether to send Rousseff's impeachment case to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Michel Temer -- the vice president who turned on Rousseff and would become interim president if the Senate opens a trial -- is alleged to have been involved in illegal ethanol dealings.

Temer and Cunha are the two most senior politicians in the country after the president.

The next in line, Senate president Renan Calheiros, also faces corruption allegations, including tax dodging and having a lobbyist pay maintenance to his former lover with whom he'd fathered a child.

Peek further down the power pyramid and the stench of corruption is overwhelming.

The NGO Transparencia Brasil says that 58.1 percent of the 513 deputies in the lower house headed by Cunha face or have faced criminal charges, which include corruption but also murder and rape.

In the run-up to Sunday's vote a lower house committee first had to analyze Rousseff's case, coming down heavily on the side of impeachment. Of those 65 deputies, 36 face criminal charges or have already been condemned, Transparencia Brasil reported.

And in the Senate, where Rousseff could end up making a final stand, the numbers are even more damning: no less than 60 percent of the 81 senators face or faced charges.

The unedifying spectacle of scandal-tainted politicians working to oust Rousseff recently left one Supreme Court judge gasping.

Describing seeing Cunha, Temer and others from the heavyweight PMDB party after announcing they would turn on their former ally Rousseff and seek her impeachment, Justice Luis Roberto Barroso said:

"My God in heaven! This our alternative government?"

One reason that politicians appear so invulnerable is that their cases are judged in the Supreme Court. Although broadly respected, the top court is notoriously slow, allowing the accused to spin cases out.

Another reason is the sheer breadth and depth of corruption, as revealed in the probe, dubbed Operation Car Wash, that burst open the Petrobras embezzlement scheme.

In a country with that much corruption -- Transparency International ranks Brazil 76th, just ahead of Burkina Faso and India -- the corrupt might be anywhere.

This week police arrested a senator, Gim Argello, on charges of taking at least $1.5 million in bribes from construction companies when he was a senior member of a committee fighting corruption. His job, allegedly, was to make sure that the giant construction firms didn't face tough questions.

Dozens of other high ranking politicians and executives have been snared in the Petrobras probe, including two former presidents.

One is Rousseff's close ally and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is accused of taking bribes from construction companies that were given sweetheart details effectively robbing Petrobras.

A second is Fernando Collor de Mello, who resigned in disgrace in 1992 and returned to politics as a senator. When police raided his house in July last year, they confiscated a Ferrari, a Porsche and Lamborghini.

One famous Brazilian name that has not come up yet on any rap sheet? Dilma Rousseff.

"Here we have a person who has no investigation, no complaint, no indictment in any court and we find among those who will judge her in Congress people who have been accused, are under investigation and have cases pending," said Luis Almagro, the head of the Organization of American States.

After meeting Rousseff in Brasilia, Almagro told reporters that the charges against her are political, "and that does not merit an impeachment process."

Brazil "has always been an example of democracy in the Hemisphere, and we all need for it to continue to be so," the Uruguayan diplomat said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The foreign ministers of France and Germany made an unannounced visit Saturday to Tripoli in a show of support for the new unity government striving to bridge Libya's deep political divisions.

World powers see the Government of National Accord (GNA) as a crucial partner in tackling jihadists behind a string of deadly attacks in Libya as well as human traffickers exploiting the country's turmoil.

France's Jean-Marc Ayrault and Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier flew into the capital amid tight security for talks with the UN-backed cabinet which has set up operations at a naval base in the city.

Steinmeier described the visit as a signal that the international community is united behind the GNA.

"The way to peace and stability is through the implementation of the peace agreement and the government of national unity," Steinmeier said in remarks released by his ministry.

It is the latest in a flurry of visits by European diplomats who had been absent since 2014 when EU member states closed their Tripoli embassies as fighting shook the North African nation.

Their return was prompted by the arrival of UN-backed prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj on March 30 by sea with a naval escort, after a rival Tripoli authority shut the airspace to try to keep him out.

"France was one of the first countries to back Sarraj, and the time has come to give a new impetus to that support," a French diplomat said.

The visit comes two days before a crucial vote by the country's recognised parliament on whether to endorse the GNA, and ahead of talks in Luxembourg next week on a possible EU mission to assist Libya's police and border guards.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni hailed the unity government as a "game changer" when he visited Tripoli on Tuesday.

The British, French and Spanish ambassadors flew in for talks two days later, saying they were working towards reopening their diplomatic missions there.

European nations are increasingly alarmed by the expansion of the Islamic State jihadist group in Libya, where it has established a new stronghold just 300 kilometres (185 miles) away from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The jihadists last year seized control of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and have used the city as a base to stage a string of suicide bombings and attacks on oil facilities.

IS claimed responsibility for a car bombing on Friday near the city of Benghazi that security sources said left two soldiers of the internationally recognised government dead and three wounded.

The jihadists claimed to have killed as many as 50 soldiers and destroyed 15 vehicles in the attack.

Oil-flush Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed Kadhafi.

The country has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance took over Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east.

A UN-backed power-sharing deal in December was backed by some lawmakers by both sides.

But Sarraj has not yet received the endorsement of the internationally recognised legislature, and the head of the rival Tripoli-based administration, Khalifa Ghweil, has refused to recognise his authority.

Mattia Toaldo, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the European visit was "timely", coming days ahead of the confidence vote in parliament and the meetings of EU foreign and defence ministers.

Sarraj is expected to participate in the Luxembourg talks, probably by videolink.

"So maybe the visit is not just symbolic -- they (Ayrault and Steinmeier) want to have a real discussion with Sarraj," Toaldo said.

The diplomatic push takes place against a backdrop of growing concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to set off from North Africa instead.

Nearly 6,000 mostly African migrants have landed at southern Italian ports since Tuesday, adding to concerns that the country is on the verge of becoming the main entry point for people trying to reach Europe.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Organised by the Bibliotheca Alexandrinas Arts Centre, the second edition of the Alexandria International Festival for Contemporary Theatre took place 5-10 April, offering an assortment of plays from Egyptian and international troupes.

Though the festivals programme enumerated 11 performances worth attending, one of them instantly grabbed my attention: The Bald Soprano, by my all times favourite, Eugene Ionesco. And when I realised that the troupe performing this anti-play was the Eugene Ionesco Theatre (Teatrul Eugene Ionesco) from Chisinau, capital of the Republic of Moldova, my preliminary light interest soon turned into a Must see state of mind.

Expectations were high. No wonder, the play came to Alexandria with the presumed specialists of Ionesco, a troupe that has in its repertoire many of his plays, alongside works by Samuel Beckett, Alfred Jarry, Matei Visniec, Brian McAvera, a performance based on poetry by Eugen Cioclea, among many other interesting offerings.

Moldovas Ionesco Theatre was launched back in 1991 with the opening play being precisely The Bald Soprano directed by Petru Vutcarau, an iconic performance in its own right whose success made it tour the world. The Bald Soprano, which came to Alexandria this month, however, was yet another take on the play, directed by Slava Sambris and premiered in 2015. Going back to the first performance staged by this theatre  and Ionescos first acclaimed work  the troupe celebrates its silver anniversary.

An iconic text that was born in the hands of a Romanian-French playwright while studying English language, The Bald Soprano (also known as The Bald Prima Donna) became one of the most important theatre works of all time and since its premiere in 1950. And it has remained as fresh as if it was written yesterday, with all its meanings perfectly resonating in all social, political  and above all, human  contexts. Conceptually, The Bald Soprano is adaptable to all realities, and seems to be revalidated each time it is performed.

While this anti-play is among the worlds best known dramatic works, and one might expect it to be performed frequently, the play poses several challenges to the director in the face of the expectations of today's audiences. On the one hand, with such an acclaimed text, the weight of theatre aficionados hoping to see something different and unpredicted can be taxing. On the other hand, to many theatre practitioners who choose the dynamism of image over text, Ionesco might not be the most appealing choice. Equally, Ionescos text is a challenge for actors who usually find power in words  the basic element of transferring information in theatre  and are now required to deal with the language destruction and its absurdity.

We soon realise that with its futile dialogues, Ionescos play only seems simple. In the play we meet two couples  Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr and Mrs Martin  who converse about everything and nothing: boiled potatoes, a doctor who must die with his patient to prove conscientious, the ringing of a door bell as a debatable indication that someone is behind the door, etc. The quartet, which does not escape many memory lapses (Mrs Martin forgets who her husband was), is occasionally interrupted by a maid and an odd fire chief.

In brief, The Bald Soprano breaks all rules of communication known to classical theatre and stresses the destruction of language as a tool of verbal communion between human beings. To make the equation even more fascinating, there is no rising action, no actual plot, and as such no resolution. It is in The Bald Soprano that the playwright reduces our existence to two basic values: life and death. And it is here that lies Ionescos greatness, and his philosophy that was yet to take its full and often shocking shape in his later works.

When thinking about the texts adaptability to current reality, virtual communication, the internet, the flood of voices in the media, all those representatives of broken human links, immediately come to mind. Hasnt this concept become even more legitimate, more powerful today than when the play first saw daylight? When reaching the Bibliotheca Alexandrinas small theatre, somehow, I thought about how this increased destruction of communication characterising the last two decades could have influenced the director, Slava Sambris.

However, it came as a big and pleasant surprise when, for over one hour, the troupe took us back in time to a typical family living in the suburbs of London in the 1950s. And though the scenography is minimal, from the first minute the spectator understands that Sambris chose to place Ionesco in his original setting. The spectator is introduced to the middle-class English interior, an English evening, Englishman and Englishwoman, English silence and an English clock striking 17 English strokes, exactly as Ionesco describes the setting in the script opening the text. The only physical reference to today's world is in music which, among many compositions, also includes some contemporary songs.

Sambris proceeds by walking us through the play itself, respecting all dialogue and the playwrights script. But not only does he remain faithful to the play and the script. He also, through this choice, goes deep into Ionescos core philosophy.

The actors hence move to further the destruction of an already broken communication through their intonation, or what we can refer to as the melody of language. Escaping monotonous narration in dialogue, the actors flirted with intonation that often completely contradicted the meanings pronounced. While doing so, they cut through the sheer molecules of words, reaching the most hidden layers of the spectators imagination.

And since words become the main protagonist of the play, Sambris built a play around them with the characters becoming part of the playwrights conceptual creation. In other words, Sambris' characters become engaging due to their distinctive personalities and not any ability of advancing the action.

Sambris contrasts a talkative and hyperactive Mrs Smith (Inna Colbasiuc) with her husband, an indifferent and restrained Mr Smith (Laurentiu Vutcarau). The couple is joined by the snobbish Mrs Martin (Ana Jereghe) and a painfully bland, subdued Mr Martin (Dumitru Mamei). Using their personalities, Sambris then builds the performance on a series of situational skits, each of which stresses the absurdity of the quartets behaviour. In all moments, the actors gave an outstanding performance, creating dozens of visually captivating images. Though each sculpted the core of each character, unveiling consecutive layers of each personality, it was the unique energy and focus on detail of Colbasiuc as Mrs Smith that left a strong impact on the viewer.

Mary, the maid, seems to be the most humane person in the whole play, one that still has emotions, dreams and hopes. Sambris capitalised on this refreshing detail and as if wanting to strengthen the effect, he duplicated the character by introducing two identical actresses to play one role (twin sisters, Corina Butnaru and Mirabela Butnaru). Apart of having two separate bodies, both Marys act the same, move, gesticulate and talk together. Not without her own quirky attitude, the doubled Mary remains distanced from the dynamics of Ionescos couples.

As if becoming a different, and more subtle, reincarnation of Berenger (the protagonist of another, more complex Ionesco play, Rhinoceros), Mary does not give in to the Smiths/Martins' broken humanity. Yet unlike Berenger, instead of attempting to rescue them from themselves, she doesnt even try to mingle with their failed existences.

Mary finds beauty in poetry and engages in a romantic relationship with the odd yet passionate fire chief (Anatoli Guzic). Their onstage affair culminates with the double Mary wearing wedding veils and dancing with her beloved. It is here that, without challenging the text, Sambris plays a subtle game with Ionesco. He revolts against the playwrights darkness, and infuses the performance with accents of humanity, creating an emotionally vivid contrast between the practically-dead quartet and the fire chief with his now beloved doubled Mary.

Moreover, Sambris does not ignore the spectator. Again without undermining Ionescos text, the characters interweaved a few words in Arabic into the play, rendering it more accessible for an Egyptian audience. Though their inserts provoked strong laughter, they only deepened the absurdity of the language. Since language is no longer a tool of communication, why not give it a Tower of Babel effect and fuse all linguistic codes together?

In his interview with May Selim from Al-Ahram Hebdo, Sambris revealed that he feared he would not be able to communicate with the Egyptian public. The play is built on an absurd dialogue between the characters. I chose to insert into it technique known to the theatre of the grotesque, so as to additionally emphasise the daily absurdity, he explained, adding how happy he was to find the Egyptian audience very receptive to the performance.

And indeed, though seemingly simple yet difficult in its structure, Ionescos play remains a challenge for the director, actors and the audiences alike. Performed in Romanian with English translation on the screen can only add to the confusion. It is by turning those very challenges into an engaging performance that testifies to the success of the play.

In todays theatre, where many directors respond to the spectator's thirst for dynamic visual content, gaining the hearts of the audience with The Bald Soprano is a double success. This is also when we realise how true art, professional expertise, experience and reading deeply into a text can bring the most captivating results.

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

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Anja Ahcin and Ahmed Yehia, are both first dancers of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. Partners in dance and life, they talk about their life on stage, passions and dreams

Between 14 and 19 April, the Cairo Opera Ballet Company stages Sergei Prokofievs ballet Romeo and Juliet. For over four centuries this famed Shakespearean tragedy has inspired composers, painters and writers, resonating in the hearts of audiences of many cultural backgrounds.

Equally in Egypt, the Bards classic pair  joined by love, separated by family name (the Capulets and the Montagues)  holds a special place in the audiences hearts, and the ballet is one of its main representations. However, above Prokofievs music and emotional choreography, Cairo Opera frequenters are also lured by the dancers in whom they find the perfect embodiment of the tragedys characters.

It is in this context that, for years now, two of the companys first dancers, Anja Ahcin and Ahmed Yehia, have made their mark on Egyptian and now international stages. And though Romeo and Juliet remains one of their most remarkable works, they also danced together leading roles in numerous ballets: Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Cinderella, Coppelia, among others.

Romeo and Juliet is very special to me as a dancer, Ahcin explains, pointing out that it was her first main role on the stage of the Cairo Opera House, back in 2006. Her partner in dance and life, Ahmed Yehia, sees a deep artistic wealth in Romeo and Juliet. I love when a work has rich drama, when it requires more than just the technical skills of ballet, he comments, adding that he finds a similarly rewarding depth in Swan Lake, Le Corsaire and Spartacus.

Both take the time to explain how their work on stage is complemented with research into the text. With each re-staging and each re-reading, they find new values in the work presented  and it is this profound dedication to their art that makes Romeo and Juliet among their most remarkable works, one in which they fuse skill and ballet beauty, with a highly emotional performance.

No wonder they performed a segment of Romeo and Juliet last March during the closing gala of the International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition Domenico Modugno in Bari, Italy  to the audiences and critics acclaim.

That was but one of the several international commitments. They are to perform Coppelia at the International Dance Gala in Livorno, Italy in May. Such growing popularity brings them a lot of joy, but they agree it also entails a heavy responsibility.

At first I was very hesitant. I kept asking myself what if I wasnt good enough, what if I let my colleagues, my trainers, all the people who believe in me down, Ahcin comments, displaying the strong self-criticism that seems to be the driving force behind her development and success. Yehia adds however that despite the pressure that recognition places on a dancer, it is a very rewarding feeling to know that the audience reacts to the dancers name, not only to a ballet.

It took much passion and talent to achieve such recognition. Both dancers profiles give evidence of both determination and limitless hard work, whether as ballet dancers, artists or creative spirits. Though coming from two different worlds, Ahcin from Serbia and Yehia from Egypt, they were both born into families that encouraged ballet and the arts.

As a very young dancer, Ahcin won third place at Italys prestigious Premio Roma ballet competition (2006). It was around the same time that she completed ballet training in her home country Serbia, briefly joining the Belgrade National Theatre.

At the time, there was no ballet academy in Belgrade and all secondary ballet school graduates could either continue their dance education outside Serbia or join the troupe at the National Theatre. Though Ahcin was accepted in the theatre, where she stayed for a few months and received a scholarship to continue her studies in Germany  to the surprise of many  she decided to join the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, finding in it an opportunity for practical experience on a large stage.

Ahcin first joined the corps de ballet, within a few months she started taking solo parts and soon after, in 2007, she was given her first big role  that of Juliet.

Ahcin stresses however that, with her passion for performing, she still wanted to complete a university degree. She enrolled in the Faculty of Management at Alfa Univerzitet, Belgrade to study creative industries, going back to Belgrade to take her exams and doing a lot of work online. She finally graduated only a few weeks ago.

Being an extremely well organised person, as Yehia describes her, Ahcin believes that any ballet dancer should have an alternative educational backup. You never know when you will have to stop dancing and start another career.

In his turn, Yehia started his ballet education at the age of eight at Egypts Ballet Institute (Academy of Arts). He became the Cairo Opera Ballet Companys principal dancer at the age of 16 and, in 2000, he won First Prize as the best Egyptian dancer in a local ballet competition. Among other early achievements, he was also one of the finalists at a ballet competition organised in Russia.

And just like Ahcins, Yehias path was not without self-doubt. As a boy, there was a moment when I wanted to quit ballet altogether. This is when my father, an artist working at the Al-Thaqafa Al-Jamahiria [the Cultural Palaces Authority], told me to make more of an effort before giving up for good. In the same year, a new teacher, Mohamed Mostafa, took care of my development. He saw something in me. He told me, If you like ballet you will grow. You have a talent and you can have a brilliant future. Those few words made a great impact on me. I worked on myself and in a short time I became first in my year, he says.

As he matured, dancing, Yehia also got involved in cinema, acting in films such as Youssef Chahines Alexandria-New York (2004), a movie that was featured at Cannes Film Festival and for which Yehia received an award at a local film festival, Emad El-Bahats Ostoghomaya (2006) and El-Belyatcho (2007) as well as Chahines This is Chaos (2007). He was also part of Saad Hendawys TV series Zay El-Ward (2012).

Even though, as Ahcin puts it, Ahmed is fascinated with cinema, at the moment he focuses on ballet. He says, Maybe when I have to stop dancing, I will turn to acting more. It is a wonderful field right now, but I cant really predict what my future holds.

Preoccupied with their current performances, international exposure, both Ahcin and Yehia, believe their careers are at their peak and hope to utilise those years to the fullest. Their professional support of one another has been strengthened by marriage since they tied a knot in 2012.

It is not unusual that a ballet pair finds this unique chemistry which can lead to a deeper relationship, feeding the performance itself, Ahcin explains. We always find a perfect way to work together, to create art together and overcome artistic challenges. Ahmed knows me very well and I know him too. I also feel very secure dancing with him.

But an artistic marriage can also be a challenge. Ahmed explains that when dancing with a colleague, you tend to encourage your partner more and criticise less. Both Ahcin and Yehia say that, with a life partner, it is criticism that comes to the fore, at times leading to harsh confrontations in the studio or rehearsal hall.

In this context, Ahcin recalls Coppelia, a ballet that was performed in Cairo in October 2015. In it, Swanhilde keeps giving her beloved Franz a hard time and, in his turn, Franz does not refrain from driving the seemingly sweet girl mad. During the rehearsals of Coppelia, our trainers and choreographer kept teasing us, saying the two roles perfectly depict our real-life relationship, she giggles.

Yet, despite artistic skirmishes in the rehearsal halls, the creative bond between Ahcin and Yehia is filled with human warmth. As they dance in front of the audience, the real artists as some international critics call them have a unique and distinctive charisma, one that is deeply-rooted in their skills, their understanding of the material and their emotional connection. At the peak of their careers, not only do their performances testify to talent and skill, they also create convincing characters who tell a story through dance.

Ahcin recalls the words of the legendary French ballerina Violette Verdy [1933-2016], head of the jury who approached her after her award-winning performance in Rome: Verdy told me, Today, ballet has become gymnastics and art is lost. Please cherish and keep the charisma you have as this is what will make you a successful dancer. At that time I was still perfecting my jumps and turns, and I did not understand what she really meant. It took years to realise that ballet is much more than just technical abilities.

Yehia agrees with Ahcin, underlining that what he believes makes a perfect dancer is talent and intelligence; by the latter he also means an ability to look deeply into the character and the text. He reveals that he would never go on stage without first understanding all the details and nuances of his role and those of the other characters, the setting and the cultural components embedded in the ballets historical background.

There comes a moment in a ballet career when one has already mastered many technical elements. This is when, as we continue perfecting our skills, we also start searching for more, Yehia comments on stepping beyond pure gymnastics and finding art. Ahcin adds that it is only then that the dancers, mature, can work on their intellectual and emotional development, enhancing the performance creating a unique creative beauty.

As Ahcin and Yehia continue dancing and developing, each success urges them to exert even more effort. Having garnered recognition from Egyptian and international audiences, they are now also teaching, hoping to pass their skill and experience to enthusiastic ballet students.

I see a lot of potential in Egyptian children wanting to learn ballet. Many have obvious predispositions to this art. We try to give them technical direction, explain to them the many aspects of ballet as an art form and motivate them, Ahcin concludes. Together with Yehia, she says, she hopes to bring up a new generation of Egyptian dancers.

Anja Ahcin and Ahmed Yehia dance Romeo and Juliet on 14, 17 and 19 April at the Cairo Opera House.

Check other days and all details about the ballet production here



This article was first published in Al Ahram Weekly

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



Search Keywords:

Short link:


A second powerful earthquake hit southern Japan Saturday morning, prompting authorities to issue, and then rescind, a tsunami warning in the region.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred near the Kumamoto area at 1:25 a.m. local time. On Thursday, a 6.5-magnitude quake struck near the city on the island of Kyushu, about 1,300 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for the western coast of Kyushu after the latest quake but canceled it a short time later. The latest tremor comes amid the efforts of hundreds of rescue workers who are combing through rubble as dazed residents in the area work to restore normalcy to their quake-stricken region.

Some 1,600 soldiers have joined nearly 2,000 police officers and 1,300 firefighters in helping the area recover from Thursday's unusually powerful quake that toppled buildings, killed at least nine people and injured more than 800 others, according to government spokesman Yoshihide Suga.

Officials said the death toll was unlikely to rise significantly. One bright spot was the televised rescue of a baby who was carried out of the debris of a collapsed home.
Traffic was noticeably thinner on the usually congested roads of the Indian capital, New Delhi, as authorities launched a two week-long plan on Friday to restrict private automobiles on the streets to combat the world's most toxic air.

It is the second time this year that cars will only be allowed out on alternate days depending on whether the registration plate ends in an odd or even number. About 5,000 volunteers fanned out in the city to help the traffic police catch violators.

New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has expressed hopes of making car rationing a permanent feature for two weeks every month. But experts warn that may not be feasible in a city whose notoriously poor public transport is blamed for fueling a massive growth in private vehicles.

Some extra buses were added, particularly on heavy density routes and metro trains are making extra trips, according to officials. That is unlikely to suffice in a city where many of the 16 million residents rely on eight and a half million vehicles, including cars, motorcycles and auto rickshaws for their daily commute.

New Delhi's former chief minister, Sheila Dikshit, called on authorities to ensure adequate transportation first, asking, "Half the buses are broken down. How will people travel?"

As during the first experiment in January, there was a long list of those exempted -- high ranking officials, politicians, women, and cars carrying school children.

Still, there is much public support for the measure in a city that is becoming aware of the severe damage being caused to its health from toxic vehicular fumes that doctors say get embedded deep inside lungs.

Nandini Guha, who teaches in a local college, said her family members will adjust their schedules to follow the odd-even rule. "It is about time we did something, otherwise we are heading towards a disaster," she said.

Many others are delighted because they hope to breeze down the roads without encountering the usual traffic snarls.